jahtheexplorer

[cthulhusstepmom]

It's all in the eyes.

When Kremy had first started working his way through casinos he'd been practically unstoppable. Starting with short trips, dipping his toes in so to speak; Staying just long enough to win a hand before cashing out and making a break for it(he'd learned the hard way about that special breed of thug that likes to beat up kids with a little cash). Slowly, one hand turned into two turned into three and four. Soon enough he would be playing tables for hours, bouncing between games with a smile and a wink.

Problem being there's only so many casinos around Agwé. Mobility wise he was also somewhat limited, unless he felt like swimming or ducking through the swamp, but he only had the one good shirt, can't afford to ruin it or they won't let him in. That and being too young and stupid to know better is what led him to that table in the Hungry Catfish.

He was about to cut it and cash out when he'd felt a clammy hand on his shoulder, looked up into the eyes of a bullywug with a smile too wide for his already froggy face. He hadn't bothered putting up a fuss about his winnings as he was steered from the table towards the bowels of the boat. What's money worth to a dead man anyway?

Mr.Guru's office is opulent, decorated with draperies in rich deep shades of blue. Kremy can feel the soles of the better of his two pairs of shoes sink deep into the carpet that he's too scared to lift his eyes from. Deep smoky incense and cigar smoke make the still air heavy and thick. It isn't helped at all by the almost physical weight of Mr.Guru's eyes focused solely on him.

"You hit a real lucky break there son. Do you know the odds of winning ten hands in a row?" His voice is gravelly, dark, with an edge of malice hanging over the words like a thunderhead.

"No sir." Of course he knew it was astro-fucking-nomical. He got greedy, Ma's birthday is coming up and he'd seen a beautiful pearl necklace in a shop window passing through the Magnolia Promenade, he'd wanted to grab the cash in one night so he'd be able to pull enough double shifts at the kitchen to make it believable when he showed up with it. If only he'd chosen any other casino.

"I don't appreciate being lied to boy."

"I'm sorry sir, I'm sure you don't sir."

"Why don't you go ahead and look me in the eyes when I'm talking to you?"

Suddenly his head moves on its own, he can't think of any better idea than looking Mr.Guru in the eyes, there's certainly no reason not to. Almost as soon as the conviction roots itself in his mind, it vanishes. But not before he's wrenched his face upward to lock eyes with the devil.

"You have the eyes of a sinner boy." He sounds pleased, smug. "You care to explain to me why I should let a whelp like you walk out of my casino with all that cash?"

Kremy stands his ground. He knows bullies, dealt with them all his life. And Mr.Guru isn't as such. He's a shark; Complete with the cold dead eyes, such a dark brown they're almost black. This is a man in power, power that Kremy can't even begin to understand. The moment he sees weakness, the moment he smells blood, Kremy is as good as chum in the water.

"Suppose I just have the luck of the cards with me Sir."

"That right? They speak to you do they?"

Kremy feels a small smile creep across his scaly lips.

"From a certain point of view."

To Kremy's utter shock, Mr.Guru lets out a bark of gravelly laughter.

"What do you do boy? Besides win improbable odds."

"Well sir I'm a fine chef and a quick learner."

Those black eyes narrow for a moment as Mr.Guru strokes a hand over his well trimmed beard.

"Could use a pair of hands like yours in my galley. What do you say son?"

The smile becomes a crocodile grin.

"Where do I sign Mr.Guru?"

It's not regret necessarily.

Kremy knows regret, intimately, and he can't quite say he regrets signing that contract. Perhaps guilt is a better fit. Deep down he knows he didn't really have much of a choice, if he hadn't accepted Mr.Guru's offer of employment he would have ended up like these poor souls.

Pushing the last of the heavy burlap sacks over the edge of the boat Kremy feels a sigh bubbling in his throat. It's an odd thing to be all introspective and shit when you're disposing of bodies, or so he’s been told. Personally, Kremy feels it's a very natural time to feel existential but he knows better than to try and make discussion over it now. He's just here because he's stronger than the bullywugs and it's been a busy night.

Now that he's been promoted to pit boss he's been spending more and more time with the Grinning Sinners, or the other Grinning Sinners(Mr.Guru has never been too clear on exactly what Kremy is in the organization, keeps everyone guessing that way, prevents anyone from getting too chummy with one another). Whether that be patrolling the pit, taking inventory, or dealing with some of the more unwanted patrons in whatever ways the Boss deemed necessary. He'd even been sent out to collect on bargains for Mr.Guru, a task that most of the Grinning Sinners are disallowed from.

Tonight there are whispers in the air though, one of the mid level Sinners(Jean-Claude he's pretty sure) is going to challenge the boss. It'll be his first time seeing it in person, he'd heard it a few times in his years in the kitchen, provided refreshments even. It's a privilege Mr.Guru provides all of his employees: the opportunity to challenge him to a poker game for your contract. If you win, you walk away with your soul in hand; no longer blemished by the contract you've signed. If you lose, another seven years are added to your time aboard the Hungry Catfish.

He's never heard of anyone winning.

And tonight is no exception.

As he leans against the bar, he attempts to subtly look over his boss's shoulder, get a glance of his cards; but it's almost like a veil of shadow sits over them and all he can see is darkness. Every time they hit the table though, it's clear as day how poorly Jean-Claude is making out. Word on deck is that he'd been seeing a gal and was looking to propose. Kremy had seen her a few times, she was alright he supposes though not to his tastes(between being rather toad-like and being of a womanly persuasion, there's not much to pique his interest). The information being passed down along the bar is that Jean-Claude had six years left in his contract; Hopefully his lady love would wait for him for thirteen.

The first time Kremy gambles his soul they're deep in the woods, returning from a meeting between Mr.Guru and a powerful business associate.

"Mr.Guru?" He asks, staring deep into the fire as he allows the bullywugs to clean up after dinner(an arrangement he can't say he dislikes too much, Kremy despises doing dishes almost as much as he loves cooking).

The man himself moves just a smidgen, tilting his head with an indulgent "Hmm?"

"Would you kindly play a game of poker with me?"

He loses. Badly.

It's the first time he's truly lost a game of cards in a long, long time.

Mr.Guru claps him on the back with a smile that shows too many teeth.

“Maybe next time son.”

He loses the next time too. And the next. 

After the fourth he’d gone to find help in the only place he knew. 

Pierre has a comfy seat in the organization all things considered, he may as well be Mr.Guru’s right hand man. And he didn’t get there by luck(or misconception given how many bullywugs seem to have his same name). With a steel trap mind and the instincts of both a killer and a gambler, he makes an excellent pit boss; and a better confidant. 

“What the fuck is it Pierre? I’ve practiced my poker face till my muscles froze up. I know it’s not that. I don’t have tells, I know I don’t!” Seated at the bar, Pierre gives him an unimpressed look. “Right, I’ll listen.”

“You are young yet Kremy, and full of passion. And apparently all the knowledge in the universe if you are to be believed.” Kremy finds himself glad that he can’t flush under the gentle admonishment.

“Sounds like a you problem if you’re believing.”

Pierre grants him a croaky chuckle “Listen and Pierre will tell, your silvery barbs may amuse Mr.Guru but he is a man with much more patience than I.” 

Kremy nods eagerly. 

“There are many ways out of a contract, Kremy, you must learn to think outside of the box if you don’t want to be inside of it. You can iron out every muscle in your face, spend hours mastering the control of your expression, but you will never cull your true tell.”

He sits stone still as if that will make it easier to catalog all that Pierre is saying.

The old bullywug takes his hand. “Your eyes, Kremy. There is a fire inside of you that cannot be doused, it shows in your eyes. They will always betray you.” 

Eventually he’d realized that Pierre was right, after stubbornly extending his contract another fourteen years. So he thought outside of the box. It was easy enough to track down Mr.Guru’s generous benefactor, even easier to sign yet another contract(though he read through this one much more thoroughly). Taking a patron and taking another name for himself: Lecroux. And well, technically speaking Kremy Lecroux didn’t sign his soul away to Mr.Guru. It wasn’t an honorable way out but if there’s one thing Kremy is good at it’s cheating. Sort of poetic in the end, that cheating Mr.Guru got him into this mess and (from a certain point of view) it’ll get him out of it as well. 

From then it was history. He skipped town, swam through the swamp for a few days before pulling himself up out of the river and setting about getting a new set of clothes. Trading playing cards for a set of dice, though he still kept his aces close (tucked into the brim of his new hat to be exact). Altogether he was a new man. And one night as he sat down for a drink, his wandering eyes found another fire. 

His name was Gideon.

[luv4freddie]

Fools - T.N

in which the only Hufflepuff friend in the group of slytherins develops a crush on Theodore Nott— something only fools do.

fem!hufflepuff reader, bff Pansy, use of euphemisms and teasing yn for being innocent but sfw, reader is very emotional, jealous theo, 2800 words

"Y/n!!"

After a year, you'd think that people would get used to seeing the same Hufflepuff go over to the Slytherin table, but alas, half the Great Hall turned to watch you approach the table and take a seat next to Pansy.

She sticks her middle finger up behind your back, aiming it at all of the people who are still staring, and they quickly turn away. It was an unlikely friendship, but she was not going to let anyone make you feel bad about it.

"About time you get here," Draco huffs, "I've had to hear Pansy's 'girl talk' while you were sleeping."

You smile sheepishly at him, you had taken your sweet time this morning, hitting snooze a few times before listening to your favorite record and doing more singing than actually getting ready— resulting in you being extra late to breakfast.

"Sorry, Draco."

"Don't apologize yn, he doesn't deserve it."

You can hear the teasing lilt in Theo's voice from across the table, and Draco throws a handful of grapes at him.

"Whatever," Pansy turns her back to them, "did you hear, apparently the Hufflepuff chaser has a crush on you."

Your eyes flit between her face and your hands, and you wonder where she got her information from.

The boys around you seem to perk up at this, and Draco chides Pansy for deeming that piece of information unimportant compared to all her other, much more useless, girl talk this morning.

"Where on Earth did you hear that?" You cut in, not enjoying the way everyone is suddenly interested in your (nonexistent) love life.

"From a very trustworthy source," is all she'll give away, and you cringe.

"Can we change subjects, please?"

Theo narrows his eyes at you, as if he's searching your face for something.

"You don't care about it then? You're not jumping at the chance to ride his broom?"

The Slytherins around you snicker at his euphemism, but you go bright red.

"I- what! Why would you say- no!"

This only makes them laugh harder, but Pansy collects herself enough to place a reassuring hand on your arm.

"Don't worry, we all know our little puff would never."

You slap her hand away, upset at them treating you like a child.

"Well if you guys are only gonna tease me, I'm gonna go back to my own table."

"Y/n, we didn't mean-" Theo starts, but he's still got a smirk on his face, so you ignore him, leaving before he can try and stop you.

You take a seat at your own house table, and the Hufflepuffs around you immediately welcome you into their conversation.

You don't know why it bothered you so much. They were right, you weren't going to be "riding someone's broom" anytime soon, but hearing the way they talked about it— like you were just some silly, innocent baby— really bugged you.

If you were being honest with yourself, you also knew that deep down you've been repressing feelings for Theodore, because you knew enough stories about him to know it would never work. He was a heartthrob, and had no issue finding girls to entertain him at night— to him you were just a little girl. That conversation was just more proof. There's no way he'd be interested in you.

You unintentionally make eye contact with Zacharias Smith when you finally get out of your head, but you immediately look away, turning back to your friends just as Hannah asks about your Christmas plans.

You don't see your Slytherin friends again until Charms class, and Pansy immediately brings up what happened at breakfast.

"Hey, I'm sorry about that. I don't want you to feel bad, that's just how we are."

You give her a tight lipped smile, shrugging your shoulders. You've realized that most of the anger came from the realization that Theo probably saw you as a child, not actually their teasing.

"No biggie, it's forgiven."

She eyes you suspiciously but decides not to question it, instead starting to talk about her next party idea until she gets shushed when Professor Flitwick starts explaining directions.

You use the quiet moment to sneak a look at Theo, who's leaned back in his chair smirking at something Draco said next to him.

