#and I’ve caught on to the author’s update schedule but I still do it lol

[la-florecita]

not me checking my bookmarks everyday to see if a fic has updated 😭

[defectivevillain]

this winding labyrinth

chapter 1: suffocation.

pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Reader (reader is not gendered, race-ambiguous, and no physical descriptors are used)

summary:

You wish you never met Hannibal Lecter. But you yearn for his presence. You want to forget him. But he never truly leaves your thoughts. Now, you’re left to pick up the pieces of a broken design. A battle of instinct rages on in your mind—one of bittersweet relief and cloying grief, fearless resolve and poignant regret; a clashing between affection and antipathy, pride and pain. What will win, in the end? Only time will tell.

this is act 2 of this broken design. if you haven't read that, this won't make too much sense.

ao3 version | Spotify playlist

warnings: canon-typical blood, violence, gore, mutilation, death, & animal death. the animal death is pretty detailed, so please don't read this fic if you're triggered by that kind of topic.

author's notes: This first chapter is a little bit of a mess imo, but I wanted to post it to assure you all that I don’t want to abandon this fic. It may take me longer to post and update chapters, especially since I graduated from uni (mwahahah) and my schedule may get busy. Still, I really enjoy writing this story—and you all seem to enjoy reading it. Both of those things are enough to keep me going.

Something extremely ironic happened around the time I was writing the last few chapters of Act 1. So… if you remember, in Chapter 6, Hannibal and the reader go on an opera date (of sorts). During that date, the reader remarks that they “don’t know the first thing about opera.” Those words were pretty much taken directly from my mouth. Fast forward to about mid-fall, I get a call for an interview for an internship. I end up doing the first interview, then a second interview… Then I get the internship. The irony? This internship is at an opera house. (What’s even more ironic is that I’m now getting to the point where I do actually know things about opera—I know different productions and directors and technical terms… It’s absolutely crazy. The universe is making me eat my words, lol.

To make matters even stranger, I was in the office for the internship one day and caught a glimpse of a television, which broadcasts what’s happening on the stage. Imagine my absolute surprise and fear when I look up at the television screen with absolutely no expectations and see a single man in a beige jumpsuit with something over his face standing on stage, his shadow silhouetted against the wall behind him. Imagine my surprise when I see that, not only is he standing in an enclosure with iron bars (just like the ones at Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane), but it also looks as if he is staring right at me—and he looks exactly like Hannibal Lecter in captivity. It was simultaneously scary as hell and weirdly reassuring. Anyway, I’ve taken these experiences as cosmic confirmation that I should continue writing this fic. Lol.

Anyway. Back to the important things… I’m planning to borrow elements from both Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon, but, similarly to the first act, there will be canon divergence and canon non-compliance. Also, as you probably discerned in the past act, there is some plot armor. But, this is fiction.

Your life currently takes two forms: before the Chesapeake Ripper… and after. 

Before the Ripper, the leaf-stained pavement of the Bureau filled you with hope. Walking through the agency’s halls was a testament to the hard work that brought you there. Each assignment was an invaluable opportunity to further develop your interrogation and combat skills. You went to classes, completed assignments, trained, slept, and repeated the cycle the next day. Over and over and over again. But you were happy. 

Life doesn’t feel so simple anymore. You feel like you’ve been fading for a while now, slowly deteriorating as you invest more and more energy into catching criminals. Your work has morphed into an exhausting mutual exchange, one in which you take murderers’ freedom and they take your restful nights. You can’t remember the last time you rested unencumbered by the horrors you’ve seen in the field.

By some miracle, Jack manages to keep the press relatively uninformed about the happenings behind the Ripper case. Everyone is too absorbed with the fact that Hannibal’s in captivity to remember to ask just how he got there, and you’re very grateful for that lapse in memory. You can just imagine the interactions you’d have with paparazzi. Is it true that he stabbed you? Is it true that he purposefully left you alive, only to surrender in your front yard and torment you with the constant knowledge that he will remain in the same place, lying in wait until the moment you will inevitably need him? You shudder. 

Even with all the chaos that comes from the Ripper case—the media coverage of Hannibal and the attention the FBI gets—life goes on. Back at the Bureau, you occasionally lecture the new recruits and you take on assignments along with the rest of the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Jack is still wont to call on you at the most ungodly of hours; Beverly still trades lighthearted taunts with you; Brian Zeller still seems to hate your guts, for reasons you’re not quite sure of; Alana and you are back to a steady friendship, albeit with occasional beats of unexplained tension and awkward silence. 

Criminality continues to occur in the Ripper’s wake. You’re not surprised: the imprisonment of one criminal doesn’t beget the imprisonment of another. Even so, it’s difficult for you to proceed as if things are normal. You see traces of Hannibal in each of the monsters you apprehend. Your emotions are starting to eat you alive from the inside. You don’t have a therapist to assist you with those emotions anymore. And, while you think therapy would be helpful, you also know that there’s no way in hell you’d be able to actually be honest with a therapist without being imprisoned yourself. The things you’ve done and the urges you’ve felt…  Neither is even close to a semblance of normality. 

You take a deep breath. You have no issue stopping other criminals, sending them to empty white walls and thin mattresses. Why was Hannibal Lecter any different? You suppose you shouldn’t fool yourself—you know the answer to that question already: you got to know him. Beyond the mask of the Ripper, beyond the bloodied skin and cruel smile… You started to see him as a man, perhaps even a friend. Perhaps, even-

You tear yourself away from that thought process before it gets too far along. The semantics don’t matter now. All that matters is that you’re back in the field, back popping pills for your headaches and blinking fresh horrors from your eyes. All that matters is that the memory of Hannibal Lecter begins to fade away in the face of work— so much so that keeping busy helps you forget the pain. 

Meanwhile, a hundred miles away, a veterinarian walks into a stable under a farmer’s guidance. The two stand over a dead horse and the veterinarian frowns. The farmer explains the horse’s death before stepping aside, letting the professional work. 

The farmer quickly becomes lost in their thoughts. They hadn’t expected the horse to die in the middle of her pregnancy. The farmer swallows past the tightness in their throat and tears their eyes away from the horse. They were looking forward to the birth of the foal, looking forward to helping the mother raise her offspring. The stable air suddenly feels suffocating and they take a look at the veterinarian’s turned back before stepping outside to get some fresh air. 

Moments later, the veterinarian rejoins them. The doctor’s lips are drawn in a tight line and there’s a troubled expression on their face. The farmer feels any remaining composure promptly seep out of them, as the veterinarian suggests they come back into the stable. 

“It feels like there’s something here,” the veterinarian says, their expression conflicted. They touch the horse’s womb with a gloved hand and frown. 

“She was pregnant,” the farmer chokes out, their throat feeling tight again. It hurts to utter the words aloud.

“With twins?” The veterinarian asks, turning around to look at them. 

“No, just one baby,” the farmer shakes their head. Why would they ask about twins? Surely, they don’t feel another baby in the womb. The thought of two deaths is morbid and distressing enough, but three? The farmer inhales shakily. 

“There’s… something else here.” The veterinarian remarks, their face contorting as they feel the horse’s womb once more. They turn back to look at the farmer for assistance. The farmer feels a horrible, inexplicable sense of foreboding crawling up their skin. Despite that feeling, they nod to the veterinarian. The doctor nods in response and turns to the horse’s womb, before making an incision.

The veterinarian unearths the dead foal and places it on the nearby hay with infinite gentleness. The farmer’s chest begins to hurt as they come to terms with the sight before them. Their pain doesn’t end there, however. The veterinarian continues slicing along the skin before stopping and glancing back at them inexplicably. It’s as if they’re waiting for permission to continue. The farmer appreciates the gesture and they nod in affirmation. This mystery needs to be put to rest. 

The veterinarian inhales sharply, sending the farmer’s heart racing. The farmer prompts them to step aside, revealing the horse’s womb. There’s… something there. The farmer squints at it, a gasp ripping its way from their lips as they realize just what they’re looking at. A human corpse lies on the stable floor, a stark shock of muted crimson against the golden strands of hay. The farmer brings a shaking hand to their pocket and calls the police. 

Unaware of these occurrences, you slowly exhale and pinch the bridge of your nose, feeling a headache coming on. You busy yourself with grading your students’ papers, and you don’t learn of the corpse until a few hours later, when the medicine begins to kick in and you’re foolishly convinced that you’ll be fine. Before you can leave for the day, Jack is walking up to you and beckoning you to the lab. The two of you grab Beverly along the way, which leaves the three of you to enter the laboratory that Price and Zeller are currently situated in. When you walk in, you’re immediately assaulted with the scent of formaldehyde. Price explains the situation behind the corpse, how a veterinarian found the body within the womb of a horse. The notion is strikingly similar to the other deaths by suffocation that have been eluding the BAU for several weeks. Jack seems to think the same thing, as he rattles off what he knows so far about the killer. You add things here and there—small things you can notice from the state of the corpse itself—before Price gets the group back on track. 

“I called you here because…” Price trails off, frowning before readjusting his stethoscope and placing it on the victim’s chest once more. The room is deathly silent as he concentrates. “...There’s a heartbeat.”

“That doesn’t come with the onset of rigor mortis—we all know that,” Zeller continues, looking down at the corpse with a somewhat puzzled expression. He seems to sense you staring and looks up, his eyebrows furrowing as his gaze meets yours. “She’s dead.” He announces with complete certainty. 

“She was found in the womb of the horse?” Beverly asks. Everyone else nods and she pauses for a moment. “Make an incision and check the chest cavity.” There’s an unshakeable certainty in her voice and it throws you off for a moment, before you realize what she’s getting at. It’s not unfathomable that something was buried within the victim’s chest cavity. Suffocation seems to be a common theme with this killer. Did they put some sort of dead animal in the corpse? The thought makes your stomach turn. 

“Alright,” Price acquiesces, after glancing at Jack for approval. Crawford nods, evidently attributing value to Beverly’s suggestion. The four of you—Crawford, Beverly, Zeller, and you—watch as Price leans in and makes a careful incision in the chest. For several moments, there’s nothing but a tense silence in the air as Jimmy works. The quiet is broken a few seconds later when Price takes a sharp breath. “I saw something.” 

“Keep going,” Jack demands, bringing Jimmy’s attention back to the task at hand. Price nods and makes the incision a little bigger. All of you are watching in anticipation, waiting for something you’re not quite sure will appear. 

All of a sudden, there’s a flash of motion. A yellow blur flits about the cavity, before reaching upwards and extending its wings to fly out. You watch in disbelief as the bloodstained bird stretches its wings and flies about the lab, colliding with the sheen of the fluorescent lighting and sending shadows flickering along the floor.

Jack is the first one to respond. He quickly paces over to the small window located near the ceiling and opens it, allowing the bird an escape. For a few moments, the bird doesn’t seem to notice: it’s too overwhelmed with the sudden change in environment to comprehend that it has just been granted an escape. It has a chance at true freedom, but it’s too busy taking in the laboratory’s flimsy promises to notice. The bird eventually notices the open window and flies out of it, before Jack closes the laboratory off from the outside world once more. 

The group begins discussing what just occurred, but your mind is elsewhere. You feel a strange sort of kinship with the bird: suffocated beneath rows of ribs and walls of tissue and skin; banished to the space between; too taken with the small allowances to notice freedom within reach. You pinch the bridge of your nose. Your headache is returning, as pressure builds up in your temples and constricts your very skin. It’s significantly harder to breathe. Every time you blink, you’re greeted with the memory of that bright yellow bird bursting from its confines, greeting the stale laboratory air with beating wings. You step outside the lab to get some fresh air, trading your smaller prison for a bigger one—just as the bird did mere moments ago. 

It doesn’t take long for Jack to find you. After all, you’re not hidden—you’re simply leaning against the wall in the hallway that leads to the laboratory. Jack strides up to you, his hands in his pockets and that familiar tight line drawn across his face. You suspect he’ll get wrinkles a lot sooner than everyone else his age—sheerly because of all the responsibility he holds and the pressure he’s forced to perform under. It must be exhausting to be the one calling the shots in these horrible situations. You had always assumed Jack had the easy job, but looking at him now, you think that assumption must be incorrect. He is suffering, just as you are. Perhaps… Jack has just grown better at hiding it. 

The thought makes Jack’s remark slip in one ear and right out the other. You ask him to repeat himself and he sighs. “We need to go to the stable where the corpse was found. There are several police officers there already, but…” But we need to do a more thorough investigation , he doesn’t say. You hear him anyway and nod. Jack walks past you and paces purposefully down the hall, not even bothering to look and see if you’re following him. Perhaps he already knows you will follow him. 

What follows is an awkward car ride. Neither of the two of you attempt to break the tense silence, leaving a suffocating air of uncertainty and indecision. You don’t know what to say to Jack, so you instead busy yourself with looking out the window. You resolutely pretend not to notice your boss’s gaze repeatedly flitting over to you and, after a painful amount of time, Jack is driving up the gravel path that leads to a modest farmhouse and a beautiful wooden stable. 

The place is already crawling with police officers and FBI agents. Unfortunately, the police were the first ones to be informed of the case, which means the FBI is forced to share jurisdiction with them. You know Jack isn’t too happy about that, especially once you see the frown on his face as he watches the police officers clumsily investigate. They don’t have the right training for a situation like this and Jack is delighted to inform them of that fact—albeit with much more sugar coated wording than you would have utilized. A few minutes later, the cops are gone, leaving Jack, you, and the set of agents that Jack requested to follow after your car on the drive over. The other agents are quick to secure the crime scene, while Jack and you decide to explore the premises a little first. 

The property features a small, rather unremarkable house with slightly dirty bricks and a well-loved bench swing on the porch. The front door is agape, revealing hardwood flooring and items strewn about. Jack and you exchange a glance before walking into the home. You don’t see any sign of life until you reach the kitchen and come across an older woman sitting at the table, stirring a cup of tea. You’re quick to show your badge and explain the situation to her. She doesn’t seem to have a great idea of what’s going on, so you eventually decide to leave her be and keep looking about the property. 

Next to the house is a rather large stable, complete with several different stalls and a wide variety of tools. You have no idea what half of the tools could possibly be used for, but the majority of them look as if they’ve been used at least once. There are bales of hay in the corner of the room and various accessories hanging near the post of each horse’s stall. There are only a few horses in the stable—you think you could’ve seen a few in the pastures out back earlier. There’s a horrible stench pervading the air, and it’s not the typical odor that comes from a farm. It’s the smell of death. You look at Jack and he nods, inclining his head and gesturing for you to continue exploring the stable. It isn’t until you reach the last stall—one that is inexplicably larger than the rest—that you find the source of the stench. The rotted corpse of the horse rests at the back of the stall, the womb flayed open. The organs have been removed, but the smell of decay remains. Surprisingly enough, you’re not alone in this stall. A brown-haired man sits cross-legged on the floor next to the horse, a blank expression on his face. 

“...Hello?” You decide to try. There’s no response. “Excuse me?” Still no response. 

You glance at Jack and he raises his eyebrows, before turning to the stranger. “You must be Peter Bernardone,” Jack remarks. The mention of the man’s name seems to be enough to get his attention. On second thought, you remember Jack offhandedly mentioning that there may be a stablehand on site. It seems you’ve found him. 

“That’s me,” the man replies flatly, staring ahead with glassy eyes. He looks as if he’s on an entirely different plane of existence, as he looks at the wall ahead of him with enough intensity to melt it.

“Jack Crawford, FBI,” Jack answers with an introduction of his own. He flashes his badge for a moment before putting it away. You can’t tell if Peter is even paying attention, but you do the same to make him more comfortable. “We’re just here to ask you some questions.”

“I want to talk,” Peter murmurs quietly, just barely loud enough to be heard. He pulls his knees up to his chest; his eyes haven’t strayed from the corpse of the animal in front of him. You feel your chest constrict a little at the sight. 

“Good,” Jack responds with a nod. 

“...To you,” Peter finishes with a gesture. To your complete surprise, he doesn’t point at Jack—he’s pointing at you. Jack blinks in equal surprise, looking at you for answers. You send him a helpless look. At first, you’re not sure why you seem more trustworthy than Jack. Then you remember Jack’s position and the intimidating aura he tends to give off. You think you’d want to talk to someone like yourself too, were you in Peter’s situation. 

“Alright,” you agree. You don’t see the harm in having a conversation. You need information and, more importantly, answers. Jack stares at you for a long few seconds, before exhaling in evident exasperation. 

“I’ll be outside,” Jack promises, before walking away. You wait until Jack is out of sight before you take a step closer to Peter, placing your hands in your pockets. 

“What do you do here, Peter?” You hear yourself ask. Your voice sounds foreign to your ears. 

“I volunteer here,” Peter responds, still facing the corpse. His voice sounds hollow, empty. “Sometimes.” 

“Did you… know this horse?” You ask hesitantly, looking down at the corpse.

“Yes,” Peter answers without hesitation. There’s a hint of emotion in his voice now.  

“Ridden her before?”

“I don’t ride the horses,” Peter replies, “I just like to brush them.” 

“Okay,” you acknowledge. You begin pacing around the stall in an attempt to calm your restless nerves. “Peter, were you here on the day that the veterinarian visited?” Jack had briefed you on the circumstances of the horse’s death, how a veterinarian had been called to investigate before the corpse was found in the womb. 

“I don’t remember a veterinarian,” he stares ahead with a frown. 

“That’s fine,” you answer. He may not have been there that day. “The veterinarian was the one who cut open the womb and found the corpse… Did you know this horse was pregnant?”

At that question, Peter turns around and stares at you. His hollow gaze is enough to send a shiver down your spine. For a moment, he just stares at you, before huffing in amusement. “Obviously.” 

“Obviously,” you echo. You suppose that was a rather dumb question on your part. “Were you… sad about the foal?”

“Of course,” Peter huffs again. “Why do you think I’m sitting here?” This discussion isn’t getting you very far. 

“Fine,” you acquiesce. You take a deep breath. “This doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere. I’m going to give you my extension, and if you ever feel like talking about what happened, you can call me, okay?” Thankfully, you know for certain that Peter isn’t the killer—the psychological profile you built on this murderer tells you that much. Jack clearly doesn’t think Peter is the killer either, and those two facts are enough for you to rule him out as a suspect. However, you’re still contemplating the possibility of him tampering with the crime scene. 

Peter clears his throat pointedly and you remember what you were supposed to be doing. You grab a notepad from your jacket pocket and quickly scrawl down the Behavioral Analysis Unit’s phone number, followed by the extension to your office phone. You take a step closer and hold it out to Peter. For a fraction of a moment, you think he won’t take it. Just before you can pull your hand back, he takes the paper and slips it into his pocket. 

You turn on your heel and take a step towards the door of the stall, fully intent on leaving, when the door falls open of its own accord. Jack Crawford stands in the doorway, staring at you. 

“Good, Agent,” Jack remarks. This must be important. “We have a lead,” he says vaguely, his eyes falling to Peter. You can’t discuss confidential information here—the details will have to wait until you’re both in the car.

“Excellent,” you remark in relief. “I’ll meet you at the car?” You can sense that Peter’s attention is piqued. Maybe you can still get something out of him. Jack nods and walks away once more. You then turn to Peter, who has turned his body away from the horse to face you. Somehow, he’s intrigued now. Something has caught his eye. “Sorry, Peter,” you apologize, taking a step backwards and emphasizing that you’re a moment away from leaving, “I have to go.”

“What is it?” Peter asks, “Did you find him?”

