#i hope he has an epic plan to help everyone | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

flightfoot · 1 year

Text

Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic Recs for 2022

As a lot of you know, I read metric butt-ton of Miraculous fanfics, so I wanted to share with you 19 multi-chap fics, and 16 Miraculous one-shots (I just went through all the ones I really wanted to rec people instead of trying to fit a particular number) that I think y’all should take a look at. I tagged people’s tumblr blogs when I knew them, but I may well have missed some, especially if their username was different between AO3 and tumblr. Feel free to tag authors who I missed. Note that I’m only counting fics that were completed in 2022, so no ongoing fics. Enjoy!

Multi-chap fics:

When The Morning Comes by @into-september:

Gabriel Agreste has been unmasked as Hawkmoth, and the girl who was fighting him all these years turns out to be Tom Dupain's daughter. And standing between them is Adrien Agreste with his life in shatters that Tom Dupain has no way of piecing together.

But baking is at least a place to start.

I love how this not only digs into Adrien’s character, but Tom’s as well, especially how both of them have been estranged from their fathers. I haven’t seen that come up much.

---

Walking That Mile by @nomolosk

Nino and Alya wake up in the wrong bodies. Several things result from this, including, but not limited to, identity reveals and a better understanding of what their respective best friends are going through.

Never knew I needed Nino!Plagg and Alya!Tikki in my life, but there you go XD. It’s not all fun and games though, this is a Hawkmoth Takedown fic as well, and dealing with the effects of that.

---

The Sidekick Conspiracy by @bring-the-storm:

It's common knowledge among the heroes of Paris that their sidekick, the civilian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, is actually secretly their leader, pretending to be a normal girl who just ‘happens’ to show up at battles. Common knowledge to everyone except Marinette. What do you do when you're in the center of a conspiracy that doesn’t actually exist? In which Marinette is confused, Chat has no idea what's going on, Master Fu just wants Marinette to be safe, and everyone is misinterpreting the situation.

This one is just fun! Marinette has no idea she keeps on being given jewelry all of a sudden, and Fu’s frustrated that she won’t actually USE the damn Miraculous already.

---

As the dust settles by @pengirl91:

After Ladybug lost everything and yet her partner stood by her, she realized what she had been trying to lie to herself about for months. She is undoubtedly in love with him. The only problem is that she's terrified of what that could lead to and there's a monumental task ahead of them before it might be safe to act on her feelings for him... more than she already has.

Post Strike Back with my hopes, wishes, and predictions for season 5 as I wait with great impatience. Now complete.

The meat of this story is mostly a SentiAdrien fic. Adrien discovers that Gabriel is Hawkmoth, so Gabriel orders him to stay silent about what he found out, as well as giving orders to help him with plans to obtain the Miraculous he needs. Luckily, he doesn’t know that Adrien is Chat Noir...

---

A Little Fall Of Rain by @funnydoesntlookdruish:

Unable to transform in time, Marinette sacrifices her life to save Adrien from an assassin. With the help of the Kwamis, Adrien is able to bring her back to life, but it comes at a price. One that Adrien alone must pay. Now, Adrien is forced to keep even more secrets. The fact that Marinette is alive and that she has been his Lady all long. More than ever, they must defeat Hawkmoth. Only then can Marinette return to her life.

This one’s pretty angsty, arguably even more on Adrien’s end than Marinette’s. As part of their cover, Adrien has to be injured pretty badly, in ways that couldn’t be reversed if not for magic.

---

Strangely Familiar by @sunfoxfic

Alya Césaire’s life is perfect. Indeed, between the success of the Ladyblog, how well she’s doing in school, and the fact that she’s a superhero who has never bore the weight of a crisis of epic proportions, her life almost couldn’t be better. Almost.

But Alya has always been a go-getter, and so she’ll chase after that perfect life if it kills her. Which is how she ends up rushing to move out of her father’s apartment and in with Marinette, Adrien, and a complete stranger: Nino Lahiffe. And in fact, her life does seem perfect — she and Nino are fast friends. They spend a lot of time together and get to know each other really well.

But in the end, fortunate situations will bear unfortunate truths, and she learns things about herself that aren’t quite comfortable. Like I said, though: Alya has always been a go-getter, and she won’t let new feelings deter her from chasing after her perfect life.

This is the single longest DJWifi-centric fic on AO3 (which is a travesty) and it is GLORIOUS. Alya and Nino are both well fleshed-out here, with their own problems and baggage they’re dealing with, but it’s easier together.

---

final girl by @picayunearts:

Marinette has ninety-nine problems, and the superhero trio of Paris counts for a hundred.

[AU where Marinette follows through on giving up her earrings after Stoneheart, but becomes the Guardian to protect her replacement.]

This is just great. Marinette thinks she failed, but the other heroes wouldn’t agree. And eventually, she gains some confidence in herself as well.

---

Over and Over by @stcrsquad:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has had the worst day possible. She's failed to confess to Adrien (again), made an embarrassment of herself, and got into a fight with Chat Noir.

Adrien Agreste has had the worst day possible. He is tired of being pushed aside by everyone, including his crime-fighting partner Ladybug.

Luckily, fate (and Bunnyx) works in mysterious ways because they wake up again on the same day. A do-over. Except it keeps happening. Can the two figure out what they need to fix to break the loop, or will they be stuck forever?

Look these two will sit down and has things out even if it takes being stuck in a time loop together to make that happen.

---

When Bunnyx Brings A Baby by @funnydoesntlookdruish:

Marinette thought she was up to any challenge. She was Ladybug after all! But when Bunnyx arrives with a baby in her arms asking her to babysit, Marinette quickly learns that Akuma battles are easy compared to taking care of a baby. A baby that seems to know her and for some strange reason... Adrien?

Anentry in the “Lovesquare has to babysit their future children” genre! This is just adorable. Has an ongoing sequel too.

---

The Call of the Running Tide by @nemaliwrites:

To escape an arranged marriage, Adrien runs away from home, leaving behind all that he has ever known. In search of easy transportation, he sneaks aboard a ship at the docks. Everything seems like it is going according to plan — until he finds out that the ship belongs to the fierce pirate captain Ladybug.

I’m amazed this isn’t more popular. I mean, Lovesquare pirates!AU, with the Miracuclass as Ladybug’s crew? Come on!

It mostly has Adrien trying to fit in with the crew, find his way, that sort of thing. Though there is a confrontation with his father at the end.

---

metamorphosis by @peachcitt:

“I was thinking about that time you hated me.” “Why?” "I don’t know." “I didn’t.” “I know.”

three years after hawkmoth's defeat, marinette is still trying to figure out her version of normal. there's also sleepovers.

This has been a very popular fic so most people probably at least know of it, even if they haven’t read it themselves, but in case someone out there hasn’t: basically, Chat runs off with the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculouses after Hawkmoth’s defeat and never shows up again, worrying Ladybug sick and making her fear that he died. But then a mysterious new Butterfly Holder starts attacking Paris, only he seems a lot nicer than the last one, more of an Anti-villain than anything...

A Major Test of Strength by @nemaliwrites:

There is only one thing in Paris hated as much as the akumas: Ladybug herself. In an effort to help the Savior of Paris, Adrien winds up on the wrong end of an akuma attack — only to find himself stuck reliving the same day.

With enough time, anyone can be a hero, and as he continues dying over and over, he is forced to confront the idea that these loops may be just as much of a blessing as they are a curse.

This is loosely inspired by “All You Need Is Kill”, but no knowledge of that manga is needed to understand the story. There’s a bit of a mystery element going on as Adrien tries to figure out why he keeps dying even when he takes steps to prevent it, how he keeps coming back, and what the deal is with Ladybug, anyway.

---

Cataclysm by Lucid:

When Chat Noir uses Cataclysm on an akumatized ring that ends up being his amok, Marinette is left alone to solve the mystery of Hawkmoth's motives and bring back her missing partner.

This Sentiadrien fic does something I haven’t seen really explored before: it delves into what might happen if Adrien had to be recreated after having been destroyed, and the problems that might arise from that attempt. I love when we get to see Adrien’s perspective especially.

---

in case you don’t know me tomorrow by @thelibraryloser:

“We live in a crazy world where pieces of our lives can be erased like they never even happened. I just wanted to memorize this moment so… so I could keep it, if that makes sense.”

Adrien's heart gave a little flutter. She wanted to keep this moment, meeting him. She wanted to keep… him.

“I understand exactly what you mean."

In a world that has created a way to selectively delete memories, no moment is truly safe. So how do you hold on to something when the memory of it is gone? And how do you keep fighting for someone when you're the only one who remembers?

This is a SEVERELY underrated fic. It’s got some shades of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” in the world, though the plot is very different - the memory erasure ain’t willing.

Basically, the first few chapters are establishing Adrien’s and Marinette’s romance, and then the rest of the fic is dealing with Gabriel being an absolute DICK and using any means at his disposal to break them apart. It’s fantastic and I highly recommend reading it!

---

Shelltering Others by @rosie-b:

When Ladybug wakes Nino up in the middle of the night to scold him for revealing his identity, he thinks his career as a Miraculous holder is over. But instead, Ladybug gives him the opportunity to prove himself by becoming Chat Noir's confidant and learning his secret identity through a scavenger hunt of sorts. Will Nino pass Ladybug and Chat Noir's test, or will he fail to put the pieces together in time?

Quick disclaimer here: the first chapter looks kinda salty towards Nino, with Ladybug laying into him for revealing his and Alya’s secret identities to Adrien and Marinette. She’s mostly just trying to scare him into taking them seriously, though, since she herself has just proposed that Nino become Chat’s secret-keeper, and he can’t afford to be lackadaisical with that identity. I highly recommend getting through at least chapter 2 of the fic when giving it a shot, because this had some great character development and introspection for Nino, on Chat Noir, Adrien, Ladybug, and himself.

---

run boy run by tinuviel_tinuviel

Nino was sprawled on the floor of his room with Alya when his phone chimed, in the quiet of a premature autumnal sunset. It was one of those lazy evenings that had become rare lately. Contrary to popular belief, he and Alya could get studying done when in the same room, and he was elbows-deep in late assignments, which meant his phone was on Do Not Disturb, which meant the notification could only have come from one person.

ADRIEN 🐈: cmoe ove rnow ADRIEN 🐈: like riggt now ADRIEN 🐈: plag NINO: that is literally incomprehensible NINO: wait is that you plagg ADRIEN 🐈: mov faster

So this is a “Adrien finds out that his father is Hawkmoth and consults with Nino about what to do” fic, with Nino throwing Hawkmoth off Adrien’s track, though inadvertently at his own expense. Love Nino’s perspective here, and I always enjoy a good Hawkmoth-takedown fic!

---

Restorative Justice by @kasienda:

Chloé has never been a fan of Ms. Bustier’s community building activities. In fact, she detests them. She doesn’t want to learn about the drab boring lives of her peers. And she absolutely can’t stand it when their confessions make her feel things. Feelings that she doesn’t even have names for. But when Adrien unknowingly shares his struggles with his double life, Chloé vows she will do anything to get Ladybug to set things right. Even if it means pissing off the heroine. Chloé was already mad at her anyway.

I ADORE people talking out about what hurt them, with everyone growing to understand each other, and focusing on making recompense rather than just punishment, so this was fantastic. This isn’t all about Chloe either, Marinette, Adrien, Alya, and Nino all get to hash things out with each other as well in a group session, and it’s just really, really nice to read.

---

48 Hours To Make You Love Me by @mysticraven20:

“When did you stop?”

“Stop what, M’Lady?”

“Stop loving me?”

When two heroes miss the minibus for their winter get away with the gang they have no other choice but to make their way to the resort by themselves.

After avoiding their feelings for years, a freak snow storm makes them reconsider more than just whether to carry on driving.

Luckily, they find a quaint little bed and breakfast where suddenly they’re thrown into a situation where their feelings can no longer be held back; but, is it too late?

The interference of an elderly couple after an eavesdropping accident helps both Adrien and Marinette come to terms with their feelings and their actions.

Through movies, hot chocolates and snuggling to keep warm, Marinette wonders if it’s possible to make Adrien love her again, and more so can she do it by the time they need to leave their little sanctuary?

This just has a lot of adorable Adrienette shenanigans, with a fun time travel twist that had me inwardly squealing XD. If you want some Lovesquare fluff, this is a good one.

