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sci-fiworlds · 1 year

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A Sci-Fi Worlds Interview with Nick Pope

Back in the first edition of this new sci-fi column (available in issue 4 of Stuart Miller's Alien Worlds magazine) we examined the ongoing phenomenon that is Doctor Who. So when I had a chance to interview Nick Pope for Room 101, about his UFO work for the MoD, I was delighted to discover that he shared my love for this epic series and sci-fi in general. The icing on the cake, though, was when the two-time sci-fi author quickly agreed to do an interview for Sci-Fi Worlds where we get his thoughts on Doctor Who and touch on some other classics.

So what does a real life Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (though I'm not sure about Nick's rank) have to say on the Whoniverse and other sci-fi worlds?

Richard: First things first. Thanks for agreeing to do this so soon after my last interview with you for Room 101. In that interview we centred on your UFO work for the MoD, so here it will be interesting to do a sci-fi focused interview. As a successful sci-fi author yourself I'm sure you will be able to answer my questions and no doubt intrigue our readers too.

You've written two excellent sci-fi novels, Operation Thunder Child and Operation Lightning Strike. In our Room 101 interview you said: "As a successful sci-fi author myself I've been greatly influenced by Doctor Who." Which stories in particular do you think have influenced your sci-fi work the most?

Nick Pope: Although my two sci-fi novels are - on the face of it - about alien invasion, I wanted to get away from a one-dimensional good versus evil conflict. I wanted to blur the lines and make people think about the moral issues. While it's difficult to nail down particular Doctor Who stories as an influence, a central theme of morality run through the show as a whole. I guess the idea of the military being in the frontline is common to my novels and to any of the stories featuring UNIT.

Richard: In our other interview you also said that: "I'll always look back on Genesis of the Daleks as the all-time classic story. I'd love to see this remade or revisited in some way." I'm a big Genesis fan myself, why do you think so many fans continually pick this as their all-time favourite Doctor Who story?

Nick Pope: A number of reasons. Tom Baker was one of the greatest Doctors and the three way dynamic between the Doctor, Sarah-Jane and Harry worked very well. The daleks have always been popular villains, so the story was bound to appeal. But Genesis was more than just another dalek story - it was the story of the creation of the daleks and the central question of whether the daleks could be instilled with a sense of morality, or destroyed, made this a 'high stakes' story. Other highlights included the introduction of Davros and the Doctor's moralizing over his right to destroy the daleks. Finally, I think people enjoyed the parallels with the Nazis: a brutal, militaristic society in a total war. Genetic experiments. Genocide. The uniforms and the salutes. All this and more was present, with Davros as Hitler and Nyder as his Himmler.

Richard: Season four of the new series saw the return of the Daleks and their evil genius creator Davros. Why do you think they continue to be so popular with younger audiences?

Nick Pope: With CGI and a bigger budget, we can have more sophisticated-looking daleks and more of them. And now we have the fix to the 'they can't get up the stairs' issue. But again, I think the popularity reflects the fact that they are the ultimate Doctor Who villains: aggesive, ruthless, persistant and without any pity.

Richard: I think the first four Doctors will always be iconic. Whose your favourite Doctor and why?

Nick Pope: People often ask this and ask the same question about James Bond. Popular wisdom is that the answer is usually "the first one you saw". I started watching when it was Jon Pertwee, but eventually I came to prefer Tom Baker, who until recently was my favourite. But Doctor Who is now so polished that Christopher Eccleston took over the top slot ... until David Tennant joined. David, to me, is the best Doctor. I just think his acting is brilliant. He perfectly portrays the sadness, the loneliness and the detachment that are so central to the Doctor's character, but also the strength and sense of purpose. He brilliantly shows the audience the quiet "fury of the Time Lord".

Richard: Personally my favourite Doctor Who adversary has always been the Cybermen. The Moonbase, Tomb of the Cybermen and The Invasion are easily some of the best black and white stories, which is loudly echoed in the new series. With the Cybermen returning again this Christmas what do you think it is about them that still scares children so much? Why do you think the Cybermen have survived in the age of CGI special effects?

Nick Pope: I think there are parallels with the Daleks. People like the continuity of villains that return again and again. It gives the writers a chance to develop themes that couldn't really be included in a one-off story, such as the wider evolution of a race. But the idea that they were once humanoid, but transformed themselves into these cyborgs is scary. It's a case of "they're like us ... but not like us". Something green with tentacles is obviously alien, but maybe the Cybermen are a little 'too close to home'.

Richard: After Genesis of the Daleks, The Daemons is often said to be the best of the classic Doctor Who adventures. The way this and other classic stories like The Pyramids of Mars tied Erich von Däniken's theories into Doctor Who makes for an interesting mix of mythologies. What do you think of this?

Nick Pope: I think it's very clever. It was tapping into the popularity of such ancient mystery books in the Seventies, largely started by von Daniken. The Nazca lines get a mention in Death to the Daleks, as I recall. And we can't have mention of The Daemons without quoting the Brigadier's classic "Jenkins, chap with the wings there, five rounds rapid" line.

Richard: Two of the most memorable monsters not yet to return in the new series are the Silurians and their aquatic cousins the Sea Devils: the original reptilian inhabitants of planet Earth. Curiously, Doctor Who and the Silurians came out in 1970 the same year as Ivan T. Sanderson's Invisible Residents: The Reality of Underwater UFOs was first published. Do you think it might just be possible that another intelligent species like the Silurians or Sea Devils could have evolved right here on Earth? (ala the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis)

Nick Pope: Well, I hope these monsters are brought back at some stage! I reference the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis a fair bit in my first sci-fi novel, Operation Thunder Child. There are plenty of USO (Unidentified Submerged Object) reports and many UFO sightings where an object is seen over water, so who knows? I'm not hugely attracted to the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis, but I certainly can't rule it out. And as the saying goes, we arguably know less about the deep ocean than we do about the Moon or Mars.

Richard: Doctor Who and the Silurians ends tragically with the Brigadier blowing up the Silurian base. As someone who used to work for them, hypothetically how do you think the MoD would deal with a species like the Silurians or Sea Devils in the real world?

Nick Pope: Obviously I can't discuss specific details of Rules of Engagement, but in general terms I think I can say that if attacked, we would respond with proportionate force. However, in any contact with an extraterrestrial (or cryptoterrestrial) civilisation the key strategic objective would be to open lines of communication and facilitate peaceful contact. Secondary objectives would include information exchange, with a particular emphasis on science and technology.

Richard: In the following Jon Pertwee story, The Ambassadors of Death, Great Britain not only has a manned space program but also already sent men to Mars. As someone with an interest in space how far away do you think this was from reality at the time?

Nick Pope: This story was broadcast fairly shortly after the Apollo 11 moon landing, so there was immense public fascination in anything to do with space, coupled with a feeling that we'd all be holidaying on the moon by the end of the century. Those within government, however, would have been well aware that a manned space programme was quite beyond the UK at the time, both in terms of technical capability and, critically, finance. We still spend far too little on space, given the huge benefits to be reaped in terms of resources and knowledge.

Richard: Jon Pertwee's best enemy was easily the Master. What did you think of Derek Jacobi's and John Simm's portrayals of the character in season three of the new series?

Nick Pope: Both are brilliant actors and both were excellent in different but complementary roles that brought out that mixture of charisma and menace that defines the character of the Master. The scene where John Simms dances to the Scissor Sisters song "I Can't Decide" was outstanding.

Richard: I think Robert Holmes (who wrote the first Master story Terror of the Autons, as well as Pyramids of Mars and many other classics) will always be thought of as the best of all the Doctor Who writers but its starting to look like Steven Moffat might well give him a run for his money. I'm very much looking forward to his time as lead writer and executive producer beginning in 2010. What do you think?

Nick Pope: Russell T Davies will be a hard act to follow, but Steven Moffat can do it. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink were some of the best stories since the relaunch of Doctor Who, as was Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, so this all bodes well for the future. There's a darkness and a poignancy about his stories that I like (e.g. the "she's ghosting" scene from Silence in the Library) and another thing that appeals is that he's a writer who deals really thoughtfully with the philosophy of time travel.

Richard: Stories like Spearhead from Space, Ark in Space and The Lazarus Experiment seem to have been heavily influenced by Nigel Kneale's Quatermass serials. Interestingly, David Tennant also appeared in the BBC's 2005 remake of The Quatermass Experiment just before he became the new Doctor. What do you think of this mix? Why do you think Nigel Kneale's fiction continues to inspire writers even today?

Nick Pope: I agree that some of the Doctor Who stories have been influenced by Quatermass, probably because some of the Doctor Who writers watched Quatermass when they were younger. Quatermass and his British Rocket Group even get namechecked in a couple of Doctor Who stories. There are clear parallels between the two shows and in particular the idea of a clever, moral but quirky character facing down all manner of alien threats, despite the odds being stacked against him. Sci-fi is arguably dominated by big budget Hollywood movies, so Kneale's work (like Doctor Who) appeals to us because there's something very British about it.

Richard: I grew up in the 1990s when Doctor Who was sadly trapped in the void known as UK Gold. However, there was another show on the BBC that sent me running to "hide behind the sofa." That, of course, was The X-files. What did you think of the way the series incorporated the UFO mythology into its own storylines? For instance, Roswell, Area 51, abductions, MJ-12 and even the Face on Mars are all worked into the series.

Nick Pope: Skeptics often say UFO witnesses and abductees may be influenced by sci-fi, but if anything, the reverse is true. The X-Files is the classic example and the writers clearly did their research and borrowed freely from the UFO/abduction literature. I was hired by 20th Century Fox to do some of the PR for the new X-Files movie, I Want to Believe. As well as giving a number of media interviews I was commissioned to write material on real life mysteries and conspiracy theories, which was then used in various newspaper and magazine features that came out in the run up to the movie's release. I met David Duchovny and Chris Carter at the UK premiere and Chris already knew about my government work on UFOs. The X-Files is a brilliant creation and when they 'do' UFOs, they do it really well.

Richard: Do you foresee any new esoteric mysteries becoming a part of the sci-fi canon, much like abductions and Face on Mars have?

Nick Pope: Well, the disappearing bees got a mention in Doctor Who recently and all sci-fi writers will keep an eye out for real life mysteries. I think the big one to watch is 2012 and the associated mysteries and theories that surround the Mayan calendar. The sci-fi movie 2012 will be released next year and I'm sure the whole 2012 issue will crop up in other sci-fi books, movies and TV series.

Richard: Would you like to write more sci-fi yourself? Perhaps your sci-fi books might make interesting audio books. Any plans or thoughts?

Nick Pope: I'd love to write more sci-fi and at some stage, a third novel to follow the previous two. But I'm too busy with TV and promotional work at present to write another book. Operation Thunder Child was previously optioned by Carnival Films and a screenplay was written, but the project stalled. Operation Thunder Child and Operation Lightning Strike are currently being looked at by a major Hollywood studio, with a view to making them into a blockbuster sci-fi movie.

Richard: Thanks again, as always I look forward to your future media appearances, books and other projects.

Richard Thomas, BoA UK Correspondent and Columnist.

READ RICHARD THOMAS’S SCI-FI WORLDS COLUMN FOR BINNALL OF AMERICA

#doctor who #nick pope

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button-mash · 1 year

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What I played last week #8

Klona 2 [Playstation 2]

This was such an absolute treat to play. I had heard of the series before, but I'd genuinely never played any of them at all - in fact they'd just totally passed me by really. I think they got remade fairly recently and it suddenly felt like everyone but me had some proper beloved history with the series, so not sure how I totally missed it - especially as I love platformers. Managed to snipe an eBay auction for this for £12 which I was buzzing about considering it rarely goes for less than £30 and often sells in the £50-60 range.

Playing this it feels like it's the insane centrepoint between SO many games that have come before and since, I'd love to learn more about it and any games that were actively influenced by it, because it felt like it could somehow have come out in any area of platformers and fit in perfectly. At different points it reminded me of Nights, Kirby 64, Crash Brandicoot, Rayman, Mario Galaxy and more, yet somehow always still felt like completely it's own thing too. It's a pretty simple game at it's core - it's a 2.5D platformer where you can jump and hover, but can also grab enemies if you're close enough, either throwing them across the screen as a weapon, or using them to jump off and essentially serve as a double jump. The game actually starts off pretty slowly and at first I thought it was going to be another Kirby - something with loads of personality and character, but ultimately so easy it undermines the whole thing. However, the games levels quickly become more and more complex and constantly alternate between platforming and puzzles sections - by the end it becomes difficult enough where you have to have mastered every technique in the arsenal to progress through the levels, some of which are surprisingly long and complex.

The most amazing thing is how good the game looks, it's just absolutely beautiful - I genuinely couldn't believe it was a PS2 game at times. The occasional blurry texture or jagged edge gave it away, but there is just so much vibrant colour, detail, movement and animation on every level, it just gave the game an insane amount of character and life to each stage, and all of them have such a strong, memorable visual identity. There is even an amazing sense of scale to some of the levels where you'll get shot high into the air and you'll see these massively complex stages just fully modelled out and it just shows how much imagination and craft have gone into each one. There is one level set in a theme park and it just looks incredible. It's seemingly impossible to find any good quality gifs of this that aren't from the remake or haven't been upscaled in PCSX2, but hopefully you get the picture from an art direction perspective

The game isn't without it's flaws - there are some difficulty spikes that come out of nowhere and very strict animation windows sometimes make you feel like you missed grabs or jumps that you made, but it's rare and the platforming usually feels great. It never becomes a real chore of a challenge, but the levels become difficult enough where you feel genuinely accomplished getting through them, especially the last few levels. The bosses are also great mechanically, although they start to feel a little similar by the end.

Normally if you play a retro game without the nostalgia, there is always this element of wishing you could have played it at the time, simply because it's almost always aged in some way that diminishes the experience at least a tiny bit. Here this just feels like that rare experience where it could have come out yesterday and I think I'd still be banging on about how much I loved it - if I'd unknowlingly played the remakes without knowing they were remakes, I don't know if Id have been able to tell from a design point of view. Im glad I played the original though, honestly one of the best looking, most colourful and lively games I think Ive played on the PS2, all at a crisp 60fps. Looked absolutely phenomenal on the PVM, I wish I could somehow show off how great it looked.

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rodpupo7 · 2 years

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Reflection of the day: 21/03/22 - 24/03/22: Project Pictoplasma

this Monday was extremely productive for me. Because we had an activity with Professor Laura Teixeira, where she had brought several materials, so that we could use and create characters with such objects.

I was a little nervous at first, because these activities, especially when it comes to collage, always give me a creative block. Because I'm not used to letting go and doing something without much concern about whether it's going to be perfect or not.

The first activity was simply to create any character, using the various materials.

I was crumpling several pieces of paper and joining them with colored masking tape, and joining them, until I created a shape.

After some time putting together different pieces with different sizes and shapes, I managed to create a completely strange character, and without the slightest sense. its shape was something that caught my attention, and its varied colors too.

The second exercise was in the afternoon, where we had to take one of our characters and assemble it in a 3D format.

I was already more excited, because the first exercise helped me feel comfortable working with these materials, so I wanted to do something really interesting.

I had chosen the big-nosed giant I had created a few weeks ago, and I tried to make it the best I could.

The end result was very simple and poorly done, because it was difficult to make a full-body character, and his arms and legs couldn't stay together with the rest of his body and that frustrated me.

Although it turned out bad, I had fun building it, and I found this activity very interesting, as it gave me a sense of what my 3d character could look like, and how to make a doll with few resources.

On Tuesday I had continued to create my characters for the pictofolio, I had come up with the idea of using the horned character I created in yesterday's workshop as part of the universe I am creating. The drawing I had made of him was very interesting, because it represents all the weirdness of this universe, in addition to having been done with pastel chalk, highlighting mainly its varied colors, and its totally abstracted form.

I had also had an idea to create a robotic giant, based on a book I'm reading about robots by the writer Isaac Asimov, and I had this idea in my head, and I'd really like to include something like that in my world, with a body cylindrical and very long legs and arms and an antenna on its head.

I'm trying to vary my characters, trying to make them as different as possible from each other. Because I don't want everyone to look like they were made in the same mold and just have different colors.

In the case of the forest giant, it is very difficult to find a design that I like to publish on Pictofolio. Because I don't really like the look I gave him and maybe I exaggerated the size of his nose. I've tried to change your style a bit by making other designs in Procreate, but none of them please me, because I'm not liking the color palette I use.

On Wednesday I decided to recreate one more of my characters. In this case it was a lava giant, which I had made the first week, which had a very evil appearance, and dragons that lived around it. But I thought it deviated a little from the minimalist and even comical proposal of the pictofolio. So I remade this character from scratch, with an extremely comical, chubby style. With more vibrant colors representing fire, I was much more satisfied with this character than the first one I had done, and I will definitely use him in the pictofolio.

In addition to this giant, I was also working with the forest giant, which was the one that bothered me the most. I started fiddling with his clothes, his beard and the size of his nose, but nothing could please me. And I think it's funny, because this was the character I messed with the most, wanting to draw him in a lot of different ways, and very few drawings really pleased me.

On Thursday we had to do a little presentation for the teachers, to show our progress of the Pictofolio project. Putting our characters, our references for the project, and the history of our universe.

I had put together a small slideshow, trying to make something as brief as possible, and trying to explain the objectivity of the project. Unfortunately when it comes to seminars, mostly in English, I can get confused and get lost in what I'm saying very easily.

The presentation, although short, made me feel that I had not explained the purpose of the project very objectively, leaving some people confused about my characters.

Monday Workshop Characters made with colouring tape

Monday Workshop Character Drawing

Giant Robot Crayon Idea

Forest Giant Second try

Forest Giant Third Try

Forest Giant Fourth and Final Try

Lava Monster redesign

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chidoroki · 3 years

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TPN - “Dreams Come True”

What better way to cheer up the TPN fandom after the second season’s final episode than with the special exhibition chapter finally being fully translated. I caught glimpses of a few pages here and there over the past couple months but seeing all the children live happily together in the human world in their own little village that they made close to Emma and Alex warms my heart. Of course I would’ve loved if we got to see more of the GP Resistance (because the anime denied us of them) but following the GF kids around the world as they experience their dreams is fair enough. We started the series alongside them so might as well finish strong with them too. I really loved seeing everyone grow up but no matter how old they get or how much time passes, I’ll probably never get used to seeing Emma without her iconic “63194.” It’s a bittersweet feeling for me, but her smiles bring me so much joy and I’m beyond happy that she accepted everyone into her life as they accepted her without her memories.

I haven’t a clue on how much time passed since everyone found Emma in ch181 to now, but seeing her call out everyone’s names is a little detail that I love so much considering she had no idea who anyone was at first. Trying to remember 60+ names doesn’t seem like an easy task to me. No doubt I was just as shocked as our girl upon learning these mere children bought a goddamn plane! We learn in a couple pages that it’s because of Norman’s company that they can afford it, but still, he’s like 15 or 16 now? He’s still a child! And I’m impressed! Not only at him, but that Oliver and Violet became pilots as well! It’s especially cute when you remember that Lucas gave Oliver a little toy plane during their time at Goldy Pond.

Speaking of GP, is it just me or does Emma’s current outfit resemble her GP one just a little bit? Sure we have no idea what color scheme this one has but come on, the short jacket, the dark shirt and jeans.. just imagine it! Jemima, Yvette, Alicia and Mark remade Gillian’s original GP outfit sometime before the Grace Field Raid arc (ch137 extra page) so I don’t doubt they could’ve done the same for Emma. Of course that’s just me being completely hopeful and missing the Goldy Pond arc to death but yeah! I’m also so happy to see Chris up and moving again! Seeing him wake up briefly in ch181 was nice but this is so much better. I imagine he and Emma have a lot to catch up on in terms of stories, with him being unconscious since ch105 and Emma not remembering anything.

But here we go, the original 15 escapees plus Norman, Phil, Sherry, I believe I saw Carol somewhere and a couple other random kiddos ready to see the entire world. They get to accomplish so much.. and in a single day too I believe? At least that’s what Phil and Alicia say a bit later about everyone’s wishes, but aahh what a lucky bunch. Hell, I’ll say we’re lucky readers too to be able to see such a great story. Can’t thank Shirai and Demizu enough y’all. I wish we got to see more of Alex though. He’s such a kind soul but I’m sure he’ll be just fine staying behind with everyone else.

This entire page where we learn about Norman as a CEO is gold. I still can’t believe this child successfully built up an entire multipurpose company not only to help their search for Emma but also because he didn’t want to live off the Ratri clan. I wish I knew about this last week when writing out Norman’s birthday post because hell yeah this deserves some praise! AND he managed to graduate school as well during all that! Well, by skipping grades which totally makes sense. I mean, if he managed to pass all the Grace Field and Lambda tests effortlessly I’m sure normal human world school was a piece of cake for him. Holy shit dude, keep on impressing me why don’t ya. Not only him but Nigel and Sonya too! I’m not surprised that Vincent helped out but I’m glad those two got a tiny moment to shine as well! Ray is another obvious choice when it comes to helping Norman, as they’re best friends and he’s always been good with machines.. but boy, I can’t take you seriously when you’re just sitting there unamused and eating chips! Hahah I love him so much! And the fact he replies to Norman’s idea with just a simple “kay” is an eternal mood.

Okay boys aside, can we talk about our fabulous girls now? Because oh my god, they’re so darn beautiful! They’re more fashionable than I’ll ever be and it’s so cute how they drag Emma along to take advantage of the 3-for-1 deal. But our girl pulls off that sporty look so well! (r.i.p. goldy pond outfit ver2.0). I’m not at all surprised that Nat wanted to go see the opera. That's perfect for him and I’d like to think the anime did something similar with that one shot we see of him in the human world. We don’t see him in a theater like this but to me it looks like he’s on the streets of Broadway? At least that’s the vibe I get from it. I’m sure there was something music related on one of those signs.

I can’t get over how adorable all the children look and how happy they are fulfilling their wishes, even if some of them aren’t as extravagant as others. Like eating a fluffy pancake and a ton of ice cream? We can do that whenever we want. But for these kids, it means everything and they absolutely deserve to experience such simple joys like that after all the harsh nonsense they’ve been through. I also love how Ray continues to be such a great older brother by still looking out for them too. The fact he remains completely unfazed by the haunted house is perfect. This boy has been haunted by his own nightmares and demons his entire life, there’s no way a couple of lousy jump scares are gonna spook him. Though I do find it funny that Alicia and Rossi still manage to get scared while Yvette is having the time of her life. I can’t help but laugh at Thoma’s “Shirai face” as well.

I find it interesting that out of all the different kinds of exhibits they could’ve shown us while Rossi visits a museum, they give us dinosaurs.. like that seems so silly to me. Y’all have seen several demons in your young lives already and yet dinosaurs manage to amaze you too? God these kids are precious. And then our boy Phil finally gets to see and ride a train! Just look how happy he is! The poor kid can’t even sit still he’s so darn excited and I can’t help but smile with him! Thankfully the anime showed us this too.

We eventually get to Ray’s wish and guys.. oh my fucking god. Tell me that this is not the absolute best and prettiest smile we get to see from him!! It honestly leaves me speechless okay? Ray never imagined he would ever get to see the outside world, let alone live past the age of 12, and yet here he is, seeing such a beautiful sight such as this, right in front of him instead of from inside a book. You can’t believe how happy and proud of him I am right now. Did you see how ecstatic I was when the anime kept Isabella alive? Multiply that feeling by ten and there ya go. That’s my level of happiness upon seeing my favorite boy smile like THAT! AAHHH!! That panel is gonna live rent free in my head until the end of time. I can’t get over how damn perfect it is. His smile is so pure and how he looks like he’s in complete awe is beautiful. He’s about to burst into tears and I swear I might do the same because I’m making myself emotional over this fantastic boy. Someone hold me.

No seriously, hold me because we’re about to get into some angst as we move onto to Emma’s wish. We all know that ever since 2039 her one dream was to ride a giraffe once they got outside, so here we are, about ten years later and the animals in question are within reach. Our girl should be totally excited, right? Ha, not quite.

That wish was something the old Emma wanted, but since demon god had to be such a bastard, this Emma doesn’t know what to think, let alone what to even feel. She hasn’t experienced the same hardships as her family. She hasn’t gone through hell and back while holding onto that one wish that would make all the suffering worth it. The amount of joy everyone else felt upon living out their dreams, she wonders if she would be able to feel it too.

They brought her here to make her happy, but is this truly want she wants as well? This is old Emma’s wish after all. What about her and what she wants? Could this wish make her just as happy as her old self? She knows her family is only trying to help, but seeing her doubt herself does a number on my heart. Even without her memories, she’s still the same Emma deep down, as she doesn’t want to disappoint her family. She spends so much time worrying about living up to her family’s expectations, to try and be that Emma they all love so dearly.

Little does she know that she acts the exact same as usual, almost as if nothing has changed when she finally expresses how much she wants to ride a giraffe. And that’s great considering when they first arrived at the giraffes, no on had even mentioned riding them. She came across that feeling all on her own and everyone else can’t help but laugh and feel relieved. Her mind may have forgotten but her heart remembers everything. There is no “old Emma” and “new Emma” to her family, just “Emma” and words can’t express how wholesome that is because they love her regardless. All that matters to them is Emma’s happiness because if anyone deserves to feel and experience that, it’s her.

I just made myself tear up, damn it. I started this series with season one okay? I heard about this precious girl’s dream within the first minute of the first episode and here I am, a little bit over two years later, finally reading about it coming true and seeing that bright as hell smile on her face. Do you know how amazing it is to come full circle like that? My heart feels so full right now. I’m beyond proud of her and love her to death. Say what you want but I believe this to be the true manga ending in my eyes.

(damn this series for always getting me emotional)

#the promised neverland #tpn manga #tpn norman #tpn ray #tpn emma #norman #ray #emma #chidoroki used chatter

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heretherebedork · 2 years

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Do you have a Top 5 BL's that deserve to be remade? I.E did anyone have something going for it, but then just kinda didn't do anything with it/flopped/or suffer from a major issue that prevents you from enjoying it as much as you wanted to?

Oooo, anon this is a really interesting question! Because I definitely, definitely do.

1. Top Secret Together: Look, the show started SO WELL and it had SO MUCH POTENTIAL and COVID destroyed the ending beyond recognition and it was just genuinely painful to watch such a good show just circle the drain as they tried to film things with everyone in different locations. Honestly, I'd love it if they just went and refilmed the last few episodes they way they meant them to be!

