#aiming for one or two more before the end of the year but we'll see

[thelawsofdaylight]

Ten first lines game

I was tagged by both @pumpkinspice-prouvaire and @aromantic-enjolras to do this ask game a while ago but am just now getting around to it! It's made me realise how much I actually published this year which is a not insignificant amount, so thanks for the tag, this was fun!

Rules: Share the first line of ten of your most recent fanfics and then tag ten people. Don't have ten? Not to worry, just share what you have.

kisses of fire (bruning, burning), the exr smut fic that i published literally about an hour ago, it doesn't really have much of a plot it's just smut:

The first obstacle comes in the form of a heavy, iron-clad gate that's so rusted Grantaire always finds himself surprised it hasn't crumbled to dust.

obstacles, the modernised retelling of jean valjean's journey to arras, it's very silly but also required a ridiculous amount of research:

If a person were to walk down the Rue Saint-Gengoult in the early hours of the morning, they would find it quiet and empty, as often happens before a town has commenced its business for the day.

the art of translation, written for the drinkwithme platonic exchange, about feuilly and jehan's friendhsip:

“-and anyway,” Feuilly is explaining to Enjolras and Combeferre, “we scarcely have time to organise it before we meet with the medical students.”

a new day dawning, the ghost!triumvirate fic i wrote for the discorinthe exchange:

Anabelle Pontmercy dies on a Thursday afternoon, twenty three years and three months into the twenty first century.

until the stars burn out, another discorinthe exchange piece about space pirates enjolras and grantaire sharing a traumatic experience:

They’ll later learn it was an act of sabotage.

these roads were made for me and you, this is the first line of the car share au!!!!!! my in-progress fic that i just updated!!!

Fate has always been a cruel mistress to Grantaire, and today is no exception.

strikin' around the christmas tree, my holiday exchange piece, a silly political take on a classic hallmark fic:

The day is cold, the ground sparkling with newly formed ice.

the art of merriment, my bahorel and enjolras friendhsip piece for last year's drink with me platonic exchange:

The first time Bahorel sees Enjolras fight is during an ambush.

we know what it's like to be reckless, another discorinthe exchange piece about jehan and grantaire and some late night graffiti:

Jehan has always loved the sound of spray paint.

under the eyes of the revolution, a same prompt fic challenge fill that focuses on enjolras and feuilly after the execution of le cabuc:

Enjolras sat upon a loose paving stone, his back to the Corinthe's walls.

What we have learnt from this is that klee aka thelawsofdaylight aka quillsand tends to go with shorter sentences for opening lines. Interesting!

I was tagged quite a while ago so I'm not sure who has and hasn't done this yet but if you haven't but have been wanting to, consider this your tag!

[fastandcarlos]

Summer Break : ̗̀➛ Max Verstappen

summary: with three weeks off to enjoy yourselves, you and max make the most of it adventuring together

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by ynusername, danielricciardo and 2,582,608 others

maxverstappen1: great way to end the first half of the season, looking forward to a nice break before pushing for the title 🏎️

138,163 comments

username1: congrats on such a great start to the season max

ynusername: can't wait to finally get you all to myself 🥰

danielricciardo: @/ynusername did max fail to tell you that i'm coming too?

maxverstappen1: @/danielricciardo like hell are you coming on holiday with us

username2: enjoy your break, you deserve a great rest ❤️

username3: how am i supposed to survive three weeks without you???

landonorris: try not to injure yourself, that would be a shame wouldn't it... 😭

maxverstappen1: @/landonorris careful you almost sound like a sore loser

username4: the title isn't far away...we know you can do it!!

username5: we all know you're going to win so there's no point even trying 💪🏻

redbullracing: thanks for all your hard work so far max, enjoy the break!

username6: that's more like it, my world champion! 🌍

georgerussell63: don't think we'll let you get that title so easily

username7: i can't wait to see what you and y/n get up to

alex_albon: can't wait to see you tonight on a double date we've had no say on

maxverstappen1: @/alex_albon i'm already sick of the sight of you 🙄

alex_albon: @/ynusername sort your man out

ynusername: @/alex_albon sorry the only reason i'm hanging out with you is to see lily 🤷🏻‍♀️

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by carmenmmundt, maxverstappen1 and 427,189 others

ynusername: belgium might be up there as one of my new favourite places. such a great way to spend the last couple of days before holiday season 🧇💕

42,816 comments

username8: i've never felt so jealous of a food pic in my life

carmenmmundt: and whereabouts was my invite to going and eating all the waffles?? 😭

ynusername: @/carmenmmundt you're still in monaco so stfu

username9: thank you for always showing up and supporting max yn!!

landonorris: i see, we all eat strict diets in the paddock and you walk around eating any sweet you can find 🙄

ynusername: @/landonorris perks of being a wag

username10: speaking for belgium, we'll welcome you back anytime 🇧🇪

danielricciardo: i don't recognise you with all these aesthetic photos these days

ynusername: @/danielricciardo thought i'd better up my game, aiming to graduate to a .jpg account soon

username11: pls yn we're relying on you for max spam over the next three weeks

maxverstappen1: glad you enjoyed the trip love, the perfect start to our break 💕

username12: it's not fair how one person can be as beautiful as you are

username13: i'm praying for plenty of yn posts to get me through this summer break 🙏🏻

alexandrasaintmleux: next year you're taking me to wherever that is

ynusername: @/alexandrasaintmleux pencilling it into my diary as we speak ✍️

username14: i just adore the relationship that yn and the drivers have together

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by landonorris, schecoperez and 2,173,690 others

maxverstappen1: up, up and away to our first destination. looking forward to a fun couple of weeks with my favourite person 🫶🏻✨

285,682 comments

landonorris: it’s taken four years but you’re officially an insta boyfriend 👏🏻👏🏻

maxverstappen1: @/landonorris if I knew what that meant I’d say thank you

username15: i cannot believe it's been two days and max has already posted omg 😱

danielricciardo: still offended that you didn’t organise this trip with me included

maxverstappen1: @/danielricciardo still offended that you think we’d want you as a third wheel on our holiday 😂

username16: two people are not allowed to be this beautiful on a flight

charles_leclerc: alex is also very disappointed that we didn't get an invite on this trip too...

username17: my heart can't take this and it's only the first post 😊

ynusername: tbh I’d go anywhere in the world as long as I was with you 🥺

username18: praying you two can have a peaceful break without any interruptions

redbullracing: safe travels and see you in three weeks!!

username19: are you really telling me that max managed to take a photo that good of yn???

aussiegrit: i don't recognise you on social media these days...

username20: my two favourite people in the world ahhhhhh 😍😍

oscarpiastri: i think i need one or two photography tips off of you verstappen!

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by maxverstappen1, lilymhe and 529,319 others

ynusername: enjoying the views and the company, never wanting this trip to end

22,492 comments

username21: damn yn you've got the best view out of all of us

alex_albon: you're obliged to come home as your absence is making my girlfriend incredibly annoying!!

danielricciardo: you two make me sick sometimes... 😂

ynusername: @/danielricciardo no one asked you to come and see this post??

username22: the beach photos omg i can't cope

landonorris: we get it. you're in love. now please stop bragging.

username23: what are you doing to me yn?? stop messing with my heart ❤️

maxverstappen1: you always manage to find those angles that make me look good!!

ynusername: @/maxverstappen1 any angle of you is a good angle! 🥺

username24: well that's certainly one way to make us all jealous wtf

carmenmmundt: i fancy you so much omg

ynusername: @/carmenmmundt just missing my true partner in crime by my side 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

username25: these photos remind me daily why i dream of having a relationship like these two

charles_leclerc: now alex is mad at me that i've not taken her to a beach to see the sunset, thanks guys

ynusername: @/charles_leclerc @/alexandrasaintmleux i've got your back! 💪🏻

username26: all i want is to be lifted on the beach as beautifully as max lifts yn

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by redbullracing, danielricciardo and 528,193 others

ynusername: i promise i'm still making him work hard despite the fact it's off season. those other drivers won't know what's hit them soon

68,291 comments

username27: couples who train together stay together...or something like that 💪🏻

lilymhe: come and train me instead wtf...

ynusername: @/lilymhe i'm all yours when we get home i promise

username28: max secretly looks like he's loving it don't worry yn

georgerussell63: did you and carmen make a deal to torment your boyfriends with the gym over the summer?? 🤔

ynusername: @/georgerussell63 we just want you to look your best

username29: running must be easy with views as good as those

danielricciardo: stop showing off that your boyfriend is a professional athlete even whilst on holiday 😂

username30: now this is a world champion, on holiday and still making sure he's staying strong...

landonorris: do you reckon you could accidentally trip him up and rule him out for the next few months?? 🤔

ynusername: @/landonorris i'll break your ankle before i break his...

username31: notice the colour coordinated outfits? no? just me?

username32: this'll have the other drivers quaking in their boots yn hahah

schecoperez: how much did max protest that he wouldn't go out for a run?

ynusername: @/schecoperez i bet you deal with less tantrums at home then i do with him! 😂😂

username33: it's not fair, max is already at an advantage getting to work out with you!!

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by oscarpiastri, charles_leclerc and 2,583,597 others

maxverstappen1: riding into the second half of the season like...

427,078 comments

username34: fast, strong and in the lead, just how you'll be for the rest of the season

landonorris: congratulations on finally making a funny post 👏🏻

username35: someone looks like they're showing off for their girlfriend lmao

charles_leclerc: damn you're such a cool kid these days

username36: no way did max come up with this caption, it's far too funny for him

ynusername: with how big a crash you had earlier i hope you don't race like that next week 😂

maxverstappen1: @/ynusername that was supposed to stay between us!! 🤫

username37: everyone say thank you yn for showing max how to do social media properly

carlossainz55: the name's verstappen...max verstappen 🕶️

danielricciardo: how much did you have to pay yn to come up with this caption for you??

username38: i don't think i'm prepared for the off season spam to end

username39: now we watch max go silent again until december when the season ends

redbullracing: we can assure you max will not be arriving back at red bull on jet ski fyi 😂

username40: out in front and world champion again no doubt!!

oscarpiastri: at least if you're on a jet ski i've got a chance of beating you... 🤔

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

˗ˏˋ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ! ´ˎ˗

[formulawolff]

"keep 'em comin'" - m.v.

pairing: girl best friend!reader x max verstappen

word count: 2.3k

warnings: alcohol consumption, light marijuana usage, cussing, max munching on some cooter! (that will come later in the fic), enemies to friends to lovers, typical men behavior (being creepy in a bar), mentions of physical threats, kelly slander, THINGS ARE MESSY BETWEEN KELLY AND MAX (so if y'all don't like light infidelity/gray areas then don't read) yadayadayada (y'all already know the vibes)

a/n: hellllloooo! <3 this is my first time writing for max so if this isn't quite like him, i apologize in advance. this fic is based off of a request and i had to write about it since i've been feral for max (he finally took off that damned cap!) this may end up as a two or three part series. we'll see, we'll see!

⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳ ✦ ⊹⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳ ✦ ⊹⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺

"i see the decrepit hag decided to let you out of her clutches tonight. congratulations for being able to be out and about in public without her breathing down your neck!"

the figure standing to your left scoffs, muttering a few incoherent words under his breath. he slides into the booth, propping his chin up with a hand. the other finds the glistening glass, a bead of condensation rolling down, pooling onto the rigid table.

