#i turned the lis soundtrack on after a few pages and this was it
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LiS Volume 6 is really just: *pricefield kiss* - plot - *pricefield kiss* - plot - *pricefield-
#life is strange#no shit this was so wholesome#i turned the lis soundtrack on after a few pages and this was it#tears everywhere#and now i need to finish school stuff :')
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When Stars Ignite - Chapter 14
HPHM Rockstar AU
A/N: Katriona Cassopeia (in mention) belongs to the gorgeous @kc-and-oc
General Warning: This whole fic has a general warning of being NSFW / 18+. We will give specific warnings for every chapter in itself, but several adult themes will be more or less present in every chapter, may it be explicitly or in mention. These include sexual topics, drug abuse, (ab)use of alcohol, smoking and a whole lot of cursing.
Specific Warning:
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Find the masterpost here, the previous chapter here and the next one here. The songs featured before every chapter can be found on this pretty badass playlist here.
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This work is a collaboration with @the-al-chemist
Taglist: @slytherindisaster @carewyncromwell @night-rhea @thatravenpuffwitch
Man, we were killin' time
We were young and restless
We needed to unwind
I guess nothin' can last forever
Forever, no…
~ Bryan Adams - Summer of ‘69 ~
Much to his relief, Orion’s fear of having been discovered seemed to prove unwarranted. Skye was a direct person, never shy to speak her mind; if she had truly seen something not meant for her eyes during the interview, Orion was sure she’d have already come and spoken to either of them.
But nothing of the sort had happened. She had acted just like she always did and his first surge of worry had died down again. Sometimes even the most focused mind was prone to being tricked and, as he had to admit to himself, focus was something he found himself lacking in these days.
It wasn’t only because of Lizzie’s teasing getting riskier that he found his mind wandering more often than not. Ever since the show they were meant to be playing for the children from the foster system had shown its face on the horizon, an ever present restlessness had been growing in Orion.
Dreams that he had pushed to the edges of his mind a long time ago had started haunting him again; they kept coming back whenever they held an event stirring the buried memories of his childhood. He loved seeing the light in the children’s faces when they were spending time with them; he knew it was a rare sight, after all. The emotional mess Orion carried back with him afterwards was the dark side of the coin, however.
The charity event was scheduled for the next day; they were to play a small acoustic set for the children in the afternoon and their regular show only a few hours later on top. To keep their spirits high before the double load, Ethan had scheduled a day off for them.
The weather was still uncharacteristically hot and so most of the band and crew had found themselves at the small pool on the rooftop of their hotel. Much to everyone’s surprise, even Artemis had joined them.
Charlie had followed Skye’s advice to take Artemis for drinks a few days prior. He had been unusually tight-lipped about it when they had asked him how it had gone down.
“It was good,” he had shrugged, “told you she’s not as bad as you all think.”
While the young pyro tech still kept her distance from the rest of them, Orion had seen her chatting with Charlie outside of their work on stage since then. He was glad she seemed to be taking a step into the right direction, lowering her armour even for the tiniest bit.
But Artemis’ tentative attempts at integrating herself with their group lounging by the pool were counteracted as soon as she took her shirt off. Everett audibly wolf-whistled at her black bikini with surprisingly colourful patterns crisscrossing it. Her withering glare was met with a lewd grin as Artemis picked up her stuff and dumped it on the deckchair farthest away from them.
Lizzie gave Everett a smack on the back of his head. “Well done, Ev, you’ve scared her away. I wanted to have a chat with her.”
Everett looked at her over the rim of his sunglasses. “I’m not stopping you. Two beauties in bikinis getting close? Who would I be to object? You could rub her back with sunscreen.”
He laughed to himself. “If Artemis isn’t up for it, I’m always here for you, gorgeous.”
A hint of the same irritation Orion felt flickered over Lizzie’s face. “You’re a real mood today.”
She got up from her own deckchair and started over in Artemis’ direction anyway, but was stopped by Charlie catching onto her wrist.
“Woah, where are you going, little rockstar?”
“Go and talk to Artemis, see if I can convince her to come over if Ev shuts up.” She gave the singer lounging in his chair a dark look.
“Nah, I don’t think so,” Charlie said and pulled her down next to him. “Trust me, if you push her you’ll be the one scaring her away. She’ll come over if she wants to.”
Lizzie opened her mouth to object but Charlie shook his head. “You can’t force her, sunshine.”
“Fine,” Lizzie snorted, not pleased by the situation, “so what’re we gonna do now?” She nodded in the direction of the pool. “Anyone up for a round of water polo?”
Everett declined, preferring to seek a better place to tan, while Merula did the opposite and withdrew to the shade with a book. So it was Charlie, Lizzie, Andre and Skye who made their way to the water. Orion would have joined them, but he was preoccupied with some ideas that had been floating around in his head since that morning; he wanted to write them down before he’d forget them.
He was lying on his stomach on his deckchair, notebook open in front of him, but found it hard to concentrate. The match of water polo going on in the pool had turned into some kind of wrestling match, like it always did eventually. Lizzie and Skye were sitting on Charlie’s and Andre’s shoulders respectively, trying to knock the other into the water; a lot of giggling and shouting was involved as they fought for the upper hand.
What really distracted him though, was the way the sunlight was refracting in the water droplets on Lizzie’s skin when she moved. It let her slender body shimmer, her tan she always got so quickly in the summer months a beautiful contrast to the vibrant red of her bikini. Her wet hair looked a lot darker than it actually was and it was clinging to her back.
Skye almost managed to knock her off Charlie’s shoulder and Lizzie laughed as she righted herself again. It was the kind of laugh that made her stand out amongst all the others, bright and captivating. It gave her an aura that was impossible to escape, drawing eyes whenever she entered a scene. She had the ability to light up a whole room with her smile, as fresh and beautiful as a sunrise.
“I’d say I’m 95.9 % sure what you’re staring at, my friend,” Orion suddenly heard the voice of Murphy next to him, “or should I rather say who?”
Orion tried not to let his surprise show; he had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t heard his best friend approach. “Your meaning is obscure to me,” he answered evasively. “I’m simply trying to work here.”
Murphy couldn’t hide his smirk. “When you’re working, your attention is usually 87.5 % focused on your work, more if no one is distracting you. Four out of five times you don’t even react when spoken to.” He glanced down at the mostly blank page of Orion’s notebook. “Today I’d say your focus is reduced to abysmal 30.9 %.” Never missing a detail, his eyes flicked to the still on-going wrestling match in the pool.
With a sigh, Orion closed his notebook and rested his head on his arms. Murphy was far too observant to be lied to, but he didn’t have to know all the details either.
He indicated their laughing friends with a slight nod of his head. “It is good that our friends are having a great time, it strengthens their bond of friendship. But they are making a lot of noise, it’s bound to draw attention.”
The dismissive sound Murphy was making clearly showed that he wasn’t buying it. “It’s obvious they’re distracting you. But from what I’ve seen, 95.5 % of the time you’ve spent looking at them were devoted to one of the pairs, and while I do have to admit that Andre’s new gold bangles are surprisingly flashy and apparently water resistant, I highly doubt it was him that drew your attention, same goes for Skye, although her hair usually is an eye catcher, I’ll give you that. That leaves Charlie and dear Lizzie, and last time I checked, you weren’t one for redheads, that’s more my thing. Not that I want to say I find Charlie particularly attractive, although some might say so, but I digress. So only one option remains, and as the one and only master of logical deductions, the great Sherlock Holmes, once said, ‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable…”
“...must be the truth’,” Orion finished with a sigh. “I know the quote. You're quoting numbers all day every day, do you really feel the need to go into literature as well now?"
Ignoring him, Murphy was grinning from ear to ear, clearly satisfied with his conclusions. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
Orion wasn’t answering immediately; he didn’t like Murphy’s prying at all. “Are you done, Detective McNully?”
“Fine, don’t answer me then, I don’t need confirmation,” Murphy snorted. “The stats never lie, my friend.”
Orion rolled his eyes, hoping Murphy wouldn’t delve into another one of his statistical sprees. Although he was right in that his numbers were seldom wrong, Orion himself preferred a more open-minded view of his surroundings to Murphy’s cold, analytical observations; especially, if these observations were directed at his own behaviour.
But of course, Murphy wasn’t deterred. “To the attentive observer, which of course you know that I am, all the facts are there. Eight out of ten times your mood changes for the better when Lizzie enters the room. Seven out of ten times she starts smiling when she looks at you. You two look at each other during shows and soundtracks 46.4 % more often than at the others and yes, I factored out the times when you need to because of the cues she’s giving you, thanks a lot for asking. You hug each other at the end of the shows significantly longer as well. When you leave the backstage area, you’re never leaving together but almost always in close succession.”
The blond sound technician crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Are you really sure there isn’t anything you want to tell me?”
Orion was more than a little shocked at all the facts Murphy had just thrown at him. “I had no idea it was that obvious.”
Murphy shrugged, a sly smile appearing on his face. “Only to me. You’ve been my best friend for as long as I can remember, and my above average observational skills, which of course not everyone possesses, solved 82.3 % of the mystery.”
“What’s with the rest?”
“What I can offer in facts, I sometimes lack in interpreting. Katriona connected the dots.”
“Obviously,” Orion sighed.
“So, what’s the deal with you two? Are you dating?” A frown appeared on Murphy’s face. “I thought you had a clause about this in your contracts. Ethan’s not going to like this.”
Orion vehemently shook his head. “No, you got that wrong. We’re not dating, everything is just like it has always been. We’re just enjoying additional pastimes, which - I’ll give you that - may exceed a regular friendship.”
He looked at Murphy intently. “No one besides you knows about this, and I would appreciate it if it stayed that way.”
Murphy made a non-committal sound. “Of course this doesn’t include Katriona.”
“As if any of us could keep a secret from her.”
“I normally don’t go for absolutes but that’s 100 % true,” Murphy laughed. He looked at Orion curiously. “So how long has this thing between you and Lizzie been going on now?”
“A while,” Orion answered evasively.
“The definition of ‘a while’ ranges from two weeks to up to a year. Judging by my numbers, it’s definitely not the former. Doesn’t sound like a short lived fling to me.”
“I wouldn’t call it a fling,” Orion said; it was surprisingly hard to put what was going on between them into words. “But we’re definitely not emotionally involved with each other. It’s not a matter of the heart, more of a physical extension built on the base of our friendship.”
Murphy leaned back into his wheelchair and grinned. “The old classic, friends with benefits.”
“If that’s the label you want to stick on it.”
Murphy hummed in response, following Orion’s gaze to the pool again. His voice was quieter when he spoke this time. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? We are both on the same page about it.”
“Just saying, things like these seldomly work out as well as they start. Approximately 89.6 % of physical relationships end in chaos, tears or both.”
The memory of his own initial worry emerged in the back of Orion’s mind. He watched as Skye gave Lizzie a final push that sent her toppling from Charlie’s shoulders. She shrieked before she crashed into the water, but was already laughing again when she resurfaced; Orion firmly pushed his concerns away.
“It won’t escalate with us,” he said. “Both of us value our friendship, and the fate of Equinox even more so. We’ve established very clear rules. I appreciate your worries, but they are misplaced.”
“As much as I love rules for the structure they’re bringing, rules can easily be broken,” Murphy said. “Just be careful, okay? Mixing friendship with sex can be a lot of fun but the devil’s in the detail.”
They both watched Lizzie climbing out of the pool and heading over into their direction. When she passed Everett, he pulled down his sunglasses and watched after her, his eyes very slowly travelling up and down her body. He said something to her Orion couldn’t hear, but Lizzie only rolled her eyes, shot something back and continued on her way. Murphy's eyes flicked from her to Orion.
“Aren’t you bothered with Ev hitting on her?”
Orion shrugged. “Why would I? She’s not my girlfriend, and she can perfectly handle herself, as you’ve just seen.”
“That she undoubtedly can,” Murphy laughed, “I’ll better be off now and leave you two alone. I wonder where my beautiful wife is. I haven’t seen her in quite a while now.”
#hphm#hogwarts mystery#harry potter hogwarts mystery#orion amari#murphy mcnully#lizzie jameson#lizion#rockstar au#when stars ignite#wsi#besties collaborate
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WIP Wednesday - Let’s Talk Music
Thank you to @cleverblackcat @kittynomsdeplume @noire-pandora and @morganlefaye79 for tagging me!
I don’t have any writing to really offer today. I’ve been trying to work on that Haven fic but unfortunately Aloysius hasn’t been co-operating with me despite all my best efforts to make him speak. I may take a break from writing and pivot towards completing some art memes, but Wednesday just sort of crept up on me and here we are. So instead, I’m sharing something that both is but also isn’t a work in progress?
It’s “in progress” because while I’m happy with where it currently is, I’ve said that about playlists and soundtracks before and later changed them. I’ve worked hard on this and talked several friends’ ears off about songs I’ve heard or artists that seemed to work and thanks to their feedback I think this is a really good one. It’s gone through several edits as well, and may potentially even go through more down the road. So I’m saying this counts for today.
If you give it a listen (and I hope you do because I’m very proud of it so far), I hope you enjoy it and maybe discover an artist you didn’t know before. It clocks in at around 51 minutes and features 13 tracks which span Quinn Trevelyan’s story and important events of the main game through to Trespasser.
If you are interested, below the cut is a list of tracks and a brief blurb or description about who or what they’re meant to represent. I was going to go into things in more depth and talk about how I built it, why I picked the songs I did, and the B-Sides that were left on the cutting room floor, but after realizing I had written nearly 4 pages about just as many songs, I realized it was too much for anyone to read. So below is just a very brief summary and I think that most of the music would speak for itself, but I’m happy to expand more on anything that anyone finds either interesting… or confusing. (There is also Solas content because I knew a few of you love that.)
You have to click on this sentence to go to the playlist because Tumblr’s coding for “Read More” seems to be conflicting with the HTML code to embed a functional playlist. Because of course it is.
Quinn’s tarot card is the Wheel of Fortune as his story is a series of unpredictable highs and lows. What the Maker giveth, He also taketh away. The playlist follows that trend of highs and lows with upbeat songs followed by darker or more mellow ones. Whenever I create a playlist, I try to think of a general tone or sound that I want to be carried through the soundtrack. I want the overall genre or sound to tell the story as much as the individual songs. Because of that, you’ll see artists repeat a couple of times, and when they do it’s always intentional. You’ll also notice that most of the vocalists are male. This was again intentional because this is Quinn’s story, and he’s a man. They are his songs and I wanted the vocals to reflect that.
The Cult of Dionysus - pre-Conclave Quinn
Quinn at his most basic and stereotypical before any character development happens whatsoever - poppish, upbeat, and maybe just a little obnoxious. He smokes, he drinks, he fucks, and nothing else matters.
The Sound of Silence - Aloysius’ Theme
I like Aloysius as a more practical view and examination of Quinn and the cult that grows around him. He affords an opportunity to look at Quinn both as the Herald but also as just a person. He is stoic and mild-mannered, a dutiful soldier, and an excellent foil for Quinn. This is also absolutely a reference to an Arrested Development joke.
Isle of Dogs - Quinn’s true theme
Quinn is a walking disaster constantly falling victim to his own hubris. There’s a morose sort of resentment to the lyrics, of someone who is constantly struggling against the tide. In a lot of ways, this is basically a reaction or push back to all the crap I have put him through.
Providence - “In Hushed Whispers”
There are no Templars here. The first few lines relate a lot to the dismissal the fledgling Inquisition receives from what remains of the Chantry, but the rest of the lyrics are very much about the mages and Fiona’s dealings with the Venatori.