2. Love Is: This show had such a good premise and several good actors and just fell on it's face with timing and trying to do too much without doing anything at all and it seemed like it should have been good but just wasn't. This needed a better script and a better director but I know those actors could do so much better.

3. 7 Project: WTF was this show? No. No. Bring it back and make it better. It wouldn't be hard. All the actors were far, far too good for their scripts.

4. Boyband Love: Honestly? This show was absolute shlock but it genuinely had good bones. I mean, a show about a boyband that's mostly enemies to lovers with a sidedish of 'supposedly very straight members falls for an errand boy via online gaming' was AMAZING too bad it got totally dropped.

5. The Yearbook: Again, another show the started SO WELL and then just fell apart at the end with two full episodes of just flashbacks to flashbacks and memories and nothing happening. I get it, it was hard to show him with one hard, but there had to be a better way to do it. And I'd like to see them try! Because the relationship and the actors had potential for a lot more.

Bonus!

My Boy is the only show on this list that started horrible but actually ended really, really well. And I would love to know wtf happened and to see them refilm the beginning with the sudden skill they discovered in the last few episodes. Also goes for Cupid Coach which I wanted to be good SO BADLY but was not at all. At all. Even in the slightest.

Because Of You goes here but I have no idea what to do to fix it. It just... needed to be better? Somehow? It's one of the shows that I feel like I should like so much more than I do.

CIWYW 2 gets this as well because it just needed to actually FOCUS ON THE DAMN SECONDARY COUPLE MORE so it didn't feel like they got together in the blink of a fucking eye when I was looking for soft, comforting catharsis and not 'wheeee they fuuuuuucked'.

... Sorry, there's.... there's a lot.

Also literally every single censored Chinese gay romance deserves to be remade in true gay glory.

EDIT!!!!

I forgot MY GEAR AND YOUR GOWN!!! The ultimate 'wait, what' show that fell apart on the timing so badly I couldn't appreciate it at all in the end. There was so much they could fix and make it so, so good but they were just like 'nah, fuck it, we need homophobic parents instead of actual relationships!!!' and uughhhhhhhh

#bl drama #bl series #bl redo #i dunno #my anon #ilu anon #this one was just me talking foreve #i could probably do more #but these cover most of my bases

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magireco · 3 years

Note

out of curiosity what do you think of the characterization of homura in rebellion? i hugely dislike it but get the impression you enjoy it which i think is interesting cuz we seem to have very similar thoughts on homura pre-rebellion (CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG)

THIS IS INTERESTING BECAUSE IT DEPENDS ON WHAT FLAVOR OF REBELLION HOMURA YOU MEAN. i really really like the way she was done in the first half of the movie but as for the twist at the end...? mmm...

...okay, so... i've been thinking about saying this at some point but i keep avoiding it in fear of causing discourse and such bc... this is a really unpopular opinion apparently, but I really do not think devil homura was done properly. read under the cut if you wanna know why i feel this way!

the first issue i'm going to address is that there wasn't NEARLY enough buildup for it. i'm going to explain this from the perspective of a first-time viewer: what would you have thought would happen after the very last scene of rebellion leading up to them breaking homura out of her soul gem? when homulilly got purified and the flowers on her head turned to sakura flowers (y'know, the flowers that symbolize life and rebirth, homura being reborn from her witch)? did you think homura was suddenly gonna undermine madoka's godliness? because, uh, first-view me did not think that at all. and neither did almost anyone i know who watched it for the first time. not only is that poor setup but it's just so sudden and it feels so out of character compared to what we'd seen in the entire series as a whole, especially considering that the entire last part of the movie leading up until that was about purifying her... and saving her... there wasn't enough buildup. most people are like "but the flower scene happened!" but that's still way too vague...? it's hard to tell what conclusion homura comes to at the end, because we don't get to see any of her internal monologue... there is no other buildup after the flower scene... it just skips to homura realizing she's a witch. wouldn't that bring the viewer to think the flower scene was something that made homura realize she was a witch rather than her suddenly starting to form her plan? it always felt like to me the conclusion homura came to at the end of the flower scene was that she was validating madoka's bravery and telling her that if it ever came to that, she'd have the ability to make that hard decision. which is... so... weird? because i always interpreted that as homura coming to terms with what happened? i could just be interpreting it wrong though, but isn't that supposed to be our proof scene? our buildup scene? why would they make it so hard to understand? we need to know such important buildup points just as blatantly as the natural buildup to homura becoming a witch was. that's just from a moviemaking & writing perspective though.

secondly, i'm gonna discuss homura's motive. i actually ended up understanding were she was coming from after a while of being like "what the hell that makes zero sense!!!!". madoka is a 14-year-old girl who, in order to save the fate of every magical girl, literally had to sacrifice herself and erase herself from the world, and in the end, madoka just ended up saving homura again, and that must've made homura feel like her promise with madoka was never fulfilled. it's unfair what happened when you think about it and the law of cycles should not have been run by madoka herself because she, as any other 14 year old, deserves to be happy on earth. although it was said in magireco that madoka felt happy with what she was doing (and she felt like it truly gave her a purpose), she did admit to feeling lonely and homura probably made that assumption big time. but the way the writers went about it just made her seem so sinister... so out-of-character-ly sinister. what with the evil smirking and the deepened, almost... uh, sensual-seeming voice, and homura completely ignoring madoka's fear. it feels like they twisted her character extremely suddenly and it throws the viewer on a loop. they could've gone with that ending without making such drastic and sudden changes to homura's character, and if they were planning on doing that, why did they not give us more buildup? buildup that wasn't extremely cryptic that you have to scan and search every detail to get a clue? something i love about rebellion is that every time you watch you find something new, but how come some of the only clues illuding to devil homura's existence are in the op? it's odd. why didn't they go with something like making the incubators run the law of cycles? they were the ones at fault for causing it to be created. but honestly, the incubators cannot be trusted with anything, which is why it'd make sense for a magical girl to run the law of cycles, but if homura and madoka had the combined power to do so, what if they just remade the law of cycles so it was less unfair to madoka...? i don't know. either of those possibilites would make more sense than what happened.

something else that kind of irks me about it is that they demonized(literally, lol) homura's love for madoka. homura is very much a canon lesbian, and it's incredibly discomforting to me that they made her seem, outwardly to the viewer, so selfish...? please don't get me wrong, i'm not ACTUALLY calling homura selfish -- i know the entire akumura facade is a mask she put on, but like, it's so much more blatantly sinister than she is in the series when she's putting on the coolmura facade. it's going to really confuse the viewer and see every single one of her actions from the entire series in a completely different light, INCLUDING stuff that happened in rebellion itself. like the genuine sadness homura felt, the way we saw into her soul and felt her pain, that genuinely made a lot of people i've seen think that it was ingenuine upon first inspection... they made homura turn "evil" out of her love for madoka, as if it's a bad thing to fall in love, and as if love for another girl was what corrupted her soul gem... i understand that gen urobuchi probably wanted to explore that kind of path where love leads to obsession or whatever, but homura was selfless to a fault, constantly trying to force herself away from the others in order to not get attached, and deeply afraid of seeming creepy and predatory and scaring(she said this herself), which is exactly what she ends up doing at the end, and i feel so awful that they did that to her... how is the viewer supposed to know what her true motives are at that point? it gets all scrambled up after they did that huge plot twist. i'm going to address another thing super quick before people jump in my ask box over this, i understand also that it would make sense for homura to be obsessed with madoka, but in the series, it was never shown in this light, and like i said, if they were going to do this, why'd they even have the purification scene at the end at all? the buildup is all wrong . it also just made me upset that this ending caused SO many people to start literally believing homura is evil because of her actions at the end, and it made people become even more vehement on their beliefs that homura is obsessive and ps*cho...

i was really confused when i watched it for the first time (and also sobbing hysterically, literally, my funniest rebellion story as someone who has genuinely watched the movie 40-ish times, i remember vividly the first time i watched it i started sobbing on my hands and knees on a yoga mat in my mom's room). also like, just to prove my point a teensy bit more, the ending was so ambiguous and out of nowhere that one of the first google results to "madoka magica rebellion" is "madoka magica rebellion ending explained" because it shocked people so much that that was the first thing they needed to google. also, the fact they left us on such a vague cliffhanger and then abandoned the movie series for a total of 8 whole years only to make a sudden comeback in god's holy year of 2021 was almost cruel. LIKE GUYS I JUST FINISHED UP MY DEVIL HOMURA HEADCANONS IT TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!!!

...anyways, um, i really have to address the sexualization. madoka magica, previously, was a series that avoided fanservice in the show, at least, but why did they make akumura's design look like that...? it shows an unsettling amount of skin and like, every three seconds in the end they're focusing intensely on her lips and her eyes and... it's almost like the writers forgot she was 14, but they never seemed to forget that in the series? what happened????? in the transformation scene, we get closeup views of homura's thighs and back and stuff and it's all open everywhere... they made her tights into thigh-highs... in the whole series, even when she went to school, she always wore tights, and she was wearing tights in her magical girl outfit too... they absolutely deliberately did that to sexualize her further so they could make official art with her thighs out. speaking of official art that unsettles me, why does so much of the official art make the whole outfit just glued to her body and you can see all the shading on her features... it's just. ugh. anyways.

i went off a LITTLE too much on this and i know this is probably gonna get me some weird glances in the fandom and i am open to hearing other people's opinions but i don't think i'll ever stop disliking the effect this plot twist had on the fandom's interpretation of homura and although i'm like UNDENIABLY incredibly hyper excited for the next movie, i'm kind of...nervous for what this is going to bring? i don't want this next movie to cause the same amount of discourse the ending of rebellion did and i legit just want to see homura happy. another one of my main issues with the ending is just that homura is SO unhappy when she literally deserves to be happy SOOOOOOO BAD and just take a break from all the loops ... i'm Praying to madokami out there that that's what happens.

i know this is all really funny coming from someone who draws devil homura on a regular basis and literally writes her, but like... i'm a lesbian i'm allowed to<3

ANYWAYS thanks for listening this was a fun ask!!!

#asks #neorattz #rambles #analysis #rebellion tag #IM DEADASS AFRAID TO DROP THIS #like... something i was too afraid to mention is that i Have unlisted disorders that are heavily stigmatized #and the reason why they are unlisted is literally bc of that #and i feel like i'm allowed to have a negative stance on this kind of thing because of that #not that someone who doesn't have those things isn't allowed to have these opinions OR opposing opinions but like #i've seen some people choose to cope through devil homura which like.#i get that.#and then i've seen other people use devil homura as an example on why homura is an obsessed psycho girl who only loves madoka #and hates everyone else #which is also partially where my issue stems from.#it's complicated. just like the ending of rebellion!!!!! LOLL

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shigarakis-fifth-hand · 4 years

Text

The "Better Half" ; A Poly KiriBaku x Reader Fanfic

Enjoy the series | one two three four five

Bakugo stood against the wall, smoking a cigarette and staring at the sky. Surrounding him, chatty nobodies smoked as well, talking among each other. Usually, Ichiko would be leaning up against the wall with him, playfully ridiculing him for smoking while taking puffs every now and then.

Slowly, while the guys around them talked up a storm, Bakugo would bring his cigarette to her lips, and watch her take a puff, never letting his eyes leave her face. She’d stare right back, never breaking eye contact. She was so beautiful.

But now, she was gone, and he was stuck with five of his worshippers who he had never learned the names of, and would never bother with. They were ordinary assholes who he kept around to not feel lonely.

“What about you Bakugo? Which one do you have your eyes on?” The brown-haired one asked as they all turned to face him. Bakugo gave him a look of confusion and anger mixed together. “You know… girls? With that bitch gone, you can have full access to-“

Bakugo grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall forcefully. All of them froze,, staying quiet as Bakugo looked him up and down. “You dare call her that one more time and I’ll smack your skull into this wall. I’ll fucking kill you! Got it?!”

The extra in front of him nodded quickly as Bakugo let go of his shirt, letting him fall to the ground. “Y’all are boring. I’m out.” He sternly announced, picking up his backpack and walking away, down a path and towards the woods that led to his house.

He wanted to call Ichiko, missing her voice when she wasn’t yelling at him. He wondered where she was after storming out. Her mother would never just let her come home early, and with Deku coming back to school, it was implied she was alone. Katsuki didn’t like the thought of her being alone in the city.

He picked up his phone and called her, the only contact with a photo in his entire phone. It was a photo of you, all tan and pretty with ocean curls and flowers in your hair. Four months ago, the Midoriya and Bakugou families went on a beach trip together.

It had been the best time of your life, spending every waking moment with each other. While Izuku and your parents went to the aquarium and pool and such, you stayed with the Bakugous.

You got up late, had breakfast with Katsuki, went tanning, bike-riding, swimming, more tanning, hung out on a playground, and then skateboarded around. To end the day, you two would sit on the roof of the hall beach house and watch the sunset.

Katsuki smiled warmly at the memory he missed so much, loving every second of him not having to share you with anyone else. There was no Deku to ruin anything, like he had. “Dammit!” Katsuki exploded, punching the wall as hard as he could.

Deku had ruined everything… Deku had destroyed the only thing Katsuki had ever cared about. Just two days ago, he was going to make love to you, and confirm the feelings you two had for each other after so many years. But no, Deku ruined that.

Then that night, Bakugo let his extras mess around with the wimp while he talked to you all night long, laughing and joking comfortably as if nothing had changed, and then yet again, Deku ran to his sister like a child and ruined everything.

Bakugou wanted revenge… He wanted to rip Deku from his skull and make him pay. He wanted to smack the stupid smile off his dumb face, and tell him how useless he was. No, he wanted to scream. He wanted to scream at him until his lungs burned like hell, and Deku ran out of tears.

Katsuki continued calling, one after another, growing extremely worried. It was no secret he was protective of Ichiko. She was his best friend, his only friend, and his soulmate. Even when they were younger, he would get angry.

Angry when she climbed a tree too high, or when she got in a fight with boys. Once she went missing, and him being the little 5-year-old he was, searched for her all night with his dad. In fact. Izuku cried the entire time, per usual. Even back then, he had been useless.

Katsuki dropped the board he had in his hands, and began riding along the hiking trail in the forest towards his house. Thinking back, maybe he had been friends with Izuku. Maybe he had liked playing action figures with both the twins, or obsessing about heroes with the brother while Ichiko rolled her eyes.

Just maybe…

He rode around for a while, just thinking. He thought about Ichiko’s dad and what he would do. He thought about UA and if he would make it. Of course he would, right? It was possible. What about Ichiko? There was no way he could leave her. There was also no way she wouldn’t get in.

He’d follow her anywhere. They were soulmates after all, meant for each other, and nothing less of perfection. Deku just needed to accept that he wasn’t the most important guy in her life now, never had been, and never would be.

Katsuki arrived home to see his parents surrounding the tv, which was not normal, but again, not totally weird. He hooked his board onto the back of his bag and began climbing the steps, listening to the noises around him.

“Oh Inko, they’re showing her again! Oh gosh, she’s so coordinated!” His mother exclaimed happily, her eyes glued to the screen. Ugh… the news? “Oh goodness, I just know she was happy to meet All Might!” Mitsuki talked into her phone, apparently talking to Inko. But why?

“Dear, she’s probably terrified. Not to add to the fact that she left school early for an unknown reason.” Katsuki’s father, who sat by her side, explained to his excited wife. Out of curiosity and frustration, Katsuki walked into the living room.

He gasped a little bit, earning the sudden attention of his parents who finally realized he was home. There, on the screen, on the NEWS, footage of Ichiko played.

It showed her coming out of the tunnel that led to the town square from our school, and being attacked by a sludge-like creature.

It wrapped around her as she became pale, unable to move or use your quirk to fight back. It strangled her, wrapping around her from all angles. As she closed her eyes, All Might appeared before her, and hit it off, letting her limp body fall to the ground.

It scurried off into the darkness of the tunnel again, and allowed All Might and others to surround her. Then the footage cut, leaving Katsuki staring at the news reporter.

“Witnesses say that the victim was alright, but in a state of shock as she fled the scene. All Might commented that he believes she will be alright, and is just shook up. Other sources say that she looked traumatized. More on this attack tonight at 10.”

Bakugo stood up and angrily shook the tv. “No! No! No! Where did she go after? Is she hurt? What if something happens to her?” He yelled, before turning back to his parents.

“What are you doing out of school Katsuki? Classes don’t end for another hour.” Mitsuki asked, giving her son the side eye of disapproval. “I… It doesn’t matter, okay? Shit happened at school and I couldn’t deal with it okay?! But that’s not important! We have to find Ichi!”

Mitsuki giggled at her son before turning to her husband. “Ichiko can handle herself, Izuku will go looking for her. You on the other hand…” She bopped her son on the head, watching his spiky hair turn to a frizzy fuzz.

Katsuki angrily stomped up the stairs, like a child his mother would say, and laid on his bed. He stared at the ceiling intensely, lost in thought. Why wasn’t anyone worried about Ichiko’s whereabouts?

She was a young, pretty girl in a huge city without anyone. Not to mention probably traumatized. Katsuki rolled over, staring at the photo he had next to his bed of them two.

Over the years, Katsuki changed his room theme multiple times, switching furniture and wall colors like it was nobody’s business. Yet, no matter the aesthetic or mood of the room, a picture of Ichiko and him next to his bed stayed consistent.

Currently, it was a picture of their first day of high school. Bakugo had been a nervous wreck, but hadn’t told anyone to not seem vulnerable. Of course, he had told Ichiko though. She comforted him that morning, and held his hand secretly the entire subway ride there.

The picture was in front of Midoriya household, the two of them smiling. Katsuki smiled back, loving the way she held onto his arm tightly. Something she had made a habit of since the day she met when she had pulled him around the amusement park, never letting go.

Bakugo wished that she hadn’t let go… ever.

He rolled back over and closed his eyes, thinking of good things in his life. He tried to imagine a world where Ichiko and he became heroes at UA together, then moved in together and got married. At UA, they would sneak into each other’s rooms and skip classes to make out.

They would sit next to each other in class, exchange notes, and would be THE couple in the school. She’d be his, and everyone would know it. Nobody would touch her, and she wouldn’t leave him. There would be no reason to… ever. And to this thought, Bakugo fell asleep soundlessly.

About an hour passed until Bakugou rose, the light from the sunset peaking through his windows. He opened the curtains and sighed, remembering everything from the past day. He remade his bed and began to sit down on the small couch in his room when he heard his mother scream his name.

He dropped his video game controller in a rush and ran to the stairs to see his mother running around. “Keys!! I need my keys!! Oh honey, get my wallet just in case. And my mask, in case there’s sick people. Dang, we should have gotten flowers, right?”

He watched as his mom ran around the house, gathering her things in a spasm as his father ran behind her, trying to help. “What’s going on?” Bakugo asked in his low tone, trying to hide the worry and concern in his voice. “Izuku and Ichiko are at the hospital! I must drive Inko there now!”

Bakugo’s eyes lit up in horror as he ran down to face his mother. “The hell! This is why I said we should have worried about her?! Is she hurt? I’m coming with you!” He screamed loudly as she returned with the same tone.

“Nonsense! Inko is emotionally unstable and so are you! You will do nothing but cause trouble! Surely there’s footage of it on somewhere, now move! I must hurry!” Mitsuki grabbed her purse, kissed her husband, and ran out.

“It’s for the best buddy. Let’s watch the news, there must be something about it on there.” Bakugo’s father calmly walked to the tv and turned it on. Surely enough, there it was. In fact, it was everywhere. You had apparently gone viral.

Bakugo watched the security footage, frozen as if he were a statue. It showed Izuku leaning against the tunnel, about to use his phone when he turned and heard something in the tunnel. He began walking towards it when Ichiko arrived.

With his back to her, she couldn’t see him as she looked around. In the corner of the tunnel, you could see the sludge slithering around Izuku, and covering his mouth.

Ichiko called him, and then the sludge appeared in front of her, holding Izuku. The crowd around them backed away, terrified, as Ichiko fell back in shock. She stared at her brother who was suffocating, and then the large mass of adults that stared, doing nothing.

She stood back up, and raised her hand to the villain. It began wiggling in pain, moving uneasily, until it finally dropped Izuku all together and sludged away. Ichiko ran to her brother and dropped to her knees as the crowd surrounded her.

She shook him a few times as she cried, before being hugged by a hero everyone knew as Mt. Lady. Suddenly reporters got in her face, almost yelling at her as her tears just kept coming. Katsuki’s blood began to boil.

Finally, Deku was put into an ambulance with Mt. Lady, while All Might flew her out of view while talking to her. The footage then ended as it zoomed out to show three reporters shown at a desk in front.

“Hey Patricia, isn’t that the schoolgirl from earlier that got attacked by the sludge monster and saved by All Might?” The dark-skinned news anchor in the middle asked the woman on her left.

“Yes it is. Sources are saying that the victim of this attack is her twin brother who is currently in medical care, but the sludge monster thought it was her and its motive was revenge this time.” The blonde explained to the camera as Bakugo felt his face growing red.

“That fucker! This is all his fault! It’s all his fault! It’s all his fault!” He threw the pillow across the room angrily, trying not to set anything on fire as he threw his tantrum. “I’m going to the hospital! I need to talk to her!” Bakugo put on his shoes before his dad grabbed his shoulder.

“You heard your mother! You leave this place and you’re grounded for the next five months!” He explained as Katsuki lightly pushed him back. “You’re insane! The next five months will mean nothing if she’s not okay!”

Katsuki began yelling, and then something that had never happened before happened. His father began yelling as well. “Her brother is in urgent care! What makes you think that she is capable of talking to a hot-head like you?!”

Katsuki stopped, staring at his father. “She doesn’t want to see you at a time like this! You’re loud and angry and you don’t know how to help people emotionally! What are you going to do when she needs a shoulder to cry on?! Yell at her?!”

As tears began to build up in Katsuki’s eyes, he grabbed the nearest jacket on the coat rack and ran out, forgetting one of his shoes. He didn’t care. His dad was right, and at the same time, so wrong.

Sure, to everyone else, Katsuki was the biggest jerk. But with you, he was different, and only they knew that. He had helped her through her dad leaving, fought off bullies when they were younger, and had let you cry when their cat died. Nobody else knew that, but it was the truth.

Bakugo didn’t care, he just ran. He passed the skate park where you had taught him how to skate, noticing a few people but not paying attention. He passed the abandoned house where they explored each Halloween, and had even broken your arm when falling through the floor.

Finally, he arrived at the beach, not sure how he got there. It was at least a mile and a half away, not to add it was dark and too quiet. But Bakugo didn’t care, at least he was alone. He let the tears fall, accepting them as he watched the ocean.

Unpredictable and dangerous… like himself? It was obvious Katsuki didn’t deserve you, but at the same time, no one did. At least Bakugo knew you wanted him back, and he could give you the life you wanted. He knew what you liked, and what you didn’t.

Heck, he knew you better than you did.

He sat on the rock, watching the water flow under him, as he thought of you, and all the things you both had done together. There were all the beach visits, the field trips, the play dates, the school dances, and everything in between.

Before Bakugo could turn back, voices in the back took him out of his train of thought. He turned to see a biker and a skateboarder. The same people at the skate park actually.

He thought nothing out of it, until he heard your voice. “Watch out!!” You yelled as you held onto a jump rope that was tied to his dirt bike. He rode around a large street corner, swinging you around. You giggled cutely, enjoying every second of it.

“Faster!! Faster!!” You yelled as he laughed at your excitement, continuing to accelerate. Bakugo couldn’t believe his eyes. Your brother was in the hospital, you had broken things off with him, and you were hanging out with some douche?

Who was the black-haired kid who pulled you anyways? Was it someone from school? Why didn’t he recognize them? It was nobody on your swim team, and nobody on your volleyball team… Who was he? That should have been Bakugo…

Angrily, Bakugo was about to yell out, before you pulled around a corner and left his view of sight. Bakugo got up, shook the sand off himself, and sighed frustratingly. He would find out who that was if it killed him.

Kirishima and you rode around the city streets, surely making more noise then you were supposed to. But of course, you couldn’t help but laugh hysterically when he turned corners. And your laugh was so cute, he couldn’t help but join.

After all the drama of the day, you needed this. You needed to be able to let go and have fun, especially with a nice stranger who had no idea about any of the incidents of the day. Finally, he stopped in front of an apartment complex.

“Come on, I have something to show you.” He whispered, chaining his bike to the nearby lamppost. You picked up your bike and began to follow him up the sidewalk and to the back of the tall building.

For a second, you felt awkward, like he was going to try something absurd or sexual. That was, until he showed you a ladder going all the way up. “Lady’s first.” He smiled, grabbing your hand and helping you up like a gentleman.

You couldn’t help but blush. How dumb to think that such a sweetheart could act so wrong. Kiri was a good person, one of the few in the world in fact. He climbed after you, making sure to assure you whenever your balance got wobbly.

“Don’t worry! I climb up here all the time! It’s actually really stable.” He explained, blushing as he accidentally looked up your uniform skirt. It had been purely accidental, but it surely made him feel okay with falling off the ladder to his death. Hot damn.

Finally, you made it to the roof and laid down, not letting go of Kiri’s hand once he joined you. “Trust me. I go up here every weekend to see the stars. Up there, it’s the north star. And over there is the bull.”

He pointed to the sky, but you couldn’t help but stare at him. “Tell me about yourself Kiri.” You whispered, laying down. He turned to you, blushing as he slowly laid down with you. “I… Well, I go to Mustafa Private Middle School. I’m good with grades, but they could be better.”

You nodded, watching his face as he continued. “I’m average. My friends are average. My family is pretty average, except for the fact that they’re lesbians and I’m an only child. My quirk isn’t that flashy. I’m just… not special.”

You frowned a little, before noticing hair in front of Kirishima’s face. Using your soft, delicate fingers, you moved the hair out of his face and tucked it behind his ears. “I think you're special. Plus, being basic isn’t the worst.”

Kirishima’s face began to resemble a tomato as he turned to you, desperate to change the subject. “What do you mean by that?” He asked as you sighed, staring at the sky.

“I… Have you seen the news recently?” You asked as he gave you a confused glance. “Not really, I-“ Kirishima’s eyes widened as he looked at you again. Curly green hair to match your beautiful green eyes. The schoolgirl outfit, and of course, the scars on your knees.

“You’re the girl!! The one who… dang you’ve had a busy day.” Kirishima smiled, beginning to laugh lightly. You looked at him, somewhat shocked by his reaction. “Seriously?” You asked, smiling back at him.

