#also it really decides de fates of everyone

[honeytrap-graham]

jacob saying leaving with armand was a mutual punishment to both louis and lestat bc their connection is so unique it could never be matched…

[barren-heart]

The Hidden Love Story of What We Do in the Shadows: How The Internet Fell in Love with Harvey Guillen’s Guillermo de la Cruz

I think it’s fair to call this show what it is: a comedy.

The actors have said it’s themselves: the show is 50% improv, 50% script. A lot of what we see is a brilliant collaboration of talent, writing, and the actors saying the funniest thing they can say about something in that moment.

According to Harvey Guillen, some scenes would last 30 minutes each if they didn’t cut it down. That improv is what makes the show what is it: the funniest show on television.

What’s interesting about this little Shit and Fart show (affectionate), is the heart of it all: Guillermo.

Originally the show was looking for an older man to play Nandor’s familiar. The character had worked for his master for 20 years, not 10 as we see in the pilot episode.

Harvey got an audition randomly. At a wine and cheese night of a friend’s, he was invited to audition for the part. It was random, but also, it was fate.

Let me explain.

Harvey Guillen auditioning for the role of Guillermo

(I actually have the full audition tape of Harvey’s if anyone’s interested.) Link below!

Harvey didn’t “fit the part” (Harvey’s words) whatsoever of this character and decided to dress himself to look older, putting on what he calls his Harry Potter glasses and parted his hair down the middle.

The Guillermo we see in the pilot was all Harvey’s idea of what that character should be and the costuming department just ran with it. It’s also fun to point out that to those who don’t know, Harvey created Guillermo’s last name even before he knew he’d play the show’s Vampire Slayer.

I mention this because I don’t think they (showrunner, producers,etc) expected Guillermo to become such a fan favorite. Which kinda explains why his character is the punching bag of season one and why it somewhat changes as seasons go by.

I mean, we don’t even see Guillermo in this season one poster (we don’t see Colin Robinson, either. But I feel like I could write an entirely other post about that character and why I think he’s genuinely the best and most consistently written character on the show. But I won’t right now).

I think they expected Guillermo to be a one-note side kick, which is fine. Many of Harvey’s previous roles were nearly background characters (think Benedict Pickwick in The Magicians).

But, Harvey’s take on the character coupled with his talent at being both comedic and dramatic really shined through. And I think that’s where you start to see that maybe they could do more with him than just being the funny guy in the background.

I also think that’s why you start to see some threading of a more serious plot when it comes to Guillermo’s storyline because of Harvey’s range.

Who would’ve known a funny bit like being a Van Helsing descent in a house full of vampires would get you compelling scenes like the familiar fight The Night Market, Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires, and the Nandor and Guillermo fight in The Portrait?

Harvey mentioned having to train for these and wanted to do his own stunts! And he does them well!

Did they imagine Guillermo being such a badass in the pilot? Probably not. But he is and people took to it. The serious fight scenes (even with bits of comedy filtered in) really stand out in their own as excellent action scenes.

Along with badass scenes, Harvey delivered compelling emotional scenes like Guillermo’s coming out (which Harvey actually cried in as well as other cast and crew, and they had to edit it to not make it too serious), the scene he left Nandor for Celeste, and many scenes in S5’s Exit Interview.

I also think they didn’t anticipate his chemistry with Kayvan Novak. It’s brought up a lot in interviews with them and everyone can tell that they genuinely are really good friends in real life, which makes acting together on screen that much better.

(Funny enough, he was supposed to do a chemistry read with Kayvan before shooting and wasn’t able to meet him until they were on set for the pilot. )

I think in some ways, even though the show wanted it to be a funny Gaston and Lefou type relationship, Kayvan and Harvey had undeniable chemistry you couldn’t deny.

And I think that began to grow with their character’s evolving relationship. From master and servant to friends to sometimes the show and network alluding to them being in a romance (Guillermo’s drunk love confession, Marwa liking what Nandor likes, the Network making videos about shipping Nandermo).

And even Paul Simms (the one who is being grilled for That’s His Boss quote), also said “Guillermo and Nandor is the greatest love story in modern television.”

So yeah, I think originally they started the show with the intention that it was supposed to be similar to the movie that shares its name. The Nandor/Guillermo drama of Shadows the TV show would be so out of place in the movie. The whole Guillermo vampire arc, if it was movie inspired, would not be as dramatic as they have made it in the show.

Looking back to the pilot, I can see that they really tried to make it as close to the source material as possible. But I think it took off in a direction that even the creators didn’t imagine it would go. Just a silly little comedy show about silly little vampires. And don’t get me wrong, it still definitely is.

But the show has evolved. And for better or worse, Nandor and Guillermo’s relationship will be one of the most compelling things about the show and I’m curious where they are going to take it now.

I guess this turned into a bit of an Harvey Guillen appreciation post and honestly, why not? Look at that adorable face.

[blackbird5154]

I'd like to talk about why Rite Here Rite Now has script problems (as well as Ghost lore in general).

Even taking into account that this is a concert movie, a movie in which the presentation of the characters is of secondary importance, there are still certain requirements to that presentation. Over the years, we have been told a story. There is an expectation that there is some consistency in that story: causes must produce effects. I'm talking about the point that in a “good story” the actions of the characters have consequences. If a cold-blooded murder occurs, the characters responsible must either go through an arc of remorse or receive some sort of retribution for their actions. You can't kill three iconic characters and just forget about that and move on. The consequences can be different, depending on how the author wants to develop this theme. But they have to be.

I'm not really clear on how Tobias is developing Copia. The first time he appeared, he threatened Terzo behind his back and promised to stomp him into the dirt. You can still find that video on the official Instagram. Obviously, he was involved in the murder that Sister organized and had a vested interest, or maybe he was even an executioner himself. Either way, he ascended to the position over the corpses of his predecessors, and that's clearly what he was aiming for. Even the introduction to RHRN shows him as a maximally selfish character who thinks only of his own success and survival: he believes that he is a better entertainer than his brothers and that he doesn't deserve the same fate. However, the movie tries to instill in us that Copia is a good man who is worthy of sympathy and hope that his fate will be better than his predecessors. I wonder why exactly he has earned such privileges.

Sister Imperator is portrayed from the beginning to the very end as an overbearing, dominant, cruel woman. She obviously hated the brothers and didn't just organize their murder, but did it with relish (a cruel joke just before the injection). She has taken over all the remaining characters, becoming the de facto leader of the Clergy, and has succeeded in building her empire. She controls Copia's every step and also tells Nihil what to do. Yes, we're shown the motherly side of Sister in the movie: she seems to really love her son and wants to leave him an empire to inherit. But that doesn't atone for her cruel behavior, sadism and the crimes she has committed in the past.

Nihil is shown as an irresponsible and weak-willed man, an unreliable lover, a careless father who allows his sons to die. He tends to wallow in fantasies, replacing reality with them and allowing horrific events to happen literally in front of his nose. He was a bad father to his official sons and a bad father to Copia. He is probably the only one in the movie who went through personal growth: he was finally able to talk to his youngest son, finally became a good father to him. But his older sons are still dead and it doesn't seem to be a problem for him.

Apparently, Tobias decided to move from more gory plots to more family-oriented ones. All three characters are now presented as a caring, somewhat weird, but loving family. Their past has been left out of the picture. They haven't drawn conclusions from their mistakes, they haven't atoned for their wrongs, they haven't gotten what they deserve. The screenwriter seems to have forgotten that the members of this family recently killed each other with minimal regret. It doesn't matter now, because the previous characters are just “taxodermically propped up” stuff. The woman who manipulated other people and destroyed everyone who stood in the way of her ambitious plans, dies a peaceful death in the family circle, having achieved all her goals and leaving an inheritance to her son. A happy ending for the sadistic bitch. She's now a positive character, and her peaceful death closes the possibility for a fairer ending to this arc.

Copia who all along demonstrated passivity, infantilism and inability to make any decision, also got his happy ending. You may feel differently about Copia, but I still remember him wearing Terzo's white gloves in concert like some kind of trophy. I remember him threatening Terzo in a tape deck commercial. Why have we all collectively decided to forget that? This is a man who got everything for free, thanks to his mother's patronage. We're even shown how he spends his free time: playing video games, loafing around and avoiding adult responsibilities like paying bills. He just goes with the flow, accepting the blood-stained regalia that is handed to him. And now once again we see another promotion just falling into his lap. What did he do to deserve it? Yes, I agree, he did a good job on stage during his eras. So did the First, the Second and the Third! However, now they are “taxodermically propped up” and he is Frater Imperator.

Apparently Tobias is now targeting a younger audience and use a more pedagogical style. If this is true, perhaps he should have shown how the characters take responsibility for their past. The statement “live here and now, stop thinking about the past” sounds immoral coming from the mouths of characters who have committed multiple murders and have not repented of them. Injustice and inconsistency are two words that come to mind when I think about how this story ended. Sometimes I feel like these characters are just plastic toys for Tobias to play with, and in the process he forgets where the game started.

The problem is that some do remember. Some remember everything.

[four-loose-screws]

Etie Personality Analysis - Original Japanese vs. English Localization - Fire Emblem Engage

I've received 2 anons in regards to Etie, so I decided to do a full reading and analysis of her support conversation chains!

Even if I've seen her supports translated elsewhere, I'll still add my own commentary to be thorough, and just because I like to talk about FE support conversations that much.

First, I'll cover this anon.

I think the description that Etie speaks more formally, and like an 'ojou' type, in Japanese is pretty accurate.

Here's some notes I took while reading her support conversations (Not going to go into too much detail here, hopefully I describe enough that those without a basic understanding of Japanese can follow along well enough.):

She always ends her sentences with desu and masu. Sometimes even de gozaimasu. (For those who don't know much about the distinct difference between formal and casual Japanese speech, sentences in formal Japanese almost always end with either desu or masu tacked on. Informal Japanese drops them.)

Her 'I pronoun' is atakushi. (For those who don't know much about 'I pronouns' in Japanese, atakushi is not inherently for noblewoman only, but noblewomen tend to use it.)

She ends everyone's name with the suffix san (Equivalent to calling everyone "Miss/ Mrs." or "Mr.").

She ends many of her sentences in wa (わ) - not inherently formal or feminine - but is a common speech trait of noble ladies. Maribelle (from Awakening) is another character that stands out to me as using sentence-ending wa frequently.

She sometimes uses the 'polite' version of a word when one exists, like okata. (Kata is a general word meaning "person." Often used like a pronoun. Adding prefix 'o' makes the word more polite.)

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but gets the point across.

In conclusion, I agree that Etie speaks more formally in Japanese, but mostly in ways that just don't directly translate into modern English, so something getting lost in translation was inevitable.

In English, there's no equivalent to ending one's sentences with desu and masu. There's no longer a formal and informal "I" pronoun. There's no "sentence endings" in English grammar that quite compare to those in Japanese. Etc., etc.

That being said, the localization could have made other word and voice acting choices to make up for the ENG / JP differences, but I don't think they really did. Characters like Maribelle (from Awakening), and Clair (from Echoes), are identifiable noblewomen pretty quickly based on how they speak in localization.

It's hard to tell exactly what direction the Engage localization staff were going in with Etie without official commentary. Maybe she comes off as more casual on purpose, maybe not.

I hope that all made sense, even to those who don't know much about Japanese! Please let me know if you have any further questions!

-----------

Now, for the 2nd anon!

This anon is much more general, so there's nothing specific to respond to. I'll just lead into my full support analysis here.

In short, Etie really is as much of a workout and muscle building fanatic in the Japanese as she is in the English. She feels like an extreme final evolution of Effie's (from Fates) dedication to training. Where Effie being a workout/ muscle buff was more of a side result of her dedication to training to better serve Elise, and the localization played up the workout obsession part a bit; Etie's character leans hard into that angle straight from the original Japanese into English.

Aside from working out and building muscle, Etie's supports are also often centered around her tendency to rush to conclusions, then walk off before the other person has time to explain themself. The rest of the support chain is spent leading up to Etie realizing she made a mistake. With the misunderstanding cleared up, she happily becomes close friends with her conversation partner.

In my analysis of each conversation, I'll focus on discussing whether or not Etie herself and her personality come off as any different; but while we are on the topic, I'll briefly note anything else different about the convos as well.

Etie / Alear

Note: When I use they/them pronouns for Alear, it is to communicate that what I am discussing is true for both male and female Alear.

There's no big notable differences throughout Etie / Alear's C-A supports. Etie herself is the same in Japanese and English.

But as Etie is one of the playable characters under 18, there are several little tweaks to the Ring / S conversation that downplay romantic connotations.

Neither Etie nor Alear explicitly say they are in love in the Japanese by any means, but the use of words and phrases like 告白 (confession) and 離れずに (never be apart) still communicate that the Japanese conversation is more romantic. Still, the changes are very subtle. The main points of the convo are the same in Japanese vs. localization.

Here's my translations of the snippets slightly altered to be less romantic:

#1:

Localization #1: Alear: I’d really like for us to partner up. Japanese #1: [リュール] (Alear) …エーティエ。(...Etie.) 私のパートナーになってもらえないでしょうか…？▼ (I was wondering if you would become my partner…?)

#2:

Localization #2: Alear: Well…that’s not exactly it. Alear: I meant supporting each other no matter what. That’s why I’m giving you the Pact Ring. Japanese #2: [リュール] (Alear) あっ、ええっと、そちらではな��！▼ (Ah, um, that’s not it!) 私と特別な絆を結んでほしいんです。(I want you to make a special bond with me.) この『約束の指輪』を持つ、パートナーとして。▼ (And have this Pact Ring, as my partner.)

