#(at least they aren't as lonely on this boat)

[sanctumpyre]

He is also wanting kisses but his person is hiding from him/missing .

He’s in the same boat as her.

{🔥} - They are in pain, agony even.

[kaivenom]

I just want you to know you done yandere pretty smooth and now I need yandere one piece dilfs, totally your fault for writing good

Yandere!OP DILFs x reader HCS

Characters: Mihawk, Doflamingo, Crocodile, Smoker,Shanks.

A/N: many people asked for this, so here it is, FINALLY

Masterlist

Dracule Mihawk

Once you put a foot on his castle, expect no return.

He is silent to the point of being scary, his castle is tricky and inmense, the only way of getting out is his boat, which is imposible for you to reach.

Once you accepted your new situation, you started to feel alone, that's when he noticed that not only he had to isolate you from the world but also make himself your world.

Expect attention, gifts, souvenirs and all kind of love and affections.

But once he is gone on missions for weeks or even months, you would get really sad and lonely.

On the time that Perona is there, at least she makes you company (Dracule made sure that you thought that this was also a gift), and when he is back, he abducts your attention again.

Sometimes you are scared of how serious he is, like he was about to explode on some point and that is the point of him, make you stay on the edge.

Later on the relationship (mostly due to Perona's going) he lets you go to other islands but only accompanied by him and for an afternoon.

You are to precious for the world to see you and you are only his.

Donquixote Doflamingo

We know this man is already a yandere himself.

Possesiveness, anger issues, attacks of crazyness, killing and torturing, etc.

You are his darling and precious pet, always following him and wearing the collar he gave you... or any other gift he puts on you.

You sometimes are lucky that you are wearing clothes cause surely he would be the kind to view you as his personal pet/hoe and would make you dress with lingerie in public, chokers, etc.

Sit on his lap is a most, there is no sit for you other than this, and he would grope you ass and touch all over your body, not caring about who is looking.

Definetly the worst part would be when he becomes jelaous cause he is a little too much of a paranoid.

The person he was jelaous off would be out of map, tortured and killed on a blink, and you would have to make it up for him.

Cause you are the best muse and little pet that anyone can have, so it's a little your fault that everyone looks and desires you, so you would have to compensate him.

Lullabies, dances, kisses, sex, cuddles, worship, licking his boots... anything that goes thru his mind at the moment, and you know that you aren't strong enough to resist, nor physically nor mentally.

Sr. Crocodile

Picture the typical relationship mafia boss and wifey, but now ad that you can't escape.

Gifts are his love language and the proof that you are his, everything is personalized to confirm that you belong to him and that you are untouchable.

He expects you to be his biggest support, even if you have a horrible day, you must comfort him first.

Expect to be isolated from the world and work from home or don't work either, typical homwife of the 50s.

You can only go out with female friends, if he catches another man near you, he would hire a detective to investigate them.

He would in fact make the detective investigate everyone in your life and if someone isn't of his like them he would slowly remove them from your life.

Expose hidden secrets from them, make up rumours, put you against them, etc.

Everything to make them expensable and him your only support.

He already is your financial support, add to this the emotional part and he would be the pillar of your life, nothing more.

He makes sure of that.

Smoker

Uses his position of marine to keep you from leaving.

If you are also a marine then he would do anything on his power to be your superior.

To control and keep an eye on you, if someone it's to close, then a file is open and maybe that person would be fired.

He would dissmiss your authority if you are his superior.

The point it's that he always has to be with you, control you and have more power than you.

He decides what you wear, where you work, how you spent the times together, and everything he can.

And somehow, you didn't care, he made it look so easy and so comfortable that you don't make the effort to choose anything, you've gotten too used to him doing it.

To the rest of the world, especially his male coworkers, you both are the perfect couple cause you do everything he says.

Akagami Shanks

He is so fun and so nice that you wouldn't notice at first.

He is really possesive and at first you saw it like a cute thing, then it became something a little more twisted.

He justifies himself by saying that since he is a yonkou, he doesn't want to risk you.

But then you started to not have one minute alone, always with him near or with some of his guards, but mostly him, he doesn't trust anyone with you.

He follows the same strategy that Luffy does (in another hcs i have), he goes for emotional blackmail.

If you leave him he would be sad, if you don't give him a kiss or sex before a battle then he will die, etc, small rituals of affection that if you don't follow, then something bad would happen.

You are man handled by him, no matter what, you are always on his lap or next to him with your legs on his.

You can't escape his touches or affection, he always catches you and makes you feel loved, that compensates with the fact that he goes drinking and flirting with people (not doing anything, he is really loyal in that part).

He makes you feel the most loved ever but the shadow of something happening if you dont is always present.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

How murderous is Karkat and Eridan?

Eridan: "killin is all i evver done practically the ocean wwas my killing cauldron"

Karkat: loves his friends so much that it hurts

They're both really blasé about killing things like imps or game enemies, and neither of them WANT to hurt their friends. Eridan's just more used to it because it was his whole job, and he's a lot better at fighting than Karkat is.

Vriska at one point says to John that her bodycount is probably "many thousands," so we can probably use that as a reference and assume Eridan's in that same bracket, because he and Vriska have a lot of parallels. In fact, I'd go so far as to call Vriska and Eridan a literary device called "parallel characters" - by listening to Vriska tell John about her feelings about her bodycount and of her place in society, we get to learn about how Eridan's feeling, too.

If we set the bar at 3000 (the low end of "many thousands") and Vriska and Eridan are both the equivalent of 13 years old, or a little less than 700 weeks, that meant he and Vriska were averaging out to multiple kills a week (and given they probably didn't start when they were newhatches and 3000 is a low estimate, like... it was probably an insane number like 5-7 kills/week). But never anyone they "cared about," in Vriska's words, until the Team Charge debacle, or Eridan went berserk on Feferi and Sollux (we should also keep in mind that Eridan outright says to Kanaya that he doesn't want to kill people he considers his friends).

But Eridan is significantly less emotionally intelligent than Vriska (a fucking feat), has less of a support system, and has a lot of Duty and Responsibility and Fate of the Species on his shoulders, so he copes a lot worse (again, a fucking feat). For Eridan, it's less about "being murderous," and more about "society demands that I be murderous" + "if I am not murderous, everybody dies" + "when I grow up, murder is my only viable career path".

He's ANXIOUS AS FUCK at his core. Via their parallel character status, we know from Vriska that they're both actually really nervous about growing up and taking their place in a society that demands bloodshed from them. When Eridan obsesses over genocide, it's a byproduct of Literally Being The Guy That Is Preventing Genocide (to the point of not really having other hobbies). We also know that he feels guilt towards his victims (or at least more than Feferi), which we know from Vriska is societally unacceptible. And if it's unacceptible for her to feel bad, then imagine how much less okay it is for the sea dweller.

So I wouldn't necessarily call Eridan murderous - like with most things regarding Eridan, it's more complicated than that - but I would call him "on a hair trigger", "conditioned to reach towards murder as an early solution," and "obsessively/anxiously trying to live up to how murderous society demands he be," all while not at all wanting to kill people he cares about. I think it's really important to note that, even though the higher the blood the more volatile the troll, and despite being unauspiced and unmoirailled, and without relying on sopor, Eridan did not start shooting to kill until Sollux and Feferi escalated the situation.

And before anyone mentions that Feferi's in the same boat, she spends practically the whole time with Sollux, who is foreshadowed to be her moirail.

Like, the tragedy of Eridan's character is that he's lonely and terrified, but does such a good job at putting up an obnoxious front that even a lot of the audience became convinced that he basically sucked and his problems didn't matter. His dumbass plan to go to Jack was a genuine attempt to save Feferi, the person he cared most about.

If you go back and look at that conversation, Eridan's casual casteist threats aren't genuine (see my pinned Eridan essay for details) - and SOLLUX is the one who says "I should have killed you when I had the chance". And Eridan DOESN'T KILL SOLLUX, because this whole time, Eridan has not wanted to kill his friends. It's not until Feferi - the person he cares most about, the one whom he concocted that suicidal mission in order to save - turns on him in agreement that Sollux should've killed him - that makes Eridan finally lose it.

Meanwhile, Karkat just loves his friends. He loves them so fucking much. I think this is pretty well-documented about him? He's got no qualms about murdering game constructs like imps and the black king, but he feels deeply fucking hurt and betrayed by Bec Noir since he bonded with Jack/Spades Slick. I don't think Karkat ever makes a genuine death threat against anybody but past!Eridan, but he and Eridan are heavily foreshadowed to be moirails, and that conversation has a hilarious bit in the middle where Karkat seemingly forgets that he's mad at the guy and just starts telling him he's a dumbass. Later on, he expresses missing his dead friends, including/especially the assholes, in the same segment as the meteor runs into dead Feferi and Eridan, so I think that that was more an angry outburst than a genuine desire to see Eridan dead.

In fact, even though he's basically shown nothing but scorn for Gamzee and Gamzee's religious beliefs and clown-ness, and even after Gamzee murders two people and seems to be trying to murder them all, Karkat can't bring himself to kill or even fight the guy, just shooshpap him down, later ranting that Gamzee was a lovable bullshit clown that he liked a lot, and (one of) his best friend(s).

So they're both in this boat of not wanting to kill their friends, but feeling societally pressured into grandstanding that they're TOTALLY murderous assholes just trust me - but Eridan was in a position where he was forced to do it at the detriment of any other hobbies, or else everybody died, and is also one of the best fighters on the team, if not THE best. Thus, the fact that it's a viable option is not only near the forefront of his mind at all times, but he has the skills to resort to it. I guess technically, that does make him more murderous, but it's also, like... any normal person in his situation would wind up the same way, honestly.

[centrally-unplanned]

Was playing Vicky 3 again, a new Japan run with the VFM mod (which helps add more event depth) and I have definitely gotten the hang of the econ system even more, it has its flaws but the core works very well. I have advanced on getting the political system a bit too, can implement reforms and such. And I studied the military, learned where some opaque stuff in the UI is, etc.

So I go to invade Korea to liberate it off the Qing, declaring war while the UK is invading them to double team them. I try to naval invade Korea...and my attacks get "cancelled" because there are British troops in Korea, we aren't the same war. So I have to wait for that war to *finish* to attack, defeating the point of this strat.

I do, I naval invade Korea, but my attack gets blocked up by endless streams of Qing boats that I beat over and over but since they "exist" in the naval zone I can't progress. Meanwhile the Qing do naval landings in the North of Japan, and I beat them a dozen times, but one attack slips through and "lands" in Chubu.

This "shifts" the combat front system from "defend all of Japan from naval invasions" to "now there is a specific front" - and none of my units auto-deploy to it, so that lone invasion force sweeps a bunch of land before I notice it a few days later. I click my armies near Tokyo to deploy to the "front" near Kyoto to fight them off...at which point they all get on boats and try to autodeploy to Kyushu island - technically part of the same front - leaving the path to Tokyo completely empty and allowing the enemy to advance. And when they do reach Tokyo, that becomes a new "front" causing my units that sailed to Kyushu to sail *back*, which then gets cancelled again since sailing is slower than marching and the whole island is taken by the time they get there and since this is a "front redeploy" i guess it doesn't count as a naval invasion?