"about that."

"what about it?" you arch a brow, lips connecting with the rim of your own drink, "max, did something happen before you left?"

he shrugs, brows pinching together as he sips on his mixed drink, a decadent yet smooth concoction of his favorite liquors blended together, "it's nothing serious."

"max," setting your glass down, you lean forward ever so slightly, his name louder than normal over the overwhelming mixture of voices and volume, "what. happened."

"oh you know," he waves a hand, careful not to meet your piercing gaze, "she's upset that i was going out to see you. that's all."

the moment max mentioned her, you knew exactly who she was.

she was kelly piquet. max verstappen's beloved wag. the woman who scooped him up the moment that clock struck midnight on his eighteenth birthday.

the woman you loathed more than anyone in the world.

but you wouldn't tell max that.

after all, you couldn't. the pair had been dating for quite some time. and although max wouldn't say it outright, you were well aware that she was not going anywhere anytime soon.

no matter how much the two fought. no matter how much she wanted to make your relationship with max as strained as possible.

your friendship with max had a rocky start. tumultuous, even. the two of you met when you were both seventeen, as your parents were mutual friends. since max was involved in racing, and you aimed to pursue professional photography, max's father suggested that the two of you get to know one another.

of course, at that time, the last thing teenage max wanted was some nerdy girl following him around. especially when there were other teenage boys involved. cool teenage boys who enjoyed to fuck around with fast machinery.

he teased you relentlessly, tormenting you whenever he could. he ridiculed your photographic abilities, scorning the prints or slideshows you provided. often times, he stated that your pictures were, "absolute shit" and your clip compilations "were not going to get you anywhere in formula one."

of course, you matched his energy. after all, you weren't going to take anyone's shit. you knew you had to advocate for yourself. you weren't going to make it in the industry if you weren't assertive.

eventually, your snapshots landed you a job at red bull. well, max did have a part to play in that.

after a couple of years, the dutch driver apologized for the way he treated you at the time, requesting a truce. the truce would consist of you sticking around as his personal media manager.

in turn, he would promote your work to the world of formula one and assist you in your way up the ladder in any way he could. he would land your sponsorships. he would chip in some cash here and there to get you more advanced software or equipment.

the only stipulation was that you had to follow him.

everywhere and anywhere he went. every event. every interview. every grand prix.

no. matter. what.

of course, with the stakes involved, you knew it was too good of a deal to refuse. with max's rise to prominence in formula one, you knew it was now or never.

so, you accepted his offer.

oh jos verstappen, what a bastard you were.

cause now, here you were in vegas, sitting across from the man you loved. well, the man you were in love with.

hopelessly and utterly in love with.

"that isn't unusual for her," you scoff, hands reaching for your purse, "i do have something that could lighten the mood!"

"and that is?" max's gaze follows your hand, making note of the delicately wrapped joint between your fingers.

"my friend mary jane!"

"you of all people know i shouldn't be smoking," the dutch driver shakes his head, yet proceeds to scoot out of the booth anyway, "i'll still come out there with you. i won't be taking any hits though."

"yeah, yeah," you wave a hand, "that's what they all say."

as you slip out of the booth, you feel max's hand connect with your lower back, almost guiding you through the throng of locals. a few of them chirp greetings to max, others chattering, creating a buzz within the air.

well, there went any sort of anonymity.

so much for keeping a low profile for the weekend.

yet, when in vegas, that was almost impossible to maintain. especially when you were a man of max's caliber.

the two of you manage to slip out, just before fans started asking for autographs. of course, max obliged to a few, signing a cap here and an arm there.

even though it was quickly approaching december, the air was mild, dipping in the low fifties. max hovers to your right, shuddering as a breeze rolls through. you curse as it quenches your flame, motioning for max to stand closer.

"can you shield me for a moment, pretty boy?"

"pretty boy?"

from the way the words tumbled from his mouth, max seemingly was not to keen to the idea of being referred to as pretty boy. yet, he inches even closer to you, providing a barrier as the lighter comes to life, igniting your delicate pre-roll.

"what else should i call you?" shrugging, you exhale, the smoke billowing into the night, "or do you prefer world champion?"

"how much did you have to drink before i got here?" the dutch driver cocks his head, his stare almost picking you apart.

"enough," you respond, lips curling into a devious grin, "don't act like you didn't like that."

"i did," he counters, "that's the issue here."

"and why is that an issue?"

"because we used to fucking despise one another. we used to tear one another apart. and now here i am, going out for drinks with you when i shouldn't be. here i am, looking forward to your texts or your snaps when i know i should be thinking about someone else.

fuck, even when i'm with her, my mind wanders to you. we're together all of the fucking time yet i crave you. i miss you when we're apart. what are you doing to me?"

before your mind can even formulate a coherent response, an individual saunters up to the two of you, drinks in hand.

it's an older man, approximately in his early or mid fifties. he's balding, as a few of the greasy hairs were poorly combed over. he was well dressed, but poorly groomed, as there was quite the scruff plaguing his feautures.

"good evening," his words are directed towards you, yet you couldn't help but notice the way his eyes were fixated on your joint, "i was wondering if the pretty lady could exchange a hit or two for a-"

"she's not accepting shit from you," max's voice is low, the driver taking another half step toward you, almost to shield you even further.

"c'mon man," the man drawls, the words slurred, "i wasn't fucking speakin' to ya. i was talkin' to her."

"and i'm talking to you," max's jaw clenches, "get the fuck out of here."

"and you are?" the man arches a brow, "surely not her boyfriend."

"actually i am," the words are forced through gritted teeth, the driver's fists clenched to his sides, "i'm her fiancé. i suggest you leave before i-"

"got it," the man exhales, rolling his eyes, "it was worth a shot. what the fuck ever man."

as he turns to head back towards the bar, you feel fingers find yours, intertwining together. max squeezes your hand gently, "are you okay?"

"fiancé?" relief ripples as you notice his demeanor crumble, "what was that all about? were you manifesting something or-"

"come on," max tugs at your hand, "let's go to another place. get a few more drinks. keep 'em comin'. keep the alcohol flowin', you know?"

"max," clicking your tongue, you frown as your realize your joint was burnt out, "what is going on between you and kelly?"

"i don't want to talk about her right now," the driver won't even look at you, keeping his focus on the glow and ambiance of the city, "we can talk about anything else but her. please. i don't even want to think about her right now. shouldn't you be relieved? why aren't you relieved?"

"because you look stressed the fuck out!" you retort, "and it stresses me out because i love you and i can't handle seeing you all bummed about some hag who is only using you!"

max freezes, your hand flying up to your mouth. heat floods your cheeks, heart thudding against your rib-cage as you realize what just came pouring from your mouth.

"did you just tell me that you love me?"

his voice is soft. dangerously low. merely a whisper, barely audible over the bustling noise of vegas.

tears well up, shame setting your body ablaze as you nod, biting your lower lip, "y-yeah. and i know i shouldn't-"

"shut the fuck up," hands meet with your cheeks, bringing you in close, "just shut the fuck up and come here."

in that moment, max's mouth finds yours. the kiss is tender, brimmed with nothing but passion, breathing life back into your lungs. it was grounding yet exhilarating, waves of euphoria crashing over.

he pulls away, forehead brushing against yours, "why haven't i done this sooner?"

"because kelly-"

"i don't give a fuck about kelly right now."

"give a fuck about me then," you murmur against his mouth, relishing the way his hands explore, roaming along your back, trailing down to your ass, "you think we should take this somewhere more private? before someone snaps a photo of max verstappen making out with his media manager?"

"that's a good idea," he nods, "i'll arrange an uber."

although it was merely minutes in the time it took between getting into the uber and making it to your hotel room, it felt like an eternity. yet, with the way max's hand gripped your thigh the entire drive, you didn't complain. the other hand held onto yours, pressing gentle kisses to your knuckles.

if only this was your everyday life.

if only things were different.

if only he fell in love with you first.

once the two of you were in the elevator, he maintained his composure, as there were other people stepping in and out. there was even a little boy, in awe that his favorite driver was staying in the same hotel as him. max was kind enough to gift him one of his beaded bracelets, a small memento from a win during the 2022 season.

if only that child knew what his favorite driver was really up to.

once that light on your keypad flashed green, his mouth was on yours, tongue gliding along your lower lip, practically begging for access. his hands were all over, tugging on your clothes, desperate to see what was underneath.

"fuck," there's a rumble in his chest as he lays on you on the bed, pinning you to the mattress.

"what?" you can't help but wriggle a little, slightly flustered by the intensity of his gaze.

"you have no idea how much i've thought about this," a dusty rose hue tinges his cheeks, "i-i almost don't know what to do now. i've thought about it so frequently that i had it down to every little detail. and now i have you here, right where i want you but i feel like i'm going to fuck this up and-"

"max," tender fingers sweep locks of hair from his forehead, "do what you feel is right."

"i just want to show you how much i love you. i need you to know how loved you are."

"i think i have an idea," the tip of your nose brushes against his, "is there anything i can do to help?"

"will you let me taste you?"

instinctively, your hips buck forward, legs spreading so that he can have access. you can feel his cock stiffen in his pants, pressing against your inner thigh, aching for some sort of relief.

"yes," you nod, "you can taste me."

"f-fuck," his jaw nearly goes slack as you guide his hand through the waistband of your panties, the pad of his index finger circling your clit, "you're this wet for me? already? my poor baby. all soaked and desperate for me."

"m-max," the way his name falls from your lips is intoxicating, "i need you."

"are you sure this is okay?" he pauses, eyes meeting with yours, "if at any moment you need me to stop, just tell me."

"you are more than okay. i promise."

fingers delicately unbutton your jeans, rolling them down your legs. in the process, you peel off your hoodie and shirt, tossing them to the floor.

just the mere sight of you half-dressed had him coming undone, his inhibitions slipping away by the second. fuck, you were so stunning. someone who deserved to be worshipped and cherished.

far more beautiful than he could have ever imagined.

situating himself between your legs, max's mouth roams, placing wet kisses all over your inner thighs, hips, and abdomen. his tongue flattens against your heated core, savoring the way you squirmed under his touch.

"you need me to taste you baby?" he coos, cocking his head.

"yes," you plead, skin hot to the touch, your clit engorged, folds slick with juices.

"hmmm," he hums, hands grasping your thighs to spread you open further.

"once i get these off of you, you're all mine. and only mine. got that?"

yet, there was one thing that happened to slip max verstappen's mind that night in vegas.

well, one woman.

the woman he referred to as his girlfriend, but the woman he was not in love with.

kelly piquet.

[fierymiasma]

ꕥ A Little Game // Sebastian x f!MC x Ominis - Silver Trio ꕥ

Summary: Ominis's smile was dangerous.  "Sebastian here proposed a contest.  Of course, we'll all be together eventually in the end, but while we are wooing you, why not try a fun game?" She gulped.  "A game?" "A contest: whoever charms you more, gets your first kiss." Requested by holotapes

Words: 1.5k

A/N: This will be a short mini-series, I promise it will eventually get to the prompt, please be patient!

|| Masterlist || AO3 || Upcoming ||

Art belongs to @J_Kaluzhnaya

It was hard for her to see anything through the thick billowing steam of the Hogwarts Express.  The hero of Hogwarts spun around, trying to catch a glimpse of her Slytherin friends amongst the crowd of bustling students.  Despite her best efforts, she hadn't managed to find them in any of the train carriages.