“It’s classified, I’m sorry,” you respond, ignoring the inexplicable sound of alarm bells blaring in your head. Peter isn’t the killer. “But we’re tracking down this killer. I promise he’ll be put away.”

“You promise?” Peter asks, a dangerous conviction in his eyes. 

“Yes,” you respond without hesitation. You don’t have the authority to make that kind of promise, but you do anyway. The sincerity in your expression must convince Peter, because he takes a slow breath and the tension seems to fade from his form. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Peter. It was nice to meet you.” Peter says the same and you turn to leave the stable. 

“Price and Zeller found soil in the corpse’s throat,” Jack recounts to you as he drives along the highway, moving at a comfortable speed. His eyes are fixed on the road, but he recalls his conversation with Price with perfect consistency. “We traced it to a burial site about thirty minutes from here.”

“Great,” you remark, relief coursing through you. To your surprise, Jack doesn’t respond. Instead, he simply nods ever so slightly and continues staring ahead. Now, it seems as if he’s avoiding something. “What is it?” You ask. Something seems off about him. 

“You may want to brace yourself,” Jack warns vaguely. 

“Why?” You hear yourself question. Jack doesn’t answer, and he’s quiet for the rest of the car ride. When the two of you pull up to the supposed burial site, you’re filled with trepidation. This job always comes with the knowledge that blood and gore could be waiting at every corner. That’s the normal day for an agent. So… why does Jack feel the need to warn you? You grapple with the prospect as the two of you leave the car and join the group of agents circled around something. 

It isn’t until you get closer that you recognize the familiar stench of rotting death. Sure enough, the group of agents is clustered around a hole in the ground—one that houses a woman’s corpse. You stare at the marks around her neck, the dirt caked under her nails and staining her fingertips. She was on the brink of death when she was buried. She was trying to escape. You stare down at the body for another moment, searching for any more abnormalities, before taking a step back to let the other agents resume their investigation. You exchange glances with Jack. 

“She’s not the only one,” Jack says. You stare at the field around you—the grassy, open expanse. It seems to stretch on for miles now. You feel your heart steadily thudding in your chest, at a rate slightly faster than normal. Your head begins to ache. 

“How many of them are there?” You murmur. The question is quiet, as you practically whisper it against the wind. For a moment, you think Jack doesn’t hear it. You then realize that he has comprehended it, but is simply declining to answer. Indeed, your boss stares out at the field with a conflicted expression. “Jack?”

“Sixteen,” Jack responds, turning his attention back to you. You feel something in your stomach twist and pull. 

“That can’t be right,” you remark. It sounds as if the wind is picking up. It takes you several seconds to realize the sound is being conjured by your own mind, and that the air is damp and still around you. You swallow hard and take another look around at the field, suddenly understanding why the agents are now evenly dispersed across the space. They all have shovels and each sound of metal hitting dirt is enough to send a bolt of pain down your temple and through your cheekbones. Your teeth hurt as you watch the unearthing of sixteen different victims. They’re uniformly dispersed across the field. This is no happy accident—the killer meticulously planned for their graves to be close (but not too close). The thought brings a burning feeling to your throat and you feel your knees suddenly buckle. You place a hand on the ground, feeling the familiar horrible feeling of nausea climbing past your throat until you’re vomiting on the killer’s ground. It takes you a few minutes to stop, and even longer for you to fully recover. Your eyes sting and you can’t tell if you’re going to cry or pass out. There’s an overwhelming clarity in your vision and a rhythmic pounding at your temple.

This graveyard is a gruesome display, even to someone who has spent their entire career surrounded by carnage. You’ve seen your fair share of murder victims. You’ve never seen sixteen of them lined up in two neat rows of eight, buried in a nondescript field under layers of muddy soil. Moreover, you can sense the killer’s feelings—and it makes you sick. This was not a gesture born out of respect for the victims. The murderer did not dig up these graves to give these women a final resting place; he buried them to trap them, so that even in death, they would never truly be free. Their existences would be tied to him forever. They would never be allowed to breathe again. It’s nothing short of sickening. There’s nausea stewing in your stomach again, revulsion prickling across your skin, and sweat trickling down your neck.

You can’t seem to push yourself up to your feet. You’re grounded to the damp soil, to the wrong side of the earth. What deems you worthy of living? What deemed these women worthy of dying? Your hands are twitching at your sides. A deep breath causes your chest to hitch and you nearly vomit again. You look down on your body as you claw at the grass and tear it up, shakily pulling at the dirt and plants and grass and rot and death and injustice and horrible, terrible guilt and indescribable anger and vengeance -

There’s a hand on your shoulder. You instinctually tense, your movements beginning to slow. It feels as if you’re suddenly catapulted back into your body, forced to inhabit the itchy, dirt-stained skin and the endless remorse that wants to eat you alive from the inside. 

“They’re dead; there is nothing left for them here,” Jack says. It’s his strange way of comforting you. It sort of works. After a moment, he takes a step forward and extends a hand to you. You take it, allowing him to pull you up. Jack seems to be fighting against the urge to say or do something, because his eyebrows are furrowed and his lips are pulled taut in a thin line. There’s dirt all over you, yet you are still privileged with life. 

You don’t remember how you get back to the Bureau. All you remember is staring blankly ahead as you’re half-led through the halls by Jack himself, his hand on your shoulder providing equal support and increased pressure. All you remember is the worry on Alana’s face as you walk past, the way she gets up from her desk and walks over to you, how she leads you towards the far restroom with a gentle hand. It ends up being the same restroom where Zeller accused you of killing Franklyn. The memory of that encounter is far fresher than you want it to be. 

Alana leads you to a sink and guides your hands towards the water. 

“Allow me,” she remarks, turning on the sink. She steps away for a moment and you stare at the water dripping from the faucet. Alana returns moments later with a washcloth. She pumps some soap on your hands and helps you wash them clean. Your head aches. You don’t know what to think, what to say. All you can think about is the graveyard. It haunts your vision every time you blink, forcing you to think of suffocating under piles of dirt and debris. You inhale sharply, gasping. Regaining your breath is a chore. “I’m worried about you,” Alana soon admits. You hate that her concern makes you feel appreciated. Your relationship with Alana ended years ago. You don’t want to be hers again, but this very moment reminds you of the intimacy you no longer get to see.

“You shouldn’t be,” you remark. Alana laughs under her breath. You both know that’s not how it works. Emotions don’t bend to logic. 

“What did you see?” Her hand on your forearm keeps you tethered to reality. You shake your head, unable to begin describing the scene that will most certainly haunt your nightmares. The two of you are silent for the remainder of your time together under the flickering fluorescent lights, as you try to come to terms with the terrible regret, revulsion, and rage threatening to spill over your frame and inhabit your every waking moment.

next chapter

endnotes: thanks for reading! i'm very excited to continue this story, mwahhahahha

here's a lil sneak peek for the next chapter: “Peter,” Clark practically coos. You hate him, more than you’ve ever hated anyone before. He is a bundle of contradictions: a fine-dressed man with a fine-dressed smile and fine-dressed lies and cruelty and violence and- “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

hannibal taglist <3: @its-ares @tobbotobbs @xrisdoesntexist @gr1mmac3 @tiredstarcerberuslamb @yourlocalratwriter @kahuunknown @atlas-king1 @pendragon-writes @slipknotcentury @cryinersaved @the-ultimate-librarian @starre-eyes @pendragon-writes @peterparkeeperer @gayschlatt69

[stiltonbasket]

If you’re still accepting prompts, I’m curious how much chaos qin su!wwx was able to subtly cause at jinlintai without being caught? bc i don’t think he could go that many months without doing Something to Someone lol

(brief author’s note: this au is entirely prompt-based, so please reblog if you can for future updates!)

Three months into his stay at the Jinlintai, Wei Wuxian discovers that he dislikes Su She even more than he dislikes his husband.

It’s not even that he falls all over himself doing Jin Guangyao’s bidding, because he doesn’t, he reflects, observing the two in conference at one of the Jin sect’s private banquets. Su She’s really loyal to him, and that’s even worse.

Before her death, Qin Su was almost certain that Su She had taken part in Jin Rusong’s murder, simply because Jin Guangyao could never have done the killing alone. She maintained that Jin Guangyao would not have been able to go to the guest kitchens, poison the plate intended for him, and visit He Su’s private quarters with time to spare; and Wei Wuxian agrees with her, if only because plotting the murder of a young sect heir in public would require a like-minded accomplice.

“Poor A-Song,” Wei Wuxian sighs, laying down his embroidery as his two handmaidens hurry to his elbow to comfort him with tea and snacks. “Yongpei, what will I do?”

“Nothing will bring our A-Song back,” the elder maidservant says, with tears already welling in her eyes at the mention of her mistress’s son. “But Mistress, just because it hasn’t worked in these last years, you mustn’t give up persuading the master to give you another baby! Mistress hasn’t said anything about it this last year, and A-Tai and I feared you’d lost hope--but Mistress, you are so pretty, and you love your husband so dearly, so how long can he resist favoring you even if he can’t bear the thought of losing a second child? Mistress gave Sect Leader a wonderful baby boy, it wasn’t any fault of yours that our xiao-gongzi passed away--and surely the same horrible tragedy can’t happen twice! You can’t give in, no matter what the master says about it.”

“A-Pei,” Wei Wuxian says gently, “this mistress is grateful for your faith, but in the end, I am A-Yao’s wife, and in matters such as these, I must respect his wishes. What kind of shameless woman would I be if I forced my husband to my bed, when I know he wants nothing less than to have another child with me?”

“A woman should have a child!” Shao Tai cries. “Mistress, it’s not the same at all! When Sect Leader first stopped favoring you, you never said a word, and it was all right before we lost A-Song--Mistress only wanted to be a good mother to her baby, and obey Sect Leader faithfully in all things! But now, even though it’s been more than ten years since xiao-gongzi died, he still...”

“Do you really think it’s unkind of him?” Wei Wuxian murmurs, glancing down at his half-embroidered handkerchiefs and pretending to blink back a few tears of his own. “He says he’s afraid for my health, but...”

“Yes, he is being unkind! Mistress shouldn’t be afraid to ask for what she wants!”

Wei Wuxian chews on his lip for a moment. “Do A-Pei and A-Tai really think I should go ahead with this?”

The two women both nod forcefully, setting the tea and cakes down on the desk so that they can kneel by his feet. “You have served Sect Leader without a word of complaint all this time, so why shouldn’t he grant you this one wish?” Yongpei says. “Mistress, if you leave it to us, we will see to all the preparations!”

A-Tai gives a timid cough. “But jiejie, if Mistress acts too suddenly, won’t he be suspicious?”

“Well, what else is she supposed to do?”

“No more of that,” Wei Wuxian scolds, barely keeping his lips from twitching as he finally thinks of another way to approach his plans to escape the Jinlintai by seducing Jin Guangyao. “Yongpei, A-Tai, you know this mistress of yours is a skilled cook?”

For once, Wei Wuxian isn’t actually pretending; he is a good cook, having learned the art at Jiang Yanli’s knee, even if he ruins all his dishes at the last moment by pouring chili oil into them. “Yes,” A-Tai replies, clearly confused. “Do you want to cook for your husband, my lady?”

“Not for my husband,” he smiles, brightening up like a summer sun cresting the horizon at daybreak as he looks at his fine-featured reflection in the mirror. “I’ve cooked for us often, so doing it again won’t mean anything much. But he has a dinner with Su-zongzhu and Zhang-zongzhu scheduled for the end of next week, so I’ll tell him I mean to cook all the dishes myself.”

“But, Mistress...!”

“Nonsense. I’ve made up my mind, and that’s what I’m going to do,” Wei Wuxian says briskly, putting away his embroidery needles. “And you two ought to get to bed, you know. It’s nearly eleven o’clock!”

It goes without saying that Wei Wuxian has no interest whatsoever in cooking for any of Jin Guangyao’s associates.

However, he does have access to a small store of hot Yunmeng spices laid aside for Jin Guangyao’s personal use, and he knows well enough that Jin Guangyao likes them--and that Su She, whose clan is native to Lan Zhan’s Suzhou, will not be able to tolerate so much as a speck of it.

(The plan goes off without a hitch, and Su She’s mouth and stomach fare so badly after eating a dish Wei Wuxian swore was meant for his husband that he has to take three rest days in the guest house to recover.)

__

“No way!” Jin Zixuan crows delightedly, as Wei Wuxian finishes narrating Su She’s unfortunate encounter with the mighty trifecta of Sichuan peppercorns, horseradish, and the spiciest chillies that Lanling gold could buy. “I wish I’d been there to see it. Who knew you could be so sneaky, Wei Wuxian?”

“It had a greater purpose,” Wei Wuxian shrugs. “I didn’t just do it for fun. I had to keep making overtures to Jin Guangyao so that he wouldn’t have any choice but to send me away when I finally tried to seduce him.”

On the other side of the campfire, Lan Zhan goes still. “Seduce?”

“Yes, of course. How else did you think that Jin-furen, wife to a zongzhu and xiandu all at once, could ever manage to get away from the Jinlintai without her husband noticing? He tried for months to placate me when I cooked him dinner and dressed in the colors he liked and proposed building a temple in Meng-furen and A-Song’s names, and then I finally had my handmaidens prepare me to receive him in my chambers and gave him the fright of his life. Smart, don’t you think?”

Lan Zhan’s face pales. “You ought not to have taken such measures,” he says hoarsely. “What if something had happened to you?”

“I’m his wife,” Wei Wuxian replies, bemused. “What could possibly have happened to me? Everyone thinks Qin Su must be barren, so no one would even try bumping me off to make sure Jin Guangyao could never have another heir. And he does care about her, you know.”

In answer, Lan Zhan only lets out a small scoff and turns his back to the fire, facing out into the night while Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixuan exchange puzzled glances over his head. “Rest, both of you,” he says quietly. “We will have to ride on towards Yunmeng in the morning, just in case that courtesan Mo-gongzi mentioned in his letter might be there.”

And then, as the three of them have done for the last month’s worth of nights they spent traveling together, Lan Zhan drifts off to sleep first, and Jin Zixuan and Wei Wuxian follow into a mist of uneasy dreams.

[jamestrmtx]

Wish Upon a Night Sky - [Beastars | Various x Reader]

[Female, Sheep Reader | Slow Burn]

Act Six, Scene Two | Fight or Flight

[Act One Link] | [Act Six, Scene One Link] | [Act Six Scene Three Link]

Your hopes over maintaining a routine are put to the test the moment after you're done studying for the day. 

The library's locked, door refusing to so much as budge with your attempts at using force. With the others having parted ways from you more than an hour ago, you're left on your own, with no other choice but to look outside the window to see the hallways, these scarce of illumination and with not a person around as far as your line of sight goes.

Fearing you've been locked in, you try to open the door again, though you stop yourself at the sound of laughter, heard from outside. "A month," the voice says, chuckling. "That's all it took for you to become the 'next one'." You back away from the door, remaining cautious regardless of not seeing the person anywhere around. "I'm positive the next paper's headline will be enough to make everyone remember this isn't over yet. You've grown far too comfortable already, (Y/N)."

Fear pushes you to rummage through your bag, mind desperate to find any source of safety from its contents. From it, you retrieve a pocket knife and make sure everything's set in place to avoid being delayed, if the event of defending yourself really came to it. Wherever the person was, they were still outside, and whoever they were, they clearly intended to toy around with you before lashing out any sort of attack. 

"First a wolf and a rabbit, and now a wolf and a lamb?" Another laugh's let out, this one louder than the last. "I can understand why many still refer to you as a lamb rather than a sheep." A pause follows, sending a shiver down your body. "Sheep are supposed to be more grown and experienced, something you're not, little lamb."

Thunk.

Your gaze snaps to the noise, sounding near the voice, though there's nothing or nobody around by the time you look towards it.

Swallowing your tension, you hold onto the strap of your bag tighter than before and clutch the knife closer to you. The rule of never going out at night seems useless with your current situation, it still being five in the evening and your location the library. What makes the halls dark and brings your life to peril is having no lights turned on and being left alone to fend off whoever the owner behind the voice is. Had you known something like this would've been so close to happening, you would've followed Jack and the others not a second after they all gathered to leave.

Never go out at night.

What sense did that warning make now?

You're inside a library, and it's still evening!

That question stays on your mind as the thumps grow louder, these sending your thoughts into a scramble as you try to make sense of what could be producing them. While you weren't outside, you were alone and were still getting accustomed to how big the school was. If anything, the rule you'd been taught could use a little more wording now. Perhaps, 'have common sense; don't be dumb or negligent or both, and remember not to walk alone in unknown places', sounded better than simply isolating yourself from the world as soon as the sun fell and the clock struck seven. 

Thunk!

As a figure emerges into the library, your instincts kick in and you bleat out your fear, a sound you try to cover with a hand over your mouth while the rest of your body looks for a place to hide in. You go under the nearest table and blink away through blurry vision, tears unknowingly making their way out. Your breathing's shallow, yet you try to compose yourself to see who the person is. 

Rather than figuring out their identity, something near impossible to do with you tearing up and having fear eat up your vision, you hear laughter; muffled giggles, specifically. 

"I- I'm sorry," you hear Juno say, sounding genuinely apologetic despite her laughter. When you blink a few more times, you can see her clutching onto her stomach and her tail wagging. She has tears in her eyes, too, though for an entirely different reason compared to you. "I thought I'd go look for you since it was so late already, but I didn't exactly consider our situation here." She wipes her tears away and looks across the room, snout twitching as she sniffs around for you. "And I'm sorry to say this at a time like this, but that bleat was the cutest thing I've heard all day!" You tense and brace yourself when she nears your hiding place, involuntarily. "Hiding was good thinking, though, (Y/N)."

A few more sniffs, and she finally crouches down to your hiding level. Her eyes soften the second she sees you, a hand offered to you. "Can you stand?" she asks, still waiting. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Still shaken, you stare at her hand for a moment and bring your breaths back to a calmer level. You wipe yours against your skirt, leftover fear still making you perspire. She waits all the while, even after you take her hand and nod in response. "I'm... I'm okay," you reply, breathing out. "It was my fault." Your voice is stern, the plain risk you'd set yourself to one you remind yourself could've been easily avoided, had you been more conscious of the dangers that were still around. Common sense would've implied you not being alone for longer than necessary and having chosen to follow Jack back to your dorm. "I… I should've known it would be risky to be all alone like this." You can't bring yourself to tell her about the voice, wanting nothing more than to be out of this place and explain things to her after you regained some sense of clarity back into your thoughts. "I should've been more careful."

You let her hand go and fix your clothes, skirt having stained itself in the process of your hiding. Your throat hurts, though it's to be expected, given how long it's been since you last strained your vocal chords. Last time, you were only eight, and it was for you having snuck out and chosen to meet up with the neighbouring tiger family a few blocks across. Back then, you were more fearless, and the only reason for your fright had been due to you being caught in the way of making it back home unsuspecting.

"Still," Juno speaks up, bringing you out of those thoughts. "I forgot how careful we have to be now." She frowns, her entire body drooping as she meets with your eyes. "I almost forgot what we are. I… I almost forgot we were wolf and sheep, until I heard your cry and noticed it was let out of fear, not just surprise."

You gather your belongings again and follow her out of the library, steps slowed down to keep up with her pace. She's looking away from you now, gaze meeting with the little lighting left around the halls. Quiet falls as you wait for her to carry on, feeling as if she still has a lot more left to say. "Before I realized what I'd done, that sound was the most endearing thing I'd heard. But then I saw you weren't around, sniffed the air for you, and the gravity over what I'd done finally came to me."

