#❮ Y. KATARINA ❯ — main .

[knifvd]

             AGENT   to  take  the  [   reader's   ]   chin  in  hers  ,  eyes  almost  twinkling  with  a  certain  kind  of  COYNESS   :   uncaps  chapstick  and  presses  peach  flavored  chapstick  to  the  [   reader's   ]   lips   .  swipe   .   swipe   .      ❛     there   .   all   better  .     ❜

[urfavleo777]

warnings: age gap, tattoo artist! colby x reader, alcohol

"Angel's wings!" your best friend exclaims, speaking completely seriously. Your other friend approves, clapping her hands eagerly. "Get them tattooed!"

You almost choke on your drink when you hear how seriously Katrina gives you a new idea for your first tattoo. If someone told you that friendship between three people doesn't exist, you would laugh at them. The three of you are living proof that it's not the number of people in the group that matters, but the love that exists between you. Each of you is different, but that is the most beautiful thing. There is nothing worse than boredom and monotony in friendship.

"Come on, you'll be eighteen in an hour. Do something that will make you happy, not your parents." Sophia, usually the voice of reason, tries to convince you.

You don't know if it's the alcohol you just drank, but in a split second you undergo an internal transformation. You'll be of age in an hour. No one will be able to lecture you. Even your parents who, instead of spending this birthday time with their daughter, decided to go to the mountains. At first you reacted with sadness, but over time you were glad that the situation had turned out this way because you could invite your two favorite girls over for the night.

Katrina and Sophia look at you with impatient eyes, encouraging you to make a quick decision. You take a deep breath, tilting your head back. As pathetic as it sounds, you try your hardest to get advice from the ceiling.

You look back at your waiting friends. They send drunken glances your way, which only reinforces the fact that you must probably look like one of them at this point. Sophia and Katarina's eyes widen. Something unexpected is about to happen; something that will change the course of history forever.

Katarina clenches her fists like a true boxing legend, preparing for the worst possible scenario. With each subsequent inhalation, you feel even more excitement and arousal wash over you. You open your mouth to announce the official verdict.

"If not now, never, right?"

After saying these words, you're crushed under the bodies of these two freaks. And, you swear to yourself that if your parents had been home, after all those squeals of happiness, you would have ended up under a bridge.

"The best decision you've ever made, Y/n! I'm so proud," Sophia squeals excitedly, and Katrina joins in. You realize that you still hold the glass in your hand. You hiss, knowing that you'll definitely need to change the sheets of your bed after tonight. "Don't worry about it! Let's go to the tattoo artist!"

"Now?" you keep mumbling under their bodies.

Katrina and Sophia step away from you, exchanging meaningful glances with each other. You are finally able to catch your breath, but you don't really understand what they're trying to tell you.

"Yes. Now." Sophia grins. "Katrina, are you thinking about the same person as me?"

The friend nods her head in response, also with a big grin on her face.

"Oh, yeah! The handsomest, hottest and most expensive tattoo artist in town," she starts counting and you wonder why you've never heard of him before. "Y/n, we guarantee you the best fucking fun."

"Let's fucking do this!" They both squeal, grabbing your hands and pulling you out of the bed.

***

"You guys didn't even give me a chance to change clothes!"

You are wearing a black body suit and really low rise jeans so people on the street can see a bit of skin, which makes you feel a little uncomfortable.

"You look great." Sophia assures you and Katrina nods to her. Well, they're wearing perfectly balanced sweaters compared to you. They decided to make you the main star without outshining you with clothes. You feel like standing out of the crowd, which you don't like very much.

"Do you think this tattoo artist will accept us without prior consultation?" you ask, genuinely curious. "Maybe we should call him? We'd better get back home..."

"Relax, Y/n," you turn into a street you've probably never been to. Katrina tries to convince you, but with each step you take, you become less and less sure. Even though your parents have well-paid jobs, they usually don't let you hang around the rich districts. They would be disappointed if they knew that while they were away their daughter was getting a tattoo, not really knowing where.

"You said he was an expensive tattoo artist. I don't think I want to spend money this way." You continue, feeling the alcohol drain from you. You regain consciousness and regret saying yes to your friends. "Maybe we should really turn back?"

"Y/n," you stop in front of a building emanating LED light. The girls move closer to you and one of them puts a hand on your shoulder. Sophia, the fucking voice of reason, says: 

"He is my brother's friend. They have been friends since childhood. He practiced on my brother, making the first patterns. He would never take money from me or my friends. We are always out of line. Trust me, you're in good hands."

"He was the one who gave me that big tattoo you liked so much," finishes Katrina.

You sigh, trying to convince yourself first and foremost. Sophia pulls out her phone and brings it closer to your face.

The first thing that catches your eye are the huge white numbers on the screen. What's more, they don't seem blurry at all. You must be really sober. You take a deep breath, recalling the quote of your favorite teacher in your head.

12:00. Carpe diem.

 "It's time to go fucking crazy, Y/n." 

***

"Sophia? What's for today?" It’s a male voice. Raspy, yet soft. The sound of it makes you whip your head over to your friends, but you're trying to stay calm. He lets out a heavy sigh before humming to himself in thought. Only after a while he notices that Sophia is not alone. "And who is this?"

"Hello, Colby. Meet Y/n, your new client." 

And the way he shakes your hand is firm but gentle, not as hard as you think it'd be given the size of his biceps probably are larger than your head. But then he softly grips your elbow and guides you into the chair with a hand on your back. "Don't worry, I don't bite."

"Well, I thought I would have to convince you.. longer."

You flush a little under his gaze because he's noticed how you're shaking like a leaf next to him. And the way he smiles indicates he might enjoy biting you anyways... and maybe you'd let him. 

"I was just about to close, but you know perfectly well that I will always make an exception for you, Sophia." Your friend smiles at his words.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" he focuses all his attention on you. You swallow, not really knowing what to answer. Katrina decides to save your ass from total embarrassment.

"Angel's wings." 

He looks like he's about to roll his eyes.

"Seriously, I can't count how many girls asked me for the exact same pattern. Try something more creative."

"I'd like to stick with the wings, please. In a place invisible to the eye."

"Getting a tattoo so you don't show it to anyone? How old are you anyway?"

"Eighteen." He doesn't look convinced. With one movement of your hand, you pull your ID from your back pocket. Colby, as you can guess, surprised by the concrete, grabs the ID in his hand and looks at it carefully.

"She's so young." When he talks about you in the third person, something happens to you. "Are you sure you want those fucking wings?"

"Come on, Colby. You did this to my brother many times." Sophia interjects. "Don't ruin her birthday."

"Ah, yes. Happy birthday or something." You can tell he’s in a good mood based on the playful amusement in his voice. 

"Thanks," you hang your head.

"We have to do something about her shyness." he turns to your friends.

"Maybe wings between her tits? I bet no girl has ever asked for this," suggests Katrina. You almost choke on your saliva. You want to get up from that chair and run out.

"That sounds perfect." His voice is sweet with a touch of flirtiness, and you swear you can hear the smile in it. "What do you think, Y/n?"

"There's no way I'm going to show you my tits." You take courage. Colby laughs loudly. He clearly takes pleasure in your attitude and shakes his head, leaning in to watch you.

"It's your choice." You bite at your lip instead of answering him. 

"Come on, Y/n. We won't look either." Katrina says and Sophia nods.

You've already succumbed to them once in a while. Nothing will stop you from doing it again.

The girls send you their last kisses. After a while, it's just you and your tattoo artist left in the room.

***

You're honestly glad when the uncomfortable silence is drowned out by the song "Ultraviolence" by Lana Del Rey. You asked to simply turn on the radio, but you were surprised when Colby asked you for the title. What was even weirder was when he used the fucking vinyl of one of your favorite albums instead of Spotify.

He hums to himself. "Those are nice."

You got rid of your bra. No one has ever complimented your boobs, but you smile slightly, burying your face in your hands.

He gives you a little wink before stenciling what you had in mind, his fingertips tracing the lines of the ink that leaves goosebumps across your skin.

There's a lingering feeling as he pulls his hand back. You think he's toying with you. Frightful little thing, you are and here he is wanting to play with his pretty little client. Next thing you know, his hand is around your throat.

You tense and realize that he has moved some of your hair to the other side to give more access to the space between your tits. It definitely could have been done easier and better, but the twinkle in his eyes said he did it on purpose. Oh yes, he was definitely having fun with you. The way his hand barely grazed your throat and the side of your neck before he would gently scratch your arm with his blunt nails and pull away.

He let's out a huff of quiet laughter and then gets his tools ready. "So, y/n, you have a safeword?"

And you're brought out of your thoughts about his large hands because... "Huh?"

"A safeword. It's big."

W..what's big? You can't stop your eyes from flitting down to his thighs and what may lie between them. He laughs and shifts so your eyes are instantly back up and staring at his eyes that glimmer in amusement.

"The tattoo, I mean. It's a big piece. Need to know if it'll be too much, yeah?"

[igzsatelier]

Imagine...

Instead of Katarina having a harem, it was you being the main love interest.

Prince Geordo, Prince Alan, Keith and the rest of the noble men and ladies were romantically interested in you. They love you very much the longer they spend time with you.

Except you were in denial about it and you refused to believe that these handsome men and beautiful ladies were in love with you.

There was no way Prince Geordo was interested in you, right? He's too perfect! An absolute fairytale prince that you can't help but feel like you were dragging him down with you!... Huh? Why is he confessing to you? No no no, you're being delusional--

Nicol was so quiet and mysterious. And these awkward silence sessions is seriously killing you. Woah, Nicol has an intense gaze... Wait-- is he angry with you? Did you do something wrong?! Y-You must apologize to him!

You wonder why Mary was always so nice and touchy with you, it's pretty embarrassing and you couldn't return her passionate gaze... Maybe because you were so easy to fool and please... Um-- Uhh?!-- She sounded kinda aggressive towards Alan and Keith. Uwah, scary!

Romance novels weren't something you were into in the first place. It made you feel desperate and pathetic, but reading it with Sophia made you feel safe...