Sebastian and Ominis had been acting strange for the entirely of their 6th year.  She had naturally expected there to be some distance between the two Slytherin boys after Uncle Solomon's death.  Yet, as the weeks dragged on and winter turned into spring she was surprised the find the utter vitriol that they two had for each other.  It seemed like whenever the three of them were together, Ominis would sneer some passive aggressive comment aimed at Sebastian's character (or lack of).  And Sebastian would scowl, and tug her closer to his side possessively, trying to keep her away from Ominis. 

It was honestly a nightmare being the mediator between the two boys.  She had absolutely no idea what could have exacerbated the rift that was in between them, but she prayed that it had been resolved by now. 

"There's my favorite girl."  A smooth, purring voice whispered into her ear from behind her.  She squeaked in alarm, nearly jumping out of her skin to bump into the larger man behind her. 

She spun around, hands on her hips, right about to give the rude interloper a piece of her mind.  Any reprimanding words died in her throat.  Her mouth became suddenly dry.

Sebastian greeted her with the confidence of a man who knew how attractive he was.  His already smooth voice had dropped an octave.  Only one summer has passed since she last seen him.  They used to be the same height, but now she had to look up in order to make eye contact with him.  Sebastian had filled in, shoulders a lot more broad then they used to be.  His thick school robes failed to hide the muscular definition he had built up.  The baby fat on his cheeks that she liked so much had disappeared, instead replaced with a handsome jaw line.  His new tan failed to hide the freckles that dusted the bridge of his nose. 

He was…well…Sebastian had always been devastatingly handsome-objectively speaking, of course- but this…this was far too much. 

"You…look….you look-"  her face turned bright scarlet, unable to find an adjective that was appropriate.  It was normal for good friends to comment each other's appearances.  Right?...Right?  Sebastian's lips curled upwards teasingly, no doubt taking joy in her discomfort.

"-you look…well, Sebastian." 

"The summer air in Feldcroft has been kind to me."  Sebastian stared at her with the sort of intensity that made her look away from his gaze.  "I could say the same to you.  It seems that the sun has blessed your skin rather nicely over the long break."

Her brows twisted in confusion.  Had her skin been that bad in their sixth year?  She hadn't been the most immune to typical teenage acne woes, but surely, they hadn't been so awful?  

She brushed her fingertips to her cheeks.  "Sebastian, what do you mean-" 

Before she could finish the thought, a new voice from behind her interrupted their conversation.  "Hello, dove." 

Again, she jumped a good inch in the air, nearly tripping over her feet into Sebastian's chest.  Ominis's smooth aristocratic voice was recognizably familiar.  However, the new nickname for her, "Dove", was certainly not.  Since when was Ominis, the boy who was bred upon fine etiquette, ever so forward with his female friends?  She turned around, blinking in confusion.    

Whatever strange phenomenon happened to Sebastian over the summer seemed to have inflicted itself upon Ominis was well.  In only a couple of months, Ominis had sprouted as tall as a giant.  His legs seemed to travel forever.  It didn't hurt that he was always dressed so well, the well-fitted expensive fabric clung to the sharp lines of his body.  She couldn't help but rudely ogle at his pale neck.  With his high cheek bones and beauty marks, Ominis had always been unfairly pretty.  Unfortunately (fortunately?), it had only gotten worse over time.

Her brain finally caught up with her.  She had been staring rather rudely for a while.  Finally, she blinked, registering the new, odd, nickname Ominis called her.  "D-dove?"  She repeated dumbly.

Ominis smirked, getting closer to her.  Wow, even if she got on her tiptoes, she wouldn't be able to meet him at eyelevel.  "Is that not what you are: an innocent, beautiful bird amongst the sea of hawks?"

Her throat was dry.  Who taught Ominis to talk like this?  In their sixth year, Ominis was nothing but curt, overly formal, and incredibly testy whenever Sebastian was around.

Was this even Ominis at all?  Perhaps this was Polyjuice.  Or maybe it was a prank.  Ominis hadn't taken too kindly to her prank as Headmaster Black all the way back in their 5th year.  Yes, this was certainly some sort of jest to make her feel incredibly nervous. 

It was working.

Her tongue darted out to lick her dry lips.  "A-am I to understand, in your analogy, that I am your prey and Sebastian and you are the hawks hunting me?" 

Ominis was so close to her.  She couldn't help but take a step back, only to nearly step on Sebastian's shoes.  It seemed as though the path blocked by Ominis in front of her and Sebastian behind her.  Her head swiveled around.  Neither of the boys seemed particularly upset at the violation of her personal space. 

Sebastian threw his arm around her neck in a friendly manner that was anything but causal from her perspective.  "Ominis, give our poor girl a rest!  She's had a rather long journey after all."  Sebastian winked.

Her muscles stiffened in surprise.  Sebastian was always a more tactile person, always clapping his friends on the back, always pulling her close to his side in a duel.  None of that was new…but the thickness of his biceps certainly was.  As his biceps flexed around her neck, she shivered.  She could feel the toned fibers of the muscle straining against his Hogwarts robes.  Was Sebastian always so muscular?

What…in Merlin's name was going on?  Her brain felt so foggy, maybe it truly was some type of hex they secretly cast on her.  Shaking her head, she tried to get rid of her dazed state of mind.  She needed to gain some type of normalcy to this frankly bizarre exchange. 

Coming up with nothing to fix this rapidly escalating situation, she stuck out her hand for a handshake, as if she was greeting an old acquaintance instead of one of her closest friends.  Even as she did so, she cringed, already feeling so awkward.

"Um….how was your summer, Ominis?" 

Ominis's thin hand reached up to hold her hand, but instead of shaking it, he held it in his.  Her body stilled, frozen in place, not wanting to ever let go of him.  Before she could even react, he bent at the waist bringing her hands up to his lips.  His cold lips brushed against the top of her hand, in a very polite kiss.  It was a featherlight touch, barely there, but it still left a searing burn on her skin that travelled up her arm.  Her heart was pounding in her ears.   

This…wasn't…she wasn't trying to offer her hand for him to kiss it!  Sure, it was normal, even respectful for any gentleman in this day and age to greet a lady in this manner but…common courtesy dictated that it last no more than a few brief seconds.

…and…well, time seemed to be moving differently, but she was certain that his kiss lasted far longer than normal.

As Ominis (quite sadly) pulled away, the bustling noises of the other students around them came back to life.  She was suddenly reminded that they were not alone.  Sebastian, jealous, envious, possessive Sebastian, had bore witness to it all.  Even if it was a polite gesture between friends, there was no way in hell that he would allow it to happen.

She looked back fearfully, terrified that Sebastian's infamous temper would boil over and lash out at Ominis.

To her shock, the same flirty look was on his face.  "Why Ominis, leave some for me next time?"

She felt lightheaded.  She never labelled herself as one of those highbrow fancy ladies who needed a fainting chair everywhere they went but…at this rate, it might be a good idea to conjure one up anyway.

This all had to be attributed to the vapors of the Hogwarts train, a collective moment of craziness or delusion that they all shared.  They were all having an active psychotic break.  Or…some type of magical curse.

"I…I need to go um…" Her brain came up blank.  "-say hello to Poppy and Natty!"

And, the hero of Hogwarts and the most powerful witch of their generation, fled the scene with as much grace as she could muster. 

As she turned to look back, Sebastian sauntered close to Ominis, learning his shoulder against his.  Their bodies pressed closely against each other, uncaring of the lack of personal space.  They both looked completely unperturbed at how she rudely brushed them off.

She shivered.  What in Merlin's name was going on with them?

Part 2

[bekkathyst]

New Shipping Policies / Announcements

This post is going to explain our new procedures for shipping as well as some other announcements! This will apply to both Tumblr sales and the online store.

Shipping Costs: As I've been explaining during the last week or two, we are no longer able to offer free shipping. To avoid having to close our shop for good, we will now be replacing the free shipping we used to offer with a discounted shipping rate. It costs us 25€ (~$27) to send an average-sized parcel to the US, but we will charge a reduced price of $15 per package. In the future, if you order a particularly large amount of items at once from the online store, shipping may be around $20 instead, but that is for extra large items/high quantities only.

EXCEPTIONS: If you have an open box that was started before these changes took place, this will not apply to that box. That box will follow the old rules (free shipping after $60) but, of course, if you are willing/able to pay for shipping, we deeply appreciate it. Any box opened after today will have to follow the new rules.

Open Box System: To get the most for the shipping cost, you may choose to order/pay for items from one sale and ask us to hold them here. That way you can wait until you purchase more from future sales to make the shipping price more worth it for you. You will only pay shipping once, just make sure to let me know you want to keep your box open. Once you're ready, just ask us to ship and we'll combine all your orders into one box to send out to you!

Crystal Sales Moving Forward: I am aiming to have one large crystal sale per month, from now onward. I will announce and start previewing sales about a week beforehand, and I hope to keep to a more regular schedule from now on. I am also going to focus on having these themed sales! And I will most likely be able to offer the personal shopping/mystery boxes from the gem shows like I did last year.

Jewelry: I aim to have a new jewelry collection every two months or so. There will be some other offerings in between, but we will just see what works out! Any jewelry purchase can be combined with crystal sales for open boxes. My next jewelry collection (the BG3 inspired collection) is likely to be released at the end of March!

I just want to keep you all updated so you know what to expect and you can better decide if you want to keep an open box or not. I would also love to take any requests for future crystal sales or even themes you'd like me to try to organize!

Any questions? Please ask away! I am happy to answer.

All in all, if today goes well, we will hopefully be able to come back stronger and build a system that works much better for us than the previous one. I have faith in our little shop :)

Thank you all so much!

[stillness-in-green]

Hi, are you still working on the AFO Retcon Essay? You mentioned a few times you are not sure if Horikoshi retconned AFO's original plan or if he always intended for AFO to take over Tomura, but made AFO act somewhat contradictory from the start regardless. Did this ever make you feel like there are too many possibilities in regards to Horikoshi's original intentions to take into account and could therefore make it harder to write the essay?

Hi there, and thanks for your interest! I did actually talk about this a good while back, towards the beginning of the year; you can find that post here. It says pretty much exactly what you did and goes a bit further--that I'm so distrustful of Horikoshi as a writer that I have no idea anymore what might have been retconned and what was his intention from the start, and further, that even if something was his intention from the start, I don't trust him to have laid the groundwork for those intentions with honesty or good faith.

Instead of the AFO Retcon Essay, what I've been poking at instead is some sort of massive retrospective of all the problems with BNHA's endgame. That's going to require a reread on my part, and some decisions about formatting--namely, do I want to do the reread privately, on my end, and then write the Mega Chonky Essay and post it when I'm finished, or do I do it publically, read-along liveblog style, documenting the problems as I go?

