#a returner's magic should be special spoilers

[thewizardingtoad]

Me before episode 10: I'm guessing they're gonna speed through the break in and Zod in one episode to progress the plot and they're using end of episode scenes for the preview to not give away anything, otherwise it would mean they have some random not in the manhwa or novel shopping scene between two arcs but that would make no sense since they only have 3 episodes left from the season and this is only a 12 episode season and they have to put in it everything they have to make people interested in a second season they surely wouldn't make half an episode filler hahahaha

Me after episode 10: 🤡

(Guys read the manhwa or the novel it's so much better than this, yall deserve so much better then this, this story deserves so much better than this)

[princesssmars]

thinking of karlach who once her engine cools off goes fucking ballistic. nsfw, fem! reader, me being horny for karlach because who isn't. baldur's gate 3 spoilers! i've only finished act one so i start improvising shit.

now, for a woman who has not been able to have even a hint of physical contact for ten years, you have to give her her flowers with how well she seems to deal with being incredibly emotionally and sexually frustrated.

but once she joins your party that hold she had over her body and brain starts to crack. fast.

hell, it started happening before the two of you became romantically involved. while she was drawn to you from the moment you said "yes" to helping a stranger kill a building full of people, she also had eyes and constantly wondered how everyone in the party was so attractive. astarion was never not flirting with someone, wyll was incredibly kind to her, and she could tell when shadowheart was admiring her physique...

but after a few weeks of traveling, fighting, and making friends for the first time in years, eventually during those quiet nights at camp she finds you invading her mind her mind when she rests in her tent to fall asleep, kind of like the parasite, but in a good way.

she thinks of a joke you you made when the two of you were eating by the fire that made her snort like a pig, the way you explored a dungeon and when you found a magical war axe immediately turned to her and gave it to her with a smile, how you so quickly stood up for her when wyll was adamant on killing her because of her past.

your kindness, your intelligence (she's amused when you act like a dumbass and fail when trying to persuade someone), just everything about you, it was only a matter of time before she asked you to join her when everyone fell asleep one night, talking about how you thankfully return her feelings. it takes a turn when you bring up how her condition leaves her pent up, and as you're whispering the sinful things you cant wait to do to her and she do to you.

it hits her full force that oh, she does actually want to fuck your brains out.

after that night everything you do starts to turn her on. like, horrendously. eating a snack on the road? all she can focus on is the way your lips move around the fruit. dancing to a song volo is playing? she's becoming entranced by the way your hips and arms move to the music.

once when the sun was set and the moon was high she headed down to the lake, figuring the rest of the party had already cleaned themselves when she started to undress on the sand, standing still as a statue when she spots you in the middle of the lake, rinsing out your hair when you turn around to look at her.

she can see the water falling from your hair to your shoulders, dripping down over the peak of your nipples, some falling down your chest to between yours legs-

when she comes back later after running off, the ground where she stood was scorched.

but until her engine got fixed, her nights were spent inside her tent rubbing at her clit and fingering her cunt while pretending it was you. the only thing that makes it better is when she can tell you about all the naughty things she thinks about you and seeing you squirm.

once dammon gets another piece of infernal iron and gives her the final upgrade she needs to have physical contact, she at least has the courtesy to take you to a rented room in an inn before she ravages you.

shes tossing you on to the bed and wondering if she should slow down, take it slow with you for your first time together to make it all the more special, but you're staring at her while she's contemplating and youre taking off your top and then youre pants and then youre pulling her by the arm on top of you and she realizes she can save the softness for later.

there's so much kissing, pulling, biting and moaning that after both of your first two orgasms she starts to feel dizzy. she swears shes never felt a greater pleasure than when you were cumming on her fingers, or when you brought her hips up to your face and made her ride your tongue.

she reaches down to your bag that was throw haphazardly on to the floor earlier and finds the toy you bought, the tiefling smiling so brightly her fangs are on full display as she aligns the double sided dildo with your entrance, nearly going cross eyed at the way it slips inside of you before she sticks the other end into her.

she throws your legs over her shoulders, hold your hands in hers, and starts thrusting so quickly its almost like she's afraid she'll die if she stops.

and she is. she has never felt as good as she does in this moment, fucking the toy into you before feeling it do the same to her every time she pulls her hips back.

shes thinking about how much she loves you when she feels your right hand claw at her back.

shes wondering how someone can be so damn beautiful when you arch your back and nearly scream out her name.

she can barely contain herself when she thinks about how she gets to fuck you like this for the rest of her life when her hand leaves yours and grabs onto the wooden bedpost.

your moans of ecstasy reach a pitch and her eyes are taking in every detail as you come undone, to the heaving of your chest and the fluttering of your lashes. its your gentle whisper of her name and a gentle kiss to her lips that tips her over the edge, grinding her hips faster to the point it starts to hurt and she feels her hands tightening and tightening-

her high feels like it lasts forever before she comes back down to earth, breathing heavy with a dopey smile on her face when she looks at you. she's confused by the look on your face, similarly blissed out but your cheeks are bunched up in that way that means youre trying to hold in a laugh...

its only then she starts to feel it : a large chunk of the headboard is in her hand, snapped almost clean off from the rest of in im the height of her euphoria. she cant help but laugh which makes you finally laugh which just makes you laugh harder.

she drops the wood and shakes her hand of any splinters when your hands are wrapping around her neck and pulling her back into you.

she doesn't feel that bad about it.

i've resorted to getting ideas from both dreams and those thoughts you turn into stories while trying to go to sleep im like a genius. i put this in the queue posted it and it only showed up on my blog whats with that.

[musings-of-a-rose]

Marcus

Pairing: Marcus (Pike, Moreno, Acacius) x f!reader

Word Count: 6900+

Rating: Mature - 18+ ONLY!

Warnings: Just like ao3, “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the age to handle mature themes. Also by clicking Keep Reading, you understand warnings may not be complete in order to avoid spoilers for the story. 

Notes: I saw a post from @pimosworld innocently asking for a Marcus bachlorette style fic and, while this isn't exactly right, this is what my brain came up with. Shoutout to @mermaidxatxheart for listening to me ramble and helping me, as well as @vanemando15 for being a cheerleader!

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**Reader is not described

Main Masterlist

Marcus Moreno Masterlist

Marcus Pike Masterlist

Marcus Acacius Masterlist

“Thanks for coming to Level Up Comics!” I smile at the customer as I hand them their bag, a quiet grunt all I get in return before they head out the door, the little bell jingling with their exit. I stretch, walking around from behind the counter and heading back towards the display case where several boxes sit in front, unopened figurines and collectibles pouring from them. My family and friends thought I was crazy for opening a physical media store in this age of digital products. They said no one would come in let alone want to actually buy “this crap.”

But here I am, a few years after opening, and I’m doing pretty good for myself. There are still collectors out there who want their favorites in case something happens to their files. They want the figurines from the original manufacturers, rather than printing them themselves. I can’t blame them. There’s something different, something magical about reading the printed word, having a figure of your favorite character that was made decades ago by something other than a 3D printer in someone’s basement.

The bell jingles and I yell out a greeting, shoving a few more figures in the back of the case before standing and turning, a pair of dark brown eyes meeting mine. I can already feel the smile on my face. 

“Hi, Marcus!” Shit, was that too enthusiastic? If it is, he doesn’t let on, his own smile shyly spreading across his face. “How…how are you?”

He rubs the back of his neck with his large hand, his eyes darting away from mine. “I’m..I’m good. You?”

“Good. That’s good. I mean, I’m good. Good. It’s all…good.” What the fuck?

He chuckles lightly, looking anywhere but at me. “Good.”

We’re both silent for several moments. He’s so hot. Way out of my league hot. And the weird thing is, I don’t even think he realizes just how attractive he is. 

“Did my back issue of X-Men come in?”

“Oh!” I slap my forehead. “I almost forgot! Yes. Let me get that for you.” Trying desperately to hide the heat in my cheeks, I quickly walk around the counter, kneeling to sift through the special order pile. 

“You got more figures in?”

“Yeah,” I yell from my crouched position. “There’s a few bins in the back I haven’t emptied yet. Feel free to have a look!” 

“Thanks.” I hear him shuffle off towards the back of the shop just as I locate his order. The door bell dings again and I stand, smoothing down my jeans. A man stands at the counter, his bright blue eyes roaming up and down my body before her plasters on the most ingenuine smile I’ve ever seen. 

“Hi. How can I help you?” I ask him as I place Marcus’s order on the counter.

 “Hi beautiful. I’m looking for a comic.”

I internally sigh. I already know where this is going. It happens several times a week.

“Well you’ve come to the right shop. What are you looking for?”

He chuckles, intending to be endearing. It isn’t. “I’m looking for a very specific issue of Hawkeye. You know who that is?”

Seriously? “I am very familiar with Hawkeye. Are you?”

He scoffs. “Haha. You’re a funny, pretty thing. Anyway, I’m looking for a specific run of his. Do you know what that means?”

Anger surges through me and I grip the desk to ground myself. Out of the corner of my eye I see Marcus at the back of the store, standing and turning towards us but not moving. He’s even hot in my peripheral. 

“Which run are you looking for? Or are you wanting a recommendation?”

He laughs, the vile sound of it echoing off the walls. “A recommendation? From you? What would you know? You’re just a pretty little girl.”

A clunk from the back of the store and I see Marcus trip over one of the boxes. He doesn’t go down, but turns to fix the boxes that he’s kicked over. The man in front of me is unphased, his eyes still on me, an amused smile tugging at his lips.

“Well?” He spits out. 

I look at him, giving him a smile. “Well, if you’re asking me personally, my favorite run is the Matt Fraction run. Not only because of his artistic style and great story, but the fact that they weaved in Clint’s deafness, drawing him wearing his hearing aids, and even doing an entire issue completely in American Sign Language. A great story and representation of a marginalized community from, in my opinion, one of the best and most relatable Avengers. Now, would you like the individual issues, an omnibus, or the digital version?”

The smug smile slowly fades from his face, his eyes hardening. “You don’t have to be such a bitch.”

“I do when customers act like a bitch.” 

He grabs the fliers on the counter and throws them at me, turning towards the door. “Fuck you and this place!” He tries to slam the door behind him but he fumbles with the handle, flipping me off one final time before disappearing around the corner. 

I sigh, bending down to pick up the fliers. A hand reaches out, large and inviting, carefully helping me pick up the scattered papers. I look up at him, at Marcus, sweet Marcus. Who had heard all of that. 

“I’m sorry Marcus. I shouldn’t have lost my cool.”

He hands me the small stack he’s collected, meeting my gaze. “You don’t have to apologize for standing up to a sexist asshole. I should be the one who’s sorry.”

I combine our stacks, both of us standing as I tap them on the counter to even them out. “Why should you apologize?”

“I should’ve come to help,” he rubs the back of his neck, his ear turning slightly pink. 

I shake my head. “No, Marcus don’t worry about it. I get assholes like that all the time. Really, it’s ok.”

He shakes his head. “It’s really not-”

To my own surprise, I reach out and squeeze his arm. “Really, I’m ok. Thank you, Marcus.”

He smiles at me, opening his mouth to say something, but his phone rings from inside his pocket. “Sorry. Sorry.” He pulls it out, tapping on the clear screen only he can see. “Shit. I have to take this. Work. You sure you’re ok?”

I smile, trying not to show my sadness at his leaving. “I am. Hope everything’s ok at work.”

“Thanks. I’ll uh…see you around.” His eyebrows pull together as his phone rings again, his eyes moving down to the screen before he turns around and heads out the door, pausing to give me a wave through the window before he disappears into the crowd. 

I’ll never meet a man owning this shop. They’re either assholes, taken, or hopelessly out of my league. My own phone beeps and I pull it out, scanning the clear screen with my reservation confirmation. I tap the confirm button, nerves flooding my system. 

I can’t believe I signed up for a virtual version of the bachelorette.

—----

I closed the shop early and rushed home to get ready for that night. I arrive promptly at 7pm as they requested, the giant VIRTUAL LIFE logo on the side of the building bathing the sidewalk in bright blue light. I take a deep breath and walk inside, the door disappearing momentarily to let me in before reappearing behind me. The front desk assistant guides me to a row of elevators and instructs me to head to floor 28. I’m the only one in the elevator, the lights illuminating each floor as we pass it. The elevator stops and the doors open to a small waiting room, black leather couches and chairs surround a coffee table with several tablets, each loaded with some form of entertainment. While it looks like there are windows, if you look closely, you can tell they’re simulated, trying to grant us as much privacy as possible. Although, I think it may be more about guarding their own technology secrets. 