#3:

Localization #3: Alear: I’ve been wanting to bring it up for a while now, but I was afraid you’d say no. Japanese #3: [リュール] (Alear) 想告白しようと思ったのですが、(I’ve been thinking of confessing, but) 断られることが怖くて…▼ (I was afraid you would turn me down…)

#4:

Localization #4: Etie: From now on, we’ll always jog together. Etie: You and me are gonna run side by side for a million laps before we’re through. Japanese #4: [エーティエ] (Etie) これからは二人一緒に走りましょう。▼ (From now on, let’s run as the two of us together.) 人生という名の道を、片時も離れることなく。▼ (On this road we call life, we will not part for a single moment.)

#5:

Localization #5: Etie: Then let’s get moving. Last one back to the Somniel is a rotten egg! Japanese #5: [エーティエ] (Etie) さあ、参りましょう。神竜リュール様。(Then let’s go. Divine Dragon Alear.) あたくしたち、ずっと…離れずに、走り続けましょうね。▼ (Let’s continue running together forever… and never be apart.)

Etie / Clanne

No notable changes to Etie's personality here.

There's just a couple minor edits, such as this one in the C support...

Localization: Clanne slept with the pickles under his pillow.

Japanese: He chanted a wish that they would become delicious and exactly how she would like them.

There's a specific childish chant in Japanese, that people will sometimes sing to make something they are cooking come out more delicious. Equivalent to when people say "I made it with love." With that not translating over directly into English, the localization team switched up exactly how Clanne showed his dedication to making Etie a good batch of pickles.

Etie / Alfred

No notable changes to Etie's personality here either, nor to the convo itself. The localized conversation is a pretty direct translation of the Japanese.

A fun little trivia fact though: the Japanese specifically states that the weight Etie adds to her teacups... is lead. Actual lead. Yikes! I have no way of knowing if the localizers wrote that out on purpose or not, but it's understandable if they did.

Localization:  Etie: Well spotted. I did add some weight, in fact. Japanese:  [エーティエ] (Etie) 以前よりも鉛を大幅に足しましたの。▼ (I did add more lead then before.)

Etie / Céline

No notable changes to Etie's personality here either, nor the convo itself. The localized conversation is a pretty direct translation of the Japanese.

Etie and Céline really do just talk this much about tea.

This is the biggest change in wording I found, but it still conveys the same meaning. Etie is getting stronger, and had to have a new teacup made to keep getting stronger.

Localization:

Etie: I had it specially made. The old one wasn’t enough of a workout anymore.

Japanese:

[エーティエ] (Etie) 職人に頼んで作っていただいたんですの。(I requested an artisan to make it.) これでさらなる強化が期待できますわ。▼ (With it, I expect that I will get even stronger.)

Etie / Boucheron

So in the Japanese, Etie asks Boucheron if he's drinking any kind of supplements (like protein shakes or something like that) to get so muscular. She does not believe him when he answers no, leading her to assume he must be doing something more extreme, like steroids... In the localization, Etie instead accuses him of using something a little less controversial: magic (At least, I suppose magic is less controversial than steroids. I think there's room for debate there honestly, ha ha.)

#1

Localization #1: Etie: Ready to tell me what you’re mixing into your food to get those muscles. Boucheron: Hahaha, not this again. I’ve told you before that it’s got nothing to do with my diet. Japanese #1: [エーティエ] (Etie) あなたの筋肉についてですわ。(I’m talking about your muscles!) ブシュロンさんはどんな筋肉増強剤をご愛飲で？▼ (What kind of muscle supplement do you like to drink?) [ブシュロン] (Boucheron) あはは、またその話か。(Ah ha ha, this topic again?) そういったものは飲んでいないぞ。▼ (I don’t take anything like that.)

#2

Localization #2: Etie: So I assume that whatever you’re doing on the sly really works! Japanese #2: [エーティエ] (Etie) 何か素晴らしいものを飲んでいるに  違いありませんわ！▼ (So there must be something really amazing you are drinking!)

#3

Localization #3: Etie: Wait, are you using magic? Unbelievable! The lengths you’ll go just for some muscles! Japanese #3: [エーティエ] (Etie) まさか！　危険な薬物ですの！？ (No way! It’s a dangerous drug?!) だとしたら厳罰ですわよ！▼ (If so, that’s basically criminal!)

But as for Etie's personality, she's no different in the localization vs. the Japanese. This convo is another classic situation where she runs with an assumption her brain makes up entirely on its own, until clearing up the misunderstanding in the end and admitting she was wrong. And the entire convo is focused around body building, that is also very much like her.

Etie / Jade

This conversation was so directly translated in localization, that I have nothing to say about it!

Etie / Lapis

On the topic of Lapis, in the A support:

In the localization, Lapis says “taters,” then corrects herself to “potatoes.” In the Japanese, in this specific convo, Lapis does not start speaking in a remote dialect, then correct herself to hide her rural upbringing. She just speaks her line and does not correct herself on anything. However, Lapis does make attempts in other convos to hide where she is from - so I don’t see this as a change exactly, but the localization making efforts to reinforce established character traits, where English allows the wordplay.

Back to Etie herself, this conversation has no changes. Actually, it has a couple of examples that prove she really is this much of a devoted muscle-head in the Japanese as well!

From the C Support:

Localization: Etie: For me, bodybuilding is life. Japanese: [エーティエ] (Etie) あたくしにとって体作りは、(To me, bodybuilding is) 命と同じぐらい大切なものですわ…▼ (something of the same importance as life…”

From the A Support:

Localization: Etie: Dried potatoes? From a remote part of Brodia? Is that what I think it is? Etie: The high-calorie, low-fat starch that’s every musclehead’s dream?! Japanese: [エーティエ] (Etie) ブロディアの田舎の干し芋？(Dried potatoes from rural Brodia?) それってもしかして…▼ (Could it be…) 脂肪がつきにくく、腹もちがいいと 鍛錬通の間で噂の！？▼ (The rumored food that burns fat, and makes you feel full, spoken of by bodybuilders?!)

Etie / Yunaka

The localization plays up Yunaka's flavor text a bit. Here's an example from the C Support:

Localization: Etie: Hey, Yunaka. Mind doing me a favor? Yunaka: Whatcha need, pumpkin-seed? Japanese: [エーティエ] (Etie) ユナカさん。(Yunaka,) 少しよろしいですか？▼(May I have a moment?) [ユナカ] (Yunaka) なんですかな？▼ (What is it?)

This is not a change exactly, more of an addition; as Yunaka also had a unique greeting in the Japanese - "Yoropippi" instead of "Hiya papaya." To play up that trait of Yunaka's a bit, the localization chose to add more catchy sayings for her here and there. (I haven't read enough of her JP support convos yet to know if she says anything else like "Yoropippi" in JP.)

But as for Etie's personality, again, she was very directly translated in localization. She creates a misunderstanding that has to be cleared up so she and Yunaka can be friends by the end of the A support, and the first thing she's interested in about Yunaka is her muscles.

Etie / Goldmary

So there's a LOT that could be talked about with this support chain overall, more so than almost any other support chain in this game probably.

But staying focused on the topic of Etie's personality? There actually isn't much to say when you get right down to it.

She's the same as ever in the C Support. Her emotions get heated quickly, and she immediately defends herself as the person who should rightfully get to eat the potato/ root vegetable.

In the B Support, tensions are still building, and Etie and Goldmary personally attack each other even more. In Japanese, they fight over who's more attractive to men. In localization, they insult each other's priorities in this time of war. But the core theme is still the same: after getting off on a bad start, they now have an antagonistic relationship and fight over who's better than the other.

In the A Support, both Goldmary is the first to state that she wants to clear things up between them. Etie has an open mind to do so and put the past in the past, so the two can grow to become good friends. While the localization changed exactly what parts of their bodies Etie and Goldmary were... touching, the localized version of the conversation stays true to the overall point this time as well. The two don't have to despise each other for their differences and fight over who's better. Even total opposites can understand each other and come to be... friends. ...Or more. Up to interpretation I think.

So in short, there's no notable personality changes for Etie in this support chain either, I don't think.

Due to the localized and JP convos being so different, I also did a full translation of them. If you'd like to read them, they are linked below:

C Support - B Support - A Support

Etie / Fogado

No changes to discuss here either!

Instead, I have yet another support snippet proving that Etie is as much of a bodybuilder in the Japanese as she is in localization. A workout party is truly the best type of party to her:

Localization: Etie: Desserts are the opposite of a party. Fogado: Huh… I’ve never met anyone who hated dessert. Etie: Hate’s a strong word. I just love my muscles too much to load up on empty calories like that. Etie: What do you say to a workout party instead? Fogado: What kind of party is that? Etie: It’s where a bunch of people get together and do nothing but tone their muscles. Japanese: [エーティエ] (Etie) お菓子は…あたくしの敵ですわ。▼ (Sweets are… my enemy.) [フォガート] (Fogado) エーティエはお菓子が嫌い？▼(You hate sweets?) [エーティエ] (Etie) 嫌いではないですが、筋肉を愛する者にとって、(I don’t hate them, but for those who love muscle,) 余分な肉の増加は許せませんので。▼ (we cannot allow ourselves to gain excess fat.) それより、鍛錬の会なんて如何です？▼ (How about a workout party instead?) [フォガート] (Fogado) それって、何をするの？▼ (What do you do there?) [エーティエ] (Etie) みんなで集まって、(Get everyone together, and) ひたすら筋肉鍛錬をするのです。▼ (focus 100% on building muscle.)

Etie / Panette

And now for the last Etie support, according to how I listed them here!

This one is also very directly localized, so I have little to say. It's another example of Etie brashly rushing to a conclusion - in this case, that Panette is acting like a fake noblewoman - leading the conversation to be about the two clearing things up. In the end, Etie explains that she just wanted to know if Panette is also a commoner who rose to a higher social rank, and they sense they will be good friends from now on.

...And that's the end of Etie's supports!

I think the question as to whether or not Etie's personality is any different in localization is a good one. Many of us in the FE fandom know that Effie was played up to be a bit more of a bodybuilder/ gym girl in Fate's localization.

But almost any one of Etie's support chains quickly proves that her being obsessed with bodybuilding and muscles is no exaggeration in localization - it is all part of the more cartoon-y tone of Engage, even in the JP version.

And while she speaks more like a noble or "ojou" type in Japanese, making her English sound more casual, the otherwise direct localization of her support convos does not make her seem too different in localization. Overall, I'd rate her as faithfully translated into English from Japanese.

Thanks to all who read this far! I hope that was super informative for you, and if you have any further questions or would like to see a full support chain translated, just send me an ask!

[cru5h-cascades]

Okay poll time; need some help deciding on what sort of ending I should have for my Agent 4.

So, in my OCs' canon, 4 gets abandoned by the rest of the New Squidbeak Splatoon towards the beginning of the events of S3. She already wasn't as respected as the rest of the NSS members, so upon hearing that April and her friends beat up Mr. Grizz without her, 4 loses it and silently quits the NSS. When Inkopolis Square got taken over, my 4 decided to enter one of the wormholes surrounding the Square and enters the Memverse and eventually becomes the leader of the Parallel Canons after falling victim to Order, who sympathies with 4 and let her keep her free will as long as she remained loyal to it. Or something like that. Her story, like the rest of Your Side of Order is still in the works.

EDIT (same day I posted this): I'll update this post again after the results come in later and maybe reblog this once I get to the chapter in Your Side of Order where the Side Order crew encounters the Parallel Canon so bookmark this post or whatever

EDIT 3-13-24: made a seperate post detaling 4's relation to the parallel canons if that helps y'all decide what ending you want for her.

EDIT 3-18-24: The results are in, everyone! Agent 4 will be saved (in one way or another) in Your Side of Order! Since a lot of people also wanted to kinda have it both ways, I will incorperate that into 4's story in Your Side of Order. I really liked @many-things idea for 4's ending so I wanna go with something like that for 4 (hopefully this actually tagged them since a bunch of users here use many-things as part of their usernames; @many-things if you're reading this edited version of the post: hi :D) (if any other many-things person is reading this sorry I tagged the wrong person)

[star-trek-fandom-confessions]

#878

I honestly don’t care if Strange New Worlds or other modern Trek shows alter canon. I may not like all the specific things they do, but that’s a different issue than disliking going against established canon altogether, and tbh I get really frustrated with complaints that are not really or mostly about the specific choices being made but are instead more about hating the idea of changing canon itself (and in case anyone wants to say- “but I am just complaining about the specific changes, not just the idea of change itself, so I don’t know what your point is”- I do not mean you. Again, I don’t necessarily like every specific change. But that’s not my issue. I am talking about something else). I just think when you become a fan of a piece of long-running media, you are signing yourself up to be a fan of something that has an inherently flexible canon. Things are gonna get retconned and de-retconned and then re-retconned but in a slightly different way. One writer is gonna come along who doesn’t like a thing another writer did and decide to just forget that it ever happened. Another writer is gonna come along who actually loved that thing and bring it right back. Some of these changes are going to be amazing and put things in a completely new, interesting light. Some of them are going to be horrifically stupid. This is true of essentially every single long-running piece of media I can think of, not just Star Trek (and it’s certainly not exclusively true of new Trek- the older series re-wrote each other’s and their own canon plenty, too- for example, look at the Trill). In a long-runner we can’t be treating canon as an immovable, sacred thing because if you are vehemently against the basic idea of rewriting things that were previously established to be true, what you are signing up for is a piece of media that before long puts itself in a head-lock, gets stuck, and wastes away. When you have so many people over so many years putting their ideas into something, if you force yourself to be beholden to all of them, you run out of places to go. I like Star Trek and I would like to keep having Star Trek things being made. I understand some of them are gonna make changes I dislike. I also understand that that’s the inevitable fate of long-running media, and I would rather have changes I dislike (...which given the nature of the thing, someone else can someday un-make themselves, if they want) than have something everyone is too afraid to try something new with

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

Your book sounds so cool!!!

