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skzms · 7 months ago

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🌊 ೃ‧₊◜ sea may rise, sky may fall chapter VII

pairing: lee know x f!reader x han jisung

summary: will the code be cracked? will the captain, jisung, and minho finally crack, too?

word count: 7.7k

warnings: mentions of parent death; mentions of murder; ptsd flashback? very mild, tough; probably ooc ryunjin and yeji cameos; drinking

author's note: wheeee this one has lotsa plot (something still so new for me and this chapter felt like a huge turning point in my writing but I hope you like itttt) but also some other developments 👀 and some more minho backstory. enjoy!!!!!! ily all!!

this series is 🔞, so minors, please DNI

series masterlist // skzms masterlist

< chapter VI - chapter VIII >

Minho thinks he can smell the stink of Nassau as soon as the ship rounds the sandbanks and palm trees of Hogg Island and enters the channel. It’s unlikely, he knows, but something about the familiar view of the tree-strewn main island, the church bells ringing across the water, of the squat houses along the coast, the call of the herring gulls overhead.

He forces himself to stand on the quarterdeck next to the captain, behind Seungmin, who navigates past the sandbank and into the wide harbour. When they get closer, Jeongin pokes his head out from the lookout.

“They are signalling for us to anchor at the quay!” he yells, surprise evident in his voice.

Hyunjin scoffs further down the deck, leans against the railing next to Chan.

“They know we’re about to make their traders half a year’s worth of money.”

The captain shrugs, a small, but pleased smile on her lips.

“Dock at the quay then, Seungmin,” she orders, and Seungmin nods.

Twenty minutes later, Minho’s boot hits the slippery wood of the Nassau quay – and now he’s really smelling it, the distinct mix of brackish water and heat-spoiled rum. A laughing gull starts its maniacal cackle on a pole sticking out of the water right next to him and suddenly, it’s 16 years earlier.

12-year-old Minho, tears running down his cheeks, mixing with the rainwater that was slowly, ruthlessly soaking him to the bone as he heaved shovelfuls and shovelfuls of wet, heavy mud out of the cemetery plot he had begged the vicar to let him have. He didn’t even have a headstone, only a cross he had nailed together out of one of their chairs and carved her name into, but he wanted her to have this. A resting place to call her own. The vicar had had pity on him, and had probably seen her at his services often enough. That, or he knew that Minho didn’t have anyone else to ask money from. He was alone in the world now.

Another shovelful hits the grass next to the hole he’s digging, and he sobs, his lithe arms shaking and his heart a dead thing in his chest, his mother’s voice still in his ears, telling him that he will be okay, that he can do anything he sets his mind to. That he’s her son, and that that alone means he will survive anything.

She didn’t, though. She was dead. He had found her, in her room. And now he was burying her. Or trying to.

He hears the laughing gull when the shovel slips out of his hands the first time. Intoning its mocking laughter, as the mud cakes into Minho’s wounds, stings so bad it drives more tears from his eyes. Only a few more feet to go, he tells himself; tells himself his mother is watching, has her warm, soft hand on his shoulder as he digs. He owes her this. The cold, gold cross is stuck to his chest. The laughing gull cackles. He picks up the shovel again.

“Minho?”

Hyunjin’s hand finds his shoulder and squeezes. His voice cuts through the fog in Minho’s head and suddenly the air is warm, the sun is burning down on him, his mother has been dead and buried for 16 years and he survived.

“Hmm?” is the only answer he can muster, along with a grimace of a smile. Judging by the look on Hyunjin’s face, he is not fooling anyone.

“Take a deep breath for me?” Hyunjin suggests softly and Minho does, focuses on the sun, the sound of the water lapping against the ship, on Hyunjin behind him and takes a shaky breath in and out. Hyunjin massages his shoulders gently, hums encouragingly.

“There you go,” he mumbles, rounding Minho so he can look at him. His eyes are big and full of worry. “Better?”

Minho blinks at him, nods, something tiny and needy raising its head in his heart; he hadn’t realised just how much he’d missed his friends these last few months.

“Thanks,” he breathes out, but Hyunjin just smiles, shakes his head. Minho returns his smile, and it’s shaky, but apparently more convincing because Hyunjin pats his shoulder one more time before he steps back.

“Will you be okay? I need to go see about rations, but do you want me to get Changbin?” Minho shakes his head.

“’Captain and I are about to go see the code person now.”

Hyunjin nods, gives Minho’s shoulder one more solid squeeze before he turns and walks off and into town. The laughing gull has long since flown off, only the herring gulls crying above him as he waits.

But when the captain climbs down from the ship, any and all warmth Hyunjin left behind vanishes. Because Jisung is right behind her.

Minho’s shoulders tense almost immediately. Jisung fixes him with a shy look that is entirely too infuriating for Minho to handle. The gall, to act innocent …

“Minho, you ready?” the captain asks, quirking her eyebrow and giving him a glare that Minho doesn’t need so much as a second thought to interpret as be nice or else. He can be nice, he thinks. Though it seems that’s more Jisung’s forte. Being overly nice and worming his way into business that isn’t his.

His nod to the captain is terse, but she accepts it, motions for them to follow her down the quay and into the small town. He doesn’t spare Jisung another glance, his eyes stubbornly ahead or on the captain as she takes them down a lane to the right that leads straight out of the small town.

Minho doesn’t look left when they pass the street he knows leads to the old church with the little churchyard that he hasn’t been to in 16 years, though its presence burns a hole into his heart. Only when they’re almost all the way out of town does he realise his fists are clenched.

They walk in complete silence for a while, Minho’s scowl enough to intimidate Jisung and make the captain not want to deal with him. He doesn’t fight it. They walk and Minho notices, with considerable relief, how the stench of Nassau fades as they walk down the long dirt road. It’s almost serene out here, with the sea glimmering on one side, huts scattered along the road on the other, closely bordered by thick woodland. There are more birds out here, apart from gulls. A swallow flits from tree to another with a vibrant twitter, a heron stalks through the marshy water of a little inlet.

When they’ve gone a decent way out of town, the captain finally comes to a halt in front of one of the scattered huts. It’s a relatively large one, two-stories of wood with the paint chipping off, surrounded by an overgrown garden and bordered by a rotting, hand-built fence that looks like it’s seen better days. There are countless pots of all shapes and sizes lined up along the side of the house, bushels of herbs and other exotic plants Minho doesn’t recognise thriving towards the sun. The whole garden is unkempt, the native plants, taking advantage of their native soil, battling some more exotic plants that have clearly been planted with purpose. Nobody seems to bother to mediate this fight. Despite the heat of the day, there’s smoke billowing out of the chimney.

“Let’s hope they can help us,” the captain murmurs, and pushes open the rickety gate. Minho follows her first, leaving Jisung behind him, following right behind her as she walks up to the front door of the hut and knocks confidently.

There’s a commotion from the inside, and the door opens just a crack before it’s ripped open entirely. All Minho sees is a flurry of wispy black hair before two arms with countless golden bangles and bracelets wrap around the captain’s shoulders with a deafening jingle, pulling her into a crushing hug that almost sweeps her off her feet. The captain breathes out a yelp and a giggle, bubbly and light and entirely unfamiliar.

The blur of wispy hair and golden bangles pulls back, and Minho sees it’s a young woman, around the captain’s age, with a boyish face, sparkly eyes and a gigantic, warm smile on her face. She takes the captain by the shoulders and shakes her gently.

“You haven’t come to visit in three years, Y/Nie!” she exclaims, but it’s clear she’s just teasing. There’s no hiding the excitement in her voice.

The captain giggles again, and Minho swears it’s the prettiest thing he’s ever heard.

“I’m sorry, Ryu,” she says, squeezes the other woman’s arms back, “I’m a little busy these days.”

“Of course, captain,” the woman laughs, and winks. Then her gaze finally sweeps past her old friend and lands on Minho and Jisung, her face falling, an unfocused confusion in her eyes as she looks between them, and then the captain a few times. There’s something penetrating in her gaze, like she’s seeing much more than he wants her to, and it unsettles him, makes anxiety prickle all over his body. Ryujin blinks at the captain, and the captain laughs nervously.

“Sorry, how rude of me. This is Minho, my second-in-command, and this is Jisung, he just joined us recently.”

Minho bows tensely, trying not to squirm away from the strange woman’s stare. Jisung next to him is a fidgeting mess, blushing as he bows. The captain turns to them.

“And this, this is Ryujin. She’s one of my oldest friends, along with … is Yeji here? We kinda need her help.”

Ryujin nods, and turns around, waving for the three of them to follow her.

As soon as Minho steps over the threshold, it’s like he steps into a furnace. There’s a fire burning in the fireplace, something bitter and herbal smelling brewing in a pot, and it fills the entire room with an excruciatingly moist heat and an overwhelming aroma. Sweat starts beading on his forehead almost immediately. Next to him, Jisung stumbles over a stack of books and Minho glares at him. Jisung blushes.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, and Minho rolls his eyes.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you so nervous?”

Jisung shrugs, his bottom lip jutting out.

“I dunno, I just … I get nervous around new people, okay?” Minho rolls his eyes again, but he feels a flicker of warmth deep in his chest as he watches Jisung, his eyes big and sparkling in the low light of the fireplace, ringed fingers twisting around each other. He smothers the flicker brutally.

“Baby, is that really Y/Nie or am I hearing things,” a female voice calls from upstairs and as soon as Ryujin calls up an affirmative, a woman with cat-like features and fire-red hair comes barreling down the stairs, squealing as she runs towards the captain, who catches her effortlessly, twirls her around.

“I can’t believe it took you so long to come visit,” the woman, Yeji, Minho assumes, breathes into the captain’s hair before she pulls back, holding her at arm’s length so she can look her over. Then she gives the captain a playful glare.

“I wrote?” The captain offers, sheepishly, and Yeji rolls her eyes, but there’s a smile on her lips.

“Don’t even believe for a second that we didn’t hear about it every time you were in Nassau and didn’t make your way out here.”

The captain’s face falls, an unfamiliar shadow of uncertainty and embarrassment in her eyes. In another world, Minho has the ability to reach out, wipe the sadness from her beautiful face. In this one, he just watches, his face schooled into a cool neutrality. Jisung next to him fidgets with a ring.

“I … I couldn’t …” she starts, but trails off, dropping her gaze to the floor, “I never had the time, either we didn’t stay long enough or I couldn’t get away from the ship. I promise, I …”

Yeji shuts her up by pulling her into another hug.

“Don’t worry, I’m just teasing you. All that matters is that you’re here now. Why don’t we take a look at whatever that is in your bag. But before that …”

She turns to Minho and Jisung, sending them a bright smile. Minho likes her better, she doesn’t give him the creeps.

“My name’s Yeji, I’m Ryujin’s wife. Half of our love story wouldn’t have been possible without Y/N actually, so we’re always happy to see her.

“Hardly,” the captain interjects, “you only talked a stranger’s ear off about this really cute clairvoyant girl you wanted to go see until said stranger took pity on you and went with you.”

Clairvoyant? That would explain why she’s so creepy.

Yeji sticks her tongue at the captain. Minho tries to imagine a younger captain, her expression less schooled, her gait less confident, her hair maybe longer, her eyes brighter, in a bar, all by herself. He wonders if he would remember if he met her then. Wonders if he would’ve had the courage to go up to her, to strike up a conversation. Wonders if they would’ve even gotten along. His heart wants to say yes.

“Well, if you hadn’t been there that night, I would’ve never gotten the courage to go see her. And then we wouldn’t have exchanged names, and we wouldn’t be here today. But enough about us,” she laughs, and turns back to the two men, “you are?”