“Yea. I’m not going to treat you differently because of it. I’m sure you’ll get a lot of that at home and school. With me, you’re still Ichiko.” He grinned, showing his fanged shark teeth smile.

You grinned, laying down again as you continued to stare at the stars. “So what about you? Tell me about your life, besides today’s news drama and all that.” Kirishima laid next to you, this time closer. You liked it…

“Well, this week itself has been weird. My childhood best friend told me he loved me, and I said I loved him back.” You explained, not noticing Kirishima’s eyes widen in worry. Did you have a boyfriend? Did you really love him? Did he not have a chance?

“I do love him, but at the same time, something happened. Anyways, we were going to… do something, and my brother came to get me and interrupted us. He didn’t see anything though.”

Kirishima sighed, thankful for your brother interrupting. It obviously was that something was.

“Anyways, my friend got upset and made his friends send my brother all these terrible things about killing himself. This morning, they texted him to meet and they beat him up behind the school. I found out, and lashed out on my friend. I promised to never speak to him again, and I ran out.”

Kirishima nodded as you both now sat up, staring at each other. “So that’s why you were there when that thing attacked you. You had walked out of class.” Kirishima finished your story as you nodded, impressed by him.

“Yeah, pretty much. Then I ran off, chilled on a rooftop for sometime, and then my brother called me to meet up. You know what happened next. That was pretty much the last two days for me.”

Kirishima nodded, understanding before you turned to him to see him smiling. “What are you looking at?” You asked, smirking as he playfully rolled his eyes. “Oh nothing. I’m just glad you and your brother are both safe.”

You began smiling at his genuine statement, suddenly overwhelmingly happy because of him. “You’re too sweet.” You smiled, before suddenly feeling the urge to lean in. Sure, you had just met him, but the atmosphere felt so right.

You both leaned it, wanting it so much, as your lips finally collided. It was just for a short second, but it felt so right. You were about to deepen it when a clock went off on the apartment under you.

“It is Midnight! It is Midnight!” A small china cat with a clock on its stomach rang through your ears from under you. “I better get back home. I have school tomorrow.” You explained, sad to separate your lips from his.

“How disappointing.” He murmured, smiling ear to ear with a blush on his cheeks. You two made your way down the iron ladder and back to the bike and skateboard. What you noticed was that you were holding onto his arm the entire way, like you would with Katsuki.

You helped him put on his helmet, which was weirdly romantic by itself, and began riding back. Without the rope, you rode next to him the entire time, doing tricks and skating close to him just to giggle. When you finally made it to your house, you were kind of sad.

“Hey Kiri. I have a question.” You asked, picking up your board and walking over to him. “Yes?” He responded, twisting his head in a cute, curious way. “Where are you going to high school?” You asked as he began to blush big-time.

“Well, right now I don’t know and I’m trying to figure it out because I don’t know what I want to do with my life but I also know what my dream is but I don’t know if my dream is possible and-“ You put your finger to his lips as he stopped suddenly.

“If your dream is to go to UA, which I can tell by that little sticker on the back of your bike, you should learn to just say it. Plus, I’m going to try and go to UA as well. We should help each other. I think it’ll be a perfect way to… get close.”

You both blushed at that last part as he began looking at the ground. “I’d… I’d love that. If I’m going to start being not average, I need not average friends! And you’re… definitely not average by all means.” He smiled at you as you grinned innocently.

“Well then, you’ll be needing this.” You took out a pen from your backpack and wrote your number on his hand in pen. “I’ll text you… we should meet up tomorrow and chill, maybe even work out our quirks.” You suggested as he gave the thumbs up.

“I… I look forward to that!!” He exclaimed as you couldn’t help but giggle, blushing a lot from how flirty you both were being. “Well… see you then.” Without thinking, you bent down and pecked him on the cheek before turning away quickly and running inside.

Kirishima stayed there, placing his hand on his cheek as his mind became invaded with images of you. So cute, and yet you were into him? No, he couldn’t assume, but it was safe to make it possible.

Finally, he began to peddle off, not noticing the green-haired boy staring in the window.

Just half an hour ago, Izuku had been staring out the window intensely, waiting for his sister.. He had just been at the hospital, and as much as his mother tried to help, he wanted to see you. He wanted to see that you were safe, and he wanted you to see that he was safe.

He could only hope that you hadn’t blamed yourself, and weren’t feeling guilty. Surely you were sulking, feeling shame and pity, thinking it was your fault that he had been attacked. But that simply wasn’t true, and he needed you to know that.

He kept watching, until he heard the doorbell. Was that you? He hadn’t seen you come from the driveway. He made his way down the hall, freezing when he heard Katsuki’s voice. What was he doing here!?

“Oh, Katsuki dear. It’s late, is everything okay?” Inko asked innocently, unaware of a single ounce of the daily drama between her children and the boy standing before her. “Oh, yeah. I was just wondering if Ichiko made her way home yet. I wanted to talk to her.”

Izuku made a fist, his blood rising to his face as he became furious. Why did he want to speak to you this late? And how did he know you weren’t home? Was everything alright? Oh god, maybe you had hurt herself terribly.

“No, she’s doing her own thing right now. You’ll see her tomorrow, right?” Inko asked as Bakugo became angry. Izuku watched him, hidden behind the corner. Why was Katsuki so angry? He knew you liked doing her own thing at night.

The conversation between them ended, and Izuku continued back to window-watching. It wasn’t as if he had anything better to do then wait for his one and only friend to come home. As time passed, he began to get worried. It turned midnight before he saw any movement down our street.

There skated Ichiko… and a biking figure. With black hair, a black shirt, and baggy blue jeans, it was someone Izuku didn’t recognize at all, not to mention it was too dark to see his face.

They talked for a bit, both blushing tremendously as you stood there at the edge of the driveway, lit up by the porch light.

Out of curiosity, he cracked the window to listen in. “Plus, I’m going to try and go to UA as well. We should help each other. I think it’ll be a perfect way to… get close.” You both looked at the ground, embarrassed. “I’d… I’d love that.” He responded, a voice filled with light and happiness.

Izuku backed up, unable to comprehend what he was hearing. UA was one of the biggest high schools in the world that trained the youth as future hero students. Hero students… with amazing quirks. Something Izuku didn’t have.

He knew you had an amazing quirk, it was one of your best features. You were practically worshipped for it wherever you went. The ability to turn any item into melted droplets of it and then move it around before turning it into his original state.

Yet, were you UA quality? UA was for the powerful, confident people with the potential to save the world. Fuck, you were perfect for UA. But would you really leave Izuku for UA?

Heck… you left him after he was attacked by a villain for some boy that wasn’t even Bakugo. Izuku wasn’t mad, but he couldn’t help but overthink drastically. Were you growing away from him? Maybe you blamed him for everything. He did too.

The last straw was then when you leaned in and kissed the boy’s cheek. You both blushed, and it was obvious you shared common interests in each other, even from an outsider. You quickly ran inside, very flustered as he held his cheek in awe.

Upset, Izuku began to get up and fix his wrinkled shirt and shorts. Yet, as he went to close the blinds and hide any evidence that he had been watching, he saw movement in the corner of his eye.

From the other side of the street and a few houses down, Bakugo stared at the boy on the bike, a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Slowly, the flowers began to burn until they turned to dust. That look, Izuku thought. That look of hatred…

@drbumpkin @bleachbetch @toobsessedsstuff @turtle-deku @1madxson1 @badb1hh

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miraculouscontent · 3 years

Text

Ask Explo--

...you know what, you’re right. Name change effective immediately.

Askplosion #10:

(unrelated to everything by the way but I DEMAND THE ANON WHO MENTIONED “REMARRIED EMPRESS” A WHILE BACK COME FORTH AND ANSWER FOR THEIR CRIMES. IT’S SO GOOD BUT IT’S UNFINISHED AND I’M HOOKED, HOW DARE YOU)

Asks responding to previous posts:

It’s okay! I figured that was what it was but it’s been so loooong.

Ah, wow.

Um, that’s definitely not a part 2; I think that’s more like a four-parter/five-parter or something.

Sorry! No can do!

That’s totally fair!

I think the reason I so quickly agreed with it is like--

I’ve been watching the Inuyasha sequel and it’s not like I don’t think the narrative’s apparent punching bag Moroha (who is fourteen years old) shouldn’t be punished when she does something wrong/sneaky/manipulative, but they punish her as if she’s Miroku (who was eighteen years old).

Basically, I want the punishment to take the age into account, or at least only affect Marinette on a more personal level and not be “Heart Hunter” where they take totally understandable feelings of heartache (remember, it wouldn’t have mattered which miraculous she took because Hawk Moth got the Miracle Box and Fu regardless; even beyond her emotions, I feel like she chose the best option available to her considering which temps she knew the location of) and then punish her for them by memory wiping Fu and taking away all of her temps and giving Hawk Moth the grimoire translation.

Yes!! I really wanted to respond to this one, thank you! (It’s this one and then there was another one talking about Luka and Adrien, then talked to me about how I refer to Luka as “soft” but not in a bad way; I unfortunately don’t remember the whole thing.)

Ahaha, and yeah, I feel you. Anti-salters are a very strange conundrum I still haven’t figured out; like, I get not liking salt, but...

I mean, when I don’t like certain content, I just blacklist it. If I end up seeing it anyway due to cross-tagging or a lack of tagging, then I just blacklist the person themself. You won’t see me going after people for that very reason; I only see what people send/ask me if it’s content I don’t like.

I’m glad you’ve found some peace in this blog! Hopefully it continues to be that way for you in the future!

(and yay, a fellow INTJ!!)

New Asks:

There are female writers? ;P I just assumed they were all locked in a closet until the male ones were like, “okay, pretend to help us here, we need one female writer to claim girl power.”

As for Ladybug all like, “Cute, isn’t she?” I think it was rhetorical (she could also be messing with him but “Glaciator” tells us that she didn’t know he crushed on her so who knows). The writers do this thing where Marinette is all panic-y and occasionally self-conscious as herself, but then as Ladybug, she suddenly gets a bit of an ego. I think it’s meant to be there in order to make Chat Noir look less... idk, “obnoxious” when he starts boosting his own ego; trying to balance the two by giving them both big heads, so to speak.

Honestly, I feel like Adrien needs less screen time. :|

Even when he’s not on-screen, characters are usually talking about him, or you see his face in Marinette’s room/somewhere in Paris. I’m become so jaded by the guy that I don’t even think it’d matter if they remade the series and gave it a “totally good and interesting Adrien.” That’s how badly the show has made him out for me; “Adrien Agreste” the character is just... sigh, I’m so done with him.

And yeah, this whole idea about, “Marinette is [x], we need more AAAAAADRIEN!” comes off really bad, lol, especially when Adrien has very little going for him.

(this ask ends off like there should be a part 2 but there isn’t one in my inbox, so sorry if there’s meant to be something else!)

The exact lyrics according to the wiki:

My wish for a cat who's in love, with our own Ladybug. Is that he'll get what he's always wanted! She doesn't know she loves him, only sees Adrien, But Christmas miracles always happen!

Yeah, especially nowadays, those lines bothers me. Not only does it imply “true selves,” but that it’s Chat who should be getting what he always wanted and Ladybug is the one with a problem.

Like, excuse me?

Probably Stormy Weather, even in the first episode. Ladybug and Chat Noir couldn’t even touch her until they arrived on top of the TV station.

+ With all those effects and shots, it made it feel more action-y than typical episodes.

Marinette, Aurore, Luka, Anarka, Jagged...

basically any name that I haven’t really heard before (”Luka” makes me think of Vocaloid but the Luka there was female), or a name that relates a lot to the character (like “Aurore” for “aurora” since she loves weather things).

dfjbghfkdgfdgnjfdg this anon really like, “I NEED ANSWERS!!!”

It’s as if these characters hit 18 or something and just grow overnight, I swear. I’m hypothetically fine with some more variety in character height (it’s not like the show tries to be realistic, after all), but maybe don’t give us official heights if they’re gonna be this weird/inaccurate.

Especially when they change it just for the sake of a shot anyway. If you watch “Simon Says” when Ladybug and Adrien stand next to each other while looking at the picture of Adrien’s mother, the very next close-up has an obvious difference in their heights from what you just saw.

They’re 3D models!!! This shouldn’t happen!

I... honestly never thought of the “less threatening” thing! Dang!

And yeah, Marinette isn’t helpless or incompetent, but because of the Adrien crush, it makes her that way at times since she’s always falling on him and--

...ugh, actually, yeah, don’t wanna think about those implications. Hard pass.

Gross.

I’m not familiar with that one, though Astruc deletes his tweets all the time (there was one tweet where he confirmed that Luka was poor and it only exists in screenshots now because it didn’t get archived and he deleted it almost like he realized that he was pointing out the blatant classism in the show, oops).

Yeah though, I haven’t seen anything like what you’re describing. Sorry!

It’s okay! Sorry for having you clarify but him choosing and Marinette deciding to never give it back are very different things.

I don’t recall Chat Noir having much purpose in the final fight (in terms of both contributing and actual fighting; I know Cataclysm broke the object to release the akuma but was it needed?) so Marinette might either go cat-less or get a temp. Plagg could also be helpful in his own right because he’s small and blends in with the night, so he could hypothetically sneak up on the bad guy.

Afterwards, there’d need to be a new cat, but Adrien would also have to reconsider his actions and really think about what happened. I could also see Plagg going to Adrien’s house, half to apologize for giving the idea to Adrien that Adrien leave without telling Ladybug, but also half to call him out for giving up without consulting anyone. Adrien is a lot of conflicting things (see Adrien’s passivity compared to Chat Noir’s recklessness) so he’d have to find a middle ground within himself.

Marinette might carry Plagg around in her purse for a while and let Plagg have a say in who he goes to. Plagg might grieve for a bit over not having Adrien around (even if Adrien was flawed, Plagg didn’t ask for any of this so Marinette is doing her best here).

O-oh.

That’s always the rough patch with “endgame ships.” Once it’s obvious to the audience that they’re endgame, no more effort needs to be put into them.

The other thing too is how Kagami, for example, is friends with Marinette. Even once Adrimi sinks, she’ll presumably stay friends with her. Luka, meanwhile, is Juleka’s brother.

They have lives outside of their love interests. Adrien is so into Ladybug that he doesn’t have that; I mean, Nino is Adrien’s best friend like once in a blue moon.

The entire class is just watching an episode and then calling on raised hands to answer what was wrong with what they just watched.

“Everything?”

“I mean, yes, but I’m sorry, you have to be more specific to get credit.”

I think Aeon herself is fine. It’s mostly just her transformed and that transformed name that I have a problem with (she doesn’t even look uncanny so I don’t get it). I heard there was something wrong with the name “Aeon” but searching the name doesn’t give me anything I would qualify as such so I have no idea. I just wish she was given a little less “I’m programmed to--” (makes her seem less sentient) and more “[anything that doesn’t have to do with pushing the love square]” because I feel like they might’ve done the latter to make her more “likable”? I think fans of anything usually like the “matchmaker” character provided it’s for a ship they like. Also strange that they make her a robot but Max and Markov don’t extensively interact with her, but that’s a nitpick and not a criticism of her character.

...I’m rambling, my bad lol.

(Ohhh, she was supposed to be a mummy? Like, foreshadowing her “dying”?? That went right over my head but I guess that’d be where the name Uncanny Valley came from? No clue.)

Best case scenario is probably the middle or the end of Season 4.

And yeah, it really doesn’t matter to me what they do with the love square. Marinette had gone through too much suffering and the show goes out of its way to show how much stress Marinette is being put under (and also keeping Luka away during episodes like “Gamer 2.0″ even when it makes sense for them to be there, as if trying to make sure Marinette doesn’t have enough moments with him to forget Adrien).

Like, ah, yes, I totally believe that Marinette is in a position where she can make reasonable decisions about her love life while all circles of her life are on fire.

If the Sonic movie of all things can have an interracial couple, there’s no reason why this show can’t, just saying.

And, even with Marinette, she’s white-passing (according to what basically everyone says, I’m really awful about recognizing race so this isn’t my field; I wasn’t aware that Ondine was Asian, for example).

Does Nadja count? Manon’s dark-skinned (I’m still not over the fact that all the kids in this show are dark-skinned; it’s not like it’s a problem from a representation standpoint - though all the kids are also all generically bratty/whiny so there’s that - but the percentages in this show are weird) while Nadja is really light-skinned, meaning either a dark-skinned husband or Manon is adopted.

Though I guess the problem then is that we don’t know, so there’s no established couple there.

Non-Miraculous Asks:

w-who gave you the right to say such things????

Uhhhh, that might be too broad of a question, I’m sorry!

I know this isn’t satisfactory, but I will say that my favorite genre is Fantasy/Romance (it’s why I adore Red Shoes so much; by the way, an anon asked for my opinion on that a while back and I will get to it! I’d need to watch it again to get screenshots) and my least favorite is probably Tragedy/Horror.

I don’t think I’ve watched enough to really be able to say? I’ve kind of been all over but I’ve never fully gone through any of them outside of Miraculous. I’ve seen bits of Sailor Moon, Tokyo Mew Mew, Star VS the Forces of Evil (don’t know if that counts), and I meant to watch Yuki Yuna is a Hero but never got around to it. I saw the entirety of Puella Magi Madoka Magica but you guys know how I feel about that one.

Maybe Cardcaptor Sakura by default then? It was definitely not perfect but I liked some of the character dynamics (I also have a clipcut of it - basically where I go through a series/movie and cut out parts I don’t like so it’s only good stuff - so I’m cheating a little) and the male love interest was a tsundere type that I actually ended up liking, which is really rare.

!!! That sounds sweet~ I know Sailor Moon is popular so I’ll definitely take your word for it on that one.

I would also accept a “reincarnated”/”destined lovers” trope if maybe the ship themselves are the one who set it up in the first place. I have a Lukanette AU, for example, where they basically got together and then prayed to the shrine of the renewal god that they’d “always be together,” which ended up allowing them to reincarnate over and over (as if they set up their own soulmate AU ;P) and continuously find each other.

Though I guess that’s not technically a “meant to be trope,” but still, it’s a form of it but where it was totally consensual on both sides.

Also, I finally thought of a show that ended with the ship I wanted: Gargoyles. I didn’t see the entire series, mind you, but I saw most of it and Goliath and Elisa were just... quality, I adored them.

+ With Beauty and the Beast being my favorite Disney movie, they fit right in with my tastes.

I forget that AangToph (I think the “official” name for the ship is Taang, but don’t quote me on that) exists sometimes, maybe because I’ve never shipped Aang with anyone; I’ve got no problems with the ship though.

Ugh, and this is what I mean when I talk about people who set up these reasons behind people shipping something based on what they saw a few people do. It’s like, “you only ship Adrimi/Lukanette to spite Adrienette!!”

Meanwhile, me having shipped all three at one point and then dropped off the love square.

Also, me shipping Zutara has nothing to do with it being dark/edgy because I’ve never seen it that way (intriguing, sure but dark and edgy? lol) and also avoid dark/edgy ships like the plague.

I still laugh at people who are like, “you can’t ship it because it’s not endgaaaaame!” as if shows can dictate how and why I enjoy something. Like sure, if you want to let a show/movie spoonfeed you how you’re supposed to feel, then by all means, go ahead.

I suppose people may be theoretically happier that way, but it doesn’t make for an analytic mind.

I legitimately thought that “AssClass” must’ve been the actual name for something until it registered with me what it actually meant.

And eh, I guess it depends on the comparison and how accurate the comparison actually is? Like, comparing Puella Magic Madoka Magica to Miraculous... they’re not really close at all, but comparing... idk, Bunnyx to Homura or the concept behind “backfiring wishes”... maybe?

(note that the rest of this post is more Puella Magi Madoka Magica salt so you can stop reading here if you’re not interested in that; I’m not sure if this is all the same anon but I don’t mind letting people vent so I let them go off~)

why can’t we just have nice things

I agree, and I give a little eyeroll every time it’s like, “oh, this person had [miraculous]”

+ even just in general, I feel weird about any show that mentions/implies that real world famous people are [x] or [y] in their show. It breaks my immersion; real world locations are one thing but when it’s specific people (unless they’re made up characters like Santa Claus) or games just--break me.

I also don’t know what to think when there aren’t magical boys but you have these magical girls in this frilly outfits/skirts. The demographic is girls so I presume the reason must be like, “you can look pretty and still beat people up” (;P) but having so many magical girl shows without a hint of a magical boy makes me suspicious that it’s for fanservice. Sailor Moon has Tuxedo Mask but I also don’t know what that guy did outside of the meme of him doing nothing so I’ve got no clue.

(edit: I should correct myself that I’m not talking about Sailor Moon specifically; I don’t know magical girls that well, though I do know there are ones clearly intended for fanservice (you could say that for anything, to be fair, but still). It’s just that I see things like super short skirts or very “questionable” shots and I’m just like, “hm”)

Hmmm, good question. I feel like there has to be a lot but I’m also the type who doesn’t watch a lot of TV lol. I’m just familiar with cliches and tropes and such.

The reason I try not to use “ism”s of any kind is mostly because it’s too broad. Like, you know how the English language only has one way of saying, “I love you,” but other languages like Spanish have multiple?

It’s like that, and sometimes I think it’s too easy to throw those words out there. A “small” (possibly completely unintentional/misunderstood) offense is sexism, and then a “large” offense is called the exact same thing. I’d rather go into why something is sexist than just call it that, y’know? The only exception I make is “classism” because I feel like that’s not as... I dunno, divisive?

Anyway, for that same reason, I can’t answer firmly that, “Madoka Magica is sexist.” I will however say that it makes me uncomfortable with how the show makes out the girls being emotional because they’re young and female and then proceeds to make their life a living hell before they’re old enough to properly answer to it (I know that’s the point but that kind of makes it worse?). It doesn’t help with how all the girls have different personalities, so it’s not like you have only “crybaby girls” who are being taken advantage of; it’s basically like... all girls.

Not helped is the fact that their soul gem not only deteriorates naturally, but it can also do so faster if the girl falls into despair, which then turns them into a monster (and I know it’s kind of like an akuma thing, but the fact that it’s only girls is... I dunno, it comes off wrong?). It seems cheap that the soul gem deteriorates no matter what so it constantly needs fed even if the girl is consistently happy.

I would probably opt for the show being centered more around Kyubey being new to this or something - like, magical girls are a new thing - and then have Kyubey being surprised because they presumed that the soul gem would deteriorate naturally since “emotions are powerful but destructive to the person having them,” but then all the girls team up and help each other work out their problems. Maybe the reason magical girls are usually alone isn’t even because of the grief seed (I think that’s what it’s called?) thing not being able to be shared, but because Kyubey intentionally separates magical girls so they can’t do what the main group is doing, but Madoka is so into the idea that, “We shouldn’t have to be alone,” and so she’s constantly pulling all the girls together, which keeps them healthy.

Maybe Homura’s backstory could be that Madoka originally was more sheepish and more afraid to put herself out there, especially since she was a magical girl (who are encouraged to go it alone), which is why their soul gems were both deteriorating; they were friends but kept more of a distance, or maybe they were a team but that’s all they were. Then Madoka gives Homura the last grief seed to save her and that’s what inspires Homura and makes her see Madoka as something more than a teammate, which is why Homura actively tries to save Madoka specifically (which then encourages Madoka to want to keep everyone together as friends).

In the case that Kyubey doesn’t separate them out of concern of fRiEnDsHiP, but for another reason altogether, and then it’s ultimately their own downfall when they allow the girls to hang out and realize that it’s doing a lot of good for them.

“cute and innocent”

That was exactly it. It’s on Kyubey’s trivia section on the Puella Magi Madoka Magica Wiki.

Before the anime's first dark plot twist aired, head writer Gen Urobuchi said on his Twitter account that the "Kyu" in Kyubey's name comes from the English word "cute". This was a lie meant to further mislead fans into thinking that Madoka Magica is an innocent happy show. In a later episode, it was revealed that "Kyubey" is, in fact, short for "incubator".

In my personal opinion, a spoiled plot can’t be “ruined” if it’s a good plot. If you told me that Kagome was trapped in the Modern era for three years and then decided to stay with Inuyasha at the end of Inuyasha, it wouldn’t/shouldn’t decrease the value when I finally see it for myself because it’s good. That’s not to say that everything should just be spoiled right out of the gate, but it’s saying that maybe your plot isn’t good if you have to rely on shock value to make it work??

I FEEL THAT “ASSIGNING IT TO THE WHOLE GENDER” THING SO BAD. It just adds to my “the girls all have varying personalities so it’s not like Kyubey’s only after emotional crybabies or anything” salt.

I have no idea about any of the stuff about the writers so I can’t confirm or deny them. I will very much agree on the target audience thing though, especially with the whole “keeping the dark plot a secret” because really? Who is this for then? Like, the first two and a half episodes are for one demographic and then the others are--???

I dunno. Me personally, I just like feel good stories. I do like some good conflict and drama (for context, Remarried Empress is basically a webtoon that gives you things to feel salty about and then makes its own salt fic as its plot, allowing for endless streams of feels and catharsis, so I’m definitely not against drama), but there are other times where I just want to feel good watching something.

I feel like the show expects the characters to be selfless/perfect and then punishes them even though it’s their writing that’s causing them to act out. I can’t really talking about “out-of-character” but sometimes it’s just obvious where “we did this because we needed a plot/conflict.”

Like, hello? We don’t need the main characters screwing up; why can’t we just have some feel good thing where they take the day for themselves (seriously, imagine a Miraculous episode where Chat Noir actually tells Ladybug to take a couple days for herself, like maybe someone else gets the earrings for a few days as a temp while Marinette gets to breathe; IMAGINE IT). Not everything needs to be high-stakes to be interesting and you need those calmer moments so that the action-packed ones feel more intense.

SAYAKA DESERVES BETTER.

I feel like the magical girl genre as a whole can be way more complex than it’s made out to be. I think people hear the word “magical girl” and think “cute girls in short skirts talk about girl problems and fight evil with the power of friendship and accessories.”

Ugh, just the mention of Rebellion makes me sigh internally.

Congrats on working on your own magical girl story! I hope it goes well for you!

I know it’s not technically a magical girl show, but there was also Totally Spies that Astruc worked on to some degree (I think there was some characters who were based on/a loose reference to the mains from that show but I don’t remember exactly).