Seeing she's lost herself in her thoughts, you tug at the sleeve of her shirt and try to voice out what's on your mind, "It's... It's really okay, Juno. Like I said, it was-"

Your questions over where the voice had come from are answered when you both stumble upon a new face, identity hidden by the poor lighting in where they stand. The wolf beside you snaps back to the present almost instantly, fur spiking as she bares her teeth at the figure. She takes a few steps back and pulls you along for you to do the same. Then, she holds your hand again, tighter as a growl leaves her mouth. 

When you see she's not intending to ask over the person's identity, it's then that you realize her reason for looking for you had been more than just to pick you up at the library. 

"So you thought you were 'one of them', huh?" the person asks, toothy smile glinting into view with the scarce lighting that shines over the person. "That's the most naive thing I've heard any carnivore say." Though it's too dark to see most of their face, you can tell when their eyes fall on you, making you grow more wary than you already are. "And you," they add, a laugh following after it. "What made you think you were ready for this school, if you let out a noise like that barely a month into you moving in? With that attitude, you're the easiest prey around, (Y/N)!"

Juno's hand loosens and moves up to your arm, grabbing it just as strongly. "Let's go," she whispers, teeth still clenched.

You hesitate, mind conflicted on whether to follow her along or confront the person over their words. The ones about you being negligent were noted and accepted, but calling out Juno for simply seeing you as her friend makes anger rise and cling onto your thoughts. Fear balances itself with a sudden need to defend, and you can only face at the person with a glare, the hand on your arm reminding you over the growing danger of your situation.

Whoever the person before you was, it didn't exactly erase the fact you were pissed off at those words, Juno's good intentions resonating with you.

• • •

Apologies for the author's note on the last update! I got my IRL schedule mixed up and thought it was Wednesday instead of Monday when I posted the chapter, so that conflicted with this story’s update schedule mentioned previously. (AKA: The holidays left me unaware of the concept of time, lol.)

As a result, I've fixed the author's note on the last chapter to avoid any future readers' confusion, and I’ve now fixed up and re-established the update schedule as such:

Twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays until reaching Act Twelve, then once a week on Wednesdays after that chapter!

[withabackpackandcamera]

July 4th, 2021 Day 9: Ending Our Last Full Day With A VERY Full Day Indeed

We arrived at the streetside parking lot for Geldingadalsgos (based on what I found out from Jeroen, the vent that I was taking photos of isn’t the volcano volcano, but more so a vent of a bigger volcano system; therefore, the vent itself doesn’t have a name, the eruption is called Geldingadalsgos, and the volcanic system is Fagradalsfjall Volcanic System. So, 60 Minutes named it wrong… lol) around 12:15am or so, at which time there were probably somewhere between 20-30 other cars parked. Yup, we didn’t even start hiking until after midnight. Indeed, we were a bit crazy and so was everyone else out there at an ungodly hour. Anyhow, because I got a little bit of rest in the car thanks to Minh’s driving, I was ready to go and see this volcano again.

Unlike the first trip to the volcano on our first day here in Iceland a week ago, this trip was much nicer despite the time of day we hiked. Instead of clear skies with heavy midday sunlight, we arrived as the sun was setting in the colorful orange and pink sky. The skies were darker than expected but the night itself teased us but never actually came in full force. The wind today was calm and collected compared to the violent winds the guys in the group endured last week. And the hike up the mountain was much smoother and easier than the first time up, likely because the authorities had done some fixing up, de-graveling, and repaving of different routes to make it safer for hikers. With conditions being great for hiking (and because I had emptied my camera bag of nonessentials), I made it up the mountainside in about 50 minutes or so, which was much faster than the first time. Cynthia and Minh slowly made their way up behind me since I was rushing to get to the top and they weren’t really into rushing.

Once at the top, I scurried across the ridge and to the same area that I had already hiked to last week, hoping for a good vantage point for some volcano photography. Most of the conditions were great for photography on this early, early morning. The skies were beautifully colored. The weather wasn’t too cold or windy. And the volcano was a little more active today compared to last Saturday. But the conditions weren’t perfect because we were still far from the volcano, the volcano wasn’t spewing out enough lava to make lava rivers that we could see from where we were, and the darkness of the lava field and volcano made it hard to take great landscape photos without the contrasting colors of lava rivers. But I guess that when you’re traveling on a tight schedule and you’re looking to photograph natural phenomena like erupting volcanoes and vents, you just have to make do with the photography conditions you’re presented with and live with the result.

So I just took out my camera and started taking photo after photo after photo of the vent spewing lava. I attempted to take portraits and action shots of the volcano and its activity as well as landscape shots of the volcano in relation to its beautiful surroundings and the gorgeously colorful sky above. I moved to a couple of different spots to try and find different perspectives from which to shoot from but ended up spending most of my time at one location where Cynthia had found a spot to sit and chill.

Throughout our time there, I tried my best to look for Jeroen, the photographer I was communicating with on Instagram. When I had contacted him earlier in the evening to help assess the volcano situation for the evening, he told me that he too was headed to the volcano and that if we spot each other, we should definitely say hi. But unfortunately, I never did catch him there. I later found out that he had hiked way past the point where I had stopped and had made his way over the mountain ridge and to the backside of the valley and lava field, where he discovered lava in action. He found a place to see lava (relatively) close up! So jealous! And that’s the problem with attempting landscape photography on a short schedule… You just don’t have enough time or energy to roam around and scope out areas after a packed trip full of sleep-deprived days. How I wish we could’ve had another whole week in Iceland just to hang out in Reykjavik and follow the volcano live stream until we found the opportunity to leisurely make our way over to photograph the volcano when its activity increases.

We stayed at Geldingadalsgos for quite some time and didn’t actually start heading back to the car until close to 4:00am. Minh and Cynthia went on ahead as I took some time for my last few shots. Once I finished, I ended up basically running down the mountainside and arriving at the split in the hiking route at around 4:15am, at which time I could see the heavy clouds and fog rolling in over the mountains, creating a beautiful, early morning scene. I caught up with Cynthia and Minh shortly after that and by the time we actually turned on the car to leave, it was around 5:00am or so. Yeah, really late and really early… I drove home as everyone crashed in the car and got us all home safely around 5:30-6:00am, at which time we all just crashed, knowing that there was little sleep to be had this morning. Because we had an appointment at 9:00am to get our COVID swabs completed for our flight back home, we slept for a measly 2.75 hours until 8:45am, at which time we had to wake up and jump into the car to drive to our testing site. Luckily, the line and swabs were quick and we were in and out in about 15-20 minutes.

We went home after the swab. The three of us who were out until early this morning were pretty exhausted and groggy. But because it was our last full day in Iceland, Cynthia was determined to make the most of it despite severe sleep deprivation. So instead of taking a nap like Minh did, Cynthia and I joined my parents on a morning walk to explore downtown Reykjavik. We started from our AirBnB located near Klambartun Park and slowly made our way toward Laugavegur, the main street lined with shops and stores that ran through downtown Reykjavik. As we strolled down the quiet street, we spotted a long line in front of a store and decided to take a closer look at what people were waiting for. And it was pastries and baked goods at Sandholt Reykjavik! So we joined the line (though mistakenly, since we waited in the dine-in line before realizing there was a faster, shorter line just for take-out from the bakery) and bought our delicious morning pastries to enjoy outside at a table nearby. And the pastries were delicious! Especially the almond croissant Cynthia bought! SO SO GOOD!

The family sat and enjoyed our pastries and coffee before continuing on our lovely morning stroll through town. We walked around downtown and checked out some stores here and there before turning around to head back toward Hallgrimskirkja to meet up with a rejuvenated Minh. Along the way, I took the family on a detour so that they could see my old flat on Bergstaðastræti. We briefly got lost along the way since I couldn’t remember exactly where it was but we eventually found it after some backtracking.

We met up with Minh at Hallgrimskirkja and took a brief look inside the church before splitting up from mom and dad to meet up with Thorsteinn and his girlfriend Thordis Erla on the other side of downtown at a cute brunch place called The CooCoo’s Nest near the Old Harbour. Along the way there, we stopped by to look in a couple of stores and even ran into an old Stanford buddy, Bryce Kam, and his wife walking around Laugavegur. What a coincidence! We chatted in the streets for a few minutes before we had to bid them farewell so that we could make it to brunch on time.

After a relatively short walk through town to get to the Old Harbour side, we finally arrived at The CooCoo’s Nest and found Thor and Thordis already there waiting for us and for a table to open up. After officially meeting Thordis, we sat outside and started catching up over all sorts of things until it was time to be seated at our table inside. We continued on with our great conversations inside as we ate our delicious brunch (Cynthia and I ordered their Breakfast Burrito and Eggs Florentine, both which were yummy). We had a wonderful two-hour long late brunch with the two of them and shared a ton of great stories and talked about all sorts of topics, from Thor’s and Thordis’ life updates (including buying a house together, Thor getting a new job managing assets and portfolios, Thordis going back to school to study industrial finance after briefly working, Thordis’s previous work life working for Icelandair as a flight attendant) to stories about our trip and our lives in the States during a pandemic. So much fun to catch up after almost five years!

Once we had taken our photos and said farewell to each other, Cynthia and I slowly walked through downtown and made a couple of stops along the way as we headed back to the house while Minh went off on his own to look for Icelandic sweaters to buy. By the time we arrived back at the apartment, there was only 1.5 hours left until our next social gathering with Sveinn Magnússon and Kristin Bragadottir at their house for dinner. OH. MY. GOODNESS. I was so full and so tired by the time we got home that I couldn’t even think about more talking and more eating. We helped do some laundry before Cynthia and I went to lie down and take a quick power nap. Unfortunately, we were woken up soon after we went to bed and rushed out of the house so that we could make it to dinner on time at Sveinn’s. We drove over there, and when we arrived, we were warmly greeted by Sveinn and Kristin before Minh and dad finally showed up after their souvenir-buying stroll. It was such a pleasure to see Sveinn and Kristin again after these busy last 4.5 years!

Sveinn and Kristin welcomed us with open arms into their warm home, one that I have visited every trip I’ve made to Iceland. While waiting for dinner to be prepared, I introduced Sveinn and Kristin to my parents and Cynthia, who they had never met, and we shared stories in the living room while sipping on white wine. It was great to finally introduce everyone to each other after they had all heard stories about each other over the years. We caught up for a while before we were seated at the dining table for a fabulous and delicious dinner spread that included an appetizer of shrimp and cheese salad, mains and sides of baked salmon with a puff pastry top, half-mashed potatoes, and salad, and rhubarb oatmeal pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert. What a yummy treat! Over dinner, we learned so much more about Iceland, past and present, from Sveinn and also learned about Kristin’s journey to her PhD in history and her authorship of several historical books as a result. Always so great to hear about the amazing things they are doing and the amazing knowledge they are always willing to share with us!

After dinner, we continued to sip on more wine while chatting more and looking through family photo books that Sveinn had collected over the years. I learned more specifics about Sveinn Magnusson as a physician. For example, before working at the ministry, he was a general practitioner in Sweden and Iceland and was boarded in Internal Medicine and Family Medicine. He then transitioned to working for the Icelandic government where he served primarily as director general, the second highest ranking civil, nonpolitical official in Iceland who reports directly to the prime minister. And while working at the ministry for 21 years, he served a total number of 16 prime ministers. These days, while not doing government work, Sveinn is primarily on call to do death exams on folks in the community. Every now and then, he is tasked with doing a little more than that. In one instance a few years ago, he was the physician who did the baseline intake physical exams for the group of Greenland boat guys who were involved in the murder of a young Icelandic woman. Crazy! After hearing all sorts of cool and crazy stuff and before we even knew it, it was 9:30pm and time for our exhausted family to bid Sveinn and Kristin farewell and a big thank you for hosting us at their lovely house on our short trip through Iceland.

Before driving home, we briefly stopped by the water so that everyone could check out Sun Voyager Sculpture and the Harpa Concert Hall. After some photos, we were pooped and drained, so we finally drove back home and started the task of packing and tidying up for our trip home. Minh’s energy tank was still holding some gas by this point (probably because of his effective power nap), so he decided to walk around downtown and check things out before hitting the sack. Cynthia decided to go with him to maximize her only full day in Reykjavik but because I was so tired, I stayed in to rest. I helped with laundry and hung out around the house until a bit past midnight, at which time I went to bed shortly before Cynthia and Minh returned home. What a ridiculously packed and exhausting last full day in Iceland! If only I had more time to just chill and do everything over a few days instead of over 36 hours… But at least there is one more half day left to enjoy tomorrow…

5 Things I Learned/Observed Today:

1. Today, tourism is the number one industry supporting the infrastructure and economy of Iceland, surpassing Iceland’s fishing industry. Therefore, when the pandemic hit and set the world on fire, tourism took a huge hit in Iceland and resulted in the crippling of Iceland’s economy. There were huge drops in revenue due to travel restrictions and mandates. But for some Icelanders, it was actually quite nice to have their country all to themselves once again after a decade-long boom in tourism. Local Icelanders got the chance to, once again, experience and enjoy Iceland’s beautiful nature the same way they used to enjoy it before tourists flocked to Iceland. It was now quieter and less crowded and locals could now go to tourist hotspots that they previously avoided due to tourist crowds (like the attractions along the South Ring Road). Icelanders got to travel locally with their families again and spent much of the pandemic just reconnecting with their families and friends. With tourism essentially on pause, it also gave nature time to rest and recover, something that was much needed in Iceland. Funny enough, though, despite everything I wrote above, when the country was open to tourists again, a lot of Icelanders, who are a social breed of people, actually appreciated and welcomed the tourists again. Not only did tourists bring money that was desperately needed into the country’s economy, but they also brought with them interesting conversation topics and new perspectives that helped break up the monotony of Icelanders keeping conversations afloat with people they’ve known their whole lives. During the pandemic, Icelanders actually missed seeing and talking to us tourists! Funny!

2. Thordis informed me that Icelandic weddings typically don’t have wedding parties to accompany the bride and groom to the altar but just have the bride and groom’s fathers present at the altar for their ceremony.

3. Supposedly, until 1974, the many rivers running through Iceland played a major role in travel and exploration in the country. Rivers were one of the major reasons that limited domestic traveling because, at the time, the country lacked a way to cross those rivers. However, around 1974, Iceland was gifted single-laned bridges to bridge them to broader horizons and to expand their previously-limited area for exploration.

4. When the latter half of the year arrives with its darkness, snow, and cold, windy weather, non-city-dwelling people in Iceland sometimes have to take up a secondary job or change the nature of their primary jobs because their work may be limited due to the challenging and harsh weather conditions. For example, if the farmers are growing crops, they can’t really do any of that in the winter. So they, along with other people from the countryside in need of something to do, sometimes volunteer to help in town. Sometimes they volunteer in civil roles and things like firefighting and teaching. Others will just take the down time to fix up their homes and do repairs they didn’t time to get to over the year. If you’re a farmer who raises animals or has animals to deal with, those farmers can continue working but maybe in a different way. Dairy farmers will continue their work with their cows. Sheep farmers will work to feed and breed their sheep after the sheep have been collected from the previously-green-but-now-yellow-and-brown fields where they roamed all summer. They can also start collecting the wool they shave off the sheep to get that side of the business going.

5. It isn’t that farmers don’t grow crops in Iceland because of the poor soil. Rather, they can’t grow successful crop fields because of the variation in the amount of sunlight and relative lack of sunlight during certain parts of the year. However, some manage to grow potatoes or other crops in very environmentally-controlled set-ups like greenhouses.

[yooniesim]

𝓢𝓤𝓖𝓐𝓡 𝓕𝓡𝓔𝓔;; Update

hey everyone!! so i’ve just about collected all of the sf entries, and i’ve been getting them all organized and in game. but you’re probably wondering, what happens now? so i thought i’d go over a few faq type questions in this post!! (if you have anymore questions, please let me know and i’ll add them)

general questions

what are you doing with our sims, anyway?

well! at the moment, i’m sorting cc, giving them lil makeovers so they all fit together/in my game, and figuring out where they fit in everything i already had planned. this is a teeny spoiler, but all of them won’t be auditioning- some are already trainees with SF! but knowing how they DID audition was important, so that’s what i asked for~ hehe. i didn’t want anyone to get hopes up because not everyone will be in the posts all the time- i’m still writing and figuring out dynamics and stuff, and i have my own characters too of course- but i’m hoping everyone will show up at least once.

what exactly are you changing about them?

i’ll be changing their appearance somewhat in terms of some skin details, makeup, and clothing (dependent on the scene in question). but i’ll be keeping them as close to the original sim as i can while getting them a lil closer to my style (and lessening the load on my poor poor mods folder, lol). also, personality wise there may be some changes, just to fit the plot. i’m keeping 99% of everything you guys said, but i’ll be adding some things too. just because, though there won’t be any over the top “villains” in my story, people (especially young vulnerable teens in a stressful situation) are complicated and have flaws!! but i won’t be making them totally different sims or anything like that.

can we talk to you about our sims more?

yes!!!! if you have something to add, feel free to message me anytime. i love bouncing ideas off people, it just makes stories 10,000 times better imo (and i’m more of a roleplayer than an author at heart, i admit it willingly lol)

what the heck is this story even about???

like i said in the casting call post, it’s about yoonie’s entertainment agency, sugar free. yoon isn’t a main character in this, exactly, bc i wanted to focus on new sims, like a next generation type of thing, but it IS his company. so his life will have a lot of influence over what’s happening in the story, even if it’s not all on screen (which is relevant to the next question). but overall it’s about the trainees.

are there any potential triggers i need to know about?

yes. note that a large amount of these mostly have to deal with backstory, and while they may be mentioned, might not actually appear in the posts themselves. however, i will still tag EVERYTHING appropriately just to be safe. and will do warning text posts in advance if something i didn’t think of before pops up. here’s the list for now:

transphobia

homophobia

misgendering

body dysphoria

fatshaming

mpreg/trans preg

miscarriage

child abuse

eating disorders

depression/postpartum

attempted suicide

racism/colorism

i don’t intend this to be an over the top “dark” or mature story exactly, like i said a lot of this is rooted in backstory mentions, but there are some things that also just go along with the subject matter (homophobia, colorism, eating disorder, etc). it’s not drama for the sake of drama, but realistic i’d say. i’ll treat everything as sensitively as i can and, like i said, include appropriate tags. esp. regarding transphobia as my yoonie is trans and very candid while being in an environment that isn’t always accepting and kind.

how will the posts be formatted?

i’ve gone over this a lot in my head, because i’m always caught between doing subtitles on posts and writing in the description. so this is what i think i’ve settled on: the posts themselves will usually have dialogue subtitles. however, down below i’ll write a much more descriptive version of what’s going on, including all the dialogue from the subtitles. i hope this will help especially with people that find it difficult to see subtitles on pictures/just don’t like them that much, as well as people that don’t want to read everything in big blocks of text.

do you already have posts finished? is there a schedule?

i already have some posts finished and i’ve been doing a lot of writing. however, since i just got everyone’s sims, i’m still working out some plot points with new characters. there won’t be a formal schedule. i just wanted to share from my personal universe in a fun way (and see all you guys’ amazing sims hehe).

in-universe questions

when does this take place?