“Ivy?” a woman calls my name from the only doorway in the room aside from the elevator. I nod, standing and smoothing down my dress. 

“That’s me.”

“Right this way.” She leads me into another small office, a simple desk with a single chair for me to sit in. She sits opposite me at the desk, tapping in mid air at what I’m assuming is the computer screen in front of her. 

“Ivy it says here you signed up for the bachelorette program to meet a compatible mate. Is that correct?”

Swallowing down my embarrassment, I nod. “Y-yeah.”

She taps a few more things. “Great. Do you know how this works?”

“You guys take a picture of my brain and show me a story?”

She chuckles, the first time her professional demeanor has broken. “Almost but not quite. After we’re done here, you will be taken to the simulation room. You’ve already done your physical-”

“Yeah. They had me put on this suit and they captured the way I moved. Motion capture, I think?”

She nods. “Yes that’s it exactly. This way, your avatar inside your world will move like you. It helps with immersion.” I nod. “They also completed your brain scan to find the most viable dates and look of mate that you are searching for. You indicated you’re looking for a male mate, is that correct?”

I nod. “Yeah. Yes.”

She nods. “Alright. If you’ll go through the door, someone in scanning will take you. Good luck!” She gestures to a door on the opposite wall from where we entered. I go through the door and another woman greats me, leading me to chair where she has me sit and get comfortable. It reminds me of what the dentist chairs used to look like except way more comfortable. She turns to me, holding a helmet with different little lights on it. 

“Any questions?”

“Yeah. So what will he..I mean, how will I know who he is?”

“You will just know. Sort of like in a regular video game, where you can tell who is important to talk to.”

“Ok..but…will he look like him or?”

That’s reassuring. But then she interrupts my thoughts. “Don’t forget, he will be there too also looking for you.”

She shakes her head. “Your algorithm took in your scan and will give him the appearance of someone you find appealing or comforting. We’ve found it’s easier to accept someone if they have an outward appearance you’re already familiar with.”

“So you base connections on personality as opposed to looks?”

She nods. “Those relationships have the highest success rate, so yes.”

“And after, will you show me who he is?”

She nods. “In the simulation, you’ll go on 3 dates. They may be something as simple as communicating in an office to being a superhero or even traveling back in time. The algorithm takes both of your likes, dislikes, and desires and places you in situations. The more you play along and immerse yourself, or yourselves, into the simulation, the better the outcome, meaning a closer connection. And don’t worry - you cannot be physically harmed. And if it’s too much or you want to stop, you only need to say “End simulation”. Please be aware that time may pass differently in the simulation, but you will only be in for an hour. After, you will both meet here, in reality, and can determine whether you’d like to continue with a relationship or not. Any more questions?”

I shake my head. “I don’t think so. Not at the moment, anyway.”

She places the helmet on my head, the nodes all changing different colors as it comes in contact with me. She squeezes my shoulder and I look up at her. “Just relax and try to go with the theme. It’s more fun that way, ok?”

I nod, wiping my sweaty palms on my dress. “Yeah. Makes sense.”

“Good luck!” She taps a button on her clear screen and my vision fades to black so just a couple of seconds. But then I’m blinking awake, the tips of my fingers tingling and my toes feeling like they just woke up. My vision starts to clear and the room comes into focus. I’m sitting at a bar, a fancier bar, which explains the nice dress. As my hearing levels out, I realize that the blonde man to my right is talking to me, his body shifted in my direction. His grey eyes are slightly unsettling. This can’t be my mate, can it? 

“...and so I had them fired! Can you imagine? I asked for my steak to be medium and they brought it out medium well. That will teach that guy to listen to the customer at his next job.” Grey Eyes chuckles and takes a sip of the drink in front of him. He nods towards the glass in front of me. “Do you want another?”

“What? Oh, uh sure.” 

He flags the bartender down and orders a rum and coke before making a show of leaning on his beefy arm against the bar. “I’m glad you finally saw reason and agreed to come out with me tonight.”

I give him a small smile. “Yeah. Same here.” This doesn’t feel right. Maybe they got it wrong? Someone bumps into me from behind and grey eyes catches me, glaring at the person who bumped me, who had moved on. 

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah. It’ll take more than a drunk asshole to bring me down.” Grey Eyes laughs, picking up his glass and holding it up towards me. “I’ll drink to that.” I glance down to grab my drink, only to find it wasn’t there. I look back at Grey Eyes and see him frozen in place, the smirk on his face completely gone, his glass shaking as he continues to hold it in mid air. My glass appears next to his, lightly clicking against his glass. 

“Now that’s not very nice.” That voice. I would know his voice anywhere. My entire body relaxes as I turn to look into the dark brown eyes that I love so much.

“Marcus!” I exclaim, ignoring the vein in grey eye’s neck that’s threatening to pop. Marcus on the other hand, looks good. I mean, he always looks good to me but he’s dressed in nice black pants and a light blue button up shirt with matching black jacket. I’m not sure how a blue shirt makes his brown eyes pop, but it does. Marcus pushes his black frames up his nose.

“Hey, Ivy. Sorry to interrupt your date, but this not so kind gentlemen put a little something in your drink.”

“He what?” I blink rapidly a few times, trying to pry my eyes away from him. Grey Eyes vein relaxes somewhat and he sputters out.

“Fuck you man! We’re on a date! What….what are you doing to me?”

Marcus shrugs. “Well, you wanted to make it so she can’t move. Only fair if I return the favor.” 

Grey Eyes goes to say something else, but then seems to recognize the man standing next to me, his eyes going wide.

“Aren’t you the guy that can move metal?”

My eyes snap to Marcus, who is smiling. “I see I have a fan.”

Grey Eyes tries to backtrack. “Listen, man. I’m sorry. I was just trying to get her to loosen up a bit. Have some fun.”

Marcus looks at me, his brown eyes wide and smiling. “Ivy, do you wish to continue your date with this man?”

“Nope.” I pop the “p” sound at the end of the word. “Little hard to have fun when my date is trying to render me unconscious.”

Marcus waves the bartender over. “Call the police. This man is in possession of Freeze Me.”

 A handful of what felt like seconds later, several officers show up and arrest Grey Eyes, who barely puts up a struggle. I turn towards Marcus, my smile stretching my face as I grab his arm. “My hero.”

His eyes dart around the room, his arm coming up to rub at the back of his neck. “It was nothing.”

Gosh he’s so cute when he does that neck rub thing. Wait. Gotta play along. 

“Is Marcus the Metal Bender actually acting shy around me?”

He chuckles nervously and I think how perfect they coded him. Like he was picked out of my brain. Which I guess he was. 

“Just trying to be respectful.”

I wish he wouldn’t. Wait, are we even allowed to have sex in here? Wow, getting ahead of yourself there, Ivy.

“Youwannagetoutofhere?” He speaks so fast it all comes out in a jumble and I cock my head to the side. 

“What?”

He swallows hard and I can’t help but watch his Adam’s apple bob in his throat. “Do you want to get out of here?”

“Hell yeah I do.” 

—-

It’s a few weeks later, or at least it feels like some time has passed. That lady did say time passes differently here. Now I’m in an office building, a stack of files in my arms, walking down the hall. A quick glance around tells me I’m in the Heroics head quarters. Marcus appears from around the corner and looks up at me, smiling and walking towards me. But then a man in a much too tight blue suit with a glowing M on it joins him, Marcus’s shoulders sagging slightly as he gives me a sad little wave.

“When are you two going to go on a date already?” A woman with bright pink hair appears next to me. 

“I uh, me?”

She slaps my shoulder. “Yes, you Ivy.” She leans in closer to my ear. “Aren’t you the one who confessed to having a crush on our heroic leader?”

I will the heat rising in my face to not show. “Oh, I uh..I-”

“You know he likes you too.” Her jaw drops when she sees the confused look on my face. “Oh don’t tell me you can’t tell! That man can hardly look at you and he’s taken down alien forces by just staring at them.”

She feels like a close friend so I go with it. “Yeah, ok I like him. Keep your voice down, will you?” She continues walking with me to the end of the hall where I deposit the stack of files into several slots, each one making a small whoosh sound as they’re whisked away to their destinations.

When I’m done, Pink Hair gently grabs my face and turns me to her. “I love you, Ivy. You know you’re like the sister I never had. So please listen to me when I say ask that man out before something happens and you regret not ever trying.”

Well fuck. That is…really spot on to reality isn’t it? 

I never get a chance to answer her as the entire building suddenly shakes, alarms and lights screeching and illuminating the halls. One of the tall filing cabinets starts to topple in my direction and I can only look on in horror, frozen in place by the rumbling building. I throw my hands up, as if that’s going to stop it, but nothing happens. The cabinet is laid gently on its side, floating to the ground. 

“Come on!” I look up into those dark eyes, Marcus extending his hand to me and helping me to my feet. “We have to get out of here!” He tightens his grip and somehow leads us out of the chaotic building out into the streets. Which is also nuts. People are running everywhere and…wait. Is that an alien spaceship coming towards us??

Marcus pulls me behind a wall, glancing around it and waving hand signals to a small group of heroes across the street behind another wall, Pink Hair amongst them. He turns back to me, his face full of worry as he starts to take his shirt off, exposing…not skin but a uniform? No. His hero costume, which is a black shirt,and arm bands. He sees me staring down and he shrugs. “I normally have a tach vest but we’re out of time.” 

“Should you not go out there without one?”

Marcus shakes his head. “I have to support my team. And I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. I mean, people safe.”

“You could just stay here with me? The others can handle-” my words are cut off by a giant laser beam cutting through the street, coming directly from the ship. 

He takes my hand and squeezes it. “Get yourself to safety. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I need you to be safe.” Another laser beam, the sound of some smaller buildings crumbling to the ground. “Go! Get to safety!” He releases my hand. 

I get a glimpse of the deep craters that lasers had left in their wake through the cement of the street, the piles of rubble and dust, and this spurs me on.

“Marcus?” He leans against the wall, readying himself, but he looks at me. 

“Yeah?”

Mustering up my courage, I lean towards his hunched body, softly planting a kiss on his lips. When I pull back, I see his chest heaving, his eyes moving between mine.

“Please make it back, Marcus.”

Before he can answer, the ship comes into view and his team moves out, following behind Miracle Guy, who had flown right up the ship and started punching it. Marcus’s head whips around, assessing the situation and I squeeze his arm once more before quickly moving out of the immediate area. I know I should move more, but I can’t get hurt so… 

The fight that ensues between the ship, the aliens inside, and the Heroics team is nothing short of brilliant. They may argue in the halls, but in the field, they all take direction from Marcus, who is a brilliant leader, playing all of their strengths. Marcus bends metal like it’s made of playdough, a beautiful dance of destruction and strength. Then the ship comes crashing down, everyone moving out of the way except-

“Marcus!” I emerge from my hiding place at a full run as the smoke around the alien ship that’s currently scraping along the road as it crashes and envelops Marcus. The ship stops, groaning as it falls back and lays still, no other life forms moving or detected on board. For a few moments, no one moves. Then Marcus emerges from the smoke, his face soot stained and a small gash in his shirt and along his cheek, but otherwise unharmed. 

“Marcus!” I run to him, his eyes finding mine, his entire body relaxing as he realizes I’m safe, just before I launch myself into his arms, our lips crashing together as my right hand fists in his shirt, my left tugging on his hair. Miracle Guy wolf whistles but I couldn’t care less. I feel his tongue gently lick out and I part my lips, letting him take whatever he wants. But before it can go any further, my vision starts to blacken, the last thing I see is Marcus’s eyes going out of focus as he succumbs to his own transition to the next simulation.

—----

I find myself blinking awake for the second time in what feels like weeks, but I know in reality it’s only been maybe 20 minutes that I was in there. The tips of my fingers and toes are tingling, my vision and hearing clearing and I find myself in…a breakroom. Am I back at the Heroics? The slight weight in my hand takes my focus and I realize I’m holding a cup of tea. I must be on my break. I walk towards the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking outside. I’m not back at Heroics - the cityscape is all wrong. I hear the door open behind me and I turn, the smile on my face widening as Marcus enters the room. His hair is shorter than the last simulation. And his face is clean shaven, which is a look I’ve never seen on him before. Not that it matters - he’s beautiful no matter what. I wonder what he’ll look like when he’s a little older. Probably hot as-

“Hey, Ivy.” Marcus smiles down at me, grabbing his own mug and pouring a cup of coffee from the carafe. I notice the FBI logo on the mug and figure that must be where we are.