AAAAAA, THANK YOU SO MUCH! It's called The Tale of the Evil Sorcerer/O Conto do Feiticeiro Maligno and it's free to read over Wattpad, but there isn't an english translation and I prob won't do that any time soon, as I'm going to rewrite it someday.

It's about an "evil" sorcerer who kidnapped a princess by accident, only to fall in love at first sight with the knight who came to save her. Things become worse when the princess figures out the sorcerer was never evil at all, but he's so bad at communication that he just let the rumors spread because it was easier than dealing with them, so she decides to strike a deal: She'll help him try to talk with the knight, who also happens to be her BFF, and in turn he will teach her how to be a sorcerer. And no, the knight has no idea what's going on, and he's also been indocrinated his whole life to beliefe that magic = SUPER BAD.

I love these three idiots so much. The sorcerer is called Meia-Noite (Midnight in english), princess is Valentyna, and the knight is Edgar. They share one (1) braincell and are all doomed by the narrative, except the story has a happy ending for everyone. The only villain who's not sympathetic is a transphobe named Joanne Atropa and she's english-coded. This is not a reference to an IRL transphobe/neonazi author, uh-uh, never! Infodump under the cut:

Meia-Noite is a gay disaster who lives in a fortress he found at age 13 in the middle of a jungle. Goth, anxious, and is actually a healer and not a shadow manipulator like the rumors say. He helps people if they get lost and need someone to treat their injuries because his duty as a healer is capable of overtaking his fear of strangers. He's tall with long dark hair but if the wind hits him a bit too hard he goes flying with it, the guy is a STICK.

Edgar is a bi knight who has trained his entire life to protect the girl he sees as a sister. He's autistic, albino and is REALLY serious about his duties as a knight (he's 17) to the point he forgot about everything else. Outside the harsh exterior he's actually a huge sweetie who loves photography and is super curious about magic, but feels super guilty and bad about it.

Valentyna is a lesbian princess who's a prodigy at almost everything she does, but her parents refuse to teach her light magic and she's desperate to help the people of her kingdom. This girl punched Meia the SECOND she was able to do so during the kidnapping, she may not know what she's doing but somehow she is winning the game. She cares so much about everyone around her! Also adopted an albino snake and named it Açúcar (Sugar) 15 seconds after finding her in the palace's gardens.

My girlfriend also wanted to say this:

[image id: "ALSO YOU NEED TO MENTION AÇÚCAR. lovely baby, has never done anything wrong, most important character". end image id]

Some other characters include:

Olhos de Fogo (Fire Eyes), a HUGE dumbass who's also a sorcerer. Pan king, ranked #1 arsonist over three different kingdoms, also ranked most handsome character by the readers (somehow!!!!! People love to thirst over him!) and has a "very gender" title given by me. Doomed by the narrative except unlike the trio he just accepts his fate because he's a huge loser. If this will end well for him or not it's something everyone has yet to see. My girlfriend has this to say about him:

[image id: "i love my terrible slutty son tho". end image id.]

Angélica, Meia's adopted sister, can see the future sometimes and is also a fashion enthusiasts. Use the people in the "fortress" she lives in as test subjects for her clothes, girlie is always tired and a bit terrified of the future ahead but trying her BEST to stay positive. And failing. I want to give her a special treatment in the rewrite because I think she deserves it.

Comandante (Commander), has this name because they're the commander of the non-binary nation. Accidentally misheard Meia-Noite and thought they were supposed to KIDNAP Valentyna instead of politely taking her over for a conversation about why her parents are incompetent at their jobs, now must be the parent friend to everyone. I love them so much, they're an icon to me.

Elisabeth, a princess from a rival kingdom who may or may not be Valentyna's crush. A bit more on the gothic side, had a pretty unusual childhood and her tweenhood was pretty hard. Tries her best to look eloquent and always knowing what to do, but really, REALLY wants to be a bit more loose. She and Tyna will have an enemies/rivals to lovers arc in the rewrite bc why not.

IT/THAT THING/ANYTHING/THE ???????????. A creature that's always watching. Also may be the guy that gave Meia half of his trauma.

The NARRADORA, AKA Narrator, the girl who's telling this story. It's her first big assignment and she LOOOVES saying her opinions about what is going on, much to her professor/adopted father's dismay.

THE NARRADOR, AKA Narrator but masc, is Narradora's older brother and a lot more kept-together than her, except it's all a facade for an equally chaotic creature. Loves gossip.

THE PROTAGONISTA, AKA Protagonist, who's ALSO another narrator. Super insecure because he's still training to be a storyteller, but he has his boyfriend (Narrador) and best friend (Narradora) to help.

THE LOCUTOR, who only appears to narrate like three times max. Older brother figure of the group, a huge cryptid who seems to be the coolest thing ever until you discover he stole an one-night-stand's head for funsies and is yet to give it back.

THE HOMEM VELHO, AKA Old Man, the professor of the group. Never makes a proper apparition but I want to mention him because he's a tired dad, someone PLEASE give him a break.

[pensat-i-fet]

One chance (Julián Álvarez x Reader)

**Another request. This is my first one that involves cheating (but not the last we'll get this week), which makes the whole writing process heartbreaking but hopefully you enjoy how I portrayed the whole thing and, remember, it’s fiction. Enjoy! ❤️**

Word count: 3004

Masterlist

Wattpad

Julián didn't even know why he had decided to go out. He didn't want to, really. He just wanted to go back home and try to talk to you. He couldn't really complain about you being away for a couple of days, given how often he travelled for work but it still made him sad to go back to an empty house. So he let himself be peer pressured into going out with most of the team.

"Juliii! Have a drink", said Jack…again. How much was he drinking?

"I'm fine, thanks".

"Come on, you don't have your mum with you today. Let loose!"

"My mum?"

"Yeah, your uptight girlfriend. She acts like she's your mum but today you can have fun without her".

Julián was too shocked by his teammate's words to answer. But he should have defended you. And you weren't like his mum…you just worried about his career. But Jack didn't know you. Still, something in his mind made him think that there could be some truth to those words. You often refused to go out with his teammates because you particularly didn't like how much the English drank. It made you uncomfortable. And seeing what some of them got up to sometimes didn't help your opinion of them.

So Julián looked at the drink in his hand and drank it quickly. Soon, he found another one in his hand. But it was ok. Everyone was drinking and having fun.

"This is my friend Julián", said a very drunk Kyle. "He's a world champion, you know?"

"Really?", said the girl he was talking to, looking at Julián with big eyes.

"Hi", he said, uncomfortable with the attention but also numbed by the alcohol in his system.

"Maybe you can show me your medal one day", said the girl, touching his face and getting closer. Too close.

"I have to go. Sorry".

He moved quickly, trying to find someone he could be with that wouldn't get him in trouble. But he only found Jack.

"Have you seen Rodri?"

"No, but I've seen this", said Jack, giving him another drink.

"I've drunk enough, Jack".

"You just ran away from the hottest girl in the club, mate. You haven't drunk enough", he laughed.

"I have a girlfriend".

"Don't we all?", laughed his teammate. "What she doesn't know can't hurt her. Come on. Are you really going to be with the same person your entire life? When you could be with someone like her?"

Julián looked at who Jack was pointing at. The girl Kyle had introduced to him. And she smiled and waved at him.

Julián started to feel sick at even thinking about the possibility of doing something like that to you. But he took the drink anyway and downed it in record time.

He kept looking for Rodri. Where was he? He needed to be with someone who could talk some sense into him. Not with Kyle and Jack. But when he turned, almost falling because of how drunk he was, he only saw her.

"I'm going to start thinking you are avoiding me, world champion", she said in a seductive tone.

"No, I'm just…I'm looking for my friend".

"And you keep finding me. Let's call it fate", she laughed.

Julián closed his eyes, feeling way too dizzy. And before he could open them, her lips were on his. He froze, not knowing what to do. And then his traitorous brain made him kiss her back. It was only five seconds before he realised what was going on and he pushed her away from him. But it was too late. Rodri had found him and with him was his girlfriend Laura, who was also your best friend amongst the WAGs.

"Hijo de la grandísima…te mato. Rodri, ¡Suéltame! ¡Le voy a matar! ¿Cómo has podido hacer eso? ¿Estabas esperando a que no estuviera aquí para ponerle los cuernos? ¡Cerdo asqueroso!" (You son of a…I'm going to kill you. Rodri, let go of me! I'm going to kill him! How could you do that? Were you waiting for her to be away to cheat on her? Disgusting pig!)

It was only because of Rodri holding his girlfriend that he avoided being hit by her.

"It was her who kissed me. I didn't…".

"Save that for someone who falls for bullshit excuses, Julián".

Julián looked at Rodri, trying to find some support, but even though he kept holding his girlfriend so she wouldn't hit Julián, there was also disappointment on his face.

"Please don't tell her", he whispered.

"I'm not letting my friend be lied to. Fucking men! You're all the same", she said, leaving the club.

"I'm not lying to her either. Sorry", said Rodri before he started to follow his girlfriend.

Julián wanted to sit on the floor and cry. He couldn't lose you because of this. But when he tried to sit down, his stomach made him stand up so he could run to the bathroom.

Sitting on the floor of the club, holding his stomach and waiting to see if he had to vomit again, he felt like absolute crap. And he knew that was exactly what he deserved.

                                     **

You could tell something wasn't right. Julián kept texting you while you were away, but he also kept making excuses to not Facetime you.

The last one was that he was hungover after going out and wanted to try and nap. He never got drunk during the season. What could have happened to make him lose control like that?

[You]: hi amore! Everything alright over there?

[Laura]: has Julián spoken to you?

Not the answer you expected.

[You]: he keeps making excuses to not talk to me. Did something happen?

[Laura]: I don't want to tell you via text.

[You]: you're scaring me.

Not knowing what to do, you called Laura.

"Talk to me, please. What’s going on?"

"We went out last night and…I saw him kissing another girl".

No…she can't be saying that.

"I'm so sorry. I can't see that and not tell you. I mean, what kind of friend does that?"

"He…tell me you are joking, please. Tell me it's all a sick joke", you begged her.

"I wish I could".

"Please", you whispered, falling to the floor and covering your face before you started to cry.

You didn't even know how long you stayed there. But it was a text that woke you up from the nightmare you were in.

[Mi Juli 💖]: when are you back? I can pick you up from the airport. I can't wait to see you ❤️

The fact that he could pretend like nothing happened made you so mad. But you told him the time anyway. You couldn't wait to see him either.

                                      **

Julián was more nervous waiting for you at the airport than he had been at the World Cup final. But when he saw you, he forgot about everything for a second. You would always be the most beautiful woman in the world for him. Your smile could make all of his worries and problems disappear but…you weren't smiling.

"Drive me home so I can pack and leave", you said, walking past him, barely glancing at him.

"What? No, you can't leave".

"I'm not staying with a cheater".

"Please, you have to let me explain".

"Laura explained it to me, Julián. My friend told me all I needed to know. Because she, unlike you, is loyal to me".

Julián wanted to say more but people were starting to stare at you two so he just walked you to the car and started to drive you home.

He felt like anything he said would only make things worse so he remained silent until you got home.

"You have to let me explain".

"Explain what? Did you kiss her or not?"

"It's not so easy".

"It's literally a yes/no question, Julián. Pretty easy. But your refusal to answer says it all".

"I was drunk".

You had to laugh. What an excuse!

"I've been drunk before and never cheated".

When you got inside your room, you closed the door and locked it. It was hard enough to deal with everything that happened without seeing the guilt all over your boyfriend's face. Well…boyfriend or ex-boyfriend? You didn't know.

"Open the door, please!"

"I won't".

You had so many things. Your entire life was there, with him. Because he wasn't supposed to do what he did. He was supposed to love you and respect you and you would always stay with him.

"I can't think straight while I'm here!", you whispered, picking up your iPad and booking a flight home.

When you left the room, suitcase in hand, Julián started to follow you, asking you to listen to him.

"I don't want to hear anything else".

"Where are you going?"

"Home".

"This is your home".

"Not anymore".

                                  **

Laura and Rodri let you stay with them and drove you to the airport the next day so you could catch your flight to Argentina.

"I'll miss you", said Laura, hugging you and trying not to cry.

"I'll miss you too. But we'll find a way to see each other".

"I…I don't want to play devil's advocate but are you really going to break up with him?"

Rodri could feel both of you glaring at him and he looked very uncomfortable.

"I'm not saying you have to forget and forgive but you love each other so much. I get you need to heal but maybe you can give this a try in the future?"

You closed your eyes, thinking.

"That's why I'm leaving, Rodri. I need to be away to think clearly. I don't want to lose him but I can't let him do that to me either. I don't know what to do".

Your friends hugged you when you started to cry.