2028. bangtan has been disbanded for seven years. sugar free entertainment is still in its relative infancy as a subsidiary of big hit entertainment. big hit still has the same CEOs, while jin holds a president position. source music still exists as a subsidiary, and so gfriend is still a thing, but txt does not exist here. for reasons... you’ll see eventually.

where does this take place?

two countries: us and sk. i’m using sim cities too, but i consider them to be “american” cities (ex. san myshuno). sfe is based in korea of course, but yoon does a lot of traveling and capitalizing on the western market (so he holds auditions in usa, canada, etc too)

simlish? english? korean? what’s going on with languages?

just because i like simlish (lol), in this universe simlish replaces english. but of course, i’m still typing in english so everyone that is an english speaker can understand XD plus, that’s the only language i’m fluent in... tho being fluent in simlish would be an achievement, haha. all other languages still exist, korean, japanese, etc.

i think that’s all for now, but if you have any more questions pls let me know :)

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Deca-Dence 4 | Maou-jou 2 | Fruits Basket 2 24 (49) | Magatsu 1 | IWGP 2 | Koi to Producer 11 - 12 (FINAL) | HypMic 3

Still chugging away at these summer and spring anime...sorry for the delay...(LOL, that rhymed without me meaning to.)

Also, I’ve been on the fence about whether to keep Golden Kamuy, since almost no one I read the reviews of follows it now and it’s a week’s wait (when accounting for my AniList challenge)...so I’m putting it on pause so I don’t have to suffer later.

Deca-Dence 4

“…who possesses the will to fight.”

…Great. Kurenai is absolutely tethered to Kaburagi in a one-sided love. Just when I thought Natsume had an independent role model to look up to.

Maou-jou 2

Oh, this is from Shonen Sunday? Didn’t know that until now.

“Demon Shroud: A demon with 99 clans. A cloth demon that puts on airs that it won’t be used before it’s finished off, due to its wonderful fabric. It is full of beautiful ghostly power, so its skin is smooth. However, the hero (who commonly uses things he finds in his surroundings) caught one, so now the princess has zeroed in on them. The princess doesn’t need the hands or the head of these demons, so it’s a cycle of killing and taking revenge for them. Their fighting style is squeezing the life out of things.”

Apparently, the teddy is acceptable, LOL.

I like how the window stopped displaying text at one point.

I saw someone with a huge plait in the ED. The queen, maybe…?

I noticed the laughs dropped off significantly in comparison to last time, but it’s still good. I can flex my translation skills even if I can’t laugh at one part.

Fruits Basket 2 24 (49)

…jumping to the 2nd-last episode in a season is pretty unprecendented, but I’m going to watch this for the sake of Jon’s Creator Showcase…then again, I need to finish this anime anyway, so it’s just cutting and changing the order for something I already know the outcomes of.

I used to lose myself in movies so much that I would lose all sense of who I was and would have to “regain the bearings of myself”, so to speak. I would have to reconstruct who I was, even though I technically hadn’t “been broken” and I knew once I did that, it felt different. Like I’d travelled through time and past me would never be the same as present me. That’s why I kind of get what Machi means.

Oh, I didn’t listen to this OP much…probably because I’m emphasising bingeing the spring and summer series I left behind and now that I can skip the ads on most of my anime, I’m leaving behind the anime I’ll be slower on.

The manga was written when there weren’t as many cell phones around, much less smartphones.

Rin’s on bad terms with everyone…

…if I remember the year of the dragon correctly, the last one was 2012, then the one before that is 2000…around the turn of the millennium, huh? Froob is showing its age here, albeit unintentionally.

Now that I’m closer to the Musketeers’ age, I can kind of empathise with their scenes a bit more.

“If I always blame someone or something, I’ll never change.” – True. I realised I’ve been a bit too haughty lately (what with the HypMic anime going on and it being the first thing I could research extensively before the anime’s debut, my feelings are of course reaching fever pitch – combine that with continued COVID lockdown and you get me being all defensive of HypMic, for better or for worse) and so I may have acted like a jerk to someone, but since I only know them online and generally when I try to apologise to people online they don’t see the things I apologise for as things in need of apology, I know the fault lies with me to rein myself in. I guess this means changing yourself is the only way to move forward.

I wonder how Hatori did his doctor training while avoiding hugs from girls who aren’t Sohmas…?

Shigure vs. Gentaro (of HypMic, of course)…a writing competition! That would be fun.

…Crow’s note here makes sense (<- this is why I changed the order). Shigure was clearly asking a question there.

Come to think of it, HypMic and Froob have some similar characters. The stoic doctor is Hatori/Jakurai, the energetic smol one is Momiji/Ramuda, the teasing author is Shigure/Gentaro…that could make for some good fanfic material, really.

Magatsu 1

…that title is an absolute killer, man. Anyways, I’m here for the director, who also worked on Hataraku Maou-sama.

Is this a no guns thing, like IWGP is a no drugs thing?

…this OP has lyrics?! I just hear strange squeaky noises, the kind you hear on some autotuned sogs to make them seem more ominous (I can’t remember if there’s a similar sound in G-Anthem of Y City or Yokohama Walker, but one of the MTC songs has similar noises).

I kinda guessed Leo’s package was the one Schaake and her partner were looking for. I was right.

That CGI (on the truck) is…kinda conspicuous.

These backgrounds are gorgeous.

“The definition of in dubio contra reum is "in doubt, against the accused", meaning that, where there is doubt, the accused in a trial is not given the benefit of that doubt; they are assumed guilty.”

I wonder: how many protagonists start out as absolute wimps, unwilling to fight because they either know or don’t know their own power? It’s a pretty standard introduction for things with fights.

This battle track is nice. I listened to some of the Magatsu music under Masaru Yokoyama’s name on Spotify and it’s pretty cool, but since it’s background music, there’s not a lot of demand to listen to it (from me or anyone else, I don’t think).

Why is there only a single shield if they know the enemy has heavy artillery?

…what the heck is a Zeits? Update: You can see a “Zeits” (or however it’s spelt) in the credits list, suggesting Zeits is a character in this.

I knew this was my last premiere and this might have made or broken my entire watching schedule, but this is just a pretty down-to-earth premiere for a fantasy mobile game. While that cliffhanger compelled me to continue, I don’t think it’s good enough to beat its competition in the long run.

IWGP 2

I know I said Magatsu was my last premiere, but just to be sure, I’m watching this one.

This dance scene is beautifully orchestrated. The fact there’s no music means you focus entirely on the motion.

The OP seems to trade more in colour and spectacle than actual “cool factor”.

…wow, $2.90…? That’s some cheap food.

You know I hate 1st person cam with a passion, right? So…uh…

Eyyyyyyyy…this is basically McDonald’s, curry style.

I think I can almost see Ichiro of HypMic in how the G-Boys seem to mostly be reformed delinquents or actual delinquents.

…yeah, but what’s your name, random messenger guy? Update: We find out later his name is Isogai.

“It’s because I suck at working and communicating.” – Yep, that me.

Ikebukuro licence plate. I still have no idea exactly what places get licence plates in Japan.

There are actually 2 characters before “Hospital”, but no one confirms the reading of those characters…which is probably why they’re omitted.

…oh gosh, if this were a BL, Mitsuki and Masaru would be star-crossed lovers…*sigh*

Maybe it’s an unrelated 3rd party??? (In mysteries, you can never dismiss the work of a 3rd party.)

You can tell exactly which group is which based on the colours they wear. Makoto isn’t affiliated with anyone, so he’s wearing black and had yellow earlier.

I think an anime is cowardly – or trying to save budget – if they deliberately choose an angle where they can’t show the moment of impact clearly.

E! News, LOL.

Archangel, huh? So like a 2nd in command?

I think IWGP is moving in the direction of pushing the gangs against each other in the way Makoto describes in ep. 2.

As for what I think of it now, it's decent if you want something down-to-earth, but it seems to be missing some kind of "wow factor". Like it's afraid to commit to deeper characterisation, even though it has Makoto as the ostensible lead/viewpoint character.

Koi to Producer 11

“Cognitive Science Association” - I thought it was the Cognitive Psychology Association…? (Psychology is shinrigaku, science is kagaku.)

My boy (Lucien)…why must you be so evil??? Why do I keep falling for the tall but mysterious doctor??? (<- guilty as charged re: Jakurai)

…that’s some funky seatbelts.

What’s that look in Victor’s eyes…? Fondness, or something more…?

…ah, so there is “Science” in the place’s name. It was just being less loosely translated then.

Oh dang. Stuff escalated really fast, huh?

You actually set this in 2020, huh, staff? What happens ten years from now and people watch it, only to realise 2020 and 2030 aren’t so different? That’s what happened when people had the Y2K bug.

That yellow sign on the side says “exit”. It’s not of any use.

That’s not a recoloured Kiro, is it? It’s not Shaw, either (who I think we saw somewhere in the previous episodes)…so then who is it?

…geesh, they even changed Helios to Ares. I guess it makes sense: Helios is the god of the sun, but Ares is the god of war.

Koi to Producer 12 (FINAL)

I read on the wiki Lucien’s power is copying powers. No wonder I couldn’t get a solid handle on it!

So that Helios wasn’t a mistake in the credits list in the previous episode???

Can we even hear what Helios says when Protag-chan is pulled away? Based on the lack of subs, probably no, but I wanted to ask anyway. (Or maybe he said “Watashi”, since that’s the pronoun Protag-chan goes by?)

…so that really is Kiro, huh?

Military…what? When did Protag-chan’s father have a military squad???

LOL, at the very end you can see Gavin gesturing at Greenie (the pot plant, presumably a succulent). I logged on to the game 7 days straight (they have a Discord channel!) and got a Gavin R card with Greenie on it, which is how I know about it.

Anyways, that was a fun show. Not the best, but still fun.

HypMic 3

*snickers* Just look at my boi! He’s so tall, he has to bend down for kids! (I don’t mean that teasingly, I mean that endearingly, but lately I’ve been no good at expressing myself…Must be the lockdown.)

If TsudaKen was a guest last time, then Degarashi and Irihatoma could be voiced by guest seiyuus too…

What is Jakurai, hmm? (A Transformer, LOL?...I’m kidding, of course.)

All I knew about this episode going in was that it was an MTR episode. Maybe they’ll cover the stalker story from the manga…?

More literally, Hifumi’s sign says “will you monopolise me until morning?”. This reminds me of the MTR truck one of the servers I was in was talking about…it looked like a giant billboard.

“The most notable thing about Doppo is that he has no notable characteristics.”…and yet, he’s still one of the most popular characters of the series.

Suddenly, HypMic becomes a mystery…? I’ll take it!

Yup, “Doppomine” is now confirmed as “Doppo-chin”.

If all the mysteries I’ve consumed say one thing, it’s “never forget there might be someone out there with a grudge against you willing to pin a crime on you”…or alternatively, “never forget there may be an unrelated 3rd party who would be willing to pin a crime on you”.

These guys (Tom etc.) are just food critics, I swear…(LOL)

Oddly enough(?), googling “Shinjuku waffles” reveals there are several waffle places in Shinjuku…you wouldn’t expect so many waffles away from the home of waffles (probably Belgium), but there you go.

All the results on Shinjuku French toast point to this Café Aaliya (give or take an H at the end). Apparently, it’s so popular, people line up for it on weekdays.

Oh, so Tom’s a (street) photographer…what are Iris and Rex then?

The CGI on that car looks really bad, man. It may be dark to disguise it, but it still looks bad.

Jakurai’s dad car strikes again!...Was it white? I don’t remember, but I’m pretty sure it was a lighter colour than this.

I was quite worried about how much swearing they were going to throw in the MTC episode, but then…they kicked it down a week. So…start worrying about next week, folks!

I…thought he would call Jyuto for some reason. (giggles) I’ve never seen Samatoki look so happy in relation to Jakurai, but maybe that’s because he’s just chilling. (Or maybe he was meant to have a neutral but slightly happy face and they messed up the angle. I know I do that sometimes in fanart.)

There’s Jyuto, right on cue…LOL, that kick to the guts was so random it became epic!

Uwabami…what sort of snake is that, again? *checks* Giant snake. That’s no help. (That host could have a guest seiyuu too.)

Ooh, I’m fairly sure that’s an automatic car.

Jakurai went Jitsu wa kyoumi bukai desu ne?. “Fascinating” isn’t a wrong translation, but they did forget “In fact…” or “Really…” from the start and possibly the “?” at the end (depending on interpretation). Update: It might actually be Jitsu ni, but same deal.

They struttin’ down Kabuki-cho all fancy-like…Doppo sure does get a lot of punchlines, though.

This random guy at the club could also have a guest seiyuu…

…what’s with the random Tahoma?

…oh, hey. If Hifumi’s jacket acts as a security blanket of sorts against women and he gave it to Doppo for extra warmth (presumably), then…he’s trying to protect Doppo, even in his own sort of unique way.

Mimimi vs Hifumi? This is gonna get confusing…(hey, did they actually make a flourish noise when Hifumi put on his jacket? Does the distinction need to be that clear…?)

…see, never forget the presence of an unrelated 3rd party.Wait, so we have motive…what’s the relationship of Mimimi and the dude she killed? Who is that dude? Update: We find out later.

Notice Mimimi says “Hifumi-kun” – she’s still on an outside layer compared to Doppo, who just uses Hifumi’s name. Also, I noticed Mimimi called herself Hifumi’s “onna” – “woman” – explicitly, as if she belonged to him. The subs reflect that, but it seems to have less meaning in English because they outright translated it as such.

Well, they got to demonstrate Doppo’s snapping. I’m more than happy with just that. Also, Hifumi calls Doppo with a -kun here.

LOL, this song is gonna be known as “catchy”, ain’t it? Anything with an easy-to-sing-along chorus like “nananana” is. Update: Or maybe not even a chorus, it’s just lyrics.

Hmm…I noticed the “use Mr with me” line isn’t actually reflected in the subs, but the lyrics are so fast, I don’t know how they are reflected.

Did you notice the da in the lyrics in romaji?

…and s*** goes ka-blooey, as you’ve come to expect by now.

Mimimi-kun…?

Oh, so the background from Hypnosis Mics can get caught in photos? I never thought of that.

It’s almost as if they’re nodding at the Doppo fans through the 4th wall regarding his appeal.

It seems they’re not switching out this Buster Bros track, which is…okay, but I was hoping for an MTR ED. (Tofubeats was on this track IIRC and the anime website didn’t list a future ED, so that’s why I’m okay with it.)

…Okay, so Irihatoma is Mutsumi Iwanaka, who’s a rookie in the seiyuu world. *goes to consult Anime News Network*

Oh! Mimimi Hibakari! I get it! (It means “me, me, me all day” when written differently to her name.)

Uwabami was Shugo Nakamura and Degarashi was Mitsuaki Hoshino. I’ve never heard of these guys – except for Nakamura’s role as Teru in Idolm@ster Side M – so it’s interesting they contrasted TsudaKen with them…eh? Heilong? Whossat? (Probably the guy whose…parts…almost got crushed by Jakurai with a billiards cue.) This Hiroya Eto is even more underground than those guys.

A-hah! Today’s new song is “WELCOME U” (that’s how it’s spelt, don’t diss me for it!) by Kohei from SIMONSAYZ.

Update: I thought that kid at the beginning was Yotsutsuji, so it scared me for a second.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 223: Let Me Give You a Hand

Previously on BnHA: Tomura had a flashback to when he first met All for One. AFO told him he’d spontaneously developed a rare quirk which led to him accidentally killing his entire family and his adorable dog. Baby Tenko was able to recall “fragmented images” of the incident but curiously has no clear memories of his life beforehand. But I’m sure AFO isn’t lying, him being such a stand up guy with no obvious ulterior motives here. Anyway so we also found out that the hands are supposedly all that’s left of Tomura’s family, if anyone actually buys that. And Ujiko is the one that made them. Ujiko, as it turns out, doesn’t really plan to withhold the Noumus and everything from Tomura, but he does want Tomura to prove he’s ready to handle them, and to do that he wants him to go back and win over Gigantomachia. Tomura was all “okay fine” and so Ujiko teleported him back along with the rest of the Shigaraki Squad, except for Dabi who didn’t wanna (he’d rather antagonize Hawks instead). So that’s where we’re at now. Oh and I almost forgot, but Tomura wants to destroy everything, like the whole fucking world, because he feels like that might help to ease his constant inner pain and torment. So that’s nice. What a nice chapter.

Today on BnHA: We fast-forward to mid-December. Tomura and the gang have been dueling Gigantomachia near-ceaselessly for the past month and a half. Giganto can fight for a full 48 hours (and 44 minutes) at a time without rest, so the Squad has been taking it in shifts, but since Tomura is Giganto’s main target he’s been fighting almost constantly. He seems to be in good spirits, though, and is confident they’re making progress. Anyway, so shortly after Giganto’s scheduled nap begins, Twice gets a call from Giran! Or rather, Re-Destro, calling from Giran’s phone, to brag about having kidnapped Giran. Apparently he’s been keeping busy by chopping off Giran’s fingers. Ramsay Bolton-ing it, if you will. He’s been leaving them at strategic locations across the country trying to get the League’s attention, but his buddies finally managed to hack Giran’s phone and get his contact info, so it turns out the finger-chopping wasn’t strictly necessary. So he explains who he is and what he’s about, says there are 116,516 members of the Liberation Army spread throughout the nation (did you do a fucking census?!), and explains that they have a satellite tracking Tomura’s location. He then delivers an ultimatum: come and fight, or be captured by the authorities.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 226, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

so the title of this chapter is “cockroach”, which could mean anything, but is most likely being used in the “pesky little bugger who’s obnoxiously hard to kill” sense. Tomura are you the cockroach. who is the cockroach. hmm

(ETA: yeah I still don’t know. whatever)

anyway so now it’s mid-December...! holy shit what, we’re caught up?

actually, scratch that, we’re ahead of where we were before because our last update was “early December, Sunday morning” on the day of Shouto and Katsuki’s provisional license retest. shit. Tomura I’m gonna need you to stop whatever it is you’re doing and go on your phone and look up articles about the purse snatchers who were stopped by the two young heroes who placed first and second in the U.A. sports festival earlier this year. specifically I need you to find out for me what Kacchan’s fucking hero name is omfg. can you do that

Tomura. Tomura, focus

...

okay I can see that you’re busy right now. wow. okay, uh

so lol this guy’s been at it for a month?? more or less? do I have that right? Tomura how the fuck are you still alive. you really are a cockroach

also did Giganto just fucking snap you in two here or

oh I should have known

hahaha they’re so cute!

