#i hope people noticed the little game easter egg i put there

[blugnettabutterflies]

Gonta Gokuhara week, day 4: Sunshine / Snow

Snow day! A pretty time of the year, when you can wear your sweaters! and feel the snow on your hands!

Don't walk away too much from your home, the place is freezing and it can be scary to be in a freezing place by yourself, kiddo!

Take care, and warm up!

@gontagokuhara-week

[perhaps-in-anotherdream]

Hello how are you? I hope that studying and life in general is not stressing you out too much♥️♥️♥️. I wanted to ask you what's going on with Li zeyan and Love and Deep space? I saw a lot of people complaining about it on weibo, but I don't quite understand anything... thank you very much ♥️♥️♥️

hello! thank you so much for your concerns. i’m... living through ahah :’> hope you’re doing well too!~ 💕

uhh the main fiasco started with the originality/ novelty of the content love and deepspace (LnDS) has been releasing, actually. it’s no secret that LnDS’ main world-building elements are taken/ borrowed/ carried over from love and producer (LnP), however you want to word it. if you have experienced LnDS even a little, you might have noticed the traces of LnP men are scattered throughout the MLs characteristics. this, to a certain degree, was appreciated by the LnP players since the Easter eggs could be helpful to create an emotional attachment/ bond with these new characters faster. but, the dissatisfaction erupted when it came to making the new characters unique on their own and not the recycled version of the MLs from their mother game.

the thing that recently got especially Li Zeyan stans all riled up was due to LnDS using “red rose” as Qi Yu/ Rafayel’s flower aka motif. everyone knows that LnP has been branding “red rose” as Li Zeyan’s flower and motif since the dawning of the game. it’s in his official character book, introduction, his story contents, karma arts, official merch etc. so, the stans are mad at Papergames using such an important motif symbolizing a male lead (and their most popular ML at that) from their own game for another male lead under the same company’s banner, which also on pen and paper is a sequel of the prior. they also brought up how they could’ve used other roses except red for Qi Yu, which would’ve fit his character better. there are dissatisfactions over some other writing factors being recycled too. and when the whole thing is put into perspective, unfortunately, it kind of brings out a rather biting and disappointing picture for LnDS which i don’t really want to get into haha~

—

[chuuwtoy]

Hi, I would like to know what do you think about Wesker having a undeveloped picture of Rebecca in his desk. Many people say it's only a non canon easter egg and he never showed any interest in her but some people say it's there to show that he's a creep

hello! ≽^•⩊•^≼

just a bit of backstory on the rising rookie.

the easter egg was first introduced in Resident Evil 2 (1998), you had to check the desk 50 times before you'd receive an undeveloped film roll of a very cheeky-looking rebecca.

this debate on whether it's canon or not / why it's there in the first place has recently come to life after the release of Resident Evil 2 Remake (2019). here's what you had to do (this is taken from a gamerant article):

To grab the picture of Rebecca, players will need to find the game's hiding place film, which can only be picked up once they've reached the sewers. After picking up the T-Bar Valve Handle and riding the Workroom Lift, the film roll can be found on a table in the upstairs room. Once that roll is brought back to the R.P.D. and developed, it will reveal two photos of different hiding places in the Raccoon City Police department, including a shot of Wesker's desk. With the photos developed, the player should head to the S.T.A.R.S. office and take an immediate left into the private room. In the left-hand side of the desk, a drawer can be opened that will provide the player with a wooden box, which is part of the hiding place quest. However, players with keen eyes will notice that there's still a roll of film visible in the desk drawer when picking up the box.

is it canon? well, i'm not quite sure as it was never explicitly stated to be canon by the developers, not in any JP interviews or Q&A either. although, we do joke around that some devs ship it, especially with Resident Evil 0, and only Resident Evil 0, getting its own Wesker mode 7 years after its release 笑笑笑笑笑.

is wesker a creep? well, yes. have you seen the crimes he's committed? but i think you meant in the "is he a sexual deviant?" sense. possibly, possibly not? nothing's ever been confirmed in that regard so that part is up to you to decide or headcanon. wesker never did show much interest in rebecca, it's quite sad that she survived the train incident and instead of acknowledging her a bit he just shot her!

seeing as capcom is a little reluctant to create new romantic relationships in the world of resident evil, i doubt that photo will have much significance. the film is undeveloped, so it's not like if whoever took it knew what exactly was on it.

when i first saw the easter egg my immediate thought was, "oh, was it enrico who put it there?" he is her captain, saw her more often as well, and the office (or deskspace, depending on which version you're talking about) was also shared with him. but because enrico is a minor / forgotten character no one thought of him first ૮₍ •⤙•˶ !

did you know that Resident Evil Vendetta had its own novel too? but that wasn't very popular since it didn't get it's own english release. there's a funny paragraph that sticks out:

"Work like this makes her feel nostalgic and full of emotions she can’t quite describe. She opens her desk drawer and pulls out the few photos she keeps in there. The first one she lingers on is a group shot of Bravo team from her S.T.A.R.S. days. It’s a commemorative photo of the full team, kitted out in uniforms, lined up in rows in front of the helicopter. The other is a more casual shot of Wesker himself taken during training. Chris, Jill, and Rebecca are in the background laughing about something. Rebecca looks at it and smiles a bittersweet smile."

cute! but it's a little conflicting since during the events of Resident Evil, Rebecca doesn't even know who Chris is haha! I guess this is why they say the movies and novels aren't canon?

i hope this answered your question! it's not really canon until capcom says/implies something about it, thank you and feel free to send more asks. 🎀

[silvereddaye]

Hi Silver! For the Ask Game:

⛰ ✍🏽🥚

Sorry about the delay. Was on vacation.

⛰ Hardest fic to write?

Hmmm. I don't think there was one that was harder to write than the others. There were scenes that were hard to write either because I wasn't sure how to write the scene or I had lost motivation. In my smut fics, the sex scenes can be hard to write. They slow me down a lot. I am very conscious of them.

.

✍🏽 How much do you plan your fics beforehand?

It varies. I have done an outline / written out a plan of a few fics. Others I haven't and it's just up i my head. There are some where I make it up as a I go.

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🥚 Any easter eggs you put in a fic that you hoped people would notice?

Yes. Most of it is really minor things. Names of ships or planets. Maybe a name drop of some character from legends or something. One of my favorite ones is to use the name of the ISD Garrett, which is from one of the old video games, but was Vader's ship for a bit. And it is just such a black sheep name for star destroyers where the rest are Devastator, Hammer, Firestorm, and Predator. Then there is . . . the Garrett.

The Trick or Treat comic of the Tinies had some easter eggs in it. Most of which were spotted.

That is the Organas and that is little Winter as their adoptive daughter.

It might be obvious now, but at the time Galen had only been in one comic. But the top panel shows Galen dressed as Vader with PROXY standing behind him. The lower panel shows the Bridger family with Ezra dressed as Terry the Talking Tooka.

But the easter egg no one got (at least I never got a comment about it) was in the top panel- the two kids in the front but blurred are Lando and Han. Lando as a super hero and Han as Indiana Jones.

.

Questions here

[waterlemon-melon]

23 for the art ask game !

artist art game

what's something you hope people notice when looking at your art

right now since most of my recent art has just been character sheets, there’s not much there. but!! i’m hoping to incorporate some impressionism into my style (or at least try to) once i have some free time so there’s that i guess (don’t hope too much though)

or maybe just how much thought i put into the little things i guess (it’s really the hyperfixation takeover really) but i’m glad that people see that in my au stuff though!

anyways, other than that, honestly not much other than few easter eggs here and there

i’ll show some of my recent hints though!

just little hints of ema on cello, trucy on timpani and apollo on clarinet in the orchestra shot :)

this butterfly pair is a reference to the butterfly lovers violin concerto. i just put them there because the composition felt lacking at the bottom and i like the romantic hint they bring :) (i heavily referenced twoset violin’s merch design of the same concerto oops)

i thought a lot about the placements of trucy and phoenix’s hands here! trucy’s is guiding apollo’s face towards the viewer, towards the truth, as she is the one to show apollo how to use his perceive ability. but her face is obscured, suggesting some ulterior/unknown motive (in this case it’s the bloody ace).

phoenix is covering one of apollo’s eyes, he’s covering up part of the truth. but he also has one eye looking at the viewer, he’s pursuing the truth alongside apollo. or is he…

this entire piece is all leading up to a drawfee bit where the crew debated on how everything is either a pizza, sandwich, or a salad (pictured as in a blue tupperware). that’s it.

[romirola]

🥚 Any easter eggs you put in a fic that you hoped people would notice?

😮 Anything you included in your fic that you didn’t expect people to like?

🏳️‍🌈 Do you write the most m/f ships, f/f ships or m/m ships?

and the ladder one (which didn't copy/paste but I've been 🥂 so I can't figure out how to get it back easily so idk here it is)

🪜 I'm greedy and I want four things Please give them to me 🥰🔪

From this ask game, still open!

Thankyou for these asks, @frenchiefitzhere! I'm here and happy to satisfy that greed!

🥚 Any easter eggs you put in a fic that you hoped people would notice? Yes!! I have some characters that appear or are referenced in multiple fics for continuity that I hope people notice. For instance, Sydney, a dreamwalker-rookie on Sweetheart's squad appears in Cross My Heart,, this Milo/Sweetheart oneshot, and this (rated M, so 18+ only, please!) other Milo/Sweetheart oneshot. Sergeant Watkins, Sweetheart's contra-water elemental supervisor, appears or is heavily mentioned in Stubborn Stealths and Worried Wolves, Cross My Heart, and this Sweetheart and Cam friendship oneshot. Deena, Miguel's little sister, is mentioned in Stronger Together and Packed with Love. Another headcanon that I often reference, and channel whenever I write Asher is that his parents are humanborn wolves who came to the States from Ireland. That is depicted explicitly in Packed with Love and discussed in Secrets Between Friends. I don't know if anyone notices and if they don't, that's okay, but I like seeing how all these things can be inflected in the stories and build upon another another as the world is fleshed out in a way that contributes to the plot and characterizations.