---

team is a four letter word by @ladyofthenoodle:

Alya didn’t want to come between Ladybug and Chat Noir. But she didn’t want to stop being Rena Rouge either. And if Chat Noir didn’t want to talk to her, then she’d need to find a different way to prove all three of them could be a team.

Her plan unintentionally brings a few secrets to light, which leads to even more secrets coming to light, which leads to... well, Alya is sure it'll all work out eventually.

This is a season 4 fic, with a heavy emphasis on repairing the relationships that were damaged, or could have been damaged, during that season. I love how everyone gets to really feel and react, be hurt and then gain understanding, with a happy ending to cap it off!

One-shots:

hella enchanted by @xiueryn:

Years ago, Marinette's father died and she was left with her awful stepmother. With magic forcing her to obey every command, she lived as a servant and gave up hope. When a man appears, searching for the very fairy that blessed her, Marinette decides to give life one more try. AU.

(a different ella enchanted au.)

Even though it’s a one-shot this one is pretty long, clocking in at over 30k words. Absolutely worth a shot, though. The first third is basically Marinette dealing with being pushed around because of her “blessing”, and the other two-thirds is just some adorable fluff of her and Adrien touring the country together.

------

Is it cool that you’re in my head? by @bring-the-storm:

Alya stared at the picture plastered across the homepage of every single tabloid and news site, whispering every curse she could think of under her breath. SHOCKING SECRET ROMANCE BETWEEN LADYBLOGGER AND PARISIAN SUPERVILLAIN REVEALED!!! the headline announced, casually shouting the words she had been dreading for all of Paris to read.

--- Alya had always assumed that someday Paris would discover that she had secretly been kissing their most wanted vigilante, but she had never thought it would happen so soon. As the domino effects of her relationship with Ladybug go spiraling through her life, Alya turns her sights towards the one responsible: the elusive superhero Hawkmoth.

AKA Someone outs Alya and her girlfriend so she retaliates by deciding to take down Hawkmoth

I recommend this to anyone who either A. Loves Alya and wants to see more of her in a starring role, or B., wants to see an AU where Parisians could feasibly believe that Hawkmoth is the good guy, and that Ladybug and Chat Noir are, if not villains, at least reckless.

----

We’re breaking free (there’s not a star in heaven we can’t reach) by @pauliestorylover:

Wing binding was a symbol of prestige in high society, but Adrien would much rather be born a pauper than be forced to bind his wings for another day. Becoming Chat Noir might be the chance he had been waiting for to break free and gain a taste of the heavens.

Meanwhile, Nino and Marinette were quickly learning the joys of the pastime called ‘hating rich old white men who moonlighted as supervillains’.

Excellent Wingfic here! It’s got some excellent worldbuilding in it. I especially like how it’s customary to exchange feathers with people you’re close to, and put them in particular places on your wings to symbolize what they mean to you, whether they’re friends, family, or lovers. That particular piece of lore is used to great effect in the story.

---

How Could I Not? by SorryJustAnotherPerson

In fairy tale books, Princesses were saved by nights from ferocious dragons. Those books were not their story, but Rose was happy to flip over a new page with her Juleka every single day.

Many years ago, she was put to this tower by her parents and her kingdom, along with a fire breathing dragon, so she could find her prince charming one day. How foolish for them to not calculate her falling in love with the dragon. I mean seriously.

How could she not?

I love fairy tale type stories, especially fractured fairy tales. And Juleka being a dragon is awesome. This is just a fun and adorable story.

---

Once Upon A Time by kao_rei:

"Humans fear wolves. I mean, we're horrible, sickening creatures, aren't we?" Adrien laughed.

"I don't think so," Marinette muttered. "Well, not anymore when I met you."

Marinette's days are all the same—she puts on her red cape, makes deliveries for her parents' bakery, and goes home to rest before another busy day. Adrien is a wolf-boy who watches her from afar, awaiting the day they finally meet to change their stories.

While falling in love may bring about some challenges, they're willing to fight through them together because they'd never settle for a "the end". They want a "happily ever after", too.

(In which Marinette is Little Red Riding Hood, Adrien is the Wolf, and they fall in love somewhere between deliveries, flower fields, and shiny red apples).

Did I mention I love fairy tale stories? Because I do.

---

(pockets full of) stones by felledstar:

Even though he wants to be “normal” and go to a “normal school” and have friends just like everyone else, Adrien’s discovered that he’s… not very good at it. It isn’t that he’s a superhero in his nonexistent spare time, or that he’s got a job modelling for his father, or that he’s got so many activities that it takes a whole other person to keep track of his schedule. It’s that… he’s always tripping over things that everyone else seems to know that he… just doesn’t know.

First day of school and we already have two lovebirds.

But there are some things that he does know, no matter what anyone else—Nino, Plagg, the entire population of Paris—thinks.

How he feels is one.

Whatever. She’s just a friend. A friend.

He loves Ladybug. Marinette is his friend.

Why doesn’t anyone believe him?

This is an aroace!Adrien story, that digs into the effects of amatonormativity on people. Especially with how the class all assumes that Adrien would be romantically interested in Marinette, and tries to matchmake him and Marinette in order to make both of them happy, much to his frustration. Based on what the class did in Guiltrip, I could see this happening. They love and care about their classmates and want to help them as much as they can, but that doesn’t mean they always know how best to do that.

---

Lady... bird? by @graaythekwami:

“Marinette!” Tikki called, flying towards the small room of water. “Marinette there’s an akuma– we need to transform!”

The parrot’s head popped up, recognizing these words. They were always said when the report came on TV– a routine he had come to know well. Akuma report, we need to transform, and finally–

“Tikki!” The bird cawed happily. “Spots on!”

This story is just hilarious. Tikki ain’t happy afterwards XD

---

I Won’t Let You by @generalluxun

After Gabriel's defeat, two individuals not party to the celebration run into each other, and find each other.

The summary doesn’t give much of an idea of what the fic’s about. Post-Hawkmoth Defeat, Chloe and Felix run into each other at the celebration of Gabriel’s downfall, and vent about their problems. Neither of them think the other one has it too bad - Chloe’s worried about disappearing, since her worth was entirely tied to her family’s prestige and wealth, and being seen as friends to a terrorist is gonna cripple both of those, while Felix is on edge about Ladybug having the Peacock Miraculous, since she has the ability to kill him at a moment’s notice (yes this is a Sentifelix fic).

They both make each other understand the turmoil the other is going through in extremely visceral ways, showing the other what it’s like to be them, in the circumstances they’re in. I don’t want to spoil what, exactly, they do, but needless to say, it’s worth a read.

---

don’t you worry child by kopycat_101

Marc and Nathaniel have a good life, married and living together in a cottage in the woods. But they consider having children at some point.

Marc in particular really wants to start a family with his husband. He knows the fey are real, so he goes searching in the woods to find one to strike a deal.

He may get a bit more than he bargained for in the process.

This is based on a tumblr post that’s been going around, which I think a lot of people will recognize as they continue going through the story. That post is credited at the end of the fic, so as not to spoil the plot.

---

Chat Walker’s Trial by @pearl484-blog

Instead of Catwalker showing up to serve as her new Chat Noir, Ladybug is stunned to find that Chat Noir has returned to her, having "improved" himself by repressing his emotions, memories, and willfulness. Deciding that this will not stand, she organizes her teammates to convince Chat Noir that giving those traits up and becoming the perfect partner was not the right move, but how can she argue against perfection?

Adrien Augreste 2022 entry for the day 23-24 prompt: Swap

This is a really intriguing fic. Instead of becoming Cat Walker in Kuro Neko, Adrien instead runs across a mage who helpfully provides some spells to make him into the “perfect” partner for Ladybug, magically suppressing his emotions and urge to rebel, as well as his memories of being Chat Noir, in order to make sure he doesn’t love her anymore. Ladybug, naturally, is distraught about this, but since Chat did all of this of his own free will, she needs to actually persuade him it was a bad move, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s exquisitely painful at times with the amount of self-hatred Chat has for his previous self, and how the Miracuteam is divided on how bad these changes actually are, since he does seem more focused now - though the holdouts are a lot less on board when they think of someone who’s closer to them going through this process.

---

disconnected by @just-an-ordinary-fan

Lady Wifi believes she might be the only one who does not want to obey Hawkmoth's orders.

When she sees another akuma hesitate in the battle, she finds she might not be entirely alone.

I actually wrote my own fic, Nullius in Verba, based off of this one. It’s short but has an intriguing premise, with all the akumas being transported to this warehouse after the fight’s over, having been basically forced to do Hawkmoth’s bidding. The akumas also don’t seem to remember who they were before, or even that they WERE ordinary people before, which is an interesting twist.

---

Shadow of the Chat by @pearl484-blog

Chat Noir discovers that he has a living Shadow. Unfortunately for him, it is not fond of Ladybug.

Inspired by the prompt: 5 times Character A and B thought they didn’t have anything in common and 1 time they realized how similar they are.

I wrote a fic based on this one and @wackus-bonkus-maximus fic “One Does Not Love Breathing”, basically importing Shadow into odnlb in order to help take down Monarch. It’s called “One Does Not Love Shadows”, btw.

Anyway, I love how this one-shot uses some of Carl Jung’s ideas about everyone having “shadows”; parts of ourselves that we consciously reject or suppress, and using that to get Chat some help. If you’ve ever played a Persona game, this will be familiar to you, as those games are based off of Jung’s ideas as well.

---

Day 7: Book by @andromeda612

During one of his works, Marc comes across a rather interesting book.

MarcNath AU fic here! Basically Marc is a super powerful warlock, and is brought in to help with the case of a lying witch who apparently caused a lot of problems for people, using her magic to help fool everyone. She’s actually dead by the time the story starts, and everyone’s trying to go back through and figure out what she’s done and why memories surrounding her seem to be foggy. Meanwhile there’s a book she left behind which appears to be sentient, and which Marc’s taken a liking too...

---

Find the Sentimonster by @taketwoinink:

Nino has a lot of conspiracies. He watched one too many mystery movies and now fancies himself a detective. It's not often that he gets the entire class together for an interrogation, but it's never fun. Chloe makes everyone's life miserable and Marinette and Lila never get along.

And this time? Secret sentimonsters in their class? The fate of Paris hanging in the balance?

Mylene doesn't need this stress in her life.

This is based off of an episode of Glitch Techs, so if you’ve seen the show, it might be familiar. I just really enjoyed watching the class trying to puzzle out who the sentimonster spy might be, with all the wild accusations and theories being hurled around, especially knowing the actual truth.

Come Take My Hand by @carelisswriting:

Luka heard his soulmate for the first time when he was ten. All he knows about her is that she likes fencing. It's just a coincidence that Kagami likes fencing, right?

(Lukagami Soulmate AU, written for the Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa Exchange!)

I’m a sucker for soulmate fics, and this had an interesting take on it, with your soulmate able to hear you thinking only about the thing you’re most passionate about. Loved Kagami’s way of showing Luka she’s his soulmate especially!

---

When Feelings Are Too Big For Words by ClockworkCaptain:

When Luka takes a gig playing for a drag show he's falls hard and fast for the drag queen Buttercup who uses her performances to work through her own emotions. Meanwhile Adrien's been using drag to work through his own emotions and thinks maybe Luka coming back into his life and showing interest might mean a second chance.

Made for @mlsecretsanta 2022

Published on New Year’s Eve, this just barely makes it to the deadline for this list. I’m glad I don’t need to wait a year to talk about it though! One of the issues I tend to have with Luka shipfics, and with Lukadrien especially (though I think Lukanette actually has this problem worse) is how Luka tends to disappear within the fic and the pairing, feeling more like “The Love Interest” than his own person. Not so here! While most of the intrigue surrounds Adrien, I still got the sense of Luka being his own person, not just existing in the fic for Adrien.

I adored Adrien getting to display an aspect of himself through persona and performance - that does align well with how he approaches Chat Noir - and overall I just had a lot of fun with this fic!

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic rec #ml fanfics #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #Along with a lot of other assorted characters #But let's be real #Most of these are about those two #I do have others in here though

792 notes · View notes

stoically · 1 year

Text

“Besides, your still a nun. Aren’t you?”