"Whatever you do, we'll support you and be there for you, ok?", said Laura.

"I know. And I have to go. I'll see you soon. I promise".

"Have a safe trip. Text us when you land".

                                   **

Your parents weren't that surprised to see you coming back home for a couple of days. You got terribly homesick and did random trips like that one all the time. But when they saw your face, they knew this wasn't just you being homesick.

"What happened?"

You hugged your mum and started to cry. "He cheated".

You could notice your mum stiffing at your words. She loved Julián and so did your dad, but you always came first.

"I'll kill him".

"Dad…".

"I will. How can he do that to you? We were so wrong about him. He never deserved you".

His words made you look away. Of course, they sided with you but that didn't help you decide what to do next.

"Are you moving back to our place or do you want to rent an apartment somewhere else?", asked your dad when you were on your way home.

"I don't know. I might go back to Manchester…".

"You aren't going back to him", he said.

"I just need some time here to think and then we can talk".

"He lied once, he will again".

"Well, I'll have to go back to pack all my things anyway. And to break up with him properly, I guess".

But being home didn't help as much as you expected. Everywhere you went, you thought of Julián. You made memories with him everywhere. And everyone asked about him and made you give them vague responses so they could leave you alone.

Back in Manchester, Julián wasn't doing much better. He cried himself to sleep every day and being surrounded by your things only made everything worse.

When he was back training, things weren't going well either. He was distracted, incapable of focusing on what he had to do. And that only caused him to stay on the bench even more than usual.

"Hey Juli, we're going out after the match. Want to come with us?"

Hearing Jack's voice and his proposal made him so mad.

"No".

"Is your girlfriend back holding the lease tight?", he laughed. And Julián couldn't hold the anger any longer.

He pushed Jack against the wall and held the collar of his shirt, bringing their faces very close together.

"It's your fault she dumped me".

"She what?", the fact that he kept laughing only made Julián want to strangle his teammate. "Bro, just buy her a new bag and she'll forget".

Julián pushed Jack against the wall again and that killed his laughter.

"Let go of me!"

"It's all your fucking fault!"

Julián felt some arms separating him from Jack and knew there was no point trying to fight.

"Don't make things worse", said Rodri.

But it was too late. Pep had seen it all and invited Julián to miss the next match.

Everything is going to hell.

Back home, Julián went to the shower to let the water calm him down a bit. He was just getting what he deserved. He knew that. And it hurt a lot.

Looking at the calendar, he saw he had four free days now that he was suspended from the team. Before he realised, he had already bought the plane tickets to go back home. Back to you.

                                      **

If there was something you hated, it was being a cliché. But that you were. You couldn't help feeling sorry for yourself and spent the days avoiding people and going back home to watch TV for hours while eating ice cream and sweets. Not that any of that helped but…

Hearing the doorbell ring felt like a curse. Who was going to bother you now?

"What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk", said Julián, walking inside the house.

"How are you here? City play today".

"I'm suspended from the team".

"Why?"

"For attacking Grealish".

That didn't make sense. Your Julián wasn't violent. But you guessed your Julián wasn't supposed to cheat either and…well, we all knew how that went.

"Who says I want to talk to you?"

"Let me at least explain. If you want to hate me afterwards and leave me for good, I…I'll accept it. Even if it kills me".

"Talk then. But make it quick, if my dad finds you here", you shrugged, and he put two and two together.

You walked to the sofa and sat down.

"They invited me to go out and I didn't want to but you weren't there and I hate being alone at home. So I went out. And Jack kept on giving me drinks and talking about you".

"Why would he talk about me?"

"He insinuated you don't let me have fun and he got into my head".

"What?", you didn't expect that. "What do I do that's so bad?"

"Nothing. But he's just an idiot. And used that to make me drink more. And then Kyle…".

"Jesus, Julián. You couldn't spend your time with the normal guys, no. You had to go with the troublemakers".

"I know. He…he brought this girl to talk with me and I kept leaving. And then Jack was trying to get me to go with her but I didn't want to. Because I love you. Only you".

You rolled your eyes at that. Kissing someone else was a weird way to show his love.

"I was so dizzy, I closed my eyes and she kissed me. And I reacted quickly pushing her away but Laura saw it all and of course, she told you. I get it. I know you would have done the same had it been Rodri doing that".

His confession made you feel more conflicted than before.

"Did you kiss her back?"

"For like 5 seconds before realising it was wrong. And then I puked for 20 minutes".

You wanted honesty, but it hurt.

"Please say something".

But before you could, the door to the house opened and all hell broke loose.

"What are you doing here? Stay away from my daughter!"

"Dad…".

"Why is he here?"

"I needed to talk to her", tried to explain Julián, but your dad wasn't listening.

"How dare you to disrespect my daughter? I trusted you. I let you take her from us all the way to England and this is what you do?"

"I'm sorry".

"You should be. Real men don’t cheat. Cowards do".

You didn’t want them to fight. To say things that they couldn’t come back from.

“Can you leave us alone for a second, dad?”

“You sure?”

You nodded and he left. But you knew he wouldn’t be too far.

“I’m sorry”, said Julián again.

“I know”.

“It will never happen again. I promise. I don’t even know why I didn’t leave earlier…”.

“Do you feel like I don’t let you do things?”, Grealish’s words hadn’t left your head since Julián mentioned it.

“No. I don’t. He just used that to push me to cheat because they all do. Well, I don’t want to be like them if that’s what I’m supposed to do”.

“This won’t be the only time this happens. You know that, right? You’ll go to parties, your teammates will do things and…I never cared because I trusted you. But…”.

“I don’t care what others do or what happens around me”, he said, holding your hand. “I care about getting your trust back. Only you matter”.

What should I do?, you thought. When Laura mentioned Julián kissing another girl you expected worse. Not that what he did wasn’t bad. He was so stupid to allow himself to be in that situation. But should you throw away your relationship for that?

“You get one chance”, you said making him smile, looking hopeful again.

“You won’t regret it, I swear”.

“I can’t go back to being with you completely. Not yet. I’ll spend time between here and Manchester. You have to earn that trust back, Julián”.

“I know. I will. Thank you!”

He hugged you and you hugged him back. Hoping he really meant it and that you won’t regret this decision.

[nemirutami]

I discovered you recently and was scrolling through your stuff when I fell in love with your Joker redesign. It’s just so Good! Not only is your art style perfect (for all your art, really) but the thought you put into it was just wonderful. My favorite part were the horns, they just fit so well! I’d love to see any other ideas you have, but really I just wanted to gush about how much I loved it. Thank you!

Aw, that makes me so incredibly happy!!!! As much as I rag on P5's story execution, I do adore all the potential there is to the characters and the potential in redesigns that better fit the character's personalities. I'll repost all the ones I've finished for funsies, but I think now is actually a good time to mention that I'm going to be compiling all my p5 redesigns into a little zine (a re-de-zine haha) with more detailed thought process behind what I was thinking when redesigning them (there wasnt enough blank space for all my notes, or my sketches)! I'll add some blurbs from the document I have in [these] brackets! I actually focused heavily on his mask, so I'm super relieved and excited that it's what you liked most about it!

JOKER

[[Aside from Akechi’s prince outfit (which I think was flawlessly executed), I knew that I couldn’t allow myself to butcher Joker’s design- especially since I intended to remake his mask, despite his mask being perfect as it is (and was also my base for the Black Mask design before I decided to remake everyone else). // My main concern was to make the outfit represent all of PT’s, not just Joker, but I also wanted to highlight Akechi’s part in playing as his foil. As such, where Akira has a heart shape connecting all phantom thieves together by a silver string of fate, Akechi has a distorted red glow that extends chains to weigh him down as well as wings to show his ability to choose his own path.]]

AKECHI [[I wanted to keep his face obscured, but add an option to show himself if he wished. So, a hood helped cover him up for me. It helped me make it feel as though it’s a “lost” part of Robin Hood that still clings on to his Black Mask design- a desire (though weak and decaying) to be a good person underneath it all for someone he once cared about. //

Akechi's chains (from his heart) symbolize his outlook on bonds, and how they tie you down, whereas Jokers symbolize the strength he has with his teammates. I felt like this was a little too sad to write on the concept page. Reading “Goro Akechi has no friends and it manifests in his Black Mask outfit” isn’t the most uplifting sentence you want to stumble across.]] ANN [[Ann was often forced to hold her tongue around Kamoshida in order to protect Shiho, and Shiho in turn tried to do the same to protect Ann. The whip I created for her is a play on the phrase “hold your tongue” showing a lion with it’s mouth open and its tongue hanging out- filled with thorns and ready to be used as a weapon to protect those that she values. One of her biggest weaknesses now becomes her force for change and success, and she ultimately uses her power as a thief to open the maw of the man that told her to be quiet- revealing all his ugly secrets with his own words.]]

FUTABA [[This one doesn't have any notes I can share yet, but she took ages to design, so that's why, lmfao!]]

MORGANA

[[ I wanted to make him blend in more with a classic SMT demon such as Jack Frost, but still distinct enough to stand out as “more than a demon”.

//

Since Morgana is the collective human hope, I think he can take any shape or form. I only retained his cat persona because I wanted to stay true to the original design concept of it being an animal. If I was allowed complete creative form over a “guiding light” however, I think I would base Morgana’s design on Anubis or psychopomps- guides of souls (souls of human hope). The interesting thing about psychopomps is that while Anubis is also an example of one, commonly, so are crows. Meaning, I would have to design Morgana to fit a canine in order to imply Akechi himself could have perhaps had a guide similar to Mona if he was not used to bring about ruin. However, Morgana’s cat aesthetic is tied into Joker’s own traits (sometimes down to mannerisms), so getting rid of the cat persona was not something I really wanted. That, and the fact the last protagonist was based on a loyal dog made it hard for me to choose canine. I would have liked to pull something out of zoroastrianism if possible, but I was not sure how far I could take it before his design became entirely unrecognisable. And the point of a redesign was not to entirely change them to become different characters, but just to play around with different themes to better fit the character and their backstory/feelings/traits.

]]

I really hope this content was fun to read!!!! The next design I have in my WIPS is Yusuke. Honestly, I find Ryuji and Yusuke are going to be super challenging, since I ADORE their designs and I genuinely do not want to just touch them up randomly without purpose and happen to downgrade them. Morgana and Ann were my easiest targets haha.

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

📓 <333

Okay back to answering these

I have this one very sprawling, episodic fic I call the Peter Parker Roommates AU that I deeply adore that’s basically based on the idea that, when the three Peters hugged at the end of multiverse, they got kind of glitched together and gained the ability to hop into each others universes.

They discover this fact entirely by accident after the entire matter is settled, everyone’s been sent back to their home universes and forgotten Tom Holland!Peter.

WHAT THEY SHOULD DO:

Tell the fucking wizards

WHAT THEY DO NOT DO:

okay so the thing is

They know, okay? They know that this is probably “cosmically dangerous” and “endangering the fabric of reality” or whatever. They all don’t want to rip a hole in the space time continuum that destroys all of existence.

But there’s a very compelling counterpoint to not telling the wizards.

And that’s that all of them are homeless and rent is very very expensive in every version of New York City and it is very very hard to get a roommate when you’re secretly fucking Spider-Man. They have never had such an unparalleled opportunity to split rent three ways before.

the thing is that apparently changing the fates of people who were “important” to your “past” may or may not change the world you come back to. 2/3 Spider-Men did not know they would be homeless coming out the other end of this and are very unprepared. The last 1/3 only had like 7 minutes of forewarning and is likewise caught off guard.

THE SPIDERMEN AND THEIR RESPECTIVE LIVING SITUATIONS:

Tom Holland!Peter (“Pete”): cold, homeless, alone, and sad. Has no idea if he still legally exists or not

Tobey McGuire!Peter (“Peter B.”): see the thing is that he’s been figuring things out and on/off with Mary Jane for a long time and when he left his universe last he and MJ were actually making a pretty good go at long term domesticity and had an apartment together and were really happy. He gets back and they’re very much off again and not on speaking terms, apparently, for reasons that he can’t figure out because they’re not on speaking terms. He has no idea where he lives. He cannot find it. He has tried. Where are all of his things. Currently has the clothes on his back and nothing else.

Andrew Garfield!Peter (“Peter P.”): not technically homeless but seriously considering it as a preferable alternative. The thing is that when he last left his universe he was living on his own, having moved out of Aunt Mays house for her safety and sanity. The universe he returned to was not that. He’s back in his childhood bedroom and apparently in this universe he was fighting a crime ring he was not fighting when he left because his closet is full of cocaine and he does not know why or where he got it or what mob he stole it from. It’s just. It’s an enormous amount of cocaine. He can’t remember what to do with it. He needs to get out of his aunts house and take his cocaine with him.

Anyway they realize that Peter B.’s aunt may never lost her house (a de-Goblin’d Norman Osborn paid it off and refused to accept any reimbursement whatsoever in complete guilt over what happened with Pete’s May). However, she is the oldest out of any May by a lot and needs to be in full time assisted living care home (also forcibly paid for by Norman Osborn for reasons that. Yeah. Would not explain. Makes sense why now.) and the 3 Peters decide to move in together at Peter B’s home and split living costs from there.

Honestly it’s too sprawling of a fic to adequately summarize so here are the highlights:

Peter B’s universe has a long time Daredevil that he’s absolute best friends with and neither of them will admit that they’re friends. They’re in a “purely professional” relationship except they like send each other recipes and go antiquing together on the weekends. Both of them fucking hate their universe’s Avengers, who just cropped up.