I pressed one button - deploy to Kansai front - in that entire sequence.

What problem was this system supposed to solve? What wasn't working with "click on army, have it move to territory, fight"? In Hearts of Iron 4, you have AI-managed fronts? But you don't have to do that, you can manually click them too. It just auto-controls the functional, intuitive system for you so you don't have to micro. Here the AI system is the only way anything functions, so if it breaks your military deletes itself and you can't intervene. And it isn't really less micro intensive! Because if you aren't like 24/7 hawk-eyed on the fronts you aren't going to notice when they just decide to Deploy to HQ because one battle was lost and you need to frantically reclick them which will maybe help but you can't be sure because you are only guessing where units will go.

I get btw that if you are fighting on a land border this system at least functions - but it does not function better than Hearts of Iron 4's system there. It is still annoying to have no control when the units path like madmen. But for now doing anything military with island nations is just insane. Maybe I can figure out cheat codes for auto-winning wars just to make the roleplay go smooth lol.

[jheselbraum]

can we talk about the apprenticeship again? i wanna talk about the apprenticeship again (people online are scaring me bringing back the "ford didn't really care about dipper/his family/placed them below his Greater Good" discourse again ☹️ feels like we need a refresher)

The apprenticeship was about Ford wanting a friend and buddy! It was about Ford reaching out to his family the only way he knew how! The second he and Stan were on good terms again he immediately wanted to spend time with him. The apprenticeship was Ford wanting to spend more time with his family because he doesn't think anyone will want to spend time with him without some sort of scientific endeavor to catch their fancy, and while I always thought that if Mabel had simply asked to stay too Ford would've said yes after reading tbob I am firmly convinced that if Mabel asked to also stay in Gravity Falls with him he would've started crying. And this whole "catch their fancy with an apprenticeship instead of just asking them to hang out" thing carries over to Stan where he asks Stan to go with him to fucking Antarctica to dig up Time Baby or whatever the fuck, when what he actually wants is to just finally go on the damn boat trip with Stan!

The only thing particularly wrong with the apprenticeship offer is that while it's Ford's way of reaching out, because of who he offered it to and when it would effectively mean passing on his tendency to close himself off to Dipper, Mabel, and Stan, as each of them would be alone. This effect is reversed when Ford offers the same deal to Stan, who at the end of summer would otherwise be returning to his lonely life before he met the kids, so now at the end of summer neither Dipper and Mabel nor Stan and Ford are alone. It's weird to hold that against him since that's how conflict in a story works and the payoff of Ford wanting to go travel the world with Stan at last is weaker if we weren't presented with the first option of Ford wanting to remain in the basement with Dipper cataloging mushroom samples forever.

And at the end of tbob, Dipper, Mabel, and Stan are so fucking supportive of Ford, literally laughing off his worries about his biggest insecurity (in a positive way). They don't care that he made a deal with Bill, they don't care how much he fumbled Fiddleford, they don't care about the fucking apprenticeship! They love him and they're glad he's okay!

The solution to Ford's problems, past and present, has always been reaching out. The correct action for Ford to take, whether or not he takes it, has always been reaching out.

Ford didn't reach out when Stan was kicked out. He didn't reach out when Fiddleford left the project. He only reached out to Stan when he realized Bill's abuse and manipulation when things got truly dire, life threatening, not just to himself but when Bill made it clear that he could and would hurt the people Ford cared about, too, at least emotionally. And then finally after a lifetime of closing himself off and putting up walls, he actually honest to goodness reaches out to his family (or rather, they reach out to him) and it wouldn't make any sense if building and maintaining those connections didn't finally pay off for Ford. His life is better for having formed those connections! The Pines' lives are better for having those connections as well! Stan has his brother, his twin! Dipper has a mentor figure who shares his love of mysteries! Mabel has a companion who fosters her outgoing spirit and shares her creative interests! One of the show's big themes is family, why are we acting like Dipper and Mabel should reject a member of their family who, like Stan, is a gruff old bastard who's made his share of mistakes but god damnit if those kids aren't the light of his life?

[rollercoasterwords]

I recently caught up on ATWMD and it is such an incredible story. You are an insanely talented writer. Your prose is so vivid and the complex characters and storyline are just 10/10. Amazing. Thank you!

I have a question if you're open to giving your opinion! I feel like the group (Remus, Lily, and James) seemed to accept Regulus quicker and easier than Sirius. They seem much colder to Sirius (at the start at least) than they were to Regulus when he first arrived. Like the wandless magic lessons for instance. When Imelda won't teach Regulus, James does it personally. But I didn't get the impression they'd do the same for Sirius. They seemed more likely to cut him loose.

Is this just because of the circumstances for how they each end up with the order? Or do you think there's more to it? Or is it just because we didn't see Regulus POV at the time of him arriving with the order so it's just a matter of it being the past?

hi thank u!! glad ur enjoying the fic <3 & i think i answered a similar question to this before but i don't feel like scrolling back thru my own blog 2 find it so. happy 2 go thru it again i love talking abt these characters <3

essentially the difference in their responses is down to the different circumstances in how each brother joined the order, yeah, but all 3 of them also respond pretty differently, so going one by one:

lily honestly doesn't respond all that differently to either brother; w reg she was kinda cold at first out of hurt/jealousy over what she perceived as his budding relationship w james, assuming that reg would become another in the long line of casual hookups & knowing that she herself could never sleep w james without probably ruining their friendship bc of her own feelings, etc. & then once they have their little bonding moment where they both kinda realize they're in the same boat (unrequited feelings that go deeper than just wanting a casual hookup, knowing that those feelings will wreck things if they do ever sleep w james) & make their unofficial little pact (no sex w james potter) they become very close. so lily's initial response has less to do w how she perceives the other person as being good/bad & more to do w her own personal feelings towards them. when sirius shows up she's the only one of the 3 who's initially pretty kind + welcoming + essentially just treats him somewhat normally, bc she doesn't personally feel any animosity towards him but also isn't immediately going to be best friends w him, knowing who he was. she also has a slightly different perspective, tho, bc she's close w reg & knows that reg thinks sirius is a good person, and trusts his judgment. for lily, all the stuff with the death eaters is less...personal? ig? even tho it's had a very significant impact on her life; she was rescued by the order as a young child & raised w them, so she never directly experienced the kinds of oppression that muggleborn wizards typically face from death eaters + voldemort's regime etc, and she also does most of her work within order hq in potions labs and isn't necessarily fighting face-to-face w these people, so although she views them as the enemy she just isn't as emotionally connected on an individual level & therefore has an easier time looking past sirius's history and judging him as she finds him when he joins the order.

james, on the other hand, is personally connected & fighting death eaters face-to-face; they aren't just a monolithic Enemy to him, he hates them as individuals, too. he also has a more black-and-white view of a morality and a different idea of what courage looks like, and values what he perceives as courage very highly. so for james, he viewed regulus as this sort of brave lone warrior from the start for deciding to break away from the death eaters + fight a cave of zombies + try to destroy a horcrux on his own--james thinks that's badass + brave + noble, and that colors his perception of reg from the start. even when reg insists that he's not a hero, james still thinks what he did was heroic, and that paired w the fact that he was never a high-ranking death eater before breaking away makes his involvement w them forgivable--in james's eyes, reg has atoned for his past and is now trustworthy, which is why he likes him from the beginning. sirius, on the other hand, doesn't make the decision to join the order; he's basically forced into it. bc of that, james views him as a coward and looks down on him when they first meet; this is where a lot of his animosity is coming from. + sirius doesn't exactly jump at the chance to join the order, giving the impression that he's still loyal to voldemort, which just makes that animosity worse. it's not until sirius starts to "prove" himself thru action that james begins to trust him more, bc action is really what speaks to james + what he views as a testament to someone's character.

and then there's remus, who disliked both brothers from the start. unlike either james or lily, he's grown up under voldemort's regime & has directly experienced violence + oppression in ways that neither of them has, so he hates every death eater on an individual level for good reason--in his eyes, they have all made the personal decision to uphold + perpetuate violence (which is true!), and he doesn't care why they made that decision; nothing excuses it. we don't really see his reaction to reg joining the order bc he's not really around order hq as much, but remus was wary towards him from the start & even tho he eventually accepted that reg was working w them now, he's never befriended reg the way lily + james did & he never feels close to him or even really likes him. and his relationship w sirius is a whole other can of worms lol...hopefully the story is enough to show why remus treats him the way he does, but really the only reason he doesn't just keep ignoring sirius the way he kinda does reg is bc of their history together + the feelings between them. otherwise he'd probably just be standoffish to both of them!

[sonicasura]

If I can be frank? Neither 10 nor 12 seems like the kind to look for a spouse given what we know of them. As such, it would not surprise me if their better/milder suggestions is Soshiro showing his junk to Kafka. Cause according to those two, twin blades aren't the only thing he dual wields and that got to count for something. Nor are they small.

Its safe to say, Soshiro goes to Mina and Okonogi instead for advice instead after that and a few other similare suggestions. He knows they mean well, but that is just not gonna work.

Awkward dorks in love is one of the best romance types, at least in my opinion. So much fun to have with what one can do that gener. Though this one is a slow burn as it take years for both Kafka and Soshiro to develope proper feelings for each other. Soshiro is honestly scared by trying to change their friendship into something more, as Kafka has become a friend he really don't want to lose due to other not feeling the same.

Kafka is in the same boat. He thought himself lucky that he was able to be contracted to Mina and when Bakko came along it got better. He is crippling lonely no matter what he do. Sure he has his friendships with the humans he befriends and even some old friends in the spirit world as well but as I've said, he's powers makes it dangerous for people to be near him for long. Human, kaiju, spirit and what else you got.

Its something he has gotten used sadly. Even when he had just hatched out of his egg he was alone as his parents had been killed well before he hatched. He saw the skeletal remains. He did not even have siblings as the other eggs in the nest had clearly been eaten given the damage to the empty shells. It got no better as he tried to survive this dangerous world that he is born into. So when that travling merchant found Kafka years later, it was the very first time he got to know kindess and love.

He knows far too well how precious friendships are, as well as how precious true love is as well as he watched his first friend succeed in life and found someone to love and have a family with. On his human's death bed, he told Kafka that he was sure one day Kafka as well will have something like this too. He just knew it. All Kafka had to do was not give up. Which was easier said then done.

If Kafka was still able to see his old friend's ghost, he would see that knowing smile he would sometimes sport when he knew something Kafka did not or saw something obvious that Kafka managed to miss again.

LMFAO Soshiro just stares at both of his uncles and instantly leaves after they give him such crude advice. Okonogi absolutely facepalms because she would ask if he went to them first. Guess even kaiju have such weirdos.

Poor Kafka. He definitely has been through a lot so I can see him being afraid about ruining a friendship like that. Completely unaware that the feelings he has are mutual.