The thing about the female characters suffering is that they could make for good lessons on positively directing one’s emotions (like Usagi from Sailor Moon, for example, maybe having a problem with taking her anger out on her friends, but learns that she can save that rage for the bad guys; “Gamer 2.0″ from Miraculous could’ve done that, honestly, by having Ladybug absolutely WRECK all of her gaming opponents in “violent” (cartoon violence obviously) fashion). It’s just a shame that it’s not taken advantage of.

Sayaka??? Selfish???????

*does not compute*

(Also, I wasn’t tired of them, don’t worry! It was a little overwhelming in my inbox but it’s me who’s allowing all the asks to flow in so the blame isn’t on you lol.)

I’m not sure where this obsession came from with, “you have to be selfless and you’re not allowed to use your powers for yourself.” It’s like the world’s going to end if a character leaves to go Self-Care or something. I think what happened is that shows got this idea that promoting only the giving of others is great and it’s not important to take time for yourself (even with “Gamer 2.0,” it was still Marinette playing games with everyone else, and they treated her dedication and seriousness like a bad thing when she literally did not have time to waste and they didn’t give a reason why it was good for her to take a break, only that she should).

This usually leads to the “demonization” of characters who sport a lot of self-confidence or any sort of ego. It works on both sides; Marinette is a punching bag because of her anxiety and occasional lack of confidence, but if she had an ego as Ladybug, there are parts of the fandom who deem her “obnoxious” (i.e: “Reflekdoll”). There’s a delicate balance between “be confident” and “be humble” and it’s a tightrope act.

#((Yes! This strategy works for not losing asks.))#((In other news--))#((I gotta test out this new microphone so I wanna do a ''Voiced Askplosion'' where I record my answers instead of writing them))#((Anyone who sends me a 🎤 alongside their asks will get a voiced response next time!))#((I probably can't answer everything but you know how it is~))#(((i swear that someone is going to do it just to see if they can get me to swear when I read out their asks)))#((or... like--))#((''ok i don't actually have a question''))#((''but plz say the words 'adrien and marinette are meant to be' because i want to hear how much u struggle to say it''))#category: salt #other: non ml talk #category: ramble #character: Marinette Dupain Cheng #category: fandom #episode: Evillustrator #character: Chat Noir #character: Ladybug #character: Adrien Agreste #character: Stormy Weather #category: me myself and i #category: staff #relationship: Adrien Agreste & Marinette Dupain Cheng #character: Aeon #character: Uncanny Valley #relationship: love square #MC's Renders #render: persona

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sablelab · 4 years

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Covert Operations - Chapter 137

SUMMARY: When new intel comes to light about the mole Frank Wolverton-Randall, Fergus is buoyed by what he discovers. He goes to Madeline’s Office where Section’s leaders are waiting for him, with a progress report and tells Operations and Madeline of his findings and they are gobsmacked to know the identity of the mole in Section. They reflect on their dealings with Frank in order to make sense of his hatred for them as well.

WOO! HOO! I missed my 2 year Anniversary of posting this story at the end of July (Chapter 135(S) ) so I just wanted to give a shout out to all who have at one time or another … ever read one, or more, or all of my chapters over this time, left kudos, a like, a comment, reblogged the chapters or contacted me via a DM. THANK YOU ALL … SO MUCH. Much love to each and every one my readers YAY!

Chapter 136 (S-NSFW) and all other chapters can be found at … https://sablelab.tumblr.com/covertoperations Sorry to say I am not on Ao3, but perhaps when I finish this story I will try and navigate how it works and how to post there.

CHAPTER 137

During the week Fergus Claudel was busy, as usual, at his computer collating any last-minute details in his report for Operations and Madeline about the mole. He wanted to make sure that he had all his t’s crossed and his i’s dotted before he presented the intel to his leaders. He’d been exhausted when he’d eventually left Comm. last night, but he’d certainly slept well knowing that what he had to show his superiors today would be most pleasing to them. Hopefully the Intel would also help reverse his pal’s fiancée’s evaluation status. He was totally convinced that his data would be just what Operations and Madeline were looking for. Absorbed in his task he was unaware that Murtagh Fitzgibbons had walked up behind him. The first indication that he realised that he was not alone was the sound of something being dropped onto his desk and a familiar voice saying, “Open it.” After the initial shock of being crept up on registered in his brain, Fergus looked down at his desk and saw a hard, plastic case containing a computer disk. He picked it up and immediately his eyes lit up when he realized what he held in his hands. The computer geek couldn’t contain his excitement.

“No! … No way!” he exclaimed in shock and excitement. “Yes,” Murtagh replied very pleased that at his buddy’s reaction. Fergus was chuffed at the gift as if his best mate had given him the most precious of items on the top of his wish list. “Oh ... this is awesome!” The older operative was delighted at his friend’s reaction to his surprise gift. “First off the line ... and you can retrain the display ... as much as you want without losing data.” “Oh, wow! Thanks,” Fergus replied unable to stop looking at the gift his buddy had given him. “No ... no, thank you,” Murtagh answered back thinking that it was the least he could do to repay his friend for all the help he had given him. “For what?” Fergus asked realising that no favour he might have done warranted such an awesome gift of thanks. “For Bóinne. Things went great on our date. I also saw this little black cat jewellery box and I knew she’d love it. I couldn't have done it without you amigo.” Suddenly, Murtagh stopped talking and looked behind him when he heard light footsteps and saw the woman, they were discussing approaching.

“Speak of the devil's mistress.” The Med Lab nurse watched the two friends deep in conversation and saw the look on her fiancé’s face which told her that he’d asked Fergus to do something for him. Bóinne could tell by his expressions as Murtagh was an open book for her. She gave him a warm smile and finally came closer.

“There you are honey.” His eyes crinkled in delight at seeing her. “Hi.” Severing their gaze, Bóinne then looked down and smiled at his friend. “Hello Fergus.” He was a little surprised at her attempt to be so nice to him. “What's up?” “Nothing ..., I just stopped by to say hi … and to tell you what a great time we had the other night.” “That’s fantastic.” “Oh, and by the way, I also found this in Med Lab,” Bóinne said handing him a small contraption in a plastic bag. “I was wearing surgical gloves when I discovered it, so I haven’t contaminated it Fergus. Murtagh thought it might be important for you to check out.” Fergus’ brows knitted somewhat when he saw the tiny device she held out in the palm of her hand. He looked at the device then back up at her, “Where did you find this?” “I was preparing one of the beds for a new patient and found it under the gurney in ICU.” “Where Jamie was?” Fergus asked nonchalantly, not wanting to raise any undue concerns. “Yes, it was actually. Why?” “Oh nothing … I’ll check it out and see if it’s anything significant. Did you find any others?” “No … that was the only one.” “Thanks I’ll look into it.” Fergus declared.

He was not at all surprised that he had failed to locate the device when he’d done a sweep. It was small and would have been hard to detect. Obviously Bóinne had smaller hands and perhaps it had dislodged when the bed had been remade or was hidden under the mattress, he thought. Anyway it could be another piece of the puzzle about the mole and if Frank Wolverton-Randall had placed it there then this would be significant if he could find something on the device that would incriminate him. As they were talking, Murtagh happened to look up past Bóinne and saw Operations approaching their way, so he brought the conversation to a swift end whispering to Fergus, “Okay. I’ll see you later. We have a whole day of downtime.” “All right. I really have to finalise my report for Operations and Madeline. See ya.” The two operatives quickly slipped away not wanting to confront their superior especially when they had better things to do on their day off. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Fergus was busily watching the departing couple and didn’t realize that Dougal Mackenzie had walked up to his station and had joined him at his desk. He was a little startled that Section’s leader had approached his station at this time, especially when he was to report to Madeline’s office shortly. He was also a little miffed too that he’d been caught unprepared for his briefing because Murtagh and Bóinne had taken up his time and he hadn’t realised that he was indeed late for the meeting. “Fergus … Madeline is expecting you. What is the hold up?” “Nothing sir. I was just collating any final points for the briefing. I didn’t want to miss anything,” he nervously replied. “And I was just handed something that I must check out as well. It might be an important piece of the puzzle about the mole.” “I see … very well. I’ll inform Madeline that you’ll be another thirty minutes.” “Thank you sir.” “Bring all your data to her office as soon as you can then. We’ll be interested to hear your report.” However, the other reason Operations was there was that he needed Fergus to pull up a different assignment that was imminent, “But first I want you to upgrade another Mission ... the one we're running in Somalia.” “I'll pull the file.” Swinging his chair around, Fergus accessed the information from another computer. Operations then started to give him a quick sketch of what he wanted done. “The Profile calls for an Abeyance Medical Team of five to infiltrate a terrorist compound where insurgents are wounded to gauge the Intel we require on the health of their leader. The Primary Team will carry out the Mission to destroy their headquarters and all medical facilities if he is found to not be there. Send the Abeyance Ops to Murtagh to get their inventory when he returns from his downtime.” “What's the survival likelihood of the Abeyance Team?” Operations gave their IT specialist a “that's a silly question” look, before answering. “Zero.” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Once Section’s leader had left his station, Fergus Claudel was left with a problem. Bóinne Rivière’s standing would automatically place her in the Somalia mission. He pulled up her profile and stared at the abeyance standing flashing on the screen. He couldn’t send Murtagh’s fiancée to her death on this mission. Not now … not when his friend was so happy. He had to do something. Making a decision that he hoped would give him enough time to find a way to repeal her termination ranking, Fergus speedily changed her status to the highest level of eight then quickly exited her Profile. He then took the small device she had given him and ran it through his system. To his delighted surprise it came up trumps. “BINGO!” he exclaimed. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Gathering up his evidence, Fergus Claudel made his way to Madeline’s office where he knew that Section’s leaders would be waiting for him with his Intel and a progress report. With a strong belief that the information he’d found and especially from the device so unreservedly given to him without fear of any consequences, he just might also have enough information to change Operations and Madeline’s minds about sending Bóinne Rivière on the Somalia mission. Fergus hoped that what he’d found would please them about the mole in Section and give him some leverage to place a case for the Med Lab nurse’s reclassification and change their minds about her abeyance mission. He had a slim chance but he had to try for Murtagh’s sake. Last night he’d combed the whole system trying to find a connection to any of the operatives in Med Lab and any associated with Jamie and Claire over the past few weeks of the Rising Dragons’ mission. The fact that he’d been able to find anything or anyone who had passed the Intel to Colum and how, was a miracle. Frank Wolverton-Randall had certainly hidden his tampering extremely well and had gone to great pains to cover his tracks, but Fergus had managed to find the link and what Bóinne had given him would certainly be the final nail in his coffin. Putting all the pieces of the puzzle together had not been easy but it was a good thing that he had, because Operations and Madeline were both vulnerable if Intel keep leaking to Oversight. It seemed strange to Fergus that Colum would be keeping tabs on procedures in Section One when he had been debriefed on several occasions, however with a little further digging he’d come to establish a reason why he’d enlisted Frank’s expertise in doing so and it appeared to be personal. Oversight was the board and the only entity Operations had to answer to. It was all tied up in the Rising Dragons’ mission and Oversight’s perception as to how expediently Section was dealing with the triad. It was well known that Colum and Operations were rivals and there was little love lost between the two adversaries. Perhaps Colum was displeased that things were not moving as fast as he had hoped, but then again in his search Fergus had also stumbled across a communiqué from Colum to Mr Lambert which was very revealing as to his motives. Fergus knew that Operations and Madeline would be pleased with what he’d found. He had managed to solve the conundrum of the mole in Section … the ghost mole actually … as the person responsible was not physically present but had still managed to pass on Intel surreptitiously despite being transferred to another substation. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ An apprehensive Fergus Claudel stood on the threshold of Madeline's office with the information firmly in his grasp. She was talking to Operations who was there as well, but when they saw him, they motioned for him to enter. “So Mr Claudel I trust that you bring us good news.” “I’ve made some progress sir.” “Excellent.” “We’re listening,” Section’s leader stated pricking up his ears in the hope that the mystery would finally be solved. “Please inform us to your findings. What did you discover?” Madeline instructed leaning on her desk. Although he was a little nervous, Fergus began his briefing to his superiors on his results and gave them a status report on his findings. “I ran an inventory of all the possible people who may have been involved as a possible mole in passing Intel to Colum at Oversight and I checked out all the people on your list as well.” “And?” “Zero … Dr Foster and Bóinne Rivière came up clean and although both had tremendous access to Med Lab, there is nothing to indicate that they were involved.” “Hayes and Lesley?” “Likewise.” “So you’re telling us that all of them came up clean?” “Yes sir… I was also unable to find any surveillance cameras or listening devices in Med Lab.” “I thought you said you had something for us Claudel … this is not what I hoped you would find.” Before they could protest some more, Fergus continued, “But … I have now come into the possession a small mechanism that was discovered in Med Lab by nurse Bóinne Rivière. I have just run it through the system. It confirmed my suspicions and gives us concrete evidence of the perpetrator. Without her finding the device I only had my gut feeling and supposition to go on. She was invaluable and is, I believe, totally innocent and loyal to the Section or else she would have disposed of the device instead of handing it over to me,” he added glowingly for extra clarification. Operations heard his statement about Bóinne Rivière but chose not to respond to it, instead he stated, “Go on.” “It was a sophisticated, minute listening device that was attached to James Fraser’s bed in ICU. I ran a fingerprint on it and I found something very interesting.” “Get to the point Fergus.” “I said I’d found no one suspicious but … there is one exception. The fingerprint showed up a match. I narrowed it down to one prime suspect.” That information whetted their appetite. Operations was all ears. “Who?” “A person in another substation but no longer in Section.” “Cut to the chase Fergus … who is it?” Section’s leader insisted as if he had little time for the mundane facts he’d given them already. He wanted something concrete … and he wanted it now! “Frank Wolverton-Randall,” Fergus blurted out. “Who?” Operations exclaimed incredulously but it made sense given their history and how he’d transferred him away from Systems and Fergus. “Frank Wolverton-Randall,” he repeated.

“I heard you the first time,” his superior barked turning to face Madeline with anger in his eyes.

This was certainly a surprise. Madeline took a seat behind her desk thinking that Wolverton-Randall had had little contact with medical or the Rising Dragons mission that they knew of since he’d been transferred to another sector just after Jamie and Claire arrived back from the retrieval Mission. Operations looked at his second in command. “Didn’t Colum specifically ask for Frank to be transferred?” “He did … and we were only too glad to see the back of him. Do you remember?” Madeline added. “Yes … I do.” Operations stated with disdain. He was livid at the underhand tactics Colum had used. He realised that his brother must have planned this all along and was just waiting for his chance to discredit them by using Frank as his mole especially given his knowledge of Section. Fergus waited and listened to the exchange between the two leaders before continuing with his findings. “I raked the system, all of it and I cross-correlated every piece of data on Wolverton-Randall I could find. Once I was able to solve the deeply hidden channel code that I discovered, it all made sense that he was the person responsible.” “How is that possible when he is no longer in Section but at our substation?” “I believe he did have time to set this scam up before he was transferred. He was my main focus because he is the only person who could manage to infiltrate sensitive files about operatives and then pass this Intel on to Colum.” “But why him? Why Frank Wolverton-Randall? Did he approach Colum or he was approached?” Ever pragmatic Madeline gave Operations the answer. “Several reasons Dougal. Think about it … Frank has a number of personal motives for being Colum’s mole and he had the expertise to pull off such a coup. He has the computer knowledge on the same scale as Fergus and he has ulterior reasons to find your brother’s proposition advantageous to seek retribution against us.”

“Hmmm,” he mumbled.

“Not only that, but Colum knew that Frank had animosity towards you and I. He made a bargain with the devil for sure with both parties benefiting from this collaboration. It would be a win-win for your brother too if he could discredit us but you in particular Dougal. He has always had an axe to grind over Letitia’s unexplained disappearance and I would suggest that he blames you for that. After all you did take over Section One when no trace of her was found.”

Dougal Mackenzie took stock of what his second in command had stated and what Madeline said made sense. They now had to come up with a plan to put a stop to it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Frank Wolverton-Randall was the mole! Fergus’ information raised a number of plausible scenarios in Madeline and Operations’ mind as to why the operative had done what he’d done, and they both in their own way, reflected on what would also provide motives for his deception.

Operations recalled the circumstances under which they’d dealt with Frank when he’d been recruited at such an early age. It was a catch twenty-two situation. Wolverton-Randall was young but he was smart and Section One needed him, however, it was his stupidity and the invincibility of youth that had been his downfall. It was obvious that Frank would have a personal vendetta against him for being brought into Section One. The young man’s rebelliousness and seditious attitude because he was incarcerated away from his mother and father would be legitimate grounds for him to have a special grudge against them as well.

Section’s leader remembered their conversation as if it had happened only yesterday.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Hey, go to Hell! Where am I exactly? Stupid City? I want to talk to the man in charge!” "I am the man in charge." With the irreverence of youth Frank’s reply to him had been derisive and sarcastic. "You couldn't be in charge of my crotch." It had taken less than a minute for the young upstart to get the better him, a man who had kept his cool under the most trying conditions. He realised then and there that he would be a thorn in their side but they needed him and that was that. He didn’t have to like the lad. He saw nothing funny about their teenaged guest. Frank Wolverton-Randall was dismissive, cocky and was not afraid when he was brought to his office. His disregard for authority was apparent and he saw everything as a challenge regardless of the consequences. His body language showed that he didn’t fear or feel threatened by the leader of Section One which totally ticked him off. The thought that he could make almost every captured target and operative in Section shake in fear, but couldn’t faze a teenager was galling. He’d taken great delight in telling the youth that he would not be leaving Section. But in his inimitable way the lad was unimpressed. “Unfortunately ..., this place cannot tolerate mistakes. You've seen that.” “Spare me the lecture, Old Folks. Are you going to let me go or not?” “No, we're not.” He’d smiled realising that he had the upper hand over the teenager that was until Frank snookered him in his arrogant manner knowing that he would release him or else he would not fix the problem he had created in Comm. “Hmmm. You may want to reconsider that.” “And why would I want to do that?” “Ask Fergus.” It was obvious that the recalcitrant youth had set up some sort of a virus in their system. He’d stared at Frank for a moment, then walked over to his window where he had a clear view of Comm. and Fergus in the middle of a multiple anomaly because the decoded sequence was generating a virus that was bleeding into the system. Wolverton-Randall’s cocky and boastful reply was the last straw. “I might be able to fix that for you.” He immediately realised that Frank, who was wearing a very smug expression on his face, knew about the possibility of a virus before he’d left on his little sight-seeing tour of Section and knew that it was his get out of jail card if he needed it. But of course that hadn’t eventuated and the tables had indeed been turned on the lad with Section’s subterfuge when Frank thought he was home and hosed and going back to his parents. Operations understood that Section’s double jeopardy alone by reneging on their agreement was enough reason for him to side with Colum in his vendetta against him in particular and Section One.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Madeline also internalised what Fergus had told them about Frank Wolverton-Randall.

She remembered vividly when he came into Section and was cognizant of his tender age but his mental prowess was undeniable. There was no denying that the lad was a genius in his field, so what Fergus had told them was entirely feasible. But Operations was far from happy with the Intel about his compatibility to life in Section and it was not what he had wanted to hear when they had discussed the youth.

“What about Wolverton-Randall Madeline?” “I'm working on an integration program.” “What’s his survival likelihood?” “Over 92 percent, actually ... He's a surprisingly good match.” Section’s head strategist remembered sitting at her desk observing the lad on her monitor. Operations was standing behind her, also staring at the scene. He’d leaned down to get a closer look at Wolverton-Randall and had watched as Claire left Frank to amuse himself. She noticed his 'realignment' of the computer hardware and wiring and had brought up Fergus Claudel's Profile on the monitor to prove that he was capable of accessing their files to ally his boredom while he was waiting to be told why he was there. Her observation of his behaviour was very telling. “Fergus? Fergus Claudel. Age - twenty-one; one hundred thirty-five pounds; 20-80 vision; SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION for every host on this Local Area Network. Should I continue?” Madeline had acknowledged his skill but only because they had let him. “We've let you roam through an outer, non-secured area of the network to give you something to do." “Gee, thanks. You think I can't dig deeper?” His scornful reply was soon silenced by her ice-cold demeanour. She’d turned from distant and kind to threatening. Moving closer to Frank he’d immediately felt her intrusion into his personal space which was exactly what she had wanted him to feel. But more importantly, Wolverton-Randall soon realised that her threatening tone left no illusions in his mind … she meant what she had said. Frank, being the bright genius that he was, picked up that this woman was dangerous and he needed to tread lightly. “If you did ... and by some fluke ... happened on to something, classified ... You'd never go home again. ... Never see your family again. ... Your life would be over.” For a brief moment their eyes held a type of holding war. Then her warning delivered, she’d returned to her 'distant and kind' impersonation and Frank was slightly intimidated. “We've gone to a great deal of trouble to protect you, don't work against us Frank. We need you to break a code.” “What if I don't do it?” Her threat … “You'll do it,” and her cold stare had left him in no doubt that she meant exactly what she said and there would be no deviation whatsoever. Frank was facing a personality that he had never had to face before. She was someone intelligent enough to realize his potential, but cold enough not to be more lenient due to his age. She was a formidable woman and Frank knew when to listen and do what he was told. A slight smile bowed her lips recalling this incident, but her thoughts soon turned to others involved in Frank Wolverton-Randall’s incarceration. Perhaps he also had a grudge against Claire Beauchamp and James Fraser as well given that they were the ones that captured him and brought him into Section. That could explain his helping Colum with Intel about them from the mission as well. If he was able to destabilise the operatives crucial to the Rising Dragons’ mission then he would have accomplished his job … to sabotage the mission for the head of Oversight … or for his own retribution against Section One. Perhaps it was the fact that she’d gone back on her word. Frank may have perceived this as a lie which had left him in Section One against his will with no chance of returning to the life he once had, or more importantly to his mother and father. “I’m sorry we had to do this, Frank. We need your assistance for a short time ..., then you'll be safely returned.” All Colum’s platitudes about them doing so well were obviously just a ploy in the early phase of the Rising Dragons’ mission so that when the end game was near, Colum then would put in motion his plan … whatever that was and for whatever his reasons were. More than likely his motives were because of his lost love Letitia and Dougal’s succession under suspicious circumstance as she’d already alluded to with him. Colum had never come to grips with the disappearance of his love … Section One’s founder … and if he knew that Dougal was in any way involved then he would seek vengeance on his brother. That could very well explain his skulduggery in involving Frank as a mole hoping to find a link between her vanishing and Operations more so than the triad per se.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Section’s leaders each had cause to reminisce on Frank Wolverton-Randall but were also interested in Fergus’ take on the young man and his reasons for thinking that he was Colum’s mole. “Go on.” “I've worked with him. But I never trusted him.” “Surely this is just sour grapes on your behalf?” Operations interjected but not entirely convinced by the young techie’s answer. He realised that Frank had kept Fergus on his toes and had come into Section because their IT mastermind couldn’t solve the problem.

Was he just saying this because he was better than him and this was what riled him? Did he still have self-esteem problems over the computer genius’ methods?

Fergus realised what Operations was alluding to and he vehemently denied this assumption. “Of course not! He's the only one who could have gotten through for Colum like he did. I found something that I’m sure is how the Intel was passed on to him.”

“Continue.” “I re-routed a deep channel and found an interesting anomaly. It would appear that Frank Wolverton-Randall has the expertise to monitor our systems even from afar. After Bóinne Rivière gave me the mechanism, she’d found that I’d missed in my search, I re-scanned the Med Lab computers and I found a suspicious tag on Dr. Foster’s workstation computer that held Claire and Jamie’s medical history while they were in Med Lab … It was a programme piggy backing off his case files.” “So he could access their progress without us even knowing. Is that what you are saying Fergus?” “Yes. That's right.” “Let me get this clear … what you’re telling us is that Frank Wolverton-Randall would be able to access these medical files when they were open and then pass that Intel on to Colum without anyone knowing.” “Precisely. I've unlocked a half dozen security two files as well. Each contains a treasonous breach which would result in immediate cancellation. They're all linked to Frank by an iris match. He set up an elaborate system that was not easily detected and he went to a lot of trouble to cover his tracks.” Operations leaned on Madeline’s desk with a thought provoking look on his face. Madeline too had a similar disposition. “Explain.” “That's the scary part. He’s been beta testing the software … working out the kinks. Frank used an unusual code, but I remembered the similarities to when he first came into Section One for that very purpose to solve the complex code. He was the only one who had any idea how to approach that thing. This one had elements of that code that Frank had initially solved. It has his footprint all over it. Methods used to decipher it had been implemented in reverse so no one would suspect or be able to find the decryption to decode it. It was difficult but I did it … and voila … it linked to Wolverton-Randall totally.” “I see.” “There is one other damming thing that you may be interested in.” Fergus had already given them enough Intel to ponder and they were surprised that there could possibly be more explosive information. “What is it?” He took a deep breath before uttering, “Colum has been keeping tabs on the Rising Dragons’ missions and in particular Jamie and Claire’s success. He also has been collating data on the disappearance of the founder of Section One, Letitia Chisholm. ” The look on Operations face was incredulous. He couldn’t believe what Fergus had just said. “He’s doing what?!?” “How is that possible?” Madeline added perplexed. “A lot is possible if Frank Wolverton-Randall is involved it would seem,” was Operations terse reply.

“Thank you, Fergus, … I think I have a lot to discuss with Operations. You have been most thorough.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ to be continued on Tuesday 11th August.

#jamieandclairecrossover #Jamieandclairefanfic #the lallybroch library #outlander fanfic #covert operations #sablelab #LFNoutlander #jamieandclaireau

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coolgreatwebsite · 3 years

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Cool Games I Finished In 2020 (In No Real Order)

Oh, hey! Right! I have a website! I’m like a week late on writing this, but what’s a week on top of an entire year of not writing, right? 2020 was... well, we all know what 2020 was. For me personally, it was simultaneously the best and worst year of my life. The worst in both ways you can probably assume and ways you definitely can’t (neither of which I’ll be getting into), and the best in ways I absolutely never would have guessed. That uncertain job I mentioned last year got very suddenly much more certain, at a much bigger company, for a much larger amount of money. That allowed me to get my own place, making my weird living situation much less weird. Still haven’t gotten the majority of my belongings off of the east coast, but if the entire world wasn’t currently fucked up by a global pandemic I’d have sorted all that out too. What I’m saying is that, for the third year in a row, my life has been a complete whirlwind that has left me very little time to get comfortable with any aspect of it. But I did manage to play more video games than I did last year! Which is perfect, because it’s once again time for another one of these. Here’s a bunch of cool games I experienced for the first time in 2020.