Okay it’s not that they HATE them it’s just that they hate them. The thing is that this universes avengers didn’t get the hard launch of an alien invasion. Peter B’s universe had Just Spider-Man for a very long time and then Daredevil and Luke Cage and Jessica Jones and other street folk popped up and now the government is trying to roll out their own superhero team. The thing is they don’t have a super large amount to work with since there’s no alien invasion and people fucking love Spider-Man and other solo heroes so they just play the team angle really hard. The government basically launches a PR campaign that’s about how superhero teams are inherently more trustworthy and have more accountability because you have them keeping each other in check. They’re trying to rope in Spider-Man because he’s got the most street cred out of anyone like just join a TEAM get support from a TEAM and it’s just. It’s so annoying and inconvenient. Leave him BE.

Daredevil is having similar problems and is similarly angry about it. He’s not joining a team with tony stark out of all the godforsaken people. Get off of his rooftop and stop trying to recruit him.

They decide “fuck it” and to form a “team” with each other so that way they can say LOOK we have a TEAM we did the TEAM thing leave us alone now. What’s their team name? Uhhh… red. Team red. Because they both are wearing red. Leave them alone now.

This leads to some random guy named Deadpool taking out billboards and television ads begging to be made a part of their team. They don’t know who he is. He left a muffin basket nailed to the Peters front door with a knife as a bribe/for your consideration gift. How does this man know where they live and who is he. Anyway the muffins were fantastic

(Pete during Peter Bs biweekly bitchfest about the avengers: hey it’s probably a good idea you’re not teaming up with them because shield was secretly nazis in my universe

Peter B, slamming his hand on the counter: I KNEW IT)

(Peter B’s Matt (“Mr. Murdock”) waking Pete up in the middle of the night: what do you mean they were secretly nazi’s

Pete, violently realizing that his attorney was daredevil the whole fucking time: oh I’m gonna torture him with that *cue three months straight where he makes a bunch of lawyer jokes around his universe’s daredevil to drive him mad with paranoia*)

Mike Murdock shenanigans when Pete’s Matt gets caught as Daredevil, arrested, and put on trial and Pete, who has decided he owes him a life debt for his help when he was in the hot seat, concoctes a wild scheme where they claim it was his twin brother Mike Murdock all along. Forces Mr. Murdock to go along as their “Mike” by promising to find a way to reveal SHIELD as secretly nazis, because they’re so fucking annoying and Mr. Murdock wants public humiliation and pain for the inconvenience of having to deal with them

When they do reveal them as secretly nazis they do it through Peter B’s universe’s Bucky, who ends up moving to Pete’s universe in a sort of recovery/witness relocation thing. He moves in with Pete’s Matt (“Matt”), who hates this fact. Leave his home.

Peter B’s universe’s Steve hurdles into depression when it’s discovered that he was working for Nazis and Bucky doesn’t want to see him (he immigrated to another universe and they were planning to tell 0 people that fact) and keeps moping where Peter B has to see it, ruining his now AMAZING mood now that the avengers and shield were publicly ruined. So he drops him off at Matt’s apartment. Matt hates this fact. Leave his home.

This Steve decides that immigration to another universe is the only and best option and becomes a barista and decides his fake name is going to be his favorite character from his favorite book from the 40s that was sadly mostly unknown. So he goes around as Frodo the Barista now. What do you mean that book is popular here. He can’t change it again.

He fights crime as a vigilante in Brooklyn with his Bucky in his free time. Matt is frothing with rage that this is his problem and demands Pete do something about it. Pete starts spreading the rumor that this is the ghost of Captain America and Bucky Barnes haunting Brooklyn, obviously. He is aware that his universes Bucky is still alive. People believe it anyway. Now there’s ghost tours in Brooklyn to see the ghost of someone who’s still fucking alive.

(Matt: I need them out of my home I can’t take this anymore

Foggy, squinting at him: you fucked both of them didn’t you

Matt: that is BESIDES THE POINT)

Peter P’s universe is the only one without a daredevil and he is SO UPSET. He loves daredevils. He wants one so so bad. This is so unfair.

Then law student Matt Murdock starts dicking around in black sweatpants and Peter P could not be more excited. Oh god oh fuck yes yes yes yes it’s happening

His Matt is deeply confused as to how he already caught Spider-Man’s attention and doesn’t want to team up with him. He’s just cleaning up his neighborhood. This isn’t a Thing he doesn’t have a superhero name. When Peter p insists on knowing who he is he just replies “I am a Man of Justice”

Peter P is so fucking psyched and blinded that he got a dramatic theatre kid Matt Murdock that he forgets himself and decides “I’m gonna call you MJ. You look like an M name” and then has a panic attack because BOTH the other Peters fell in love with an MJ. Did he jinx this cosmically?? Oh god

The thing is that Peter P’s universe didn’t get an Avengers, they got a fantastic four. Peter P is in a very unwilling and one sided rivalry with Johnny Storm on account that Johnny Storm keeps trying to rival him and he’s like. Fucking 17. Peter P is an adult man in grad school he can’t, this is, it’s just embarrassing is what it is. However Pete fucking betrayed him by dating Johnny Storm (re: had a star crossed and doomed to fail genuine relationship with him that helped him recover from losing MJ and Ned and crashed and failed due to the fact that Reed Richards was chasing the multiverse and Pete decided he couldn’t risk what he had with the Peters after losing his entire family to the multiverse last time. They broke up and both were devastated)

(Peter P, under the impression he has Big Brother Authority, which does not exist: I FORBID IT

Pete: I do not care man

Peter B, has a headache: let’s all take a step back

Peter P: he’s, he’s immature and bad and always dating new people every week and and he is trying to steal your sweetness

Pete: *stares at him* *ungodly screeching*)

The thing is that the Johnny Storm led to an agreement where they could not date each others friends/enemies multiversal counterparts because it got weird fast. What do you MEAN that your MJ is your Daredevil Pete has ONE FRIEND IN HIS ENTIRE UNIVERSE AND THATS HIS MATT PETER P CANNOT DATE HIS MATT

This leads to a period of time where Pete insists upon living out of a little hobo sack in his universe, which leads to an even more embarrassing period of time where Peter B is aggressively trying to hunt him down and force him to talk about his feelings, which is the one thing Pete is refusing to do. Peter B refuses to let Pete (who is in his self destructive loner phase, they all have one, it’s a Peter Parker thing) live alone. He needs a roommate who can patch him up or peter b will fucking web them together. Pete says “fine” and gets a roommate. The roommate is the Punisher. He is the only one who thinks this is a solution. Except Frank is weirdly good with angst riddled seventeen year olds and pete gets more emotional actualization and moves back in with the other Peters

Peter Bs JJJ has actual journalistic integrity and some modicum of concern for this random teenager that his photographer took in and thinks he just needs stability and structure and support in life to succeed. He keeps trying to be a mentor figure in Pete’s life who is simply not having it.

He eventually ends up in multiversal shenanigans and discovers Pete’s version of him, who he decides is the Evil Version of him who sells fucking scam multivitamins and slanders a perfectly nice young man. His thing was different they’re not talking about that anyway he has to kill the version of him without journalistic integrity

Peter B, could not be more tired: *deep breath*

Mr. Murdock is in a long standing polycule with his Karen and his Foggy and the thing is that both his Karen and his Foggy have baby fever but can’t adopt because their lives are hostile to children’s continued survival and he decides that what he really needs for them is a durable orphan who can be their like, pseudo child and he can be like the weird uncle to. He just sort of shoves Pete in their path, who fucking owes him for the entire thing with Mike Murdock, and it’s really very extremely awkward when they figure out he was doing it to help Karen and foggy get out their latent parenting instincts. Pete feels violated.

There’s this entire subplot with scarlet witch and multiversal versions of her orphaned twins trying to find a version of their mom (who died in Peter B’s universe) that they can be with that would take too long to get into but whenever they misbehave on the quest to find Pete’s scarlet witch and see if she ever considered motherhood they threaten to send them back to their home universe to be Mr Murdock’s durable orphans

There’s a lot more but this is very long already

[kylianswifey]

La Flamme de l'Amour - Chapter 4

Summary: In the glittering City of Light, Anita embarks on a journey of self-discovery and adventure. But fate has other plans when she meets Kylian, a man in a complicated relationship with Marie. Despite their attraction, they must keep their feelings hidden as they navigate a dangerous game of love and loyalty.  Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 Word Count: 2.8k

Anita's heart sank as she stood face to face with  Maria. She felt a wave of panic wash over her, realizing the gravity of the situation she had put herself in. Anita's mind raced as she tried to think of a plausible excuse for being there. All that went through her mind was her first encounter with Marie.

” No problem at all. I’m Marie, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Marie. I’m Anita. I guess you live here in the building too?”

” Um, kind of. My boyfriend lives here, so I’m around here most of the time.”

“Oh, that’s great. I guess I’ll see you around often then.”

"Yeah, I hope so. Well, I'll let you get back to unpacking. It was nice meeting you, Anita."

Kylian is her boyfriend and Anita stood there unable to form a sentence. All the fuzzy feelings she experienced earlier in the elevator where she gave into her feelings and stupidly crashed her lips into Kylian’s turned into guilt. She was scared that Marie could see her heart beating out of her chest.

“I didn’t know you lived here with.. Kylian?!"Every word Anita said felt like a dangerous move in a chess game. She didn’t know how much Marie knew about her relationship with Kylian.

“Um, yeah. He’s my boyfriend. How do you know him?”

Before Anita could stutter, Kylian showed up behind Marie, placing a hand on her lower back. ” Oh, hi Anita. What’s up? “You two know each other?” Kylian could feel Anita’s shocked state which he was aware that he caused her by not telling her he has a girlfriend and leading her on, kissing her back. “Anita joined our PSG photographer team a few weeks ago.” “Yeah… I didn’t know the boyfriend you told me about was Kylian, what a coincidence.” Anita chuckled, trying to ease the situation she was in.

“Yeah.. we didn’t get to know each other personally so… Yeah.” Kylian blurted out.

“Oh, okay. Great to see you again, Anita. So, what can we help you with?” After suspiciously looking at Kylian’s and Anita’s interaction, Maria believed it to be a coincidence and smiled at her. “Why don’t you come inside for a drink, Anita?” Kylian tried to help her avoid this question, because he knew exactly why she was here. He wanted the world around them to go black with just the two of them standing in front of each other so he could explain everything to her. Her broken eyes gave Kylian a heavy feeling in his heart. 

“Um, sure. Only for a few minutes though. I have something I need to work on tonight.” “Great, come inside, please.”

Each step Anita took inside the apartment made her regret everything, even her own existence. She was never the person who would even compliment a boy who’s in a relationship, let alone kiss. She felt like the worst person in the world. Maria’s welcoming attitude didn’t help the situation at all. She couldn’t understand how in this entire mess she was, jealousy was also present somewhere in the back of her mind.

“I didn’t know you worked for PSG. How did that come about?” Maria sat next to Anita after serving a glass of wine to everyone. Kylian sat on the couch in front of them, nervously cracking his knuckles. 

“Well, I applied for a couple of photographer positions in Paris and there was one open spot to join the PSG team, so I applied and they called me. I didn’t.. I didn’t really expect to be called in for an interview, but I guess they liked my portfolio.”

When Anita realized that Marie wasn’t aware of the earlier encounter, she decided not to mention that the person who helped her find the job was her own boyfriend that Anita pretended not to know personally a minute ago.

“That’s great. I hope you have a successful journey. I’m actually glad to see you. I took the stairs the other day and passed by your apartment door. I made a mental note to myself to invite you over for coffee.” “Oh, how nice of you. You’re the first person I talked to when I arrived in Paris so I’m glad to get to know you.” Each word Anita said screamed ‘liar’ inside her mind. Every book she read, every movie she watched, reminded her that these are the words of the negative character.

“Here, write down your number. I would like to hang out with you one day.”

“Sure, I would love to.” Anita wanted to write a fake number, leave her apartment, book a flight back home and disappear from Paris forever, but she didn’t.

Kylian stayed quiet the whole time, looking at them talking and would occasionally smile when his girlfriend made eye contact with him. Little did Marie know that he was watching Anita with the corner of his eye, admiring the lips he kissed a few hours ago. These feelings made him feel uneasy. There sat his girlfriend who he KNOWS he’s in love with and there next to her sat this girl he couldn’t stop thinking about since the moment he saw her. He didn’t want to admit that the reason he hasn’t been late at work recently was the excitement that he would take the ride with Anita. 

___________________

After a couple of minutes that felt like an eternity, Anita was back in her apartment. She crashed on the mattress and stared at the ceiling in the dark. The idea that Marie was being extremely nice to a girl that made out with her boyfriend made Anita spill a few tears from her eyes. “Why didn’t he tell me he had a girlfriend?” This was the first sentence she blurted out after her friend Helen answered her call. “What? Who are you talking about?”

“Why did he kiss me back if he had a girlfriend?” “What?! Are you talking about Kylian?” Helen was dying from curiosity. She tried to make sense from what her friend was telling her. Anita explained everything to her, she even admitted how much she thought of him everyday. Tears wet her shirt as she opened up to her friend. “And I had the audacity to feel jealous.. Fucking jealous!!”

“An, honey. You didn’t know, alright? And he kissed you back! That’s not something a person who’s in a relationship would do.”

The exhaustion she was feeling brought sleep into her eyes and she ended the call with Helen. She tried to help herself relax and go easier on her heart.