Pansy turns to you and you quickly shift your focus, but it appears she's already seen you. She gives you a raised eyebrow, and you play dumb, looking back at the teapot on your desk and trying to give it legs.

"What was that about back there?" Pansy asks as the two of you walk out together.

"I know it took me forever to get those stupid legs," you cringe, hoping to throw her off course.

"No I meant your staring."

You try not to look guilty, just shrugging your shoulders and explaining, "figured the boys might have figured it out faster. Should have known better."

She grins at that, muttering "you really should have." But something tells you she doesn't quite believe your story.

Your thoughts are only confirmed the next day when she invites you over to her dorm and then immediately suggests the two of you take veritaserum to play a game of truth or dare.

You let out a sigh.

"I'm not doing that Pans, just ask me whatever you want to know."

She grins, "you know me so well."

"Unfortunately," you tease, and she slaps your arm but asks her question anyway.

"Do you have a crush on Draco?"

Her face drops into confusion when you start laughing hysterically.

"That's what you thought? Merlin, you had me scared for no reason. No Pans, I absolutely do not have a crush on Draco."

She lets out a small sigh of relief, but you can tell she's a little peeved you laughed at her.

"Well what was I supposed to think? You got all grumpy yesterday when we were teasing you about your love life, and then the staring. It was either that or you're secretly in love with Nott, which, lets be for real."

She leaves it at that, but your cheeks flush pink. Be for real what? Be for real, he'd never want you? Be for real, what universe would the two of you work out? Be for real, he hates you?

The thoughts keep coming one after another, and suddenly your vision is blurred.

"Hey, woah, what's wrong?"

You cursed Pansy for being so observant.

"Nothing, I think my allergies are acting up." You say, but there's sadness in your voice, and there's an inch of snow outside, which isn't exactly pollen friendly.

"Don't lie to me y/n."

"I'm sorry for being so stupid and emotional." You cry, and Pansy rubs your back slowly.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being emotional! You don't see us do it much, but a lot of that's got to do with how we were raised. I wish I felt things as deeply as you do."

Your tears seem to slow, and she smiles.

"Now as for stupid, that depends on where that fit came from."

You look up at her in embarrassment, more hot tears threatening to fill your eyes.

"I... what did you mean?" You ask instead.

"Huh?"

"When you said be for real about me secretly being.." you couldn't bring yourself to say it, as if saying the words would make it true and something you could no longer push away and pretend wasn't there.

Realization dawns on Pansy's face, and she immediately wraps you up in a hug.

"Oh yn, it all makes sense now."

You continue to cry, and she looks at you with what you assume is pity in her eyes.

"I know, I'm such a fool! I know it would never happen, I know half of Hogwarts has a crush on him, I know he'd never want a girl like me." All of the things you'd been keeping to yourself and secretly thinking come spilling out of your mouth, and Pansy rubs your back while you continue to cry.

"Hey don't talk like that! Theo doesn't care about those people, and I know he cares about you. Not to mention, "a girl like you"? You're the exact type of girl that Theo needs. He practically never smiles the way he does when you're around. Just calm down okay?"

You nod through your cries, finally settling down as Pansy throws a magazine at you and the two of you lay across her bed.

Unknowingly, you end up falling asleep, tired from the amount of crying you did. Pansy notices but decides not to wake you, heading down to the common room where the guys would be getting back from quidditch practice soon.

When you wake up the room is dark, and a quick looks around reminds you you're in Pansy's room and not your own. You check the bathroom attached to the dorm, and when no one is in there you head down to the common room, assuming that's where she's gone to.

The whole group is sat on leather couches and armchairs when you make it down the stairs, and you rub the sleep out of your eyes as you approach the group.

"There's our bella addormentata," Theodore purrs, and you immediately flush even though you only understand half of his phrase. (sleeping beauty)

"Sorry for falling asleep." You apologize as you take the seat Pansy offered you, coincidentally landing between her and the reason for your crying.

"Stop apologizing so much," Theo whispers in your ear, and you refuse to look at him in fear of him seeing exactly the effect he has on you. Instead you continue to look at Pansy.

"No biggie, you needed it after that." She says, and you nod.

"After what? What happened?" Draco asked, ever the nosy weasel.

Pansy looked at you, obviously waiting for you to answer so she could go along with whatever you say.

You consider lying, but figure there's no point. They all know you're an emotional person, no one would find it unusual.

"I- uh- cried a little bit. Tired me out."

The boys (that you can see) all nod their heads in understanding and decide to switch topics, finally letting you relax.

However, since you'd turned your back to Theo, that now meant when you leaned back to get comfy you leaned directly into his chest, as he had one arm on the back of the couch behind you.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" You whisper, shooting back up and speaking only to him in an attempt to not draw attention from the others.

"Don't be silly," he says back, pulling your shoulders so you're back in the relaxed position against him, "you're welcome in my arms any day ragazza dolce." (Sweet girl)

You flush red again, but this time you do look up at him, a teasing glint in your eyes.

"You know I have absolutely no idea what you're saying, right?"

He grins, "that's part of the fun."

"Whatever," you turn back away from him to look at the group, your head resting right over his heart, "as long as you're not calling me a troll."

"I promise I'm not." He says, ruffling your hair before the both of you rejoin the main conversation.

"Zacharias Smith was at our practice today," Draco tells Pansy, and she looks at him in surprise.

"Really? Maybe he was looking for yn. She does sometimes keep me company in the stands."

"Oh he definitely was." Blaise smirks, and you feel Theo tense behind you. "Walked right up to Theo and asked where the pretty little one we're always hanging out with was."

"What?" Pansy shrieks, looking over, although you're unsure if the intentional target was you or the boy behind you. Her eyes momentarily widen at seeing your position before she notices something and smirks.

"Theo," she drawls, "I didn't notice those cuts on your knuckles earlier, is that new?"

Everyone turns to look at Theo, and you sit up in alarm, turning to look at his hand that's laying behind your spot on the couch.

"Theo! What happened? Why didn't you go get this checked out?"

He averts his eyes from your gaze. "Just wasn't thinking about it," he shrugs.

You frown. "How could you not be thinking about it, that looks painful!"

He shrugs again, grimacing when you grab his hand, insisting he let you heal it.

"Just let me go get my wand okay? I left it in Pansy's room."

You get up to leave, and with your back turned you don't see Pansy whisper to Theo and then him get up and follow you.

"I'll just come with." He announces, following you back to your friends room.

You try not to think about the intimacy of being alone with Theo while you tend to his wounds, trying once again to shove all your feelings down far in your heart.

Thankfully none of Pansy's roommates had come back, and Theo sits on her bed while you grab your wand from her nightstand before standing in between his spread legs.

"Give me your hand."

He complies, and you try not to blush at the warmth of his, much bigger, hand resting on your own.

"This is nasty Theo, did you punch a wall or something?" You ask, beginning to heal a few of the cuts. Luckily most of them were clean from where he'd washed them when he showered after practice, but they were scabbed over and his knuckles were blue with beginning to form bruises.

He lets out an amused huff of laughter and you stop your ministrations, looking up at him immediately.

"Tell me you didn't actually punch a wall."

He shrugs, "it was either that or Smith, and I know you don't like when I get into fights."

You feel yourself heat up. He didn't hit someone because of your preference, and the person just happened to be the guy who supposedly has a crush on you.

"Well I'm glad you didn't send my housemate to the hospital wing at least, although I wish you wouldn't have hurt yourself," you sigh, continuing to heal his hands.

Out of nowhere he pulls it away.

"Theo?"

"Look, I-" he cards a hand through his hair, contemplating his next words. "I didn't like it that Smith came looking for you. Especially that he asked me."

You look at him in confusion, "what? Why?"

He looks distraught, but he can't help the crooked smile that etches itself on his face.

"You're damn oblivious, you know that?"

You continue to look at him, no thoughts behind your eyes.

"Uh, I mean I guess? I've been told that a few times, though I'm not sure how it's pertinent to this situation."

Suddenly Theo's hands are on your cheeks, and his face is inches from your own.

"What- what are you doing?"

"I want to kiss you." He states plainly, as if it's the most normal thing in the world— as if the five words didn't have you spiraling out of control.

"Wait- do you want to kiss me because you think I'm like pretty or do you want to kiss me because you like me?"

You'd never even thought he would consider you pretty, but at his words you had to rethink a lot of things you thought you knew.

"I like you, amorina." (Little love)

"Really?" You know you should be celebrating, but you can't help the doubt that creeps into your mind. "You don't think I'm a silly, innocent, little Hufflepuff?"

He grins, "you can be my silly little Hufflepuff. And no I don't care that you're not jumping at the opportunity to go broom hopping."

You can't help but laugh a his phrasing, but you're glad he knew what you meant.

"I like you, amorina, I don't care about anything else, as long as I get you."

You smile, and Theo swears he could die happy if it's the last thing he sees.

"Well in that case, I want you to kiss me too."

He can barely hold back his own smile as he places his lips on yours, cradling your jaw with one hand while the other holds your hip.

He kissed you gently, not at all like what you'd expected, but you feel his adoration flowing out of it, and you can't help but break it to let out a giggle.

"And to think I was crying over you a few hours ago."

He grins, standing up and grabbing your hand to walk back down to the common room together, where your friends were waiting for you to go to dinner.

"No more crying over me okay?"

You nod your head, and he pulls you in for one more kiss before you rejoin the rest of your friends.

[wolfjackle-creates]

Bring Me Home Arc 2 Part 20: FINAL

So guess what I realized this morning. Today, November 13, 2023 is the one year anniversary of me posting my first DPxDC fic to tumblr. It was the original fill for this very fic. (Which you can find here.)

So I decided I just had to finish this arc and get it posted. This year has been amazing and so much fun. I've become a much better writer and joined a community that has brought me so much joy. I'm glad to be here and I'm glad so many of you like to read what I'm sharing.

I noticed I got a few new readers over the past week or so, so welcome to all of you! Hope you enjoy this early update!

In personal news, my nephew was born and he's adorable and I'll be meeting him tomorrow! (As soon as I'm done posting this, I'm off to make food for his mom.)

Story Summary: Tim and Danny are both neglected by parents who care more about their work than their families. They deal with this by spending too much time online and find each other playing MMORPGs. They keep up their friendship as Tim becomes Robin and Danny becomes Phantom and don't bother keeping secrets from each other.

Arc 1

Arc 2: Part 1, Previous

Word Count: 1.2k

-----

In the end, it ended up taking several hours for Danny, Sam, and Tucker to escape their families and converge on the park. In that time, Tim had called Bruce to let him know he’d be back in Gotham by tomorrow and finished most of his homework.

While he worked, Wulf and Bart were having an animated conversation in Esperanto.

Tim was pretty sure Wulf would be bringing Bart to the Ghost Zone for a tour sometime and started making plans to learn Esperanto himself and bribe Bart to get in on them.

Cassie was helping Conner sort through some of the music Sam had given him. Tim was jealous as he solved more banal trig questions. Why did school have to be so boring? He tapped his pencil on the paper in time to the beat of whatever music Conner had playing.

Tucker was the first to arrive. “Danny and Sam not here yet?” he asked as he plopped down next to Bart and Wulf.

“Nope. Haven’t heard from them, either,” said Tim. He opened his phone notifications again just to be sure, but there was nothing new.

Tucker shrugged and pulled out a stick of jerkey to munch on. “Not surprising. The Fentons will be all overprotective after the mayor was kidnapped by a ghost on live TV. And Sam’s parents are just as bad. Only they smother rather than check the weaponry.” He turned to greet Wulf in Esperanto.

An email came through on Tim’s phone and he groaned. “Our evening interview was canceled. No one wants to hear us try to defend Phantom anymore.”

Cassie cursed. “Course not. Bet the paper won’t publish our editorials either.”

Conner looked over, confused. “Won’t they? Clark works for the Daily Planet. They publish stuff like that all the time.”

Tim didn’t look up from his math as he answered, “That’s the difference between a big, Pulitzer winning publication and a small-town op-ed.”

Tucker sighed. “Well maybe someone will remember your interviews from this morning in a positive light.”