Seven Devils - “In Your Heart Shall Burn
No male vocals in this one to symbolize the change in perspective. This is both a bit of an easy and obvious choice for this story beat. Female vocals for Corypheus might seem strange, but when I created my Warden’s soundtrack I tended to use powerful choruses and female vocals for anything related to Blight, Archdemons, or the darkspawn. I carried that idea over to this as Corypheus is one of the seven Magisters.
Caesar - becoming the Inquisitor
This is a softer and quiet interlude in the wake of the loss of Haven and struggle through the snow. If the previous song marks the end of the first act, this song marks the beginning of the second.
King - “Here Lies the Abyss”
In my written world state, Alistair is both the king and the Grey Warden contact (this goes back to that longform fic I am working on). I suppose it’s a bit unfair because in the end that has a major impact on why Quinn makes the decision he does at Adamant (a rather threatening letter from the Warden helps too). Think of this as a duet between Quinn and Hawke.
My Type - the love interest
“Here Lies the Abyss” was completed first, then a romance triggered, then “Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts”. This is that sort of inbetween interlude and is very much inspired by how I may have flirted with multiple characters a little too much and basically triggered several romances at once. I also went into Quinn’s playthrough having no idea who I was going to romance and just let him shop around. And it came down to a coin flip in the end, so “you have a pulse and you are breathing” is pretty much the only standards he has.
Boheme Supreme - party at Halamshiral
All I have to say is that I love techno swing, every single lyric in this song is perfect, and I want you all to picture Quinn Trevelyan walking into the Winter Palace with his Inner Circle entourage around him, dressed up in that outfit I drew with that peacock feathered cap and having a drink in his hand throughout the entire night’s affair.
Hell’s Coming With Me - “Doom Upon All the World”
This is the climax of the main game, the rematch between Quinn and Corypheus which I have to imagine is more impressive in concept than it was in game. I chose the dialogue option when Corypheus calls Quinn an imposter, “I am the Maker’s chosen” as his final challenge. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that this main is actually very Andrastian. But he is, and the lyrics, “I am the righteous hand of God/And I am the Devil that you forgot/And I told you one day will see/I’ll be back I guarantee/And that Hell’s coming with me” are the perfect declaration.
Paradise - Jaws of Hakkon & The Descent
Another interlude song. If the previous one is triumphant than this one is the beginning of a bad turn. In the interim between the events of the main game and the Exalted Council, things begin to go wrong in little ways. His relationship with Cassandra begins to break down, eventually ending in the two of them having frequent spats and going their separate ways after returning from the Frostback Basin. This song is deceptively sarcastic about how good things are.
I Still Love You, Judas - Solas’ Betrayal
Solas… oh, Solas. Does this song indicate a very complicated and layered relationship between Quinn and Solas? Yes! Have I attempted to unpack any of this? Nope! Have fun with this one!
Tagging for this week: @kita-lavellan @silvanils @nivenor-krosis @drag-on-age @rosella-writes @inquisitoracorn
Battle Cries - Quinn and Cassandra
I saved this one for the very end because it is a story within a story. It is sad and bittersweet, but also not. This entire thing feels to me like a duet between Quinn and Cass on what was good, what could never last, and that it’s all over now but that’s okay. Because “this isn’t a breakup, dear heart, it’s a season finale.” Does this mean that Quinn sounds like Joey Batey when he sings? Sure, why not.
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Close enough to 10 mintues of “Ms Axel is a Goon”
Screw it. I'm posting it here, too.
*NOTE: This is 100% fictitious and not going to happen*
Final Assignment
Script Writing, Winter School 2021
ONE-PAGE PITCH
TITLE: Ms Axel is a Goon
GENRE: Action, comedy, sci-fi, family
LOGLINE: In the humid city of Dasmus, Mei Axel is a former goon who's just escaped captivity. Since her escape, she's been trying to better her life with her new found passion for music, but she quickly learns that the entire country wants to trade her name and face for a price.
FORMAT: Full-length animated film
MAJOR AND RECURRING CHARACTERS:
Mei Axel – A wanted fugitive. Mid 20s. Despite her physical competence, she's mostly a foolish, plucky girl who steals a guitar one day.
Alicia Vonarb – CEO of a liquor company. Late 30s. The last boss to hire Axel to do her sneaky business work. Confident and vain, but does everything in spite of her mother. Wants to capture Axel because she doesn't want to get ratted out.
Kannie Orma – An old gadgeteer friend of Axel’s. Mid 50s. Also a “lame uncle” sort of figure to Axel. Their friendship must remain secret because his work is also involved with Vonarb.
O. Miho - Axel’s former coworker from when she was working for Vonarb. Early 30s. His current assignment is to capture Axel. Smug and thinks he's funny.
K. Claymont – Axel’s other former coworker. Late 20s. Works together with Miho. A kind man, but only most of the time.
SYNOPSIS: Mei Axel. She's a goon that's been caught and jailed. Eventually enough, she makes a successful escape and ventures outside. Not much happens afterwards other than stealing a guitar, and once discovering that she's got a passion for music, now she aims to live up that dream. But while attempting to live her new life, her face still reads as an incompetent menace to her former friends and foes, as well as to the majority of the country – they all seem to want to trade in her face for a cash reward. Now, aside from escaping the hands of everyone that wants to hand her over to the government, it is now up to Ms Axel to figure out how she is going to be able to pursue her new life goal that heavily conflicts with her current place among her people. This first follows the story of a wanted fugitive who sets off on a quest for redemption which, unfortunately, never works out. The story ends when Axel eventually escapes the country. She finally acknowledges that she can never truly change the way she's perceived, as well as never fully experience the life that she wants. However, she still performs under a low profile, happily living a drifter's lifestyle.
RATIONALE: This is a story about someone whose wrongdoings and nurture had shaped the way that others view them. Our protagonist is Mei Axel who had been built up to become a significantly infamous member of society, but once discovering a part of herself that showed her potential in a more respected position, being a musician, she starts wanting to better herself. A problem with this scenario is that her past actions prevent her from fully achieving that dream. She can relate to audiences who want to change aspects of their past, particularly their mistakes or the wrong ways they've been brought up, but can't.
MARKET: Children ranging from 11-16, particularly those that are interested in scenes that involve action-packed chases and fighting between individuals. The [film] will present itself through retro-futuristic aesthetics in its city setting. Rock is also a prevalent music genre for the soundtrack, which may interest audiences who particularly like the genre.
The Script
EXT. BUILDINGTOP – NIGHT
Axel checks out the guitar from every angle with a grin, having a feel of its neck, strings and body. She sits it on her lap as if to play it.
AXEL
Oh... I hope those lessons never went to waste...
She wobbly plays a C major scale while slightly wincing through every second. She runs over the same scale again, but this time it flows a bit more smoothly. She smiles a little.
MONTAGE OF AXEL PRACTISING GUITAR
- Axel goes over the same scale a couple of times and with every run, her playing gets smoother.
- She then moves on to a different key and practises that scale
- She then moves on to another key and practises that scale
- She plays some chords now, beginning with the I IV V I progression
MONTAGE END
Axel continues strumming. A light turns on from a nearby building.
DWELLER
Who is playing that garbage?!
Axel stops strumming. Silence.
AXEL
(Breathes in)
I'll get the hang of it.
She slings the guitar over her back and runs into the shadows. Eventually, she disappears into the dark.
EXT. MARKETPLACE – DAY
A view of a cranny on a roof between two walls. Axel sleeps there resting her guitar on her lap. Waking up, she yawns and then lazily sits up.
CUT TO:
A view of the market grounds. Axel smugly and excitedly, yet discreetly scurries out of an alley between a bakery and a liquor store, with a paper doughnut bag in one hand and a small bottle of liquor in the other.
She sits by a cafe playing some instrumental reggae rock music through a speaker. Axel hums along to the melody of the soundtrack while tipsily bouncing her finger to the beat. She then quickly strums a few chords for a brief moment, all which clash with the song's key signature, until right on the chorus, where she strums a chord that matches the root note of the song.
AXEL
Ooh, it's a G song. God, why do they always gotta be G songs? (Giggles)
She strums along with the music, landing every chord. Her smile grows and she gradually plays more confidently. She whistles the melody, then proceeds to hum. A TEENAGE BOY chucks a coin in front of her. Axel looks up and grins. She finger guns at him as he skids away to his friends, laughing. Axel stands up and plays more purposefully. The background starts dimming down.
DAYDREAM
Soon the marketplace around her blends into a stage. An abstractly drawn audience watches her perform and cheer her on. The chorus section of the song finishes.
AXEL
(Laughs)
I'm going to be known! I'll make myself the talk of the town! Everybody's gonna love me!
Axel starts strumming along to the background music again. Suddenly, a MAN with a large, muscular build grabs onto her shoulder.
END DAYDREAM
The stage fades back into the marketplace. Axel is still strumming.
MAN
You got that last part wrong.
AXEL
And who are you?
The man bats Axel with a club.
OVER BLACK.
SFX: Walking footsteps.
EXT. DESOLATE CITY AREA – DAY
In an alleyway, the man carries a bag containing Axel's body, also with Axel's guitar strapped around his back. After some time, Axel can be seen moving inside of the bag.
MAN
Huh? Hey. You keep still down there, would you?
Axel still moves inside of the bag.
MAN (CONT'D)
Look, this is goin'a be a long walk. That means you better cooperate with me, you hear that, Girlie? (Pause) You don't want to make me hurt you, now--
Axel falls out of a hole the bag with a shank in one hand and one of her boots on the other.
MAN
What the?!
The man looks behind himself while Axel stands up in front of him, holding her boot in both hands. She sends a finishing blow at the back of man's head and he falls to the floor. Axel cautiously looks at the man for a brief moment.
The man lies motionlessly on the ground. Axel drops her boot and fixes her shank back inside her pocket, then dusts off her hands before then squatting down next to him.
AXEL
Gosh, they really never hired me for nothing, huh... But I ain't into that stuff anymore. Say, can I have my guitar back?
The man does not respond. Axel lifts one of the man's eyelids and learns that he's out cold. Axel sighs with a slight chuckle. She lifts up the man and, with a struggle, unstraps the guitar from his body, before eventually slinging it over her own. Once fitting her boot back on, she then stands up and slowly walks over to the edge of the alley, whistling a chipper tune – the same melody she was playing earlier - on her way there. At the edge of the alleyway, her eyes look up. Then they widen.
INSERT – ELECTRONIC POSTER
containing Axel's mugshot and in large writing, "WANTED". Below is a list of details including Axel's height, approximate age, gender, race and the time and location of where she was last seen, “18:50, Southwest of Dasmus City”. There is also a cash prize.
INSERT – ELECTRONIC POSTER
containing the same contents as the previous poster, except the location which reads, “Southern markets of Dasmus City at 15:47, drunkenly playing a red Phenver brand guitar”.
A view of Axel between the alley's walls. All around are copies of the same two posters, both in electronic and printed forms. A mildly shocked expression crosses her face.
INT. TOILETS – DAY
A view of a row of toilet stalls. None of the stalls' doors are closed, except for the one in the centre. Axel's guitar leans on a nearby wall. Her feet can be seen in the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. Axel kicks the wall.
AXEL
Damn it! I'm such an idiot! What was I thinking?! Me? A musician? That's just one way to draw attention!
VONARB (O.S)
Axel? Is that you?
AXEL (CONT'D)
I can't b-- (Pause) Ms Vonarb?
Axel immediately opens her stall's door and looks in the direction of ALICIA VONARB'S voice. Vonarb walks towards Axel.
VONARB
And to think I'd meet you here of all places?
AXEL
I never expected to see you here, either.
VONARB
Well, isn't this quite the reunion?
AXEL
Eh. Not really.
VONARB
I'm surprised you got clever enough to get yourself out of prison.
Axel exits her stall.
AXEL
So, is that to say you're impressed with me?
VONARB
Nope. How'd you think I found you here so easily?
AXEL
Easily? That was easy?
VONARB
Anyway... Don't think I came trying to find you for no reason, now.
AXEL
Oh yeah! Coincidentally, I'm a bit short on cash. You don't happen to want to hire me again, don't you?
VONARB
(Laughs)
What? After getting yourself thrown in jail?
AXEL
Oh... (Pause) What are you even here for, anyway?
VONARB
Well. First of all... (Clears throat) Whatever you do, please don't take this the wrong way.
AXEL
Huh?
Silence. The two stare at each other. Axel tilts her head in confusion. Eventually, O MIHO and K CLAYMONT enter the room. Miho holds a taser while Claymont holds a bag.
CLAYMONT
Now, I don't mean to spread any panic or alarm--
AXEL
(Gasps)
You gotta be kidding me!
VONARB
I just said to not take it the wrong way--
AXEL
I knew it! You are as easy to see through as a window! It's 'cause of my “WANTED” sign, isn't it, Vonarb?
VONARB
Wrong!
AXEL
Huh?
VONARB
You see, we're here to keep you away from those authorities. And knowing you, you're probably so incompetent that you'd just wind up stuck in prison again! So, since you're with us, you're going nowhere.
AXEL
What? Why?
VONARB
You're pretty infamous now. And I've got my business to worry about, too. So, if it didn't all add up in that brain of yours, let's just say, I don't want to risk you ratting me out.
AXEL
Yeah, I'm not doing that!
Grabbing her guitar, Axel jumps on the sinks and runs along them. Miho runs to tase her. Axel whacks him with her guitar and then heads right out the door. Claymont follows.
CLAYMONT (O.S)
I got it!
EXT. CITY STREETS – DAY
A view of the front of a pub. There is people scattered everywhere. Suddenly, the door swings right open and Axel sprints outside with her guitar now strapped over her back. She continues along the street. Claymont chases right after.
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For the fic ask, would it be terrible if I asked for all of them for 'gonna set your flag on fire?' If that's too many, any and all of the ones that excite you the most.
HI NO NOT TERRIBLE AT ALL
gonna set your flag on fire
1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?
I didn't want to write an entire family history story that was required reading before anything for this story made sense, but also wanted everyone to know who the hell these people were and where they came from and what all the relevant history is. Hence, important flashbacks.
2: What scene did you first put down?
It's been a long long time since I started writing this fic, so I'm not honestly sure what the first scene was. Probably that very first moment, with Nora on her grandparents' porch, because I felt it was really important to show everyone from the very beginning that she was going to be okay.
3: What's your favorite line of narration?
Holding up his hands in defeat, Hackett gives in. “I will bring it up with the others,” he says. “But,” he softens his voice, and she knows that it’s now Steven talking to Olivia, not Admiral Hackett talking to Captain Shepard, “are you going to be able to give her up to us if something does happen?”
She squares her shoulders, looks him right in the eye, and lies. “Yes.”
4: What's your favorite line of dialogue?
bear (ha) with me here, but this interaction is fucking gold:
“Two o’clock,” Alle says. “Vakarian, check it out.”
She scopes in where Alle indicated. Nothing but trees. “I don’t see anything,” she says. But then movement catches her eye. “Wait,” she flips on her scope’s infrared sensors. “That’s…large,” she says, flatly. “It looks kind of like a bear.”
“Grizzly bear or black bear?” Carlos asks.
“It’s a bear,” Micah says, “what does it…?”
“They act differently,” Carlos says. “A grizzly would –”
“Neither,” Nora says, cutting off the incoming discussion on Earth-based bear behavior. “It’s got a long tail, for one thing.”
“Then it’s not a bear,” Carlos says.
“You have binoculars, you look at it.”
There’s a quiet shuffle as Carlos pulls out his binoculars. “That’s…Nora, what the hell, that doesn’t even look remotely like a bear.”
She glares in Carlos’ general direction. “Oh, you know what.”
Jonah coughs pointedly. “Let’s table the classification discussion and focus on whether it’s going to eat us.”
A few moments pass in silence, and then the shuffling noise repeats as Carlos puts his binoculars back. “There wasn’t anything about this in the planetary file, so it’s probably not an issue.”