At the moment, I'm leaning towards the second. I have some tentative ideas about keeping a running list of (to use a witticism from the Twitter fen) Themes & Such, ideas and ideology the series sets out and how well it lives up to those ideas--or how it fails to. I'd also like to keep track of things like character arcs and foreshadowing, documenting things with an eye to where those arcs go, what the foreshadowing amounts to, whether the series keeps its implicit promises, and so on. I suspect it would wind up looking something like a cross between the heteromorphobia essay and my chapter thoughts posts.

On the other hand, a format that deals with one group of problems at a time could feel more focused, discussing all the evidence at once of any particular topic rather than having to keep many (many) plates spinning across a retrospective of the entire series. I also already have the broad outline for that, since it was my plan last time I was seriously poking at the idea. It would probably still end up being posted in multiple parts; the parts would just cover different groups of characters or aspects of the series per installment, rather than e.g. each installment covering an arc and everything in it.

I suppose there's nothing stopping me from doing first the former and then the latter? I'm planning to reread the whole series anyway, after all.

In any case, I like that kind of installment-based format not least because I'm also in the early stages of getting a Patreon set up aimed at supporting my meatier chunks of fandom writing and potentially giving people some ability to point me at this or that topic. A multi-part analysis of BNHA--something in a similar style as my documentations of heteromorphobia, the problems with the anime's adaptation of My Villain Academia, or even, to reach back to an older fandom, my episode-by-episode write-ups on Human Debris in Gundam IBO!--strikes me as a good way to get that off the ground.

I've got one or two things to finish getting off my plate before then, and I'd want to wait until the last volume of BNHA officially comes out (12/4) just in case of any thirteenth-hour surprises, but keep an eye out! I'm not inclined to paywall my writing, but maybe an early access sort of model? I'm also going to want to find a blogging site that's more aimed at hosting long-form writing than Tumblr is. We'll see!

In the meantime, to give everyone an example of the kinds of things I'm looking at tracking through the story, one of the things that most vexes me about the ending is how it not only fails to resolve its contradictory ideas of saving and heroism, it feels to even recognize those contradictions. Here's a chunk of my notes on that topic from the outline of The Mega Chonky Essay in its current form.

• Nana says saving isn’t just saving someone’s life, but also making sure they’re smiling in the end. But that means that saving their life is the prerequisite. If Eri died smiling, her smiling would not prevent everyone from recognizing her death as a tragedy.         • “Perfect Victory” is defined as both “winning” and “saving” flawlessly—that is, every fight is won, and no one is left unsaved. This is introduced first as an ideal for Deku and Bakugou to strive for, with both of them needing to work on different parts of the equation, and continues to be an aspect of Bakugou’s characterization, as it comes up again in Joint Training. But it doesn’t stay locked to them, as All Might says directly to the American pilots that they can’t be allowed to die because the kids are aiming for a Perfect Victory.         • A pivotal question for Toga and the larger series is, given that Heroes are supposed to save people, how do Heroes justify killing Villains? Do they not think of Villains as people?         With all three of these ideas in place, the challenge becomes how to navigate the endgame to a place where all three concepts are honored/resolved. The ending must demonstrate that Heroes do see Villains as people while also being able to achieve their desired Perfect Victory—they must win against the Villains while also saving them, where “saving” means that the Villains’ lives are saved and they’re smiling in the end.         Or must they? After the first war, the series introduces another concept of how to save people, albeit one that runs directly counter to Nana's definition of a saved person as someone both alive and smiling: Gran Torino says that killing someone can be a way of saving them. He and Nana can’t both be right, so to confront and resolve that discrepancy, the story will have to acknowledge one of them as wrong. (Spoilers: It does not.)         In the end, Toga dies, and Deku kills Shigaraki, and if both of them die smiling, well, you sure as hell can’t say the same for e.g. Gigantomachia or All For One or Dabi or any of the thousands of unhappy Villains who wound up in prison (many of them likely bound for the gallows!), alive but decidedly not smiling. Heck, All Might, in trying to console Deku, moves the goalposts even more by suggesting that all Deku needed to do to get the credit on “saving” Shigaraki was make sure his inner child wasn’t crying anymore. Not only does he not have to live, he doesn’t even have to be smiling! An absence of obvious grief is enough!         Thus, you wind up in this place where you have an unsolvable problem: somewhere along the line, either someone failed or someone was wrong, and the story, in being unwilling to confront that disharmony, winds up undermining other established themes and goals. Did the kids “lose” because they failed to meet the criteria for the Perfect Victory? Was the definition of “saving” wrong? Was Gran Torino wrong or was Nana? Was the definition of Perfect Victory wrong? Was Toga correct in her fear that Heroes don’t see Villains as people?         No matter what the answer is, it runs afoul of some previously established Theme in the story. Even if the idea is that the ending is downbeat and bittersweet because the kids failed (and the story is using All Might’s goalpost-moving to resolve the dissonant definitions of “saving” in Gran Torino’s favor), that still means yet another theme is violated: that of BNHA being a story of how Deku+his classmates become “the greatest Heroes.” After all, the story also defined “greatest Heroes” for us! The greatest Heroes are those who can achieve Perfect Victory.

Whatever form this essay winds up taking, these are the sorts of concepts I want to discuss in terms of how the series sets them up compared to how it winds up following them through.

Thanks for the ask!

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hello :-) I was just wondering if you have overall thoughts now on how you feel about The Drop in series one now we’ve seen all of Louis’ perspective on what happened?

I’ve been mulling it over (and trying to separate it from the fact I find the discourse in fandom about it (Lestat) annoying). I can see why the show runners wanted to do it; it makes the relationship’s toxicity much more clear and Lestat was abusive in the books, just not as clearly as 1x05 lays it out. So I can see why they wanted to give Louis (and especially Claudia) that much more motivation. I did also find Sam’s reasoning - that it’s important to show Lestat’s underlying toxic masculinity more clearly - compelling too. But I also just don’t like that they did that to Lestat. I do think it’s something that changes who he is and what he’s capable of. But maybe I’m just too much a Lestat girl and it is better for the story and it’s actually just laying out some difficult truths about him in a way that’s not comfortable. Obviously he’s a monster, even if in the books he’s a monster that generally tries his best to help and care for those he loves. Where do you land on it?

(I totally understand if you don’t want to open this can of worms, but I’d be interested in the discussion or you pointing me in the direction of your previous thoughts if that’s easier)

Hey!

All good. I have talked about this a few times, so I'll try to... condense where I am at this moment :)

So, re that "toxic masculinity" and the arc they're aiming for... I think it's important to remember here that Akasha does aim for Lestat as her tool because she does see "everything wrong with the males" in him. So that arc makes a lot of sense for them to set up.

Ultimately this is what she misjudges Lestat on though, and why she, why her quest fails - he actually isn't, and he turns against her because he isn't.

I said it before, the abuse is in the (first) book - but not at this level. And not with the added layer of domestic violence, and I think that level will come back to bite the show in the ass again and again (and the fandom is a mess because of it), because what the show showed - and what they let stand for almost two years - is something decidedly different than "two vampires fighting". Which we're supposed to take away from it now. And which is "only" the inside part of that... fight.

The outside has been hinted at in the video with Sam you're referencing now as well, totally apart from the missing blood everywhere which makes the scene unlikely to have happened as shown, there was also the hint re... something else, that Sam caught himself on. I have theorized early on that the outside might be connected to Amel, and I do think that might hold true. Which is no excuse, btw, since Amel uses certain skills and tendencies. We'll see.

So now the drop.

I am not sure if we have seen all, tbh. There were comments about something about the "blood of Akasha" that was cut from that scene, for example. It would certainly makes sense with the tower scene. Also Lestat being so frustrated with Louis and whatever discussion they had up there to drop him? Still doesn't make sense to me, but I guess that's more or less confirmed now. Still reeks like the tower drop parallel to me (that we might get in s3, who knows).

I think there is something quite powerful they could do with the drop vs certain upcoming book canon "flying scenes". I know some fans said that they destroyed that scene with 1x05, but I actually disagree. The level of trust needed would actually only enhance where they are with each other then, but we'll see.

So. After the comments re "toxic masculinity" etc (mostly by Sam) it made click for me.

I think I know why they're doing this, I think I know how they'll spin it. But I don't particularly like it.

Still, it will likely work. In the end.

After a lot of (fandom) pains.

[askagamedev]

There was a popular video a few years back (What games are like for someone who doesn't play games). It struck me as a gamer because of how much unwritten "gamer intuition" that we just learned over time and tutorials sometimes seem to take this for granted (ie Day9's criticism of Tears of the Kingdom). What do gamedevs keep in mind when crafting a tutorial for gamers but also for newcomers to gaming or the genre of the game?

Most game dev teams have a strong idea of who our game's target audience is, and that includes the kind of context they should already have. If we're building a big budget AAA first person shooter, we can expect that our representative player recognizes and likes first person shooters and is likely already familiar with the basics of how to play them. It is unlikely we will need to teach them the very basics like how to move about the map and aim or what strafing is. If we're building a casual mobile game where we expect our representative player is new to games and lacks the context needed to play, we'll need to spend more effort to teach them that context.

The need for tutorialization is especially high in two major cases:

When introducing new kinds of gameplay for which there the player doesn't have much or any existing context from other games or real life. Players have no context for the new gameplay, so they need to be taught much more carefully so they can learn. If you've ever seen a player play Dance Dance Revolution for the first time, you'll see what I mean - there's a lot of awkwardness before they start to look more comfortable with playing it. Final Fantasy 13's role change system was similar - it was so significantly different from conventional wisdom that the tutorial elements were spread out over many hours in order to get players familiar with it.

When introducing gameplay that specifically conflicts with conventional wisdom. Players already have habits, conventions, and muscle memory associated with that kind of gameplay, so having things work differently will require a lot of unlearning the old habits in order to learn the new ones. If anyone's played the first Mass Effect, you'll probably understand - the aiming and reticle system in Mass Effect 1 is a façade. Putting the crosshairs on a target's head and firing will not guarantee a headshot, even with a sniper rifle. This choice broke a lot of established shooter conventions and caused significant player confusion.

In these situations, it is a good idea to spend significantly more resources on tutorials than games with more traditional gameplay. We, unfortunately, don't always get the resources to do that. In those cases, it ends up hurting the game's reception because players will often miss the features entirely and then complain they aren't there.

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[breadandblankets]

CivE Duke - inspired by this post by mysterycitrus

This was one of Duke's favorite parts of his job. Not that one, the other one, the civilian one.

"Duke Thomas," his mother had told him when he got his engineer's seal crimp in the mail. "Is every bit Gotham's hero as much as The Signal is."

Every other week it seemed he donned his steel toed boots, hard hat, and high vis and went to look at the bones of some old building.

Most days were sat at his desk in a nice comfy high rise in Old Gotham, eyes glued to the searing white of some ancient as-builts on his screen. (As-builts, especially in Gotham, were more of a suggestion than a rule, his team had started calling them "Maybe-builts" and it fit more than he'd like.)

Gotham, in Duke's experience, had good bones for the most part. Even caked in years and years of grime, asbestos, and mob snitches, there was beauty in pulling away the facade to look at all that union-made bessemer steel.

Today on the chopping block was a Park Row mid-rise, slated for either refurbishment or demolition, all depending on Duke's word.

