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infinitebrians · 4 months

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Favorite Games of 2023 Part Final: Pokemon Crystal Clear Clown Edition

Pokemon Crystal Clear is a romhack for the Gameboy Color game that mainly advertises itself as Pokemon Crystal modified so now it is entirely playable as a free roaming open world. Clown Edition is just what I called the rom of the game after creating and injecting a pokemon trainer sprite sheet into the game so I can play as my own character, Clown. I played the whole game on my New 3ds XL, it took a quite a bit of effort to get this exact version of the game working on my 3ds. It was incredibly worth it, this is not just my favorite game, but favorite 'game experience', and even easily my new pick for all time favorite pokemon game in the series.

The game itself was fun and a refreshing new way to experience a pokemon game but the overall experience of getting the game working on a hacked 3ds and playing with my own created sprites was in itself a very fun bit of hobby work. It has revived my love for playing older games on real hardware, something that I have found myself continuing to do this year. Also, seeing my own art in the game and said art feel cohesive with the world ruled and I want to experience that more in some other way. This game made me more into pokemon than I have felt with official releases in a pretty long while, and I even liked my time playing Scarlet. I loved playing on a handheld, I loved seeing the really well made art from gen 2, and I loved being able to put a bit of myself into the game as well.

Apologies for how rambley this gets, I really liked the game but still somehow found it hard to really organize my thoughts on why exactly.

I wanted to revisit this hack after briefly trying it in 2018 because of this excellent Hazel video (https://youtu.be/96YimpRHQHs). The video details various life stories while talking about favorite locations in the games getting me to think about my own favorite spots in the games and where I was personally at the time. The video also got me to start realizing that Porygon might be one of my favorite pokemon in the series and caused me to make drawings of them that I'm still quite fond of. This then made me recall Crystal Clear which contains a feature of surprisingly deep character customization including a wide selection of possible starter picks one of which being Porygon. So, compelled by the allure of having a fun adventure with a cyber duck, I picked up my hacked 3ds and started the game again.

Crystal Clear is a game that allowed for me to be even more creative about how to approach building my team and creating my own adventure out of playing pokemon. It's not for everyone, it wasn't even for me the first time I tried this game back in 2018. Crystal Clear definitely lends itself much more to the idea of creating your own fun than typical linear pokemon games where if you're not interested in that more free form exploration, the game would feel aimless. I even felt this when starting this playthrough, but the goal of pokedex completion was what encouraged to explore and discover Crystal Clear's world. The game was always surprising me in both the number of quality of life features it provided as well as fun new areas to explore or to better make the world more connected. Over time, the game felt more at home to me from getting more familiar with locations and developing a new sense of fondness for several towns in Johto I frequented. The change from a linear progression to that open ended one gave me a better sense of the world and towns had a bit more life to them as places felt more inviting to hang around in.

I love this game's implementation of the pokedex. It has been designed so it will display just about every piece of information about a pokemon, where to find them, when they evolve, what moves they learn, and so on. While the presentation is definitely clunky due to having to have all of that information on a GBC screen, I found this such an invaluable tool to have in game that for the first time in the entire pokemon series I was heavily making use of the in game pokedex for its intended purpose. Being able to look up relevant information for pokemon all entirely in game without having to have a phone/computer nearby with bulbapedia open all the time is just greatly appreciated. While the desire to keep some mystery around pokemon and how they evolve or what moves they'll learn can be part of the fun with the series, I think I just prefer being able to tell quickly if this is a stone evolution pokemon or not.

This was the first time I ever completed a pokedex in any pokemon game, something I've always wanted to do but never fully committed to the whole process. This is because of my own laziness toward how challenging that always was in proper releases due to so many pokemon being obscured behind multiple games and others being locked behind real world timed events. That or the fact that later games in the series just outright make the the act of getting a truly complete pokedex feel almost impossible. Instead, I finally accomplished a completed pokedex in a romhack that was made to make that sort of challenge feel reasonable with modified drop pools and changed events so everything within that one game is catchable. While now possible, I still found myself challenged with a game world spanning adventure of looking behind every rock, tree, and patch of grass to find every funny little guy I could. One particular memory was me spending maybe a week insisting on finding a dragonite in an encounter to catch which has a 1% chance of happening rather than spending the time leveling and evolving one instead. A very, very long process of hitting a tree over and over but made hilarious when later repeating the process for a tyranitar, another 1% chance encounter rate, was done in minutes. It was really fun having a plan ahead with how I was going to get every pokemon, constantly using expshare and other things to level guys to get them to evolve while try catching other guys. The ultimate reward of that certificate is still a pretty hilariously small, though I still kind of want to figure out a way to print mine out.

What made this game so special to me was simply just adding Clown to it. A simple change that was a surprisingly complicated process of getting a crash course on how GBC color palettes and size limitations worked and getting my hacked 3ds up to date on its software. Creating the various Clown sprite drawings was fun, I always liked working in those sorts of strict limitations. Then finally getting the injection to work and seeing my own art in game on real hardware felt surreal, something in this handheld game console I've had forever, on a game I loved for years has something I made in it. Even the process of getting all of this working, as tedious as it was moving game saves and getting color values just right, made this whole experience more special to me.

Something I figured while playing this as well as also from now having also played Dragon Warrior 1+2 and also currently Final Fantasy 5, I really love playing things on a handheld. Playing games on a handheld device has been so much more compelling of a thing to me than ever than playing on a proper TV/computer. The aspect of being able to just let the console sit on my desk and simply open and close it when interested made the feeling of investing myself into a game so much easier to approach. I want to just keep playing more old games on a handheld now, I'm already planning on other games to play and how I should definitely hack my Vita. My friends keep tempting me with one of those emulator handhelds and I don't even need one but they look really cool though.

I have so much respect for people who make fan works, hacks, and other unofficial projects it has been just amazing to see passion projects happen all the time in the gaming community. Playing this romhack that's been a years long, ongoing project in two different eras (2018 and then again in 2023) of it's existence has only further cemented my admiration. People wanting to be creative and open about their love for this form of art is such a wonderful thing to behold. These moments of creative passion being shared to everyone feels so important, reminding that the projects with the biggest budgets and names are not the end all be all of the medium, despite their desperation to be so. Thank you so much for wanting to share such lovely things with the world.

#drawdogs #art #pixel art #favorite games of 2023 #writing #pokemon #pokemon crystal clear #clown #fonewearl #porygon2 #umbreon #typhlosion #ampharos #scizor #cloyster

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theres-an-impulstor-among-us · 3 years

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Question, if worm man is hels zed then would helsknight at some point recognize him? I’m pretty sure they would either:

A) have a odd run-in with each other

B) helsknight threatens to tell the server and they become rivals

OOOOOOH BOY i got inspired :D

Helsaph hops out of the portal at the Yes Wings Club and approaches the building. Part of him regrets declining Impulse’s invitation to show him around but Helsaph thinks it’s a good test. The only person he’s likely to meet here is Wels, and Wels likely doesn’t know Zedaph well enough to be able to differentiate between Zedaph and Helsaph.

Speaking of Wels…

“Oh, hello, Zedaph,” Wels says casually, a bit-too-friendly smile on his face, as he exits the Yes Wings Club.

Helsaph keeps his guard up but manages a friendly, if nervous, smile back. “Hi, Wels. How are you?”

“Pretty good. Haven’t seen you around in a while, Zedaph.”

“I’ve been… busy. Good busy though.”

Wels nods. “That’s good to hear, Zedaph.”

A shiver runs down Helsaph’s spine. “Why do you keep saying my name like that?”

“IS it your name, though?”

Helsaph freezes, panic briefly flickering across his face. “...what do you mean?”

Wels’s smile turns into a triumphant grin. “I knew it. You can’t hide from me; I know you too well.”

“I don’t understand what you mean,” says Helsaph, avoiding eye contact. “Excuse me.”

He starts to leave.

“I wouldn’t walk away from me if I were you, Helsaph.”

Helsaph stops dead, his heart skipping a beat. He slowly turns back to face the person who clearly isn’t Welsknight.

“Got your attention now, have I?” the person chuckles. “Frankly, I’m a little hurt that you didn’t recognise me straight away. Or maybe you did and you hoped I wouldn’t recognise you.”

Helsaph does recognise him now. In fact, he can hardly believe he ever thought this person was Wels. “What are you doing here, Helsknight?”

“Just out for a walk.” Helsknight shrugs casually. “Is that a crime?”

“I mean on this server,” responds Helsaph. “Last I heard, you were banished back to Helscraft in Season 7.”

“Oh you heard about that? Good news travels far and wide, doesn’t it?”

Helsaph narrows his eyes. “Helsknight, stop playing around with me. Just tell me what you want.”

“I want to know why you’re running around the server pretending to be Zedaph when you know full well the real Zedaph is back home in his base.” Helsknight’s eyes gleam. “Are you up to something evil?”

“No, I live here now,” Helsaph says. “Wait, what do you mean the real- Have you been spying on us?!”

Helsaph is not encouraged by the grin on Helsknight’s face.

“Maybe,” he responds. “Maybe not. Point is, I know a lot. Including the fact that you’re not supposed to be on this server.”

“That’s not a point, that’s just an ominous statement.” Helsaph frowns. “Are you threatening me?”

Helsknight nods. “Yup. I’d really like you to realise right now that I could go over to Xisuma and tell him a LOT of interesting things.”

Helsaph’s breath catches in his throat.

Immediately, Helsknight grins triumphantly. “Uh huh, that’s what I was waiting for. The flicker of panic on your face. That’s how I knew it was you and not the real Zedaph. I know you too well, Helsaph.”

“Helsknight…” Helsaph stares at Helsknight in fear. “Why would you want to ruin this for me? I’m finally in a place that makes me happy after years and years of-.”

“Because helsmits aren’t supposed to be happy!” Helsknight bursts out suddenly. “You think I’M happy?! I’m stuck here on this server trying to kill my counterpart so I can escape Helscraft forever! Constantly having to look over my shoulder and hide! Trying to gather resources in a world that rebels against my every move! Why should YOU-” He jabs his finger at Helsaph. “-get to be happy and I don’t?!”

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Helsknight,” Helsaph says pleadingly. “Befriend your counterpart. Wels is a loving and understanding person; he’ll take you in the way Zedaph took me in.”

Helsknight stares at him in disbelief. “You’ve got to be joking. You think I’m gonna crawl to him after all this time of trying to kill him and beg to be forgiven?! And even if he does, then what? I’d be stuck in the same position as you! Still forced to hide, not allowed to do anything, stuck under the thumb of my idiot counterpart.”

“He can-.”

But Helsknight sharply waves his hand, stopping Helsaph. “NO. My goal is to kill Welsknight so I can absorb his lifeforce and get the hell away from everyone here. THAT is the goal of a helsmit.” His upper lip curls in disgust. “Not to run around dressed like an idiot trying to fight imaginary crime.”

Helsaph takes an involuntary step back. “Y-You know about that…?”

“Of course!” snaps Helsknight. “You make me sick, Helsaph. I’d rather die than suffer that indignity.”

“Well, it- it was a little awkward at first but I grew to really enjoy it,” Helsaph explains. “It sure beat returning to Helscraft, that’s for sure.”

“You pathetic little-!” Helsknight breaks off with a sneer. “You’re not fit to be called a helsmit! I’m not existing here on this server knowing you’re out there being HAPPY.”

He turns and starts to walk away but Helsaph, before he can stop himself, jumps into his path. “I won’t let you do this to me, Helsknight,” he says, forcing his voice to stay steady.

“Get out of my way,” growls Helsknight.

Helsaph shakes his head. “No. I’ve suffered too hard and for too long for this to just let you take it all away from me.”

“Well then, the only way to save it is to kill me.”

For a moment, Helsaph thinks he heard Helsknight wrong. “Wh-What?”

“Kill me,” repeats Helsknight firmly.

“W-Will you respawn?”

Helsknight rolls hie eys. “Of course not, idiot. You know the rules: if a helsmit dies outside of Helscraft, they die forever.”

“Then why are you telling me to kill you?!” yelps Helsaph.

“Because that’s the only way to save your precious new life.” Helsknight takes a step closer to Helsaph. “Do you want it that badly that you’d murder another helsmit to keep it?”

Helsaph doesn’t respond.

Helsknight snorts. “Thought not.”

With that, he moves past Helsaph and keeps walking away.

Making a quick decision, Helsaph draws his sword and lunges to attack Helsknight, but he makes the mistake of letting out a yell as he does. Helsknight spins round and meets the blow with his own sword.

Helsaph is not a good fighter, so having lost the element of surprise, Helsknight is able to easily disarm him and knock him to the ground. As Helsaph tries to get up, he feels the point of Helsknight’s sword touching his neck, causing him to freeze.

“You never were a good fighter, Helsaph,” laughs Helsknight tauntingly. “You, Impulstor, Foxtrot. None of you could ever beat me even when you all came at me at once. You nev-.”

With a sudden burst of strength, Helsaph tackles Helsknight to the ground and snatches his sword off him, holding it threateningly out with both hands.

Helsknight laughs again as he sits up. “Wow. Genuinely, wow. I’m impressed.”

“Don’t ever bring up Impulstor and Foxtrot again,” Helsaph growls. “Ever.”

“Or what?” Helsknight says challengingly.

Good question, Helsaph thinks to himself.

ALoud, he says, “I don’t WANT to kill you, Helsknight. But you’ve no idea what I’ve gone through the last few decades. How much I’ve suffered to get here. I’m not going back to that.”

“Hm.” Helsknight raises an eyebrow as he regards Helsaph as if seeing him in a new light. “You know what? This could be interesting. You’re running around playing hero, huh? A hero needs a villain.”

“I’ve already got one.”

“Evil Xisuma?” snorts Helsknight. “Don’t make me laugh. They’re nothing but a pest.”

“Don’t you-!” starts Helsaph furiously.

But Helsknight again interrupts him. “So here’s what’s gonna happen. You and I are gonna fight a bit. I’m gonna cause some mischief around the server. If you can defeat me in a fight and get me locked up fair and square, I won’t tell Xisuma about you.”

Helsaph narrows his eyes. “I don’t trust you one bit.”

“Nor should you,” responds Helsknight.

After a moment, Helsaph says, “What if I just go tell Xisuma about me right now? I’m sure he’ll be receptive when he finds out how well I’m doing here.”

Helsknight barks a laugh. “HA! The man who banned his own sibling from the server?”

Helsaph stares at Helsknight with a frown. “What?”

“Evil Xisuma didn’t tell you that, huh?” Helsknight seers. “Well I hate to break it to you but if a man can banish his own sibling to the void for decades and decades, I don’t think he’ll be very happy to learn that an ACTUAL helsmit is living here and has in fact been part of Hermitcraft before. That might get your little buddy Zedaph into trouble, huh?”

Helsaph scowls and says nothing. He hadn’t considered the trouble his counterpart would get into if he’s discovered.

Helsknight rises to his feet and stretches. “Touched a nerve there, I think. I’ll see you around, Helsaph.”

Helsaph lets Helsknight take his sword back and glares down at the ground. “I hate you.”

“Good,” responds Helsknight. “You think I want to be liked?”

“Maybe it’d do you some good,” Helsaph mutters, folding his arms, “to have someone actually think you’re worth something.”

A pause.

Then Helsaph cries out as he feels something sharp slice a cut in his arm. His free hand flying to cover the area, he spins round to find Helsknight standing disturbingly close, the tip of his sword blade glistening with drops of blood.

“I’d watch what I say if I were you,” he says warningly, lifting the sword close to Helsaph’s face. “My patience only extends so far.”

Clutching his arm, Helsaph takes off running back down the path and into the nether portal he came from. He sprints through the nether tunnels back towards Zedaph’s base, his heart hammering in his chest. There are no thoughts in his mind as to how he’s going to explain his injury to Zedaph.

All he wants is to get as far away from Helsknight as possible.

#hermitcraft #helsknight #helsaph #helsmits #vaunna writes

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my-writings-and-musings · 3 years

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I have another lovely commission to share with you all! An awesome person wanted a super cute bit of interaction between Springload and Quillfire, so here it is!

Quillfire tried to keep the frown on his face from appearing too off putting as he left the base behind, keeping pace with Springload but ensuring the two of them had considerable personal space at the same time. To the benefit of their mission Earth's forests offered ample cover all around, ensuring neither had anything to fear in regards to detection. Though, to the anarchist, potential discovery was the least of his concerns. His last parting with the other mech had been under less than amicable terms, so he was fully anticipating a very unpleasant mission. In fact, he wouldn't have been surprised to learn Springload was planning to ditch him at the nearest opportunity. Such a prediction seemed more likely than not considering how the amphibicon had a tendency towards the dramatic. Was he going to be accused of defying invisible spirits, or sullying important signals from some great deity before he was exposed to corrosive attacks? It all seemed equally probable...

Frowning a little harder, he watched Springload hop ahead of him and wondered if this mission would end in failure like the last. They'd been up against considerable odds, and things weren looking much better. Steeljaw had been very insistent on them teaming up, so he had a bit of hope this would go well, but-

Crossing his arms, he huffed quietly to himself as he abandoned the train of thought, plodding along behind his chosen partner all the while. Why should he be the one to mend things? More importantly, why did he want to? There were a million other activities he could be doing at the moment, all of them more conducive to speeding up a revolution than this! Just imagining all the injustice on this backwards planet made his quills twitch with unease. Oh, how he longed to tear down the tyranny that was evident around every corner-

"Can you move more swiftly?" Springload barked back at him unexpectedly, hopping along through the forest at a pace few could match with a mere walk. Admittedly though, Quillfire was lagging behind as he mused over his unhappy thoughts. The amphibicon fixed him with an impatient glare. "The sooner this mission is completed, the sooner I may return to my quest!"

Quillfire obeyed with a gulp, a reaction so out of character for himself he didn't know what to make of it. For some unfathomable reason, he wanted to make peace with this bot, and he was stuck with that. Perhaps he just didn't want to endure an entire mission tainted by awkward silences and angry glares, but what could possibly make things amicable between them? This bot wanted nothing but the treasure of a fabled city that didn't exist, how was he supposed to provide anything like that? Perhaps… just some conversation might do the trick? If only to lighten the mood...

As they came to a road that marked the next leg of their mission, he made an effort to think of something to say as the amphibicon pondered their map, as well as the instructions they'd been given.

"Steeljaw instructed us to wait here and construct an ambush site. When the human transport arrives, we are to steal their cargo…" he said, finishing the statement with a most distasteful croak. Clearly, his fellow bot was not especially interested in the mission either, and likely was imagining countless other ways his time could be better spent. Such was a common feeling at their rank, and he did truly share most of the frustration. With that as a starting point, Quillfire imagined they may have some common ground after all.