😮 Anything you included in your fic that you didn’t expect people to like? Hmmm... I'm not sure if I really give much thought as to what people may/may not like when I write. I suppose I write the story how I see it, tag it appropriately, and presume that people will read if they wish. I will say sometimes I get notes that my fics are too long for people to read, which always feels unexpected because there's no set date by which you have to read the fic. It's there, living on AO3 and ready for you to read at any pace! But perhaps these notes are telling me that my fics are long without the payoff of exciting plots, which in that case, I would say thanks for reading and letting me know what you thought.

🏳️‍🌈 Do you write the most m/f ships, f/f ships or m/m ships? I try to ensure that the ships featured in my Redactedverse allow for a reader to maintain whatever kind of conception of the listeners they have, which leads me to describe the listeners through a gender-inclusive lens.

🪜 Tell us a random fact about any fic! This (rated M, so 18+ only, please) Gavin/Freelancer oneshot that features nonsexual intimacy facilitated by consensual hypno-magic was supposed to be kinda smutty, but actually turned into something poignantly tender. It's fairly long to be in a oneshot collection, and I kind of regret putting it there rather than making it its own story, but alas, what is done is done. Gavin/Freelancer are an intimidating couple to write because Gavin is just so... good at all things love/romance/intimacy/trust. But, overall, I'm quite proud of how that fic turned out and grateful for the opportunity to stretch my own imagination!

[phoenixwrites]

🥚plz! <3

🥚 Any easter eggs you put in a fic that you hoped people would notice?

So I leave little easter eggs for C.S. Lewis in EVERYTHING I write. Even the weird shit, yes, I do mean raptor!porn. He’s my favorite author, so I just sprinkle him in everything! It’s much easier for Hellcheer than it was for Swanfire or Rumbelle, because we know Eddie canonically likes Tolkien—it’s not a huge stretch to believe he read the Narnian series (probably didn’t like them as much, though) or at least be tangentially aware of them through Tolkien. Some of them are deep cuts, something only scholars would be aware of—which makes dropping them in my fics all the more fun!

I also make a lot of classical literature Easter eggs. And most of my OCs have names from people I remember from middle school.

[elriell]

Some jumbled up thoughts about Elain, Lucien and Azriel + Mating Bonds

There have been a lot of conversations regarding this topic and I thought I’d flesh it out a bit myself, but these are facts/observations that as a fandom many have noticed, discussed, analysed. I just wanted to dive in myself fully.

I want to talk about each of them individually as well as, as a whole. Their emotions and mindsets, as someone who loves all three characters and wishes for all of them to get a happy ending. I will preface this with saying I will be discussing why it is very likely Elain will reject the bond and such things, so along the lines of Anti-Elucien. If you are a fan of them, thats cool, just skip this one if you happen upon it. 

We are going to dive in to the following;

Lucien & Elain  (their choices)

Lucien & Azriel  (contrast)

Rejecting the Bond

New Bonds

Fate & THE POV 

and why the writing is basically telling us everything we need to know...

Lucien 

Lucien is noble male, he has a good heart and has suffered his plenty, and this is why people want what is best for him, to be the happiest he can... Unfortunately I think that in this case Elain is not it. 

He is right to feel that way, just as Elain has a right to feel as she does. I think it is incredibly interesting that when we finally see from his POV we see that in a way he feels as though this has been thrust on them. 

That with his last love he had a choice and so did she.

It reminds me very much of this line about Rhysand’s parents, who were an example of an unhappy mating bond.

We will deep dive in to wrong matches further down, but the fact is that mated couples are not always indicators of true paired souls, that they very well could be the couple that do not end up happy together.

I speak on Elain and her agency a lot because I feel like a large portion of the fandom like to discard it as if it means nothing, and even judge her for it but if we actually take a look at Lucien’s behaviour he is not all that more happy.

There are some key differences between them though, Lucien as a male feels their bond to a different degree than she does, and he also has been raised to believe and respect the bond. And thus he feels a certain obligation to honour it in the best way he can. 

This doesn’t mean he thinks she is right for him, any further than his attraction to her (which like same dude same), he hasn’t displayed any signs that they actually aline as a couple. And I feel like SJM clearly highlights this when she sets examples of his gifts not being... well right for her. 

The gloves we know she never wears show us how little they know each other as she loves to get dirty [which Feyre had told him] and the pearl necklace is then contrasted by Azriels which was very personalised to Elain. 

(The rose, the secret beauty of it hitting the light etc...)

These are all deliberate moves by Sarah to showcase their misaligned bond.

And during Elain’s section I will also be pointing out some Lucien moments that really don’t read well for him. I genuinely believe he is much happier amongst the Band of Exhiles than he is when he is seen with The Inner Circus.

Elain

Here is the thing, this situation isn’t any easier on him that’s true but people need to respect Elains feelings, and the fact is she does not like him. Not only does she not like him but she shrinks in on herself, she looses all the progress and confidence she has made since the Cauldron. That is not a good sign of anything healthy.

If this is suppose to be a romance we root for why is she doing everything in her power to make it seem the opposite? If she genuinely was playing the long game she would have at least started to make them comfortable around each other, goodness they don’t even have to talk, but she does the opposite.

She emphasises that he brings out the bad in her. Again, no bueno. She quite simply does not want to be around him and with SJM’s writing I think this is highly deliberate on her part. 

[And let’s be clear there are countless quotes from the other books that do NOT reflect well on their relationship but I am trying to stick to ACOSF, as it is her most recent work, otherwise I would be here all day.] 

Rejecting the Bond

We have almost a two page discussion on why mating bonds are not an exact science, and that they can be more harmful than good. We are given two examples of it, with both Rhys’ and Tamlin’s parents. And then we get a very subtle hit at Azriel. This is all in the book Sarah said she began planting the seeds for the sisters journeys.

We also know from this there is a choice. But that many force it, because they feel it it right, (much like Lucien is probably doing right now, because he feels a duty and hope that it will work out.)  

Then we have the fact thrown at us that a lot of males believe that their mate belongs to them and will challenge the other male, which we now have a call back to with Rhys’ mentioning “The Blood Duel”. 

There is literally not one reason Sarah would put this in TWICE only for it never to happen or come close too happening. How anyone can question at this point that Elriel will happen is confusing to me, she has laid all the groundwork for it.

Now I don’t believe for a second that Lucien wouldn’t respect her choice, I think it will most certainly come down to Beron forcing his hand to wage the war we know he wants.

I think despite what Rhys said in Azriel’s POV under immense stress, TNC will protect Elain and ultimately stand by her decision. 

Not only does ACOSF spend a great deal of time creating a further divide between Elain & Lucien it also add a shockingly large quantity of easter eggs about “Elain choosing bonds” “Other Mate” “What if it chose wrong?” and again in this book like in ACOMAF we bring back up a failed mated pair to remind you of it’s existence.

All possible signs lean towards them breaking the bond.

And frankly from a storytelling perspective having three perfect bonds that are basically the same overarching love story (enemies to lovers) is boring, she would want to shake it up and throw a little curveball.

Lucien + Azriel  &  Why I think Azriel will have a bond with Elain.

“If anyone can sense if something is amiss, it’s a mate” And low and behold it is Azriel who figures out what was going on with her. Not to mention in the reveal SJM further displays that Lucien has no clue what was going on with her.

I don’t know what bridge holds their bond but I wouldn’t trust crossing it personally... :/

Further still, Lucien cannot hear her heart. Their bond is definitely not strong but you could also argue that is not an element of the bond at all but rather of her abilities perhaps. Since we know she could hear the sea too though it was nowhere close by.

But Azriel did hear her, he did pay attention and he figured out what was amiss. 

It is interesting to me that people took such issue with this when I believe very few have issues with Rhys or Cassian fighting for their respective partners. Now I have gone in to it in depth about how I think that this was pure emotion and illogical on Azriel’s part, and I don’t believe he would kill Lucien so carelessly.

I think it speaks to the same blind emotion a lot of them have displayed for their mates, Lucien may have wanted to see if she was worth it but Azriel knows she is worth the fight.

And for all intensive purposes in that moment he was willing to fight for someone he believes shares his feelings.

Now let’s tackle the whole “Possessive” crap.

First of all, all of the male pairings in this series have shown moments like this, so if it is bothering you here why isn’t it bothering you at other points?

Lucien has been just as instinctively possessive from their bond, and let me clarify, I am not shaming him for that anymore than anyone else. What I am pointing out is the double standard, if anything Azriel has more reason to feel like he can fight for her because she has actually shown him care, interest and attraction. 

They have actually bonded a lot more than she has with Lucien thus far.

And if they truly do have an upcoming bond then judging him on three paragraphs when we don’t know what the heck is going on is just ridiculous.

On the same note of that scene, let’s talk about “deserve”

First of all he never said he deserved her, Rhys implied that is what he was gleaning from the conversation and that it is just lust, which we know is not the case. Clearly Rhys perception is not accurate at all so to take his statement at face value and call it fact is a bit disingenuous.

Azriel wasn’t claiming he deserves her, did you read his POV at all?? He didn’t even feel like his hands should touch her let alone deserve her. Please go back and read that chapter again if you can’t see that.

Not to mention I think that the idea of FATE, and believing in hope even when the odds are stacked against you (AKA her having a mate) is actually very consistent with SJM storytelling and Az. Remember this;

The fact that he is hopeful despite the despair of his situation is exactly what people have valued about him. Not to mention after Rhys says this to Azriel he says to them;

So Rhys too believes they were brought in his family for a reason, some sort of fate.

Amren too thinks they are blessed by fate. Why is it so shocking and offensive that Azriel have a little hope that there is a reason they came in to their lives? Because he isn’t with your fav?