It wasn't anything even close to the rush of saving a life, but there is a light feeling he gets, knowing that some old structure can be reused.

Duke knows its a little silly to get sad when something old is beyond saving, especially when he signs over it's death.

"It's like a forest fire," his dad had told him once, after he watched his first controlled demolition. "You gotta burn out the dead things so new things can live."

This building though, Duke has a good feeling about it. Or at least that is what he tells his trainee, Ines, while he scans the building with his X-ray vision.

Ines Borja is a bright kid fresh from the hell that is Gotham U's CivE program, she's not a Gotham native but while living here she fell in love with the city (and it's cost of living). According to her, New York isn't much worse, Gotham's just weirder.

Weird is, unfortunately, Duke's bread and butter. They pick through delapidated rooms with crumbling sheet rock with mostly intact concrete encased steel. He spots some areas with crumbling concrete that he points out to Ines, who dutifully takes photos.

"Those are areas we'll need to test for water penetration and corrosion," Duke explains.

He's explaining other testing that will need to be done, radar of the foundation, metallurgical testing, etc, when they hear yelling outside.

For a moment Duke ignores it, but the hard walls carry echos of what's being said.

"I'm not going to ask again, your money asshole!"

The flat thud of a notebook hitting the ground is the last thing Ines hears as Duke takes off like a shot.

His site walk boots are heavy, much much heavier than his Signal boots. They're for protection and insulation from the hard concrete he has to stand on all day. They're so not meant for running, he thinks as he barrels out of the survey site and around the corner.

There are two figures in the alley when he stomps into the scene, slipping his hard hat off. The mugger is on the younger end, thats about all the analysis Duke gets to do before he sees the gun.

It's nice sometimes, Duke things, as he spins like a discus thrower, to fight normal city problems. He's liable to get bogged down in big world ending shit that sometimes its just nice to save a mugging victim.

The reinforced plastic leaves his fingers in a rush, aimed straight and true, slamming into the gun in the mugger's right hand.

Both the mugger and muggee have a moment of shock before Duke slams into the first guy like a freight train, knocking him out of the confrontation and onto the ground.

"I'd advise you sit down for a moment," Duke says to the would-be mugger, flatly. He turns to the shaking older man.

"Sir are you alright," he asks politely.

"I am now," the older man, well dressed but not wealthy in the way that Duke knows people in the town are. "Thank you very much."

"Alright then," Duke says calmly, he fishes in his pockets for one of the many business cards he always keeps on himself. It's for a therapist, and a good one in Duke's opinion. A profession in too short supply in Gotham. "Might be best if you get on with your day, I'll stay with this young gentleman here."

The older man is clearly a true Gothamite, because he doesn't protest, just moves along. Probably not even the most traumatic thing the guy's witnessed in the last year.

Duke turns to young man on the ground, who hasn't moved a muscle from where Duke put him just a second ago.

"Hey man I don't want any trouble."

Ines chooses this moment to catch up, her skin flushed and she's panting, She is still carrying all the gear with her, which no doubt slowed her down.

"Bit late for that yeah?" Duke questions with a raise of his brow, he motions with his chin in the direction of the gun. It's a couple yards off, resting comfortably with his hard hat. "What's your name?"

"David sir, i-its not even loaded, just to scare people a bit," all comes out in a rush, the young man, David, is clearly terrified.

"Hey, I know, it's hard out here," Duke placates. Out of one of the seemingly endless pockets on his work pants he pulls out his wallet. Out comes two more cards and a couple of bills. "Listen, here's fifty bucks, go get yourself something to eat."

"I-"

"Hold on, I'm not done," Duke says. "This is the information for Leslie's clinic down the street, she can help you with a lot, or just point you towards someone who can. If you need anything else this is the Wayne Ent outreach office, the director there is Elaine, tell her Duke sent you."

"You- you're not going to call the cops?" David asks, bewildered.

"And have them do what? You're robbing a man for twenty dollars with a gun that has no bullets," Duke observes. "You clearly don't need jail time you need a hand."

As if to illustrate his point, Duke reaches out to help him up. David hesitates for a split second, before accepting the offered hand.

"Seriously thought," Duke continues. "Leslie and m-Elaine helped me though some of the worst times of my life okay, reach out to them, they can help, you're not in this alone."

David looked like he was about to cry.

"Thank you man, just thank you."

"Just looking out for my fellow man," Duke replies. "Now get going I got work."

David laughs a little at that before shuffling awkwardly by Ines. Duke turns to look at her.

"You are like, officially the coolest boss I've ever had," she tells him seriously.

"No way, didn't your last boss bow hunt wild boar?"

"Yeah but that's jack all compared to my Apparently incredibly based current boss."

Duke chuckles: "You don't even know about my teenage years."

"What, you were doing child anti-cop anarco-communist action?"

"More or less."

"Based as fuck," she says, amazed.

Duke just shrugs.

"My mom always said: never accept the world as it is, make it better. And so I do, so i will."

Duke turns a little, to look back at the mid-rise that will have new life breathed into it sooner or later.

So I will.

[ggomos-maribat]

3 | the list

Part 3 of Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Dead | Masterlist

Tim's eyes widened. "What? When?"

"Three, four years ago?" Jason racked his memories. "I wasn't sure at first but when I saw her photo, I remembered. I was in WE, and there was a class taking a tour around. There was one girl who fell behind alone from the group. Marinette."

Yet again, Tim dived into the computer to confirm it. Meanwhile, Dick also chimed in, "Yeah, I did remember B mentioning a class from Paris before. They won the sponsored trip to Gotham."

"Francois Dupont . . . it was her class! I remember too—I never saw them 'cause Bruce was in charge of it." Tim scanned the files. "Jason, what else did you see?"

"Nothing, really, I just passed by them." His eyebrows furrowed. "Marinette looked like she was isolated from the rest of the class, and no one was talking to her. Actually, she looked like you on a bad day, sleep-deprived, walking like a zombie."

"The records said she was bullying her classmates but . . ."

Jason nodded. "It could be the other way around."

Although Jason only caught a glimpse, those sullen blue eyes were forever seared into his mind. He felt guilty shaking it off when he could've looked more into it. He nearly believed it was karma biting him back knowing that that same girl was now dead.

Dick had the same look of frustration aimed at the puzzle they couldn't figure out. He tapped his fingers on his knee. "If the problem here is the lack of evidence, why don't we go to Paris and look for it?"

Tim's head whipped towards him. "Are you crazy? That was two years ago, we can't just go snooping around the city."

"But if her death wasn't cleared out, there should be at least one person who wants to know the truth, right?"

Jason thought for a while. "Dickiebird's right. If you've hacked your way into all the clues you can find, we won't get anywhere without other statements."

"You're serious? You're actually serious?"

"What, don't tell me you don't want to find out the truth."

"Of course I do!"

"Then it's settled," Jason decided. "Since Dickie here has an actual job to go back to, I'll come with you. We'll go to Paris as soon as possible."

***

"What's that?" Tim heard Jason come up behind him to ask.

"Marinette's medical records."

"Seriously?"

"What? I have to make sure everything is accounted for!" He pursed his lips, looking down grimly at the thin set of papers.

"So what did you find?"

"Nothing. She had no history of illness." The cause of death was the one bothering him to no end. He wished he had looked into it himself two years ago, but of course he had no way of knowing it back then. All it took was one celebrity rumor to launch their entire investigation.

While he began gathering up the documents on the dining table, Damian walked in, sour mood and all. "I heard from Pennyworth that you're going to Paris."

"Yeah, we are. We need to look more into her death, and the answers are there." Jason sat on the chair next to Tim.

"Father permitted this?"

"The more important question is . . ." Tim looked up at their youngest brother and scowled. "Why didn't you tell me about this before? You were there when we found that accusation on Lilia Ross."

Tim remembered it clearly—it was about a year ago: a hot summer day, endless complaints of boredom, and him shoving a stack of folders into Damian's hands.

Damian crossed his arms defiantly. "I've found nothing in that case. What makes you think you will?"

"He knows about the case?" Jason questioned.

"One day he was complaining about having nothing to do, so I gave him my pending cold cases to work on," Tim explained, "One of those was Marinette's case."

"There aren't enough clues," Damian clicked his tongue. "It's only a dead end."

"Did you think about flying to Paris, hmmm?"

The boy looked away haughtily and didn't answer. Tim peered at his expression. "See? That's why we're going to the scene of the crime. To get more clues."

"Whatever." Damian began to head towards the exit. "As Father said, Lilia Ross hasn't done anything directly to WE; there's no reason to go this far."

"It's for Marinette's sake," Tim whispered under his breath. He made a mental note to hack through Damian's devices just in case he found something they didn't.

He turned to Jason. "So, who should we talk to first? I automatically veto any vote that goes to her parents."

For one, Tim couldn't think of any excuse to come knocking at the Dupain-Cheng's door and suddenly ask them about their daughter. Even if they could play the authority card, he didn't want to reopen wounds of their grief. Besides, their police testimony is pretty detailed—we're better off starting somewhere else.

Jason sifted through the papers. "What about him?" He pointed to a picture. "Her parents said she was closest to him in their class."

Adrien Agreste. Famous model, joined Marinette's class in college, Tim looked over the file. His mother, actress Emelie Graham de Vanily died when he was young. His father, founder of the Gabriel fashion brand passed away not long before Marinette did.

"I think he's staying in Paris right now," said Tim. "He took a break from his job months ago, and apparently he just stayed in France the entire time, in the Agreste manor."

"Why the hiatus?"

Tim shrugged. "Dunno. Must be the pressure . . . there were rumors saying that his father started being overprotective when his mother died. Switched him to homeschooling until he entered Dupont and started his modeling career early."

Jason frowned. "More like controlling, not overprotective."

Tim could only imagine the psychological stress on him. First, he lost a parent at an early age and became sheltered, then he lived in a city plagued by an emotional terrorist, and then suffered the loss of a friend. No wonder he took a break.

"Aside from Adrien, who else?" Jason continued.

"Marinette had a couple friends who didn't go to Dupont," Tim suggested. "Kagami Tsurugi and Luka Couffaine. They're not in Paris right now like most of her former classmates, but I can arrange something online."

"What about their former teacher? Bustier?"

Tim shook his head. "She wasn't their teacher at the time Marinette died."

"Who else then?"

Tim thought for a moment. "Aside from the ones closest to her, I want to talk to those who weren't. Acquaintances, maybe. Regulars at their bakery. Maybe they noticed some change in her behavior. I can't give any names right now, but we'll have to see who we can talk to when we get there."

They looked at their hastily-scribbled but underwhelmingly short list. At least it's something, Tim thought.

***

Paris greeted them with gray weather, as if a bad omen was about to come upon them. The rain would shift from drizzles to pelting storms, and the throngs of people seemed to own only black-colored umbrellas. Even the Agreste mansion stood lonely and hollow in the street, a shell of modern architecture. It was by no means unkept, though its tidy state but lack of occupants was eerie to witness.

It was Adrien himself who showed up at the door and guided the two of them up to a study room. Judging by the mini-runway at the center of the room and the large painting resembling Klimt's The Woman in Gold, Tim guessed that it once belonged to the senior Agreste.