This line comes when Father Vincent attempts to join Beatrice and Ava in the van and Beatrice says no. Ava says she doesn’t trust him either but it’s better for their mission that he comes. Then she drops this line before reminding Beatrice that forgive is kind of her job.

Proof that Ava’s salty over Beatrice turning down her ‘let’s run away’ plan.

This season starts with Ava rearing to fight Adriel. She wants to get (back) into it. When one of Adriel’s cultists says she can’t run away from his light she shoves the guy so hard he goes flying. In public. That scene’s set up to show that Ava has changed. She’s no longer the irreverent civilian she was. She’s the Warrior Nun. In action not just in halo. So much so that she almost blows herself up when their initial plan to put the crown on Adriel fails.

It’s not just Beatrice’s faith that was shaken by that fight. It was also Ava’s. She fell back into the old pattern of survival that she knew. Slightly different, though, because she wanted Bea to run with her. Which brings us to Beatrice’s faith (which is her business, as a nun). This whole season Beatrice’s character arc is figuring out how to be herself (how to live) without relying on the expectations of perfection in a role. Beatrice knows how to be perfect in a role. She’s way less certain how to be herself (and have that be enough for others and herself).

Except when they finally did return to the role that Beatrice can excel at, she fails. Epically. She (thinks she) gets her friend killed by her actions. Worse, the friend who was a trainee under her (Camila), who she was supposed to be looking out for. Along with Yasmine, who was not a Sister Warrior and Beatrice would assume she was also supposed to look out for. And she actively stopped the action that (might) have stopped Adriel. She failed so hard at being a Sister Warrior it was practically treason (in her mind).

It wasn’t until that moment where her mission as a Sister Warrior was exactly opposite her feelings for Ava. With no time to think, Beatrice chose Ava. When she does have time to think, she regrets it. Not because she regrets saving Ava. Ava brings this up. Ava very pointedly says if Beatrice did what she ‘should’ have done to rescue Camila and Yasmine and the world, Ava would be dead. Beatrice ignores this. Doesn’t even go there. What Beatrice regrets is not being good enough to both do what she should have done (save everyone) and what she wanted to do (save Ava). This calls back to Bea’s first scene this season and Ava saying “you know, you don’t have to be so perfect all the time”. In this moment, Beatrice’s greatest crisis of faith is between that part of her that hoped Ava was right and that part of her that feared Ava was wrong. Beatrice has no idea how to reconcile those parts. Other than doing what she’s always done, throw herself harder into the role given to her. No matter what it costs her.

After the whole mind bending Crown of Thorns experience Ava appears a whole lot calmer about what she decided (did she though??). She approaches Beatrice in the van and makes a (kinda awkward) joke. “You look like you could Aikido someone into submission”. Only to get shot down with Beatrice’s “don’t test me then.”

Of course, Ava then proceeds to test Beatrice by saying Father Vincent (y’know, the guy who betrayed her and who directly killed one of Beatrice’s best friends and was tangentially responsible for the death of two others as well as releasing Adriel, that guy) was coming with them on their last ditch effort to save the world. NBD I guess. Beatrice immediately says no. Says she doesn’t trust him. Offers all the logical, mission centric reasons why this should not be allowed. Ava out logics her mission centric reasoning. Then proves she’s still salty (as much as she loves her nun wife) by practically saying “you want to be a nun? Then be a nun.” Very ‘you made your bed, now sleep in it.’

Ava very much wants to help Beatrice’s journey to loving herself, to being herself. And not just for the potential sexy times rewards. She thinks Beatrice is awesome and beautiful and wants Beatrice to think that too. She sometimes also gets very frustrated at how Beatrice hides behind duty to such a hypocritical degree (eg: becoming the boss after a month but Ava’s not allowed to blow their cover, being jealous of guys Ava talks to and calling it protection, pretending like she wouldn’t make the same call to save Ava).

Which I think is why the scene where Ava’s dying after defeating Adriel is so important. Ava tells Beatrice to take the halo. Beatrice says no. Lilith offers a way to save Ava that means Earth looses the halo. Beatrice says yes. Beatrice has time to think (at least more than a split second reaction). She still chooses Ava. Living isn’t about Beatrice not fighting, it’s about Beatrice being true to herself. And the first step Beatrice took to that was choosing Ava.

#warrior nun #ava character analysis #Sister Beatrice character analysis #avatrice #They are in love #even if sometimes they want to kick each other off a cliff #or feel like they were just kicked off a cliff

359 notes · View notes

apuckishwit · 9 months

Text

See, it's a METAPHOR

A preview of Chapter 31 of Rolled a 1 on the Check, Rolled a 20 on the Save by APuckish_Wit on A03

The boys are acting weird.

Not bad weird or anything. He doesn’t think that anything’s wrong per se. They’re just super giggly and clearly are having private conversations in their Discord messages that they’re not letting him in on. Like…way more private conversations than they usually do during a gaming session.

It's their last gaming session before a two-week hiatus so he can attend Origins (and take a little side trip to Chicago to meet the man of his—increasingly explicit—dreams face to face for the first time and hopefully sweep him off his feet with his epic love confession), and he’s been planning an epic cliffhanger for the last month. He just needs to get Will or maybe Dustin to take the bait and convince the others to investigate the Upside Down version of the mysterious Apothecary Brenner’s estate. Ordinarily he wouldn’t care too much, besides being a little miffed that they aren’t giving his masterful storytelling its proper attention…but Steve’s acting weird, too.

He has been for the last couple weeks, honestly. Again, not so much a bad weird. He’s just been quieter than usual. Distracted, almost. Eddie kind of feels like Steve is only half paying attention to their conversations lately, but when he asks about it, Steve just says he’s fine. Has something on his mind that he’s trying to work out. Eddie tries not to be saddened that Steve hasn’t asked for his help or opinion…Steve’s his friend, not his significant other (no matter how much Eddie’s hoping, praying, and fantasizing that that might be different soon) and if Steve doesn’t want to talk about what’s bothering him, he doesn’t have to.

He tries not to let the weirdness get to him, and in the end it’s actually Lucas who takes the bait and convinces them to check out the apothecary in case there are any healing potions or herbs that could be useful. The boys howl in delighted outrage when Eddie springs his trap—dozens of the sentient vines that have been harrying the party bursting from the floor and walls of the apothecary as soon as they start searching the building and ensnaring Xerxes, Will the Wise, and Sir Stephen as loud, ominous footsteps descend from the building’s upper floor.

“And that, unfortunately, is where we’re going to have to leave it for the next two weeks,” Eddie announces gleefully, eliciting more howls and bright laughter from the boys. “I do thank everyone for joining us tonight, and don’t forget to check out my Twitch and YouTube channels for live streaming events from Origins next week! I’ve got a great panel planned and a few announcements about future projects!” For some reason, that sets off more laughter from Dustin before he quickly mutes his mic, and the boys all sign off much more quickly than usual, until it’s just him and Steve in the Discord.

“You excited for the convention?” Steve asks. In the background, Eddie can here pots and pans being moved, the clink of dishes and running water. He closes his eyes for just a moment, pretending that he’s right there with Steve, the two of them debriefing their day together over the remains of a nice dinner. God, what is his life that he’s fantasizing about clearing away dirty dishes?

It would be worth a fantasy if it was with Steve, though.

“So be honest—scale of one to ten, how fucked are we when whatever it is gets down those stairs?” Steve asks, and Eddie lets out a short bark of laughter.

“Eh, I’m not saying I’ll definitely get my first character kill in…but you might want to have a backup ready.”

“Already done.”

“Is it a human paladin named Stephano?”

“No,” Steve replies in mock-offense. “It’s a human barbarian named Stefan. Totally different.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Eddie says, so much fondness coloring his tone he was sure someone looking at him would be able to see cartoon hearts circling his head. “Dustin will hate it.”

“You say that like it’s not my main motivation.”

Eddie laughs again, gathering his laptop up and heading out into the living room. Gandalf is waiting at the door to his recording room, immediately winding around his ankles as he makes his way over to the couch. A copy of Men at Arms he’d gotten from the local library is lying on the arm of the couch, face-down and open to the page they’d left off on a couple days ago. “You up for more of Sam tonight? We’re getting to the thrilling finale.”

“It’s his wedding—how much more chaos can there be?”

“Oh, Stevie, Stevie, Stevie—haven’t you been paying attention? There’s always more chaos in Discworld.”

“Hah, true. But, um—he and Sybil get a happy ending, right?”

Eddie tilts his head, curious at the sudden shift in Steve’s tone. He sounds almost…tentative. “I mean—do you want spoilers?”

“Maybe? Shut up, I know it’s stupid. I’m just…rooting for them. They’re so different, but they really love each other.”

Eddie can feel the soft, goofy smile splitting his face. “That they do. And yeah, I promise, they get a happy ending. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not perfect. Sam gets caught up in his work…kind of a lot now that I’m thinking about it. But they always make it work. Sir Terry wasn’t real big on fairy-tale perfection. His storytelling is so real. Sam and Lady Sybil…they have problems and challenges, but they just keep, I dunno, choosing each other? No matter what. So the differences don’t matter in the end, and the mistakes can be forgiven.”

Steve is quiet for a moment. “Choosing each other. I really like that.”

Gandalf leaps up on Eddie’s lap, and he absently scratches behind the cat’s ears. “Yeah,” he says softly. “Yeah, me too.”

#steddie #steddie fic #steve x eddie #stranger things #stranger things fic #rolled a 1 on the check rolled a 20 on the save #fic preview #steve harrington #eddie munson #Discworld as a love language

74 notes · View notes

chefboyar-zeee · 2 months

Text

Round Table: Trolls

In what ways does the film’s score situate the story with its narrative context?

Since music is a central theme in the "Trolls" film, the score incorporates various musical styles and motifs that complement the storyline. This includes original songs written for the film, as well as musical references to popular songs from different genres and eras. By integrating these musical elements into the score, the film's music reinforces its thematic focus on the power of music to bring people together and uplift spirits.

The score may also reflect the personalities of the characters and the different worlds they inhabit. For instance, the music associated with the Trolls may be bright and catchy, while the music associated with the Bergens, the film's antagonists, may be more ominous or somber. These musical distinctions help to differentiate between the various characters and settings in the film.

Some Examples:

After Branch demonstrates a poor nighttime routine when sleeping with Polly, she tries to match his energy singing even if he doesn’t enjoy the singing itself. So she sings “The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed, with her own Polly twist. Ultimately, he rejects it by throwing her ukulele away in the fire.

youtube

When the audience doesn’t know much about the Bridget character, the audiences is introduced to her through song expressing her longing for King Gristle.

youtube

How do songs use character performance to push cultural authenticity in the film’s diegesis?

Poppy sings “Move Your Feet” by Junior Senior, when talking about the huge troll celebration that everyone is excited for. It’s a very reaffirming and fun song to get the people ready to party together. Every song is full of the entire troll community, showing their love and connection with each other. They sing of everybody being united, which is quickly shown to not be the case.

Although Armstrong is writing in conversation with Disney and cultured groups, and I am analyzing a fantasy film involving Trolls, what she has to say about fantastical themes and epic performances still applies. The music in fantasy films tends to have epic themes that evoke a sense of adventure, heroism, and magic. The use of sweeping melodies, dramatic crescendos, and majestic motifs helps to transport the audience into the fantastical realms depicted on screen (Armstrong, 2018).

youtube

In what ways does the film use musical “framing” to structure the score within familiarized styles?

By framing unfamiliar sounds within a familiar musical context, filmmakers can create contrast and emphasis on specific moments or themes in the film. The juxtaposition of different musical styles can highlight key emotional beats, character developments, or narrative shifts, enhancing the overall impact of the storytelling.

The songs come in when characters are having moments of extreme hope or need to inspire one another

The songs are meant to hype up the characters to execute some form of difficult task (I Will Bet Back Up Again)

Because of Poppy’s character, a significant portion of the film, specifically recalled plans or imaginative ideas, are shown in storybook (scrapbooking) which immerses you more into the fantastical world of Trolls.

