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of-elves-and-mad-hatters · 3 years

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“The Azure Sky” - Chapter 4 - Lego Elves

Shadows to the Brightest Flame: Series

- The legacy of Lumia’s influence is scarred eternally into the lands of Elvendale. Burdened by a prophecy foretelling her demise and need for a successor, she watches for one capable of such power. Yet her enemies are working steadily to undo all she’s labored so long for, and it is millenia too late to make peace.

Emily Jones, heir to Eimileen, is a bold girl dedicated to protecting Elvendale, but the world she has grown so fond of is not so black and white as it seems, and the titles of Guardian of Portal and Guardian of Light may hold darker legacies some ancient elves have worked tirelessly to hide.

In conjunction with the extended version of the Guardian of Light prophecy I wrote previously

Basically a rewrite of all of the Lego Elves & Secrets of Elvendale storylines with an additional arc beyond the Season 4: Into the Shadows. There will be a varying degree of deviation from canon.

Technically a crossover with Lord of the Rings/Hobbit/Silmarillion in terms of worldbuidling, as I set Elvendale as being north of Middle-Earth, cause this is fanfic and I can. So there will be mentions of the Noldor, Sindar, Silvan, and some Tolkien characters, but they will be mostly background. Definitely not an issue if you aren’t familiar with the Middle-Earth fandom; everything will still be easy to understand.

Book 1: The Azure Sky

Grieving over the unexpected death of her grandmother, Emily Jones is accidentally trapped in another world. Befriending a few young elves in an attempt to find her way home, Emily discovers many secrets about her grandmother’s past, but for every truth she learns two more questions take its place, leaving her vulnerable to darker force inhabiting this realm.

A rewrite of Unite the Magic

____________________________________________

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

____________________________________________

Chapter 4

Emily watches the golden light of early sunset reflects upon the surface of the ocean, changing shape and hue as the waves roll. The gentle rhythm is soothing, distancing her from the events of the past couple of weeks.

Peaceful, content.

She shifts her position on the wooden bench. She feels the edge of a splinter catch the hem of her shorts, sighs.

It’s all too real to be a dream.

The admittance is not as terrifying as it should be, being trapped in a strange world, but it certainly a beautiful one, vibrant, angelic. A part of her truly would rather stay here a thousand years than suffer another day on Earth, a voice that cares not whether they succeed in finding a way to return her home.

That wistful dream shatters when she thinks of her parents and her little sister, Sophie, wondering where she could be, having only gone to wander in her grandmother’s garden. They would never learn the truth, the mystery forever haunting them.

She leans her head over, watching the water, frowns. “Have we stopped?”

“No, Em,” Azari calls from above the cabin. “We’re just going so fast you can’t feel it.”

“Actually,” Naida corrects, “We’ve stopped. The wind’s died down.”

“Oh! I could build a windmill! Or some wings…” Aira bubbles.

“Someone’s desperate to build something,” smirks Azari.

Farran raises an eyebrow. “Aira, you control the wind.”

Aira pouts. “Fine.” She stands at the bow, raising her hands towards the sky. She starts to sing, or screach. The other elves clamps their hands over their ears as her voice raises in volume. A gale gathers above their heads and with the final note floods the sails. The boat begins to cut across the water.

Keeping her eyes on the map, Naida guides the water telekinetically. Azari makes her way down, sighing with boredom. “How much farther is it…” The boat stops.

Aira frowns. “That gale should have kept us going…”

“It’s alright,” Naida soothes. She strides over to let down the anchor. “We’re here.”

“But where is here, exactly? All I see is a bunch of ocean,” Azari questions, “No offense.”

“The map wouldn’t lead us astray.” As the water elf finishes, new runes appear on the righthand corner of the map.

“The deep shelters all things from curious eyes

Fates of those who should not have dared the sea

Graves graced with the memorials of strangers

Bones piled high and crowned with mermaid’s tears.” Naida reads aloud.

“Well that doesn’t sound foreboding,” Farran chuckles nervously.

The water elf ignores him and turns to the human girl. “Emily, what do you think of all of this?”

Emily shrugs, feeling once again as though she were being tested. “Well, I can barely believe I’m on a boat with elves and in a land with mermaids to begin with, but um, I remember my grandmother telling me that mermaid’s tears were pearls.”

Naida’s eyes shine with approval. “Well remembered.” She turns and bends down, lifting an ornamental rug to reveal a viewing port in the bottom of the boat. Through the glass a shipwreck can be seen. It is strangely arrayed, fully covered in coral and other sea plants, but the wood seems perfectly preserved, almost petrified. The reef extends up a rocky mound towering above the fragmented structure. Intermixed with the coral are hundreds of bones, separated and scattered but perfectly intact, even the skulls. Atop are nestled a group of large oysters, their shells muted in typically muddy greys and browns.

“So the key is inside an oyster?” Emily asks. “That’s kinda cool.”

Farran frowns. “Yeah, but how are we going to get it?”

“I can try,” Naida offers, but their is hesitancy in her voice.

“Wait, you’re going to try and walk down to the bottom of the ocean?” Azari looks incredulous. “Have you ever tried sustaining your magic that long?”

“I’ve come close,” Naida reassures, “And there aren’t a lot of other appealing options.”

“We could get help!” Azari argues.

“No, the fewer people who know what we’re doing, the better.”

“Why? Every elf in Elvendale would give their right hand to help the descendant of the fifth sister!”

“We still don’t know for certain that Emily is related to the fifth sister. The evidence favors that conclusion, but not to the satisfaction of every inhabitant of this continent. And even if we could prove it, the Sisters made enemies by making that portal. We could be endangering Emily’s life.”

“What enemies? Aside from some disgruntled elves on the southern border and a few skeptics, the portals weren’t really controversial.”

Naida frowns. “I don’t actually know,” she confesses, “Only that was what Nuala said, that they made enemies of those who were once their allies. She never explained more than that.”

“Well, I for one don’t think you should risk your life over shadows and boogeymen,” Azari responds. “Farran?” she asks, assuming his support.

“Actually,” Farran nervously runs his hand through his hair, “I agree with Naida. We shouldn’t get anyone else involved.”

The fire elf looks shocked. “Aira?”

Aira laughs nervously, “I don’t know? In the end shouldn’t it be Naida’s choice what risk she takes?”

Azari’s face hardens to one of disbelief. Ever the rebel of the group, she never imagined a day would come when her friends approved of something she considered too dangerous. “I guess I’m outvoted then,” she mutters.

Feeling guilty, Emily opens her mouth to speak on Azari’s behalf, but Naida has already begun forming a tunnel in the water and stepped off the side of the boat. They hold their breath as she wanders down, the tunnel growing until in envelopes the tip of the coral mound covered in oysters. The largest of the group opens its lid, revealing a bed with two shiny white pearls and a blue metallic key.

Naida grasps the key, flinching as the oyster clamps its shell suddenly closed. Face beginning to strain with effort of maintaining the magic, the water elf hurries back to the surface. She nearly collapses onto the deck, but brushes off the other elves’ help. “I’m fine, just a little tired.”

“That was incredible,” Emily exclaims. Aira and Farran resound the praise.

Azari crosses her arms, but her frown cracks into a smile. “That was kinda awesome.” Naida returns the compliment with a hug, which the other elves quickly join. Emily stands awkwardly off to the side.

“So,” Azari’s voice travels from inside the group, “When are we gonna eat? I’m starving.”

#emily jones #lego elves #elvendale #unite the magic #azari firedancer #naida riverheart #farran leafshade #aira windwhistler #fanfiction #fanfic #fandom

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transhitman · 3 years

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Nobody asked but I wanna talk about my OC universe. Specifically the biology of the human species because I think it’s cool as fuck. Basically, homo sapiens is extinct after nuclear winter and all the fantasy races are the different evolutions of the human species with adaptations that allowed them to survive. There are 6 total and they’re all sort of like combinations of two or more more traditional fantasy races so yeah.

H. magus -- HUMANS -- Only named as such because they’re the only ones that don’t have a major outward change in physiology. They look pretty much the same but are a little bit taller on average and can have gold or purple eyes. They survived via the magic of invention and Literal Magic, and mostly stayed in one spot. They sat on resources and created pretty capitalist-leaning societies, and thus didn’t have to undergo any major changes. However, there are still enough small differences to qualify them as a different species than H. sapiens, namely that their bodies conduct magic really REALLY well.

H. bucerus -- OGRES -- Sort of like a mix between tieflings and orcs. They’re descendants of the people who were ostracized from the Human communities for whatever reason, and had to deal with radiation, harsh weather, and GIANT FREAKING SHADOW MOSTERS. Since the Human ancestors were sitting on all the resources, the proto-Ogres were forced to become nomadic. In order to survive the Badlands, their muscles became much more dense, granting them super strength. However, they also weigh twice as much as a Human of the same volume and require twice as much food. They also developed methods of dealing with cancer caused by the radiation of the world. They basically integrate tumors into their bodies as horns. They have a special type of white blood cell that specifically targets cancerous growths and forces them to the surface of the skin, where they can be removed. They also have tails, which suit their environment. There are different variants depending on the global region they’re from, each with different horn and tail types. Probably the sexiest species. They’re tall ^__^ But their size is limited to like 7ft since being too big and dense would be DISASTEROUS in the food-scarce Badlands.

H. gurges -- DWARVES -- Ok so they’re honestly more mermaid-like, but I’m trying to fit a theme with the names here. They are short, though. And most of them live in cities that are below the surface, just not a solid surface. The Dwarves are descendants of the seafaring survivors of the Pacific Ocean. There is actually a wide variety that could count as dozens and dozens of separate species, but for function’s sake they’re all under the same category. They have convergently evolved with different types of fish, getting less and less human-looking the deeper in the ocean they live. On the surface, they’re just people with fluorescent skin tones. In the Abyss, they’re barely even human. They are able to withstand enormous pressure, and notably can form symbiotic relationships with sessile sea life. Sponges and barnacles and the like often grow on their bodies, sometimes in a very stunning, very beautiful way. Though the people closer to the surface are short, those deeper in the water grow to be gigantic. One of their subspecies includes the Extremophiles, who live in the deepest part of the ocean. They can reach about 20ft in length when counting their tails. It’s unknown weather these Extremophiles age, or what they really do down there. The Dwarves outside of the deepest Abyss usually live in underwater cities, on the coast, or on floating oil rig-type things. They’re all normal.

H. hiems -- ELVES -- Elves are sort of a combination between elves, giants, and general undead creatures (skeletons lol). They’re fucking massive, and live in only the coldest areas. Their skin is usually a shade of grey, tinted by the type of mineral that is the main staple of their diet. They eat rocks. Yeah. In fact, their bodies are so fucked up and adapted to their barren environment that normal food can easily kill them. Sugar specifically is HIGHLY toxic. Because they don’t process food the same way, they’re skeletal. And 12ft tall. Basically, slenderman. Though they aren’t bald. They have pale down-like hair on their heads. They also have another strange diet habit, which developed as a result of food scarcity during the beginning of the apocalypse. They have a very different culture surrounding cannibalism. Though the consumption of entire bodies is Not A Thing anymore, having your loved ones consume small parts of your body after your death is a very important ritual. It is an acknowledgement that the soul has gone, and the body has become empty matter. The other big thing about them is their special Suit Magic, in which a symbol of one of the playing card suits appears somewhere on their body when they go though puberty. The different suits grant them different abilities, and the four suits have divided into factions which were once at war with each other. (Blood (hearts) is healing. Edges (diamonds) creates shield constructs. Blades (spades) is bolts of energy. And Fists (clubs) is bludgeoning-type weapon constructs.) However, Elves are now extremely isolated up in their mountains and tundras. Very territorial. People honestly sort of hate them cause they’re also a little bit specist.

H. invictus -- MONOS -- Mono stands for monochrome. Predictably, Monos are monochrome. Arcane albinism overwrites their natural skin tone, and instead turns them a sickly white color, tinted by their subspecies hue. Everything else on them is jet black, including their blood and organs. Or, it’s that same hue color. They’re really fucked up, honestly. They’re sort of supposed to be a mix between vampires and orcs. They’re an artificially created species, made via eugenics and dark magic. Their creators were aiming to make an unkillable army, and they sort of succeeded, but at the cost of prevalent genetic defects. Around 70% of the Mono population has some sort of disability, which really isn’t a huge problem. They’re more than capable of providing medical care and creating accessibility deceives like prosthetics and magic medicine. You can do crazy shit with technology these days! In fact Monos were engineered to be compatible with tech- oh their creators were fascist eugenicists who abused them and treated them like disposable garbage specifically because of the disabilities they themselves caused though carelessness and forced inbreeding? Well. Alright. Not how I would have done it but... Anyway, long story short, the Monos pulled a 180 at some point and broke free of all that shit. Because they’re sort of a genetic mess, they have really great healthcare out of necessity. They’re the most technologically advanced species on the planet rn, but all of their scientists are engineers and doctors, not warriors, so they’re at constant risk of being annexed by Humans. Monos also have a very low fertility rate, so the percentage of whole-blooded Monos is going way down. They’re close to being endangered at this point. Luckily, some guy figured out how to grow babies in tubes but that’s a story for another day.

H. unicus -- DOWNDEEPERS -- Ok, Downdeepers are just all the miscellaneous designs I came up with that didn’t make sense as one of the other species lol. They’re the decedents of the people who fled to the newly-formed Downdeeps cave system, which is a global system of caverns that goes really fucking deep underground. The high concentrations of magic there cause Downdeepers to mutate rapidly. No two of them are the same. They all just live in tha caves... hell yeah...

The last human species are the CHIMERAS, which are really just the people who are a cross between two or more species. They were rare at first, but they had a population boom after global travel was reestablished (somewhat, anyway).