Eep! S-Sophia!-- Why is she pressing her forehead against yours? Maybe because you were sitting too close to her?... Yeah, that must be it! You have to move away before she gets disgusted by you!

Prince Alan looks so cool and amazing!... Unlike you, you feel like your talents weren't good enough no matter how hard you try... Wh-What...? He looks a bit red. Alan thinks you're already amazing in the beginning? That... Th-That!-- M-Make's me really happy...

Keith was so helpful so to you that you couldn't help but feel useless. You feel like you have failed on being a good big sibling to him. I must apologize for being a bad sibling!... Hmm? He's not mad? Then wh-why is he sighing tiredly like that!?-- He probably thinks that you were being pathetic again. Ahh! Need to apologize again!

Maria... Why was she so nice to you? And so kind! A-And beautiful!... It makes your heart flutter to think that she cares about you... Even though you think that you don't deserve it. Oh my god, sh-she's being so radiant! But you can't help but feel guilty that she's putting up with your pathetic self. You should apologize everytime she's with you-- she's far too good for this cruel world!

[gaymer-hag-stan]

Inspired by fistsofcarnage's post found here:

I decided to share my own opinion on the Tekken 8 base roster while we wait for its release!

A more detailed ranking:

Favourites

1. Nina Williams - My Queen since c. 2005

2. Jun Kazama - I really really missed her

3. Lili - Crazy rich girl? Love it

4. Zafina - Weird spider / scarecrow / praying mantis Egyptian lady? Of course I love her

5. Azucena Milagros Ortiz Castillo - La Reina del cafe is looking GREAT

6. Jin Kazama - Him and Hwoarang have been my main "men allowed on the upper tiers" for a while now

7. Ling Xiaoyu - My love for Xiao is a relatively more recent development but she's a queen alright

8. Hwoarang - Angery kick boi. You love to see it

Love (?) Is a strong word to describe my feelings for the following but I like them alright and maybe even played as them in past Tekken games

9. King - I mean it's king

10. Shaheen - A huge downgrade over his Tekken 7 design, still cool

11. Asuka Kazama - Asuka had tons of potential for me but her one-sided rivalry with Lili and them being positioned as the main female rivalry of the series for a while now (I wonder if it has anything to do with them being teenagers~) has kinda damaged her characterisation a bit for me. She's kinda there for Lili to have something to play with nowadays rather than being her own character. I still like her but nowhere near the amount I liked her in her Tekken 5 era.

12. Steve Fox - Steve is cool. He's okay.

Like

13. Lee Chaolan - This is such a weird redesign... Lee is so extra and fun but I can't stand the new look.

14. Yoshimitsu - Yoshimitsu is Yoshimitsu

15. Reina - Kinda basic but cute

16. Leo Kliesen - Kinda basic but cute

17. Lars - Kinda basic

Neutral / Dislike - My phone and also Tumblr only had an orange-y yellow marker so I merged these two together

18. Victor Chevalier - French James Bond Ninja Noctis Samurai looks kinda cool

19. Raven - I liked Master Raven more

20. Claudio Serafino - I liked him back when he was revealed but he ultimately became too forgettable for me

21. Devil Jin - Edgier Jin. Whatevs

22. Alisa Bosconovitch - Sex slave robot modelled after an old man's dead teenage daughter that a middle-aged man has the hots for will never not be creepy

23. Leroy Smith - Meh

24. Kuma - Even bigger meh, and I'm also still mad that both him and the other fucking bear keep taking up TWO slots but Christie being playable alongside Eddy in Tekken 7 was such a ludicrous idea for Namco

25. Marshall Law - I liked his Tekken 4 / 5 moustached look more. Him gulping all the fucking steroids in the world between Tekken 7 and 8 was not a wise choice

Hate

26. Panda - Read Kuma's entry. She's lower than him because she looks weirder now and I think both look weird when they put clothes on them but she looks weirder this time

27. Kazuya Mishima - Too boring

28. Bryan Fury - Too ugly, boring and loud

29. Paul Phoenix - Too ugly and boring, and also he looks his worst in this redesign

30. Sergei Dragunov - Too boring and ugly but at least he's fun to play with

31. Feng Wei - Too ugly and loud

32. Jack-8 - It's a JACK unit... All these redesigns and upgraded models and Jane still hasn't figured out how to not make him look fucking ridiculous

I'm still missing Anna Williams, Christie Montero and (mum) Kunimitsu. I hope Anna at least fucking makes it as Christie is probably gonna be left out in favour of Eddy again and since they introduced a younger, cutesier and more boring version of Kunimitsu in the form of her daughter I don't think we're ever seeing her again.

I wouldn't mind seeing Katarina return either, Miguel's chest is always nice to look at and I'm DEFINITELY on the Lucky Chloe did nothing wrong camp! I also think that over the years I've grown more fond of Forest than Marshall but unless his dad's liver stops working from all the extra steroids he took I don't see him making it back until the next Tag Tournament

[sophieviolin0712]

"I think I'm finally getting used to the new look" - Katarina "See? I knew you would." - The Crow

Looks like my main guardian Katarina is finally warming up to Crow's new haircut, sharing a peaceful moment with the newly appointed Hunter Vanguard.

Yes, Kat and him are a "thing" so to speak, and yes, this is a bit self-insert-y (I really like my awoken ex-prince reformed villain okay? ;-;) But then again why not, right? May as well indulge myself a little ^^

[knifvd]

@killerhubby asked : 'when we met, i promised myself i'd keep you safe.' KATARINA :)c

            it's  dark   .

            (     you're   not  sure  how  long  you  prayed  for  :  never  considered  yourself  much  of  a  believer  in  those  above  given  the  things  that  god  herself  had  made  you  walk  through  ,  ripped  you  limb  from  limb  ,  made  you  a  chasm  of  a  woman  and  left  you  with  nothing  but  sand  slipping  between  fingers  as  every  single  part  of  you  that  made  you  you  was  robbed  of  you  .  so  isolated  in  some  kind  of  chasm  you're  now  grasping  for  a  god  you  had  condemned  long  ago  ,  you're  everything  that  bastard  church  told  you  you  were  ,  you're  a  traitor  .   but  you  don't  care  .  you're  nothing  more  than  a  scared  little  girl  again  ,  still  clinging  to  whatever  god  is  out  there  ,  begging  them  to  save  you  .    )

             shattered   piece  of  GLASS  ,  presumably  from  that  of  previous  water  glass  ,  held  tightly  in  PALM  of  her  hand   ,  sharp  side  slicing  and  DICING  her  hand  where  it  see  fit   :   donned  in  nothing  but  the  same  raggedy  tshirt  that  they  had  taken  her  in  ,  bloodied  by  her  own  BLOOD  and  bruising   .  sits  with  back  PRESSED  against  dingey  ,  cement  walls  of  the  cell  ,  familiarity  in  the  dark  only  provided  that  she  no  longer  needed   to  watch  her  back  .  the  presence  of  the  OTHER  is  greeted  with  her  HOLDING  the  make  shift  knife  defensively  :  don't  you  recognize  it   ?   don't  you  recognize  it  ?  come  on  ,  you  spent  hours  ,  days  ,  months  ,  memorizing  that  voice  like  a  puzzle  you  could  never  decipher  .  don't  attack  the  one  person  who'd  die  for  you  .  wheezing  BREATHS   from  beatings  earlier  taken  ,  she  blinks  back  tears  at  the  voice  .   

           (    are  you  so  broken  down  you  don't  even  recognize  the  one  man  who  taught y ou  what  LOVE  is  ?   there  were  days  you'd  cling  to  his  VOICE  ,   take  it  no  less  than  one  would  the  gospel  .   it's  him  .  it's  him  .  the  safety  and  warmth  that  floods  your  chest  isn't  your  paranoia  or  body  finally  betraying  you  .  don't  you  get  it  ?   you're  not  alone  .  you're  not  alone  .  he's  got  you  ,  like  every  single  time  he's  promised  ,  he  has  you  .    )

ㅤㅤ❛     baby   ?     ❜ㅤ   voice  waters   ,   so  small  ,  coated  with  tears  to  be  spilled  ,  relief  flooding  into  her  voice  and  system  ,  shoulders  untensing  ,  and  oh  god  ,  after  it  all  ,  she's  finally  home  .  even  in  this  dark  ,  decrepit  cell  with  nothing  but  PAIN  flooding  her  body  time  and  time  again  ,  she  still  finds  herself  at  home  .  even  now  .  especially  now  .  hand  relaxes  it's  PIN  TIGHT  grip  on  shard  of  glass  ,  blood  leaking  from  PALM  as  she  does  so  ,  lets  it  clatter  to  the  ground  dully  .

          (         ❛     i   think   you're  just  a  flirt   ,     ❜    katarina  offers  with  a  SNORT   ,  naked  body  fitting  closer  into  him  ,   soft  ,  albeit  scarred  hand  to  rub  small  circles  into  his  HIP  ,  dark  eyes  lingering  on  his  countenance   ,      ❛     i  haven't  needed  the  help  from  a  man  ,  and  i  sure  haven't  started  to  need  it  now  ,     ❜   she  coos  ,  hand  to  find  itself  no  LONGER  on  his  hip  ,  but  giggles  as  he  rolls  on  top  of  HER  ,  arms  interlinking  themselves  behind  his  NECK  as  hot  breath  finds  itself  on  her  neck   .   mumbled  WORDS  ,  and  gentle  golden  notes  of  happiness  ,  pulls  him  TIGHTER  to  her  . 