[mmkin]

Hooked On You (Shioyaki x Reader)

For fans of my Arlong Pirates collection, the next chapter is up! Featuring the Master of Banquets! Whee! It can be found here on AO3 but also under the cut here.

Content warning - mentions of slavery and abuse, but teen-safe. This chapter is SFW but the rest of the chapters of the story so far aren't (as a fair warning to those who want to read the rest)

IV – Hooked On You (Shioyaki)

Shioyaki is the Master of Banquets, and I do like his shirt :) Mido is never named in the anime, but he is the big fishman with light pinkish-purple skin and bright green hair (or fins?) along the top of his head and the sides of his head. I saw him in several different scenes and decided to use him because why not, and named him thusly.

I wanted to shake things up a bit because all previous stories in this collection have the relationship starting amicably enough and on equal footing (in regards to race, at least) and I wanted to do something different here given that I've gone into the issues between humans and fishmen and all that stuff.

So the Reader/OC for this story is a mixed-breed half-fishman/half-human woman. Enjoy!

o0o0o0o

Your father used to be part of a pirate crew. His captain is long dead, and so is his fishwoman lover – your mother, who died when you were just a baby. Wanting to leave the pirate life, he took you and set up on a peaceful island in the East Blue.

He eventually married another woman – a human – so you’re the lone person in the family – and town, actually – with fishman blood. Your father is a decent fellow, and though you’ve had arguments with your stepmother, she’s not the evil stepparent you find in fairy tales. Your father had enough booty from his pirate days to establish himself so his family has never had to worry about food in their belly or a roof over their heads.

Naturally, some people in town had issues with someone who had fishman blood in them, but your father always defended you. You know he cared about your mother, and he's told you that if these people who hate you see what he has seen, they'd realize that someone of mixed blood is the least of anyone's worries.

Sometimes, you get a weird look or a snide comment, and though you learn to not react to them, it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. And as your father pointed out, you have abilities no one else on the island does. So under his watchful guardianship, you learn to negotiate and sell these skills to those who would make use of them. Though your dad is an ex-pirate who enjoys the quiet life, he enjoys passing some of his skills to you. So even if some of the townsfolk see you as odd, you're able to make your way through life.

Once in a while, your younger siblings might be brats, but you do love them, and they care for you too, and as you've gotten older, your stepmother has afforded you more space and respect. It's not a perfect life, but you know what, you're pretty happy with it. Sometimes you ask yourself what you're going to do with your future. Will you remain on the island forever, or might you take to the high seas and become a pirate, or perhaps go to Fishman Island where your mother came from?

o0o0o0o

Before you can make a definitive decision about your future, your (mostly) quiet life is broken up by the blowing of the emergency horn. The town does have a local militia and several patrol boats, but these are overcome seemingly by the ocean itself as fishmen emerge from the sea to take control of the island.

You would run, but you have your younger siblings with you as today was a festival day. You’re not sure who’s more surprised – you, or the fishmen who see you as the people are being gathered up in the town square. The little ones cling to you and as you see the fishmen moving around, and again, you’re given curious glances, and it seems they’re less inclined to treat you roughly when you and others are ordered about.

The tallest man – human or fish – you've ever seen comes into sight with the longest nose you've ever seen. You and the rest of your family and neighbors are forced to listen as Arlong the Saw declares the island to be his, and how there is now to be a tribute system. People who do not pay for it will die. And so on. It's something you later see is something this sharkman does every time he takes an island. Comes onto it boldly as he pleases and declares it as his and… well, he's damn strong.

Even you, a half-fishman, are in awe and fear of him.

You’re taken from your family and brought to Arlong as a bunch of fishmen go around to collect tribute. He stares at you with these cold eyes and asks you the questions one might expect. Name? Family? Where did your fishman’s blood come from?

“Well, since you’re half-fishman, I suppose you can be spared having to pay tribute,” he says with a wide grin.

“Thank you,” you say, blinking as his words sink in and what that means for you and your family and neighbors. Your father isn’t poor, but he does have a sizeable family to support, and several employees who will be counting on their paycheques to be able to cover the tribute that they’ll have to pay for themselves and their families. You do the math, and realize that it is doable… but it will be hard.

Not having to worry about you will lessen his troubles by a fraction, and… that’s better than nothing, right? But you’ve learned enough from your father to know that someone like Arlong isn’t going to give this to you without at least a string attached.

“There is a way you can show me your appreciation…” he says.

Well, there we go! He’s probably going to ask for sexual favors, right? He looks like the kind of asshole who would do just that. Hmph.

“You’ve lived here most of your life, right? So you’re pretty familiar with this town and the rest of the island, I surmise.”

You nod, wondering what he is getting at.

“I could use someone here to show some of my men around. This is a very nice island, and I intend to make good use of it.”

You stare at him, considering his words. You’d love for nothing more than to tell him to shove it, but one look at him and you know fighting him is a fool’s errand. And he’s… asking for tours, not sex. It could be a lot worse. So you give assent.

Your fish heritage has been both a detriment and an asset in the past, and it continues to be as such, a double-edged sword hanging above your head as you tread the line between continuing to support your family and showing your loyalty to your friends and neighbors, and paying lip service to Mido, the large fishman that Arlong assigned as the new mayor of the island. This is such a nice island, Arlong says, that he will be setting up some fishmen here. And Mido firmly establishes himself by kicking the former mayor out of his house. And as the fishmen have proved, their strength in the water is nothing to scoff at, which means they can corral or sink merchant or Marine ships that come here.

You had heard rumors of a fishman pirate establishing himself in the East Blue, but the Conomi Islands were quite a ways off. These rumors had circulated for the last few years, of a fishman collecting tribute from various islands, of humans that were not quite slaves but nonetheless forced to work just for the privilege of relative safety. Your father did not go out of his way to attract the notice of the Marines, but he did not hold them, or the World Government in high regard. Arlong the Saw was but a distant threat.

Until now. You remember how you felt when you made a circuit around the island when Arlong and a handful of his men followed you. He had the eyes of a predator, and you know that cold gaze was fixed upon you as you walked in front of him, just in case you tried anything funny. But you didn’t. Your self-preservation instincts were in overdrive, so you just walked along, pointing out several locations of significance and answering Arlong’s questions, doing everything you could to mask your racing pulse.

And even after Arlong left, there was still Mido and a number of other fishmen to deal with. You answer his questions honestly – but not without care. You try to preserve as much privacy as you think you can get away with. You feel the hostile glare of farmers as you lead fishmen past the fields and orchards. Eyes follow you as you go through the marketplace and the docks.

Human eyes are not the only ones that follow you, though. You’ve heard jokes of love-starved pirates and mermaids, and the like. But you act cold and professional, wanting nothing to do with these assholes who barged onto this island like they owned it.

Having collected the first of many monthly tributes, the fishmen generally leave the humans alone other than claiming a few houses and buildings. It sucks but there’s nothing you can do about it, and you stand at the docks with your arms crossed, staring out at the ocean. Perhaps you could flee this island. But then what might become of your family or friends?

A fisherman you’ve done business with for a few years approaches you to ask about helping him with his work. Your reputation in selling your skills is solid, so you’ve had an amicable relationship with this man – until now.

“Since you’re exempt from the tribute, the least you could do is help me without charge,” he says. It’s been an excruciating few days for you. Being followed around by fishmen while giving tours and carefully deciding what places to not show them. The sideways glances from your neighbors. The tightness of your stepmother’s expression as the finances are discussed. And though your father tries to hide it, you know he is nervous too.

You were giving honest consideration to sharing some of the money you’d saved up with those who need it. There were those not as well-off as your father, and even if they’d made one payment, it was no guarantee they’d make the next. You weren’t an asshole.

But this man’s rude tone gets your hackles up. You’re not sure what to say. You want to reprimand him, but you know he has a wife who is pregnant and they already have three children. That’s another 50 thousand Berry added to that family’s tribute payment in a couple of months. You know you’re not the only one who’s spent a restless night or fretful day over this whole shitshow.

You stare at him, and he stares back at you, resentment smoldering in his guarded glare. You become aware of another fisherman looking at you from some way down the pier and realize that if you choose to ignore the first man's rudeness and help him out, there will be a line of people seeking favors from you, even though you only consented to be Arlong's lackey under duress.

Usually, if someone challenged you, you'd have something smart to say, or at least a joke to defuse the situation, but there's really nothing you can think of that feels right here. You're too on edge, and you understand why this man is on edge, and you don't want a fight. All you can do is turn around and walk away, hands balled at your sides.

“Hahaha, see how quickly she switches her loyalty!” you hear his voice call out.

“Why should she be loyal to someone who would exploit her work?” you hear a new voice say. Oh no, it’s a fishman. You turn to see a fishman, tall but nowhere near as broad as Mido, glaring at the humans on the pier tending to their boats. “So typical of humans, exploiting fishmen, making them work for next to nothing if that! There will be none of that in the Arlong Empire!” he barks.

All you can do is stare in horrified fascination before you raise your hands, waving them in a gesture of placation. "Please, gentlemen," you say with a chuckle you hope doesn't sound too strained. You give the fisherman a pointed glare, hoping he remembers the last few years of friendly acquaintanceship he shared with you well enough. The human looks at you before lowering his gaze in submission. You glance at the fishman, whose name you remember is Shioyaki. He's not bad-looking for a fishman, and even better-looking than some of the humans here. And out of the fishmen you've seen, he has the nicest shirts.

But he’s still part of Arlong’s gang, so you’ve kept your distance from him. “There you go. It’s just… been a time of adjustment for all of us,” you say. You quickly back away and turn to leave, thinking to just go back home and avoid others for the rest of the day.

You go a few blocks before you hear your name called out, and turn around to face Shioyaki, biting back your irritation. You’d been so intent on getting away from the shore that you didn’t hear his footsteps coming after you.

“Yes?” you ask in icy politeness. You could almost swear he’s smirking a bit like he finds your act amusing. But it’s not an act. You’re not going to be warm towards these assholes who’ve come and taken over this island, are you? Fuck that, fuck Arlong, fuck these fishmen.

“I was wondering if you might like to go for a walk with me?” he asks. You narrow your eyes.

“Your captain… hired me as a guide. My work is done for today,” you say dismissively. You know you’ll likely be called upon tomorrow for something, but after your confrontation with the fisherman, all you want to do is go home and make yourself a cup of tea. And perhaps add a shot or two of rum to it, but who has to know?

“Huh, you’re just going to leave like that after I stepped in for you?”

“You did that out of the goodness of your heart, I assumed?” you ask dryly. He takes a step closer to you. Under different circumstances, you might have flirted with him. But circumstances are what they are, and you step back.

“I know I’m new here. But the way that man talked to you. I’ve seen it plenty of other times. Humans looking down at us because we’re fishmen.”

“I assure you that your being a fishman has nothing to do with my disdain for you." Still, you're a little shaken at how quick that man was to turn on you and demand you give him free work over something you had no control over. Empathy can only go so far, and you remember the handful of townsfolk you've known for years who still have not quite let go of their prejudice for fishfolk. And now, even people you've been friendly with are looking at you differently.