There are a couple other inorganic races I could talk about but I’m gonna leave it there. Yeah nobody asked for this but I hope you thought it was neat. I am honestly really proud of this world I think it’s cool as hell : ) yeah. And if you’re wondering how all the species can be cohesive despite their ancestors being isolated in different parts of the world (specifically Ogres, who live on every continent and don’t have a common ancestor), that’s because of some meta shit that has to do with how magic and human will interact. Collective subconscious shit. And that would take like 3 pages to explain so like. Just go with it for now lol.

#worldbuilding #cannibalism //#eugenics //

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kyurilin · 3 years

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The simple and soft asks, ANSWER THEM ALL!

Omfg Gabby you waited until I had forgotten you did stuff like this and then struck out of the blue with a vengeance BUT FOR YOU I WILL GLADLY ANSWER THEM ALL

1. What did you dream about last night?

It was either some kind of stress related dream or family related dream but I can't actually remember I just remember yeeting myself out of bed mid dream because I woke up to a leg cramp so

2. What is your favorite color?

Red, like my car

3. Do you feel more connected to the moon or the sun?

The moon, really. The sun's too bright and the moon is just like friends with the stars so I vibe with that

4. Have you ever wished on a shooting star?

Oh absolutely, anytime I see one I make a wish. That's my favorite thing about shooting stars, they just seem magical and capable of wish giving.

5. Name a movie that makes you genuinely laugh.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie from 2004, hands down. The Simpsons Movie is a close second. But the SpongeBob one is just so near and dear to my heart for many reasons and it never fails to make me crack up.

6. When’s the last time you felt like you were floating?

That span of a few weeks where I was getting new comments for my Present Mic story pretty much every day, since that's the most attention anything I've ever written has gotten at once. I'm still a little bit nervous most times to share anything I've written but fuck if that wasn't worth it and the occasional comments I still get for it make me ascend every time.

7. Already answered this one so I'll skip it

8. Do you believe in guardian angels?

Oh absolutely, somebody better be out there watching my dumb ass so I don't do something stupid and get yeeted off this mortal coil

9. What’s a smell that reminds you of home?

The ocean, since our house is partially beach themed and because the ocean always makes me feel like home.

10. What is something (or someone) you’re in love with?

Oh I'm definitely in love with writing, it's the main thing in my life that I enjoy doing continuously so I very much love it

11. Describe the memory of the last time you felt true happiness.

Today when I found a kid wearing a Kirby shirt that I didn't have while at my job lmao. Working in school photos is interesting for a lot of things and video game shirts are pretty common but seeing a Kirby shirt is rare as fuck and I was stupidly happy to see one in the wild

12. Name a song that makes you feel ethereal.

I just found this artist recently and it's aesthetic as fuck

13. What’s your ideal summer aesthetic?

Being inside with the AC. Summer is the worst cause it's too hot and too bright

14. Talk about one of your most cherished childhood memories.

When I was 6/7 I was fucking obsessed with Britney Spears, to the point that one if the things I remember reading repetitively was some special edition magazine about her life because she was the Icon of that time. In 2000 when I was actually 7 my dad took me to see the Oops I Did It Again Tour because of course, he was a big concert person and knew it would make me happy. So there I am, this teeny tiny little seven year old with casts on my legs because they were trying to correct this walking problem I had, being held up by my dad to see this pop singer that I would not shut up about who I idolized. We left in the middle of the concert because I got tired but I wouldn't trade what little memories I have of that for the world.

15. Talk about something exciting or good that happened to you this year.

One of my close college friends I hadn't seen in about seven years started working at my job and getting to see her again has been a treat!

16. Where do you feel most at home?

The beach since we've moved so much in the last seven years that the beach is just more familiar

17. What is something you own that is important to you? What makes it so important?

I have a lot of answers for this, that are all kind of self explanatory. I have some ponchos and a cape that my great aunt Iris crocheted, a homemade doll my great aunt Norma had, some costume jewelry from my grandma, and a fifty cent coin from my grandpa. All of these people have passed away, and these things all make me feel close to them. I miss them a lot.

18. Do you believe dreams have meanings or are they completely random?

Honestly considering how many end of the world dreams I have I really hope they don't have meaning because I'd really like the world to end after I'm gone

19. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Not particularly no, I mean for others yeah but I don't think I could ever look at a person first time and be like MY LOVE

20. Answered this one already

21. Do you believe in mermaids?

Absolutely I do mermaids would be cool as hell

22. What do you like most about nature?

The animals, like seeing any animal just chilling out in the wild doing their thing is the best

23. What’s your zodiac sign? Do you think you fit the general characteristics of that sign?

I'm Capricorn and all I remember about it is that we're supposed to be stubborn and I absolutely fit that so I got that going for me

24. Are you more of a hopeless romantic or realist?

I guess realist? I'm not really sure tbh

25. Already answered this one

26. Do you usually remember your dreams?

Usually I do yeah, and I have some weird ass dreams that just stick with me

27. Have you ever written a love letter?

I have yeah if I'm remembering correctly lmao, that was ages ago though

28. Name a book you don’t mind reading over and over.

Oh like literally all of my favorites, but if I had to pick one i'd say the hunger games because it's something I've already reread it so many times

29. Do you collect anything? And what are some hobbies you have?

Well I have my collection of Cars diecasts, then I also collect Kirby games and Kirby figures, and then seashells. My main hobby is writing which is like wildly obvious cause I never shut up about it.

30. What do you do to feel at peace?

Watch videos of people exploring abandoned places cause it's fascinating as fuck

Gabby thanks once again for having me answer every single question in an ask game it made me laugh to see you pulling me that again lmao

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johannepetereric · 3 years

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Ok, new idea for the Season 3 rewrite!

Ok, so Aichi joined the Miyaji Academy choir (99% girls, huge cast, mostly serious). The ones they (Aichi) actually interact with as human-to-human are the few casuals in it. They (the casuals) don’t join any field trips or competitions, so it’s more of an idol-anime-club than anything else. This was on the roster, so they (Aichi) asked about that. The girl said that the casuals are left out of competing, so they are cool with it. Though they hold off on it officially until they get the Cardfight Club established first. The club gets word of thus, so they devise a plan to get them in. After school, Day 1, they give Aichi a stack of papers as an introduction to the club (an introductory course of sorts). No signings or anything, but the basic voice drills and links are on there. After Shingo comes into play, Aichi visits the (choir) club room. He is immediately greeted with confetti and party poppers (they saw him at the gate) at the door. They test his capabilities with a song of his choice. Unfortunately, Aichi sings a Cray song (the “alien accent” they’d right away come to term it as). This one garners a “idk wtf you’re saying, but I like the melody and vibe” reaction. Kinda like with any other foreign-lamguage song. He still gets applause, though--they liked it on principle, but the accent of off-putting. The “you’re an alien trying to fit in” thing becomes a(n inside) joke. Aichi admits that he’s never learned how to sing like an earthling properly, so that’s what he’s here for. This is his first school club, much less voice club. This gathers much pity. Turns out the choir club as a whole has TWO rooms. One for the casuals (here), and one huge room for the main group (everyon else, the focus and faces of the club. No one knows of the casuals until they inquire into the club). Aichi decides to hang out with them. Every night or so at 8 (maybe just once a week at minimum, half the time), they gather in the park or the room to help each other learn to sing (like an earthling) as they’ve always done. Aichi is now part of an idol-anime. This club is hwere he/they gather(s) most of the Vanguard songs (that sound idol-ish). One he’s left Miyaji, he had officially learned how to do away with the alien dialogue/dialect in public.

The group still keeps in contact, though.

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In case you’re wondering, the council is cool with non-heteronormative folks cuz “as long as it doesn’t impede your schooling, it doesn’t matter what you identify as.” The purple-haired dude (Suwabe???) is a FINE example. So everyone’s cool with NOT misgendering people (Aichi, in this case. Though he’s/they’re not the only one who identifies as a different genders. Not-straight characters are more common though (working harder than normal to justify their place in society???idk--I’m just a cis straight girl viewing gayness from a fangirl/spectator/outside perspective))

But, like, imagine Toshiki-kun just going for a walk that late at night and hearing something strange:

Toshiki: Am I hearing...an angel’s voice? ( “With another?” if it isn’t a solo)

He walks, cloudy-eyed in a trance-like state, towards the music that sounds like one just randomly died and went to heaven. In a clearing is Aichi singing a song, maybe Earth, maybe Cray and trying his best to sing it like an Earthling (though that will never work, and the Sendou knows it. Aichi’s just doing it for “the crew” (the casuals, his new clique). It has to be Earth songs. The best he can do is singing Cray but with an Earth accent (and even then, it still sounds incomprehensible to most Earthlings)), and Toshiki-kun is just paralyzed, detached from reality, dragged into Cray sometimes if it’s a Cray tune via Psyqualia. Just *sigh* the Kaichi. It’s a romance-anime moment when he’s discovered in that trance-and-staring, flustered both included sometimes.

Yeah, I am requesting my readers (since I actually get updates on who’s viewing my works (unlike on Wattpad and ao3 *disappointed, melancholic sigh*)) to help me (again. Nobody is helpful. Ever. I have to ask my friends, and then it’s--in their opinion, I’m talking gibberish--one of my “Special Interest” stuff ADHD Awareness Tumblr users post about.

Ok, gather up your knowledge, your memories of idol anime, mermaid anime, moei and BanG Dream, singing-whatever, your musical-whatevers, your slice-of-life anime (may or not have a club involved), cute romance-whatevers, whatever to give me (us) ideas as to how we going to make original content for this AU timeline. This season I plan to start the buildup for Misaki x Kourin, so prepare your fics. Whatever fanfiction you want to advertise, please add disclaimers and the link(s), cuz plagiarism exists, and send it to me. Maybe even stuff like “there’s this fic with plot blablab-blah” and I shout-out disclaimers (shoutout to ma reader (maybe I’d give ur name) who read a fic with plot blablab-blah and I’m just gonna reblog the damn thing. And..)and I might be adding fics where it’s just copy-pasting the plot (the “Can I copy you?” “Sure. Just write it a little different so they think it isn’t copied” (???) meme-thing) and I thusly must link the source(s).

But yeah, Episode 15 is not exactly gonna be a rewrite. It’s just--same day, but the plot is completely elsewhere in town, and the actions that did happen in the episode is gonna stay exactly the same (well, added internal monologue, but that’s different), so it’s gonna be somewhere else.

Also, I’m having it so that, early in Season 1, Aichi drags Miwa to the Underground Cardfighter’s Hidout (Jun) to introduce him to his (future) boyfriend. Shortly after meeting the dude (beware the Trigger Warnings. They’ll be there for that one), Miwa gets less uncomfortable around Jun enough so that they’re f**kbuddies. Aichi knows IMMEDIATELEY, so he often teases Miwa about it (also as a way to get the blond off Kai if the brunet is clearly feeling uncomfortable/disturbed by said annoyance). I planned for it to be this episode, but now idk...contradicting timelines...This happens BEFORE Miwa is chained up to lure in Kai, so I need a pinpoint before then. PLEASE give me your opinions of when you want this to happen (by measure of Episode, as I do). This is just Aichi being scary (evil) and morally gray/ambiguous. K? HELP AN AUTHOR OUT!!!

And yeah, the gender changes in this status update were necessary. Get it over with beforehand n’ all.

#genderfluidaichisendou #nonbinaryaichisendou #nonbinarycharacter #gender changes #iwrotethisinsteadwhileinclass #iwrotethiinsteadofdoingclasswork #no really i have to BS the work at this point #like that meme going 'round

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glassprism · 4 years

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Since you're also in other fandoms, are there any ships/pairings you like? Who's your favourite pairing in POTO? Who are your favourite characters (from POTO to all your other fandoms) and why? Ooh, here's a rather unusual one: who's your favourite side character (name one for all your fandoms!) and why?

Yeah, definitely! Though whether some can be counted as actual “ships” is debatable, as you’ll see in a bit.

For Phantom, my favorite “ship” is the love triangle - E/C/R. Not in a polyamorous, threesome way, but one where I love the dynamics of the characters, the way they affect one another, the ways Erik and Raoul are similar and different. So it’s not quite a “ship” in a traditional sense where I want characters to end up with each other, but more in the sense that I like to explore and analyze them.

As for other “ships” or pairings, I’m just going to list, like, every fandom or random-ass thing I’ve ever loved in semi-chronological order (time to go back to my middle school fandoms!). Under the cut for length.

Harry Potter: Sirius Black and Harry Potter. I adored the godfather-godson bond between the two (absolutely no romance; I clicked on an mpreg fic of the two when I was but a wee lass of twelve and it scarred me): how Harry was the last living reminder of Sirius’s best friend, whose death he still feels responsible for; how Sirius is the parental figure Harry wanted, how they were never able to be happy god damn it Rowling. (You can imagine how much my eleven year old self cried when I read the fifth book. Oh boy, the tears.)

Star Wars: Vader and Luke. Again, totally familial, father-son relationship only. (Speaking of scarring experiences, I once stumbled on a romance fic between the two, where yes, both of them were still father and son, and I have that summary etched into my brain permanently.) The way Vader obsessively hunts down Luke, the first emotional connection he has had with a person in literal decades! The way Luke has just ached all his life for a father figure, to the point where he will take a homicidal Sith lord if that’s who he is! How he never gives up on trying to redeem him! How Luke is right. Loud screeching.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Will Turner and Bootstrap Bill and Will Turner and Henry Turner. More sad father-son dynamics (you may be noticing a pattern here). Repeat what I said with the Star Wars relationships, only with more pirates and less homicide. (And way more parental abandonment guilt.)

Halloween: Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, remake universe. Yet again, no romance, just a severely messed-up brother-sister relationship. I can’t begin to tell you why I like the horrific relationship between a serial killer and the little sister he was so obsessed with he ruined her life, completely traumatized her, and ended up leading to her death, but I do. Maybe it’s the dark obsession aspect of it, that in the midst of all his murders, there’s still one person Michael Myers longs to have a connection with, the baby sister who represented total innocence in his mind. Maybe it’s the “what could have been” aspect too, as Laurie never recognizes him or realizes their connection until it’s far too late. Maybe I need to re-examine my life choices. I’ll figure it out someday.