Let’s be honest he didn’t exactly get over Mor in ACOMAF, ACOWAR and then even ACOFAS there are slight moments, thats over a long period. Three sisters didn’t just arrive and he went TAG “I want one.”

No, he genuinely grew to care for Elain, and let go of his past, and in watching Elain not find any connection with her mate he saw it as a sign that the Cauldron was wrong, which we know it can be. 

I don’t know if people are selective readers but if you think that he doesn’t care for her as a person beyond being a “sister” I don’t know what to tell you, we are not reading the same books.

ANYWAYS back on topic.

I think Sarah has laid a lot of groundwork for her breaking the bond and perhaps choosing a new one. I know not everyone is keen on another bond as they feel her free will and choice is enough, that’s fair and I agree to a point. 

I just wanted to analyse the data at hand, and I do believe after ACOSF (I never thought it prior really) that they are mates in some capacity, whether that is because of the Cauldron or something that will occur... I think she has laid enough groundwork for them being Soulmates at the least. Hence why I love the idea of a Carranam bond.

There are so many parallels between Rhys, Cassian & Az that could be taken as little signs but honestly this is long enough I am sure you all want to kill me already for making you read all that hahaha 

One last little morsel, it very well might be nothing but Az shouting after they take Elain is an interesting choice, it’s ambiguous enough that you can take it to mean the pain but it could also be another little crumb.

Basically with all said and done I think she will give Elain her agency back and break it.

And potentially something will occur with Azriel as a result but thats certainly more grey than the rest of it.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk!

Obviously, to each their own opinion, have fun and ship whatever you want these are just my thoughts on the text at hand!

(Also I am sorry I got like 20+ messages to get to in my inbox, yeah I kinda ignored everyone and worked on this today, sorry!!! I’ll be back tomorrow)

[itwoodbeprefect]

🥚 and 🌈 for the fic writer ask game?

(I appreciate your writing so much, it gives me incredible amounts of serotonin!)

!! gosh, thank you so much! it always fills me with joy to hear that! :D

🥚 Any easter eggs you put in a fic that you hoped people would notice?

oh, definitely! an easy one was in Hit it, man, a hawaii five-0 fic in which steve and danny go undercover and use names that starsky and hutch use in a canon episode where they go undercover. and people did catch that one! (shoutout to @redgoldblue, hee.)

also... there is a fic (New words for old desires) in which i, ao3 user SquaresAreNotCircles, wrote that the h50 team was standing "in a square little circle" and at the time i just thought, hey, there's four of them, if they make a circle it's going to be a very square one, and this is a fun way to phrase something! and then somebody in the comments, who deserves a whole tin of cookies for this one, went "hey, i see what you did there!" and thAT'S WHEN I SAW WHAT I DID THERE. i still love thinking about that so much. easter egged myself, with that one.

🌈 Your favorite tropes to write about?

does character X adopts a guinea pig count as a trope? :p but oh, anything domestic! just easy and sweet and bantery and maybe a little silly and funny. my ideal fic is probably something like, friends to lovers they're doing the dishes pining fake relationship there is only one bed they were essentially already dating the whole time without knowing it, all squished into one. comfort and connection and big happy feelings brought on by very little things, and maybe with a minor misunderstanding thrown in for good measure that doesn't lead to any real conflict but adds a comedic note to the whole thing, to keep it light. ... and then somehow told through an outsider pov too, i think. (practically speaking those would need to be different fics, but i'm just throwing stuff at the wall to form a little heart shape here.)

[jazy3]

Free Guy Review

!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

If you haven’t seen the movie Free Guy (2021) stop reading right now! Drop what you’re doing and go get yourself a ticket! You’ll thank me later!

I loved this movie! I saw it this weekend for the second time because it’s that good! I first saw the trailer on YouTube a while back and then when theatres reopened a few weeks ago I saw the trailer again and my interest was piqued. I had high hopes for this movie based on the fun looking trailer, the premise, the cast, and the sense of fun and escapism that the movie seemed to embody and it did not disappoint. It’s always nice when you have high hopes for something and it meets or exceeds your expectations.

Free Guy is just such a fun and joyous movie. Never taking itself too seriously, packed with lots of heart, cool cameos, full of gaming and pop culture references, and it’s fueled by a unique concept that is well executed. There are just so many things I loved about this movie! It was a ton of fun to watch and the actors clearly had a blast making it. During the movie I kept trying to figure out where I knew most of the actors from but couldn’t place them. When I got home, I googled it and I instantly realized why. The roles are just so different and the actors embody their characters so completely you lose yourself in the film and get completely sucked in. I was honestly so surprised when I figured out what I knew most of the actors from because the roles that they’re known for are so different from their characters in the movie. Their appearances, established ages, and even the accents are so different that I literally did a double take, but that’s what makes the movie so good! Because the main actors obviously didn’t need the paycheque they were just there to have fun and it shows. I think if the situation had been different and the actors involved had been desperate for money or took the role for some other reason it wouldn’t have worked. The film would have come off as cheesy, forced, cringeworthy, or just plain bad. Free Guy is none of those things. The film stars Ryan Reynolds as ‘Guy’ a bank teller in a video game called Free City, Jodie Comer whose best known for playing Villanelle in Killing Eve as programmer Millie Rusk and her avatar Molotov Girl, Joe Keery whose best known for playing Steve Harrington in Stranger Things as programmer Walter ‘Keys’ McKey, and Taika Waititi whose best known for playing Viago in What We Do in the Shadows as the Head of Soonami Studios and the film’s main antagonist and villain Antwan. Rounding out the cast are Utkarsh Ambudka as programmer Mouser and Lil Rel Howery as Guy’s best friend and bank security guard Buddy. In a nutshell, Free Guy is about a bank teller named Guy who finds out he’s a non-playable background character (NPC) in an open-world Grand Theft Auto style video game called Free City. Guy becomes the hero of his own story after meeting Millie, the girl of his dreams, and winning fans all over the world by racking up points by being the good guy and helping others. After leveling up and helping Millie escape a dangerous situation in the game, Guy wins her over and she falls for him thinking that he’s another player. But when the world that Guy knows and all of the people in it are threatened, he teams up with Millie to save his friends before it’s too late. In the real world, Millie enlists the help of her former programming partner and best friend Keys in a race against time to stop their code and all of the sentient characters from Free City from being deleted by Antwan the developer who stole their code when the game’s sequel launches. I love that the movie had a unique premise and didn’t overcomplicate things. There are so many movies that I’ve gone to see over the last few years with such excitement only to be disappointed. For example, I loved Wreck It Ralph, but was so disappointed by its sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet. The trailers made it seem like it would take the premise of the first movie and move things into the online gaming world, and I was excited for that. Instead, the sequel left the premise of the first movie behind entirely and way over complicated the plot and the end result was extremely cheesy and disappointing. Free Guy’s strength is that it’s a self-aware movie made by self-aware people who are excellent at what they do. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously, nor should it, and that allows the story to flow and the characters to feel real and genuine. The movie achieves that perfect balance between being entertaining and telling a cohesive and important story because while the movie never takes itself too seriously the people behind it are serious about what they do. This was very clearly a passion project for all involved, especially Ryan Reynolds, and it shows! As he’s spoken about in interviews and on Twitter, Reynolds called on a lot of his friends to be in Free Guy and help him out and the end result was fantastic! I loved all of the cameos! The Chris Evans cameo was by far the funniest and the Alex Trebek cameo got me right in the feels. When I saw the movie in theatres me and everyone else in the theatre gave a collective “awww” when he appeared on screen. Enlisting real YouTubers to show up as fictional versions of themselves to talk about Blue Shirt Guy’s popularity was a nice touch and you’ve also got blink and you miss it voice cameos by John Krasinski, Dwyane The Rock Johnson, Hugh Jackman, and Tina Fey. Channing Tatum appears as the avatar of player Revenjamin Buttons which for the most part was hilarious. One of my few criticisms of the film is that they went a bit overboard the avatar’s antics as Guy and Buddy are attempting to leave and it got bit a cringeworthy. But I know other people found it hilarious so to each their own. I love all of the little details and references in the movie. Just listing them all would be a post in itself. If you’re someone that loves pop culture references and Easter Eggs this is the movie for you. The characters are fun and believable, and you get attached to them quickly. The actors commit completely to their roles which is makes the humour, romance, and heartfelt emotion of the film work. You buy it. 100%. Something that I absolutely loved was that the characters felt realistic and that the dialogue, attire, and settings for each character really felt authentic. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched a movie or TV show and walked away thinking, “The person who wrote that clearly never meet a kid, teenager, or twenty something in their life! That was so unrealistic.” The slang’s all wrong. The dialogue is so eloquent everyone sounds like they did Shakespeare in the Park last summer. You walk away thinking, “What the hell was that? No one talks that way!” What I loved about the characters in Free Guy is that they felt like real people you could actually run into or walk past on the street. I’ve read in interviews that in addition to the written dialogue the cast did a lot of ad-libbing and improvisation and the end result is both hilarious and relatable. The dialogue feels real because it is. The big exception to this of course is Antwan who is altogether off the wall and ridiculous. Antwan is such an outrageous, absurd, vulgar, and cartoonish character. He’s so fun to watch and the actors clearly had a lot of fun with his scenes! I’ve read that a lot of his lines with Keys and Mouser were improvised and I believe it. When he goes all Jack Nicholson on the servers? Lord. He’s such a great villain to watch. The characters that are established to be in their twenties like Millie, Keys, Mouser, and the other employees at Soonami Studios talk, act, and dress like they’re in their twenties. The actors that are in their forties are styled to look like they’re in their thirties and honestly, they’re in such great shape it works! I mean I was honestly shocked to find out Taika Waititi’s real age. I love how the costuming really fits each character and allows you to learn more about them. Keys’ clothing is your typical gamer chic which makes because as we learn from his interview with Millie coding is his life and what gets him up in the morning. From Mouser’s clothing we learn that he’s a sports fan, but also isn’t afraid to take risks like with that blazer ensemble he wears in his final scene at Millie’s apartment.