Minho bows, tries to smile at Yeji, but it’s hard. He’s not good at this.

“Lee Minho, the captain’s second-in-command.”

Yeji greets him, a gentle smile on her lips, before she turns to Jisung. Jisung’s face is flushed, whether because of the frankly ridiculous heat in the room or because he’s still nervous, Minho doesn’t know. He bows, too, but when he rises, he sends Yeji such a disarming, crooked smile that Minho gets annoyed. Of course, he would make a better first impression.

“H- Jisung, my name’s Jisung, I joined the captain’s crew recently.”

Ryujin suddenly gasps.

“Oh, that’s interesting!”

Minho can’t help the scowl on his face when he looks over at her. Yeji turns around, but the captain intercepts the situation.

“Jisung is Han Yujun’s nephew. We found him on one of his uncle’s ships, and he wanted to join us.”

Yeji’s eyes narrow. She lets her eyes drag up and down Jisung’s form.

Jisung straightens up, his nervous hands twisting together in front of him. One of his knuckles cracks and Minho wants to reach out, still those cursed, restless hands. Jisung wearing his heart on his sleeve drives him fucking crazy. It would get him killed one day.

“They saved me, really,” Jisung offers with a much weaker smile now, “my uncle has always hated me, tried to get me killed on foolhardy missions. And I hate him, for what he did to me, for what he does to everyone else under his governance. I want him gone.”

Yeji throws a glance at Ryujin, waits until the latter has stared at Jisung for another few seconds and gives some kind of nod of approval. Once she does, Yeji relaxes.

“Well, an enemy of Han Yujun’s, whatever shape he may take, is a friend of ours. Welcome, you two.”

“That’s actually what we need your help with, Yeji,” the captain begins. Carefully, she pulls the two maps from her satchel, walks over to the table in the middle of what most likely is meant to be the dining room, but is really only another densely packed living room, and unrolls them.

“These are maps we intercepted on Han Yujun’s ships. One on the one Jisung was on, another on one that attacked us a few weeks later. At first, we thought they were maps, but geographically, they make … no sense. So we figured, they’re …”

“A code,” Yeji breathes out, her eyes fixed on the maps as if she’s magnetised to them. She takes them from the captain’s hands, and arranges them on the table, pulling a piece of paper and a pen from a drawer.

“Exactly,” the captain breathes out. She watches Yeji carefully, throws a glance to Ryujin, whose eyes are impassive, “and with how intricate the maps are, how carefully drawn, the fact that the edges are gilded – it all speaks to the fact that Han Yujun was trying to impress someone.”

Yeji runs a finger over the tangled up shapes around the edge of the map, scribbles something down.

“If you can even just help us find out who that is, we would already get us further than we have in years. But if we can find out what these messages say, there’s no telling what we might be able to do.”

Minho can hear it, the tremor in the captain’s voice. Ever since he can remember, all the petty criminals they fought, the crews of wayward pirates who went against the code, who violated everything humanity stood for, the end goal had always been Han Yujun, the man who had ruined more lives than they could count.

“Gilded edges,” Ryujin mumbles, and shakes her head.

Jisung steps up to the table, though he still looks nervous, half his body hiding behind the captain’s.

“My uncle always tried to impress the other governors of these islands,” Jisung says, a hand running through his shaggy hair restlessly. When the captain turns to him, his ears tint pink, “throwing lavish dinners he couldn’t afford, forcing himself into jewelled waistcoats that he barely managed to button up. It was pitiful, most of the other governors hated his guts.”

Ryujin frowns, but chuckles drily.

“Not like they’re any better.”

Jisung shrugs.

“Some of them were better than others, but none of them were worse than my uncle. Most of them caught onto him pretty fast, only visited once, twice at most, before it dawned on them what a piece of shit he was. Avoided him like the plague afterwards, …”

Ryujin hums. There’s a faraway look in Jisung’s eyes, and he buries his fists in his pockets. The captain slides a comforting arm around Jisung’s shoulders, gives him a little squeeze. Jisung leans into the touch, gives her a shy smile, bats his eyelashes at her. Minho wants to shove Han Jisung into the ocean.

“Well, sounds like we’d be doing more people a favour by putting your uncle behind bars,” the captain jokes and Jisung laughs. There’s a familiarity between them that makes Minho’s stomach churn.

“You’d be doing everyone a favour,” Jisung sighs, and rolls his eyes, his head tipping in her direction just enough that he can blink at her cheekily, making the captain breathe out a light little laugh that Jisung drinks in greedily.

Scratch that. Minho wants to drown Han Jisung with his bare fucking hands.

But he stays where he is, aching, wanting to be anywhere but here and yet nowhere else but by her side. Nausea rises in his throat. If only it wasn’t so fucking hot in this room, he thinks, as a bead of sweat drips down his neck.

Yeji is still scowling at the paper, scribbling furiously, and Ryujin sighs.

“She’ll be busy with that for a while, why don’t you help me make some tea, Y/N?”

The captain nods, throws Minho a glance that he hopes he returns with some semblance of normalcy, though there’s no telling any more, and follows Ryujin into another room.

“I’ll wait outside,” Minho announces into the silence as soon as she’s gone. His voice sounds odd and out of place in the room, and he turns around before he is forced to reckon with an answer.

Minho knows that the air outside is technically hot, humid, and hot, but compared to the sweltering heat of the little hut, the breeze blowing over his sweaty neck actually makes him shiver. Letting his eyes rove over the small garden, he spots a small metal bench, tucked into a little spot against a hedge that borders the rickety fence. He takes a few steps towards it, eyes it carefully to make sure it can actually hold him. But it looks sturdy enough. He sinks down, and he lets his head fall into his hands. He takes a deep breath. It comes out shaky.

He hates being back here. He fucking hates Nassau with all his heart. For everything it did to him, everything it took from him. He hates even more who he becomes when he’s here, all jittery and quick to anger, his heart like an open wound in his chest. He feels strung out, bared to the elements, to anyone who looks to close. He doesn’t want them to, doesn’t know what he’ll do if they do.

His mother never liked it either. She would tell him all about it, all those nights they spent huddled together on the dilapidated porch of their home – tell him how any day now she would finally have enough money to hitch them a ride on a ship to go … somewhere else. She always said it was going to be a surprise, but adult Minho knows better – she never had a plan, her only urge was to just get as far away from Nassau as possible.

Away from her history, away from the little churchyard where her parents lay buried, and where she would be buried not long after, away from the creditors, away from the pimp who, as Minho found out many years later, blackmailed her into staying with him by threatening to expose who Minho’s father was.

Minho took care of them all, one by one, over the years. Found the men who had driven his mother onto the path that would eventually lead to her death. He made sure they knew why he was killing them before he did. He made it painful, he made it cruel. Wiped out their confidants, their secretaries, anyone who could take up their mantle.

In retrospect, he knows that something wasn’t right with him back then. But when it was done, when every last one of them was taken care of and Minho finally knew he did all he could, he felt free. Black and dead, but free. And still so lonely it took his breath away sometimes.

He digs the heels of his hands into his eyes until he sees stars, feels pinpricks of pain in his eyeballs. He hears the door of the hut open, the thud of boots coming down the path, then stop. When he looks up, he makes eye contact with Han Jisung. Minho sighs.

“There’s really no escaping you, huh,” he mumbles, more to himself than to Jisung, but he can’t help but notice how Jisung’s face falls, before he sets his eyebrows, tosses his head and walks over to Minho.

Minho watches him calmly as he approaches and sits down next to him, the little metal bench squeaking under the extra weight.

Somewhere in the distance, a gull cackles. Minho’s knuckle cracks where he squeezes his hand into a fist.

“I mean … It was really awkward in there, yes, but I actually, …” Jisung starts, stares at Minho before he blinks, and averts his eyes, gaze falling to his hands that are folded in his lap. He starts fiddling with his rings again. Minho squeezes his fist tighter. His knuckles crack again.

“I actually wanted to apologise,” Jisung finally says, and Minho’s thoughts grind to a screeching halt. He blinks at Jisung, who’s still not looking at him.

“I wanted to apologise for … for kissing you.”

The last words come out in barely more than a whisper. He chuckles awkwardly. He twists one ring so hard is hand slips.

“I mean, if I’m honest, it kinda rocked my world, but I’m still sorry. I shouldn’t have just … done that. Not after saying what I did. Which I’m also sorry for, by the way. I was talking to Chan, and … let’s just say I know now that you wouldn’t have called me by my abuser’s nickname if you’d known. Not you.”

Minho’s still frozen in place, his heart thundering in his chest. He wants to say many things. Wants to ask what on earth he meant when he said it rocked his world. Wants to ask what Chan told him, why they were talking about him. In the end, he settles for none of that.

“I’m not the most observant,” he mumbles and Jisung chuckles. It’s a light little thing, as light as the breeze that makes more goosebumps shiver down Minho’s spine.

“I mean, you are,” Jisung hums, looks up at Minho and smiles. Minho barely dares to breathe. “It just depends on who you’re watching. I know one person you look at more than anyone else.”

Something painful curls in Minho’s guts. The memory of Jisung’s skin, of his lips, of how he had run back to her, thrown himself into her body, trying to make it up to her, trying to forget the guilt – but most of all trying to forget the fact that there was no reason to feel guilty because she wasn’t his, he wasn’t hers, she, for all he knew, could’ve done lord knows what with lord knows who, and he may have never known. Even when he couldn’t, wouldn’t, didn’t see any point in anyone else as long as she …

Minho doesn’t answer Jisung. Just averts his gaze, stares across the garden at a tall Jasmine bush, focuses on the little white flowers, the scent of them in the air. Jisung next to him is quiet, too. Less fidgety, though Minho knows he probably wants an answer that Minho can’t give him. Better to get used to the disappointment early, Minho thinks.

Suddenly, there’s a commotion inside the little hut, a triumphant cheer, then a yell of the captain’s name. Minho is on his feet before he can even think, Jisung hot on his heels as he hurries back inside.

When he opens the door, the captain lifts her head, makes eye contact with him and Minho knows.

They got him.

“He’s trying to get out from under the crown,” she laughs out, Yeji next to her has a triumphant smile on her lips. Ryujin is leaning over the captain’s shoulder, reading Yeji’s notes. But the captain is staring at him.

“He’s trying to sell the territory to the Spanish, pocketing the money before turning around and staging a coup and making them independent. And he’s trying to recruit other governors to do the same, to maximise their chances, their gains. This is …”

“High treason,” Minho breathes out. “High fucking treason.”

The captain nods, and then her lips stretch into the biggest smile and Minho takes a hesitant step forward before he stops again. He’s itching to take her into his arms, to wrap her legs around his waist, twirl her around, kiss her breathless, feel her smile against his lips. But he stops himself, watches as she blinks at him, her pretty, ringed hands twitching around the paper, her mouth opening like she wants to say something. There’s a shadow that crosses her face. But Minho can’t have that, he needs her to feel this, the culmination of all her work, all her sacrifices over the years.

So he smiles at her, makes his way over, stepping up to the side of her that Ryujin readily concedes to him, leans some of his chest against her arm.

He reads.

HYJ to NT. Planned date of sale to SP 20 May 16––. Matthew Town.Independence when agreed capital is made over to us and defence against crown secured. Pray confirm.

Then underneath it.

HYJ to LD. Planned date of sale to SP 20 May 16––. Making over of San Salvador from NT September 16–– in exchange for defence against crown + NT head. Pray confirm.

“Double timing, bastard,” he mumbles, and the captain snorts out a laugh.

“I doubt he could swing this, maybe we should just let it play out.”