#oxyfilmmusical #animatedmusical @theuncannyprofessoro

#Youtube

16 notes · View notes

chaotictarlos · 1 year

Text

You took the best of my heart and left the rest in pieces

ship: Tarlos | fandom: 911 Lone Star | author: chaotictarlos| read on ao3

Rating: Explicit Warnings: Angst, Carlos Reyes needs a hug, canon divergence, before season 3 and during, feelings of being unwanted, self-doubt, Grace is Carlos’ bestie, break-up sex, anal sex, m x m smut, mlm, canon whump, ex-lovers, lots of feelings, canon whump, tk strand whump, internalized homophobia

Word Count: 23,520

Summary: An exploration of emotions.

To Cassi @ronensass who is my angst bestie and lets me send her songs (and send songs in return) and random thoughts about tarlos - I’m sorry that this took so long to get out.

To Ali @sapphire11 who became one of the biggest supporters of this fic as I wrote it. Thank you for all the encouragement and love that you gave me.

To Giggles @detective-giggles who is just a fantastic person and always listened to my ideas and lets me scream in her inbox about so many different things and sends me the best plot bunnies.

To Noxy @noxsoulmate who always listens to my spirals and allows me to scream about different things and ideas and who always helps me put my ideas into the proper order.

To @lightningboltreader who was so encouraging and allowed me to scream with them about this fic and was always excited when I posted something about it.

To @thebumblecee @mooshkat and @cowlos-reyes has listened to me complain and stress over this fic many times.

To everyone in the TWP discord who has been encouraging and so kind.

Thank you to everyone who's sent an ask about this, who has taken the time to send motivation, and have been excited for this fic to come out.

Author's Note: Title from In the Stars by Benson Boone. Cassi sent me this song and I’ve been listening to it a lot on my drives I thought of this idea so here it is. Remember this is slightly canon divergent so not everything might line up with canon but I did the best I could to make it mostly canon. Though it did, at times, take on a mind of its own. This fic means a lot to me. I spent 6 months writing it and it grew to be this epic -what I think - a masterpiece and I have a few others planned to go on with this fic. I hope you guys enjoy it. I would love to know your thoughts so please drop your thoughts in a comment, send me a DM, or an ask. I'm so nervous to post this dnsndj I hope you all enjoy it and take time to read it. I know it's long.

I am writing a TK POV and a sequel where it explores them getting back together. I hope to have those out soon.

I have also made a Spotify playlist for this fic! Take a listen as you read!

----

Oh, it hurts so hard

For a million different reasons

You took the best of my heart

And left the rest in pieces

- In the Stars by Benson Boone

Past Sundays would have found Carlos awake early and in the kitchen, making breakfast for him and TK because it was their favorite day. After TK got hurt again, they had made a promise to each other that they would always set aside one day of the week that would be their day. A day that they would set aside for time with each other, a day where their attention would only be on each other and they would ignore - within reason - outside forces. It took a lot of begging, graveling with their captains, and promises of picking up an extra shift if needed, but they were both able to get Sundays off so they could enjoy the act of just being together. It was important to both of them that they had one day to stop and enjoy each other’s company and remember that they were important to each other - not that that fact was often forgotten.

Carlos would always start with making a pot of coffee and let the smell of it fill the townhouse. It was a dark roast that both he and TK were fond of. It always made Carlos chuckle to make it because he knew that TK was going to load it down with sugar and cream, ruining the taste of it in Carlos’ opinion, but he was still fond of how TK did it; he had given up on trying to convince TK to get one of the sweeter coffees so that he could add fewer things to it. Carlos would make himself a cup and enjoy the morning paper before he would start breakfast.

Sunday had become pancake day for breakfast. It hadn’t always been that way when they started setting the day aside for each other, and Carlos couldn’t remember what had prompted them to decide that they were going to have pancakes each Sunday, but it was enjoyable. Carlos liked to challenge himself and each week he would come up with different ways to make the pancakes so that they wouldn’t grow tired of it.

Eventually, the smell of coffee and pancakes drifting through the townhouse would wake TK and he would wander into the kitchen, most often blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. TK would mutter a good morning, sometimes complaining that morning came too fast, and Carlos would wordlessly hand him a mug of coffee and kiss his temple. He would urge his sleepy boyfriend to go back to bed and tell him he would bring breakfast to bed when it was down.

After a few more kisses were exchanged, Carlos would watch TK shuffle back to bed with a soft smile on his face. He would finish breakfast, make two plates, and put them on a tray to carry up and into the bedroom. It was always a 50 / 50 chance whether TK would be awake and drinking his coffee, or asleep with his cup sitting on the nightstand beside him. If he was sleeping, it was never tough to rouse him again and convince him to wake up for breakfast - and more kisses, of course.

They would eat and laugh together and then later, with their dishes cast aside, they would enjoy each other in bed before taking an after-breakfast nap and then spend most of the morning cuddled in each other's arms. The afternoons were always reserved for going to the Reyes’ for Sunday dinner.

It was always a time when they could just be together and enjoy being in love. Even when the townhouse burned down and they had to move in with Owen for a while, they still found ways to make their Sundays special to them. They might have looked different, but they were still filled with love and taking time to be together. It was the one little bit of normalcy they had when everything went up in flames.

But all that was before.

READ ON AO3

tags: @strangefurychaos @ronensass @sapphire11 @first-kanaphan @angeltk @noxsoulmate @beautifulhigh @welcometololaland @rangergurlgleek1211 @detective-giggles @tarlos-spain @lonestardust @bubblesandroses8 @thebumblecee @mooshkat @importantbailiffpaperpony @tarlos-spain @ramblingdisaster73

#chaotic fics #tarlos #tk strand #carlos reyes #tarlos fanfiction #carlos pov breakup fic #breakup era fic #tarlos breakup era #season 3 #911 lone star #911 ls #911 lone star fan fiction #tk x carlos #carlos x tk #3 x 04 #push

129 notes · View notes

mariana-oconnor · 10 months

Text

The Norwood Builder pt 2

Last time absolutely no one had any chill at all. We met a very excitable solicitor who had been told he was to inherit a substantial fortune, then framed for the murder of an old family friend (confirmation pending), all within 24 hours.

The body recovered had been burnt beyond recognition, which I only mention because my current theory is that the dead guy, whose name I cannot currently remember, had beef with the parents of the solicitor, and therefore faked his own death and framed their son in revenge.

It's a very convoluted plan, but as mentioned previously, everyone in this story is working at chill level -9000.

“My first movement, Watson,” said he, as he bustled into his frock-coat, “must, as I said, be in the direction of Blackheath.” “And why not Norwood?”

Because so far no one's actually inquired into what the connection between our young friend and his mysterious (and possibly dead) benefactor is.

Like, if the guy has faked his own death, but somehow dies over the course of this adventure in a way not connected to Mr McFarlane, would the will still be held as legally binding? Because that sounds just the right amount of karma for me to get behind.

Clearly in that case the will was not intended to be taken seriously, and also it was written up by the beneficiary, which is sus af, but still...

"No, my dear fellow, I don't think you can help me. There is no prospect of danger, or I should not dream of stirring out without you. I trust that when I see you in the evening..."

Guy gives up his job for you, and you just leave him at home like a sad little puppy.

This probably means that he's about to learn something that would give the game away, so it must not be exposed to the reader through our narrator. Or something.

It was late when my friend returned, and I could see by a glance at his haggard and anxious face that the high hopes with which he had started had not been fulfilled.

Oh no. So he didn't discover anything important from the McFarlanes. No epic rivalry or previous vendetta.

“Yes, Watson, I went there, and I found very quickly that the late lamented Oldacre was a pretty considerable black-guard. The father was away in search of his son. The mother [...] would not express either surprise or regret over the fate of Oldacre. On the contrary, she spoke of him with such bitterness that she was unconsciously considerably strengthening the case of the police [...] ‘He was more like a malignant and cunning ape than a human being,’ said she, ‘and he always was, ever since he was a young man.’"

Oh... so that's exactly what I thought. The old guy was horrible, they all hated each other. He seems the exact kind of person to take revenge for an old slight by faking his own death and framing his 'enemy's' son. I don't know what you're talking about Holmes.

Also, if you're going to just relate to us what happened, moment by moment, why didn't Watson just go with him, ACD?

“‘Yes, I knew him well; in fact, he was an old suitor of mine. Thank Heaven that I had the sense to turn away from him and to marry a better, if a poorer, man.'"

That's your motive. Right there.

"...she produced a photograph of a woman, shamefully defaced and mutilated with a knife."

That's creepy and exactly the stalker-like behaviour of a man who bears a grudge and who will absolutely take it out on your son decades later.

But whytf did you keep the photo? Just burn it.

"The blood-stains were very slight, mere smears and discolorations, but undoubtedly fresh."

So there's no real sign that someone was killed in that room, then?

"But it seemed to me that all the papers were not there. There were allusions to some deeds—possibly the more valuable—which I could not find."

Two theories: either they never existed or Mr Oldacre took them with him as he absonded.

"Mrs. Lexington is her name, a little, dark, silent person, with suspicious and sidelong eyes."

Three theories, the housekeeper took them.

"She could tell us something if she would—I am convinced of it. But she was as close as wax. Yes, she had let Mr. McFarlane in at half-past nine. She wished her hand had withered before she had done so. She had gone to bed at half-past ten. Her room was at the other end of the house, and she could hear nothing of what passed. Mr. McFarlane had left his hat, and to the best of her belief his stick, in the hall."

OK, so the police theory is Mr McFarlane left his stick in the hall, went in to see Mr Oldacre, came out to get his stick (specifically for the purposes of killing the man) then left the stick and went out again?

The real question is where is his hat? Did he leave that behind or did he take it with him, because if he had the opportunity to regain the stick for murderous purposes, then he had the opportunity to get his hat as well. No hat was mentioned at his first appearance, and Watson does like to describe a good hat, but he technically should have taken it off as soon as he entered the house.

Also, she's covering for the 'dead' guy. She knows he's not dead.

"I fear that the Norwood Disappearance Case will not figure in that chronicle of our successes which I foresee that a patient public will sooner or later have to endure.”

Tell us how you really feel, ACD.

Every time Holmes is dismissive of Watson's writing (or flat out insulting like he is here) I just see it as ACD projecting and it's a lot funnier.

“Surely,” said I, “the man's appearance would go far with any jury?” “That is a dangerous argument, my dear Watson. You remember that terrible murderer, Bert Stevens, who wanted us to get him off in '87? Was there ever a more mild-mannered, Sunday-school young man?”

oh my god. omg omgomg... is this... is this a passage in a Sherlock Holmes story that outright states that appearance is not linked to criminal behaviour?

Do my eyes deceive me?

Watson's still plumping for the physiognomic view, and yet shot down immediately.

"On looking over the bank-book I found that the low state of the balance was principally due to large cheques which have been made out during the last year to Mr. Cornelius."

That sounds like an...

No, really. Oldacre is Cornelius, Cornelius is Oldacre. Everything makes sense now. He's been funnelling money into accounts under a different name so he can have funds when he takes on his new identity.

The carpet round his chair was littered with cigarette-ends...

Really Holmes? That's just nasty. I'm sure you have an ashtray somewhere. Do you expect Mrs Hudson to pick those up?

“Important fresh evidence to hand. McFarlane's guilt definitely established. Advise you to abandon case. — Lestrade."

Lestrade, my guy, I'm pretty sure that's going to turn out to be evidence that definitely establishes McFarlane's innocence.

Oldacre won't have been able to resist doing his own little 'cock-a-doodle of victory' and he'll overplay his hand. Or he'll be playing the part of a tramp who 'saw the whole thing happen'.

"After all, important fresh evidence is a two-edged thing, and may possibly cut in a very different direction to that which Lestrade imagines."

Holmes and I are on the same page, it seems. Even if he hasn't caught up to my masterplan of Oldacre and Cornelius being one and the same.

I have known him presume upon his iron strength until he has fainted from pure inanition. “At present I cannot spare energy and nerve force for digestion,” he would say in answer to my medical remonstrances.

Between this and the cigarette butts I'm just...

Within the gates Lestrade met us, his face flushed with victory, his manner grossly triumphant. “Well, Mr. Holmes, have you proved us to be wrong yet? Have you found your tramp?” he cried.

OK, now Lestrade has also lost his cool... we are all dramatic bitches in this story. No one is free from it.

Calm down, Lestrade. I'm sure you've been through moments like this before where you thought you'd beaten him but hadn't. In fact, I know you have because I've read some of them. Just take a deep breath and count backwards from 100.