Astro’s Playroom (PlayStation 5, 2020)

My one word description of Astro's Playroom is "delightful". It's just an absolute goddamn delight. A total surprise too! Included with every PlayStation 5, Astro's Playroom is, in my opinion, one of the best pack-in games of all time.

First off, it's an incredible tech demo for the PS5's new DualSense controller. It was easy to brush off Sony's talk about the controller's haptic feedback and triggers as some Nintendo-style HD Rumble bullshit, but it really is incredibly cool once you get your hands on it. The game is obviously more than a tech demo though, or else it wouldn't be on here. It also just so happens to be an extremely solid and fun platformer on top of that. Astro controls exceptionally well and the levels are all well-designed and fun, even the gimmick vehicle ones designed to show off different features of the controller. It also has an oddly compelling speedrun mode, made all the more compelling by the PS5 notifying you when your friends beat your times and the ability to load into it within two seconds from anywhere on the console. But the biggest thing for me and, call me a mark, because I am, is that the game is an honestly incredible love letter to PlayStation history.

For the first time ever, Sony has pulled off a nostalgia piece without it ending up as embarrassing garbage in the vein of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. There's a Nintendo-like joyful reverence for all things PlayStation oozing out of every single corner of this game. There are so many nods and references and gags for literally every PlayStation thing of note throughout the the last 25 years, and then on top of that there's a whole heap more for the things that AREN'T of note that only hyperdorks like me would get! A sly reference to the ill-fated boomerang controller? Yep. A goof on the fat PS3's Spider-Man font? You betcha. A trophy you can earn by repeatedly punching a Sony Interactive Entertainment sign until it breaks and reveals the Sony Computer Entertainment sign it was slapped on top of? Yeah buddy. It's deep cuts all the way down, even up until the final boss which had me grinning like a total dipshit the entire time. The game is endlessly, effortlessly charming.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo Switch, 2020)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the perfect game at the perfect time. That doesn't mean it's a perfect game, I actually have some issues with it, but it could not have released at a better time than when it did. It came out at the very very beginning of everyone going into lockdown due to the pandemic, and it was the biggest game in the world for a couple of months as a result. I played like 300 hours and that pales in comparison to the amount of time many others put into it.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the most different Animal Crossing game there's ever been, and I'm of two minds on it. Like, I loved the game, I played a ton of it, but it's lacking so much of the stuff that made me love Animal Crossing in the first place. The series has been slowly trending in this direction for a bit now, but it's not really a game that happens around you anymore. It's all about total player control. You select where everything goes, you customize every detail of everything to your liking, hell, you can even terraform the landmass to be exactly what you want. Your neighbors take a backseat in focus and end up as little more than decorations with limited dialogue and next to no quests associated with them. Series staples like Gyroids are missing in action. Facilities and services that have been around since Wild World aren't implemented. It's similar to past Animal Crossing games in a lot of ways, but on the whole it feels like a different thing.

But like I said, two minds. New Horizons strays from what I truly want from an Animal Crossing game, but I can't deny that the game as it is is a hell of a lot of fun. There's SO much you can do and SO many options, it's super addictive. Plus it implemented my long-requested feature of letting you effortlessly send mail to friends online! Too bad the actual online play is as cumbersome as ever.

In conclusion, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a land of contrasts. I'm kidding. It's good, but definitely missing something in a way where I can understand some people being disappointed in it. I had a ton of fun though, and I'm probably going to get back into it later in 2021.

Trials of Mana (Nintendo Switch, 2019)

Late in 2019, with the physical release of Collection of Mana for the Switch, I decided I was going to play through each game on it for the first time and finally find out what this whole Mana thing was about. I went into Final Fantasy Adventure (the first game in the Mana series, because every RPG had to be Final Fantasy back then) with zero expectations and found a totally serviceable little Zelda-like with light RPG elements. I enjoyed my time with it. I went into Secret of Mana with the expectation of it being a beloved classic and found the worst game I beat that year, hands down. That game fucking sucks. I get why it made an impression on people at the time, but it's just so so SO awful to play. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed. Honestly, I would have been disappointed even if I hadn't heard it was one of "the best games" for so long. It would have been a disappointing follow-up to Final Fantasy Adventure, a game that in and of itself isn't anything incredible. Secret of Mana is just that rotten.

I braced myself for more disappointment when (after a much needed vacation from the series) I started up Trials of Mana. This game had a reputation too, as a long-lost classic that never made it stateside. One of the best games on the Super Nintendo, criminally never released for western audiences! Like Secret of Mana before it, I'd heard nothing but effusive praise. Unlike Secret of Mana, however, I was very pleased to find out that Trials of Mana mostly lives up to the hype. From a gameplay standpoint, Trials is an improvement on Secret in almost every single way. It's not perfect. The menus are still kinda clunky, animations for things like magic and items are still frequently disruptive. But the main thing is it actually plays like a sensible video game designed by humans with brains. Attacking is responsive! Hitboxes aren't complete nonsense! You don't constantly get stunlocked to death! There are more answers to combat than casting the same spell for five straight minutes to kill your enemies before they get a chance to move! It's great!

On top of being an enjoyable video game to actually play, the presentation is top notch. Secret of Mana could be a pretty game with decent music in some spots, but Trials is consistently gorgeous and the soundtrack is across the board great instead of randomly having songs that sound like clown vomit. And while Trials of Mana doesn't have the deepest story in the world, it manages to avoid being completely paper-thin like Secret. The story actually kind of has a reason for being a bit straightforward, and the reason is that it has a really cool system where you pick your three playable characters from a pool of six. Each character has their own goals and storyline, some of which line up with other potential party members, some of which don't, and you'll even run into the characters you didn't choose as NPCs along the way. This and the relatively brisk pace of the game make it highly replayable.

I'm really glad that Trials of Mana made it over here in an official capacity, even if it was like 25 years late. It's as good as I expected Secret of Mana to be and singlehandedly saved my interest in seeing any more of the series. I'm aware the quality of what came after is very spotty, but I'll get to the rest eventually!

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PlayStation 4, 2020)

They (almost) did it. They (basically) pulled it off. They remade (a chunk of) Final Fantasy VII and (for the most part) didn't fuck it up. Ok, funny parentheticals aside, Final Fantasy VII Remake is astoundingly good coming off of over two decades of just absolutely dreadful post-FF7 sequels, side games, and movies.

Final Fantasy VII has been historically misremembered as this kind of miserable, angsty, brooding thing, both by fans and by the company that made it. FF7-branded media after FF7 itself is a minefield of changed personalities, embarrassing original characters, and monumentally lame stories. Final Fantasy VII Remake is the first post-FF7 anything that actually remembers the characters, setting, and plot of Final Fantasy VII and what made them memorable and special to people in the first place. Which isn't to say it's a slavish recreation! There's a ton of changes and additions, and I actually like almost all of them! Except for some really big stuff I'll touch on in a bit!

The combat in Final Fantasy VII Remake is great. I was super skeptical about it when the game was first announced, but they actually managed to make the blend of real-time action and turn-based RPG menuing fun and engaging. The characters all play super differently from each other too, which is a huge and welcome difference from the original game. The Materia system fits like a glove in this revamped combat system as well. The remixed music is good as hell, and the visuals are beautiful (outside of a couple of very specific spots that I'm kinda of surprised they haven't fixed in a patch yet). It's a well-executed package all around.

But alas, as always, there are negatives. For starters, this is only part one of the overall Final Fantasy VII Remake project. It goes up to the party leaving Midgar which, as you may or may not recall, is the first six hours of the original game. They compensated for this by fleshing the hell out of the Midgar section the game, ballooning the overall playtime to total of about 30-ish hours. The game feeling padded is a common complaint but for what it's worth, I didn't really feel it until the unnecessarily long final dungeon, There's also the previously mentioned and funny parenthetical'd changes and additions I don't like.

This is big time spoilers for this game so if you don't want that jump ahead to the next game on the list. The Whispers suck ass. Final Fantasy VII Remake should have been brave enough to be different without having to constantly derail everything in the most ham-fisted and intrusive way possible. You can have Jessie twist her ankle without making a spooky plot ghost trip her. I don't want to fight the physical manifestation of the game everyone thought they were getting as an end boss. If you're not doing a straight remake, that's fine, but have the fucking guts to stand by your artistic decisions without feeling the need to invent the lamest deus ex machina I've ever fucking seen. The last couple of hours of this game are 100% about the Whispers and are awful for it. It's a true testament to the strength of the rest of Final Fantasy VII Remake that this aspect didn't completely sour me on it. I can only hope that they stay dead and gone for good in the games yet to come and the remake can be different while standing on its own two feet.

I truly cannot wait for the next entry in the Final Fantasy VII Remake project. I'm excited for Final Fantasy VII in a way I haven't been since the late 90s. I have a bit of trepidation that they could royally screw it up. I mean, they already got kinda close, as I said in my last paragraph. But they got so much right in this entry that, for the first time in decades, I'm willing to believe in Square Enix when it comes to Final Fantasy VII.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PlayStation 4, 2020)

My one word description of 13 Sentinels is "fucking crazy". I realize that's two words, but shut up. A bizarre hybrid of visual novel, adventure game, and strategy RPG, 13 Sentinels not only makes that work, but makes it work incredibly well.

The story is fucking bonkers. It's told entirely non-linearly and is purposefully dense and confusing, but it does an amazing job of hooking you with a cast of likable characters and some impressively well-paced twists, made all the more impressive by the fact that you can tackle the story in basically whatever order you want. I'll say it again for those in the back, the story is Fucking Bonkers. Wherever you think it's going, it's not going. Where it is going is PLACES. Seriously, if you want a wild goddamn ride, this is the game for you. The presentation is also stunning. It's a drop dead gorgeous game with a really nice soundtrack. Easily Vanillaware's best looking game, which is saying something seeing as looking good is Vanillaware's whole deal.

If I had to levy one criticism against the game, it's that the strategy RPG portion is just kind of ok. It's enjoyable enough, it doesn't get in the way and there's not too much of it, but once it starts introducing armored versions of previous enemy types it's kind of done doing anything different. It is really good at getting people to out themselves as having no idea what tower defense is as a genre though!

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (Nintendo Switch, 2018)

I haven't really historically been a "Musou Guy". Not to say I've actively disliked them, they're just not something I've seeked out very often or played very much of. Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition kinda turned me into a "Musou Guy" a little bit? It's good, surprisingly-less-mindless-than-you'd-think fun.

I actually super don't care about the Zelda branding. I think all the fanservice stuff is meh at best. What I do care about is that there's a ton of character variety and a metric shitload of content. There's so many different characters and weapons for those characters that all play differently from one another and SOOOOOO many levels to play. Like the story mode is, again, kinda meh, the real meat of the game is the Adventure mode and there's a ton of it. It's 8 different world maps, each based off a different Zelda game, with each square of the map containing a little mini-scenario with unique objectives and rewards. There has to be at least 1000 scenarios between all the maps. There's so much. And that's not even getting into some of the other side stuff like the challenge modes and the fairy raising. It's a crazy amount of game in this game.

And again, it's not as mindless as it'd seem. It's not really a game ABOUT destroying 5000 guys, it's an area control and resource management game where the 5000 guys are one of those resources. Knowing who to send where and when to fight who is way more important than pressing the XXX YYY XXX YYY on the more than one million troops.

I'd say that if you're even cursorily potentially maybe interested in a musou game, this is the one to try. And if you like it, it could literally be your forever game. A sequel came out recently too, and I'm looking forward to trying that out soon.

Phantasy Star Online 2 (Xbox One, 2020)

Phantasy Star Online 2 finally came stateside in the year 2020, eight years after its initial Japanese release and initial American cancellation. It's no Phantasy Star Online 1, but it is a really fun game in its own right provided you can find the willpower to break through its clunkiness and eight years of confusing poorly tutorialized free-to-play MMO cruft.

The main thing going for PSO2, and this is a major improvement from PSO1, is that the act of engaging in its combat is fun. The combat is just feels really really good. There's a bunch of different weapon types and classes, and once you find the ones that really click with you you're in for a good time, whether you're izuna dropping dudes with wire claws or literally doing air juggles and rainstorm from Devil May Cry with the dual machine guns.

The other stuff around that combat is weird. I generally like it, but it's weird. The story mode is one of the most bizarrely presented things I've ever seen. It apparently used to be something you'd seek out in the levels themselves, but presently it's just a list of scenes you pick from a menu and watch with next to no context until it makes you fight a boss sometimes. There's some weird moments in there that MIGHT have been cool if it were presented in literally any other way?

The systems and presentation are also way more... I dunno, pinball? Pachislot? In very stark contrast to how chill original Phantasy Star Online was, everything in PSO2 is designed in a way to maximize that flashy light bing bing wahoo you got ~*~RARE DROP CHANCE UP~*~ feeling. Which isn't to say I don't like flashy light bing bing wahoo, but it's a weird different thing.

Was it worth the wait? Yeah, sure! For me! This is another one that I played like 300 hours of! I haven't even seen half of it, I fell off right before Episode 4 released because it coincided with my move! I'm gonna go back and see all that shit! PSO2's fun! A different flavor of fun than the original, sure, but fun all the same. Another one that I'm glad finally made it over here.

Riichi Mahjong (A Table, 1924)

Holy shit I fucking did it I finally learned how to play Mahjong and it rules.

It started when I picked up Clubhouse Games for the Switch. I saw that it had Riichi Mahjong and something in my brain snapped. For whatever reason, I decided that this was the time I was going to rip the band-aid off and figure this shit out. It wasn't too dissimilar to the first time I decided to try eggs, but that's a different and much stupider story for a different time. I did the tutorial in Clubhouse Games, looked up some more basics and advice because the tutorial wasn't super amazing, and I kept playing while being aided by the game's nice helper features like the button that pulls up recommended hands. I kept playing and... sorta got it. I learned the basic rules, but none of the strategy. And then I stopped playing for a few months.

In that few months, for whatever reason, a decent amount of people I know had their brains snap the same way? Like a more-than-two amount of people I'm either friends with or following online also decided to learn Mahjong. I decided to get back on the horse and downloaded Mahjong Soul and I don't know whether it was perseverance or the power of anime babes, but this time I got it. I still refer to a sheet with all the hands and whether they work open or closed, and I'm by no means a master player, but I actually honest to god understand what I'm doing and it's an incredible feeling.

Mahjong has such a huge amount of what I like to call "Get That Ass" energy. It is the energy you feel when you get someone's ass. In Mahjong you are either constantly getting someone's ass or getting your ass gotten. Someone puts down the wrong tile and you fucking GET THEIR ASS DUDE! They're got!! They're a fucking idiot that put down the wrong thing and now you have their points!!! Or you draw what you need yourself and you're a brain genius all according to plan and everyone gives you points because you're so wise!!!! It's great!!!!!

Mahjong has long been one of those games where I'd say "I'll learn this someday" and never reeeeally actually try to learn, and I'm so glad I finally took the effort to because it's good as hell. And, truth be told, it wasn't THAT hard to learn? Like you can get to the point where I was where I didn't know the strategy fairly easily in my opinion, and once you do that It's just a matter of continuing to play to understand the rest. I highly recommended that you also go out and learn it if you similarly revel in getting that ass, it's so satisfying once you do.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PlayStation 4, 2020)

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio took a big gamble with Yakuza: Like a Dragon. After seven games (more if you take spinoffs and remakes into consideration) they decided to focus on a new main character and, even more unexpectedly, they decided to change things up by turning the series into a turn-based JRPG. Their gamble paid off in spades. This is easily in my top 3 favorite Yakuza games.

The JRPG gameplay is surprisingly solid. There's definite room for improvement, but they nailed a bunch of it right out of the gate. Some mechanics are a little janky and I wish the job system was more fleshed out or just worked more like Final Fantasy V's, but they nailed one of the most important things and made the battles brisk and fun. It's a great foundation, especially for a team that's never attempted anything like this, and it's way more fun than the combat's been in any of the previous Dragon Engine games. I can't wait to see them iterate on it.

Everything else is top fuckin' notch. The music is great, the side content is fully fleshed out in a way it hasn't been since before they switched to the Dragon Engine, and I love the characters and story so much. Yakuza has a new main character in Ichiban Kasuga, and he's my son and I love him. Kiryu was great, and I love him too, but he was a bit of a passive protagonist. Stuff happened around him and he mostly just stoically reacted to it. Ichi is a much more active lead and it's great. He's a big lovable dope, and his tendency to keep an upbeat attitude and eagerness to leap into action is such a breath of fresh air. And it's not only Ichiban, since this is an RPG you have a whole party of characters and they're all great! Having them with you at all times bantering with each other and reacting to things is another great change of narrative pace, too.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon just straight up rules. As someone who has historically not been too much of a fan of the Dragon Engine games, it's simultaneously a refreshing new take on the series and a fantastic return to form. I can't wait for what comes next. Wherever Ichiban goes, I go.

Moon: Remix RPG Adventure (Nintendo Switch, 2020)

After 23 years of Japanese PS1 exclusivity, Moon: Remix RPG Adventure finally got an English release this year for Nintendo Switch. I'm glad it did, because Moon isn't just the very definition of A Sebmal Game. It's the Sebmal Game missing link. In addition to being just a great video game, it helped me make a mental throughline for a bunch of games I love and a large part of my taste in video games.

To keep a long story short (seriously, I have a much much longer version of this saved in my drafts that I'll maybe finish someday), Moon turned out to be not the JRPG I assumed it was, given the title and basic story pitch, but a secret prequel to a game I love named Chulip. Moon's developer, Love-de-Lic, was formed by a handful of ex-Squaresoft employees, many of which worked on an extremely formative game I love named Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Love-de-Lic broke up in the year 2000 and its staff went on to form a bunch of different studios that ended up making a BUNCH of different games I love like Chibi-Robo, Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, Dandy Dungeon, and the aforementioned Chulip. These games, when you make the connection and line them up, all have a very distinct weirdness in common that makes perfect sense once you've realized many of the same people worked on them. Figuring this all out felt like snapping a piece of my brain back in place, and it was really crazy to come to understand exactly how much this studio that formed and disbanded decades before I'd even heard of them had impacted my tastes and, hell, my life.

So what is Moon, for those who don't innately understand what I mean by "a secret prequel to Chulip"? Moon is an adventure game where you explore a world with a day/night cycle, learn about that world's inhabitants, and eventually solve their problems. Think of it kind of like The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, but if the sidequests were the entirety of the focus with no Groundhog Day time reset mechanic and none of the Zelda stuff like combat and dungeons. You play as a young boy who, after a late night JRPG binge session, is sucked into the world of the game he was just playing. Everything is off from the way it was portrayed while the boy was playing the game, though. The hero he had previously controlled is actually a silent menace, raiding peoples' houses for treasure and slaughtering every innocent animal that crosses his path in an endless quest for EXP. The townspeople seem more concerned with problems in their day-to-day lives than the supposed world threatening crisis outlined in the game's intro. It's up to you as the boy to investigate this world's mysteries, help the townsfolk, mend the damage the hero has done, and eventually restore love to a loveless world.

Speaking of love, I fucking loved Moon. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the music, I loved the way it looks (even though the Switch port is a little crusty in that basic emulator-y kinda way), I loved how constantly bizarre and surprising and funny it was. Like I said earlier, it's the very definition of a game made for me. It was essentially the progenitor of a long line of games made for me, and of games potentially made for me but I don't know yet because I haven't played them due to not understanding Japanese (UFO: A Day in the Life translation next please? Anyone from Onion Games reading this??). For as similar as Moon and Chulip are in their systems and pacing, I think I might actually like Moon better despite it coming earlier? It's not as full force maximum impact absurd as Chulip is, but it is a lot more playable and less obtuse once you get a grip on the time limit mechanic. You don't need a full strategy guide included in the instruction manual for Moon, and you don't need to exchange business cards with every single character to get information vital to finishing the game either.

I truly cannot recommend Moon enough if your taste in games ventures anywhere off the beaten path. Maybe this is a little conceited of me, but I assume if you're reading this article, let alone this far down into it, you relate to my video game opinions at least a little bit? You should play Moon. Everyone reading this sentence should play Moon. Moon: Remix RPG Adventure is my game of the year for the year 2020.

These games were also cool, I just had less to say about them:

Death Stranding (PlayStation 4, 2019): Death Stranding, much like Metal Gear Solid V, was a game I enjoyed for the gameplay and not much else. The story, characters, and writing were a huge disappointment for me, but man if I didn't enjoy lugging those boxes around and setting up my hellish cross-continental goon summer camp lookin' zipline network. Mr. Driller Drill Land (Nintendo Switch, 2020): I am a known Mr. Driller Enjoyer, and I enjoyed this Mr. Driller. Originally released for the Gamecube, Mr. Driller Drill Land is another long-time Japanese exclusive that finally came stateside this year and it's packed with new and novel twists on the Mr. Driller format. It looks super sharp, the music's great (also the credits music is the most impossibly out of place and extra as hell shit in the world and it's hilarious), and it's just a good ass time. The main campaign is pretty damn short, but if you're a post-game content kinda guy it has that and it's all super hard. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 (PlayStation 4, 2020): They finally made another good new Tony Hawk game, and all it took was perfectly remaking two of the best old Tony Hawk games! Plays exactly like you remember it with the added benefit of the best mechanics from up to THUG1, looks great, packed full of content, even has most of the music alongside some mostly crappy new stuff. It's the full package as is, but I do hope they end up adding THPS3 to it eventually. Mad Rat Dead (Nintendo Switch, 2020): Mad Rat Dead was a pleasant surprise that I only picked up because I saw a couple of people on my Twitter timeline constantly talking about it. A fun and inventive platformer where all your actions need to be on beat with the music. The gameplay feels great (aside from some not so great performance issues on Switch), the soundtrack is fun, and it's got a real good style to it. Demon's Souls (PlayStation 5, 2020): I love Demon's Souls and this is Demon's Souls. It plays exactly the same with some minor quality of life changes. I don't agree with many of the artistic changes, but there's no denying it looks incredible on a technical level. If you want to play Demon's Souls again or for the first time, this is a perfectly valid and fun way to do so. Groove Coaster: Wai Wai Party!!!! (Nintendo Switch, 2019): Groove Coaster is one of my favorite rhythm games, and they finally made an acceptable at-home version with Wai Wai Party. It's not a perfect replication of the arcade game control-wise, I have some issues with the song choices, and the pricing is frankly fucking ridiculous if you're not a Groove Coaster maniac like I am, but the same ultra satisfying gameplay is all there. You can even play it vertically in handheld mode! Flip Griiiiiiiip!

And we're done! Phew! Honestly didn't realize I played that many good games until I typed all this out. Thanks as always for reading this far. I'm gonna try and get back to regularly posting Breviews this year at the very least. Honestly don't know if I'll get anything else up on here, but we'll see. Here's to hoping 2021 is a little bit less of a nightmare!

#article #Year Wrapup

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theydeservedasoftepilogue · 4 years

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Performativity and the Power of Collective Belief

Today marks the one-year anniversary that glorious, beautiful, triumphant, deeply human scene in which Jaime Lannister asks his beloved, Brienne of Tarth, to kneel so he can give her the one gift she truly covets – knighthood. A standout scene in what is overall a standout episode, it is inarguably the pinnacle of Game of Throne’s (otherwise abysmal) 8th season and arguably the pinnacle of the series as a whole. Certainly I was never as moved or captivated by anything this show has laid before me.

And I – and my fellow Braime shippers – were not alone. Multiple entertainment outlets wrote extended commentary on this episode, often praising this scene in particular. No real wonder. It is viscerally exhilarating, organic, beautifully acted, one of the few TV moments I could without hesitation describe as perfect.

But why?

On one level it seems obvious. It completes Brienne and Jaime’s unique character arcs – her pursuit of knighthood and his pursuit of redemption – while also overtly affirming the deep love they feel for one another. Granted, Jaime’s arc is a little more complex than Brienne’s, for he has always been a mixed bag of noble and misguided deeds. But regardless of his moral grey, Jaime has always found and heeded his better angels when Brienne was there to light the way. His total surrender of Cersei for the Lady of Tarth felt like the necessary end to his personal journey (the final two episodes notwithstanding).

However, I think this scene goes even deeper than these two characters and their particular arcs (both individual and shared). In addition to being a phenomenal consummation of their storylines, this scene also manages to be a perfect microcosm of what Game of Thrones was always trying to theorize and imagine, namely, how can social systems be made fairer, more just, more humane, more attentive and adaptable to the needs of those who must operate in and through them?

At the risk of stating what should be obvious, Game of Thrones is a story about power, and how power works. What made it better than a great many of its imitators was the far more varied and nuanced ways it took on its examination of power. It looked at how a huge range of social phenomenon overlap and intersect in the production and reproduction of power, including: • Wealth • Social networks • Kinship systems • Gender/sex/sexuality/reproduction • Name and reputation • Violence and militarism • Legal systems • Nationalism and tribalism • Tradition • Land and material resources • Religion/spirituality • Labor • Language • And more

Whatever else might be said of this show and its failings, it deeply understood that power is multi-faceted, diffuse, varied, complex, and tied to a huge range of interlocking socio-cultural systems that supersede all the individuals who operate within them.

Humans require social systems to function. They allow us to, as anthropologists would say, create shared meaning, make decisions, divide up labor, meet our collective and individual needs, and yes, even give us pleasure. We cannot just do without social systems, nor would we want to.

But social systems also have a tendency to become calcified and perverted, used by some to exploit and abuse others. Social systems often start out as tools but are frequently repurposed as weapons in the hands of those who find ways to use them to unfair advantage, often perpetuating that unfair advantage over time.

When Game of Thrones begins, we are dropped into a world where this is the core conflict at hand. Deeply unjust and dysfunctional manifestations of power have taken hold, leaving those in charge of running the world deeply inferior to the task. An issue that becomes all the more salient as it becomes clear that Westeros, and the world at large, is facing down an existential threat from the White Walkers.

And that’s part of the point. Humans can and do face problems that cannot be solved at the level of individual action. We need systems and structures for survival. After all, winter is coming.

The arcs of characters like Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and Lord Varys, are about asking – can the systems themselves be made better, made more just, made to truly help more than they harm? Can we have the tool without allowing it to become a weapon? And if so, how?

Game of Thrones has never been a particularly optimistic show, and I would argue this is valid. Humans are good at corrupting power, and it would be disingenuous to suggest otherwise. But I would also argue it does not behoove us to surrender to despair, because the belief that power is inherently unjust helps power stay unjust, the belief that it is unmovable is part of what keeps it unmovable.