                  ❛     you're  saying  you  didn't  like  me  coming  to  your  rescue   ?   i  don't  do  that  for  just  anyone   ,  you  know  ,      ❜     deep  rumble  of  laughter  matches  her  own  giggles  :  if  only  to  feel  his  heartbeat  against  her  own  chest  .   not  a  single  piece  of  CLOTHING  lingers  on  her  body  ,  but  never  feels  the  shame  of  the  scars  that  linger  on  her  .  not  even  when  he  traced  them  with  his  LIPS  ,  not  even  when  he  stripped  her  piece  by  piece  .  the  blanket  and  WARMTH  she  feels  is  something  she  knows  cannot  be  because  of  the  thin  top  sheet  of  his  BED   ,  but  she'll  ignore  it  .  she'll  ignore  it  ,  again  and  again   ---  because  it's  what  she  does  best  .  she's  not  allowed  this  ,  knows  it  in  her  brain  ,  in  her  heart  ,  she's  not  allowed  something  as  easy  and  SIMPLE  as  this  ,  but  god  ...  he  makes  her  wish  she  could  .        ❛     i'll  always  come   back  for  you    .      ❜   

                 cups  his  cheeks  ,  expression  unreadable  as  heavy  lidded  eyes  flicker  'pon  his  countenance    ,    internalizing  the  lie  he  spews  .  instead  ,  doesn't  say  anything  ,  pulls  him  down  for  a  KISS   ,  and  lets  herself  linger  in  the  moment  .   after  all  ,   it's  not  like  she'll  have  it  for  long  .      )

             knows  these  familiar  arms  that  WRAP  themselves  around  her  waist  ,   her  all  but  collapsing  into  his  embrace   ,  tears  falling  from  her  EYES  ,  like  body  finally  giving  her  permission  to  SOB  .       ❛     you  came  back  for  me   ,      ❜      katarina  utters  into  his  SHOULDER  ,  biting  back  pain  and  sobs  ,  voice  all  but  MUFFLED  by  his  shirt  .        ❛     you  came  back  .      ❜    agent  clings  to  him  like  he's  her  ONLY   lifeline  .       ❛     i  didn't  ...  i  didn't  think  you  would  .       ❜   

                𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘  𝙖𝙣𝙙  𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚  𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥  𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙨.  𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜.

[abelladxnna]

B A S I C S.

name:⠀Katarina Belasco Kita Lovelace. age:⠀25. birthdate: june 4.⠀ species:⠀half-human, half-??????????. gender:⠀female. orientation:⠀bisexual & biromantic. profession:⠀thief.

P H Y S I C A L⠀A S P E C T S.

hair:⠀bob haircut that's naturally dark burgundy color (don't question anime logic). sported with two tufts of hair sticking out on either sides that resemble horns (and react according to her emotions). eyes:⠀golden amber irises with cat-like pupils. has a piercing, sharp gaze that may look like they're peering into your very soul. at times, they may even look like they're glowing in the dark. but surely that's just your imagination :) skin:⠀slightly tanned complexion. smooth ;) unnaturally flawless. strangely not even a scar despite her many past injuries. height: 5'8" / 172 cm ( with heels on ). her actual height is 5'5" / 166 cm.

F A M I L Y.

siblings: Moira (older sister); Carmen (younger brother)⠀ parents:⠀Sebastian (father); Eriza (mother) grandparents:⠀- any pets? partners?:⠀among her Pokemon, Prada (Liepard), Creampuff (Yamper), Zola (Litleo), and Zula (Shinx) would be considered as the pets. Nell (Gengar) and Bonnie (Aipom) are her main partners-in-crime.

S K I L L S.

Acrobatics; knife-throwing; hand-to-hand combat; skills required for thievery (pickpocketing, lockpicking, stealth, escapology, espionage, etc); vast knowledge on herbalism, toxicology, and human and Pokemon physiology and anatomy; spiritual awareness & telepathy; multi-lingual (Japanese, English, French, Spanish); singing.

T R A I T S.

—— positive ——

cheery, flirty, sassy, fearless, outspoken, curious, confident, understanding, protective.

—— negative ——

mischievous, reckless, petty, impulsive, deceptive, secretive, hypocritical, self-destructive, prone to violence.

L I K E S.

colors:⠀purple, black. smells:⠀flowers (especially lavender), baked goods, wet grass. textures:⠀smooth, silky sheets and fabric. and the softness of animal/Pokemon fur (when she pets or cuddles with them, not as clothing!!), wool sweaters drinks:⠀any warm beverage. is partial to milk tea. flavors:⠀S W E E T. (favorite kind of sweet flavor is honey)

O T H E R⠀D E T A I L S.

smokes?:⠀no. although she may to blend in certain circumstances. drinks?: yes. her go-tos are cosmopolitan and sex on a beach. drugs: no. got no time for that. reacts differently to them anyway. driver license: yes... technically. has a license to drive her Revavroom (though she really shouldn't). also has a motorcycle license. ever been arrested?:⠀surprisingly no. (Kita vc: what do you mean "surprisingly"? I'm just that good.)

[cepheusgalaxy]

More worldbuilding:

Main countries, were the story takes place:

Araxacy (pronounced a-ra-shaa-cy)

Snow white's kingdom

Means "mother of the land of sunrise" (i made up the name with Tupi* random words)

Passing thro some difficulties after its queen died: the king, Philip Schneewittchen is overwhelmed, and that's why he's seeking for a new partner to rule

The nobles are currently having to administrate their territorries all alone, and most are very poor right now. One among the most prosperous are the von Waldeck lands, in the charge of the viscountess Katarina von Waldeck.

Snow white's future stepmother.

Tibai (ty-ba-ii)

More of an oligarchy than an actual monarchy. The Royal Family doesn't have much influence, not as much as the noble clans spared around the country. All of them reune themselves once or twice a year, to keep their decisions unified, but they are mostly, as powerful as the king. Most are allied, though, or else there would be much conflict (as it had once).

It is a coastal country, known by its huge sea power, and the different clans of nobles have privateer pirates** under their comand, which only serve to ampliate their influence. (Tibaí also means "full of water")

Privateers pirates work for different nobles, and many have issues against one another, but they manage to be as quiet as they can on their conflicts because of the nobles who haired them.

Among a privateer's contract, they have the responsability of beating illegal pirates, arresting illegal imigrants and beating Tibai's enemies in the ocean. They have many privillegies for doing this work.

Snow White and her friend, June, find out about the Queen's plans and run away from their country (after the queen finds out they are against her and tries to... hm, "prevent" them) to here. In Tibai, they meet this privateer pirate (she works for a noble clan i will go further in later) and after she finds out who Snow White is (she suspected it already) and why they ran out of their country, she offers to helping them.

Ibipyo (Y-by-py-o)

Ibipyo is a really rich country. Its name mean "land of gold" and it was a great mineration center in old times. It still is.

It is way far from Tibai than from another countries, but is Araxacy's neighboour, the oy thing separing the two kingdoms, a wild huge forest. It is the country Snow White and her friends go after Tibai.

They went there in search for possible allies against the queen, since it is close there and very powerful. When they reach there, (it is a very long way from Tibai to Ibipyo) however, the queen of the country faces a huge problem: Her oldest and only son has disappeared. The heir, prince Cauan, is somehow gone.

They manage to find him (long story) and send him back to the queen, getting her allyship. The prince also goes with them (it's now a team of four)

*tupi is a south-american indigenous language, one that influenced largely the brazilian language. All these countries were named with this language.

**Privateer pirates: licensed pirates who work for the government. (Like One Piece's.) In England, back on old days, the queen Elisabeth haired pirates and gave them permission to navigate, with a free pass among her seas. In exchange, the pirates would attack unwanted ships of other countries, like Spain's.

Some general lore and culture:

Patterns: people use many colorful patterns in popular clothing here. They mostly look like those from African culture.

Gender roles are weak here

My game, my rules: I get to decide what kinf of real world prejudices and fucked up dynamics they have, and there is no mysoginy (in this world this is a thimg from the past, they are civilized enough to have gender equality***), no racism (slavery and imperialism were inexistent in this history)

They are pretty queerphobic here, tho; this is important for conflict in my story****

In some kingdoms, like in Araxacy, it is common to rule in couples; in others, like in Ibipyo, one single ruler is enough, there is the Monarch (in this case, queen Jessica), their consort (the prince's father) and their childs and heir

***Be reminded, though, it still takes place in a 18th century based setting.

****In some stories, also, I worldbuild the thing with other settings: no homophobia, but bissexuality is seen as awful; no racism or queerphobia, but no rights for woman; gender equality and kind of accepting to queer identities, but no space for woman; etc, you name it.

[knifvd]

                 he's  got  to  be  FUCKING  kidding  her  .  (  mind  not  as  she  goes  through  the  stages  of  GRIEF  silently  .  is  this  what  captain  blood  had  to  put  up  with  when  training  her  ?  no  ,  that  was  much  more  violent  ,  don't  you  remember  ?  you  almost  bit  his  finger  clean  off  .  )  but  gentle  pout  still  comes  to  perfectly  GLOSSED  lips  ,  "  darling  ,  so  ...  embarrassing  ,  "  although  voice  is  BARELY  loud  ,  she  makes  sure  the  other's  around  can  hear  her  :  eyes  darting  up  towards  the  CAMERA  .  mark  lingers  behind  the  two  ,  and  katarina  can't  help  but  internally  scoff  (  to  play  doting  lover  ,  leans  into  him  ) free  hand  hidden  between  the  two  of  him  as  she  PINCHES  his  side  gently  ,  as  if  to  say  KNOCK  it  off  .

"eh--" he knows she only kissed his cheek to KEEP their cover. and if she resorted to this, there were probably eyes already WATCHING them. don't blow it eiji. pulling his phone out, he tapped the screen to open the front-facing camera to take a selfie of them. and to discretely see who was BEHIND them -- "son-ji first vacation picture! cheese."

[natyune-writes]

*asking to multiple writeblrs* Happy fourth day of Halloween! What would your characters dress up as?

hi! thanks for the ask!

sorry again for the late response! grad school is kicking my ass 💀

i haven't thought much about fall-related holidays in my world. for the purposes of this post we are going to pretend this is all in a hypothetical modern au

amina: has the energy of dressing in something cute but elegant. honestly her costume is probably the type of costume that would fit well in a ren faire, like a forest/flower elf. or maybe a mushroom creature of sorts.

nuri: in true little kid fashion, he probably gets a cute little pumpkin costume. when he's a little older (toddler age), i think amina would dress him as a little knight or a little prince. i think he'd really like trick or treating but would be terrified of the decorations that made noise.

nikolai: i genuinely cannot imagine this man dressing up for halloween of his own volition. i think he'd dress up just to entertain his wife's whimsy and would probably match her with some sort of ren faire-y type costume. like wizard robes or something, haha. maybe he also gets a fun wizard staff as a treat.

katarina: something edgy, probably. maybe a fallen angel lmao. she'd probably add a fun twist to it, though.

auryn: resident pretty boy probably loves halloween. he probably has a bajillion fancy costumes, all of them are ridiculously impractical and elaborate.

the covers my main characters! i appreciate all your asks they are so fun :)

[ruakichan]

Memorial Saga: Athlon

Here’s my (very long) playlog of MS:A. Has the usual warnings of spoilers for the entire game, theorycrafting, ALL CAPS EXCITEMENT, gratuitous amount of screenshots, and some shipping.  It’s a doozy of a lore drop, so exercise care if you want to discover the story on your own!