"Step this way, if you please, gentlemen, and I think I can convince you once for all that it was John McFarlane who did this crime.”

I bet you a shiny new sixpence that you can't.

“This is where young McFarlane must have come out to get his hat after the crime was done,” said he.

OH MY GOD, It's the fucking hat. Did he have a hat?

Well, it's a fingerprint. Which wouldn't be accepted as evidence in the British court system until 1901. This story is set in 189? although it was published in 1903. So Lestrade is actually ahead of his time here. This is Cutting Edge Victorian crime fighting, people. Lestrade is a modern, forward-thinking law enforcement officer.

As he held the waxen print close to the blood-stain it did not take a magnifying glass to see that the two were undoubtedly from the same thumb.

Very impressive eyesight everyone has to be able to accurately compare and identify a thumbprint with the naked eye so quickly. My guys you are killing it with your perception rolls. And people say that the police in the Sherlock Holmes stories aren't very perceptive.

“What a providential thing that this young man should press his right thumb against the wall in taking his hat from the peg!"

I need to know if he even took his hat. Because if his own story is to be believed, then he went out the back way and left hat and cane behind. So if he didn't have his hat then this is clearly evidence he's been framed.

Admittedly, having the wherewithal to fake fingerprints when they're not even a legally accepted piece of evidence yet is some high level framing. Pity you wasted it on the hat story.

“It was the housekeeper, Mrs. Lexington, who drew the night constable's attention to it.”

Not suspicious at all. Look at this perfect bloody thumbprint that you missed. Right next to the hat that I absolutely did not remove.

“Only this: that I know that that mark was not there when I examined the hall yesterday."

You could have said that to Lestrade. He might have taken it as sour grapes, but I really feel like you should have mentioned that to him.

Finally, on the top corridor, which ran outside three untenanted bedrooms, he again was seized with a spasm of merriment.

Is Mr Oldacre hiding in his own attic? That would be impressive.

“I think it is time now that we took our friend Lestrade into our confidence. He has had his little smile at our expense, and perhaps we may do as much by him if my reading of this problem proves to be correct. Yes, yes; I think I see how we should approach it.”

Just waiting to be petty and dramatic about it, I see.

Also, I will be taking that sixpence, now, Inspector Lestrade.

I've gone back to double check and there is no mention of a hat in the first part, although they don't specify that they didn't go back out into the hallway, it certainly implies that they didn't. So if Mr McFarlane did not get his stick, he did not get his hat. That hat is somewhere around.

Or it's been burnt with the body.

Whatever, Oldacre's not dead, although he may have killed a random innocent bystander and burnt their body to cinders in order to effect his own escape. Oldacre's a dick, the housekeeper's in on it. I don't know how they got the fingerprint. They would have had to get Mr McFarlane to touch something soft enough to retain the mark, then make a cast of that, then use that cast to make the mark. Although this might all be based on Victorian understanding of fingerprints, so who knows.

#Letters from Watson #Sherlock Holmes #The Norwood Builder #long post

33 notes · View notes

blackjackkent · 3 months

Text

It's stupid, perhaps, but writing this stuff out makes it all feel very immediate and intense and I sort of feel like I've run a marathon coming out of this final battle, though not - I imagine - to the degree that Hector does.

We get a very long cutscene of the tide turning in the city, the mind flayers losing their potency and the locals running them over in triumph. It wasn't as epic as some of the previous cutscenes so I didn't record it, but it ends quite epically - a crowd of screaming, cheering citizens in front of a battered Sorcerous Sundries, with a line from the narrator atop it:

Narrator: Everything you did, everything you sacrificed. It was worth it for this.

True enough. Hector can hear the cheering as he and the others haul themselves, exhausted, from the water, and for a little while he just stands there and listens, letting the feeling of victory - of having saved so many - soak through him and slowly start to feel real.

Karlach keeps close at his side as they walk along the dock; she has one of his hands clasped tightly in hers as if she never plans to let it go. He is desperately grateful that, whatever lies ahead for them, that she survived this long, that he can experience this victory with her at his side.

The others, all his friends, everyone who traveled so far with him, are all waiting along the shoreline.

"We did it," Karlach mumbles, as if she still can't quite believe it herself. "We actually did it. And the city's still standing."

Devastated, yes... but standing. In the morning, they'll have to see how much has been lost. But for today... Hector allows himself to think about nothing but what will survive because of them, because of what they went through, what they did.

"My powers..." Wyll comments wonderingly. "They're draining. Just like Mizora said they would." He smiles crookedly. "A small price to pay in the grand scheme of things."

Hector grins, reaches out to slap him on the shoulder. A small price indeed - Wyll is free for the first time in years, free of both the tadpole and the pact, free to choose a new course of his own design.

"I should feel relieved, yet my blood still simmers..." Lae'zel mutters. A pause as she works through her own emotions, and then-- she smiles. Hector isn't sure he's ever seen her smile with such sincerity before.

"The parasite," she says, turning excitedly towards Hector. "It's withered, dead along with the Netherbrain! I am cleansed! I will never be a filthy ghaik!"

She pauses, and then her smile fades, her head dips reverentially as she returns her eyes to Orpheus. "Only mild offense intended, of course," she adds, with just the slightest hint of humor, but it fades instantly in favor of the more serious grimace that is her usual mien. "You did the unthinkable," she says quietly. "And I'm grateful for it."

Orpheus shrugs, turns and moves past them off the dock. "Even when my time in the Prism stretched out like an eternity," he says thoughtfully, "even when escape seemed impossible, I never lost hope. I knew that my destiny was to liberate my people. To return to them triumphant."

He turns back to face them, his tentacles twitching. "I was wrong. It seems I can only fulfill one part of my destiny. My people will be liberated, but I cannot return to them. Not like this."

He pulls a blade from his belt, offers it to Hector, his strange alien eyes showing a clear sadness.

"You helped me destroy that abomination. Now help me destroy myself. You must kill me."

Without waiting for an answer, he kneels on the dirty, blood-spattered cobblestones and turns his attention to Lae'zel, who has moved up next to Hector with a grave, grief-stricken expression. "But first, Lae'zel," he says soberly, "I need your promise."

Her eyebrows lift questioningly. Perhaps she is simply too exhausted, but there is none of that eager subservience that once marked her, when Hector saw her stand before Vlaakith. She simply waits, expectant, for the Prince's command.

"Carry my hope," he asks softly. "Carry my burden. Call my dragons, Quulos and Quuthos, and ride to the Astral Sea. Destroy Vlaakith. Release our people. Be our future and our legacy."

Lae'zel blinks, and blinks again, astonished into complete silence. After so much work, so much struggle - to survive, to be recognized, to reach the front lines of a war for her people's fate - she is being asked not only to join that war but to lead it.

More than ever in all the time he's known her, she suddenly looks like what he has known her to be all along - terribly, terribly young. And as she has in the past, as she's started to realize her respect for him and his for her, she looks towards Hector with a question in her eyes.

But he shakes his head, smiles slightly. "This is your choice to make, Lae'zel. Not mine. I entrust it to you." It would never have been his choice to make - but he is proud to stand at her side as she makes it, a decision that she has worked so hard to earn the right to.

What happens to Orpheus... in truth, Hector is feeling too much and all of it too deeply at present to spare a tremendous amount of thought for the man. But Lae'zel... he is proud of Lae'zel. And he knows that whatever battle she chooses to take on, she will be equal to it.

"Duty," she says pensively. "All my life, I've traveled in its slipstream, not once questioning its path. In its service, I came here. And now... in its service, I leave."

She turns to look towards Hector, and he is surprised to see the weight of emotion in her eyes unlike any he's seen before.

"I will carry your hope, Prince Orpheus," she agrees. "And I will carry your burden. But to that burden I must add my own. The loss of those I leave behind."

Hector looks back at her steadily. With a slow, cautious movement, giving her time to evade, he reaches out and puts a hand on her forearm, holds it there for a long moment. Words seem inadequate. I will find some, later, before you are gone, he thinks to himself. Something that articulates what you have become to me. A sister in violence.

Her lips twitch slightly, as if in understanding.

"La'ch cras'ht h'mak vlek. So be it," Orpheus murmurs. "Now, give me my freedom from this form."

Hector turns the knife in his hands hesitantly, meeting the mind flayer's piercing gold eyes. He knows why Orpheus asks, and that he would likely ask for the same thing in the other man's place. And yet... "You don't deserve to die," he says quietly.

"I will not be ghaik!" Orpheus insists fiercely. "I did what I did to save my people. The rest is up to them. Someone else must rise within the ranks to lead the revolution against Vlaakith. Give me my freedom from this form. Release my soul to the Astral Seas while I still have one to call my own."

Phrased like that... Hector can't deny it to him.

Give Orpheus the honorable death he craves.

Hector so rarely fights with a blade that it always startles him to feel how easily the flesh gives. There's a soft sucking sound as Orpheus gasps for breath, his eyes widening.

"Gith'ka tavkim krash'ht..." he whispers... and dies...

For a long time everything is still. Then Lae'zel turns abruptly and walks past Orpheus's body, out into the open square beyond.

"Quulos!" she bellows. Her voice seems to echo in the silence.

No response, for a moment. Then one of the dragons wheeling overhead comes at her call, coming to a crashing landing before her, pale fire drifting from its mouth.

Quulos. Orpheus's dragon, and now Lae'zel's. How long has she hoped to ride such a dragon one day? Did she ever picture such a case as this?

She takes a cautious step forward, raises a hand in greeting to the enormous creature; it snuffs a greeting in return, cocking its head to one side. Its eyes glint with intelligence, understanding.

She hesitates, looks back at Hector. "I can never forget you," she says, and her voice is heavy with emotion. "Your name will be etched in our slates. You will be called Mla'ghir - liberator."

He smiles slightly. "You will have no need to forget," he says quietly. "I will be here when you have need of me." A pause, and then he fumbles out the words he has learned from her over the months, all filed away in his memory as if for this moment - some ungrammatical, awkward representation of a much deeper feeling. "Chraith'kan zharn, t'lak'ma h'taka, n'gi, n'varsh." May your enemies know agony, my sister in battle, my student, my teacher.(*)

Her eyes brighten. She turns away, and without hesitation climbs onto the dragon's back.

"To the skies!" she calls.

The dragon lifts, its huge wings sending gusts of wind across them as it launches itself upwards.

They all watch, wondering, silent, as their friend disappears, and behind her, falling into line behind their new leader, go the entire githyanki force, vanishing back into the Astral Sea.

------

(*) Critical levels of artistic license; Hector doesn't get to say anything here in game, let alone cobbled together githyanki words pulled from the FR wiki. XD

#bjk plays baldur's gate 3 #hector carlisle #awwwww i really like this ending for lae'zel #c:

9 notes · View notes

sitp-recs · 1 year

Text

Happy happy birthday @cavendishbutterfly! I still remember the excitement and blissful joy of finding your writing through Bridges, which remains one of my favorite Drarry oneshots to this day! I’m so happy to share this space with someone as talented and cheerful as you. Your fics have brought me comfort and warm, fuzzy feelings when I needed the most, and I love your supportive and positive energy towards fandom and your friends. Here’s a humble Cav reclist to celebrate your birthday and spread some love for my favourite gems. Check out that range with so many comfort tropes and ratings, plus the sexy healing and evocative atmosphere we deserve. From short shorts with beautiful prose to an 80k 8th year epic, this list has everything you need to get through one more week. And btw, Cav was incredibly prolific last year and I think everyone should go check their full catalogue right away. Then join me to add your own favorites 🎉🎉🎉

Windy City (T, 1.6k) - one of my earliest faves, such gorgeous prose and a sharp sense of place, the melancholy urban atmosphere is breathtaking. And journalist Harry as a treat!

Harry works hard at this whole journalism thing, even when they send him abroad to do his investigating. He'd just rather be home.

In The Wings (T, 1.6k) - this short is so gentle and healing I could cry, I’m enchanted by Draco’s soft pov and those vivid ballet descriptions, so very dreamy!

Ballet has been a path to healing for Draco after the war. Now, it's his final performance in the starring role, and his boyfriend is in the audience for the first time.

To Make A Way (E, 5.4k) - the fuck buddies cinema AU you didn’t know you needed! Sexy af mixing casual and sweet, organic slow burn and a gorgeous contemplative tone underneath. It’s about the aching!