Minho scoffs, grasps the opportunity to turn to her, closing the gap between their bodies enough so he can let his hand rest softly on her lower back where nobody can see. He scrapes his nails over the fabric of her shirt, watches her eyes glimmer.

“I’m not taking any chances with this piece of shit. I’d sail across the entire ocean and hand-deliver him to that old hag, the queen if it meant I could see him hang.”

Yeji snorts, and he gives her a dark smirk. He really does like her. Ryujin next to her, has her eyes fixed on where Minho’s hand is still ghosting over the captain’s back. She couldn’t possibly see, so how … He’s distracted by Yeji turning abruptly to Jisung, who was still lingering by the door, a little ways away from the group of them. He looks lost, only hesitantly steps closer. The captain wordlessly hands him the translated note. He reads. Hums.

“What’s up with you?” Yeji asks, and there’s an edge to her tone. “Changed your mind? Suddenly feeling the need to defend your dear uncle? Run off to tell him that we have him cornered?”

Jisung scoffs, and sends her a glare, the first unkind thing he’s done in this house so far, and it strikes Minho how unusual it feels.

“As if,” he mumbles. Then he takes a deep breath and points at the paper.

“LD stands for Lord Dunmore, he is one of the few governors who didn’t immediately run as soon as my uncle showed his true colours. I think he might actually like him, which should tell you everything you need to know. It doesn’t surprise me that he would be the one hired to off Nicholas Trott, or NT. Now, …”

Jisung points lower, gives them a look.

“Trott, on the other hand, he’s the governor of San Salvador. Tall, skinny man. A son and a daughter and a penchant for gardening and whores. Has been turning a blind eye to the drug business being run from his harbour because they cut him in. He’s a piece of shit, but he would probably help us. I know where he lives.”

Yeji huffs out a laugh.

“Guess I underestimated you.”

Jisung just shrugs, throws the captain an uncertain look, his eyes barely brushing Minho where he’s still glued to her side. He doesn’t look as triumphant as he should.

In the distance, the town’s clocktower strikes, and the captain throws a glance out the window, at the slowly setting sun. She takes a step away from Minho. Minho’s hand falls uselessly by his side, and he misses her touch already.

She smiles at her two friends.

“We need to get back, tell the crew about what we found, and probably celebrate,” she says, “You’re welcome to join us, if you want, since … we couldn’t have done it without you.”

Ryujin smiles at her, but shakes her head.

“We don’t really go into town after dark, especially not the bars, but thank you.”

Yeji grins.

“When you get him? Make it painful.”

When the captain says goodbye at the door, Yeji hugs her for a long time.

“Make sure to come visit us again soon, okay? No more coming to Nassau without making the trip out here,” she tells the captain, cups her face, before Ryujin takes her place. She looks troubled.

“Be careful out there, Y/Nie,” she mumbles, “good luck. You’ll need it.”

She pulls the captain into a hug, staring at Minho across her shoulder. She whispers something Minho can’t hear in the captain’s ear before she pulls back.

They make their way through the overgrown garden, out the rickety gate, back onto the dirt road into town. Minho claims his rightful place next to the captain, talks to her about the maps, the code, how they should approach this. Jisung trails behind them, quietly.

The sun is setting, the last rays of sunlight slipping through the palm trees as you make your way down the Main Street after dropping the satchel with the maps and the codes off in your triple locked quarters.

You hear your crew before you can even possibly see them. Their discordant but gleeful singing ringing through the open windows of a small, dark tavern. Light is pouring out of the windows, the door wide open to create some airflow in the sticky hot night.

Jisung behind you is still quiet, avoids your eyes when you turn to him. It’s a weird quiet, one that you don’t like, not from him. Jisung, who usually wears either a petulant little pout or a bright little smile or that steadfast determination that makes him square his shoulders, grow a size taller in stature, an almost dangerous glint in his eyes … No, this Jisung is none of that. He’s nibbling on his bottom lip, his eyes sad, feet shuffling across the sandy street in his pretty leather boots that are slowly scuffing into something much less refined and much more recognisable and fitting for ship life. But he avoids your eyes when you try to catch them, so you leave him be. There will be time later.

Minho walks into the tavern first, and you hear everyone greet him with a cheer – but it’s nothing compared to the sound when you appear behind him. The whole room erupts into excited yells, Hyunjin squeals and bounds over to you, taking Jisung hostage from behind you and dragging him over to a table where Seungmin and Jeongin seem to be in the middle of an intense card game. Chan hollers for rum to be poured for the three of you, and you can’t help but laugh when Felix comes up to you, gently pulls you into their midst, pushing a glass of rum into your hand.

You don't go on land with them often, especially not at night and especially not to go drinking. Not because you didn’t trust your crew, per se, but you didn’t trust … men. Crowds of rowdy, drunk men. And while you were pretty sure you had around 30 men who would jump to your defence at a moment’s notice, you knew it would only cause a scene, ruin their night, maybe even get them kicked out of a tavern. It wasn’t worth it. Plus, with the possibility of enemy crews or government spies around, it was borderline impossible for you to relax enough to even consider having more than a few drinks, anyway.

But here, now, in this tavern with what you realise is pretty much only your flushed, happy, singing crew, except for a few scattered, lonely locals, with Han Yujun’s death sentence stowed away in your office? You feel as invincible as you’re ever going to feel.

Felix guides you to the table in the middle before he sits down, looks at you expectantly. A hush falls over the room.

“So?” he asks, his voice tinged with a beautiful shimmer of hope.

You turn around, find Minho still standing by the door, a drink in his hand, his eyes on you already. He smiles softly. A part of you wishes he could be right next to you. It feels as much like his victory as it does yours. You swallow down the urge to beckon him over.

Over Felix’s shoulder you make eye contact with Jisung. He smiles at you, small but oh so sweet, and then you look back at Felix, who is nervously shifting in his seat. You try to play it cool, you really do, but the giddiness that rises in your chest, the elation that you didn’t show earlier, the sheer tidal wave of hope that Yeji’s scribbled words let loose in your heart – a smile spreads over your face before you can stop it.

You watch Felix process it for a second before his whole face lights up, and he half gets out of his chair.

“Do we have him?”

It’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop. You nod.

“High fucking treason.”

The roar that goes through the room is deafening. Cheers, laughs, screams of delight filling the tavern. You think there are tears in Felix’ eyes when he gets up, rounds the table, and pulls you into a hug. And before you know it, you’re surrounded, warm bodies crowding around you until you’re caught in between what you think is your entire crew, still cheering and laughing and congratulating you, praising you for finally bringing him down. You try to answer, try to thank them, tell them it’s not done yet, but there is no room for argument, only their exuberant joy. You surrender to it.

Someone hugs you this way, someone else tugs you that way, and you lose your footing, stumble over someone’s boot, and you briefly wonder if you’re about to fall when a strong hand wraps around your hips, keeps you upright, pulls you closer protectively until you’re finally stable on your feet again, chest to chest with your saviour. When you raise your head, Jisung’s face is mere inches away from yours. You can feel the little breath that drips from his plump, slightly parted lips, could reach out to touch the little mole on his cheek. You watch his eyes flicker down, down to where you’re pressed against him, then to your lips for only a whisper of a second before coming back to stare into your eyes. His eyes are big, dark, beautiful, and so gentle, understanding, and you feel so … safe.

He opens his mouth, splays his palm, runs it the barest hint higher, sending sparks through your body; he’s about to say something, when you hear Minho’s voice cut through the commotion. Jisung lets go of you like he’s been burnt, sending you almost tumbling into whoever is standing behind you. It hurts, the loss of his warmth like a physical ache, but watching him hug his hands close to his chest, pretty face folding in on itself in sadness, is so much worse. Your heart aches, fingertips aching to reach out for him, take his face into your hands, smooth his lips back into a smile.

“Okay, everyone, make some space, you can’t kill our captain before she has a chance to kill the guy.”

And with that, Minho pushes through the crowd, that immediately thins around you. Jisung stumbles away from you as fast as he can, but then Minho is behind you, brings a gentle hand to your waist, just where Jisung’s just was, and turns you around. You blink up at him, and he scowls with worry, searching your face.

“Are you okay?”

He looks concerned, slightly flushed, but nothing else. Could it really be that he didn’t see …? When you don’t answer, he grips you tighter, gives you a careful once-over. You shake your head quickly.

“I’m fine, just … overwhelmed,” you breathe out. At least that’s not a lie.

“Should’ve saved you from these animals earlier,” he grumbles, but you can hear the smile in his voice. “Now let’s get you another drink. I think we deserve to celebrate tonight.”

And celebrate you do.

One glass of rum turns into two, then three. You lose Minho at some point, and then he’s back, and you think you’re probably staring, letting your eyes drag over his shoulders, his sparkling eyes and high cheekbones for longer than is acceptable. He doesn’t comment, only looks back at you, an intensity in his gaze that is usually reserved for when he presses his lips against yours in your office with the threat of Chan barging in at any moment.

But he doesn’t leave your side any more. His dark eyes on yours as you float through the tavern, friendly faces cheering you on, clapping you on the back, murmuring low words of thanks and congratulations, as if Han Yujun was already behind bars.

You say this to Seungmin when you plop down next to him, and he just smiles at you.

“They know you. You’re our captain, you don’t lose. And now that you’re so close? There’s nothing that could keep you from taking him down. There’s just no other option.”

You almost blush, give Seungmin a pained grimace that makes him laugh happily.

“Sorry, I won’t get sappy on you,” he reassures you, and you box him in the arm lightly.

“You better not. You’re meant to be the least sappy out of all of us.”

You get swept up by someone else, and Seungmin lets you go with a little wave.

At some point, the barkeep unearths bottles of a shimmering green liquid from underneath the bar, calls it Absinthe, calls it the green fairy that will make all your worries float away. And you drink that, too, along with everyone else, just a little bit – but it turns out a little bit is more than enough.

Because it’s strong. And not strong in the same way the rum is, no, strong in the sense that it makes your world go fuzzy around the edges.

You lose sight of Minho, though you’re caught by Felix again, getting pulled into the midst of your crew. The absinthe makes the room sing, your crew scattered, laughing, drinking, singing their songs to their heart’s content, surprisingly melodic, harmonious, like it’s what they’ve always done. Your soul soars somewhere above you, through the steam and the wooden rafters, brushing past the oil lamps on the walls, fills and aches when you realise how many times you’ve heard this, from the distance, sat in your office while they were celebrating below deck.

And that one night, when Minho hadn’t gone ashore. When he had found you, barefoot, tipsy, doors and windows cast open to let in the salty breeze. When he had taken you upstairs, had kissed you for the first time under the starlight, your world exploding into fragments of light with every hot, sweet press of his lips, his touches like the first ones you’ve ever felt, a purity in the way your body unfolded for him, folded him into you and never let him go since.

Minho. You can feel him next to you again, his solid shoulder right next to yours, his hand, always so strong, yet soft, resting on his own leg when it’s meant to be resting on yours. But you’re in public. You try to distract yourself, look out into the room, at your crew having the time of their life, but nothing wants to focus except fragments; Like the freckles on Felix’s cheeks when he laughs, the way Changbin’s cheeks are flushed with the glow of alcohol, Jeongin’s laugh from somewhere to your left.

And then Jisung pops into your vision, slides onto the bench on your other side, his mouth moving. Somehow, you manage to focus, and you hear him, deep voice like dripping molasses down your spine.

“Are you okay?” he asks, his brows furrowed in concern. But you smile, watch as relief rearranges his features into something beautiful.

You let out a shaky breath, one you can’t account for with any good reason. Distantly, you feel Minho’s hand finally make its way to its home on your knee, but you can’t look away from the man in front of you. His eyes are unfocused, his pouty lips slightly parted, but he’s looking at you, staring back into your eyes again, just like earlier. He runs a shaky hand through his hair, trying to push it back, but it falls right back into his face, brushes against his cheeks, his eyelashes fanning over the skin. It looks so impossibly soft.