The gentle morning light peeking through her window, woke Anita up from her sleep, her eyes still swollen and tired from the tears she had shed the night before. She had cried herself to sleep, the weight of her heartache pressing heavily upon her chest.

As she stumbled out of bed, her mind still foggy from the emotional turmoil of the previous night, Anita thought about her routine of taking Kylian's ride to work every day. Today, she knew that she couldn't bear the thought of sitting beside him, pretending that everything was okay and made the decision to take the bus to work instead, something she had never done. It felt like the right thing to do, even though it meant breaking from their shared routine.

Anita couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness at the thought of not seeing Kylian's warm smile as he picked her up for their daily commute as she sat on the bus next to the window. But she knew that she needed to distance herself from Kylian, at least for a little while. The feelings she had for him were complicated and messy, and she needed time to sort them out. Her mind went to her dad, she needed his advice more than ever. Love conversations were never Anita’s and her dad’s cup of tea, he would advise her on everything except for relationships. She knew that her journey in Paris was not just important for her career, but also carrying her dad’s legacy. His famous work was something Anita was always proud of.

Stepping inside the office was a relief after successfully avoiding running into Kylian in the hallway. Seeing his face while editing photographs wasn’t an easy task. She zoomed in on a photo that Kylian was smiling in. There wasn’t much to edit there, his smile was perfect for her. Suddenly, she missed the morning ride with him to see that face. A tap on her shoulder pulled her out of her thoughts. “Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, An. I’m going to the cafeteria to take the lunch break, are you coming?” Charlotte approached her with a smile. “Yeah, of course. You go down, I’ll be right after you.” Lottie nodded and left. Anita fixed a couple of things and decided to join her friend. Walking down the empty hallway, she kept looking at the floor, trying to avoid any possible interaction. A hand covered her mouth from behind and pulled her inside through a door on the left. She struggled to free herself, not knowing who’s the person behind her. “Sh,sh.. It’s me, sorry. It’s me.” The person removed his hand from the mouth, pressing her against the shut door, turning on the light. She was faced with a distressed Kylian, staring at her, his arms pressed on the wall, trapping her. “Kylian, what are you doing?” her words came out in a whisper. His face was so close to hers, she could smell his perfume. His scent subconsciously made her life at home. He stared right into her eyes with a look of sorrow and regret. Anita tried to get out of his grip, with no success.

“I’m sorry for not telling you. I’m sorry for kissing you back, it’s just…” “Kylian, that was wrong. I don’t… I don’t know why I did that.” He seemed hurt by her regretful words. He hoped she would give him a glimpse of hope in this chaos. But that was too much to ask from her, he messed everything up. “That’s true. It is your fault. You did something to me because I can’t stop thinking about you since I first saw you.”

Anita's heart was pounding in her chest as she looked up into Kylian's eyes. She could see the same desire and passion reflected back at her. They both knew that they shouldn't be doing this, but they couldn't resist the attraction that was pulling them together.

"Kylian, you can’t do this to me," Anita whispered, trying to sound firm but failing miserably as her voice came out shaky.

“I have a girlfriend and I love her, I know I love her,” every word Kylian said he, himself, realized  how confused he was. ”But, you… you’re making me doubt that.”

“Kylian,” Anita knew she had to push him away. In her mind, he’s just confused, it could be a temporary physical attraction to him. “Let’s try to forget about it, please.”

He pressed his forehead against her, closing his eyes and ran a hand on her cheek. Alarms went off in Anita’s head, ‘abort mission’ alarms. Kylian’s words about loving his girlfriend were proof that this is wrong. 

“Trust me, I tried. I fucking tried.” She shut her eyes too, listening to his words. “Try harder. Trust me, It’s a temporary feeling, I’m sure about it.” Even though their words said one thing, their body said something else. Their skin contact made them shiver and long for more. Anita opened her eyes first and light pushed his face away from hers, her heart telling her not to.

“Is it temporary for you?” She wanted to say no, she wanted to admit that she has been thinking about him every morning and every night before sleep. She wanted to admit that even though she’s known him for a few weeks, he makes her feel like home.

But she didn’t. Also, she didn’t have the strength to say yes. The sound of footsteps in the hallway brought her back to reality and she left without saying anything. Anita power walked to the cafeteria. Kylian stood there in that empty small office taking in what just happened.

He met Marie a few years ago at a house party. She was there with her friends, but she stayed in a corner of the room, avoiding everyone at the party. They made eye contact and smiled at each other. They spend that night talking on the balcony, the party noise in the background. Kylian asked her on a date days later. Everything between them was great, they confessed their feelings after two months. Kylian was sure that Marie would be the woman he would marry in the future, until this moment. No matter how strong their relationship was, he felt confused. He was doubting his love for her.

___________________

“You’re in charge of following the players around, taking photos of them meeting fans, hanging out and standing in the hallway before entering the pitch.” “Great! How long will our stay be in Riyadh?” Anita sat in front of Mrs.Lucia in her office, taking notes of her tasks. She decided to bring Anita to Riyadh to take photos of the PSG vs Al-Nassr game. “It will be a three day stay, Anita. Also, I would like to compliment you on the last photo session. Your images were chosen for our Instagram page, so, I’m thinking maybe you can take care of the account completely?” “Absolutely, I would love to.” “That’s great. If you don’t have any other questions, you’re free to leave. Thank you!”

Anita shook her hand and left the office. She felt excited to travel with the team for the first time. This trip would be her way of getting her mind off of Kylian, or not, he was going to be there with her too.

___________________

Kylian sat next to the window on the airplane scrolling through his phone, avoiding his teammate’s attempts to joke around with him. Everyone sensed something was off with Kylian in the past few days, he always seemed in deep thoughts. He shared his seat row with Sergio who eventually gave up after a few cold responses from him. 

He was shocked to see Anita walk inside the airplane with a backpack and hugging a laptop. Her eyes landed on Kylian who was already staring at her and a spark of hope lit up inside him. She kept staring into his eyes until she passed his seat and sat on the last row. 

A text from Marie wishing him good luck and apologizing for not being able to go with him came as a reminder for him to focus. 

Anita had a hotel room all to herself. The second she went inside her room she crashed on the bed, feeling exhausted. During the whole trip here she was sweating and had a killer headache that she blamed on the stressful situation.  A notification alert caught her attention.

‘You didn’t give me an answer’

How can she give him an answer when she can’t even give herself the answers? 

_______________

“Anita, focus, please. You missed three fan meetups, is everything okay?” Anita was trying so hard to focus despite the high fever she was experiencing. She realized she was sick right after exiting her hotel room because her whole body felt weak.

“I don’t know. I think I have a fever and my head is killing me.” Mrs.Lucia sighed, she was clearly bothered by this but couldn’t blame her for it. 

“You can go to your room and rest, try to get better for tomorrow. I need you to be at the game.”

“Thank you. I will be there, I promise.” She placed the camera strap on her shoulders and grabbed her things, barely walking straight.

Anita stumbled to her room and collapsed on the couch, feeling weak and dizzy. She couldn't think straight and didn't even remember to take her medication. She just wanted to sleep and hoped that the fever would go away.

She was in a deep, uncomfortable sleep, when she felt a cool sensation on her forehead. It was a relief from the heat that had been consuming her body. A hand that rubbed her shoulder and stroked her hair woke her up. She felt the person taking off her shoes and holding her hand. No matter how curious she was to see who that person was, she felt too tired to even open her eyes. She couldn’t distinguish reality from the high fever dreams. Anita could feel the footsteps of the person walking around the hotel room, going through things but she fell into deep sleep again.

The fever was causing her to have bad dreams. She would sometimes toss and turn in her sleep, sweating too much. Anytime she would whimper, she felt a hand stroking her cheek and holding her hand. She finally cracked her eyes open.

“Kylian?”

______________________________________

I would like to hear your thoughts about the series so far. Any suggestions or comments are welcome!

Let me know if you want to be tagged in the future :)

@tandefeaffe @mywhimsyjournal @melliflulu @sllfsara @ippid @azestar12334 @bisexualbith @gurleenk @choiceey @lil-kappa05 @ilianno

[aeoki]

Atlantis - Divine Bridge: Chapter 2

Location: Yumenosaki Student Council Room Characters: Touri, Shinobu, Souma, Mao & Yuzuru Season: Winter

Souma: Everyone, please refrain from idle gossip.

You have not changed, Isara-dono. You mentioned you had news regarding the election in the beginning, but you have yet to speak of it, so I have grown somewhat impatient.

Mao: Yeah. But I figured it’d be a good way for Touri to relieve his stress if I just let him say what he wants.

Touri: I–I don’t really care but, Kanzaki-senpai, stop getting everyone to shut up by stopping the blade of your sword with the guard!

See? Yuzuru just made a face that screamed “Is this a surprise attack!?” and shoved me under the desk!

Yuzuru: It would be awful should anything happen, after all.

Souma: My apologies. But it would only be fanning the flames.

Mao: Ahaha. Well, since it looks like water has been poured over the argument, let’s get to the main agenda.

I’ll summarise the election so that we can calmly organise the issues.

This election is held to select the next student council president.

Only a new student council president will be elected and once that is done, the new student council president will go on to select the other roles, like the secretary and the accountant.

Yuzuru: That is no different than what has been done before. Aside from Kanzaki-sama, we are all members you personally selected, Isara-sama.

Touri: Hmph. If only the New Prez didn’t pick a ninja to be an essential member of his harem…

Mao: That’s an awful way to put it… So you’ve learnt what a harem is, huh. Maybe I shouldn’t have made you read all that manga just because I thought it would’ve been a fun idea.

Yuzuru: I have to speak to you about that afterwards, Isara-sama.

Mao: Don’t sue me… Anyway, the election will be in the style of a direct democracy and every Yumenosaki student will be able to vote once.

In other words, the person with the most votes is the new student council president.

In order to gain votes, candidates will be given a period for their election activities where they can advertise themselves…

The election period will be from the beginning of January to the end of February – about two months.

Yuzuru: There was the new year holidays as well, so strictly speaking, it is on the shorter side of things.

Mao: Yeah. But well, there’s no need to be so strict. After all, we’re just copying the adult version.

Anyway, after the election period, there will be a final voting day on the last day of February.

The students will vote to decide who will be worthy of being the next student council president.

We’ll be using a theoretical voting system on “Hallhands” and it’ll be able to tell us how many votes each candidate is getting.

Of course, it’s like a game and not reflective of the real thing, so it won’t affect the final results, though.

Touri: It’ll affect the candidates' psychology, won’t it? I have a feeling those who aren’t interested in the election or the opportunists will just vote for whoever’s the most popular based on that.

Shinobu: Uuu. Don’t glare at me ~de gozaru.

Souma: It is difficult being so popular, Sengoku.

Shinobu: I’ll say this over and over, but this isn’t what I wanted, okay…?

Mao: Yeah. By the way, anyone can run for the election and they can be registered as a student council president candidate either by doing so themselves or through a recommendation.

Naturally, Touri, you registered yourself, right?

Touri: Of course, I did! I’m gonna be the one to follow in Eichi-sama’s footsteps! It’s fate!

Mao: I don’t know about fate or whatnot but… someone recommended you as a candidate, didn’t they, Sengoku?

Shinobu: Yes. I don’t know which criminal did it, though.

Mao: Criminal?

Shinobu: In the end, it’s a mystery.

I was also curious so I did some investigation on my own but to no avail.

Mao: Things are starting to sound pretty suspicious seeing as even you couldn’t find anything – and you’re known for gathering information.

Shinobu: Uuu~ In my case, the people around me just got excited on their own, which forced me to take part in election activities and it’s just making it difficult for me to move about.

I’m not used to having the attention on me nor do I like it. I’m so busy I haven’t even had time to sit down ~de gozaru.

Touri: Hmph. How nasty~... You say all that but I bet you signed yourself up and just made an excuse that your friend did it.

Shinobu: Touri-kun is really picking me apart.

Souma: Hehe. He has completely seen you as his enemy – how pleasant.

Shinobu: H–How is that pleasant? You must think that way because it’s got nothing to do with you, Kanzaki-dono.

Souma: Well, it indeed has nothing to do with me and what I said would be imprudent, but at times, I do feel your generation is a bit too close with one another.

In our generation, we fought “Torikkusutaa” during the revolution as fellow enemies.

There are things one can see when you are clashing souls with each other and competing ruthlessly together.

It would be a good idea for your friendly generation to also treat each other as “rivals” and work hard together, no?

Shinobu: Friendly generation? Well, I suppose that would be the perfect way to describe it.

Mao: But well, that wasn’t the reason why our generation fought with each other, though. It was just how things turned out.

Fighting each other on the riverbed and then becoming friends is something straight from fiction, but this is just an election.

It’s not a battle to the death. Maybe it would be nice for you guys to seriously fight it out.

Nothing’s gonna be gained if you just do things lazily. Sometimes, you can even discover your limits when you’re on the verge of death.

If you can find out what you’re missing, then afterwards, you can see what things you need to improve on.

And by evolving, we can grow as idols.

That’s all this torch has to say.

Touri: What do you mean by torch?