Enter our heroes, facing down the Long Night, a seemingly hopeless battle in which there is likely no victory or survival. They sit by a fire, enjoying each other’s company as they contemplate their immanent doom. When Tormund – an outsider to the realms of men – asks why Brienne – an outsider to the realm of manhood – cannot be a knight, she explains, “Women can’t be knights.” The two social systems are in conflict, mutually exclusive. Why? Tradition.

In that moment, Jaime Lannister takes up the power he holds to make other knights, a power the social systems of Westeros have conferred to him by virtue of his wealth and name and kinship and gender and tradition, and he remakes the system with one performative* act. He re-renders the social systems of knighthood and gender by taking up the tools of which the act – the knighting ceremony – is composed and deploying them anew.

Power IS movable. Systems can be remade, and remade for the better.

The act is small, local, confined essentially to the people in the room. But it takes hold and confers nonetheless, partly because the other people in the room (symbolic of society as a whole) uphold and affirm it. They acknowledge it as real, which is what makes it ‘real,’ and therefore powerful – which is the fundamental secret of all social systems. They have the power they have because of collective belief, because we all ACT as if their power is real.

Gender and knighthood, like all social systems, are socially constructed, made by humans and able to be remade by them as we see fit. Part of the way unjust social systems perpetuate themselves is by generating the illusion that they are inevitable, natural, unchangeable, unmovable. When Jaime knights Brienne, the story affirms this fundamental, and fundamentally optimistic, truth about power – it can be remade.

What has always been does not always have to be.

Power can be reborn a female knight in shining armor because no social system is truly unmovable. Most of what is required is for us to acknowledge that the rules governing the systems that govern us are arbitrary, historically contingent, able to be rewritten through the ultimate tool of power we always carry with us – collective belief.

*This refers to the concept of performativity coined by linguist J.L. Austin in his work How to Do Things with Words, and popularized by gender theorist Judith Butler, most primarily in her work Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. This essay is particularly indebted to Bulter’s work, as well as that of Foucault (whose theories of power are unparalled).

#Jaime Lannister #Brienne of Tarth #Game of Thrones #ASOFAI #A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms #meta

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myriahkamm · 4 years

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I live-blogged watching BvS and Justice League on FB earlier; here are my unedited thoughts. :P

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

I'm watching Batman V. Superman (because bad movie night I guess idk), and during the opening scene rehashing the Waynes' deaths (for what feels like the millionth time in cinematic history--seriously, y'all, we can be done with that for a while and definitely don't need a 5 minute slow-motion scene about it), when Thomas says Martha's name as they're dying, I burst out laughing because (i) I didn't remember that he said her name during this scene and (ii) is this supposed to be some kind of foreshadowing for the really dumb crux of the movie where Batman and Superman stop fighting because omg their moms have the same name? I literally can't stop laughing. This movie is such a joke. 🤣

Having the Robin costume in this film with absolutely no context is just stupidly pointless fanboy pandering. Anyone who actually gives a crap about Batman lore should realistically hate that.

Lex Luthor, one of the richest and most powerful men in the world, bitching about not having power is definitely on brand, but I am just super *not* a fan of the quirky, kind-of-nerdy-and-awkward Lex Luthor this film decided to go with. The hardcore businessman Lex Luthor from the 90s and 00s will always be the Lithor I like best. Y'know, the one based at least in part on Donald Trump. That one.

This Jesse Eisenberg version is way too much of a Mary Sue. Businessman *and* scientist *and* awkward nerd? Yeah, Jesse Eisenberg played Mark Zuckerberg, but I'm not sure Lex Luthor should be Mark Zuckerberg.

Ugh, I totally forgot about the Darkseid-foreshadowing dream that's never going to go anywhere because, let's be real, DC is never going to do a live-action film with Darkseid (and it would be awful even if they did). Also, Batman using guns in that dream is a thing I'll never be cool with. I don't care what kind of world he thinks he's living in in that dream; Batman has established principles and pretty much only goes against them in alternate universes.

Jesus, I forgot about the whole Flash-from-the-future scene, too. DC wrote a lot of checks we're never going to be able to cash in this film. Promising an Injustice-esque Superman-is-evil kind of storyline that they're never going to do anything with...why would they do that?

So in the dream, Darkseid-related stuff is going on (which, in Justice League, does sort of happen with Steppenwolf) and Superman says "she was everything to me, and you took her away from me." Then future-Flash says that "Lois is the key". Are they implying Batman has premonitions? Are they giving him a superpower? 🤣

Oh, that's right, they blew up the U.S. Capitol in this movie. 🤣 These scenes that are supposed to be really serious and filled with tension just keep making me laugh.

Why did they decide Batman needed to make a kryptonite spear? I mean, other than plot reasons so they could use it later against Doomsday. Batman uses projectiles and his fists; he rarely uses swords or spears or whatever.

Why did they decide Doomsday had to be created using a mixture of Kryptonian and Luthor's DNA? In the comics, Doomsday is an experimental clone based on ancient Kryptonian DNA. Why (in my opinion) make Doomsday so much more pathetic by adding human DNA into the mix? Freaking weird decision.

"Mm." What a weird quirk to add to Luthor's character. "Mm" every other sentence. What's that all about?

Luthor manipulating Batman into fighting Superman is...so unbelievable. Luthor manipulating Superman to hate Batman, waaaaay more believable. But no, that's not what they went with. They went with Luthor manipulating Batman for two years into wanting to fight Superman. Superman just randomly came to hate Batman on his own and only got manipulated into fighting him at the end. They could have just gone with hey, Batman's suspicious of everyone and would naturally be suspicious of a superpowered alien, especially with the whole setup they did at the beginning that coincided with stuff from Man of Steel. But nope. Nope, they went with the dumber plot.

Doesn't Luthor have way too much info about all these heroes' secret identities? Are we just pretending secret identities don't matter anymore? That's too 90s or something?

Why does the kryptonite spear make an "omg I'm a glowy thing" sound? 🤣

And now we're at the stupid Martha part that makes no sense because if you were about to die, you wouldn't say "save [mom's name]"; you would just say "save my mom!" 🤣

Batman would totally save Superman's mom even if their moms didn't have the same name. It's just such a stupid, stupid plot point and lends itself to endless mockery. 🤣

I *do* like this fight scene where Batman is making his way through the goons to get to Martha. The choreography is really good. Reminds me a lot of the Arkham video games.

Man, this Doomsday just...doesn't really work on a fundamental level. What makes comic Doomsday so powerful and terrifying is (i) it's not just a mindless monster, but is actually intelligent and can plan and strategize; (ii) iwas created through such extreme experimentation that it was repeatedly destroyed and then remade again over and over and over to give it endurance and formidably; (iii) and it's pretty much unstoppable from all that experimentation and uncontrollable because of its intelligence.

Also, what's with this explody thing Doomsday does in this film? A monster can be terrifying without being able to blow up a bunch of stuff. I'm not sure what the point of explody Doomsday is other than lazy writing.

The military hit it once and came to the conclusion that not only does it get more powerful "every time we hit it," but also that it's unkillable? Okay. More lazy writing.

And we're back to one of my biggest issues with Man of Steel: Superman just not giving a shit about collateral damage. Even if the island they're on is uninhabited, that doesn't exactly mean he should just be fine with blowing a bunch of shit up in the course of this fight. Sheesh.

How did Lois know they needed the spear again? She had no reason to go underwater to try to get it. This whole "let's make Lois useless time and again so Superman can save her" thing is really annoying.

Superman's "death" scene carries so little weight if you know (like pretty much everyone should have known, let's be real) that he's not really dead. Like, sure, for the characters it means something because they don't know he'll be back, but for the audience? At least for me, it doesn't make me feel a whole lot.

So all the soldiers at Superman's funeral--do they know they're carrying an empty casket? Just curious.

The dirt rising off the casket at the end for a split second is soooooo dumb. For anyone naive enough to think he *is* really dead, just let them think it. Just let that be a thing. Come on. (Also considering that he doesn’t just come back on his own; it takes a charge from a Mother Box in Justice League for him to come back. That makes this end scene a lie, too.)

Ok, BvS is done. Need another drink and a snack, then I'll move on to Justice League. 😅

Justice League:

Haha, obvious Superman facial CGI right off the bat, omg, I forgot how horribly obvious it is. 🤣

Also forgot that we're starting off with parademons right away. Sheesh.

Do all of Snyder's films have to have gratuitous slow-motion scenes at the beginning? Ugh, dude.

Everyone just throwing Bruce Wayne's name around in relation to Batman all the time. Secret identities are dead, y'all. No superhero can have a real life, I guess.

Ugh, I forgot this film pushes Batman/Wonder Woman pretty hard. 🙄

"It's cool if I show a bunch of Amazons with their midriffs showing as long as they have visible ab muscles, right?" Idk, Snyder, is that how armor realistically works? 🙄 Also, is it necessary for them to have lipstick on? That doesn't even exist on Themyscira, ffs.

The multiple (as I remember; only one so far) innuendo-based jokes really bring this film down, imo. "Clark said you were the thirstier woman he'd ever met." Really? Ugh. 🙄

The plot of this film is so LOTR. Amazons, Atlanteans, and Men all get Mother Boxes, sort of like the various rings of power. There's plenty you can pull from comics, y'all. You don't need to pull from other stuff.

Flash as comic relief I'm okay with. I'm not sure how I feel about *this* Flash's comic relief. I'm not a huge fan of the writing.

Break time because Je'von wants to go out on the balcony lol. 😅

And we're back. So can Steppenwolf breathe underwater? Is that a thing?

I guess it's supposed to be super funny that everyone disappears except the fastest one of them? Sigh. The writing in this film is just so awful.

Cyborg's CGI also isn't great. I really wanted more for Cyborg because he's awesome. Sigh.

Snyder must have loved being able to do stuff with Flash. All the slo-mo he could want.

I'm not a fan of neurotic Flash, afraid of pretty much everything. He can be funny in so many better ways, but instead let's just have him be afraid of everything and make sexual jokes every now and then. 🙄

"Let's keep having Cyborg wear sweatpants and a hoodie so we don't have to spend so much on CGI. It totally won't look ridiculous." 🤣

Batman making the argument to use technology he doesn't understand to try to bring Superman back from the dead is just so out of character it's not even funny. First of all, Superman didn't need technology to come back in the comics (whether or not his "resurrection" was silly is irrelevant). Secondly, Batman literally has an enemy (Ra's al Ghul) who resurrects himself on the regular, and Batman (i) knows it's a bad idea because it messes with Ra's's sanity and (b) would never consider using the Lazarus Pit even though he has a relative understanding of how it works. This film just literally disregards established character traits in favor of it's stupid-as-hell plot. Ugh.

Superman is vulnerable to magic, idiot writers. He shouldn't be able to fight Wonder Woman's lasso. Uuughhh. Have any of the writers of this movie ever actually read any Justice League comics? 🤦‍♀️

Well, those cops definitely know Superman's name now. Since you all keep saying it in front of them.

Superman hasn't even been gone for that long (seemingly; I mean, it's hard to tell, but S.T.A.R. Labs is still doing research on the Kryptonian ship in the same genersl area as in BvS, so idk), so all this talk about what he does or doesn't remember seems...weird.

Why not wait until you defeat Steppenwolf to let your mom know you're back, Superman? For all you know, you could die again. Wouldn't that just be harder on her after seeing you back?

Why was the lasso just sitting on the Batmobile instead of with Wonder Woman? Plot so that Aquaman could say some *super funny things*. 🙄 That's not even how the lasso works, you dumb writers. Someone has to direct another bound by it to speak the truth. Seriously, do some research. Ugh. It's not that hard.

"So your plan is dying? You really are out of your mind." "I'm not the one who brought a pitchfork." See, the writers prove that they can be actually funny if they try. *If* they try.

The "everyone trying their best to hold off the big bad until Goku gets there" vibe is super strong in this movie. 😑

Part of the reason the Justice League is a thing is because no one hero can do it alone. That means it all shouldn't be riding on Superman's shoulders. If you actually know how to write the Justice League, that is.

Don't know how I feel about everyone getting perks due to nepotism now that they know Bruce Wayne...must be nice to be buddies with the richest man in the world. 😒

The Flash vs Superman race at the end is more pandering. Ugh. It would be better if Flash was less pathetic as a character in this film. Super awkward is just not very funny, y'all. Write actual jokes instead.

Okay, that's over. What a trip. Both those movies are still pretty much garbage. 🤣 The question is, will I ever watch Man of Steel again? Probably not; I hated Man of Steel more than both those movies, actually. Wrote a 3-page rant about how awful it was after seeing it in theaters originally. $3 was still way too much money to spend on that crap. 😅

Oh, side note for the after credits scene: will they ever actually go anywhere with that? They might do an okay job with a Justice League vs. Legion of Doom (or Injustice Society or whatever villain team incarnation they would decide to go with) film. That might not suck.

#myri's thoughts #live blogging (sort of)#Batman v Superman #justice league #dccu #omg the awfulness is just wonderful #if you read carefully you can tell when i start getting drunk lol #WW is the only real saving grace in either of these movies

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dat-fandom-losertown · 4 years

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Happy NHPC Day!

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Chapter 1

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Spideypool / Peter Parker + Wade Wilson

Warnings: Non-graphic Violence, A paragraph or two of homophobia, A single homophobic slur

Word Count: 6,122

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Summary:

Peter and Wade have a tradition they've been following every Valentine's Day and National Half-Priced Candy Day for several years now. They patrol all day and night for Valentine's in their special "June-themed" suits, and on the 15th they spend their day cuddling, eating cheap candy, and napping to make up for the lack of rest from the day before. This year, though, Peter wants to do something slightly different for NHPC day. Something neither of them will ever forget.

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~> Next

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Hey guys! I know I haven’t written anything but D:BH here so far (and I may make a late Valentine’s thing for that fandom too), but it had always been my plan to be a multi-fandom account eventually, and I couldn’t miss out on the “Isn’t it Bromantic” Spideypool Discord server’s Valentine’s Day Challenge!

If Spideypool isn’t your thing, I totally get it and I don’t expect you to read this (and I’m gonna be making a post about what to do if you don’t want to see a ship or fandom you don’t like real soon), but if it is your thing, then Welcome! There isn’t much true fluff in this chapter, and this is kind of all over the place, but there absolutely will be tomorrow in the second part and things will tie together! So please hang in there, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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“Spidey-poo! Spider-honey! Web-darling!”

Peter quickly spots Wade’s bright suit and rolls his eyes as he quickly and sternly shushes him, knowing the other super can hear him even if he’s on the rooftop across the street. He swings over and meets Wade on the other side with practiced grace.

“‘Pool, it is five in the morning and normal people are still sleeping! You can’t just yell like that!”

Wade, as expected by this point, completely ignores Peter’s halfhearted chiding and instead sweeps him up into a large bear hug as if they hadn’t just seen each other thirty minutes ago.

“My baby boy’s looking extra bi for this valentine’s day!” He spins them around a couple of times for good measure, then sets him down, keeping his hands on his shoulders. “Did you upgrade the gay suit? Because this looks even better than it did in June!”

A few years back, Wade had jokingly made a comment about wearing pride colors on patrol during the month of June, just to rub it into the “old bigots’ faces” and to get a good laugh. After a day or two of not being able to get that thought out of his head, he figured that if cops can’t be at pride, then at least Spiderman and Deadpool should be able to join in to keep the crime at bay.

As soon as he told Wade this, the ex-merc went all out. He made an entirely new suit for the occasion instead of just taping a flag to his shoulders like Peter was expecting. He argued that “How are the people supposed to know we’re there to help and support if all they see is the usual red with black and red and blue?” and admitted he already had designs for their pride suits ready to go for ages. Wade’s was based off of his pansexuality with all the red parts turned bright pink, the black became bright blue, and all of his weapons (most of them being non-lethal now, thanks to Peter’s insistence) replaced with ones that are bright gold and yellow.

That first year, Peter refused an altered suit, mostly because back then their relationship was newer and he was worried about somehow paying Wade the favor back. Although, he allowed Wade to make it the next year since the design for it was much more subdued than Wade’s by far, and he seemed to have so much fun in his new get up. For Peter’s suit, the blue stayed the same, the red became magenta, and his eye-pieces and web designs became purple all in tribute to his own bisexuality.

The next February after that was when Peter (not Wade, surprisingly enough) came up with the idea to wear these suits on their annual Valentine’s day 20 hour watch, just to show the heteros that they still exist outside of pride month.

That, and “Bi-derman” and “Pan-pool” slash “Dead-pan” are kind of a big hit, so why the hell not?

Peter hasn’t done much altering to his suit beyond repairs, but since last June, he’s completely remade the suit in a tougher material and made the blue and magenta more vibrant and the purple web designs darker to help with the contrast. He also made his eye-pieces white because holy hell was it hard to see through those darker lenses.

“You have a good eye, ‘Pool. Do you like it?” He sticks his arms out and slowly spins as he continues, “I remade it with the extra money from that raise I got a while back.”

Wade quickly grabs Peter and pulls him close again, this time letting his hands roam over the fabric. He can feel the appraise Wade is silently sending him, and the part of him that was worried about making the protective padding on his chest and gut look more muscular rather than lean settles immediately.

“Mmmyes. Me likey this a lot.” He takes a step back and pointedly looks Peter up and down, “Where did you even hide this? I swear I looked in our secret closet and under the bed when I definitely wasn’t snooping for my Christmas presents again.”

Peter rolls his eyes, and he bets that Wade knows it even if his eyes are covered. “If I told you where then I’d have to find a way to erase your memory, because killing you isn’t an option.”

“I dunno, babe, you just might kill me with this damn suit.” He hesitates, then flops his head back with a groan, “Fuck, you’re right, I only get to see it on you for a month and a day a year. How did you even get this level of muscle definition to show through your suit? You look like you do in some of the comics! Clothes in real life don’t work like this!”

“Bullet-resistant padding thanks to Tony and a lot of neat seam-work to make it look like natural muscle.” Peter states matter-of-factly, “Get me the materials and I could do the same for your suits, since I don’t think Tony will offer to give you any.”

“Nah. I don’t need it, and I don’t want to distract from this gorgeous bod’–” he cups Peter’s face “–anytime soon.” Wade gently places his forehead on Peter’s, letting their masked-noses bump. He ruins the moment by murmuring “Is there anything I can do to make you wear this suit in the bedroom?”

“No.” Peter swiftly turns and walks to the edge of the building, waiting for Wade to hop on his back.

“But baby...” the man in question whines, “You wear your other one–”

“Only sometimes and only when you distract me before I can completely change, and I don’t want this one ruined before I can wear it this June.” He ignores Wade’s pout and says, “This fabric is much harder to wash.”

“Ugh, fine. At least I get to watch you flip around some baddies today” he wiggles happily.

“You won’t if you don’t friggin’ hurry up!” he sing-songs, casting a web out in preparation to swing away.

Wade doesn’t respond, but his spidey-senses tingle a warning of something incoming, so he braces himself as his boyfriend leaps onto his back. He loops his legs over Peter’s hips and his arms around his shoulders, then they’re off.

They swing for almost 45 minutes before the duo hear their first cry for help of the day.

Peter hastily swings over to where they heard the woman cry out, and from there it isn’t hard to find her being held hostage by a man in a wolf mask (seriously, why a wolf? Could he only afford a mask from the halloween clearance shelf?) while a well-dressed man shakily pulls out his wallet. Wade drops in, and Peter pretends he didn’t hear the crunch of one of his joints twisting wrong during the landing. By the time Peter drops in to help calm the couple down, Wade has already knocked out and tied up the perpetrator. The couple thanks the vigilantes, then hurry off to the subway, eager to get back to a safer part of the city.

As per usual on their Valentine’s day “event”, they personally drag the mugger to the police station themselves. The police usually have enough on their plate as it is without Spiderman and Deadpool calling them all day to pick someone up if the duo can just do it themselves. Besides, it gives the couple a chance to interact with the public, even if that’s sometimes less-than-pleasing.

Thankfully, they don’t run into too much drama on the way to the station. A young man on the way to work stops them for a picture, admitting that he’s been excited to see the pictures of them in their pride uniforms online later today while a stranger scoffs at them, but that’s hardly drama and is completely expected.

When it starts getting close to seven o’clock in the morning, things start picking up. By the time nine rolls around, they’ve stopped two more minor muggings and talked someone down from trying to commit a crime, which doesn’t successfully happen nearly as often as Peter would like. They buy an ungodly amount of breakfast and hand a chunk of it out to homeless people before they spot someone trying to break into a window on the fourth floor of an apartment building. Peter goes to take care of it while Wade skips away to pass out more food.

“Yo!” Peter calls jovially as he climbs up the wall, “You know, this is extremely dangerous for someone who doesn’t have spider powers, so if you could just–”

His spidey senses suddenly warn him and he jumps to the left, narrowly missing a metal skewer to the shoulder.

“What the hell?! Do you know how dangerous it is to carry those around–” he dodges another one “–normally? And, like, you’re on a rickety– woah!–” He twists his body in order to not get hit “–rickety old fire escape throwing them, so–” He narrowly misses the next one “–Damn it! Would it hurt you to stop for two seconds! Why are you even getting into this specific apartment? There are easier and sneakier ones to get into!”

“My ex wife lives here.” He confesses, throwing another skewer, “She cheated on me with two other people, then divorced me and is trying to take everything! See! I’m not some low-life criminal, so just leave me alone!”

Peter wasn’t actually expecting an answer, but he can try to make-do with this.

“Do you have evidence of her cheating?” he tries, and it must work on some level because the man stops throwing skewers. Just how many did he have, anyway? And why skewers of all things?

The man nods, still hesitating on the next skewer. Damn it, he needs to think of something fast. Well, he doesn’t need to, but he’d rather not send this guy to the cops. He seems like one of the dudes he can calm down.

“Okay, well, do you know if the people she cheated on you with knows she’s cheating on them?”

The guy ponders this for a moment. “No, I don’t think so.”

“So… Why not try getting together and form a mini mob to maybe, I dunno, publicly humiliate her? Instead of breaking into her apartment or hurting her? Or both? Instead of making yourself out as the bad guy?”

“Ooo! Who are we publicly humiliating!” Deadpool calls from the bottom of the fire escape. “I want in on the action! I’m really good at scheming!” he rubs his hands together like some kind of mad scientist.

“Deadpool, now is not the time–”

“So you’d help me get revenge on my cheating ex-wife?”

“Wait–”

“Oh hell yeah! We’re gonna blow her cover just like I blow–”

“Okay!” Peter shouts over what was undoubtedly about to be Wade bragging about their nighttime activities again. Or maybe he was actually going to mention one of the explosives or grenades he has back at home, who knows?

This scenario is one of the “If you can’t beat them, join them” type, isn’t it? Well, in this case it’s probably closer to “If you can’t stop them, leave and pretend that it isn’t happening for as long as possible, then deny it did for even longer.”

He sighs and mutters “I can not believe I’m about to do this,” before shouting down to Wade, “Since you’re apparently going to actually do this, can there not be any bodily harm or apartment destruction? If not anything else?”

“Aw, but baby boo, arson is the third best crime to commit…” At Peter’s stern look, he relents. “Fine, but if we’re gonna do this right, but I want a little fee for this amazing plan I’m coming up with!”

Peter takes that and the man’s positive response as his cue to leave and pretend his boyfriend isn’t plotting to cause a huge scene with three other people today. It’s much easier to do once he catches some asshole slipping his hand up some girl’s dress while keeping her at gunpoint in some alley.

A web here, a punch there, and another punch, and a kick. Then one last kick and punch just for good measure, along with another web, and the girl is saved and the wrong-doer is unconscious and tied up. In the not sexy way, Deadpool would probably add if he was here.

“Thank you, Spiderman!” he hears the woman sobs before she pounces on him with a hug.

“Woah, hey, you’re safe now.” He awkwardly hugs the stranger back.

“He’s been stalking me for a while and I’ve just been hoping that I could get close to a police station or something but then he disappeared and cut me off and I couldn’t run in these heels and he got me–”

“Hey hey hey, he’s gone now. He’s not gonna hurt anyone anymore, okay?” He pulls away from her, and she gives a shaky nod. “Okay, do you have anyone you can call–”

“Spidey!” he hears the familiar voice sing at the end of the alley, “You left without me!” The footsteps suddenly stop, and Wade’s voice becomes much softer. “Hey, you alright? No one important is hurt?” He glances over to the webbed up man briefly.

The woman shakes her head. Knowing that Wade will probably keep quiet for now, Peter restates his question.

“Do you have anyone you can call for now so you’re not alone?”

The girl nods again, “I was just on my way to meet my partner. They’d come right away.” She huffs a wet laugh, “They actually adore you two. You helped them from a bunch of bullies at pride two years ago.”

“I’m glad we can get to them in time, then.” Peter smiles.

“Hells yea! The world could do with more people who say “fuck you” to gender rolls!” He points to nothing as he continues, “And you read that right, readers! Rolls with two L’s wasn’t a typo, because gender rolls are the nastiest kind of bread. Yuck!”

The woman huffs a laugh then looks up from her ringing phone, tilting her head in sudden confusion, “Readers? Typo?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Peter cuts in, “It’s just a thing he does.” He doesn’t want to take the time to explain Wade’s weird habits of doing something called “breaking the fourth wall”, and how he addresses some things to readers and others to viewers or watchers and other to his two internal “boxes” named “Yellow” and “White”.

Peter hears the person on the other end finally pick up the phone and ask if something’s up. The woman asks them to go to a certain coffee shop to meet her instead of the fountain– wherever that could be in a place like this– to meet her. The other person immediately agrees. Peter is also mildly impressed and rather touched that they also asked for her to stay on the line until they meet instead of just hanging up in a rush like plenty of people seem to do. This person is definitely good for this lady.

They end up walking with the woman to the aforementioned coffee shop, and they chat a little with the person on the line while Peter keeps a very close ear out for anything odd that may need his assistance and pays close attention to his spidey-senses. They get a photo with one group of kids and their parents on the way, then a few more pictures once they meet up with Kasandra’s (they finally got the woman’s name) partner. After that, a group of teens on a triple date quickly came up for pictures and complimented their pride suits.

Peter’s spidey sense starts going off before the teens can say much else. With Deadpool quickly and securely latching onto his back, he climbs up a wall to safely swing away to the danger.