“Because that’s not logic that hasn’t bitten us in the ass before,” Alle scoffs.
“I’m just saying, if the vorcha knew about the mutated pyjaks, the venomous snakes, and the extremophile bacteria that causes both, they would probably know if an eight-foot-tall predator was making its home in the jungle. They’re dumb, but they’re not that dumb.”
Nora practically hears Jonah rolling his eyes.
“Well, let’s hope that they’re dumb, but they’re not that dumb is an accurate analysis, but let’s go a little out of our way to avoid the bear anyway,” Jonah says. “Move out.”
“It’s not a bear,” Carlos starts.
5: What part was hardest to write?
Trying to write this rescue sequence has been the worst. Like I'm sure it'll turn out great. But right now it's a lot of tedium. I literally filmed the blocking with post-its and action figures on my phone three years ago (before we were anywhere near there in the plot) and have not gotten it written down.
6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?
It's long. I normally write in the under-2k range but this is lengthier. It also noticeably has plot. Normally I write scenes or feelings or aesthetics. There's plot in this one, despite my absolute hatred of plot.
7: Where did the title come from?
my flag boy said to your flag boy, sittin' by the fire. my flag boy said to your flag boy, i'm gonna set your flag on fire.
Legit though, Phoebe Tonkin is Nora's faceclaim, and there's an episode of The Originals named "gonna set your flag on fire" and it got stuck on my head on loop until I decided it would be the title of the at-the-time-untitled Norafic. Serendipitously, it works as a taunt between Cerberus and the Alliance.
8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?
I'm sure that something or someone was inspired by real life interactions I've had with people, but I cannot for the life of me pinpoint anything specifically.
9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?
There are a lot of cut scenes and I've worked and reworked pieces to the point where the original isn't recognizable anymore, but that's just editing. There aren't any true alternate versions.
10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?
Besides the fact that it's their daughter, no other pairing, and I literally mean no other pairing, that I write would be standing after this story. None of them.
11: What do you like best about this fic?
All the stuff I got to make up because this happens 30 years post-canon. Nora's squad, James as CO, galactic politics, several space stations, etc. World-building is the best part of fic, as far as I'm concerned.
12: What do you like least about this fic?
That I actually have to write it instead of just opening up my brain and dumping it out onto a page and having it magically create itself. I have the whole thing filmed out in my head, it's just a matter of writing it down and that's hard.
13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn't listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?
It changes depending on what scene I'm working on. But here's the official soundtrack.
14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?
Go absolutely wild with OCs, it's fine.
15: What did you learn from writing this fic?
Plot is hard, which is less a lesson I learned from this fic in particular but more a lesson I learned several years ago that got even more cemented by this fic. I hate plot, but it really pays off.
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Felix the Reaper - Thoughts? Review?
Can't really go into too much detail, it's rather late as it is and the ol' bed is beckoning, but I also want to couch this down somewhere while it's still fresh...
So, Death as a concept - as a character - obviously permeates the whole of human civilization. You've got Anubis and Osiris, Humbaba the Undying, thousands of years of mythology surrounding the concept of life leaving you and your flesh-bits rotting, generation after generation of people processing grief in visual and abstract forms - and now, we're sort of living in a context where Death isn't really all that scary anymore. We understand it, we can push it back in some cases - and when we can't, then we can sort of map out its occurrence. What started as just this inexplicable force swiping at hunter-gatherers and that warranted Danse Macabre paintings across Medieval France is now something we can put an almost-precise date and time on. There's a bunch of "death clocks" online that project a potential DOD based on your age, gender, health status, habits and BMI; sort of turning the concept of memento mori into a shockingly literate manifestation.
You will die, one day. We're so aware of that that a bit of science and Web design wizardry can shit out a half-serious guesstimation of when it'll happen. Pre-Colonial aspects of Death survive in Mexican culture in the forms of both calaveras and the Santa Muerte cult, and the inevitability of death now even counts as a game mechanic in the SoulsBorne genre. You've got Terry Pratchett's extremely Humanist rendition of Death and, well, Hollywood faff à la Meet Joe Black. The short of it is we're far from the robe-wearing zombie we used to plop everywhere as a reminder of our own supposedly sinful urges or on the fleeting nature of youth.
Another item that's of interest is the notion of life and youth being represented as the Maiden - and of Death being in love with her. Sometimes, the affection isn't returned and disgust is shown. That's most of Holbein's death-related works, in this case. In others, the Maiden leans in, lets the skeletal figure push a hand underneath her skirt and against one of her thighs. They share a kiss, press against one another in the way honest lovers might. He's a dried-out corpse with a bloated midsection and she might've stepped out of some sixteenth-century church in the Netherlands, but their liplock is intense and genuine. In one statue, the Maiden looks like she might've just surrendered to the Reaper's arms, but her hands are also touching his scythe....
Eroticism, a commentary on suicide or plain acceptance - there's several ways to look at that duality, and it's even managed to worm its way over to cultures that don't natively have similar associations with human remains. The Japanese, for instance, do have their own Gashadokuro concept, but the locals of Nagasaki needed their initially-exclusive exposure to Portuguese traders to shrink down their massive skeletal eidolons of doom and to design woodblock prints where a Danse Macabre effectively meets the dress codes and habits of the locals under sakoku, or the Emperor-mandated closing-off of Japan to the outside world.
Death as a dancer. Death, especially, as a force that's quite lively, despite its attributes. A force that falls head-over-heels for Life in its own anthropomorphized form.
This is what Danish devs Kong Orange opted to work on in Felix the Reaper. Their Death has a human name, has a thing for the stuffier ends of Business Casual, is maybe eighty pounds overweight - and won't ever, ever, let the music die. He's also in love, obviously - and in love with Betty, the equally portly and nimble personification of Life. The pair look a bit like a Fernando Botero couple waiting to happen, with ample waists and sagging breasts held aloft by spindle-thin legs - but if Ghostbusters taught us not to cross the streams, then you can assume that Life and Death starting a tango in the same workspace could have severe coincidences on the biosphere. Not that Felix cares, he'd want nothing more than for Betty to notice him. His supervisor is voiced off-camera by Sir Patrick Stewart, who's as delightful as always, and who sort of plays the part of the well-meaning supervisor who eventually realizes his new employee's quirks don't diminish his potential.
And what is Felix's job, exactly? Well, he's Death. He's not getting paid to distribute hugs and kisses, obviously. He gets sent to the mortal plane to, well, kill people, and more specifically, to kill people in precise and pre-ordained ways. His "televator" takes him to an instant frozen in time, and he has to alter the surrounding scene so that once time resumes its course, the requisite accident or happenstance occurs. You do that by picking up items, flicking switches, and placing targets in the path of whatever it is that's set to kill them. You also move the sun around the world using a magical sundial doohickey, as Death can only move in shadows. You're basically Death in the same sense as in the Final Destination movies, except you really, really, really want to twerk and sashay your voluminous heinie through the small changes needed to turn a nothing-burger into a drunk huntsman getting his head stuck in the stump of a decapitated deer, so the dejected and near-sighted hunter you've been following mistakes him for a target and shoots his spear through his brain-case.
And yes, Felix does twerk and he certainly sashays. Dude dresses like a stuffy librarian, sure, but seemingly loses all inhibitions once his headphones come up - which allows the player to share in his personal soundtrack. This particular Reaper seems to have a thing for very bass-driven and samply EDM, with occasional forays into Ambient and Jazz. His many, many, many idle animations all sync with whatever it is that's playing, and so does the variety of prances, somersaults, grands jetés and twirls he goes through while moving from place to place. Comparatively, you get the sense that Felix's coworkers are more the dour and solemn type - with a few unsubtle cameos from Skeletor and Manny Calavera in the opening cinematic - and Felix, well...
Let's just say it's a wonder he has those hips and that paunch. If he twirls around for every little thing he does, then you'd assume he only sits down to hoover an Olympic athlete's worth of food once a day. Or maybe I'm overthinking things because, well, death.
And therein lies the problem, honestly. In thinking, I mean. Felix is a puzzle game through-and-through, and also ties into a Challenge system in order to really tickle those completionist nerves. The starting scenarios are braindead-easy, but the later ones left me stumped for fifteen minutes per screen. Add to that the notion that the game doesn't check off some of them as complete if you only do the bare essentials, and you're left with another would-be mobile offering that doesn't reach its endpoint until you exhaust every little bit it has to offer - even if you're effectively done with the main gameplay loop. It's a great game, but there's just not a whole lot to do in those six chapters, beyond repeating bits of drudgery until your noodle clicks or you give up and look up a solution online.
It's a shame, too. The isometric perspective is perfect, and the game could've been pitched as a hybrid between a puzzler and, say, XCOM: Enemy Unknown. You'd take cover to hide from moving targets or to escape daylight and instead of shooting at them, would emerge from cover to move items around or solve puzzle elements. You could've had Death evoke the illusion of a friendly face to inject some more concrete narrative delivery, for instance. Steal a friend's features, magically conceal yourself, and then have your target piece her own weaknesses together, leaving you to retreat and regroup before executing your plan of attack. But no, everything is out in the open and everything is spelled out for you. Kong Orange could've also stolen a page from Hitman Go and set multiple triggers in place to truly sandbox the experience.
What is there is fun - it oozes personality and charm - but there's just not enough of it to justify Steam's full asking price, IMO. Comparatively, the Switch's online store is currently running a sale for it (as of Sunday the 15th, at least) and lists it as being 2,15$. Two bucks for a few hours of harmless fun is a pretty good deal, as far as I'm concerned. It also underlines why the devs and Daedalic Entertainment alike consider it as having "bombed", as the marketing effectively targeted Devolver's usual stable. It's not crunchy enough, however, and not exactly irreverent enough to warrant that comparison. A more hefty Felix could've earned its full 20$ price point on PC - and Kong Orange's very design for Betty makes it obvious that if Felix ever returns, it'll be in a co-op setup with the love of his, well, unlife.
I'd be up for more of this cuddly, swinging skelly - assuming the devs mature a tad and put something together that's just a smidge more compelling.
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A Hero Lies in You
On April Fool’s Day 2019, a video was released showing the latest game in the Yakuza franchise. Many thought it was a prank. The reason why? The sudden change in combat. Gone was the brawler beat-em-up that was associated with the series. In its stead was a turn-based system reminiscent of role-playing games. Characters waiting for their turns before utilising special skills? In a franchise known for its hard gritty storylines about gangs duking it out in the streets of Japan? ‘Haha Ryu Ga Gotoku. You thought you could fool us, but we see right through you. This isn’t our first rodeo and you’re not Square Enix,’ was many a thought when the footage had been viewed by thousands online.
What gamers did not know was that this was no gag. Fast forward several months to August 2019 and it was confirmed that Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon, starring new protagonist Kasuga Ichiban, would actually incorporate turn-based battles. There would even be JOBS!
As I had just finished playing through Kiryu’s story, as well as Judgment, in 2020 I was eager to see what new protagonist Kasuga Ichiban would bring to the table. From trailers, I could already see how much livelier Ichiban would be in comparison to the more stoic Kiryu. And, in contrast to Yagami, he was definitely more of an idiot. A lovable idiot, to be sure, but an idiot nonetheless.
Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon released in a huge week for video games. While I would have preferred to play it earlier, I had other huge titans to wrestle into submission first. Once I had managed to satiate my Ubisoft open-world needs with Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, I dived head first onto the streets of Yokohama, ready to bust some heads.
The game opens on a play. For a moment, I thought I had somehow purchased the wrong game. But as the lengthy prologue progressed, it was very clear that this was most definitely a Yakuza game. It just needed to set up a little bit of the tale, starting with Arakawa Masumi - father figure and role-model for our erstwhile hero. It isn’t long before players are introduced to Kasuga Ichiban with his trademark ‘punch perm.’ Born in a soapland and raised by those that lived on the fringes of society, Ichiban, rather than being hardened by his experience, is empathetic and not afraid to show emotion. Tasked with collection, he interprets his orders in a way to benefit those that are struggling. His goofball attitude immediately makes him a character one can connect to. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s a bit of a nerd, having played Dragon Quest during his childhood and likening many of the people around him to things in the game.
It’s not long before the plot escalates and Ichiban volunteers to give himself up to the police. Sentenced to fifteen years in prison, he inadvertently extends his sentence when his Patriarch is insulted by one of the fellow inmates. After nearly two decades spent in prison for a crime that he did not commit, Ichiban is released with little fanfare and no waiting convoy. Disappointed, he takes it in stride. The first thing on his order of business: to get his signature punch perm and reconnect with his second father-figure and Patriarch of the Arakawa family.
Along the way, he is dogged by a former policeman: Adachi. At first, it isn’t made clear why Adachi seeks Ichiban for help. After all, Ichiban had supposedly killed another yakuza in Kamurocho, Tokyo. Adachi, on the other hand, was a detective in Yokohama. Why would he have any interest in uncovering the truth behind what had put Ichiban behind bars?
After a few shenanigans are had in and around Kamurocho, our protagonist is shot and left for dead - waking up in a homeless shelter in the heart of Isezaki Ijincho. Climbing his way from rock bottom, Ichiban embarks on a journey to uncover the truth, stumbling upon a series of events and unearthing a vast conspiracy in which he was to serve as a pawn.
Many of the earlier chapters felt a little contrived. In particular was the death of Nonomiya. While it served to move the narrative forward, it was most assuredly a means to an end that didn’t highlight any significant character growth. Poor Nonomiya was fridged just to bring Ichiban into conflict with the Liumang branch of the Ijin Three.
It was only in the later chapters that the story picked up steam - with the confrontations with Bleach Japan and the encroachment by the Omi Alliance. Joined by a menagerie of characters like Zhao, Saeko, Han Joon-Gi, Nanba and Eri, there was a lot to keep track on as the plot barrelled forward at a breakneck pace, connecting Ichiban’s past with his current present and all the while setting up a juicy conflict between two men that could have been brothers. And honestly, the ending with Arakawa Masato and Ichiban got to me. I loved how that Ichiban was finally able to reach his old charge by being vulnerable and finally letting out a little of his resentment at the life Masato led, despite the fact that he could not use his legs.
The characters were superbly written and their motivations were a good reflection of the human condition. The themes of family and finding a home were evident, right from the start, even though a lot of it was glossed over by Ichiban’s desire to be a hero in a video game.
(I also really liked Seong-hui and would love to see her be an actual playable character in possible future instalments. On a side note, Arakawa...you cannot simply say: ‘See you tomorrow, Ichi,’ and expect to walk away. You basically wrote your own name into the Death Note with that line!)
As far as aping Japanese role-playing games go, however, Yakuza: Like a Dragon falls woefully short. While the Tendo twist was a good one - it was pulled a little too early. Worse, there was no world-ending threat. Everyone knows that a Japanese role-playing game MUST HAVE A VILLAIN/ EVIL GOD FIGURE THAT INTENDS TO DESTROY THE WORLD. Yakuza: Like a Dragon was too focused on old childhood rivalries to extend it further afield. I mean, yes, Aoki Ryo hoped to pull the strings of the Japanese government as chair of the CLP, but WHERE WAS THE METEOR HURTLING TOWARDS EARTH?
Honestly, 1/10 for holding true to Japanese role-playing games.
Other than that, the summons with Pound Mates was amusing. As were the side stories. Honestly, there can never be enough side stories to flesh out the wacky world of the Yakuza franchise. So many old favourites made their return. From Pocket Fighter (now dubbed Dragon Fighter) and Gondawara Susumu with his baby fetish.
Also, I didn’t think I’d be so obsessed with it, but I think they cracked property management this time round. Ichiban Confections, later known as Ichiban Holdings, was a blast to manage and accrue juicy money for.