You remember Ryujin’s words in the kitchen earlier, when you were making tea, when you watched Jisung and Minho through the window; the tension in Jisung’s shoulders, the unguarded confusion, shame, want in Minho’s eyes. You don’t have to worry. Just let it happen.

A drop of sweat runs down Jisung’s temple, and you follow it with your eyes. Before you can stop yourself, you’re reaching out, catching it with a gentle fingertip. Jisung trembles, a choked sigh falling from his lips as he leans forward, almost entranced. You can feel his breath fan over your face, herbal notes from the absinthe and something quintessentially Jisung and you want to lean in, want to know if his lips will be sweet like the ripe peaches that seem to have served as inspiration when they created him, whether the skin of his collarbone will taste like the burnt honey that looks like it’s dripping off him when he sweats.

Somewhere in the back of your head, reason prevails, and you stop yourself from leaning in further, but Jisung doesn’t, his face unreadable as he lets a gentle hand rest on your arm, sliding up until it wraps gently around the side of your neck, thumb rubbing soothing circles over your pulse. You wonder if he can feel your heartbeat thundering just under the thin veil of your skin. The metal of his rings is cool against into your skin, and you wonder if they would leave marks, if the squeezed closer, wonder if he would squeeze hard enough for the marks to still be visible tomorrow …

Suddenly, Minho’s warm chest slides against your back, hot and grounding, and you can’t help it when your head falls back against his. The need you’ve been carrying around, the vague desire that’s been haunting you when you were alone in your bed or your bath or Minho was already asleep next to you – it makes you unable to resist the sweet, hazy drag of their hands.

When you blink your eyes open, you see Jisung staring at Minho, hazy eyes trained on his lips, and Minho behind you chokes on air.

“Jisung, …” he mumbles. It’s meant to sound like a warning, and it does, too, but somewhere laced in there, you hear his fear. You’re too far gone to figure out what he’s afraid of.

Jisung’s free hand reaches over and slides up Minho’s thigh. Gently, wanting. Something clicks into place when he looks from you to Minho, and back.

“Let me … please,” he whispers, his shimmering eyes swimming with want.

“I want you …”

< chapter VI - chapter VIII >

series masterlist // skzms masterlist // kofi

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#stray kids x reader #stray kids smut #stray kids x you #stray kids x y/n #stray kids fanfiction #minsung x reader #minsung x you #minsung smut #minsung x y/n #han jisung x reader #han jisung smut #lee know x reader #lee know smut #lee know x you #han jisung x you #han jisung x y/n #lee know x y/n

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akilahia · 5 months ago

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Thinking about IHNMAIMS in pretty much all of its forms.

Specifically Ted and Ellen. Obviously in the Game their relationship is very different from the short story/comic/radio drama, with Ted being in love with Ellen(although it’s evident it’s because she is the only woman left alive). In the game he shows devotion to her, he is willing to push past his usual methods of flirtation and find other ways to get what he needs.

But in the other adaptions his feelings towards Ellen are mixed. I think his unique backstory with being so dependent on women to live a happier and more lavish life style, significantly effect how he views Ellen beyond AM’s tampering

Throughout the short story Ted constantly thinks ill of Ellen. Even though prior to being placed in this hell, she had only had sex twice before. But she is the last woman alive on earth. The video game(while following a different plot line(still one that is extremely tragic and literally made me cry)) expresses that even before Ellen’s assualr she had little to no interest in sex. She would never have had sex with the four men if it weren’t for

1. AM

2. Being the Last women alive

3. AM’s deliberate tampering

In a world where characters like Benny have been so permanently physically marked as a form of torture by AM, something like sex, is not as extreme in comparison(at least from Ted’s perspective). However to be the last woman alive, with minimal interest in sex, to be tampered with in such a way, is such a horrific form of torture.

I’m going to shift a way from this for a second to talk about Ted’s backstory for the video game. I understand that the videogame makes changes in terms of backstory for some of the characters(like Benny), so we can’t claim Ted’s backstory for the game is even remotely close to whatever it might have been for the short story. However, I still think can provide interesting context to his behavior towards Ellen.

Starting off, he really isn’t the cool rich guy that he played himself off to be when life was still normal. He never came from money, he was poor and he was forced to work and couldn’t go to school. However he was good looking which is resulted in older woman being attracted to him. And when he was NINETEEN, one older woman gave him her husband’s money and offered him the chance to travel and live in luxury.

Now this probably isn’t important, or was even taken into consideration by the game makers, but I was curious as to what the possible age gap between this older woman and Ted could be. The were together for 5 years, then she died

She died specifically of an aneurysm, which according to Google typically happens between the ages of 30 to 60. There is all this stuff with the Cold War and ww3 and I was going to try to do all this math with it but it’s too late for that and not relevant to the point I’m trying to make. But I’m just going to do some simple mental math and estimate that it might have been late 60’s or early 70’s when the older woman and Ted first got into a relationship. As I’m assuming everything went to shit in 1995 since that’s when the game came out, and 25 years had passed after he met the woman. Also this makes sense as Ted’s grandfather sold the farm due to the Great Depression, since most people married and had kids young, I’m going to be generous and say grandpa was 30 in 1929, and Ted’s mother or father was 9, then 10-12 years later Ted was born. Then 19 years later it would be about the 60’s or 70’s.

I am going to presume that the older woman had been married to her husband for at least 15 years. So it might have been 50’s at the earliest possibility. And the average age people married at then was when they were in their 20’s. So when she met Ted she was AT THE EARLIEST 35. Making her at least 16 years older than Ted when the first got together. But also worth noting that they do specifically mention older. So if we look on the higher side of the typical ages for aneurisms she could have been 55 when they first met(as the 5 years would pass making her 60) so she could have been 36 years older than him.

This seriously isn’t relevant to the actual point I’m trying to make with Ellen and Ted but I got sucked in. I guess I just wanted to highlight that Ted did not have the power in this relationship, he was young and poor, while she was old and rich, and I can imagine how that kind of relationship would impact him.

The next thing I want to note is the use of the word ‘lover’.

Though it can be used in a strictly romantic non intimate sense, I think it is used in the sexual way here.

Especially with the provided context of two different definitions of the word ‘lover’ both highlighting it’s connotations with sexual relationships

Furthermore, Ted’s relationship with the older woman is essentially just a sugar baby relationship. She is letting him experience things he never could have without her money. She teaches him how to act as a socialite and gets him used to the high life.

In connection to the sexual elements above, there was a video I wanted to link here but I can’t find it anywhere anymore. It was a YouTube video with a bunch of sugar babies discussing their experiences. And one woman confides that you really won’t make much money if you are in a platonic or non intimate romantic relationship with your sugar parent. If you want to make money and live richly, you have to preform sexual favors.

Now it’s hard to say if this was the only relationship with an older woman that Ted had been in. But regardless of whether it was one woman or a billion, using his body in order to get something that he wants has become an important asset to Ted; As seen in the castle with the maid and the witch. His love for Ellen(in the video game) helps him break past this fatal flaw of his, despite AM’s obvious temptations to make him fail.

Even if this stuff was in anyone’s minds when they wrote Ted’s backstory but I think it’s extremely important to note, especially as we return to my main point.

As stated before, Ted views Ellen negatively due to her promiscuity, despite the desire(felt really gross typing this word in this context) being placed in her as a form of torture by AM. She also is a woman, and Ted’s life has been spent around using and being used by women, so definitely lots of conflicting stuff there. Additionally Ted’s experiences with sexual relations are shown to be based in being transactional.

When he agrees with Ellen to go to the caves to get the food, she rewards him by being intimate with him to show her gratitude. Ted sees it as her ‘using him.’ (From the Radio Drama, I was going to post the clip but I could only post one video in a tumblr post apparently)

In the comic, after this encounter he questions her motivations. What she got out of it, once again thinking transactionally. But her response

“Does there have to be a reason”

Really gets to me. Especially after looking at all this intertextual context. Thinking about video game Ted’s backstory with book Ted’s thoughts and behaviors, he is shown to always think there is some kind of catch. No one is doing something without getting something in return, especially if that thing is kindness.

Ted is so intensely paranoid(as seen in all versions). I think by pairing up the backstory for the game with the short story/comic/radio drama it’s evident to see how heavily affected he is by it.

He thinks he has been tormented less by AM, making him paranoid of the others, contributing towards his behavior towards Ellen. Yet despite everything from the past and all of AM’s tampering, he still finds comfort with Ellen. Her unfaltering kindness manages to reach him even when he dismisses it as a farce. She doesn’t hate him or the others for how they’ve treated her, she still wants to help them. He still cares for her and the others. But he is filled with so much fear. He even apologizes to her.

I feel like at that point in the Radio drama marks a shift. Ted has made a realization about AM and it’s a lot for him, but Ellen is there for him. It’s a genuinely sincere act of kindness from her where she doesn’t ask or expect anything in return. They have some kind of connection. Once again blending the different versions, I think that this moment between them comes together in the end when they kill the other victims together. They don’t speak to each other, they just do it quickly and he kills her. And here he doesn’t refer to her by any degrading names. In the comic he holds her. Like how in the radio drama she held him.

Overall I just wanted to point out how well all these versions really mix to provide so much more behind each character. The backstories for the video game allow the reader to understand book Ted’s actions and relationships from a new angle.

The is was super duper major mess of a ramble. It’s now 3 am and I have a migraine, so I’m done for tonight. I might clean this up another time or make another post about Video game Ted with context to his backstory since I didn’t include the events from the video game in here.

Once again these are just my thoughts and beliefs on how I think the video game backstory for Ted provides interesting context for Book Ted. I know that both stories play out differently and both Ted’s act differently so please don’t get angry if you disagree with the message of stuff I said

mini sequel post about video game Ted

#ellen ihnmaims #ted ihnmaims #ihnmaims #i have no mouth and i must scream #am ihnmaims #Ted #AM #Ellen #ihnmaims ted #ihnmaims ellen #ihnmaims am #ihnmaims radio drama #ihnmaims 1995

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lurkingshan · 3 months ago

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Love Sea Final Thoughts

I have been trying to wrap my head around my overall feelings about Love Sea, a show that is undeniably flawed but somehow charming anyway, that drops so many threads but does such a good job with a few of its core points that it's hard to be mad. I can't really say that this is a great drama, but I can say that I enjoyed it a lot and I think it's a good watch if you go in understanding some caveats.

Let's start with a few things I really loved about this show:

Mahasamut. A great character, he will be going on my shortlist of Thai bl favorites. He's smart, honest, patient, giving and forgiving but he also knows himself, his limits, and his worth. On top of all that, he actually looks like a normal person, with a healthy body weight and beautiful imperfect skin. So rare in dramas.

Smart class dynamics. I appreciated how much this show grounded Mut and Rak's relationship in their class disparity, how wealth and lack of same was a constant issue between them that was never forgotten, and how its effect on their power dynamic shifted over time as their relationship grew.

Very well-executed sex scenes. The sex in this show is tied to character development and relationship arcs, and every sex scene mattered to the story. We watched the shifting power dynamics between Mut and Rak play out via the sex they had together and by watching their intimacy we learned more about them.

Ridiculous chemistry. The main love story was supported by truly excellent emotional and sexual chemistry. I always believed in the attraction and the feelings between these two, and that helped a lot when the story didn't quite take me where it needed to.

Rak and Vie's friendship. I really loved that we spent time with these two as besties, and that they were genuinely so supportive of each other. Vie was a real MVP in kicking Rak's ass when he needed it.