I’m honestly amazed they haven’t fucking quit. they’re still at it. this is one loyal bunch of bastards. and Tomura is showing more dogged perseverance than I ever expected him to be capable of. makes me sad for what could have been, honestly

why doesn’t Compress just compress him. you’re telling me he hasn’t managed to touch him once in the however many weeks that they’ve been at this? or maybe he has and that’s how they’ve managed to survive this long lol

anyways, so Giganto is all “WEAK!” again and now he’s doing this

so maybe that’s why Compress hasn’t been able to touch him. he got that DBZ battle aura shit going on

(ETA: he’s kinda giving me All Might vibes, actually. Deku you wanna take a crack at this?)

meanwhile Spinner and Toga are watching from a safe distance like smart people

Toga says it looks like Tomura’s in trouble, and Spinner’s all “same as always then”

also Spinner has changed out of his Stain cosplay at long last and I don’t know what to make of this you guys

this is a shockingly normal look. a hoodie and a fucking jacket. I’m just... I’m still processing this. okay you win this round Spinner

so he’s explaining for those who aren’t paying attention to the timeline that it’s been more than a month and a half since Tomura was tasked with getting Gigantomachia to chill out, and he has still not chilled out

holyyyyyyy shit

I have to assume Spinner is exaggerating things here for the sake of drama because Tomura would fucking be dead. or else he’d have quit by the second day. screw destroying the world, I’m gonna take up knitting or something

I seriously can’t believe this shit though? was this part of AFO’s plan also? talk about a way to level up your protege in record time. either he dies or he becomes the strongest bitch who ever lived. has AFO been sneaking peeks at U.A.’s lesson plans

holy shit

wow they really are true ride or dies. also Dabi 100% had the right idea. best decision you ever made Touya

but seriously though Tomura should be dead. forget just sleeping, when is he eating and drinking? are the others going on coffee and bagel runs on their breaks? are you telling me Tomura’s been fighting this guy for the past 40 days all doped up on caffeine with only cup ramen to sustain him and running on 9 days’ worth of sleep spread out over six weeks wtf. he should be dead from exhaustion or else a fucking heart attack

holy shit Horikoshi actually explained how their broke asses didn’t just up and starve to death though omg

they got an allowance awww

also Toga is still the cutest and my favorite and fuck yeah girl you tell him though. nobody wants to be running around in the woods in fucking December without a fucking coat, Spinner

interesting that she’ll steal a bikini but not a jacket lol. nah we’re paying for that like good honest citizens

holy shit Spinner you’re still having your identity crisis?

I can’t decide if Horikoshi is setting things up to have him jump ship and join Detnerat (what with him feeling increasingly disillusioned with the League, and Destro’s philosophy being something that would almost certainly appeal to someone with his quirk and history), or purposely trying to make it seem like he is so that he can subvert everyone’s expectations and have him unexpectedly remain loyal to Tomura at the critical moment. kinda like what happened when Katsuki got captured. right now I’m leaning more to him defecting though; I think that plot would open up a lot more possibilities story-wise

(ETA: after reading Toga’s latest chapter I’ve swung back around on this. the Liberation Army is full of fucking phonies who don’t practice what they preach. look at how Kizuki was trying to make Toga into a martyr for their cause. I feel like Spinner would be able to see through their bullshit. hopefully.)

by the way you guys has Ochako always been on this list or is this a recent development??

and I love you, Toga! even though this in no way even comes close to answering Spinner’s question though! it’s okay it was foolish of him to ask

(ETA: so apparently she loves Ochako because she ships her and Deku! this is one of the most relatable things in this manga to date.)

lol

hush you that’s what makes her so perfect

and now I guess some time is passing and now they’re finally getting to take a break!

you know, that’s a good point about him eating. he’s gotta power himself up somehow. all quirks have a limit, we’ve known that since very early on. at some point Giganto has to reach his, right?

holy shit you guys

I just got some strong Katsuki vibes coming off of our resident crazyboy here and I need a moment to process this. damn. that’s some powerful character development from a guy whose signature move up till this point was sitting on a couch

Spinner’s watching him and thinking that Tomura’s gaze looks like that of “a young boy chasing his dreams”

yeah, his dream of destroying the whole world and everything in it. so pure

oh FUCK

YOUR BOY GIRAN WHO’S CURRENTLY BEING HELD BY DETNERAT?? THAT GIRAN? UH

lol Compress is telling Twice to ask if his robot arm is insured. Giran has bigger things to worry about than your arm dude. if this even is Giran calling and Giran isn’t fucking dead, since we do know this series isn’t above killing people off every now and then, and we had quite the disturbing image of what looked like a finger lying on what was apparently Giran’s signature scarf in the last chapter

Twice is saying that Giran is a real good guy and that he looked out for Twice even after he joined the League

ffffff he really is fucking dead huh

lmao but because it’s Twice he then immediately shouts at Giran for being an asshole and not answering Compress’s calls

OH FUCK

FUCK ME YOU GUYS GIRAN WAS FUCKING TORTURED TO DEATH. HOW THE FUCK DOES THIS SERIES KEEP ESCALATING ITS LEVELS OF HARDCORE WHEN IT COMES TO VILLAINS

so Compress is stupidly asking if Giran’s using a voice changer, but Twice has already conned on to what’s going on

oh fuck oh shit oh fucking shit

Compress is immediately whipping out his phone

OH FUSCK

JUST VILLAIN THINGS

fuck me this fucking series not pulling any punches. “what timeslot does the anime currently run in, again?” Horikoshi asks absentmindedly while he proceeds to not give a flying fuck one way or the other

ksdjlfkjw jesus fucking christ

IS THIS FUCKING GAME OF THRONES??! are you fucking for real with this shit??! AND SURE, WHY NOT, LET’S JUST DRAW THE FUCKING FINGER JUST LYING THERE ON THE SIDEWALK

BREAKING NEWS, JUST ANNOUNCED, SEASON 5 OF THE RUNAWAY ANIME HIT “MY HERO ACADEMIA” TO AIR EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

oh hold up lol there’s more

well fuck me y’all if that ain’t a whole fucking hand

and fuck me also because the site of All Might’s last stand against AFO in Kamino is officially known as Ground Zero and it’s commemorated with a fucking statue and everything. my Kacchan hero name theory is decimated, Ground Zero as Kacchan’s hero name is fucking confirmed and if it is the case I’m going to get extremely emotional now at what his obvious reasons would be for choosing that name holy shit though

(ETA: although to be fair! what’s written in the chapter here is グラウンドゼロ (Guraundozero), whereas Bakugou’s name from those old character book sketches was  爆心地 (Bakushinchi). so it’s not quite the same! I feel like it’s still up in the air. I really just need this to be settled already lol. can you tell by the way I keep bringing it up multiple times each chapter even though this is an arc about the fucking villains for pete’s sake.)

-- oh shit he’s right. so we’ve got the Eight Precepts’ house, Hosu City, the Highway to Hell, Kamino, and now Fukuoka. you guys if memory serves, that is indeed every known League of Villains incident location... except for one. the very first one. as if U.A. needed any more reason to be on edge lately holy christ. let’s hope to god they don’t start chopping off the other hand

oh snap Joker’s got himself a name now!

Redestro? or ReDestro? lol that’s one of those names that looks fine in all-caps comic book letters but when typed out like this it looks stupid as hell

(ETA: I’m going with Re-Destro since it looks the least weird to me. idk.)

wow Tomura you’ve had time to keep up with the NY Times bestselling list while fighting for your life for the last six weeks? I’m impressed

this kid is not in a mood to play nice with others today and I’m loving it

Twice. where the fuck do you think Giran is. smdh

wow, Re-Destro says he’s actually still alive. hey you don’t have to show us what kind of condition he’s in, Horikoshi. just putting that out there. we have functioning imaginations, we get it. we’re good

(ETA: he’s actually doing a lot better than I thought he’d be. though I still want to take him home and wrap him up in a blanket and make him watch Jaime’s redemption arc in GoT and see if he gets inspired.)

anyway so Re-Des says they’re gonna destroy the status quo and rebuild the world into a place where everyone is free to use their powers to their full extent whenever

wow, Compress

um idk maybe because they chopped your broker’s fucking fingers off??? were you guys not tight with Giran or what? poor dude suffered some horrific shit all because he didn’t want to sell you fuckers out. least you could do is be offended

meanwhile Tomura wants to get a raincheck on this whole affair because he has other pressing matters to deal with right now

at least he told them to release Giran

oh fuuuuuuuuuuuck

where are they?? an observation tower somewhere??

jesus christ is that blood on his lap there??

how are his arms even tied behind him if he’s missing a fucking hand????

(ETA: genuinely curious about that last one though lol.)

wow Re-Destro is really testing the League’s empathy levels here

well, Tomura, that’s some pretty fucked up shit he did to your guy. what do you think. are you even slightly horrified. pissed off?

oh shit you guys!!

HE DIDN’T EVEN TALK. THIS MOTHERFUCKER DIDN’T BREAK, THEY HAD TO HACK HIS PHONE WITH THEIR MAD IT SKILLS IN ORDER TO GET THE LEAGUE’S CONTACT INFO. AND GIRAN LOOKS FUCKING HORRIFIED OH MY GOD

guys I can’t believe Giran is my new favorite character I s2g Horikoshi if you touch him again I’ll

...anyway. let’s do this whole two-page spread now because I’m super hyped in spite of my also being horrified by everything

FEEL GOOD INC. is that a fucking Gorillaz reference in my fucking shounen manga about superheroes. do I need to analyze me some lyrics. I can’t actually see any connection lol aside from it being a badass name for a villain corporation

guys I can’t believe Kizuki is my new favorite character I s2g Horikoshi if you touch her I’ll

oh hey, cool, shouldn’t be too hard to take these guys out. they’ve just got billions of dollars (presumably) and one hundred thousand soldiers lying in wait ready to rise to action at a moment’s notice, their words not mine. cool. cool cool cool cool cool cool cool we’re fucked

OH SHIT

is that why he’s in that observation place? fucking hell, how?

OH SHIT, AGAIN

HOW FUCKING NOBLE OF Y’ALL. though honestly I guess if we have to pick between the villains with the 12 Noumus of the Apocalypse who want to destroy everything, or the villains capable of running a successful business who just want people with quirks to be free, objectively the latter group is a better bet to side with

except for the fact that the latter group is totally cool with snapping their poor mouse secretary’s neck just because he didn’t like their book. and they’re also down to chop off a guy’s fingers one by one just to make a damn point. so yeah, pardon me but I’m gonna side with the League here in spite of everything

wow what the hell kind of negotiations are these??

so you just called to tell them that? “hi hello just wanted to introduce myself and let you all know I hate you and here’s how fucking screwed you are lol have fun with that”

haha hey Horikoshi what the fuck

(ETA: so yeah this is that same hand gesture that he’s doing in the panel immediately after this one. I guess it’s just their thing. these guys think they’re so fucking cool. it’s not cool to chop off people’s hands, Re-Destro!!)

I can’t believe I have to deal with this shit on the same day I’m posting the damn mushroom chapter recap

oh wow okay so he is actually giving them a chance here

lol wow this fucking arc. holy shit

but who was cockroach. well whatever. fucking villain arcs though, you guys. omg

[trashcanmarvelfan]

Best. Job. Ever 4/12

So oops, I updated this like a week ago on AO3 but forgot to update here, so you’re getting 2 chapters again, lovelies! 

Btw, this IS completely written, I’m just editing and posting as time allows.

Summary: Reader gets a job on the set of Spider-Man: Far from Home for the 3 weeks they are shooting in New York City as what she thinks is a production assistant, but a twist of fate has her reassigned as Tom Holland’s personal assistant. As she & Tom grow close during filming, will their budding friendship turn to more or will they go their separate ways after filming concludes?

Warnings: Language, but that’s pretty much it? This is basically a PG-13 rom-com.

Word Count: 2571 for chapter 4.

Author’s Note: As this was written WAY before Spider-Man: Far from Home was released (actually before Avengers: Endgame was as well) I’ve kept plot details and which scene was being shot on what day extremely vague. Also, I’m American but tried to write Tom as British as possible, although I do think he’d try to stay(ish) in character and use as much American slang as he could while he’s still playing Peter.

Chapter-Specific Author’s Note: Ik Rent went off Broadway in like 2008 or something but I do what I want, lol.

Requests are always open!

Cross-posted at AO3.

The rest of the week continued much like the first day: Y/N would show up at Tom’s hotel room at 7:15 with coffee (fortunately-- or unfortunately, Y/N honestly wasn’t sure which-- the rest of the week Tom had always been dressed by the time Y/N knocked on his door), they would ride to set, Tom would film a few scenes, they would eat lunch, Tom would get back to filming, and then they would head back to their hotel, eating dinner together in one of their rooms (usually something Y/N would run out and pick up or have delivered to her room) and hanging out for a while before parting for the night.

Saturday night had Y/N and Tom hanging out in Y/N’s hotel room eating Chinese takeout while watching Infinity War on the hotel TV’s cable.

“DAMN IT, QUILL!” Y/N yelled at the TV as he started beating Thanos in the head with his gun, causing Mantis to lose her balance and let go of her control of Thanos’ mind. “Ugh, every freaking time.”

Tom laughed. “Yeah, that’s basically everyone’s reaction.”

Y/N blushed. “Sorry about that. I just always want to punch Quill in the face right there. They had Thanos, and he comes traipsing along and ruins their chances of getting the Gauntlet off. I mean, I get that he was upset about Gamora, and rightly so, but dang, he just single handedly caused the destruction of half the universe!”

Y/N’s and Tom’s phones chimed simultaneously.

“Looks like the shooting schedule for next week is here,” Y/N said, pulling it up on her phone. “Your call times are different for each day, and it also looks like Friday will be a long one, but hey, you at least have Saturday and Sunday off before the final week of shooting.”

They worked out times to meet up to head to the set the next week and when Y/N turned her attention back to the TV Thanos had snapped his fingers and people were already starting to turn to ash. Y/N brought her hand to her chest as Peter clung to Tony. I don’t want to go. “I can’t believe you improvised that scene, but I should’ve figured that you’d quote The Doctor.”

Tom glanced over at her. “You watch Doctor Who?”

Y/N nodded. “Just New Who, starting with Eccleston, but yeah.”

“Who’s your favorite Doctor?”

“Ten, hands down,” Y/N said with zero hesitation.

“No wonder you recognized that line.”

YN nodded. “It just kills me every time, whether it’s you or David Tennant that says it.”

They talked about Doctor Who until it started to get late. “So, what are you planning to do with your day of freedom?” Tom asked as they cleaned up from dinner.

“Oh, I’m just planning on taking it easy tomorrow,” Y/N replied. “What about you?”

“I need to study my lines for next week.”

Y/N bit her lip. “Maybe I could help you run your lines? I mean, if you want, no big deal.”

Tom grinned. “I’d like that a lot, actually.”

“Great. I’ll text you when I get up?”

“Sounds good.”

“Ok, well, I’m gonna head out. It’s getting pretty late.”

Tom walked Y/N over to the door. “‘Night, Y/N.”

“‘Night, Tom.”

The next morning Y/N texted Tom as soon as she woke up and got dressed.

Hey, I’m up and can help you go over your lines whenever you’re ready.

Tom texted back almost immediately. Give me like 5 minutes, yeah?

Ok, sure. I’ll run downstairs to pick you up something from the coffee shop then.

The three bubbles that indicated that Tom was typing popped up. Actually I’m downstairs right now getting something, so no need!

Oh! Lol Ok then.

A few minutes later Tom texted back. Ok, I’m back upstairs. Come on over.

Y/N grabbed her stuff and walked down to Tom’s room.

Tom answered the door with a grin. “Morning, Y/N,” he said, ushering her in. Y/N paused mid-way into the room when she saw coffee and pastries set out for both of them.

“I figured since you’ve been fetching breakfast for me all week and since I was getting myself something anyway the least I could do is return the favor,” Tom said.

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Y/N replied. “Thank you.”

They sat and ate then Y/N helped Tom run his lines until he was comfortable with them.  “Wow, it’s four already. I’m sure you want to relax the rest of the afternoon,” Y/N said, getting up from the couch where they had been sitting, “so I guess I’m gonna get out of your hair so you can chill.”  She turned toward the door. “Wait!” Tom exclaimed.

Y/N turned back to Tom.

Tom rubbed the back of his neck. “I, err, I have a surprise for you.”

He walked over to his dresser and pulled an envelope out of the top drawer, handing it to Y/N.

Y/N looked at him curiously as she opened it, finally pulling out the contents. Her jaw dropped. “Front row seats to Rent!?”

“You can’t come to New York and not see a Broadway play. I was hoping you’d accompany me tonight,” Tom said.

Y/N was still staring at the tickets. “How did you even know I liked Rent?”

“I, err… I overheard you singing ‘Out Tonight’ on Wednesday while you were waiting for me after the set was cleared,” Tom explained.

Y/N was still shocked. “But how did you even get these? It’s been sold out for months!”

Tom winked. “You’re not the only Rent-head around here, you know.”

“And are you sure you want me to come with you? You wouldn’t rather Z or someone else from the cast go with you?”

Tom shook his head. “I figured you’d appreciate the show as much as I do. So is that a yes?”

“Oh my gosh, YES!”  Y/N threw her arms around Tom in a massive hug. “This is so amazing! I’ve been wanting to see that play for years but never thought I’d have the chance to see it live!”

“Brilliant.” Tom beamed. “I’ll be ‘round in, say, a hour so we can have dinner beforehand? I know a great sushi restaurant in Times Square.”

“Sounds great.” Y/N turned to Tom again and gave him another hug. “You are just the absolute best, you know that? I can’t believe this -- I have to go get ready!”

Y/N ran back to her room and flew through getting ready.  She put on the nicest outfit she had brought (thank goodness she was a packrat and thought to bring a decent dress!) and hurried to do her hair and makeup.

She was applying her eyeliner in the bathroom mirror when there was a knock on her door. “Come in!” she called.  She and Tom had each gotten an extra room key and had swapped them in case of emergency, so she didn’t have to go answer the door.

Tom stuck his head in the door. “Y/N?”

“Almost ready!”

Y/N finished her makeup and stepped out of the bathroom. Tom was standing in front of Y/N’s full-length mirror and caught her reflection. A broad grin spread over his face and he turned toward her. “Y/N, you look stunning,” he breathed.

Y/N blushed. “Thank you. You look great too.”

Tom had worn a similar outfit to the one he had worn the night they went to dinner after the first day of filming, except this time he had paired an open-collar button-down shirt with his sports coat, jeans, and sneaker combo. He extended his arm. “Shall we?”

Y/N linked her arm with his. “Lead the way, Mr. Holland.”

“Viva, la vie, Bohemme!”

Y/N and Tom laughed as they stepped off the elevator.

“Oh my gosh, that was so much fun. Never in a million years did I ever think I’d be able to see Rent live and in person.” Y/N couldn’t keep the grin off of her face.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

They stopped in front of Tom’s door.  “You want to come in and watch the film version on Netflix?” he asked.

“Sure! I love the movie version. Gimmie like 5 minutes though to go change into something more comfortable?”

Tom nodded. “Ok. I’ve got snacks, so I’ll get everything set up while you change.”

“See you in a few.”

Y/N ran to her room and changed into some comfortable pants and a t-shirt, and pulled on a pair of fuzzy socks to walk down the hall in instead of putting her sneakers on.

She grabbed her keycard and headed back to Tom’s. The door had been held open by the privacy lock, so she just knocked gently and went in, disengaging the lock so the door could shut.

Tom was sitting on his bed, scrolling through Netflix. A bowl of popcorn and various movie theater-type candy was spread out next to him. His hair was wet-- he had obviously grabbed a quick shower while Y/N had been gone-- and he had changed into flannel pajamas pants and a plain white t-shirt. He looked up and grinned.

Y/N walked past him to the other side of the bed and climbed in, careful not to disturb the snacks in between them. “I see you got comfortable as well.”

Tom grinned. “Ready?”

“Let’s do it.”

As the opening credits rolled, Y/N said, “I think it's so great that most of the original Broadway cast reprised their roles for the movie.”

“Me too,” Tom agreed, grabbing a handful of popcorn.  

They watched the movie mostly in silence, occasionally grabbing some popcorn or a handful of candy, until the opening notes to Light My Candle came on. Tom turned to Y/N. What you’d forget? he mouthed.