Hit the cut for more!

Opening intro. Art is much nicer this time around compared to Ramge's.

Man, NVF’s royal family is so good looking. Her name is Katarina. You can't fail with those genes.

Athlon looks like he's cradlng a girl's blouse or dress here. Younger sis? Emma?!

New character, Ina. 

Story starts off with Athlon basically dream-narrating the intro for us and how Ina is such a taskmaster...

His relationship with Ina is banter-y. Good odds she’s gonna be Zeon’s mom.

Looks like Ina found Athlon 10 years ago and they’ve been together since then. Seems to confirm there was a younger sister though, when you talk to a little girl NPC in town and he starts getting nostalgic.  Zeon lost a younger sister too, so here's Exos again with repeating tragedies.

Also looking around some more, looks like we'll be able to go to another town by airship—this one in Wasted Red.  It'll come into play later so I'll leave it alone for now.

The text… kinda glitches. It blinks once and so it really throws me for a loop because I think it's actually advancing to the next text bubble.  NOT EXOS WITHOUT SOME SORT OF WEIRD BUG!

Anyway, Ina tells Athlon that his ‘fan’ is here to see him and Athlon knows who she’s talking about. So he goes to the forest to meet his fan.

It’s Schmid.  Rather, Schmid in the role of Gale LOL.  Athlon keeps stealing his bounties.  They immediately get into a dick measuring contest on who is the hyung and who is the rookie.

They banter a bit about this before deciding it’s best to just fight it out since that’s the Exos way.

This battle system is… pretty awful. LOL. Did anyone playtest this? (No. The answer is always no.) Schmid was defeated and… I'm not sure if my game hung up or… what… but I couldn't advance the story and just fooled around for a few minutes before finally something happened. oh exos

That said, that red sword is Zeon's sword. Wasn't it stated that Zeon stole that sword from Schmid when he ran off to go his own way (or rather, Schmid let him steal it)?  … well, that feels a bit ominous...

And looking over his orange FC that you get from this MS, "he has yet to recover from the past incident" and "prefers to work alone instead of a team" so yup. Someone's gonna die and it ain't Schmid.  And the FC uses Athlon's sword.  So yeah. LOL.  Interesting that the second skill doesn't have Zeon in the animation, so they did bother to change it a bit to keep it lore accurate.

yes i bought the fc

It’s a bit of a close battle, until Athlon lures Schmid under a tree and drops a net on him. Schmid calls him a dirty cheater but Athlon says it’s a lesson that’s common here in Lenombe. He picks up that Schmid is from Brunn and says that this is something Schmid should learn; skills don’t matter, just whoever is smarter will win, but since Athlon is such a nice guy, he’ll let Schmid go without asking anything in return.  ... except...

LOL cute, Schmid finds the roads of Lenombe confusing. I guess it’s quite different from the wide fields of Brunn.

This find the cat subquest.  … that's… that's Sia's sprite they're using for this generic cat? They couldn’t at least just remove the blue bow??? Weird.

This sidequest to learn more about Schmid…

Ina tells him to just ask Schmid directly, but then Athlon's like:

… *looks at the camera*

Ina says she finds Schmid a capable fighter and Athlon's a little jealous.

Ina won't say if Athlon or Schmid is better, so Athlon runs over to Schmid and just decides to be direct with his questions instead and just tells Schmid to tell Athlon about himself.

Pretty cocky there, son.

The mention of Katarina seems to make Athlon react a bit poorly (”got a funny look on his face”)? Is he feeling competitive?

Back to the main story.

Schmid is smoozing with food and drink and gets a bit drowsy, so Athlon decides this is a good time to start talking shop.  And offers a partnership contract.

Schmid is like 'I better look over it' to Athlon's dismay. lol  Schmid says it looks okay, even as Athlon does a >D face, so I don't think Schmid looked it over as carefully as he should have.

Oh my god, trying to square the wise, easy-going old man Schmid we know with this cocksure youngster is just too much hahaha.

holy shit athlon just hearted at schmid ("I even got you a room" LOL WHAT)

Ina berates Athlon for taking advantage of a kid.  … but Athlon tosses it back at her, saying she's the one that spiked Schmid's food. 

I can't get over the fact that Schmid is called Servant No 2 LOL. Anyway, Athlon goes to fetch him the next morning and Schmid's got one hell of a hang-over and is absolutely confused about everything.  They go meet the "Boss," Ina.

Schmid is confused about this Servant No 2 business and Athlon tells him to look over the contract.  Schmid maintains there's nothing about that in there, but Athlon says to read the back—oh, his bad. The papers were stuck together.  Schmid's been scammed.  All the work for little pay.

Schmid's pissed as hell, but Athlon says he better do as told or else…

Athlon discreetly leaves as Schmid gets a hard lesson on why Ina's the Boss.

Schmid's quiet when Athlon returns… and he says it wasn't as bad as he expected.

… this time Athlon's the one that gets "scammed" lol.

Athlon questions why Schmid's cut would get worse if he's getting better. Even Athlon feels a bit bad about it…

Wow they really are, like father, like son. LOL. Schmid must've felt helluva nostalgic while mentoring Zeon.

Ina tells Athlon to stop whining and go take care of a job at Wasted Red.  This must be where that airship comes in.

Oh. MY. GOD.

OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK LOL HAHAHA?????? they literally took the time to animate him throwing a temper tantrum wDF??

Ina tells Schmid to go investigate some new ruins alone, but "ruins" immediately gets Athlon's attention.

… the quest text keeps referring to Schmid as Servant No 2…

They arrive in Hikan and immediately Athlon complains about it being hot while hanging off Schmid, who yells at him to get off. Tempers aren't improved by the weather.

oh god they are arguing who is more mature and there's so much dick measuring that i'm sure it'll be literal at some point

Since Athlon has no money, Schmid says he'll buy the drinks if Athlon shows respect.

I'm pretty sure that Mr. Schmid is sarcastic. LOL.

Time to explore!  … I walk into a bar and… … is that Ina's sprite behind the counter?  Talking with Schmid confirms it so… I'll just… walk out… for now…

Looks like ruins will be another place we can visit, going by this airship, but for now, continuing with the story:

The game sort of handwaves why Ina's there lol and shoos you to go hit the ruins.

It's the first time for both Athlon and Schmid to explore ruins. They both are pretty excited when they enter (blush emote for Schmid HAHAHA).

I said like father, like son before, but I think Athlon loves money more than Zeon does.

LOL.

Schmid asks Athlon what he'd do with the money and… he’s like “I’ll spend it all?”

???? i thought you had debts what is this

Schmid says this is why Athlon is an idiot.  He’s always broke, so when he suddenly has money, that’s how he gets caught that he was scamming.  And this is a sincere lightbulb moment for Athlon.

oh my god he’s like a manic pixie boy or something? Not... at all what I expected.

So they go to explore and come across a magic seal.  Schmid questions if Athlon knows how to disperse them and Athlon's super confident! Cause of course he is.

Cause he’ll just break it.

oh.  well.  okay then.

Schmid asks him why break through the magic seal when there’s a wall right there. And Athlon is like, “cause forcing through is the basic solution.” And Schmid’s like “even if the seal is harder to break than the wall?”

... then he agrees it’s a good idea.

*stares at camera*

So they bash on the wall with their swords cause why the fuck not and Athlon wins.

New characters, Dorothy and Aria, also exploring the ruins for a job.  They’re hearing all the commotion and it’s causing them problems too.  Schmid and Athlon run into them; well, more that the guys are excited about breaking more walls (???!) and the women are like wdf stop destroying things or shit might happen.

LOL.

The dudebros don't even care, it's 2 points for this wall, let's go.

The two women decide to book it. I have a feeling they won't be escaping these two disasters though.

The guys head further into the ruins but now they're just running around in circles.  Then they notice dopplegangers of themselves over on the other side of the room.

…Athlon, please.

…. actually no, both of you, please.

They chase after the dopples and finally confront them.

The hit confirm in battles are so bad LOL. Also no SFX. I was expecting a bit more like what they were doing with the PVP in Quantum Raid. This is just very unsatisfactory to play.  I appreciate them trying to do different gimmicks for each MS, but this is just …??

Anyway, they defeat the doppels and continue to explore and run across Dorothy and Aria again. (they're sisters)  They scold the guys for breaking shit and can tell they're newbies to ruin spelunking.  Athlon immediately throws Schmid under the bus LOL and they start fighting again.

But as Dorothy and Aria try to leave, a barrier blocks their exit.  Schmid says they should work together.  Athlon interjects.

Oh, honey.

Dorothy counter-proposes that she’ll get rid of the barrier for 200k, so Dorothy and Athlon begin arguing. Schmid goes to Aria and offers they blow this joint together. (he's not very smooth but I’m getting ship vibes here)  Aria appears to be very shy and timid, and yeah, Schmid is very intimidating, so she hides behind her sister. LOL.

Hahah, Dorothy has a cocky hair flip animation.  She's a know-it-all type (wizard trope).  She and Athlon continue to argue.  Aria reveals that Dorothy's magic isn't very stable which is why she’s hesitant to just break the seal herself, so Athlon relents and says they'll help out, but they get a free meal.

Dorothy very reluctantly relents (mostly cause Athlon is sketchy as hell).

Quest is labeled "New Servants" lol.

Working together they escape the ruins.  Athlon is definitely being sketchy about the owed meal, saying he'll head over first and get things prepared.