Millie’s clothing shows the contrast between her and her avatar Molotov Girl, and Antwan’s ridiculous coat enhances the overall wackiness of his character. Guy’s clothing tells us something too. He wears the same thing every day until he meets Millie in the game at which point, he starts deviated from his Free City programming and chooses a different blue shirt. I also really love that they put thought into why Keys needs to wear glasses. Something I noticed on rewatch is that Keys is far sighted which is why he has his glasses on when he’s looking at his laptop or computer and sometimes when’s talking to other people, but not when he goes to see Millie at her apartment or when he goes to get them coffee at the end of the movie. Another interesting aspect of Keys’ character that I noticed on rewatch is self-confidence is really something he struggles with in contrast to Millie and Mouser who are very confident. Millie is a genius programmer and Mouser is excellent at what he does, and they are both very confident in their coding abilities, but Keys isn’t despite being every bit the genius that Millie is. At the beginning of the movie when they first notice the issue with Guy Mouser jokes that Keys needs to be better at his job. In response Keys meekly says he thinks he’s pretty good at his job and trails off at the end. Mouser is just joking around, but because Keys lacks self-confidence comments like that hit him hard. Mouser is moving towards his own desk as he talks so he doesn’t notice how self-deprecating and uneasy Keys’ response is. In the interview from the indie games conference that Millie plays for Keys at his apartment, he brushes off the interviewers comment that he’s a genius and says Millie is the real genius because she created the AI engine and he just wrote the code to make it work. Later on, when Keys helps Millie get into the stash house, she calls him a genius and he tells her that as he’s currently sitting on a toilet stealing user code he doesn’t exactly feel like one. Millie responds offhandedly that he never does, but luckily, she knows better. When Keys realizes that Millie was right, and that Antwan did steal their code and their game worked he tells Millie they need to celebrate because once everyone sees their build she’ll be celebrated and she could win a noble prize. Both Millie and Keys are geniuses in their own right. The game wouldn’t have worked without both of their skills and Guy wouldn’t have come to life without both of them working together. Millie’s AI engine made his sentience possible, but Keys is the one who gave him hopes and dreams so that when he met Millie in the game, he came alive. When done right the settings we see tell the story just as much as the characters do and I love how realistic the settings in Free Guy look. The floor at Soonami Studios where Keys and Mouser work looks like a real office and I love that the desks have clutter and personal effects on them like real cubicles do and that they show Keys taking a box of his stuff with him as he leaves. The lobby with the moving water videos and Antwan’s massive but largely empty office fits perfectly with the obnoxious, zany, and over the top character that he is. I also love the contrast between Keys and Millie’s apartments and how those settings tell us a lot about each character and where they are in their lives when the film starts. When Keys comes home from work to find that Millie has broken in, we see that he lives in a stylish one bedroom apartment with an open concept kitchen full of stainless steel appliances, a large living room centred around an expensive wall mounted TV and entertainment system, with his computer and gaming station set up in the corner. On the walls we see artful clusters of black picture frames, through a partially open door we see a bedroom off to the side, the apartment is full of black and white furniture including a plush couch and nice lamps, and features a textured silver accent wall. All of which makes the fact that Millie managed to break in even more impressive because it is clearly an expensive apartment in a nice building. Keys’ style is minimalist and upper scale and based on what we learn about the events that took place before the start of the movie this indicates that Keys got the apartment and all of the nice stuff in it using the money he received when Antwan bought his and Millie’s game. In contrast, Millie lives in a bachelor apartment and spends her time in coffee shops ordering one single black coffee over four hours. This tells us that she kept her original apartment that she had from before the game was sold and is living off the money she got from the sale while she spends all of her time trying to find the proof she needs to win her lawsuit. When we see Millie’s place, we find that it’s cozy, full of plants, throw rugs, quilts, and comfy furniture. She’s got a bike in the corner, you can see her bed from the centre of the room where she’s got her computer and gaming station set up adjacent to the coffee table and the rest of the living room furniture. Her kitchen is smaller and full of wooden cabinets and her bathroom door has DIY multicoloured square panels on it. Keys and Millie’s apartments are very different and through these settings we see the contrast between where these characters are in their lives, their wealth, and their personal style. The song ‘Fantasy’ by Mariah Carey is featured heavily in the film and is guaranteed to get stuck in your head in the best way! Jodie Comer’s cover of it is amazing! It fits the moment where Guy makes it to the island that is Millie and Keys’ original build and shows it to the world perfectly. This movie made me appreciate Mariah Carey’s music in a whole new way and I can’t be the only way. After watching the movie, I went looking for the song on Apple Music, wound up listening to the Mariah Carey Essentials Playlist, and I’ve become obsessed. I knew some of her hits, but after listening to her music more I get why people love her so much. Her five octave vocal range is amazing, and her music is just so fun to listen to. The film has a really great soundtrack overall and I’ve had many of its song on repeat since I saw it. Something I really loved about this movie and the reveal at the end that Keys is in love with Millie and is desperate for her to notice, but she’s been oblivious the whole time is that they don’t do the supposedly nice nerdy guy whose really a jerk trope. So many movies do this where you have a nerdy male character whose unluckily love, looked over, or his love is unrequited, and we’re supposed to root for him because he’s a quote “nice guy”. But really, he’s not. He’s a jerk who feels slighted because a woman in his life doesn’t love him back or notice him and he feels as if she owes him something. The scene at Millie’s place where Millie tells Keys he looks cute when he brags, and Mouser encourages him to tell Millie how he feels is super frustrating to watch but it’s so important to Keys’ character. He asks Millie out for coffee and when she turns him down to jump back into the game, he doesn’t make a big deal about it even though Mouser wants him to. Instead he gets up and goes and gets her a coffee anyway. She goes to tell him her order, oblivious to the fact that he’s memorized it, he tells her he remembers, and goes to get the coffee anyway much to Mouser’s and the audience’s dismay. This is big because Keys clearly doesn’t want to be walking down the street by himself to get coffee. He wants to be getting coffee with Millie so that he can tell her how he feels to see if she might feel the same way, but when she turns him down he goes and gets the coffee anyway because he truly loves and cares about her and he values their friendship enough to put his own feelings aside and suffer in silence rather than lose her and what they’ve built. So, he takes the opportunity to get some air rather than continue to sit there in disappointment. Which is why he’s so confused when Millie runs after him and calls out to him from across the street. He doesn’t understand what she’s doing there. She turned down his offer to get a coffee and he already knows her order so why is she there? I love that they chose to make that scene non-verbal. I think if Millie had come out and made some big declaration of love it would have felt cheesy and overdone. But her running after him and silently communicating through her smile and body language that she understood and that she felt the same way was perfect. It was subtle and beautiful and perfectly acted. It also felt realistic to the characters because in real life when you’ve known someone a really long time and you’ve spent a lot of time with them you don’t always need words to convey what you mean. What Millie wanted to express in that scene was so big and so all-encompassing she couldn’t find the words to say everything that she wanted to say so she didn’t. She just stood there and smiled knowing that being the genius that he is he would understand. It’s like Keys says in their interview, words will fail you, but code never does. His coding worked and now she understands so rather than try and say it all and fail she just looks at him and smiles to show him that she finally gets it. She finally understands what he’s been trying to say to her all this time. And you can see the exact moment Keys realizes why she’s there. The moment where he goes from being confused as to what she wants to realizing that she saw the video and she knows how he feels and that she wouldn’t be standing there smiling at him like that if she didn’t feel the same way. When I watched the scene the first time around, I was anxiously clutching my nachos the entire time because when Keys ran towards her my immediate thought was, “Oh my god he’s gonna get hit by a car and they’re never gonna get to be together! Oh my god!” But then he didn’t get hit by a car and Millie ran out to meet him and for the first time in their relationship she met him halfway and they kissed and it was beautiful! I think because Free City had so much violence in it that’s where my mind went and I’m very glad they didn’t go that route. One of my only criticisms about the movie is that I wish they had stayed on Millie and Keys just a little bit longer. They kiss and embrace and then very quickly they cut to black. I wish they’d linger on that moment just a little bit longer because I love those characters so much and in the scene that follows where Guy and Buddy are reunited we see them hug and then walk away together to start their new lives and I wish we’d gotten just a bit more time with Millie and Keys. I also really loved the parallel between the different kinds of relationships within the movie and how platonic relationships are just as important as romantic ones. The reveal at the end about Guy being Keys’ creation and a love letter to Millie and her realizing she’s been loving Keys vicariously through Guy and them finally coming together and being on the same page is beautiful because from the very beginning the movie is full of clues, hints, and foreshadowing that all comes together at the end. Meanwhile, we see the friendship between Guy and Buddy and how important that friendship is to him because it’s something that he created on his own. His love for Millie is born out of the programming that Keys gave him, but his friendship with Buddy is something that Guy created all on his own of his own volition. Which is part of what makes Buddy’s death on the bridge so tragic. I cried when Buddy disappeared. Reynolds and Howery play their characters with such sincerity that his death pacts an emotional punch you don’t expect. I love that the security guards at Soonami are so moved by Buddy’s heroism and are so captivated by what’s happening with the live stream that Millie is able to sneak past them into the server room and stop Antwan from destroying what’s left of the game. Something else I noticed on rewatch is that during the final battle after Millie gets booted from the game and Guy has to fight Dude on his own the glasses he’s wearing are very similar to the ones Keys wears in the movie which I thought was a cool nod to Guy being Keys’ creation. This really is a movie in which you find something new every time you watch it. For instance, the second time around I noticed that the foreshadowing that Keys is in love with Millie, but she’s oblivious to it because she’s so focused on the game was really well done. In the video from the indie game conference that Millie plays for Keys at his apartment when asked by the interviewer about their chemistry Millie responds first and says that their friends, their relationship is completely platonic, and laughs off the idea that they have chemistry. In contrast Keys falters and is silent and then eventually says meekly that they’re just friends. Millie is looking ahead at the interviewer and to the side away from Keys as she’s laughing and so she doesn’t see Keys’ reaction. At the end of the apartment scene after Millie breaks in to ask Keys for his help, he tells Millie he cares about her and he almost says something else. It feels like he’s about to say, ‘I love you’ but then he catches himself and instead tells her that she needs to leave. When Keys visits Millie’s apartment to tell her that she was right and they’re sitting on the couch he reaches out and puts his hand on her knee and then snatches it back when he realizes he’s gotten too close. He wants so desperately to be closer to her and in his excitement, he gets closer than he normally would before realizing that putting his hand on her knee in that close proximity is not a platonic gesture. Millie is so caught up in the realization that Guy, the person she’s fallen in love with, is an AI and not a real person that she doesn’t notice. My heart broke for Keys in that scene as he realized that Millie had fallen for Guy and kissed him and was so upset about it and meanwhile, he was right in front of her desperate for her to see how much he cares. It must have just wrecked him to go home that night and realize that Guy was based on the lovelorn character he created and that Millie had fallen in love with his creation while at the same time being so oblivious to his real world affection for her. In the scene at Millie’s apartment after they’ve gotten the server from Antwan and Mouser encourages Keys to say something, I noticed on rewatch just how weak and meager Keys’ attempt to ask Millie out is. He stumbles his way through asking her to get a coffee and trails off at the end so it’s no wonder Millie doesn’t clue in that he’s trying to ask her out. And in Keys’ defence he sent her a whole video confessing his feelings for her and all of the little things he loves about her and then told her to watch it and he has no idea if she did or not. We the audience know that Millie only saw half of it, but Keys has no idea if she saw none of it, part of it, or all of it. He knows she got Guy to remember, but she’s also sending him mixed messages. One minute she’s saying he’s cute when he brags and the next, she’s turning him down for coffee to talk to Guy. From the outside it’s so obvious that Keys is in love with Millie, but she doesn’t see it because she’s always looking the other way, not paying attention, so caught up in the game, and too focused on their work to see what’s right in front of her. On rewatch one of the big things I noticed is that Keys is always on the edge of telling Millie how he really feels but he always stops himself because she brushes him or the idea off and because he’s scared of what will become of their work and their friendship if she doesn’t feel the same way. It’s a huge leap. If Millie doesn’t feel the same way it’s going to make their relationship incredibly awkward and could potentially destroy their partnership so Keys decides it’s better not to say anything or only hint at how he feels rather than run the risk of ruining everything. Something else I noticed on rewatch is that in the interview they give Keys says he thinks of himself as an author and that code is what gets him up in the morning and that he loves the ones and zeros of binary because words can fail you and let you down but code never does. At the end of the movie when Millie goes to talk to Guy in Free Life he tells her that he loves her and while he knows that’s his programming he’s realized that he’s a love letter to her and that somewhere out there in the real world is the author. Such a great callback. All in all, I can definitely say that Free Guy has been my favourite movie so far this year! Definitely my favourite movie of the summer. I went to see it twice in theatres and I’ve never done that for any other movie before. I’ll rewatch them at home sure, but I’ve never actually paid money to see something twice on my own. I’m very excited to see the sequel and my hope is that it will be just as good as the first.  Until next time.