"I will keep watch on the road, so that you might strike at the most opportune time!" he declared boldly, emphasizing his faith in the others skills. It wasn't even a stretch, as he firmly believed the other was more than capable of getting this done. Looking up and down the simple paved path to ensure he had a good vantage point, he found one in the form of a sheltered outcrop. Looking to Springload for a reaction the entire time, he smirked confidently and clamored up to the flat bit of earth above the road, gesturing to the wide field of observable forest as he did so. "We will claim our quarry with a single attack, and return victorious!"

Springload merely observed him with a blink of apathetic consideration. "Yes, indeed." he said simply, hopping into position and making sure to face away from his teammate when he did so. Pulling out the holo of his supposed map, he began to study it as he always did, scanning the runes for what had to be the millionth time. A terse tone made his feelings on any future reconciliation clear. "Then I may continue my quest for Doradas, alone."

The anarchist's quills sagged at the turn of events. While he hadn't been expecting immediate friendship, he also hadn't anticipated that the other mech would be so openly hostile to any kind of amicable teamwork, and found himself quite disappointed by the lack of success. For whatever reason, he just wanted Springload to like him, and failing at that was bothering him. I'm fact, it was bad enough that some part of him just refused to accept the defeat. There had to be a way he could earn the other's camaraderie. Considering how much time they still had left before their mission began, he had a good window in which to ponder a solution.

Sitting back on the soft grass, he put a hand to his chin in intense thought. Springload himself only openly cared about one thing, and he didn't know him well enough to be aware of any other likes or interests… Casting a glance at the amphibicon, he felt his processor buzzing at the strain of thinking so hard to produce no results. He simply didn't know anything about geography, archeology, linguistics or any other topic which might help the other mech in his quest. The thought that he might not be able to do anything ate at him much more than it should have. It was enough to make him sigh sadly to himself at the hopelessness of it all.

"Do you see something?" Springload asked, mistaking his small sound for a potential signal. Embarrassed and surprised, Quillfire coughed and babbled out an excuse as fast as he could come up with one.

"Ah… no! I simply mistook a… an organic being for the target!" he explained lamely, not even believing himself. Springload arched an optic ridge, looking as incredulous as he did frustrated at the false alarm. Quillfire laughed awkwardly to clear the air, shrinking down beneath the edge of the outcrop to disappear from view. A dissatisfied croak let him know the outburst was thoroughly not appreciated.

Frowning miserably to himself, the anarchist occupied his lonesome by doodling in the dirt at his pedes, practicing his signature mark as he often did while thinking. What was he supposed to do? Apologies were not in his nature, least of all because he didn't want to give them. As a loner he just didn't have much practice saying he was sorry to anyone. Ordinarily he was busy disrupting systems of power, overthrowing tyrannical systems, or freeing trapped souls with no one else to save them… Thoughts and feelings like these were too new for him to know what to do with them.

Thinking hard, he tried to come up with something he could do to earn the favor of the other mech, but still came up short. It was frustrating enough to make him draw more aggressively, because deep down he was certain there had to be a way to succeed. Springload wasn't too different from himself, after all. A lone mech, seeking his goals, using his natural gifts and weapons to take down those who opposed him…

Just as he was about to growl to himself at his failure to be inspired, his digit bumped against something in the soft earth. Without anything better to do, he slowly went about digging the object free. A flash of a white, shiny exterior motivated him to continue. Briefly forgetting about his troubles, he dug until a dirty but visibly solid object began to reveal its shape. Round and about the size of his palm, a glossy white stone came from the dirt without too much fuss, and he smiled at the small accomplishment. It was a rather lovely treasure for such a simple planet.

Just as he began to dust some of the remaining dirt from the granite or quartz exterior, he was struck by an idea, one so foolish he had to wonder how it could work.

Still, he was a champion of crazy ideas, so he dared to consider it.

Springload was a mech who one could describe as… extravagant, both in mission and mind. He required one to go all out, as he never held back in regards to the quest that he'd dedicated his entire life to completing. Overall, he was just an unusual bot. Perhaps, if Quillfire was thinking this through properly, that meant he could be reasoned with through some unusual means?

Tilting the rounded stone in his servo, he dared to believe a simple yet unusual gift would be enough to at least get the two of them started on a path to mending their teamwork. If nothing else, he'd at least get to tell himself he tried. The hardest part would be working up the courage to begin, but hopefully after that things would be easier. He just needed to take that first step…

Peeking over the edge of the outcrop, he saw that the amphibicon was in the same place he'd last been, reading over his map and murmuring to himself. Despite having read it every day for eons, the dedicated bot didn't look the least bit uninterested in his work. If anything, he looked downright eager, as if on the verge of a breakthrough at any given time. Quillfire hoped interrupting him wouldn't cause an even greater rift to form.

Clearing his vents, he found his pump pounding with unnatural anxiety as he forced his voice box to speak up, his servos almost trembling about the stone as he took a considerable leap of faith.

"S-Springload?" he finally croaked out, nearly losing his nerve when the other mech looked up to him with painfully obvious annoyance. Gulping, he overcame his anxiety to speak up and stand tall to appear more confident than he felt. "Can you… come up here? There is something you must see!"

Brightly colored optics widened, then fixed him with a look equal parts incredulous and irritated. "Is it important?"

"Very!" he insisted, sounding honest because he truly meant it with all of his spark. What could be more important than mending his fued with a fellow teammate?

In a single hop, Springload tucked away his map and cleared the entire road, landing just before Quillfire with a graceful thud.

"I, er…" he stammered as the silliness of what he was about to do hit him in full. Unable to remember the last time he had given or received anything, he was without a clue as to what to say, so he simply held out the stone in his cupped palms with an attempt at a smile. There was a perceptible tremble in his arms as he did so, but he remained strong. "I believe I'm supposed to give this to you!"

Springload didn't immediately react beyond a raised brow, so he stammered forth more of an explanation, spark sinking in his chest. "As a s-sign of… teamwork."

"A white stone?" the amphibicon said at last, as if awakening from a light trance. Taking the rock carefully into his large servo, all while ensuring his acidic coat didn't touch the other mech, he held the item aloft into the light. Just seeing him interested made the anarchist dare to hope things might work out, but in his wildest of dreams he'd never have anticipated what happened next. Springload lit up like a mech beholding a Prime out of the blue, his optics turning away from the stone for just a moment.

"Just the same as those that line the gates of Doradas!" he exclaimed in awe.

Quillfire didn't have any response for that, good or bad as it may have been.

"What?"

"The sacred text makes it clear!" he shouted in explanation, bringing forth his scroll of indecipherable runes as if it made everything make sense. Gesturing to the lines of what Springload saw as gibberish, he began to proclaim their meaning with enthusiasm, optics wide and wild. "You see, here?! The gates of the Holy City will be lined with pure stones to mark the way!"

"I'm…" was all he could reply with, still a million miles behind the other mech in regards to understanding. While he'd hoped at most for appreciation or a mere thanks, Springload looked about ready to burst with excitement, and for reasons he couldn't even begin to comprehend. At the very least he figured he should be happy for the turn of events when he was surprised yet again.

"But how could you know?" Springload pressed, catching him more than a little off guard. Holding up his servos in surrender, Quillfire tried to figure out what exactly he was supposed to have known, and how he might have gone about figuring it out. He'd just thought it was pretty and would make a decent gesture of peace! Fumbling for a response so as not to lose his progress, he was saved by another burst of revelation he had no part in.

"Of course, the spirits!" he exclaimed, almost dropping the rock in his excitement. Clasping his servos over the apparently precious gift, he explained his excitement more or less by simply talking aloud to himself. "They must have guided you, enabling you to find such a sacred object, so that you could gift it to me!"

Accepting he would never truly understand, Quillfire only smiled and nodded at the other's exuberance. More than happy things had turned out so well, he was content to let the other mech believe whatever he wanted, even if he didn't follow it. "Of course!"

"As to why they would do this… they must know you are key to my quest!" Springload continued, using an avid free servo to clasp the other mech's arm in a sign of commitment. More surprised than confused, the anarchist tilted his helm in shock at how fast things had changed between them. Just like that, everything that had happened was forgiven? More than forgiven, in fact, he was seen as a friend and ally? It didn't seem inaccurate to say he was also being looked at as a divine being at the moment. By the Primes, this bot was like no other!

"I was a fool! To think, I tried to push you away!" the amphibicon cried, deactivating his acid so he could better cling to the taller mech. Seeing the emotion in his eyes, Quillfire wondered if he might start weeping, and hoped it wouldn't come to such a show. Not only was he not the best at providing comfort, he didn't have any tissues… Mercifully, the big optics looking into his seemed to sparkle with jubilation rather than tears.

"Ah, it's really nothing…" Quillfire reassured, beginning to blush from the high praise. A spare servo massaged the back of his neck in an open show of bashful deflection. Such a small thing hardly felt worthy of this kind of praise, even for a mech as glory seeking as himself. Not that he was disliking this turn of events.

"It's everything!" Springload corrected, emphatic and no longer impatient. "You must have been sent into my life by the spirits themselves!"

Actively blushing at that, the anarchist looked away, rubbing harder at the back of his neck. He hadn't a clue what to do with this newfound respect and admiration. Perhaps the other bot was just having a momentary burst of affection, which would give way as soon as the next symbol or sign grabbed his attention, but at present such a turn seemed beyond doubtful. Quillfire was being regarded in a way typically saved for the most ancient and holy of altars to the Primes. In the depths of his spark, he wanted it to last.

A distant but heavy sound caught his sharp audials, just as the tremor sensitive Springload perked up in synchronized recognition. Something was rumbling its way down the primitive earth road. Recalling their mission so fast his quills flared in alarm, the anarchist stood up to his full height, catching a glimpse of a truck through the densely packed pines. Their target was approaching fast. Worse, they were in no position to intercept it as planned.

Thinking fast, Quillfire pulled one of his namesake weapons from his back, preparing to strike as the unknowing human drove their way.

"I shall block the path." he announced, redirecting their strategy from before to include himself. Business came first for them both, so each was ready in an instant. Springload crouched low on his powerful legs in anticipation of his orders, which came just as the truck began barreling down the final stretch in their direction, multiple tons on a solid course they needed to stop. "You, render it motionless once it is stopped."

An agreeable ribbit communicated hearty understanding in the final moments before their strike.

While massive by earth standards, the truck was small enough for Quillfire to plan his moves without much of a risk. Still, he was careful in his timing, as the cargo was as valuable as it was delicate. Any great crash would render it useless. Their success hinged on him being precise more than cautious, so he waited for the perfect amount of distance to be between himself and his target before he leapt down into the asphalt below.

Well practiced using his own weapons, he tossed his quill just ahead of the already braking truck, funneling their path to the point of nonexistence. With nowhere to go, the driver was forced to slam on the brakes and skid to a stop, not having the option to go around or turn back. Quillfire smirked in pride at the human's textbook reaction, and could have sworn he heard Springload give a cheer at his victory. Near victory, that was, there was still one crucial step for them to see through.

"Now!" he ordered as the multiple tire sets came to a stop just shy of him. With the speed of someone working on the same page, the amphibicon dove from his perch, shooting his tongue out like a whip. Acid and force popped the tires in rapid succession, filling the air with a series of bangs and creaks until the heavy machine collapsed onto nothing but it's hubcaps. Rubber flew in every direction and nothing even resembling tires remained to spin, leaving multiple tons collapsed on the asphalt. The truck would not be going anywhere.

"A clean victory!" Springload declared happily, still clutching his gift as he hopped back beside Quillfire. "Truly, the spirits are on our side in full. You are their greatest emissary."

Beaming at the praise, Quillfire turned when he heard the door of the vehicle opening up. Both mech's turned just as the human driver jumped from the vehicle, landing in a heap on the ground as he did so. Catching their mutual gaze, the tiny being threw up his hands in surrender, wide eyed and terrified as could be. A gigantic, metallic frog and an even bigger metal porcupine had not been mentioned when he'd taken the job.

"Look, I'm n-not paid enough for this!" he stammered, gesturing wildly to the trailer as he slowly stepped backwards on shaking legs. Giving up the goods completely for his own sake, he unknowingly earned the approval of a certain anarchist. Abandoning one's shackles for self preservation was a key tactic, and he smiled as the human gave them both full clearance, dropping his keys on the spot. "Just take the truck! A-all of it!"

"We shall, your cooperation is appreciated." Springload replied, sounding a bit haughty. In truth the human's cooperation meant little; either mech was fully capable of taking what they wanted without much effort. Happy just to see someone making the right choices, Quillfire praised and comforted the terrified earthling in what he considered to be the best way.

"Fear not, brother. You have been liberated from the bonds of oppressive labor!" he encouraged, presenting the human with a smile of reassurance. Reacting with what he presumed to be unfathomable joy, the tiny being turned about and began to sprint, disappearing into the trees with a considerable ruckus of breaking branches and fussing animals. Screams of jubilation began echoing out after he was long gone from sight.

Waving the lucky one off, Quillfire smiled at the impossible fortune this day had brought him, happy to share it with others. If humans could figure out the true way to live, perhaps there was yet hope for them. He dared to believe as much while shouting after the former truck driver. "Go forth, tiny earthling! Enjoy the freedom we have given you!"

Turning back to the work yet to be completed, he found Springload using his selectively acidic touch to melt through the lock of the truck's trailer, his gift still peeking out through his other servo's protective grip. Marveling at how the other mech seemed intent on believing his truth, Quillfire still decided to let it be. Though happy just to be friends, it was quite likely this was just how things worked for such a dramatic bot. He was surprised how he was beyond accepting of such a concept, and in fact, quite looking forward to it.

As the doors opened, the two of them found a rather manageable cluster of boxes secured tightly to avoid damaging movement. Comfortable as the load would have been for two bots, it doubtlessly was too much for one, yet Springload began freeing it from its bonds with a smile.

"Allow me to carry this burden, great one! It is the least I can offer!" he said eagerly, tucking his stone away into a subspace beside his spark. Cutting their payload free, he began to move the boxes happily outside, no doubt planning to pile them all into his altmode. While usually happy to get some time off, Quillfire didn't feel right about leaving the other mech to handle it all. Their new partnership deserved to get off to a much better start than that.

"I can help." he reassured simply, taking his fair share of the boxes to carry in his hands. Though the smaller mech needed his altmode to handle his share, he didn't allow transforming to stop his eager chatting, and continued to extoll the virtues of his new ally as a happy pickup truck.

"Such generosity!" he praised, putting along to leave the abandoned truck behind them. Though a little overwhelmed by the idea of someone seeing him as a bona fide gift from ancient deities, he allowed the other mech's chatter to fill the walk home, finding it to be far better than the awkward silence that had followed them here. Who ever would have been able to guess a mere stone could change so much?

"I shall have to insist we are partnered together for future endeavors! As two individuals chosen by the spirits, our camaraderie can bring only success!" Springload gushed, turning about happily on his bouncing tires. "Would that please you, great one? I am certain riches will come to us both!"

Though he still had his own dreams, Quillfire didn't indeed find the idea of more missions like this very agreeable, so much so that he had no problem smiling in affirment.

"Riches indeed, my new friend!"

#transformers #maccadam #transformers rid2015 #rid2015 #rid2k15 #rid #robots in disguise 2015 #quillfire #springload #my writing #my commissions #aligned

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juniaships · 3 years

Text

After being reminded of how awful canon film is I wrote my own self indulgent version of Batman Vs. Superman. I want the story to be self contained, so no Doomsday or Darkseid forewarning. Warning: Rambling, me being butthurt while high on sugar, really trying to make this a coherent storyline with genuine development, some Bruce x OC moments shut up you demon!

The beginning is the same as in canon with Lois in Africa???Middle East??? With her partner James Olsen trying to resolve a hostage situation. James gets killed trying to protect a hostage, but before anymore are killed Superman comes in and rescues them. He subdues not kill the terrorists but gets into trouble with the intelligence agency for interrupting their mission. This incident reaches the ears of Helen Hunt's character the no-nonsense Senator. However Superman is more concerned for the deceased James and the unharmed hostages than getting in trouble with the government, he feels guilty being unable to save James in time.

After James Olsen's funeral Clark and Lois are unsure what to do next. They decide the best way to honor his memory is continuing their line of working bringing light to troubling issues as well as a troubling rose of villains. They also find out that the terrorists had weapons given to them by Luthor (to protect interests in that region).

Meanwhile, Lex decides to capitalize on the post destruction of Metropolis by launching a smear campaign. He also starts pursuing charitable events to make himself look good in front of the masses. Because of growing negativity towards Supes, Clark starts feeling a lack of confidence but from reassurance from his mom he redirects his focus hero by doing small stuff around Smallville. Gradually the town starts to see him in a far better light but there's still Metropolis and the larger world. Clark goes there to help rebuild. At his job at DP, he gets the chance to interview visiting millionaire Bruce Wayne in Whatever City (not the actual name but a totally different city from Metropolis and Gotham). At the press meeting Bruce is rather cold & not as Clark expected. He's even working with Lex Luthor as part of a business deal, which makes Clark wary as he knows about Luthor's criminal activity.

Superman goes out in a flight to clear his head. While flying around he sees a kid walking on the railroad tracks hy himself with a pair of headphones....and a train steadily approaching! Supes swoops in and saves the kod from being nuked and chastises him for being so reckless. The teenager apologies and introduces himself as Jimmy Olsen (a nephew of the deceased James). He had been listening to music as a way to cope with his uncle's death. They talk for a while and Superman brings Jimmy back home. Several weeks later Clark ends up mentoring Jimmy as a school project.

Back in Whatever City we're introduced to one of Lex's assistants Nicola. She's a former Holliday Girl who had overheard Lex's plan and vowed to stop him. She managed to get in contact with an old friend: Diana Prince. Nicola brings up Lex's plan and hidden research of metahumans. The Amazon surmises that such a scheme could result in the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of people. Diana decides to bring her agency to stop him & asks Nicola to stay low. Diana gathers her old armor and prays to the Gods for luck.

Lex apparently likes Nicola enough to send her an invite to a charity ball, where she crosses paths with Bruce for the first time. They talk for a while only to be interrupted by Clark.

After a meeting with Luthor to discuss a merger with their companies, and seeing hints of Luthor's true selfishness, Bruce grows suspicious of him and started to dig around. We see through memorabilia that his initial coldness towards Clark and other people wasn't out of spite but of grief: Jason Todd's death some years ago.

Clark continues his good deeds and is slowly regaining his respect. He even makes plan to visit a children's hospital but is forced to cancel when Superman gets called to show up for a Congress hearing. At the meeting Superman admits his guilt but tells about James and how he died a hero. The Senator doesn't know where Superman is going with this but is listening. Then Superman's voice trails of as he hears a beeping noise and shocked he leaves the room in a hurry. He briefly searches the place and finds a bomb strapped in a closet. He carries the bomb out and throws it as high into the sky as possible Back inside the audience and senator are bewildered by his absence then hear a loud booming noise outside. There's shock as a bright light flashes in the sky...