When Harry finds Draco in the back row of the cinema, he doesn't mean to accidentally befriend him. Or fuck him. Or catch feelings. The thing is, Draco only does casual.

Glowing (T, 9.7k) - the softest vampire cottagecore domesticity you’ll read today, this made my heart melt. So darling and intimate, it felt like I was right there beside them. Flatmates by Cav just hits differently, I’m telling you!

Harry's lived alone and vampiric in his cottage for ages, until a long-lived Draco Malfoy suddenly shows up to answer an advertisement Harry had practically forgotten he'd put in the Prophet. Cue soft blood drinking, quiet nights of reading and crocheting, and Harry thinking that maybe--just maybe--he might not be so alone anymore.

Bridges (E, 16k) - ultimate comfort read with travel roommates exploring Budapest, Harry exploring his sexuality, soft contemplation and poignant conversations. I love how easily this fic flows and the atmosphere is 👨‍🍳💋

Harry and Draco are on a trip to Budapest to help with Kingsley's re-election, but that's the boring bit. More interesting: Harry Potter is changing his Tinder preferences to include men.

The Hardest Hue To Hold (M, 17k) - another incredible love story set outside the UK with a charming academic background and fascinating characters. I love how Cav included different mythology references, and the honest, delicate take on Harry’s trans journey.

Harry needs to get the hell out of England. So he sets up a teaching assistantship in America, hops on a plane, and heads off to a fresh start. Except there’s a familiar face among the university faculty, and it’s really not the familiar face that Harry wanted. Or at least, it’s not who Harry wanted at first.

Inertia (E, 83k) - almost 100k of delicious 8th year enemies to friends to lovers, I live for the angsty slow burn and the exquisite coming of age vibes. Soft and healing and full of hope!

It’s three months after the war. Harry has already mucked up all his plans. Draco is no longer the prince of Slytherin house. And they sure as hell didn’t both mean to go back to Hogwarts at the same time. Cue snarking, long conversations…and unexpected snogging.

#happy bday Cav! 🎉🎉#drarry recs #Sitp faves

67 notes · View notes

amazingmsme · 3 months

Note

okay so. i was going to answer your ask with the epic headcanons but i’m a little nervous about posting them to my blog so i’m sending them to you in this ask instead so i hope that’s okay, i’m also sorry if this list is short </3

i often see people depict odysseus as being shorter than everyone else in animatics and i love it so it’s officially canon to me

i feel like the only person that would be shorter than him is telemachus (at the end of the musical), but only by a couple inches, odysseus still never lets him live it down though

odysseus is definitely the type to try and deny that he’s ticklish if you asked him, and he’ll do it with a confident smile on his face too. but when he realizes you intend on calling his bluff then that’s when he starts getting nervous

he’s clever and sneaky so he’ll probably try to save himself by outsmarting you, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t

if you plan on going after him though just be warned that he is very vengeful, there is a very high chance that he will get you back the minute he’s caught his breath

eurylochus isn’t typically one to start any of the shenanigans on the ship, he’s more content with watching and smiling fondly at it from the side a lot of the time, but if someone asks him to help wreck someone (usually polites or odysseus) or to get revenge on someone then he definitely will

but if he suspects that someone is gonna try and tickle him instead then this man will not hesitate to either throw out empty threats or just straight up run

polites likes to launch surprise tickle attacks on people a lot but he’ll shout “sneak attack!” before he does it, and whoever his target is usually lets him have his fun for just a moment before they Get him

will plead to whoever else is next to them to help him and then act all surprised and betrayed when they help his attacker instead

always lets out a loud, high pitched squeal when he’s caught off guard by an attack, everyone loves it and thinks it’s so funny

- fluffvoid

No worries! I’m just so desperate for content lol. These are great! They’re all so fitting! Realize I got a little carried away, so some of it is under the cut

But OMG LITERAL SHORT KING! He may not be the tallest, but he’s so cunning & mischievous so he absolutely makes up for it. But he always pouts & glares when they tease him about his height. But he’s so happy to finally have someone shorter than him. Like HA! See, I don’t you I wasn’t that short!

Oh he ABSOLUTELY denies it til his dying breath, dude just will not admit he’s ticklish. Even when he’s writhing on the ground cackling his ass off. Eurylochus is just like “so, are you ticklish?” & he’s like “NOHOHO, YOU WIHISH” & he shrugs & just keeps going because “you’re not ticklish, so why should I bother stopping?”

But before they call his bluff & find out how ridiculously ticklish he is, he’s so adamant & smug about it. & like, he’s their captain, what are they gonna do? Tickle him? Only Polites was stupid brave enough to try when he noticed him feeling particularly grumpy & home sick

Eurylochus was just staring at Polites with wide eyes shaking his head because he was worried their captain might snap & yell at him & having one of them upset was bad enough. But he just grinned at him even more & put a finger to his lips as he snuck up behind him as he was steering the ship. He pounced on him suddenly, lightly scribbling his fingers over his sides & yelling “coochie coochie coo!” Odysseus legit shrieks & accidentally jerked the wheel to the side, making the crew stumble & fall & they’re all grumbling to themselves as Odysseus is blushing bright red. & Polites is laughing next to him, props his elbow on top of his head, sighs wistfully & says “I thought you weren’t ticklish Captain” all smiley & shit

Odysseus is just like “Eurylochus, take the wheel” & before his expression even changes, he’s tackled him to the ground. Polites is already giggling & screaming “NO WAIT I JUST WANTED TO SEE YOU SMILE! I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY!” & Odysseus has his shit eating grin as he cocks his head & goes “oh yeah? Well then, this is about to be hilarious” & proceeds to wreck his shit

But after that everyone knows their captain is a lot more sensitive than he tried to let on

Odysseus honestly loves the chance for some playful roughhousing because it helps take his mind off other things. But yeah, he’s smart as hell & tricky & is able to pull one over on you if you’re not careful. Definitely one of the meaner tickle monsters on the ship

I’m literally dying at the idea of Polites announcing his sneak attacks, cause like, he doesn’t want it to startle them, & he finds that the very act of knowing what’s coming right before it happens makes it worse. (Totally doesn’t know from experience. Nope)

Eurylochus is the level headed moderator, he stays on the sidelines & steps in to help out whenever needs it most in the moment (usually Polites) but if the mood is right, the mischief starts to rub off on him & he can’t help but join in the fun. But more often than not he’s forced to for his own self preservation lmao

Everyone wants to wreck him because he’s always so calm & rational. They just wanna know what he looks like when he lets go a little!

Starting a tickle fight on the deck of the ship is literally the fastest way to make Eurylochus disappear. Odysseus notices because he wanted his help getting Polites before turning the tables & attacking him instead

Finally, my precious baby boy💗 literally the biggest fucking lee, way too cute for his own good. Everyone’s favorite to mess with

He’s so shy about the fact that he actually really likes the fun, playful affection & tries to act like it’s torture. Literally no one buys it

Also literally no one ever actually helps him when he’s getting wrecked. They all just add to the torture, but Polites was secretly hoping they would anyway (he could see the way they were smiling & staring, just BEGGING to join the fun & no way could he tell them no)

Ixvskegd he has such a loud, high pitched laugh it’s soooo damn cute & infectious! He shrieks & snorts a lot, & his laugh goes all over the place from shrill giggles to full belly laughs

On the opposite side of the scale from Odysseus the short king, we have Polites the beam pole. I feel like he’s so lanky & tall & lowkey kinda clumsy, he is a walking bullseye. Odysseus especially loves to ask him to grab stuff up high for him & then tickle his armpits when he reaches up. As previously stated, he falls for it every time

I swear, this musical has me in such a chokehold

#asks #anon ask #fluffvoid #epic headcanons #odysseus #polites #eurylochus #the odyssey #epic the musical

10 notes · View notes

lookingforcactus · 5 months

Text

Live action Yu Yu Hakusho liveblog (ep 2)

Okay listen. Whoever wrote and whoever is voicing the little kid Yusuke saves has never heard an actual six year old talk in their lives

Also forgot to say last ep but liked the move to age yusuke up a bit. Also Botan's digital file of Yusuke talking back at her is hilarious

Botan's voice (Eng dub) isn't quiiiite as expressive as would hit the mark for me compared to the anime but whatever she's adorable I forgive her

Also forgot to say last ep "Maybe it's better you're dead" BOTAN STOP ASDLKFJADS I love her your honor

Fights and vfx on Goki are actually kind of shockingly good, esp given how much I Did Not like him in the anime

VERY annoying and unfortunately typical that the darkest-skinned guy we've seen so far is. very specifically. the demon that eats children and that the anime makes uh iirc a lot more directly than I ever wanted to watch into a Certain Allegory

Interested that Reikai doesn't seem to know who Kurama actually is. Was that the case in the anime/manga?? I feel like no, they knew who he used to be from the initial briefing on the thieves but idk season 1 wasn't exactly my favorite to go back and rewatch literally ever

My favorite was 2 and 4. If you even care. lol

Kurama standing there during the fight like a creeper go

Actually fight with Goki is very epic. Again super creative and impressively believable way for Yusuke to survive and fight back against a guy with WAYYYY superior strength

Also wow is Yusuke underqualified for these fights rn lol. I mean we knew that but he's lucky he pulled that one out in the end. And esp lucky that Kurama won't want to fight, obv

YUKINA

Her wig is sadly Not as impressive as Botan's, and I'm not a fan of what looks like her contacts. Did they make her eyes green??? Bc her eyes being red is kind of narratively. you know. Relevant

Wait is that guy helping Yukina Hiei???!!! Human-form Hiei??!!!

Wait no of course not Hiei would've just killed everyone and gotten her out

(Listen we don't have any good shots of his face yet okay. That little sister line made me think!)

Interesting new jagan origin + (presumably?) moving up Yukina as Hiei's motivation. Makes sense given how everything about Hiei's first manga/anime appearance was ignored afterward lol when he was too popular to kill off

I hope they got rid of his original plan/motivation, anyway. I hated the mind control arc thing with him esp on Keiko. Dickhead

Well. Eyehead. Technically. But yknow

Pfft Kurama 100% staging that entire encounter and stalking ep meaning Yusuke thinks he's being sooo sneaky

Kurama's outfit is really pretty actually btw. I like it better than his anime outfit by a lot. The pink always clashed with his hair sooo bad

Also the pink in the preview images made me think/hope he was a girl (who actually got to fight in a shounen anime!!!!) and you have no idea how disappointed I was when I realized that wasn't true

Pfft Kurama using his demon powers to?? Pull a quickchange?? Amazing

His hair continues to not work nearly as well as in the anime but that was a lost battle from the beginning let's be real. At least it's better than Hiei's

(Which is so actively bad what was that shadow with his hair in the knife scene what)

Shiori benefits a lot from being played by like. an actually human person who also is older and has visibly aged. Gives her Character, makes her less of Just An Archetype

Momma's boy Kurama excellent as always. Meanwhile Yusuke's just flat out not replying to a single thing Shiori is literally saying to him lol

Wait does the quickchange imply that Kurama only uses that outfit on demon business. Bc in the show it's just his (ugly) school uniform but here it's clearly not. I really desperately want that to be his On Demon Business outfit in this show lol

Also makes the fact that he had Yusuke stalk him in that outfit funnier. then. boom. quickchange. Mom can't see the Demon Business Outfit

Hmm something about Kurama and his delivery isn't rly landing for me here. But to be fair he is being super Performative and Deliberate about all of this so that may be on purpose

I hope it's on purpose. Bc Kurama's great and I'd REALLY like to buy him/his lines as a character in this

He does successfully pull off "casually menacing" (you know, without murdering someone first) much more easily than his anime counterpart tho so that's cool

Meanwhile, Yusuke's face. Great face-acting there. Also great face

The scrapes on Yusuke's face really are v aesthetically arranged lol. but still look legit enough. I'm a fan

Okay I'm buying Kurama now. Excellent

"I've been deceiving that woman for many years" genuinely love that he put it that way. He's come to care about her so much but he's not trying to make himself sound better or lying to himself about the situation

It is killing me that he used the phrase "fertilized egg" in this explanation. It's killing me. It's also raising Fucking Questions. (But does at least give an explanation for how Kurama didn't like. Kill the original Shuichi's soul when he took the body.)