Bart rolled his eyes. “Come on, we can’t change it. So let’s move forward. Next step, make friends with more ghosts! Wulf says there’s a bunch of cool people in the Realms.”

“Realms?” asked Tim.

“It’s what he says the Ghost Zone is actually called. The Infinite Realms.”

“Huh. I’ll have to check JL databases, see if they have any information on them.”

Tucker asked something in Esperanto and Bart burst out laughing as Wulf looked on in confusion.

With Bart’s help, though, he rephrased until Wulf was able to reply. And then the three kept to Esperanto. Tim really had to find time to learn it.

Sam was the next to arrive. She grinned and sat down next to Conner. “How you liking the music?”

Conner grinned and showed her the sheets where he ranked the bands so far based on which songs he’d listened to. She then took over the speakers and searched for specific tracks to try and change his mind about some of the bands he liked the least.

Tim let his eyes close as his friends’ voices washed over him.

After some indeterminate time where he dozed between sleeping and awareness, a foot nudged his hip. Tim grumbled out what was supposed to be a, “What?” but was too mumbled to really be understood.

“Come on, Secrets. You can do better than that.”

Tim cracked an eye open to see Danny grinning down at him. He pushed himself up slightly and blinked heavily in the sunlight.

“Finally got away from your parents?” asked Tim.

Danny collapsed on the ground next to him. “Ugh, don’t remind me. They’re freaking out over everything that’s happened the last few days. Jazz and I are basically going to be on lock down until they feel confident the ghosts are gone.”

“Did you have to sneak out to get here?” asked Cassie.

Danny shook his head. “No, I told them I was going to find you guys to make sure you were all safe. You’re welcome to come back to ours tonight, by the way. Mom and Dad basically insisted on it.”

“What do you guys think?” asked Tim. “Spend one more night here at Danny’s and head out in the morning?”

Cassie sighed. “My mom’s already freaking out that I’ve been gone longer than planned. I should get back tonight.”

“I’ll stay,” offered Conner. “I’m your ride home, anyway.”

“Why don’t you come to my place, Conner,” offered Sam. “Your nails need a fresh coat after fighting today. And I need teach you about the different brands of makeup and what to look for in terms of cost, quality, and ethicality. Plus I can get you more music.”

Tim laughed when Conner looked to him. “Go for it. Have fun.”

Conner grinned. “Then yeah, let’s do it!”

Bart shrugged. “Wulf is going to go back to the Realms soon. I’ll head out after. Wally and Linda want me over for a family dinner tonight.”

“Well, looks like that’s it, then,” sighed Danny. “Been fun having other heroes around.”

Tim nudged his shoulder. “Join the Young Justice. You could join us and we'd help out whenever you wanted. Get you around people who actually appreciate what you do for them.”

But Danny was already shaking his head. “I have to stay here. And now Amity trusts heroes even less. I want to improve that, not make it worse.”

“Even if you don’t join,” declared Conner. “You’re not getting rid of us now.”

Bart nodded his agreement. “Yep. We’re gonna be stopping by all the time. You’re in the group chat.”

“Exactly,” agreed Tim. “And we’ll figure out ways to help you. Starting with how to minimize property damage. That seems to be the big thing people focus on. You can make shields, right? How big can you make them and how much power do they take?”

Danny smiled wryly. “Can’t say I’ve really tested it.”

Tim laughed. “Well, I know one thing we’re doing tonight. We’re going to go back to Nasty Burger—” Tim looked around at the whole group “—all of us. Then Cassie and Bart are going to go home. Danny and I, at least, are going to take a nap. Then we’re gonna test the current limits to Danny’s powers.”

Danny bumped their shoulders together. “You know, this is just like gaming with you all those years.”

“Yeah, well, it’s best to be thorough.”

“We’ve measured, like, his top speed and stuff,” said Tucker, pulling out a PDA. “Want to see what we’ve got so far?”

“Absolutely.” Tim took the device and looked through it. “You’ve a decent amount of information here. Maybe instead of taking a nap, I’ll help you organize it and come up with a testing plan.”

Conner flew over to him and pulled the PDA out of his hand. “Not after pulling an all-nighter you won’t. We’re going to get some food, then the two of you are going to sleep for at least four hours.”

“I’ll set Jazz on you, too,” threatened Sam. “Don’t think I won’t.”

Tim pouted as the device was given back to Tucker. And grumbled more when Conner picked him up and threw him over his shoulder.

“Come on, food time.”

“I am going to put kryptonite in your phone,” threatened Tim.

“Bingo!” shouted Cassie.

Danny laughed as he stood. “Does this mean I can join the next round?”

Tim scowled. “Traitors, all of you.”

-----

Next

And that's the end of this Arc! Arc 3 will pick up where the original fill did. (Only this time, Tim won't be the only DC character there to help Danny.)

I'd say something like I can't believe it's only been a year, but so much has happened to me in the last twelve months that it feels like a lifetime ago, to be honest. But it's been a good year and I'm glad this community has been part of it.

Please follow the subscription post if you want updates for when I start transferring this arc to AO3 or begin posting Arc 3.

[oceangirl24]

I'll admit i was very angry and hurt that i was on your block list until i read your user profile. sorry you got bullied and harassed by this person. now i'm kinda of nervous of who she is because i don't think i could take 16 months of bullying.

I debated overnight if I should answer this. I am going to respond so that my readers understand what's been going on.

This ask is very typical of the type of thing the person who harassed me, and plagiarized Autumn in Philadelphia does. Since she found out about the link to the report, she has sent readers and has impersonated readers to get the link to that report which details not just the plagiarism but also her harassment.

I have had mutual readers gain my trust, participate in my BMW discord server, and pretend to be supportive through this ordeal all while relaying information to her.

She has also used her readers from other fandoms to try to do the same.

This is why I preemptively block readers who gush over her or indicate that they are in private communication with her (all of this is public information on her stories that I found while compiling my report).

Why is this ask typical of her methods to gain access to me and the report?

There is no indication to which user profile this information is on as those of you who follow me know I post on three sites.

I would think if this ask was by a legit reader and not by her or one of her friends (she is blocked on every single site I know we share as are any associates of hers that I'm aware of) I would think the reader would want me to know who they are so I can directly address them and the site they are on.

Which I would do privately.

The fact that immediate concern is about who she is also bothers me. I would assume once I named the person, they would want proof in the form of the link to the report.

That will not happen.

If this ask is from a legitimate reader or follower, then I really am sorry you've been caught in this.

To be clear: I am not upset with anyone who follows her or interacts with her works. This issue should have stayed between us but she chose to bring others into it and use them.

Even if you have been a part of this with her, I'm honestly not upset with you. I know how manipulative she is. I'm sure you thought you were helping a very sweet loving Christian writer obssessed with Jon and Shawn (aren't most of us obssessed?).

I fell for it myself. Hard.

I care about all of my readers very much, but it has come to the point where I have to protect myself.

If this is not a legitimate ask and you are doing this on her behalf or she's gotten another account, then we now stand close to 20 months of harassment.

To my readers, you know where to find me and how to interact with me that is not AO3.

I thank you for sticking with me through all of this and for supporting AiP, whether you comment or simply just read as I post.

I appreciate you more than I can say.

Aria

[staticespace]

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN DAY to you my friend!!! 

My name is B. A closeted lesbian who's looking to come out to her family this month. In my almost two years of existence on this blog, I've read different “coming out stories” which has been a whole motivation to me- I hereby set a day in mind, to come out to my family. However things took a turn as my mom who i thought would be free of her ovarian cancer by said date developed a kidney problem just after ovarian cancer- she means the whole world to me and her acceptance is what I yearn for with my coming out. She has always said we should allow her die and has been unmotivated about life until her birthday few weeks ago (sept 11) where a whole lot of people on this app sent their good wishes, drawings, and words of encouragement to her. We turned everything sent into a blanket for her and she's been wrapping herself with the love she received- she wants to live again and fight for the sake of strangers who believed in her(so she said). The medical personnel admits it is the best time to have her surgery (Ureteral Stent Placement surgery) because she has the right mood and mindset. Unfortunately for us, we are 500$ away from getting her surgery, it’s almost a month after her birthday and her fighting spirit is dying- I also can't come out to a dying mother- I need her to be fine before my coming out date(20th Oct). We've created a crowdfunding link for her but we've only raised 160$ of 500$. On this OUR special day, Would you please help not only my mom but my coming out plan by donating whatever you can spare for my mom's surgery? No matter how small, This would go a longer way than you think- please click the link below to support I and my family:

buymeacoffee.com/Plantlover

You can also find more information about her Ovaria cancer/ infected kidney on my pinned post.  Thank you for sticking with us through thick and thin. 

...Honestly, I don't really trust you. The more I think about it, the less I trust you.

🚩International Lesbian Day is October 8th, not the 9th. I received this ask today, October 9th.

🚩I'm not a lesbian, nor have I ever referred to myself as one, but you're quite insistent that I help on, and I quote, "On this OUR special day," which...no. It's not my special day. It's the wrong day and I'm not a lesbian.

🟨The broken English is a little suspicious in this particular situation, considering we know nothing about you except that you're apparently a closeted lesbian and your mother's dying of cancer.

🚩I don't know any real information about you because, despite what you've claimed, you haven't provided any actual, solid evidence that you and your family are facing the things you say you are.

🚩For example of the point above, I feel it would be fairly easy for you to take a picture of a medical bill and censor important identifying details. But you haven't even done that.

🟨According to your archive, you've had your blog since May 2023. Of the 23 posts you made that month, 18 of them were on May 11th, and the remaining 5 were made on the 12th, after which you didn't post anything for 6 months.

After that, you posted 18 times in January 2024, but only on January 11th and January 15th. Then you stopped posting again for several months until May 2024, where you first start posting about your mother's cancer.

So, really, I'm not sure how long you've been on here and can only assume you started up around May 2023. Not a red flag, but a yellow one to me.

🚩🚩🚩Instead of using GoFundMe, which has donation protections, you use Buymeacoffee, which, if it works anything like Kofi, the money then goes to PayPal, which does not have donation protections. There's no donation protection for anyone attempting to give to you for your mother's cancer treatment.

Like, this isn't you asking for money to pay for groceries or something. You're asking for thousands on something that requires immediate attention.

That's not something I'd PayPal about, personally.

🚩In the initial posts you made, you don't put a maximum amount you need. You should already know how much your mother's cancer treatment and cervix removal would cost, even if you only requested an estimate. But you leave the posts open-ended for a long while.

🚩I find it strange that the issues you have with English in the ask you sent me are completely absent from your first posts. Are there different writers for these blog posts?

🚩Looking at your Buymeacoffee, you're currently asking for $500 and have apparently gained $225. Right now, each "plant" a person gives you is worth $5.

Now, Buymeacoffee lets you see how many people have donated and how much, in "coffee," or "plants" in this case, they gave you. However, this information on the page only goes back for the last 90 days.

90 days from today, Wednesday, October 9th, was Thursday, July 11, 2024.

Since this page has been active, according to your blog post, since at least May 3rd, 2024, the count below does not include all donations given to you.

I wasted some time looking back through all the donations and counting up the plants:

1, 10 3, 1, 5, 1, 1, 20, 5, 2, 3, 1, 5, 5, 5, 2, 5, 5, 1, 12, 10, 5, 1, 3, 1, 1, 3, 30, 3, 2, 2, 5, 3, 1, 5, 2, 1, 2, 10, 3, 6, 2, 5, 5, 3, 1, 1, 3, 3, 3, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3, 10, 15, 5, 5, 3, 1, 5, 1, 15, 5, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 10, 1, 15, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 1, 3, 20, 5, 1, 3, 5, 2, 1, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 5, 5, 2, 100, 3, 1, 1, 5, 2, 5, 1, 5, 15, 15, 3, 3, 5, 1, 5, 5, 3, 3, 1, 3, 10, 3, 3, 5, 1, 4, 1, 3, 1, 5, 3, 4, 5, 10, 10, 3.

You have been given 136 donations on this page since July 11th, 2024 The sum of all the "plants" given is 667.