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

[fang-and-feather]

Written for: Fluffy February Prompt 1: Hello from @fluffyfebruary;

Year of the OTP February Prompt: different from @yearoftheotpevent;

Fluffbruary Day 1 Prompt(s): clue and museum by  @fluffbruary;

and Be my Valentine 2.0 Prompt 1: "I've been hit with Cupid's arrow." by @xxsycamore and @chaosangel767

Ikemen Vampire, Soulmates AU, Stays in MC's Timeline - Comte de Saint-Germain/OC

Are soul mates' meetings really destined when, despite all the clues, it happen by means of coincidences? At least Hikari is not certain if it was fate or chance that led her to meet her soulmate and, even if it was fate, does it guarantee se is ready to face the truth of that love when they are from very different worlds?

Fic's note: This story branches off after a small part of the prolog and takes place in MC's time.

This story also turned out longer than expected and I wanted to post all chapters together, that's why it wasn't posted on the 1st.

AO3 Version / IkeVamp Masterlist / General Masterlist / Next Chapter

Hikari had almost given up on meeting her soulmate. At that point, she was only visiting museums because she enjoyed it, not because the mark on her arm told her this was where they would meet. Very few people would travel to Paris and miss a trip to the Louvre, and she wasn’t one of those.

The inscription on her pulse, that appeared there since her eighteenth birthday, simply said ‘museum’, as if that was a big clue. It was a bother, actually. There were so many museums in the world and, as a travel agent, Hikari had visited most of the famous ones, plus the smaller ones in her home city.

Many times Hikari wished it would disappear, but the only way for it to happen was if she fell in love with someone else - if it was true love from both parties, or so they said - or if her soulmate died.

Not that she had never dreamed of meeting the guy she was destined for. Receiving a soulmate clue or connection was a rare blessing, and the idea was almost like a fairytale.

In fact, many fairy tales talked about soulmates meeting. The way Snow White and Sleeping Beauty first happened upon their princes and how they fought for that love - although Hikari didn’t like how only the men were portrayed fighting and the women waiting on them in these; - Ariel, who fought for her dream before she fought for her love, but one ultimately led to the other; Belle, who was trapped with an unlikely soulmate and it was likely they would never get together, yet they did; how Peter Pan was a good representation of platonic soulmates…

Some modern stories, even fairy tale-like ones, were more realistic. Frozen, for example, where Ana and Hans were soulmates who didn’t love each other and also had a good portrayal of familial soulmates, that many people thought to be a myth.

But Hikari had been wondering whether those who met their soulmates, whether in fantasy or real life, were destined to or just lucky. Not everyone with a soulmate blessing met their other half but, there was also a pattern of those with a countdown always meeting.

There were various forms of soulmates’ marks and connections. Some were more useful than others. Like hers at least had a place as a clue, but one of her sisters only had half of a symbol. Some were more of a curse than a blessing, like that neighbor who could feel part of his soulmate’s pain. Others were just plain annoying, not painful but made life difficult, like people who were colorblind without their soulmate. Soul compasses and threads were very helpful, and a telepathic link made it easy to set up a meeting, and these were the rarest type of connections.

The question was: was it worth chasing that dream that not always ended up in happily ever after?

There were always soulmates who were just glad they met and went their separate ways, or ones that decided to remain platonic, even if that wasn’t their destined bond and, inevitably, those who didn’t get along at all or even, although rarely, news of soulmates who killed each other - usually because they thought their soulmate was in the way of their happiness with someone else wile, in fact, that love was actually one-sided or just misnamed passion. There was no guarantee, even if they were to meet.

Distracted by her thoughts, Hikari bumped into someone. They exchanged apologizes, and she walked away, but couldn’t resist a glance down at her wrist that was nearly instinctual whenever she touched a new person. The word was still there.

“Stop it. Just enjoy your trip, Kari.” She whispered to herself.

Focusing her attention back to the museum, Hikari observed the 'Coronation of Napoleon'.

It was such a large painting it took the entire wall, which made it look like you could step right through it and into another world, like in that Super Mario game her sister used to play.

Hikari didn’t know if she rolled her eyes or laughed at the silly comparison. Very dreamy, right? Maybe for some of her more nerdy friends. Amy probably would have laughed and said she wasn’t as clueless about the fun fantasy as she made herself to be.

Every new trip made Hikari miss her family and friends. Her group of platonic soulmates.

“Did you know, it’s the second largest painting in the Louvre.” A masculine voice spoke from behind her.

Hikari almost jumped in surprise and spun around.

The man had this aura about him, of elegance and maturity, but there was something else that she couldn’t name, alluring, almost otherworldly.

Otherworldly was the right word. He looked like someone who could have walked out of a painting, almost like he didn’t belong to that time and place.

A breath was caught in her throat and she gulped, feeling her heart speed up.

What was it that she was feeling? He was handsome and looked exactly her type, sure, but he wasn’t the first and she had never felt anything like that.

Hikari stiffened when the man drew closer, peering at her. She took a step back, gulping again.

“Pardon, Monsieur?” She meant to tell him that she wasn’t an art piece in the museum to be stared at, but these were all the words she managed to get out.

Hikari relaxed a little, although her heart was still hammering away when the man opened his hand to reveal what he was holding.

“I knew it. This earring belongs to you.” He spoke, at the same time that her hands reached for her ears, noticing one of them was indeed missing.

“Oh, thank you. When did I ever lose it?” Hikari managed a dry laugh.

“I believe it was when that patron bumped into you. I happened to spot it as it fell. I was looking for the chance to return it to you.”

That was what she got for being so distracted. Thank goodness he noticed it. But didn’t that mean he was watching her before?

“Thank you very much.” Hikari bowed, feeling embarrassed.

When she looked back up, her hazel eyes met his golden ones, and she was drawn to him again.

“It’s a shame there’s no mirror here to help you put it back on.” In fact, she could put it back without one, but she didn’t find her voice to tell him that. “Shall I help you restore it to its proper place? That way, you won’t lose it again.”

Hikari was nodding before she could think about his offer, almost like she was under some sort of spell. Had his old-world, noble manner enchanted her so easily?

“If you would hold still, Mademoiselle.”

Easy when her body was tensing again at his proximity. Only her eyes followed his every movement as he brushed her hair back to touch her ear.

Even in Paris, that was too amorous an act to be coming from a stranger. So why was she going along with it?

“That’s a lovely fragrance.” He commented, breath brushing her cheek and giving her goosebumps.

“T-thank you.” Hikari breathed out, hoping he didn’t notice her stutter. “I got that perfume here in Paris.”

“Oh… but I wasn’t talking about your perfume.”

Hikari gulped again, a different kind of tension invading her. Everything about that scene feeling stranger by the minute.

“There. I believe your earring is secured.”

The gentleman stepped away with a perfectly natural smile and Hikari relaxed, like the spell she was under had broken, and she held back a relieved sigh.

“My rogue earring is certain to behave itself now. Thank you.” The new bow she gave him was short, so he wouldn’t get out of her view.

“Not at all. It was thanks to the earring that I was granted the good fortune to meet you. Bon voyage.”

The gentlemen left, heading down a gallery Hikari assumed to lead to the Mona Lisa.

“There. Enough fairytale adventure for you, right, Kari?” She sighed, but her eyes never left the passage the man left thought, her first reaction to him still vivid in her mind.

Was it what people called love at first sight? Hikari always thought the idea was dreamy and ridiculous.

She knew nothing about that man. He had acted a little strange towards the end of their encounter and it had scared her. There was some hint of mystery in his eyes, like someone who was so much more than the facade led to believe, but she was still completely swept away by his charm.

His tailored three-piece suit was modern, but he wore it like a turn-of-the-century prince. Or a vampire from a gothic romance novel.

This last thought made her remember his casual comment on her scent, and a shiver ran down her spine.

“Don’t be silly.” Hikari shook her head. She could deny such fanciful notions, but not her temptation to follow him. “I know it’s foolish, I know it’s stupid, but, no doubt, I’ve been hit with Cupid’s arrow.” She recited the verses of a song. But the song lyrics were, in no way, happy. Was it what she had gotten herself into? A stupid, sudden, one-sided love that would break her?

No. She wasn’t following him. She was just going to see the Mona Lisa before she left. It was not her fault he had headed the same way.

She headed down the hallway he’d taken, only to find herself face-to-face with an old, carved wooden door.

“Is it some sort of exhibit?”

The door itself could be a work of art, but it was ajar, so it led somewhere. Where, though? Maybe a storage room? But there was no one watching and no protection of any kind. Through the gap, she could see clocks, vases, and paintings. Maybe it was a new exhibit?

The dark hallway beyond smelled of time forgotten. More like an old exhibit, then. And Hikari felt herself drawn to it the same way she was drawn to the gentleman from earlier.

She could take a quick look, right? Maybe add something to her travel blog about the forgotten treasure of the Louvre.

Her hand on the metal handle, she was ready to pull the door open when another hand pushed the wooden surface closed instead.

Once again, Hikari spun around to find herself looking into the mysterious golden eyes of the same man from earlier. This time, though, his clothes looked more century appropriate, although they still suggested a certain wealth and class.

But how did he change clothes? Was it one of these twin tricks Amy and Kia used to play on her when they were younger? But why trick a stranger? And she had a feeling that wasn’t the case, anyway.

Was he some kind of magician, instead? That didn’t explain why he was so fixed on her, though.

“Do you need something, Monsieur? I assure you, my earring is still in place.” She tried to act normal, but his hand was still resting on the door, with her between him and the wall.

“I am sorry if I surprised you.” He pulled back. “But you couldn’t cross that door.”

She was tempted to find an excuse and walk away but, at the same time, she didn’t want to, both for her attraction to him and her curiosity at the mystery lurking behind these words.

“Why?”

“You probably will not believe me if I tell you the truth, but look behind you.”

Hikari did cast a glance back from the corner of her eye, so she wouldn’t completely lose the man from her view, but ended up turning around when she found nothing but the wall there.

“What happened to that door? Who are you?”

He smiled at her, and Hikari’s heart skipped a beat. For him to have such an effect on her, it wasn’t fine?

“This is not an appropriate place for such a lengthy discussion. Would you give me the honor of your company?”

“Why would I? I don’t even know you. Why me? Can you answer at least that?”

“The mark on your wrist.” That answer was unexpected. Hikari looked at it, only to find the inscription had disappeared. “Meeting you was a coincidence, but I noticed it disappeared after I put your earring back. So did mine. Do you understand why?”

A soulmate mark would disappear the moment the two parties touched each other.

Was that why she was so suddenly attracted to him? But that couldn’t be it. Hikari couldn’t say if it was love or not, but even without knowing he was her soulmate, she’d been attracted to him.

“Did you know you would find me when you came here?”

“Not the first time. My mark had today’s date, but I didn’t know you would be nearby.”

“What do you mean by ‘the first time’?”

“Would you join me for tea? There is a lovely café not far from here. A public space where we can have a private conversation. I promise I’ll explain everything then. I would love to know you better…”

Should she? Even being her soulmate didn’t guarantee he was a safe person to be alone with.

Then her phone vibrated. She signaled him to wait, then looked at the message. It was from one of her younger sisters, Amy, scheduling for them to meet later. Her sister, who shouldn’t even be in Paris.

But if Amy was in the city, Hikari had nothing to fear and no reason to refuse going out with her soulmate. In the end, she didn’t want to.

“Hikari. The honor of joining you for tea and know you better would be mine. At least if I knew your name.”

“Pardon for my poor manners. Everyone calls me Comte de Saint-Germain.”

That wasn’t the level of intimacy she would have expected from the guy who approached her first, but it was fair. Soulmates or not, they were basically strangers. If it was in her country, she would have offered him no more than her last name. It was just that she grew used to many countries using first names freely while traveling. They didn’t even know if this would work.

“It will be a pleasure to get to meet you.” Hikari smiled as he offered her his arm.

She had woken up in the morning wishing she didn’t have a soulmate, and now their meeting was almost as much of a fairytale as it could be.

Hikari just hoped her fairytale didn’t include any evil witches, bad wolves, or curses at all.

A ridiculous thought. These things didn't exist. But neither did doors that disappeared.

What if it did, though?

Hikari thought for a moment, and decided that, despite fears or complaints, she would love that, as long as she had a happy ending.

The lyrics are from the song Cupid's Arrow by Braaten & Kyan Palmer. I don't know the song, I just found it and thought appropriate for Hikari and the fic

IkeVamp Masterlist / General Masterlist / Next Chapter

[masterofdemise]

Thank you @lady-lazagna for sending the ask!

Anyway, so I think it is absolutely NO surprise that when I say "mysterious unlikely helpers", if you follow my art enough, you'll know it's none other than Pluto and Johannes. Now, knowing me, this is a long one so sit tight.

"But Alexis? Pluto died, how did he come back?"

I RESURRECTED HIM WITH THE POWER OF COPIU-okay serious answer. I'm still finding the exact answer for it, but in some lucky twist of fate for Pluto, because he was not the Child of the Black Sun and therefore deemed "unworthy", he was in simple terms, "rejected" by Nemesis and after some time of sitting inside of it, he was sent back into the living realm. Yada yada yada, he encounters Dynamis and a whole bunch of drama occurs before eventually everyone knocks some sense into Pluto and Pluto decides he will not go on more troubling tasks to condemn the world. Wanting to right the many wrongs he did, he donates a good portion of his fortune away to aid people in need, and starts working at the WBBA to try and make up for what he did since just sitting in jail won't do much to help anyone.