“Hey,  Marcus.” I take a sip of my tea as we both watch the other. But then the door opens again, another agent walking into the room. He claps his hands together, looking at us.

“Hey! Congrats on finally cracking that art case, you two! 8 months is a long time to do an operation like that. Great work!” He shakes both of our hands as we thank him. Marcus catches my eye and, with a small movement, jerks his head towards the door. I nod, thanking the other agent again and follow Marcus out of the tiny breakroom and down the hall, stopping in front of an office door labeled MARCUS PIKE. I wonder if that's his name back In reality. He extends his arm towards his office and I head inside, smiling at him as I do, noting how his eyes dart around, that hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck as he closes the door behind him.

“I uh…great work, Ivy.” 

“You too.” 

He puts his hands in his pockets and finally looks me in my eyes and he nods once. 

“Listen. Do you..uh..I mean, would you like to…this is coming out all weird.”

I squeeze his arm and he looks down at my hand, taking a deep breath. 

“Would you like to get something to eat?”

My stomach erupts in butterflies. “Like on a date?”

The redness in his eyes spreads down onto his cheeks as he stammers, gesturing around vaguely. “No! No, not uh. Not a date.”

I can feel my face falling. “Oh.”

“Uh, unless you…uh…unless you want to? Make it a…a date?” His eyes are wide and bright, like a damn puppy. 

I smile, tucking some hair behind my ear. “Yeah. Yeah, I would love to go on a date with you, Marcus.” 

His smile is bright, lighting up the room. “Yeah?”

“Yes.”

He let's out a sigh of relief. “Great! I found this great pancake place.”

Pancakes? I love this man already. “It's nearly dinner time!” I can't help the small giggle that I let out. 

“Yeah, well you said your favorite food is pancakes. And they're open 24 hours.”

He remembered my favorite food? I'm so screwed. Damn this program is good. “You're right! I'd love to get pancakes with you. On a date. For a date. When will this date be, by the way?”

“Oh. I uh, would it be too weird if we went tonight? Is that too soo-”

“No! I mean, yes! No it's not too soon. I'd love to go!” If my heart could stop beating through my chest, that would be great. It's not that I'm some young girl getting asked on her first date. I just really like Marcus. Or whomever this is. My heart sinks at the thought of it not being the Marcus I know in reality. 

“Great! I'll pick you up at 7? Unless you'd rather meet me there? I don't want you to be uncomfortable.”

“Marcus, we just spent 8 months together on assignment. I think I'm comfortable around you.”

He chuckles. “Fair point.” His office phone rings and he apologizes to me, picking it up. I wave ro him and he mouths “See you at 7!”

—----

He picks me up with a flourish of flowers, all long legs and button up shirt that I'm really dying to unbutton. If that's even allowed here. 

But what's more than that is the conversation. I thought I had learned everything about him over the last 8 months. I was very wrong. 

“You were a bass player in a band?” I ask, choking on my drink.

He laughs, holding his hands up in front of him. “What can I say? I wanted to meet more people.”

“I bet you had all the girls hanging on you.”

Marcus shrugs. “Not really. They all want to date the drummer or the singer.”

“Really? Not the sexy bass player?”

Marcus takes too large of a sip of his drink and coughs, pounding his chest. “No, not the…you think I'm sexy?”

I set my fork down and meet his eyes. “If I didn't like you, I wouldn't be here.”

We spend several moments, just looking at each other and then I remember that he's not a simulation but a real person on the other end of those eyes. My heart squeezes thinking about how it won't actually be Marcus. Despite that thought, we really get along well and the conversation flows freely between us. Sooner than I’d like, we’re leaving the small diner, heading back to my place. Marcus parks in my driveway and turns to me, his eyes bright and wide like a damn puppy. We had been talking about books, one of my favorite topics.

“..and I know everyone complains that Tolkien takes 20 pages to describe a flower, but I really love that attention to detail. It makes it more immersive for me. One of these days I’ll get you to read Lord of the Rings!” I tap my fingers on his bicep to emphasize my point.

Marcus rubs his neck. “I uh…I already have.”

My jaw drops. “What? When??”

“When you told me it was your favorite book. Or books, I should say.”

I think back. “Marcus, that was…months ago!”

His eyes meet mine, the light from the street lamp outside adding a sparkle to them. “You said they were your favorite so…I read them.”

My stomach does flips, my heart beating. “You read them all for me?”

He nods. “Even the Silmarillion.”

I can’t help it. This is so fucking hot. I reach out and grip his shirt, pulling him to me, his soft lips pressing against mine, the heat between us quickly rising. His large hand cradles the back of my head, holding me to him as his other hand settles on my hip, squeezing it lightly. We make out for several minutes, Marcus kissing and nipping a path down my neck. 

“Do you want to come in?” I ask breathlessly. 

He pulls back and looks at me. “I do but-” he whispers. “Are we allowed?”

“I…I’m not sure. We could try to-” 

But then my vision starts to blacken around the edges, and before I pass out, I hear Marcus say “See you in the next one!” before we both black out.

—----

Now familiar with the way I wake in these simulations, I wiggle my fingers and toes, giving myself a moment to figure out where I am. The room looks…ok, this isn’t from my time. Roman decor and pillars line the grand bedroom, some food laying on a small table for, I’m assuming, me. A quick glance down shows me in a beautiful white garb and I marvel for a moment at how clean it is. 

BOOM!

The ground shakes and I duck down, completely caught off guard. It’s only after the boom dies down that I hear it - the distant sound of clanking swords and men yelling. I walk to the small window set into the wall and look out, my brain taking a moment to process the scene in front of me. 

I’m several floors up in a sort of round building, a castle I realize as I see the lower tiers, more square in their shape. I’m sure the grounds would have been beautiful, if it weren’t for the massive amounts of soldiers fighting in the streets. I can make out their bodies, the blood, sweat, and dirt spreading almost like a disease. Spear and swords burst from chests or stomachs, limbs separating from their bodies to be lost to the throngs of soldiers. The seem to be moving closer to the castle, which I’m not sure if I want to happen or not. Turning on my sandaled heel, I walk to the door, pressing my ear against the wood to listen. Hearing nothing, I try to open it. Nothing. The door doesn’t open or move, the handle locked into place.

Well, fuck. 

Before I can try and figure out how far down the next ledge is out the window, or if I can even fit out the window, I hear a commotion outside my door. It’s not loud, but I hear a man gurgling and sputtering, a small bit of crimson blood pooling under the door. I grab an iron rod by the fire and hold it up, preparing to defend myself. I know they said I can’t be hurt but damn this feels real. The door opens and a man walks through, wide, muscular shoulders under his Roman armor, Medusa proudly engrained on the front. I lunge, the iron rod above my head but the man turns and grabs the rod and I  would’ve fallen to the floor if he hadn’t caught me.

“Ivy! Here you are!” 

It’s him. Marcus. Only he’s older, probably closer to 50. Grey streaks in his curls and patchy facial hair only accentuate his beauty, a new scar forming across his nose, bleeding lightly down his face. He’s covered in dirt and blood and ash, but I throw my arms around him anyway.

“Marcus! Thank God, what’s going on?”

He cups my face, pushing my hair out of my face. “You are so beautiful, my love. I would bring every army from the entire world to rescue you from this horrid Emperor.” And then his lips are on mine, urgency behind them, but a desire to show me how l much I am loved. This man apparently started the battle outside, for me, and still wants to make sure that I know how important I am to him? 

“We have to flee. Come!” But before we can leave, the door flies open and 5 guards file in, grabbing Marcus and holding his arms out to his sides. I pick the iron rod up from the floor and run towards them, unsure of what I would do but I know I’ll beat the shit out of them until they let him go. But another hand shoots out and grabs my wrist, twisting it hard so I drop the rod. I look up into the eyes of a man that I’m assuming is the Emperor, his golden robes flowing around him. He looks vaguely familiar, like that one asshole from the comic shop.

“Now, now my dear. What were you planning on doing with that?”

I open my mouth to reply, but then he smacks me across the face and I slam down onto the floor. Ok, that hurt. Didn’t she say I wouldn’t get hurt? Maybe she meant I wouldn’t die. Marcus swears, cursing the Emperor for hitting me. 

“Are you alright, my love?” Marcus grunts as the men punch him in the stomach. 

“Marcus, Marcus, Marcus. You’re kind are dying out. I told you to just accept your fate and take your banishment, but instead, you stayed behind and fell in love with a woman. How…stupid.” Marcus tries to speak but he’s punched again, his body hunching over. I try to stand, but then I’m drug up by my hair, the Emperor’s fingers digging at my scalp as he pulls me to his side. 

“This one?” His eyes rake over my body. “She is attractive, I’ll give you that. Even if she is attracted to a brute like you.” I jerk my body, trying to get out of his grip but it’s too tight, my hands gripping his arms to try and get some relief from the stinging at the back of my scalp.

“Let her go. You can kill me, I don’t care, but let her go.”

The Emperor looks from me to Marcus, a sick smile spreading on his face. “I didn’t go through the trouble of kidnapping her just to have you give up. So I’ll tell you what I’ll do instead. LOOK AT ME!” The Emperor bellows from beside me, Marcus’s eyes moving from mine to his. 

He steps closer to Marcus, dragging me a little beside him. “Such a wild man. How about this: you watch as I take her. Then, I’ll drive my sword through her belly so she can slowly bleed out on the floor. Only after the light has left her eyes will I either kill you or lock you up to suffer the rest of your days. How does that sound?”

The darkness that settles over Marcus is unforgiving, his eyes hardening in resolution. He growls and screams, throwing the soldiers off him as he grabs his sword from the ground, swinging it and taking out all of the soldiers in only a handful of moves. He spins, aiming his sword at the Emperor, who has now moved me in front of him as a human shield, a knife to my throat. 

“I’ll kill her, Marcus! You are too weak to save her!”

Marcus’s gaze moves briefly to mine and I release my weak grip on the Emperor’s arms, letting them fall to my side. Marcus shifts his body ever so slightly before he throws something from behind his back. The object whizzes past my cheek, scratching it slightly as the blade buries itself in the Emperor’s neck. He drops his knife and clutches at his throat, his eyes wide with fear. He crumbles to the floor and sputters for several moments before his body stops moving. I run to Marcus, throwing my arms around him again. He grunts and I remember the soldiers hitting him.

“Are you hurt?”

He clutches his side. “I’ve had worse.”

“You are so fucking hot right now,” I speak quietly to him and he smiles. “I’m covered in dirt and blood and sweat.”

“Stop trying to turn me on more I already said you’re hot.”

He laughs but then inhales sharply at the pain. “I’ll take it, I guess.”

“No, that’s my job.” I bring my lips to his, pushing him back towards the chaise lounge chair on the other side of the room. He sits, pulling me onto his lap as I straddle him, my dress getting dirty as I shift my hips. He groans, his large hands sliding up my bare thighs under my dress and fuck! My vision starts to blacken and I hear Marcus whine out some expletives as we both are brought out of the simulation. 

—---------------------------

Hopefully for the last time, I blink awake, wiggling my fingers and toes as I look around the room. The helmet is gently lifted from my head and the woman that had put it on me moves into my eyesight.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m here.”

“Good. Wait just a moment for your body to fully catch up. Do you have any questions?”

“Yeah why did you stop us having sex?”

She studies me for a moment. “It is not allowed in the programming.”

“I cross my arms. “Well your programming is stupid.”

She chuckles so quietly I thought I’d imagined it. “The algorithm wants you and your mate to match based on personality and emotions, not just physical.”

“I can guarantee you it wasn’t just physical.” 

She helps me stand and I shake my limbs out, full feeling returning to them. I smooth out my dress as she readjusts my hair. “Are you ready to meet him?”

Him. My reality man. “Y..yeah.” 

“Right through that door. He’s already waiting for you.” I move towards the door but she stops me. “I just have to say, I’ve been doing this for years and I’ve never seen a situation like yours and his.”

I furrow my brow. “What do you mean?”

So smiles softly. “So…rooted in reality.”

Yeah that’s not confusing. But she doesn’t explain further, turning back to the chair and helmet, starting to clean them. I take a deep breath to steady myself and open the door, walking through and closing it behind me. The man on the other side of the room, my mate, turns towards me and we both gasp.