"Um, can I get you both anything to drink? There's coffee, tea, juice or water," Adrien offered.

Jason gave Tim a look clearly warning him against taking another cup of coffee. I haven't even had that much today, Tim thought bitterly but replied for the both of them: "We'll both have tea." It seems fitting for the weather.

Adrien nodded and slipped out to get the drinks. Tim took the opportunity to take a peek around. Although the place had unmistakable signs of its origin, there were also a few touches here and there that he felt was solely Adrien's choice: the desk lamp in the shape of the Eiffel, the runway seats with cozy blankets and throw pillows, the multicolored carpets under the table, and the photos of Parisian heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir on the wall. A bright pastel pink box with polka dots on the lid stood out on one of the shelves, a strange contrast to the greens and blues.

"Does he really live alone?" Jason whispered.

"Apparently," Tim replied, "I think he only hires a cleaning service every few months or something."

"That box . . ." Jason pointed out suddenly. "It has an 'M' on it."

"'M' for Marinette?"

Before they could take a closer look, Adrien returned with steaming mugs and a plate of biscuits.

"So . . ." The blonde trailed off. "You said you wanted to talk about Marinette?"

Despite the fake plastered smile and his styled outfit, Tim didn't miss the thin dark circles under his eyes or the way he'd close in on himself. He was smoothly showing a model persona but his real self spilled through cracks.

"We'll be honest with you." Tim leaned forward. "We're both detectives, you see. Her case caught our attention recently and we saw there were too many inconsistencies. We just want to find out more."

Adrien smiled wryly. "It's because of the rumor about Lilia Ross, isn't it?"

Tim faltered. "Yeah, that was what brought our attention to it but I promise we're not with the media or anything! We're not selling information to the press either." He took a breath. "If you don't want to talk about it though, that's fine."

Jason nudged him on the side, silently saying, 'Then what are we here for if he won't talk, you dummy?'

Adrien studied them both, probably getting a read on their intentions. He took a sip of his drink. "I'm also going to be honest. I don't think it's a good idea to look into it."

"Why not?" Tim pressed on. "Did you really think she . . .?"

Adrien's gaze was directed to the ground. Not quite sad, or mournful. Just pensive. "We don't know anything," he said softly. "They never told us anything other than she took her own life."

"Was she acting strangely before that time?" Jason asked.

"Just before her death? No, she wasn't," Adrien answered, "But long before that, she did change somehow."

Tim's thoughts immediately flashed towards the encounter Jason told them about. Was that change because of the bullying?

There was a slight shift in Adrien's expression. Annoyance? Anger? A grudge? "It began with Lila, Lilia Ross, transferring to our class. She was quick to have our classmates worship the ground she walked on, but Marinette never bought any of it. She was vocal about Lila playing pretend when everyone had these rose tinted glasses. Because she seemed irrational about her accusations, Marinette became distant with her friend group and Lila took every opportunity to frame her."

His shoulders sagged. "I wasn't such a good friend to her either . . . I was too afraid to speak up because my father sided with Lila too. But I tried to help Marinette in secret. She wasn't just a student. She was class representative, she worked part time in her parents' bakery. She had design commissions. And everything was weighing down on her."

After hearing the truth, hearing those words from her friend, Tim could've believed it was suicide.

Adrien let out a soft humorless laugh. "It's up to you if you want to believe that, but that's her side of the story. Sure, Lila looks faultless in front of the camera but take it from me who's known her for years. It's all an act."

Tim could feel that Jason was restless too. "After so long, she hasn't been exposed at all? Didn't anyone ever feel she was sketchy?"

A shrug. "The dangerous part about Lila is that once you've realized you inadvertently helped her charade, you're forced to play along to save face. Exhibit A, our class."

"Even after Marinette died? Didn't they want to know why or how? Have they ever considered that Marinette was telling the truth?"

"I think they were too guilty after that, too focused on their regrets so they didn't bother to know more, or they were afraid to know the truth."

Tim stared at the tea he barely drank, where Adrien's sullen face was reflected. "What about you? Don't you want to know?"

Adrien paused. His eyes were noticeably glazed over, and his voice cracked when he said, "I just want her to rest. I saw her at the funeral and . . . she never looked so peaceful. I tried, I begged the police for answers but they said there was nothing they could do . . ."

God, he was completely destroyed, Tim thought. But there was no evidence. It would've been a hopeless case for them.

Adrien cleared his throat and regained his composure. The faraway look in his eyes remained, as if he were remembering his memories with Marinette. Tim made a promise to himself that if they found anything, Adrien would be first to know. There could've been someone who was after her, someone who cleaned up the entire thing to the point of reaching impossibility.

"Erm, after she died was there anyone close to her who acted weird?" Tim asked.

The pointed look from Jason confirmed that it was not, in fact, good timing to ask the question.

Still, Adrien replied to him. "I kept myself here after I heard the news. I didn't really see anyone until the funeral."

"Uh, sorry, shouldn't have asked that."

"It's fine." He waved it off. "You're going to talk to Kagami and Luka too, right?"

Tim nodded.

"I think those two won't speak freely about Marinette like me—they're very very protective of her. Just a suggestion: you can tell them you're re-investigating on the request of someone anonymous so they don't question your intentions. I'll vouch for you."

"Will it be that hard for them to open up?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"They were Marinette's closest confidants for so many years. They'll be suspicious if two strangers suddenly come asking."

"And you're not suspicious?"

He shook his head. "I've changed my mind. I'm not going to stop you if you want to look into it. At least there's two people who are willing to understand who she was, how kind and pure that girl was as someone who lived through a nightmare."

Taglist:@hammalammadamdam @toodaloo-kangaroo @missmadwoman @afanofmanyships @atomicherringpersonjudge-blog

[rallamajoop]

Resident Evil 4 vs 8, and Ludonarrative Resonance

Having fallen so very hard for RE8 late last year, I’m incapable of talking about the new RE4 remake without comparing the two – especially when RE8 now occupies the bizarre position of being simultaneously the remake’s immediate predecessor, canonical-later-sequel, and also other pseudo-remake of RE4.

And it’s hard to appreciate just how much RE8 draws from RE4 until you’ve played them both – in broad concept (sinister bioweapon cult in isolated European village, lengthy castle section, awkward shift towards military-shooter-itis at the end – heck, did you know RE8 was even supposed to have Ada Wong showing up with a sniper rifle to rescue Ethan from cutscenes in early drafts? Because that was definitely going too far) and its initial chapter especially. I’d osmosed the broad strokes, but not, for example, the degree to which the first lycan attack in 8 is basically just the first village assault from RE4: mobbed by an endless stream of regular enemies and the one big guy (who you can defeat, but should probably just try to avoid) in an open environment until an invisible timer runs out and everyone goes home.

It’s not a one-way street: it’s only fair to say that by the time of RE4make, Capcom was re-integrating a lot of what worked in 8 back into the new RE4. But as many elements represent a conscious step back from the reinventions of RE7 in favour of recreating gameplay elements of the original: 3rd person view, visible health bar, etc. The same basic arsenal of pistol-shotgun-sniper-rile becomes available to you in that order, but trying to play Leon as you would Ethan is not going to come off seamlessly.

Leon he can’t block, for one. He can parry, but that’s not the same thing. His knife works very differently, many of its uses contextual. You have to aim before firing now – hitting fire without aiming first makes Leon slash with his knife instead (very annoying when I have the sniper rifle equipped, the enemy is too close for the scope to be useful, and failing to get a round off in a hurry is about to make my life a lot more uncomfortable) – and if you’re aiming, you can’t parry. The gameplay in the RE4 remake is honestly my favourite thing about it (the story is... more of a mixed bag, but we'll get to that), but coming to it directly off RE8 is just a little frustrating until you get your head around it. GDI, Leon, Ethan can make a decent mine that doesn’t go off on its own if it’s not tripped in 30 seconds, why can’t you?

Questionable nitpicks aside though, having gotten the hang of RE4’s combat, the more I think about it, the more the differences between how Ethan and Leon handle do actually work for me, and even make sense from a character-centric POV. Intentionally or not, there’s a kind of ludonarrative resonance to it all.

If you’ve read any video game critique in the last decade or so, you’ve likely run into the term ludonarrative dissonance: coined to highlight all those times when the story a game tells via dialogue and cutscenes clashes with the ‘ludonarrative’, or story created by the gameplay. The classic example is something like the Tomb Raider reboot, where cutscenes linger on the trauma of Lara's first human kill, but gameplay will still see her easily mowing down enemies mooks by the dozen barely five minutes later. See also: any time a character is a total badass in gameplay, but can be easily overpowered by a single opponent when necessary for a cutscene. This kind of narrative inconsistency is to some degree the nature of the medium – it’s a rare game that can avoid it altogether, but it can still throw you out of the experience.

For a more Resident Evil specific example, consider that minor plot point from RE6 which reveals that Sherry (one of the many playable characters) has an Ethan-like healing ability as a result of her exposure to the G-virus back in RE2. This has no effect on gameplay, before or after the reveal: Sherry’s health bar works the same as any other character’s. Even the RE4 remake hits this problem: letting Ashley be carried too far away by an enemy mook is an instant game-over in gameplay, but you’d better be prepared to see the exact same thing happen in multiple cutscenes at specified plot points, with no way to avoid it (c’mon, game, I know they’re just gonna stick her in a room with no guards somewhere, lemme go find her!)

You could arguably find a similar problem to Sherry’s in RE8, where Ethan very-canonically comes back from the dead after having his heart ripped out in a cutscene, even though he can absolutely be killed in regular gameplay. And yet, here, I’m inclined to cut the game some slack – because there is arguably an explanation provided, and it’s suitably horrific.

Ethan may be able to reattach severed limbs and walk off falls from great heights, but having his heart ripped out puts him down long enough to convince Chris he’s really dead – definitely down for the count. And if you pay attention to the (many) death-scenes that play after Ethan is killed by a lycan or moroi, you may notice that most monsters immediately start eating him as they light fades away. Ethan may come back after having his heart ripped out, but being digested may be a step too far.

And Ethan can get eaten a lot in this game. Moreau can eat you. The mould-foetus-monster can eat you. Dimitrescu makes pretty-fucking-clear her own desire to eat you too. Sturm doesn’t, but is certainly equipped to reduce Ethan to a fine, pink mist.  Whether those final-moments were included specifically to fill that plot hole or whether they were just thrown in for ‘ordinary’ horror value I can only speculate, but it’s always nice when all those little, gory details tie together, isn’t it?

If we’re going to take games to task for all those probably-accidental moments where the gameplay and the story clash, it’s only fair to note a few of the ones where they do the opposite (likewise-accidental though they may be). Ludonarrative resonance, if you will.

On a basic level, pointing out that gameplay differences between RE4 and 8 make sense for Ethan’s vs Leon’s respective strengths and weaknesses may be a little too obvious. Leon can stagger an enemy with a bullet and then rush in to finish him off a roundhouse kick or a supplex because Leon is a certified badass with way more training than Ethan (who makes one vague mention of having had military training, presumably as an excuse for why he aims so much faster in RE8 than 7).

But it goes so far beyond that.