In the meanwhile, during the six months he was missing, Johannes and the rest of the Nemesis gang were stuck in Metal Bey City and without any direction or idea on what to do with their lives, they wallowed around for a bit until Elysse knocked sense into the four and convinced them to start up a business (aka, Cafe Lynx). After establishing the cat cafe, since it was so close, Felicity decided to pay a visit and that is where she started talking with Johannes. Since the two were such cat fanatics, they became quick friends of sorts and engaged in gossip. Especially with Fifionne and He Li Hua not around as much due to Li Hua being busy and Fifionne doing AWOL, Felicity gets to at least relax at the new cat cafe. Even though she became aware of Johannes's involvement in the world destroying incident, knowing what she did with Fifionne, she let it slide and gave Johannes a chance.

After Pluto comes back, he takes up a position as manager of the cafe, as well as a worker with the WBBA. Since Felicity is such a frequent visitor, Pluto meets her and they become friends.

Here is the real important stuff, and a huge spoiler( but also not really since it's not like I'll have the energy to type this all out into a story). When He Li Hua calls Felicity about Fifionne being missing, Felicity says she has not heard from Fifionne since the Nemesis incident (which was by the time Li Hua called, eight months ago).

This is a lie.

Felicity not only saw her almost right after Nemesis was defeated to analyze Fifionne's new Divine Fox, but she also saw Fifionne one month ago. In truth, Felicity KNEW something was deeply wrong with Fifionne and panicked heavily after Fifionne threatened her to not interfere with her plans. With the way she was behaving, Felicity likened it to another Ryuga-like incident in the way that Fifionne was not only being influenced by a dark-force(Tamamo), but by how much Fifionne seemed to be motivated by revenge. Knowing the authorities probably would not be able to do much against her friend and even if they did it probably would not go well, she decided it would be easier to enlist the help of other people.

As a result, she turns over to both Pluto and Johannes two weeks before He Li Hua makes the call. Knowing the two have expertise in not only tracking people down, but because they have the experiences of being former evil-doers and schemers, she is willing to pay the both of them for the job. Pluto refuses the money since the two do not really need it, and Pluto is trying to do it out of kindness. With that, the two start their investigation without ever informing the WBBA. Pluto does go on to inform the WBBA about this later, but only after Li Hua shows up.

Fast forward to when Li Hua travels to Japan on impulse to look for clues on Fifionne, Felicity panics. Not only does she know that Li Hua will absolutely despise Pluto and Johannes for being a part of their search, but because Fifionne also threatened Felicity to not get Li Hua involved. Not wanting Li Hua to figure out the truth and trying to solve the Fifionne problem as quietly as possible, she keeps quiet and plays up the lie. Li Hua ends to the WBBA for information where they finally learn of her disappearance. With the assumption that Felicity knows as much as Li Hua (when she doesn't), Li Hua leaves for Kyoto for answers while Felicity has more time to try and wrap things up.

Unfortunately, Li Hua does manage to come back with information and continues bugging Felicity about the search. Knowing she won't be able to go on the search for herself, she gives up on keeping Pluto and Johannes's roles a secret and asks Li Hua to go to Cafe Lynx without her. It is there where Li Hua almost blows a fuse at Felicity when she realizes who exactly Felicity enlisted the help of. As mad as Li Hua is, this is all so they can find Fifionne and Li Hua has no choice but to let it slide.

I'll leave it at that since those are the main bits of information that need to be known for the setup. Essentially, Felicity has been working with Pluto and Johannes behind Li Hua's back because Felicity is not only worried about Li Hua and Fifionne encountering one another, but because she believes Pluto and Johannes will be the best for the job. He Li Hua is absolutely infuriated and feels betrayed that Felicity is so willing to work with people she sees as the "lowest scum of the Earth", but she sets her differences aside just for a bit because Li Hua cares more about Fifionne's safety. There is going to be a lot more drama that occurs soon after Li Hua talks more with the two, but that can be discussed another time when I feel like not shutting up.

[angelasscribbles]

Complicated Couples: Author's Notes

The Author's notes may have gotten out of hand and needed a post of their own!

I left a lot of things hanging when I finished Complicated because the story was going to continue in Hinge. But Hinge generally revolves around Riley, Liam, and Drake along with Hana and Max. I’ve had the idea of doing a compilation of these side characters for a while now and the choices holidays prompts gave me the nudge I needed.

I realize that I created a lot of OC’s for Complicated and maybe no one but me remembers or cares about the arcs I left hanging for them. I also brought in Logan and Ellie from Ride or Die as crossover characters. I also have a lot of HC’s about other characters I haven’t fully explored, so this is a little self-indulgent piece that allowed me to do just that.

This compilation uses most of the themes from the choices holidays prompts, but is not set on Valentine’s Day. Rather, each interaction here takes place the same morning, the day the unity tour arrives at Applewood. Not everyone is at Applewood but that is made clear in the text itself.

I tried to keep it to roughly 500 words per couple. Since there are eight couples, it still passed 4k words.

Liam, Riley, and Drake do not make an appearance in this. Instead, this focuses on all the other couples that are a thing, were a thing, or will eventually become a thing in the Complicated/Hinge universe. Not all of the interactions are fluffy or end well.

The couples are:

Marco and Callie: I originally created Marco Rossi in Savage Love where he is a jump instructor. He has shown up in just about every other universe I’ve created as a member of the Queen’s Guard or the Royal Guard. In Bad Romance, he was dating Drake and Savannah’s sister that was murdered. In Complicated I wanted to give him a happily ever after. Callie Gataki was created for Complicated, she was a maid at Fydelia whom Riley made Liam hire to save her from Madeleine’s verbal abuse. Assigned a position at Applewood, she told Riley what she’d heard from another maid about the setup and later participated in tricking Ana De Luca into putting a positive spin on Riley and Liam’s relationship to pave the way for their engagement. I was originally going to hook her up with Alec, but then I decided Alec was for Max. Callie and Marco met in the Complicated chapter Encounters.

Alec and Max: Alexandros Eliades was created for Complicated as Liam’s undercover guard posing as his personal secretary but shows up in pretty much everything now as the head of Liam’s King’s Guard, and in Savage Love as Liam’s crown shield. In this universe Max is gay. He ends up with Alec in New Year’s Eve in Valtoria and it is implied they have developed a close friendship over the years with neither of them admitting their true feelings for the other. Their first little interaction is in the Complicated chapter Encounters. The boyfriend Max mentions is the yoga instructor from Yoga Pants.

Leo and Liv: They really have only shown up in the Hinge chapters Thanksgiving in Valtoria and  New Years Eve in Valtoria where they are already a couple. However, it has always been my HC that this is the same Leo and Liv from this one-shot. The series Leo and Liv is supposed to be the build-up to said one-shot.

Madeleine and Cassie: I created Lady Cassandra Kumari, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Burgundy and Liam’s cousin for Complicated specifically to be a LI for Madeline. They end up together in The Agreement but I have not decided their final fate here. It is my HC that Madeleine is gay and I have written her as such in every universe I’ve created. I realize that not everyone has read or finished Complicated and even those who have may not remember all the details as it wrapped up in July of 2022, so I went back and pulled all the Madi x Cassie content from Three Weeks in Ramsford and Complicated and compiled it into one document. I hope it makes cohesive sense. Here it is: Madi and Cassie.

Savannah and Bertrand: In Complicated Savannah moves back to Cordonia, to her old rooms at the palace. I always felt like there wasn’t enough strife between her and Bertrand in canon over her literally keeping his son a secret from him so here it is.

Constantine and Regina: Not a couple most people probably care about, but I had an idea for them so I wrote it.

Logan and Ellie: Drake and Riley bond with Logan and Ellie during the lockdown in Manhattan and their subsequent escape to Virginia. In the last chapter, Drake offers Logan a job as Liam’s driver and he takes it.

Bianca and Bastien: This pairing is not something anyone picked up from reading this story because this idea has lived solely in my head until now.

[maiji]

images: First two pages of part 2 of fight / flight - a comic drawn in a digital ink-brush style with greyscale shading.]

fight / flight: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 Alt text, full transcript and commentary continue below the cut.

A YYH North Bound story. This takes place after I Heard A Cicada Cry and Survive.

Content warning: Violence, blood, people fighting with swords.

[images: Remaining five pages of comic.]

[page 9] *Hokushin and Otake clash swords. After a while of dueling, they split apart, both panting.* Otake: How pointless to fight like a common human. *He clasps his sword wrist with his opposite hand. Hokushin cautiously takes note of the movement. The area around the gauntlet/bracer Otake is clasping glows*

[page 10] *Otake releases his grip on his wrist* Hokushin: (Some kind of Spirit World artifact?) *unexpectedly, a sudden blast of organically shaped energy spikes slice through Hokushin*

[page 11] *Hokushin coughs up blood and is slammed and pinned against a tree by the spikes* Hokushin: Ugh... Otake: *charging and slicing at Hokushin's neck* Your head is mine!! *Otake’s blade comes bearing down on Hokushin’s neck. At the last second, Hokushin's entire head stretches into a long ribbon and whips out of the way*

[page 12] Otake: ?! *Hokushin's head/neck whips towards Otake and around his torso and arms*

[page 13] *Otake’s hands are bound tightly, causing him to drop his sword. Wrapped up in Hokushin's neck, he's tossed through the air and his head is rammed against a tree. Meanwhile, Hokushin pulls the spikes out and slides down to the ground, trails of blood against the tree trunk*

[page 14] *Otake continues to get his head slammed against trees. He struggles and manages to grip his bracer again. It glows. It sends a shocking sensation through Hokushin's neck, and Hokushin unwraps and withdraws. Sweating and bedraggled, he covers his neck with both hands gingerly, then lowers his arms, revealing a series of burn marks around his neck. Otake, blood running down both sides of his face and one eye bruised, braces one hand against his knee and slowly gets up.* Hokushin: !! Otake: …A male rokurokubi. That must’ve been why the old man was so intent on not revealing your whereabouts. Not that it did him - or you - any good.

[page 15] Hokushin: *with a shocked expression* Old man? Otake: *eyes him* The blind biwa player of Ausaka Barrier. Hokushin: …What happened to him? Otake: He earned a one-way trip to Enma Daioh. *As Otake speaks, Hokushin stares at him in shocked silence. A flashback of a smiling bearded man holding out a flower plays in his mind.* Otake: He wasn’t long for this world anyways. That is the fate of humans as overseen by my master.

...

Cliffhanger! How should the next part start? I haven’t decided yet but right now my top candidate is Hokushin screaming his head off. (But not literally his head off.) But I’m also debating whether or not this is too stereotypical or if something else will work better for his character.

Some thoughts!

My sis said “You’re really trying to make people hate Otake.” I was like, he’s already revealed to be a bad guy in canon! Everyone knows he’s a bad guy!! That’s why he made it into North Bound in the first place, because he was a perfect fit for this role I needed.

My sis also asked, “Is Hokushin going to get to kick butt?” And I was like, hmm. Yes? I guess? But he needs to get knocked around a bit first, because it is the shounen manga way. Also remember Otake can’t die here.

In my mind, at this point in history Hokushin and Otake are pretty evenly matched powerwise, except Otake has the element of surprise. A.k.a. random Spirit World gadgets, the precursor to all the stuff Yusuke gets in his Spirit Detective kit. This one is a bracer that something something. I’m just making stuff up to be able to progress the fight in the ways I need it to; I hope it seems to make sense.

Otake was tracking Hokushin and knew he was dealing with a demon, but not the details. This is mainly because it’s super fun to draw a fight for Hokushin when the opponent has no idea what his special skillset is. Alternatively, in my mind Otake prescribes to the horses not zebras school of thought (“when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras”), so it didn’t occur to him/he didn’t think it was anywhere near likely that Hokushin would be a rokurokubi. Male rokurokubi are extremely rare in both traditional youkai mythology and in North Bound. I explain this in this post, and A House That Holds Long Limbs also uses this same idea.

The blind biwa player of Ausaka Barrier is, of course, the legendary Semimaru, who appears in I Heard A Cicada Cry. I talk more about his historical/cultural impact in the notes throughout that story. The memory of him holding a flower is from when he gives Hokushin a flower during their travels.

In the Hokushin VS Yusuke fight in the manga, Hokushin says that in S class at full strength, he would’ve been able to throttle Yusuke after wrapping him up with his neck - we can imagine like a boa constrictor. Limited to D class, the most he could do was stretch his neck continuously and confuse/ freak the heck out of Yusuke. Here, ~700+ years ago, Hokushin would be closer to D class. I imagine he can still constrict things, but it depends on the size and strength of the target. He’s also not at full strength at this point, so that’s why he’s trying to give Otake a flying concussion. Also he’s trying to pull those spiky energy arrow shard things out of himself/the tree and multitasking is hard. In First Meeting’s Hokushin VS Raizen encounter, Hokushin has gotten a bit stronger and is trying to constrict Raizen, but that doesn’t work for obvious reasons because it’s like an ant (a very long ant, I guess) trying to constrict god..

Feel free to question my judgement on anything. Choreographing logical fight scenes is really hard, haha.

I haven’t worked out all the details yet, but right now it looks like fight / flight will likely net out at 4-6 parts (I’m thinking 5 most likely...?). I really feel like I leveled up in a tiny fashion while working on this, and it was a lot of fun after I got through the actual thumbnails and panel compositions. A sequence like this is something I would never have been able to compose years ago when I first started working on North Bound. I’ll make a separate post about the technical comicking aspects, along with the thumbnails and the sketches for each page!

Update: Here’s the behind the scenes! https://www.tumblr.com/maiji/705387259973730304/fight-flight-part-2-thumbnails-and-page-sketches