Bat Boy The Musical: Bat Boy/Shelley. Yes, this is a romance; yes, they are half-brother and half-sister, yes, you can get on me about this, but in my defense how about you watch the musical and NOT come out of it shipping these two against all your better instincts.

POTO: E/C/R, as stated above and for all those reasons. Oh, and you know what - The Phantom and Gustave from Love Never Dies. Can’t get away from those father-son ships. I actually care about that relationship than E/C or R/C in LND (maybe because both E/C and R/C suck in the sequel so what else am I going to latch onto).

Batman: Listed here, but my heart really lies with three ships. Jaytim is the first: it’s the whole “angry woobie destroyer of worlds who hates everyone meets seemingly well-adjusted and cheerful individual who is secretly hiding their own issues” dynamic. Bane/Talia from The Dark Knight Rises is the second. Doesn’t matter if it’s familial, friendship, protector and protectee, or romantic, I eat it up, and to be fair, it’s never explicitly stated what the relationship is in the movie. All we know is that the two grew up together in a hellhole prison, probably dependent on and solely trusting only one another, and that bond continues even after they leave, and not even death will make them leave one another. Finally, we have Jason Todd/therapy from the Arkham games. Because the poor guy needs it.

MCU: STEVE/BUCKY (aka Stucky). This ship (again, could be friendship or romantic) dominated my thoughts for four years. Steve’s fish-out-of-water status! Bucky’s horrific imprisonment under Hydra. The way the two find each other after and the angst. The fact that Steve refuses to kill Bucky and, even after seventy years, succeeds in breakthing through to him because their connection runs that deep. The fact that Marvel just ruined this relationship so now I have to rely on fanfic. Oh yes, and I also slowly fell into the Kastle ship (Frank Castle aka The Punisher and Karen Page). Another “hardened killer with sad backstory who connects to idealistic young woman with hidden darkness” dynamic.

Terminator: T-800 aka “Uncle Bob” and John Connor. Returning to sad father-son dynamics, I have this from Terminator 2. A robot learning emotions! A boy learning to take his place as a leader and all-loving hero. The bond they form, partially because the T-800 will do nothing else but protect John and partially because John has no father-figure of his own, so his robot bodyguard will do. THE ENDING.

ASOIAF/GOT: I actually have very few ships from here other than Arya/Gendry (and only when they’re older) and, weirdly, Theon/Sansa from the show. The Gendrya ship is just cute, it may well be the most wholesome ship on here, while Theonsa has shades of Stucky in it, I suppose, given that Theon has been tortured so badly he can barely remember his own name, until Sansa turns up and reminds him enough that he breaks out of it to help her.

Favorite characters from each of those:

Harry Potter: My favorite characters from here are probably more side characters, so I’ll just say Hermione Granger. Her focus on academics, fear of failure, and conviction that the library holds all the answers, felt all too reminiscent of myself.

Star Wars: Darth Vader, no contest whatsoever. Cool mask, cool cape, cool lightsaber, and the absolute worst life one can imagine.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Interestingly, Will Turner. Yeah, I guess Jack Sparrow is cool and Elizabeth is absolutely awesome to watch and has the greatest change in the series, but oh-so-serious Will, with his deep loyalties and slow slide into moral ambiguity because of those loyalties, fascinates me.

Halloween: Laurie Strode, all versions. My favorite final girl, my survivor of trauma (except in the remake, where, well, she doesn’t survive). Also, her daughter in the Thorn trilogy, Jamie Lloyd, the most tragic little girl to walk across a horror movie screen.

Bat Boy The Musical: Ah, wow, haven’t thought about this. I guess Bat Boy and Shelley, more by default than anything.

POTO: Christine Daae, no contest. Love her character, love her arc, love her songs, love her costumes.

Batman: Listed here.

MCU: Bucky Barnes (unless he counts as a side character), but I also love Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Karen Page, Elektra Natchios... and I’ll leave it at that.

Terminator: John Connor. (There’s a reason I haven’t watched Dark Fate yet... or ever.)

ASOIAF/GOT: Three of them! Daenerys Targaryen, who I love because she tries so hard to rule well, who is so observant and cognizant of the things going on around her. Then Sansa Stark, who makes such astounding growth, who retains her empathy and compassion throughout, who is capable of startling perception and insight which most others underestimate. And finally, Cersei Lannister. She’s terrible. I love her.

And favorite side characters from each of those:

Harry Potter: Sirius Black may well have been my first fictional crush. But Remus Lupin is the kind of person (and teacher) I aspire to be.

Batman: I swear, depending on the comic series or movie, everyone is a side character. I’ll just link to my old ask again.

Star Wars: Batman syndrome all over again; every character in Star Wars might be a side character elsewhere, and every side character gets to be the main character of their own comic, book, movie, etc. Erm... I really liked Rose from the sequel trilogy and Chirrut Imwe from Rogue One. I find Mara Jade from the Legends universe fun to read. WAIT I GOT IT - Queen Amidala’s handmaidens from Episode I (Sabe, Rabe, Eirtae, Yane, Sache). Highly trained in both politics, decorum, and weaponry, able to be utterly nondescript or the Queen’s decoy at the drop of a hat? I love.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Hmm... you know what, I thought Syrena the mermaid was pretty cute.

Halloween: Rachel Carruthers! Your typical girl-next-door but well done and with a touching relationship with her foster sister. I will die mad about her death in the fifth movie.

Bat Boy The Musical: Uh.... I’ll get back to you on this...

POTO: Carlotta is super fun.

MCU: Oh heck, Dottie Underwood. (My taste in female characters goes like this: a) intelligent and observant, 2) sweet and compassionate, 3) batsh*t insane. She’s the third.)

Terminator: Not sure how much of a side character she is, but Kate Connor. Wife and second-in-command to John Connor, able to heal wounds and kick butt depending on what the movie requires.

ASOIAF/GOT: I’ll probably think of someone else, but you know what? Queen Rhaenys Targaryen, younger sister and wife to Aegon the Conqueror, whom he wed out of desire. Playful, spirited, loved to fly, sponsored musicians, initiated reforms for the smallfolk, what’s not to love? (Apart from one possibility of her death... but we don’t talk about that.)

#Anonymous #GP gets asks

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littlejeanniebean · 4 years

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Ep. 3 | The Marauders: Riddle Records

A/N: “Come to the dark side. We have a solo career.” - Tom Riddle Jr., probably. On a lighter note, I can just see them backstage like this by the lovely artist @theimpossiblefifth. Read on AO3 :) Enjoy! - J xx

One look in your eyes

I can read your mind

You're naughty, my type

Care for a good time?

You could be just like all your high society friends at high tea

You could get with a football player

But there’s nothing like a shot of adrenaline in the morning

You know you want a dragon slayer

“Like me,” James mouthed seductively to the camera and winked.

“I’m Alice Fortescue, these wonderful lads are The Marauders, thank you for joining us this Saturday Night Live!” the actress grinned widely as the camera backed away.

The boys all gathered around her in a group hug.

“Holy shit! That was incredible!” Obviously, this was Sirius speaking.

“You were wonderful, honey,” a low voice whispered.

A smiling man with sweet eyes and a mop of dark hair put his arms around Alice.

“Oh, everyone, this is my boyfriend, Frank!” the bubbly actress grinned widely, “He’s a photographer for GQ.”

“Sick!” James shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Frank; lovely working with you, Alice; hope you’ll both come to one of our shows sometime, ta-ta!” Sirius practically dragged the band away before anyone could say anything more.

“What was that?” Remus tutted at his boyfriend.

“Yeah, ta-ta?” the bespectacled boy wiggled his nose to adjust his glasses that had gone askew, “Who says that?”

“Not what I meant,” the pale, mousy-haired boy shrugged off his suit jacket in their shared dressing room.

“Look, I’ll explain later!” Sirius pleaded, “Just hurry up and let’s get the hell -”

“Yoo-hoo! Siri!” a warbling, high-pitched voice giggled on the other side of the door, “This is their room here, Tommy...”

“Christ,” the dark-haired boy covered his face with his hands.

“We’ll deal with Bella,” James set his jaw and turned to the other two, “Ready?”

Remus and Peter rolled up their dress shirt sleeves and nodded.

The trio filed out of the dressing room, forcing Bella Black and her friend backward, and immediately shut the door behind them.

“He doesn’t want to see you or any of your family again, Bella,” said James sternly, giving the show's new cameraman the stink-eye for good measure.

Bella stuck her tongue out childishly.

Her guest grimaced and offered his hand to the boys, “I’m sorry about her. She overheard I was interested in speaking with you young talents and… well, it got a bit out of hand. I’m Tom Riddle, of Riddle Records.”

Really, the man with chiseled features and dark slicked back hair wasn’t much older than they were. But he was dressed more expensively than they could ever be comfortable with, even with the fresh success of their debut album.

“You’re Senior’s kid,” James nodded, his mother being an agent in the industry. He noted just the smallest flinch at the mention of the man's father. “With all due respect, we already have a label.”

“A label that has you locked into a contract as a group,” Tom gave them each his card and presented James with another one for Sirius, “We would pay any fees associated with breaking your current contract, then we would launch your solo careers - James as the pop prince, Sirius as the rock and roll bad boy, Remus as the R&B god, and Peter as the jazz legend!”

“We’re better musicians together,” said Remus.

Tom leaned in, “Your success now, quadrupled. Plus the potential for high-engagement collaborations among you. The freedom to create in your own style on top of that. Imagine it. And give me a call.”

"Ta-ta," Bella blew them each a kiss in a way that could only be described as menacing. When they were out of the boys' earshot she simpered, "You're such a clever businessman, Tommy."

"Don't call me that," he yanked his arm away and pressed his phone to his ear irritably, "I found us some new business and laid the groundwork. Can I have my allowance now?"

The Marauders flew back to Scotland that night and rehearsed for months until they were ready to drop before flying back to LA for Night One.

“Nervous?” Sirius whispered while they waited for their opening act, DJ Dedalus Diggle, to finish his set.

“Why would you ask me that?” James huffed, adjusting his bright red tie for the umpteenth time.

“You need more glitter,” Molly patted his cheekbones lightly with her pointer finger, which was covered in the golden stuff.

“Five minutes, boys!”

“Thanks, Arthur!” Remus spoke for them all.

“We’ve got this, Jimbo!” Peter bounced excitedly on his heels.

“Easy for you to say. You’ve been performing at recitals since you were big enough to reach the keys from the bench.”

“The jitters never get old,” his baby-faced friend told him, “but we’re all going out there. And with everything we do together, we always have fun.”

James nodded to himself and made sure to check on their drummer for the tour, “You good, Kingsley?”

The man in a rose-red disco suit twirled the sticks deftly in his hands, “Let’s do this.”

“... and now, Los Angeles,” Diggle hyped the crowd, “give it up… for The Marauders!”

The lights went up and the boys looked out at the incredibly emotional fans who’d come to see them.

“Right,” James whispered, reaching for the microphone with shaking hands, “A-one, two, three.”

I don’t have a lot of time

I’m running for my dear life

Can’t breathe without you by

Aye aye aye

It’s a full house

But I’ll seek you out

It’s a wild crowd

But I’ll seek you out

I don’t know how

But I’ll seek you out

James couldn’t help grinning ear to ear as Sirius broke out into his guitar solo.

Remus pointed out a sign that said, “Marry me, James Potter!”

The lead singer laughed and spoke into his mic, “Well, will you buy me dinner first, at least?”

The girl promptly fainted.

Arthur was by her side immediately to make sure she was alright.

“Oh, dear, you’ve hit your head,” Molly crouched down beside him and handed the young girl an ice pack.

The red-headed manager got his first good look at the videographer and her multi-pocketed fishing vest and cargo pants.

She noticed him staring, “I’ve known these boys a long time. You never know what you’re going to need.”

“Good advice,” he helped her and the fan back up in one go, “I’m Arthur.”

“Molly,” she grinned, hoisting her camera back onto her capable shoulders and focused back in on James.

Under your spell, I like how you play it

Keeping it cool is so overrated

Waiting on you, every breath bated

Hey hey hey

They played LA two more nights before moving on to San Francisco. Then Vegas, then Seattle, and across the rest of the continent, all the way to New York.

“Madison Square Garden,” James swallowed, taking in the iconic jumbotron above their heads and the entire stadium, really.

Just three hours later, he was up on that very stage, sweat trickling down his back and the bridge of his nose as he sang his heart out about a funny story the designer, Lily Evans once related about her sister via Instagram post.

There’s a little house on Privet Drive

Where nothing ever happens

Little curtain twitcher of a wife

And a little boy and husband

But when they leave for their nine to five

And the little boy goes to school

The little old lady with cats ninety-nine

Does what she wills to do

Living next to ordinary no. 4

So much to do, so much to explore

The grocer down the street from me

His daughter left for university

And he needs the comfort of my tabbies

Yessiree, that’s what I’m here for

Your neighbour next to ordinary no. 4

After that, they went all over South America. The streets were typically too narrow to drive a tour bus around, so they often jetted from one country to another and rented a little convoy of minivans to take them to the arenas from their hotels and back.

“Shit, Petey’s got food poisoning!” Remus fussed over the poor boy.

“I’m fine! Really!” the blond insisted before doubling over and retching once more.

“I can fill in,” DJ Diggle adjusted his signature flat cap, “I have all your songs pre-recorded -”

“We have half an hour to get it out of his system!” Sirius declared determinedly, “We’re not going on without you, Pete!”

“I’ve got the doctor!” Arthur came in, followed closely by a middle-aged woman with apple cheeks and curly hair.