The bartender of Survive also looked very familiar. I mean...what with the huge scar across his face. My suspicions were confirmed when I searched up Kashiwagi up on the Yakuza wiki page and was awarded with the fact that HE MANAGED TO SURVIVE THE ASSAULT HELICOPTER FROM YAKUZA 3!!
Other than that, my few other gripes involved the implementation of the levelling system and the way area of effect skills were handled. In particular, the pathing for how characters moved around the battlefield proved, at least to me, a bit of a frustration. Often, characters would be blocked by a knee-high fence or a corner. Sometimes they would be able to go around, but other times the game (after several seconds of watching them fail to walk through a solid building) warp to the enemy that I had targeted to launch their attack.
And even though the combat is turn-based, most of the enemies tend to walk around the battlefield - either clumping together or distancing themselves from each other. What truly annoyed me was when there were moves that could be used as an area of effect, with the MP cost to go along with it, but were limited by their effectiveness when the enemy combatants were too far away. Yes, it makes sense, but golly gosh, how much of a pixel measurement does it have to be for it to not hit?
Besides that, the levelling was also a bit of a tedious chore. Were it not for the invested vagrants, I feel like I might have put the game down with how much grinding there was - particularly when it came to the various jobs. The biggest hill to climb was from 20-30. Without the exp (experience point) boosting items, it would have been a torturous slog. I know that in the original Japanese release of the game, the cap for jobs was level 30, but if you change it to 99, please, for the sanity of all the gamers out there, tweak the requirements to make it easier. And maybe give normal trash mobs a bit more experience points for the playable characters to munch on.
Goodness, imagine having to grind on level 55 Ornery Yakuza and receiving a paltry 1000xp for each battle (when, in order to level up a job, you needed almost a million).
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a break from the traditional formula that’s been a staple of the franchise for many years. Much like Ichiban, it’s a bit of fresh air to liven up the experience that might have gone a bit stale after I slogged through the whole Kiryu arc last year. With a few tweaks, and a few more Persona 5 CD soundtracks, I’m eager to see how the story evolves and whatever contrivances Ichiban will somehow force him into.
Although, to be fair, is it still appropriate to call this franchise Yakuza when the game literally saw the dismantling of the two biggest clans? Then again, Civilian: Like a Dragon 2 just doesn’t have the same ring to it. In any case, I hope the next one comes soon and we’ll be able to have Seong-hui in our party. I feel like she’d be wielding a gunblade.
(Did I just use a lyric from Mariah Carey? You bet I did! I had been tossing up the idea between this line and ‘I need a hero.’ Why? Well, I think that would be self-explanatory after knowing Ichiban’s proclivities. And it fits so, so, so well!)
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tagatha dating simulator au
- It’s sunday night and local college student, Agatha, hasn’t sleep in two days, practically glued to her chair at the library, trying to absorb the maximum of information she possibly could before finals on monday morning.
- Sitting across from her is her roommate and best friend, Sophie, who doesn’t seem nearly as concerned, playing a game on her phone. Mostly because she already failed half of her courses and is considering dropping out of college to pursue a modeling career, why try at this point-
- Agatha appreciates that Sophie is keeping her company, she really does, but even if her friend was using headphones, Agatha can still hear the background music and the voice actors very clearly. That on its own was distracting enough, but it was always the same lines, with the background music looping as Sophie restarted the game prologue over and over again.
- Around the fifth time she hears the app-staring-exclamation ‘milady!’ her eye starts twitching.
- By the twelfth she slams her book shut, earning herself a glare from all the remaining students in the library.
- “How terrible do you have to be at a game to not be able to get through the prologue?” she whisper-shouts, taking the sit beside Sophie, looking at the screen.
- “That’s not the problem,” her friend defends, proceeding to explain the game.
- Trial by Tale is a recently released dating simulator that has managed to gather a cult-like following. The game was praised for its diverse range of LIs, well-written routes, stellar voice acting, high-quality art style and a beautiful soundtrack. It was apparently highly addicting as well, as Agatha had never seen Sophie be that invested in... any game... like, ever.
- Basically, the main character was transported inside a fairytale-fantasy-like world, where they were introduced as a ‘reader’ to compete in the ‘trial by tale’, a inter-worldly tournament, set up by a mysterious entity (a magical pen known as ‘the storian’), in which the winner would be granted an unconditional wish.
- “Original,” Agatha snorts.
- “Can you just shut up and listen?”
- During the prologue, the main character meets most of the main LIs and according to the player’s decisions, the game would put them into a specific route, based on affection levels with each datatable character.
- There were about thirty bad endings for the casual route (where the player either made stupid choices or didn’t gather enough affection with any LI), ranging from mildly sad to terribly gory. Then, each route had five early bad endings, that could happen during the trial, resulting in the main character’s death.
- If the player managed to win the tournament with the LI, bargaining with the storian for the survival of two competitors, then two new endings would be unlocked: a normal ending, in which the reader would wish to go home and a happy ending, in which the reader wished to remain forever in the fairytale world living happily ever after with their partner.
- “And that’s where it gets weird,” Sophie pauses, opening up the Trial By Tale wiki page. “Every single LI has a walkthrough and seven possible endings.”
- She shows Agatha a bunch of characters, offering some commentary on their personalities and backstories. Then, she pauses at the last. "All but one." The character is the prettiest, if not a bit too perfect. ‘Tedros of Camelot’, it says on the top of his page, his basic info and biography listed to the side, but it’s full of gaps, blanks and ‘???’s. It was mentioned that he was a dateable character, yet no walkthrough was provided.
- “Why doesn’t it say anything? Has he not been released?”
- “No one has managed to get his route so far, but according to the game developers, it’s possible. We don’t even know what his voice sounds like.”
- “And you think you will because…?”
- “I’m me. I’m getting Tedros’ route even if it’s the last thing I’ll do.”
- Agatha decides to leave her be, going back to the books, while asking for her to at least lower the volume.
- An hour or so goes by until Sophie grows hungry and decides to leave the library, going back to the dorm. After that, Agatha finally manages to concentrate, and time goes by in a flash.
- In fact, it passes so quickly that she’s not even sure what time it was. When did everyone leave?
- Her phone is dead and the clock on the wall is frozen at midnight. Probably broken, Agatha decides. It couldn’t be midnight, the lights were still on, the library closed at 10:30pm sharp and no one came to kick her out. She was tired, but she wasn’t deaf. She calls for the librarian.
- All the lights turn off at once. She’d be lying if she said it didn’t freak her out a bit.
- Then, she notices a blue glow from under the table. Please don’t let it be a demon.
- It’s a smartphone, with a bedazzled case, a loading blue screen emitting the light. Trial By Tale’s soundtrack starts to play and soon enough the words appear. Touch anywhere to start. That was Sophie’s phone. Which would be fine and normal and okay if Agatha wasn’t pretty sure Sophie left with it.
- The music starts to loop, and Agatha uses the light to guide her to the entrance, only to find it locked. Every other exit was blocked as well. Ha. Funny.
- Eventually, she surrenders, clicking on the screen, trying to close the app. The last thing she hears is ‘milady!’ and everything turns black as she feels the floor disappear from under her feet, her consciousness fading as she fell into an abyss of darkness.
- She wakes up lying on grass, near a gate, the words Trial By Tale engraved on top of it.
- She pinches herself, feeling it sting as she stared at the gate, pinching harder and harder to the point she nearly screamed in pain. The gate was still there. Agatha focus on her senses. She’s never able to smell things on her dreams.
- This place smells like dirt, pines, dried blood and iron.
- It’s a dream, she tries to convince herself. Very vivid dream, but it’s a dream.
- A bunch of floating text appears in front of her: Welcome, competitors!
- The storian tells Agatha everything Sophie already told her: it’s a tournament, in which 40 teens from different fairytale kingdoms, including the reader world, must compete amongst themselves for survival during 24 hours. You could pair up with someone, forming an alliance, but there could only be one winner. Then, the world froze, turning black and white, three options appearing in thin air:
A: I’m a boy
B: I’m a girl
C: I’m neither/both/something else.
- Agatha experiments. The text didn’t respond to her voice or gestures; she had to touch it. B. They disappeared up in smoke, being replaced by a new choice:
A: climb over the gate early
B: go in as soon as the gong goes off
C: run into the woods
- All of those sound horrible, she’ll hang around here, thank you very much.
- Agatha decides to pick B, because it sounded the least likely to get her killed. Tapping the option, color returns and more texts appears, telling her the rest of the rules. Apparently, all forms of magic and weapons were allowed, as it was a tournament to the death.
- Well, she had neither a weapon nor any magic, geez, things were certainly looking up.
- A gong can be heard and Agatha waits for her legs to magically move according to her choice.
- They don’t.
- She debates on staying put for a few minutes, maybe way too many, but then she remembers: casual route endings vary from mildly sad to terribly gory. Agatha doesn’t wanna find out which one she’d get by sticking around.
- Her future now depends on her romancing one of these pieces of code. Thankfully, it was just a dream, right?
- Inside the arena (?), she gets some other choices, which Agatha uses to her advantage, trying to figure out which LI she was going for and how to win them over.
- Hort, according to her friend, was the easiest to please and the most boring of them all. Nicola was efficient and Sophie had managed to unlock her happy ending without a walkthrough. Aric was a psycho, and so was Japeth. Don’t pick Rhian, her friend had warned. Anadil was a hard one to guess without the walkthough, Hester was super hot and Agatha’s type but that could go very wrong (clearly her type wasn’t working out, as she was painfully single) and-
- Is that Japeth or Rhian? She can’t tell, but he’s coming her way.
A: introduce yourself
B: try to kill him
C: hide behind the rock
- She chooses C, but climbs a tree instead, because he surely would be able to see her behind the rock, was he blind or something?
- “You sure are taking your time choosing,” a voice whispers from the branch above her, nearly giving her a heart attack, “...first time player maybe? Or just dumb?”
- Tedros, the mysterious character, was looking down at her, resting on a higher branch.
- Agatha glares at him before blurting: “You’re shorter than you look on your CG.”
- He chokes. “You can hear me?”
- “Why are you british?” she notices the accent, given how different it sounded from all the other voice actors.
- “I’m bi,” he frowns at her in offended confusion.
- (The himbo energy in this bus is astronomical.)
- They bicker a bit and Japeth grows suspicious of the hushed conversation, nearing the tree. Tedros asks for her help taking him down. Agatha is like, sure, whatever at this point, just trying to forget that Tedros broke the fourth wall. It’s a dream, don’t overthink too much.
- She distracts Japeth, and Tedros tries to ambush him, but it backfires horribly, resulting in Tedros now being a few seconds away from dying a very very painful death.
A: run away
B: ally yourself with Japeth
- Agatha hesitates over option A, convincing herself that Tedros wasn’t a real person. He was a just a character in a game. But while the entire world is black and white waiting for her answer, she swears his eyes remain icy blue.
- Trick of the light?
- She presses A but throws herself towards Japeth, colliding with him. Agatha ends up being stabbed in the arm, but otherwise fine, which is more than Japeth can say, as he fell into a conveniently located black hole. That hurt like a bitch, how is this a dream?
- Tedros is shook.
- “What did you do? How did you even-” he eyes the blood in her arm. “You’re bleeding!” Tedros rips his shirt to wrap it around the wound, and Agatha does her best not to stare at him while he tends to the wound.
- A blue ribbon in the sky tells Agatha she is now on Tedros’ route. A ribbon they can both read.
- “That’s… troublesome.”
- “What, is your route cursed or something?”
- “...”
- “It’s totally cursed, isn’t it?”
- They argue a bunch and Agatha tries to ditch him but ends up almost dying twice. Tedros saves her, and insists that since he accidentally gave her his route, he’ll help her stay alive for as long as he can.
- Together they figure out that Agatha’s ability to disobey the game choices might be able to uncurse his route, hopefully sending her home by the end and resetting the game as it was meant to be, allowing people play his route.
- Agatha is pretty sure Tedros is not telling her something, but she kinda does owns him her life now (“2x1, sucks to suck, reader.”) and he offered to share some of his food and hiding spot with her. Doesn’t hurt that he clearly knew how to fight and had a big sword, while Agatha had.... free will and nothing else apparently???
- They end up talking over fruits and water (we love a healthy king) in a cave and Agatha finds out basically every other character’s backstory, learning a ton about the context of these trials as well as what the game felt like for the characters.
- According to Tedros, every other character was doomed to repeat the same route and actions following the reader’s choices, only to lose all memories by the end, as the game reseted. They were all blissfully ignorant of the fact that this was, in fact, a dating simulator. All of them but Tedros. When Agatha asks him why, he closes off:
- “Every single character has a core wish they want fulfilled. It can be the same wish every time, or it can change once your route resets. My original wish contradicted the memory reset, so no one has been able to play my route at all. And if no one plays, I can’t reset. If you go home and the game resets, I’ll make a different wish and my route should be fixed for good.”
- Agatha doesn’t ask what he wished for and he doesn’t tell her either; it feels like way too personal of a question for strangers eating berries in a cave.
- She does ask him what his new wish will be, though.
- “I’ll restore my kingdom back to its former glory,” he starts, a certain sadness in his eyes. “They deserve a prince who doesn’t waste time wishing for-” Tedros interrupts himself, telling her about his kingdom instead.
- Agatha knows he’s related to King Arthur due to his name on the Trial By Tale wiki, but she’s surprised that he actually gives her that info willingly. He is indeed the prince of Camelot, but his mother abandoned the palace when he was nine and then his father died a few years later, sending the kingdom into despair and disgrace.
- (“That’s rough, buddy.”)
- To lighten the mood, she decides to tell him about ‘the reader world’.
- “To exist in your world might be something then,” he smiles, “I mean, beats hanging around here. You said you have a machine that can play music anytime you want?”
- Tedros is fascinated with everything and asks her about all sorts of stuff, like about politics, lgbtqa+ rights, tik tok, food, the economy, school and fashion trends. Also, memes, lots of memes.
- They spend like 8 hours straight hidden in a cave, just talking, bickering and actually having a lot of fun. The lack of choices even makes her forget she was still in a game.
- Tedros notices how tired she looks and offers to keep watch while she sleeps.
A: say no as a joke
B: outright refuse
- Agatha taps A.
- “Sure, do you mind if I lean on you though?”
- Is this like a date or are we like doing my route and you’re sleeping on my arm platonically? Tedros is shook, part 2.
- Agatha tries not to fall asleep, but she does take a nap, leaning on his shoulder. Surprisingly enough, an hour later she’s still alive, but her head was now on his lap and he was petting her hair.
- “Hi.”
- “Hi.”
A: get up
B: kiss him
- She doesn’t wanna get up, but she doesn’t really feel like kissing him would be appropriate for the moment. She presses B, yet remains still for next few minutes. Tedros looks a bit disappointed, as if he was waiting for her.
- “Aren’t you going to kiss me?”
- “Do you want me to?”
- He doesn’t reply immediately, running his fingers through her hair. “Everyone wants to kiss me. I’m hot, I’m a prince and I’m rich.”
- “You’re gonna need to do better than that to get me to kiss you,” Agatha tells him. “If we survive this I’ll kiss you once, just before we unlock your normal ending and I go home. For a CG.”
- “But then I won’t remember it at all.”
- The comment makes her nervous. Once this is over and Tedros gets his route unlocked, he’s gonna be just another character. He’ll say things like that to everyone. Agatha has to chastise herself for growing attached to a video game character. He’s not real. He wasn’t yours to begin with, you’ve known him for less than a day. Get a grip.
- They stay in silence until another gong goes off, the storian’s text showing up in the air: “12 hours left. Only 10 competitors remain.”
A: stay in the cave
B: leave
- Agatha chooses B and they head out of the cave to see who else was alive, just in time to not be crushed under heavy rocks. Strangely they don’t bump into anyone. What they do run into, though, is a bunch of traps and creatures meant to randomly eliminate competitors. Great.