Meena, the best child ever. What a delightful character who brought a lot of fun and lightness to the story. Her scenes with Mut were a true highlight.

And here are some things that didn't quite work for me:

Uneven focus for the main characters. Once we left the island to go to Bangkok, the entire show was about Rak, his backstory, his issues, his ongoing problems, and his needs, and Mut was kind of subsumed in his story instead of having one of his own. I was glad we got back to Mut's life at the end, but they really should have kept it present throughout so everything didn't feel so one-sided.

Shallow engagement with family trauma. And despite the fact that the story was so much about Rak's issues, the story never actually went deep on them. I still don't really understand a lot about his family dynamics. The show used his dad and cousin as villains and then his mom as an easy out to solve everything at the end, but we never dug into how all these people ended up this way in the first place. It was a real missed opportunity.

Rak's emotional journey. I was on board for much of it, but other parts felt a bit haphazard and all over the place. Sometimes it felt like he was suddenly progressing out of nowhere, and others it felt like he was backsliding just because the plot demanded it. I liked where the story took him a lot but the path to get there was pretty bumpy.

The side couple. WOOF. I have no idea what happened here, but that was a fail on just about every front. Mook was a hard character to love from the start, Vie felt like a completely different person with Mook than in all her other scenes, there was so much lying and manipulation for no good reason, and in the end they were left completely unresolved. If you are on the lookout for great gl pairings, you will not find that here.

So there you have it. This show is absolutely a mixed bag on its execution, so how much you end up liking it will probably depend on how strongly you connect with what it did well and where it dropped the ball. For me, it was a good experience and one I'll remember fondly. I'll definitely be watching the special when it's released and I hope to see this cast again.

#love sea the series #love sea #thai bl #shan shouts into the void

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mandacantu · 3 months ago

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10 Reasons Why I Actually Loved The Crow Remake

FKA Twigs - I'm not going to sit here and pretend I am not a huge twigs fan, because I love anything she touches and especially her music. This was her first time as a leading lady and I thought she did a good job. I do think there were some points where her line reading could have been a little more fast paced in some spots, but overall, I think she was captivating, eloquent and emotional. And wow, so many stunning visuals that we got of her from this movie!

2. We didn't have to see depictions of brutal and violent deaths of women in this film. I didn't want to spend too many of my thoughts on comparisons to the original The Crow, but one thing I noticed was that I didn't have to endure the violent and sexually abusive death of Shelly or any other woman in this movie. I do like the original movie but never cared for the way they went all in on Shelly's death. In this remake, we still see Shelly die but we don't have to endure gratuitous SA scenes whilst losing the leading lady. I appreciated that and was able to relax more, honestly.

3. The villain had actual motivation for killing and being a villain. There was some decent backstory and character development for the villain and that is something that I always appreciate. Some of my favorite pieces of media (like Spirited Away and Knives Out) do well to at least give the villain a story or a reason for being bad. I think it adds depth to the story and for me, helps immerse me into the plot more.

4. It felt like a comic book come to life. From the color grading and palette to the way scenes were cut and moved from one to the next, it felt like I was flipping through a comic book. There were moments that were very whimsical in depictions of love and then very gritty scenes. The contrast in some of those scenes felt similar to flipping a page in a comic.

5. It was very romantic and spent a lot of time focusing on their love story. I thought their love was believable and felt like that whirlwind kind of love where you just want to party and kiss all night. It gave me a reason to care about both of the characters and it gave Shelly a place in the spotlight where she becomes so much more than just a symbol of loss for character development. Focusing on their love and giving us some romance was a timeless decision and puts their love story up there with Romeo and Juliet or Christian and Sateen.

6. Soundtrack was amazing! If you are into some new wave, some goth tunes and some dance tracks, this is the playlist for you. Beyond just the soundtrack, it was truly a different experience to see it synced up to parts of the movie as intended. The intro was amazing, I thought it was like a James Bond meets Underworld mixed with some NIN music video sprinkled in there. The folks who worked on the score deserve a standing ovation. There were moments where I was tearing up because of how well the music paired with the scene. Most memorable and moving was Joy Division's Disorder when they bust out of rehab together and a perfectly placed Boadicea by Enya. There were so many other good ones too, I'm seriously considering seeing it again just for the mini music videos you get from the film.

youtube

7. It was aesthetically pleasing. And I'm not just talking about the eye candy that was Bill Skarsgård, though lets give him his flowers for being a true Mr. Fanservice! The actual visuals were beautiful. I loved the cinematography and color choices. It was truly a feast for the eyes. Just take a look at this beautiful gif set by pizgif!

8. I could easily see a story about grief and the longing for justice for loved ones. I thought it was a good story and as I watched it, I thought to myself that the person who wrote the original comic must have gone through an immense loss. It wasn't until I looked it up that it seems to be confirmed that The Crow was inspired by such loss. The moodiness of the movie itself added to the weight of the tragic storyline. In that, I liked that it takes a while for Eric to become The Crow. Losing someone you love transforms you and in this sense, the movie is all about that transformation and pain and longing.

9. I liked the ending. I don't want to say too much to spoil it, but I enjoyed the different ending and I was definitely teary eyed and sniffling as I left the theater.

10. It was goth as fuck. I think goth can be a multitude of styles and honestly shouldn't be something that has a gatekeeper. This was emo-boy-goth, it was e-boy-tiktok-hottie-goth, it was goth in a different flavor. I think folks are quick to see this new Eric not dressed like a new-wave-leather-daddy-goth as decidedly not dark enough. To quote a favorite musician, he was "goth as fuck, even when [he's] not in black, gothic is the pain you feel and not the clothes that's on your back."

Closing thoughts: A lot of the negative criticism is coming from men or diehard fans of the 1994 movie, so I am not surprised. This rendition felt like the same story, just done differently and with more emphasis on the love story than the revenge plot. There is nothing wrong with that and nothing wrong with a gothic romance heavy action flick.

This was intended to be a different version of The Crow and that isn't a bad thing. I personally think that if they had done the styling to be an exact replica of Brandon Lee's rendition then the movie would still get tons of hate, if not more. It was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation for sure. I'm glad they took a risk and deviated from the '94 version.

We have been doing remakes since the creation of art. It has always been common to hear that the new movie coming out is actually a retelling of this classic tale or continuation of that scary story. Remakes are not a new concept and some of them do well to tell the same story in a different way. We are in the day and age where there isn't really an original idea anymore, anyway. In a world full of countless retellings of Batman/Joker and Spiderman movies, why not remake The Crow? I say fire it up!

I think they do a good job to pave the way for others to retell this love story in the same vein as The Joker and Harley Quinn. Hell, I would say to keep going, next let's see a remake where The Crow is about two badass lesbians. (I might have gotten too peppered up watching the movie, it was hot.)

P.S. I loved that there were little things like Eric wearing Shelly's jacket later in the movie. I feel like a lot of critics saw him wearing this jacket and were quick to bash the costume design too, but this is the kind of attention to detail that made their love believable to me. And I thought he looked cute as hell in it.

Okay, the end.

#the crow #the crow 2024 #shelly webster #eric draven #fka twigs #bill skarsgård #the crow remake #movie review #movies 2024 #Youtube

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ilikekidsshows · 1 month ago

Note

-long ask ahead-

Big fandom blog recently said that ML is a character-driven show, that it shows what the characters WOULD do, not what they SHOULD do. This really got me thinking.

Somehow I can kinda see their point; if there was a book about the events of ML written completely from Marinette's POV, we could see all her thoughts and how she disregards other characters' feelings/existance and it would make sense because they are not of any priority to her view of the world. As Marinette she has a strong drive to get Adrien into her hands that leads to all kinds of funny/questionable situations. Her depictions in the show where she paranoidly imagines scenarios with Adrien or is plotting to get to him is what I could see as character-driven moments. No-one outside of herself is giving her these goals and ambitions.

But aside from that? The Ladybug/superhero side seems only reactive instead of active. She saves the day when the villains attack, but has no ambition to go after them when the attack is over. There is no real tie to her personal life aside from her having to play the hero role and some attacks interrupting her civilian life. If the story wouldn't emphasize that she is the greatest Ladybug, and instead anyone could do it as well, then Marinette probably wouldn't do it. She doesn't seem personally attached to being Ladybug, as seen in Kwami's Choice. If we removed Hawkmoth with all his backstory and ambitions from the show, there wouldn't be a Ladybug, there wouldn't be a plot outside of Marinette wanting Adrien. Marinette is not interested in the lore of the miraculous or in being a superhero, she wouldn't do anything without an outside influence. So this side is more plot-driven if we view Hawkmoth as the plot-tool?

And what about characters popping out of nowhere and mingling with the plot (e.g. Felix, Chloe)? Chloe's actions are clearly often just there to further the plot of the episode instead of giving us insight on her character. Felix's goals change every other episode. Tomoe could be any other prop and we wouldn't know more about her, etc.

Can stressing about being the guardian be viewed as character-driven? No-one outside of Ladybug herself really pressures her to act a certain way in that role (Su-han could be talked down easily, I don't count him). Is her keeping secrets and disregarding Chat Noir a result of her controlling behaviour, thus character-driven? (but it's also extremely convenient for the writers to add tension or because they don't care about Chat Noir) And how is this perspective meant to make it more bearable to watch unfolding?

I did look up some character-driven vs. plot-driven posts and explanations, but the more I think about it in the context of ML, the more it blends together and I get no clear answer. Of course, there's probably very few exclusivly 100% character- or plot-driven stories, and certainly not a show like ML, but some elements should be easier to put in one box or the other? I'm not even sure about the definitions of character- vs plot-driven anymore, I'm so confused, I'm sure I got it wrong along the way and mixing in-character with writer's views and so on.

I would love to respark my enjoyment of the show with a simple change of perspective but I think that sadly won't do. In the end, whether it's this or that, I'm still disappointed and unsatisfied with how it went in the long run. Yet it's still interesting to think about how people who still really like the show could view it.

I think you mentioned on your blog that you have some education in media-analysis or something of the kind. If you like, could you share your perspective on the claim at the top?

What's the common definition of character-driven stories and can we apply it on ML?

Would this change of perspective make some writing choices more enjoyable (it's subjective, I know)? I think a lot viewers expect a superhero show to be more plot-heavy and characters to develop (or characters wanting to improve themselves somehow), so if we went into ML thinking from the start "this is not about the plot and how people should act, I'm just watching characters do whatever they would do" would our reactions be really different?

How would the show have to be written and presented to be truely character-driven?

Sorry that's a lot I ask. Feel free to answer whatever you like (or ignore the message). Thanks for reading anyway.

Anonymous asked: Miraculous is character driven story, the plot is determined by what the characters's do rather than the usual opposite with wath the characters doing is determined by the plot, said a friend of mine when we discussed before. What's your opinion about it if I may ask?

---

Okay, so I'm just going to start this by saying that "character-driven" and "plot-driven" are not literary analysis terms, but writing tip terms. It refers to what the focus of your story is. It means that, when you write a book or a movie, you should usually pick to prioritize an in-depth character study or a story with a lot of plots or world-building (the lore, if you will). Character-driven stories have a plot or several, but it isn't intended to be the main draw, so it can be sloppy while more work gets put into making sure the characters are complex and have clear arcs from beginning to end. Similarly, plot-driven stories can have complex characters, but the main draw is meant to be the larger narrative.

Plot-driven vesus character-driven is a writing tip against avoiding a bloated story full of unnecessary details. If your story is about two nobles dealing with an arranged marriage and the pressure their families put on them, having a complex magic system and magical duels using said system take up a bunch of pages is unnecessary. Similarly, if you're writing a story about a complex magic system, how it gets used and how it affects the society at large, dedicating a lot of time to a romance arc takes attention away from the actual points of the story, like the dreaded "forced Hollywood romance" in action/adventure movies.