“You need to replace your fluids,” Molly handed Peter a bottle of electrolytes.

“Yeah, it’s a common bacterial infection going around among tourists,” said the doctor, giving him a dose of antibiotics, “He’s not in any shape to perform, you lot, so you might as well let him rest.”

“I can - oh,” Peter ran to the bathroom.

“How soon can you give him another dose of that?” Sirius asked anxiously.

“Not any time in the next half hour,” she narrowed her eyes at him, apparently having overheard his earlier proclamation.

“Poppy’s right,” said Arthur, “Peter’s health comes first. Dedalus, isolate the keyboards in every track and queue the set list.”

“Try to keep in time,” Sirius added.

“No improvising for tonight, lads,” Arthur warned the regular band members.

“But -”

“I’m serious.”

“And so am I!” he could only maintain a straight face for two and a half seconds after he said this.

James sighed as they waited for the DJ to introduce them half an hour later, “It’s not going to be the same without Peter.”

“We’ll make the best of it, Jimbo,” Remus assured him, “and he’ll be back with us for the next one.”

The frontman set his jaw, pushed his glasses up his face and pulled the microphone to his lips.

Do you remember

The games we used to play

Mermaids underwater

Aliens in outer space

Do you remember

The sticks we’d raise aloft

We called them swords and never

Lost the battles that we fought

Peter was back on stage the next night, to much celebration and all too soon, they flew back across the pond for their European leg. Of course, their first stop was Scotland.

“It’s so good to be home,” James sighed happily, pausing to wipe his glasses on the hem of his shirt and winking at a girl who lost it at the sight of his abdomen, “This is our last song. Please join in if you know the words. Or make them up. Just have a good time. Be as loud as you want to. We love you all, thank you for everything you’ve done for us. We’re the luckiest boys in the world.”

Is there a risk to it?

Is it a challenge?

If there isn’t, if it isn’t, I don’t want it

Yeah, I wanna do some damage

I feel lucky tonight

I got you by my side

Seven days in a week

And you spend them with me

So hell yeah, I feel lucky

"That sounds really good, Pete," said James from where he lay on the floor of their stage after the arena emptied, "We could use that."

Peter chuckled, "It's Chopin. A waltz."

James ambles over and his friend makes room for him on the bench.

"It's a split C chord, then F, A flat..." he guides him through the song. It's out of time and messy, but they're having fun. "James…"

"Yeah, Pete?"

"What are we going to do about Tom Riddle's offer? I mean, his dad’s label practically owns half the music industry. And Castle is just this little independent… He could make our lives more difficult than he already has."

"Unless we join him, you're thinking?"

"We could ask Arthur to negotiate a group contract just the same. I doubt they'll dislike the idea of paying less upfront."

"But what about loyalty to everyone at Castle? McGonagall? Urquart?" James shook his head, "We're having a successful tour in spite of the ticket bots Riddle set on us. We're looking out into seas of fans all wearing our merch in spite of his shipment hijacking. And we're having bloody good time because we're not letting any of the homophobic slander he's fueled the press with get to us."

"Here, here!" cheered Sirius, clinking his beer bottle with his boyfriend's.

"Right, rest up, lads! You deserve it with all the work you put into this show," James stood and ambled back to the tour bus, where Shacklebolt was already sleeping soundly, being the earliest riser of them all.

“Goodnight, all!” Peter loved his friends, truly. But he was convinced their stubborn sense of the meaning of courage would do them a great disservice.

As always when confronted with a decision to make, he visited the only jazz bar in Scotland, the Leaky Kettle. Immediately upon stepping inside, he let the smooth piano carry away the stress.

“The usual,” he told the bartender.

“Put it on my tab,” Tom Riddle swivelled around on the bar stool, "Fancy meeting you here."

"You mean you didn't expect to? Didn't plan it?" Peter received his drink with barely more than a sideways glance at their adversary.

"It's just business, Peter. I know you understand that."

"Then why go through all this trouble for one act? There must be thousands - hundreds of thousands - of talented artists who could make you rich."

Tom rolled his eyes, "My father was always… a bit single-minded. He wants to put me through my paces before handing me the keys to the kingdom, so to speak. But don’t worry about that. Just know this: I think your group is talented and I can see that you’re the musical glue holding it all together. You’re the only one with any formal training, after all. And I really can see to your career’s longevity. If you stick with this boyband too long, though…”

Peter raised his eyebrows, “Then what?”

“Well,” the label executive leaned in, “then you’ll need to think about what that does to your image as a real, serious musician.”

The blond boy finished his drink.

“Another one for my friend,” Tom told the bartender, took his jacket, and left.

His calling card sat heavy in the keyboardist’s wallet.

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limitless-rose · 4 years

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The Signs as things I wanted to be when I grow up

[This has literally been in my drafts since December because I wasn't sure if each option matched with the sign I chose but whatever (it's also a long post again, oof)

Also I didn't really post anything related to 2020 so... Happy New Year, let's hope something good will happen this decade!! 💖]

♈ Aries: Be part of the army. I was quite fascinated by the idea of guns and protecting the nation and actually getting my life together. I was actually thinking about it for quite a while until I realized that in order to get accepted (at least according to the Greek system) you need to have excellent grades (especially maths/physics), to be taller that 165cm and to be excellent in sports. Guess what, I don't understand physics/science/chemistry, I've been about 158cm for the past 3 years and the only two sports I'm good at are badminton and tennis (while you need to be good at running, swimming and things like that I guess 😕)

✧

♉ Taurus: A chef/baker. Cooking and baking always seemed pretty fun. I would always sit by my grandma whenever she cooked/baked goodies and observe the whole process. I also got inspired by the movies "The Princess and the Frog" and "Ratatouille" and thought that one day I could possibly come up with my own recipes and open my own restaurant. But while growing up I realized that I can't cook properly when I'm stressed/multi-tasking (I'm capable of burning the food AND the kitchen if I get slightly distracted, ooof)

✧

♊ Gemini: A TV presenter or a weather woman. My mom told me that from the age of three I would always pretend to talk to an audience and answer questions from the callers or announce news/talk about the weather. Maybe that explains why I talk to thin air (as if I was a YouTuber) about anything and everything when I'm alone. Though it sounds cool, I don't really think I could do it now because I have social anxiety.

✧

♋ Cancer: A writer. I really like writing, I don't know why. Authors have been inspiring me since my childhood, I remember I used to read so many books and try to write something of my own based on it. 😅 I like taking notes and then re-writing them more neatly. I like re-doing old homework in a different style and see if I have improved. I really like writing in a diary/a bullet journal too, I feel like it's much better than bothering others with my problems anyway. I also love coming up with random scenarios/stories/characters and writing about it but I don't know if I should share it. Idk, sometimes I feel like my writing is a bit boring or that it's nothing that impressive. So, honestly, if more people took writers seriously instead of thinking it's a hobby as it doesn't always pay well (when did the world even start revolving around money that much, oml) and if I was more confident about my work I'd definitely chose to become a writer/author (I'm still keeping it as a hobby no matter what I end up doing, lol).

✧

♌ Leo: A model. Omg, I honestly don't know why I even thought of it. Probably because I really liked watching ANTM when I was younger (and I specifically chose the American version because the one we have in my country makes me cringe a lot, just hearing girls from my school talking about it is painful). My friends also liked the outfits that I put together or how I would always pose for pictures (a few years ago, I'm too awkward now asdfghjkl). Looking at it now it's just so funny. There's literally so much competition in the name of beauty, the community can get kinda toxic sometimes and the standards are pretty high. Also I'm way too short and I still can't walk like a normal person when wearing high heels lol.

✧

♍ Virgo: A teacher. Specifically, a teacher for elementary or even kindergarten. Back then, the concept of teaching seemed pretty fun to me and I had lots of ideas about how to make class more interesting. The thing is that I have good chemistry with most kids and I actually kinda dislike teenagers because of how rebellious we can get when it comes to school (idk but like teens in my country are like pretty rude to everyone 😐). I'm not so sure about it now, though it's still an option.

✧

♎ Libra: A psychologist. I always liked helping others out and offering advice when they're having a tough time and I was also curious to see what makes each person feel angry, sad or stressed and the way they respond. It's also interesting because you can learn a lot about someone's personality, preferences and way of thinking or understand what caused someone to commit a crime. I still really like psychology and it's one of my main options for uni. The only problem is that psychology is pretty much overrated in my country so people say it's best to choose something else. 😒

✧

♏ Scorpio: A criminologist. And, surprisingly, I still want it. I was always intrigued by things that required research, was interesting in learning what caused a murder/crime to be committed and I would always watch crime thrillers with my dad. I also like it because it's a field of Sociology which is one of my favorite subjects. I'm just hoping finals aren't super difficult so I can get accepted in the college that I want on the first try lol.

✧

♐ Sagittarius: A flight attendant. Back then I found it kinda fun, as I was always curious about what going on a plane is like. It could also be because of their outfits (like the ones you see in movies or in Britney's MV for Toxic, idk why 😅). Plus I would get to travel around the world without paying as much as the passengers. But then, at the age of 14-15 I got on an airplane 4 times and I saw that it wasn't really like the movies and that literally everyone ignored the flight attendant so yeah, it's not an option anymore. ✈️

✧

♑ Capricorn: A fashion designer. So because I would always draw and constantly ask for new crayons/markers and other art supplies, my mom bought me a few coloring books that focused on fashion. It came along with stickers, stencils, ideas for Victorian dressses, advice for how to design lace or mermaid tail dresses and I was so impressed. A few years later, my grandma showed me a few dresses that she had made for my mom when she was younger (which were so gorgeous like I'm definitely going to wear one of them on my graduation day) and taught me sewing. I also got to see these small floral designs that you usually see on lingerie and it was so pretty, I wish I could do it as perfectly as her. I decided to follow my grandma's advice and keep it as a hobby instead (because she ended up doing nothing but designing clothes and repairing them which she regrets 🧵🧶).

✧

♒ Aquarius: An astronaut. This was pretty random, I have to admit. I guess I really liked space and looking at at the stars in the night sky. I read a few books about space and learned a few things about NASA back in elementary too, though I realized that it's something I could never really do, as you have to sacrifice a lot. I'm still fascinated by this profession but there's no way I could ever do it, since I can't even understand basic physics or mathematics. 🤷‍♀️

✧

♓ Pisces: An artist. Honestly I didn't really care if most artists didn't get recognition/fame or if they didn't earn enough money, I just wanted to make art because I liked it. It's also fun because while you are expressing your thoughts through an art piece, another person might interpret it differently, based on their likings and thoughts. Art also plays an active role in my life: I've been drawing and painting since I was 5 and I would always watch the show with Bob Ross on TV with my grandma. Instead of completely giving up on this idea, I thought that I could choose another profession (also my family didn't really like the thought of me doing art for a living 😐) and keep art as a hobby.

#astrology #zodiac #aries #taurus #gemini #cancer #leo #virgo #libra #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #pisces #me and my thoughts #yeah idk #for fun ig #at least for me #random

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vulpesvulpesjenna · 5 years

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Rank-king; Disney Princesses

Inspired by the Try Guys’ Eugene I want to rank the official Disney princesses in my opinion from worst to best! He made a YouTube video ranking them, and since I disagreed with so many of his decisions, I wanted to make my own list. Justice! So, here is my own list of official Disney princesses from least favourite to my favourite. Like Eugene, I will count Elsa, Anna and Moana as official princesses, even though Disney has them separate.

14. Snow White Snow White, the first Disney princess from 1937 reflects her time’s ideal woman; she’s cheerful, innocent and loves housework. Which is exactly why I dislike her. Her character is built on being cute and virginal, cleaning up the dwarves’ house just because... why does she like cleaning up the filthy home of strangers so much? I don’t know, I just find she lacks personality. She’s simply the embodiment of the “perfect female” of her time, and that irks me more than anything. Blah, she doesn’t have a personality, so she’s my least favourite.

13. Aurora Very much like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty is just a pretty, innocent and virtuous girl. She’s almost an extra in her own movie (I mean, she *is* asleep almost half of the time). I like her design and the fact that she walks around the woods barefooted and is a countryside girl; otherwise she doesn’t have a lot of personality. Her finding her prince is a tad better than Snow White: at least Aurora meets Philip once before he comes along and kisses her while she’s sleeping.

12. Cinderella CInderella’s supposed to be amazingly kind, patient and understanding, and sure, that she is. To the point of being a mat that everyone is welcome to walk over. I think she tries to change her own life a bit more than Snow White or Aurora, but in the end, Cinderella is still dependent on her prince saving her. Otherwise she’s, again, this perfect, virginal woman of her time at the cost of having a personality of her own. At least she has a dream and cute little mouse sidekicks.

11. Ariel I think this is my first truly controversial pick; Ariel is loved by the masses, and people will surely be appalled by my choice. But to be honest, even though I love mermaids and red-haired princesses as much as the next girl, I find Ariel to be a bit of a... brat. I mean, she sees prince Eric from afar once and decides she wants to be with him. She’s even willing to abandon her family for him. Seriously? Not to mention acting very childishly and making some very stupid and outright dangerous life decisions by signing Ursula’s contract. And it very nearly ends in her complete demise! She put her whole family and people in danger just because she felt she was not like the other girls. I know people love her, and I do too, but I can’t fool myself into thinking she’s very smart or mature. Gotta give her props for 1) having a personality and dreams of her own and 2) being imperfect, which is what earlier princesses lack.

10. Jasmine Princess Jasmine is painted to be this rebel in Aladdin. But to be honest, I don’t know if she really is. I like her and I understand her, but again, I wish she was a bit more level-headed. Yes, it is charming how out-of-touch she is having lived in the Palace her whole life, and I do admire her will to explore. I also like how she says what she thinks and doesn’t try to sugarcoat things just because she’s a princess. She has a fighting spirit, which I like. I am a bit bothered by the fact that her most effective weapon against Jafar is her sexuality (nnnggghh), which is one of the reasons she’s this low on my list.