Schmid has a bad feeling. He'd be right.

oh lord have mercy

Anyway, Athlon goes to fetch Dorothy and Aria, who are upset that they failed their job and had to make up some excuse to their boss.  Athlon sees an opportunity and goes in on the pitch about how the sisters should come work for Ina.

Dorothy's like 'lemme just feed you and then go on my way.'

So they have their meal (Dorothy complaining they eat too much) and Ina is sizing them up.  Athlon says he vouches for their skills.

LOL.

Ina offers them a contract and Dorothy looks it over and thinks it's pretty solid.

Athlon says he smells something burning in the kitchen though, and Ina runs off.  Athlon then offers Dorothy and Aria an edited contract all hushhush Ina won’t know.  And Dorothy's shocked that the terms really are better.

Schmid tries to interject but Athlon quickly stuffs food into his mouth LOL.

Aria has misgivings but Dorothy signs it before Ina can notice that the contract is changed.

Athlon's making a lot of evil emotes so … yeah.  He definitely did something.

yup same verse as the first, another hidden page in the contract

Ina shows up and gives Athlon the what for.

They really gave Athlon a lot of animations LOL.

Anyway, Ina tries to fix Athlon's scam, and offers an even better offer, but on one condition.  Dorothy accepts, saying she's heard good things about Ina as a boss, but just that Ina has a really shitty employee (Athlon) lol.  Athlon throws another tantrum and Schmid goes to the ladies and says that if they (and he) leave and return right away, the tantrum will be over.

… sure enough…

Ina then comes out with the condition: she wants Dorothy and Aria to form a team with Athlon.  Everyone sorta sweatdrops and Ina's like "he's not that bad, right?" and Schmid’s like “he’s harmless, I think?”  Not exactly glowing reviews but hey...

Dorothy agrees, to everyone's shock, but she wants an apology.  Athlon won't give it and Dorothy calls him a child.

Sidequest! Need to return to Khuntara for some flowers for spice.  So you go to Khuntara to just steal the herbs from the bar there but… lol? Ina’s there.  Keepign an eye on Athlon to keep him honest.

Gotta do it the hard way.  When you return the flowers to Ina, she uses them on the not!Sia and Athlon runs off to cry because he's so moved.

god why is he such a drama queen

So back to the ruins with our new Servants No3 and No4.

Exploring it yields the inner caverns where the loot is. Athlon, of course, is ecstatic cause $$$$.  We return to Ina and she gives out the payments… and of course, Athlon doesn't get much.  (Notice the trend?)  Ina tells him to buy his team a meal like a leader should.

Another sidequest with Schmid about his background.  Athlon infodumps his own backstory and...

…. oh my god Athlon just seriously …

LOL. It's the intro for the MS word for word and just…  .. Schmid falls asleep.  Athlon thinks he's teary eyed over Athlon's """""""sad"""""" story.

A conversation can be initiated where they have another brief tuffle over junior/senior, where Schmid relents that Athlon can be senior since he's paying for the food—only Athlon complains about how much Schmid is eating. Schmid just waves it off, Athlon is the SENIOR after all.  He should be able to take care of himself.

Another conversation can be initiated with Aria, where she's scared of Athlon and admits she doesn't like him. LOL.

Sidequest with Dorothy, Sisters' Story.  Athlon questions why they're suspicious of him and it's cause he's a swindler.

Athlon feeding some tales here… (OR IS HE? I never thought about it, but the black/white hair thing is like Shu and Ramge...)

The sisters don’t believe him, which is good cause they hate royals.  Athlon says he hates royals too—thinks they’re worse than swindlers.  Dorothy says that the only people she finds worse than royals are those that allow others to walk all over them.

Ah, looks like the sisters are from Greenland.  Greenland's political situation hasn't been compounded on too much, so this is nice.  They're from House Exid.  She says to avoid the royals of Greenland, and Athlon questions if maybe their entire family was killed by them.

Aria interjects that this subject is distressing for hers ister and that Athlon needs to just leave. Athlon obliges.

After eating off Athlon's dime, Athlon tells Ina that they have a team name, and it was decided on by four votes.

Ah. Yes.

LOL then the game asks you to name the team in a cute fourth wall break.  But oh god. Now I have to spend six hours deciding on a name.

Well, when in doubt…1Helluva (Team).

So there's some people here to see Athlon.  Oh boy, Yellowhoods. Oh! It's Al Radrun, the leader before Vinity took over.  And this Shaheen sprite looks like… an ogre character? If so, that'd be the second one we've ever seen since Uloom.  I'm glad they're showing more of the non-human races. I always liked in EH that the bestial races weren't like, automatically evil or something.  Typically you always see races like minotaurs and orcs be only on the evil spectrum.

The Yellowhoods have a proposition.

Oh boy, that's music to to Athlon's ears.  He gathers the group.

Dorothy objects to the team name. But yes, we're 1Helluva Team, okay?! Stop judging me!

Anyway, looks like we have to attack a "gang of bandits in the middle of town" although Al Radrun was explicit in that we can't hurt or kill them.  …. the bandits are the guys wearing the yellow hoods.

The sisters are suspicious.

The plan is the 'secret technique.'  "Brute Force." Yes. Like father, like son.

So after defeating the Yellowhood mooks, Al Radrun shows up but Athlon isn't interested in the reason why so much as the moolah.  But he's a bit insulting about it, Al Radrun steals the payment back when Athlon runs off…

And the party realizes they've been robbed. They confront Al Radrun and Athlon can't abide being robbed, so it's a battle.

Cute, Al Radrun rides Shaheen to fight.  1Helluva Team defeats them though, and Athlon gets him to sign a "promissary note"... and promptly welcomes Servant No5 once it's been signed.

But it looks like Athlon's scheme didn't work this time: Al Radrun swiped the other page of the "promissary note."

oh my god

But before battle number 2 can wage out, Schmid unleashes the team's secret weapon: Aria being nice to Shaheen cause she gets along with creatures and asking Shaheen to join them. (Shades of Rera, then. Also Schmid apparently knows about this when Dorothy didn't cause he discovered it by accident.  There was a bird on his shoulder.  … oh no. Is this… is this how he gets all the birbs in his old man form?!  Aria and Schmid seem to get along well oh ho ho)

And then Athlon basically just blackmails Al Radrun: join us or get turned into jail for being the leader of the Yellowhoods. But Al Radrun explains he can't join cause he's worried about his gang.

Al Radrun's sob story sounds a bit like Vinity's; he actually has a lot of anxieties and worries about being leader.  He set up this fake attack cause he wanted to see how his gang reacted.  He wish he had a vice deputy. He can't leave cause he's afraid his gang can't survive without him.

(Athlon is asleep…)

Dorothy says that Al Radrun can’t protect his gang forever and Aria chimes in that they can’t become strong if they’re always protected. Al Radrun gives in, but he asks that he doesn’t leave yet, he wants to make sure the Yellowhoods will be really okay.

The team (sans Athlon) decide to stick around Hikan a bit to help Al Radrun out before they can whisk him away as Servant No5.

We find out the Yellowhood design was done by Al Radrun lol and Athlon being a dick about it and hurting Al Radrun's feelings…

While Shaheen is off giving Athlon hell for being a dick, one of the sisters asks Schmid why Schmid lets Athlon call himself the leader.

lol. When questioned why he hasn't left, Schmid says it's like raising a child and hoping he'll grow up someday.  .. (shades of Zeon)

Scene switch to Katarina. She's interrogating a Dragon Watcher about the Dragon Emperor.  … she uses floaty (red!) swords like Shufraken.  And she's helluva cruel, beating on this guy.  Just "Speak. Speak." over and over as she beats him down to the ground and into a pulp.  And then just fucking kills all the onlookers.

…. young Shufraken (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) shows up for cleanup. AAAAAAAAAA excited

!!!! Holy crap! Ina is part of Shadow Bane?!

Ah, Athlon might be this "Vessel"?  Given all the things about Zeon and stuff.

Regardless, Shadow Bane warns Ina not to let Athlon and Katarina meet.

Three years pass.

Story quest is "annoy the heck out of the Boss."  I see three years hasn't matured Athlon any.

But first a sidequest.  not!Sia is missing.  Athlon inquires why Ina keeps her around and Ina just says she's gotten attached.  The cat is missing and Athlon says that the cat doesn't actually care, but Ina doesn't believe that and that the cat will come will called.

(... will this cat actually be Sia or related to Sia in some way?!)

It's Sia. Holy shit, who the hell is Sia then, cats do NOT live this long?! What is going on?  Wait. Does that mean when Zeon’s village is destroyed, Sia escaped and that’s how Ramge found her??????  Did she lose her memory?

ATHLON PLEASE

A sidequest where the team (sans Athlon and Dorothy) are trying to cheer up the bulky Shaheen by saying they can't find him.  Except Athlon is being a total dick about it and ruining it by saying he's right over there, even though everyone asked him to play along. Schmid shows up with his BFS to berate him.  But Shaheen reveals himself so that the two don't fight.  Everyone runs off, but Athlon, who says he wasn't gonna really try to find Shaheen and was just trying to spice things up. As he's sobbing. He's so misunderstood, this drama queen.

Back to main story; Ina has a mission in a new set of ruins. Within, we find a book.  While the others ae trying to decipher it, Al Radrun finds a secret in the ruins, revealing a glowing orb.

That's like… a weirdly specific percentage, Athlon.

Except Athlon DOES react to it. The others preach caution (except Schmid who is interested lol) but he takes the relic anyway to sell.

OR WILL HE

Back at the inn… the eating emote is cute! I love all these emotes!  Al Radrun was checking on his gang and they seem to be doing fine without him. Schmid proposes they leave Wasted Red.  Aria says she deciphered part of the book they found and it leads to another ruin in North von Frosty.

Both Ina and Athlon react poorly to that. Ina suggests going back to Lenombe, but Athlon overrides her.  Ina pulls himself aside.

Athlon talks a bit about how he felt when he lost everything and met Ina:

So his extremely carefree, weird personality is a coping mechanism and it saved him. Ina urges him to continue living like this cause he and Katarina shouldn’t meet.