There’s the issue of blocking, for one. Ethan can block – roughly holding his hands up in front of himself to reduce incoming damage – but Leon can’t. This was initially annoying, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it as a logical change. Sure, Leon can’t block, but Leon doesn’t secretly have mould-powered super-healing, and trying to tank axe-blows to reattachable parts of his body probably isn’t a viable strategy. What he can do is parry with his knife: a more skill-dependent strategy for a more-skilled guy. Timing is much trickier, but only his knife takes damage – Leon doesn’t, so when it works, it’s much better than blocking. And given Leon has this whole backstory-thing about being trained by a knife-obsessed nutjob, that all adds up too.

Then there’s the thing with ladders. Ethan can fall any distance without taking damage, but convincing him to take a gravity-shortcut doesn’t always work: if there’s a ladder nearby, he’ll take it. Leon, by contrast, clearly sees ladders as a waste of time. Ashley will use them to get down from high places, if there’s one available, but Leon, to my joy, prefers to jump. And again, there’s an arguable logic there that appeals to me: Ethan may be immune to falling damage, but he’s badly in denial about it, and would much prefer to take the stairs. Leon isn’t superhuman, but he knows parkour, and he’s damn well going to use it.

Health arguably follows similar logic. Ethan doesn’t get a proper health bar (maybe you need training to accurately judge how dead you are? IDK), just various colours to tell you roughly how bad this is going, and Ethan will be reduced to stumbling through a distorted red haze if you let him go too far into the red zone. Stumble around long enough without dying though, and Ethan will eventually walk it off, automatically returning to about half-health. Notably, Leon doesn’t get this same power (unless you’re playing on the very easiest difficulty – Ethan remains auto-healing right up to Village of Shadows level). But for a dude who canonically has healing powers, you can’t argue that makes a lot of sense.

The same rules apply to Mia too, when you’re playing her in RE7 – but given she’s been infected with the mould too, that tracks (and even if you did choose her for the cure, who’s to say how well such a haphazard cure even worked?)

This logic does break down a bit in RE8 when you play as Chris, and blocking and walking-it-off remain core mechanics. And if you wanted to get really nitpicky, you might even point out the same mechanics are available to Ethan in his very first fight with Mia in RE7, where he’s (presumably?) not infected yet. But there comes a point where you have to admit that expecting the devs to change gameplay so much for one brief section of a much longer game isn’t really realistic (and would be that much more annoying to get used to for this one tiny section anyway).

Amusingly though, in the Mercenaries DLC, Chris has been reworked somewhat, and now can’t block anymore: hitting the ‘block’ button throws a left hook instead. Which is only too appropriate for Chris Boulder-Punching Redfield – but it’s interesting to note that Lady Dimitrescu (another new playable character) can’t block either.

The only other character in Mercenaries mode who can block is Heisenberg, and he does so by raising a literal wall of sheet metal. Intentionally or otherwise, Mercenaries does kinda seem to cast Ethan’s ability to substantially reduce damage just by holding up his arms as pretty unique.

Speaking of health, Leon and Ethan can both increase their maximum HP – Leon by using yellow herbs, Ethan by eating food cooked for him by the Duke. Ethan, however, can also decrease the damage he takes while blocking and increase his running speed this way. This is the sort of game mechanic it’s probably not worth thinking too hard about, but even so, the idea that mould-man Ethan can enhance his own powers by eating food from around the village where the mould originates (and specially prepared by the nigh-omniscient Duke himself) is something I raised already over in my post on Mia and Miranda – and it fits here too. Leon, meanwhile, can only increase his own durability by buying body armour, then paying even more to keep it repaired (there is a case charm that increases his speed a little too, but it’s bloody hard to get).

There are other little details that follow the same pattern too – whereas in RE8, I found myself mostly using the pistol to finish off any enemies who didn’t quite go down in one shotgun blast, in RE4, I found myself relying on my basic pistol a lot more, even when not going for kung-fu finishers. Mostly, that’s down to enemy speed and ammo availability, but you can’t argue it makes sense that the better-trained Leon would be better-equipped to get the job done with lower-calibre weaponry.

Now, to be clear, I doubt most of these little differences are down to the devs going “okay, this new game is about a mould-superman, how do we work that into gameplay?” when RE7 came out – and I’m pretty sure a lot of how the new RE4 plays is down to an earnest attempt to include as much of the old RE4 as still makes sense. Leon has a visible health bar and can supplex enemies into the dirt because people loved the original, and we’re not here to completely reinvent the best features of the wheel. Half the stuff that screams ludonarrative resonance to me is probably more happy accident as design.

But when, for example, you’re being irritated by the discovery that the only mines available to Leon will just go off on their own after 30 seconds if not triggered by an enemy, it’s nice to be able to tell yourself “bloody hell, guess you need a real engineer like Ethan to make a half-decent mine!” and treat that like an excuse. It doesn’t fundamentally change the way either game plays, but it feels like there’s some rhyme and reason to it, and that’s just a little bit more fun. And they’re both great combat systems in their own fun way.

YMMV, of course.

[ichorblossoms]

wip wednesday three (nothing wrong with me)

thinking of mmmaybe doing these every other wednesday....? we'll see. it honestly just may be whatever wednesday i feel like. i'm balling

usual caveats apply. this is basically the first pass of things, and this snippet in particular is a bit older and now i'm waffling abt when lucy is introduced in-canon so this is one of those scene's that's definitely teetering between actual canon and a character exploration

--- [P3- Grimm POV, it/its for Grimm, they/them for Yarrow]

Have I started a family? Grimm didn’t know where Lucy was going to end up. She was sticking with the two of them for sure, at least until they no longer had to look over their shoulders constantly, but after that? Would she be adopted by someone else? Would Yarrow and it become her parents? It didn’t think it could raise a child, Yarrow had some sort of inclination towards nurturing a kid, but Grimm? Grimm was good at wrangling animals, sneaking around, and aiming a gun. 

Its thoughts shifted to its own parents. They had been good parents, loving, the kind that wanted to have children for the sake of sharing the joy of life with others. Things had been peaceful for the first twelve years of its life, really. A lot of places, a lot of music. But they had died more than half its life ago, how much of what Grimm missed was actually real?

Yarrow would never get to meet them. Then again, Grimm didn’t think it would ever meet Yarrow’s parents either, but from what little they knew, they were still alive—a rope severed instead of snapped. It had a feeling they would have taken a liking to Yarrow. He was charming, and hard to dislike at first meeting. He was also still awake, and shifted to kiss Grimm on the underside of their jaw.

“Everythin’ alright?” Yarrow murmured into its neck.

[the two of them laying there, possibly other flourish details]

“I’ve never told you the name my parents gave me.”

Yarrow stilled. Fully stilled in the way they usually were only in sleep. Grimm couldn’t tell how Yarrow had been fidgeting with their hands or their feet a moment before, only that the whole world had stopped and turned its eyes toward Grimm. All six of them.

“You can’t tell anyone.” Was it too late to back out? No, but it shouldn't.

“Never.”

“And it’s not my name.” It belonged to a dead kid, Grimm only carried it with them for sentimental reasons. 

Yarrow nodded. A blanket of quiet settled on the two of them before he spoke, “You don’t have to tell me, Grimm. I don’t mind if you keep it for yourself.”

It didn’t want to keep it to itself, not with Yarrow, who knew almost everything else about it. Who had given them so much with no expectations in return. Grimm would only die with Yarrow, for Yarrow, or by Yarrow’s hand.

And so it spoke that name, the only gift it still had from its parents, the one that hadn’t been said in years.

“You have a saint’s name,” Yarrow said, amused, “That’s fitting, in a way.”

"What does that mean," Grimm asked flatly.

[mcsquared789]

Update at End of May

Right, it’s been a while since I gave you guys an update. So I figure I will outline what the schedule looks like for the next slate of projects! On an essential level, things are looking really promising for wrapping up Phase 1 way before the end of the year... but we'll see. It all depends on whether I can be prepared with a good backlog of chapters.

So, here’s the rub:

Widowmaker: This was finished well over a week or so ago, and now it’s probably my biggest fic so far other than Iron Man and Hulk??? Not surprising, since sequels require a lot of context and this is... actually a really good entry point into the series. To that end, I am super happy with it — and will definitely be making more of these novella-length fics that focus on original/interim stories. I think they will balance the other fics with more stakes and more complicated plots, and the one-shots as well.

Thor: That leads me to my current project, Thor! I am in the swing of this, and having a blast — writing Jane, Erik and Darcy has been lots of fun. And I am also writing chapters from Loki's POV which have been really interesting, to say the least... hopefully, it's a nice, appropriately tortured perspective. (Can't wait for you Loki lovers to read them. 😉)

Starting in June, I plan to upload chapters regularly every three or four days — and aim to have this fic completed by the end of the month, or somewhere halfway through July. Act I is fully completed out of a planned five, and has seven chapters. As a teaser of what to expect: Act II will have six chapters, Act III will have five, Act IV will have seven and Act V will have eight. (A little uncertain on that last one, but again — we shall see.)

I am really looking forward to you guys seeing where this will go! It will be familiar, I admit. But hopefully, fresh and exciting at the same time, as there will be lots of little changes that might sprout out into big changes... but you will see how it all shapes together when I get back to it in June.

Which leads me to the next project — and the last big one before The Avengers.

Captain America: The First Avenger. Yep, I'm finally getting around to it — and considering how popular Captain America is in particular, I suspect this will find a lot of people. It will be a little dark and gritty, but also with a hint of science fiction that has made this subseries in particular so interesting... but I won't say anymore until it starts getting posted. I'm hoping that will be in the second half of June once I've written enough chapters, and then be completed after July. From then on... we'll see about where Steve Rogers goes next.

As well, I also will be working on two one-shots after both these projects... and one of them will lead directly into Avengers. But I'll talk more about that later. 😁

Alright, I think that's everything! Thank you all for being followers and catching up with what I'm doing. It's not really summer where I am, but I hope there will be enough here to create an exciting summer for you. See you soon!

— (M)

[owlboyarchive]

Interview

So after I heard news of the Owlboy fandub, I was intrigued. I had the opportunity to interview the person who set it all up, @allthedavesallofthem , which is transcribed here. Minor edits were made, but only on my half for misspellings and grammar. Thank you to the voice actors involved with the dub as well as those who set it up, it's amazing to see other fans of Owlboy do such amazing things. Of course, a big thanks to @dpadstudio for making the game itself. The dub can be found at @unofficialowlboydub

Sorry for the preamble, here's the interview. Q is Question (and Qwerty) and A is for the person who set up the dub who I tagged up above.

Q: How long have you been a fan of Owlboy?

A: A friend of mine told me about the game when I was in college, I think it was the year after the game came out when I actually first played it, so about 2017. I was immediately charmed by it. The gameplay was simple yet engaging, and I found the ending incredibly touching.

Q: What led you to undertaking the dubbing project?