9. Tiana I love Tiana; she’s exemplary in her drive and hard work. But I can’t help feeling like... that’s it? I don’t know, I guess I hope she had something more going on for her. Because at the end of the day I find her to be a little boring. Or I guess she does have personality, but I think it could have been brought up in more interesting ways. It could also be that I’ve only seen The Princess and The Frog like twice. But anyway; she’s great but I kinda wanted something more.

8. Pocahontas I *loved* Pocahontas when I was a kid. She was so graceful, but wild (yeah, yikes...). These days I see the aboriginal-glorifying (also known as racist) undertones in her depiction, and can only cringe. Anyway, she really is a wonderful character none the less; she has wanderlust but also enough maturity to reign it in. She’s curious and non-judgemental. She has a close relationship with nature, which is something that resonates with me personally. She’s wise. She also has flaws; overly independent, reckless etc. I always thought she was a lot older than the character is supposed to be. But yeah, the racism and sexualization can only be escaped so far, which is one of the reasons she’s my number 8.

7. Moana Okay so I’ve only seen Moana once (I know, don’t eat me). From what I remember Moana was a great character; driven, imperfect, brave with a big heart. Anything one can hope for from a Disney princess, really. She really is great. But tbh, her movie just didn’t do it for me. Maui was great, but for example the (other) sidekicks were kinda meh. The music was a bit boring too, IMO. I know I’m alone with my opinion, but this is my list so here we are.

6. Elsa I know she’s really a queen and not a princess, but following Eugene I’ll put her as one of the princesses for the sake of ranking. Elsa is amazing and I relate to her a lot. Comparing her hiding her powers to depression really hit me as someone who’s been struggling with depression for more than 10 years. I get her. She’s very, very imperfect, but also very powerful. I’m pretty sure she’s more powerful than any of the Disney princesses, which is cool as heck. I know she was supposed to be the villain of her movie at first, and honestly I kinda love the sass and confidence and the IDGAF attitude she has at the end of her Let It Go number. She’s also responsible and sensible, which are rare characteristics in a Disney princess (queen).

5. Merida Oh, Merida! Bow-and-arrow wielding, horse-riding, apple-stealing princess with a charming accent! I can’t not love her. She has a lot of the same themes that Jasmine does, but I think they were handled better with Merida. And again, I just love these outdoorsy type princesses. Shes’ capable and determined. She also makes mistakes, even if her mistakes were very frustrating watching the movie. People say Brave didn’t have a real plot or conflict and complain about the Mother Bear thing (yes I’m looking at you Keith of Try Guys), but I disagree. I liked that the movie for once focused on the relationship between a princess and her mom. I’d like to be friends with Merida.

4. Anna Anna is just delightful! Helps a lot that her voiceactor is Kristen Bell, whom I adore. But anyway, I really like Anna; she loves her sister more than anything, she’s brave and willing to face the freezing wilderness to bring Elsa back. SHe’s weird and quirky (though to be completely honest the quirkyness is sometmes a bit forced). Just all around a great gal.

3. Mulan These last three are just arbitrarely in some order; I pretty much love all of them equally. Mulan is like the best female character from Disney ever, period. She’s willing to do anything to save her dad and her country. She’s strong and smart and daring but also sweet and understanding and kind. They succeeded in making her a woman character who possesses a lot of masculine traits without losing her heart, and still being very relatable. Also Mulan is cool as hell. She also has the best sidekick, Mushu.

2. Belle I always get the result of being most like Belle from online quizzes. Because yes, I do have brown eyes and hair (naturally), love books and knowledge, and dream of a brighter future in the great wild somewhere. I related to her ever since I was a child; one of my dreams has always been having a library like Beast’s. Her whole movie is amazingly pretty and has the best music. Also Belle’s Finnish voice (which is the one I heard as a child and still know best) is perfect. Yes, all of this comes down to my personal taste, and I’m not sorry. I love how Belle is a strong female character without being a bad-ass fighter. She does her best for her father, she’s independent, she doesn’t let gossip bother her, she stands up to Beast even though she’s scared, she stands up to Gaston, she stays truthful. These days people like to claim she’s suffering from Stockholm Syndrome; to those believing that, please watch Lindsay Ellis’s video on YouTube on the matter. Also, Emma Watson is not my Belle and I try to pretend the whole live action version never happened.

1. Rapunzel Rapunzel is my idol. She’s crafty and independent and joyful and a dreamer. She’s really imperfect and in my opinion most like a real person out of all the princesses. She’s genuine and wears her heart on her sleeve. She’s amazingly brave, witty and kind of a bad-ass. She breaks out of her narcissistic kidnapper’s grasp. Her romance feels real and organic. I just really think Rapunzel and Tangled as a whole movie are very underrated. Go watch it.

Honorable mentions to non-princesses - Megara from Hercules, one of my favourite films. Meg is great, and rare with her cynicism and world-weary attitude. She’s so cool and I love her. - Kida, who weirdly is the princess of Atlantis but not included in the DIsney princess line? I’ve never understood that. She’s amazing and beautiful and ugh. - other women of Atlantis: The Lost Empire: Helga Sinclair, Audrey Ramirez, love them. It’s seriously such a good, underrated movie - Esmeralda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, another one of my childhood idols. Rare a Disney woman in that she’s not ashamed of her sexuality, but not dependent on it, either. She kicks ass. - Jane from Tarzan, she’s silly and cute, and so stylish!

I’m right, you’re wrong, shut up!

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dbphantom · 5 years

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Canon: Zane Flynt fucks

Me: haha u know what this means ;))))

Me:

Me: merfolk glamour time

[[MORE]]

Alright but for real tho u wanna see how deep I am in this fucking universe? Lego

I don't even know where to begin with this universe (Zer0 is an alien! Hammerlock is a werewolf! Troy is psychic! Tannis is a skag! Wait, no, wrong shitpost...) so imma open the 140 page document and start from the beginning

Annnnd Clay! Junpai-7.

When Zane meets Clay for the first time he mentions they did a smuggling job together on Junpai-7, u know, the water planet, so obviously this is good news (This made me super happy because my discord channel's name had been the junpai-7 moon pool for a while so I was like 'holy shit it's canon now' :') )

Timeline wise this isn't the beginning, but I don't write in chronological order and I don't order anything in chronological order, either, so. Eh.

Speaking of chronological order, I once got a line where Zane was like exclaiming something and used the moon instead of idk a god or powerful figure or smth and I was like 'lmao that's canon now'

So the moon... Elpis fucking got yeeted halfway across the galaxy or smth, and, considering we've seen (more) ocean on Pandora in 3 instead of just, like, Liars Berg (getting to THAT) or Tretchers landing, I feel bad for the tides. But that's good news for everyone else. Unless you were on Elpis, I guess.

Also hoh boy the 'end' of the game where Troy Phaselocks the moon was fun to write (it actually wasn't, I lowkey hate writing Moonstruck phases because... It hurts and I can't do it well.) also can we talk about how in tps the psychos are called Moonstrucks in tvhm because this makes me so happy. I really hope they did that intentionally considering H2O is an Australian show because my two favorite things combined can and will kill me. Wait actually the Troy boss fight is gonna be hilarious to write mostly because of that one attack with the tidal waves lol oh no

Also, also, also, you guys it's only explained in a guide book and never actually in-game as to why Captain's ship is Like That (TM) so I took some liberties and uhhh blame the Crackening. I mean the crackening happened after dahl pulled out of Pandora/Elpis so it works. It sorta works. It mostly works. Fuck. It works okay? shut. That's why Liars Berg is all frozen ocean [shoves 3 page essay about climate change on Pandora into the trash] don't need that anymore.

I was gonna talk about smth else

Oh yeah

Mostly brain freeze and trick of the light. That one meme video I made of Tannis and the Flynt Brothers imposed over that one clip of H2O (so let me get this straight: you freeze things, you explode things, and you boil things) wasn't just for laughs, it was actually a warning.

Each Flynt has a thing and Zane's is ice, Baron's is explosions, and Captain's is fire. (Glorious cleansing fire) Because it fits. It fits so well. I will say right off the bat that Mako Mermaids isn't my canon. I lowkey want to write out Charlotte as well (lol) because I've seen the 2nd season so many times and tbh I much prefer them having 1 really strong power over having 3+ really weak powers. Also Charlotte did nothing wrong in the first half of that season. Cleo was just a bitch to her. And Mako Mermaids is just. Not great on the power side of things. You can TURN INVISIBLE. USE IT. Soooo. (also cam got destroyed in s1 and I'm so glad they ended up making him work in s2 and 3. Because he deserved better and Zac was a terrible friend to him and only got away with it because he's a main character). /rant sorry I have so many feelings about these shows. Grew up with them soooooo.

And if ur wondering why I brought up trick of the light it's cause the 13th year exists and that movie was bopping. U guys remember Jess? Good times... Tuba pool scene is iconic. U know the one. I would also bring up aquamarine but ngl that movie was weaksauce comparatively. They hid that bitch in a water tower and iunno talked to earrings. Meanwhile in the 13th year they bring Jess back from the fucking dead and climb on walls like Spiderman. Clearly one is superior.

"but cruddy Aurelia has ice powers too and she's not a mermaid" no she's a werewolf like her brother we already went over that. Did u think I was kidding? No! I'm never kidding unless I am and I fucking love werewolves so I'd never kid about that. I love werewolves and I love Hammerlock and it's perfect I just love the idea of this gentlemanly hunter being a werewolf because I want to see a giant hulking monster being all proper and shit. They're just really cool. Werewolves > vampires and ngl I'm sad skyrim screwed over werewolves with the dawnguard dlc. Anyway Aurelia's ice powers are nanobots as explained in-game and listen I already lore-scienced this okay? Let me say it's amazing the things science is capable of when it thinks it's trying to beat out a competitor and doesn't realize non-Siren magic exists. Even better now that we know Sirens are not Eridian and actually existed before Eridians. Makes me giddy to think about. The universe is tearing me APART Lisa.

Oh speaking of, can we talk about the witch's brew quest on eden-6 because holy shit I had been writing Hiromi and her fascination with discovering all the secret circles long before the game came out and then learning about the group of witches and The Pact (TM) made me lose my shit because 'oh my god it's actually canon now'. We're on the canon path nowwwww. Soon. I hope we get a water planet dlc. I wants it, GB, I wants it.

Also I was totally gonna write a clip in the main story of the game (because I write a lot of backstory stuff if you can't tell, I only have like 3 scenes that take place during the events of the game and like 4 that are speculatory from before the game came out (including a scene from before I realized Troy was Like That but I edited it so he's more in-line and also has Maya's powers now so that's... Hm. In line with the storyline somewhere, but not an actual scene in the games story. Because its not possible with how the game does things (seperating Vault Hunters) I suppose I could just insert a 5th Vault somewhere and say it's the 4th Vault connected to the Machine (with nekrotefeyo's being the 5th). Fuck it.) and then 9,000 are backstory) where Hiromi comes back after like decades of the two not seeing each other and she's been hired to assassinate Zane by one of the many corporations looking for his corpse for a multitude of reasons (And Emma and Nino are both d e a d a s f, you know, for context). And like Barnabas (ya old bastard) Zane is still joking around and just having a grand old time catching up with his black ops buddy meanwhile she had just tried to blow his brains out (she's a sniper) and got pretty damn close. She's not even amused because of her psychic powers so she's just like 'ok' every time he opens his mouth because she already knows what he's going to say she's mostly just frustrated that she missed because she thought she knew him well enough to go off instead of just listening to her intuition but alas people change after, like, 3 decades of not seeing them.

Oh since we're talking about Hiromi that reminds me why Zane wears the black suit. In my non-h2o universe it's because it looks cool and provides some protection from dots. In the H2Oniverse it is because it's waterproof. Okay wait hang on context so Hiromi doesn't like take off his suit or anything, she's extremely gay and not interested, because I realize now how that sounds me relating Hiromi to the clothes, they just get into an argument about how Sirens don't have to follow any arbitrary rules to hide their magic and how it's easier to hide magic without giant glowing tattoos (and mind you this is before Zane even knows Tannis exists though he does immediately know she's a Siren and that's a whole nother can of worms) and hr's like 'I wear a bodysuit for most of my waking hours, so I am pretty sure they can try wearing long sleeved shirts and makeup for a day. Just a suggestion' but like way more in character (and for the scene) because do I sound like I'm in character right now? I'm not. I'm me. And God what a terrible thing to be.

So context for the context: ~magic is real~. If you've got it then you can usually tell who else has it if you're looking. It's especially clear if they're 'similar' to you (if ur a werewolf and u meet another werewolf then you sorta just know they're a werewolf) or if you're psychic (like Hiromi) then you can make some informed guesses. Like. Same Hat? Same Hat!!! Sirens are basically such powerful magic users that they are in literally a whole nother ball park. They're leagues above everyone else. Kill you just by looking at you sort of deal. So sirens normally don't feel other magic because their own magic is so strong it just 'overwrites' the other signals. You know, to not only explain why Lilith isn't immediately like 'who the fuck are you' to Zane and also how Amara couldn't tell Tannis is a Siren. I had a whole thing with Troy (who is psychic) being able to tell Zane had magic despite being near 4 Sirens at once because Troy grew up with Tyreen always at his side so he's used to it and knows how to look through it. Meanwhile Hiromi is basically incapacitated when she's near a Siren because she gets overwhelmed because her powers make it easier for her to read other people's magic.

Oh, context, the black ops outfit worked with Atlas for a short time (the group being Zane, Hiromi, Emma, and Nino. Emma is the yeehaw captain. She's the leader) and ended up meeting Steele for a little bit. Hiromi was just dead the entire meeting, Zane was totally out of it, and Emma and Nino were too busy eyefucking to really care that there was a Siren in the room so. Just imagine one person lying face down on the floor and crying, another staring at the wall without blinking, two undressing each other with their eyes, and then Cmdt. Steele standing in the middle like 'how the fuck did I get here'.