[smallandsundry]

For Ask Game: 1, 6, 10, 20, 23

1, how would you describe your style

i have no idea...semirealistic? stylized realism? i dunno

6, warm colors or cold colors

i think i like warm colors more, especially reds

10, how many different sketches do you usually have until your piece is finished

sometimes i have such a strong idea of what i want that it's the exact same thing sketch through finished piece, sometimes i start over a lot, but probably not more than 5 times

20, a piece from this year that you're really proud of

i actually love how my derry girls portraits turned out, i am really proud of erin and clare

23, what's something you hope people notice when looking at your art

i think this is always different. sometimes i leave little easter eggs so those, i guess. sometimes i'll have spent a very long time getting a pose or a face or armor right so that. basically, i like when people notice what i put extra effort into.

[grasslandgirl]

🥚 and 😅 for the fic ask game if you're still doing them?

mwah mwah mwah

🥚 Any easter eggs you put in a fic that you hoped people would notice?

ummmm. honestly so many i cannot call to mind at the moment. i write first and foremost for myself, and so my fics are full of silly little references and jokes that likely only i will ever pick up on kfjsbs that said i'm sure i've put in references to the inimitable jamie @gilears 's fic over & through in my body of work jfkdsjbnsf bc it has irreparably changed my brain chemistry (positive, affectionate)

😅 Was there a fic/chapter that you were nervous about posting? Why?

answered already here!

send me fic asks from this list of emojis !!

[amazing-spiderling]

for the fic author ask game: 😅 🥚🌾

😅 Was there a fic/chapter that you were nervous about posting? Why?

I was pretty nervous about posting my first Daredevil fic, "Not For Honor, But For You" because it was my first attempt at writing an actual story (at this point I think I only had a few comics and some RP under my belt) but because it was an AU genre that I didn't have a ton of experience with (knights and tournaments). I was unsure if I'd be able to deliver both a story that made sense for the universe, and keep two characters I was still figuring out feeling like themselves.

In the end, I really had no business worrying. The story came out okay, and tbh this is such a supportive and cool fandom (shout out to all my avocados on discord) that not only did the story find an audience, but I got a lot of encouragement after the fact. Whew!

🥚 Any easter eggs you put in a fic that you hoped people would notice?

SO MANY. This is honestly my favorite thing. I put so many in my comics (where it's very easy to drop visual gags) but I like to work them into fics when I can as well. Sometimes this is a reference to canon, but other times it's just little nudges about things that seem like they make sense. For example, in Metal Gear Solid, my favorite character Otacon is an 80's/90's otaku all grown up saving the world, but he's still a complete nerd who talks about things like building in "character defects" in his BIPEDAL NUCLEAR MECHA TANKS. Oh, and also the only reason they have a cockpit for a pilot (when an AI could do the job) is because he grew up watching piloted mecha anime. That's canon. So when I write stories that involve him (pretty much all of my MGS fics) I try to work in as many references to old school anime as I can. Sometimes this is something like the description of a t-shirt he's wearing (described not by the title of the anime, but a character or ship) but in one case he was at a cocktail party talking shop with a bunch of engineers and there were a TON of anime references there. (There was also a dig at one of the canon MGS robot designs because everyone thinks it's stupid. I didn't name it by name but if you know, you know).

Oh, and I don't know if it's an Easter Egg because it's literally in the title, but "The Indictment of Sick Jan" is named after/partially inspired by the Chris Fleming song, "Sick Jan". There is no reason for the average Daredevil/Murderdock enjoyer to know that, it's just funny for me.

🌾 A fic you really want to write but you haven’t (yet)?

I feel like everyone has a pile of WIPs and maybe even some "Works in Purgatory", don't they? I have outlines for a TON of darker, and yeah, probably "problematic" spideypool fic that I may or may not ever get to because I'm a lot slower about writing for that ship these days (I have no abandoned it, though!) and I feel like that fandom skews so MCU these days I'm not sure how much I want to deal with people yelling about me writing horrible things about their sweet baby boy etc etc.

I have some Earth-65 snippets I want to work on, but I'm not sure if they'd make a better comic or fic, y'know? It kind of depends on whether I think I can come up with compelling enough page layouts, that's not really my forte. I did hash out the dialogue at least for the night Foggy wins the election for District Attorney, so that's out there.

Also, this is an extremely cracky idea I had at 2 am last night, but I was making myself laugh at the idea of an Earth-65 "Spy x Family" fake marriage style AU. I don't really have any details, and I may just end up making a doodle but something about "DA x Family" is hilarious to me.

[wolfpants]

hi! 🥚🌈 for the asks

Hi there! Thanks for these! <3

Any easter eggs you put in a fic that you hoped people would notice? Yes! Not so much easter eggs as parallels. Also if I'm doing a Muggle AU, I sometimes drop in little magic-references here and there.

Your favorite tropes to write about? Hurt/comfort, opposites attract, pining, enemies to friends to lovers, work partners, secret relationships, FWBs, triads and threesomes.

Another writing ask game!

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 28

A/N: Thanks for all the love this past week ❤️ It meant a lot to me.  Here’s 4600 words of subpar writing 😝 And FYI, we’re not getting too sad around here.  This is the only chapter they’ll be apart.  That means reunification next week!

April 12th, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was with her family.  

It was Easter, and they were celebrating together, thankfully.  She was more grateful for it now more than ever, considering the state of the world.  She had stayed camped out at her apartment for the last two weeks with Kasha, who had come back from Evan’s place and was none the wiser about William being there for the fourteen days prior.  It made the most sense to Aberdeen because she still had to pay rent, and because she didn’t want to put Minerva through a stressful move again.  So, she stayed put.  Plus, now that she was living on her own, she’d know she’d go crazy if she lived with her family again.  Especially with Siena back from Ottawa because of classes in some weird state of limbo.  The sisters were thankful that Camden was independent enough to be able to learn on his own and not be constantly watched – and so was Orla.  She had enough to tackle, having her grade one class turned into online learning until further notice.  Everything was messy, and unprecedented, and weird, and not understandable, and weird, and chaotic, and confused.  

But Aberdeen had her family.  And Aberdeen had Willy.  

They’d kept their promise about calling each other every night.  Aberdeen would lay in bed and put in her headphones (so Kasha wouldn’t hear) and they’d FaceTime each other for a majority of the night, alone in their rooms, talking about anything and everything.  Sometimes they’d fall asleep talking, and their phones wouldn’t shut off, and Aberdeen would wake up an hour later and see the brightness of her phone screen still lit up, and she’d see William sleeping on the other end, his face so peaceful yet so burdened with responsibility of caring for his siblings while his parents and other siblings were eight hours and an entire continent and ocean away, and she wouldn’t have the heart to end the call.  