- Somehow, Agatha always chooses the right option and alters her actions just enough to save them at the last minute. Is she a pro-gamer? One can only marvel at how lucky she’s been getting in this game. No, but like, really, is she? Tedros is impressed.
- At the 6 hour mark, there’s 4 people left, including the two of them. He’s been eyeing Agatha weirdly and she doesn’t know what to think of it because she liked hanging out with him, but at the same time, he is a piece of code.
- There’s like, a dramatic confrontation with the other two competitors, which turn out to be Aric and Hester, not as a pair, but as individuals, and it ends up working out in Tedros and Agatha’s favor, as those two end up murdering each othe while Tedros and Agatha have the advantage of teamwork. It’s a great action sequence, but if you’ve read this far, I’m pretty sure you’re not here for the action.
- Anyway, the storian appears, but unlike the other routes, instead of giving Agatha the opportunity to bargain for them both to survive, her options are:
A: kill Tedros
B: kill Tedros
- Agatha doesn’t tap either. She stays still, glaring at the pen while the world remained black and white.
- Then, the entire arena starts to shake, the game glitching as Tedros moves, his colors fading in and out, his expression tortured, as if just smiling at her was painful, his eyes glowing unnaturally blue. “Let’s get you home,” he mouths, before stabbing himself with his own sword, falling to the floor as the colors returned for good.
- Agatha couldn’t breathe, kneeling beside him.
- “To meet someone who’d love me for me,” he admits, bleeding out into the ground, a single tear running down his face. “That was my original wish. And then I met you.”
- She kisses him on the lips, and as you know, true love’s kiss breaks every spell, heals every wound and transcends the limits of storytelling.
- Tedros’ chest is slowly healing, but just as he gets stronger, Agatha grows weaker, starting to disappear through his fingers in rays of lights, back to the reader’s world, leaving a lonely prince by himself in a bloody arena with a magical pen.
- “Unconditional wish for the winner, hm?”
- Back at the library, Agatha wakes up with a snap, falling off her chair.
- The clock on the wall reads 10pm and the few students left at the library glare at her. She hurries to gather her things in her arms, going back to her dorm trying to make sense of what just happened. It was all a dream. It had to be because her arm is intact. She has been running on too much caffeine, finals start the next morning, she was stressed, that’s all.
- Sophie is still playing the game once Agatha arrives at the dorm, and as soon as she walks in, her friend tells her the news:
- “See, darling, I told you I’d get Chaddick’s route eventually!”
- Chaddick’s route?
- Agatha doesn’t even reply, going straight to bed, still haunted. That night, she has no dreams of handsome boys in caves, neither does she dream of blue-eyed princes bleeding out.
- Monday afternoon, though, a distracted Agatha is walking back to her dorm after taking her exams, when she bumps into someone, nearly knocking her over. She is about to yell at the stranger when her voice gets caught on her throat.
- “To exist in your world might be something,” the familiar stranger smiles at her, “I mean, I’m Tedros Pendragon, nice to meet you.”
#school for good and evil#The School for Good and Evil#sge#agatha x tedros#Tagatha#tedros of camelot#Agatha of camelot#Agatha of Woods Beyond
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# 3,724
Yoko Shimomura + Isao Abe + Syun Nishigaki: Street Fighter II: The Definitive Soundtrack (2015)
I first read about Street Fighter II in an early issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly. As all of us know, the original didn’t make much of an impact. It was there, but no one cared. At the time, Capcom’s fanfare was in the home market with franchises such as Mega Man, Strider, Legendary Wings, Bionic Commando, the 194X series, and the soul-destroying Ghosts N’ Goblins. What did they have in the arcade market at the time? Magic Sword, Forgotten Worlds, Air Wing Carrier, and Final Fight. I didn’t realize how crazy people went for Street Fighter II until I saw it for the first time at the local mall’s arcade, one which my pop used to take me every Sunday to. I get there (on a Saturday) and I see six kids standing around the cabinet. They were all getting into it. Finally, it was my very first shot at Street Fighter. My opponent was Ricardo, a gay guy who was close friends with my family’s babysitter’s daughter. I chose Chun-Li. He chose Blanka. “Brazil!” the machine exclaimed. It’s time for a showdown.
Well, that was over quickly. Ricardo won two rounds to zero. He got miffed because I stole his character on him. If it was, would’ve he had his ass handed to him by someone else? No matter. Time to play another machine and choose one of the many Neo Geo MVS mutli-cart systems loaded with many of its fighter knock-offs. World Heroes, Sengoku, and Burning Fight? Here’s Super Eightman instead.
Summer came and Capcom’s business was booming. Every stationary, ice cream parlor, laundromat and the pizzeria had machines. Of course, the pizzeria. Which ones didn’t? You’d have at least three to eight of the worst kids from every block in one of the worst neighborhoods on Long Island waiting their turn. Second Av. down the road from the middle school was three years of my life, dodging these odd but itchy numbers asking for quarters on every turn, avoiding the middle-school big-shot who was friends with 98% of the school while you were one of the unlucky few who became his daily bullseye for harassment. That bigshot backed it up by being real good at this game, beating almost everyone in his path and at once scoring 1,034,000 points to take the high score.
But life goes on and people fuck off and scatter as the years go by. I haven’t seen him since forever. Last I heard of him, he was in the papers crying hard over a close friend who died. But that was ten years ago. No social media but he lives east from what was an era long gone. Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, and Capcom’s other franchise Darkstalkers tried to punch out Street Fighters profits, yet here we are and we have the n’thteenth version of Street Fighter V, just like when II had Hyper Fighting, Rainbow Edition, and various bootlegs. What also hasn’t changed? After so many years, the pizzeria is still there and so is the original marquee; faded beyond recognition. It’s the only business in that strip mall that still exists. And the former neighborhood is still a horrible place to live. It’s never outgrown its violence or the page-five news.
The original soundtrack was released ahead of its 25th anniversary. Triple-disc, digital, and vinyl pressings were released. Some of those vinyl pressings come in double translucent blue and double translucent orange vinyl equaling four platters total.
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Hi Guys!
Sorry the update is coming a little late. I’ve been putting it off just because, well, I’ve been busy. Sometimes it’s hard to get out of work mode and into update mode. Which is basically the last few days for me!
Writing:
I've been working on Caleb's route and have the potato draft of chapter three done, and have started editing it. I really wanted to do more but have actually been feeling kind of bad this past week with off and on sinus pressure. Seasons are changing here and it's really throwing me off.
After feeling like someone was stepping on my face for three days this week, it was a relief to not have the sinus pressure yesterday…
Only for it to return today.
Regardless, Chapter three is nearly done and I suspect I'll get started on Chapter four before the weekend is out.
Art:
This week we received all the final backgrounds for the interior of Lance's house as well as one additional BG for New Terra.
One group is starting to work on some of the backgrounds for Pythia and Cestrescir, one artist has been working on a BG for Caissa's house for a while (she's a bit slower than some of the other artists) and another has started a third background for New Terra.
So backgrounds are chugging along.
You can see some of the ones we've gotten here:
In other news, I've been playing around with some GUI design elements. A lot of our screens are based around having six LIs - the title screen, the endings list, the galleries, the profiles…
All of these pages have to be redesigned. With some, it's as simple as redoing the list of names. For other screens it's a little more complicated.
The title screen, for instance, needs a complete overhaul if we still want to show all the LIs on the screen when the player opens the game. This will probably mean condensing several of the buttons with an "Extras" button that will lead to a new screen.
GUI design isn’t really my favourite thing to do but I do think the new title screen mockup looks quite nice and I’m thinking I may try to get it coded and set up before we release the update to the demo (more info on when that will be down below).
I’m not sure all the other screens will be updated by then. Most of them just require adjusting the name list to include the new characters - a small change, to be sure. But I’d rather spend time working on other contend for now.
Coding:
I've been considering a feature that I really wanted to implement in Changeling but didn't really have the skill or time or ability to do it. I still...really want to do it in GS…
And I think I’m going to be making movements in the general direction of making it happen.
I ended up getting very distracted on making mock-ups and doing some research on coding a feature like this into the game. This is basically the main thing that ate my time and kept me from updating until now. Oops!
That said, I really would be excited to be able to add this feature so I hope I work out the details and can start looking into starting to work on it!
Music:
We received two new tracks from our composer, Tobi. I really like them both.
I've been holding off updating the demo for that reason. I'd rather not continue using placeholder music because that means we'll have to do another demo update just to get the real music in at some point. And I don't really want to do that.
I also don't want the demo to have different music than the game.
So I think I'll be waiting to update the demo until our music is complete.
That said, the music is turning out so wonderfully that I honestly can’t wait to share it with everyone. The soundtrack of this game is going to be completely amazing. <3
Upcoming Weeks:
Basically writing...and some of the above stuff. While writing will remain my main focus for the foreseeable future, there are always other things to do.
Getting new screen designs and other things going will be something I work on too.
Hopefully by the end of the week I have Caleb’s Chapter Five at least started, in addition to maybe having a new title screen set up and coded. I’ll be sure to show you guys either a screen cap or mock up of the title screen next week - depending how far along that process is!
Until then!
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CHAPTER SIX: WILDFLOWER
Paring: ex!Bucky barnes x reader
Warnings: swearing, cheating, almost smutty near the end if you squint
Series Summary: Bucky realizes one can only run from their problems for so long before they must returns home but he sure as hell wasn’t expecting her to be there when he did.
Word Count: 2.6k
A/N: this series is based off the album “calm” by 5sos. if you want to follow along in the album, listen to Wildflower while reading this! thanks for supporting the series! i really love you guys! let me know what you think of the series!
series masterlist // masterlist
The blush that sat on your face sank deep into your skin as you lost your color. Bucky took note of your sudden change and concern captained his face. “Y/N… you ok?”
“Bucky...Y-you lied to me?”
“Y/N, what are yo-”
“You lied to me about last night Buck,” you sighed, hiding your face into your nervous hands. His head grew heavy with responsibility as it dropped with an exhale before he placed his hand on your knee and gathered your attention.
“I’m sorry Y/N, I should have said something. I just figured since you didn't remember it, well”, his hand momentarily left your leg as he ran it across the back of his neck. “I just figured that you didn't want to…”
Before you could start, he quickly continued. “Look at me,” Following his queue, your silent eyes lifted to meet his. “I don’t know what you remember, but I was absolutely sober. I meant every word that left my lips even if you didn’t. That being said, we just fell into a little bit of normalcy and I really don't want to lose that Y/N.” He searched your face anxiously for a response.
You looked down at your newly tied sneakers with a small grin. “I forgive you bucky, but I need you t-”
Fury’s sharp voice interrupted yours as it rang over the PA system on the course, “All recruits and essential personnel need to hurry their asses up into this building, we have reports of a storm coming our way and it does not look pretty.”
Other agents holding clipboards began walking faster as they made their way inside, encouraging you and Bucky to do the same. As you got into the building, even more agents filtered through you.
“Hey, Steve’s on his way over... look, why don’t I meet you after we all get settled and have dinner? Like 7ish?” he smiled.
You smiled back as you tried to control the butterflies that took over your stomach. “Y-yeah, sounds good.” He was quickly swept away by the blonde super soldier who was walking towards the conference room at a timely pace. You headed toward Tony’s office, taking a minute to process the events of the last hour or so. You had managed to lose yourself, replaying the dream-like encounter in your mind on loop, before reaching your destination. You shook the feeling off and allowed your knuckles to rap gently on the door's glass surface as Tony opened the door at the same time, almost trampling you in the process.
“Yea- wait no. just hold that till i get there. I’ll be- oh hey Y/N! Greg, give me a second, I’m on my way to the conference room now” he said before flipping his earpiece off. “Here to accompany me to the training briefing?” he laughed.
“Actually, I just wanted to hand off my paperwork. I need to help Pepper with the schedule for tomorrow,” you smiled warmly before grabbing the top few pages from your clipboard and extending them toward him.
“Oh right! Have fun and tell Mrs. Potts, she looks fabulous for me,” he smirked, taking the clipboard from your hands. You let a chuckle fall from your mouth as you passed him, heading towards Pepper’s office, only a few strides away.
Again, you found your knuckles knocking on a glass door as Pepper invited you in. “Y/N! It’s great to see you! Whatcha got for me?”
You handed her your clipboard and the remaining papers on it, “I made a list of possible sparring partners with the assistance of Sergeant Barnes during the evaluation which include estimated time based on skill level. It’s a rough outline and doesn’t include instruction time but it's a start” you smiled.
“God, you are the best!” she groaned in relief, flipping through the pages of your detailed work. “Way smarter than any of the other meatheads conducting evaluation,” she laughed before placing the clipboard on the desk and grabbing another. “I managed to get a lot done during the course training so I really don’t need much else. Could you just put this on Tony’s desk when you pass his office?”
You nodded, grabbing the new paper work before pausing, “Oh! Also Tony told me to let you know how fabulous you look,” you giggled, exiting the room and dropping the papers on Tony’s desk next door. After leaving a note that it was from Pepper, you glanced down at your watch and smiled at the timely end to your day.
You found yourself leisurely wandering to your room, dropping your work of the day at the door then closing it behind you when you finally arrived. Your hands found the wooden knobs of your dresser, pulling it open then sorting through your neatly folded pajamas in an attempt to finally get comfortable. Landing on the black t-shirt that your hands now rested on, you slid off your tight leggings and revealing sweatshirt, throwing on the oversized garment in their place. You asked Friday to play some background music as you grabbed a book off the shelf that sat next to your bed before finding a seat on the long gray couch that adorned your back wall.
Lost in the annotated pages of your favorite novel, the rain that thumped on your window added to the wonderful soundtrack your room emitted as you began to sink back into the familiar life you held here before you left. The time had escaped your mind until a soft knock thumped at your door. Your heart picked up drastically as you glanced at your watch again, this time denoting 7:00. He was punctual if nothing else.
You opened the door gently and welcomed the tall brunette in with a small nod, “Sergeant..” you giggled.
“Ma’m” he laughed back with a small bow before making his way into your room and reclining across your previously occupied couch. His eyes glanced over your bare legs drawing a light blush to your cheeks as you sat next to him, curling up into the corner of the gray loveseat. The comfort you had earlier in the day decreased at the lack of people around you as he started, “So you were saying something earlier.. You wanted something?”
The smile on his face infected your heart with warmth causing your body to shiver. “Y-yeah… I just wanted to know what happened last night… I mean I know what happened but I also, uh, well don’t and I know you would have never done a-anything like that but uhm..” you chuckled nervously, letting the hands that were on your knees fall down your smooth legs in an attempt to find any comfort hidden in this situation.
His hand met yours as he assured, “Nothing happened, I promise. There were some heated words exchanged and, uhm” he cleared his throat before you cut him off with a chuckle.
“No Buck, I-I know... “ you pointed to the now poorly covered hickey, letting your eyes fall to the ground with a small smile on your face. “I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing anything crucial.”
“Of course…” he said with a smile, standing up and offering you a hand. You grabbed his hand and he gently pulled you up from your seat, bringing your faces a little too close for your comfort.
“Nothing more happened than a mistake. I-I’m sure it won’t happen again” you mumbled, quickly becoming consumed in his eyes.
A cheeky grin danced onto his face as the gap between you seemed to be closing at an alarming rate. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
As you held the distance, centimeters from his face, you quickly cracked under the heavy blush that sat on your cheeks and stepped back in a sheepish manor, quickly dropping his hand and opening the door.
“Sargent,” you nodded, this time your eyes not leaving the floor.
“Ma’m.” A blush found itself on his smiling cheeks before he finally exited the room.
As you closed the door, you sank to the floor, holding your hands to your wildly beating heart.
You were made.