So that was everyone's first experience with a Siren.

There are more but ehhhh I'm tired and I mostly wrote this because I wanted to talk about it with someone else but they haven't read the whole thing yet so now I can scream into the void about it and not feel like I'm bothering them.

Hooray!

#Borderlands #Me walking into the club like what up I'm about to make 0 sense #Who wants to hear about the au literally nobody else wanted??#Bl3 #I realize this fandom is actually active on here so I'm slightly scared posting this #Since the last H2O au thing I posted was fucking RvB from God uhhh 3-4 years ago now? Fuck me #I put this in the queueueueue so I won't know when it goes up so I'm not anxious #Oh this is the context by the way #For that picture I posted #That I'm never going to bring up again

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lifeofmarvvel · 6 years

Text

The Song Sirens Sing Part 4

Summary: Peter Parker's life changes drastically when he joins a pirate crew. He learns new skills, meets new people, and has the time of his life. Then he meets a siren and his world once again turns upside down.

Word Count: 3718

Warnings: Uh, grumpy Tony who isn't the nicest but it makes sense in context

A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I last updated! Homework is killing me (yay junior year). This is honestly the longest thing I've ever written. And I thought -insert bug pun here- was long! This is like 1k more. It was a total of 9 pages on Google Docs. Enjoy!

Series Masterlist

Part 3

Nakia had successfully lifted your mood from that dreary day by the coral. She gave you answers to questions most people wouldn’t let you know about. For example, she had been to the surface a bit due to her job (which was one of the only secrets keep from you), and she was able to tell you all about it. She apparently saw humans quite frequently and told you what an odd species they are. Of course, this piqued your curiosity. And also drew you away from wanting to be a siren.

Everyone was still pushing you to train more so you could try again with a different ship. Well, mostly everyone. The twins and Clint supported your decision to take a break and gladly spent lots of time hanging out with you. Nakia encouraged it, saying it was better for your mental health that way. Natasha understood, but was slightly disappointed. She’d rather resume your lessons but gave you the space you needed. It was a shame. She was one of your closest friends, and she was actively avoiding you now. Oh well. If that’s what she thought was best.

“Zo,” Clint announced, mouth full of seaweed-wrapped shrimp. “Duu oou davva o ta dhe urfaks umellow?”

Wanda wrinkled her nose at him. “You are disgusting. Has anyone ever told you it’s impolite to speak with your mouth full?”

Clint swallowed his food and spoke again. “Well, considering we’re not very polite to each other in any way, shape, or form at times, I thought it was okay.”

“That’s not a good excuse,” Wanda replied.

“Yeah,” you chimed in. “Just ‘cause you and Pietro bully each other doesn’t mean the rest of us bully each other.”

He pointed an accusing finger at you. “I call your bluff. Nat bullies me all the time, and you personally have picked on me before.”

You shrugged your shoulders. “Okay, so maybe we decided as a group to bully you. But that still doesn’t mean we bully each other. What were you trying to say, anyway?”

“I was saying-” Clint cut himself off. “Wait, what do you mean you decided as a group to bully me?”

“Unimportant. Now tell us.” Wanda shrugged off his question with ease you wished you could have.

He let out a huff. “Fine. I’ll ask Nat later. As I was saying- do you wanna go to the surface tomorrow?” He pointedly looked at you, like he knew you were about to protest. Which you were.

And before you could respond to his look, Pietro spoke up. “What is so interesting that we’d have to go to the surface?”

You silently thanked Pietro. For once, he understood. “Well, you see,” Clint began to explain. “It’s something one of a kind. But we’d have to go to the shoreline, too.”

Before anyone could speak for you, you voiced your own opinion. “No way. The shoreline? You’d have a hard enough time getting me to go to the surface. But the shoreline!? Where the humans live? Nope. Nada. Hasta la vista. See you never because I’d rather go into hiding than be forced to come with.”

Your friends laughed at your actions. “Aw, come on, (Y/N). Is there any possible way to get you to come with?” Clint begged.

You hesitated. There were a few exceptions, but you doubt it’d be any or if Clint would even be able to guess any of them correctly. He, annoyingly, noticed. “That’s a yes. Now, let’s see. Hey, Wanda. My super great, amazing, wonderful- ha, Wandaful- friend who just so happens to be able to read minds. Could you help me out here?”

Wanda gave a little laugh at that. “Bribery does not work on me, Clinton.”

“It was worth a shot.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Give me a second, and I’ll have it figured out by myself.” You waited patiently, seeing what he’d come up with. Sure enough, he came to the realization that just telling you might help.

“Okay,” he said. “Might as well tell you. I wanna go because, first of all, the sunset looks prettier above the water-”

“Yeah right,” Pietro interrupted. “We all know you only said that because it might convince her.”

Clint turned to look at him quickly, raising an accusatory finger. He turned so fast, you were almost convinced he was the speedster and not Pietro. “Stop that! It’s not cool!” He turned back, this time looking more like himself. “As I was saying,” he said, agitated, “the second reason why I want to go to the surface is because I was promised I’d be able to try coffee by someone else- who shall remain unnamed- and we won’t be the only ones there.”

When you continued to look unimpressed, he continued. “Okay, third, I wanna go because I wanna talk to my friends and I want you to meet some of them.”

You pretended to be shocked. “You have friends other than us? Why. Clint, I didn’t know you were capable of such a thing. I surely thought that when you weren’t with us you would just sit around and cry.”

Clint huffed at you. “I’m really getting sick of this whole ‘pick on Clint’ thing you guys enjoy so much. News flash, it’s not fun for me. And yes, I am capable. They were my friends before I met you.” He crossed his arms across his chest.

He looked sincerely upset. “I’m sorry, Clint. I’ll try to do it less often if it’ll help you feel better,” you apologized.

He hummed while thinking for a second. “I’ll think about accepting your apology more later,” he said in a joking tone. “But really, I want you to come do some more stuff, meet more people. Even if you have to step a bit outside of your comfort zone to make it happen.”

Wanda and Pietro nodded, adding a bit of their own input. It seemed like all your friends were ganging up against you, trying to get you to go. When you finally appeared to be swaying back and forth between going and not going, Clint decided to use his last bit of persuasion.

“You know,” he said cautiously, “if you go, you’ll not only get to meet some of my friends, you’ll get to meet- and I quote you- ‘the mysterious Coulson’ I always talk about.

That definitely grabbed your attention. Meet Coulson? Yes, you were going for sure. “Alright,” you announced. “I’ll come with.” At your words, your friends all cheered. Who knew they’d be this excited about you going out for once. “What time should I be ready by?”

“The festivities will take place around dinner time and last after sunset. So I’d say around noon? It’s quite the swim,” Clint responded.

You nodded, taking in the information. “Thanks. I’ll try to be ready by then, I guess.”

“No. I don’t care that they’re ‘civilized.’ I’m not going to let Pete go. You said yourself that he might get sick again if he so happens to the one that did it to him. And what if she’s there? I’m not risking it. We don’t need to lose a sailor, especially not one who’s so young.”

“But that’s the thing, Stark. I said might. So far, research has shown that when the sailor does see them again, there is only a one in twenty chance that he will get sick again. And you know what we do then? We give him the treatment again, assign him to a month in the middle of the country, and once it’s up, we send him on his way again. He’ll be fine.”

“Why do you guys even have a festival on the beach with mermaids, anyways?” Scott spoke up.

Shuri sighed. “I thought I already explained it. It’s part of our cultural festivities, and we’d appreciate if our guests could join us. But it seems you are too stubborn, so I might just have T’Challa ban your whole crew from our nation for such an insult.”

She got an automatic reaction in response. “No, no. That’s not necessary. I guess we’re all going, right crew? Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!” Tony said with forced enthusiasm. It was quite the spectacle. “But seriously, after tonight, we need to head back. We helped you with your business. We have to get back to pirating.”

“You’ll have to talk to my brother about that,” she responded. Almost as if on cue, T’Challa walked in to the room. “And look at that! That is my cue to leave. Goodbye, Avengers. Don’t let my brother harass you too long. I have some more improvements I need to work on.” She turned on her heel and walked out of the room briskly.

Well, there was no doubting it anymore. Two co-captains well into their life were frightened by a sixteen year old genius princess. Who’d guess that’d be a fact they’d ever have to expect? Tony was very glad he made the decision to head back to sea the next day. While it was nice to sit around and plan things for a while, he was missing his ship. And the sea. And not having to deal with humanity other than the however many crew members they currently held. Yeah, he was longing for that.

He got up slowly. If Spiderling was being dragged along, no matter how much he disagreed, he’d have to go inform him of such a matter. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay. Wonderful feeling, wonderful day my eye, he thought.

You waited on a rock in the midst of buildings, waiting for the rest of your friends to show up. The ocean was alive all around you. You watched as fish, mers, and seahorses alike raced back and forth through the streets. If only Clint would hurry up. You knew he had a habit of oversleeping, but it was well past noon. Where could he be?

To your advantage, he showed up right then, almost as if beckoned by your thoughts. “Huh,” you whispered. Louder, you said, “Hey Clint, since when were you a mind reader”

“What?” He looked befuddled.

“I was just wondering where you were, and then you popped out of nowhere,” you replied.

He chuckled. “No, I’m not. I can promise you that. I was making sure I had everything,” he gestured to the bags he was carrying, “when I realized I had to make a stop to grab a few.”

You got up and swam towards him. “Well, now that’s all sorted out, everyone else is close, right? Let’s catch up to them.” You started to head off when you remembered you didn’t know quite where you were supposed to be going. Stopping in your tracks, you turned around.

Clint caught up, but he didn’t answer your question. With some insistence from you, he relented. “They all left beforehand.” When you started to sputter, he cut you off. “They already knew since they agreed to go before you did. And because they don’t trust me to get there on time. So, come on; we have to prove them wrong!” He took off, speeding ahead of you.

“Hey! Not fair!” you called after him before starting off yourself. As fast as the two of you went, you made it to the shoreline in no time. All you had to do was follow Clint. It’s not like trying to follow Pietro, after all. Clint was generally a lot slower than the speedster. Clint was waiting for you to catch up after he came to a stop.

“This is it,” he said, confirming your thoughts. From the looks of it, you were at a human dock. There were giant poles sticking into the ground, some covered in algae, but mostly looking rather sturdy and brown. What appeared to be the bottoms of ships floated along it. As you noticed this, you gulped.

You took a deep breath, trying to center yourself. “Okay. I guess I ought to give it a try.” You nodded at him, and he paused for a second before nodding back.

“If you ever feel overwhelmed, make sure to find me, Nat, Wanda, Pietro, or Nakia,” he said, swimming over to you.

“Nakia’s here?” you questioned. “Nobody told me that.”

Clint gave you a sheepish smile. “Uh, yeah. Sorry? Oops.” He grabbed your arm and started to pull you up to the surface with him.

You had no idea what you were getting yourself into.

The dock was swarming with humans. Around the edges, mers laughed, joked, conversed, and even arm wrestled with them. It definitely was a party of some sort. You couldn’t believe your eyes? How did humans and mers get along so well? You had grown up with stories of the two species hating each other. How did this happen? A quick glance informed you of the twins joking around with a woman with a brunette angled bob, Nat was observing to the side, and Nakia was talking with a tall man who held himself with a sense of awareness.

Clint noticed your awe and confusion. “There’s an organization that works with mer and human interactions. They helped plan this, don’t worry. Actually, I should introduce you to a few of them. See if you’re interested in joining.” With your permission, the two of you took off.

He lead you towards the dock, carefully avoiding the other mers. He seemed to have one set person in mind. Eventually, he lead you to a man who, despite the heat, was wearing a suit and tie. The man had thinning hair, and looked as if he was always busy, but somehow gave off the feel of being everyone’s friend.

Sure enough, Clint swam right up to him, dragging you with him. Just in time, the man ended his conversation with the woman next to him. She moved on to talk to someone else, and he faced Clint. “Barton!” he exclaimed. “Long time, no see!”

“Sure has been, Coulson!” Clint replied, excited to see his friend again.

“Wait, that’s Coulson?” you asked, astonished. “I thought you were another mer! Clint! You deceiving little-”

“Alright, no need to go there!” Clint cut you off. “Coulson, this is (Y/N) (L/N). And (Y/N), well, you’ve already figure out who he is: Phil Coulson.”

“Nice to meet you, miss,” Coulson said, sticking his hand out. You shook the water off your hand the best you could before returning the handshake. “I doubt Clint has told you this, but I work for the Seafolk and Human Interactions, Education and Living Division. Or, SHIELD. We specialize in ensure humans and mers get along nicely. The annual Royal Festival of Wakanda is just one event where we do so. Granted, their culture was always more accepting towards merfolk, we just help it run smoother.”

Fascinated, you started asking him all kinds of questions. Who knew when he’d have to take off? Gone was your fear of drowning a human with your voice, at least for the moment. You definitely had no need to sing right now, and doubted you would the rest of the night.

He told you that they had a special program just for “superpowered” mers, as he put it. They teamed up with those willing to take down bad guys. Bad guys who had ships, spent time near the ocean, or even if they teamed up with a few humans to lure them to the beach and the mer took care of the rest. He assured results had shown it helped mers feel better about their more killer skills, and was carefully thought through.

“So, Miss, (L/N), will you consider joining our team?” he questioned.

“I’d be honored to,” you answered.

He smiled at you. “Great. Now, I should grab some more information for you. I’ll try not be get too sidetracked. Feel free to converse with others while I’m gone.” He turned and disappeared in the crowd. Taking up his advice, as Clint left a while ago to talk to Nat, you wandered around to find someone else.