Superman legit rejected their hearing to save them from a bomb. A bomb planted there by Tess on the instructions of Luthor...a plan she was willing to sacrifice her own life for.

This leaves the senator reconsidering her stance: if he really was as bad as people say then he wouldn't have saved them.

After the incident the entire country begins to have a more positive opinion of Superman while the government launches a search for possible terrorists. Bruce hears about what happened and after sneaking around as Batman, finds out about Luthor being the one responsible for the attempted terror attack. Later on he (as civilian) makes an announcement that he is not going to go through with the merger with LexCorp.

Hearing the news that Superman foiled his attempted assassination (and losing out on Wayne Enterprises), Lex gets very pissed off and threatens to fire Tess. She tries to save face by reminding Lex of his contingency plan...making Lex calm down and grin as he begins to remake his plan.

Nicola agrees to a date with Bruce and prepares. Meanwhile Lois and Jimmy are enjoying a night on the town while Clark stays behind to work on a news story. The two friends were about ti make it back to their hotel before being accosted by some men who force them into a car and takes them to Lex Corp.

At the HQ Lois calls him out that his plan could spell doom for the world. Surprisingly Luthor agrees but makes it clear he doesn't care. He orders his men to capture her, but Jimmy manages to escape and goes off to find Clark (who is writing a story to expose Luthor's actions). Jimmy tells him learns from him that Lois is in trouble Superman tells him to stay as he fetches the police. In reality he jas gone to find her as his hero alias. He finds her but just as he's about to rescue her Lex threatens that he also has another certain someone (Martha Kent ) captured if he doesn't comply, seeing that Supes was often seen visiting her. Reluctantly Superman complies and Lois is freed from her bonds, yet Lex takes them as hostages to a room lined with Green Kryptonite. He leaves to his warehouse to check on progress of his prototype. Jimmy wonders where Clark has gone and goes to the police station himself.

On their date Bruce mentions to Nicola that he knows what she's up to. Nicola coldly replies what was he talking about and he mentions Lex's actions and her possible status as an accomplice This starts a spat leading to Nicola spilling that she is working against Lex (making her a foil to the blindly loyal Tess) and that her goal was to stop Lex from unleashing his plan. She already called a friend to help them yet when Bruce presses forward they see a kid (Jimmy) wandering around and concerned asks what's wrong. Jimmy replies that his friend was kidnapped and doesn't know what to do. Bruce leaves to find Clark while Nicola stays with Jimmy.

Nicole & Jimmy arrives back at the hotel and sees Tess Mercer waiting for them. She had been sent by Luthor to eliminate the witness. Nicola tries to talk her coworker out of harming an innocent kid but Tess refuses. They duel but Tess proves to be a surprisingly stronger fighter. Before Tess could come in for the kill a frightened Jimmy knocks her out cold from behind.

At HQ Lois & a weakened Superman attempt an escape. Lois believes its hopeless but Clark reminds her that Lex won't put them down for long. Batman arrives at the HQ and stealthily avoids the guards. He deduces the room Lois and Supes are locked up in and free them. Batman says thay a little birdie told him everything Lois and Clark grinning that it's Jimmy and the two superheroes decide to work together to bring down Lex.

Batman goes to save Martha (the warehouse fight) while Superman goes to confront Lex, dropping Lois off at the hotel where rhe police are waiting (Tess apprehended). Nicola researcher offers to take the reporter home but she declines, not wanting to sit back and watch Lex try to destroy the world. After giving her report to the police she and Nicole meet Steven Trevor (a descendant of Steve Trevor and an agent). Steven says he already sent his men to arrest Lex as they found that he waa behind the bombing. Lois sneaks away to see if she can help Clark.

Clark manages to catch uo to Lex at his lab and tries to reason with him. Lex says that he already unleashed his prototype as a test to see how many lives Superman is able to save. Superman argues that Lex has gone mad trying to play god, which he disagrees: "I'm not playing god I'm only playing favorites is all." Disgusted, Superman leaves and goes off to fight the prototype. As he does an entire line of trucks arrive...led by Nicola's special friend...

Lex realizes he has been found out and tries to destroy the evidence. Lois realize that the monster was made of Kryptonian DNA so she looks around for the spare Kryptonite and manages to grab a considerable long piece. Just as she does the place starts flooding and she runs. However she nearly drown. Fortunately she gets pulled out by a woman wearing armor. Lois doesn't even ask her name as she recognizes the W shaped emblem and blue&red color scheme. Lois gives the heroine the spear and tells her that she says she loves Clark. Wonder Woman nods and heads towards the direction of Superman.

Superman draws the monster out away from the city and is helped by Batman. Wonder Woman arrives with the spear. The final battles commences with Batman providing a distraction to lead the prototype away. Diana and Superman fight the beast but is soon overpowered. Clark takes the makeshift spear and goes off and manages to subdue the creature rather unwilling to kill it. However he gets blown up by a missile sent by the US military and everyone thinks he is dead.

To his he walks out of the smoke, banged up but alive, having narrowly escaped the blast. The monster has died, leaving Clark to wonders sadly if the monster could have been saved as it had no control over its actions. A relieved Lois embraces him as the other two supers look on in bittersweet triumph.

Several days later, the President, on the behest of the Helen Hunt Senator, gives Superman a full pardon. The world also starts to see rising of actual superheroes to take in the increase of villains having been inspired by the actions of the newly dubbed Trinity. The ending shows that long term exposure to Kryptonite left Lex without any hair, cementing his iconic look. He had also beem arrested and tried and ends up locked up at a mental institution on an insanity plea. His other henchmen & Tess are jailed and Luthor's company scrambles to do damage control. Bruce catches up to Clark and apologizes for being cold. They part ways on better terms before musing at the similarities between their alter egos. Diana teases that they make a great team and returns to the capital with her team. Bruce returns to Gotham and stops at the cemetery to place flowers on Jason Todd's grave, showing that he moved to the acceptance stage of grief. Jimmy also ends up getting a job as an intern for Daily Planet with Lois as his mentor this time. And Nicola goes to Gotham to work as a social worker and takes up a case: Cassandra Cain.

The final scene ends with Clark as Superman dressed up in Metropolis visiting a local orphanage/foster home, showing that at his core he truly does care about humanity despite all them haters. 👏👏 👏 happy ending everyone!!!

The movie ends with a montage of

- Cyborg walking around aimlessly in his hometown and finding a discarded newspaper highlighting the heroes' exploits and getting the idea to try becoming a hero himself

- Aquaman in his kingdom catching up with the surface world and becoming curious, and wonders about an alliance

- Barry standing in a hill in his city in costume. He grins and smiles, before pulling over his cowl and racing off

- And Lex, plotting an escape from his cell, suddenly sees a peculiarly tall guard looming over him. He makes a digging comment that the guard shrugs off. To his surprise the guard unlocks the cell and leads Lex out. Lex asks who the guard is; the guard slips off his disguises revealing a sapient Gorilla...Gorilla Grodd!

All This sets up a future plot point that wouldn't be explored until after Justice League where we're introduced to the cinematic LEGION OF DOOM!!! The prototype they fight is not doomsday but foreshadows the creation of Bizarro (who was one of the original members of the LoD).

With the actual Justice League movie we continue with the formation of the team through several subplots converging into one major story arc. The Helen Hunt Senator plays a huge role being their ally and influence on building the Hall of Justice. Plus more Brucola stuff because we need fun stuff in Batman, Tom King.

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oss-crime · 3 years

Text

Chapter 2-Project “Ma” –Eve–; Scene 4

Original Sin Story: Crime, pages 37-48

Seth’s wound wasn’t too bad, but for safety’s sake he wound up receiving treatment at a hospital in the Twelve Royal Capitals.

He got on one of the huge automated carriages of the security force and went back with the soldier driving it.

Adam wound up staying in the village of Nemu for a time along with his bodyguard, Gammon.

Naturally their goal was to search for the “Witch of the Forest”.

And Eve…she served as their guide when the two headed out to the Forest of Held, as well as their driver for the carriage.

The fee they paid her for this service had far greater profit to her than her income selling ingredients from the forest, so she had no reason to refuse.

Eve knew of several of the villages where the people of the forest lived, and so she first took the two of them to those.

And then they tried going around to the places where the witch was rumored to be, or just moved through aimlessly.

But the days passed without achieving any particular result.

That day as well the three of them had been advancing along a forest path with the automated carriage.

The sky was overcast with thick clouds. When Eve suggested that it might rain, Adam replied that they perhaps ought to end things early today.

“That aside, you’re quite skilled with driving the automated carriage, Eve,” Adam complimented. “You must be, to move so smoothly through such narrow pathways.”

“It’s no big deal if you’re used to it. But as you’d expect you can’t get to the deeper parts of the forest with a carriage.”

“Still, people would seldom be going in such places. So they’re not likely to be targets of the tribesmen, and thus there’s a low chance of the witch showing up there.”

Putting together the information that Adam and Gammon had been able to obtain up until now, the Witch of the Forest would apparently make her appearances in public to rescue people attacked by the white army.

But strangely, none of the people who had been rescued by her could remember what this witch looked like.

“She has green hair, is a woman, fires lightning from a blue spoon…And that’s all they can remember, oddly enough.”

“They’re all probably in a state of shock from being attacked by the white army, so that’s understandable isn’t it?”

“I wonder. Maybe…this witch can use a spell that manipulates people’s minds.”

Upon hearing that, Eve’s eyes widened for a moment. Then she quickly chuckled. “That’d be pretty convenient, if there really were such a spell. I’d control all the big-wigs into making me the queen.”

“Haha, I guess so. You could have all the wealth and influence you want…Have you ever heard of such a thing?”

“I’ve been raised in a village of sorcerers for over twenty years, but not once, no. Do you know of anything, Adam? You’re seem pretty well educated.”

“I’ve hardly done any studies on magic.”

“Huh…That’s a bit surprising. Don’t you have all this magical potential?”

“I only learned that relatively recently.”

As the two of them talked, Gammon simply looked around at their surroundings without showing the least amount of interest in their conversation.

Over these past few days Eve had been able to learn quite well that taken favorably he was a man who was very dedicated to his work, but taken unfavorably he was a very strait-laced person with little flexibility.

Adam was also a bit too serious, but he at least was easy to get along with.

Among the people who had come over from the capital there were some every now and then who would look down upon a country bumpkin like Eve. But Adam never showed any sign of such behavior.

From what she’d heard, while he was currently living in the Twelve Royal Capitals, originally he had been raised on the coast west from there.

“Just like you…I was an orphan.”

Apparently when he was a child he had been able to make a living and fend off starvation by hunting fish in the sea.

“One day a man suddenly appeared before me. He took me back to his home in the royal capital, and adopted me as his son. Even now I’m not sure why he did that. After that I received an education as a student under my adoptive father—Horus Solntse.”

“Did you…not have any parental figures until then?”

At Eve’s question, Adam responded without hesitation, “I did have a mother. …Though she was a whale.”

“Eh?”

“Ever since I can remember, that white whale had always been by my side. She watched over me…Or so I always thought. Though she never did anything to actually help me, ha ha.”

“…”

“Do you think my story is strange?”

“Mm, nooo…” Eve shook her head, and then replied earnestly, “I’m positive that whale must have been the manifestation of a spirit.”

“A spirit?”

“There are a lot of them in this forest; spirits that take the form of animals. Robins, chipmunks…I can’t talk to them, but I know of them.”

“I see…”

Adam listened in to Eve’s story, offering neither affirmations or denial.

“I too…had times when I was a child where I felt unbearably lonely. My adoptive mother and father were very kind people. But of course they weren’t my real parents…I couldn’t stand that.”

“…I understand that feeling.”

“In the middle of the night I ran out of the village and into the forest. But it was pitch-black, and I couldn’t tell my left from my right…I sat down alone and started crying. And then…it appeared.”

Eve’s shoulders faintly shook.

A drop of water fell from the sky and hit her face.

It had started to rain. There was no roof on this carriage.

Eve stopped the carriage under the shade of a large tree to keep from getting soaked.

“It?” Adam asked.

“A bear. A frightening bear…Here, look.”

Eve suddenly rolled up her skirt.

Adam unthinkingly moved to avert his eyes at catching sight of her bare skin.

But when he noticed the large scar on her thigh, he regained his composure.

“It bit you?”

“Because it was hungry. A little bit longer and I would have ended my life inside that bear’s stomach. But at that moment—the animals of the forest all attacked the bear at once. And they saved me.”

“And so they…were spirits of the forest.”

“I never saw a bear in this forest again. The spirits might have gotten rid of them, or else directed me so that I never got close to one…In any case, the spirits are my friends, and I owe them my life.”

Eve had never really told that story to anyone.

That was because anyone who didn’t know much about the forest in particular would likely think it was just a silly tall tale.

But in that drizzling rain Adam listened to her speak with a serious countenance. Conversely, Eve started to regret having told him.

Thinking on his goals…It would be only natural for him to start to hold some doubts towards Eve, upon hearing that story.

“Eve. So you really are—"

Before Adam could continue speaking, they could suddenly hear a loud explosion from far off.

“--!?”

They all turned over there at once.

…There was smoke coming from the direction of Nemu village.

“—What’s happened!?” Gammon shouted as he whipped out the sword at his hip.

What came to Eve’s mind was the white army.

They had never once attacked the village directly…And yet, she couldn’t think of anything else it could be.

As though in support of that, several tribesmen wielding weapons appeared from the shadows of the trees and circled the carriage.

“Oh, we’re not letting you get back to the village,” said a woman standing in the center of the tribesmen, glowering at Eve and the others.

Gammon had swiftly leapt down from the carriage, and shifted his piercing gaze to the woman.

“You must be the commander of the white army…The ‘White Fiend of Jakoku’.”

“Oh my. How impressive, that you know of my illustrious title…Your henchmen serve you well, it seems.” Gammon asked her if she had come here as payback for what happened on the plains, but Raisa shook her head. “Though there is a little of that, yes. This is more—a test.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I…Or rather, all of us, are planning to let loose much bigger fireworks after this.”

Giving no indication that she would explain any further, Raisa and her cohorts started to steadily draw closer to the carriage, weapons at the ready.

“You louts, tread cautiously! This military bastard looks pretty tough. Not to mention—” Raisa glared at Eve. “—He’s traveling with the ‘Witch of the Forest’, too.”

As though in response to those words, Eve got down from the carriage and stood next to Gammon.

“…You seem to be under a misunderstanding. I’m not a witch.”

Eve maintained a calm demeanor, but in response to that Raisa laid bare her anger.

“Don’t bullshit me! Countless of my people have been reduced to ashes by you!”

The moment she spoke, Raisa ran towards Eve.

Pale fire curled around the long and thin weapon she held in both hands.

These flames were not put out by the rain; they were likely some type of magic, or else produced by a unique power she had.

“…”

Eve glanced briefly at Adam, still inside the carriage.

He looked like he had something he wanted to say to Eve.

She didn’t have time to hesitate now.

First…she would need to do something about the enemy in front of her.

And she was worried about the village, too.

--Eve took out the spoon she’d kept hidden on her person.

A blue spoon. The item that was publicly referred to as the wand of the Witch of the Forest. For Eve it was a memento that she’d received from her adoptive mother.

She turned it toward Raisa, who was still heading towards her.

And then—expressionlessly, and concisely, she chanted a short spell phrase.

“Medvedi ubit!”

And it was all over.

It was a lightning spell she had been taught by her adoptive father.

A large bolt of lightning shot from the spoon, and then Raisa and her underlings in their entirety were swallowed up in a flash of light.

--The lightning strike that had engulfed the area had no effect on the trees of the forest or the animals.

It was the same with Adam and Gammon who were nearby Eve.

The lightning spell could only burn up that which it had been fired at. And after the flash of light went away, all of the tribesmen that had been surrounding the carriage had been reduced to charred corpses.

…No, there was one exception.

Raisa must have taken the direct brunt of the lightning, and yet despite her body having sustained massive burns she was still clinging to life.

“Wow…I’m surprised. That’s the first time anyone’s taken that shot and lived.” Eve looked down on Raisa with a cold expression.

“Y…you bitch…”

Gammon pressed down on Raisa’s body as she tried to crawl into the forest to escape.

“What an unexpected bounty, to be able to capture the head of the white army. For now let’s get her to the village—”

As he turned his face to the village, Gammon stopped speaking.

There was still smoke rising from that direction.

Eve quickly got back into the carriage and put her hand on the control crystal.

But Adam gripped her thin arm.

“The village will be dangerous. The bulk of the white army is probably attacking it now.”

“That’s why we have to go help my father and the others!”

Gammon tossed something at the carriage as it started to move.

Adam caught the weapon.

“This is…”

It was the peculiarly shaped sword that Raisa had been carrying.

“Take it! It should serve as some protection,” Gammon shouted to Adam. “I can’t let Raisa get away. You’ll have to go on your own!”

His words were in a sense an abandonment of his responsibilities as bodyguard, but under the circumstances he must have judged there was nothing more he could do.

Or maybe he was dazzled by the potential for glory that had fallen before him.

Eve didn’t care which it was.

Whatever the case, she was focused on the situation in the village now.

Though I can’t imagine my father would be done in by the white army so easily…

The residents of the village of Nemu were a band of once famous sorcerers.

Even so, Eve couldn’t help the unease in her chest.

The carriage started to race, Adam sitting beside her.

And in this way they advanced at full speed along the forest path, headed for the village.

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kingreywrites · 4 years

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Head In The Clouds

Fandom: Tangled

Word Count: 1547

Rapunzel Appreciation Week Day Four: Alternate Universe

Summary: If Rapunzel had learned one thing in her football career, it was that waking up on the field was never a good thing. Especially not when medics were looking down at you, and when your head seemed about to explode with pain.

Note: This is a football player Rapunzel AU inspired by a discussion on discord!! Also I mean football as in soccer here ahah

Read on ao3

@s-vnshiine

If Rapunzel had learned one thing in her football career, it was that waking up on the field was never a good thing. Especially not when medics were looking down at you, and when your head seemed about to explode with pain. Rapunzel groaned, the ambient noise from the spectators not helping her roaring headache, and tried to move away from one of the medic who seemed about to wave a light in front of her eyes - that didn't sound agreeable at all and she did not want to try it. The movement only served to make her even more nauseous, however.

"Raps," Cassandra called, suddenly above her too - and, considering she was the goalie and that Rapunzel didn't remember being near her when she got knocked out, it must mean she had lost way more time than she thought - at least enough for Cassandra to jog over there. Not good. "Raps, stop moving alright? They're going to take care of you."