Athlon assures Ina he won't be fighting Katarina "yet" and runs off.  So he's definitely in it for revenge.  DEFINITELY LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

Shadow Bane shows up. Katarina destroyed a town that was a HQ for Dragon Watchers.  They also remind Ina of her mission: if she can’t control Athlon, she needs to dispose of him.

Back to our NVF royals. Oh my god, I want young Shufraken as a skin.  He looks so good.

Shufraken berates Katarina that she’s been going around slaughtering people and he’s been having to clean up. He asks her reasons and she says it plainly: she wants to resurrect Accor.

So she’s a sociopath.

Shu questions this, saying that if Accor is resurrected, he might destroy the world.  Katarina asks why is that a big deal and Shu says cause the world is his. LOL. That’s why he will stop her. LOL.

Hm, where is Katarina in the hierarchy?

They exchange more words; Shu says she has only strength but nothing else, and this makes her unfit.  He will do his best to see her fall.  They are definitely at odds, but it’s all very political.

Katarina asks Shu’s motive for going against her: for others it was revenge, but what is Shu’s?

Dream big, buddy.

Cut to outside the throne room of NVF.

There are "two Queens."   Alexei greets the First Queen, who comments on how much he's grown and the second Queen complains that Alexei isn't mature just yet. So the brothers are all actually half brothers?  The second Queen is Alexei’s mom. And the first queen makes it clear that Mahar is her son.

Shu's mother abandoned him?  She’s a third Queen ... and it must be Katarina. WOW.

Oh my god, Mahar greets Shu with a music note of happiness.  Oh my god, he really looked up to Shu? Holy moly what. what happened?!

(wait you just said...) oh no this is cute

Yeah okay, the first Queen is Mahar's mother, Alexei's mom is the second Queen. Shu's mom is Katarina…  That explains why Mahar and Shu are the same age. I always thought that was a typo, but it makes sense now if the moms are different.  (so SW isn't the only one that allows polygamy, which means you can totally marry Rachel, Ramge!)

Looks like Katarina is now slaughtering a lot of guards to get to a relic that NVF was holding onto (probably something from Misty).  She approaches the room where the Queens and Princes are waiting…

Katarina kills the first queen. And then the second.  She knocks Alexei out and is disappointed she can’t get a response out of the vessel.

Mahar goes after Katarina, burning with revenge.  She rambles on about how she read anger is a trigger but she can’t seem to get a proper reaction from the vessel, as she advances on Mahar.

Oh… OH!! Shadow Bane had said they fed the wrong info about who the "vessel" was to Katarina. She seems to be under the impression that Mahar is the one meant to house Accor, so she's trying to get him to respond to "awaken" him.

He passes out.

Shu shows up, saying that Katarina has gone too far.

First:… four?

Second: INTERESTING. If this is true, that would be why Shufraken goes mad when he becomes the Dragon Emperor.

Shu berates her as an empty sword that has only strength, and she questions his emotions (pity, contempt) and tries to understand them, as she cannot feel them on her own.  She is frustrated that there are no suitable vessels here and leavse to find another solution.

Off to Obliana with 1Helluva Team.

Some sprites aren't showing up. I have invisible NPCs lol. Okay, game.

Athlon is acting weird and oddly serious so Dorothy's concerned. Athlon gathers his team at the bar, but in the meantime, Shu meets with his father.

Mahar lost his memory and Alexei is in a coma.  The two queens are dead, of which Mahar’s mother was most favored by the king.  It sounds like his marriage to Shu’s mother was against his will for political reasons and he was unable to refuse due to his weak nature and lack of authority (the nobles basically ruled during Shu’s daddy’s reign, which is why Shu overthrew him).

I can see why Shufraken looks with contempt upon Ramge, who is said to resemble Shu’s father.

This becomes a bit of a turning point for Shu. He admits his mother’s methods are correct, but just executed wrong.  His father pleads for him not to be like her.

NGL, the most interesting bits of this MS are Shu’s bits.

Back to Athlon.

The group gathers.

… since we know Schmid is a sad lonely old birb man, I'm very very worried about Aria's well-being.

No one is happy about Athlon's announcement. (Schmid even gets violent lol.)

Athlon reveals he wants to kill the third Queen of NVF, Katarina. Everyone's all O.o cause she has a terrifying reputation.

……. he IS a royal. … ahaha… AHAHAHAHAHA oh my god all that shit talk he was doing to Rachel, ZEON IS A FUCKING BLUEBLOOD HIMSELF.

……………………………….. wow so like are zeon and iris like… cousins twice removed or something?

No one believes he's royalty cause he's uh… a loser.

…

haha… hahaha…………………………………….

Schmid insists on going and Athlon demands to know why.

The two agree it’d be pretty cool to take down a powerful foe.

Then Schmid is like, after we’re done, I’m gonna tell Aria—  AND ATHLON CUTS HIM OFF AND SCHMID IS CONFUSED AND THEN ATHLON DISPLAYS A BIT OF GENRE SAVVY BY SAYING YOU DON’T SAY THESE THINGS BEFORE A DANGEROUS SITUATION

Aria also insists on going cause she can hold her own now.  She also is about to say some sort of "after this, I'll" before once again Athlon is like NO DON'T RAISE THE RED FLAG

And finally Dorothy also insists on coming. She hates royals but …

And she also has something else to say after this is said and done BUT. smh athlon doesn't know how these three managed to survive this far without him keeping them from raising red flags.

Athlon also speaks with Al Radrun. Athlon says he's going to use the relic he found and Al Radrun once again cautions him against using those type of things for power.  Athlon reassures him if one isn't enough, he'll just get them all. ("You're going to have to steal from the palace!" Al Radrun protests lol and Athlon very honestly says "I'll need your help if so" lol.)

Once this is over… Athlon cuts him off. "I TRUSTED YOU" lol  Al Radrun apologizes though; he gets it.  Shaheen not so much though.

Athlon then returns to Ina and tells her that his entire team is determined to go with him. He's pretty light-hearted about the whole thing, even talking about having to get all the relics is necessary and that he has no plans on dying.

Ina: "You think death is the only problem here?  If history repeats itself…" Athlon: "I won't let that happen."

Ina is adamant about Athlon not going but he drugged her.  And she's out and he escapes.

She awakens to go after him… but there a bunch of Dragon Watchers lurking… oh no… and Shadow Bane also shows up.  They will eliminate Athlon.  They leave and Ina tries to go after them but…

Those Dragon Watchers are now meeting up with Katarina in Ina's bar.  Looks like she killed a bunch of people on her way here too.  These are her reinforcements.  She reports the vessel has been broken.

"Firstborn seemed clumsy."

She then asks if there are other vessels.  The Dragon Watchers are surprised she knew about other potential vessels and she said the Dragon Watcher in WR told her; and they find out that she was the one responsible for killing the DWs in that area.  

So after what happened in the latest story chapter, I’m REALLY worried for Iris right now.

And she proceeds to slaughter these guys too. Single-minded.

One of the DWs, fearing his life, spills that the exiled NVF royals might have someone suitable. (Hello, Athlon.)  She offs the rest of them as Shu enters, who says she has got to stop killing off the information sources. She states that she knows that a vessel is looking for the relics, so she will wait where the relics are and leaves.

Ina intercepts Shu as he was trying to leave, pleading for Athlon's life. That killing him won't buy but a small bit of time.  She offers a way to get rid of Katarina.  (Shu seems to know Athlon's name, so looks like he knows of that family.)  Ina tells Shu they need Athlon to get rid of Katarina.

Ina tells Shu the plan (we the player aren't privy to it) and Shu agrees: Athlon must never meet Katarina.

Ina also asks a final favor from Shu: she says she's being hunted.

Yeah, Ina is gonna be Zeon’s mom. The conversation of why she’s willing to die for Athlon screams love. “complicated emotion people like you won’t know”

Athlon and co head into a ruin and run into Shu.

Team has to believe Athlon's royalty now LOL.

Shu and Athlon have a bit of a chitchat.  Athlon's tone here is very singsong and playful, which is a counterpoint to his words and anger.  He honestly sounds like he’s losing it. He mentions it’s been thirteen years since they last saw each other.

Definitely losing it.

Shu tells Athlon that Katarina is coming for him, and for Athlon to leave the relic and return to hiding while Shu takes care of things.  Athlon says he's gonna use the relic to overwhelm her and stop her.

Athlon then battles Shufraken.

Then Athlon throws the battle and admits defeat and hands over the relic and this just screams fake-out.  As Shu approaches, Athlon activates the relic and goes Super Saiyajin with gold eyes and beats back Shu.

Then 1Helluva Team go after the relic but Katarina is there.

Shaheen senses danger and him and Al Radrun try to escape but no one else is running, while Athlon seems mesmerized by the sight of Katarina.  He's still in that sing-song mode and I'm preetttttyyy sure he's getting touched by a similar madness that takes Rachel when he's lost himself.

I think Athlon is taking Ina's advice about "losing your mind" a bit too far.

He attacks her, asking why she killed his family.  His eyes are golden here, so he's using the relic power.  Katarina asks why he's mad at her, she's genuinely curious.

Shu shows up since he needs the relic too, but Katarina strikes him down because she doesn’t need him as a vessel and Athlon takes this opportunity to attack.

Another battle. Athlon's skill changes to one where he heals when he attacks.

After her "defeat," Katarina just hands over the relic, telling Athlon to use it. Uh oh.  Athlon uses it…

And then Katarina attacks all of Athlon's friends.  The sisters manage to shield everyone from major damage, but everyone is trapped.

She attacks Dorothy.

She attacks Aria. Schmid tries to save her, but is too late. This one is sad cause Aria very confused and scared and pitiful. She’s not a hero.

Then Katarina attacks Al Radrun but Shaheen takes the blow instead.

Dorothy still tries to heal Aria but Katarina attacks her again.  The remaining three try to attack her but fail.

Damn, another blow on Dorothy, the fuck, woman.

HMMMMMMMM ZEON?

geezus i’m sure that’s someone’s kink 

Shufraken steps in and attacks.

Her sprite gets the white red eyes that Shu later has hm.

Looks like Katarina can't handle Accor's power because she’s not truly of the correct bloodline. But even at her death, she doesn't feel anything. She really is a sociopath.