Things were fine in Tampa, from what he told her.  Jacquie had calmed down considerably.  Alex was…Alex – always trying to make jokes and make light of the situation.  They barely left their house, but because there were three of them there, it wasn’t too bad.  There were a lot of board games played, a lot of Netflix series watched.  From across the countries, Aberdeen and William were watching Tiger King together.  She didn’t think she’d watched anything as horrifyingly crazy.  William would crack jokes about her putting him in a meat grinder and feeding him to tigers.  She could only giggle.  

She knew that today the siblings were going to go for their first “outing”, just to get some sunshine, along the Courtney Campbell Bridge.  She hoped the weather would cooperate for them.  And once they were all home, and once Aberdeen was back at her place, the routine would begin, and she’d crawl into bed, and she’d FaceTime Willy to hear all about it.

Good Friday meant they had fish.  Easter Monday meant Orla’s roasted lamb and much of the same sides that were prepared on Christmas.  They’d still video chat with their grandparents, Camden would still play hockey in the driveway, and Aberdeen and Siena would go down into the basement and watch episodes of Brooklyn 9-9 or another show.  Routines, in a time of a global pandemic that brought so much uncertainty, were accepted with warmth.  Even for just a day, life was going to feel normal.  Orla and Mirza had even gone so far as to get their kids chocolate eggs.  It didn’t matter that the youngest didn’t believe in the Easter Bunny anymore or that the girls were in their early twenties – the gesture went farther than that.  They were all together again, even if it was just for the day.  

When Orla placed the roasted lamb at the centre of the table, asking Mirza for his plate first, Aberdeen took a giant whiff of the smell and immediately felt more relaxed.  She filled her plate with carrots and asparagus and Yorkshire pudding before her mom piled on the lamb and sauce.  

“So where’s our good friend William these days?” Orla asked as she finished serving everybody and sat down in her seat.  She immediately grabbed her knife and fork to dig in.  “He didn’t want to come for Easter?”

“I’m sure he wanted to come and have your lamb, darling,” Mirza said.

“He’s in Tampa,” Aberdeen answered, smiling slightly at her parents’ interaction.  “His brother and his sister went there at the start of lockdown, and so when he was good to go too, he went.”

“William quarantined for fourteen days too?” Mirza asked.  “Why?”

“He spoke to one of his Swedish friends on the Predators so he had to.  I bet the whole team did,” she explained.  

“Did you guys quarantine together?” Siena asked.

Aberdeen rolled her eyes.  “Hah.  Good one.”

“William has sisters?” Camden asked.

“He has three,” Aberdeen smiled.  “All of them are younger than him.”

“I can’t imagine three of you and Siena.”

Everybody at the table snorted.  “We can’t imagine three of you either, buddy,” Siena quipped back.

Camden smiled, then focused his attention back to Aberdeen.  “So what’s he doing in Tampa?”

“I don’t know.  Hanging out with his brother and sister.”

“Why don’t you call him and ask?”

“Camden,” Aberdeen said, “I can’t just call William Nylander and ask him what he’s doing so my little brother can know,” her tone made it seem like it was the most out-of-this-world idea.  But it was a total lie.  William would be at her beck and call – he always was.  If she called him right now, he’d answer.  If she called him and asked him what he was doing because Camden wanted to know, he’d answer her and tell Camden what he was doing.  He was just like that.

“I think the most important question we should be asking about William, considering the circumstances in our world right now, is whether or not he’s safe in Tampa,” Mirza interjected.  He stuffed a roasted potato into his mouth.  “Is he safe?”

Aberdeen nodded.  “He’s safe.  And he’s with his family, just like we are.”

***

Aberdeen could hear the video game sounds coming out of Camden’s Nintendo Switch as she lay in his bed, cuddled up to him while browsing through her phone.  It was later – later than she thought – but she wanted to stay at home for a little while longer, at least until Camden went to bed, because, well…it was a global pandemic and she wanted to see her family.  Her dad would drive her home eventually – she knew that.  But she wanted to spend some time with her younger brother, even if it was just cuddling with him while he played video games and she browsed Instagram.  Sometimes physical contact was the best contact; sometimes nothing needed to be said.  

“Hey Aberdeen?” he whispered.

Apparently something needed to be said.

She looked over at him and saw that he’d placed the Switch face-down on his chest.  He was looking up at her.  “Yeah bud?”

“Are you scared about the pandemic?”

Aberdeen softened immediately.  God, she wished he could stay this age forever.  She didn’t want him to grow up and turn into a moody teenager.  She wanted him like this forever: young and innocent and the little boy who cries over meeting Kyle Lowry.  “Of course I’m scared,” she admitted.  “Are you scared?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded.  “Mom’s home so it’s okay but I’m scared about dad.  What if the virus is on one of the envelopes or packages he has to deliver?  Or, like, on a mailbox?”

Aberdeen cuddled closer to her brother, if only to provide physical assurance.  There were so many unknowns about the virus.  It didn’t help that there was wall-to-wall coverage of it on the TV all the time.  “I don’t think the virus works that way, Cam.  I think—”

“But did you see how fast it spread in New York City?  Mom and dad were watching the news one night and the number of people who have it is so high,” he was so concerned.  

“I think dad’s work put a lot of, like, safety rules in place so nobody will catch it,” she tried to calm his nerves.  “Dad wouldn’t be working if it wasn’t safe.  Look at my work.  They’re not letting me work because it’s not safe.”

Camden considered his sister’s words.  She could practically see the gears shifting in his mind.  “I guess so,” he acquiesced.  “But I still think about dad a lot when he’s working.  Mom’s even praying a lot more now.”

“I figured she would be,” Aberdeen nodded.  “Listen Cam, I’m scared about everything too, but the reason why I’m not worried about dad is because dad’s a really smart guy, and we’re a family that listens to doctors and public health experts who are trying to make everything better,” she explained.  

“And don’t forget the epado…epid…”

“Epidemiologists,” she smiled, saying the word for him.  “Them too.  I’m listening to them.”

“Mom thinks I won’t go back to school this year at all.  She told me I’m gonna help her teacher her first graders,” he giggled.  “Imagine that!  At least I don’t have to take EQAO this year.”

“Lucky you,” Aberdeen wiggled her eyebrows at him.  “Hey, if I order some masks, what designs do you want on them?”

“Raptors and Leafs, obviously,” he smiled.  “Do you even need to ask?”

“Well excuuuuuuse me—”

Their conversation was interrupted by Aberdeen’s phone ringing from its place on her chest.  When she flipped it over to see who would be calling her at this hour, she should have known better than to wonder.  It was William.  It would only be William.  But he was requesting to FaceTime her.  Just as she was about to reject the call, she heard Cam gasp.  “Is that William Nylander?  He’s calling you?!”

She gulped.  “Cam—”

“Answer it!  Answer it!”

She swiped her screen.  She prayed to every saint that he wasn’t already topless.  When he finally appeared on the screen, he was wearing an oversized t-shirt.  She’d have to pray the rosary tonight.  “Hi William,” she greeted formally – no “Hi baby” or “Heeeeeyyyyy” like she usually did, hoping he’d get the hint.  

“Hello…” he answered back awkwardly, not realizing immediately why she was being so formal.  When she tilted the camera and he saw Camden lying beside her smiling from ear-to-ear, waving frantically at him, he understood.  “Heeeyyy Camden,” he greeted, waving back.  

“Hi William!” Camden said.  “How are you?”

“I’m good, buddy, how are you?”

“I’m okay,” he shrugged.  “Aberdeen told me you’re in Tampa Bay with your brother and sisters.”

“I am,” William nodded, shooting the quickest of looks to Aberdeen.  “She texted me to let me know you guys were apparently missing me today at lunch.  I already know my lunch wasn’t as great as the one your mom made.”

Camden giggled slightly.  “It definitely wasn’t.  Mom made lamb today.  Hey William?”

“Yeah bud?”

“Aberdeen told me you have three younger sisters.  I have two older ones.  How do you do it?!”

William burst out laughing, as did Aberdeen.  “Ooooooh Camden.  If I knew, I’d tell you.”

***

“How are you, minskatt?” William asked as he watched Aberdeen get into her bed.  He’d called her again when he knew it was safe – when she was back at her apartment after her dad drove her home.  He hadn’t expected Camden to be on his earlier phone call, of course, but they’d spoken for about ten minutes until Camden was satisfied.

Aberdeen took a deep breath.  She was going for it.  “Jag mår bra hur mår du?” she replied in near-perfect Swedish.

She watched as William’s eyes bulged out dramatically and smiled mischievously.  “Minskatt?!” he gasped dramatically, even going so far as to sit up in bed.  She could only giggle.  “Minskatt where did that come from?  Are you…”

“Mhm,” she nodded before he could finish his thought.  “I ordered a bunch of Swedish language books and I’ve been learning since you left.  I wanted to surprise you.”

“Minskaaaaatt,” he repeated, except this time in a more playful accusatory tone.  “What have you taught yourself?”

“Just the most basic stuff,” she said.  “Hello, how are you, where is the washroom, that kind of stuff.  Verb conjugations are going to come later.  And…” she trailed off.

“And?”

She smiled again.  “Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker,” she whispered.  

It was the most amazing thing William had ever heard.  It didn’t matter that the pronunciation was a bit off – it was incredible.  Incredible.  So incredible that he couldn’t handle it.  He smiled from ear to ear and buried his face in his pillow as he giggled.  “Minskatt…you have no idea how beautiful that sounds,” he said.  “Like…you honestly have no idea.”

“Do you like the surprise?” she asked.

“I fucking love it,” he said.  “Minskatt, you’re too good to me.”

“I want to learn more.  I want…I want to like, become as fluent as I can so that I can speak to your family in Swedish.  You know, when we’re in Sweden.  Whenever that is.”