“Marcus?”

“Ivy?”

We meet in the middle of the room and I cup his face, Marcus tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “Is it really you?”

He nods. “Yeah. You? Real?”

“Real.”

He pulls my face to his, kissing me deeply, but then pulling back a moment later. 

“I’ve been dying to ask you out since forever. I never thought I’d be paired with you, here of all places.”

I cock my head to the side. “Why didn’t you ever ask me?”

“Have you seen yourself? You’re entirely out of my league.”

“I’m fairly certain it’s the other way around.”

He opens his mouth to protest, but I put my finger on his lips. “I think we went through several first dates in there. Plus, we’re already friends. Can we…that is, can you take me back to your place first? Then we can eat?”

Marcus’s eyes darken, his hands finding a place on my hips as he pulls me against his body, letting me feel how into that idea he is. 

We’re married a year later.

—----

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[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

I’ve been rereading AGOT and this is how I’d summarize Jon Snow’s entire arc chapter by chapter

Jon l - Local teen bastard has a big realization that he has no social status while attending a royal party. He bursts into tears and goes to sulk in a corner.

[Interlude] Arya I - Local elementary schooler has an awakening about the unfairness of feudalism. She joins her aforementioned teen brother as they sulk in a corner.

[Interlude] Bran II - Elementary-age boy worried that his moody teen brother is sulking in corners far too much. He then has a terrible accident, which is a precursor to him sulking in corners as well.

Jon II - Local moody teen realizes that one should not make rash, life altering decisions while drunk. Now realizing that he has signed up for his local JROTC, which is a lifelong commitment to a frozen penal colony, he sulks around multiple corners as he says goodbye to several family members.

[Interlude] Tyrion II - Florida man makes fun of moody teenage military recruit who has just now realized that he has fallen victim to untruthful feudalist military propaganda. He laughs as the teen proceeds to sulk in a (fiery) corner.

Jon III - A local moody teen is forced to check his privilegeᵀᴹ after behaving in an appalling manner towards his fellow army recruits. Lonely, depressed, and homesick, he proceeds to sulk in a corner for a few days, but manages to make a few friends nonetheless.

[Interlude] Tyrion III - Perpetually drunk and annoying know-it-all Florida man strikes an unlikely friendship with a moody teen who has a tendency to sulk in corners due to issues making friends.

Jon IV - Local moody teen makes a new friend during JROTC training. Said friend is bullied for his exceptionally large frame, which makes for a rather poor soldier, but the moody teen stands up for him in front of the entire army base. The bullying eventually stops due to his efforts. Later, the two boys go to sulk in a corner, bonding over their shared sense of insecurity and rejection.

Jon V - Local moody teen finds out that his new bff is flunking JROTC. He proceeds to sulk in a forest, but still thinks of a solution to save said friend. Spoiler: he is successful and his friend graduates just fine.

Jon VI - Local moody teen graduates JROTC, but as a junior officer which is not at all what he wanted. He very angrily sulks out in the open, throwing a massive fit while he’s at it, until it is pointed out to him (much to his embarrassment) that this post will directly put him in the line of command.

Jon VII - Local moody teen learns that his beloved father has been imprisoned on grounds of treason. Incensed, he attacks a senior officer who makes fun of the situation. He is placed on house arrest by the army commander, which gives him plenty of time to sulk in a corner. However, his sulking is cut short when zombies attack the army base and he has to save the commander.

Jon VIII - For his bravery while fighting a zombie, local moody teen is gifted a special magic sword. He sulks about it because it should’ve been his father’s sword he’s getting. He is also conflicted because while he has already said his vows and bound himself to the penal colony, he still wants to go aid his family which is now on the brink of war after his father’s execution. Unable to do much else, he has no other choice but to go around sulking in several corners.

Jon IX - Local moody teen makes the foolish decision to dip out of army school to join his family that has gone off to war. He broodily decides to help his brother enact revenge for his father’s murder. However, he is unable to get very far because his friends catch up to him (with the help of his equally moody pet wolf) and is ultimately convinced to go back. Once he returns, the army commander gives him a good talking to and tells him that it’s time to grow up go on a real mission. This local teen has been looking forward to this the entire time, but he wants to go aid his family. He is forced to make a heartbreaking decision. Ultimately choosing duty over love, he has no choice but to make his way towards the north and sulk in whatever corners he will come across beyond the wall.

[biggie-chcese]

Why I think Yomi Hellsmile should've died in Chapter 4

(this essay isnt what you think it is. spoilers for the whole game btw)

Alright so let me preface this by saying that this is not a Yomi Hellsmile hate essay. I like Yomi. He's my favorite peacekeeper. He's funny, he's entertaining, and he makes for a very effective antagonist. So why have him die? Well, for the same reason I wouldn't have Yakou live: I think it makes for a better story.

So here's the true title of my essay: A Critique of how Rain Code's Narrative Handles the Peacekeepers (and by Extension, Yomi) and their Downfall

Let's start with Yomi's downfall in canon. Yuma and Vivia find out his role in Huesca's murder and, ultimately, Yakou's death, and are angry beyond belief. But they're also helpless to do anything as they escape the labyrinth with vengeance on their minds. Of course, this gets shut down immediately, and then Makoto ex machina comes in with Martina in tow to arrest Yomi for his money laundering and bribery. And right then and there, in one fell swoop, the peacekeepers are completely eliminated as a threat in the story to be replaced by Makoto.

But okay... isn't that super underwhelming? The peacekeepers and Amaterasu corp have been the main driving force of the game's primary conflict, and yet somehow they are completely eliminated as a threat because Makoto grabbed a few files off screen. And also, this brings me to my first major issue I have with this ending:

Part 1: Why the fuck do they care?

No I'm serious. Why do the peacekeepers care? So what if Yomi bribed his way to the top? You mean to tell me that the cops who spent the entire game assaulting and antagonizing civilians give a shit? They're never shown to have any sort of problem with their corruption. They send people to be executed on whims and knowingly, regularly falsify evidence on murder cases. At best the peacekeepers are indifferent to the suffering they cause, and at worst they are gleefully complicit in it. So, again, why do they care about Yomi's money schemes? In fact, they only benefit from Yomi's rule because he gives them the power to freely instill fear in Kanai Ward's citizens. The game never, at any point, has an "are we the baddies?" moment from them nor does it ever even try to have at least one peacekeeper question Yomi's authority, even when he's throwing them under the bus. Throughout the whole game, they stand as a completely one-note, cartoonishly evil representation of police corruption.

So why the sudden heel turn? The resolution of chapter 4 feels so jarring to me because the game has zero buildup to it. This also applies to Martina's return. Actually let's also talk about her.

Part 2: So... Martina's return lowkey is kinda lame

Don't get me wrong, I was pretty hype when she came back. But also, the magic wore off pretty quickly for me because I didn't understand why she was suddenly a whole different character. I suppose her brush with death gave her some time to contemplate her actions, or perhaps she felt indebted to Makoto and asked him what she should do, or maybe Makoto held her life over her head and told her to change her act or he's letting her get cubed. Who knows? We get nothing expanding on this so it could be anything.

I feel like people kinda forget that Martina was just as corrupt as Yomi? Like, she is not his helpless victim. I'd even argue that their relationship isn't abusive. Martina is in it with her own interests in mind in addition to just being a massive sadomasochist. I cannot stress this enough: whatever tf she and Yomi had going on, she was completely into it. Even at the end of chapter 2, she was drooling over him and the idea of punishment... until Yomi crossed a line.

Y'see, Martina thought she was special. She thought that whatever punishment Yomi had for her Aetheria Academy blunder, she'd come out of it alive, because she's his beloved right hand. Yomi then showed her that she's just as disposable as the rest of his underlings by ordering her to be brutally executed. That is when she becomes a victim.

Anyway, I'm saying all this to make a point that Martina hasn't shown any interest in being an honest cop until chapter 4. It's completely out of nowhere, just like with the other peacekeepers.

"But Biggie," you may be thinking, "why would Yomi dying fix these issues?" Well I'm so glad you hypothetically asked!

Part 3: We love missed potential, baby!

Kodaka sometimes does this thing where he introduces an interesting concept that plays with the rules of the game... and then doesn't commit to it. Think like the double murder clause in Danganronpa V3 chapter 3, where they mention that if two separate murderers act in the same day then only one of those murders counts. Then they do nothing with this, and instead create a very weak chapter.

This is a similar problem I have with the tail end of chapter 4's mystery labyrinth, which is a really amazing labyrinth that introduces a really amazing concept: taking down a secret mastermind. After reaping the culprit's soul, they have this cool, brand new secret area that... does nothing. No, I'm serious. Nothing happens. All it does is piss Yuma and Vivia off and waste everyone's time. They find out Yomi's involvement in the case, but they still don't do anything with that. Sure it brings a whole new feeling of hopelessness, but doesn't that make Yomi's downfall literally five minutes later through the mundane actions of someone else off screen seem all the more underwhelming? From a gameplay and storytelling standpoint, I think this is just... a cop-out. I think it'd be cool if he was involved enough in Huesca's murder to count as an accomplice, then with Vivia and Shinigami at his side, Yuma reaps Yomi's soul. It's a decent payoff for the NDA and the player while supporting the game's message about the importance of finding the truth. And god does the game need support in that regard, because the Mystery Labyrinth almost never helps and Yuma instead gets saved by someone else (which would've been nice to expand on if we go this route bc there's something interesting about Yuma calling for the labyrinth to kill people for ultimately no reason, but they don't do anything with that and that is a WHOLE other essay lol).

But this is not my main reason that Yomi should've died here. I wouldn't feel so strongly if that was the case. No, my problem lies with a character that isn't Yomi, and what is part of the entire reason Rain Code's plot exists.

Part 4: Is Makoto fucking stupid?

"/lh" by the way. Makoto is my second favorite character in this game behind Yuma, and I adore him. His story, his motivations, his undying will to be a protector of a people that no one else will protect, by any means necessary... he is such an incredible character and antagonist and I genuinely adore him. But I have one eensy weensy, teeny weeny little issue with him:

Why did he need the detectives to oust Yomi?

Makoto claims in the ch 5 labyrinth that the reason the detectives were brought over was to oust Yomi, which leads me to believe the command for the detectives to come to Kanai Ward was his work, not Number One's, then Number One simply caught onto this and took advantage of the situation to sneak in. Though, that's just a guess on my part, mind you. So I suppose he was just desperately hoping at least one of them would take care of Yomi, but isn't that weird?

The detectives don't ever find the evidence of Yomi's money laundering and bribery. Makoto does. The detectives don't ever bring Yomi's corruption to light. Yomi... already does that without their help. Actually, why didn't he secretly team up with the Resistance for that? Too busy ignoring Dohya District's glaring issues, Makoto? Too busy turning a blind eye to your people's suffering?

Uh. Anyway, the only detective that actually does something beneficial for Makoto and kills Huesca is Yakou, who was already in Kanai Ward. And don't tell me that Makoto accounted for Fubuki and Desuhiko's fortes here because that part of the plan was all Yakou's idea. If Makoto could've predicted this, he would've just called the detectives necessary to this plan instead of luring in a bunch of them at once to get slaughtered.

Tons of detectives died coming to Kanai Ward to do... what? Distract Yomi? Could the World's Greatest Mind truly never come up with a better distraction for a guy who didn't even realize his Martina Cube™ order never came in? Yomi isn't shown to be some sort of hypervigilant supergenius nor is he nearly on Makoto's level. Could he truly not have outsmarted Yomi and led him astray long enough to grab a little binder of paper?

So, once again, you may be wondering how Yomi's death would fix this. Well, Yuma, a detective, is the one who kills Yomi.

Makoto is well aware of Yuma using the Book of Death at this point. So what better way to get rid of Yomi than to carefully manipulate the detective who has the Perfect Criminal Murder Tool™? Makoto can't just assassinate Yomi himself- that would make him the main suspect and he'd have to do a lot of PR maintenance to get the rest of Amaterasu Corp off his back. But Yomi mysteriously dying of a heart attack while Makoto isn't anywhere around... well, that's different.

"But wait," you may be thinking, "doesn't Makoto want to keep Yomi alive because he's a Kanai Ward citizen, and he loves Kanai Ward?"