All because of Arlong and his assholes. “And for your information, I got along with that man just fine before Arlong came here. So you’ve made things difficult for me, in a place that I have spent most of my life in!” you say hotly.

He blinks at you. You regard him with an angry, tight expression, anxiety forming a knot in your stomach. Then he smirks. All you want to do is punch him in the face.

“Yeah. I’ve seen how the humans look at you when we’re following you around. Even though as far as I’ve seen, you haven’t done anything to them. But now for many of them, all they see when they look at you is that you’re a fishman, too.”

“Only half!”

“Does that make much of a difference?”

Your hands ball into fists. “Just leave me alone,” you mutter. Stupid asshole.

“You’ve lived your life so far with humans. It’s not working out very well, is it? Maybe it’s time to embrace your fishman heritage and side with us.”

“No, thanks. I don’t wanna end up an a- uh, jerk like you or Mido or Arlong.” You almost called him an asshole to his face. You’re normally cool-headed, but this fishman is getting you all flustered, and not in a good way.

He chuckles at that but lets you go.

o0o0o0o

Your reprieve from Shioyaki is short-lived. When you report to the mayor's house in the morning to see what Mido might want of you, Shioyaki is with him. He smirks at you when you take notice of him, but you keep your face impassive as you stare at Mido, nearly blinded by the bright green fins on his head as they catch the sunlight. Even for a fishman, his appearance is ridiculous, especially when compared to someone like Arlong. But he has a fair amount of intelligence to go with that brawn, which explains why he was given the mayorship of this town and control of the island.

“You will work with Shioyaki today,” Mido declares before he dismisses you, the other fishman following behind you.

Fuck me. Could this day possibly get any worse? And the day has only just started! Could you pretend to be ill? Maybe complain about cramps, since a lot of men will back off when a woman mentions certain troubles? You stop at the gate in front of the house before turning to face him.

“What sort of work did you have planned for today?” you ask coolly. Suck it up and get on with it. If not for the fear of reprisal from Mido or Arlong, you'd have laid this salmon fishman out already and rubbed his face in the dirt for good measure.

“I was thinking we could go for a walk. I’ll tell Mido it’s a tour.”

You let out a defeated huff. Looks like he’s going to get that walk with you, after all. “Where do you want to go, then?” you ask.

“Hmm. This island is pretty nice," he says. Of course, he would know, you've taken the fishmen on several walks around the island so they could see for themselves what they were going to be managing for Arlong. "Let's just walk by the sea?"

Fine. So the two of you make your way down the slope before taking a left, walking past the docks. You avoid eye contact with the humans working there, stone-faced as Shioyaki walks at your side, half a step behind you. Inevitably, the pier stops, giving way to a trail and rocky sand, the waves crashing nearby. There are a few houses up the hill, but you know if you continue down the path you'll head through a forested part of the island that is occasionally used for foraging or grazing. Shioyaki had been quiet thus far, and you're not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

So you keep walking, treading a path that is long familiar to you. At a few points, it has been widened, giving people places to rest or even have a bit of a picnic if they so desire. Island life is pretty great… at least, until fishmen pirates show up and demand tribute. You stare off through the trees at the sea and give out a gasp as you bump into Shioyaki.

He stands in front of you, facing you. You look away out of mortification as you take a step back. “Sorry,” you mumble, trying to forget the smirk on his face. He’d planted himself in front of you on purpose when he saw you were distracted, hadn’t he?

“Relax. You’re way too tense, you know?”

You lift your head to glare at him. “Why should you care?”

He shrugs. “We’re just out for a walk. These are supposed to be fun, right?”

“… Yes,” comes your guarded reply. You’re tempted to say that his absence is what would make the walk fun.

“And I’m certain you’d rather be having fun than doing actual work for Mido, right?”

You raise an eyebrow at him. “You’re not worried about getting in trouble?” you ask cautiously – if this fishman does get in trouble, you don’t want to be held accountable.

He gives out a small laugh. “No. I’m Arlong’s subordinate, not Mido’s. I’m the Master of Banquets, but I’m here for a few months because I have other skills and I’ll admit, I wanted a change of scenery for a bit.”

You shrug at that. Nothing wrong with having a variety of skills, or wanting something new. If it wasn’t for the circumstances, his comment would be entirely reasonable.

“Arlong Park is pretty great, but this island is not without its charms." He looks around for a bit before his gaze falls back to you, resting on you. You were dressed similarly to most other islanders this time of the year, with a t-shirt and knee-length shorts. You felt that you exercised a reasonable amount of modesty and comfort in your choice of clothing, but under his gaze, you feel almost naked. Eyes up here, bud, you’re tempted to snap at him.

“Yes, this trail has its charms,” you say in an effort to pull his mind from that sort of topic. “You saw that lemon orchard the other day, remember? This is the other side of it,” you say, gesturing to a fence several meters from the path, rows of lemon trees sitting behind it. You remember carefree days when you and the neighbor kids would pluck lemons from the branches that overhung the fence. The owner of the orchard was good-natured about it, and your father reminded you and the other children to not abuse someone’s generosity. So like good sports, you only collected lemons that were outside of the fence, and you and your friends shared the lemons, getting plenty of lemon bars for your efforts (and you helped your stepmother make lemon bars, some of which you took to that very farmer. So it was a win-win situation for everyone, really...)

That same farmer had glared at you the other day as you stood behind Mido while the new fishman mayor made his rounds to familiarize himself with his new town. Your father knows the facts, that you agreed to none of this, and there are those willing to listen to you. But prejudice runs deeper than you have seen in your so far relatively comfortable life. It was easy enough to ignore the sneers of the few townsfolk who could not let go of their prejudices, but when you were now dealing with it from people who’d gotten along with you for years… It’s hard to not feel resentful.

The two of you walk more without incident before he stops again. This time, you catch yourself before you walk into him. You see a couple of boats in the distance, but you and Shioyaki are pretty much alone in this quiet little corner of the world.

“I’ve been observing you since I came here. I like what I see.”

So do you. You would be lying if you claimed that you didn’t find him physically attractive. But he’s one of the Arlong Pirates, and you have morals. So you shake your head. “Don’t get any ideas about that,” you warn him.

“Why not? What are you going to do, be with a human? Fishmen are superior in strength and stamina. Think about what that means…" His smirk widens into a lecherous grin. You roll your eyes. You're not exactly untouched, but you're single. Your experience comes from exploration and curiosity. Hey, no regrets, and you got to experiment a bit and find a few things you liked or didn't like.

“I’d rather not,” you say as you flip your hair over your shoulder. “That is not what I was hired for.”

“Oh, is that something you’re selling?” he asked, stroking his chin. You growl at him.

“Yeah, keep making that noise. It’s pretty hot,” he says with a chortle. You exclaim and throw your hands up in the air. He steps toward you. You back away from him. Arlong only told you to be a guide to his fishmen. You were to show them the sights and locations of the island and the surrounding waters.

Not your body. If Shioyaki assaults you what recourse do you have? Would Arlong reprimand his crewmate, or simply shrug and say you were fair game to be claimed? You blank out at that thought, horror filling you as you consider how (metaphorically) fucked you are.

“Hey, wait. No.” Your focus is pulled back to him and you see surprise on his features as you continue to back away. “I’m a fishman. Not a monster.” He quickly grabs your wrist.

“Prove it,” you say evenly, but your heart is pounding as the two of you stare at one another. Slowly, he unwraps his fingers from your arm and raises his hand, palms facing you.

“Not a monster,” you repeat his words quietly as the two of you stand there and stare at one another with the rustle of leaves and crashing of waves as a backdrop. “You and your captain and friends come to this island, and though Arlong doesn’t call them slaves, the humans here aren’t in a much better state. They are made to work under the threat of death, with Arlong taking most if not all of the profits.”

“Humans have done much worse to fishmen and merfolk for many centuries!”

Your father admittedly is ignorant of most fishman history, but he did tell you what he knew, and that included the institution of slavery and how non-humans were more prized on the slave market for a variety of reasons.

“I don’t deny that they did, ok? My dad told me about what he’d seen of slavers and all that. And that’s an amazingly shitty thing to do to anybody. Regardless of if they’re a human or fishman!” you add pointedly.

“I bet there’s plenty he didn’t tell you,” Shioyaki replies. You shrug, conceding the point. So the walk continues with him info-dumping on you about Fisher Tiger and his death and how Arlong formed his crew. Surprisingly, you find this engaging and ask him questions, which he seems all too happy to answer because he has your rapt attention.

You’ve heard a bit about fishman history from your father, and even less from the World Government-issued textbooks in school. Now you get to hear it from a bonafide fishman. And boy howdy, you get a whole fucking earful and then some.

Hours pass before you make your way back to civilization. You're overwhelmed, but you've gained a lot of insight into why these fishmen behave the way they do. Yeah, what they're doing here, on this island, is not justified, but you can see how and why they're so angry. With being constantly persecuted and marginalized by humans, and not feeling protected by King Neptune, there are going to be fishmen who feel like the only way to secure a place for themselves on the surface world is to take it by force, and that is what Arlong did. And as more and more seafolk join him, the Arlong Empire expands, creating several colonies across the East Blue. Your island is but the latest in this stronghold that Arlong the Saw is creating for his people.

“Well, I enjoyed that walk,” Shioyaki says conversationally as the town comes into view again.

“So did I,” you say. Albeit on a different level, your brain mulling over a viewpoint that was different than what you’d been raised with. But that’s not what Shioyaki thinks when he hears your words, and you blush as you realize your poor choice of words. He smiles at that.

“In that case, perhaps we should take more walks. I think you’d prefer that to working for Mido?”

You look off to some point beyond the trees so you don’t have to make eye contact with him. Work for Mido, or spend time with Shioyaki. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. In this case, you’ll choose the lesser of two evils, and nod. Shioyaki seems willing enough to talk with you and answer your questions. You’ll think of some questions tonight, and distract him the next time you have to spend time with him.

o0o0o0o

Though you still have to report to Mido in the mornings, Shioyaki manages to monopolize much of your time. You have questions waiting for him, whether it’s about something new or to clarify something he said previously.

When he asks you questions, you are diffident. You resist his attempts to discover things you like, and you try to distract him with questions of your own.

“You already asked me that question a while ago,” Shioyaki says with a smirk. “You’re just trying to keep me talking.”

You narrow your eyes, thinking back… well, you did ask a similar question. But you honestly forgot you had asked for it, there was a lot of information about fishmen to process, and it’s not like you had reference material at home to look up.

“I forgot I asked that, really. There’s just so much to keep track of and it’s not as if the local library has material on fishman history and all that. I told my dad some of what you told me yesterday and it blew his mind. He knows that humans and fishmen don’t have a great history together but, yeah, wow.”

“Fair enough, but you’re still using these questions as a distraction.”

“No, no, I’m listening and learning,” you insist. He smirks.

“Yeah, but it's not the only reason you're asking these questions. Am I really so bad?"

You let out a soft hmph and cross your arms. Isn’t the answer fucking obvious?