After that, it becomes a pretty normal day, as far as patrolling goes. Despite the fact that most of New York City knows that Spiderman and Deadpool patrol all day and night long on most holidays, the crime rate still rises on them. It makes Peter wonder just how many people they don’t get to whenever they patrol; how many people call out for them specifically when Peter is too far away to hear them or sense them being in danger?

He doesn’t want to know the answer to that, and Wade does his best to help Peter keep his brain from travelling down those dark paths once he figured out it made his depression and anxiety that much worse.

He honestly doesn’t know what he’d do without Wade. They’ve been together for so long that Peter can’t imagine a day where he’d be gone for good. Yeah, he still sometimes spends weeks or, very rarely, months away for some SHIELD job, but he always eventually comes back. He’s almost completely immune to his “Parker Luck” because he’s technically immune to death and injury. So the thought that one day Wade may leave and not come back because something between them just couldn’t be worked through?

It’s terrifying.

The thing about that last thought, though, is that Peter can’t imagine not being able to work things out with Wade. They always work things out. They’ve been living with each other for years now, so that was something they had to learn how to do a long while ago. Even their various friends agree that, as much as they banter like best friends, they also tend to argue and compromise over small things like an old, married couple. He and Wade never try to argue their observations either. Peter isn’t quite so sure about his other half, but he feels like they’re already a married couple. There’s just no rings or legal papers to make it official yet.

Yet.

He abruptly pauses at webbing a group of home intruders to the brick wall in front of him to watch Wade with wide eyes as the other chatters away, searching for a cell phone to call the police with so these guys can be picked up.

Wade’s self-esteem would probably never allow him to ask Peter to marry him, even though they’ve been dating for over six years now and living together for about the same length of time. Even if they had been dating for twelve or twenty years, he doubts Wade would be able to do it without backing out or panicking just because he’d probably feel like he was trapping Peter or something bizarre but sadly understandable like that, especially if his boxes are in a shitty mood that hnypothetical day.

He doesn’t doubt for a moment that Wade loves him deeply, even with all the shit they give each other. Hell, especially with all the shit they give each other. It means a hell of a lot when people can make fun of each other and poke at each other and can trust wholeheartedly that the other person knows that it means nothing or comes from a place of pure love, especially for people with backgrounds filled with anxiety like Peter and Wade.

It takes a lot of trust to open oneself up completely to another person, and Wade is the first person like that for Peter ever since he became Spiderman, and Peter hopes he’s close enough to being that person for Wade in return. It takes a lot of love and trust on both of their parts to deal with the somewhat common panic attacks, depression dips, and self-punishments and the less common hallucinations and serious depression dips and still stick around after all is said and done.

They’ve been together through thick and thin, through grave injuries and actual death (on Wade’s account, anyway). They’ve stuck together through sickness and loss, happiness and wealth (there was a few months where Wade was apparently secretly convinced that Peter would leave once he was no longer dirt poor, but that’s been proven wrong a hundred times over by now). They’ve been through everything the traditional wedding vows mention, and the “until death do us part” really only works on Peter, but his powers and trained skills don’t make him an easy target, either.

Peter knows what he wants to do, or rather, he’s just now realized what he’s been wanting for a long while. And now that he knows what’s missing, he’s going to take the first steps to get it. Wade took the first steps in starting their relationship, so it’s only fair that Peter takes the first step or two towards their marriage. Probable marriage, he corrects himself, because if there’s one thing he’s learned from being with Wade all these years, it’s that if something has even one percent chance of happening, it’s plenty of wiggle room for the ex-merc to do it. And Peter’s only 99 percent sure that he’ll say yes.

That just means he needs to make tomorrow the best National Half-Priced Candy Day yet.

“Spidey?” Wade snaps him out of his thoughts, sounding like that wasn’t the first time he called for him.

Peter shakes his head. “Sorry. Just got a bit carried away in my head I guess.”

Wade nods thoughtfully. Peter can practically see the concern dripping off of him. “You need a break? We’ve been at this for–” he checks the stranger’s phone still in his hand, “twelve hours now. Dang.” He pauses. “I know right? But you know what they say, time flies when you’re having fun, and I’m always having fun when our snookums is around!” Wade’s bright grin stretches the bright pink and blue fabric of his mask.

“I usually have fun when you’re around too, ‘Pool.” Peter grins and turns away. He hears a gasp behind him.

“Baaabe!!” he whines, “Only usually? You wound me! I am always fun, especially when–” He abruptly stops. When he doesn’t immediately respond to whatever his boxes are saying, Peter turns around.

Wade is looking at Peter with a strangely somber expression, one that’s obvious through his mask. Then he picks himself up in what Peter can now tell is false cheer.

“You know, Spidey, if you ever get tired of me–”

“Never gonna happen.” Peter walks towards Wade and puts his hands on his undoubtedly surprised face. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, ya doof.” He pecks a kiss to his masked nose then pulls away. “Come on, then! We have more criminals to stop and people to save!”

Peter hesitates just long enough for Wade to jump on his back before taking off. As he swings them through the city, he starts thinking of a plan of action for tomorrow.

If there was any chance that he was wrong about Wade’s self esteem not letting him pop the question first, what the ex-merc just said squashed it, which means Peter will have to be the one to do it. He could go the easy way and go about their usual NHPC day and get down on one knee when they’re back at home (because for as much as Wade puts on an act of shamelessness and seems to constantly overshare, he’s strangely a rather private person), but he doesn’t particularly want to.

A quick look to the left mid-swing and he thinks he has the perfect thing.

His spidey-senses guide him to the right, so he follows. It doesn’t take very long at all for the pair to spot the dark smoke in the sky directly ahead of them. They make it there quickly, taking in the apartment building that is almost overrun by bright flames, the two fire trucks, and the group of firefighters on the street trying their best to evacuate people and put out the worst of the fire. Wade points out that the fire escape must either be engulfed by flames or has broken off or something because he can see a couple through a window on the top floor.

Without stopping to ask what happened or what’s needed of them– mainly because they’d probably say something that basically means “go away and mind your own business”– they enter the building through a window on the top floor (“Wade! You didn’t have to break it!” “The entire building is basically broken! It’s fine!”) since they both believe that, with the get up most of them are wearing, the firefighters are working on evacuating the people in the thick of the flames now and haven’t reached anyone in the higher floors.

Besides, the materials Peter and Wade use to make their respective suits aren’t exactly heat and flame resistant, so this is how they can be helpful.

Inside the building is, predictably, hot and smokey from the flames, and Peter knows it will get louder too as they reach the floors that are closer to the majority of the fire. They split up and work through the top floor first with Peter safely lowering two small families, two couples, and several animals down one or two at a time while Wade searches for any others and gathers them to their chosen window. Once Wade says it’s clear and the civilians are safe, they move downstairs to the next floor and set up the same system.

This floor is proven to be a bit more difficult when Wade comes back with two cats and informs Peter that their owner is a business man that recognized Deadpool as the mercenary he hasn’t been in a long while and accused him of setting the building on fire while simultaneously begging for his life. So Peter has to leave his post at the window and let Wade lower the few remaining people down while he goes and talks to the business man.

Peter easily finds the middle-aged man cowering in the corner and tries to calm him down. Although, it very quickly becomes apparent that he isn’t having any of it because “Anyone who works with Deadpool only thirsts for blood, and you will not have mine that easily!” Peter just huffs and picks him up like a potato sack, ignoring his shouting and struggling while he carries him to the window in his kitchen. Peter casts a new web and makes a quick harness, gets the man– who had stopped struggling real fast once he realized he was no longer inside– and lowers him down faster than he had for the others.

He meets up with Wade in the hallway, who apparently cleared the rest of the floor while Paranoid Man was causing a fuss, and they move down again. They hastily clear out most of the apartments on the third-to-top floor when Peter hears a shout and a gunshot from down the hallway. The only people there to lower the two small dogs he has on the line now are three siblings, the oldest being no older than 16 and the youngest no older than 10. Another gunshot forces Peter’s hand, though.

“Hey! Do you think you could lower these pups down while I go check that out?”

The oldest sibling, a girl with a pixie cut, ripped jeans, and a black sweatshirt, looks out the window and nods. She silently and shakily takes the webbing from him and starts to lower them. Peter doesn’t waste any time in sprinting down the hall to the last apartment where he last saw Wade disappear. Inside he finds a woman in her forties or fifties holding a gun to Wade’s unmoving body. Whether he’s dead or unconscious, he doesn’t know, but that doesn’t matter.

“Hey! What the hell, lady! We’re trying to help!” Peter stomps towards her.

“I’d rather die than be contaminated by freaks like you!”

His spidey-sense suddenly screams at him, and Peter jumps and rolls to the side just in time to dodge the bullet that would have hit his chest.

“What the fuck?!”

“Get out of my damn apartment!” she screams, pointing the gun at him again.

“Lady, there is literally a fire–”

“And I will not be saved by faggots like you!”

Oh… How fun… One of those people…

But she’s still a civilian, Peter reminds himself, and he really shouldn’t web her up in the corner of the room just because she’d rather die than accept help from someone who isn’t straight. No matter how much he kind of wants to right now. The fire probably won’t even reach this floor, anyway… But he still can’t.

“This is a matter of life and death for you, what the hell–” He jumps to the left to dodge another bullet.

“And I don’t fucking care!” She screams, “You can all go and burn in hell! But I won’t let myself be swayed by your cursed ways!” she shoots once more, and she should have only one shot left at most, if Peter’s counting right.

She doesn’t get to shoot again, though, because Deadpool comes up behind her and knocks her out.

“Do you know how close I was to killing her? Do you know how easy it’d still be to? God sometimes I wish I was still a mercenary. I mean, look at this! She got blood on my gay suit!” He complains, staring down at the woman disdainfully and poking at the single bullet wound in his chest.

Peter, instead of praising him for not killing her or explaining why they should keep her alive, just nods and jogs out of the apartment. He has other people he needs to save, afterall.

He pretends to not hear Wade’s gasp and sinister chuckle behind him.

He gets the siblings down, and Wade comes back with a dog and two cats in his arms, and the unconscious woman being dragged behind him by Wade’s new, golden whip (“Now I can be just like Wonder woman!” “Like who?” “Wonder Woman! She’s from the DC Universe and she’s my hero! Besides you, of course!” “Whatever you say, Wade…”). If anyone notices that he lowers the animals before he lowers the human, then they can deal with it. And if they notice that she has “BEWARE: HOMOPHOBIC ASSHOLE” written on her forehead in permanent marker, then it’s not his fault that he can’t control his boyfriend.

Looking out of the window this time, they realize that the fire has gone down quite a bit. Wade comes running back down the hallway– when did he even leave?– cheering that the fire escape was just covered in fire, but now it’s safe to walk on. Before Peter has the chance to ask if it was safe for civilians to walk on or just supers, Wade jumps in and clarifies that he pretty much cannon-balled onto it and it didn’t bend, and it was only pretty warm through his ruined suit, rather than very warm.

With that news (and after Peter tested it for himself), they waste no time in telling the other tenants they find to put thick shoes on and go down the fire escape. By the time they finish clearing the few people and animals left in the building, it’s pretty much dark out and some news stations are gathered around outside reporting what happened here for the nightly news.

“Excuse me, miss,” He hears Wade say to his right. He turns and finds him talking to a young police officer. “How did this fire start? And why’d it get so big?”

The young woman scowls a bit and opens her mouth to speak, but an older officer behind Peter interrupts her.

“Someone was trying to make a romantic dinner on the fourth floor and started an oil fire, then tried putting it out with water. It got so big because traffic was horrible today, and we just couldn’t make it here as quickly as we needed.” he smiles ruefully.

Peter turns to properly face the officer, “Do you know if anyone was seriously hurt?”

He shakes his head. “But we know that so far there haven’t been any deaths reported so far. Animal or human.”

Peter nods as Wade speaks. “Thank you, officer! We appreciate the work you do ‘round here, but we should get going!”

Peter takes his cue and starts walking towards the building across the street to climb up and swing off of.

“Hey,” the officer catches Peter and Wade’s attention, “I know a lot of other police officers don’t like you doing their job, but you’re doing some real good work out there. So thanks, Spiderman and Deadpool.”

Peter nods, not really knowing what else to do, while Wade openly gapes through his mask. He pulls the ex-merc towards him, and he immediately clings to Peter’s back. They’re gone pretty quickly after that.

“Babe! Baaabe!!” Wade shouts into his ear mid-swing, “That was amazing! We found someone who doesn’t hate us! And he thanked us!”

“I know!” He cheers back. It’s always nice to get some positive recognition.

Wade squeezes on to him tighter. “God, I’m so fucking glad I stopped murdering people.” He kisses the back of his neck through their suits. “I’m really glad I chose you. So happy... The happiest.” he continues quieter, more genuine.

If Peter didn’t know better, he would’ve thought he wasn’t supposed to hear that last part, that it was just meant for himself and his boxes. But, well, he does know better.

His brain decides to remind him of the ring he still has to buy by the end of tomorrow.

Peter’s spidey-senses start humming at the same time that Wade shouts that he saw a young man and a suspicious older woman in an alley shortcut. They easily stop the woman from assaulting the poor teen before she could try with the element of surprise on their side, then they escort him back to a more populated area where it should be safer. Both Peter’s and Wade’s stomachs growl at the scent of sandwiches, so they go in and order enough for an army before and climbing up to the nearest rooftop to take a very-much-needed food break. They sit down and start digging in.

Peter weighs the options of buying an engagement ring as Spiderman and risking outing his plans to everyone before he gets to properly propose to Wade, or somehow taking time out of their NHPC day plans (do nothing except go out to buy cheap candy together, cuddle, and munch on said candy) to buy a ring without being suspicious to the man whose job has always been finding people who don’t want to be found out.

“Hey Wade?”

Wade hums around his food and scoots more into Peter’s lap in lieu of a real response.

“I was thinking we could do something slightly different than usual tomorrow?” Peter leans a bit to the side to get a better view of Wade’s reaction. It isn’t a negative one, but it’s also not positive.

“Why? What’s up?” he asks once he swallows his food.

Peter shuffles a bit. “Well, I was thinking, since candy isn’t usually the only thing that’s half-priced tomorrow, we could maybe split up for, let’s say, an hour or two? Just to buy a cute present for each other or something–”

Wade’s excited gasp interrupts Peter. “Like those little stuffed animals that go right into clearance after Valentines? Or those super soft blankets and socks!” Wade squeals and waves his hands, flinging sandwich bits everywhere. “Petey-baby! You are brilliant! Like, I knew that already, but you’re just proving what we all already know! Even the boxes agree! Although, Yellow’s idea of a present is too close to Yandere simulator, but White thinks going down to Coney Island would be cool! But I don’t even think the rides are even open this early in the year. Besides! I just told you about it! So it isn’t a surprise anymore!” He points a finger high in the air and announces loudly, “Disqualified!”

Peter smiles as he absently listens to Wade go on and on about present-buying tomorrow. Now he just needs to find the perfect ring online and pick it up at the store. If he can’t find the perfect one on such short notice, he doubts Wade will mind if he got a unicorn plushie and a very soft blanket instead. The ring and proposal doesn’t have to be rushed, as much as Peter really wants it to be. How could he not, when his fiance would be a sarcastic asshole and secret sweetheart like Wade Winston Wilson?

Now the only important question left is, would it be Peter Wilson, Wade Parker, or Peter and Wade Wilson-Parker, or Parker-Wilson?

•◊•◊•◊•◊•

~> Next

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#spideypool #peter parker x wade wilson #isn't it bromantic #spideypool valentine's day challenge 2020 #nirlan's spideypool fanfics #nirlan's marvel fanfics

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chocogalf · 4 years

Text

The Departure

Well, I did said I was some kind of writer but I have yet to show it, so... Here is a little piece based on the game of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons. I really want to see that game being remade. Summary: The lands of Holodrum and Labrynna had recovered their peace. The Hero chosen by the Triforce has triumph over the forces of Darkness. Now it's time to leave and go back home. But there is one more thing that he needs to do before...

Pairing: LinkxZelda

World: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (after Oracle of Seasons)

At last, everything was over.

The terrible darkness caused by those witches was eradicated. Their servant Onox had been destroyed and his menace over Holodrum stopped; just like the Shadow Sorceress, Veran, who threatened the lands of Labrynna, met her end the same way. Unfortunately that didn't stop the Flames of Destruction and Sorrow from being enlighted, and the Flame of Despair was close to be too, but it was stopped just in time, and with that, their plan, the resurrection of the Great King of Evil, was fooled.

Everything thanks to the constant and great efforts of the young hero, chosen by the Triforce, Link.

Said young man was, at this moment, enjoying the soft breeze in the coast of Labrynna; searching for a little moment of peace and tranquility after various displays of gratitude and admiration that the inhabitants had shown him in the last few days after he recovered from his injuries; especially because of the statue that now was in Lynna City, courtesy of Queen Ambi.

Taking a deep breath, Link closes his eyes while the wind moves a little his hair and clothes.

— This really feels good…if there is something I'm going to miss from here, is going to be the calm that the beach has.

The hero opened his eyes a little when he says that; meditating once more that the time has come.

It was time to go from this land. His mission was over, the errand of the Triforce to save Holodrum and Labrynna was done, just like his role as the Hero.

— It's not that bad. A little of peace and quiet would do me very good after crazy seasons and time travels.

But it would be sad to say good-bye to everyone, that's for sure, even if it was time to part ways.

------

Calmly walking through the streets of the city, the blue hair of the Oracle of Ages waved softly from her movements and the morning breeze. Nayru was carrying a paper bag in her arms, which contained some bread; and was also softly singing a melody almost to herself.

But her song came to an end really quickly the moment she noticed her young childhood friend, Ralph. Honestly, the woman has lost count of the times she has asked herself how is he able to walk around without a problem having one of his eyes totally covered by his red hair, but she never had the courage to ask Ralph about it.

Instead, Nayru smiled when he got close enough.

— Hello, Ralph. How are you today?

— I'm very good, thanks for asking —Answers Ralph with a smile of his own, but then he looks with a little curiosity the bag that she was carrying —. Hey, Nayru, you should have told me that you were going shopping to help you.

Ralph tries to take that bag, but Nayru shakes her head while turning her body a little, to put the item out of reach from the young man; this time she had a playful smile on her face.

— Come on, Ralph; you know I'm not as fragile as I look. I think I can carry a bag with bread without my wellbeing being in danger.

Said guy put his hand behind his head, rubbing it a little with obvious embarrassment, even turning his eyes to the side for a moment.

— Well, yeah, but…it's just that, after everything that happened, I think that…

— It had been almost a week since then, Ralph —The Oracle interrupted him, but she was seeing him with gratitude in her eyes, thanking his concern — It's true that at the beginning it cost me a little to recover, but everything has passed, I'm fine now.

The red haired young man smiled a little after she said that she was fine, but before he could answer anything, both of them hear a group of childish and joyful loud voices.

— Miss Nayru!

The two of them looked behind, seeing four children coming close to them, as fast as their short looks could go.

— Good morning, children. Can I help you with something?

— Good morning, Miss Nayru! —Answers one of the little girls, with her hair in a couple of braids — We would like to know if we could hear you sing again!

Ralph put his hands on his waist, smiling softly; although he couldn't help his natural concern for Nayru, especially after what happened with the Sorceress of Shadows, he knows that there is no reason to say anything against some little kids that want to hear her sing.

— Oh, my! —The young lady smiles with tenderness because of what the little girl says and the way they are all looking at her. Carrying the bag in one arm, she puts her other hand on her cheek — You all wish so much for me to sing?

— Yes! — Say all the children at once, with obvious joy — Please!

Nayru and Ralph share a smile after that answer; looking at the little ones short after.

— I promise you that I'm going to sing to all of you soon, but you will have to wait a little longer. There are some things that I need to do first.

The kids couldn't hide their pouts of disappointment because of having to wait, but one of them didn't stay silent.

— I wanted to ask you if you knew where I could find the hero!

The rest of them see him like they just remembered that, but in an instant they were looking at Nayru again with renovated enthusiasm, nodding with their heads and supporting their friend's request.

The young woman, on the other hand, was just a little surprised because of the new question, blinking innocently for a moment, without taking her eyes off of the children.

— ''Where is Link''?

Moving their heads again in an affirmative motion, the little ones keep looking at her while she shared a new look with Ralph, this time with more doubt and curiosity.

— Do you have any idea?

But Ralph shakes his head, at the same time crossing his arms.

— I'm never aware of what he does, and today less of all days I know where he has gone.

With such answer, Nayru looks back to the impatient children.

— What do you need Link for?

The other girl of the group is the one that answers, putting both of her hands together in front of her chest.

— We want him to tell us more about what he saw in the world! And that he play with us too!

Smiling once again, the Oracle felt a little sorry for Link, who in the last days after his recovery, had been, for lack of a better word, harassed by the citizens of Lynna, especially the children; whom, the moment they saw the statue that Queen Ambi ordered to be made in the past, and noted the obvious similarity between it and Link, knowing already that he saved the Princess of Hope, make him in their greatest idol, and had pleaded to hear his adventures in numerous occasions, being the hero unable to say no to a children's request.

— Unfortunately, I don't know where our young here is right know, children. I'm so sorry.

All of them showed their disappointment once again, making Nayru feel a little guily of not being able to fulfill any of their two petitions that they make. Because of that, she decides to give them a little suggestion.

— Why don't you go to look for the princess? Maybe the hero is there, or she could be able to tell you wonders of the Kingdom of Hyrule.

It did not take long for all the kids to recover their hope and joy with that idea, answering the same girl that told what they wanted from Link.

— That's right! Surely he is with the princess! After all, they had been together a lot of times after he rescued her!

The other girl put her hands in her chest, sighing dreamily at the comment.

— Ah…It's so romantic!

Typically, both boys made a face between the confusion and a little disgust, no seeing the same thing as the girls at the idea of the Hero and the Princess Together.

— Let's go see if he is there, then!

But before they go, the children looked to Nayru once again, giving a little nod with their heads and speaking at the same time.

— Thank you very much, Miss Nayru!

— You are welcome, children —Tenderly smiling once more, she watched the kids turn around and go search for the princess —. It looks like Link really got popular around here.

Ralph grunt a little at that, but shortly after he smiled with his eyes closed, shaking his head with false resignation.

— To me it seems that they make him material for a fairy tale.

Curious for the comment, Nayru looked directly at him, being very noticeable in her eyes that she wanted to know what he meant by that. The young man rapidly started to explain.

— I'm talking about that the girls said. The way they take the situation of Link with the Princess.

The lady opened her mouth, forming a little circle with it, showing her understanding, and a little later she sweetly smiles once again.

— Well, it's just that they are right about that. The Princess and the Hero had spent a lot of time together, since Link rescued her from the witches Twinrova.

— Don't tell me you too sees it as something romantic?

Ralph was looking at her with some incredulity, like he also couldn't believe that there was something special in all that. That behavior so similar to the one the little innocent boys had made Nayru unable to stop the soft laugh that escape from her.

— To tell you the truth…is a little hard to Not see it that way, considering the behavior that both of them had showed since everything ended.

She smiled once again to her old friend, but at the same time she was remembering the events that happened after Link came back with Zelda safely.

----

After some time of anguish, watching how the hopelessness invaded more and more the hearts of the people, this was at last eradicated with a ray of light that appeared in front of the Maku Tree; whom like everyone present, opened her eyes with surprise and you to see Link appear, being accompanied by Princess Zelda, who was completely unharmed.

Although the same couldn't be said about Link, whose clothes were ripped in different places, and was covered in dust, just like his face and his hands. Clear proves of a hard battle. But none of it could take his victory smile off of his face.

— Princess! —The silence caused by the surprise was broken by the robust woman, Impa, who rapidly went to the young princess' side, taking her in her strong arms and putting her against her chest— Oh, princess! I'm so glad that you came back safely!

Zelda smiled with one of her eyes closed, having a little hard time enduring the strong hug of her guardian, being also unable to returning because both of her arms were unable to move in that grip.

— I'm very glad to see you again too, Impa. And if I'm safe, it's all thanks to the young hero, Link.

Putting the princess down, letting her stand up more comfortably in the ground once more, Impa turned around to said hero, who was now smiling with a little apprehension at the idea of being the new victim of one of those joyful but also very powerful hugs.

However, what the old woman did is put one hand on his head, which, because of the different in their sizes, practically covered all of it; even making Link to bend a little because of that weight over his head.

— Very well, done, my boy! You had made and excellent job! —She rubbed his head with her big hand, completely ruffling his hair. Link shut his eyes a little at this, but he was also happily smiling for the compliments— You are really unstoppable!

The young man laughed a little because of those words.

— Oh, come on, Impa! It's nothing like that!

— But it is.

Link turned around at the new but familiar voice; seeing both Oracles together, both smiling, although Din was a little more playful, while Nayru was a little more sweet. Also, the redhead has her arms crossed, her companion, on the other hand, has her hands resting in front of herself.

— Din! Nayru!

— You had proved to be incredibly strong, without comparison, Link —Said Din in the same posture —. You saved Holodrum, and myself, of the terrible Onox.

— And you helped the people of Labrynna from the past and the present, also rescuing me from the evil Veran —Continued the Oracle of Ages, also looking at the young man —. You are undoubtedly a hero whose force should be recognized.

The swordsman couldn't help but scratch his cheek a little embarrassed, not being that accustomed to receive comments like that even after all he has done and everywhere he has go. But before he was able to say anything, he felt someone getting close to him, and looking in that direction, he saw that it was the young princess.

— I, too…I wanted to thank you too, for all you had done. I don't know what would any of us would have done if it wasn't for you —The girl was with her eyes downcast, having a very adorable embarrassed expression on her face, more obvious because of the blush that was on her cheeks —. Holodrum, Labrynna, Hyrule…and myself, all would be had been lost without you —She continued while closing her eyes, the blush covering even more of her face, murmuring the last word —…Thank you…

And before she lost her courage, Zelda lifted her head to put her lips in Link's face, giving a soft and sweet kiss on the cheek at the hero; whose eyes wide opened with surprise, also getting an enormous blush in his face while the princess keeps her own, but tried to covered turning around and covering with adorable innocence here face with her fists, although both of her closed eyes were still visible.

Everyone, with the exception of the Maku Tree, watched with amusement how the young boy was moving his body dizzily from side to side, having a very goofy smile on his still very red face.

— Well, maybe he is not so unstoppable! A kiss from the princess is enough to leave our hero unable to continue!

Both youngsters reacted at Impa's comment, blushing even a little more when they remembered that there were more people with them, but later they shared a smile that was not unnoticed by anybody.