667 * 5 = 3335

You have been given at least $3,335 within the last 90 days.

That's not counting the $45 you said your sister got before her account was closed, nor the fact the minimum giving amount was initially $10 before you decreased it to $5, nor the fact the count only accounts for "plants" given between May 3rd and July 10th.

Why does Buymeacoffee only show that you've gotten $225 out of $500? That's likely because, if it functions like Kofi, you can refresh your goals and set new ones despite previous giving.

Is the list of people I saw for the entirety of the current goal in the last 90 days? Do you have other accounts you're receiving donations to with various stories? When does Buymeacoffee count different goal sets?

That's difficult to ascertain, which is why it's not an optimal space for giving someone donations for medical procedures.

First, people gave you money for a cervix removal, then they gave you money to help for kidney treatment, which you instead put toward "a blanket for her" to give your mother "hope," and now you're asking for more money for the kidney situation again.

Why Aren't You Using GoFundMe?

Why Are You Making It Difficult To Trace Information Outside Of What You Say?

...I don't trust you. I really don't.

I have even more red flags (like how you ignored someone's explicit request to not receive any donation asks), but I think I've given enough of them. I won't waste more of my time looking into this.

I cannot guarantee that this is a scam, but I don't recommend anyone else donate to you unless you start providing hard evidence of the things you say you're doing:

���Provide photos of medical bills you've paid for using the funds given to you.

⭕Provide photos of your mother's medical estimates.

⭕Send a photo of the blanket, and/or a picture of your mother under the blanket, and/or a photo of the blanket with a piece of paper with your Tumblr name written on it along with a receipt for the blanket/materials to make the blanket. If you photograph your mother, you can censor her face if you so choose.

⭕Leave Buymeacoffee and set up a GoFundMe, which will allow people to more easily monitor what you've been given and where it's going. It will also provide donation protections for the people giving to you.

If anyone else has ideas of reasonable ways for someone to prove their request is legitimate, feel free to add them in the replies or as a reblog.

[selfchiller]

The wig: is it diegetic?

I've gone back and forth on this a couple of times. And I've seen people get really heated over it, so honestly I've avoided the subject, but I'm off work and my ears are full of crystals and I'm dizzy as fuck and dgaf.

How long are Jean and Judit at the Whirling?

This obviously depends on how you play your game. Anywhere from 4 - 7+ days. Less if you're rushing to solve the case, more if you're being leisurely about it and completing all side quests prior to the Tribunal.

There are 2 main angles here.

You can read this as extradiegetic. Diegetically, Jean and Judit are there for a couple of days, even if the extradiegetic length of time becomes longer, because Jean and Judit are programmed to remain interactable up to the point of specific event triggers on the coast. You aren't meant to read the the length of their presence as informative of their characters (although you can certainly read their behaviors as such).

Or, you can read this as diegetic. They sit in that cafeteria for straight up three days, five, even more. The literal in-game length of time is also the in-story timespan. This obviously implies things, especially about Jean, because while the previous angle still contains some pretty strange behaviors, this angle brings it into Absolutely Unhinged Territory.

I leaned toward the former for a while. I've played a few video games and I'm fairly familiar with the narrative shortcuts they employ. I generally have a pretty decent grasp of the diegetic/extradiegetic line.

Pretty sure I was wrong, though. Because DE is guiding the player to question their assumptions about that line and read things in a way that defies their typical assumptions.

I didn't think the running was diegetic, but Kim called me out on it night 1. I didn't think the clothes were diegetic until Kim mentioned that it was weird that I kept picking them up. It's a very fun and playful way to keep the player off balance and constantly aware of the absurdity of the story and the game world.

Y'all, I think that motherfucker wore a wig and sunglasses for a goddamn calendar week.

And I don't want to awaken the Jeancourse. You can look in my tags and see exactly what and who I am normal about (nothing and no one). I don't think this is like a for or against thing. This is just what I see in the text.

And I think it's fucking hilarious and I think we should embrace it.

In this game, you can stick your thumb up your ass for honour and die from slurs and a guy wears a wig and sunglasses for a week to make a point that literally no one but him understands.

And I think that's beautiful.

[nerd4music]

I think overall there’s one of two „big“ problems happening for people who have a problem with TOWL (racists and the likes aside… 🙄).

1- The misunderstanding that this was truly much more a Rick and Michonne story than a TWD one. This was not TWD S12. It was about telling the story of these 2 characters and being able to put a dot at the end (or a dot dot dot). And you’ve laid all of that out perfectly. Like yes, in TWD, Beale (& the CRM) would have been draaaaagged out. But this was much more of a Terminus approach than a Saviors one if we will…

2- TWD was never the most ..subtle show. They tended to hit the audience over the head with stuff. And I’m not sure I would go as far as calling TOWL subtle outright either (idk, didn’t think about this until right this moment lol -obviously elements of it are, sure -just as elements on TWD could be on the subtler side) but compared to TWD, it certainly is lol. And there has been a very big „media literacy“ and „basic comprehension skills“ problem happening for a minute now. And I really don’t say this to be mean or make fun of people or anything but these are just facts. Some people really struggle with getting the information when they are not being hit over the head with it, over and over and over again. After the finale I saw several posts on my tl of people wondering why this, that or the other was not addressed or how/why this, that or the other did happen… and I was utterly confused because those things they claimed were missing were very much shown? I was like, there was literally a scene dealing with all of this? And it didn’t require any reading between the lines to be honest, no subtext, it was very much the text of the scene?! So it seems like some people just didn’t get a lot of things that were happening 🫤

(BTW I don’t mean that even if someone didn’t have these specific problems with the show, they MUST love it then. Likes and dislikes etc etc. As much as I really loved the show as a whole, if I decided to put down the Richonne-colored glasses I wanted to and did watch to the show with.. I’d definitely have a few complaints lol, though still very much enjoyed the show even then)

That's definitely what happened. And to some extent, I get why, considering Rick and Michonne are 2/3 of the main show's Big Three. But when the press and promos started, and people were still talking about some Marvel-style meet-up, I was like...oh they're definitely not listening to what's being said, because it's six damn episodes, and also The Richonne story, not the Team Family jamboree. And then acting as if it's somehow 'insulting' to the rest of the characters if Rick and Michonne didn't talk about them. The man had PTSD so bad, he couldn't remember his own son's face. Why would you think it would be good time for him to pause in the middle of his wife telling him about a traumatic moment during her pregnancy to ask about anyone else? Please be fr.

I feel you on the comprehension thing, which is nothing new for this fandom. The fact that so many people legit thought Rick didn't know how to drive stick and questioned the 'realism' of it but never stopped to think that it was because he only has one damn hand. Y'all were fine with every silly ass moment that happened in the main show, that was either sheer dumb luck or handwaved away, but now we need a complete breakdown from experts on how Rick managed to fight off walkers one-handed. Now y'all want the realism, when you've been so giddy for weeks because you need one of them to die for the show to be 'interesting'.

I'm really not listening to people who need the narrative to hold their hand through everything, or need to see every piece of the plot onscreen for it to be considered 'legitimate'. (I'm officially banning the phrase 'plot armor' for the foreseeable future).

People didn't get things, because they don't take a minute to sit with the damn material anymore. From live reactions videos to live tweeting/blogging, people are just watching TV to make content and have an online moment, not for what's actually being shown. And yeah, TOWL isn't perfect, but the minor criticisms I have for it doesn't take away from the fact that it is very enjoyable and easily the best material from the TWD landscape in a long time.

(sidenote: I will say one of my favorite things from these past six weeks is everyone struggling to figure out the overall TWD timeline, lmao.)

[chibimui]

The Apothecary Diaries LN2 Thoughts - Ch8-9

Volume 2: Prologue-ch5 - ch6-7

As I kind of mentioned at the end of my thoughts for ch6 and 7, I have a lot of thoughts about these next two chapters as well. I don't know if I'm going to stick to just covering two chapters per post - honestly, it's probably going to just be random depending on how many thoughts I have per chapter, but I just had so much going through my mind reading through this part of the story.

So without further ado~

(Warning: These thoughts may contain spoilers from later light novels all the way up until LN15.)

Chapter 8 - The Plum Poison

First off, I really like the name of this chapter. I'm not usually the type of person that really pays attention to chapter titles, and the ones in The Apothecary Diaries tend to be pretty "on the nose", but this is one of the more metaphorical ones and it fits well with the overall pacing of this entire chapter.

As the chapter later explains, "plum poison" is also the word for syphilis, the disease that Fengxian suffers from and is slowly killing her. As you read through this chapter as well, I feel like the jump in this chapter between Maomao's interaction with her mother leading to her nightmare and Jinshi confirming Maomao's parentage also evokes the same slowly creeping sense of toxicity and disease. Something dark is stirring and has yet to be dealt with.

The actual chapter begins quite calmly with Maomao waking up at home, the first thing she hears is the calm voice of her beloved adopted father. Then she is told to go to the Verdigris House to attend to a very specific patient.

Our first description of Fengxian of the present day is not a flattering one and the line that she used to chase Maomao out, "from sheer hatred" is jarring. It really sets the expectation for what her relationship is with this woman - not a good one.

We learn that this woman used to be a beautiful and sought after courtesan and just after Maomao's birth the Verdigris House was in shambles. We also learn that she could have been cured had she simply informed Luomen of her illness earlier:

This information is truly saddening. I don't really have too many thoughts about Fengxian and Lakan's whole relationship, but this piece of knowledge really struck me as tragic. It shows how avoidable Maomao's suffering could have been had this woman been just a bit less prideful. Although a more generous explanation informs us that trusting a random elderly eunuch doctor was also a bit of a stretch (it goes to show how eunuchs were viewed in this society) Maomao still calls this woman a fool - whether that is for getting pregnant in the first place, not opening up about her illness, or all of the above, it's clear Maomao carries no extra love or empathy for this woman - she is just another patient whom she must attend to.

I also want to note that throughout this chapter, Fengxian is basically just referred to as "the woman". It's so impersonal, so cold, and so fitting of how Maomao views this person--with nothing.

As Maomao cares for this courtesan, we learn that a certain monocle-wearing visitor has also appeared and she is cautioned to stay in the room. There are honestly so many details dropped in this chapter it is wild. We get hints about incense that is burned for this courtesan provided by a certain noble (I am assuming Lakan), the knowledge that Lakan visits the Verdigris House regularly and that the staff actively protect Maomao from seeing him.

This piece of info regarding the Madam and Lakan talking about buying Maomao out is very interesting to me because it made me think - would the Madam actually go through with it? I mean, yeah she constantly badgers Maomao about it and clearly she is willing to entertain Lakan with the possibility, and yet she continues to protect Maomao and shield Lakan from actually seeing her.

Especially if you consider the information that the Madam is Fengxian's mother and therefore Maomao's grandmother. This was confirmed by "Word of God", but I'm also someone who believes that if it's not confirmed within the text you don't necessarily need to consider it -- but it would explain a lot! Regardless, the actions of the Madam definitely do not seem to line up with her words or her demeanor. She presents herself as someone very practical, money-focused and business-first and yet she has done something incredibly generous by keeping Fengxian alive and Maomao safe within the Verdigris House despite both of them being massive resource/money wasters. And she has a golden goose basically begging to give her money to get his hands on Maomao and yet...? If we are to highlight the potential familial connection - the Madam's character also lines up very nicely with Maomao's penchant for kindness hidden behind tough words and a tough exterior.

Then we get this line, which was also in the anime:

Maomao's closing thoughts here, in conjunction with all we read about in so far with the woman she was visiting hits so hard. I do believe that Maomao has genuinely moved on from wanting any sort of love or even a relationship with either of her parents - I really don't think she cares at this point. And I don't mean in the "I don't care but I secretly do" way - I think she has created her own closure for herself. For Maomao, she has a father and a family that raised her that were not her birth parents and that is good enough. At the same time though, this doesn't mean that the early interactions with her mother didn't affect her. We already have explicit examples of how often Maomao is hurt when others are afraid of her, I can only imagine how hurt she must have been to have this woman--who is supposed to be her mother--chase her angrily out of the room when she was probably just trying to offer help or support. I think even if she wants to care, she can't allow herself to. That is why the woman in the room will always just be "the woman" and at worst (or at best), a foolish woman.