“Yeah yeah, I'm a pirate. An Arlong Pirate and I'm proud of it. I wouldn't let myself be pushed around by humans. And before you say that there's a way to solve this without violence, do you think fishmen haven't tried that in the past? Arlong saw Fisher Tiger die for trying to save a human child! We could have just killed everyone here, but we chose not to!" He crosses his arms, puffing out his chest, taking a stance not much different than yours. You stare at one another for several moments.

“Is that the bar you want to set? Not killing?" you ask incredulously. His smugness gives way to perplexity. His brows furrowed in irritation.

“Like humans are better than that," he sneers. It's a pretty weak point… but it is a point, nonetheless. And no one in your town died. So there's that. You wouldn't say you're grateful for that, but the pragmatic side of you recognizes that being alive means one can live to fight another day.

“Yeah. So you get to lord over us weak humans, even though the people who live here have no part in this conflict. You brought it here and thrust it upon them. I know you’re angry, but you’re projecting it on the wrong people.” You turn away from him. “I’m going home. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Hey, I didn’t say you could leave.”

You glare at him. He takes a step toward you.

“I get that you were raised by humans, but you’ve been shut off to us since we came here. I’ve tried to be nice to you. I think you’re cute, and I have more to offer than any of the humans on this island.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Who said I was going to stay on this island?”

He seems taken aback by this.

“I mean, I don’t have to pay tribute. I’m half-fishman. I’m not bound here like the rest of the islanders, am I?” Come to think of it, that was never clarified.

“I… don’t know.” He stares at you thoughtfully. “Arlong never stated you could leave, and I doubt he’d be too pleased if you disappeared without his permission. Especially since you’re likely to try to get help.”

Well, of course, you would try to get help, you're not stupid. And you would have information on Mido and the other fishmen here if nothing else. But you hesitate. As a half-fishman, would you be treated with respect? And in the meantime, what could happen to your family or friends?

“Fuck,” you mutter, balling your hands into fists. Shioyaki approaches you slowly. You glance at him cautiously, the sun giving his cool ruddy skin a warm tint. It’s hard to not remember how visually appealing the salmon fishman is because of the time you’ve spent around him.

“You’ve spent all this time worrying about humans and avoiding fishmen as much as possible. You don’t have to make friends with all of us, but I am certain I can make it worthwhile for you to be mine.”

Your father told you to never turn down an opportunity without thinking about it. And you are aware that, as long as you’re stuck here and toeing the line with Mido, it wouldn’t hurt to have one fishman on your side.

“I’m going to need to think about that,” you say neutrally. Make him chase you a little bit. See just how much power you have or might gain, and you might be able to wield it in some meaningful way. You see the gleam in his eye, and you know you have him hooked.

o0o0o0o

Wait, wait, some of you might ask, where's the smex? Don't worry, I do have that planned for part 2 but given the circumstances of the Reader for this story, I didn't want to rush into that.

So I looked up just how much Berries were worth, and according to the OP wiki, Berries are about the same as the Japanese Yen, which makes sense given the author is Japanese. That 50,000 Yen translates to about 341 US dollars, 313 Euro, or 267 GBP (UK Pounds) Double this for the adult tribute fee.

Of course, standards of living vary around the world as well as expenses, so it's difficult to say just how much value this has within OP, but I can say that for some people, this would be doable, but for others, this would strain their budget if not break it. For me, coming up with the adult fee would be an absolute pain in the ass. If I had kids to support, this would break me.

Camie the mermaid was purchased by Saint Charlos for five hundred million Berries, which translates to 2,670,400 GBP, 3,130,900 Euro, or 3,408,000 USD (as of Feb 2024) For nearly anyone, this would be a life-changing amount of money. Yes, I thought it would be fun to calculate that to get an idea of how much a Berry is worth.

[callmearcturus]

I know I don't know you personally but I'm worried for you. Reading over everything has me concerned. Please take care of yourself. You are cared for. I know my heart aches for you.

Many people care for you not just because of the content but because of how lovingly you construct and how genuine you are. You give a lot of yourself and sometimes giving is exhausting. You deserve to receive too. If you have someone you trust, let them in, ask for help. Please don't let yourself sink. The people who love you will be there. I know the brain gremlin says you're a bother but you aren't.

Please. Be gentle with yourself.

My mental state has always been hilly. I have lows and highs. Very routinely, I get low around December because the holidays are miserable, but usually I'm up again around late January or February.

This year, before my 'up' happened, I had to be put on a course of steroids for a pretty mundane medical issue. Unfortunately, steroids make me fucking crazy. I couldn't even finish the full course, they were fucking up my brain so severely.

So instead of pulling out of my December slump, I'm low. Extremely low in a way that is requiring daily management. And I'm supposed to be starting a new job right now.

Lately I have had good days, but yesterday was not one of them so it felt like a massive set back.

Logically I know I should be talking to friends, but it's hard when the only thing you have to say is "I'm sad, I'm worried about money, I don't want to eat anything, it sucks." Not exactly riveting conversation, especially when most people I know are in similar boats right now, it seems. I'm loathe to share my burdens when at this moment I don't feel capable of reciprocation. That's uncool. I would rather wait until I can help them too. But yes, it's lonely.

I'm not alone, at least. My family is helping me manage the moment to moment. I'm on an antidepressant.

I say all this because I guess you are right. It's concerning. I feel like my last two years of work, having a Real Job, clawing myself out of retail, is being ruined by my fucking brain. But I don't know what to do but try to be ready to work asap and wait for this low period to end.

Thank you for your concern.

[acornsandoaktrees]

LOTRweek Day 3:

fear | courage | adventure

fac fortia et patere (do brave deeds and endure)

Following in old footsteps, Tauriel and Alphes leave home for the Lonely Mountain in order to face the world.

>---|-

Nimble, Thalanes hopped from a low twisted bough of the tree to where the shrubbery reduced suddenly into stone. Crouching by the border, she stared through a thin bush at the stretching blue ahead.

Thranduil joined her in a scrambling hurry. "What is it?"

"There's a boat out there."

At least, that's what she imagined the brown blur bobbing faraway on the glittering water to be. Thranduil's pale eyes brightened when he caught sight of it as well.

"Yes, I see the sail!"

"The what?"

Thranduil blinked at her. "The... big canvas that catches wind and pushes the boat."

"Oh," she shrugged. "There must be someone onboard, right?"

"...Well, yes."

Thalanes stood. "I'm going to go and meet them."

"What?!" Thranduil yanked her back by the flare of her shirt sleeve when she made to step out from behind the bush. "Thalanes, you cannot!"

Tearing her arm free, Thalanes bared her teeth at him. "Then stop me, Prince."

She stepped out from the shade of the forest into the sun. Grass found no seed in bleached stone, trees bent by a biting wind that dashed up from the surface of the lake. It tossed Thalanes' hair, golden tapestry waving about her face.

"Thalanes, turn back," Thranduil hissed, hiding still behind the bush in the canopy's shadow.

"But aren't you curious?" Thalanes took a step further. Moss faded into patches.

Even if he was, Thranduil wouldn't move. "We are not allowed out here. We will get in trouble."

Turning lazily on her heel to face him, Thalanes made sure he saw the exaggerated roll of her eyes. 

"Where is your bravery, Prince? Future slayer of dragons?" She goaded him.

Thranduil's face paled then went red as fire to the tips of his ears. He drew soil into tight fists.

"Fine. But I am not defending you when my adar finds us."

"Works for me."

Grinning, Thalanes stuck her tongue out at him when he reached her, walking as if burrs would appear beneath his feet any second. She slung an arm over his shoulder, leaning her weight onto him so that he stumbled and yelped.

Constantly eyeing suspicious rock formations -- for they were exposed out here beyond the trees -- Thranduil followed Thalanes' leading steps. Crossing from soft marshlands to damp duned stones, they came in due time to the edge of water, where the land sloped suddenly down and beneath the reeds. 

Covering her silvery eyes from the sun's glare, Thalanes peered out at the boat. Bravely, it was quite close to the lakeshore, keeping to slow currents following the curve of the land.

Suddenly, Thalanes waved her arms; a wild thing. Furled sail snapping at its constraints in a warm stirring wind, the boat began to turn and grow closer.

Yanking her arms down, Thranduil cried, "What do you think you are doing? Is it not enough to look?"

"No," Thalanes said, her eyes bright and fixed.

Fishing nets hung from the boat's rigging, ripe for the catch. Its hull rippled beneath the clear water with encrusted glossy barnacles, wide oars breaking the surface of the lake with great force.

Curling into himself, Thranduil shrunk away. He bent and gathered a large pointed rock in his hand, hiding it behind his back. Young elves did not carry knives, for they were not to stray from the forest, and never to meet the monstrous Men of stories. 

Standing as close as she could to the edge, Thalanes ignored him and watched the boat's approach with fatal interest.

Oars stilled, and a dark head crowned by a fraying woolen hat appeared over the stern.

"Who goes there?" A rough voice called. Sunken coal eyes widened as the fisherman took in the creatures before him. "Yeer elf children!" He gaped.

"Obviously," Thalanes said in his Westron.

The fisherman appeared surprised that she could utter any sound at all. Thranduil's grip tightened on his rock.

"Well, what brings ye to me shore? I ain't never known no elf dare wander out this far from yeer trees."

Thalanes cocked her head. "Not in your lifetime. We wanted to meet a Man."

"'We' is an exaggeration," Thranduil grumbled under his breath beside her.

"And it's our shore, anyway," She added.

The fisherman scoffed and spat over the lip of his boat into the water. It sank with a meek plop. "What would ye children know o' matters o' whose land is whose?"

"We are not unlearned savages." Thranduil spoke up, bristling.

Turning his coal gaze on the princeling, the fisherman looked him up and down with distain. "You don' look much learned to me."

Spiteful, Thranduil bared flat white teeth. Appreciative of his effort, Thalanes in turn pushed a hiss through her long canines. 

The fisherman recoiled like a Man confronted by beasts. Fear ignited her nose.

"Bah!" He cried, casting about his arms in order to shoo them, "Turn back to yer forest. Th' world o' men ain't for ye!"

Ready to trade rounds of scathing insults, Thalanes opened her mouth, but Thranduil dragged her away by her arm before any sound could leave her.

"You're an ugly Man!" Thalanes spat over her shoulder, then they sprinted for the forest's edge.

>---|-

Nimble, Tauriel hopped from a low twisted bough of the tree to where the shrubbery reduced suddenly into stone. Wasting no time, she moved lightly, leaving the forest and following the river. 

When she paused at the bloodied beginning of the Dwarves' trail, footfalls alerted her to pursuit. Arrows were nocked and bowstrings drawn in a flash.

Halting, Alphes raised her hands in surrender.

"If I were an orc, you would be dead by now." She returned a swan-fletched arrow to her quiver.

Tauriel eyed her warily. "Then how fortunate for me you are not an orc. What are you doing here?"

"Watching your back, obviously."

The speech formulated during her journey through the forest dissipated into vague adoration. Tauriel lowered her bow. 

"Thank you."