However, taking another look at Link, the princess knew that there were other things to attend, criticizing herself for not noticing it sooner.

— Link, we better go to get you checked of those injuries. None of us know what exactly happened, but it's more than obvious that it was a very hard battle.

Everyone watched at the hero with concern, who also checked himself the state of his clothes, and the dust that covered a lot of parts of his body.

— Don't worry, princess, I don't think is that serious.

But she shakes her head, looking at him with even more concern.

— Please. I'm sure that you will be better once with check your injuries and take care of them.

— I agree with the princess. Link, we could go all to my house to take care of that.

Link looked at Nayru the moment she made that offer, noting how Din was also watching him with concern, and the request in her eyes to go along with that they say. Looking back at Zelda, she was still watching him, telling him with her eyes to fulfill her wish.

Smiling softly, he nodded before speaking.

— All right, thank you very much.

All of them smiled with relief, but it would be the princess who once again got closer to him to put softly her right hand on Link's left arm, grabbing him with her fingers. Naturally, they both blushed at this.

— Let's go then, the faster we do it, the better.

The rest of them was still smiling, but with more amusement at the scene before them. But the smiles vanished from the faces just a couple of steps later; the moment they hear the sharp breath of Link, who opened his eyes widely before his body starting to fall forward. Fortunately, Zelda was already at his side, so she easily turned to grab him and support him using her left arm, avoiding his fall.

— LINK!

The women looked with much worry how Link's body was left hanging against the princess, who was still supporting him for a moment before going down slowly, getting on her knees and putting Link in a more comfortable position in her arms, seeing more clearly his unconscious face.

— Link! ...Link!

Zelda keep calling him with anguish, until she felt a big hand on her shoulder; it was really easy to know to whom it belonged, but she still turned her head to see her caretaker, who was smiling in a comforting way, but in her eyes one could easily see her worry for the boy.

— Don't worry, princess…he is just unconscious. It looks like he was at the limit of his energy, and his body couldn't take it any longer. Link just needs a rest.

The young monarch looked at the fallen hero once again, who was, fortunately, breathing normally. Just like Impa said, he was apparently just sleeping.

A little calmer after knowing this, Zelda removed tenderly some hairs that were against his forehead, still looking directly at his face.

— Rest well, my hero…you certainly deserve it.

Impa, Din and Nayru keep their eyes on the image that the princess with the hero in her arms was giving. None of them could deny the great tenderness that that scene provoked on them, even if they were still worried for Link's sudden faint.

It was because of that, that moments later Impa asked Zelda to let her carry Link, being obvious that to her would be much more easier than anybody to take him to Nayru's home. Doubting just for an instant, the princess let Impa take care of him, easily lifting him in her arms. Just like that, the complete group started their way to the house of the Oracle of Labrynna.

----

— After that, the princess rarely was not near Link's side, even more so when he was unconscious.

When Nayru finishes her story, she and Ralph were already in her house. She goes to the table to put the paper bag on it.

— And then? They were still together all the time after that?

— Well, not all the time, obviously —While responding, Nayru started to search for something in her kitchen, open one door after another in the cupboard —. But yes, they were seen together a lot of times. With the way they were getting close with each other that day, it should had to be expected that, when everything got better, they wanted to know each other more and more.

— So that's why the little girls have the idea that everything it's like a romantic fairy tale.

— Oh come on, Ralph —She looked at the redhead with a playful smile while using her hands to investigate inside the cupboard, taking a basket out of it — It's not obvious? They almost just met, but they are already behaving like the presence of the other affect them noticeably. It's like they are destined to one another.

Ralph couldn't help but smile at her words. He never thought that Nayru could be a hopeless romantic. She is without a doubt a sweet and gentle woman, but never had he heard her talk about love.

— Well, leaving the fairy tale aside —He started to say at the moment she starts to put some bread in the basket — What are you doing, exactly?

Without stopping her work, the Oracle answers.

— I'm packing provisions.

— Eh? Provisions? —Ralph was now even more confused, no taking her eyes off of her while she keep doing that — For what? I didn't know you were going anywhere.

— It's not me who is leaving, Ralph.

This was being really confusing for the poor boy, who was now scratching his head with his right hand.

— Then… to whom is that for?

Now Nayru stops what she was doing to look at her friend, looking a little curious and surprised for his question.

— You didn't know? ...Link is leaving today.

----

— So, you are really leaving?

Link looks at one of his travel companions with a little and sad smile. That kangaroo that helped him so much in the road that seemed impossible to cross. Just like that big blue and winged bear that was at his side. Although it was impossible to read his expression, his head low indicate that he, too, was affected by the notice just like the other two.

— I'm so sorry, guys. But I cannot stay here. My home is somewhere else.

He puts his hand on the red Dodongo's head, who, like the rest, give him his help and support when he needed him the most. It would be said Dodongo who answer him for him and his companions.

— We understand, Link. Your duty has ended, and now you must return to your home.

Link smiled once again at them before feeling how Ricky and Moosh get close to him too, just enough to hug him; at least in Ricky's case, to the winged bear it was easy to just be close to Link and feel how he put his right arm over his neck, without stopping to caress Dimitri's head with his left hand.

— I'm really going to miss you, guys! —Said Link laughing slightly, but there can be heard some sadness in his voice, naturally for the farewell.

The boxing kangaroo pulled apart from him to look at Link with a smile.

— Surely we will see each other again one day. We don't have to get all sad!

The Hylian looked at him for a moment before widely smiling too, even showing his teeth before lifting his right fist, hitting lightly Ricky's glove

— You're right! We will see each other again!

----

Inside the woods close to Lynna City, there was the dancer of Holodrum, the Oracle of Seasons, Din. She was looking at one of the two people that were with her at the moment, specifically to the smaller one.

— You will go? Just like that?

The person takes a soft breath, having her eyes closed for a few moments before opening them, showing their clear blue color. Princess Zelda spoke calmly at Din's question.

— I have already showed my gratitude before the city for their hospitality, and also announced my departure.

�� It's not them who I'm talking about and you know it. Come on, princess; since he ended with the terrible Twinrova and the fearsome Ganon that you two were inseparable. It's easy to see that you had not spoken to him about this.

Zelda turned her eyes a little, blushing for the woman's affirmation that she and the hero had been together for a lot of time since that moment.

— Link is also leaving soon, surely today. And he also has not said anything to me.

— I'm sure that he will be looking for you soon. He will not leave without speaking to you.

The princess shakes her head, closing her eyes once again. Impa, who was at her side, looks at her with pity.

— Probably Link, just like me…doesn't know how to take a farewell between us.

That made the redhead smile softly, also having some pity in her eyes while she gets closer to the girl. Feeling her right hand on her shoulder, Zelda lifts her eyes to look at Din.

— Everything will be fine, you'll see. If something has been obvious for me since I had seen the two of you, is that you share a very special bond.

Blushing once more for what the Oracle is saying, the princess looks down once again. Such reaction caused that Din's smile wide a little more.

— Just remembering how you reacted when he woke up is more than enough.

----

It had been two days since Link stopped the terrible menace that was Ganon and rescued Princess Zelda. Unfortunately, it had also been two days since said hero fainted after his glorious victory, and he has yet to wake up.

During this time, the young monarch had not leave his side unless it was absolutely necessary, which were just a very few times, considering that she even has been sleeping close to the hero.

Right now she was sitting at the side of the bed were Link was resting. To her comfort she was wearing a light dress that Nayru lend to her. Zelda was grabbing his left hand, the one that has the mark of the Triforce, using both of her hands softly.

— How is he?

The princess turned her head to look at the Oracle of Seasons, who was looking between her and the hero, in the end keeping her eyes on Zelda to hear her response. Din gets a little dishearten when she see the girl slowly shake her head.

— The same as before. He seems to just be sleeping. But there had not been any signs for his awakening yet.

Wanting to show her support, the redhead put her hand on her shoulder, pressuring tenderly with her fingers.

— I'm sure he will wake up soon. We have to consider that when he just finished the Sorceress of Shadows, the Twinrova witches did not gave him any time to recover his strength, and he went in that instant to finish them.

She knows that this is not Din's intention; but the fact that she tells her that Link surpassed his own limits to save her made Zelda feel guilty. She looks downcast, thinking about that if Twinrova had not been able to capture her, Link wouldn't be in this condition.

— It's my fault…

Din was surprised the moment she hears that, not expecting for the princess to take her words that way. Hurriedly she shakes her head, wanting to put her off of that mistake.

— Of course not! It was not your fault what those witches did!

— Yes it is. If I had been able to protect myself better, if I had been able to avoid being taken, Link would had been able to rest from his battle against Veran; he would not had had to go running still fatigued to save me after winning his last fight.

The Oracle frowned a little seeing how Zelda was still blaming herself for the unconscious state of Link, but that did not stop her to try to change her mind.

— Zelda, you don't have to feel bad for that. Nobody could prevent that from happening, none of us who were there was able to avoid it. It was not your fault.

But the princess was still unable to hear reasons, keeping her eyes closed while still shaking her head.

— Yes, it was! Because of me, Link is like this!

— No, that's not true…

Both women opened widely their eyes with great surprise because of the new voice that was heard in the conversation. One that they had not hear in two days.

— Link!

The two of them looked at the young man in the bed, happily watching how his eyes were a little open: and even if they looked a little heavy from being just woken up, they were locked in the princess: who couldn't help that her own eyes watered more than they already were, although now where from undoubted happiness to see that the hero has awaken.

— This was not your fault, princess…it was Twinrova's, Ganon's fault. I decided to go for you without losing any second. I was not going to let those too keep you prisoner for a long time. It would have been impossible to live with myself if I had let you there for more time that you had to endure…

Din, seeing that to those two only existed one another at that moment, started to go back slowly, giving them both a smile and going out of the house to search for Nayru and Impa, and give them the good news that the dear hero has at last opened his eyes.

She found them both in the forest where Nayru usually sings to the animals. Said young woman was sitting in her usual log, while Impa was standing next to her, with her hands on her hips.

— Hey! I have great news! Link woke up!

Both Impa and Nayru were gladly surprised at what Din just said, not taking long for each of them to show clear joy in their faces. The Oracle of Ages stands up hurriedly.

— That's wonderful news! I was starting to fear that it would take longer for that to happen…

— Fortunately it was not like that. It looks like our hero has rested more than enough!

— Come on! I want to see the boy!

Din smiled a little mischievously when Impa said that. Putting one finger on her lips and closing her left eye, she said sofly with a mischievous tone.

— Maybe we should wait a little while…

The two other women blinked a little confused about the redhead statement; sharing a doubtful look before the blue haired lady decided to ask.

— Why do you say that, Din?

Widening her smile, the Oracle of Seasons decided to take them to Nayru's house, being followed by the two still confused women. When they were in front of the door, Din put her finger on her lips once again, winking, asking them to keep quiet before opening the door slowly and quietly; then she indicates both of them to look through the gap.

Very curious, both women did what the dancer told them, placing themselves to look both inside the house; naturally Nayru was slightly under Impa to accomplish that.

Their eyes opened widely at the image that was presented over the bed.

The Princess of Hyrule was sitting at the border of the bed, in a position in where she was able to hide her face in Link's chest, grabbing the fabric of his shirt with both of her hands, pulling it a little with her fingers. Meanwhile, Link was softly caressing from her head to her back, over her long and little reddish hair.

From the distance that they were, the watchers were able to hear the girl murmuring things like "I'm sorry", "What a relief" or "Thank you" in a way that they can assume that the princess is or had been crying. In the same way they could hear Link whispering "Everything is okay" while he was tenderly cooing her in his arms, having his eyes closed.

Not wanting to interrupt the moment, carefully the spectators get away from the door, closing it the same way that it was opened.

The smile on Din's face was even more noticeable now. The situation was way better than she expected.

— See? We better wait a little longer.

The other two looked at her, it seemed that they were still in a little shock from what they just saw; but a little later, a smile formed on both of their lips, looking at the door for a moment before looking back at Din, nodding with their heads.

----

— Y-You…you saw that?!

The princess hadn't been able to stop the blush on her face in all the time the dancer was talking about that day, and she herself started remembering about what happened; but knowing that Impa, Nayru and Din were spying on them even if it was just for a moment while they were in a very intimate situation embarrass her a lot.

— I couldn't help it! You two are so cute!

Impa, who had been silent in all the conversation, started to laugh loudly when Din said that with both hands on her cheeks, smiling like the one in love was her.

— I agree with Din! You and Link looked really cute at that moment!

— Impa! You too?!

Zelda looked at her caretaker with wide eyes, making said woman laugh even more.

— I'm sorry, my child. It's just that one couldn't help but think that seeing you two!

What Zelda couldn't help was a little pout for the teasing that both women are giving her. But suddenly the jokes stopped when Din returns her attention to her, looking her with a much more serene expression.

— Are you really sure this is the best way? Not saying anything?

At the change of topic, the princess also changed her expression, seeming much more melancholic.

— I wouldn't know what to tell him, honestly…

The present Oracle let out a soft sigh, looking back at Zelda a little after; this time smiling in a comforting way.

— Well, nobody can force you to do anything. If that's the way you want to do it, that's fine.

But by the look in the younger one has in her face, and the way that is avoiding looking at either of them, it was obvious that it was not the way she wanted to do it, but was not sure what else to do.

----

— Are you sure you had not seen her anywhere?

— No, Link. I'm sorry, but I had not seen the princess today…

The young man looked a little disheartened with his eyes downcast at Nayru's response, to who he goes to see not only to formally said good bye; but also to ask her the whereabouts of a special someone.

— It's really strange, no matter how many people I ask in the city, nobody seems to know where she is…

Looking at him with pity, the young woman asked herself why the princess couldn't be found anywhere. Or better yet, the fact that is Link of all people who could not find her, considering the past few days.

— Don't worry. I'm sure that she will show up soon enough, and you will be able to say good bye to her —Nayru then goes to the table to take the basket that she prepared earlier today, returning to Link to give it to him —. Here, for your trip.

Link smiled at the present that the singer gave to him, looking then at her with gratitude that he would not doubt to say it out loud.

— Thank you very much, Nayru.

— No —She shakes her head, closing her eyes and smiling softly — Thank You, Link. You saved me from Veran's darkness, and not only me, but also everyone in Labrynna, from this age and the past one.

Carrying the basket in one arm, the hero rubbed the back of his head with his left hand.

— I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help that everyone gave me. Especially the one from your harp.

The Oracle looked at him, having an almost motherly smile in her lips. This boy is, without a doubt, more than a worthy chosen of the goddesses, of the Triforce. The lands of Holodrum, Labrynna, and the kingdom of Hyrule are all very lucky to be able to count with someone like him.

— Have a safe trip, Link. If fate does want it, probably we shall see each other again. And once again, don't worry; I'm sure you will find Princess Zelda soon.

Nodding with his head, Link thanked her for the provisions basket; he waves his left hand and turn around to go out of the house; wishing to find that person that he is looking for.

-----

— We are ready to sail, Princess.

She hears the Captain's voice while she was resting against the border of the ship. For respect the princess looked at him, nodding.

— All right, Captain. Lift anchors and set sail.

— As you wish, Your Highness.

Turning around, the captain started to order his crew to lift the anchor and get ready to sail. Meanwhile, Zelda returned her attention to the land that she is leaving; knowing that somewhere in there is Link…probably searching for her.

— Are you sure you made the right decision?

The princess tightened a little her fist over the wood the moment she hears Impa's voice.

— I told you already, Impa. I wouldn't have known how to handle the situation.

— But it's not something permanent. After all, Link is from Hyrule, it's obvious that you are going to see each other again. It would not have been a Good bye, but a See you later.

— It's still not easy…furthermore, after traveling over all the land of Holodrum and Labrynna, and be a hero in both of them, what if Link finds that is not enough to establish himself back in Hyrule? I don't know what I would do if he tells me that…

The older woman put her hand on the right shoulder of the girl, who looked and her with an expression that shows her need for comfort; for someone to tell her something to calm her anguish.

— I cannot guarantee what Link is going to think…but I think is very possible that You can. It was not a long time, but you two get to know each other really well, didn't you?...

Zelda get lost in her thoughts after her guardian's words. One specific phrase in particular.

It was true, even if it was not a long time that they got to be together; there was something about Link that made her feel like she has known him her whole life. Something that made her knew that she could trust him, and it was more than just for the fact that he saved her and the entire world. It was not only counting on him as a hero, but also as a person. And at the same time, there was something that made Zelda able to understand him very well, that made them able to understand each other.

----

Feeling the soft breeze and the sweet scent of the forest; the young pair of Link and Zelda were peacefully resting against a tree. The princess was sitting with her legs against her chest, hugging them with both of her arms; the hero, on the other hand, was laying in the grass, with his hands under his head, smiling pleasantly and with his eyes closed.

It was a comforting and relaxing silence, both of them enjoying the company of one another. Away from the hustle of the city, being both of them wanted, even if it was for different reasons, by the people.

Zelda take advantage of that moment of tranquility to look at her companion. The way his hair softly waved because of the wind. That relaxed position that he was presenting. But more especially, the smile that he has on his lips…one full of peace and joy. Like he was finally content and happy, after so long.

----

She understands him…it's possible that Link is not going to stop being a hero if the people needs him. But that does not mean that he is going to go looking for that honor and glory. No, if there is something that he is going to enjoy more than helping those in need, is relaxing after everything is fixed and at peace.

He will not think that is not enough to stay in the Kingdom of Hyrule. In his home…

— Impa!

Said woman smiled pleasantly, knowing perfectly that Zelda has made her decision.

----

A group cry came from the children, who were looking at Link with their eyes full of tears, which were spilling down their faces.

— Don't go, Link!

The poor hero was looking very sorry and remorseful because of not being able to do what the children are asking him. Trying to calm them, he crouched in front of them; but they surprised him when they cling to him, hugging him any way they can and making him lose his balance for a moment. But he was able to maintain his posture and uses both of his arm to surround them as much as he was able to, obviously because of his size, Link wasn't able to surround all of the children.

— Please forgive me, but I have to do it. It's time for me to go back home.

The kids keep crying against his body. All was seen by other citizens of Lynna, among them were Nayru, Din and Ralph. Everyone was softly smiling, but they were also affected by the sadness the children displaying for Link's departure.

— Children… —The Oracle of Ages got closer to where they are, resting her hands on her knees and bending a little — If Link wants to go home, we cannot do anything about it. You wouldn't like it if someone didn't let you to go home, right?

Whimpering a little, one of the children answered.

— B-But…Link could live here! This could be his home!

Nayru shakes her head, crouching like Link but with her legs closed, resting her arms a little crossed over her knees.

— It's not possible, children. Link has people that are waiting for him. Someone who is wishing for his return.

The young swordsman couldn't help but look away when Nayru said that. Truthfully, the only person that could wait for his return, left without him…

He is still unable to comprehend why Zelda left without saying anything. Also, weren't they both going to Hyrule? Maybe they could had go back together…or maybe she needed to do other stops, take care of more things, before going back to the kingdom. But that still doesn't explain why she did not say good bye.

— Come on, children. You don't want Link to remember you with your little faces covered in tears, right?

Link was pulled out of his thoughts the moment he hears Din's voice, who also got close to them to calm the little kids. One by one each one of them get off him; some of them still whimpering a little, others trying to clean their faces with one arm. Once the last one get off him, the young man stands up once again.

— Kids, I have a proposition to all of you.

All of the children looked at him with curiosity for what he said, even some of the adults were curious about what he was going to say.

— How about you learn from everything I had told you? Any of you could become a great adventurer. And when that happens, I'm sure that we could see each other again, and maybe we could have and adventure together.

The kids keep their eyes on him for a moment before they understand what Link is asking them; in that instant wide smiles formed on their faces, their eyes full of hope.

— Yes! Yes! I'm going to be an adventurer and we could be heroes together!

— I promise you that I'm going to be the greatest adventurer ever!

— We could go around the world together?!

All of them were speaking at the same time and it was a little hard to understand them, but the young man still smiled at them, nodding with his head.

— That's right. But to do that you need to stay here and practice, train. And when you are great adventurers, we could find each other!

Screaming with joy at the idea, the children go back to their parents to start talking about their plants about the hero's request. Said hero could only see with embarrassment at the hope that he awoke in the children, feeling more embarrassed with the way the Oracles were smiling at him.

— It looks like you have your way with children.

Like it was regular from him, Link rubbed the back of his head at such words.

— Well…I'm not that far from being one, am I? It's normal that I am able to do something.

— You are a man, Link. Maybe a little young, but you are definitely a man.

Said "man" looked at Din after she said that, which she answered with an amused smile.

— Come on, it would be best that you leave before the children find another reason to ask you to stay.

Nodding, Link hurriedly turned around to go to his boat, in which he climbs up and makes sail, not taking long in start being pushed by the wind. Once the boat starts to move and it gets more and more in open sea, Link turn around once again, this time because of the farewell shouts that the people that came to see him off was giving him. Watching how a lot of them were waving their arms, the young man decided to do the same, lifting his left arm and starting to move it from side to side.

— Good bye, Link! Thank you for everything!

— Whenever you want to come back, Labrynna will always welcome you with open arms!

— Don't forget about us, please!

He couldn't help but smile at what were they shouting at him, but once he was far enough that he almost can't hear or see them, Link slowly put his hand down and goes back to think about the person that wasn't there, or anywhere where he looked for that day.

What could be Zelda's motive to leave that way? It was that she did not wanted to say good bye? Didn't how to do it? To be honest he himself found it hard to imagine the way that he was going to say farewell to the princess. Even if them both were residents of Hyrule, she is its ruler, while he is just a commoner whose actions where unknown to almost everyone there. He wouldn't know if it would be possible for them to meet, to be together like they were in Labrynna. Zelda will have more obligations to fulfill; duties that she won't be able to put aside just because he want to spend time together to walk around the fields.

— Link!...

Will they be able to find some time to be together? Would it be possible? He knows that Zelda won't cast him aside just for something like social status. But what he doesn't know it's what she will have to deal with just to be with him, just another subject of her kingdom.

— Link!...

Maybe he should enlist in the kingdom's army. It would be logical, right? Being a soldier of the royal family, maybe he could have more chances to be near said royal…

— LINK!

The swordsman jumped out of surprise because of that scream, and hurriedly starts to look around. The first thing that he notices if the vast sea, but shortly after he starts paying attention he notices the elegant ship that was coming to his direction. But it's not entirely the ship that got his attention; it was the young woman that was on the ship's bow, with her hands near her mouth to uses them like a megaphone.

Her long and reddish blonde hair, her pink dress with a white cape, and the golden accessories, make her totally easy to recognize.

— Princess?!

The girl laughs when the ship is near him, making his boat sway a little by the movement of the sea water, but not enough to overturn it. Shortly after the ship stopped, Link sees a ladder being hanged at the side that was near him.

But the boy was in a middle of a shock. He doesn't know what the hell is going on. Because of that Link didn't react until he hears that same sweet voice once again.

— Climb on, Link! Please!

Shaking his head a little to get over his shock, Link looked at his cargo for a moment, then at the ladder. Deciding that the more safe decision is to climb up without anything, the young man goes to the border of his boat to extend his arms to the ladder, taking it with one hand to secure it, and then putting one foot on it, followed shortly by the other. Secured, Link starts to climb it up to the ship's deck.

Once he is up there, the moment he stands up in the deck, Link feels a pair of arms softly encircling around him, and Zelda's head resting against his shoulder.

— P-Princess…!...W-what…?!...

— Forgive me.

She interrupts him while hugging him a little tighter, hiding her face even more against Link's right shoulder. To said guy it would take a moment, but he eventually ignored everything else and slowly hugs her back, putting his arms around her waist. After he does that, Zelda's body relaxed against him.

— I'm sorry for leaving like that, without saying anything. And for not letting you say good bye…

Link looks at her sideways, still hugging her, curious for what she was going to explain about said situation.

— I really did not know how to do it. The idea of saying farewell to you was really hard to bare to me…I didn't…I didn't know what you could have told me. I was afraid that you would tell me that you were not going back to Hyrule, that you will leave to some other places to have more adventures.

He opened his eyes widely with great surprise because of Zelda's confessions about what her worries were. Link opened his mouth to try to clear it to her.

— But, princess!...I…!

— I know —Zelda interrupts him again, nodding with her head still against his shoulder —. Now I know it very well. You wouldn't do that. Forgive me, I should have assumed that sooner and we could have avoided all of this.

Slowly she separate a little from him, just enough to look at Link in the eyes; and being more daring, Zelda put her forehead against Link's, both blushing for that, but neither of them did anything to put some distance again.

— I don't know what is happening, Link. I just know that I can feel a very special bond between us. A bond that I would like to see how strong it can be…

The princess was looking at him timidly, with her face a little downcast but her eyes were upwards to keep looking at his own. Such image and the young lady's words make Link blush even more. Gaining confidence for the closeness that they have thanks to Zelda, he put his left hand on her face, tenderly caressing it without separating their foreheads.

— I would like that too, Princess…

— Zelda… —Whisper said princess with plea tone, looking at him with a small and sweet smile — Call me Zelda, please…

— Zelda… —Accepted the young man, also smiling — I don't know what the destiny is preparing for us, but I would love to discover it by your side.

Making and affirmative noise while nodding very briefly with her head, the princess closes hear eyes, now just simply hugging Link, leaning against him.

At least until both hear a certain someone clearing her throat, causing that both youngsters freezes instantly, then giving their attention at where that sound came from, looking at Impa who was watching them with her hands on her hips and a very wide smile full of joy and amusement.

— Well, you lovebirds, although all of this is really adorable, maybe would prefer to leave it to some other time!

Both Link and Zelda blushed with embarrassment when they remembered that their moment together was watched by whoever wanted to see it in the ship. But after sharing a look between them, the hero and the princess couldn't help but start to laugh, first softly, then in a more open way.

— We are sorry, Impa —Said the young girl once they stop their laughs, but the smile was still in her lips —. I promise you that next time we will be careful to not make a scene in public.

— Oh no, don't worry about that. I love how adorable you two can be!

The three of them shared another laugh, being Zelda who once again talks after that, this time to Link.

— Are you ready for this new journey?

The Hero of the Essences of Nature and Time smiled sweetly at the lovely princess.

— I'm ready to go with you anywhere, Princess Zelda.

#ZeLink #LinkxZelda #Princess Zelda #Link #The Legend of Zelda #Oracle of Ages #Oracle of Seasons #Oneshot #Fanfic

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