… Shu isn't that much better either. LOL.

She dies, freeing the relic as the ruin is falling apart.

Dorothy, still gravely wounded, tries to get the others out by creating a teleporting circle at the cost of her own life.  Al Radrun tries to get the relic, but his ankle is hurt and he can't make it to the circle.  Athlon goes to him and asks for the relic. He's still focused on killing Katarina, nevermind that she's defeated.

They argue with Dorothy begging they hurry, and Shaheen goes and throws them both into the circle.  But Shaheen fails to make it himself.  "Hide. Method. Stupid. Hopeless."  And he takes the relic and ... eats it? Hm.

The others escape into Obliana.

Aria passes. The birb's name is Blue. : ( Dorothy is dead.

Al Radrun wants to look for Shaheen and then the relic.  Athlon, who is literally just living life in some deluded narrative, thinks Katarina is still alive cause there weren't any final conversations.  Schmid wants revenge, even if he has to kill Katarina over and over. The three immediately start fighting. (Al Radrun being the only sane one here right now.)

Al Radrun leaves.

Back to Shu. He's with Katarina's body.

Ah, so this is how Shufraken gets his distinctive eye scarring.

Shu questions Shaheen about the relic but dismisses him as useless and kills him.  Al Radrun comes across his body and mourns.  He finds that Shaheen had eaten the relic in an effort to hide it.

Athlon returns to NVF's bar, but Ina's not there.  He waits for her, paying the current barkeep a ton of money just to loaf around waiting.

Schmid and Al Radrun find him but he won't budge.  Al Radrun delivers the news that Shaheen is dead and that Shaheen tried to hide the relic by swallowing it.  But he can't get it out cause… well.  So he asks Schmid if Schmid can remove it.  The two exit.

Athlon finally goes outside.  Schmid finds him and tells him that Katarina is dead.  Schmid tells him he can't stay here or with someone like Athlon any more.  He takes Athlon's sword, blaming Athlon for what happened.

It’s a bitter parting.

Athlon goes to Katarina’s body.

He berates his inability to fulfill his revenge and how directionless he is now.

After Athlon leaves, the Dragon Watchers show up and take Katarina's body…

Athlon runs into a young pickpocket, who he stops from stealing from him.  The kid explains his family was killed by Katarina and he needs money to survive but no one will hire him cause he's so young.

Athlon asks him what he wants to do after he gets his revenge, and the boy is like, eat good food and have a lot of money.

So Athlon gives all his money to the pickpocket all his money, saying Katarina is dead. So go do that, since Athlon has no wish to do any of it himself. And tells the boy to make good friends and hold onto them cause it’s no use if they’re dead.

So Athlon wanders, asn time passes.

He reminiscences of better times and feels regret about his drive for revenge (another big theme in this game).

Back at Obliana, Shu is shown with the bandage over his eye. Mahar seems to be doing better too.  He thinks he slipped down some stairs cause his memory is hazy.  The King and Shu are both telling Mahar to leave; they apparently were having a meeting about the aftermath. The King warns Shu that the nobles are on the move after Shu (revenge probably).

Soldiers show up, after the “traitor” in an effort to exact some vengenance on Katarina’s child. So Shu reveals...

oh.

OH THAT WAS HOT. OH MAN HIM JUST SLOWLY PULLING DOWN THAT BANDAGE WAS HELLUVA HOT?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!!?

… Shu's sprite disappeared during this scene for me ROFL… but he summons the same swords as his mom’s and kills the guards.

Anyway, basically Shu's got a nice grand speech about puppetering and killing his dad as a stepping stone to becoming a proper ruler.  The King protests, but Shu then threatens the life of both Mahar and Alexei.  So the King relents to what will be his future sacrifice to Shufraken.

As Shu leaves, Mahar returns and seeing the red spectral swords triggers his memory of that day and the death of his mother. (IT'S ALWAYS THE DEATH OF MOMS OMFG).  And… well…

So that begins.

The King offers a prayer...

While Shu starts to take over NVF, Athlon is still searching for Ina but couldn’t find anything.  He's become a beggar outside the bar in Khuntara.

She finally shows up.  She tells Athlon to go clean up.  While he's off doing so, Shadowbane finds Ina.

She says she'll submit to the consequences, but give her a moment.

Athlon and Ina talk, she says she left him severance pay at his hiding place, and leaves. Athlon finds the pay but is suspicious cause Ina is a moneygrubber and WOULD NEVER.  He runs off to find her.

Ina then meets up with Shadow Bane and is ready to go, but then Athlon shows up, beats them down.

So the two live together in a remote village, letting go of their pasts...

Now I'm wondering if Shadow Bane are really the ones that end up killing Zeon's family.

Meanwhile, he nobles of NVF go to confront the King about Katarina killing their heirs, but Shu is there… the King, with Shu whispering in his ear, is now stern, promising death to those rebelling. The nobles back down and Shu says he is looking for support in his bid for the throne. One noble readily agrees, but another is quick to say that they support Alexei... but when Shu gets a bit ominous, they quickly change sides. They leave.

Shu asks the King if people are aware of Katarina’s past.  The King doubts it.

INTERESTING. Saying she’s a descendent of Cadmos puts Shu in line for Lenombe’s throne. oh ho ho ho

Oh, there's that Maloff guy that ended up betraying Mahar and Iris down the line… Maloff is loyal to Shu because Shu killed Katarina who slaughtered his family. Shu has a mission for him: “betray“ Shu and join Mahar.

Maloff questions why Shu is focusing on Mahar and not Alexei, who has the stronger forces.  Shu says Alexei’s family are opportunists; they will bow to the stronger hand.  Mahar is the bigger threat and Maloff is to be the mole.

There is one more thing...

Maloff asks if he is to dispose of them, but Shu says let fate do as it will. If they find her they will kill her.

HOLY SHIT SO YEAH SHADOW BANE DID HAVE A HAND IN IT…. in the sense that Shu did keep his promise to Ina: he used Red Skulls to hide the truth.

A few years later…

Aw, Athlon travels the entire continent to make the perfect grilled fish for Ina.

……………………………………………………………….. oh no.

oh.  …

… oh my god.

… Zeon, please don't grow up to be like your daddy. My god. He's a bit broken.

Athlon gets a letter from Schmid. LOL.

oh god lol

oh… that dress must be Athlon's sister's dress.

… Zeon can't lose his family here though? Since he also lost a younger sister. I guess this is just to show Shadow Bane found Ina?

OH. MY. GOD.

OH MY GOD

OH MY GOD IS MY THEORY RIGHT ARE RACHEL AND ZEON COUSINS AFTER ALL (oh my god does this also make rachel and ramge cousins like thrice removed or something cause OH MY GOD HAHAHA AMAZING)  Cause in Emma’s Core Raid, it’s said that a boy watched her get rescued by Baileysh from the river and then the boy disappeared.  She mentions this to Zeon and Zeon also says there’s something familiar about her.  GUYS.  GUYS.

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  I NEED THIS REVEAL I WANT THESE TWO DORKS TO REALIZE THEY ARE RELATED AND JUST ABSOLUTELY BLOW A GASKET OVER IT Also the so SO obvious foil between the one who chose revenge (Rachel) and the one who gave it up (Zeon). Oh my god. OH MY GOD you could do so much with that. am i giving the writers too much credit

*long eldritch screeching noises*

And it ends there with Athlon thanking Ina for finding him and saving him.

Okay, the start of his Mem Saga was pretty slow. And I don't think we really got enough time to feel anything for the three that died so it felt a bit ??? okay…

Really did love a lot of the lore opening up though, especially with NVF's history and now some more background for Zeon.  The story really didn't seem to focus on Athlon too much; he seemed just to be a rock swirling around with all the events happening, so the focus seemed everywhere.  As a character, he is like all of Zeon's worst traits done to 200000000% so I can't say I like him too much, but his design is killer.  I did like Al Radrun and I can see why Vinity and the other Yellowhoods looked up to him.

But oh my god I need to that young Shu as a skin. HOLY SHIT. Give. I need to figure out how to gif cap that slow motion of him removing the bandages. That was too goddamn sexy.

This MS actually was nothing what I expected, but I did welcome what was in it cause I think EH’s political plots are some of its strongest points.  Can't wait to see what else is next.

[doiefy]

nct dream playing league of legends

ok so this is completely self-indulgent because i finally got a new computer and can properly play league again ahfjkhfjh. a quick rundown for anyone who hasn’t played the game:

the objective is to destroy the nexus in the enemy team’s base, which can be reached through three different lanes.

top lane: brawlers and fighters mid lane: assassins and mages bot lane: one marksman and one support jungle: neutral camps 

some other terms cs: creep score, number of minions killed in lane kda: kill, death, assist ratio gank: going into another lane to flank the enemy

mark: “nice job bro”

the reliable jungler. or at least, he tries to be. 

will constantly come help you if you're getting beat up in lane. laughs when his ganks fail but will hype you up when it works.

always lets you get the kill and apologizes profusely if he accidentally steals it.

forgets that dragons exist “oh wait dude, dragon was up?? FUCK WAIT THAT WAS ELDER”

he'd play rammus, nunu and zac, literally all the wholesome, funny characters. memorizes their voice lines and repeats them while he clears his camps. 

would quite literally die for willump. if he dies and hears nunu say “no! don’t leave me, willump!” he’ll go on a muderous rampage when he respawns. 

renjun: "GET ME OUT."

the mage midlaner who’s hardstuck in silver and can’t get out.

the ranked matchup algorithm hates him and puts him with an entire team of trolls.

at first he refused to play the game, but somehow got addicted overnight. hates the game.

preaches against the objectification of sexy female characters and bonks evelynn to horny jail whenever he sees her. 

a farming and skillshot GOD. perfect cs even under tower, lands everything and people think he’s scripting. 

plays mage assassins like ahri and leblanc, artillery mages like lux and xerath.

refuses to spend money on the game and relies on skin shards. 

mass reports everyone he doesn’t like. you didn’t say gg to him? reported

jeno: "ggwp <3"

the wholesome top laner who beats people up and then friend requests them at the end of the game.