Peter walked behind his captains as they approached the dock. It was swarming with people. He wasn’t sure why they were here. All that he had explained to him was that today was a traditional festival Wakanda held every year. Nobody told him what for, only what he had to be there, along with the rest of the crew.

All kinds of people were there, or rather, all the tribes were there. He also saw other foreigners, like their crew. Just here and there, and few enough for him to realize that Wakanda only let extremely trusted outsiders in, and it was an honor to be there. No wonder they kept a reputation for being a third-world country. When only a handful of people- who could be trusted not to blabber all their secrets- knew it wasn’t one, it was easy to do so.

He saw a few scattered around the dock, some in clusters, some not. He saw one white man making his way around the ranks of people, seeming to hold conversations with everyone but still moving quickly. He turned and started talking to T’Challa and the mermaid with a green tail. “This way, kid,” Tony said, redirecting his attention.

Peter’s head snapped back. “Aye aye, cap’n.”

Tony sighed. “Why is that everyone’s first reaction to me giving orders?” They continued their way through the swarm of people until they came across the banquet table. “Alright, stay in this area, okay? I’m hungry, so I’ll be here. Don’t wander off too far or you’ll get stuck.”

Peter confirmed he heard, and wandered off. He was wary about the mers. Everyone said they were evil creatures. Why did Wakanda interact with them so freely, then? He guessed it was in his best judgement to trust T’Challa. Seeing a quieter, shady spot by some trees, he walked over. Nobody was around; it was secluded and conveniently out of sight but not too far away from the banquet table to get yelled at. He sat down, admiring the water rippling in the sunset.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t hear anyone approaching until they spoke. “Hello?” the voice called out, startling him. He looked around before looking down and realizing it was a mermaid in the water. Well, actually two mermaids. One with brown hair and a red tail. The other had (H/C) hair with a (F/C) tail and looked about his age.

The red tailed one appeared to be restraining the other girl. “I noticed my friend here getting nervous when looking at you, so I’m assuming that means she thinks you’re cute and wouldn’t dare approach herself. So here you go.” She rounded on her friend. “I’ll know if you leave because,” she tapped her own head,” from now on I’m going to peek in more than usual. No funny business. You leave, I’m sending both Pietro and Clint after you.” Her friend gulped and nodded quickly. Satisfied, the red tailed girl turned and left.

“Uh,” the girl voiced. A slow turn let her face Peter. They made eye contact and memories came flooding back. He knew who this was. This was the siren that fateful day only a week or so ago. She looked as shocked as Peter felt. “Uh- I’m- uh- goodness gracious I’m bad at this. Sorry?” she said, but it came out as more of a question than a statement. She shook her head and started over. “Sorry for almost drowning you?” she offered again, still in a questioning tone.

Peter couldn’t believe his eyes. She was in front of him. He hadn’t imagined it. Her semi-question confirmed it. All caution towards the possibility of getting Siren Sickness again flew out the window. “You didn’t though,” Peter answered. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

She laughed softly. “Yeah, I guess so. I’m so sorry about the incident! It was my first sinking and there were so many expectations and I didn’t think it’d be someone my age. I thought it would be a grumpy old sailor dude who would’ve been better off gone but then it was-”

“Woah woah woah,” Peter cut her off. “No need to get in a hassle. I understand peer pressure and all that jazz. I just joined the crew the last time they stopped at my hometown a few months ago.”

She let out a breath of relief. “Thanks for understanding.” Peter gave a slight nod in response. “Oh, uh, I’m (Y/N), by the way.”

Peter smiled. Trying to avoid a cheesy comment, he instead said, “I”m Peter.” She smiled back at him. They launched into a conversation full of stutters, blushes, and lots of apologies. But Peter didn’t mind. In fact, he could feel himself slowly falling for this girl. Who’d have guessed? And he was sure it was real feelings this time, unlike the ship incident. She wasn’t singing, after all, no matter how melodic her voice sounded.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?!?!” an angry yell overpowered their conversation. Oh no. Peter knew just who this was. He mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ to (Y/N) before he felt a hand grab him by the collar and spin him around. Tony reared on the mermaid. “I don’t want to see you near him ever again!”

He ignored Peter’s protests and dragged him away. All the while, he was scolding him. “This is exactly what I was worried about! We need you, we can’t let you get sick again! How could you so carelessly do that?! The exact mer that hurt you!” He kept ranting, pulling him away.

Peter protested as they made their way through the crowd, hoping that someone might help him out. “But I’m fine! See?! We were perfectly fine and you ruined a great conversation! She told me she wasn’t targeting me and she regretted it!” His shouts fell on deaf ears (quite literally, when he saw a merman with a purple tail signing out of the corner of his eye).

Tony eventually stopped in front of Shuri. “I need you to check up on him again. He risked his life and I need to know he’s okay for tomorrow.”

Shuri looked in his eyes. “If you’re absolutely sure he needs it.”

“I’m sure.”

Part 5

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musubiki · 6 years

Text

by the by here some oscar headcanons

➞

same age as the other 3, ends up getting into the same class as them

the excited sunshine friend (tm)

also surprisngly the most normal out of all of them. the only one with both his parents

the 1st person he runs into is lime and hes excited!!!! dude!!!! long time no see remember me????? were in the same class now how cool is that????????????

he was limes best friend in early middle school. they would get into so. much trouble.

so he is notoriously out of the loop for literally everything thats happened

he sees mochi down the hallway and hes all “Oh my god., iis..is that...mochi palms????” “YEAH shes in our class too”

at first hes a bit playfully mean to her

BC LAST HE KNOWS HER AND LIME WERE MORTAL ENEMIES

lime has to literally stop him from bullying her and let him know that theyre on good terms already chill out

(hes not a bully by nature but him and lime used to tease her in middle school and he was just backing lime fjdksdf)

FORCEFULLY APOLOGIZES TO HER. “IM SORRY LOL,.,.,,, I THOUGHT YOU GUYS WERE STILL ENEMIES IM NOT A JERK I SWEAR”

mochi just kinda laughs it off. its ok. relax

hes a HUGE like. ghost adventures fan. hes always chasing paranormal cryptid shit. but hes not scared of it. he goes and calls the ghosts asshole wimps

hes the only one out of the group that doesnt live in the town. he has to take like a 10 minute bike ride to the nearest bus stop and then its another 10 minute bus ride to the school

he lives in a very rural country setting outside the city. theres a lot of like farms and feild out there, but his parents wanted to live in the clean quiet air kind of place (insp from my neighbor totoro kind of place)

oscar takes wood shop as an elective, and he kind of likes it. hes made a bunch of wooden little projects for fun.

hes also pretty good at carving by hand. once he made a little wodden horse,. it had a dumb looking head and its legs were too short, ubt you win some you learn some nfdksf

sometimes the drama club needs some more specific props. mochi has to go ask him for help because coco is too stubborn. “Can’t we just make it out of like????? cardboard?????/ please???????????” “Or we can have oscar do it for free”

this is because once she asked him and he insisted $300 dollars cash payment. mochi asked him later and hes like “OH sure. np👌” we hate him

HE DOESNT HATE COCO HE JUST JOKES AROUND WITH HER SOMETIMES AND FORGETS TO ADD THE “JUST KIDDING” TO THE END OF IT. SO SHE THINKS HES SERIOUS

him and coco got off on the WRONG ASS FOOT.

1st interaction was when coco was climbing through the window of the classroom, late to class again, with the teacher that hates her. she was trying to be discrete, oscar is sitting right by the window, she has no idea who this new kid even is, tells him “scOOT YOUR ASS BEFORE HE SEES ME”

ofc oscar is like “????? no wtf” AND SHE ENDS UP FALLNIG ON HER FACE. the teacher looks suspiciously in their direction, shes fokojng hiding behind oscar and mochis tables. “WHY ARE YOU MAKING SO MUCH NOISE OVER THERE OSCAR????”

“Uhhh its not me its this chick hiding behind me”

que to coco running out of the room with the pissed off teacher chasing her (eventually she outsmarts him and makes it back to the room,., another teacher has to sub because all the running made the other one faint. coco: 34, teachers: 0)

“Whyd you rat me out like that you piece of fruit????!??!?!?!” “?????!?!????? I DOnt want to get in trouble fix your time managment next time” life is hard when you meet someone = to your sass level

overall hes not a sassy guy though. hes a good hearted kid and a good soul but he can totally ROAST you if you come after him. so HAHA now cocos super irritated by him,. oscar just kinda lets it go and forgets about it within an hour, coco is salty for 700 days.

lime is overjoyed that now someone is here that can actually piss her off

for unknown reasons oscar is supremely capable of pushing her buttons and no one knows how. he doesnt even mean to he can say literally anything and shes annoyed. [confused nick young meme]

his favorite holiday is ALSO HALOWEEN and is the self-proclaimed king of halloween. this sparks the biggest rivalry between two self proclaimed royalty claiming that they go harder on halloween

cocos main interest in the holiday is more of the ‘get free candy, harass young children, tp houses’ vibe, whereas oscars is more,,. ‘im gonna lure out all the ghosts and no one can stop me’

problematic bc coco is actually kind of afriad of ghosts

once mochi and lime had to stay at their shops for part of the night for the trick-or-treaters, so coco and oscar went trick or treating together. oscar LITERALLY had an ouija board and was READY TO CONTACT THE OTHER SIDE,. COCO WAS FREAKED THE HELL OUT “DUDE PUT THAT DEMON SHIT AWAY WTF????????!?!?!?!!!!”

coco is better with makeup but oscars outfits are better quality

he is also the only one to suspect that mochi is more than normal. he cant put his finger on what it is about her exactly but he feels like something is off. his 1st theory was vampire (quickly disproven bc she obviously. goes in the sun. and hes seen her reflection before.

his 2ND AND MAIN THEORY IS PERHAPS 2) MERMAID.

carries around a notebook to record evidence on supernatural and mochi theories.

“okay 1. lives near the ocean, 2. no one knows of her late night activies, 3. never goes in the water, 4. always drinking water SHE MUST BE A MERMAID”

lime is just shaking his fiukcjng head (post-reveal)

once he saw her cat and literally asked her “..........are you a witch?” at first shes SHOOK but then kinda stares at him for a while, before answering “is this another one of your conspiracy theories” “or a mermaid. are you a mermaid?”

not a bad dancer. actually pretty good,

one time mochi and lime go over to his house for a project. his house is near the border of a big forest. mochi never tells him theres powerful forest spirits in there

but his home is a great safehouse later on. sometimes they make the trip out there just to relax in the mountain air. peaceful(tm)

hes the last of the squad to be introduced, but i havent decided if him or coco find out about mochi first. also havent decided on what his power is going to end up

always drops by mochis shop after school for a snack. hes a little hurt because he has to pay for it whereas lime gets stuff for free LMAOO

he can tell pretty easily that mochi is crushing on lime. he teases lime about mochi too. chaotic nuetral “Have you guys hooked up yet?” “HAHA NOOoo wTF are you TALKING about.,..,..”

the bigass weeb. watches anime and cartoons. pretends like hes the edgy cool guy(tm) but hes really not. literally wears a gravity falls shirt. loser

#oscar #the misc adventures of mochi & lime #headcanons #canon #story #text #long post #this is actually kinda long i love him #bullet point post #bpp

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thechurchillreview · 7 years

Photo

Contains minor SPOILERS.

Cala Maria gif courtesy of @casioonaplasticbeach.

The debut game of Studio MDHR is the completely hand drawn 1930s cartoon inspired Cuphead for the Xbox One and PC. Particularly the Fleischer Studios short starring Bimbo known as Swing You Sinners! (1930). For example, Cagney Carnation’s idle animation is one a ghost has in it. A later significant donnybrook borrows from that cartoon’s aesthetic and characters too. There’s visual grain filter and simulated 24 fps too! There’s a deliberate color inconsistency between Cuphead’s design and the hues for his victory screen: a commonality found with older cartoons. An Inkwell Isle II boss character speaks with a Porky Pig inspired stutter whilst possessing a moniker close to a famous animator’s (Grim Natwick). Natwick, in real life, spoke with a stutter, making a double reference to cartoon history.

As a cartoon fanatic and a seeker of run and gun games, I had to check out Cuphead for sure!

On Xbox One.

My name is OrchardBlossom.

Cuphead has been in development for seven years and is the final result of seven people animating it is beyond mind blowing. Their names are Chad Moldenhauser, Danielle Johnson, @jake-clark, Thomas “Smo” Smolenski, @habihanna, Joseph Coleman, and Tina Nawrocki. Take a bow y’all! *Throws roses, kisses, glitter, and confetti*

Cuphead, is, as cliche as it sounds, a dream come true for me.

The moment I tried the Sony Imagesoft (publisher) and Traveller’s Tales (developer) Sega Genesis game Mickey Mania in the early 90s, I’ve been relentlessly searching and totally craving another release that utilized hand drawn animation that pulls from classic cartoons. In it, Mickey Mouse can toss marbles at foes and his HP that’s represented by fingers on his glove is 5. The player goes from left to right avoiding by jumping over or trouncing adversaries. Mickey Mania’s opening level is the culturally and genre significant Steamboat Willie (1928) and a later one is a favorite of mine known as The Lonesome Ghosts (1937). Often I’d avoid enemies and not proceed so I could soak in the game’s distinctive visual aesthetic for a second longer. Similarly, I’d prolong a couple of clashes in Cuphead for that very same reason. Despite never winning against the final fight in that damned The Prince and the Pauper (1990) stage, that Mickey Mouse game still retains a special place in my heart. In fact, when taking a slight break from Cuphead I fired up my Sega to only lose against Captain Pete…Again.

25% of Cuphead features run and gun stages that bring to mind Mega Man, Contra, Gunstar Heroes, Metal Slug, and Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. Your introductory HP is 3 and can be higher if you sacrifice the strength of your weapons via purchased charms. Charms are bought using Coins found in levels and around the hub islands of Inkwell Isle.