William’s heart practically burst in his chest.  If it was possible, he would have spontaneously self-combusted right then and there at her words and their sweetness.  “If I could take you to Sweden tomorrow, I would.  God minskatt, I miss you so much.  I’m dying over here.”

“Me too.”

“I want to touch you so bad,” he admitted.  “I was dreaming about it the other night but then I woke up, and I couldn’t fall back asleep again.”

Her heart fluttered.  She’d dreamt about the same thing too last night and woke up sweating.  She’d never been this sexually frustrated before, even in her single days.  To think of the time they spent together during quarantine, only to have him leave and be unable to do those same thing…it was a lot to miss.  A lot to look forward too, as well, once they reunited.  But for now, she could only miss it.  “How were you touching me?” she asked, biting her bottom lip.

She could see his Adam’s apple bob in his throat.  “You know how,” he whispered.

“Tell me,” she said, slipping her hand underneath the covers.  She snaked it down her body and underneath her pajama pants and underwear.  “Tell me how you were touching me.”

William watched as he watched her one arm move and her hand disappear.  He gulped at the sight of it.  “I was touching your pussy,” he huffed, slipping his own hand under the covers.  

“Was it wet for you?”

“Of course,” he said, grabbing hold of his cock, stroking it almost immediately.  “Is…is it wet right now?”

“Getting there,” she nodded.  

“Are you touching yourself?”

“Mhm,” she said, her eyes drooping slightly.  She waited a few moments as she continued to touch herself before she finally continued.  “Tell me how you were touching me.  What were you doing?”

“I was fingering you.  And my thumb was rubbing your clit…how you like it,” his voice was low.

“Mmmmm,” Aberdeen hummed, mimicking what he was saying and doing it to herself as best she could.  She’d done it for so long as a single woman that she’d practically mastered it, but ever since she’d been with William, he’d mastered it in the short amount of time too.  There was nothing he did that didn’t turn her on.  “I had your cock down my throat in my dream last night.”

“Oh fuck,” William huffed, not expecting that at all.  He thought, as always, this was gonna be about pleasuring her by some good old-fashioned phone sex.  He didn’t think she’d go so far as to include him too, considering how new the experience was.  But they were doing this.  “Was it deep in your throat?” he asked.

Aberdeen nodded.  “It hit the back.”

“Fuuuuuck Aberdeen,” he huffed.  He imagined the feeling and it sent shivers down his spine.  He got hard almost immediately at the thought as he kept stroking himself, but ever since he’d been with Aberdeen, his own hand didn’t fucking cut it anymore.  She gave him the best handjobs, the best blowjobs…everything she did was the best to him.  

“Remember when I sucked you off in the backseat of your car?” she asked, her voice sugary sweet.  William nodded his head quickly.  “Remember how you came in my mouth?  You tasted sooooo good, Willy.”

“Ab—Aberdeen—fuck, don’t—”

“I can’t wait to taste it again.”

William’s eyes rolled back.  “I can’t wait to taste your pussy again.”

“When you come back home, I want you to fuck me like you did during quarantine,” she continued.  “Fuck me hard how I like it, Willy.”

“Ab—are you—look at me when you cum, Aberdeen,” William demanded.  He could tell by just a quick look that she was almost there.  “Look at me when you cum.”

“Are you close?”

“Y—Yeah.”

“Cum with me, Willy.  Think of my tight pussy when you cum.”

She could see his face contort slightly as he closed his eyes.  She bit her bottom lip and tried to suppress a loud moan, writhing in her bed and squeezing her legs together as her orgasm took over her body.  She heard William moan too, low and guttural, and when she saw his chest heaving just as much as hers was, she knew he came too.  

As her breathing steadied out, Aberdeen couldn’t help but giggle slightly.  “I can’t believe we just did that,” she admitted.  “That was—”

“That was really hot,” William finished her sentence, albeit more bluntly than her tone.  “That was—we did that quick but God it was hot.”

“Yeah,” Aberdeen nodded.  “Nothing compares to the real thing though.”

“No, it doesn’t,” William agreed.  “The second I land in Toronto – finish quarantine – whatever, I’m taking you to my place and I’m fucking you senseless.”

Aberdeen couldn’t help but giggle and smirk at his words.  “Promise?”

“Promise.”

***

April 14th, 2020

“What did you and your brother do that day?” Aberdeen practically screamed into the phone as the video played on what seemed like an infinite loop on her laptop.  “Seriously.  What made you think to film that?”

“We practiced for a long time!”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure the Toosie Slide dance took a lot of practice.”

“It does!”

“Your poor sister.”

“She lived.”

Aberdeen snorted.  “And what are those shorts, William?!”

“Um, excuse me?  Are you making fun of my shorts?” he giggled.  “I thought you’d like them, seeing as they show off my thighs.  We both know how much you like my thighs…”

“Stop it.”

“No.”

***

April 20th, 2020

“Did you get some sun today?” Aberdeen asked sarcastically, seeing William on FaceTime looking redder than a tomato.  

“You’re funny.”

“Have you heard of sunscreen?”

“I wore sunscreen,” he grumbled.

“Sure you did.”

***

April 25th, 2020

“Have you been writing a lot, minskatt?” William asked as he watched Aberdeen concentrating on her screen, hearing her furious typing through the microphone.  They were on the type of call where the participants just went about their business, connected through the screen, watching the other do their work while also doing their own.  William was just being dumb and scrolling through golfing websites, but Aberdeen was actually being productive.

“Mhm,” she nodded.  “I just…well, you saw how much I wrote when we were together too.  In between the sex,” she chuckled slightly.  “But after you left, there was just this huge burst of inspiration and energy.”

“I think it was the sex,” William deadpanned, causing Aberdeen to laugh.  “The sex inspired you.”

“Well you definitely gave me the energy,” she smiled.  “Too bad what I’m writing isn’t a sex diary or something.”

“What are you writing, minskatt?” he asked, genuinely interested.

“Um…” Aberdeen began, trying to formulate what she was writing into words.  “It’s about a girl.  Well, a group of girls.”

“You mean like that TV show Girls?”

“Better,” Aberdeen huffed.  “Lena Dunham is awful.”

William smiled.  “So a group of girls?”

“A group of girls and their relationships with each other.  And the expectations they have for each other that sometimes may not work in their favour.”

“So is it semi-autobiographical?”

Aberdeen side-eyed him.  Everything in writing was at least somewhat autobiographical.  But he didn’t need to know that.  “Maybe.”

***

April 27th, 2020

“I miss you so much,” William mumbled, his voice sleepy.

“I miss you too,” Aberdeen said, equally as tired.  “I can’t wait for you to hold me.  I can’t wait to just cuddle.”

“Me too.”

***

April 30th, 2020

For the first time in weeks, Aberdeen wasn’t doomscrolling about COVID-19.  She was doomscrolling about William.  

It started innocently enough, by Aberdeen reminiscing on the first time he drove her home from the airport and he spoke about his contract negotiations and how they turned a lot of people sour on him.  She believed him right then and there, but she didn’t go looking.  Now, with nothing to do and a curious mind, she went looking.

And she hated what she found.

Entire articles, practically one written every week, about his trade value.  Those same articles devalkuing him as a player and downplaying his role on the team as a top-six forward.  Panels of analysts and experts demanding that the Leafs trade him.  Entire Twitter accounts dedicated to blasting every single little thing he did on the ice.  Men with nothing better to do than to obsess over him and call him every name in the book.  

And then there was the video from Tim & Sid, the popular sports radio duo in Toronto that Aberdeen listened to for fifteen minutes once, but couldn’t get past Sid Seixeiro’s dumbass opinions.  In the video she watched, he took a less than 10-second clip of something William had said in a post-game interview during a loss against the Panthers and asked, indignantly, “What the hell is wrong with him?”  He then proceeded to go on a five-minute rant about the entire locker room having an attitude problem, how Willy had an attitude problem, how he didn’t care about the team…and people believed it.  She knew it.  People gobbled it up.  It was their serotonin while they hated him and called him a pussy on the internet and threw glasses at him in bars while drunk.  She felt sick to her stomach that these people felt this way about him.  

She’d been crying for a while before she picked up her phone to call him.  Her hands were shaking as she dialled his number, waiting for him to answer.  “Hi minskatt,” he cooed after the fourth ring.

“Willy,” she greeted, her voice shaky.

The last time she’d called him in such a state, she was being followed from her apartment.  William’s mind immediately went into overdrive.  “Minskatt?  What’s wrong?”

“Willy you know I love you, right?”

He softened slightly.  “Of course I do.  Why would you—”

“—I love you every way you are—"

“—Aberdeen—”

“—And I know you’re a good person and I love you so much, more than anything—”

“—Aberdeen—Aberdeen—stop.  What is this about?��

She took a quick breath.  “What everyone says about you, Willy.  They’re horrible.  Horrible.  I was reading and I was watching these videos and they’re just awful to you and—”

“Aberdeen, I told you not to watch those videos,” he said.

“Willy, please,” she begged.  “How could they say those things about you and not even know you?  How can they still be so bitter after your contract negotiations?!”

“Aberdeen—”

“I love you, Willy.  I love you every way you are,” she repeated.  “I don’t care what anybody has to say about you.  I love you.  I love you.”

“I love you too, Aberdeen,” he said calmly but fiercely.  “Aberdeen, you can’t listen to them.  I learned how to tune them out a long time ago.  Even if I did…I don’t care what they say about me.  I know who I am, Aberdeen.  I know the truth, and they don’t.  And you do too.”

“I do, but I just…they’re so awful, Willy.  I don’t know how you can stand it.”

“Like I said…I know my truth.  My family knows.  And you do.  The most important people in my life know the truth and that’s all that matters.  I don’t give a fuck about what they think of me,” he said.  