Y/N grinned. Got a light? she responded.

Tom reached for her. I know you, you’re… you’re shivering.

It’s nothing, they turned off my heat, and I’m just a little weak on my feet… Y/N pretended to swoon towards Tom and winked.

They kept going, both really getting into character. When they arrived at the line, They say I have the best ass below 14th Street, is it true? You’re staring again! Tom blushed and was flustered when he lip-synched Roger’s line, Oh no… I mean, you do… have a nice-- Y/N thought his flustered reaction seemed actually kind of genuine but quickly chalked it up to the darkness of the room and Tom’s really good acting skills and pushed it out of her mind as she kept going.

They continued their back & forth throughout the song. They call me, they call me Mimi...Y/N lip-synched, dangling a gummy worm in front of Tom before taking a bite with a grin as the song ended.

They both burst into laughter. “Oh my gosh, that was so fun,” Tom said in between fits of laughter, leaning back against the headboard.

Y/N fell over on Tom’s shoulder, she was laughing so hard. “That. Was. AWESOME.” She wiped a few stray tears of laughter away as she straightened.

Today 4 U was just starting. Y/N nodded toward the TV. “Think you’d be able to do that?”

“Definitely not in heels, at least not without loads of practice.” Tom answered. “I’m good, but I’m not that good.”

The rest of the movie was spent lip-syncing along to a majority of the soundtrack -- during “Out Tonight” Y/N grabbed the remote and used it as a makeshift microphone while she danced around the room, much to Tom’s amusement -- and watching in somber silence during “Without You”.

Y/N did a fist pump when the opening notes of “What You Own” started playing. “This is one of my favorite songs on the entire soundtrack,” she said. “It’s so powerful, and the bro-hug at the end just melts my heart.”

Tom nodded. “It’s definitely a turning point in the film.”

As the movie wound down, the popcorn and snacks dwindled as well. Tom placed the empty popcorn bowl on the nightstand next to him as the finale started.

“My one complaint is that I really wish the alternate ending would’ve been used in the film.”

“Me too!” Y/N exclaimed. “I mean I get why it wasn’t used, but I like the play’s version of the ending where it ends just like it begins. And speaking of… I’m so embarrassed I cried when Angel came running on stage during the finale.”

Tom chuckled. “I think it’s cute-- err, I mean nice. It’s nice that you’re reactive like that. Makes an actor feel like they’re giving a believable performance.”  

“Speaking of acting…” Y/N checked her phone for the time. “It’s getting late. You better get some rest since your call time for tomorrow is early and you’re doing a lot of stunts.”

They stood and Tom walked Y/N to the door.

Y/N gave Tom a hug, and without thinking, also gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Oh, shit, I'm so sorry about that--” she stammered, taking a step back.

“What?” Tom looked confused.

“Just now-- I really didn’t mean to kiss you. I wasn’t thinking, and I understand if you’d be upset about it--”

Tom shook his head. “Why on earth would I be upset with you?” he tried to interrupt.

“--and it was completely unprofessional, so I’d also get it if you’d want to request a different assistant--”

“Wait, wait, Y/N!” Tom cried. He took Y/N's arms in a firm but gentle grip, steadying her. “I'm sorry to keep interrupting you, but I’m not upset at all.” He let go & studied her. “Have I given you the impression at any point this week that I've been anything less than pleased with you?”

Y/N blushed. “Well, no, not really…” she mumbled. “But I thought maybe you’d think I was hitting on you or something…”

“First off, it was just a kiss on the cheek, it’s not like you threw yourself at me.  And secondly…” Tom paused. “I know we haven’t known each other long, but I kind of already consider you a friend. You’re incredibly easy to talk to, we have loads in common, and at the risk of sounding completely pompous you don’t seem to just be friendly to me because of my celebrity status or because Sony is paying you to be. I mean come on, you’ve insisted on rotating who was paying for dinner all week. You’re a genuinely nice person and I like being around you. There’s absolutely no reason to fret, okay?”

Y/N nodded. “Ok.”

Tom stood. “Now that’s settled then, yeah?”

Y/N nodded. “Yeah.”

Tom reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, then pulled her in for a hug. “Goodnight, Y/N.” He kissed her on the cheek, then gave her a wink.

Y/N laughed. “Goodnight, Tom. I’ll see you in the morning.”

She went in and got ready for bed. As she lay there in the darkness replaying the night in her head she suddenly realized that her feelings for Tom definitely weren’t going anywhere-- in fact they had blossomed into a full-scale crush. I am so screwed.

Tagging: @thoughstofaredhead & @greenarrowhead

[hayjeon]

Frequently Asked Questions

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ugh this question kills me lol as you can tell from my url, I love them all equally, but have a bit of favoritism for Jeon jungkook. But as you can tell by my masterlist....I have an affinity to MYG and KTH too.

I also stab talent so: Big Bang gd, dean, crush, black pink all of them lol, and much more

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If I am not updating a certain fic, not updating what you requested, or inactive for a while, please understand that I have a personal life that is busy and full of responsibilities and demanding work.

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[moonlight-at-dawn]

My Strength Lies in You || Chapter 4

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Title: My Strength Lies in You Chapter: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 (Eventual) Pairing: Noctuna (Noctis Lucis Caelum x Lunafreya Nox Fleuret) Characters: Noctis Lucis Caelum, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Gladiolus Amicitia, Ignis Scientia, Prompto Argentum Rating: T Genre: Friendship, Romance (slow burn, maybe?) Summary: Noctis has come of age, and he embarks on a journey to see more of his country and of the world alongside his four closest friends. Wherever they go, they protect the people, fight monsters and daemons, and heal the Starscourge. AU where Noctis isn’t the Chosen King and there’s no war with the Empire. Author’s Note: Shoutout to @uvaception for reading through the first half and weighing in on my choices for how to progress the chapter :D It's much appreciated and allowed me to get this finished today!! (well okay it's a few past midnight but who's counting). Tomorrow (in the story) we finally get to see Luna really fight >:D Probably soon it'll stop going day-by-day and start skipping some more considerable time. I've got a few major events planned but mostly this is just fun and sometimes exciting and adventurous slice of life road tripping, so feel free to pop in with any wishlists lol cause this fic is 100% wish fulfillment

AO3 Link

Feeling something press against his cheek, Noctis groaned and swatted at the finger, rolling away and curling up further into his sleeping bag. He heard a frustrated sigh and a slim hand patted the lump that he was under covers, finding his shoulder after a moment and giving him a shake. "What is it, Luna...?" he asked with a quiet groan.

"Noctis, we cannot be doing this every morning..."

"Me 'n' mornin's don' get along...," he mumbled, slowly straightening to come out from where he hid. He sat up and sighed, rubbing his eyes with his forearm. Stifling a yawn against the inside of his elbow, he blinked and belatedly realized that Luna was still simply sitting there beside him, watching with a concerned expression. "...Wha's that look for?"

"I always thought everyone was exaggerating about you and sleep... It's not something that's been lingering from your injury as a child, is it?"

"Huh? No, 've always been like this. Even before. Don't worry about it, Luna. Trust me, plenty of people have, and doctors have said I'm fine. If it was that, Lady Sylva would've healed it away, right?"

"You did require multiple healings, Noctis... Perhaps you still need more."

He reached out and patted the top of her head, earning an annoyed pout for his grin that went with it, "I'm fine, Luna. Really. Gimme a few more days to get on this new schedule 'fore you start worrying so much, huh?"

Her shoulders relaxed at that, and she nodded, "You're right. I wasn't thinking about that part of it..."

Gladio's deep voice called from outside the tent, "Should we send a chaperone in?"

Rolling his eyes at the tease, Noct called out frustrated, "We're not children, Gladio!"

"Ho? That mean you're up to something?"

"We're not, but either way, we don't need you watching over us!"

Luna covered her mouth as she laughed at Noctis' flushed face and clear irritation. "Well, it is past time we get going. Hurry and get changed so we can set out."

"Don't I get breakfast?"

"You can eat and walk at the same time," she called out over her shoulder with a grin, holding the tent flap open. She saw his shoulders fall as she zipped the tent closed between them, and she giggled quietly before telling him through the canvas, "I'm joking, Noctis. Ignis just finished cooking breakfast."

"May the Astrals have mercy on me, because the next Oracle never will...," he complained with humor in his voice.

They made quick work of breakfast, anxious to set out and make the most of their time in case there were any unexpected set-backs. They knew once they had set into a more solid routine and had a better feel of how long everything took, the morning anxiety would go away. But with daemons roaming the nights and no havens between the one they were at and the town they were headed to, it was best to be sure things would go well.

Once they got some distance from the outpost, Ignis gave Noct the short version of the morning update Gladio and Prompto had picked up while the prince slept. There wasn't much to tell, but it was good to take in the info. Noctis was keenly aware that this was his time to impress upon his people that he would take care of them when his turn came, that he was listening and acting and not just putting in a token effort. And he did want to do his absolute best by them, he just hated the dry information that came with the job, even if he was good at memorization when he set himself to it.

They hadn't been walking too long when they came to an area with a path cutting up through stone and away from the road. "It's up there," Ignis stated, adjusting his glasses. Prompto picked up his camera and snapped a shot of the path from where they stood. "It shouldn't be too far," he added on, though it was hard to be sure when the sharp incline and foliage kept visibility short.

"Alright, let's go." Noct started up the path ahead of the group, feeling they had all been waiting for him to make this first step, and they weren't even at the tomb yet. Leading the way up, the ground underfoot was beginning to even out when Gladio edged his way back into the front to take point. Coming out to a clearing, it was a dead end, surrounded by sheer cliffsides, and the tomb stood at the rear of the clearing.

Approaching the door, Noctis pulled out the key that Cor had handed him before they had left, and he opened up the tomb. It was chill inside, all cold stone, and he walked up to the statue of his dead ancestor clutching his weapon. Looking over the area, Noctis took in a deep breath, aware of how closely everyone watched him, interested to see what would happen. In a way, he hoped it was flashy, or else everyone was going to be sorely disappointed.

Holding out his hand over the weapon, he called to it, and a blue flash briefly blinded everyone. Noctis was the first to recover his sight, and he watched as the glow separated from metal and held the form of the blade. He looked up, the spectral sword hovering in air and then turning to point at him. It pierced into him, not in flesh but in soul, becoming a part of him.

All in a rush he could feel it, the things his ancestor had accomplished for Lucis, the things important to him.

He was a Wise man, used the power of the Crystal to build a magic wall around the kingdom. It kept daemons from appearing, kept the people safe as towns were built up, homes made without rush and fear of the night, lighting set up to keep everyone safe in the future. It had diminished his life span greatly, he had been unable to see for himself the safe future that he had built. But had he not done that, Lucis would have been unable to go so far technologically as it had. It was something Noctis knew about, the wall having only come down in his grandfather's time as the goals had at last been reached. But he had never really considered before how that king might have felt when he sacrificed his own life, and the lives of his child and grandchild and then some, for the future of the People. The Wise King of Lucis gave All for the future of his citizens, planning generations in advance.

Covering his chest, Noctis looked in awe at the statues lining the walls, representing kings of the past. His legacy would be so much more than he ever thought. What story would his blade tell the future kings? That was something he still needed to decide, and he pressed his lips together and gave a solemn nod. Turning around, he had actually forgotten his audience while caught up in the moment, and he forced a smirk to cover up how enthralled he had been by the experience. "Well, that's done. Time to get the next one."

"Right then," Ignis turned, leading the way out of the tomb and leaving any discussion until later.

The others followed suit, Luna hanging behind until Noctis took his first step towards the door. She reached out to him, her hand shimmering gold, and Noctis reached up to grab her hand before she touched it to his chest, and he shook his head, keeping his voice low, "None of that, now, Luna. I don't need healing for every little thing."

"Now who's trying to prove a point..."

He smirked and gave a slight tug on her hand, turning her away from him and towards the door, giving her a gentle shove, "No point here, there's just nothing for you to do. Come on."

None of them were quite sure which trek had been worse, climbing up the steep hill or trying not to tumble back down. Prompto ran the last several meters down and then some, almost crashing into the rockface opposite the narrow trail. Holding his camera protectively, he looked up to everyone still picking their way down and he laughed, cheerfully brushing off his near accident, "No more steep hills, agreed?"

"I doubt we'll have a choice," Gladio grinned, getting to flat ground with the least amount of trouble.

"Yes, there's a lot in this area, I'm afraid. And Duscae isn't much better, with the damage from the Astral Wars," Ignis explained, making Prompto wilt as he was faced with the truth.

"On the plus side, it's good a leg workout," Noctis added, lightly jogging down the last bit as he found it easier. Getting to the bottom, he looked over at Luna, using her staff to safely navigate the steep grade. "...Or I guess next time we could ask the Lady of Tenebrae for some tips..."

She laughed at that, sliding her staff into its sling on her back. "Yes, you do learn quickly there, how not to go tumbling down hills."

"Oh, really? What's Tenebrae like?" Prompto asked with genuine interest as they continued up the path towards the town.

"There's many heavily forested hills and mountains, and waterfalls. Very beautiful, but it is difficult to get around."

"Wow. Sounds amazing, I'd love to be able to see it someday."

"It's on the itinerary," Noctis smirked, looking over at his friend.

"No kidding? Alright!"

"This would be the first time for all of you except Noctis, wouldn't it?"

"Last time Noct went was a month before I was officially assigned as his guard instead of just his trainer."

"Yes, and they've never brought any junior staff along, either, so I've never been."

"Really?" Prompto was surprised, they were always with Noctis, he didn't think the prince was ever without them at his side anymore.

Noctis rubbed the back of his neck and thought about it a moment, "Ahh, yeah, I guess that's right, isn't it. We always did go with as little staff as possible. Only reason I would go with Dad was to see Luna anyways, so having them with me would've been pointless."

"Hey," Gladio grumbled in mock offense.

Smirking at that, Noctis shrugged, "Sorry, Gladio. Not the way I meant it."

"I should hope not...," Ignis added.

"Oh come on, you know what I meant!"

"Yeah, that you didn't want any chaperones," Gladio smirked.

Noctis groaned and covered his face, shaking his head and wishing they would leave well enough alone with the jokes. It was bad enough those times he was teased about Luna when she wasn't right there beside him having to bear it with him. "Will you let that go?" he asked, exasperated.

"Eventually."

"At least for Luna's sake, if not for mine."

"Alright, for the lady."

Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, Noctis huffed quietly and glanced over to Luna. Flashing her an apologetic smile, he shrugged, "Sorry..."

"It's alright, Noctis. You've nothing to apologize for."

"You're right... Hey! Gladio!"

"What?" he asked gruffly, feigning irritation.

"Apologize to Luna!"

"Sorry, Lady Lunafreya, that our prince just hit puberty."

"Gladio!" Growling quietly, Noct went to kick the man in his back, though it was easily dodged. Gladio smirked and waved at him, then jogged further ahead. "Insubordinate jerk!"

Prompto was snickering and trying to keep out of sight so Noct's indignant anger wouldn't get turned on him, though he failed. Ignis chuckled quietly and turned to look at Luna, "I guess we've all gotten comfortable now. I hope it doesn't bother you."

Luna smiled and shook her head, "I'm glad you're all comfortable enough to be yourselves around me. It would be exhausting to put up an act this whole time."

"The same goes for you as well. We'd like it if you felt more relaxed. You've nothing to prove."

"You're right...," she sighed, smiling wryly and shrugging. "It's the first time I've done this without being at my mother's side, and I'm not a true Oracle. I suppose, I just feel that I need to show that I can do this."

Ignis smiled gently and knowingly, "I can understand that. But it's not us that you need to worry about showing."

"Thank you, Ignis."

He shook his head and faced forward, his expression falling and he let out a long, suffering sigh. "They went too far ahead..."

Giggling softly, Luna picked up her pace to a light jog and grinned, "Then let's catch up and make sure they're not playing too rough."

When they rounded the bend, they were dismayed to find Noctis holding Prompto in a headlock while Gladio laughed and tried to pull them apart, only for Noct to end up dragging Prompto a few steps. Ignis let out another weary sigh and shared a look with Luna before catching their attention, "I do hope we're not having any major problems..."

"No problems here, Ignis!" Noct shouted, sputtering as his friend's spiked hair ended up in his mouth. "Ugh, the hell do you put in your hair Prompto."

"What's it matter!?" he asked, tugging half-heartedly at Noctis' arm that was wrapped jokingly just under his neck.

"It's disgusting!"

"You're not supposed to eat it!"

"Your hair got in my mouth!"

"Dude, that's gross! Now I gotta shower again!"

"It's worse for me, I'm the one who's gotta taste it!"

"Hey guys, the moms got away from us...," Gladio interrupted, and they looked up to find that Ignis and Luna had given up on them and gone on ahead. Breaking apart, they jogged to catch up, laughing and tossing around a few last jokes about the incident.

They rounded the next bend and everything opened up, and the first buildings of town were just several steps away. It seemed to just be a couple of buildings for tending a small bit of well guarded farmland, and most of the life was further in. Luna smiled and nodded towards the first houses, "Since these are so distant from the rest, I want to see if anyone here needs help first. No sense making them walk all the way to, well, wherever I get set up."

"Alright. We'll go ahead, get our information and tell them they can set up for you... Prompto, stick with Luna, alright?"

"Sure thing!"

Luna smiled to Prompto and wasted no time in making her way to the first small farmhouse. After she knocked on the door, she took a step back and folded her hands calmly in front of her, projecting peace, even with her weapon on her back. The door was opened by an older man, who looked both intrigued and confused, "How may I help you, miss...?"

"Lady Lunafreya, of Tenebrae. I'm here to ask if there is anyone in the home that needs healing?"

The man's eyes widened and he suddenly nodded, ushering her in. Prompto hovered on the step a moment before he followed after them, trying to stay out of the way. Laid out on the floor was a young man, just about his age, his arm and that side of his neck and face veined black. He was sweating and clearly in pain, pale and exhausted. "Our grandson, he helps us on the farm. Some daemons from the trench wandered this way and the dogs were barking up a storm. He went to see what it was. Turned out, a light had gone out, they were closer and faster than he'd thought..."

Luna nodded solemnly and knelt down beside the boy, across from an older woman she assumed to be his grandmother. The woman was wiping his head with a wet cloth, trying to put on a brave smile, her lips trembling, "It was just last night. We let the hunters know, so we could get some help..."

"I'm here to help," Luna smiled and set her staff down on the ground behind her. Reaching to the young man, she set one hand on his heavily wounded and infected arm, the other to his cheek, and she leaned over him as a soft yellow glow lit the dim and gloomy room. Her forehead rested against his, her eyes closed, and the glow brightened then held steady, the scourge burning clean away from him and his injuries beginning to mend. Straightening up, Luna smiled down at him as he came to, and she patted his shoulder. "It will take a few days more rest before you're better. I'm afraid that's all that I can do at once, and you will probably need more help for your arm. But the Starscourge is gone and you'll can now heal."

"It's a miracle...! Thank you!" the woman exclaimed, fawning over her dazed grandchild as the young man began to fully realize everything that had happened.

"Not at all. I'm so very glad I was here to help. Now, please, excuse me. I must see if there are others in town."

"Thank you, miss, Lady Lunafreya."

Luna picked up her staff as she stood and she bowed politely to them, quietly leaving with Prompto at her side. There was another, less severe injury at the next house, and none at the rest on the outskirts. As Prompto and Luna headed across the small fields to the town proper, he finally couldn't hold it in any longer. "That was amazing, Lunafreya! Everything seemed so hopeless, then you just swooped in, glowing like an angel, and made it all better! You're incredible!"