I also think this moment really highlights the fact that Maomao's difficulty with noticing expressions of love and care, while it may certainly be due to her natural disposition, was also very much affected by traumatic childhood experiences.

Moving on the chapter skips POVs to Jinshi - which I don't think happens very often, but fits given the title of this chapter. We read directly about a courtesan who has lost her value and then the chapter ends with Lakan egging Jinshi on to figure out the pieces of the puzzle about a courtesan Lakan has history with. As readers I think we are meant to put two and two together of what we just read with what Lakan has shared, even if Jinshi doesn't get his answers until shortly later.

Chapter 9 - Lakan

Another aptly named title. I again enjoyed the pacing of this chapter and how masterfully it begins and gets wrapped up. I also think it's interesting that this is the chapter named Lakan - not the one that actually provides his backstory. It makes sense to give this chapter Lakan's name though since this is truly his "introduction" to the story in the sense of we finally understand who he is in relation to Maomao and what role he will play moving forward (sort of - Natsu-sensei likes to play her tricks and Lakan was her first one).

We start with Maomao having what she describes as a "strange dream" but is clearly a traumatic flashback-nightmare to an event in her past.

Even in this moment - despite how visceral the description of her memory is, at the very end all Maomao thinks is "fool woman".

And yet, Maomao is visibly shaken for the rest of the day. Unfortunately reminders of her parents and the circumstances of her birth continue to plague her as Jinshi not only brings a gift from Lakan, but then begins asking Maomao questions about how one could bring down the value of a courtesan.

I mentioned this already in the last chapters, but I do find it interesting how the placement of this moment is different between the LN and the anime adaptation and serves very different purposes. In the anime this question is meant to put some tension into Jinshi and Maomao's budding relationship and also provide context for later.

However, in the LN, Jinshi asking this question serves as the vehicle to provide more clarity and understanding for the reader about information we have just picked up from the previous chapter. We are meant to make the connection that the person Maomao was seeing was her mother and this is what Lakan did to her. Also, Maomao is shaken by Jinshi's question, not because she is upset at Jinshi for asking (as it appears in the anime), but because she has been getting one to many reminders recently about the circumstances of her birth and the people linked to it - which I think is clear from how the scene ends with the line "It was all because of that stupid dream". A perfect bookmark with the way this chapter opened.

We also get another Jinshi POV of switch because now it's Jinshi's turn to connect all the dots, and if you hadn't already put the pieces together, then it is also the final confirmation for us readers as well that Lakan is Maomao's father, and the courtesan we just read about was her mother whom Lakan had relations with.

I'm going to save my full thoughts on Lakan for when we get his backstory and his side of things, but I think we can all agree he comes off as super slimy in these early moments. I do want to highlight this bit of info though:

So here we also get confirmation that yes - it is Lakan that was trying to buy Maomao out. Once again, I am genuinely curious whether the Madam would have actually let Maomao get bought out. I am so curious what Lakan offered or how he wore her down. I mean, a decade of nagging could probably wear anyone down. Although logically, now that Maomao is coming of age her prospects working as an apothecary (not traditionally a woman's job to begin with) and being connected to a brothel aren't the best, so it could have just been the Madam realizing that Lakan taking back custody would improve Maomao's chances of a better future.

But this also answers the question of why Lakan is antagonizing Jinshi so much. He is being a petty little baby because Jinshi "stole" his precious daughter, and like everyone else, is assuming it was for his own pleasure, and now he can't do anything about it because Jinshi is royalty. Unfortunately even with the confirmation that Maomao is his daughter, Lakan won't stop being a jerk until later and with Maomao's intervention.

Jinshi, this is your future father-in-law, good luck bro. (But also, the fact that he doesn't change his mind on Maomao despite knowing who her father is is pretty admirable).

Not surprisingly, I am also going to highlight the moment when Jinshi brings up Lakan to Maomao:

First off - the anime adapted this moment so well, the 1sec horror jumpscare flash to Maomao's death stare was great.

But also! There is a slight mistranslation in this scene. In this moment it says that Maomao takes a step away from Jinshi, but in the Japanese it's actually Jinshi that takes a step back because Maomao's glare is just that freaking scary. I mean, I think the words on the page get the point across pretty well anyway, but Jinshi is a trained warrior and politician -- I feel like there aren't actually that many things that would genuinely freak him out, but the look Maomao gave him made the list.

We get it. She hates him. Later on Maomao will justify her dislike of Lakan for various reasons that has nothing to do with him being her birth father, but you don't have a reaction that visceral if you don't feel very strongly about something. I think Lakan's personality make it easier for Maomao to write him off and excuse her dislike of him for other reasons, but I think even if Lakan had been a better person, Maomao would still find a way to hate him.

Alright - that's enough of Maomao's parentage for now. Even in the story we get a bit of a pause as other plots arise, but eventually we will come back to Lakan and Maomao and you will get my full thoughts on the topic when it comes around.

Until next time where we can talk about plot stuff! So much plot!

[ch10-12]

[please-let-me-be-horny]

The Good, the Bad and the Neutral in: Hide and Seek.

(The following story was requested by @decaffeinated-anxiety, and features a heavy focus on stalking)

Neutral Drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, anxiously gazing out the windshield towards the rapidly darkening sky. Besides him, Good was looking through the passenger side window, trying and failing to see anything in the back alleys behind the buildings they passed. It was getting later in the day and soon night will be falling. They really didn't have a lot of time to find him.

Bad had gotten out. And the last time he had gotten loose, he nearly killed someone.

"I honestly have no idea how I'm expected to trust you after this, how do you let something like this happen?!" Neutral was lacking his usual monotone, instead being replaced by obvious and audible stress and frustration. It was rare his emotions were so clear.

"oh once again this is my fault? Even if I had caught him sneaking out, how the fuck are you expecting me to stop him?" Good threw his arms up defensively as Neutral swung across and swatted at his arm frantically.

"Maybe if you weren't stoned to the gills all the time you'd have noticed him fucking leaving! Hell I didn't even find out he was missing until the fucking intern asked when he would be back! Fucking hell...." Neutral let out a frustrated sigh, slamming his fist into the steering wheel. "We're going to fucking prison if they catch him, you know that right?"

They continued to bicker amongst themselves for a while, the sun gradually dipping below the horizon and the street lights flickering into life, as the shadows cast by the buildings around them drew larger and darker. Even now as the two of them gazed out into the darkness, an ever growing sense of dread filled the pair of them.

"right...so he's probably on a hunt....we don't have to find him, we just have to find his food....ah, speak of the devil...." As he finished thinking out loud, he gave Good a nudge and pointed towards one of the alleys they were parked across the street from. A girl was leaving the rear of her shop, clearly locking up for the night. They watched as she placed ear buds into her ears, and pulled her hood up over her head.

"ok ok, this is promising....she's making an easy target of herself...and she doesn't appear to be with anyone...bingo. She is our carrot on a stick. We follow her, We find Bad." He turned to look at Good, who was simply nodding his head, attempting to process this information. Rolling his eyes, neutral grew impatient of waiting for Good to put the pieces together, and pulled the van away from the curb, begining to circle of the block so they could keep tabs on their bait.

"hood up means her peripheral vision is gonna be worse than normal. Listening to music means she isn't gonna hear anyone following behind her. She is literally Bads dream target." Neutral spoke slowly, intentionally dumbing things down for Good.

"I'm not talking to you, you're being an asshole." Good huffed, crossing his arms in a sulk as the pair of them continued to do laps of the block, circling her like sharks in bloodied waters. Neutral simply rolled his eyes and focused on their target.

She had only left the store a few minutes ago and was already getting the strange feeling she was being followed. It wasn't an uncommon feeling for her, especially since she had started taking late shifts. But this time it felt different. She had seen the same black van pass her multiple times. First pass. Second pass. Third pass. She could feel herself becoming more and more exposed by the moments. She waited for the van to round the corner ahead of her, before ducking into an alley and attempting to follow a different route to escape her potential pursuers.

Neutral and Good were still in grumpy silence when they rounded the corner on their fourth pass and noticed she had vanished.

"Where the fuck did she go?! What?!"

"Do you think she made us?"

"well I dunno about you but most women I know don't know how to turn into fucking smoke, get out and go check the alleyways out, I'll keep lapping the block and see where she pops up..."

Good jumped out the van with a huff, still annoyed at the tone Neutral was taking with him. He quickly crossed the road and entered into the alleyway, just in time to see a dark silhouette take off running around a corner. Fuck.

She heard the footsteps behind her as she ran, getting more and more lost in the maze of back streets and alleyways. It was dark. She couldn't see. And all she could hear was the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching behind her. She turned a corner. Then another. And another. She didn't know where she was anymore. Only that she was being chased. She turned another corner, running into something hard and falling to the floor.

Bad looked down at the girl who had just ran into him, scowling and frustrated that she hadn't seen him. Letting go of the now crushed and ruined groceries he was clutching to his chest, he let the mess of wet paper bags and crushed crisps fall to his feet as Good rounded the corner, clearly out of breath and struggling to stand up right.

"Sto-oh...OH! holy shit dude where did you go?!" Goods whole attitude changed the moment he saw Bad, jumping over the body of the girl he had just been chasing to bring his brother into a one sided and very affectionate hug. "god we've looking all over for you, man, Neutrals in the van pulling his finger nails out with worry." Bad pushed Good off if him, throwing him a glare and motioning to the mess of groceries in the floor, before reaching into his pocket and handing Good a handwritten shopping list. In Goods handwriting.

"oh...oh yeah I sent you to get snacks, didn't I?....man maybe neutral was right about how much I'm getting stoned lately..." Bad simply rolled his eyes, pushing Good to the side and focusing his attention on the girl Infront of him, before turning back towards Good, a confused look on his face.

"oh, yeah uh....sorry about that, chick, we thought our friend here was gonna...well we won't go into it. You ok?" Good lowered himself to the ground beside the girl, offering her a hand and helping her to her feet. "I uh....you aren't gonna hurt me then? You weren't....trying to kidnap me or rape me or murder me or anything?!" As she said this, Bad looked over her, glaring down into her eyes, still frustrated she had just demolished his groceries. Though he couldn't speak, Bad was quickly picking up on the slight differences and changes in her tone. Confusion. Disappointement. Anger. All very clear to him, but passing way over his brother's head.

"well, thing is my brother here was lost, and he has a habit for following pretty girls ho-" Bad gave Good a small sap to the chest, silencing him for a moment, before placing a hand in the girls shoulder and turning her to face him. Opening his phone, he scrolled through for a moment, before offering his phone to her. Turns out he had been following her after all. Just not today. She scrolled through multiple pictures of her, all taken candidly from various places in her store. She swallowed hard and flushed red for a moment, looking up into Bad's eyes, who simply held a finger up to his mouth, demanding her silence.

"so...you were....stalking me....but you weren't....chasing me? I'm sorry I'm just really confused, am I safe or not?" Once again, Bad picked up on the subtle hint of disappointment in her voice. Taking his phone from her, he reached down and took a gentle hold of her hand, gripping it firmly, before patting Good on the back. "Oh? Is she? Ok....she's coming too I guess....sorry dear, but you're coming with us... apparently"

Just for a moment, there was a flash of excitement in her eyes, that was quickly suppressed when Good produced the rag from his pocket and clamped it over her face. "sssh gotosleepgotosleeogotosleep"....

She woke up groggy a few hours later. She couldn't see. And her muscles in her shoulders and wrists were burning. As more and more of her senses returned to her, she realise she was blindfolded, and suspended by her wrists in some sort of binding. She let out a panicked whimper, thrashing her weakened body against her restraints and realising that she had also been stripped, feeling the cool breeze passing over her exposed body. She opened her mouth to scream, but as the noise started to escape from her lungs, fingers roughly enter her mouth, muffling her cries. The blindfold was removed.