With this currency, charms or weaponry can be bought at Porkrind’s Emporium. For instance, the Smoke Bomb Charm makes your dodge waaaay more efficient. The Coffee Charm is ideal for plane boss battles since you cannot make your Shrink dodge any better in them: this allows you to obtain Super Arts of powered up techniques faster. Cuphead’s basic projectile weapon is known as the Peashooter. The boomerang-like Roundabout is your best bet against most bosses if you’re adept at facing the opposite and firing it. Chaser is a weak homing weapon that’s perfect for boss battles that require both tricky and constant dodging (like the final phase of queen bee Rumor Honeybottoms). Experiment with your six firing weapon selections and find what’s the most comfortable for you though. Remember that Cuphead and Mugman can fire while ducking/moving and their firing angle can be adjusted.

Likewise, in a plane, one can use the gun or bombs. I didn’t realize this until late in the game, ha ha!

The remaining 75% of Cuphead consists of brimming with personality and creativity boss battles alongside some toe-tapping worthy jazz-infused tracks. Cuphead is a game that takes patience, analyzing patterns, learning to properly parry (leads to the capability of utilizing stronger weapon moves and Super Art techniques), knowing when to stop firing versus dodge some more, ducking, and changing your weapon set or Super Arts when necessary. Now, it is possible to hold down the fire button and switch between weapons on the fly. I personally found it overwhelming, an additional challenge of sorts, that made it increasingly harder to accurately concentrate during either run and gun stages and boss battles.

So, in Cuphead, you will die a lot. I guarantee it. I died 1111 times beating it on Normal mode alone. I didn’t give up nor go above 3 HP. It was immensely satisfying when I won against everything.

But I feel this by design: the game’s mechanics are solid and each time I lost I didn’t blame Cuphead since everything is clear. Trial and error is in the game’s DNA. Controls aren’t an issue essentially. They’re quite responsive, so each failure unquestionably feels like my fault. If an attack or enemy isn’t pink, it cannot be parried, so it must be avoided or slain. The directions in which bosses bombard you don’t change at all (besides after a phase alteration where new moves are still very much broadcast)…The order isn’t consistent however. And my advice is to always stay on guard. Sometimes, the smartest attack is to wait though.

Whenever you do lose, a progress bar is unveiled about how dismal or great your overall performance was. Along with a taunting quote from a boss. Like Wally Warbles, a Woody Woodpecker colored bird says, “Even without my feathers, you’re in for stormy weather!” Talk about adding insult to injury! This actually compelled me to keep going. I wasn’t deterred because I learned from my errors and mistiming mistakes until I won. I can defeat some of the initially seemingly impossible boss battles without taking a hit now.

In short, Cuphead is tough yet fair in my eyes.

Alas where it falters most is the usage of two boys as our protagonists. I get that is supposed to be a homage to Mickey Mouse (with a hint of Felix the Cat?) and the long forgotten Oswald the Lucky Rabbit with each sporting said famous character’s colors/gloves. That’s cool I guess.

Still, not Cuphead and his sister? Because it isn’t like Betty Boop isn’t that famous or anything right? Or how about neither a guy or girl? They’re anthropomorphic characters with a cup and a mug for heads! Why solely men…?

Cuphead is a tale of owing a debt to the Devil through gambling. They are forced to collect soul contracts from the lives of others the Devil and Dice King’s casino have corrupted. Or lose their own lives instead as grisly punishment. The minimalist plot is conveyed through a excellently done storybook motif. I prefer Cuphead’s bro Mugman who told him to stop gaming when the Devil challenged him.

Mugman’s the one I never get to play as. XD

Yes, despite the game creators (Chad and Jared Moldenhaur, brothers) stating Cuphead wanted to avoided a damsel in distress narrative as the main one a.k.a. a retro concept that should stop being the norm. However, there’s a small juxtaposition between this and Cuphead writer Evan Skolnick. In Cuphead, women are unfortunately in short supply. The most prominent recurring one (Legendary Chalice) is literally trapped and has to be saved to unlock the powerful Super Art abilities located in the Inkwell Isle Mausoleums. I mean our introduction to her in the game is the word “HELP” with an exclamation mark for emphasis. Saving her grants you more useful Super Arts that assist in stage and boss fights, but aren’t necessary to beat the game. To achieve victory, the player must parry all of the spectral threats to release the straw-halo spirit from a repeated prison thrice times throughout the course of your journey.

For some reason, a celebatory background statue of her can be seen in Rugged Ridge, suggesting her character was once one of considerable prominence in this game’s world (or storyline I suggest). My real query is why the Legendary Chalice has “legendary” in her name in the first place? So, why couldn’t she of been similar to a Great Fairy from the Legend of Zelda series then? As the protagonist Link, you locate the Great Fairy fountains and she gives you something for the effort. Or what if the Mausoleum parry challenges were meant to prove that Cuphead and Mugman are worthy to own the sacred Super Arts Legendary Chalice has in her possession?

I sincerely wish her character’s background had been suitably expanded on. Like maybe she sees potential in them for completing the Mausoleums in Inkwell. Perhaps her role in the game could of had more meaning? How it stands with Legendary Chalice simply plays into a classic video game trope I’ve always loathed. The damsel in distress the Moldenhauser bros tried to not use.

Others women talk to you in the hub world or ask for assistance in some way. Like a fish fishing, for one! How wonderfully weird. Is she a cannibal by chance?

What remains are bosses. Ahem, how few there are that is, yeah. Out of twenty plus bosses only seven feature women with five being the actual focus.

The introduction to planes battle has Hilda Berg: an Olive Oly zeppelin that transforms into the constellations Taurus and Sagittarius (they are coded/drawn as men) during the fight. Another is a drunken martini glass that’s part of an alcoholic beverage trio you might contend with. The Domino mini-boss has two halves: the top is a hat and bow while the bottom is a skirt with that same bow serving as hers. This half has distinct lashes and red heels as well. There’s the Betty Boop sound effect laden Cala Maria, the gigantic mermaid seen in each trailer for the game’s release. Sally Stageplay is the most memorable for me with her battle taking place in a theatre with a live audience: it opens with a wedding and has her theatre husband in the background not contributing to the fight while trying to take care of a baby. There’s the aforementioned Rumor Honeybottoms, in an intense scenario which pushes you to your platforming and parrying limits. My favorite in terms of concept to execution is in the Inkwell Isle II level Sugarland Shimmy! She is called Baroness von Bon Bon.

Here’s an intriguing fact: the singer for the seemingly masculine Cab Calloway influenced antagonist Dice King is sung by Alana Bridgewater (her vocals are fantastic!).

All in all, I recommend Cuphead. The indie darling is an equally exhilarating and addictive game with a superb soundtrack to boot! On top of that, Cuphead’s nods to video games and animation history are an impeccable fusion I couldn’t get enough of. Cuphead’s fun and challenge is raised with a friend on-board for the surreal worth taking ride. You can revive your teammate for a price (they return with 1 HP left and any subsequent revivals become increasingly harder to pull off) through parrying their ghost or taking HP (Like a thief…Blargh. ) from one another upon dying in boss battles or levels.

Oh, there is indeed a lower difficulty, but the developers will sadly not let you truly finish the game if you select it. Bosses lack entire phases and overall health. Locking content in this manner does disappoint and irk me for those that desire the full Cuphead experience. Especially for those that are already put off by the game’s difficulty curve as a whole from the get-go. Since part of Cuphead’s joy is seeing so much creative and stunning animation lovingly crafted on display. Listening to new music. Drinking in the atmosphere prior to being killed for the umpteenth time due to miscalculating a parry or boss attack. This is lost for those that choose Simple. *Sighs despondently*

As are the game’s wonderful secrets I won’t divulge here.

On the other hand, folks should give Simple Mode a gander to check out lost animation Normal and Hard Mode doesn’t have. ;)

A PSA for those seeking an A rank on the Run and Gun stage Funfair Fever! Um, there’s a glitch in the game that won’t allow this achievement. Meaning, you have to conquer it with a P (Pacifist: only parrying, no shooting) rank as an alternative. I spent hours attempting to secure an A rank to no avail until I succeeded with the P rank I needed towards earning a game secret. This has just been patched.

My recommendation for Cuphead would be loftier if gender representation had been better and Simple Mode had encompassed all of the game. It doesn’t. You’re mocked by Dice King and that doesn’t seem right to me. No one deserves to be made fun of for playing something that is meant to be purely entertainment.

My feelings towards the red skinned turban wearing genie magician guy in the game bother me as well. Like he’s time period accurate and ultimately offensive. Should of done some in-depth research before posting this. :(

P.S. Dr. Kahl, is named after animator Milt Kahl, but modeled after Sonic’s Dr. Ivo Robotnik and Mega Man’s Dr. Wily. You’ve been warned. So many deaths were caused by him. So. Many. Losses. *Shudders*

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willandlyra · 7 years

Note

Solangelo goodnight kisses on the porch of the hades cabin 💕💕💕💕

When Nico had asked Jason, “how do you know if you’re dating someone?” the look he’d received had been one of incredulity.

“I mean,” he’d said, very slowly, adjusting his glasses. “It should be pretty obvious.”

“It’s me, though,” Nico had protested weakly. “I’m not exactly up to speed on the whole... dating thing these days.”

Jason had stopped then, and considered.

“You’re talking about Will, right?”

Pink flushed cheeks weren’t a common sight on the son of Hades, the ghost king. At least, they hadn’t been. Until Will Solace had come around.

“Yeah,” Nico had admitted.

“I thought you were dating.”

“I’m not... sure anymore.”

Will acted differently than he did around everyone else with Nico. He held his hand at camp fires and he’d helped trick Chiron into letting him take up permanent residence at the Apollo table during meals.

But they didn’t kiss. Or go on dates.

“I guess we’re just friends,” Nico had decided eventually. A little doubtful and a little disappointed, but any kind of relationship with Will Solace was better than none at all.

And the day carried on as normal, or as least as normal as days can go by at Camp Half-Blood. Monsters appearing in the forest, sword fighting classes, the Stoll brothers receiving death threats from one Clarisse La Rue. The general, impending sense that the world could end any moment and these kids would be responsible for saving it - the usual.

After dinner, though, Nico doesn’t go back to the Hades cabin alone but rather to the Apollo digs to spend time with Will, and the other kids who, despite his better judgement, have kind of become his friends, too. And though he and Will are supposed to be hanging out together, somehow they both get roped into a thumb war competition that the entire cabin get involved in.

Will loses in round two. Nico makes it to the semi-finals, along with Kayla. Unfortunately though even Nico’s underworld powers can’t give him quicker reflexes and he has to admit defeat.

“Good game, Di Angelo,” Kayla tells him. “You were a worthy component.”

“You really are,” Will pipes up. “Archery? Nah, Kayla’s true talent is all in the thumbs. Dunno how she does it, but we’re thinking of entering her in the thumb war nationals.”

Nico looks at Will, half unsure and half vaguely amused.

“Is that something that, you know, actually exists?”

Kayla snorts. “If it isn’t, it should be. I’m going world wide.”

And, with that, Austin promptly begins to sing Pitbull’s Hotel Room Service in the background.

“I reckon it’s time we got going,” Will says, with a grimace. “This could go on for some time.”

And even though Nico only lives a little across the way from the Apollo cabin, Will still insists on walking him back home, to hell with the harpies.

“You can always shadow travel me, anyway,” Will grins, and Nico cocks up ane eyebrow.

“I thought I was banned from underworldy stuff,” he reminds him, dryly, and Will just shrugs it off.

“Yeah, well, desperate times call for desperate measures. Plus, I’m your doctor. I get to take advantage of your ghosty powers as part of your medical bills... only when absolutely necessary, though. Don’t let me catch you shadow travelling without me.”

“Bit clingy, Solace,” Nico tells him. But he’s smiling. They reach the outside of the Hades cabin and there are stars glittering against the inky sky and for once Nico isn’t thinking about how everything in the world is full of monsters.

There are good things in the world, too. Good people.

“Hey, you owe me for saving your life,” Will teases. “I’m just reaping in the benefits.”

“You know,” Nico says. “I feel a little bit like I’m turning into your bitch. Leo’s words, by the way, not mine.”

“Typical Valdez,” Will rolls his eyes. And then he turns and looks at Nico and he smiles underneath the silvery streams of light between them, the only things illuminating the two of them.

Nico thinks that if the harpies show up now, any homicidal tendencies that emerge are not his responsibility.

“Yeah,” Nico says. Maximum intelligence, Nico, well done.

“Can’t say I wanna think of you as my bitch though,” Will muses. Nico can’t really tell in the dim light but he might be blushing. “I’d much rather think of you as my boyfriend.”

“Really?” Nico, again, is exercising his maximum intelligence. Clearly.

“Well, I already kinda do,” Will says. He shrugs. “Thought I should clarify that, though. If you want.”

“Yeah,” Nico says. Apparently, he’s only capable of one syllable responses. Great. “I mean, yeah. Sure. Good. Sounds - yeah.”

Will grins. Rakes a hand through his messy blonde hair.

“Cool,” he says. Pause. “Well, it’s late. So... goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Will,” Nico says. He waits for Will to move aside, so that Nico can get to the door. This doesn’t happen. Instead, Will bends down and he kisses Nico. It’s a sweet kiss, small but searing. A goodnight kiss.

They pull apart.

“Sweet dreams,” Will says, grinning dopily. And then he turns on his heel and runs back to the Apollo cabin.

Nico presses his fingers to his lips, absently. Wide eyed.

Tomorrow, he thinks, he’s due another get together with Jason.

fin

(this is shameless self promo BUT i wrote a proper pipabeth mermaid fic recently here is the link if ur interested

#solangelo #solangelo fanfic #solangelo fanfiction #fic #this just turned into a getting together fic omf im so sorry anon <3 i hope u still like it #Anonymous

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