A: This is actually my second time attempting this dub. Before I had first played the game, I had also been involved in an amateur voice acting project that attempted to dub the webcomic Homestuck. I had occasionally considered the idea of starting a fandub project of my own, though I had no idea what would be a good thing to actually dub. I didn't really think about it for a while, but after finishing Owlboy, I had really wanted to do something creative around it, and I had remembered the idea of creating a voice acting project again, and I decided I had to do it. I created a casting call and actually ended up releasing two episodes, but I had no experience in managing a project and a chaotic schedule as a college student, so it fell to the back burner and finally fizzled out when I found that my game recording footage had been corrupted after getting a new PC. I didn't think much about voice acting or Owlboy for several more years, but last summer, I was looking for a new hobby to get into, and I remembered how much fun I had with amateur voice projects in the past, so I took an online voice acting 101 class, and it reinvigorated my interest in the hobby. I looked back to when I did the original attempt at the dub, and felt that I could do it better this time, so I decided to restart the project.

Q: What was the hardest part of setting up this dubbing project?

A: The hardest part is definitely coordination. There are a lot of different things that need to come together, and making sure that it all happens smoothly and at the right times takes a lot of work. Game recording, script transcribing, video editing, managing a cast of voice actors, audio editing, and more all have to come together at the right time and work together in the right way.

Q: How many more episodes do you have in the works until the project ends, and do you think you'll do another Owlboy related project (not necessarily a dub) in the future?

A: I'm not actually sure how many episodes are left before the end of the game... I recorded about 16 hours of footage for the game, and I aim for somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes per episode, but I also end up cutting out footage where there isn't much going on, such as long sections of just moving from one place to another or backtracking. My best guess is maybe around 20 episodes? We'll have to see once I finish sequencing all of the raw game footage. I don't think I'm going to want to run another voice acting project myself for a long time - after Owlboy, I want to return more to focusing on being a voice actor over directing projects. As far as another Owlboy project in general? I have no idea. I don't really have anything in mind at the moment, but who knows?

Q: Do you have a rough time frame for the end of the dubbing project? Like, when all loose ends are tied up, nothing left to do but post the video.

A: The current pace I'm targeting is about 3 weeks per episode. If there ends up being 20 episodes and that pace holds up, I would expect the dub to finish in early-to-mid 2025.

Q: Will you dub everything first and then put the lines in, or do you record lines as needed?

A: It's currently a "work-as-we-go" approach. It probably would've been more efficient had I structured it differently and got all of the video recording done, then the editing, then the scriptwriting, then the line submission and audio editing, but I know that without having some tangible results earlier on, it would be harder for me to keep myself motivated to finish.

Q: I understand. I think that's all the questions I had involving the inner workings of the fandub. I have two questions left, but do you want to clarify anything before we move on?

A: I just want to publicly thank the voice actors working with me on the project. All of you have been amazing, and there's no way this project ever happens without all of your efforts.

Q: Here's the last two questions. I saved the 'best' for last. Who is your favorite character from the game, and what scene or moment do you look forward to dubbing most?

A: Favorite character? That's tough. I keep switching between Geddy and Alphonse as I think about it, but I think I'll go with Alphonse. All of the other pirates are these cold, unfeeling killing machines, but on the other hand, Alphonse just has dreams of becoming a stage actor! He can still handle himself in a fight, and his musket blast is extremely handy. Out of the characters that aren't party members, I also really like Solus and his arc as well.

A: I think the scene I'm looking forward to the most is probably the ending sequence, post-final boss. In particular, the interaction with Asio at the end almost had me in tears when I first played. That one's gonna hit hard, I think.

Q: Thank you for answering my questions! That's all I have. Do you have any questions or concerns for me involving anything?

A: Thank you for interviewing me! I don't think I have anything else. I'm always inspired when I see people being passionate about things I've made.

That's it! Once again, a big thank you to the creators of Owlboy, D-pad Studios, to all the voice actors involved with the project, and the guy who set the dub up, who I tagged up above at @/allthedavesallofthem. None of this could be done without you! I'm really looking forward to the next part of the dubbing project.

[chasingfigments]

So here's what I've been up to

Despite the years of relative silence, I actually HAVE been writing, and writing a lot. Most of it just isn't public yet.

September 2021 to January 2023: Planned and outlined a FFXV alternate universe collab with @crazyloststar. (~20,000 words)

January 2023 to present: Started writing the FFXV alternate universe collab. (~76,000 words; 21/36 chapters written; no chapters posted)

January 2023 to August 2023: Took notes for and outlined a FE3H fic about Lysithea returning to Ordelia and dismantling her house, while also being in a long-distance relationship with Claude. (~9,000 words)

September 2023 to present: Started writing the FE3H fic. (~20,000 words; 6/14 chapters written; no chapters posted)

February 2024 to March 2024: Outlined For Some Desperate Glory, a Batman fic where Red Hood kidnaps Bruce Wayne instead of taking over the drug trade. (~7,000 words)

February 2024 to present: Started writing For Some Desperate Glory. (~5,000 words; 1/12 chapters written; 1 chapter posted)

More detail about each of these projects after the cut.

FFXV collab with crazyloststar

If you liked all of our Borders of Divinity bullshit, expect More but also Different. It's another alternate universe/canon divergence, and it's going to be half again as long as BoD.

We're nearly done with Act 2 (chapter 25), which we're scheduled to wrap up next month. We'll be doing a massive continuity edit at that point (it's been well over a year since we wrote chapter one), and once that's finished, we're likely going to start approaching artists for commissions.

According to our writing schedule, we'll be drafting the final chapter sometime in November 2024.

We'll likely start posting before then, but that's going to depend on art and how closely we stick to the writing schedule. We liked being able to post every week with BoD and don't want to risk having to delay a chapter because we're behind.

You'll likely start seeing chapters this year, though it's incredibly likely we'll still be posting in 2025 given its length.

FE3H Lysithea dismantles her house

I'm obsessed with Lysithea's canon ending with Claude, couldn't find anything on AO3 that addressed it, and so here I am, writing it myself.

Also stealing other shit from other endings, but please note--this is essentially the aftermath of a no-recruitment run. It's Golden Deer, with cameos and occasional mentions of other Church-aligned folks.

Claude is off in Almyra for almost the entire fic; here's hoping you're into long-distance relationships when mail delivery takes ages and is not as reliable as the USPS.

I need to get through Act 2 (chapter 9) and do a continuity edit there before I feel comfortable posting.

You'll start seeing chapters this year; maybe late summer-ish. I should be able to get this off my plate this year.

For Some Desperate Glory (Batman fic)

The first chapter is up because I was extra excited and feeling reckless and wanted to get something up the first half of the year when everything else is still months out from being public.

I've gotten my hands on the deluxe version of the UTRH comic; aiming to read it this month. This is likely to cause some additional outline revisions; the chapter count may actually go down--we'll see.

This is the one fic I plan to post chapters as they're finished; the narrative structure is different from the two other projects and won't require continuity checks/overhauls at a specific point.

Hoping to have the entire fic done and up this year. Wish me luck!

[kilfeur]

Voilà enfin fini mon nouveau comic Rayllum avec cette fois ci, un cauchemar de Rayla mais Callum est là pour veiller sur elle. A la base il y avait deux scènes que j'ai pas mit au final, la première est pendant la crise de panique de Rayla, Callum fait toujours le truc avec le pouls mais descend sa main vers sa coeur. Pour qu'elle puisse sentir ses battements puis l'allonger en lui demandant de se concentrer sur lui et sur sa voix. Au final j'ai opté pour autre chose qui on va dire plus réaliste même si je pourrais toujours placer ça ailleurs. La deuxième scène c'est qu'après la discussion du duo, Callum était censé jeter un coup d'oeil à l'arc de Rayla. Pensant aux dernières paroles de Claudia jusqu'à ce qu'il sente la main de Rayla et lui dise qu'il aime quand elle le touche s'en suit Rayla qui l'entoure dans ses bras pour se réchauffer. Je trouvais déjà que ça traînait en longueur et même si j'ai pu mettre le câlin, j'espère que je pourrais mettre la scène de l'arc sur un autre dessin ou bien un one shot par exemple.

At last I've finished my new Rayllum comic, this time featuring Rayla's nightmare, but Callum is there to watch over her. The first is during Rayla's panic attack. Callum still does the pulse thing, but lowers his hand to his heart. So she can feel his heartbeat, then lay her down and ask her to concentrate on him and his voice. In the end, I opted for something more realistic, even if I could always place it elsewhere. The second scene is that, after the duo's discussion, Callum was supposed to take a look at Rayla's bow. Thinking about Claudia's last words until he felt Rayla's hand and told her he liked it when she touched him, followed by Rayla wrapping her arms around him for warmth. I already felt it was dragging on and even though I was able to put in the hug, I hope I could put the bow scene in another drawing or a one-shot for example.

________________________

Page 1 and 2

Rayla : Where I am ?

Claudia : You're selfish, tell me why I don't have the right! All I want is to keep my father alive?! Everything I've done is for my family! To keep him with me! So why am I being robbed of what is rightfully mine?! So tell me you elf… Why should you be allowed to have yours back?

Rayla : Your father wanted to invade Xadia. He allowed a kingdom to be corrupted for his downfall. And you helped him, turning your back on your brother

Claudia : You know nothing! He did it for the good of mankind! Don't try to blame me for anything! When you've abandoned and hurt your loved ones. You came back like a flower, thinking you'd be welcomed. Nothing was going your way. You're no saint! So don't accuse me and see your own mistakes

Page 3

Viren : Tell me, elf, was my hunt really worth it?

Rayla : Ca... Callum. No... I beg you... Don't look at me. Outside, we'll be attacked! I've got to go! Otherwise we'll never reach the tower! Getting Nova's blade is the priority, we can't take a detour! I must protect you!

Page 4 and 5

Callum : Rayla, it's okay, you're not alone. You're here with me and Stella, remember. Can you feel my pulse and my touch? Rayla, relax. There you go, breathe just like me. Good again. We've eliminated the creatures that attacked us. And we've surveyed the area, haven't we?

Rayla : Yes, I remember.

Callum : That's good, Rayla, keep going.

Rayla : And the air dome you created at Umber Torr. You remade it for this cave.

Callum : See? Then breathe again. We're safe, you have nothing to fear. Do you want to talk about it ?

Claudia : You're selfish.

Rayla : Before that, I'd like to know… Why are you so intent on saving my family?

Callum : Eh… Well, why not? Recovering Nova's blade and saving them is like killing two birds with one stone!

Rayla : But...

Page 6

Callum : Rayla, in those two years, we created our own path. We've moved forward and sometimes lost our way, but we keep going. Because we want to achieve our goals. And we've done things for ourselves. Because we thought it was the right thing to do. But also for others, so that they can live in a better day. And finally, so that we can grieve properly. But you have the choice of reuniting with them. You shouldn't waste it when the opportunity is there. You could have continued your hunt. And yet you've come back to us.

Rayla : There are so many things I could have done better. So many things I haven't told you about my two years without you all. Even with Stella, I felt so alone. I was so cold and had nothing. I wish I could have stayed with all of you for those two years. I regret it but I'm here now and I want to stay by your side.

Callum : Rayla, you've always had a place with us. Even when you're reunited with them, that won't change. I promise!

Rayla : You always find the words to soothe me. They are magic! They make me feel able to face anything. You bewitched me and I've always been under your spell. So I can only love you more.

Rayla : I had a nightmare I thought I was going to die.

Callum : Really? And now you're thinking about it?

Rayla : Not so much now that you're here. Of course you do, Stella