•••
The night passed quickly and it wasn't long before you found yourself in the gymnasium of the training hall, present for the next phase of recruitment week. The groups were divided by skill level and prospects were matched by Pepper using your scouting report.
Director Fury led the mornings commencements, taking his rightful place upon the platform at the front of the room. “Ok listen up. We are going to start dividing into groups, pay attention and follow orders or consider yourself cut. Howell, Barker, Morton, Hale, Preston. You have been assigned to Agents Romanoff and Barton, please follow your evaluator, Agent Rooney to the training room. Cole, Duran, Gonzales, Sims, Fields. You have been assigned to Agents Rogers and Barnes, please follow your evaluator Miss. Y/L”
As continued to give instructions, you raised your arm with a smile and waved, gathering the attention of the prospects who swiftly found their spots in front of you. Turning around, you began reading off the script while leading them out of the main gym.
“All right recruits, if you would follow me this way I will be taking you to an offshoot of the training facility. These rooms will be occupied by you and your instructors while I observe your progress and take notes on your performance. You will each battle in hand to hand combat and receive basic corrections from your instructors. This test is about strength and coordination just as much as your ability to receive criticism and be coached,” you paused, stopping in front of a black door. “This is where you will enter momentarily. In the event of an emergency, we will make a right here to return to the hallway we just came from, then another right to return to the main gym. When we enter, you will find a seat against the back wall and your instructors will be in to meet you briefly. Does anybody have any questions?” The small group all shook their heads in response. “Great, good luck!” you smiled, opening the door and letting them inside. Black walls encased the small room and the only illumination was found hanging above the giant white circle that laid upon the center of the black mats. You peeled off through the other door lining the walls and were greeted by two smiling faces upon entering.
“Did you scare ‘em?” Steve laughed as he and Bucky passed you.
You winked before giggling,“Only a little.”
The boys entered the room, giving a very similar speech to you before calling up the first match. You watched through the one way mirror as Daniel Cole, a tall brunette built like a steam roller and Alexa Gonzales, a small brunette with an athletic build, took their places on the edge of the circle. They quickly entangled themselves, Alexa mercilessly placing hits on him with her unbelievable agility until she found herself suddenly pinned under the much bigger Daniel.
“That was a really great job Alexa. You had him on the ropes but he managed to grab your arm. Can anybody tell me what shifted the momentum here?” Steve paused. Met with silence he continued, “With you being so much smaller than him, you can't do the normal reversal here which leaves you open to the arm bar he caught you in. Uh, let me- Y/N? Can you come here for a second?” Steve called through the glass. You tried to call back, quickly remembering the room was he couldn't hear you through the soundproof walls. You got up quickly and peaked your head through the door.
“How can I help?” you offered with a smile.
“Can you demo an arm bar reversal on Bucky for them step by step I can walk them through it?”
You nodded as you laid down on the mat, allowing Bucky to lock you in the arm bar and Steve to begin. “So with his legs significantly longer than her arms, she can't reconnect her hands to pull herself up,” he paused prompting you to move into your next position. “Instead, she bridges her shoulders off the ground and rotates, pulling herself under his leg then up and over as opposed to..” his words quickly faded away as you laid on top of Bucky. You could feel his heavy breath on your neck as you held the position, desperate for Steve to say break. As if he could read your mind he speech quickly stopped causing you to jump to your feet and offer a hand to Bucky, eventually pulling him up.
You disappeared back into the eval room more breathless and red in the face then you’d like to admit. As they continued their instruction, you found it harder and harder to maintain your composure with Bucky demonstrating throw after throw. It drove you mad watching him do what he does best and your close contact didn't help your growing want for him. As Steve handed out correction after correction, Bucky became quieter, eventually pulling Steve in and mumbling something in his ear. Steve nodded with a smile before Bucky began walking towards your door.
He slipped into the room and gently closed the door behind him.
“Hey, do you need any help with eval?” Walking behind you, he peeked over your shoulder to read your notes and his closeness burned through your hold body.
Without thinking, you turned your head and connected your lips to his. He quickly broke the kiss, shock written on his face through his raised eyebrows and slightly agape mouth.
You braced yourself for the cold rejection you knew too well but much to your surprise, he pulled you up, connecting your lips again. His hands slammed roughly into your hips as he lifted you up prompting you to wrap your legs around his waist. He carried you towards the door, flipping the lock before practically slamming your back into the dark wall behind you. Your teeth caught his bottom lip, drawing a groan from his slightly swollen lips, before breaking quickly to pull off your shirts. He released a quiet needy whine at the absence of your lips but was muted by them smashing into his again. Your hands ran down his chest as he put your feet on the ground and trapped your body against the wall with his large arms, opting to continue his kisses down the side of your neck. His hands ran the sides of your body feverishly, reacquainting him with the details that he had desperately tried to forget over the past year and a half. Your lips then connected with his neck, reliving memories of your own as you gently began to gently suck and nibble at his sweet spot, being careful not to leave a hickey.
“God, you are the only one who fucking does that right,” he groaned before your lips met again. His hands slid down your waist and on to your ass as he squeezed hard enough for you to know there would be a bruise in the morning. He then moved his kiss down to your collarbone and gently bit down. Your hand found his shoulder as you lightly pushed him back, leaning for a last kiss before breaking all contact between you.
“You don’t get to leave marks if I can’t Buck....” you said softly, scooting under his arm and throwing your t-shirt back on. You tossed him his shirt next and as he slid it on over his confused face you unlocked the door, propping it open slightly. You grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door before, your hand found his now clothed chest.
You pressed up onto your tippy toes to reach his ear, “I can't be a side piece Sarge and you know that. If you decide to end it with the girlfriend, then you can mark me up. Any way you want,” you whispered before fixing his disheveled hair and fully opening the door.
#Bucky Barnes#bucky barnes fanfiction#bucky barnes x reader#bucky x you#bucky x female reader#ex!bucky barnes au#ex!au#ex!bucky barnes#buckysbest calm#marvel x reader#marvel fanfiction#marvel series
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2011 - This Year in Gaming
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - Nintendo DS, January 11th
A quirky adventure game where you are fucking dead, and you gotta work out who killed you. Ghost Trick is like Ace Attorney at first glance - it looks similar, and is made by effectively the same development team. Give it a shot on iOS.
Dead Space 2 - Multiplatform, January 25th
Dead Space 2 was the undisputed king of alien horror until Alien: Isolation released. Yeah, you battle massive acid-spitting aliens, but it’s the necromorph babies you’re gonna be shit-scared of. It isn’t quite as unique as it’s predecessor, but it’s definitely much better to play. Bring your brown pants.
The Nintendo 3DS Releases - March 27th
The 3DS was like magic when you first fired the 3D slider all the way up - then it became a gimmick you never used again. Releasing with a few decent launch titles and being able to boast Street Fighter IV as playable, the 3DS arguably didn’t really pick up much steam until a few months after launch. While more powerful than the original DS which was six years old at the time, I can’t remember being particularly interested in it at the time.
Portal 2 - Multiplatform, April 19th
Valve’s final single player experience until their jump into VR was a bloody good one - very funny and amusingly written with the best Steve Merchant performance since The Ricky Gervais Show, Portal 2′s puzzle solving adventure is rarely a chore to play through, and has thousands of custom maps courtesy of the Steam community.
L.A. Noire - Multiplatform, May 17th
Rockstar’s foray into adventure games has stood the test of time as an enjoyable and often startling journey nto the seedy underbelly of 1947 Los Angeles - as Cole Phelps you’ll threaten a Jewish man with the gas chamber, arrest a paedophile instead of a clearly guilty father, quote Hamlet to a prop skull at the scene of a car crash, destroy thousands of dollars of property, and yell at a child whose mother’s just been murdered. Great fun!
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The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Windows
CDPR hit it out of the park with a fantastically improved sequel to 2007′s Eurojank diamond in the rough The Witcher, and really introduce Geralt of Rivia to more people for the first time with this game. A branching story that sees Geralt hunting Letho, the killer of King Foltest, and allying either with smelly hippy elven leader Iorveth and his terrorists who don’t appear in the sequel or the very cool but quite racist Vernon Roche and his special forces group, who are supporting characters in the sequel.
Alice: Madness Returns - Multiplatform, June 14th
A surprisingly charming, unsettling dive into the fractured psyche of the Victorian equivalent of an actual goth gf, Alice is a sequel to American McGee’s Alice from 2000. Surreal as fuck and absolutely drowning in atmosphere. Just don’t look at any of the YouTube comments on videos of the soundtrack. Rather bizarre show...
Duke Nukem Forever - Multiplatform, June 14th
Sometimes it’s best NOT to bet on the Duke. I bought this game to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I did neither - DNF is fucking boring, and I blame it ALL on Randy Pitchford’s devotion to ruining things I like. DNF could’ve been brilliant - either embrace your heritage like Doom Eternal would eventually do, or make it into a “last hurrah” kind of thing where Duke realises he’s getting old and can’t kick ass forever. The greatest disappointment of the 2010s so far - but worse would follow with it. The King is dead - hail to the King, baby.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Multiplatform, August 23rd
The piss-tinted prequel to 2000′s excellent conspiracy RPG Deus Ex, Human Revolution is like smashing Robo-Cop into a world where Detroit is not a humanitarian disaster zone. Adam Jensen, the gravelly-voiced biomechanically enhanced security chief of David Sarif, is dragged into a world of American conspiracies involving FEMA death camps, the government enforcing martial law in US cities and massive Chinese conglomerates plotting to control the world. Just like real life! DXHR is my favourite in the series for its design, atmosphere and narrative.
Dead Island - Multiplatform, September 6th
Eh. Wasn’t that good. Notable for having the most misleading fucking trailer since Metal Gear Solid 2, but nowhere near as fulfilling upon release. An open world zombie survival game with a focus on melee weapons more fragile than your granny’s second hip. Oh great, now there’s a dead kid on my page. Thanks, Techland!
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Driver: San Francisco - Multiplatform, September 6th
A game you literally can’t buy anymore, DSF was incredible to play when it came out and has only really gotten better with time. It’s still so unique for a driving game that I’m surprised Ubisoft have had the good sense to just leave it and not go pants-on-head retarded with the franchise since. Nick Robinson had to buy Subway gift cards just to purchase this game.
Batman: Arkham City - Multiplatform, October 18th
Arkham City was so cool at launch and it still is today. A proper Batman epic with twists, turns, and the most addictive combat arena for years. This whole thing is gold from start to finish, except for the Harley Quinn DLC. I can’t even go into detail about it here, but I fucking LOVE this game.
Sonic Generations - Multiplatform, November 1st
Sonic Generations is the best Sonic game since 3 & Knuckles, but has now unfortunately convinced Sega that not only do people despise the Adventure games, they also really want to see Classic Sonic and Green Hill EVERY GODDAMN DAY. Generations is like a proper celebration of Sonic’s history, even including stuff from every reviewer’s favourite punching bag Sonic 2006 - I really like Generations and it has a stellar modding scene on PC.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception - Sony PlayStation 3, November 1st
The “finale” of the Uncharted series until Naughty Dog decided it wasn’t. Uncharted 3 may not be as tight as Among Thieves, but it’s just as enjoyable. As quipping invincible action hero Nathan Drake, you’ll ruin historical artifacts and “incapacitate” about 4000 guys in your quest to find Iram of the Pillars, chased by Cruella de Ville and her mercenary squad of a million faceless Englishmen.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - Multiplatform, November 8th
God I was so excited for this. World War 3 never looked cooler, and then it came out - and it wasn’t that good. It didn’t feel as epic as MW2, not as well-written as MW, and not as interesting as World at War and Black Ops. Multiplayer was... fine? I think this is the point where most people realised that Call of Duty was basically downhill from here.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Multiplatform, November 11th
See this paragraph? You can read it. Another installment in Bethesda’s cross-franchise “Little Lies” series, Skyrim has been released more times than China’s created a pandemic. But it’s still really good and when you rub it the right way it comes all over your screen like a particularly excited storyteller, ready to point in the direction of adventure.
Super Mario 3D Land - Nintendo 3DS, November 13th
Yeah this was the point I decided I wanted a 3DS. It looked incredible and so fluid, and it really was! Playing this was great fun. That’s really all there is - I can’t be funny about it, nor overly critical. What do you want from me?
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations - Multiplatform, November 15th
I didn’t like this when it came out - I thought the new graphic style was bad, Constantinople was dull, and the music was too different. Ezio was angrier, older, and the complete lack of any supporting cast from Brotherhood had me thinking this was a game that nobody wanted to work on - but now that I’m older, I can see this for how good it really was. Revelations blends the Ezio and Altair stories together, culminating in a satisfying emotional climax.
Saints Row: The Third - Multiplatform, November 15
This video speaks for itself.
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Minecraft - Windows, November 18th
There’s something beautiful about those early builds of Minecraft. Quiet, unassuming, and riddled with potential for exploration. I could talk for hours about the first time I was thrown into Mojang’s survival experience, about how I still get a bit weepy hearing Wet Hands by C418, about how shit-scared I still am of the mines and caves. Minecraft is immortal, and always will be.
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#ghost trick#dead space#nintendo ds#nintendo#ds#witcher 2#la noire#portal 2#portal#alice#duke nukem#deus ex#dead island#driver#batman#arkham city#uncharted 3#uncharted#sonic generations#sonic#sth#mw3#modern warfare 3#call of duty#skyrim#todd howard#minecraft#saints row 3
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We’re Only Kidding Ourselves- Part Eleven || Tom Holland x Reader
A/N: fucking finally lol hope y’all are ready
Prompt: Enemies to lovers au (from @marvelellie‘s 1k writing challenge!!)
Summary: You work as a production assistant for the Spider-Man: Far From Home crew, or rather as Tom Holland’s handler. The two of you don’t get along very well to say the least, but you won’t quit and he can’t fire you so you’re stuck with each other.
Warnings: swearing, angst :)
What I listened to while writing: the Bad Times at the El Royale soundtrack
Word Count: 3.1k
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven | Part Eight | Part Nine | Part Ten
“Speak of the devil,” Haz said as Tom jogged over to the two of you and you couldn’t help the ‘literally’ that slipped out of your mouth automatically. Force of habit.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” he asked you, still breathing heavily from the scene they’d just been shooting.
“Like you give a shit,” Haz scoffed and Tom shot him a look.
“What’s your problem, mate?” Harrison shrugged and pursed his lips, looking off at the water. “Harrison?”
“You don’t actually care one way or the other, mate, don’t pretend like you do. It’s tacky.”
You and Tom shot Harrison identical looks of shock. Sure, everyone knew you and Tom had a bit of a Road Runner/Wile E Coyote dynamic, and no one knew it better than Harrison, but you didn’t think you’d ever heard him snap at Tom before. Especially not in your defense.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Tom asked, having moved past shock and on to annoyance.
“God, you’ve always been kind of an asshole to y/n, and I never said anything, but you’re not even going to acknowledge how shitty it was of you to ditch her in her hotel room alone after you dropped her off last night?”
Tom shot an accusatory glance in your direction. “Who the fuck told you that?”
“No one had to tell me, Tom. You know you could’ve texted me before running off to fuck some random Italian girl that way at least somebody could have taken care of her.”
You watched as Tom’s gaze turned icy and his jaw clenched. “Why d’you assume that’s what I was doing?”
“Come on, it wouldn’t be the first time.” Haz sneered bitterly.
Wouldn’t be the first time? When the fuck had Tom lied about doing something when really he’d gone off to get laid? Had it been under your watch? Had he ever lied to your face and laughed about it behind your back with Harrison? A feeling of dread settled in your stomach at the implication. You shouldn’t care, but you did. Your mind told you that it was completely natural to be upset. Tom had possibly lied to you. But your heart told you that it was what he’d lied to you about that was making your stomach churn.