"I hate concussions," was the only answer she could mumble, voice more slurred than she expected. "Cass, you win the game, alright?"

"Yeah yeah," her best friend chuckled, "in your honour Princess."

"We need to win," Rapunzel insisted, completely missing Cassandra's amused tone as they raised her up in a stretcher. "We need to show- to show, uh-"

"Equis."

"We need to show Equis who's boss!" Rapunzel exclaimed happily.

Cassandra squeezed her hand briefly, and then Rapunzel was whisked away to the infirmary. People were speaking above her, and probably about her, but her head was hurting and she was not interested in following that. Then, they were asking her questions, and she hoped she gave the good answers but she couldn't be sure; she wasn't really focused. She kept thinking about the match with Equis. When she asked a doctor if she could go back because she needed to score a goal - which she had now realised Cassandra couldn't do if she was already the one protecting Corona's goal - the doctor only laughed, and didn't listen to her.

Well, that was rude.

She was halfway through concocting a plan to escape and go back on the field (which should probably include stealing a disguise because Cassandra would probably want her to get back to the infirmary if she recognised her) when she heard a loud voice from behind the doors. She would know that voice anywhere.

"Eugene!" she exclaimed, trying to rise herself up to see him. Her head protested loudly at this movement and the next thing she knew, she was back to lying down on the infirmary bed, while Eugene's anxious face was floating over her. "Hey you," she smiled.

"Hey Sunshine," Eugene echoed in the same tone of voice, though his smile was not as convincing as hers.

"You're not watching the game anymore?"

"Well, I was enjoying myself when the love of my life went and got herself hurt," he said softly, taking her hand gently in his. "Watching football seemed less fun, after that."

Rapunzel hummed, but she didn't know what to add to that. Eugene was looking at her with that soft look of his - the one that told her he loved her more than anything else in the world, the one that could make her melt no matter the situation, the one that seemed to make him glow under the sunlight… or maybe that was the concussion talking, she wasn't sure. She had a hard time holding onto her thoughts right now. She wanted to tell Eugene that she loved him, but the words didn't seem able to come to her right now, so she hoped he knew anyway. The world was swimming in front of her eyes and her head hurt, and people were talking too loudly again and she was missing the game and-

Eugene was still next to her, holding her hand tightly, his eyes and his smile tender despite his obvious worry. Through the dizziness that plagued her, Rapunzel tried to focus on that - on how much she loved Eugene, and how much he loved her back.

She hoped he wouldn't be too worried when she passed out, though.

------

One week later, her head back more or less in the right place and still banned from playing any football game for at least two other weeks, Rapunzel could say with absolute certainty that Eugene had been worried out of his mind when she did pass out.

Who could blame her concussed self for wishing for the impossible? Of course he was going to be worried.

When Eugene wasn't at work, he was trying very hard to hide his hovering - and failing to do exactly that. He had good intentions, and it was mostly sweet, like getting water so she didn't have to move, or helping her through the appartement in case she got dizzy. It was also soft hands in her hair to help her relax, gentle kisses on her forehead when he thought she was sleeping, padded footsteps through the room because he knew the noise still gave her headaches. Eugene wanted to do his best because he had always been attentionate, she knew that, but still, it was getting to be a little too much.

Perhaps she couldn't play football for a while, but she could walk to the kitchen by herself without passing out.

She just had to convince Eugene of that now.

"Here," Eugene smiled, entering her room again, "I put the glass away."

"I could have done that," she sighed, but she couldn't even maintain her annoyance when Eugene looked at her sadly.

"Sorry," he said, his hand going behind his neck nervously, "I'm being overbearing, aren't I?"

"A tiny bit?" Her shoulders slumped, and she patted the space next to her with a smile. "Come here."

"Oh but-"

"Eugene?"

She didn't know if it was her pleading expression or her tone, but he didn't hesitate anymore and went to sit at her side. He had been very careful with touching her these last days, scared of hurting her more but she wasn't about to let him get away with this any longer. She dragged him in her arms in one swift movement, ignoring his surprised yelp as she made them both lie down fully on the bed. She had her head above his hair, and could feel how soft it was against her skin - it was nice.

"Uh, Sunshine?" Eugene mumbled, his mouth near her collarbone.

"Are you comfortable?" she asked instead of answering.

"I- yes."

"Good, because I think I deserve a hug."

She felt him chuckle against her, making her shiver a little until his arms sneaked their way around her stomach and one his legs went over hers, Eugene pressing himself even further against her. She didn't think she could move even if she wanted, and that was exactly what she had wanted. Rapunzel was warm, and she felt safe, and her head wasn't even hurting right now so it was truly perfect.

"Don't scare me like that again," Eugene whispered after a while, breaking the soothing silence between them. "I know it wasn't your fault but- seeing you go down and not get up again, it was- it was…"

He trailed off, but Rapunzel heard him loud and clear anyway. She knew he had been terrified, and that he nearly didn't have access to the infirmary - if she hadn't called for him when she did, he would have been left alone with his worry, not knowing if she was okay or not simply because they weren't married. She knew he didn't mind waiting for her to be ready, and this kind of pressure was unfair and not a good reason to get married but… But, maybe it was the time to revisit her stance?

Maybe it was her turn to do a proposal, she thought with a smile, the idea not overwhelming anymore.

She played with his hair silently, mulling over it all, feeling his breathing slow down as he finally relaxed. Smiling, she kissed the top of his head.

"To say that you missed Corona beating Equis 4 to 1 for me," she said lightly, drawing a groan out of him. He had always been an avid fan, even before he met her, and he had been excited to attend this game for weeks.

"The things I do for love."

"You're so brave," she ironized gently, "thank you Eugene."

"Yeah yeah," he laughed, "at least I got to see you score once before your head met the ball too intimately. You've always been my favourite player."

"I know," she smiled, and she wasn't even joking anymore. She knew he admired her and not only because she was his girlfriend, but because he found her genuinely talented. It was flattering to hear him always describe her with awe and she… She loved him for loving her so much, always and unconditionally. She was truly lucky to have him, and she knew that if someone asked him, he would say that he was the lucky one.

Shifting so she could cuddle him even tighter, Rapunzel let herself be lulled to sleep by the sound of his breathing, content to have this moment of peace, and dreaming of different ways she could propose to him.

#tangled #Rapunzel #Eugene Fitzherbert #Cassandra #tangled the series #Rapunzel Appreciation Week

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myonmukyuu · 4 years

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hot milk tea, thoughts and feelings

I’ve only mentioned it briefly, but I’ve said that I’ll be taking a break from my SetsuAyu series - mainly because of my uni workload though.

But for now, I have a lot of thoughts about the entire thing as a project as well as myself as an artist. So I figured that I’d write a reflection of sorts (warning: it gets kind of personal).

Can you believe it’s been 3-4 months since the series started? I can’t, and I’ve been the one drawing all of these!! If you’ve been reading my work, I’ll say it over and over but I really appreciate it!!! Like I’m dead serious!!! Completely!! Utterly!! Without a doubt!!! I love all of you!!!

When I posted that first comic, I didn’t think it’d get the positive reception that it did get. Like, I’ve been producing basically entirely Muse content for years and suddenly decided to tap into Nijigaku? You could argue that it didn’t get that much attention, but either way, the attention it did get surprised me. I was so happy that people were engaged (and it still makes me stupidly happy, like on a level where I’m almost embarrassed to admit HAHA)

Recently I’ve just uploaded the bonus for the 3rd update which wraps up that part, and it really just clicked - that I really have invested soooo much time into this series. 36 pages now! And we’re only 3/10 main updates in!! I have so much passion for this - like a fire that can’t be put out. Every single update has something that I want to communicate/show so I always feel fired up. Heck, if you’ve spoken to me during the process you’d catch me always saying “I’m excited for the next one!!!” while working on it LMAO. It’s been my longest string of non-stop work. Usually I feel burned out more quickly but I was always so excited that I couldn’t stop! You’d find that I’m usually in a state of conflict bc I alwaaaays want to talk about it but at the same time I don’t want to spoil anything. (THE NEXT UPDATE JUICY)

I think it’s a clear reminder of why I draw actually. The answer between each artist always differs, but I think it’s something important to be aware of. And well, for me? I’ve realised I’m a passion-monster. Passion keeps my blood pumping 100%. As a result... you could say I might be a more selfish kind of artist. Maybe it’s burn-out from running all those ask-blogs/RP when I was like 13-16, but I’ve realised that I’m having the most fun drawing what I genuinely love. It’s kind of why you’d rarely see me do requests and why I no longer do commissions. That isn’t to say that I hate drawing for other people. It can be fulfilling! But it’s more like - I barely have the time to draw for myself, so drawing for others is kind of a lower priority in general. It’s also why I’ve decided against studying graphic design when I graduated highschool. It’s just not happening as a career.

When I ask myself, “what kind of artist do I want to be?” I always think “Somebody who marches to her own beat and works hard to make content that she loves.” It’s also why I never delete anything - even my oldest art that makes me cringe. Because the me from 5 years ago put her love into that too. It’s really cheesy sounding but that’s how I see it LMFAO. I couldn’t do that to her. And also, just because I don’t like something anymore, it doesn’t mean that no one else does. So I’ll continue to never delete my old work. As a bonus, we get to see how far I’ve come too~.

I feel a little vulnerable admitting something like this and I’m pretty sure I’ve only told like 4 humans, but I think my #1 goal as an artist is that I want people to be able to look at my work (that I actually put my heart into) and think “this person loves this” or “this person works hard”. If you can do that, and sincerely feel the feelings I put into my comic, then I’ve already reached my goal. Can people tell how much I love these characters? The series? The concept? Can people tell how much work I’ve been putting into these updates? Can people tell when I’m having fun? It’s something I think about a lot. The idea of that people might think so makes me tear up HAHA - I get really sappy thinking about these kinds of things. And well, if people can’t tell then I’m not working hard enough!

That isn’t to say that I’m always putting my life-blood into everything I make. I’m mainly referring to the stuff where I do. I think it’s pretty clear when I’m pumping a lot of love into something. In general though, there’s always an intention for me to like communicate some idea or feeling and doing something like that requires maybe a bit of love~.

I feel like that as a character, Setsuna really resonates with me a lot. In personality? Not at all LMFAOOOO (she’s such a nice girl!!). More because of her ideals and principles. After typing like everything that I did up until this point, I bet you can guess why. I’ll keep it short and simple though, since this post is getting stupidly long.

Basically, I really resonate with her drive and passion as both an artist, and just in general actually? I’m a believer in that if you’re passionate about something, you can spread that passion. That’s the mentality I have with my art. If my love shows, then maybe other people will understand why I’ve come to love something. And maybe they’ll come to love it too. If I’m having fun, maybe they will have fun too! Very cheesy, I know, but that’s just how I roll!!!

Like rare pair? New fandom? Still applies. It might take awhile, but eventually either the people who love that thing will find me, or I’ll help people come to love something new (or at least see where it’s coming from lolol)!

And as Setsu says:

You tell ‘em girl !!! That devotion is my driving force!!

Of course I know this is idealistic, but I think that’s fine. It’s no bother to me if someone feels indifferent/ negative towards my work because that’s just natural.

I think it’s a form of communication and that’s what drives my art. I’ve been intending on writing a guide/ or talking about my art process for comics for some time now and I think that’d be the first thing I’d mention? I’m always trying to communicate some sort of feeling/tone/idea and that comes from a place of love y’know.

I feel like I’m saying “love” and “passion” a lot - you can really tell I’m vibing with Setsuna huh LMAO. There are other reasons I vibe with her too, but I won’t touch on that.

Coming back to my SetsuAyu series. You can tell why I’m so happy about it right? The story, the pairing dynamic, I feel like that people are understanding what I’m trying to communicate - that people are receiving my feelings of love for it and that makes me smile so widely. I really put a lot into it!!

This series is the first large project I’ve ever taken you see and I’m so so happy that I’ve been able to get this far! It really means a lot to me. But it wasn’t actually the first comic series I’ve tried to do. I actually had a Muse long-running comic planned years ago - a Dancing Stars on Me! AU but it never came to life. I think it was my lack of confidence that held me back. It might be weird of me to pat myself on the back, but I’m proud that I managed to get going this time!! I’ve actually written the SetsuAyu series in a way that for the first half, I could drop the series if I really wanted to at any point (each part is pretty independent, and that description I always copy-and-paste is all the explanation you really need), but now I know for sure that I don’t want to drop it! I wanna keep going!! Even if it gets tough. Although it might be a little early for me to make such bold declarations, I’m only 3/10 through LOOOL. But that’s just the way I feel right now!

I know it’s irrational and it’s something I’d rather not admit, but an anxiety that’s always looming over me is the idea that I’m not working hard enough - or that people think I’m not? Each comic update...takes like a month right? And a month is a long time. There’s this part of me that is convinced that people think I’m lazy for working so slowly. And I know it’s not true!! It doesn’t make sense for it to be!!! But like I said it’s irrational.

I’m really proud of this comic y’know. It’s a really big commitment and I’m proud of myself for being able to commit. I work full time 9-5, and I also am in my final year at university. I’m... kind of busy lol. So the huge factor in that month-long update turnaround is just that I don’t have the time to always be drawing. But I try to draw as much as I can! If you have me on discord you might notice me work on it for like 2-5 hours, almost daily before I go to bed (1am). Of course I’m not only drawing, but after I get everything plotted out sometimes that’s all I do. This comic is super time-consuming LMAO - and I try my best to work on it a little at a time.

So yeah, the entire month of comic-production is me drawing every almost every night.

Yeah it, - it’s kind of exhausting. Even though I’m itching to work on my next update, I’ve decided to take a break for uni crunch which is why I say the next one might be two months. It’s really odd though. The other night I was in bed feeling restless. It was so weird not drawing till 1am that I felt like I needed to be doing something. This comic series might have weird effects on my habits...

It makes me anxious thinking that it’d be so long till next update. But I’ll do my best to push that aside ! Hopefully I can get uni done and dusted ASAP! I want them to date dammit...

I've decided that I want to see this series through to the end. It’ll probably be May next year when that happens though LMAO! Please bear with my slow turnaround time. It’s only been 3 updates, but I can already see that I’m improving with each one. With each update I feel like I really learn from the previous and I always feel this sense of excitement with trying out new techniques and trying to create different feelings. I really want to see how the last updates will look compared to the first! Technically we’re 3/10 (10 is an epilogue), but after 6 I actually stop doing bonuses? So teeechnically I’m like 40% of the way through~.

It might be a little over-ambitious, but I kind of want to print it out and make a hard-copy when I’m done. I’m not sure about what the demand would be if I were to sell it, but I definitely want to print it for myself first and foremost (after touching up the earlier updates of course LOL). It’d be like a physical representation of my achievement. I hope I can make it there.

Anyways, I’ve rambled for far too long. I’m not sure why I suddenly felt like talking about uh, everything but yeaaaah. If you’ve read this far, kudos to you! You now have a window into my soul that I’m still not sure if I’m comfortable with revealing (but I’m comfortable enough because I’m posting this so...)!

After reading all of this, can you tell why I always get so so happy after each update? It’s the fruition of what’s usually 2-3 weeks of non-stop hard work! Seeing people connect with it always sends me to another realm of bliss and I always feel soft like putty LOL.

#myon speaks #HOLY MOLY #ITS 2K WORDS #no pressure for anyone to read all of this #its just me rambling into the air~#if you've been keeping up with my series: i just want to say thank you #this series is really important to me (i explain why in the post im not aboutta start rambling again)

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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Bookshelf Briefs 6/20/21

As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Vol. 12 | By Matoba | Yen Press – When you have a main couple as innocent and naive as this one, it’s going to take a lot of struggle to get them together. Indeed, even figuring out what love actually is is tough for Miss Beelzebub, much less that she’s in love with Mullin. And then, just as she’s ready to tell Mullin how she feels, he’s seized by self-hatred and doubt, thinking she’s far too high a station for him. This leads to her being depressed and avoiding him, which… repeat as needed. Thankfully, they do eventually manage to confess to each other. The series may not end with the wedding on the cover, but this is good enough. It was sickly sweet at times… but that’s why everyone read this series in the first place. – Sean Gaffney

BL Metamorphosis, Vol. 4 | By Kaori Tsurutani | Seven Seas – While the series is based around the premise of a teenage girl and an elderly woman bonding over BL, it’s become apparent that this is Urara’s book. Which makes sense—she’s the one searching for a goal. The creation of the doujinshi is very much an up-and-down process, one which we see throughout this volume. It ends at “Comitia 128,” with our unlikely friends manning their own booth. Sadly, said booth—at least so far—has no actual buyers. Honestly, I would have hoped the sheer oddity of the pairing behind the table would have been a draw, but I suppose it’s hard to look beyond the tables. I think this ends with the next book, so it’s time to binge before the finale. – Sean Gaffney

Her Royal Highness Seems to Be Angry, Vol. 1 | By Kou Yatsuhashi | TOKYOPOP – This seems to be a classic case where I’m really intrigued by the ideas this brings to the table, but the execution is not as stellar. A young woman has it all—powerful magic, her isekai’d-from-Japan boyfriend, and a kingdom who loves her—then it’s all destroyed and she’s killed. When she wakes, she’s in the body of a noble far into her future. Magic is a sad shadow of its former self, and she herself is, essentially, a villainess. Most of the book, unfortunately, then sort of slips into standard shoujo romance, but I like the idea that she doesn’t HAVE any memories of her current self, and has to fake it and deal with everyone’s hatred. I might check out the second volume. – Sean Gaffney

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Vol. 12 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Yen Press – It amazes me how this book can still be so funny even after all this time, and I credit this to its central premise, which is that everyone in it is a complete dumbass—but never all at the same time. It’s a comedy rule; there has to be someone to react. Sometimes it’s Sakura, despairing about a relay novel that gets out of hand. Sometimes it’s everyone else in the cast watching the continuing car crash that is Seo trying to get Wakamatsu to recognize her feelings. And sometimes it’s Hori and Kashima, where his confession turns out to be, perhaps appropriately, a giant excuse for drama. These kids are all terrible at life, and are all so endearing, I don’t know what I’ll ever do without them if this ever ends. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 13 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – It’s good for you! Builds character! That’s what it feels like most of the first part of this volume feels like, as Shirayuki is off to the North, meaning she and Zen will be spending a long time apart. That said, it’s as much about their little group of five than it is about the couple, as it’s clear Shirayuki is going to miss Mitsuhide and Kiki just as much. And as for Obi… well, the love triangle that dares not state its name comes pretty close this time around. (It’s a well-known fact that a majority of the series’ fans, at least in the West, want her to hook up with Obi instead, so the plot twist is not surprising.) All this plus a long, unrelated short story to pad out the volume! Still great, though. – Sean Gaffney

Spy x Family, Vol. 5 | By Tatsuya Endo | Viz Media – A large chunk of this book focuses on Anya and her difficulties at school—not only is it an elite private school, but she’s a girl who spent her life as an orphan, experimented on and abused, and she’s lied to Loid about her age to seem older. So, needless to say, schoolwork is proving tough. Normally she can get by by using her powers (i.e. cheating), but that doesn’t work during the new moon—which matches with exams. It’s tense, but also leaves us plenty of choice hilarious bits. Elsewhere, Yor attempts to learn to cook, and we introduce a colleague of Loid’s who is obsessed with him and VERY upset she was not chosen to be his fake wife for this mission. Everyone should be reading this Eisner-nominated manga. – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 11 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – One of the reasons that folks seem to be more tolerant of Takagi than they are of Nagatoro or Uzaki is that, for the most part, Nishikata enjoys hanging out with her, and while he finds the teasing frustrating, it’s not because she’s bullying him, it’s because he’s so competitive. Half the time Takagi doesn’t even need to tease him—he shoots himself in his own foot. Even when he literally ends up fanning her like a queen, it’s on him. And, once again, the fun comes from realizing they already ARE a couple, it’s just he can’t really admit that. The most interesting chapter has one of their friends briefly ponder using Nishikata as a fake boyfriend, but it doesn’t even last long enough for Takagi to ponder jealousy. – Sean Gaffney

What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Vol. 15 | By Fumi Yoshinaga | Vertical Comics – The back cover blurb for this volume says, “A hard-working middle-aged gay couple in Tokyo experience new challenges both at work and at home.” Really, that about sums it up. Kenji has taken over management of the beauty salon and must figure out how to delegate some of his new responsibilities so that he’s still able to have dinners at home with Shiro. Most of Shiro’s story is about his parents, who are considering selling their house and moving into a retirement home. In between, there is some shopping for ingredients, a lot of veggies getting chopped, many burbling pots, and incalculable TBSP of soy sauce. Oh, and also everyone tries not to eat too many carbs, which is extremely relatable. I’m particularly keen for the next volume, as Shiro will be meeting Kenji’s family for the first time. Good, as per usual. – Michelle Smith

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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blaster-aichi · 4 years

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Cardfight!! Vanguard Extra Story IF 21 things

WHAT A GOOD FUCKING EPISODE

A running theme through the episode: whoever directed the visuals is a godsend.