looks tough, has a deep username, so people are scared of him. in reality he’s just having fun

has the most wholesome emotes. 

while everyone’s casually laning, he’ll already be in the enemy base at 20 minutes, 1v5ing and singlehandedly ending the game.

sends cute faces in all chat as if he doesn’t have a perfect kda and can beat your ass to the moon. 

probably plays sett, malphite (oh god), gwen, renekton... probably has the patience for nasus too. 

never fucking pings before he teleports but it somehow works out. 

haechan: *aggressively pings enemy missing*

TOXIC ASSASSIN MAIN CHANGE MY MIND.

he’s good, has good mechanics, but usually ends up getting way too cocky after two kills, constantly dies while diving the enemy.

spams pings on people and emotes whenever he gets a kill.

plays teemo just to be a little shit.

istg he’d play zed, yasuo, yone, katarina, all the assassins. “you need skill to play yasuo.” proceeds to go 0/20/1

streams his games on twitch and accidentally sends the link in all chat so the enemy can stream snipe him.

either he carries or he’s useless.

takes special game modes just as seriously for some reason ?? buddy calm down it’s just super mario party

anyways i love you donghyuck <3

jaemin: "you're doing great sweetie. just fucking amazing."

the passive aggressive support main and i stand by that.

likes the pretty champions and will buy ONLY pink skins and chromas, even if it’s for a champion he doesn’t play. pink warwick?? hell yeah

pretends he’s proud of you even if he’s completely, utterly done with your dumbass. 

the passive aggressive, disappointed comments like “you need me to get that cannon for you? no? you can do it yourself? andddd you missed it. nice job sweetie. we just lost 60 gold.”

lets people play ranked with him even if they’re bad and then he has to smile through the pain of demotions.

plays champs like yuumi, lulu, janna, morgana.

will play yuumi and do nothing just to spite you. “sorry you died but my heal is on cooldown.”

is really sweet sometimes though <3

chenle: "i got autofilled."

unbothered king. 

he can play every role pretty decently, and gets experimental with his champion picks. like he’ll take a mage into the jungle and somehow get away with it, or play a support against a brawler and beat them up ??

just laughs at everyone’s pain and doesn’t really care about his rank.

secretly owns thirty smurf accounts. 

has the dumbest ideas like selling all his items and buying 6 mana crystals.

will somehow get the entire team to partake in said dumb idea; in other words, jisung’s worst nightmare.

dances in lane while his team is fighting. “GUYS LOOK AT ME.” “chenle DO SOMETHING.” 

again, he plays e v e r y t h i n g

also streams on twitch and makes a whole army to bring donghyuck down.

jisung: "my entire team is dead and they think it's my fault."

the stressed support main.

he’s good at the game but can’t possibly save his entire dumbass team from certain death.

ends up having to fight tooth and bone on his own while the rest of his team is dead. 

always calling the shots but no one listens to him so he just talks to himself instead, “guys, stop splitting up- oh and they’re all dead. k i’m gonna go over here.”

plays engage tanks like nautilus, leona and blitzcrank. engages the wrong enemy and gets yelled at. 

refuses to play ranked with anyone. not even renjun. n o  o n e. trust no one. 

ends up playing tft, the autochess of league. because at least it’s every man for himself. somehow climbs to diamond. 

[masterhandss]

I'm like the one person to ship Katarina and Kai (Gerran). Mysterious elegant gentlemany anime guys with always closed eyes just get me, ya know? They have a cute dynamic, too, but I doubt there'll be ever anything about him. He and Sienna are forever doomed to be Those Side Characters I wish were in the mainline manga/novels/anime XD

Hahaha, I definitely know how you feel! Gentleman characters who always have their eyes closed is such a specific yet interesting trope, so back when he was first introduced in VOD I was super excited to find out more about him and was specifically hyping up the moment where he opens his eyes XDD (he did when he fought Geordo, and I think that was a pretty cool moment). Kai and Sienna are super interesting because they are new characters outside of Katarina's circle who gives us a fresh dynamic with Katarina that both can and isn't tied to romance depending on how you decide to read the story.

-> hamefura verge of doom spoilers ahead <-

Katarina and Kai's relationship had a lot of potential too; Geran is simply teaching and getting close to Katarina in order to get close to Maria and win her over using Katarina's recommendations. Geran only seems to be teaching her as a professor without any friendly relationship with her (since she's just a piece in his grand scheme) but he slowly appreciates Katarina's enthusiasm and dedication to learning, and given the kind of friendly and straightforward person she is, they end up being coming quite close.

I haven't really found the time to write my feelings about VOD's ending, it's a mixed bag for me honestly. I'm really happy with the direction it went for it's final scene (*cough geordo confession cough cough*) but it was really rushed and there are so many unanswered questions and unresolved character arcs.

Kai halfway though VOD seems to accepted having a friendly relationship with Katarina, even though he still hides behind the "I'm a teacher so of course I care" and "Well, it'd be bad for me if anything happens to her". I really wished we could have gotten more about that; like how much of what he says is how he actually feels and how much of it does he *think* he feels??

I guess it's because these kinds of topics only happen when he's around Geordo, but it's pretty amusing to switch between referring to Katarina as a third/outside party and talking about her as a student he cares about. The line between being an outsider and being an ally is kinda blurry with Kai Geran, so I wished we could have seen more. I personally think he cares for her more than he realizes, but given that the series is over, we'll never be able to see if not he has already realized that he really cares for her or if it's something that has yet sink into him. I feel like this is the kind of topic where it really depends on the reader on how much Kai objectively cares for Katarina by the end of VOD.

Like, when Katarina went missing, he was sort of distressed as well. If he was asked about it, I'm sure he would have responded that he was worried "because he is her teacher" and maybe that is the case, but I'm sure he was worried because it was Katarina who was missing and he'd be sad if anything happened to her (the person, not her as the Maria-Ministry ticket), he's just very good at showing otherwise (sorry Geran but the readers are onto ya!). He's being "tsun" about her, I can feel it in my bones >:))

One thing I also really want to know more about is the unintentional love triangle(??) between Kai - Katarina - Geordo. Like, he finds amusement in seeing Geordo jealous of him and Katarina whenever they are close, and to be honest VOD presents Geran as Geordo's biggest threat rather than someone like Keith or Maria. Maybe it's just me being unable to read between the lines but I couldn't be sure whether or not he's just doing it because he likes messing with Geordo or not XDD Geran looks like he's trying to steal away Katarina, and instead of denying it or reassuring Geordo that they are simply teacher and student, he acts even more close & touchy to Katarina in order to both maintain the "friendship" they have while trying to see how the prince will react lmao. I kinda hoped we could have gotten more, I wanted to see Geran get more and more confident in his approaches to Katarina because he's aware that she really likes him as a professor, and losing the initial fear he had of Geordo who could end their lessons with a single command (also to maybe annoy Geordo a little? XDD). It would have been a great moment for Geran to brag about close his relationship with Katarina while having him slowly reevaluate what kind of relationship that is lmao. That's the kind of relationship slow burn I wanna see XDD

I also wished we could have gotten to a point where Katarina and Kai are so close that Kai begins to feel regret for originally taking in Katarina as a student simply to use her as a tool to get to Maria. Like Kai never acts rude or indifferent towards Katarina even in the beginning of the lessons, he was nice and polite from the very beginning, but on the inside I feel like he was holding back his negative feelings about being a teacher to a clueless noblewoman back when he didn't know what kind of person Katarina is.

Even if he doesn't visibly act on it, he still saw Katarina as a tool and only maintained their relationship at first because it was good for him in the long run. Hypothetically, imagine how bad he would have felt once he realizes that he appreciates Katarina as both a person and a student, and having him realize that he doesn't only want Maria to join his department in the Magic Ministry, but also Katarina as well. If you wanna make it extra ship-y, have his motivations switch from getting Maria into his department to bringing in Katarina XDD (kinda like a mirror to Raphael's goals in the main series lmao)

Like you said anon, the type of dynamic Katarina and Kai has had lots of potential to be very sweet and intriguing depending on how it could have happened. Too bad VOD is done, I wish some fanfic author could write Katarina x Kai fics to pick the pieces that VOD left us ;;w;;

I'm sorry if this whole post is kinda wack, sometimes I can't tell if what i'm writing is whats happening in VOD or what I wanted to happen in VOD XDD It's a little bit of both, so I hope I was able to distinguish my thoughts well enough.

If I mischaracterized Kai or if what I said has been proven or contradicted by the manga, feel free to point it out! I haven't read VOD in a while so Kai in this post might have been altered by my rose-colored lens hehe :))

Thank you for the ask :DD

[mercuriallycooperative]

headcanon: OH WAIT KATARINA WAS A SPREADSHEET/CHART GAMER. i don’t know what the way you actually call it is, but the thing where you have piles of notes because clearly you’re not going to get through the game On Instinct and you Categorically Refuse to look up a walkthrough (or you’re only willing to look up very specific solutions to very specific puzzles) and you’re not going to remember what you did last time after you bad end so you have to write it down

and it turns into a sprawling mess of a flowchart with thirty little branching side notes per main point, and a half-filled-in table of information that you get bored of filling out a third of the way through your playthrough and persist another few runs before you willfully forget about it despite it being right there on the first page and you’re going to depth-first-search this game if it kills you

uh, metaphorically. usually metaphorically.

source: what little we see of her Doom Notebook gives me those vibes. plus her general no-spoilers-y-ness, plus her consistent general memory/attention- plus the fact that she clearly can study well enough, if motivated, to completely turn her grades/test scores around to get into the same high school as her friend despite being in danger of not getting into one at all. gives me that ‘scribbling furiously to process an information and hopefully remember it better’ feel.

[knifvd]

               pursed   lips   ,  perfectly  manicured  HAND  to  gently  touch  the  other's  shoulder  .       ❛      sweetheart  ,  i'm  not  SURE  why  you're  embarrassed   ,   but  i  didn't  see  anything  .   stand  up  for  me  ,  angel  .        ❜    

@knifvd // ♡

"Please bury me six feet under... That's literally so embarrassing..."

[knifvd]

... pouts .