If either of the boys remembered you were still sitting there, they didn’t make an effort to include you in the conversation.
“Oh, fuck off, Osterfield.” Tom laughed angrily and ran a hand through his hair. “Give me a fucking break.”
“Well if you weren’t screwing some girl, what were you doing?”
As if he was suddenly reminded of your existence Tom looked over at you. You locked eyes with him and you could tell he was torn between lying to his best friend and telling Haz the truth, but you both knew what would happen if he came clean. You pleaded with your eyes for him not to. He needed to say something else. Anything else.
“Fine,” Tom spat. “I was with someone.” Anything but that.
Harrison looked equally surprised and furious. “You’re kidding.”
“What’s the big deal?”
“Are you that dense? Y/n was nearly blacked out and you left her alone!”
“I made sure she got to the hotel safe. That was all anyone asked me to do.”
“I can’t believe you.”
Tom didn’t respond, but he didn’t back down. He just stood in front of Harrison with his hands in his pockets, glaring at him. You wished you could disappear. Or be anywhere but here, but you were frozen to the spot. They weren’t just bickering, they were fighting, and they were fighting because of you and you suddenly wished you could take everything back.
“Who was she?” Harrison asked.
Tom shrugged nonchalantly. “I never got a name.”
“Bullshit.”
He smirked slightly. “Just because she was screaming my name doesn’t mean I returned the favor.” God he was good at this, too good. You’d heard enough.
“Always a class act, Tom,” Haz rolled his eyes.
“Harrison, it’s fine,” you interjected finally, something you clearly should have done ages ago. Harrison tore his eyes away from Tom, his anger softening only slightly when he looked at you. “I’m an adult I can take care of myself.”
“You were really sick, y/n. Something could’ve happened,” he reasoned, now ignoring Tom who was still standing in front of both of you with his arms crossed.
“I only had, what, four or five drinks? I’ve handled much worse, trust me.”
Harrison didn’t look convinced. “You weren’t blacked out?” You shook your head, hoping he’d just drop it. Tom was due back on set any minute and he’d wasted his entire break arguing with his best friend. “What was the last thing I said to you?”
Fuck. “Um,”
“You don’t remember, do you?”
“Harrison, mate, drop it,” Tom sighed. “She’s still hungover can we talk about this later?”
All three of your pagers buzzed at the same time, meaning there wasn’t another choice anyway. Tom had to be back on set and you and Harrison had to get back to work.
“Yeah, whatever,” Haz muttered and watched Tom jog back off.
“What the fuck was that about?” you hissed lowly so that none of the other crew members could hear. “Tom’s your boss too, you know.”
“It’s fine,” Harrison brushed you off, not even looking at you now. “It’s not like he’s going to try to fire me.”
Ouch. You couldn’t even pretend that didn’t hurt. “Fuck you.” You stood and brushed off your shorts. “Come talk to me when you’ve decided to stop being an asshole.”
You couldn’t even focus on Tom’s schedule in front of you because you were still so put off by what had just happened. It had left a bitter taste in your mouth. The color coded highlighting jumbled together on the page and you couldn’t remember what any of the neon shades stood for.
The weirdest part of it all was that Tom was the one being nice to you? And Harrison was being a dick? You couldn’t make sense of it and your hangover wasn’t helping.
The remainder of the afternoon passed by in a blur. Somehow you were able to breeze through work without having to give anyone your full attention for the rest of the day. For probably the first time ever, Tom got where he needed to be when he needed to be there without you having to nag him. You half-wished someone had documented it.
You actually wore your headset for once, just to tune everyone out. You didn’t even have it switched to a channel.
The evening presented itself much more serenely than the morning had. You watched on from your spot with the other PAs by the canal as the sun sank below the stone buildings dramatically, painting the sky brilliant hues of orange and pink, eventually giving way to dusty shades of purple as dusk settled along the horizon.
“It’s time for more pills,” Tom leaned over and whispered, ignoring some of the glances from the rest of the table.The long day of filming had ended with a cast and crew dinner. There were only a few scheduled for the abroad legs of filming, but they were all mandatory, not that you could complain. You weren’t one to turn down free food, especially free food from Marvel.
“So you’re my drug dealer now?”
“Lower your voice,” Tom hissed and you couldn’t help but laugh. “Can’t have everyone knowing about my part-time gig.”
He passed two more ibuprofen over to you under the table which you fumbled, nearly dropping them, before actually bringing them to your mouth and swallowing with a sip of your lemonade.
“How are you keeping track of when I should take more painkillers better than I am?” You wondered aloud, looking at Tom intently.
He blinked like the question had caught him off-guard, but shrugged it off. “Easy. You’re hungover.”
You shrugged and let it go, but a little part of you wondered if that was really all. You couldn’t imagine Tom reminding you to tie your fucking shoes even just two days ago much less, remind you to take your medicine for a headache.
You noticed that Harrison had somehow managed to escape the mandatory dinner and you wondered where he could possibly be and how he’d charmed his way out of it. You were reminded, not for the first time, that you were surrounded by children disguised as adults. He couldn’t still be mad at Tom, could he? Was he mad at you? You wished he’d just grow up and get over it.
“So, I heard you had some fun last night, Tom,” Remy piped up from a few seats down with a smirk.
“Who told you that?” Jacob asked in confusion, looking over to Tom who apparently hadn’t told him yet.
“Not revealing my sources,” Remy insisted. “Journalistic integrity and all that.”
Tom chuckled and put his hands up defensively. “Alright, guilty.” He had all of the cast’s attention now. Everyone suddenly wanted to hear all about his night, about his conquest. You didn’t know if you could sit through it again.
“Think you’ll see her again?”
“Nah,” he said casually and stretched his arms out behind him.
You listened to Tom talk and watched as he settled into character. He spoke about sleeping with this woman he’d made up as if it was just another Tuesday night. Somehow it turned into a game of twenty questions and everyone wanted all the details. You wondered why they all cared so much, probably because he was acting like he didn’t. He was so perfect for the role, you weren’t sure why Hollywood kept casting him as these sweet, innocent, characters when he played fuckboy so well. Maybe because it hit a little too close to home. He appeared completely relaxed, and was joking around with the cast who were all eating out of the palm of his hand. The only thing that gave him away were the tips of his ears which you had noticed turned bright red as he talked.
You weren’t sure who asked, but someone at the table prodded Tom about what she was like. He didn’t hesitate to describe how gorgeous this mystery woman was and for a second you forgot it was all an act. If you hadn’t known better you’d say he was purposely going out of his way to describe someone who was everything you weren’t. It made you sink in your chair just a little.
“Sounds a lot like what happened in back in London,” Remy pointed out.
Tom froze for just a second, but long enough for you to catch it. “Yeah I guess so,” he said and kind of laughed it off, but rubbed his neck awkwardly.
Back in London. So Harrison was right, lying and then fucking a random girl was something Tom would totally do. It had been under your watch and apparently everyone knew, but you. Fantastic.
“Oh right, when was that?” you asked and you could swear every head at the table turned towards you. You realized you hadn’t contributed anything to the conversation yet and that most people probably hadn’t even known you were sitting there at all. But you figured the easiest way to get the truth was from someone who didn’t know you were the one who had been lied to.
“I think it was sometime around the filming of the bus scene, right?”
“Yeah,” Tom confirmed softly, with just a hint of edge in his voice.
“Right.” You nodded and pursed your lips tightly, afraid you might say something you didn’t mean if you didn’t.
Remy went on to tell the story, and everyone’s attention was back on him. If anyone noticed Tom’s eyes burning on you, they didn’t say anything. You could feel his gaze on you, but you ignored him, pretending to be wrapped up in Remy’s story, who was still blissfully ignorant to the tension at the table.
You remembered the day the bus scene was shot. They had put Tom and the rest of the cast on one of those double decker buses on one of the hottest days of the summer and then spent the entire day trying to figure out how to rig the camera so that it could swing smoothly between decks. There had been a two and a half hour break, mostly for safety since it was so warm out and they were still having technical difficulties.
Tom had made his way over to where and you Haz were sitting and interrupted your game of cards.
“I’m going to run to a quick PR meeting, kay?” It was more of a statement than a question and he ran a hand through his sweaty hair impatiently as he waited for you to pull up his schedule.
“You don’t have one today,” you said, squinting at your phone screen in the sunlight looking over the spreadsheet again just in case. “Press is months away.”
“It’s a last minute thing, only just got notified about it. They scheduled it because we have the break.”
“Okay,” you shrugged and put your sunglasses back on. “Just be back when we start again, and let security know.”
He ran off without a goodbye or thank you, but that was typical. You only spoke to each other when you had to. Haz dealt a new hand and you forgot about Tom for a while, until you realized Tom had gone and Harrison had stayed. One didn’t go somewhere without the other following closely behind, especially to meetings. That was Harrison’s thing, always had been, and you were glad he already had that down before you showed up because being trapped in a conference room with Tom talking numbers was your literal worst nightmare.
“Do you need to be at that meeting Tom’s at?” you asked as you drew from the deck. He looked up at you with confusion.
“Hm?”
“The PR meeting Tom’s at, shouldn’t you be there?”
“Oh, right. No, it’s confidential Marvel stuff I guess,” Haz explained simply before turning his attention back to the game. You were a little offended that Harrison had obviously known about the meeting beforehand and not bothered to say anything to you, making you look like an idiot, yet again, in front of Tom, but ultimately let is slide.
Tom had come back late, of course, out of costume, hair a mess, and cheeks pink. You couldn’t believe you hadn’t realized it then. That he’d lied to you, used you. You’d filled the hole in his online schedule so that no one would wonder where he was, when in reality, you had no clue where the fuck he had actually been.
Your cheeks burned with embarrassment now at the recollection of it all. How had you been so blind?
“You okay, y/n?” Zendaya asked, putting her hand on yours, pulling you out of the memory.
You looked up and realized food had been put in front of you, who knows how long ago, and you hadn’t even touched it.
“Yeah, sorry, still feeling the last of the hangover.” It wasn’t technically a lie.
Z nodded knowingly. “Eat. It’ll help.”
You forced a smile. “Thanks.”
The conversation at the table had moved past Tom’s one night stand some time ago and everyone was lost in their own smaller groups, passing bread around and trying each other’s drinks. At least you wouldn't have to pretend to be interested in who Tom was fucking anymore.
Everyone clapped when one of the producers, you couldn’t remember his name, ordered a round of champagne for all of you, collected the check for the night and slapped down Marvel’s credit card. It was tradition.
You didn’t hesitate to take a glass when it was offered to you. The bubbles felt good on your throat and the crystal felt cool in your hands.
Tom nudged your shoulder. “Hey, if you’re still not feeling well maybe you should...” his sentence died off as he watched you chug the rest in spite. “You’re gonna regret that.” You shrugged. “Are you not talking to me now?” Another shrug. He sighed and rubbed his mouth with his thumb. “For fucks sake, y/n. You’re impossible.”
Everyone was still mingling and hugging around you, chatting about how the scenes went today and how the party was last night. The room had grown warm and stuffy and you wished you could slip away without being noticed, but you had nowhere to slip off to. Venice was still unfamiliar to you and you had no idea how to get back to the hotel from here.
Eventually, after most of the cast had already gone back to the hotel or off to wherever, Tom asked if you were ready to go and you followed him out of the restaurant and into the cool evening air. The sky was speckled with stars now, and the sidewalk was empty. It felt a little like last night, except you weren’t talking.
Tom led the way through winding, narrow cobblestone alleyways and you trusted he knew where he was going because you were lost in your own thoughts about what Harrison had said about Tom and what had happened back in London. You were still trying to make sense of it all.
“I’m sorry for sleeping with that girl back in London,” Tom said, breaking the silence finally and you stopped in your tracks.
“That's...not what I’m upset about Tom. I don’t care who you’re sleeping with.”
“Sure you don’t,” he scoffed and shook his head in disbelief.
“I’m upset that you lied to me about it,” you continued, aware of how your voice was growing firmer.
“Why is that such a big deal?”
You looked at him, hard. “Fuck off.”
“No, I’m serious!”
“You could have just told me you were going to see someone, but you lied to me. You had Haz lie to me, you let me believe it for months!”
“Right, like you haven’t lied to me before. And how is London any different from what I’m doing here?”
“It’s not the same thing!” you cried.
“How so?”
“You’re lying to your friends. I am your handler. Something happens to you, it’s on me. Don’t you get that?!”
“Yeah, I am lying to my friends. My best friend. And I’m lying to him, to all of them for you, y/n. It’s your ass on the line, not mine.”
You took a step closer to him. “Are you fucking threatening me?”
Tom took a step forward in turn. “Should I be?”
You wanted to scream. “You’re unbelievable, Tom! God, I can’t believe I ever took this job, I can’t believe I haven’t fucking quit yet, I can’t believe I’m halfway around the fucking world with you of all people-” then suddenly, out of nowhere, Tom leaned forward and pressed his lips to yours, effectively cutting you off.
ok wow finally in part eleven they fucking kiss lol also remy stans wherever u are I added him in for y’all :) anyway lmk what u think, I always appreciate feedback!
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Michael After Midnight: Little Nicky
Adam Sandler is one of the strangest celebrities I’ve ever seen. The guy can go from making some genuinely funny, heartwarming, and enjoyable comedies that you’ll ever see – The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates, Hotel Transylvania – to making some of the most stupid, inane, and insulting garbage you’ll ever have the misfortune of sitting through (see: most of his modern work). But what many don’t realize is that there is a secret, third side to the Adam Sandler coin: the absolutely fucking bonkers Adam Sandler movie. As ar as I know, there’s only one film in the Sandler filmography that fits the bill for that, and that film is Little Nicky.
This movie is so utterly strange, even for an early 2000s comedy. This film has it all: lowest common denominator jokes, clever gags, tons of celebrity cameos, a pretty solid plot field with all sorts of fantastical weirdness, Adam Sandler doing an annoying voice, blatant product placement… Hell, this movie doesn’t even just have product placement, it is a film that uses the one “fuck” permitted to PG-13 films for its product placement, for God’s sake! This is one of the most bonkers of Sandler’s films, and thus, one of my personal favorites.
So let me tell you the plot so I can help you understand: Nicky is one of the three sons of Satan himself (played by Harvey Keitel) who is treated like garbage by his brothers Cassius and Adrian (Tommy Lister and Rhys Ifans, respectively). When Satan decides that none of his sons are worthy of ruling Hell, Cassius and Adrian conspire to go to Earth and turn it into a literal Hell world to sap power from their father and rule over a planet drenched in sin and chaos. Nicky is sent to capture them and cram them into a flask, and with the help of a demon pug mentor, two metalhead fanboys, an ambiguously gay roommate, and a pretty love interest, he just might have a chance.
This movie is positively bloated with talent and celebrity cameos. Reese Witherspoon and Harvey Keitel play Nicky’s parents, his brothers are both famous actors, Rodeny Dangerfield is grandpa Lucifer (and even in Hell he gets no respect), Jon Lovitz has a cameo as a peeping tom who gets sent to Hell early on, and best of all is Quentin Tarantino of all people in a reoccurring role as a blind street preacher. Then we have some amusing celebrity guest appearances like Henry “The Fonz” Winkler and, best of all, The Prince of Darkness himself Ozzy Osbourne in a plot-critical role towards the film’s end. You heard that right. An Adam Sandler film gave Ozzy a more dignified and awesome cameo than Ghostbusters: Answer the Call. Also Clint Howard is here as a nipple-rubbing crossdresser, just in case this movie’s cast wasn’t batshit enough for you.