Initially had wondered if the opening scenes within the first world were going to shine some light on the Tatsunagis’ past. Throwing the viewer into the deep end alongside Suiko was a clever decision, allowing us to feel her confusion all the more effectively.

Also the system for the girls’ ranger world is super-neat. Spin-off when?

Cards continuing their gimmick of being incredibly lethal.

The entirety of the fight with the Vanguard unit was spent thinking of the irony that it and Aichi share goals, so had a brain cell laughing at the suggestion the girls were simply on a filming set and he was the one in costume.

immediately after: Oh. Oh my fuck.

me: don’t do it. don’t do it. brain: Singularity F!

obligatory Long Live the King memeage

The claim that Kourin’ll search for a world Suiko likes smacks of irony given Suiko has her world she likes and has been fighting all along for it. It’s simply a world that Kourin approves of for Suiko to lose herself and how they handled it was stellar.

Just Miwa being cute. That is all.

Can someone inform Aichi that him getting into Vanguard has nothing to do with the Kais abandoning their son?

How dare you say such shit with such a sweet smile.

Curious how the Cardfight Club existed with four members (unless the other three were also signed up but simply not present). This world in particular is peculiar with its presumably aging up Rekka and the sisters not knowing one another to begin with. Not to mention how evidently distant Aichi is; the girls swear loyalty to him, but he minimizes his contact with them. Perhaps it’s to do with it being called the Cardfight Club but when he despises the game, have to wonder why he would choose that rather than anything else when the purpose was just to goof around.

Breaks through the door at a monument to Misaki’s existence.

Assuming she was roped into the surfing of worlds prior to Suiko, left to wonder how many worlds Rekka briefly lived in, and how many appealed to her, but she sacrificed to stay loyal to who she is, and just how difficult it must have been.

Thank you writers for giving SK4 Suiko and Rekka excellent names, rip Sanctuary Knight Ibuki.

Link Joker-hen noises in the distance.

I love this crew. That is all.

Whoever wrote this episode is also a godsend, thank you for giving the Tatsunagis some sisterly love.

Kourin: Aichi hates Vanguard. Also Kourin: [flips her shit at Suiko Riding “one of Aichi’s favourite units”].

I’M CRYING YOURE REFERENCING THE ORIGINAL ANIME? YOU DIRECTLY CONNECTED THE TWO CONTINUITIES ILY.

Rena continuing to lose her shit because this entire scene is so good and the girls’ contrasting feelings about Alfred, Vanguard, everything is so wonderfully portrayed. For bonus points; Suiko’s unit belonging to a clan that Aichi chose and stuck with whereas Kourin’s heralds from one he never played in the manga & reboot continuity and was forced onto him in the original.

Had been wondering for quite some time just how Kourin and Suiko remembered anything related to the Reboot anime, so them providing an answer is immensely appreciated.

Also still loving whoever storyboarded this episode. Also very much loving the touch of Suiko being in focus as she challenges Kourin on her choice while Aichi hovers out of focus in the background; with their respective positions in the season and in comparison to their Outside World lives as well as how Kourin risks to lose them, it’s incredible poignant.

"We move forward”. Rockets back to one of the best scenes in epi 7 that I love so much. The fact that Ibuki and Suiko are the ones to speak of the same sentiment is precious.

At the same time, turning the idea onto Kourin and Aichi, with the added visual of the latter, really brought it home. With OverDress’ new cast, our time with these characters is drawing to a close for a second time and with no guarantee we’ll see them again. It’s incredibly bittersweet, particularly when adding in how the Q4 voice actors showed how torn up they were during the live event shortly prior to G’s airing. We were incredibly lucky to get a second run with these characters, so as the audience carries on forward and part ways with them again, having this particular theme front and centre, we’re essentially in the same position as Kourin.

I love this crew. That is all.

As much as tried to discern the glitched figure, unless it’s whatever’s in/controlling/manipulating/whathaveyou Aichi (it doesn’t look human), a Deletor or something related to Brandt, couldn’t even try to guess, they did a good job of obscuring their identity.

IF 22 preview

Babie boy’s cheek looks bruised. Is he still getting bullied? Were you wandering around somewhere to prolong your mother being faced with another afterschool of being beaten up? My heart. He looks incredibly distrustful of Takuto compared to their previous first meetings.

Zooms in on that Akashic Record in Kourin’s hands. Zooms in on Aichi’s hand on his arm. Were you really beaten up? Point me to them! 9′^’9 — Alternatively, he looks uncomfortable, in the same vein as the photo of himself and Emi in their Miyaji uniforms from epi 7, perhaps Takuto's explaining the truth to him and Aichi just can't process such a world because he's weak and timid and simply doesn't have the strength to imagine it.

How can someone be so ominous without a visible expression? The Biggest Fear.

DID YOU RIP OUT YOURS AND KAI-KUN’S PAGE FROM THE AKASHIC RECORD AND THATS HOW NO-ONE CAN GET THERE?

The placement of the four cards is striking; one distanced from the other three. They may be representative of the Q4 members and how far Aichi has drifted as a result of IF’s premise. Though at the same time, even if unintentional, it could be reflective of the young Aichi, who saw Kai-kun, Ibuki and Miwa playing from afar, never closing the distance himself and allowing that space between them to remain.

I have many questions. First of all: is it next week yet?

SCREAMS IN PSYQUALIA. BUT ALSO. It looks darker compared to usual, particularly in the Reboot continuity. Maybe it’s a sign of it not being quite right? That darker huge reminds me of Leon’s Psyqualia during Asia Circuit, so the possibility springs to mind of Void (seeing as the original continuity has been drawn in directly now) or interference by Brandt. If it’s a shot from the explanation regarding what’s happened to him (INTENSE VIBRATING), it could be whatever worming its way in through his Psyqualia.

Akashic Record-related thoughts:

Suiko:

Suiko’s remembrance of handing Alfred to Aichi in the original continuity opens up a huge possibility that she’s aware of the Tatsunagi sisters’ pasts and fate of that timeline. Though the girls of that world themselves never found out about their missing memories, their counterparts may have learned the truth themselves.

Kourin:

Going along the same line of thought, it gives Kourin a much more sympathetic position in that she’s not only experienced losing her memories once, but learned it to be her fate in more than just this world. When threatened with the possibility of losing a treasured period of her life for a second time, coupled with it being apparently inescapable even in other worlds, it’s a hopeless position she’s been put in, so though her motives may be selfish, it’s difficult not to sympathize with her.

Also a curious thought; Kourin’s alternate worlds for Suiko. Using the Akashic Records to surf between them, there’s the possibility that these are all worlds that exist and continue as such without external interference; other worlds where Aichi hates Vanguard, where Ultra Rare exist in different forms. But Kourin also described her actions as “creating” new worlds, so that begs the question of if she’s nonchalantly creating and erasing entire timelines?

Aichi:

The scrap of paper from the preview could very well be the page detailing his and Kai-kun’s first meeting and whatever force is at work, the figure from the glitch, given the ability to keep the distortion locked by its possession of the page through Aichi. At the same time, it might also explain why deviating from IF World’s narrative had such a detrimental physical effect on Aichi or it could be a result of, being the Tatsunagis are the only ones we’ve seen truly handle the book, interfering with its writings without the authority to do so bit Aichi and he’s suffering the consequences of it.

Why go through all this and for someone he shouldn’t know in this timeline? After he (or rather the force inside of him that intervened when they tried to bring him around and lead him back to the correct worldline) handled Takuto and Kourin, Aichi was able to investigate the Akashic Records and see just how much damage was done to Kai-kun; in the Reboot continuity, in the original continuity, maybe even in continuities we've never known of; Psyqualia, Link Joker, Legion Mate, Neon Messiah, the PsyZombie arc — he’s learned of them and how much anguish they put someone incredibly dear to him through (and it need not be just him; Ren, Ibuki, Leon, the Ultra Rare girls, Chrono, the list goes on for how many people have been deeply hurt by being connected to the game). So to protect him, that’s why Aichi targeted and hated Vanguard, not something that’s been brewing for years, but something that exploded when keeping him in his IF existence was threatened, allowing for Emi’s insistence that he’s always been a nice boy hold true.

#Cardfight!! Vanguard #Cardfight!! Vanguard IF #cfv spoilers

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seerofmike · 4 years

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31 Days of Apex: Day 24 (Hobby)

pairing: crypto & pathfinder

word count: 1.3k

tags: spoilers for the broken ghost

fic summary: Crypto draws when he’s bored, and Pathfinder wants to learn.

ao3 link

read below

Taejoon had a headache.

It could be for any number of reasons, really. It could be the fact that Witt hadn’t shut up for the past half hour, talking so enthusiastically about himself to anyone who was willing to listen. It could be that Silva was playing three video games at once and shouting every time he won, or lost (which was far more frequent). It could be the drone and hum of the dropship, so deep and rumbling he swore he could feel it in his soul.

Any one of these would be easy excuses, but he knew the real reason; it was because he had been staring at a computer screen for the better part of nine hours without once stopping.

Taejoon massaged his temples with a groan, eyes squeezed shut, but he swore he could still see the lines of code burned into his eyelids. They had another two days until they dropped onto this new planet, and while mostly everyone was avoiding him, he could perhaps take this time to enjoy some of his other hobbies without having anyone breathe down his neck.

Shutting his computer off, Taejoon knelt down onto the floor to pull out a small box. It contained a few books and pencils, and he picked up the battered copy of a cheesy romance novel he’d read through about ten times already. The plot was about two esports players falling in love, and while Mila had gotten it for him as, like, a joke, he unironically liked it. It was funny, and sometimes, he needed funny.

This time, though, Taejoon could only stomach a few pages. The words seemed to be swimming before his eyes, physically hurting his retinas, and with a sigh he shut it and put it back in the box. Okay, so he wouldn’t be able to read due to his headache. Maybe he should try something else.

Eyeing the sketchbook in his box, which hadn’t been touched in months, he wondered if he should even bother. The dropship occasionally rumbled, and he hated making mistakes, but it was really his only other form of entertainment at this point that didn’t involve worsening his headache. So Taejoon took it out of the box, wiped the dust from the cover with his sleeve, and settled down on his cot with a pencil in hand.

He didn’t really have a goal in mind as he drew--just doodled whatever came to him, and before long the page was filled with sketches of his drone and the occasional cat. He flipped the page to draw on the next one, this time having someone in mind--the main characters on the cover of his novel. He drew two faces side-by-side before starting to sketch their hair, giving one of them dreads as described in the book and the other one wild bedhead. He was just starting to add detail to their faces when a voice made him freeze.

“Hi, friend! I like your drawing!”

Letting out a short puff of breath, Taejoon held his sketchbook close to his chest and glanced over at Pathfinder, who was standing there, his screen its usual smiley face.

“What are you doing here,” Taejoon said, much too flat to be a proper question.

“Mirage told me to go away, so now, I’m here. I saw you drawing, and I wanted to say I like it very much!” Pathfinder’s screen changed to one with heart eyes. “Could you teach me to draw?”

“No,” Taejoon said.

“I think I would be very good. I can make poems, too. Do you want to hear a poem?”

“If I say yes, will you leave me alone?”

“Hmm...maybe!”

Taejoon sighed, closing his eyes briefly, before nodding.

“Okay!” Pathfinder knocked against his screen to get it back into its smiley face, and then started: “My name is Pathfinder. I like writing cool poems. I want to be friends.”

He stopped, and seemed to look at Taejoon expectantly, who raised an eyebrow in response.

“That’s it?” He asked.

“It was a haiku!”

“...It was nice,” Taejoon lied, not really caring for poetry. When Pathfinder didn’t move, he jerked his head a little to the wider area of the dropship, hoping he would get the memo. “You can go now...”

“But I want to watch you draw!” Pathfinder said, and Taejoon sighed to himself. His head was hurting too much to argue, so with a reluctant sigh he set his sketchbook back down in his lap. He would finish this page and then turn in for the night if Pathfinder hadn’t left yet. Going back to sketching, he gave the characters eyebrows and eyes with ease, but had to erase their noses and redraw them about ten times each.

“Are you having trouble?” Pathfinder asked, sounding curious, despite not much changing in the inflection of his voice.

“I keep making their noses off-center,” Taejoon mumbled distractedly, before finally managing to give them both proper noses and moving on to their mouths. He almost forgot Pathfinder was there as he sketched their clothes, giving the both of them what he always pictured them to be wearing--Dante a baggy hoodie, and Chul a patchy jacket and torn t-shirt.

“Who are you drawing?” Pathfinder suddenly said, reminding him of the fact that he was still standing there and watching him.

“Characters,” he answered through gritted teeth.

“From what?”

“A book.”

“What kind of book?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Taejoon said, because god forbid anyone hear that he liked cheesy romance novels.

“What’s it about?”

“Why are you even here?" He finally snapped, slamming his pencil down and fixing the robot with a bleary glare. "Shouldn't you be avoiding me like everyone else?"

"Why would I avoid you?" Pathfinder sounded genuinely puzzled.

"Because nobody trusts me." His fists clenched at his sides as he recalled the moment his drone flew around the room, speaking with Revenant's voice, and he felt a hollow feeling form in his stomach as he remembered Wattson's shocked face. Why didn't Pathfinder just leave him alone, like everyone else? Even after Gibraltar had revealed the true culprit, they all still tiptoed around him, untrusting.

He was tired of being framed.

"I trust you," Pathfinder said, and Taejoon stared at him.

"...What?"

"I trust you! Because you're my friend, and that's what friends are for."

Taejoon stared at the other for quite a long time, trying to formulate a response, before he slowly picked up his sketchbook and mumbled, "Shut up."

The MRVN went quiet after that, but he didn’t go away. Taejoon finished up his sketch after giving both of the characters basic-looking sneakers (he wasn’t very good at drawing shoes) and slammed the book shut, glad to get rid of Pathfinder as he leaned over to put it in his box. When he straightened up, Pathfinder’s screen had changed into heart eyes once again.

“I loved your drawing!” Pathfinder said, and gave a little clap. “Your lines are very smooth! Your expressions are very fun! I can tell you really like art!”

Taejoon felt heat rise to his face, but turned his head away under the guise of shoving the box back under his bed as he tried to formulate a response. He’d always liked receiving compliments on his drawings, had usually showed them to Mila so she could list off everything she liked about it to give him a bit of a confidence boost, but he hadn’t had that in years. Finally, Taejoon straightened up, and said coolly,

“Thank you. Maybe I will teach you one day.”

“Well, I look forward to it!” Pathfinder suddenly raised his metal hand, and asked in as hopeful a voice a robot could manage: “High five?”

Taejoon stared at it for a second, debating with himself, before quietly obliging, and Pathfinder’s screen was the most ecstatic he'd ever seen it.

#crypto #pathfinder #apex legends #shut up mike #31 days of apex

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landeg · 4 years

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31 Days of Apex: A Retrospection

I participated in the incredible #31DaysOfApex challenge hosted on Twitter, where fans created new content for every day of July based on a one-word prompt. I’ve signed up for/started lots of similar challenges in the past but always ended up having to drop out or trail off before the end... but this time, I managed to complete something for every day of the challenge!

My only goal was to make something by each day’s deadline, and it was a really interesting exercise both in technical skill and also in my management of not only my time, but my expectations and energy. Below, I go into more detail behind each piece.

To preface; the beginning of this challenge coincided with the beginning of a new personal time-management exercise where, for 5/7 days a week, I would only go on the computer at night. Combined with the deadline, this had an interesting effect on my time management and the quality of certain pieces.

Day 1 - Memory

From the start, I wanted to use the challenge as an opportunity to do more studies and to push myself wherever possible. This was the first piece I did and I had more time to work on it, so I used it as a digital painting study. I still think it’s a strong piece and it’s probably my favourite of the month. Symbolically, this character’s backstory doesn’t match up with her own memories, so the idea is she’s missing information she can’t quite place or remember, and this both scares and comforts her.

Day 2 - Blood

Another digital painting and lighting study that didn’t work out as well as the first, mostly due to time constraints meaning I couldn’t scrap it and start again. While I don’t like how it turned out, I did learn a lot. The character on the right is a field medic, and my intent was to show the calm after a successful rescue.

Day 3 - Mercy

Some days I relied more on the humour of a piece’s concept than the skill of its execution, though I also liked how this piece turned out artistically. After two days of intense studies, though, this was very quick and easy for me to turn out as it relied on existing skills.

Day 4 - Prize

This one thankfully came together very quickly, which I credit to the two previous painting studies making it much easier to achieve what I wanted. The character is searching for the disembodied head of the man who killed her parents, who is now acting as a robot, hence the vaguely half-machine-half-human silhouette in her hand.