Smiling, Alphes shrugged, as if denying her father and King was of no consequence, her decisions to follow of no weight. 

"Well, not even the brave Captain can hunt thirty orcs on her own."

"It seems I am not on my own."

"Never," She promised.

Lump rising in her throat, Tauriel played with the fletching of her arrow. "If I go back, I will never forgive myself--"

"Tauriel." Eyes soft, Alphes stopped her. "I know. I am with you."

Searching for some possible out for the Princess, her mouth worked silently for moment. "Thranduil will not take kindly to his heir leaving her station."

"He is not going anywhere soon. Now, the plan?" Alphes prompted, moving in lithe hops to stand beside her.

Returning her bow and arrow to their proper places, Tauriel sighed and looked back across the lake. "Kill those orcs, then face whatever comes next."

"Mmh. Shall we?" Alphes gestured along the shore to a small quay.

Droplets of Dwarven blood made the trail easy to follow by eye, let alone scent. Constantly eyeing suspicious rock formations -- for they were exposed out here beyond the trees -- Alphes followed Tauriel's leading steps. They moved swiftly to the edge of the water, where the land sloped suddenly down and beneath the reeds. 

Stretching fog was beginning to swamp the lake. The quay was abandoned, though the stench of Dwarf deepened and intermingled with Man. They had garnered passage here.

Alphes kicked a splintered barrel ring. "So how do we cross the lake after them?"

Tauriel scanned what was visible of the waterline. "We follow the shore to the bridge," She said, pointing.

Alphes adopted a sweet tone. "And how do we get to the other side of the river? Or shall we go the long way around?"

Tauriel levelled her with a glare. "Do not mock me."

Throwing up her hands in surrender, Alphes dropped the voice. "As you command, Captain."

Frowning, Tauriel set her hands on her hips. "If you're going to complain the whole way, why are you even here?"

"Someone needs to defend our home. Evidently, it must be us." Alphes pointed a little ways upstream to a lone bowed tree breaking through moss and stone on the opposite riverbank. "Look, that branch extends over the river. Do you think we can make the jump?"

Caught between two answers, Tauriel fumbled. "Um, yes, it looks far enough."

"Then let's go."

>---|-

The house was quiet in the aftermath.

Legs shaking as she rose from behind the overturned table, the youngest child breathed fast and shallow. Quickly, the eldest pulled her to her front, arms secure around her sister and eyes aflame.

Accepting Alphes' offered hand, the middle scrambled up from where he had fallen during the fight. His fingernails scratched the fine leather of her bracer until he found his footing.

"They wanted Dwarves. Do you?" The eldest asked, guarded.

Tauriel sheathed her daggers in a slow motion that kept her hands visible; not that the children could act faster than she could move if she so chose. Moonlight pooled around her from a rupture in the roof.

"Those orcs were our prey. We must follow the rest."

Eyeing Tauriel, the eldest steered her sister behind her coat. The middle stood beside them, slightly rising into his toes.

"The Dwarves aren't here. They left for the mountain this morning," The eldest said, then cast a look around the house. "Those orcs would've killed us just for being here, if not for you both."

Alphes yanked her arrows from the stilled bodies of orcs bloodying the house. "Children shouldn't be caught in this fight."

Following her movements, the eldest's gaze dropped to the bodies, weapons slack in deadened grips. Weeping lacerations that had been their end were clean, precise. Black blood soaked fast into the grains of old wood to rot. 

Steel rung under a hammer strike in her eyes. "You should stop them."

Tauriel moved to the doorway. The night was clear, earlier fog long since shifted. The mountain was a dark shadowed shape across the lake. Redness lit the seams of its great doors.

Appearing at her side with a full quiver, Alphes caught her hand. "Dwarven lives are not our responsibility."

"No," Tauriel sighed, "It is the dragon they have woken that scares me."

Alphes followed her gaze, then glanced back into the house. "Do we hunt?" 

This was her choice to make. Devout, Alphes would obey her call. After all, she was a soldier of the Guard, and Tauriel her Captain.

Tauriel looked over her shoulder at the huddled children. If she understood one thing, it was that what is most important must be prioritised and kept safe.

"No." She looked back at Alphes, and locked their fingers. "We protect. The Dwarves, the dragon, are out of our hands."

"But the Men are innocent in this," Alphes filled in. Tauriel nodded.

A ring of scraping metal sung behind them. "The Master won't listen to you," The eldest child chipped in. 

She had been listening, and now held a pikehook in a passable grip. Her brother stumbled under the weight of an Orcish sword, unable to raise its tip from the floor.

A roar shook sky and earth and water.

"He will listen to that."

"Time to go," Alphes said, taking the sword from the boy and discarding it.

Herded down the stairs to the little boat fighting its rope tie in unsettled water, the eldest insisted on keeping the pikehook, laying it lengthwise across the hull. The youngest tucked into her brother's arms and screamed when dragon fire lit buildings across the canal, taking to flame like matchsticks.

The two elves exchanged a glance. Tauriel cast off the rope, and Alphes plunged oars into glowing water.

[dustedmagazine]

The Black Watch — The Morning Papers Have Given Us the Vapours (Dell'Orso)

John Andrew Fredrick, founder and lone permanent member of the Black Watch, generally sounds irrepressible. His creative output follows that energy, following a drunken boat of Romanticism through a slew of albums over the past 30 years (and if he's bored of us talking about his prolificness, at least we aren't bored of following it). New album The Morning Papers Have Given Us the Vapours explicitly comes out of the joy of making music, but what Fredrick mostly captures is a tension in life between what could be and what is. The band's jangly post-punk has goth leanings, but it's hard to hear the act ever going that dark, even if what we often hear is the sound of Fredrick pulling himself back into the light.

The jaded hopefulness comes through on tracks like “Almost Words.” Fredrick begins by singing, “Mind you, try with all your might / To look upon the side called bright / though colored shadows cross and stop your way.” Fredrick quickly undercuts optimism here, but he can hide his earnestness in seeking it to begin with. The syntax might be Browning's influence (despite the prevalence of the term “literary” in describing pop music, few artists wear this descriptor as happily as novelist and former professor Fredrick), but it might be a wry take on poesy. Just a few tracks earlier in “Sorry So Far,” he sang, “In a lyric how much can one say? / And lyrics aren't poetry – no way,” a twisted phrase that laughs at Fredrick's own pretensions even as he discovers exactly what he has to say throughout the writing process.

What that comes to continues the tension. “What's All This Then” opens with, “Never felt like this before / Except for 13 times or maybe more.” Fredrick goes on to doubt the value of promises, jaded by the repetitive experiences of failed fairy tales. But he still “half-believes,” and that half-belief remains essential to The Morning Papers. Were Fredrick to give in to his despair, the claims of hurt or loss would become irrelevant, just part of a faded background pattern. When anger or bitterness come through, as on “Oh Do Shut Up” or “The Morning Papers,” it feels genuine, and well understood from a place that still has enough hope to produce anger.

Most of the music comes with a slightly dreamy quality, a perfect match for Fredrick's lyrics. Some touches of the Cure peak through, but the Black Watch sounds more drawn toward New Zealand or Australia (The Go-Betweens make a reliable reference point) this time, with some shoegaze textures laid over it all. It gives the album a surprising brightness among its harsher edges, so when Fredrick sings, “Just you wait till one day till my faith is restored,” it can sound like both a threat and a wish. Fredrick feels most at home in that space in between. He's comfortable in that space where he can't quite give in to one side or the other, Maybe that's where all the energy comes from.

Justin Cober-Lake

[sentient-rift]

"Huh, inferior Solo, it seems like you're actually really starting to care about people, or at least Roy. Impressive... I know all too well that there's a very real risk in becoming too attached to someone who's constantly in danger... So... What is it that makes you subject yourself to such a bond willingly?"

"Inferior?! You're talking to the Lone Rogue of Mu! But then, you should know that, shouldn't you...?

"...But I see your point. I know the risks of getting too attached to people... I never thought I'd even take on an apprentice... But Roy wanted to learn the ways of Mu, and he's made incredible progress...

"...How did this happen?! I would have never taken on an apprentice in so willingly in the past! Did spending so much time with Bass and the others really make me so soft...?! Am I even worthy to be called the Lone Rogue of Mu anymore...?! Am I... Truly inferior...?"

"..."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better, aren't you, Laplace?"

*Shakes his head.*

"Though I do not know for sure what Laplace said, I believe I have an idea of it, mi amigo. I believe you are still a strong warrior, Solo, and like Roy, I'm glad to call you my master."

"Solo... Do you want to know why I took you under my wing as an apprentice when you challenged me to a battle that day we first met? It was because I saw myself in you... Specifically my past. I abandoned bonds and friendship as well... But when Megaman and I became Bass Cross to defeat Alpha... I came to realize just how strong bonds were... And I knew I could help you understand it, too."

"Well, thinks a lot, Bass! Because of you, I've grown soft, and every one of my dimensional variants will mock me for it!"

"Heh... You and I are in the same boat, Solo. I'm probably made fun of by many different Bass' from other dimensions for being too soft as well... But I wouldn't give up all the friends I've made, nor will I ever become the Chaos Lord again."

"Hmph! I'm still rather upset about this... But I've come too far now to abandon Roy... The same goes for Sombra and Laplace..."

*Laplace looks happy.*

"Gracias, mi amigo. I shall continue to fight alongside the Lone Rogue of Mu!"

"Bass... Don't say a word about this to the others."

"I'm sure they will figure it out on their own... But sure. My lips are sealed."

[rhythm-catsandwine]

Life Finds a Way

Master list

Chapters

Read on Ao3

Summary

It can be dangerous and lonely in the black. The only thing you can do is cling together and protect those you love. Reavers aren't the only thing to fear in the black.

Will life find a way? Or will they die an early and horrific death?

Notes: This is a Firefly Au with a few additions and changes of my own. They are in a polycule, but the main couples are Danny/Maynard and Justin/Adam.

I also have no clue how many chapters there will be, and if you think something is a reference to something. It probably is.

Chapter One: Inspection

 Justin opened his eyes and stretched. “Adam.” He gently shook the man sleeping next to him. Two weeks ago he had his own bunk. A tiny space on the ship to call his own. Now he slept in the captain's quarters, but he was just the pilot. “Adam, wake up.” 

Justin opened the hatch to their bunk and climbed up to the walkway that led from the galley to the bridge. The crew bunks lined the walkway. The two biggest were across from each other where the four of them slept.

Maynard smirked before stepping down into the kitchen to make breakfast. “You two still fucking like cats in heat?”

“Least I don’t fuck Danny in the engine bay. With the door open.” Adam squeezed Justin’s shoulder before heading to the bridge. 

“You're the only one on this ship who doesn’t.”

“You two should just move in together,” Danny said.

“We already did.”

“When?” Danny his way towards the gallery, stomach growling.

“Bout a week ago,” Justin answered then turned to head up to the bridge. 

“I told you they would.” Maynard held his hand out to Danny. “Come on, pay up.”

“How? Thanks to you we have one account. How would that work?” 

“Then you do laundry for a month. Cover both our turns.” 