Aberdeen stayed silent.  She knew she was overreacting, but damnit, she needed to overreact.  She’d been a part of the hockey world now for what felt like a century, and if what she had with William was going to last, it would be a major part of her life for years to come.  She needed to learn to roll with the punches.  But at the same time, she felt like if those punches were unjustified, then she was justified in being upset about them and wanting to speak out.  “I just love you so much,” she whispered, her voice much calmer now but still a bit shaky.  “God, I’m such a horrible girlfriend.  I’m calling you crying about the stupid Toronto media on the night before your birthday—”

“It’s okay, minskatt,” he interrupted.  “I would rather you call me then cry alone.  Besides, my birthday isn’t going to be special because you won’t be here.”

“Willy, don’t say that.”

“I mean it,” he replied.  “I wish I could spend it with you.  Fuck, I wish I could fly you down to Florida on a private fucking plane just so I could spend time with you.  I’d kill someone just to hold your hand right now.”

Her heart fluttered.  “I wish you’d come back to Toronto,” she whispered.  “When you get back, Willy…I’m gonna let you hold my hand so hard.”

They both snorted.  “I’ll be eagerly awaiting my gift, by the way,” he said, knowing that whatever she had in store for him for his birthday would be waiting for him when he got back to Toronto.  She made it that way – she promised, and he’d accepted.  He was dying in anticipation, but he’d accepted. 

“Want a little piece of it now?” she asked.

He smiled.  “You know I do.”

***

May 1st, 2020

Happy birthday I know you’re spending the day with your brother so it’s okay if you don’t text back I just want you to know how much I love you.  I’m sorry that I waited so long.  I’m sorry I denied it for so long.  You have been so good to me Willy.  I hope I’m half as good to you as you are to me.  I’ve never felt the love that you give me every single day from another person and I think that’s because the universe was saving it for ~you, for  ~you to show me, because I can’t picture it being from anyone else.  I love you so much and I miss you.  Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker.

i love u more than anything minskatt Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker always i will always love u i wish u were here with me nothing is the same without u

nothing is the same without you either I love you so much Willy

i love u aberdeen

[ayuki-ikuya]

Fellow Piers simp with a trainersona here and a separate oc with Rai: ✨Go for it homie✨ Go absolutely ape! Tell us about her

OKAY

so I've tried doing research about Johto before writing about her since I have little information about Johto.

Johto is based off from Japan (it's more eastern qualities) while Kanto was a more westernized Japan (if you watched Geisha, it shows the transition from Japan transitioning to more western style after the war.)

So the name Katsumi was given. I believe her name meaning is "eternal beauty" but I'm not sure.

If I were to describe Katsumi, she'd be a Ninetales or a Fox. She has this air about her that draws her in, it's soothing even. But as she battles, she's more two faced than she seems, being more mocking and maybe even animalistic than her kinder self.

She does restrain herself from her more dark side, because a common rule as a maiko and geisha, is to always look and be pretty to capture the attention of others.

Katsumi is based off from the Kimono Girls in Johto, the Kimono girls are actually Maiko's as they tie their obi's sash long while normal is tucked in or tied short (same with a Geisha's) however, in Pokemon, they don't wear heavy makeup that way they can battle appropriately while still maintaining looks.

Since I'm basing Katsumi from Maiko's, she learns various arts, from dance to music to cooking. And of course, even when away from Johto, she still practices dancing (she prefers dancing over music) which has caught several pokemons attention in the past.

Her Johto team consists of:

Lucario

Gyrados

And Chansey.

Her Galar team will be:

Gyrados (from her Johto team)

Eevee (who will evolve into Umbreon)

Deino (who evolves into zwelious then Hydregion)

Munchlax (evolves into Snorlax)

Kirlia (evolves into Gardevior)

And Puncham (evolves into Pangoro)

I won't disclose when she catches them (which will be in the story I'm writting) nor their abilities and move sets. I can tell you that Katsumi favors Dark Types.

Katsumi makes her first appearance in the Gym Battle Opening Ceremony! Her exotic looks catching many of the people's attention.

Having to fight the Yell team since they were blocking Budew Inn, she does her first official Pokemon Battle in Galar with her Gyrados who swept them away with Twister!

Katsumi calls out her pokemon rather eloquently. Like, "Let's dance amongst the water, Gyrados", Katsumi is a lover of drama and theatrics, so she likes to put on a show which is apart of her two faced-ness.

If I were to place Katsumi as a Game Character, she'd be an Easter Egg and a very Hidden Boss. The main Characters wouldn't be able to fight her unless level 100 as the final boss is also level 100, meaning she's far more challenging than she looks in the beginning.

You'd be able to fight her in the tournaments after becoming a Galar Champion (beating Leon) but because she makes rare appearances, it's hard to fight her. If Leon and Katsumi ever get matched up, it usually ends in either Katsumi winning or a draw depending on ALL of your Pokémon level. (All 100 = Katsumi winning)

Her relationships would mostly be the children of the house she moved to as a tenant (which is in the same place for the Opening Ceremony hence why she hasn't caught any other pokemon in Galar yet)

Katsumi prefers pokemon over people. People means maintaining herself to appear appropriately and having to be more polite than she wants to do to etiquette. While with pokemon, she can bond with them more easily through being herself (her more rougher side).

As for her league cards, she has two special league cards which is dependent on which version you're playing.

Sword version is her more wild side, showing her face during her battles (more on Leon or Raihan's battle since her face shows more during their fight)

Sword version notes: seeing the ever so gentle Johto girl being fierce to rival Raihan is an odd sight, but pleasant to finally see a crack in her ever so pretty mask.

Shield version gets her more softer side, showing her dancing in a field without knowing about the picture.

Shield version notes: A picture that was taken in secret, you can see how gentle she is with how she stands, the pokemon around her watching her still form. How can someone be this elegant?

Her normal League Card is just the standard card but she angles herself towards the left (our left mind you) with her head angled towards the camera with a serene smile.

As for her relationship with Raihan and Piers, Raihan was intrigued by her, knowing the Dragon Type master in Johto, and seeing her appear on Pokegram every once in awhile (until she got Kirlia) sends a shiver down his spine since he can sorta get a feeling that she's hiding more than she seems.

Piers never met her, but has heard of her from Team Yell and Marnie when they met up in Spikemuth. When Katsumi appeared herself, he nearly choked seeing a "Pretty lil' dainty thing in this dump". his words, not mine. But because Piers oh so happens to be a dark type gym leader, Katsumi had immediately grew attached to him which shocked a lot of people.

Katsumi, the goddess from eastern lands, paired with THE Piers? The shock was an understatement.

Piers did appreciate her adoration to dark type pokemon though. And her need to be on the same level as him in battle as it was the Johto way to be fair.

If we wanna dive into the romance interests then:

Raihan is absolutely clingy to Katsumi and always wants to fight her. It's his way showing how devoted he is to her by challenging her to fights often after training and resting. And he hopes Katsumi would notice. If we went into a more NSFW style, Raihan is the epitome of clinginess. Because he's so tall compared to Katsumi, he'd use his jacket and put it over her, forcing her to either poke her head out to see or to try and escape which ends up him wrapping his arms around her. And when he does capture her, Raihan would drag her to a more secluded area and start marking her neck with bites and hickies. If he gets REALLY worked up (specially after a battle against Katsumi) he'd take his coat off, wrap it around her, tie the sleeves and then sling her onto his shoulder and with his long ass legs, he'd be heading to his apartment.

For Piers, he's not really affectionate or seen as affectionate, but he would often be near Katsumi whenever they were both free. Whenever he is affectionate he'd wrap an arm or two around Katsumi and bring her closer to him. For NSFW, Piers would be slightly clingy, but not as bad as Raihan since Piers is busy with being an artist (music artist btw) and training Marnie to be a gym leader. But whenever they're together, Piers would be resting his head on Katsumi's shoulder or head depending on their sitting position. Anytime Katsumi gets a call or goes to escape somewhere, Piers would grab a hold of her chin and kiss her rather passionately, which would leave Katsumi breathless since Piers literally has a long tongue, and he uses it. If Katsumi is still out of it (or continues to try to escape), Piers would take her to his place or to the campsite.

Katsumi has long black hair which reaches to her lower back, having four beauty marks total on her face, two right below her right eye (our left), one below her left eye (our right) and one at the right corner of her lips (our left).

(I think of drawing as a mirror, if you draw a character's face you have to think about the blemishes placement. If their back is to you, then it's both of your rights and lefts while facing each other is their left is your right and their right is your left. Sorry if it's confusing.)

She has black eyes (whenever in an intense battle, her eyes darken with no highlight making her appear soulless but it just means her facade is cracking) and thick eyelashes, her lips are painted red on her bottom lip while the corners of her eyes are touched with a rouge since she is a Maiko Trainer.

(I made up that Kimono Girls are Maiko Trainers, meaning they wear less makeup and have a battle/formal kimono, a traveling kimono and sleep wear. Normal Maiko's wears the standard makeup and wears more formal kimono's. Maiko trainers require to wear a sort of eye shadow at the corner of their eyes in replacement for the lack of white makeup on their face, it is to signal other Maiko's what status they are. If they wear red/rogue eye shadow, then they are an advance/master maiko trainer. If blue, then they are an intermediate. If pink then they are a beginner. Maiko trainers also have to wear certain color palettes to signal what stage they are which often correlates to their eye shadow. Since Maiko's in general wear lighter colors, they wear pastels or just a light shade.)

Katsumi wears a light pink kimono that fades to a light red at the ends of her kimono. Her obi sash being a deeper red while her obiage is white. Her nagajuban is red as per tradition, her pocchuri buckle is silver flowers, while her okobo shoes still maintains the red straps and still contains bells in them.

Fun fact about Maiko's, Maiko's are usually 16-20 years old mainly because Maiko's would choose to marry around that age, while Geisha's would have to retire or runaway (depending on time period) to marry. Geisha's aren't allowed to have a spouse, the most they can have close to a spouse is an escort.

THIS IS ALL FOR NOW! I'LL PUT UP SOME DOODLES ABOUT KATSUMI (WITH AN OCCASIONAL RAIHAN/PIER OR TWO)