Day 5 - Family

Another quick, simple illustration under a time crunch. The character framed by the nameless foreground figures has no memory of herself or her family.

Day 6 - Noise

For some pieces where I was under a time crunch, I experimented in an opposite direction; instead of studies, I played loosely with different techniques/brushes/etc to see what came out. This was a lineless style I ended up employing a lot when short on time. The piece pictured here was just one of four alternate colourways, presented in a pop-art style. The character is almost always depicted with thick coverings over her ears, so I thought she might be sensitive to auditory overload. This particular piece was retweeted by the character’s voice actress!

Day 7 - Mask

More relying on humour for lack of time/a better idea. A fun experiment in colour, though.

Day 8 - Healing

Another technically “easy” piece but with a stronger concept. It was actually pretty hard to get the reflection & condensation elements balanced right. The character pictured has a narrative thread relating to an old ex he has trouble moving on from.

Day 9 - Weapon

While obviously another joke, and made to be finished quickly, it was surprisingly difficult to get the duct tape and knife to read clearly without over-cluttering the lineless image. This little ‘bot is a drone used by one of the playable characters to hack areas of the map; it’s not NORMALLY an offensive weapon. This image was promo’d in a video stream by the character’s voice actor!

Day 10 - Truth

I only had less than an hour to finish this one by the deadline, but I still tried to experiment with silhouette and colour. It was surprisingly hard to get the interior silhouette to be legible. The outer silhouette is a playable character (not easily readible unless you’re familiar with his design) and the inner silhouette is his sister, whose disappearance he is trying to investigate.

Day 11 - Shield

A fun, self-indulgent one. Had a blast simplifying the game’s characters down into little caricatures. The character in the centre has abilities related to shields and protection, so many other people were drawing him for the prompt; I wanted to try and flip it, so I picked other characters he would be friendly with, and picked a non-lethal, lighthearted setting.

Day 12 - Ruins

Short on time so did a quick lighting study. A recent game plot has changed one of the areas of the map, submerging it in water and leaving it to “ruin”.

Day 13 - Hero

Another painting study. Really didn’t like how this one turned out, but had to turn in something, and I did learn a lot in the process. If I’d had more time I probably would’ve scrapped it and started again. This characters had recently been revealed to have been manipulated by another character who used gas-based offenses, whom she admired.

Day 14 - Rest

I was going to be away from mt computer until after the deadline, so I decided to make a traditional piece. I ended up enjoying it so much I tried to take the time to do a few more traditional pieces later. This piece was sort of a comedy of errors; I had to do it while I was out, and the pen I had brought with me to ink my sketch ran out, so I had to make do with a blue ballpoint pen, and I was missing several colours of coloured pencil. I think the finished piece reflects how rushed it was, and it did’t meet my concept, but I do still like it.

Day 15 - Skull

Another quick one but I wanted to experiment with a different line style. Wanted a sort of “graffiti” effect. One of this character’s skins includes a skull-shaped mask.

Day 16 - Growth

Extremely quick play on words because I didn’t have the time to work on anything meaningful and couldn’t think of anything better!

Day 17 - Home

Another traditional piece, this time by choice and with more time. Markers. It looks extremely like some janky art school homework on 2 point perspective because it extremely is. Perspective and backgrounds are very difficult for me - they just don’t “click” - but I had a lot of fun with this one. I kept my mistakes intact because I didn’t want to edit it too much. A lot about the technical perspective is wrong, but I think I achieved the “mood” I wanted. This location is a bar owned by one of the player characters where many of the other characters are shown to meet.

Day 18 - Sky

Very happy with how this one turned out, even though there are still lots of problems. Markers again. There’s a lot I would fix next time, and I think technically it’s lacking, but there are some specific areas I feel happy to have achieved, such as the almost brushed texture of the curved metal above his shoulder and the values of the shadow/reflections on the underside of the head piece. I’m also happy with how I was able to draw from my shoulder rather than my wrist when inking the curved lines, something I struggle with.

Day 19 - Target

An experiment in pushing the lineless style I’d already been playing with for a stronger likeness. The pose and expression in this could both be pushed more but I like the result. This character had just learned that one of the other players, whom she had trusted, was actually sharing her secrets with her enemy, and she didn’t know which one it was.

Day 20 - Friendship

I had this one concepted from when I first looked over the prompts. It was a fun challenge trying to simplify all the elements into the lineless, blocky style while being legible. This character has a strained relationship with one of his friends, and finally pushed her too far with his selfishness, and she now no longer responds to him.

Day 21 - Scar

Quick joke. This character was introduced briefly as a red herring for another character before being killed off. He was stabbed through the chest by another character’s hand, hence the scar pattern.

Day 22 - Dream

I wasn’t sure about this one while I was making it but I ended up liking how it turned out. I wanted to capture the character’s robotic legs bent at an unnaturally straight 90 degrees, like a Barbie doll. The flat background and lighting make it feel like an indoor stage. The little “electric sheep” are inspired by iDogs.

Day 23 - Meal

After a few days of not having time to really spend on any piece, it was fun to get to spend time on concepting and composing this. I always admired these kinds of watercolour-like food illustrations and this is the first time I’ve had any success in creating one myself. I concepted and sketched out the individual items traditionally before working out the composition within the box digitally. Each food item/utensil is inspired by the different characters’ design elements. Only two of the now-current characters are excluded due to plot reasons. In particular, I like how one of the character’s dome-shaped shields acts as the base and cover of the box.

Day 24 - Hobby

Wasn’t a fan of how this one turned out. I think the likeness is a bit off, and his facial anatomy is skewed. But I also like how the general composition, tone, and bee turned out. This character’s concept art originally imagined them as a beekeeper who would use smoke to fight.

Day 25 - Fear

An incredibly rushed piece that I intended to go back in and add more detail to, similar to day 4, but I actually took a step back and decided I liked the blocky, flat-colour version. This character is the youngest of four, all of whom are MIA or worse, along with his father, and his mother is losing her memory. He’s talking to her through a handheld holographic device. This piece gained more traction, most likely thanks to the subject matter since this is a popular character.

Day 26 - Holiday

I didn’t want to do a religious holiday like Christmas or Easter. A lot of other people also interpreted the prompt as a vacation, but I had already done a sort of “beach vacation” piece for day 11, so I instead went for a “public holiday” and chose NYE/NYD. This was fairly quick but the lighting was an interesting experiment. I knew this one wouldn’t be as popular because it wasn’t as “flattering” but I personally really like it. The girl on the left is kind of goofy and completely un-self-conscious and I think it’s captured here.

Day 27 - Music

Really didn’t like how this one turned out. I don’t think the likeness is good at all, the lighting is poor, and the gold detailing feels lazy. But I liked other elements, such as the pose and the clothing.

Day 28 - Treasure

This is my least favourite of the entire month, but I also had the least time available to work on it before the deadline so I had no opportunity to scrap it and start over, which I sorely wanted to do. The likeness is terrible, but more than that the base anatomy is off, the pose is stiff, and the lighting/colours are cheap. I wish I could’ve done better by this character; but, I am glad I had something finished at all.

Day 29 - Skin

This was probably my third attempt at this picture and I’m still not happy with it, but again, I had to finish something. I almost considered scrapping the concept entirely and choosing something easier but ended up seeing it through. The concept itself is actually recycled from an older piece of mine for an entirely different fandom, because I didn’t think I did it justice then, either. Would still like to revisit this concept with this character and take more time.

Day 30 - Trust

After a few days of feeling really dissatisfied and uncomfortable with the art I’d been making, I finally more time to dedicate to a piece, and I’m overall happy with how this one turned out. I decided to go for a different medium entirely with pixel art, which also gave me the opportunity to try and animate it. I started off confident and then started to get worried towards the end, but all the elements came together when I added the portal colour effects. This is an alternate reality version of one of the player characters, who appears through a portal and allows that character to escape the facility she’s being kept in, encouraging them to trust the “voices” she hears which are actually versions of herself trying to help her. This piece was retweeted by the official Apex Legends Twitter account!

Day 31 - Freestyle

I had this planned out early in the challenge and I’m really, really happy with how it turned out. It’s probably tied with my favourite along with the very first piece (how fitting). I was worried about how I was going to capture the movement without over-complicating the lineart, having so many people in one image, etc. before I realised the focus was entirely on gesture, and then everything clicked. I went for a thicker brush, which forced me to conserve my lines, and tried to simplify each character down to the bare minimum needed to recognise them. They’re also all wearing new non-canonical outfits so I used their familiar colour schemes for the same purpose. It’s not perfect, but I love it, and it’s everything I’d hoped I’d be able to end the challenge on.

I really, really enjoyed the entire month and the way it tied in with my new time management schedule. It gave me some achievable short-term goals which added up to this long-term achievement I can now look back on; I learned a lot both about balancing my energy and about technical skills, I found ways to stay motivated, and most importantly I learned to not get caught up on the individual slip-ups and pieces I didn’t like as much and to instead focus on the bigger picture. Thank you to everyone involved in organising and supporting this event! I found so many other incredible fanartists, writers, and content creators through this challenge and I can’t wait to see the bonus content released over August!

#31 Days of Apex #31DaysOfApex #highlights

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wr1t3-my-wr0ngs · 4 years

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Good Soldiers- Chapter 2/4

Remembering Yesterday’s Tomorrow (In the Here and Now), Part 4 Cont.

After hours of thinking, he has a plan. Not a good one, but this is Umbara he reminds himself, no plan is a good one, only some that have fewer casualties.

If he's honest with himself, he's not sure if this will have fewer casualties or not.

It occurs to him that he could just kill Krell (he refuses to even think of him as a General), and save everyone pain. As an idea it's extremely tempting. But if this is real — and he still has his doubts, but if it is— he needs to be smart. Can't let his uncertainty in his reality keep him from action. Otherwise, he knows he will get nowhere, knows that not being smart will get him a court-martial, or worse.

So, no. Killing Krell isn't an option, not at this point.

Getting dressed is something of an experience. He's done it hundreds of times, knows the motions by heart — almost on autopilot, which is his saving grace as he deals with the competing signals that say this is normal and this is wrong. He'd forgotten what it was like to have knees that didn't hurt with every step, forgotten how much smaller he was. Not that he has any shame over how he changed with the years, not the hair loss, or the aches, or the extra weight. He got old, was one of the few clones who did, and there's a lingering sense of guilt attached to that, but not shame.

It's with reluctance that he slips off his ring and carefully adds it to his tags around his neck. But it's for the best, he's already planning to change things, and the last thing he needs is to raise suspicion. Nor does he want to lose it in the field, where the odds of finding it in the crushing darkness of the planet are close to impossible.

For all that it's a simple band of steal, after two years of wearing it, he feels naked without it on his finger.

It's both hard and easy falling back into the role of clone captain; he catches himself at times about to say something, only to realize that what he wants to reference hasn't happened. Not yet. But at the same time, details are right there for him to grasp. Rules and battle strategies and conversations he hadn't known he had forgotten sit at the surface of his mind.

But there is nothing that can prepare him for the torrent of emotions he feels when he sees them again.

His brothers: alive and loud, cracking rude jokes and swapping the latest gossip.

Hardcase, who died on this planet doing the right thing because the right thing needed to be done.

Jesse, who inspires such a mix of emotions that Rex has to studiously not acknowledge them because once he does, he knows he won't be able to hold it together.

Dogma, headstrong and loyal, who Rex never saw again after he was taken away. Heartfelt sorrow rises when he thinks of the fate of his little brother.

Fives and Tup, and the tangled knot of guilt, pride, shame, and remorse that they illicit. Emotions he can't even look at obliquely, or they undo him. Not even to compartmentalize and examine later.

He's glad he has his bucket and the fraction of privacy it gives him. Especially as he makes his way to see Krell. He doesn't need refreshing on the orders to prep the troops, remembers having relayed them before he had fallen asleep. The clock is ticking. But he needs to know that he can trust his memory, trust in the reactions, and there is no better person to start with then Krell.

Being in the same room as the Besalisk makes his skin crawl, and the idea of showing him any inch of respect chafes. He stands at attention anyway; he has a part to play and will be damned if he makes things worse by blowing his cover.

The conversation goes down almost exactly as he remembers, with some changes. For one, it happens earlier, which means since he hasn't actually learned that they have cracked the Umbaran codes, he has to phrases the suggestion of using the Umbaran craft as a hypothetical — that he thinks they may be close to a breakthrough. The idea is met with all the disdain of the first time, the same feeling that the men aren't worth the mud on the Generals boots, and that the Captain is little better.

He's on his way out of the command center when the Besalisk offers one last parting blow.

"CT-7567, next time, I expect you to remove your helmet when speaking to a superior officer."

His teeth clench, and he forces himself to spit out an "Understood, General" in the most neutral voice he can manage without moving his jaw.

His blood boils all the way to the hanger, the knowledge that his memories (if that's what they indeed are) are reliable makes for a poor consolation to the dehumanization of being reduced to his number.

He tries to distract himself by running the plan over in his mind, but it feels too much like counting a casualty report before the end of a battle, daunting and setting himself up for heartbreak. So he switches tracks and focuses instead on just the next part in his plan: Getting his brothers on board.

Jesse, Hardcase and Fives — he is reasonably certain — will agree once they know that his goal is removing Krell from his position and stopping this massacre. Tup, he's aware, will take a little convincing, but the rookie has a solid head on his shoulders. Painfully shy at times, with a habit of letting others speak for — and over– him, but willing stand for what he believes in when push comes to shove.

The wildcard is Dogma (and even through his anger and nerves, he takes a moment to laugh to himself at comparing Dogma to a wild-anything). Loyal and honorable Dogma, who may not be as much of a rookie as Tup, but is still painfully young and so profoundly dedicated to the cause, he refuses to see the dark truth of the war.

It's a risk involving Dogma at all, and Rex wouldn't be surprised if he's reported for insubordination before the battle even starts. But the same something that told him to lean in and kiss Ahsoka on Endor, that told him it was his time to die, the instinct that told him that waking up wasn't a dream, is telling him that Dogma is important.

With no one else to bounce his idea off of, no experience in this specific situation to draw from, all he has is this gut feeling and the knowledge that last time, Dogma did what Rex couldn't and that it's not impossible to get the trooper to recognize the truth before it's too late.

He rounds the corner into the hanger and spots them. Instantly his hands tremble, and his breath shudders and the emotions associated with his brothers (so well buried by his anger at Krell that he had momentarily forgotten them) lodge themselves in his throat. He takes a second to compose himself because there is no way for him to face his brothers with his bucket on without arousing their suspicion. Pulling off his helmet and tucking it under his arm, Rex briefly lets his hand linger over the spot where his wedding ring rests against his chest, eyes closed, and centers himself, before plunging into the busy room.

He arrives a little late in the conversation, but it seems to have progressed the same without him. It's a relief and makes waiting for an opportunity to present itself easier.

"— 100 megaton yield. We won't even make it to the delta."

It Jesse who notices his arrival.

"Any news, Captain?"

Rex shakes his head.

"Afraid not. We are to proceed as planned."

Hardcase groans.

"Great, another suicide mission. The Capital is too well armed."

"Why does it seem like he has it out for clones?"

Tup punctuates his words with a wave of his wrench, addressing the group at large.

"I think you're all over reacting. Obviously, General Krell knows what he's doing."

Rex seizes his chance.

"That's what worries me."

He considers that he may have over-seized his chance because it's not just Dogma looking at him with open shock; he has everyone's attention. Hardcase looks equal parts proud and stunned, Jesse looks like he can't believe what he just heard, Tup is suddenly engrossed in the mechanics of the ship he's working on (but Rex can tell he's listening, he's holding the wrench backward and not really doing anything), and Dogma...

Dogma looks scandalized, but also curious.

Which...is better then Rex had hoped for.

Its Fives that concerns him, with his squint-eyed calculating look, like the Captain is a puzzle that he only just realized he's missing the pieces too. Concerning, because Rex knows how far this particular brother will go to chase a suspicion or put a mystery together.

If nothing else, it serves as a reminder to watch his words.

Hardcase, unsurprisingly, is the first to recover his voice.

"Care to elaborate?"

Rex opens his mouth, then hesitates, glancing around. The hanger is many things, open chief among them, and hardly the place for this conversation. There are too many people, too many ears around for his comfort — wants to smack himself for letting it happen in the open last time.

"Not here."

He leads them to the barracks, where they all settle in, exchanging glances when they think he can't see them (Fives hasn't taken his eyes of him once, and it's unnerving to be under such close scrutiny by this particular brother). Rex chooses to rest himself against the wall, crossing and uncrossing his arms before sighing deeply. Not sure how to start despite things going, so far, as planned.

"Well?" Jesse prompts.

"This is just talk, understand? If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and nothing will come of it." He's not, knows he isn't, but he's walking a fine line between plausible deniability and treason and is very aware which side his next words put him on.

Everyone nods, Dogma more to show his understanding then actual condoning of whatever is about to come out of his Captain's mouth, but Rex takes it as a good sign.

"I've had my suspicions for some time now that General Krell is no longer loyal to the Republic."

Chaos, absolute chaos, erupts as soon as the words leave his lips. He's not even sure who is saying what for a moment. Despite the pressing need for both time and discretion, he can't help the swell of fondness that rises as he takes in the scene: Hardcase's shouts that he knew it the whole time. Dogma and Fives who look to be gearing up for a fist fight, leaving Jesse and Tup torn between jumping in if need be to separate their brothers and staying out of it. Its familiar, and Rex never imagined that he would miss it.

It is also incredibly loud.

"OY!"

It would be laughable if the topic of conversation weren't so serious, with how quickly everyone settles down.

"Like I said, this is just talk."

Jesse snorts, leaning forward on his elbows.

"Big talk. What do you know?"

"I've been keeping an eye on his casualty counts, his strategies, his reports, and things don't add up."

Its a half-lie, he hadn't really heard or paid much about the General the first time, only the scuttlebutt that floated around the commanding officer's gossip network. But after Umbara, Rex had dug into the Generals history, read every report, counted every brother lost because of Krell, wondered how he could have been so blind.

"For someone who claims to be dedicated to ending the war in the name of the Republic, his strategies cost the GAR deeply in terms of both manpower and credits."

It goes without saying that the two, as far as the Republic is concerned, are essentially the same thing.

"That's what I've been saying!" Hardcase says from his bunk.

"But, " and Tup sounds horrified, looks it too. "The Generals a Jedi."

"They're still just people." Hardcase points out rather magnanimously.

From the corner of his eye, Rex can see Dogma shaking his head, eyes closed, a pained expression on his face.

He wants to go over, see how the trooper is doing because he knows what it's like to have your whole world view shaken to the core, but his attention is split as Jesse starts talking.