“Why laundry?” 

“I need a break from washing your stinky socks." Maynard turned back to the pancakes cooking on the ship’s small stove. “Pancakes, Pancakes, sure do love them pancakes.” He handed the ship foodie the first plate of his sweet delicious creation. “Pancakes, pancakes, Danny loves my pancakes. “ 

“Danny! Will you wake her up? Breakfast can wait.” Adam’s voice came from the bridge. 

Danny mumbled through a mouthful,  that sounded something like “But a growing boy needs his breakfast.”

“Fine! I’ll do it.” Their captain grumbled as he passed the other two. Once in the engine bay, he ran his finger over the metal of her hull. “Time to wake up. It’s everyone’s least favorite day of the year.” He pressed the button that made the engine start spinning. “It’s only for a couple of days then we’ll find a job, and you’ll be flying through the black again.” Adam made his way back up to the bridge.

Justin flipped a few switches and started driving the ship forward. "Wot time is her appointment?" Their boat was due for her yearly inspection. So once a year every ship had to go to a moon located in the inner planets and let the feds look all over their beloved home. 

"Hour and a half," Adam answered.  He fell back into the captain's chair. Across from where his young pilot was. "When is-"

"Atmo in one hour. Go change.” The green and blue planet and its grayish mood slowly grew bigger amongst the stars. “ N braid yer hair it makes you look a bit more polished.”

“Only for you.” Adam left the bridge once more to pull the long coat that identified him as a captain out of his entirely black wardrobe. He was only captain because he owned the ship and he made some of the tough decisions as well as found jobs that put food on the table. Other than that they voted, without rank. 

They landed softly in their inspection slot. Adam walked down the cargo bay door which doubled as a ramp. 

"Registration for ship and crew?" The inspector asked. 

Adam handed over the paper sheets. "Firefly class B midbulk cargo ship. 6th model. "

"Name?" 

"Shadow."

"Crew?"

“Adam Thomas Jones - Captain. Danie Edwin Carey - Mechanic (and one half of security), Maynard James Keenan- medical ( second half of security and cook ) - Justin Gunner Walter Chancellor - Pilot. (the pretty one )”

"License?" Justin handed over the little metal rectangle. The inspector studied it and read the notes that came up on his handheld screen. His eyebrows raised and his mouth and lips curved down into a frown. He then looked at the man in front of him. Long curls and dressed in shorts and an old t-shirt. "You've got remarkably high marks. And you sure look a little young to piolet a ship by yourself."

"Mum said I was born to fly." He grinned. 

"I'll need one more person to look at this. "

Adam sighed and rolled his eyes." yeah. So he graduated top of his class and is already one of the best pilots in the verse. No need for that. How long will we be here?”

“Well, these Firefly models have quite a few hiding spaces. Common for smugglers and pirates to fly. So it will be two days. But I’ll give you extra night credits since you were early. How many do you need? 4?”

“Two.” Adam took the two plastic hotel keys from the inspector. Then walked over to the rest of the crew. Grumbling about paranoid and corrupt government.

"You're the paranoid one," Danny said just loud enough for him to hear.  

"Someone always stays on the ship."  That was the only rule Adam had. “Someone could steal her.”

"Only your paranoid ass thinks that."

"She was once!"

"Paul's fault," Maynard added.

"You mean the betrayer?" Adam hissed.

“Least it only happens once a year.” Justin tried to soothe the irritation in the air.

"So once a year we all have to be off the ship. Big deal!”  “ It's just a ship."

"Her name is "Shadow!"" The other three said together. 

They had split up. Danny and Maynard to stock up on food. Justin and Adam went to check into their room for the night. 

"Ask Miranda" was graffitied on a few walls, trash bins, benches, and signs. 

"Wot zackly happened with Miranda? I only heard rumors as a kid." Justin asked, walking next to his captain, shoulders almost touching. He was the youngest of the crew, and just a kid when the verse changed forever. 

"So I guess a Firefly like ours but the  3rd model went there. Found out the feds created the reavers. Apparently, they fucked with the atmo to make people more relaxed.  Some went too far. Didn't care about anything.  Not food. Breathing.  Just laid down and died. But a small population went the opposite way.  Went insane and became cannibalistic. And the reavers were born. Then they stuck the memories in the verse-wide broadcast channel. So everyone knows what they did. There were rebellions. Nearly started another war."

"But why ask Miranda?"

"Cus that was the planet where it happened.  And they had a government-created psychic that as it and which made them go there." Adam pulled the other closer by the hip.” More on this later. I need a distraction from all this stupid shit.”

“Strawberrie galaxy?” Justen read the name on the bottle of lube. “Again?”

“It’s basically tradition at this point.” Each time they had to stay in the hotel waiting for inspections to be over they fucked. Distractions could hold back any paranoia. And Justin was always the main part of the distraction. Normally Adam wanted to last longer than he did. Justin liked to push them both toward the edge and then jump over it, dragging Adam with him. This was different. The longer they fucked. The less everyone had to deal with the paranoia. 

“Where ya going?” Adam wrapped his arms around his pilot's bare hips. Dark hair out of their braids, hanging down in slight waves.

“Shower. Want to join?”

The huge tub had a bench built into one side of it. Perfect for Justin to sit on the bottom and Adam to reach down and wash those long curls.

“This feels good?” a content hum answered him. “We both needed this.” Last time they were there they weren’t an official thing. One night after they fucked on the bridge under the stars, that changed. On their last job, Justin nearly died and realized how much he cared for the captain. “Okay, rinse.”  Justin sunk down under the warm water, letting the suds flow out of his hair “No. let this sit.” Adam kept him from washing off the lavender-scented conditioner. 

“Why do ya, always do this?”

‘Cus I don’t want your curls to turn into a ball of frizz.”

[severevoiddragon]

Some thoughts about my Minecraft world's lore / aka: me rambling about worldbuilding into the aether (note: this is the lore for my MC YouTube series, the channels called PixPickle if you wanna see, but this is NOT my headcanon for all worlds. Purely mine.)

Hidden under a read more so this Long Post does not take up Too Much Space

The Overworld is not a peaceful, idyllic, safe place to live. This is obvious because of the monsters and the lava on the surface and the water that can kill you. However, it is the most hospitable place for Players, Passive and Friendly Creatures and Villagers.

There is a distinction between Players and Villagers, not just because Villagers are AI. Villagers are humans, people who live in, well, a village. Players are more shapeshifters, with more advanced thinking. This is an Idea I'm fleshing out still so if you're reading this and have ideas lmk!

Zombies and Zombie Villagers are also different species. Zombies are, and always have been, zombies. Zombie Villagers are villagers turned zombie (wow, who'd have thought!) (Such an original idea ik don't murder me I'm making a semi comprehensive list)

Ancient cities and Nether Portals. Oooh this is Fun. So in my world, c!Pixie (my character) is alone, a lone Player. But there are shipwrecks, ruined nether Portals, buried treasure, and the Ancient Cities. Plus, there are Explorer's Guides. Any other book written is by the Villagers, but not the Explorer's Guides. The Ancient Cities used to be filled with Players. They built... Everything. So why are they gone?

The Explorer's Guides are still relevant, as the world hasn't changed much. The mechanics of the world haven't, at least. Ancient Cities didn't used to be underground, and the skulk really hadn't invaded so much.

Onto my favourite bit of worldbuilding so far, The Nether. The portals aren't safe methods of transport, they're tears in reality. The larger a portal is, the more unstable it is (yes, this includes the weird portal in the ancient city). The larger a Nether portal, the more Nether creeps in. This only works for activated portals.

The Nether wasn't always red and corrupted. But, as time wore on, it became hostile to people from the Overworld, with Insane temperatures, both hot and cold (only in Soul Valleys). Likewise, the atmosphere is so different that the Overworld is hostile to Nether creatures.

I've made another post on most of my Nether worldbuilding and if I find it I'll add a link here: Nether

Wither Skeletons are corrupted skellies, and Piglins & Hoglins are mutated pigs, with Piglins evolving first. Magma are slimes adapting to the hot environment, while blazes and ghasts evolved naturally.

Endermen. They are the only creature who can safely inhabit all 3 dimensions. (Second place is skellies who can safely inhabit 2 dimensions!). I dunno what to do about endermen lore-wise so. That's all for now.

The End!!! Strongholds were made by the Old Players in order to access the End dimension. Some people decided to move to the end, and created the Giant Cities and Boats. They evolved to be able to inhabit the End, but now they're gone and only the shulkers remain :( (shulkers evolved naturally, and were there before the End Players, only recently moved into the empty cities tho)

The dragon was an egg left to hatch in order to guard the End. Had the Old Players (inc. End Players) not disappeared, the Dragon would have been tamed to guard the End on their behalf.

C!Pixie has a basic knowledge of how things work, she's just stumbling around this crazy world they've found herself in. They're not really sure how she got here too, and neither am I (hope this helps)

Skulk!!! Is like the Nether!!! Both are corruption!!! Fun!!!

Except Skulk infects internally, so you don't notice it's infected until you cut it open and oh god it's dead, while Nether corruption is Very Visible on the outside (skulk blocks visible show Very Corrupted skulk things)

I haven't even got on to the topic of Wardens or Withers huh.

Wardens are skulk-corrupted Advanced Iron Golems. How much was the Old Players experimenting with Iron Golems to make a Very Powerful security system, and how much was the skulk? Ig we'll never know.

Soul sand. Skulk having souls in them. Those souls in the shriekers. All the same thing yep.

The Wither!!! I have no thoughts so come back to me later.

That's all I can think of for now, if you're reading this far please let me know because I'd be interested to hear your thoughts!!!

[pure-garbage]

Interrupted Rituals: Affections Undulled By Distance

The ship of the Crimson Gull pirates was a galleon of respectable size, christened the Screaming Jenny. While Alan ingratiated himself with the crew, Lana spent her days with single-minded focus, training to the total exclusion of any acquaintanceship the other pirates had to offer.

"You know, love, I'd have thought you would have at least asked out our heist plan by now."

Bracken approached her after a week, interrupting her meditation.

"I just kind of figured you would let me know what I need to know when I need to know it," Lana shrugged.

"I suppose that's fair. Mind if I sit with you?"

"I wouldn't be so bold as to tell you what to do on your own ship," Lana sighed. "Though if it's conversation you're looking for, you ought to look elsewhere. I'm meditating."

"You're training incredibly hard," Bracken noted. "What for?"

"General piracy," Lana replied. As much of a disruption as Bracken caused her, she had no desire to antagonize her host. The mobility of the Screaming Jenny meant that the marines weren't able to hound her anymore, which conveniently left her with much, much more time to train. Not to mention that traveling with a crew was a lot easier than trying to man a boat by herself with only Alan's help. The vessel's size was a nice bonus as well. Storms no longer caused her quite as much anxiety.

"General piracy..." Bracken considered, mulling the phrase over as though the taste of it appealed to him, and he was trying to deduce the recipe. "Say, Miss Avariya? Would you tell me something about your captain? Straw Hat Luffy... is he really as insane as the rumors say?"