Oh the pattern on Kurama's outfit is roses!!! love it

Kurama: Sees Kuwabara following them

Kurama: ...Anyway.

The mirror of darkness looks like a fucking ipad. I can't take it seriously why does the mirror of darkness look like an ipad!!!

IT DOESN'T EVEN REFLECT ANYTHING

What's with the weird scifi aesthetics here and on the other artifacts? This is a fantasy show, fantasy aesthetics would fit better

The mirror-realm life-taking sequence is just. so much. lol it's so much once again I am unable to take it seriously!

Wait Shiori! You don't know there was magic saving you!! Don't take off your oxygen mask without a doctor's permission!!! Practice self-care!!!

Okay Kuwabara looks super different from his anime/manga self-from the front, but from the back he has the EXACT same silhouette as anime!Kuwabara, so much it's EERIE. I'm learning lots of things about what pompadours look like in real life-

hsb, ig???

HIEI HAS BLUE EYES?!!??!?!?!!!!

I mean at least they didn't only change Yukina's

But this is WEIRD

Also making the jagan not purple anymore, just an actual third eye, was the correct choice

Hmm I don't like how they translated Hiei's outfit as much as I do the others. (I like how they translated literally everyone else's outfits. This is so disappointing, esp since Hiei's aesthetics go off. There's too much white and too much detail in his outfits. Give me his cloak!!! Also changing the scarf into a turtleneck is highkey Not Working For Me

Anime!Hiei would literally never wear a turtleneck

Why is he wearing a turtleneck, he's a FIRE DEMON, it's not like he can get cold

The scarf is okay because it was clearly not primarily for keeping him warm

Give him the cloak I want the cloak!!

And he should be wearing all black underneath it! I mean I know he wears other color shirts under it in the dark tournament arc iirc. But live action won't have the control over the cloak for that lol

At least give him something all black (except the scarf or something similar) (NOT a turtleneck) with a similar silhouette to the cloak

And idk compared to the others I think his costume looks kinda cheap

OOF effects on the Toguros are NOT convincing. Oof. I admire their commitment to taking their physicalities literally but uh. They should've been less ambitious and focused more on translating the vibe. Imho

Okay! Time for episode 3!

#yu yu hakusho #netflix yu yu hakusho #yu yu hakusho spoilers #me #liveblogging

10 notes · View notes

chiefwritesbook · 4 months

Text

WIP Intro: SOTAL

Hi hello this is my main WIP and book 1 is out and I'm !!!!!!

(have a moodboard first of all)

Series title: Stories of the Ancient Lands (SOTAL) Genre: Epic fantasy/romance Themes: Justice (and prejudice), power & leadership, morality, self-identity, friendship & love

Blurb for book 1: War rages across the elven kingdom of Kies Tor. In the capital, the exiled crown prince has returned, seeking to usurp the throne. Midst the bloodshed and chaos, Talin Zylvaris II must take her place as queen and lead the kingdom to safety. It’s a heavy weight for the youngest Torrian ruler in a thousand years.

There is, however, a glimmer of hope in an unlikely alliance to the west. Against her council’s advice, Talin rides out with her mysterious royal bodyguard to seize it, oblivious to the dangers stirring at home. Caught between a court conspiracy and advancing Hellhounds to the north, Talin has only one chance to save her people. If it is not already too late.

About the main squad: Talin: Queen of an entire kingdom, inherited a war, trying her hardest not to screw up and also keep her people alive while everyone at court plots things behind her back. Probably needs to be fished out from the increasingly large pile of other people's bullshit.

Red Wolf: Lord Commander of the Royal Guard. Not a Werewolf™️ and definitely not a simp for the queen, not at all. Prone to getting stabbed or slashed by various sharp and pointy things - it's an occupational hazard.

Ettrias: Talin's twin brother, crown prince of Kies Tor, also very much exiled for murder. May or may not be plotting to assassinate the queen. People tend to forget he's highly competent with a sword and attempt to kill him for some reason.

Captain Golmin: Army vet who became head of the royal guard because it pays to be best friends with the Lord Commander. Really just tired of everyone's shit. Always ends up caught in the middle of a court conspiracy or another, possibly because he's dating the crown prince.

Ashera: A 12yo child who wound up as the Lord Commander's squire because the guy felt guilty about failing to save her hometown and subsequently promised her mother that he'd look after her. Looks like a cinnamon roll, can and will commit crimes.

Book 1 excerpt to finish off: Talin tried a different tactic. “Why did you allow the assassin to scale the walls?”

“We needed a man for questioning.” Red Wolf took the torch from her at the bottom of the steps and led the way onwards, past endless rows of black-barred cells. She could see some were occupied, though none dared come close to them in Red Wolf’s towering presence. A straggly youth with rags for clothes spat on the ground when they passed. Her bodyguard slammed the bars with a gauntleted hand, and he jumped back, eyes wide.

“You and Captain Golmin set this up?” Talin asked.

“The plan was my idea. Captain Golmin only helped because he had an obligation to his lord commander,” Red Wolf explained. “We organised a new night shift that left blind spots on the walls and allowed the assassin to observe the pattern. We also leaked false information that I would not be guarding you at night. I had been asking you if you required me to guard your chambers only because I did not want to go against your word, but you refused each time. We were running out of opportunities.”

“You mean to say that I was bait,” Talin said.

“Not the word I would use, but in a way, yes,” Red Wolf confessed.

“Why?”

“You have been on the throne for less than a year. If someone wants you dead this quickly, something is amiss. I’d like to find out what.”

#writeblr #writing #wip intro #writing wip #writing community #fantasy #wip

7 notes · View notes

brightnote · 10 months

Text

How Secret Invasion is Going to End: 4 possibilities (spoilers)

My main theory & how I hope it ends:

At the end of episode five Fury called the real Maria in hiding on the phone/ear piece telling her that it’s go time. G’iah shape shifts as Fury and he gives her his eye patch and the anti-super power serum he had hidden in his grave stone that the is pretending is Avenger DNA. G’iah goes to meet Gravik pretending to be Fury and then it’s all out full Fury v.s Gravik but it’s G’iah vs Gravik super skrull vs super skull and that’s the fight we see in the trailer.

G’iah then hits Gravik with the anti-super serum and he loses his powers and she kills him to avenge Talos and all the Skrulls he was going to sacrifice. Sonya goes to rescue the people in New Skrullos who are trapped in the skrull brain machines and the Skrulls who live there who Gravik and skrull Rhodey were going to bomb. We know Sonya goes there because we see her in the trailer in the ’body room’ for a lack of a better name.

Real Nick Fury and a full body widow veiled Maria In a form we don’t know yet but we have probably seen without realizing it get to Rava / skrull Rhodey in order to stop a bomb being dropped on new Skrullos. We know they succeed in this because we assume probably Rhodey is being held in New Skrullos in one of these skrull machines and we know Rhodey gets out and survives the attempted bombing on New Skrullos because Rhodey’s show Armor Wars is coming out soon! (LOL Marvel you make your own problems with low stakes so please stop sacrificing women for this)

Maria and Real Fury have it out with Skrull Rhodey/Rava and we know that they win because Nick Fury is in the Marvels which the full trailer just dropped today! In this fight with Skrull Rhodey / Rava we learn that Maria and Nick have always known something was up and they have bene playing them. This would explain a lot of the stupid moves we saw in the first episode that I can’t stop yammering on about. Mainly having a public conversation about world famous spy Nick Fury who is supposed to be up in space who is now in Russia very noticeably is not himself, that he is weak and needs to sit this fight out!!! They are saying this in front of Gravik who is at the bar before Nick gets there.

In this conversation Maria says she’s contacted Fury many times and he’s ignored her so why would Rhodey suddenly care about this communication this time? (I know I am making the same point over and over again) But having some type of fake out Maria could also explain why she thinks she can just GRAB A DIRTY BOMB WITH HER BARE HANDS AND UNPROTECTED BODY….this gets me every time. Additionally, I think there is a reason they keep showing us Maria’s death all the time and it’s not just for Cobie’s screen time.

If this is the case, this would reveal that Fury is and was always been three steps ahead like always and is ‘always in even when he’s out.’ And he was doing this sad man act that he had to put on to see who he could trust and to confuse Gravik. This also makes sense because in Far From Home when we see Fury on the phone with Talos he has eye patch on, and he seems like his full Fury self on the phone at the fake beach hanging up on Talos and telling everyone to get back to work. You’re telling me he just hung out in space like a sad dude all alone and grumpy and broken and wasn’t making some epic plan with Maria to oust these fucking evil skrulls? Nah. He didn’t go from eye patch full Fury from Far From Home credits scene to sad man Fury in just two years. There is a play going on here, and it’s big. This would also explain why Maria wasn’t with Talos Fury in Far From Home.

Also, this theory would help explain why Cobie said “I had a lot scenes at the same time as Don” (linked) which we have not seen yet! We only have one episode left! I think this was an accidental slip up when Cobie was interviewing at the premiere (god I hope so tbh) but that’s what she says so did these scenes get cut, are we going to see a flashback or are these in a future project?

But my theory is that Fury and Maria will once again save the day and then the big news story that Nick Fury killed Agent Maria Hill (BY AGENT THEY MEAN FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF SHIELD BUT SURE) will go away because Maria Hill ends up being alive so that story will go away and not lead to any future Nick Fury problems which we know he doesn’t have because the Marvels trailer dropped and he is well alive in them being his witty Fury self just like he was in the end of Far From Home.

Clues from outside the series: one last piece of evidence i have is that in her Vanity Fair interview after episode 1 of Secret Invasion Cobie said she had a meeting with the director after reading the script and said the focus was “how do we make this believable?” why wouldn’t we believe it, Cobie?? Is there some special reason it needs to be extra believable? Grasping at straws here and Cobie did say to her knowledge Maria Hill was a goner (but she was quick to note her availability for any future projects if Marvel would have her....) TBH I kind of wish they held off on this interview until after the whole series was over. In addition, new reports just came out that Cobie was allegedly paid 4 million for her work in Secret Invasion. I know she has A-list fees (and rightfully so because she’s good even in terrible projects) but 4 million for one episode? She has to be in episode 6!! (This really makes me LOL though because after the first episode people were like Cobie has the worst agent in the business how does anyone get killed off from Marvel!?!) and now I am like damn girl, get your money!!!! They couldn’t afford to pay her for all six episodes and that’s why she got the ax? lmao.

In addition to this Cobie was slated to appear at ComicCon in Amsterdam in August (although this doesn’t look like this happening now!) but she regularly goes to Amsterdam where her Dutch father lives (she posts it on IG all the time!)

CASE CLOSED, what do you think? I know this is a re-read for many of you but it is much neater and compact LOL and I had to get the Far From Home stuff in here.

THEORY 2

Real Fury goes to fight skrull Rhodey (Rava), Rava is trying to murder the president (which she might succeed because there is a new casting of the US president in the Marvels I think!) Fury tries to stop this and then Rava shapeshifts into Maria during the fight to fuck with allegedly Nick’s broken psyche and he has to shoot her AS MARIA! Except this time it is real Fury shooting a fake Maria! I would hate this but it would be pretty savage which Rava seems like she is and my guess is she is the one who set up Maria and wanted it on tape, and she was clearly working with Skrull Ross. Maybe we will get some clarity on this whole thing. And at least we would get more time with Maria’s hair cut. Or remember when Rava said “i used my last political capital to get Maria HIll’s body back from the Russians”? I always thought that was a guilt trip Fury line but maybe Skrull Rhodey actually did save Maria only to use her later against Fury?

I really want these Rhodey and Maria scenes to happen sooo c’mon something is gonna happen!!

THIRD ALTERNATE THEORY that I give a 0% chance to but it would be cool:

Remember when everyone was convinced there were two Nick Fury’s? Maybe there really were/are two Nick Fury’s through out the series except one is not a skrull shape shifting into Nick Fury one is actually Maria in the new Widow’s Veil which shifts the whole body and does explain some of the gaps we are seeing and weird behaviors we are seeing with Fury. But there is a reason why they have Fury do that line about the full body widow’s veil. So at one time there could be three Fury’s: G’iah, Maria, and actual Fury!! I would expect in a shapeshifting spy thriller there would be more shapeshifting of spies… so … this could be one and it could be very cool.