Good point! But doesn't that also apply to Yakou, whom he also had a hand in manipulating into that crazy sui-homocide of Dr. Huesca? Or, what about Fink? Remember him? Makoto killed him for "knowing too much." I know that information is missable, but it's there. And don't tell me it's just because he's a hitman and has killed other Kanai Ward residents, because Yomi has sent many residents to their deaths without trial... not a huge difference. So a body count isn't really on Makoto's "should I kill them" conditions, it seems.

If Fink gets killed for "knowing too much," then Yomi shouldn't be exempt from this, especially when he was leaking homunculus information to the outside world. That goes far beyond "knowing too much." It just doesn't make sense.

But you know what does? Makoto actually using the detectives to wipe his hands clean of Yomi's mess. Yakou is used to take care of Huesca, Yuma is used to take care of Yomi, and Makoto gets to sit back, relax, and watch everything play out just as planned.

And later, in the next chapter, when Yuma learns about Makoto using him like this, he realizes that he's truly been had.

Part 5: How I think it should play out

I'm not being a hater. In fact, I deeply love this game and have a lot of respect for Kodaka and the writing team, so please don't take my little rant as some sort of effort to bash on my favorite video game because that's not what this is. I'm not gonna prop myself up as a better writer than anyone on the team because I'm not, but I'll still try my hand at rewriting this scene to fit my personal taste. So I would like for you to imagine with me, the end of chapter 4...

Yuma and Vivia find the secret area of the labyrinth and find out that Yomi has been masterminding Huesca's murder. Shinigami points out that, hey, that's why the labyrinth is falling so slowly: we haven't finished it off! Vivia stands by Yuma's side, and all of them, driven by their rage and desire to see justice be done, reap the soul of the true mastermind through one final strike of the solution blade. Labyrinth collapses, snap back to reality, oop there goes gravity, oop there goes Yomi, who collapses on the ground.

The peacekeepers are surprised and approach the body. They find that Yomi is dead. They're shocked, and as this is happening, Yuma isn't sure what to feel. Is he glad that he managed to avenge Yakou? Not quite, because Yakou is still gone, the hitman is still out there, and everything still hurts. But a part of him feels... vindicated. Vivia seems to have equally complicated feelings about this. For once, it was... kind of worth it to find the truth, even if a bit messy.

Well now the peacekeepers confirmed Yomi is dead, but now they're accusing the detectives of this. And they're honestly kinda right. Yuma and Vivia realize that they're in kind of deep shit, but the sound of Martina's voice comes from off screen asking what on earth is going on here, making everyone freeze.

Enter her, Makoto, and Seth (I'll say why he's here too in a moment). They're surprised at the sight before them, but Makoto only pretends to be. Then you see it... Martina and Seth go from visibly suprised... to relieved. And there's something oddly triumphant, yet a bit chilling about Makoto and the two people we've witnessed Yomi throw under the bus standing over his corpse. It feels thematic now, as if righteous judgement has come. And... it also solves the "what happened to Seth" question, lol.

Makoto shakes his head and sighs, stepping over the corpse and approaching Yuma and Vivia as he comes up with an excuse: "I always told him that those temper tantrums weren't good for his blood pressure. I guess his heart couldn't take it anymore."

He then nods to the others. Seth instructs the peacekeepers to clean up the body, as they rot quickly in this city. There's this foreboding feeling in the peacekeepers' obedience and efficiency, and Yuma begins to wonder if he did a good thing. Did his actions change the peacekeepers for the better, he asks himself, or did he simply shift the power over to someone worse? Shinigami tells him she doesn't know.

Makoto approaches them with good news: they found and arrested the hitman! Yuma, frightened, does not address that and instead asks him why the other high ranking peacekeepers are here. Makoto says that they... owe him a favor. Martina expresses her gratefulness for him stopping her execution order and asks if they can do anything else, to which Makoto replies telling her no, they're doing an excellent job. After some more conversation, Seth, Martina, and the peacekeepers then leave with Yomi's body to let Makoto talk privately to Yuma and Vivia. Makoto apologizes for their loss of Yakou and offers some faux sympathy. They're both... still conflicted about this conclusion, but Makoto tells them they're free to go, so they'll think about it later. Oh, but before they leave, he gives Yuma a little gift: a suspicious black box. Of course, Yuma can't open it just yet- it's a surprise!

Then the rest could play out pretty much normally (though an encounter with zombie Yomi chapter 5 seems inevitable and also awesome).

I think this alone would solve every issue I addressed before. The peacekeepers do not change out of nowhere. They simply reallocate power and there's still this feeling of them being a threat as they're now directly connected to the game's true antagonist. There's now a theme to Martina's return with Seth's presence as well. There's now a narrative purpose to that final section of the mystery labyrinth with proper payoff. And, most importantly, Makoto's motivations to use the detectives make more sense.

By the way, if any Yomi lovers think that he should stay alive for a potential return in the sequel... isn't it such a blessing that Yakou's DLC introduced this pretty neat little pill that could still make that possible? Just saying.

So yeah. Yuma, for the sake of narrative payoff and character writing consistency, please kill this clown. Thanks for reading <3

[bestfictionalplant]

Round 2 Group 6

Propaganda and spoilers under cut

Jumpkin:

It's a little guy :D More seriously, it's a monster. All monsters in Cassette Beasts can be "recorded" so you can turn into them! "A Jumpkin is a special monster created by smearing the goo from another monster, Jellyton, on a normal pumpkin. It's pretty much the only monster with this kind of capture method. Jumpkins are just funny little guys that, as their name implies, jump around! They have such zest for life. A jumpkin tape can be ""remastered"" into two other monsters, Beanstalker and Draculeaf."

Karzahni:

in the time before time, when the evil mayor impersonator makuta was planning his plan to get the little robot meat guys in their little memory-erasing containers and before he'd impersonated the mayor (i think; don't quote me; i am Not Good at the timeline) he was like "hey i should make a plant that will force these four-foot fuckers towards the big sports and politics stadium under threat of murder so i can easily get my bastard robot cops to force them into the amnesia balls" and then he made karzahni. who was too smart and cool and powerful. so he did not get deployed. he is named after the legendary Lego Hell and Lego Satan where Bad And Naughty Disabled Robots Go For "Repairs" And Never Return. it's expensive to copyright names. they had to double up on occasion. or triple up. or quadruple up. anyway so evil mayor impersonator who is also ANOTHER Lego Satan but that's besides the point, creates this plant. but the plant is too smart. so he puts it somewhere and forgets about it and makes the morbuzakh NEW PARAGRAPH anyway so basically most creatures in this universe are immortal bar murder and fucked-up circumstances. no old age, basically. but this plant has one, because Bionicle Satan (Not Karzahni) makes his shit with limited lifespans so they can't wait for ten thousand years gathering their power and then kill-murder him to death. six big robot meat superheroes fight a fucking big monster in a tunnel. the cool smart one who used to be a teacher gets poisoned. but because karzahni (plant) is so fucking cool it can make an antidote. and it holds the antidote hostage in exchange for Cool Oil, which is oil from the apocalypse planet where the robot meat guys' creators are from, but they fracked too hard and split the planet into three pieces so that's a bit fucked-up and yet besides the point. anyway they get the magic juice and give it to karzahni (plant). previously in the story (but later in the timeline; this is a TWO-YEAR FLASHBACK EPISODE BABY) some other robot meat superheroes took a dunk in this cool fucking water and got mega-boosted powers. super-superheroes. but that's because god exists and has predetermined what can happen in each individual's life. those guys got Good Results From Applied Goo. karzahni (plant) does not. it just fucking. dies. it is then chopped up to make some lorries float so they can take the amnesiac sphere guys up to a cool new island they found, because their old island got FUCKING WRECKED NEW PARAGRAPH anyway a cutting of karzahni survived (known as karzahni ii) with all the memories and shit of the real one and just sort of goes. FINE. i will join you, Lego Satan (not karzahni but the evil mayor impersonator) in gaslighting this mentally ill man into thinking he's short and his life is a lie in order to get the time travel device he made out of some magic fucking frisbees. karzahni took on the role of the morbuzakh. then the guy's like "this is bullshit" and gets thrown off a cliff but Karzahni II catches him and goes "hey. everything's alright. i tortured and killed a guy and he said you're doing good and everything is gonna be okay" and then the evil mayor impersonator (who by this point has not been impersonating the mayor for like. at least a week?) kills it. again. for real this time

[iwriteasfotini]

Our Love is Written in the Stars

......EVERYONE HAS A STORY......

*I am preparing for lots of links, so bear with the slow process of building this post to be more interactive. And I am still figuring out tumblr formatting.*

The Heir and The Spare - Year One, Sirius POV (25 Chapters, ~109k words) Rating: Mature Posting to Begin 10/31/24

THATS Quick Stats - Coming 10/28 THATS Synopsis - Coming 10/29 THATS Chapter headings - Coming 10/30 THATS Evergreen Content - Coming sometime after 11/23 THATS Playlist - Coming 11/23

The Prince's Pact - Year Two, Severus POV (25 Chapters, ~122K words) Rating: Mature Posting to Begin 12/21/24

The Bonds of Friendship - Year Three, James POV (28 Chapters, ~139k words) Rating: Mature Posting to Begin 2/14/25

What is this series?

**Special Note: I am a parent, I was a teacher, and I want to make sure my content is consumed by audiences of AN APPROPROATE AGE. If you are underage, please do not engage in the stories with Explicit ratings. I am working very hard to offer two versions of certain chapters to make sure this story is as accessible as possible.**

A canonesque Marauders era year by year series spanning 1971-1981 (maybe beyond).

A return to Hogwarts in the 1970's with modern attitudes about sexuality and gender because this is way more fun. Also I'm not getting into muggle racism or politics at all. The magical world has enough problems to tackle.

An exploration of morality and celebration of love.

A culturally expansive look at magical practices around the globe.

A creative delve into the six types of magic (inspired by POS wiki page and Evitative).

A testament to difficult choices in difficult circumstances.

A soul bond concept but not an AU.

A single POV for each installment. I refrain from chapter to chapter shifts.

Culturally diverse cast, plus all six main characters are at least bilingual.

Main Ships

Jegulus (platonic Jily and no Jeguily, if this proclamation stresses you out like it would me read this post.)

Wolfstar

Snily (turbulent, open relationship)

Side Ships

Rosekiller, Dorlene, Dumbledore/Grindelwald, Frank/Alice, Minerva/Poppy

I'm not sharing all the side ships due to spoilers.

Music

This series has two main theme songs, then each book has one/two theme songs. Plus sometimes I have a song attached to a chapter, which means each installment has its own playlist.

>>>Master Playlist<<< (Theme songs only - very short playlist)

>>>Epic Playlist<<< (Every single song in order, really really epic)

I will be sharing all of my playlists from Spotify, but due to spoilers, it won't be until each installment is fully published. Feel free to build your own playlists and please share them with me if you do!

Other things to know:

This story contains a large cast of queer characters who may or may not label themselves. There are also characters who identify as trans and nonbinary. Fair notice, my Regulus is not trans, though I know this is a common HC these days. But maybe with a little imagination you could still HC him as trans? And I'll say it until I'm blue in the face, I know this isn't realistic of the time period. Who cares!

Rating will span Mature to soft Explicit throughout the series with alternate chapters offered for a little more descriptive smut.

Posting will happen daily beginning on the scheduled day and continue at one chapter per day until each installment is complete. Then a few weeks of break between installments, for my sanity and to let people catch up.

Warning: People who have sensitivity to the following themes should approach this work with caution. It gets DARK. I will use trigger warnings by chapter and much of this does not begin until year five or later.

Underage drinking; underage recreational drug use; profanity; domestic abuse; blood; animal harm/death; self harm including attempting suicide; death; violence; grief; psychological abuse; torture; nonconsensual sex/sexual abuse; minor homophobia; sexual content; sexual themes

A final note:

If this sounds like an enticing series to you, please follow me or the tag (#Our Love is Written in the Stars) so you get updates when I start posting. I'm also going to share certain previews on Tumblr. This is a major passion project. I am writing for me 100% but I think some of you might also enjoy it, so I'm going to share.

Thanks for taking the time to read this introduction post. I hope to see you in the comments on AO3. Cheers!

**I do not agree with the original author's personal beliefs.**

**You can't find me on AO3 yet because this series is my first work of fanfiction. But my author name will be fotini.**

[falkarph]

COMPANION QUOTES: GALE OF WATERDEEP

rp prompts taken from the game baldur's gate 3 by larian studios. some may be slightly edited. subtle spoilers may be present. inspired by @mcflymemes 'as said by' series.