She smiled at his gushing, blushing shyly as he had to snap a photo of her right then as well. "I wish it weren't a rare thing, to be able to cleanse the Starscourge. I really don't think it's an incredible thing to be able to do. Simply a necessary one. I'm only special because of my bloodline."

"That's not true at all! You were just, all smiles and calm, I think you really helped them even before you started healing, y'know? You're really something special!"

She didn't know what to say to that and she simply shook her head with a small smile. She wanted to protest more, but she had a feeling any attempts to make him stop gushing over her would just end up in him feeling like he had to so even more. It wasn't that she thought she wasn't any good, she just didn't think she was special, but she didn't think she would be able to get him to understand the difference.

Noctis was waiting for them on the road, and he waved to them. "Hoping you got the guy that got attacked last night?" he asked once they got close.

Luna nodded and smiled, "Yes, he was the first. They did say they reported it to the Hunters, so I guess they're the ones that told you?"

"Yup. Come on. They've got two clinics, and they're setting up a tent in the square and letting everyone know. You'll do the clinics first, since that's where the worst ones are. Ah, at least, we assumed this would make the most sense. It work for you?"

"Yes, thank you, Noctis."

He relaxed and nodded, leading the way to the clinic on their side. "Ignis is picking up lunch for us all and he'll meet us there. Gladio went with the Hunters to take care of some work."

"Hm, they left you alone?"

"I'm a big boy, Luna."

"I didn't mean it that way. I just...," she shook her head and stopped herself, smiling to him. "Sorry. Never mind."

He shrugged it off and they went to the clinic, where Ignis was waiting with food. Luna ate before heading further inside, since no one there was in any danger of dying if they waited another twenty minutes. There was something truly incredible about the magical stamina the Oracles had, and even without all of the extra gifts that came from being fully realized, Luna still was able to go through the whole day without another break.

Thankfully there hadn't been any more critical cases, though one thing they found was that there were quite a few old cases. That was the biggest problem they faced, were the old cases that were being kept from becoming fatal by the use of potions given from the Crown City. It had been a long time since Lady Sylva had gone through, and some cases had been missed, while most of the older ones had been within months since she'd left. It was difficult to heal when it was so deeply rooted, as she had to work through layers of darkness, and there was no guarantee that some of the long infected limbs would become fully usable again. But she did it, and their relief and gratitude was immediate and powerful.

The group stopped for dinner at a diner before checking into their hotel room. After showering and changing into lounge pants and a loose tee, Noctis declined to play a card game and left the room he shared with the other three guys to go next door to Luna. She opened up not long after he knocked, her hair half dried and brushed out, and she wore simply a pair of shorts and a tank top. "What is it, Noctis?"

"Mind if I come in? Just wanna talk for a bit."

"Of course," she smiled, stepping back so he could come in. "I was just getting ready for bed, if you don't mind waiting for me to finish my hair."

"Sure, I'll wait."

After a few minutes she joined him where he'd sat on the edge of her bed, watching TV. He switched it off and turned to her, bring his leg up to rest his cheek against his knee as he looked at her. "We've gotta figure this out."

"Yes, I suppose so." They each turned to face each other more fully, scooting onto the bed and crossing their legs. Settling in comfortably, Luna  tucked some of her hair behind her ear and started while he was still gathering his thoughts, "I'm sorry if I've been overbearing at times and... trying too hard. I appreciate your help, Noctis, I really do. I think, what it is, is that... This is my first time on my own, more or less. Away from Mother, and Ravus, and everyone, and I need to prove to them, and to myself, that I can do this... And I've been so stuck on that, that I've forgotten that none of them do it alone. It's okay for me to use your help."

He smiled at that and reached out to tap her hand as he nodded. "And, I've forgotten that you've had combat training. I guess, you so rarely speak of it, that I'd forgotten you and I had all the same kinds of lessons, just different magic..."

"To be fair, you were right that I couldn't finish off beasts. But I think you'll realize it more when you see me against daemons."

"I'm looking forward to it. I mean, I don't like bringing you into danger, if I'm honest, but, at the same time, I feel better with you here. And I'm glad we get this chance, to see each other work."

She giggled softly at that and nodded, "It is good. You're very good at handling people."

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Because you're absolutely terrible at being social with anyone you haven't known for years."

"This isn't being social, this is work. I wasn't trying to make small talk with these people..."

She laughed at how put off he seemed, and she reached out to ruffle his hair, making him pout even more. "It is funny how we can put everything else aside to work, even if it means we have to act like a different person."

Sighing at that, he turned and flopped back across her bed, stretching his arms out over his head so they dangled above the ground. "A glorious life we lead, huh? Always having to put up different faces."

"At least we have some people we can be ourselves around, without the masks." She laid down beside him and he brought his arms back onto the bed as he rolled to his side to face her.

"That's true. And each other. We're the only ones who can really understand what the other is dealing with, since it's the same bullshit."

"Language," she teasingly admonished, reaching out to tap his nose. "But, yes, we do deal with much the same things. You've a lot more responsibility than I do, though. I know it gets hard."

"Yeah, but, I don't hate it. More like, I only wish I could just do what I had to, without worrying about people watching and judging me on everything."

"Things are a lot grander for royalty... Tenebrae is quiet. Even our loudest parties are barely the size of your birthday event."

"That honestly sounds like heaven. Can I stay with you?"

"It would be difficult for you to rule Lucis from Tenebrae."

"You can hide me there."

"Noctis!"

"You won't protect me?"

"Don't be silly!" she laughed, making him grin. "Of course I'll protect you, but not from that!"

He let out a dramatic sigh and rolled onto his back, covering his face with his arms, "I thought I could count on you... Betrayed, by my best friend..."

"Oooh, you!" Luna got up and grabbed a pillow, quickly bringing it down on him with a solid fwump.

"Ah! I can't believe it! And now you attack me, on top of the political betrayal!"

"You are a bad man, Noctis! Do not tease me like that!" she laughed, hitting him again with the pillow and pretending to try to smother him as he put up a token resistance.

He laughed and guarded himself from her attack until he was finally driven from the bed and laughing hard enough that it was difficult to breathe. When he looked up, she was still kneeling on the bed, clutching the pillow and pouting, watching him as if she were ready to attack again with the pillow, her hair clinging messily to her face. It was difficult to be graceful as he bowed while laughing, handing place sincerely over his chest, "I'm sorry, Lady Lunafreya."

She let out a huff, blowing at the hair that clung too close to her mouth and tickled at her nose. "You're forgiven, on one condition."

"And that is?"

"Get me one of those cheap apple pies that Gladiolus bought. ...I like them more than I care to admit."

He laughed again, grinning at her and making another mock half-bow, "As the lady commands."

[ais-n]

“For years my friend has told me to share my writing but I’ve been self-conscious about how it will be received or perceived. Lately, I’m wanting to post, but I don’t know where to start. Do you have any advice?”

I got the above question in an email (don’t worry, email friend! I will not name you for any privacy concerns) and since I thought it was a good question that others may wonder about too, and since I wrote a long answer, I figured I’d post it here too in case it’s useful for anyone. 

Basically, I totally understand self-consciousness; I feel the same way a lot too. It’s a tl;dr story but writing and sharing fanfic is what helped me start to feel more confident in my writing abilities because strangers said such nice things. I had a hard time believing all the nice things my family/friends had said my whole life about my writing; it was hard to believe it was anything other than them being nice or taking pity on me, I suppose because it was easier for me not to believe in myself than it was to believe in the pitying kindness of others. So I think sharing can be incredibly important if that feels like the right step for anyone at their current point in writing.

Below is from my emailed reply -- I’m putting it behind a cut for length but I go into these topics: 

**Sharing for free, **sharing for money, **compiling the story, and **how to look at feedback from readers if you are unused to sharing.

For posting, I should first of all say I'm not an expert so I may not be super helpful. But in case any of this is helpful, here are some thoughts I have:

SHARING - MONEY VERSION

First, decide if you think you are going to try to get it officially published or not. if you are, you may not want to share it online because some publishers may be less likely to want to take it on if it was totally free online at some point. That being said, I also think publishers are shifting their view on that a lot lately, and you could still eventually self-publish it as an ebook and if that sells well maybe some publishers would still be interested.

If you go the I-plan-to-publish-when-finished route, find a few beta readers (ideally some who usually read that genre and maybe 1 or 2 who don't or who have an outside view who may catch things the genre readers don't). This is a compromise between sharing online where you can get that encouragement to continue posting/get ongoing feedback, and keeping the story non-public for potential publishing.

If you want to do more of a hybrid version, you could consider sharing the story as you go on Patreon if you need to make money off it. I don't know a ton about this option, though, and keep in mind that if you add that monetary barrier you will limit the number of people who can read it.

If you decide to self-publish at some point, you can hire or find people to help you with the various aspects of it like formatting and cover creation and all that. I recommend doing a lot of research on the various self-publishing sites to make sure you are okay with all the pros and cons of the individual options, and also be sure it's a place you hear has been good about actually paying the authors and is showing no signs of closing down. There have been a few cases of online publishing companies closing abruptly or not paying their creators so just be a bit careful, but also there are some sites that have worked great for a lot of people so it's probably fine.

SHARING - FREE VERSION

If you want to get more experience and self-confidence and are more interested in sharing your story than worrying about money and all of that jazz, then there are a few options. If I were you, basically I would first check around for the genre and see where most people are posting stories like that, and then consider posting in that venue because maybe you'll get more eyes on it. You may also want to post in multiple locations at once so you spread out the audience. Keep in mind it's more of a pain in the ass that way because then you have to update a lot of places AND they probably have different formatting idiosyncrasies, but if you're starting out and want to make sure as many people see it as possible then that is going to help you out.

Some story-sharing sites I happen to know about which you could consider, depending on your specific story and if it meets criteria for them:

AO3 - Archive Of Our Own - http://archiveofourown.org/

AFFN - Adult Fanfiction - http://adult-fanfiction.org/ (that's where we started with ICoS although back then it was adultfanfiction.net)

FFN - fanfiction.net

Also social media like I think some people post stories on Goodreads, some on tumblr, you could make a blog and post it on there and then share links on social media, plus there are other places but they kind of delve a bit deeper into certain subset groups and I don't know a ton about them so I don't want to list them here. But if you google your genre you may find other options too.

When you find the place(s) you want to post your story, then make sure you 1) tag it appropriately, 2) try to write an intriguing summary for it (have your friend help if you aren't good at that like me lol), and then the biggest thing is:

3) CONSISTENCY -- if you can set a schedule (and stick to it) for sharing your story that helps because then people start to know when to look for the next part, they look forward to it, and depending on the way that site is set up it may also mean more random people see it because it may be showing up more often on the Recently Uploaded pages. I remember way back in the day there was a fic I read that this girl wrote and I loved the fic, and what I especially loved was she had set a schedule for the release. I literally wrote those release dates on my calendar because I loved building it into my schedule to look for an update. It became part of my routine; a small treat I pampered myself with on those Fridays.

Also, if you can post places that easily allow for comments like AO3 or wherever, that's awesome because you get that feedback from people, and you can garner a small sense of community. If you reply to people they usually really appreciate it because they know they were seen, but you would have to go according to what you feel is best.

Lastly, if you are posting it now to share but eventually decide you may want to upgrade it for publishing, Scribophile may be a good place for you -- http://www.scribophile.com/ -- it's basically a writing community site where you can choose your level of interaction with others, have people review things for you if needed, etc. In all honesty I haven't really used the site at all but I've been a member for a couple of years. It seems like a really good resource, I just haven't utilized it. But I wanted to make sure you knew about it in case it's more helpful for you.

COMPILING

Just a thought but if the story you are writing is complicated in any way, or you're having troubles keeping information compiled in one place, or you may eventually want to make it into a manuscript to present for publishing, or this will be a multi-year project, or really for any of many reasons-- I highly recommend Scrivener (or any other writing program that you prefer instead). That program is totally worth the cost, in my opinion, for the way it's worked for me. But if you decide to give it a go, you should really do the free trial version first AND watch all the main tutorials right away. It's a little bit of a learning curve but it's freaking awesome. But I know some people who haven't found it to be as helpful as I have so that's why I suggest you do the free trial, watch the tutorials, and really give it a go in that free month to see if you want to invest in it fully. If you don't need it for a year, during NaNo (November) they usually have it 50% off for anyone who completes NaNo.

FEEDBACK FROM READERS

Ok so one thing to keep in mind once you start sharing stories is you will never please everyone--as impossible as this will feel to do once it happens, try not to give more weight to negative feedback compared to positive. Most of the time there's way more positive than negative but it's human nature to focus on the negative.

Consider writing out some of the positive feedback on sticky notes around your computer or something so you can look at it when you're bummed out--this could even be positive comments from your friends :)

Don't personalize what people say about your story--first of all, they're coming at your story from their own life experiences which may differ from yours so they may react super strongly to something that to you feels really odd--but the reason I mention this is because as you share it will give you more and more opportunities to pause after you get feedback and try to objectively look at it, to see if it makes sense to you what they said or if it feels like maybe they are accidentally projecting something from their own life onto you and your story

A good story makes people feel things so also remember that strong emotions responding to a story is a good thing, not a bad thing

If you don't get a lot of response or reviews, don't fret and don't stop! The internet is wholly unbalanced in the way creativity is seen and responded to-- there are some people I know who are freaking incredible at what they do, but they get fewer notes or fewer reviews than others who I feel don't shine as creatively as they do. Also depending on the story you write, it may be something more mainstream with a wider audience or more niche with a smaller audience. But the size or type of audience doesn't matter; what matters (at least to me, personally) is knowing if a story touched even one person in any small or large way. Valuing every piece of feedback you get is important, I think, because it not only thanks the people who took the time to read your story, but also allows you to focus on what's important and not get caught up worrying about numbers. Numbers are not people. You could have a story that gets 1,000 reviews and another story that gets 1 review, but if that 1 review is someone saying that story literally changed their life and those 1000 reviews are all generic "lolz keep going!!111" reviews-- which is more valuable and impactful to you as a writer and a person? I'm not at all devaluing the super simple "omg I love this please keep going!" reviews because OH MY GOD are those so nice to get! I love people so much who do that! All I mean is that numbers alone don't tell the story of the impact that story can have on the readers, so don't let statistics have any sort of value judgment on them for yourself in terms of whether or not you "succeed"

It's important to remember to write for yourself and the story you're writing more than you're writing for others. If you are happy with the story, if you feel you're doing your best, then the variation and amount or lack thereof of feedback will be less discouraging and more encouraging

Also keep in mind you are not infallible, and every writer always has room for improvement. Constructive criticism can be awesome for helping a writer improve in ways they hadn't realized they could improve previously

I may seem in that 'feedback' section like I'm expecting you to get a lot of bad reviews or no reviews at all, and that's not it lol I just know that it's impossible to predict that sort of thing, and I know how I have felt and continue to feel about my own writing, and I know how friends have felt about their own creative works, and I know that we creative types tend to be our own harshest critics. So if you aren't used to sharing your stories to the world, if you're self-conscious and going into it a little worried or nervous, I wanted to mention that all ahead of time so if you don't initially get the reaction you hoped to get, you will hopefully not take it personally, and not let it stop you from continuing. Keep sharing! Keep improving! Keep having fun! And if you get nothing but a ton of super happy feedback, you'll already be on cloud nine anyway so you won't need to worry about personalizing anything.

I guess those are my main thoughts on it. I'm not sure if this helps at all but maybe if nothing else it will get you thinking about something that could be useful for you to research in the future for ideas or options out there to fit your specific project/story and your specific goals. I think your friend is right--you should share your story, if it's something that you feel is right for you at this time in your life. I think sharing can be incredibly helpful, and can also be a good way to ensure you actually finish a story you started, once there are other people involved.

To anyone who made it this far who is thinking of sharing but isn’t sure--if you believe that’s what’s best for you, I support your decision to share! I believe in you! Go go go, my friend! You can do it!

[comicteaparty]

November 26th-December 2nd, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from November 26th, 2018 to December 2nd, 2018.  The chat focused on Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R by snuffysam.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R by snuffysam~! (http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PST), so keep checking back for more! You have until December 2nd to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 3. Since the comic utilizes a wide variety of comedy, what have been some of your favorite jokes to appear in the comic so far? What about the joke worked for you? Name as many as you would like for this question.

QUESTION 4. Do you believe that Mizuki will eventually discover her own magical talent, or will she be stuck stealing others’ abilities forever? What might her magical talent be? Also, regardless of your answer, how might this issue change Mizuki?

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

Okay, so I haven't actually gotten to reading this comic yet-- just started like... right now. But OMG. XDDDDDD I'm loving how they're breaking the fourth wall and poking fun at stuff. My favorite scene so far is this one:

And of course the follow up:

I really like the guard so far, though I have absolutely no idea if he'll ever appear again seeing as I'm still in the first chapter. ;v;

The fact that he makes fourth wall breaking remarks is what sort of sold me. If he doesn't appear again, hopefully someone else along with the main character will make better jokes that will sell me good.

BUT OMG!!! This one really caught me off guard:

XDDDDDDD

The comedy here is really up my alley man. ;W;

O v O

Just found my new favorite character.

Mr Holy Tree:

AH! Btw, I love how the siblings who are governers of the Sikode plain's clothes sort of match up with the work hours they took. <333

Just finished Chapter 3. 8^U!!!! If I have more time tonight, Imma try to read a few more chapters yo! But this comic is really snatching me with dem scripts.

snuffysam

glad you like it so far!

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

Of course! >W< Thank you for creating this silly hidden gem!!! <33333

ShaRose49

I love that it’s not perfect, and this is not an insult. My favourite character so far is the guy who sliced that squid in half he seems like a boss

It’s also amazing to see how far the author has come in their art, I looked at the original pages a bit.

snuffysam

Cahe Is A Good Boy

Kabocha

Cahe is good, but I do wonder about the magic of how quickly they had their baby... Maybe it's one of their magic love powers.

snuffysam

also yeah, I've changed a lot over these past three-ish years lol

there's been exactly one hint as to why that happened, and it's in probably the most obscure place imaginable

the game where you can play as everyone's favorite archery ace

ShaRose49

I obviously didn’t get to any baby yet whups

snuffysam

oh no that's not for a while

ShaRose49

Snuffy is pretty good at lighting and shading too. I still have plenty to learn about that

snuffysam

the baby doesn't happen for another like 350 pages from where you are

ShaRose49

Oh hi snuffy!

My bad lol

snuffysam

hi lol

i'm in blue this week

ShaRose49

Hey how do you know where I am?

snuffysam

oh i just assumed given your comments

ShaRose49

Yeah I know

Oh okay

I’m in the middle of chapter 2 I think

snuffysam

yup so i was right lol

Kabocha

Daaaaaang. That's some good accuracy. I'm lucky if I can remember my own name some days

snuffysam

i did have to look up the page numbers lol. it was just a matter of guessing that sharose hadn't started chapter 3 yet

ShaRose49

Hahaha

snuffysam

anyway yeah i wrote a shader script for blender to do the lighting properly. took me a couple years to figure it out but i got there eventually lol

ShaRose49

Oh my word I can barely use blender yet

So it IS CGI! I couldn’t tell for sure I thought maybe it was supposed to mimic CG

snuffysam

a lot of stuff is drawn in with photoshop. and i think i just recently passed the point where more than half the comic is CG as opposed to being drawn.

but ye

ShaRose49

Wow. I don’t think I’ll be doing my comics with CG but I do wanna be an animator one day. Good for you!

snuffysam

thanks!