FOURTH “THEORY” AND HOW IT’S ACTUALLY PROBABLY GOING TO END BECAUSE MARVEL IS AFRAID TO SLAY.

Nick Fury (real Nick) fights Gravik with G’iah’s help and they get Gravik with the anti-super serum. Sorry but that is NOT avenger DNA. Unless it is Avenger DNA and Fury gives it to G’iah to beat Gravik. Or it is real avenger DNA and then Fury just wrecks it somehow. They don’t don’t anything about the bombing of New Skrullos (but we know Sonya does go there from the trailer) the bomb just doesn’t happen cause the president remembers what Fury said to him and fires skrull Rhodey.

Maria is really dead and nothing happens about that or her death being made public and there his no explanation about anything that happened in the first episode and we get absolutely no closure on this.

Fury and Varra make up and kiss cause everything is cool with them now apparently despite Varra’s earlier betrayal but he gets a happy ending cause he’s a man! And then Fury wipes his hands and goes back up to space. He finally gives Carol Danvers a call and that’s the lead in to the Marvels. Then in the Marvels we get a flashback to Maria and Talos being murdered so all of the audience who isn’t watching this show is like oh what wait they dead? What?! Why are they dead? And not a thing happens with any of that.

This would be the most disappointing outcome but this is my guess cause it’s the most boring and stupid and probably most likely because Marvel is so slay-phobic right now, but I pray it’s something close to my first theory with a joke being that Fury fighting alone is actually him fighting with people shape shifting as him such as Maria and G’iah.

Please tell me what you think!

20 notes · View notes

theuntamedaus · 1 year

Text

Music Band AU

So, whilst I wait for my writer's block to go away, I am delving properly into this AU.

@felinesomnambulist might appreciate this one in particular, but I hope y'all do <3

Under cur because it's longer than anticipated :')

So, let's start from the Lan clan.

The Lans are classically trained and their Gusu Lan music conservatory is famous for being the best one and also expensive af. You must have the money or, in alternative, several high level recommendations and talent.

The teachers, LQR, LXC and LWJ, are also the best ones and trained in both chinese traditional instruments like the xiao, the qin, the erhu etc, and western instruments like the piano, the strings, the clarinet etc.

The Lans also have a generations long friendship with the Nie family, whose last heirs, NMJ and NHS, inherited the music production studio from their father, dead in mysterious circumstances, probably linked to the boss of the underground Nightless City Wen Ruohan.

I will come back in a bit to Nightless city, hold onto this for a moment.

The friendship between the Nie and the Lan surprises everyone until you understand that the Nie production studio is for Power/Epic/Symphonic metal, a kind of metal that uses a LOT of classical instruments.

On top of this NMJ is also the founder of a metal band thus composed:

Vocals: Meng Yao

Guitars: Nie Zonghui

Bass: Nie Huaisang

Drums: Nie Mingjue

Spoken/poems: Nie Huaisang

Classical instruments: Lan Xichen

The Nie music studio is in a constant struggle not to be annexed by the famous Jin Studio, promoter of the AU equivalent of stuff like X-factor, The Voice and so and churning out pop talents out of capitalistic greed masked as "caring for the music".

Their most famous pop sensations are sweet cute and lively pop idol Jiang Yanli and alternative rap pop rage Wei Wuxian. They tried doing the same with Jiang Cheng, but Jiang Cheng really doesn't have the cheerful tones of a pop singer, in spite of having the best voice outof the three.

I did mention that JFM and YZY are one of those who are like “yeah, my child is so gifted and talented, let’s ruin their life forever by forcing them in the music industry” and the Jin studio just did help them achieve that exactly.

Spoiler: this will come back to bite their asses somehow. In fact, the original plan was to have only JYL and JC, but JFM HAD TO let in WWX, son of the legend of music Cangse Sanren, ho had been already the daughter of the myth, Baoshan Sanren.

And LWJ is an avid listener of WWX's music, he is propery enamoured, but neither shufu nor xiongzhang kno because god forbid the Lans listen toanything BUT classical music. This is another thing I will come back later on.

YZY is legitimately furious at the fact that her children's thunder has been stolen that way, but neither JFM nor YZY see that regardless the three do love each other dearly.

And then JGS decides to renew the contracts for JYL and WWX because they are his golden egg geese, but NOT JC's, because his pop album did not make as much money, as in, not being allowed to do anything but pop music, his voice suffered a bit and being the family disappointment did not really help.

Anyway, JFM and YZY fight, he decides to leave in the middle of lunch (a further sin in such a family), JYL and WWX try to convince him not to go without any success at all.

And so he roams the city, trying to find some motivation to go on.

In the meantime JGS has successfully poached out Meng Yao from the Nie, and the band is in need of a vocalist, but who would like to be the vocalist of a symphonic metal band tiedtoa studio barely making it at the end of the month?

NMJ is out of wits. And the amplificators just broke down so he has to finally admit that he needs new ones and so he goes to the Yao&Ouyang music shop to buy some new ones.

In the meantime JC has also reached the same music shop and Mr. Yao has convinced him to try a mic and when JC is asked what he would like to sing he's like "yeah I am angry enough for a cover of 'we're all to blame' by Sum41" and NMJ is casually there too and he listens to JC sing and he feels the doors of heavenly music open right in front of him, has 16 epiphanies and by the end of it he's like:

Anyway. NMJ approaches JC after the performance and he is like:

"nice one, my name is Mingjue, I loved your vibes. What do you say about joining my band?"

He hands out the business card, proves that he is not, in fact, just a creep but an actual person who actually enjoyed JC's voice and is actually trying to convince him to join a metal band.

JC is kind of taken aback, as in "someone just PRAISED me? ME? A RAT? for my VOICE? The same voice everyone I know thinks it's actual CRAP?"

JC my beloved, how about we work together on our self esteem issues?

*coffcoff* Anyway, NMJ makes sure to point out that there is no pressure, he is welcome to try out a session and then if it doesn't work out nothing happens, no one is going to hound him etc. Somehow JC feels better, like the choices he has been given make him feel free to decide for himself for the first time.

And he says yes, I want to come and do this music session with your band, it does sound great if the people there are all like you.

And NMJ is left wondering what kind of hellish situation this one has been living in.

Anyway JC comes back all happy and content, BUT makes the mistake of telling JYL and WWX what happened. They in turn let JFM and YZY know and they basically laugh in JC's face.

JFM: well, at least that lousy studio will finally get annexed to JGS's and disappear.

YZY: you are going to ruin everything,you don't understand anything! You'd better stay here, at least all you'll ruin is us.

*uuuhhhh just a sec, this hit home for me, the author, let me cry in a corner for 5 mins*

*coffcoff* JC, full of dismay and with an ego completely crushed once again, calls NMJ to tell him he is not coming, but NMJ KNOWS that tone. Has NMJ just sensed a shitty family and all of the parental disappointment? Has he just heard JC trying to hold a faint sob from behind the phone? This does NOT happen, not on NMJ's watch! And he is like, look, I am sending my brother, the least menacing person on earth so no one is scared to see me, a 6ft tall buff man with enough piercings and tattoos to scare even the strong of heart. You are going to go with him, let him buyyou a coffee and then decide.

And so it happens. Providence has made it so that the house is empty because JFM and YZY had to take JYL and WWX to the studio to register their new albums, so JC is alone.

And NHS arrives, JC lets him in, NHS assesses the situation, asks a few questions that hit right where it hurts and then he is like: JC, my newly acquired friend, I am not saying you should pack everything you own and come with me, but I am saying exactly that. You do NOT have an independent bank account, you do NOT have a space unless someone grants it from the gracefulness of their heart and you MUST sing crap just to be granted a sliver of sympathy from those who claim to love you. My brother has offered you an space in the band, but really, even if you do not join you are welcome to stay as much as you wish until you know what you want to do in life.

JC: are you offering me this out of pity?

NHS: not pity, I don't have enough of that. It's out of friendship.

And so JC is convinced once again. Maybe staying away from his family will make him assess things better.

NHS calls the whole family and they help JC pack everything. They help him set up his own bank account. He will withdraw some cash at the nearest ATM so that he can then put the funds in the newly opened bank account.

JC leaves a message as in "do NOT look for me atm, I am reassessing my priorities".

And with all of that done JC goes with the Nie and starts living under their roof. He does the first music session as a vocalist and - surprise - he actually has fun, he smiles,he finally can let his voice out freely and everyone now understands why NMJ wanted him as a vocalist.

And as a surprise for everyone NMJ manages to get a contract to be the opening band of a major symphonic metal band - spoiler: it is a success, NMJ's band and studio are launched into the stratosphere, everyone loves the band and especially the new vocalist JC.

But how are the Jiangs faring now? Well, JC's message has prompted the divorce between YZY and JFM, so not great in that sense. JGS has used that to force JYL into an arranged marriage with his son JZX - it's not that the two don't like each other, it's the opposite actually, but they would have loved to come together in different circumstances. In any case, they both do not want what their respective parents had so they work together to make the best out of the shitty situation. They will eventually get married, but on their own terms.

And where is WWX? Well. In his quest to find JC, because the message "do NOT look for me" for him was apparently just a guideline, he stumbles into Nightless City and its many wonders and horrors.

As mentioned, Nightless city is an underground city where crime reigns above everything. He lets himself get lost in the City, he gets tattoos, piercings and a penchant for alcoholism and hedonism.

In any case WWX disappears from the scene, the tabloids will talk about it like a meteor bound to fall. JC wants to look for him, JYL too, but no matter what WWX cannot be found.

This until LWJ, who is still the no. 1 fan of WWX, finds him loitering by a shop. And WWX has changed a lot. His eyes are swollen, he looks like he's not been eating properly and has a hand secured around a bottle of an unspecified alcoholic beverage.

It turns out he has been captured by Wen Chao who - surprise - was a great fan and then forced to sing for him. Which at the time catered to his willingness to have free everything, but then it turned out to be another cage and now that he was spent he had been thrown away like trash.

And now WWX finds himself with a whopping case of trauma and alcohol addiction.

In any case, LWJ cannot stand the fact that the person he has been enamoured with for the past few is now at that point. And so he offers him a meal, he offers him to stay at his house, asks xiongzhang if he could help him speak to shufu.

And shufu is not truly convinced until NMJ and band drops by, JC included, and JC launches himself towards WWX. "Where were you bro, a-jie and I were so worried!"

"I wanted to find you bro"

"I was fine, I wrote to mum and dad that I was fine a few days later, did they not let you know?"

"No?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

NMJ interjects: "That shows you ho shitty your parents are,my love"

Yes, in the meantime NMJ and JC got together, NMJ properly courted JC and are now very close to an official engagement.

Anyway, JC lets Yanli know and his prompts her decision to detach herself from JGS's brand. JZX has started his own with some help from MY, now called JGY, ho has in the meantime realized how much of a scumbag JGS actually is.

MY has in fact been exploited for his talent in composing songs and lyrics, he has even been called JGY in a vain promise of being finally recognized as a legitimate son, which has never happened and will never happen, but guess WHO has been treating him like proper family? JZX and JYL, hence his loyalties are all for them.

And so,to recap:

JC is now about to be engaged to NMJ and they both are in a famous studio and an equally famous band andeveryone loves them.

JYL and JZX are marrying and having a child, JZX has hsi own studio which is totally unaffiliated with his father's and everybody loves them for basically being the healthiest and most loving relationship in the whole industry.

LWJ is working with LXC to convince LQR to give WWX some support and maybe having him direct a singing/voice coaching workshop so he has something to lean onwhilst he recovers and decides what to do next

JFM and YZY are permanently divorced and not in speaking terms anymore. I am kind of leaning into YZY finding comfort in WZL's arms, hich will involve more drama when she finds out ho WZL actually is.

I wonder what could go wrong. JGS is not happy, he might even think to go to WRH and get involved in shad stuff to ruin everyone's life, but at this point my brain is failing and IDK, I kind oflike this open ending, but I feel something is missing.

Suggestions are more than welcome here.

For the moment I will peace out.

#the untamed #the untamed au #music bands au #mingcheng #nie mingjue #jiang cheng #yunmeng siblings #chen qing ling au #chen qing ling #cql au #fic concepts #mo dao zu shi #mdzs au #mo dao zu shi au

42 notes · View notes