"So, what do we do?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Fives steps forward from where he had been leaning against the opposite wall, punctuating his words with his hands. "Krell has turned traitor and is killing brothers; we need to remove him."

Dogma shoots to his feet.

"What you're suggesting is treason."

"I'm being realistic."

The two advance on each other, voices rising with each passing second.

"You're planning a coup!"

"Against a General that knowingly sends his men out to die and undermine the entire cause of this army? Yes!"

Rex darts in, physically putting himself between the two, a hand on each man's chest.

"Fives, control yourself. Dogma, take a walk."

"Sir-"

"That's an order, Trooper!"

The air is tense as the two go eye to eye, and Rex sees the moment when Dogma realizes that the Captain isn't on his side, and for a second, Rex wonders if the trooper will listen.

"Yes, Sir."

It's spoken with more vitriol then Rex had known Dogma was capable of, hissed and quiet. Everyone watches in silence as he leaves the room, exchanging glances in shock, and looking to him for direction. Rex, suddenly drained, doesn't have the energy for a proper dismissal and vaguely waves everyone off, waits for everyone to shuffle out before burning his face in his hands.

That...could have gone better. Even so, he doesn't think Dogma will report him, but only time would tell what the fallout would bring.

He's on his way out of the barracks when he meets Fives at the door coming back in, who waits for the door to shut behind him before crossing his arms and putting on his "don't give me any karking shit" face.

The Captain's heart clenches. It was easy enough to ignore his emotions when there was more than one brother in the room. But like this, face to face with nowhere to retreat to, he can feel his mask cracking.

It must show too, because Fives goes from stern to worried, arms falling to his side.

"Are you alright, vod?"

He considers lying. Secrecy, especially in his position, is paramount. He dismisses the thought rather quickly, in part because he knows he's a horrible liar. Sure, he can pull off small parts on missions when required, but there is a very good reason he wasn't assigned to the Couricanti Guard. He can't bluff for the life of him, and not even nearly Forty years' life experience had changed that.

But it's not the only reason.

Messy, tangled emotions aside, this is Fives. One of the most loyal and trustworthy brothers he has ever had the honor to know. Who has always put his brothers first, even in the most insane and ridiculous of situations. If there is anyone, anyone, that Rex could trust with his secret and not worry about being handed over for reconditioning, it would be him.

And he is incredibly tired. Not even a full day, and the weight of his secret has eaten away at him. He hasn't felt this alone since his first days on the run from the Empire — before he had found Wolffe and Gregor — surrounded by unknowns, hunted by people he considered family (they didn't stop being his brothers just because the chips were activated, and that knowledge had only made it worse).

He exhales a shuddering breath, tears threatening to spill down his cheeks, and wills himself to meet Fives gaze.

"No, I'm not."

Like that, the dam breaks and he buries his face in his hands. Distantly, he's aware of being led over to the nearest bunk and sat down, of Fives gently rubbing his back through the plastoid (it doesn't do much, but the gesture is nice). He's not sure how long he cries for, but when he's done, Fives silently hands him a rag, and he able to muster a weak smile in return.

After a moment, Fives speaks.

"Want to share?"

Rex hesitates, brain still a little foggy from crying, and mentally checks over what he can and shouldn't say.

"It's...complicated."

He tries his best, details what he can in broad strokes. The end of the war, the fact they lost, him going into hiding, joining the rebellion, his death, and waking back up. He doesn't mention the chips; it's neither the time nor the place to worry about them, and he knows the moment that Fives finds out about them, he would take on that responsibility too.

When he's done, Fives is silent for a few moments, elbows on his knees, fingers steepled and pressed against his mouth. When he does speak, he looks at the Captain.

"There's more, isn't there?"

Rex nods, and sighs.

"Yeah, a lot."

"How old were you when...?"

Fives trails off, and Rex isn't sure if it's because he doesn't want to say it or doesn't know how to phrase it kindly. But he knows what his brother is asking.

"When I died? Thirty-Nine."

His brother laughs.

"Should I start calling you Gramps?"

Rex groans, because if there is one thing he doesn't miss about the rebellion, it's that particular call sign, and gives Fives a playful shove.

"Respect your elders."

They grin at each other for a moment, but the light mood doesn't last.

"So, Krell's fallen?"

Rex nods, and Fives goes quiet once again. In the vacuum that the silence leaves, a question pushes to the front of Rex's mind. He's afraid to ask, not sure he wants to know the answer, but certain that he needs to.

"You believe me?"

"I don't know yet."

It hurts to hear, but he can't fault his brother, because he knows how crazy it sounds, and if the positions were reversed, Rex is sure he would feel much the same.

"But, " Fives continues, "I can see for myself that something isn't right with the General, and if you say that it's because he's a traitor, I believe you."

The ARC trooper squares his shoulders and looks at Rex, certainty and determination radiating off him.

"I'll follow your lead, Captain. What's the plan?"

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missjosie27 · 4 years

Text

Year 2 Part 4- Halloween Surprise

Hey, guys! New Chapter is up.

Real quick thing that I think I should explain real quick: this game is a complete sandbox due to the inconsistencies and JC completely overpowering our characters from a young age. I’ve tried to keep this in line with the canon already established so there are 2 headcanons I have for David that I think will work moving forward 1) He’s a very talented wizard but not a prodigy 2) He’s extremely talented at Transfiguration. That will be enough of an explanation I feel like.

Anyway, all bullshit aside. Enjoy! xD

Unfortunately for David, “little time” equated to quite a lot of time. Despite his natural gifts in Transfiguration, the advanced lessons were no easy task. They began with the stone spell ‘Duro’ along with changing a teapot to a tortoise. Once these were accomplished, they moved onto changing the colors on an animal (Colovaria) and the beginning process of switching spells. Thankfully, Professor McGonagall did not assign him extra homework for these lessons other than to practice in his spare time, but that was the least of his troubles. It wasn’t learning these techniques so much as how long it was taking. His head of house refused to cut corners or move onto the next lesson until she was absolutely sure he had a good handle on it.

While a small part of himself had to remember she was doing what was necessary as a teacher and had no idea of his intent to investigate the 13th corridor again, it didn’t stem his impatience for a number of reasons.

The first was that several more incidents of cursed ice breakouts had occurred, with students either barely avoiding or becoming trapped within the confines of the stuff. Professors were usually prompt and efficient in getting them out safely, but the ice was also becoming more resistant to standard spells. The knockback jinx, for example would barely make a dent anymore. Time was of the essence.

Second was Merula. David’s victory over her at the beginning of the year had done nothing to quell her eternal angst and provocation towards him. Several times he was required to redo his potions because he caught her tampering with them or she would rat him out to Snape for even the slightest mistake. He wasn’t a bad potioneer by any stretch, but the Slytherin girl made even the most rudimentary tasks extremely difficult without looking over his shoulder. She also kept taunting him about the vaults, whispering in his ear that she was going to find it first and the power within them would be hers. It was all quite irritating really.

Then there were rumors Dumbledore was away for long periods of time. No one knew precisely where he was going and staff was mum on the subject, but theories abounded: he was being summoned by Minister Bagnold or finding a proper curse breaker to relieve the school of this pestilential curse. Though news of its spread had been kept out of the Daily Prophet, it would not be long before someone, namely Rita Skeeter, picked up on it and caused a panic.

Through everything, David continued to train as best he could. The work took time and some lessons went better than others and as he was reminded by Professor McGonagall, he could not rush his progress.

“It’s maddening,” he told Rowan one day as they studied in the library for charms. “If I don’t get to revealing and vanishing spells soon, I may have to jump off the top of the tower.”

“Relax, David. She said you’re making great progress. Very few second years are doing what you’re doing.”

“We have to break this curse, Rowan,” David continued to insist for the third time in the conversation. “I didn’t come into this year with a huge sense of urgency, but this ice is forcing my hand. We have to find out where this hidden staircase is.”

“And we will,” Rowan tried to placate him. “I just with Ben could tell us more. He was involved in this somehow.”

Ben had since returned from his stint in the Hospital Wing, and though he was no longer in a state of delirium, continued to insist his memory was fleeting of the incident. The main focus now was to ensure that the confidence they had instilled in him last year was not too heavily damaged.

“He’s been through enough,” David responded. “It’s up to us to break this curse. No one else in this school will. Especially with Dumbledore gone most of the time.”

“Unless you count, Merula.”

“To hell with her. The day Merula gets into a vault is the day I kiss her on the lips singing muggle rock music.”

“But you’d never kiss her and you don’t know any muggle music.”

“That’s the point, Rowan.”

“SHHHHH!!!” Madam Pince silenced them.

And so, September turned into deep October and before anyone knew it, Halloween was right around the corner with no end to the curse in sight.

Then, David received some good news. Professor McGonagall told he was ready to learn revealing and vanishment spells.

“I am?!” he said a little too excitedly.

“Yes, Mr. Grant,” and the edges of her mouth twitched upward ever so slightly. “You’re work with switching spells has been exemplary in the past couple of weeks. I believe it is time we give this a try.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Standing in the Transfiguration classroom, she led him over to the desk, which was currently empty.

“This desk has a cauldron which I have hidden using a vanishing spell. The incantation that you will use is quite simple, ‘Revelio’. However, it is more difficult in practice. The key to mastering this spell is imagination and willpower.”

“So, if I imagine the cauldron or whatever is I’m looking for correctly, it’ll appear? What if I know something is amiss but I don’t know what it is?”

“That is where willpower and magical strength will come in,” Professor McGonagall explained. “If you sense that there is a hidden object, message, or person within the vicinity, being able to draw it out is of the utmost importance. But for now, we will try an object which you can easily envision. Try to reveal the cauldron.”

David did so, thinking of a plain black cauldron in his head as best he could and repeating the incantation, wind pointed at the desk.

Revelio!

There was a shimmer of black but other than that, almost nothing occurred.

“Uhh…was that supposed to happen? What’s going on?”

“Mr. Grant, you are a second year attempting a spell reserved for fifth years. Do not be discouraged. Attempt it again. Try to concentrate on the more specific details of the cauldron, whatever stands out in your mind.”

Trying harder this time to envision the cauldron, the smooth black cooper, the grooves surrounding the top, and whatever else you could specifically find on a cauldron. He repeated the spell with a little more force this time.

Revelio!

This time, the entire cauldron briefly came into view, before shimmering back out again.

“Very good. Keep at it. Try to see if you can reveal the whole of the cauldron by the end of the lesson.”

David attempted to do for the latter thirty minutes of the lesson and made moderate progress. By the time it was over, he had managed to make about eighty percent of the cauldron reappear.

“It is still not fully present,” McGonagall observed, noticing the black was still faded and part of the handle was still missing. “But it is quite remarkable for a first attempt. Shall we meet again this Thursday?”

“Yes, Professor.”

Undaunted, David continued his advancement with the spell over the next two weeks, while simultaneously starting Evanseco. He was able to reveal a cauldron by his third lesson, and a hedgehog by his fifth. He wasn’t quite as proficient with vanishing things, but he was less concerned about making something disappear. After all, the end goal was to find what was hidden in the corridor.

By the day of the Halloween Feast, Professor McGonagall had deemed his skill at the techniques to be worthy of NEWT level and graded him sufficient in the art.

“You’re skill in mastering vanishing and revealing spells is truly exemplary, Mr. Grant,” she told him, her tone indicating she quite pleased.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“Indeed, I have not seen a student with such talent in Transfiguration since…” she trailed off and for a split second a pained look spread across her head of house. But almost as soon as it came it was gone and she was back to her usual stern but fair manner.

“Anyway, this is truly remarkable for someone your age,” she continued. “If you continue on your current path, you shall become a master by the time you leave Hogwarts. I can promise you that.”

Coming from Professor McGonagall, a true master of the subject herself, that was indeed high praise. David was sure to convey his appreciation.

“I’d like that very much. I want to keep learning. Thank you.”

A genuine smile, however small it was, confirmed her pride in her latest student.

“You certainly shall. In the meantime, I suggest you prepare for the feast. No doubt your friends will be eagerly awaiting you.”

The feast. In the midst of the intense training and concentration it had almost slipped David’s mind. It was tonight and no doubt Penny, Bill, and Charlie would be looking for him. However, it was also an opportunity. Almost every Hogwarts students attended the festivity and the Great Hall would be packed. If he and Rowan decided to investigate the 13th corridor, tonight was the night. The Professors would scarcely miss two young second years.

Waving goodbye, David wasted no time in finding his best friend.

They were about to find the next clue to his brother.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The plan was simple. While the rest of the Gryffindors went one way, David and Rowan would go the other, the route to the forbidden corridor being familiar enough by now. With the teachers occupied and everyone else at the feast, they had ample time to investigate before having to head back.

Soon enough, the two boys arrived in the darkened, mysterious corridor.

“I still can’t believe you managed to learn vanishing and revealing spells so quickly,” Rowan said, awe in his voice. “That’s N.E.W.T. level magic, Dave. Academically speaking, no one our age should be able to do something like that.”

“Yeah, well I did,” David replied with an almost cocky smile. “But more important than that, it’ll lead us to what we need. Namely, what happened to Ben and the cursed vault.”

“About that,” Rowan interjected, looking more than a bit hesitant. “Be careful when you cast this spell. We have no idea what might appear.”

“I’ll be as careful as I can, Rowan. But we still have to take that chance if we want any chance of finding the next clue to my brother.”

He didn’t look as reassured, but in the end his best friend swallowed and nodded.

“Alright, David. I’m right behind you.”

Heading down further into the corridor, the two boys could feel the creeping cold rush up into their veins as they had the last time they were in the corridor. Only this time, instead of avoiding the freezing temperatures they used it to discern where the precise location of the vault might be. It wasn’t an exact science, but then again what was when it came to finding a magical room that was cursed?

“I think this might be it,” Rowan told him pointing to a spot in the wall between two torces. “This is where the cold seems to be most intense.”

“I’ll trust your instincts on that, I’m freezing my bollocks off either way,” David shivered. He aimed his wand towards the spot Rowan indicated and tried to concentrate on the spell his Head of House taught him during the past month. It was far easier to envision something you knew was there or were supposed to be looking for. In this instance he had no idea what a cursed vault looked like so there was no guarantee his attempt would work. After all, he had only recently mastered the spell.

Here goes nothing

‘Revelio!’ he spoke firmly and clearly.

In the first few seconds nothing happened, causing David and Rowan to look at each other in disappointment. That changed in the next instance as a hidden staircase was revealed.

“Merlin’s beard, David. You did it!”

“I’m a little surprised myself. Professor McGonagall did say performing this kind of magic was more difficult without being able to visualize the target.”

He elbowed Rowan with a grin and tilted his head towards their new destination.

“Well come on then. A cursed vault isn’t going to investigate itself. Let’s check it out.”

That they did, though again Rowan was a tad more apprehensive about traversing throughout an unknown staircase. As they climbed upstairs and into the hallway, both boys made observations about what they just discovered.

The hallway appeared to be ancient, dating back several centuries if not more. A hollow, sickly green light was the only way to prevent total darkness from consuming the passageway, illuminating a row of knight statues not unlike the ones that stood guard in the Great Hall. However, these gave a far more eerie and uncomfortable feeling than the warmth and welcome of those they passed for every mealtime. It was almost as though they were being watched somehow. Not to mention, the cold did not diminish, if anything it got worse.

“This place gives me the creeps,” Rowan muttered as they crept slowly along.

“No kidding,” David agreed. “It’s dark too. Let’s have a little more light.”

One ‘lumos’ later and both of their wands were alight, allow them to see a little farther in case anything unexpected decided to impeded their path.

“Any idea of what we’re supposed to be finding?”

“The Ice Knight stands guard past the vanished stairs,” Rowan repeated, his encyclopedic memory proving to be quite useful.

“Then it’s more than likely we’ll find something of that sort at the end of this,” David cautioned. “Wands out and ready for anything, yeah?”

His friend nodded in agreement as they approached the misty opening which marked the culmination of the hallway.

“Wait, Dave, check this out,” Rowan said throwing his arm out, pointing at the ground.

It didn’t take long for the young Gryffindor to spot what he was talking about. Right at the end was a dirty, dusty footprint made by the imprint of a rather large boot.

“Do you think…”

“Is it my brother’s? Possibly. Guess there’s only way to find out.”

“Let’s do this and go back to get a coat. It’s right freezing!”

David did so with pleasure. Far from fearing the increasing cold and the mysterious mist, he was more than ready to see what the next step held.

Hang on, Jacob, he thought determinedly.

‘Flipendo!’ he cried.

Immediately, the mist evaporated into thin air revealing a spectacle unlike anything either of them had ever seen. Upon the clearing of the fog, a white wonderland took over their surroundings. It was as though they were in an average part of the castle, except the stone walls were adorned with icicles, pillars of jagged ice, and twinkling snow. In front of them lay a split door, at least the height of twenty feet, sealed shut by an enormous symbolic snowflake with five steps leading up to it.

It was within this room that the cold was at its highest potency and it became hard not to shiver.

“My bollocks are officially numb,” David said, still not quite believing what he was seeing.

“Are we still talking about your bollocks?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.”

David wasted no time in ascending the steps and studying the giant door that he felt was practically calling to him, begging for its secrets to be revealed.

“This has to be a cursed vault,” he said as Rowan came up behind him. “I’d bet my life on it.”

“Just don’t pay with your life,” came the prudent advice. “What if there’s a dark curse to prevent from getting inside?”

“It’s no use to keep saying ‘what if’. Cursed or not, we’ll have to face it sooner or later. My brother is more important than any of that.”

David didn’t try and break down the door right away, though he kept his wand firmly in his grip. Instead, he reached out with his free hand, feeling again a powerful sensation as though this was something that he was supposed to do. Ignoring the warning signs, the twinkling door appeared innocent, whispering for him to come closer.

The mesmerized Gryffindor placed a single finger on the door and was suddenly flooded with a swirl of images so powerful he dropped to his knees, groaning through the sheer overwhelming sensation.

Seeing this, Rowan rushed forward to assist his best friend.

“Dave! Are you alright!”

“I-I think so,” David replied, trying to sound confident, though he was still trying to make sense of what had just happened. “I think I just had a vision.”

“A vision? What did you see?”

He picked himself back up and tried to explain as best he could.

“It was all a bit fast but I believe I saw a room, a dark room filled with books.”

“Well that sounds like my kind of place,” Rowan joked.

But David’s face darkened, a very uncommon phenomenon which could only mean something quite grave.

“That’s not all. I also saw him. I saw…You-Know-Who.”

A dark, grave silence fell between the second year Gryffindors at that revelation. Both had lived through the dark times of the British Wizarding War and as such, remembered the horrible news stories of murder, disappearances and gratuitous violence. Though not in complete understanding of events given that they were mere children, the image of Voldemort- a pale, twisted creature, with waxy skin and red eyes- was enough to induce nightmares in any nine year old.