ShaRose49

No prob. I just got to more doodley pages

snuffysam

yeah haven't updated chapters 3 onward yet

ShaRose49

Oh okay. I can relate lol. I’m glad to see this up here, you’re a brave artist

snuffysam

thanks ha ha

ShaRose49

They are so innocent ohmiword

“I thought for sure 1+1=2!”

snuffysam

mizuki may not have gotten an A in all her math classes, but she at least knows that much

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. Who exactly are/were the Galaxy Knights? How did they come to be, and what goals did they have? Do you think we’ll see more former or current members? Also, what are your theories about their involvement in the story given they’re in the title?

RebelVampire

1) it's still the end fight of book 1. which i wont go into too much detail cause i dont want to spoil for those just starting up. but i still love the entire choreography of that fight. seeing mizuki solve everything in the most unconvenentional ways possible is so immensely fulfilling. 2) cahe's mustache. i cant wait till it gets fed up with cahe, rips itself off his face, and joins mizuki to fight the good fight. (but also probably electric zebra because he believes in the power of love) 3) there's too many jokes to name. theres a lot of great ones. although one of my favorite more recent ones has actually been a callback to the fact that cahe never names his village. and lo and behold his village is revealed to be unnamed village. i was slain by the joke. 4) i think eventually mizuki will discover her own thing. but at the same time i dont think thatll stop her from using others' abilities cause i think she turns what others view as a weakness into a strength. so basically mizuki will just have more ammo for her mind magic arsenal. 5) i mean the obvious answer is that they were protectors of ppl and that mizuki is gonna join them. but idk. i def think were gonna see more former and current members though given the title. and mizuki will thrash them all with the power of stealing their abilities and stubbornness. in the end, there is only one super galaxy knight deluxe and that person is mizuki. lets not ask what the r stands for.

shim

I haven’t even finished chapter one yet but I love this guard guy.

snuffysam

lodu is best boy. i'm actually planning on having him show up again for real in the next chapter. and by book 3 he may even have enough screentime to jump up to major character status.

snuffysam

also rebel you really have a knack for asking questions that will be straight-up answered within a month or two.

like in the weekly chat back in may one of the questions was "what is the plot of book 2"

not saying which of the questions you asked will be answered in a month but just overall, it's an impressive skill lol

snuffysam

and yeah chapter 8 is my favorite arc in hindsight. i'm not sure i'll actually manage to out-do the 1v1 fight choreography there for a while.

Kabocha

I have to admit, I'm really enjoying the current fight scene. The banter's top notch. >:3 Dramatic text meets no-nonsense. Now give Mizuki that damn generator so she can win the talent show!

snuffysam

talent show > crimebusting

Kabocha

he can get it back after the crimes are solved... But the bigger crime really is that the King--- wait the King gets to make the laws doesn't he

Kabocha

....wait, what I just said doesn't make sense. Oh well. He can get it back after the talent show is done -- it's a crime Mizuki can't win it!

snuffysam

the two of them should bring criminals to the talent show and bust them on-stage

RebelVampire

mizuki should get back to the talent show if only because i bet the old man is still on stage trying to tell horrible jokes

Kabocha

get that man a google assistant... or sub him to r/dadjokes

https://www.blog.google/products/assistant/ok-google-tell-me-a-joke/ I'm sorry, I can't get over how bad some of these jokes are.

snuffysam

it's been well over 12 hours, and it's the middle of the night now. do you really think he's still on stage?!

(the answer is yes)

Kabocha

Of course! He's waiting for Mizuki

RebelVampire

of course he is, he is an angel. and everyone is too polite to tell him to get off the stage and go home

snuffysam

well they're waiting for mizuki too

snuffysam

interested to hear what the caught-up folks' reactions to today's page will be...

shim

don't say that, now I want to throw all my homework out the window and catch up all the way

snuffysam

lmao

as much as i want to tell you to go for it... put your homework first lol

shim

I am definitely planning to catch up once I have homework and finals out of the way. Unfortunately…that will also be after this week's bookclub will be over and we'll be discussing someone else's comic by then.

snuffysam

aww oh well

shim

I hope to read more before, then, though, so I can discuss some things. I just won't be fully caught up, hehe.

snuffysam

and of course, no reason you can't keep reading after your finals are done and just comment in the comic itself

(though this is a much better place for people to get theories out there)

shim

-procrastinates from homework-

Okay this restaurant owner

"Everyone does horrible things sometimes. So really, I was completely justified."

I love this so much

THEY JUST COVER EACH OTHER'S FACES THIS IS GREAT

snuffysam

Protection from indecency!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 6. Why do you think Mizuki drifted apart from Cahe and Pejiba so much between Books 1 & 2? Why did the couple not invite Mizuki to their own wedding? Will Cahe and Pejiba make a comeback, or are they settled down into domesticity forever?

RebelVampire

im gonna be optimistic and say her letter just got lost in the mail

because cahe asked someone terrible to deliver it

maybe the anecestral tree

and cahe walked away before the ancestral tree could remind him that hes rooted to the ground

or the ancestral tree was pissed he wasnt invited

Kabocha

I think Cahe and Pejiba were just so in love they forgot! Or ultimately, they just didn't like Mizuki so much. Granted, it's been ... a very short duration

RebelVampire

maybe its gonna be an it was all a dream thing somehow

mizuki has been having trouble sleeping

snuffysam

there is a misunderstanding involved, but it’s less about “why didn’t they invite mizuki” and more “why would they invite zebra over mizuki”

RebelVampire

thats easy: zebra is the best

Kabocha

Zebra also is much better at music, so

ShaRose49

I don’t mean to be rude but I wish Mizuki would wear more clothes

shim

Actually, me too…

ShaRose49

And IMO the boobs are too exaggerated. But I like how she eats the food lol

snuffysam

y'all are on chapters 3-4?

shim

Yeah I'm on 3

ShaRose49

I guess she actually doesn’t know what a shirt is? Whoa there are cool animations!! And the lady’s power is cool. @snuffysam I’m not sure hang on I’ll check

shim

No wait I'm on 4, oops.

ShaRose49

I’m on chapter 4

snuffysam

she buttons the jacket in chapter 5, and her proportions get fixed when i switch to 3d

ShaRose49

Yeah she’s less exaggerated in 3D for sure, and I’m glad she buttons up the shirt

snuffysam

the outfit in chapter 4 is a reference to how in the original short film i made that this comic is based off, her actor decided to wear the jacket with no shirt (which is not something i, like, wanted or expected)

ShaRose49

Huh okay

snuffysam

but i changed it because i didn't think it made sense to draw her like that

ShaRose49

How did you get gifs in the comic?

snuffysam

(though the in-universe explanation is that it just got windier)

i use photoshop to animate, if that's what you're asking

ShaRose49

Oh awesome, I didn’t know photoshop could animate

shim

Oh cool! I've dabbled with PS animations before.

snuffysam

most things are frame by frame, with motion & opacity (like the lights fading in and out, cahe flying around the room) being done with photoshop's tweening

shim

Ahhh.

Ow hot sword.

ShaRose49

You are a better animator than me so far lol

Or you have more experience

I love how they’re like “Oh no prob!” After the whole fight

I think that whole fight was a test to see if the two main characters were fit to be the new Galaxy knights or something

And that’s a nice sunset drawing in chapter 4. I love sunsets

shim

"What, are you going to throw your sword at people now?" HAHA!

ShaRose49

So so,done just got shot in the face

Someone

Yikes that!s a mean lady

snuffysam

and a magic mean lady at that

ShaRose49

Yeah I can’t believe he’s not dead

snuffysam

captains are very resilient

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Do you think we’ll see Gynu and Suzigu in Book 2? If so, do you think they have one of the power gems Mizuki needs? Will they give it to her? Alternatively, what other places or characters might reappear do you think, and how will things have changed?

mathtans

"Maybe we DO want them to get the wrong idea."

Using this as an excuse to finally get caught up with SGK. Should have a remark or two by weekend.

snuffysam

looking forward to it!

RebelVampire

(the archive for last week's chat on The Angel with Black Wings is now up! @Mharz https://comicteaparty.com/post/180645388940/november-19th-25th-2018-ctp-archive)

QUESTION 8. Why do you think King Zebugu closed the magic portal? Is he up to something evil, or did he actually turn over a new leaf and is trying to do something helpful that he just won’t explain? Will he succeed or will Mizuki defeat him do you think?

snuffysam

king zebugu turns over new leaves all the time

birch, pine, oak

it's the highlight of the month

shim

what about old leaves?

-is still in chapter five and has no idea who this king is-

snuffysam

if my leaf of the month club sent me an old leaf, i'd probably cancel my membership tbh

unless it was like... historical in some way

shim

haha

RebelVampire

this is too plausible not to be true

7) I think we'll see Gynu and Suzigu probably. Although I feel Mizuki might be at a disadvantage since they already lost to her. so now they know what he game is or something like that. and i dont think theyre gonna just give her the gem given the whole food fiasco and i kind of get this sense they want to test her? as for other characters, i hope we get to see our favorite immortal captain again. and electric zebra. electric zebra needs to come and sing about the power of love and all that. or at least be on tour and give mizuki a signed cd. 8) i feel hes not doing the evil, but i feel whatever the king is up to probably is dumb at least. maybe this is an elaborate prank from the wizard guy who is mad about having to put all the food back. he gave the king the wrong prophecy and now the king is trying to undoom the world. at the end mizuki will win, but winning might not matter. i think shell lose the talent competition tho. shell make it back in time but get disqualified over something trivial. like misspelling something on the contest form.

snuffysam

something worth pointing out about both those answers - in book 1, nobody knew what zebugu was up to except for the people in the castle (and the ancestral tree, cause of the omniscience). people like gynu and suzigu wouldn't have agreed with zebugu if they had known what he was doing. in book 2, zebugu has roped other people into his plan by giving them a gem to protect. zaxaty knew what her brother did, and so did the ancestral tree (being specifically instructed by the king to guard the gem and not tell mizuki the reason why). even taci ramino knew that the portal had been turned off, and zebugu didn't even give him a gem! so if gynu and suzigu do have a gem, what did king zebugu say to them to get them on board? and was he truthful to them, or is this all an elaborate ruse?

RebelVampire

the fact hes roped other ppl into it makes me believe that it is for the greater good. but on the otherhand blackmail and bribery are also options. maybe zebugu has an embarrassing photo of gynu from their last xmas party.

snuffysam

*life day

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. Do you think Mizuki will be able to win against Sword Warrior? Do you think Sword Warrior could be a potential ally, or is he just a one-off villain? What are Sword Warriors actual goals?

snuffysam

keeping in mind that sword warrior now has twice as many swords as before

RebelVampire

i feel like thats a hint

he must want the worlds largest sword collection

snuffysam

that was a hint as to whether or not mizuki can win

but sure

also, interesting how you seemed to describe "ally" and "one-off villain" as the only two choices...

RebelVampire

mostly cause i dont want the questions to be immensely long

snuffysam

lol

that's fair

RebelVampire

i believe in mizuki to be able to win. shes just gotta punch the swords hard enough to shatter them. and then sword warrior will have to change his name to just warrior

snuffysam

she already shattered a sword though. was sword warrior just "warrior" for that two-page period? are names all but an illusion giving us some sense of identity? is that identity earned?

RebelVampire

yes to all that, with a semi yes on the third one. you cant call yourself sword warrior without a sword. thats false advertising otherwise

mathtans

Okay, so, obviously the baby isn't theirs, unless gestational periods are really short or there was time travel hijinks. My money is on them looking after Zebra's kid, in exchange for him performing at the wedding. That's why they got him on short notice, for free. Though adoption's also possible.

snuffysam

I mean y’all can’t just skip over short gestational periods and time travel hijinks in a world where trees talk and sailors just forget that they’re mortal

But that’s a solid possibility

mathtans

I mean, there's magic, and then there's magic!

Clever plot twist in the most recent pages. I did not see that coming. I actually thought Taci had lied about getting one of the gems because he was embarrassed that the Swordsman had already stolen it.

Also, magic can be used to change dialogue into cursive, or something.

mathtans

I'll get to the questions later.

mathtans

-Scene-wise is tough, I don't even recall what I said last time. ^_^; The fight against the king was pretty epic though. Character-wise, I like Pejiba. Just something about her I guess, helpful, first major magic user, that kind of thing.

-Like Rebel, I'm not sure about grabbing any particular comedic moments. The stuff with the tree is pretty good though. Even more recently with the 'I am a jerk but that's not the reason' sort of thing. Also, used firewood...? O.o

-I dunno, stealing the powers of others can be a power itself, see Rogue from X-Men. Plus I think Mizuki'd be worried that once she finds her own, she'll lose the ability to copy everyone else.

-The Galaxy Knights are actually a bunch of mathematicians, that's why the King's advisor is one (if memory serves). Seriously though, I like how they were just randomly brought up recently. It's kind of like they're their own story running in parallel somewhere else. (Which isn't too far off, Gynu and them were in a guest comic series elsewhere, I think.)

Actually, it's impressive the number of guest comics and literary tie-ins that exist.

-Since only, like, a week passed between Books, idk. Maybe Cahe was given bad information, or their messages were cut off. Though the whole wedding seems like a rush job because honeymoon in an all female hotel what now? I feel like they'll still have cameos.

-Hoping we'll see Zaxaty again. That blush had to mean something. (Also, back to comedy, "Get out of my house", hah.)

-The King's probably doing this as some sort of test, like to see if Mizuki can be a new governor or something. After all, he seemed okay with how she spared him. Alternatively, the Galaxy Knights wanted him to do this, so that they could test for new recruits.

-Related to that answer is the possible answer to snuffy asking about what Gynu might have been told if he has a gem. All in a day's work. (Though a photo would be amusing.)

-Sword Warrior will be useful in terms of giving Mizuki many more magic ideas to steal. (Also, since he can make his own swords, I don't think Mizuki will win that way. Maybe she can get him to zip off the edge of a building.) I think Taci just has a thing for vigilantes.

snuffysam

math, are you completely caught up now? including wednesday and friday's pages?

mathtans

Yis.

I'm trying not to be too spoilery though. (I may be failing at that.)

snuffysam

na it's all good lol

also i don't remember gynu being in a guest comic series somewhere else? so if someone did that without letting me know

uh

whoops

actually i guess there were the crossover things on comicfury. but that was ages ago

if that's what you're referring to

mathtans

Yeah, the crossover things. I'd read those for the original Discord chat.

I haven't kept up on the latest literary stuff from StArt Faire though.

snuffysam

to respond to some of your things specifically - - the advisor is a statistician, which... i guess is a mathematician? usually when i think "mathematician" i think of people who write proofs for really difficult problems and not, like, nate silver. also, the wizard is a magic researcher, so he does a lot of math for his work. i guess the active galaxy knights are pretty math-y, except for that third as-of-yet-unnamed active galaxy knight that's shown up. -yeah the wedding was very much a rush job. zuzu was already a member of the family by the time cahe and pejiba were on their honeymoon. -we'll see zaxaty again sooner than you expect. and yeah, there's something there. blushes don't lie. (fun fact: the fight against zaxaty was originally going to be the first time in the comic it's implied that mizuki is into women. when drawing book 1 chapter 6, i changed my mind and worked a love triangle plot into the story. that's the main reason why mizuki never says anything to pejiba about being interested - because it's not in the script. that's also part of the reason why zaxaty's island is "lesbos 2: sappho harder". the timeline for making the comic gay got moved way up, so zaxaty had to be a bit over the top) -won't say much else here, but i like that people's impressions seem to be that zebugu's plot might be morally dubious, but maybe not exactly evil. we'll see how that pans out. -if he had the chance, taci would absolutely start dating sword warrior. he's totally into the tall, slender, vigilante crime-fighter type. (which may lead to some butting of heads down the line...)(edited)

mathtans

That's very cool... both about having Zaxaty in mind so early on, and for managing to foreshadow Mizuki's interests. Also, I don't know that Zaxaty was necessarily over the top (I didn't see a harem), though she does seem to like putting her interests (frustrations?) into her artwork.

As to Zebugu's plot not being evil, it allows for a scene where Mizuki goes off on him and him having some sort of retort. Even if it is to defer to the wizard or something. (Hey, maybe the wizard wanted all magic off so that no one would know that he was on sabbatical.)

snuffysam

you don't see a harem NOW because zaxaty went into seclusion.

it would be nice if zebugu gave his wizard a vacation, considering that he was kind of a jerk to the guy in the first book

mathtans

Ahh, right, I vaguely recall that. Missed the free love vibes what with all the tripping out.

To be fair, he was kind of a jerk to everyone.

snuffysam

true. maybe this is part of his new leaf that he's turning over?

mathtans

I wonder who convinced him to collect new leaves. His other sister, Pokemon? ^.^

snuffysam

he's a big animal crossing fan

he thinks he's stealing people's furniture

Kabocha

I guess his wizard better tell him he's moving to another town soon, so Zebugu can try to give him leaves and present boxes to get him to stay.

snuffysam

wizards love to scam people out of presents like that

Kabocha

... T_T Same with half of my animal crossing townies

shim

ahhhh animal crossing

RebelVampire

QUESTION 10. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

snuffysam

one thing i'm really looking forward to as the author is creating book 3. i think it'll answer a lot of your questions about the series, and there will be a bunch of character interactions that I know people will want to see

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

What I'm looking forward to is seeing the creator update all the pages into the 3d model style! <333 Although, I gotta say I really do enjoy seeing the hand drawn pages too. ;V; I'm still behind in reading, but hopefully when I have time, Imma try to get through more pages. But what I've seen, I've liked and enjoyed immensely!

But can I just say, I love how crazy and silly everything has been so far? XDDD Thanks to this discussion, I found this gem and ended up sharing it with a friend of mine. And they loved the golden comedy too! (Not to mention they're favorite scene was the tree saying they were a jerk as well. O v Obbb)

And I'd also like to commend the fact that the creator has been able to power through and draw so much content (not to mention reworking those pages into new ones. OMG!) OAO!!! As an artist myself, I know how much work it is to get to the number of pages I am now. Thank you so much for signing up for the discussion (because if you hadn't-- I probably would have never discovered yer work) and hope you continue to update the awesome sauce of a story Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe is! <333333(edited)

mathtans

More hints of Galaxy Knights is always fun. Wonder if they're all human, given there's a tree as a character.

snuffysam

@DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio) glad you and your friend liked the comic! I hope you both continue reading after the week ends! and yeah, getting this far has taken a bit of time. I've spent over 1000 hours total on the art aspect alone!

@mathtans i originally planned on one of the galaxy knights being a giant cyclops (in a future book), but i ended up writing him out.

mathtans

I could see lack of depth perception being a problem.

The big twist is probably that Cahe's kid is a Galaxy Knight. Explains everything.

snuffysam

...i'm trying to remember if zuzu actually does grow up to be a galaxy knight or not...

"marries a killer cyborg" is definitely in there for one of the zuzus, but i'm not sure about being a galaxy knight

RebelVampire

im looking forward to finding out if that old man really will just continue on with the talent show until mizuki comes back. and then ironically winning because ppl decided they liked his talent of talking for billions of hours

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R this week! Please also give a special thank you to snuffysam for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/

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