❛ a hand? anyone? ❜ ❛ you don’t happen to be a cleric by any chance, do you? a doctor? surgeon? uncannily adroit with a knitting needle? ❜ ❛ i understand i ask a lot of you with few answers in return, but in time all will be told. ❜ ❛ what is youth if not a time to be forgiven for one's transgressions? ❜ ❛ i do enjoy our conversations. ❜ ❛ all of this … it must feel like a betrayal. say the word, and we’ll part ways. ❜ ❛ a little privacy, please. ❜ ❛ you showed me just how much i have to live for. ❜ ❛ all the world's my stage and you're just a player in it. ❜ ❛ i promise i will not betray your trust. ❜ ❛ i was hoping you‘d spare me a moment. there was something rather magical i wished to show you. ❜ ❛ i said exactly what i meant. i love you. and you should never, ever doubt that. ❜ ❛ the tighter the security, the juicer the prize. ❜ ❛ you put the stars to shame. ❜ ❛ time seems so infinite when you're young … a month is an age, a year is a lifetime … it is a strange feeling, to realise how little of it one might have left. ❜ ❛ you must not deny your heart’s desire. i would not want you to. ❜ ❛ i’m not quite sure i'd consider myself parent material, plus our current lifestyle isn’t exactly what i'd call settled … ❜ ❛ i will not let you down. ❜ ❛ let’s not throw the murderous baby out with the bathwater. ❜ ❛ it’s not alright, but it’s what i’m willing to do. for you. ❜ ❛ whatever these dark powers of yours may be, they serve no purpose if you cannot control them, or yourself! ❜ ❛ i’m not sure i like the look in your eyes. what’s wrong? ❜ ❛ dangerous secrets are best shared with those who depend on you. ❜ ❛ gratitude can wait. you’re not out of the woods yet. stay focused. ❜ ❛ if the mood takes me, i’m known to try my hand at poetry. ❜ ❛ i love this time of night. there’s an almost reverent silence that accompanies the peak of darkness, when you’d almost believe the dawn will never break. ❜ ❛ i thought this place might bring me peace. i thought it might make the weight of what i must do a little lighter. now i’m not so sure. ❜ ❛ i am terrified - i will not claim otherwise. my face could scarcely conceal it even if my words sought to deny it. ❜ ❛ you must know that … you’re very special to me. ❜

[rhikasa]

Seven Deadly Sins Tag

Thanks @the-golden-comet (here), @sableglass (here), and @tragedycoded (here) for the tag! ♥️

Rules: Which of your OCs would you assign to which of the seven deadly sins and why?

Lust

Lian has a lust for power and is willing to do anything to obtain it, but I cannot go into further detail on that since it would be a major spoiler.

Gluttony

Vangilyne has expensive taste and a tendency to overindulge in what she enjoys. I'm still trying to figure her out as a character, so I don't have much left to add, but she suits this sin.

Greed

Nykia wants to have dominion over the entire world. As the spawn of the primordial Darkness, she feels entitled to it. The world had come into existence without light, so it's only fitting for it to return to its natural state. She views lesser beings as toys for her to break and bend to her will, and nothing would please her more than to take them all from the other deities.

Sloth

Some in the wos universe would argue Damaeris has shirked his responsibilities, but not for lack of trying or care at least in the beginning. He is a Cassandra figure of sorts, cursed with visions of the future but with no one to believe him. And once everything happens as was predicted, he is often appointed by others to take the fall; a sacrificial lamb used to absolve them of their own blame and guilt. Over time he grew tired and traumatized by this and set off on his own, only to run into Guinevere years later and be forced to confront yet another one of his visions with her at its epicenter. He knows that he should warn her of the upcoming devastation, but he's been wronged by his own kind before. How can he be sure it will go well this time around?

Wrath

Silas has a strong desire to inflict pain and suffering onto those who have harmed him as a child. This need for vengeance has consumed him to the point where he cannot tell when this path ends and where his life is finally allowed to start. He has clung to this anger for so long that he cannot even begin to understand who he might be without it. Perhaps obtaining inner peace will never be an option available to him, leaving him no choice but to become a monster in turn.

Envy

Taliesin is the second son of King Balis, the spare. Whilst Radan gets all the love and admiration of their father, he is left with nothing but his neglect and abuse. He wants nothing more than to be his brother's equal, but the lack of affection over the order of his birth and his notice of Radan's dislike of being in the spotlight breeds resentment in his soul. Taliesin wants to take his place, as he would have a better appreciation for his brother's position as heir to the throne.

Pride

Alinar was once considered a child prodigy, as he excelled in magic far beyond the capabilities of his peers at the time, and the praise he received bolstered his ego. Over time, however, he begins to stand out less and less as those around him become his equals. He still craves being the center of attention, but there is no longer something special about him and he cannot stand it. This need to prove himself causes him to plunge the angel/reni war into further chaos in an attempt to create a self-fulfilling prophecy and come out on top. Surely if the world becomes unstable enough, a deity will feel compelled enough to take on an avatar once more in order to balance the scales, and who better than himself is able take on this burden of power?

Tagging (no pressure): @ashfordlabs @captain-kraken @snowthornes and an open tag for anyone who’d like to join!

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (October 15-21, 2023)

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #1 is metahuman-heavy, establishing how the Titans of the Monsterverse found themselves on the same Earth as DC's finest and ending with Superman flying off to face Godzilla. It's early days, but the conveniently deserted Skull Island base the Legion of Doom storms into makes me pessimistic that any of the Monsterverse's human characters will show up. Rodan is also absent from the Titan line-up, despite appearing via flashback in the short Godzilla: Fight or Flight comic included in the Monsterverse Omnibus earlier this year. (Toho must be overcharging for Godzilla's supporting cast again.) It should be fun watching D-listers like Behemoth, Scylla, and Camazotz tangle with some of the world's most famous superheroes though.

Sales data for DC comics is effectively unavailable now, but anecdotally this one is doing gangbusters. The downside of snagging it now over waiting for the trade paperback is that DC disperses ads throughout the comic, instead of just at the end like IDW.

Toho announced a ton of U.S. Godzilla merch launching in the U.S. on November 3. Your mileage will vary, but the most interesting baubles to me are the Godzilla Minus One promo cards from UVS Games (to be sold on TCGplayer.com) and the trading cards from Surreal Entertainment (to be sold at Five Below). Very few Godzilla trading cards have been produced in either Japan or the U.S. since 2006, and most of those have been cross-promotions with Magic: The Gathering and Battle Spirits. I have a small collection of random cards from older sets (a couple of them signed), and it'll be cool to expand it a little.

Toho's Godzilla Day announcement also included some news on Godzilla Minus One's U.S. release, which I thought deserved its own section. Tickets go on sale November 3rd—including for "special Early Access Fan Event Screenings on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, in IMAX and large format theaters across the country." So Toho International has outmaneuvered Beyoncé in the competition for IMAX screens, if only for one night.

In other Minus One news, a couple new TV spots are out (and translated by the GODZILLA OFFICIAL by TOHO YouTube channel). One shows off a new Godzilla ability, if you're wary of spoilers. Its world premiere was held beneath the Godzilla Head in Shinjuku on October 18, where the incredible Godzilla Attack Truck also debuted.

IDW's Godzilla Valentine's Day Special, due January 31, dares to ask, "What if the old 'kill the monster or study the monster' argument was foreplay?" Zoe Tunnell, who I suspect is a Godzilla 2000 fan, writes, and Dani Pendergast illustrates. I'd like to thank them both for making a comic specifically for me. The logline:

Is there anything as romantic as seeing the world together? Hopping from country to country to take in the sights and splendor in the fleeting seconds before Godzilla smashes the skyline? Truly, there's nothing like the thrill of an international game of cat and mouse between an intrepid amateur kaiju researcher and a global kaiju-response lieutenant. But when you're up against Godzilla, it's hard to have a bigger "CRUSH."

SRS Cinema has picked up War of the Ninja Monsters: Jaron vs. Goura, the latest no-budget spectacular from Shinpei Hayashiya. The two monsters are basically Godzilla and Gamera, one-upping Giant Monsters Appear in Tokyo, which never showed its Godzilla and Gamera expies outside of the poster. Hopefully it'll be less headache-inducing than God Raiga vs. King Ohga: War of the Monsters. SRS is aiming to release it on Blu-ray and VHS in early 2024, with a DVD to follow later in the year.

Hoshi 35, Megumi Odaka's return to live-action film, opened in Japan on October 21. A new trailer is out too. SRS Cinemas has an existing relationship with production company 3Y, which previously made The Great Buddha Arrival and Nezura 1964, so I'd expect them to license this one too.

This Netflix ad for an online convention of sorts includes the first snippets of footage from Ultraman Rising, the Tsuburaya/ILM animated film it's distributing next year. The animation is miles above the Netflix Ultraman anime, that's for sure.

[importantdestinydefendor]

The Runes of Maar

Since @innerchorus had asked about more details of the rune system in Maar and I wanted to do a post about it, I have decided to, well, make a post about it lol.

Warning: long post

First, let me give you a general, alphabetic list of all the runes that are used in Maar.

Algiz - shielding

Ansuz - divinity, mental stability, communication and speech

Berkana - birch

Dagaz - new beginnings and transformation

Ehwaz - horse, transport

Eihwaz - death

Fehu - wealth, abundance, livestock and positivity

Gebo - gift, exchange and generosity

Haglaz - hailstorm, cleansing and destruction

Isa - ice, delay, self-control and frigidity

Inguz - home, news and fertility

Jera - harvest

Kenaz - torch, passion, inspiration and creativity

Lagaz - water, river, lake or renewal 

Mannaz - man

Naudit - need or distress

Othala - inheritance

Pertho - luck or fate

Raido - ride, wheel or journey

Sowilo - sun

Tiwaz - sacrifice, fairness, balance

Thurisaz - masculinity, courage and empowerment

Ur - valor, fortitude, strength and stability

Wunjo - joy, satisfaction, goodness and fellowship

All of them are used in the general day-to-day prayers and special rituals. Everyone of these runes represent a deity in the Maaren pantheon (I will probably do a seperate post about that as well). All citizens of Maar have a rune as a necklace around their neck that represents their tutelary god/goddess (for example: Azar's tutelary god is the god of war “Tiw” and her rune is tiwaz). At a certain age (probably around 11-15, sometimes earlier), children have to go through a ritual that lets them meet the gods of the pantheon and the gods decide which of them will be their protector and the one that should be represented by this child. They then get their rune-necklace and are allowed to choose if they want a permanent tattoo of their rune (or something else) or just the necklace. Some do as it is believed to amplify the effect/power of their rune. If you want to give somebody else the powers of your rune or the protection of your own tutelary god to somebody else, you hand them your necklace to wear and say a prayer to your god (no ritual needed, the prayer is enough). The necklace has to be worn at all times normally and if the original rune is not returned, a new ritual has to be made so the effect can be transferred to another rune stone. 

And these are the runes that actually have confirmed magical force (since Maar is a young country not everything is explored and/or researched to the fullest).

Ansuz - communication

Raido - teleportation

Kenaz - produces light

Haglaz - conjures up a Hailstorm

Isa - produces ice 

Ur - makes you physically or mentally stronger for a short time

Thurisaz - generates strong outbursts of power

Algiz - conjures up a shield/barrier for a short time

Ehwaz - summons a horse

Mannaz (or Eihwaz, have yet to decide) - summons the dead and gives them the ability to come back alive for a short time (only works if the dead person feels as if they still have something left unresolved in their life)

Lagaz - conjures up water/rain

healing rune pending

Everyone in the army and navy need to be able to use at least the basic runes to a certain extant aka. communication, teleportation, producing light (not complitelly sure about this one) and healing. They train from a very young age but everyone of all ages can be accepted (if your health is fine in older age you will also be accepted) into the army/navy.

On how the runes work:

I will not say too much here on how they generally work since in chapter 3 the soldier with the scar (Pavle) will explain it for me (could this be considered a spoiler?). 