In a comic or TV series, you usually (thanks companies for cutting episode counts; you suck) have more time and space to deal with more stuff, and varying stuff can improve a long-running series. In an ongoing, long-running superhero comic or show, you can and should use both and have them take turns. This is, in fact, the industry standard. Sure, a Batman story can technically have him chasing down Scarecrow, but, if the bulk of the episode/issue/trade is him battling his inner demons that the Scarecrow's Fear Toxin causes him to hallucinate, then is the story really about chasing down Scarecrow, or is it about developing Batman's character? (It's the latter.)

In general, I don't think "character-driven versus plot-driven" is a useful analysis tool, because it's binary. Basically, in media analysis, you should always try to avoid yes or no questions, but many binary questions are equally bereft of deeper meaning. Asking if Miraculous is character or plot-driven will answer that question, but not anything else. You can describe how you came to that conclusion, but the character/plot divide won't by itself create any other points to be made about the text, you need another tool/lense/question for that.

In addition, character-driven versus plot-driven can't refer to "what moves the story", because moving the story is the plot. The plot, or plots, are the cause-and-effect chains within a story. A plot doesn't move by itself, either natural occurences or character actions will move it along, you need a cause and effect. This also means, that, even if character-driven was a way to describe story progression, only stories about natural disasters could be not-character-driven.

In the top ask, the would vs should division seems to imply that the person describing Miraculous as character-driven is trying to say that, in Miraculous, the characters’ actions are supposed to be logical from the perspective of their personal motivations and not necessarily morally correct. This is how I’ve seen most people defend Marinette's villain arc; that we aren't meant to agree with her, but simply wait and see what the payoff will be.

The problem with this approach to analyzing Miraculous specifically is that the writers have never committed to a long-term payoff. I just can't believe that Marinette's villain arc will lead to a satisfying conclusion instead of the show either dropping the whole thing without addressing it, or having Marinette once again get so upsette that her victims have to console her. They're already setting up the possibility for instant forgiveness by focusing on how upset she was about the lying she “had” to commit. She already feels bad, so punishing her would be wrong, and the “punishment” here refers to any kind of long-term consequences for her actions.

Of course, the implication also is that, while we supposedly aren't supposed to agree with Marinette, we can't hold her too accountable either, we can't “demonize” her or want her to get “punished”. Which just sounds like we aren't even allowed to expect this “plotline” to have a satisfying conclusion. It could very well be that these people would think “yeah, Marinette was wrong but she feels really bad about it so let's just everyone forget about it until she does it again” would, in fact, be the satisfying payoff. Basically, even wanting the other characters to be justifiably upset with Marinette is the same as wanting to “punish” Marinette, so we can’t expect any character to behave like they have motivations or feelings outside of pleasing Marinette.

But, like, that's that thing with character actions supposedly making sense from their perspective; as you said in that book comparison, it only makes sense from Marinette's perspective. From any other perspective, what on earth is motivating the other characters to keep giving Marinette chance after chance while she squanders them all? She's not that good of a friend that she’d earn that much leeway, not from supposedly reasonable normal people who are merely acting how they would act instead of how the Marinette-favoring writers think they should act. The would versus should argument therefore only refers to Marinette and is just an excuse for her actions.

In addition, we have one big problem with the argument that Marinette is supposed to be a flawed character and anyone criticizing her is just too impatient to wait for the payoff for her character arc, in addition to the writers’ inability to write payoffs that I already mentioned. The other problem is that, while the audience might think Marinette needs to grow and become better, the writers don't. Every single one of Marinette's self-growth arcs has been scrapped: her inability to communicate got vindicated, her awkward romancing got excused and her quest to confess to Adrien got resolved by Adrien confessing instead. Marinette isn't a character who grows. In addition, the writers' every comment on the S5 finale has been nothing but excuses for why Adrien not knowing anything is right, because Adrien is just too emotional (like a hysterical woman who needs to be controlled because the writers are that kind of people).

So, in terms of what character-driven and plot-driven even mean: if Marinette is both completely disengaged from the plots of stopping the villains permanently or figuring out the Miraculous lore, and is a static character who doesn't actually grow or have a discernible arc, what is Miraculous as a show even about? In addition to the love square, it used to be about character development before the retool, but, after said retool, the characters have stagnated and the show just spins its wheels until the writers decide to have something cool happen to ramp up social media engagement. Now all we have is the love square and Marinette acting like she’s the center of the universe, so I guess the show is about the love square and Marinette, so it's technically character-driven, if character-driven can mean “making one character look like she’s the only one deserving of sympathy or celebration”. I guess you could say the show is Marinette-driven, it’s about Marinette and what she wants and what a girlboss she is while getting what she wants.

Frankly, it kinda sounds like the new character-driven vs plot-driven comparison is trying to create a new way to say: “don't expect a kids' show to be well-written.” It's kinda like people are saying: “of course the plot is shit because Miraculous is about the character writing”, but, like, the character writing is shit too. That’s what I’ve been saying since the S5 finale aired and Astruc started claiming that Marinette won and was truly kind and Adrien can't be trusted to know the truth about Gabriel: the way Marinette is written doesn't match how the writers want her to be viewed. The writers are only really interested in writing one character, but in a way where all her character arcs get scrapped, which, I think, doesn’t even hit the bare minimum requirement of being character-driven the way writing tip websites intend it.

My background in media analysis mainly means I'm pretty good at spotting patterns, and Miraculous' patterns reveal sloppy plot writing and sloppy character writing. It's all just been slop since the retool, mostly, I think, because the writers aren’t really interested in developing their characters or plots. The writers’ main focus seems to be to try to sell Marinette as an amazing person who deserves all the attention, while everything outside of isolated “cool” scenes gets overlooked. The wisemen of the groupchat saw these definitions and called Miraculous a “look at our cool girlboss”-driven show.

#ml salt #ml critical #dats chats #long post

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fountainpenguin · 4 months ago

Text

☁️ Cloudlands AU ☁️

Fairly OddParents

A serious deep-dive into FOP's worldbuilding, with a focus on sewing seemingly conflicting canon together to create consistent lore. Heavy emphasis on non-human biology and complex magical cultures.

#ridwork guides

What Is Cloudlands AU?

An FOP series ft. detailed lore and character relationships. The goal is fanfics that expand on the show's canon without conflicting it if at all possible, even if that means wild explanations.

Why does Crocker's portal to Fairy World have a completely new design every time it appears? Who's that anti-fairy kid Jorgen claims H.P. and Anti-Cosmo raised together? What's up with the Sacred Silver Pencil Sharpener of Canada? And are you telling me Cosmo and Wanda were assigned as godparents to Erg 40,000 years before they were married, presumably while Wanda and Juandissimo were dating? What was that like? We talk about it all!

A carefully considered magic system does a lot of heavy lifting. ❤️

AO3 Series: 130 Station, Rainbow Train, and Other Arcs

FOP blog tag - #FAIRIES!

Tone

Mostly drama with fluff and angst mixed in.

Characters

Mainly Pixies (H.P. & Sanderson), Anti-Fairies (Anti-Cosmo, Anti-Wanda, Foop), & the late modern kids (Poof, Goldie, Goldie's counterpart Anti-Marigold).

Cosmo, Wanda, Timmy, Chloe, and other humans (such as Denzel Crocker, Kevin Crocker, Gary, Betty, and Ed Leadly) also have arcs and messy backstories.

Ships

Canon-compliant, but expanded on. Ex:

- Anti-Cosmo married his childhood betrothed while Anti-Wanda was dating Anti-Juandissimo.

- H.P. and several OCs across his long life. Those romances go... great!

- Shout-out to Mark/Vicky, Poof/Goldie, Foop/Anti-Marigold, Foop/Anti-Coriander, Timmy/Molly & Chloe/Kevin (My beloveds...)

- Also worth mentioning that I treat Wanda/Juandissimo as a sincere and pleasant part of their backstories. They went their separate ways, but had a non-abusive dating life. They were friends :)

- Sanderson has a ton of will o' the wisp dating life issues, but we don't have time to unpack that right now.

Setting

Most works take place in the cloudlands, which include Fairy World, Anti-Fairy World, and Pixie World. Some works takes place in Dimmsdale. Rarely works take place elsewhere, such as alien planets or Unwish Island.

Is It For Me?

This AU is highly detailed. It clings to canon to the point of being ridiculous. It can be tough to get into due to long works and a heavy focus on less popular characters (such as Pixies), but there's a lot to read.

This AU focuses more on magical beings in the supporting cast than it does the main cast, but there are still notable pieces about the mains.

For a breakdown of detailed lore, see the Orange Train post

Major Themes

Growing up, making mistakes, pushing through hard times, recovery, revenge, forgiveness, growth, change, and letting go.

Plot Highlights

- Origin of the Pixies - A young H.P. contracts the real-world bacteria Wolbachia pipientis, which causes wasps to reproduce asexually. Now he's caring for an exponentially increasing amount of pixies he never wanted in the first place, on top of drama like his wife accusing him of cheating and him being kidnapped by Cupid's family because he's the holotype of a brand new species.

- Frayed Knots - Anti-Cosmo, raised in the anti-fairy baby ban era, experiments with Anti-Fairy biology in the hopes he'll discover a loophole to achieve his dream of being a father. In doing so, he finds a breakthrough that could possibly flip biology around so Anti-Fairies are the hosts and Fairies are their reflective counterparts bound to their whims... and he becomes obsessed with fathering a generation whose biology is exactly that.

- 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash - Happy Peppy Gary and Betty were raised as Pixie tools since they were 10. At age 18, Betty opts to wipe her magical memories, cut ties with Gary, and move to Brightburg. Gary, blindsided and desperate, throws himself down a trainwreck of bad decisions in an attempt to retrieve her memories from Fairy World. Everybody clap for him. (And other stories.)

- Come What May - Kevin Crocker spends the spring with an uncle and grandmother he's never met. Ghosts, the popular kids, an anti-fairy, and his uncle's talking cat make it their personal mission to bother him. It's a good thing he's dead inside.

Ongoing?

This long-term passion project began in March 2016. It is ongoing with intent to wrap up the existing projects in the next several years. Updates tend to come in bursts with breaks in between.

- Want AO3 emails? Subscribing to both the Rainbow Train & 130 Station series will cover everything in Cloudlands AU.

- Or, subscribe to specific plot arcs. Find the list HERE.

Warnings, notes, and explanations below so readers can learn more about this AU. Proceed with caution. Don't like? Don't read.

- There are abused children, neglectful adults, and non-human characters in fanfics for the show about abused children, neglectful adults, and non-human characters?? Scandalous. (Seriously though, this one's a doozy)

👀 Take a Peek

New here? You might like to start with these:

- "Mama's Boy" (G - 3000 words) - A back-and-forth comparison of Cosmo's upbringing against Anti-Cosmo's. Quick and easy read, and definitely a fan-favorite.

- "Make You Proud" (G - 4700 words) - Anti-Wanda is excited that she won a gold medal at the Fairy World Games. She tries to get Anti-Cosmo's attention while he's distracted with the event. Fluffy, silly character study.

- "Step Back" (G - 5600 words) - Foop gets overwhelmed at a party with his extended family. A brief glimpse into Anti-Fairy World and who Foop is shaping up to be as a person. Foop is my favorite to write character studies for and this is an oldie, but a goodie.