Bad was standing Infront of her, along with Good and Neutral. Of the three of them, Bad looked the most excited behind his mask. Good looked like he'd just been told off by one of his teachers, and Neutral was in the process of cracking his knuckles in a repetitive pattern. The backs of his hands were raw and bleeding from where it looked like he'd been scratching himself.

Bad once again raises a finger to his lips, signaling for her silence, to which she feebly nodded, before Bad removed his fingers from her mouth. "I-i'm s-sorry, p-please..." She was silenced again as Bad stuffed his fingers back into her mouth. As she began to cry and sob around Bads finger tips, Neutral stepped forward and reached up, gently wiping the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief, before folding it neatly and placing it back into his jacket pocket. "So...we owe you an apology...we scared you and chased you when we didn't need to...we were afraid that Bad here was gonna come and hurt you and in the process of trying to avoid that, we got carried away....we're sorry..." Bad nodded approvingly of the apology, removing his fingers from the girls mouth and gesturing for her to speak.

She waited, confused for a moment, her eyes darting between the three of them, before finally landing on Bad. "So...so you stopped them from...well...." Bad simply nodded, before reaching up and begining to untie her binds. Letting her out of her restraints, he scooped her up into his arms, before carrying her back towards his room in the warehouse. "Th-thank you....thank you from saving me from those awful men..." Bad cooed softly, petting the back of her head as he closed the door behind them. Still naked, he lowered her into a bed, before nodding towards a neatly folded pile of clothes on the floor beside her. Her clothes. "W-wait! Why am I uh...why am I naked?..." She blushed deeply, attempting to cover up what she could as she spoke to the masked stranger.

Cocking his head to one side, he returned to the bed, sitting down beside her and once again opening up his phone, and showing her the reason why she had been stripped. Bad had taken his time with her unconscious body. There were lots of pictures of the pair of them together. Bad jerking off as she hung lifeless Infront of him. Drawing pictures in the cum that covered skin. There were even a few censored shots of what appeared to be other strangers coming to touch and grope her whilst she was dosed. Bad reached and arm over her shoulder and gave her an affectionate squeeze, before pointing to her groin and wagging a finger, suggesting that no one had actually penetrated her sexually. He had simply turned her into an exhibit. Something to show off. A trophy. He once again gave her head a soft and affectionate pat, before standing up and leaving her alone in his room, locking the door behind him.

She swallowed hard, taking a moment to process everything that was happening. After a short while, a smile began to spread on her face.

[glass-bride]

Diabolik lovers Lost Eden Subaru Sakamaki Short Story Translation

Scans and translation review by: @karleksmumskladdkaka

Please keep in mind I'm not 100% fluent in japanese and english, I did my best, but it may have mistakes, feel free to dm me if you find any. Hope you enjoy it anyways.

The World Tree stick roots in the ground of Eden.

This one, as if in order to inform the end of world to me, continues to lose leafs.

I'm realizing it everytime I visit here.

The fear dominates my mind.

Like, that I can't be like the old man... ...

But, no matter how much I've been thinking, the answer is something that isn't coming.

When I kicked the ground while shaking my head, the feeling of fear desapeared a little.

And then, I thought about a woman's face. That chooses me, no matter what.

That vowed to be by my side... my beloved woman.

"But, she hasn't come yet, huh... ..."

Where is she, and what the heck she's doing? While looking up to the sky, i release an indescribable sigh of anxiety.

The woman expected to be by my side at this time usually, ain't revealing her figure now.

Well, whatever, because it's not like she promissed anything.

That's why I don't know what this woman is doing.

That's right, for example, even if she is involved with my other brothers, or if she is in good terms with the founder guys and the mukami family, who have started to visit me excessively at my place... ...

It's not related to me.

"... ... ... ... Shit!"

I don't want to stay in this place for a long time. Just because of this I'm leaving.

After giving this proper pretex, I turn my back to the world tree.

It's not... ... to search for this woman, I got around the surroundings in order to investigate the eden.

"You... were you still doing that?"

"Su- Subaru-Kun... ... !?"

Unexpectedly, I found the woman easily.

The place was at the Eden flower garden.

We frequently visit here to recover the withered plants of Eden.

By looking at the crouched woman's hand, I understood that she was planting in the ground awkward artificial flowers.

Are you leaving me alone to take care of the garden?

As soon as I thought it, my own confined feelings disgusted me.

"Hey, let's go back to the bedroom quick"

"Could you wait for me just a little longer? Since I'm almost finished."

"... ... ... ..."

I see the woman shaking the head and I get terribly discouraged.

In addition,  you can go back before me, she means.

She doesn't know my feelings.

I sit on the ground and give a deep sigh.

Without a doubt, she thought I would end up leaving.

The woman looks at me in a strange way.

"... ... ... ... Because."

"Eh?"

"... ... Because! You're in trance with that thing like an idiot... ... I'm saying that you should be more aware sometimes! (1)"

I wonder if she undertood my intention.

The woman's cheeks turn red for a moment, and she covers her face.

Simultaneously, I fall in self hate.

I didn't mean to say something like that.

The embarrassment controls my mind, and I fell like I want to scape right now.

At this moment...

"... ... !?"

I breath surprised.

The delicate body that was right in front of my eyes untill just before, was now dived inside my chest.

This way, she passes her arms around my back, and grabs my clothes with her thin fingers.

It was so sudden that I couldn't embrace, or push her aside, just kept dazed.

I felt like a really long time was necessary to comprehend the situation.

Could it be, that she wanted to be hugged... ...?

The moment I realize it, several minutes seem to have passed.

While the woman makes a slightly upset face, she turns her eyes towards me.

"... ... Ch. Don't make this face! (2)"

But even this treatment, stirts up her said greed wish.

Overwhelmed by love, I pull the woman inside of my arms.

This way, I kiss her nape.

The woman was moving as if ticklish, so I dropped my lips there many times to immobilize her.

"We're getting back to the bedroom for sure. Prepare yourself to what comes after this... ... okay?"

As I whisper it close to her ear, she looks so embarrassed, but responds to my expectations with nothing but a nood.

Untill some time ago, I lamented my own lack of power, and then got jealous that she didin't pay attention to me, but now it wasn't remaning on the corner of my mind anymore.

I held her hand with strength, and quickly traced the way towards the bedroom.

Now, I just want to feel her.

The warmth, the touch, the voice, the shape... ... I wanted to put my hands in everything.

.

.

.

Translation notes

1 - Subaru used the verb 構えって here which means "posture", I've found an article explaining this word can be used in martial arts as a command to get ready, so I thought that probably he was upset with Yui because if someone attacked her she would be stabbed without time to try defending herself, since she wasn't aware, she wasn't in "posture" to fight.

2 - He uses here 調子 which means mood, and 乗る which is a verb utilized to talk about taking means of transport, if I translated it word by word would end up in something like "don't ride this mood".

[uu-bookclub]

Welcome to Undead Unluck Book Club!!

This is a project I've been wanting to do for a long time, and I'm wicked excited to finally be here!

In UU Book Club, I'm going to be reading one chapter at a time, posting screens and talking about the story and my theories as I go. My goal is to point out small details and foreshadowing for long-term fans while keeping things spoiler-safe for first time readers who want to follow along with me!

Before we start, a few things:

I'll be using the official Shonen Jump translation for my read through. We'll be sticking with their localization choices!

I might mention the anime occasionally, but I think it's best as a companion to the manga, rather than your main experience. It's a fun watch, rough pacing and all, but there are differences here and there that might change how you see the story.

I want to keep my posts safe for first time readers, so any spoilers will be clearly labelled and placed behind a read more.

I'll try to tag things appropriately, but there's some content in UU that's so ubiquitous that it's impossible to avoid. There may be untagged blood, gore, dismemberment, suicidal action, or body horror on this blog. If you struggle with this content, I suggest treading lightly until you know how you handle the way UU presents it. Prioritize your comfort and mental health!

Speaking of content warnings: early in the story, there are two moments where Andy gropes Fuuko and two instances where she voluntarily presses her chest against someone to fight. After the second major arc, the element is dropped entirely. I understand that this is a deal-breaker for many readers, so I wanted to warn about it ahead of time and make it clear that it is not a continuing theme in Undead Unluck. I found I could handle this content in context and it hasn't impacted my enjoyment of the series as a whole, but everyone has different limits and I want you to be well-informed if you decide to give it a try.

With all that said, if you're ready to join me... let's get reading!

[sharptoothed-gaze]

I'm not by any means well versed in US law, but I do know that in the United States that posting information online can actively mess with court cases, and you are highly advised to not post ANYTHING until the case is dealt with, meaning that I do find it likely that Quackity not saying anything might genuinely be for the sake of properly dealing with things legally, because anything you say can and will be used in court, especially if there's evidence of it online. Hell even if the evidence is in your favor it can screw you over in court, it's a very weird system.

Yeah, I live in America and I’m pretty aware of how our system functions. I just don’t know the technicalities of specific laws or workers rights.

For those who don’t know, the court actually rules mostly based off of storytelling here. Someone could have hella evidence that they’re guilty, but if there is one or two things off in the story or that can be spun differently, then they could walk away free. If someone is innocent, a good enough story against them or them saying the wrong thing could get them locked up.

The truth is much more mailable and cops actively want you to get yourself in trouble. They try to seem friendly, but speaking to them in a legal setting if they have suspicion of you doing something wrong will always be against your best interest.

As a POC living here my parents have always taught me since I was tiny that you never speak to the police questioning you. That’s just the way our courts work. You be silent and you ask for a lawyer because even if you are innocent, you can still get yourself in trouble.

I can’t help but understand the sentiment/instinct to stay silent when accused of a crime by a legal authority. It requires caution, and when the courts pull records of your communications, you wouldn’t want anyone to spin a story of you manipulating evidence.

I have zero fucking clue how French law functions, but if Quackity is currently tangled in a US embezzlement case then it makes sense that he’s probably limiting the things he’s saying. Saying things internally could fuck him over depending on what he says, and making social media posts while you’re being investigated is probably one of the dumbest things someone could do.

I still feel like saying /anything/ to the admins would’ve been the best play, but at this point yeah I don’t think him saying he’s quite because of legality is bullshit. We simply don’t have enough information to determine that.

Ultimately the people getting the short end of the stick at every turn is still the ex-admins. If Quackity is truly handling the embezzlement issue in court then yes, communications will continue to be limited/nothing. It’s unfortunately exactly what they don’t want.

[wolfjackle-creates]

Ghost!Robin Part 11

Time for another WIP Wednesday! I'm not sure if I'll have anything for next week. I'm working on a one shot right now as I can and wrapping up stuff for my final week of work which is taking a ton of time. Though I did get on a roll today and wrote a bit more than I'm posting, so maybe I'll have something.

Story Summary: Danny was invited to dinner at Wayne Manor to meet Jazz's boyfriend and his family for the first time. He worked hard to make sure no ghost business would interrupt the evening. But when he arrived, all he could focus on was the ghost of the dead Robin that seemed to haunt Jason. Looks like he was breaking his promise.

First, Previous

Word Count: 1.4k

----------

“Hn. What is the range on these devices?” asked Bruce.

Danny shrugged. “My stuff? From anywhere. I track through the Infinite Realms, not by Earth. GIW? Jason-Robin, they’ll be able to detect something from probably ten miles out of city limits, but they’d need to be within half a mile to get an accurate location. The Fentons? Mile or so. They get an exact location or nothing.”

Tim asked, “Is it likely the Fenton’s will come to Gotham?”

“Not sure,” admitted Danny. “But they sell commercially, so other ghost hunters might have their equipment. Jazz, pass the Fenton Finder?”

Damian couldn’t keep the incredulity out of his voice when he finally saw the blocky silver device with a circular, green screen on it and bits sticking up out of the front. “Why is there a light bulb attached to it?”

Even Robin looked at the device with a raised eyebrow and sent out a silent this real? his way.

“It flashes when a ghost is nearby,” Danny replied to both of them.

Tim hummed in interest. “Are the visible antennae necessary? Why are there multiple?”

“Most of my parents designs were cobbled together with whatever they could cannibalize from other household electronics and junk yards. Hence the less stream-lined appearance compared to the Guys in White’s stuff.”