But what I will talk about is how to multiply the effect or the strength of the effect. (I already made a comment about it under this post but I will just copy-paste it here again.) So if you want the effect to be stronger, you need more of the same rune stone. But one person can only use two to three stones at the same time so if you want to, for example, heal more than one wound in one go or conjure up an actual storm and not a cough of wind you need at least two to three or more people to do so. It depends on skill levels though (so squires and students are not allowed to do that without strict supervision) and only the priests/druids (name pending, suggestions welcome) are actually allowed to use that many or more at the same time since it takes a huge chunk of stamina and energy. Very dangerous in the midst of war and very easy to misuse and abuse for power (only in emergencies allowed for everyone). So Maar is very strict with who and how to use the runes with magic force. That's why they are mainly used for battles and only the teleportation rune is allowed to be used by a tiny selection of merchants (for example, merchants who sell merchandise lthat needs to be kept fresh, for example). That system is the only way so far to keep the abuse of the runes under control and is obviously not really fair. It currently is being researched more by a specific team directly monitored by the King and the highest priest/druid/whatever and new laws are being created, but not passed, left and right. 

Again, Maar is a young country and has to figure shit out on the go - it is probably in its early/mid teenage years, if you will. This issue will probably be resolved in a few thousand years, so my AU doesn’t really touch that much on it (probably will integrate the problem when we are in Gilan). But I love little tid-bits from outside the story that might never come up - it just makes the world feel even more alive and a little bit more real! 

Also: every rune has a small side effect, so that they are not that op, lol. One will be explained in chapter 4 by, again, Pavle.

So, I think that is what I generally wanted to tell about the runes without being too spoilery (if there even was anything to be spoiled lol). If there are any more questions: my inbox is looking very empty so feel free to spam me!

[thewizardingtoad]

Noone:

Returner's Magic manhwa: I can kill this one old man soooo many times

[felassan]

if you remember this post (possible DA:D spoiler warning for link), 'PP1' returned the other day with another possible DA:D snippet of interest, under a cut due to possible DA:D spoilers:

first, the usual set of disclaimers that should be kept in mind with all leaks: might not be real, unable to verify at present, sometimes leakers think they’re right about things but are unintentionally incorrect or got some wires crossed, games change a fair bit between development phases and final release, take with grain of salt etc.

--

PP1: "Grey Warden Guardian seemed to be a subclass of the Warrior archetype, also includes Lords of Fortune Berserker and The Mourn Watch Reaper (magic based I think)." [update: post has now been removed from where it was made]

-

Notes/thoughts/wild speculation for fun: this would make 3 'subclasses' (maybe they mean specializations) of each 'archetype' (maybe they mean class)? this is how things were in DA:I. I guess "Grey Warden Guardian" refers to the elf character being played in the Reddit screenshot & gif leaks, who was described as a "knight" by the leaker and labelled some way as a "Grey Warden" in the character menu. Guardian was a warrior spec in DA:O, they have a focus on defense. Lords of Fortune have been speculated as a being faction in game, as the or a possible background of the PC, as a candidate for a companion character etc, and they're pretty neat, so that's cool. Berserker was a spec available to warriors in DA:O and DAII, so it would be making a return but with a Lord of Fortune twist?

The Mourn Watch part is pretty exciting tbh. Like the LoFs they've cropped up quite a bit recently and they are cool. (also "Reaper" just sounds super badass.. scythe mage staff or scythe warrior weapon pls..) I would've assumed the Mourn Watchers were all mages, being Mortalitasi, but I could totally see a 'magic warrior' working in there, either one who is technically a mage but who fights like an Arcane Warrior, or a warrior like a Spirit Warrior. Spirit Warriors "flirt with inhabitants of the Fade who agree to augment mortal abilities in exchange for a glimpse of the physical world". they're connected to the spirit world, can draw strength from benevolent spirits of the Fade and particularly harm creatures from the Fade. what if it's like that but specifically with the spirits that possess the dead, or in Nevarran belief the displaced spirits. perfect for a warrior who needs to guard and hang about necropolises & fight undead, and sorta necromancy-lite. :o)

maybe the general set up is something like: you pick background/faction and class, and each background/faction has a 'presence' in each class, so it determines the full combo, like this:

Grey Warden Warrior (guardian) - Grey Warden Rogue (?) - Grey Warden Mage (?)

Lord of Fortune Warrior (berserker) - Lord of Fortune Rogue (?) - Lord of Fortune (mage)

Mourn Watch Warrior (reaper) - Mourn Watch Rogue (?) - Mourn Watch mage (?)

🤔 or maybe you pick class at outset, and which 'subclass' you get is determined by which faction you join? how would traditional specializations fit in? maybe they don't mean specs and classes. curious :) anyways mourn watch aaaah. sign me up

edit: it's just occurred me that maybe "Reaper" is a typo of "Reaver" and Reaver is returning as a class ^^

[risingrah]

Wish-ing for more

So, I recently saw "Wish", the 62nd animated movie from Disney, with my cousin. Funnily enough, we both had different backgrounds to the movie: For my cousin, she knew that the movie wasn't the biggest hit, but she had no idea it wasn't well received. For me, I knew that the movie wasn't well reviewed, but I was willing to give it a chance. After all, Treasure Planet was one of my favorite Disney movies.

Ultimately, we both had the same takeaway: there should have been more. It wasn't terrible, but ironically, it wasn't full of Disney magic. This was especially a shame given that it was essentially supposed to be a love letter to Disney movies.

Now, I think it's important to not just say I didn't love something, especially when I can articulate where I felt things were lacking. SPOILERS AHEAD. If you see ~~text~~, that reflects my own personal thoughts rather than the story.

Wish starts off with our protagonist Asha, explaining the background of the kingdom where she lives, Rosas. Rosas is a Mediterranean island ruled by the magical king Magnifico and his non-magical queen Amaya. Rosas is special because on the 18th birthday of a citizen, or when anybody becomes a new citizen, they offer up their wish--essentially their dream for their life--to Magnifico. They end up forgetting their wish in the process, which makes them stop pursuing it, but it also allows them to never have to deal with the pain of it never happening. The ultimate trade off to this though is that King Magnifico occasionally holds a "Wish Granting" ceremony, where he choses one or two wishes to grant, returning the wish to its owner but also giving them the ability to attain it.

Asha, a few months shy of her own 18th birthday, hopes to become the newest King's apprentice and prepares for her interview. She is then brought to the King's study by Queen Amaya, who tells her that she is aware how much Asha loves the kingdom and wishes her luck.

~~And this is where things get...well, rushed. Also, was it weird for Amaya to bring Asha to the King? Shouldn't that have been a knight or another servant or something??~~

While waiting for the King in his study, Asha is drawn to a book of forbidden magic, which Magnifico quickly appears and tries to deters her from, but not before she triggers the protective charm around it.

~~The vibe around this plot point is reminiscent of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" scene from Fantasia, where Mickey was the big-dreaming apprentice to another magician, which is a nice parallel~~

Asha clumsily makes her way through the interview, and after she and Magnifico connect over having lost family in their childhoods, Magnifico is drawn to show Asha where he stores all the wishes of Rosas. They then have a duet expressing how they desire to protect the wishes "at all costs".

~~To me this was...weird? Aren't they supposed to be kept safe and hidden? Why show this to a person who hasn't taken the job yet? Also, I felt a song here really should have been more about the wishes themselves rather than the desire to protect them. "At All Costs" reads more like a love song, even a little between Magnifico and Asha without the badly needed context, rather than be centered around the wishes. Instead, it should have been around all the wishes that Magnifico has granted, and the joy its brought to others and Rosas. It would set up the "reveal" a bit better, and "show, but not tell" people how precious the wishes are.~~

During the song, Asha discovers her grandfather's wish. Her grandfather is 100 years old today, and she quickly ~~too quicky!!~~ asks Magnifico if she would grant her grandfather's wish during the day's wish ceremony. Magnifico considers it, but ultimately refuses. He explains that her grandfather's wish to "inspire others" is too vague, and it could potentially be a danger to Rosas. Asha tries to argue that her grandfather is a good person and would never wish harm, but Magnifico flares in a sharp rage. He insists that only he knows best for Rosas and he will not grant the wish. Before Asha can go off, he insists that she join Queen Amaya on the main stage to watch him receive the wishes of new citizens while also granting a wish.

~~So, this was weird to me? Sure, there were promos that exposed the fact that King Magnifico was the villain, but it didn't need to be confirmed so quickly. But in addition, I felt it would have been more key for Magnifico to hold it together for at least a little longer, to make the audience better understand why Magnifico was regarded as such a beloved king. For him to slip so quickly so sudden felt...amateurish. He should have gotten lessons from Hans. But on the note of his refusal to grant Sabino's wish. I couldn't say he was wrong, really. A lot of problems around people having wishes is that they're vague. Like, if someone wished to be "happy", there wouldn't be a real way to know what would make them happy. A loving family? Wealth? Cocaine? World Domination? When Sabino wants to inspire others...well how? To do what? This is what makes the wish "dangerous" to Magnifico.

Now, it would have been nice if Magnifico was clear that the more specific and grounded the wish was, the more likely it would be granted. Or even that the reason he only grants one wish at a time could be because his magic is limited so he has to think in the terms of which wish has the most good. It would have allowed him to keep his "good" image to Asha while still making her consider people whose wishes were "rejected" should just have them returned.

That said, this was a fun shout out to the fact that Sabino, like Disney, is 100 years old. His wish to inspire the next generation is a sweet touchpoint to the way Disney has inspired others in its century.~~

After the wish ceremony, Asha is at her grandfather's birthday dinner along with her mother, all at different levels of disappointment at Sabino not being chosen. Eventually, Asha tells him his wish will never be granted because Magnifico has deemed it "dangerous." She wants to tell her grandfather what it is, but Sabino refuses. He adamantly tells her that he doesn't want to know what such a dangerous wish would be, even though Asha tries to tell him it wasn't to her. Asha leaves the dinner in tears.

Asha then sings about how she wants more for Rosas, that people who will never get their wishes granted should just be allowed to try to pursue them, even if they fail or get disappointed, than to just live without them. She wishes on a star, and...well, the star shows up.

The star can't talk, but it is clearly magic and can grant speech to other things, including not just the forest animals, but Asha's goat Valentino.

~~Note that Valentino has been in the movie the whole time to this point, but for the animal mascot didn't provide much value to me~~

When Asha asks how this is possible, the animals and plants of the forest sing a song, credited as "sung by Cast", that tells her that "We are all Stars". Afterwards, Asha tells Star what has been happening, and that because of her her mother's nor her grandfather's wishes would be granted. Star is shocked by this, and immediately suggests that the best solution to this problem is crime. Specifically, stealing the two wishes back from the king. Asha...agrees.

~~This is the plot point that I felt that the Disney Magic wasn't there. For starters, a lot of the time in Disney movies, people aren't just "wishing"--they do. They try everything they can themselves, and only when they're at the despair horizon does a macguffin come. Cinderella is a great example--she and her animal friends do all they can to finish the chores and get her dress ready, and it was only after her stepfamily tore the dress, and therefore Cinderella's "wish" to shreds, does she get magical help. Another example is Tiana, who worked and hustled her way to save up for her own restaurant, only for it to be tore to shreds by the racism/sexism machine, and was then granted help by her fate twisting with Prince Naveen. Or when seven-year-old Lilo wishes on a star, but only after the plot makes it clear that the friendless Lilo will be separated from her sister so soon after the deaths of their parents. I could go on.

I couldn't help but feel that Asha could have come up with "crime" by herself, we could have seen a "heist gone wrong" scene, and then Star would show up and give Asha the power/courage to try again. Especially since we see that Star's magic has mostly been just for 'fun' at this point, and offered no real ability beyond what Asha had herself. Asha asked her friend for a shortcut to the King's Study. Asha asked her friends to distract Magnifico so he wouldn't come back too soon. And ultimately, they could only save just one of the wishes--Sabino's--which Asha was also capable of doing.~~

As Asha is getting Sabino's wish back, Magnifico has been advised by Amaya to talk to the citizen's about the light that was seen last night--Star's light. Despite the citizens believing the light was from him, due to its warmth and radiance, Magnifico is convinced that it was from a potential threat. Magnifico informs the populace of this event, calling the light both a "threat" but also "from an amateur", and tells them to let him know any information. Asha's friend Dahlia questions him to stall for time for Asha, asking him how he knows that information and what would he consider information (evidence vs hunch)? Her questions motivate others to join in, and ultimately someone asks what could incentive people to provide it? Magnifico agrees that in exchange for information, he will perform another wish granting ceremony.

Magnifico returns to the castle, alone and enraged that his citizens are ungrateful. He laments that this is the "thanks he gets" for providing for them.