- "Solo" (T - 6000 words) - A young pixie answers phones as part of his coming of age trial. Things go awry when Gary and Betty call for help from Florida and the inexperienced pixie is at a loss about how to get them back to California. Takes place during the S4 episode "Baby Face." Huge personal favorite of mine; this is where plot really kicks off. Good introduction to the drama you can expect in a lot of my work.

- "Sentry" (G - 6000 words) - The start of a 3-part arc about Poof, Foop, and their pixie classmate (Finley) at boarding school before transitioning to spring break. The arc starts with Poof getting in trouble for fighting, then moves to Poof reflecting while on the bus, then moves to the three kids spending time with their grandparents.

- Very soft drama with some fluff; a good taste without getting overwhelmed. Also, this arc is more recent than the pieces above, which were posted in 2016. - Takes place at the end of 130 Prompts Arc 2, so it does contain very minor plot spoilers.

Start Reading

Recommended ways to get into the full AU

🌄 First Written - Baby, You're a Rich Man

H.P. and Sanderson got their hands on a baby clown. Now they just have to get him safely back to Pixie World when they've been deprived of magic and damaged their truck.

- Based on the Season 4 episode "School's Out! The Musical" - An introduction to magic basics, biology, and world lore through Sanderson's eyes. - Throws readers directly into the thick of things with Sanderson's meandering thoughts and extremely unhealthy fixation on H.P. and/or taking over as Head Pixie someday

🗑️ 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash

The 130 Prompts project is a series of one-shots that explores my FOP character ideas and worldbuilding.

- "Excitement" (G - 7500 words) - The first piece written for my series 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash. It's about the Pixies traumatizing 10-year-old Gary and Betty at an amusement park so they'll cling to safety in the future. From here, you can read the 130 Prompts series in recommended order if you like.

If you're new to my worldbuilding, I recommend reading the prompts in the suggested order instead of chronological order. This way, you'll be given worldbuilding info in order instead of jumping to a piece where that info is assumed.

📅 Chronological Start - "First Things First"

A 10k-word piece (G-rated) about nature spirit OCs, featuring cameos of canon characters like Mother Nature, Father Time, and the Grim Reaper. This piece sets up lore for the Fairy zodiac, which plays a role in Frayed Knots especially.

- Each piece in the 130 Prompts series has Previous and Next links so you can either read in recommended order or you can follow the chronology from start to end. - Reading chronologically is not recommended unless you're already familiar with the worldbuilding - Full timeline chronology (Entire Cloudlands AU)

🗺️ Worldbuilding - So, You're Studying the Cloudlands...

A collection of worldbuilding and meta essays covering subjects like biology, culture, history, holidays, magic, maps, and a handbook on new godkid assignments.

You may also like my @riddledeep blog, where I first posted this meta. I'm currently moving things to the guide linked above. This way, the content is backed up and accessible to those who don't use Tumblr. Posts will remain on the blog.

📋 AU Notes & Warnings

Author writes villain encounters & villain backstories about complex non-human societies and does not inherently condone any viewpoints presented by characters or the societies they live in.

- This series focuses heavily on Pixies, Anti-Fairies, and cloudland or Fae culture. There is less focus on human godchildren or the main characters in the show (like Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda).

- This series is built so that many intricate storylines and worldbuilding elements weave together. There's no shame in skipping pieces you don't want to read, but you may miss plot or worldbuilding details important to the larger story. It can be intimidating to get into such a big project.

- This series does have fluff, but relies on drama. Content may be upsetting, and the order you read things may limit the chance for mental breaks.

- Lots of drama and complicated things going on. I recently changed the rating of my longfics to Not Rated & Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings due to the sheer variety of things, such as:

- Fantastic racism (Fairies, Anti-Fairies, Pixies, genies, and others disliking each other)

-> Show canon heavily implies these races have conflict. Jorgen faced no pushback for calling Norm a "filthy genie" on international TV. Jorgen and others refer to Pixies with rude terms such as "cone-headed freaks", etc.

- Social ladder/caste system (Cupid's ancestors organized fae in a list many generations ago to help Fairies find species with heat cycles that overlapped theirs, but the system has been corrupted into legal discrimination)

- Biologically assigned status (Male Fairies who eat a lot of jelly at a young age will develop into gynes: big, tough, freckled Fairies who fight with each other to defend their turf and drone companions. Think how H.P. and Big Daddy have unique body shapes compared to the other Fairies. They're gynes!)

- Some young bees are fed royal jelly so they develop into queens. The name for these "princesses" is gynes, so I yoinked that

- Most of the pixies are drones, apart from a few gynes. Vice President Longwood is due to succeed H.P. as Head Pixie someday, which Sanderson (a drone) absolutely despises.

- Fairies lick each other in greeting to spread pheromones, mirroring a hive of eusocial bees that gather near the queen to lick her

It's basically a non-sexual A/B/O dynamic, which was completely unintentional and I got a good laugh out of it when I realized what A/B/O was years ago. Convergent evolution...

- Mpreg - It's canon in the show that male Fairies give birth. I don't have anything to say about it; just that it's canon in my work too and treated with the same sincerity as everything else.

- Injury - Includes long-term injury, temporary injuries, and self-harm (Ex: Cutting your palm to stop using magic so you won't age). I don't consider this series bloody or gory. Fairies do have rainbow blood that's mentioned occasionally, but they're very elastic and heal quickly. The humans don't really have bloody moments.

- Character death - Most common when gynes fight to the death, but I've written other deaths as well, such as one where the Pixies caused a car crash on purpose because it benefited them.

-> Fairies are very resilient. Anti-Fairies regenerate if they're killed, as they can't die if their host counterpart (the Fairy) still lives. Death isn't overly common in my 'fics, but I'd feel weird warning for other things and not mentioning this one.

- Sexism (Anti-Fairy World tends to look down on women; Anti-Cosmo in particular tends to parrot the sexist beliefs he grew up with and gets annoyed at pushback)

-> Male bats often mate with many females (up to 30 sometimes). I built Anti-Fairy society around the idea that females outnumber males, but males see it as a sign that many women should be subservient to them because "it's nature." Anti-Cosmo is a product of his culture. Diversity loss! The villain has harmful views!

-> Anti-Fairies tend to be less racist and more sexist than Fairies while Fairies tend to be less sexist and more racist.

- Honey-lock - Anti-Fairies get flooded with hormones and magic 3 months after their counterparts mated. The pair are driven to locate each other, mate, and produce children in reflection of their counterparts.

-> what do you mean that's traumatizing? Dang, you guys live like this?

-> Anti-Cosmo's underlying goal in Frayed Knots is to beat the system so the next generation of Anti-Fairies will be born without the honey-lock's effects.

- Sociosexual Anti-Fairy culture - Anti-Fairies have a touch-based society themed around bonobos because I thought it would be interesting, particularly in a society where pregnancy is out of your control anyway (i.e. you can't accidentally get pregnant- It's in your counterparts' hands).

-> I do think "It feels good and we have few consequences, so why not?" is a reasonable direction for their culture

-> I'm not sure I would make that same choice years later, as it can be quite off-putting, but I'm glad I got to worldbuild with such unique building blocks. I enjoy it, but it's not for everyone.

- Infidelity (Anti-Cosmo cheats on his wife before Anti-Wanda and is implied to sometimes cheat on Anti-Wanda)

-> You're telling me the sexist sociosexual culture has infidelity and the evil villain fell into it? Bummer...

- Iris Virus - Having colored eyes in Anti-Fairy culture is played as an STD that's ceremonially passed to new individuals (because... sociosexual culture).

-> Also, what was I supposed to do with almost every Anti-Fairy having red eyes but Anti-Cosmo, Anti-Wanda, Foop, and the occasional background Anti-Fairy have other colors? Genetics? No way! 😃👍

-> RIP Anti-Cosmo. I'm sorry I find it hilarious that you cheat on all your partners and then sob like your trust's been shattered when your wife chooses to pass the virus on to secure allegiance with a valuable ally. Her body, her choice, dude.

- Child, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse (Frayed Knots in particular is not a hunky-dory story; Anti-Cosmo was often hit as a child. Some characters are cruel to Anti-Cosmo and he is cruel to others as well.

-> There are abuse themes in the Fairly OddParents 'fics?? The TV show about abused kids? what won't they think up next.

-> Cosmo's mother is doting in canon, so I portray Anti-Cosmo's mom as abusive to him.

-> Living in a sexist sociosexual culture sometimes leads to sexual abuse?? Also, belonging to a species that is magically forced to reproduce when your counterparts do even if you didn't consent is probably also sexual abuse? wild.

-> In Origin of the Pixies, H.P. was kidnapped by a will o' the wisp in his younger years and pressured into sex while she was producing milk for newborn Sanderson.

-> H.P. is emotionally distant and not the best at coping with what happened to him. He doesn't necessarily pursue help or get the best closure to this story. Don't hold the villains up as role models.

-> Foop has an alternate personality. This is canon; here's a compilation video I made of his appearances in the series (Note, this compilation includes Foop's Terrific Twos and some scenes where his alter is implied with eye highlights and a high voice to be there, but not confirmed). It's heavily implied he gained this personality due to being isolated in Abracatraz since the day he was born.

-> Cupid's family kills any children that aren't born triplets due to a sacred oath his ancestors took to uphold love all hours of the day. Tradition requires three children to split the magic by way of Morning, Afternoon, and Evening.

-> I would say it's also child abuse that Jorgen was raised with all the pressures of being Keeper of the Rules from the moment he was born, including being pressured to cut off his own wings in line with the tradition of "noble self-sacrifice."

- Young characters & implied offscreen sex - Are you seriously telling me the popular teens might've had sex when they were something like 150,000 years old and they'd been together since childhood? What on earth.

-> In Anti-Fairy society, you're recognized as a full adult at age 150,000.

-> In Fairy World, you're recognized as an adult when you moult your juvenile wings and grow your adult wings. This is generally between ages 140,000 and 180,000.

-> In Pixie World, you're recognized as a full adult at age 250,000. H.P. keeps age of majority high to encourage his pixies to establish themselves in Pixie World instead of leaving. These are non-human cultures that each have their own views.

-> Poof and Goldie have an arc about Goldie having Harm OCD over the fear that she'll fall into her will o' the wisp species stereotype and take advantage of Poof. Meanwhile, Poof has panic attacks because he's pretty sure she did, but blames himself for not being more self-aware. 😬

-> Foop gave his lover Anti-Marigold the iris virus when they were considered young adults in Anti-Fairy society (but still in school) to see if his dad would notice. Years later, he has a breakdown over the fact Anti-Cosmo never did, nor does he seem to care if his son is being reckless.

-> The sexual part of the Celebrity Kids arc is kept off-screen throughout the 130 Prompts. This arc is about the stress of being high schoolers treated like celebrities, ambassadors, royalty, and sports stars.

- Implied incest in H.P.'s family line before he was born (In the old days, it was common to marry cousins to preserve money. This custom has ended in modern times, but comes up on rare occasion)

-> It's implied this family history led to the genetic mutation that gave him wasp biology; that mutation plays a big role in his story.

-> H.P. talks about how he admires his counterpart, whom he considers a cousin. Sometimes other characters mock his admiration because of his infamous family history. It's not even important in his present-day life; it's just that my 'fics are full of jerks.

Some topics may make you uncomfortable. You don't have to read them, but that's part of fleshing out these very detailed, long-lived cultures and their messy underbellies. They're Fae. Were you expecting giddy fluff?

- Summaries for my multi-chapter FOP 'fics

- Summaries for 130 Prompts (with emoji guide)

- Want more info? Send an Ask!

You can create works based on this AU. Please cite me and/or the AU as appropriate (i.e. for things very specific to this AU). You are free to expand on ideas you've thought of thanks to my AU as a jumping off point. I'd love to reblog or link things to my AO3 works if I see them!