“We should go, Dave,” Rowan spoke up now, the uneasiness quite apparent in his tone. “This strange coldness, this entire place…I think it’s having an effect on us both.”

David was about to agree with such sentiment, but before either of them could so much as beat a hasty retreat, a low humming noise could be heard throughout the room. It sounded as though a jet engine was being revved up.

“What the hell…”

That’s when he noticed it; the hectogon center of the snowflake situated on the door. It was glowing and pulsing with a strange energy. By the time David realized what was going to happen it was too late.

The beam fired and hit Rowan directly in the chest, sending him toppling over backwards and hard onto the icy floor.

“ROWAN!”

Another beam of energy shot towards him, though thankfully he dove and managed to avoid it. With quick reflexes and intuition, the young preteen scurried away towards his best friend, who was unconscious though otherwise appeared unhurt. Still, he wasn’t going to take any chances.

“I gotta get him out of here,” he said to himself and wasted no time in doing so.

Before the beam could charge up again, David already had one arm wrapped around Rowan, picking him up with great effort, ignoring that his own strength was quite low due to the intense cold.

But that didn’t matter now. All that did was getting him to Madam Pomfrey straight away. He just prayed to Merlin it wasn’t anything serious. He had already lost a brother and it was his own fault, this would not be a repeat of those circumstances.

Pushing all negative thoughts away, David began his trudge to the Hospital Wing.

#david grant #rowan khanna #ben copper #minerva mcgonagall #fanfiction #hphm fanfiction #hogwarts mystery #gryffindor #mc

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downspiral · 4 years

Text

* / BPD ( borderline personality damon )

lil talk about damon’s behaviour, emotional patterns and mental health! i’m categorising this as a headcanon for simplicity’s sake but this is all based on canon material, whether unintentional or not i do genuinely think he has it in canon and will sort of be elaborating on why that’s clear to me. as a disclaimer none of this is meant to excuse any of his behaviour and hopefully it won’t come off that way either, but bpd and its associated stigma is a personal topic to me, so please go in with sympathy and an open mind. under the cut bc this could get lengthy!

so to start off with i’ll just briefly explain borderline personality disorder (BPD) for people unfamiliar with it— it’s a mood disorder that has many associated symptoms with various mental illnesses like depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder, as well as substance issues, eating disorders and other personality disorders eg. antisocial or narcissistic personality disorder. it’s classed by four groups of symptoms:

emotional instability

disturbed patterns of thinking or perception

impulsive behaviour

intense but unstable relationships with others

( obviously this definition is too broad for any specific diagnosis, since everyone is different, and can’t be used alone to diagnose someone without ruling out other disorders and subjective opinion of a professional who knows enough about your behaviours to make an assessment, so from here on out i’m going to be drawing on my own experiences, and hopefully i’ll be able to articulate it in a way that makes sense, but please let me know if it doesn’t. )

***

the first and most glaringly obvious identifiers of this where damon is concerned in my opinion is a), his tendency to spiral very suddenly and abruptly after even minor triggers, such as failure, rejection or even just feeling insulted by someone he cares about, and b) his frequent impulsive behaviour, and what might be termed a lack of self-control in following those impulses - the first examples that come to mind would be his leaving for a road trip with katherine despite hating her, or killing jeremy because he was the first person he saw after feeling rejected by elena - and as he later admitted honestly, not knowing that it wouldn’t be permanent.

so starting with a), his irrational spiralling — i’ll preface this by saying that in my own experience, my initial diagnosis where my therapist suggested BPD as a possibility was immediately after i told her that i felt my emotions were just more severe than most people’s, which is why i always felt i was overreacting to things, both bad and good, alternating with feelings of extreme numbness and dissociation which would follow immediately after as a coping method. bouncing between extremes of emotion is also something we see damon do constantly; not regarding the humanity switch detail and focusing solely on his ‘humanity-on’ behaviour, we still see him go between extremely cold, numb and uncaring (albeit often this is hidden behind deflection and humor) to deeply hurt, loving, and willing to make huge sacrifices for causes or for people.

this is also a little muddled by the in-world lore of vampires having very heightened emotions. if you consider that damon already had BPD while a human, which is highly plausible given what we see of the decisions he made even then, then it follows that as a vampire those already-dysfunctional behaviours would be driven to extremes. this isn’t only obvious to the person watching; other characters comment on it constantly, e.g. almost any time katherine shows up, everyone immediately starts worrying if damon’s going to snap, having learned that the tiniest of things can send him into extreme behaviour, harmful to both himself - picking a fight with julian out in the open, described as having a death wish, and various suicide missions - and other people - e.g. attempting to kill jeremy and bonnie, despite it being abundantly clear that those two murders would make everything worse for him, and logically, make no sense, and serve no benefit to him. they were not thought-out decisions, not premeditated, and not something he would do in a sound state of mind, which is part of why they’re so painful to watch - they’re stupid, unjustified decisions, and seem irrational and disproportionate to whatever triggered him to make them. this also falls into the category of ‘lashing out’, something damon is frequently noted to do - often in the form of destroying or severing relationships, which may be done via simple purposeful negative interaction with someone, or doing more, genuine harm so that those relationships are ended regardless.

this ties in both with the impulsive behaviour aspect, but also a comment elena once made which struck a huge chord with me as an identifier of BPD - she said he felt that everyone hated him, and in an attempt to face those perceptions or correct them as someone of sound mind would do, he instead tries to come to terms with the pain of that by making himself believe that they were right - ‘proving’ both to others and to himself that they were right to hate him, via doing bad things. while this particular incident was partially due to enzo’s influence and damon seeking approval from the only person he felt he could still get it from, he still had the agency to make that decision, and this wasn’t the only time where that behavioural pattern could be observed.

the depth to which those thought processes go can sort of be seen when you consider season 8, where enzo and damon were both under the mind control of a siren, leaving only their subconscious with free will to resist. enzo’s instinct was to try and weave messages into the things that the siren had him do, knowing that bonnie would recognise them and be able to save him from doing more harm. on the other hand, damon’s instinct was to sever those relationships so completely that none of them would ever attempt to save him again, thus keeping them, in his eyes, out of harm’s way.

i don’t wanna make this so long it’s unreadable so i’ll try and end it with this last point, which is that another symptom of BPD is latching on to one particular person - whoever might feel most significant to them at the time, whether a friend or romantic interest, though often those feelings can combine and become confused when that emotional connection is made (most obvious example being elena, who damon had a relatively good and stable friendship with, that seemingly functioned fine as it was, yet progressed into romance anyway and became destructive). when that said person is found, the intensity of your emotion leads to a usually unhealthy amount of attachment on your part - often leading to possessive, manipulative or even emotionally abusive elements of relationships that more often than not become toxic. this person becomes the sole way that you feel validation/love/approval/happiness, any good emotion at all - in a way, your brain compensates for previous and more significant traumas, e.g. parental abuse/neglect, by channelling all this emotion into the nearest outlet of love and acceptance you can find. as a result even the tiniest fraction of attention or approval from that person can completely brighten your mental state for weeks, while the tiniest perception of disapproval or neglect from them - note perception, this could be something as miniscule as a misunderstanding, a tone being read wrong in a text, a genuine mistake being interpreted as a deliberate attempt to separate - can be enough to drive you to suicidal ideation.

obviously, whether it’s known to them or not, all this puts an unrealistic amount of expectation on the other person - one individual cannot possibly be responsible for the entire mental state of another, and will often - quite rightly - lead to the decision to end the relationship out of self-preservation. this is observed very frequently with damon’s close relationships; at some point, most of the people he’s been closest to have, with some degree of regret, been forced to write him off, because he puts too much strain on their own mental state. without significant effort to change on the part of the disordered person, sadly, this situation doesn’t usually have a resolution, because one’s own mental health is never the sole responsibility of others. it’s worth saying that most of these behaviours are done unintentionally and instinctively, as what seems the first logical conclusion in a brain that has been wired - physically, neurons and pathways in the brain have been grown by trauma that leads to those paths becoming the ‘right’ ones, rather than the healthy alternatives, which is usually what therapy’s end goal is - minimising the disordered pathways while reinforcing the positive ones, via practice of healthy behaviours and identifying bad thought processes so they can be stopped with the hope that those ones will take priority eventually. that being said, decisions that are motivated by and followed by, self-hatred, doesn’t excuse them from the harm they may cause other people. and it’s not fair - none of it is, because immediately what that situation seems to become is, ‘i didn’t ask to be this way, i don’t want to be harmful, but because i have been traumatised this is how i turned out, and now if i want healthy and good relationships, i have to work twice as hard against all my natural instincts just to ensure i come off as a person worth caring about’.

this is getting a little off-topic, but to say - there is a stigma about BPD, often associated with emotional abuse and manipulation, and it’s too complex a topic to sum up in one paragraph, but the gist of it is that sadly in my experience there is truth to it. i feel as though my disorder increases the likelihood of me being harmful, which means i have to work twice as hard to stop it - things that seem like common sense, basic decency, human logic that comes naturally and as first instinct to many, have to be actively strived for by people with this particular disorder. so while failing to do so may happen more for those people, and thus lead to them coming off as a worse person, there is some explanation as to why - and of course that doesn’t mean excusing that behaviour, never! but, there is a grey area between ‘excusing and enabling unhealthy behaviour’ and ‘your disability grants you no leeway whatsoever’. there is a middle ground and it’s hard to find the right place to walk it, and probably differs for everyone, but for me that’s why damon is relatable, and why i think i have more tolerance for things that he’s done.

i’ll just end this by saying that this is all one person’s experience of bpd and what i’ve observed from a few others i’ve known. i don’t speak for everyone with bpd, it’s not my call to make, mental disorder is overwhelmingly complex and hotly debated even in medical circles. but all that being said, i have recognised a lot of my own emotional experiences in damon’s and how the characters around him react to it (without the murder, obviously) and to me it is slightly more complex than ‘this is a shitty person’. thank you for reading all this if you did, it’s kind of hard to talk about, but hopefully for some this adds a little more insight into my portrayal and attachment to the character.

#I WAS. WORKING ON REPLIES I HAVE A FEW HALF DONE BUT thinking abt therapy got me thinking abt this so. i'm dumping this out first #apologies. but *points at him* he's got bpd #you've ruined a perfectly good vampire is what you did look at him hes g #sorry. anyway #HEADCANON.#CHARADEV.#i'm saying headcanon but this is literally his canon portrayal and as a person with bpd i'm diagnosing him so there. periodt #right. adding this tag after i just finished writing this thing. sorry it got long and now i'm emo shun al so i'm gonna go do replies #watch no one read this. it's fine

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thattennisgirl · 5 years

Text

First Impressions Part 2 - Loki x Fem! Reader

Summary: Loki lures you into a late-night rematch after your last fight that resulted in a draw. Part 2 to this fic “First Impressions”.

Post-Thor Ragnarok, but an AU where Infinity War/Endgame does not occur. Loki joins the Avengers. Reader works for Stark Industries and with the Avengers. The reader is now Loki’s new partner.

Warnings: Language, Some fighting

Word Count: 1.6K

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He was eyeing you again, you could feel it, the sensation of being watched at the back of your head. It had annoyed you to no end. All you desired was to leave the facility's gym in peace and go to bed.

“You know it’s rude to stare right?”

“Do not flatter yourself, a God would never bother with a disgusting little mortal, especially not you.” A familiar tall figure stepped out from the shadows of the training room to confront you.

Liar, Loki’s internal thoughts betrayed him, you like her.

Loki had consistently watched you for the previous week, ever since your little incident in the training room, he began looking for the opportunity to openly challenge you once more. Your previous knife fight had resulted in a draw, Loki internally assured himself that this was out of pure luck on your part. He had just met you, he did not have the time to observe you in training as he had done over the past couple of days.

However, he hadn’t realized the great delight he would have in seeing you become unnerved by his presence. It had been incredibly satisfying to see you freeze up and glare at him when he came too close, or intentionally brushed past you in the hallways or the kitchen.

Even more wonderful was watching you, his dear partner, in training. He observed your training with the pathetic Captain America and his bonehead of a brother Thor. It hadn’t been too difficult to learn your fighting pattern, and Loki was incredibly enthusiastic about using it against you. The danger he had sensed from you, from the beginning, surely must have been a warning about your dangerous ability with daggers. Admittedly, it was a skill in which he had not seen in any other mortal, but Loki was still much better.

He was a God, and he didn’t need some Midgardian girl as a partner.

But what Loki hadn’t expected from his surveillance, was to learn that there was much more to the former SHIELD agent than met the eye. You had a distinct smell that drew him in, an intoxicating mix of something sweet like honey, and floral that reminded him of the roses that once flourished in his mother’s garden on Asgard prior to its destruction. You also had a smile that seemed to brighten the room, even coaxing a grin occasionally from the shy Dr. Banner.

Nonetheless, Loki’s main goal of riling you up into a fight was an easy one, and one he would see through. A few well-crafted insults here and there would do the trick.

You knew a trap when you saw one, especially in the form of a black-haired God who was seeking revenge. You would have to be a fool to think he wouldn’t seek retribution after your last fight. This was the God of Mischief. If you rose to his challenge, his insults, you would be playing right into his hands.

However, that knowledge didn’t stop you from acting irrationally nonetheless.

“Fuck you, you egotistical piece of -”

“You dare to insult me you mewling quim?! I am a God, you will speak to me with respect!” Loki snarled.

“What the hell did you just call me?!” Your gym bag was now forgotten on the floor as you turned around, your face now flushed in anger. What was this guy’s problem?

“Can you not hear clearly?” Loki taunted, leaning in closer to you, his green eyes dark and harsh. “I said -”

Out of pure rage, your natural instinct was to swing your right fist. You realized a moment too late, that you had already done this to Loki once. At that moment, you considered yourself lucky that Fury was not here to see this, as the individual who oversaw and directed your training, he would have had your head for this. You could remember his words clearly, Never use the same move twice on an opponent. Predictability is a weakness.

It was clear you had underestimated Loki and his fast reflexes, as he grabbed your wrist and with a quick tug towards him you were thrown off balance. In a smoothly executed move, Loki now held your wrists with his hands and kept his chest pressed against your back as he leaned over your shoulder to chuckle in your ear. An undeniable shiver traveled up your back at the sound.

Damn him.

“You mortals are so easily provoked. It’s disappointing really.” Loki kept a firm grip on your wrists when you tried to pull free. “Admit it, you are no match for me.”

You paused for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to escape his grasp. Agreement, perhaps? “You know what Loki? You’re right.” You paused, your inner emotions exclaiming in glee when you felt his grip loosen as he looked at you closely. Typical male. “I’m way better than you.”

You stomped hard on his left foot, and the Asgardian let out a sharp yelp, momentarily distracted as you grabbed for one of the daggers he kept in a sheath at his hip. You drew out the dagger and jumped back from Loki facing him.

He’s dangerous, your mind warned you instantly as Loki’s eyes narrowed in surprise at the sight of his dagger in your hand, He’s dangerous, angry, and you just stole his dagger. Well done. You are totally going to die because of your pride. For a moment, you wondered how far you would get if you started running now.

“I’m impressed.” Loki’s voice was low, a warning. You swallowed hard as you considered your escape routes.

Loki followed your gaze for a moment, a light grin touching his lips. “Please do run, I enjoy a good chase.”

Your eyes snapped back to his, and you frowned. You would not give him such pleasure. That’s what he wanted, for you to run away. I’m a former SHIELD Agent, I can totally kick his ass.

As if reading your inner conflict, Loki flashed a full smile of his white teeth.

Loki struck first, reminding you much of a snake in the grace, fluidity, and dangerous intent behind his movements. He had managed to materialize two daggers, out of nowhere, and you dodged and ducked away from his swings. But you hadn’t been able to predict the swift leg that swept you off your feet and sent you falling onto the mat below.

You barely had enough time to dodge the kick aimed for your side before you were back on your feet again. Ready to exchange further blows, as you couldn’t quite deny the thrill and adrenaline rush that came with fighting someone so lethal.

You weren’t quite sure how long the two of you had been fighting, perhaps a few minutes to half an hour before you began to feel your fatigue setting in. You had already trained today, fighting Loki, while enjoyable, was consuming more energy than you had left. Not to mention he was Asgardian, with a stamina which certainly outweighed any other mortal. That and he had landed a particularly nasty blow to your ribs that was becoming sore.

Loki, never one to pass up a weakness, delivered a well-placed push into the backs of your knees that forced you to the ground. Just as you regained your focus, you realized you were pinned to the floor by the raven-haired God, his hips pressing against yours in a very compromising position. A compromising position indeed, you realized, as you looked up into his eyes, to see green orbs shining in glee and presumed victory. A small smirk curled at his lips. Had he always been a lethal mix of male arrogance and good-looks?

But for the moment, it would seem he had you immobilized and right where he wanted you. Now all he needed was for you to admit defeat.

“My oaf of a brother will not be here to save you this time, dear partner.” Loki stated, moving closer to reach for your arms, to which you cleverly kept underneath you.

“I think,” you paused for another breath, your cheeks flushed in a way that Loki found attractive, “that you’re the one who needs saving.”

“Is that so?” Loki raised a dark eyebrow, dark green eyes framed by black lashes flickered down to look at your lips. Loki found himself briefly wondering if you’d let him kiss you.

“Mhmm.”

“I don’t think I need any-” Loki stopped mid-sentence to look at the familiar device you had pulled out from underneath you. “Where did you get that?”

“A thoughtful gift from Thor.” You eyed the remote carefully, before smiling at Loki, who stood up and immediately began looking for the obedience disk. “He said I might need it in case you try to sneak up on me, which you did.”

You pressed the button before Loki could find the device that you had managed to plant on him during your scuffle, and you watched as the God began convulsing due to the electric shocks emitted by the device. You practically rolled out of the way, watching as he fell to the ground.

After a few moments (which felt like an eternity for Loki) to gather up your bags and hoist them onto your shoulder, you turned back to him. You tilted your head at Loki and decided that while the Asgardian deserved some pain, you were not overly cruel.

With a touch of your thumb, the device clicked off, to which Loki immediately let out a groan of relief. You were quick enough to snag the disk off of his back and move towards the door as you heard Loki begin to get up.

“Ambush me like that again, and I’ll kill you.” You threatened as you walked out the door. Not turning to look back as Loki panted for a moment, before stumbling to his feet.

Loki realized that his first impressions were indeed correct, you were dangerous and beautiful.

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Taglist:

@meraki--mei @meraki--mei //hope this tags you, your tumblr is not coming up

@fire-in-her-veinz

#loki fanfic #loki x reader #loki laufeyson #loki laufeyson x reader #MCU #reader fanfiction #female reader

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