~~ The song had some odd lyrics, but this should have been the "mask off" scene. With the request to his people for information, we see just enough of the veneer's dark underbelly--"our enemy is both weak and strong"--and now in his private moment we can see how he really thinks and feels. Having the mask come off during Asha's interview was much too soon and made the citizens look more foolish than they should have been shown to be.~~

As Asha manages to barely leave the study in time, Magnifico decides to utilize the forbidden magic book to help track down the light. Asha returns home and gives Sabino back his wish, showing him that it wasn't dangerous at all. Sabino embraces it, and it returns back to him. However, this moment is cut off by Magnifico, who tracks them down. An informant ratted Asha out, and now, armed with new dark magic, he intends to punish Asha by destroying her mother's, Sakina's, wish. Sakina feels an intense feeling of grief as Magnifico absorbs the wish and found that it has increased his powers.

The five of them--Asha, Sabino, Sakina, Star, and Valentino--manage to escape, especially once Valentino convinces the knights' horses to let them go "as one domesticated animal to another". They managed to get in a boat and Asha rows them to safety until Star helps out with magic. As Asha laments that this is now putting all of Rosas at risk, she realizes that she has to go back and make things right.

Meanwhile, Magnifico is practically high off his new discovery. He proceeds to use the forbidden magic book to make a dark magic wand, using more wishes as ingredients. Amaya learns about this and is shocked to find how far her husband has fallen, and rebuffs his claim that Asha is a threat to the kingdom. Magnifico turns his staff on her to test her loyalty, and Amaya assures him that there is nothing more important to her than Rosas.

Magnifico then performs his wish granting ceremony, identifying his informant as Asha's friend Simon. Simon, who was the first of the friend group to turn 18, had already given his wish to Magnifico and his friends observed he seemed more "tired" and "boring" since. Magnifico grants Simon's wish to be the best knight in Rosas, but by infusing Simon with his dark magic making Simon a malevolent puppet for Magnifico.

~~ So, I did like the theme about how adulthood discourages wishing. While in childhood, potential can seem endless, but in adulthood, real life gets in more and more. You end up too tired, too busy, to remember your wishes and dreams, and this ultimately makes you a boring, uninspired person. I could sympathize with Simon, who barely an adult, longed to be the person who he was barely a few months ago--to have his dream back to make him a whole person rather than spend his life empty and unfilled, with hopes like Sabino to live to 100, but never have to granted. But the fact that he gained his wish at the cost of betraying his friends is what makes it become corrupted. It's a good lesson in that your wish is a part of you, but so is your character and your relationships, and trading one for another will never make you whole.~~

Asha, who has now donned a blue cloak to sneak back to Rosas, learns of the betrayal along with her friends at the ceremony. Asha also sends a talking mouse to relay a message to Amaya, assuring her of her loyalty and her desire to fix things.

Asha then reunites with her remaining friends, who go to "introvert's sanctuary" of one of their friends to regroup and decide what to do next. Here, they have another song where Asha explains that while this wasn't her intention for Rosas, she doesn't regret letting the truth about the wishes and their king's true character be known. Her friends, who have varying degrees of willingness to go along with things, eventually all agree to come to her aid. In addition. they're discovered by Amaya in the latter half of the song, who gives her allegiance to these children against her husband.

~~ Here, I honestly would have preferred to hear an Amaya song over the children's. I felt Amaya had a lot to work through, as it is clear that while she deeply loved her husband, she also loved Rosas and its people. I would have loved to hear her being torn between the love for the man she thought she married and the love for the citizens that are how his victims. To have her find the strength inside her to reclaim herself as not Magnifico's Queen, but the Queen of Rosas. ~~

The plan is for Amaya to tell Magnifico that Asha has been spotted in the nearby woods, and for Asha to distract him while he is there. Meanwhile, everyone else will be helping free all the wishes. While waiting, Star gives Asha a stick infused with magic before they return to Asha's friends to help out. Star however, doesn't give much in the way of an instruction manual. When Magnifico returns, Amaya finds that the magic-infused stick is capable to doing things from making things bigger, to making things move, to probably everything in between.

~~I felt this scene was sort of cute because between the blue cloak and the stick, it gave Asha the look of the Fairy Godmother. However, the movie later explicitly hits its it on the nose, so it's not much of an easter egg~~

Eventually, it's revealed that the Magnifico that Asha is facing is actually a glamoured Simon, and that the real Magnifico is still at the castle. Asha leaves him to his fate to fight a bear, following by a hoard of what I assume are "killer-but-not-really-for-Disney-purposes" rabbits.

Sure enough, Asha's friends and Star are struggling to free the wishes, but they eventually manage to do so through teamwork. As they run outside to bask in their hard work while Star swims amongst the wishes, Magnifico uses his dark magic to imprison them once again, including Star. He then turns all the wish orbs to stone and brings Asha up to him to further taunt her as he absorbs Star in his staff. At this point, Asha tries to take the staff back but fails. Magnifico then takes things up a notch and summons clouds to cover the sky to prevent further "wishing on a star" shenanigans, and ties down the people of Rosas.

At the despair horizon, Asha remembers that "we are all stars". Dahlia joins Asha in song, having the other citizens join in turn "to make this wish to have something more", a reprise of Asha's "I want" song that summoned Star in the first place. The people glow with their internal stars, which frees the wishes and restores them, as well as frees Star. The staff, having what I assume is a "1 occupant minimum" clause, draws Magnifico into it, imprisoning him in the mirror-line stone.

~~This moment, adding into a few other of his lines, makes me think of The Magic Mirror from Snow White. I would think that was more funny, except The Magic Mirror is a huge jerk of a boss in Kingdom Hearts 2.8 and I don't want to think about that anymore.~~

All the wishes return to their owners and Simon returns to normal. Simon apologizes to his friends and they forgive him.

In a new dawn, Asha is now helping Queen Amaya in helping everyone get their wish granted, even connecting people with similar wishes so they can help each other out.

As a goodbye present, Star restores the magic-infused stick Asha had broke earlier into a proper magic wand. Asha initially refuses, but someone points out her destiny is like a fairy godmother and she accepts.

~~Also, the movie does a final on the nose point that Asha's friends, that there are so many of, are the seven dwarfs~~ The end of the credits, we see Sabino playing music to the tune "When you wish upon a star", finishing up the narrative and encouraging everyone to keep wishing.

~~Like I said, this isn't a terrible movie. There are a lot of notes on its love letter to Walt Disney and Disney movies, and it's fun to catch them. That said, if the best I can say is that "this isn't a terrible movie", that's not super glowing praise. The expectations should have been higher and there was definitely more potential here than what they ended up with.~~

[potatoesandsunshine]

ok i must know. top five fe3h ships for the ship chart thingy

ok i couldn't help it i did the top 5 by ao3 stats and then i did some of my other favs i could think of :) this game has so many characters and the support system lends itself to a lot of ships imo

as we can see, i think these basically all make sense. i get why they're all so popular. my fave is ferdibert because there's something very indulgent in a pride and prejudice way about them, but also something really interesting there about growth? i feel like a black eagles run has a moment at some point where everyone looks at ferdinand and realizes huh, he's really grown up. i like that moment to torment hubert. not too many thoughts on the others - i love sylvix, edelgard and byleth are lesbians, i get how people get to dimitri/felix but i'm personally not into it, and there's a fandom version of dimitri/byleth that i just don't care for that is pretty widespread. i think the right author could bring me on board with them but i'm not a huge fan.

and here are some slightly rarer ones that i could think of off the top of my head!! because i thought of them you can probably tell that i like them :)

where to begin........... the thing about edelclaude is i truly think it doesn't make sense in the context of the games but it has such a hold on me. i read you flash a guarded look, my silver tongue returns to me and it opened up a new section of my brain reedroad invented writing with that series. now the thing about claudevain is.... it also does not make sense, but there's something about it... i think they could be very ruthless and successful together if the circumstances were right. also i think those two would be funny! dorobern gets 'makes sense' points based on them being in the same house and the fact that i think them not getting an ending slide together was a crime. go read violets, violets and you will understand. ashe/byleth... they are special and precious to me!! i love ashe!! literally all of wearwind's fe3h writing is good but i swear reading Tanaras did something to my brain chemistry forever. annette/felix is just super super cute to me, i love their supports and i love them together 😭 before the world was big made me love annette and Seeking Iris and Marigold should win a best picture oscar it's such a movie to me. sorry to turn this into fe3h fic rec time but that is simply What I Do - these all have various levels of spoilers so watch the tags i think? seeking iris and marigold is a modern-with-magic au though so i know that one is safe 👍

[true--north]

All Is Found: Cold Secrets Deep Down

Spoilers

This post F2 story of Frohana and the KRAKEN is beautifully written with its lovely descriptions of nature and that 19th century sea wolf aesthetic. There is also a nice moral of animal rights. It also has Olaf vomiting snowballs(he blamed Elsa for creating him like this) and the usual Frozen-verse horrible naming for Arendelle's neighboring lands.

Some quotes:

This story likes to emphasise Elsa's special connection to Nature and the Water Element specifically

Elsa, of course, was more than happy, to be near the wild water

You're no stranger to the sea

[]Her magically gifted sister felt such kinship with the water

If it involves nature, she seems more than capable of taking care of herself

She'd fought the Dark Sea, eventually made peace with it, she knew Ahtohallan like an old friend.

She wasn't alone here. She had an ally. [] She called the Water Nokk to her.

It was just Elsa in her element, accompanied by a spirit that seemed to understand her, that almost read her mind as they worked in tune

There was a moment when Elsa silently prayed Nokk to run faster, and he obeyed.

As this story is about Frohana's ship encountering a white kraken, Elsa finds herself literally sensing its feelings, feeling sorry for it and eventually saving the sea creature from being harpooned by the ship crew.

The Kraken's tentacle again appeared, sweetly brushing across her cheek in thanks. Elsa reached out to touch it in return

At the end, when Anna and Kristoff were hugging each other and looking at the land, Elsa was standing aside and looking at the sea. She and the Kraken waved each other to silently say farewell.

This is its home, where we are trespassers. This is not a place we claim as our own. I want this are marked up on a map so that no other ship might accidentally strike the beast and end up with unnecessary loss of life

If you don't understand something, it will always seem dangerous. I know this better than anyone. The kraken didn't come here for a fight. This is its world, not ours. There's so much out there that we don't know about. It deserves to live its life just as much as we do

I know word of my powers has spread, and the stories have something grown in the telling

Landing neatly on her feet as only an ice queen could

Elsa can rule the liquid water

She sent a stream of water behind her[]

Another interesting moment in this story is Elsa's title. If in the "Engaging Anna and Kristoff" Elsa has been called "Queen Elsa"(referring, as we may see later, either to her status of Snow Queen or out of habit. There's no consistency) here in the "Cold Secrets Deep Down" it's stated that she's not a queen anymore. Anna calls her "a princess of Arendelle", the Capitan calls her "Your Highness".

The people of Liljeby will see you for what you are: a princess of Arendelle

"With superpowers!" Olaf piped up, "A super princess! Superprincess?"

Anna often wondered if Elsa minded that she was no longer queen [] She knew that what Elsa wanted the most of all was freedom — the freedom to be herself and explore her powers and the world around her

With all due respect , Your Highness, we should kill it

Anna, rebuking the stubborn Captain, addressed only herself as the queen

"I don't like it—" Captain Jens began, "But the Queen of Arendelle does," Anna reminded him.

Elsa wears a new traveling costume for the visit, not the Spirit Dress.

Elsa looked down at her heavy traveling dress and tall boots

Elsa's powder blue dress shared the same flowers along the hem, though her tiara was much smaller.

We never back down from a fight(said Anna)

"Or a sunken shipwreck?" Anna asked, an old sadness in her eyes

Snow Sisters moments

The desperate instinct to call out to her sister(said Elsa)

Anna stood and put her arm around Elsa's waist[] Elsa moved a lock of windblown red hair out of Anna's face

And luckily, Elsa knew exactly what to do

Kristanna moments

I go where Anna goes

Courageous Kristoff would dive right back down to fight for his love

Kristoff watched, feeling helpless, his heart in his eyes. "Let me have her," he said, laying her down on the bottom of the rowboat as he pressed his mouth to Anna's blue-tinged lips

"Anna!" Kristoff pulled her into a bear hug, her hands curling around his middle

Now I only have to worry about one person(said Kristoff)

Foreign Affairs with the Southern Isles go

"That ridiculous diplomat from Southern Isles thought you were made of ice, remember?" Anna chuckled, "He brought a fur coat, just in case."