Lana laughed.

"I haven't yet heard a rumor that comes close to capturing just how crazy he really is," she admitted. She couldn't help but be amused by the question and the memory of Luffy was always sure to bring a smile to her face. "You're very interested in my captain."

"He's an interesting kid. Rumor has it he died from his wounds after the so-called war of the best at marine ford."

"Hmph."

"No comment?"

"If I found out Luffy was dead, I would be shocked."

"Wow, you don't know either," Bracken mused wonderingly. He'd spent the last week holding his questions in check. Now, they all spilled out in a jumbled mess that Bracken didn't quite have the discipline to hold back or organize. "Won't you enlighten me, Miss Avariya? Why aren't you with the rest of your crew? Where are all the straw hats? What exactly is it you're training so hard for? I can't believe someone so driven is working without a plan. The world is saying that after a year of silence, the straw hat pirates are done for, yet here you are. You're not dead yet and you don't seem defeated in the least. I'd wager the rest of your crew are just as lively."

Lana consider her answer carefully. When she spoke, the words were a wistful sigh.

"Truthfully? I know as much as the rest of the world about the fate of my captain and crew. All my friends..."

She reached up out of habit to stroke Zoro's earring to comfort herself as a swell of sorrow washed over her lonely heart.

"... All I know for sure is this: I will see them all again. Someday. And until that day comes, I'm going to dedicate myself to getting stronger. I'll get so strong that nothing in this world will ever be able to separate us again."

She fixed on a smile and met Bracken's curious gaze with steely resolve shining behind her glistening purple eyes.

"That's why I'm training. That's what drives me. That's my only plan, Mr. Bracken."

Bracken chuckled, admiration overtaking his features.

"And here I thought I might persuade you to join my crew permanently after this heist, love. With devotion like that, I suppose I'm lucky to even have you on loan, eh?"

"You should proposition my kid brother," Lana smirked. "He's thirsty for adventure. Like as not, he'd accept in a heartbeat."

"Maybe so, but young Alan's hardly an impressive fighter, love, no offense intended," Bracken pointed out. "And unlike you, none of his skills have become legend up to now."

"Up to now. Don't write him off just yet. Alan's managed to surprise me a few times, and that's not easy to do after all the insanity I've seen."

Lana noticed the sun was setting. It had gotten late faster than she'd realized.

"You'll have to excuse me, Mr. Bracken," she sighed. "The moon will be up soon."

Bracken nodded his understanding as she stood and strode away purposefully. After nightfall, Lana sought the highest, most secluded point of the ship. Every night, without fail. He didn't know exactly what her ritual entailed, only that she observed it religiously.

Lana settled into the crows nest of the Screaming Jenny, considering the darkening sky contemplatively.

"Luffy, Nami. Sanji, Usopp. Chopper, Robin. Franky, Brook... good night," she murmured. She clasped her lover's earring, her private token, the secret, tangible proof of their bond. Her greatest treasure.

"I love you," she sighed softly, allowing the sea breeze to steal the quiet words, hoping it would carry them far, far away on her behalf. Maybe even far enough that somehow, he would manage to hear them. "Zoro..."

She gave the moment a heartbeat of silent solemnity, then grumbled unhappily, entirely to herself.

"Damn it... I still need to meditate before I can even think about sleeping. Blabbing Bracken. May as well just get it done up here, I guess. What a pain."

___________________________________________

<== Previous Chapter

Next Chapter ==>

== First Chapter ==

[crystalelemental]

Hoenn was, at one point in time, my least favorite region. This is an asinine statement, but listen. They didn't have Eevee. Eevee was my favorite! I did Crystal with an entire Eeveelution team! How am I supposed to play this game without Eevee? This is a concept that will come up twice more in the series, but to simplify this moment: Hoenn is now arguably my favorite. I adore these games.

I played Emerald, the superior game. My team was Blaziken (Lonely), Delcatty (Hasty), Tropius (Bold), Banette (Naive), Walrein (Naughty), and Mawile (Jolly). The game was pretty much a straight shot, with only one stop to train up to Walrein's evolution before Tate and Liza.

Hoenn is a region based on exploration more than any other. One of the interesting things that stands out about Hoenn is the pathing of the game. You start out going up to Rustboro, then double back to take a boat to Dewford and then around to Slateport, continue north around Fallarbor then loop back to the gondola that takes you up to Lavaridge, then go all the way back to face your dad, then you open up all the Surf routes you took on the boat and the east toward Winona, then to Tate and Liza, and then all the surf routes that loop to Slateport again. The game feels very interconnected, and the constant looping back somehow doesn't feel too irritating. You'd expect this to be tedious, retracing your steps so often, but it's always with something new you can do when you come back. Alongside this are a ton of optional areas, like the Sunken Ship, Shoal Cave, all the Trick Master trials, the routes between Slateport and Pacifidlog including the nonsense Regi puzzles, etc. There is a metric ton to do in this game.

Part of what's exciting about Hoenn is that, in my personal opinion, this is the best new roster of Pokemon ever made. Hoenn has some of the strongest new designs, and almost nothing I could criticize. With the size of this dex, it creates a situation that is perfect for replays, picking between all-time favorites like Mawile, or options that I like but never used before like Tropius and Walrein. It's a delightful region.

The biggest gameplay transition is also one that you could completely ignore: the change from Stat Experience to EVs. I won't bother getting into specifics, if you know you know, but these changes...fundamentally alter nothing. Your Pokemon are unlikely to hit caps, and the main way you do is through medicine. In essence, your stats aren't any higher at the end of the game between these two systems. I will note that EVs tend to go faster than stat experience does, at the cost of not improving every stat simultaneously.

A criticism I have historically levied against EVs is that they can be, at times, wasteful. This is, from this replay, a superficial complaint. The idea is that, if you're training Kadabra in the Fighting Dojo in Gen 1, you still gain the stat experience of their defenses and speed, while in Gen 3 using Ralts against Brawly puts on a lot of Atk EVs that Ralts will never use. While this is technically true, it is functionally without meaning. By gameplay, you will never feel this substantial difference. It's a minor optimization you can make at best, to consider using, say, Taillow instead, but it's not necessary. If anything, EVs in a generation before the physical/special split are best when they distribute evenly. Ralts and Kadabra are extreme examples, but most Pokemon will utilize both offensive stats, so no EV truly goes to waste here.

But this raised an interesting question for me. If the system doesn't feel different...why change it? And I think I know the answer now.

Gen 3 introduced Double Battles, and Emerald in particular offers a ton of situations where you can get into Doubles. In the old stat experience model, stat EXP was split between combatants, such that each participant received half. In essence, in a Double format, Stat EXP would train each Pokemon half as quickly. EVs, however, cannot be split. All participants share the EVs, so a Double battle is training two at the same time for the same full amount. I suspect that EVs were adopted due to the anticipated shift to Doubles formats. Which. Did not catch on. As it turned out. Best laid plans?

The last big takeaway I had was that Hoenn is where difficulty first appeared in the series. Not like in a big way, but Gen 1 is piss easy, and so is Gen 2 barring Red, and even Red can be easily counterpicked. Gen 3 has a lot of tools it throws at you that test your problem solving, or at least push you to grind.

Consider Roxanne. In Gen 1, Brock is easily beaten regardless of starter, because Geodude and Onix have terrible Sp Def and no Rock or Ground moves. There isn't really a trial, so much as maybe a showing for Charmander that not very effective attacks may still be better. Roxanne, however, goes for the throat. Nosepass is obscenely bulky for this time in the game, and she backs that up with two Potions. She can stop you from switching, lowers your speed with Rock Tomb to spin turn order to her favor, and is generally a menace. I love her for that.

The rest of the bosses also have an interesting flow. Brawly has Bulk Up, which turns Makuhita into an absolute beast. He then hands you the TM for Bulk Up, which you may decide to employ against your next big battle. Only for Wattson to whip out paralysis and Selfdestruct, killing you instantly. So okay, status is good. Only for Flannery to go "I may be statuses, but have you tasted Overheat in the Sun?"

Every gym leader seems to build off previous concepts, and at a minimum, has a lead that is carefully designed to counteract possible strategies. Winona has Perish Song on Swablu, Sidney has Sand Attack and Roar, Phoebe has Curse, Wallace has Water Spout for absurd damage, and Steven has Toxic and Spikes. This is the first game to easily hand you boosting moves to play with, and its bosses are designed to teach that you can't just use them without repercussion. Which I think is a really interesting design, and shows the care and consideration they put into their fights.

This does, however, have the long-lasting effect of "just hitting them with sticks is the most effective plan." Four attacks to cover weaknesses remains the dominant strategy, and there's a lot less opponents do to counter that approach than there is countering the boosts or status. But then again, the boosting still works if you're careful. Trust me, you have not lived until you sweep the superboss with Mawile Baton Passing to Calm Mind Delcatty.

Speaking of, Steven Stone qualifies as one of my favorite fights here. I know I dunk on Red, but that has a lot to do with discrepancy of level. The difference between Red's best level and the top level of the League, the best grinding location, is 31. The difference between Wallace and Steven is 20. With the introduction of boosting moves, You also have a lot more options to work with. Despite that, Steven also employs a lot of nasty tricks, like lead Skarmory having Spikes and Toxic, Claydol having Dual Screens into Metagross, or the unbreakable nature of Cradily. Compared to GSC Red, who is very easily counterpicked by just switching around team members, Steven is much harder to counterpick. Unless you bring the legends. Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza are all excellent responses to him broadly.

I just have very little negative to say about Hoenn. I started this talking about how it used to be my least favorite, and that is true. Lacking my favorite Pokemon of the time was rough for my baby child brain to deal with. But you manage. You pick up new favorites, and they grow on you, and maybe you learn to love something new. And by god, did I learn to love Hoenn.

"Even the Battle Frontier?" Don't push it.

Ruby and Sapphire Corner Ruby and Sapphire are games I have not played in 20 years. This is not an exaggeration. They came out in 2002, Emerald came out in 2004, and I have only played Emerald since. Sapphire is one of the only games I don't physically own anymore. I wish I did...

Ruby and Sapphire are very different from Emerald. Aside from the changes made in Emerald to have both Magma and Aqua involved, Ruby and Sapphire also lack the Steven superboss, the Battle Frontier, and changed up a lot of the gym teams and layouts. I have seen a map of Ruby and Sapphire Tate and Liza's gym. No thank you. But of course, the big difference is that Rayquaza has story significance, and a whole event surrounding it.

Obviously, I consider Emerald far superior. But this is the time to talk about something I remember an old high school friend explaining to me. See, he preferred Ruby and Sapphire because of a single event: The Sky Pillar. In those games, Sky Pillar is 100% optional, and he greatly valued exploration and finding out something novel. To him, the best experience he had with the games was accidentally discovering the pillar, climbing it not knowing what would happen, and then running into Rayquaza. Which...fair enough! The third games do tend to put story emphasis on something that used to be a surprise benefit if you explored. I tend to like the added focus and story, but I can at least understand feeling like you found something magical just by putzing around.