He flicked the switch to turn it on and instantly the light bulb was flashing red, the radar screen turned on showing several dots in close vicinity to the center, and a robotic voice said, “You are surrounded by multiple ghosts. You’d have to be an idiot to not notice the ghosts all around you.”

Danny let it read out it’s warning again before flicking it back off. He had to laugh at the looks of complete bafflement on basically everyone’s faces. Even Bruce raised an eyebrow at it.

“Yeah, that’s my parents for you. FentonWorks designs are at least easy to spot. Not the the Guys in White’s stuff is much better. That horrible white on everything…” Danny shuddered. “I hate white.”

Bruce hummed. “Will you be able to provide us with some of these devices so we can study them on our own?”

Danny bit at his lower lip. “Probably. But it’ll have to wait until after I get you the information on how to safely work with ectoplasm. If Tim and Barbara are your big tech people, they’re not liminal at all and will have to be careful when handling it.”

Tim added, “We do have extensive experience working with toxic chemicals. Many of the Gotham rogues use chemical warfare.”

“Right. Yeah, I’ll have Tucker send you the safety sheets on it and we’ll see what devices I’ve got or can make duplicates of to get to you. I’ll be sure you get all three styles of hand-held trackers and their schematics. Maybe I’ll even be able to get you the schematics for a larger tracking system like what my parents have set up in Amity.”

Barbara nodded. “That would be great. What sort of set up do your parents have in your home town?”

“So they’ve set up sensors all over the city that detect ectoplasmic activity. The signal gets sent back to the computer in the ops center they built on top of their house, and they can pin the exact location of any ghost to within a foot or two anywhere within, like, five miles of the city limits. That data is also shared with the computer in their GAV.”

Jason bumped Jazz’s shoulder with his. “I know I’m gonna regret this, but what’s the ‘GAV’?”

Jazz sighed and answered. “It stands for Ghost Assault Vehicle. It’s a modified RV that’s basically a tank. Jack and Maddie simply have to press a button and a dozen ghost weapons will protrude from the vehicle and aim for any nearby ghost. And that’s without Maddie shoving her entire upper body out the window while holding a bazooka.”

“Yep. I regret asking. How badly am I gonna want to murder your parents by the time I’m done learning about them?”

“They are not my parents.” Jazz’s voice was hard.

At the same time, Danny answered, “Depends. How do you feel about genocidal mad scientists?”

Jason just let his head bang on the table. Robin flew over to him and patted him on the back. Jason seemed to subconsciously lean into the touch.

“Now,” said Danny. “I promised I’d show the rest of you these scanners up close.”

“That would be appreciated,” said Bruce. “We also have a few more questions about you and your parents.”

“And I need you to tell me more about these Lazarus pits because those sound like they’re a disaster.”

Alfred cleared his throat. “And I believe that will have to be the end of this meeting tonight. It is getting late and at least some of you will insist on going on patrol tonight still.”

A few people grumbled at Alfred’s words, but no one argued.

Danny made his way to the other side of the table and went over how to use the devices again. He pretended not to notice the way Jazz flinched when he turned on the Fenton Finder and it called out its warning again.

Jason did put an arm around her in response, though, so he figured she’d be all right.

“So that’s that,” he said once he turned off the last device. “I won’t be showing you any weapons until after we get you up to date on ghost biology and culture. If you run into issues in the meantime, you can call Jazz or me and we’ll take care of it.”

Bruce nodded. “We’ll be following up with our own experts as well.”

“Of course,” agreed Danny. “I figured. Now, you had some more questions?”

Tim asked, “You mentioned to me and Alfred that a member of Justice League Dark stopped by Amity. Can you tell us more about that?”

“I mean, there’s not much to tell,” said Danny. “It was John Constantine. And at the time I had no idea how famous he was. Would’ve asked for an autograph if I had, but oh well. This was shortly after I defeated Pariah Dark, the previous Ghost King. He came in, asked if I needed help. I told him I got it covered, he gave me a phone number, and that was that.”

Bruce hummed. “Yes, that sounds like Constantine. We will speak to him.”

“Why?” asked Danny. “It was exactly what I wanted. A check in to confirm I was okay and someone to reach out to on Earth if I got in over my head. It’s just by that time I started getting allies in the Realms. The big concern Earth-side was ghost hunters. And the worst of them were government sanctioned so I wasn’t sure if I should reach out to the Justice League since you guys also work with the US government.”

Jason let out a noise that Danny could only think of as a growl. “He should have spent enough time there to answer questions like that.”

Danny snorted. “Less than a week before he arrived, our entire town was removed from Earth and brought into the Infinite Realms for multiple days. Something would’ve been very wrong with him if he’d stuck around longer than it took to confirm it wasn’t likely to happen again.”

“I’m sorry,” asked Steph, “what is that about your entire town being transported off earth?”

“Don’t you know? My friends and I figured that’s why you sent Constantine to us.”

Barbara shook her head as she clicked around her computer. “There’s nothing in the Justice League files about it.”

“Huh. Well that’s how I became the Ghost King. The previous king was released by an idiot and lured to Amity. Ended up bringing the entire town into the Realms. His goal was to take over the town then the rest of earth. I defeated him in single combat while some other ghosts helped hold back his armies. No one bothered to tell me until later that that meant won his titles as well.”

Dick was frowning at him. “Why did you have to be the one to defeat him?”

Danny just blinked at him in confusion. “Who else was there? My accident is what activated the portal and started letting ghosts through. By making me half ghost, I had the powers necessary to contain the ones who caused problems. My parents were incompetent at best. So I just did what had to be done. Besides, if I hadn’t been an idiot, the portal never would’ve turned on in the first place. So it was my responsibility to fix it.”

----------

Next

And no one at the table liked that answer! The end of the dinner is finally in sight! I know I'm overlooking characters. I'll do some editing to make sure everyone gets a say before I eventually get around to posting this to AO3. (It's a good part of the reason I haven't started cross posting, tbh. That and I like to have stories fully finished before I start posting.)

Hope you all enjoy.

Tag List Part 1:

@addie-lover-of-stories, @justwannabecat, @gin2212, @amercurio, @regonold, @overtherose, @readerzj, @sjrose1216, @echoednonny, @deeterzz, @blu-lilac, @number-one-jew, @rowanaway-fromthisbs, @vythika96, @tired-yet-awaken, @themirrorghost, @emeraldcorpral, @all-mights-asscheeks, @darkhinauniverse, @blep-23, @phandomhyperfixationblog, @larkcoe1, @thegatorsgoose, @job-ross-the-second, @britcision, @lenacraft, @bubblemixer, @androgynouslordofescapism, @purefrickingspite, @leftmiraclechaos, @lizisipancardo, @starlight-sparks, @miraculousandmore, @gildedphoenix, @sometimesthingsfallapart, @letmesayfuxk, @phoenixcatch7, @skulld3mort-1fan, @abaowo, @dhampir-princess, @idkmrpianoman, @sarina-elais, @ballzfrog-blog, @undead-essence, @spookytragedyshark, @flyingpansaurus, @akintoabitch, @marivictal, @8-29pm, @justreadingthefanfics, @happybear135, @kisatamao, @spoopyspoony, @adorablechaos, @sara0055, @screamingtofillthevoid

[thedragonagebigbang]

Bang Creator Interview: Tumblr: @exalted-dawn  |  AO3: Exalted_Dawn

The Collaboration period has begun! In these quiet months before works are due, we want to foster a sense of excitement, camaraderie, and celebration among our participants. To that end, all participants were given the option of a formal interview by our mod, Dema, or an informal “ask-game” survey. We hope you enjoy getting to know our phenomenal creators as much as we have!

Interview with Exalted Dawn

Ed and Dema talk collaboration, developing a personal style, and a bunch of stuff Dema had to redact but is leaving in to build suspense. 

Dema: I know in the beginning you were debating whether to participate as a writer or an artist, and you went with artist. What was the main driver of that decision?

Ed: It was definitely a combination of a few things. Workload and time allotment being the main influencing factors. My attention span when it comes to writing tends to be a bit all or nothing. I can have periods where I can churn out one thousand words in an hour and then go like two weeks without writing anything at all 😂 And then on top of it, with the new game coming out I was sorta trying to factor in how that would affect my ability to stick to a schedule. Drawing is a lot easier for me to sort of one and done over a weekend so I figured it might be better to start there for my first Bang.

Dema: Oh this is your first Big Bang! I don't think I knew that 😂

Ed: YUP LOL

Dema: When you do a collaboration like this, that isn't a commission but is based on another person's work, how do you navigate that process?

Ed: Well, from a starting standpoint, I really like to have a lot of communication with the person I am partnered with. I love collaboration work and really strive to capture the energy of whatever source material I'm working from. So getting the author’s opinions on their own story beats is a huge help. But aside from that, the element of choice in this sort of project definitely played a part. I got to choose a prompt that fascinated me, and then from there, I read through the material the author currently had and chose a few scenes that really struck me with a strong mental image. Something that when I read it, I immediately thought "Oh that would be neat to see in a picture!" From there, it’s back to touching base with the author and making sure that what ideas I have sorta line up with their vision. I want to make sure its respectful of the work its being based on, while still sorta playing to my own interests as an artist and a fan :3

Dema: You're a very prolific artist, how do you keep all these ideas organized? Do they behave themselves up there in your brain?

Ed: HAH! I would like to say that there's some sort of rhyme and reason to my creative process, but if I were being honest, they mostly tumble about in my brain. When I get stuck on an idea, I tend to fixate on it and continue to develop it in my head the more I think on it. With this prompt specifically, I was immediately hit with this idea of a vibe I wanted to get across in my art from the moment I read it. And then that continued to build and build, until I was left with these pretty complete ideas,  accompanied by atmosphere and layout, that I became stuck on. After that, I just laid them out on paper. (The bounty of inspiration certainly didn't help to make the decision easy XD)

Dema: Are you drawing inspiration from anywhere besides the source material for this piece?

Ed: I AM! There were several pieces my mind immediately went to when I was reading through the source material. Lord of the Rings (specifically the cinematic scenery of the Mines of Moria) and The Song Of The Sea were both big ones that I drew immediate parallels to. The huge scale and vast landscapes as well as the beautiful pattern work and 2D story book style typical of Cartoon Saloon’s work were both things I immediately latched onto for this. But more abstractly, having just read [REDACTED], I was already in the mindset of [REDACTED] when I got assigned to this prompt. Since this one is also leaning into the [REDACTED] genre, it sorta pushed me towards these concepts of strong lighting contrast— stark shadows played against bright light. Bold silhouettes.  I was even considering playing with a black and white inked style with colored accents and a heavy focus on crosshatching to get that sort of [REDACTED] look at one point.

Dema: Mmmmmmm how much of that am I gunna have to redact 😂[narrator voice: it was a lot]

Ed: You can totally just delete the second half if that helps XD

Dema: I don't want to DELETE it I'm just gunna redact it haha. IT'S FINE. Also I love that. Sin City vibes.

Ed: YEAH!

Dema: How did you develop your personal style?

Ed: Many years of frustrated grunting at my own artwork kjdhfhjsgvfd LOL no but actually, what I consider to be most typical of 'my style' (and for this question, I'm going with the main illustrative style I typically use for projects like this, since I definitely have multiple) came about pretty much by accident for the most part. I basically stumbled upon it. I had spent many MANY years developing my skills from, like, middle school up through college, first with pencil and paper and then with a very large desk mounted display tablet, and was sort of trying to get to a point where I was satisfied with the look of my own work. It was a slow process, and I hadn't really been satisfied with my progress and where I was. In an attempt to sort of switch back to the more familiar feeling of pencil and paper, I had gotten an ipad to draw on since it was of a more similar size. I had been playing around with it, and was struggling with the pressure settings on my pen for making line art specifically, so I sorta just threw my hands up in the air and said "Y'know what?! I'm gonna try lineless cause why not!" I made this small, lineless doodle of my Dungeons & Dragons character at the time, and suddenly it all just sorta clicked into place! I've been basically drawing like that ever since, but with the aforementioned handful of stylistic exceptions XD

Dema: What do you feel like you are striving for in your body of work? Or I guess, is there a theme or a feeling or a "spirit" in your work you're hoping to convey?