Nicky himself is actually a pretty decent character as far as Adam Sandler protagonists go, though even I’ll admit that as easy as it is to imitate Nicky’s voice so that you can annoy your friends and family, it is a pretty annoying voice to listen to at times. The rest of the characters are decent enough. Most everyone is here just to participate in gags or to help Nicky in his journey, and they all serve their roles well enough, though out of Nicky’s friends I don’t think there are really any standouts compared to his evil brothers or the supporting cast in Hell and heaven.
Of course, this film’s greatest strength lies in just how insanely quotable the whole thing is. Practically every other line is memetically quotable, to the point this film has its own page for memes on TVTropes, something even some bigger and better movies can’t even boast. Chances are you’ll come out of this film with a few new lines to slip into every day conversation and jokes to use with friends. Perhaps you’ll even come out with a desire to eat some Popeye’s chicken, seeing as it is the shiznit.
Now, obviously this movie has flaws… like, seriously, this is an Adam Sandler movie, if I wanted to pick apart how utterly stupid, nonsensical, dumb, and juvenile chunks of this movie are, we’d be here all night. One of the more noticeable problems is the usage of music; in the course of one single scene, they play four different songs, and all of this is in a span of about one or two minutes. Just pick a song and stick to it for fuck’s sake! Then we have the strangely brief snippet of “Rock You Like a Hurricane” that plays as Nicky and his newfound demon pals carry a giant bucket of chicken so that he can confront his brother. It’s such a brief snippet, it’s almost like someone just let their ringtone go off and they kept it on the soundtrack.
There’s a reason this film is a cult classic and not one of the more mainstream Adam Sandler movies, and it’s because it is a weird, wacky, fantasy/comedy film. You’re really getting exactly what you expect here. If you want to see Hitler in a French maid outfit get a pineapple shoved up his ass, Henry Winkler get covered in bees, and a demon change a man’s Coke into a Pepsi as his big test of his wicked transmutation powers, then this film will do you good, but if you don’t think you can handle the absurdity described, it’s understandable if you’d rather sit this one out. Adam Sandler movies aren’t for everyone, and this film ain’t your typical Adam Sandler fare to begin with. Still, I think it has its place, and I personally find it to be an amusingly stupid and stupidly amusing bit of Sandler cinema. It’s not so much so bad it’s good as it is “so batshit crazy it’s pretty funny,” but either way it’s enjoyable if you’re in the right mood for some cheap goofy laughs.
If nothing else, this film is the reason I tried Popeye’s chicken for the first time. If you’ve never heard it, I can confirm – it’s fucking awesome.
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Just One Yesterday
Author’s Notes | This is a gift for you, sweet @mixedwiththemoon for your birthday! I know how much you love angst, so I made one for you and I hope you like it, babe girl. May the gods bless your life from tomorrow on twice as they did until today! Love ya!
Universe | Vikings
Pairing | Police Investigator! Ragnar x Criminal Reader
Info | Modern AU, Dark AU, a gift for @moonlightsspirit. Present sentences in bold + italic. Illusions, thoughts or memories in italic only. Suggested soundtrack and inspiration: Just One Yesterday (Fall Out Boy)
Words | 1694
⁑ Warnings: Heavy ANGST, Major Character’s Death, Reader’s Death, mentions of violence, blood, murder, and abuse of drugs and toxic substances. +18. Caution is recommended: the following content may be triggering.
The sweet taste of that hallucinogenic shit had become the only flavor his tongue could distinguish. Meat, bread, ashes, it was all the same thing, but that shit he could recognize with no need to really see what he was eating like snacks, all the time. His fingers scratched the bottom of the bag picking up the last one and he smiled, throwing the little bag anywhere on the ground of his messed living room before opening his mouth; the strange colored ball disappearing fast between his eager teeth.
"I know it was supposed to be slowly dissolving in the space between my tongue and the sky of my mouth, provoking a delicious and slow numbness… I have no time for this shitty propaganda" he said, looking at the empty broken window where the cold wind of the night was messing with the ragged curtain, invading the place that looked like an abandoned apartment on the last months.
Her eyes were sad tonight. He smiled.
"Where did you think it would end, (Y/N)?" his voice echoed while his steps were guiding him to his broken locker.
He opened the smashed door, marked by multiple punches, probably the reason why his hands' knots were wounded; his fingers searching for the last ammo into the cabinet shelves, charging the guns of his collection one by one.
His eyes on the corner of the orbit, looking at her, trying to ignore the tears going down her face; she was crying this time. She never cried.
"All that shit about having a normal life, stop lying to everyone... Where did you think it would end, uh?" he kept harsh, his voice becoming louder until he was screaming to the empty apartment, echoing through the peeling walls "Life would never be okay! There is no okay after what you did!"
"Fucking shut up, Ragnar!" a male voice echoed from the upper floor followed by some strong stomps before he turned his face to hers, pointing the rifle up and shooting with a loud noise and a disgusting smile in his face.
Her body trembled with the sound of the gun and she closed her eyes when the lamp hanged in the middle of the room moved with the impact of a body falling on the ground of the upper apartment. Ragnar smiled.
“I don't fucking care, (Y/N). Without you, I just don't give a damn. I wasn't giving a damn if the guys from the department would discover me, us..." his voice became bitter "I was making my best for them to lose your track, but Aethewulf is a fucking hunting dog. Sooner or later he would find me as well, love. I'm sure he already did and that fucking spectacle you made served for nothing! Did you hear me?" he screamed again.
His blues facing her silent crying eyes.
"You died for nothing, (Y/N)."
Her face became pained and his eyes, teary.
"You fucking made me shot you... For nothing!"
She came closer and he closed his eyes, feeling the scent of her perfume spreading all around him. His fingers pressed tight around the gun and his face became wet.
"I never forgot that day... It just doesn't get out of my mind... I can't sleep, I can't close my eyes without seeing your dead eyes or feeling your body weighing in my arms again. Again... and again!" he got up, furiously.
Hands picking up the second gun and then the pair of pistols and the car keys.
"But it will end today..."
"My king..."
He closed his eyes, stopping in front of the open door; his heart aching with the sound of her voice on that nickname. How many times had she called him this way?
When smiling at him with her lips tasting the ale they were used to share together after his damn work at the police station.
When moaning under his body, naked inside that apartment his fury destroyed almost completely.
It was supposed to be a theatre. She was supposed to seduce him, to get the police out of her way. But she fell in love with that damn officer and he fell in love with her so bad that not even when his own investigation gave him her true identity he was disposed to leave her.
Drug dealer or not, she was his mate, his other half. And he loved her with all his heart and all her fake names... Her fake lives.
But he wasn't the only one searching for her. And he couldn't avoid the others to find what his own intelligence had found first.
His plans couldn't protect her forever and he couldn't burn all the pieces of evidence his team was finding. The fucking newbie on the department was good and he was trying to show service by catching her...
It didn't take too long until he found her hidden spots and burst them all. She had no other choice, but she could still burn her bonds with him. Save him...
He turned his body back, looking into the destroyed apartment. Her figure was there, standing in the middle of the living room; her eyes so sad, so filled with regret, almost begging him not to do it.
His memories playing tricks with his drugged mind.
"You can't destroy your entire life because of me, Ragnar! Just fucking shot! They will never know..."
"I just didn't care, (Y/N). I could have died with you, ran away with you. I would have left everything for you..."
The tears dropped from her chin to her dress and he remembered: he was wrong. She already cried before. On the day she died in his hands she was crying.
His mind dove on his memory one more time and he could hear once again the sound of the boots, the officers outside, sirens... Aethelwulf had surrounded the entire place but he knew that building like the palm of his hand. He could escape through the basement; he tried to make her listen to him.
"I won't destroy your entire life..."
He could still remember the taste of blood in her lips when she kissed him and forced his finger against the trigger.
"Live for us," she said.
She was smiling, but he remembered tears. There were tears in her face. Just like now.
He looked at her one more time.
"I can't do what you asked me, (Y/N). I can't live for us. Cause without you here there is no us. There is no me. And I'm tired of this." he came closer, seeing when she raised her face to look into his eyes. "I'm tired of searching for you in every bottle, every seed, stone, gram of powder. I'm tired of lies. There is no tomorrow for me. And even if I had, still I'd trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday with you. There was never me without you... And you're not here, love. Neither am I".
He touched his forehead on hers just to feel her scent spreading and the illusion of her image disappeared completely.
The hallucinogenic wasn't enough to keep her with him anymore. But he knew what would be.
He took one last look at the apartment where they divided their last moments and pointed the gun to the wall where the medal he earned for killing her was hanging near the multiple cutouts of the journals where her death and his heroism was portrayed.
"Police investigator Ragnar Lothbrok has his house broke - in an intense twist, the (Y/L/N) case was finally solved when officer Lothbrok killed the criminal after having his house broke in the middle of the night in what the police defined as 'a desperate attempt to avoid the imminent prison'." his lips read one of the pages and Ragnar smirked, disgusted "You made me a hero for them. I gonna show them from what this hero was made. This is my way to avenge you... My way to get my revenge on you. To find you again..."
His fingers pulled the trigger shooting the medal and destroying the last symbol of a proud he never had. And so he turned his back, leaving the apartment towards the police station.
On the floor, letters, paper sheets, drug bags, photos... Everything opening showing them together. Their kisses registered in his cell phone, their conversations, his calligraphy all over the place with arrows pointing the names and little words confessing everything, identifying them both even on the most obvious scenes.
"She"
"Me"
At the door, an enormous sentence in his calligraphy as well, as a teasing for the officer he knew he wouldn't kill this night. Aethewulf was in a day off and he chose this day specifically because he didn't want the bastard killed.
No.
He wanted him to live with his own imbecility and he knew exactly how to make the asshole want to shot in his own head after reading the enormous letters carved on the wooden door...
"It was me, all the time".
He left the building wishing he could be a fly to see Aethelwulf's face when he first saw that door on the following morning. Ragnar smiled when his steps stopped in front of the police station. The next morning's journals would have another "intense twist" to talk about.
The hero was destroyed shot by shot, bullet by bullet. Shocked, few of the officers were able to react and he was able to make lots of the bastards that drove him to that point, to pay with their lives before someone could find reason enough to pull a trigger against him.
But after the first bullet, lots of them came and her figure was soon standing in the middle of the police station, looking at him with sad eyes once again.
It wasn't the hallucinogenic this time, he was sure. The burning sensation through his entire body wasn't pleasurable like the numbness of the shit she taught him how to use...
Even then, he smiled...
"I see you in Valhalla, my queen".
The old names…
He was sure she smiled before he closed his eyes.
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Recent Media Consumed
Books
Divorce and Remarriage in the Church by David Instone-Brewer. Before anyone gets their knickers in a twist, no, I’m absolutely not considering this. Friend is going through this and said it should be a general read in the Christian community because it also teaches theology and what questions you ask when reading the Bible, and how not to say things like, “Well, guess you can never get remarried,” to your friend going through divorce because it isn’t true. That prelude being said... I’m still not done yet, but I’m at least 3/4 through and it is blowing my mind almost every chapter and I will be reading this book aloud and posting it to Youtube, as I’ve been doing with other books recently, because it’s THAT important.
A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs. I’m not entirely sure what to think of this book. It definitely made me feel better about the too-many-coincidences-helping-our-heroes-out issues of the previous book. I think I’ll trek with this series a bit longer (she says, having come to the end of the book which cliffhangers off, promising ANOTHER in the works).
Watership Down by Richard Adams. I read this book a few times as a child and then again as highschool required reading (I was mortally offended when classmates referred to it as “the bunny book” as if it was some cute little hoppity hop hop fluff novel). It’s pretty much how I remembered it. Gritty. Puts you in with rabbits and the mindset of the animal (can’t really count higher than four, get to know each other through touch and smell and breathing rate and play, revere stories of tricksters, etc) and is overall a wonderful and absorbing read. I also greatly appreciate the inclusion of a glossary of terms in the back whenever the text doesn’t immediately explain a word. 2/3 through my re-read and it’s a comforting book to go through again, after all these years. My copy doesn’t even have a front cover anymore and the back cover is dogged and all the pages are near-brown and all the swear words are blotted out from my super puritanical phase where I wanted to censor all my books as a teen. It’s a lovely relic of bygone days and a comforting read. Though now I’m irritated at myself for all the blotted out words jarring me out of a good reading flow.
On Deck: Trauma Stewardship by Laura Van Dernoot Lipskey and Connie Burk.
Shows
Watership Down (Netflix). (before re-reading the book) I guess this could be classed as “miniseries” or “very long movie broken into four parts”. Last time I read Watership Down was in high school for assigned reading, though I had already read it as a morbid little kid and loved it. I can’t remember all details, but whoever made this show quite obviously loved the source material. It does similar things as the book, like dumping you into the rabbits’ vocabulary without explaining and allowing you to pick up what things mean as you watch (or hoping you read the book and already understand the words). Nothing rings very false to what I remembered. This is a well done adaptation. It’s a little hard to distinguish most of the rabbits from each other, but stepping back and watching with a general comprehension (instead of getting absolutely stuck on figuring out which rabbit is which) is useful in this case. Overall? Good watch. (revision of opinion post re-reading the book, see above point) So I’m starting to see where the Netflix version took a bit of a left turn. It did a fairly good job, though actually the book didn’t drop us into the terminology as sharply as I thought I remembered. The thing that stands out to me the most is that Netflix brought more females to the front of the story and that does actually bother me to a certain extent, and here’s why: where is the sense in dropping human morality onto an animal STORY? An animal FABLE is a whole different kettle of fish. An animal FABLE is like Animal Farm, where animal characters are intended to stand in for human counterparts to deliver hard truths. An animal STORY is like Watership Down or The Promise of the Wolves or Venus Among the Fishes and all stories that take place WITHIN the animal world as if we, the reader, are experiencing things from the animal point of view entirely. In the book, Watership Down, the female rabbits (does) are looked on mostly as acquisitions to be made and are not very plot relevant beyond that, but this is understandable because, simply, they are animals. This isn’t about human morality, this is about prey mammals figuring out survival, both day to day survival and survival of their warren. To this end, the males (bucks) do most of the planning and fighting and trickstering wherein lies the action of Watership Down. By bringing the does to the forefront, it feels like Netflix was trying to shoehorn in some human morality because saying otherwise would be distasteful to people watching. But. It’s. About. Animals. So this is a bit of a sticking point for me that does bother me. However, overall, I saw nothing that truly gutted the heart of the book and still consider it worth a watch.
Steven Universe: The Recent Upheavals. I don’t know. I love the new fusion designs. I absolutely adored That Scene (got chills when he shouted). But I’m not sure how I feel about a lot of the rest. Very conflicted.
Ditched after one episode list: Dragon Pilot (Netflix), Last Hope (Netflix).
Movies
Albion: The Enchanted Stallion. Okay, I guess? Writing was kind of mediocre, but another one where they were obviously trying with beautiful sets and costumes.
Shrek. It’s been a long time but it was a good rewatch. The gross stuff always gets to me a bit, but the thing is they built it to be totally in character and part of this creature’s fairytale existence which earns it more points. Shrek has always been one of the most loving fairytale deconstruction mockery movies and now I want to rewatch the second one because I remember it being superior in every way to an already wonderful first movie.
The Prince of Egypt. It’s been a long time. I was struck again how beautiful certain songs on that soundtrack are (any of the large chorus songs and the Heaven’s Eyes song especially) and the utter despair of coming to repeated dead ends, but how in spite of that, no. God was always there. I have a million questions about why the dead ends and heart-hardening was necessary in the first place BUT. God was still always there. And the Jews exist to this day. This movie isn’t, of course, completely accurate but it is beautiful and it reminded me of things I needed reminding about.
Games
Life is Strange 2, chapter 1. Conflicted on a couple of points. Character Caricatures don’t sit well with me in general. But it’s beautiful and gripping and I’m looking forward to continuing with chapter 2 soon.
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