Ed: HMMMMMMMMMMM THAT IS A GOOD QUESTION! I wouldn't really say I'm striving for any single theme all throughout my work (part of the reason why I have multiple distinct styles is so that I can really draw out the desired vibes I'm aiming for in each individual piece). But from a general sense, I think I tend to focus a lot on capturing emotion and atmosphere, especially in the lighting and color I use. As for the spirit I often capture— I don't think it's super intentional on my part, but for my lineless artwork specifically, I definitely get that there is this sort of adventurous, almost whimsical spirit to a lot of what I draw. Rather than dark dramatic pieces, with lots of sharp lines and dynamic movement, there's this sort of softness and quietness to a lot of my work, like capturing a peaceful moment between all the big dramatic stuff. Even for the tonally and visually 'dark' pieces. Which— honestly— I think speaks a lot more to my own personality and preferences than I maybe intend 🤣

Dema: I love that a lot. Thank you for such thoughtful answers, and for taking the time to be interviewed today! I can't wait to see the final piece.

[psychotic4ghost]

Strength Together a story by Psychotic4Ghost

TW: Violence, language, death WC: 1.5k

Masterlist <- Chapter 7 // Chapter 9 ->

Thundering punches rang out in the training room of the base as Ghost landed swing after swing into the poor punching bag that was hanging on for dear life. This was his third punching bag since they came back from the last mission 24 hours ago. 

“Simon.” Price announced as he entered the training room. Ghost gave him no response as he continued to rain down punches. 

“Simon, stop.” Price put his hand against the punching bag, stopping the bag from swinging. Ghost stood up straight, annoyance written all over his eyes. 

“We found her.” Price informed Ghost as soon as he stopped punching. 

“Alive?” Ghost asked, no emotion showing in his eyes.

“We think so. We hacked into their coms from the handheld they left behind. Last we heard she was alive and they don’t have intentions of killing her.” 

“Where?” 

“200 clicks east.”

“I need stealth gear. All of it. I need a map of her location. Send me in Price.” Ghost demanded. 

Price cocked an eyebrow at Ghost, “Is this Simon or Ghost talking?”

“Doesn't matter.” Ghost said matter-of-factly. 

“It does. Because if I send Ghost in, you might be too irrational.” 

“You know I can handle this. Either way.” 

Price sighed, knowing his Lieutenant was correct. He never did like sending the rage fueled Ghost into missions like this. He knew that Ghost often saw red in situations like this one. But he also knew that Ghost would get the job done, even if that meant he took more lives than probably necessary. “Fine. But Gaz is going with you and you're taking a team.” 

“Negative. I'm doing this alone. Have a back up team if you need but I'm going solo. I let her get taken, Price. This is on me. If she dies, it's. On. Me.” Ghost said sternly as he jabbed his own thumb into his chest to better drive his point. 

Price let out another sigh, “fine. But if things go south, you are calling for backup. That's an order.” 

Ghost nodded. He knew Price was right, he knew he was making these decisions with sound mind and as much as Ghost wanted to deny it, he knew he wasn't in his right mind about this whole situation. 

“I'll get you a backup squad now and brief Gaz. I'll have you out in an hour tops, okay?” Price asked as he clasped a hand on Ghost's shoulder. Ghost nodded before turning to the showers without another word. 

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Gaz sat next to Ghost on the heli, asking more questions than Ghost cared for after Price convinced Ghost to take Gaz with him. “What's the plan LT? Go in, guns ablaze? Or stealth?” 

“Did Price not brief you? Stealth. And you're staying behind me. A good distance too.” Ghost spoke into his headphones mic. 

“Cap said to stick with yo-” 

“Don't care.” 

“Ghost, you know what happens when you disobey his orders, last time he didn't let you go on three missions.” Gaz said as he held up three gloves fingers a little too close to Ghost’s face. 

Ghost swatted his fingers away, a scuff leaving him. “I don't care, Kyle. We're getting Ophelia back and I know the best way to do it. Follow my lead or I'll zip tie you to the heli.” 

Gaz thought it best to not press the matter. He's seen Ghost zip tie Soap to the heli and Humvee before and leave him there for hours. 

“Wise choice, sergeant. We go in through the West window. We clear out floor one then two, then three until we get to the fourth level where she is. Keep low, only use your silencer if knives don't work.”

Gaz nodded along with Ghost’s plan. It was a good plan and not the first time they've gone off script. Price was following in a Humvee just behind the heli as he was going to set up a small comms base.

Once at the building, Ghost began to give only hand signals, refusing comms and he had told Gaz to do the same earlier. Only use comms if absolutely necessary. 

They infiltrated the first floor, West side window just as Ghost said they would. The first floor only had two guards, easy take down. The second floor only had a few more. 

“LT, where is everyone?” Gaz asked in a whisper almost too quiet to hear as they finished clearing the third floor. 

In the same volume of whisper, Ghost responded, “Not sure. Keep your head on a swivel, sarg.” Gaz nodded. 

They continued to the fourth floor, unsure of what to expect. It was nearly empty as they snaked their way through. All the lights in the building were off, giving Ghost and Gaz the upper hand in their stealth gear. A single light shown through the darkness, the room that held Ophelia no doubt. 

Ghost advanced, signaling for Gaz to stay put. Gaz was reluctant but stayed put, his hand on his silenced pistol, ready to fire at any moment. Ghost crept forward, his eyes locked on the ajar door where the light illuminated from. 

He could hear Nolan speaking, “You understand Russian no?” He asked, presumably to Ophelia. A soft whimper came in response, a no. “Ah, shame. I figured a beautiful and smart girl as yourself would know more languages. Nevertheless, do you know what your skull faced hero has done to my team? To me?” 

Ophelia muffled a ‘no’ in the form of another whimper. 

“That sick fuck beat my face in. I lost several teeth and he fractured so many bones.” More cries came from Ophelia as she listened to Nolan detail the things Ghost did to him during their last meeting. 

“But you see, I have something they want, something they need; you. Oh and the things I'm going to do to you–  Ophelia whimpered in fear–  oh don't worry, you should find pleasure in what I'm going to do to you.” At that moment Ghost had heard enough, red filled his vision as he slipped into the room, Gaz had already cleared the two guards outside the room and Nolan was dumb enough to leave himself alone in the room with Ophelia. 

Nolan’s bad decision making gave Ghost an opening as he slipped inside and directly behind Nolan. He didn’t hesitate to throw the man to the ground. “F-fuck” Nolan sputtered as he was pulled back.

Ghost swung a leg over Nolan, straddling him as he began raining his fists into Nolan’s already bruised face. A muffled yelp came from Ophelia as she watched the skull faced man beat into the now helpless Russian. 

“Ghost! Stop!” Gaz shouted as he entered the room. He immediately made way to Ophelia, untying and ungagging her.

“Ghost, please! Stop!” Ophelia shouted now that her mouth was free of rags. 

“Lieutenant!” Gaz attempted to reach for Ghost’s arm but he flung Gaz away with a single shove of his shoulder. 

“Simon!” Ophelia's soft but loud voice rang in Ghost's ears as he felt a small, frail hand take place on his bicep. Just before he was to shove her away, he realized who it was that had a light grip on him. 

“Simon, stop. Please. He's dead. Please.” Ophelia's eyes had glossed over with tears. Her cheeks were rosie and tear stained from her crying before Gaz had untied her. 

Ghost looked her in the eyes, seeing the fear as she looked at his skull covered face. Blood splattered all over his mask, making him seem scarier than before. 

“LT, we shouldn't stick around.” Gaz said as he checked for a pulse on Nolan’s beaten corpse. Shaking his head to show he found no pulse, he grabbed Ophelia's hand, helping her to her feet. “I'll let Price know to pull us out.” He informed though neither Ophelia or Ghost fully registered what he said. 

The two held each other's gaze for what felt like hours. Ghost wasn't sure what was happening as he stared into her eyes. Relief washed over him to see her free of the bindings but new emotions swirled within him, ones he didn't know how to process. 

Price's words pulled the two out of their small staring contest, “Ghost, Ophelia, let's go. Before his reinforcements arrive.” Price had an iron grip on Ghost's bicep, pulling him to his feet and Gaz helped Ophelia up. 

“Can you walk?” Gaz asked their damsel in distress. 

“Y-yeah. He didn't really hurt me.” Ophelia answered, taking Gaz’s hand to stand. 

“We’ll still have a nurse check you out once we get back. Both of you.” Price informed as the two were escorted out of the building and into a chopper. 

The ride was quiet as Ophelia sat nearly touching Ghost, who didn't protest to her closeness. Gaz and Price took notice but kept to themselves, letting the emotions bubble between the doctor and lieutenant. 

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

<- Chapter 7 // Chapter 9 -> Story Masterlist // Main Masterlist

AN: Sorry these last two chapters were so short. The way I have my layout done, it just made sense and another apology for taking such a long break. I've been having boy drama.

[kurorenji]

Beginner Tips : Wuthering Waves

I want to compile informations that I thought useful or I have missed the first time I play WuWa and only realized after my friend mentioned it to me.

1. Shilang is a shop owner in Tiger's Maw mine that sell a lot of useful things including a 4* weapon selector (the currency : Lampylument ore)

2. When you mine in other player's world, both you and the other player received the ore. No matter how far apart you guys were. That's why I used to mine together with my friend, I went to pick lampylument and he would pick the red ore. So it get done quicker. (This doesn't work for any other resources tho, as far as I know)

3. Idk since when, but you actually can create weapon exp and echo exp in synthesizer. Just for a small amount, but better than nothing I guess.

4. Uncle Wei, in front of craft station, sell some material for weapon/forte upgrade. Sadly, it didn't reset.

5. For faster mining, I used Calcharo to mine. He need only 1 hit to break the ore. Jiyan need 2. Basically use broadblade user to mine faster. BUT, Changli also just need 1 hit (her BA1 slash multiple times).

5.1. After version 1.2 , we have a new utility Hoverdroid, you can use it to mining faster as well. Just need one shoot per ore, much more like using broadblade user but better since now you can even mining from afar.

6. Don't build too many character. Resources are pretty limited here. If you ended up with all half assed teams, it's going to be hard going forward. I stick with 2 teams until UL 55 I guess? Before building my 3rd team (after getting Changli) and now this 3rd team sucked me dry fr, I'm UL 61 now, with 40k shell credit and no other resources lol.

7. Do illusive realms. No matter how suck you're at it. You can get a lot of materials upgrade there. Just do it slowly, since you can save your progress anyway (you need to quit properly tho, tap door icon > save progress. If you just quit or disconnected the progress won't be saved and you won't get any score).

8. You can skip Scar's story telling if you insist on attacking him. Attack him, attack him, attack him. Be aggressive. Beat his ass immediately. Lol.

9. Animals have a much lower def than Tacet discord. And Goat have lower def than Cow. You want to showcase your burst damage to your friends? Go find a goat...and use your ult. You will see big number. BUT I'M NOT PROMOTING ANIMAL ABUSE OKAY, don't be cruel towards animals irl guys, don't. That's horrible. We do this in game because we need the meats to cook. Yes, definitely that.

10. Talking about Cook, every recipes have a certain level of proficiency. Each time you make the recipe it will increase the number until it doesn't lol.

After reaching the maxed proficiency, the recipe you cook won't increase your chef level anymore. Go cook another recipe.

11. The same with Research point in Synthesizer as well.

12. Let's talk about echo. If you're a new player, save all the echo you got until you reach data base lv 15. Then you can combine it for a chance to get 5* echo. Or if you patient enough, wait until you reach data bank 21. The chance getting 5* become 100%. But fighting mobs without equipping any echo is quite tiring, so... just do it if you think you can.

12.1. If you finish hunting all 5* echoes but somehow haven't enough experience to reach 21, go check your guide book and see Milestone, one of the rewards is actually data bank experience.

Hmm, I don't know what to add anymore, maybe i'll add it later when I remember something. See ya.