I write drama content with morally gray characters. Please don't portray my story events or worldbuilding out of context with intentional malice. In other words, I request you do not post things created for the specific intention of mocking me or the AU. It's not to everyone's tastes, but it's built with sincerity and it is loved <3

#ridwork guides #ridwriting #FAIRIES!#Origin of the Pixies #Frayed Knots #130 Prompts #Come What May #apparently art #Long post #We're Pixies!#Bat cube and associates #Dragonfly parents #Cloudlands AU

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justatalkingface · 1 year ago

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what's your opinion on the big 3? When I was hyperfoxed on this series they were the thing I care Abt the most (I enjoyed season 4, obv I'd change some stuff now but I still remember it being atleast ok)

I hate how dirty they did my girl nejire, as far as I'm aware they didn't even do anything with her after the whole pagent thing she just got a small backstory about how she was sad (don't know all of it I haven't been keeping up that well w the manga)

mirios not having a quirky and having to save eri (a girl who I can't imagine would be that skilled at the age she is and has been training on lizards to give his quirk back all together, I'd imagine it taking a few more months but bnhas time is shit so) and coming back in the war arc to punch one person and then basically do noting iicr

The only decently written one was amajiki, I wish they had more going on I think they have a fun dynamic (w them helping taking care of eri and me rlly liking idk what it's called but I love the fluff it brings) :(

Lots of mixed feelings, in all honesty. Lots of mixed feelings.

I'll admit, a big part of my mixed feelings about them is they showed up as the latest, 'Stomp on Izuku's everything' at the point in the story where it was becoming obvious that there was always something stomping on Izuku, and that gave me a bad first impression on them I've never been able to shake... which isn't helped by how they're connected to the clusterfuck of Nighteye, of all people, which is kind of my whole thing with Mirio (warning; I am biased):

As a person, he's obviously nice, but as a character, basiclly his entire reason for existing was, 'give Izuku an existential crisis' and I don't think I've ever forgiven him for that, really. His entire character is just bigger, stronger, older, happier, more capable, more confident, more successful, more loved Izuku, who had a Quirk his whole life and only had to dig deep to find out how strong it, and he, was all along.

Unironically. It's....

It's a really bad look, to be blunt; he feels kind of like a bad fanfiction character written by a bad writer who wanted to put their super special OC in the story, except he's canon.

Since we've never seen him even think something unheroic, there's really nothing that distinguishes him from that impression factual statement, which, again, makes it hard for me to give a shit about him, or even remember him... which is a problem Hori seems to share, lol. It doesn't help that I loathe Sir Nighteye and that most of his development time is spent admiring him, to boot, and that his parts of the story are either empty or focused on a living plot device I can't quite like no matter how hard I try because of how blatant the emotional manipulation is about the biggest story breaking, SOD shattering plot device until Stars and Stripes showed up.

If he ever got any kind of development to flesh him out a human being rather than being either Izuku and/or a heroic archetype, it'd help, but beyond all of that his biggest personality trait is liking jokes, and that barely even comes up. Or, rather, considering both the Final Arc and his response to Bakugou's name, along with Nighteye's own tendencies, 'jokes', maybe.

He doesn't deserve it, I admit it, it's not his fault, but I just can't get past that. He also doesn't deserve to just be forgotten until his big moment of a butt joke, but... MHA, everyone. In all honesty, I'd just like him better if his entire story arc didn't exist in and as some of the worst parts of the Overhaul arc, but he's tainted by that fact.

I freely admit that I am unfairly biased against him, so take all of that with a mountain of salt.

As a side note though, god, the story doesn't seem to realize how badly Nighteye is using the poor kid; Mirio thinks Nighteye is training him because he's worthy, while Nighteye mainly seems to be doing it because he's the closest thing to an All Might clone he can get, bar him actually cloning All Might, even if he grew to like him for who he is. I'm not sure Nighteye ever thought of Mirio with just his Quirk as anything more than a temporary situation; even at the start of canon, when on his own merits he's rising to fame with how successful he is, Nighteye's overall focus is still about getting AFO into the kid.

I almost wish I could see Nighteye explaining how all of his training came down to getting All Might's Quirk, just to see MIrio react and tear Nighteye down a peg about it, except Hori's history of handling these kinds of things means he'd never be allowed to be properly offended on his own behalf, the poor bastard.

Moving on, Tamaki. Out of all of them, he's had the biggest of an on-screen story arc, and in a intellectual way his Quirk is easily the most interesting. Unfortunately, while he has a personality, it feels so bland at times that he's far easier to remember for his Quirk than who he is.

I liked his story, really, but at the time it was overshadowed by Mirio and his everything, and by the time he showed back up it was clear how irrelevant it and he was, so it was more about how (admittedly, very) cool he get his Quirk to be than it was about him, and with some brutal honesty, it's probably because his Quirk is so interesting that he even got that much focus beyond that initial arc by Hori.

And... Nejirie.

In a combat sense she's easily the best of them, really; Mirio is almost purely defensive, which limits him (especially if he's not surprising someone with it) while Tamaki's Quirk, while flexible, is so conditional in ways that can easily hold him back (we only ever see him fight with full preparation; if he's not gearing for a fight he'd be easy to ambush), and like a lot of things in the Final Arc, his big laser canon thing is.... questionable.

Nejirie, though, is just simply powerful. In a setting where everyone has one power and one main application of that power, where you either fly or blast things, but not both, she's the closest I've seen to a 'traditional' super hero, like you'd see in Marvel or DC.

At the same time, though, out of the three of them she least has a story, for obvious reasons, and it's a disgrace, really. If Hori had just spent some time on her, on the her backstory that apparently exists (yeah, I'm not sure where that is either), she could have been so interesting... but really, all she is is the Girl Teammate. Her personality traits are The Girl Teammate's personality traits. She's just The Girl Teammate stamped over all of the interesting stuff, and it's such a waste, it really is.

And finally, as a unit? The Big Three is a shiny toy that Hori forgot in the corner somewhere as soon as he got bored with it. He spent a few minutes oohing and aahing over them, focusing really hard on developing interesting powers, how they could be used, and how strong they were, only to start to lose interest as soon as those powers were established, and he was writing the three of them off before their introductory arc was even over.

#ask #bnha critical #mha critical #nighteye critical #izuku deserves better #my deeply conflicted feelings on Mirio's everything #he doesn't deserve it but still #he's the true victim of the Overhaul arc #i hate nighteye ever so much #hori's chronic hatred of women #the big three is big wasted potential

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starlostlix · 5 months ago

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GUYS I KIND OF LOVE SK8 THE INFINITY

[This ended up being kind of a review/discussion about the show so enjoy whatever the hell I'm talking about here.]

I binged the show this afternoon and.... wow.

I love the skateboarding sequences. The animation is so fluid and the skateboarding tricks they do are wild. I do not know the details of how animation works but I think it must have taken a lot of effort to make it look so good.

The plot is relatively simple in terms of the main skateboarding beefs/tournament (it even has a beach episode!) but it's effective because it feels more grounded. An underground skateboarding group with competitions could probably exist which is quite interesting.

It's the characters that really make this show. Reki and Langa and their dynamic, with its ups and downs, are so compelling, and Reki's issues with his own self-worth and skill are so human. Langa's growth in skill in skateboarding is so interesting to follow and his joy at the sport after his dad's death (and his previous passion for snowboarding) is reallly nicely done. Them becoming distanced and coming back together again because they realise that skateboarding is enjoyable due to each other is so sad but also beautiful when resolved. "Reki my love... of skateboarding" is maybe my second favourite dub line of the series.

Joe and Cherry (aka Matchablossom) have a great dynamic together, with their history with Adam is really interesting (speaking of that I'm convinced young Cherry had a crush on Adam, oh and Cherry should have kept that lip ring). I love a married-couple-style bickering duo with their endearing nature shining through in small moments and that's really sweet. Plus they act as mentors to the younger characters and that's really fun. Cherry relying on the calculations of his AI assistant vs Joe being more brute and somewhat reckless in his technique is quite an interesting comparison between the two and I appreciate their childhood best friends backstory.

Miya is also really great, and his struggles with balancing competitiveness and fun are compelling. The small parts we see of his backstory of him losing friends because he got successful is really interesting. Shadow is also really fun, at first a minor antagonist and eventually an ally. Him becoming a chaperone to these kids is really funny and his different presentations in and out of the skateboarding world is really cool.

Adam... where to start really. Well I was quite uncomfortable at some points with the way he acts towards Langa (a minor) and he's a bit... intense at points which I feel mixed on. That being said, his character is really really interesting - a politician with an outlet in an intense skateboarding persona and an abusive family makes for a very interesting antagonist and his ambitiousness and need to win as a driving force explains how he really pushes himself and the limits of skateboarding. His desire to find his 'eve' - someone that can truly match his skating - is really intriguing (I only wish he wasn't pursuing a 17-yr-old Langa for that considering it's romantic connotations). His dynamic with 'Snake' - his childhood friend turned secretary - is really interesting too (as is Snake's actions and motivations in general).

To me so many people in this show feel queer-coded. Joe Cherry and Adam are such a messy trio and it's kind of comical that Cherry could be seen to have had feelings for both of them. Reki and Langa are so awkward and they clearly like each other a lot in a way that feels romantic ("show her she's a lucky girl" kind of speaks for itself). Adam is Adam, I don't really have to say much else there tbh.

Also THE THEMES!!!! THE THEMES!!!! Loss, friendship, passion in your interests, the desire to have FUN rather than be competitive all the time, what an interest can mean to a person (which as an AuDHD individual is something I feel attached to in this show in particular), etc. It's really well done in this show and there is loads to talk about but they honestly deserve their own in depth posts (which I may do eventually you never know).

STUDIO BONES!!!! DROP SEASON 2 AND THE MATCHABLOSSOM OVA AND MY LIFE IS YOURSSS!!!!

I enjoyed the show a lot and it's a very fun and well made series despite its short runtime.

There's a lot that can be talked about but to put it simply, I am now a SK8 fan.

#sk8 the infinity #sk8 anime #sk8 langa #sk8 reki

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uselesstaroth · 5 months ago

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Okay, Ace Attorney Amy Rose

It's not coming along so I'm summing up the stories in this

Amy's first case, defendant Sonic the Hedgehog, former olympic gold medalist, current Fastest Thing Alive. Framed for the murder of his former coach.

Prosecution is Fang the Hunter.

The case is solved by Amy accusing Fang, and successfully revealing he's not even a licensed prosecutor, and his badge is jammie dodger

Second case

Amy's mentor, Vanilla, gets infect by Metal Virus, and her daughter Cream is the suspect.

Prosecution is Surge the Tenrec. She brings things for her throat to the courtroom cuz she wears out her voice yelling.

Idk how this goes, but Eggman is arrested for leaking that bio weapon and Surge gets really mad.

Blaze's first (on screen) case

Whisper the Wolf is accused of killing her teammates, the Diamond Cutters.

Prosecution is Lanolin.

Lanolin goes through a lot of effort to prove that Whisper is guilty, but Blaze manages to prove that Mimic was the one that did it, by impersonating Whisper.

Lanolin is very upset she almost declared an innocent guilty, so she arranges a meeting with Blaze to apologize and they get to know eachother.

Lanolin keeps calling Blaze "Majesty"despite the latter's insistence on just being called "Blaze" (I have not figured out this plot point.)

The final case

Surge is framed for a crime (idk what) by Starline. Here we learn her and Kit's backstory, that being victims of child trafficking mixed with memory wiping.

Amy, Blaze and Lanolin all end up working together (think Rise from the Ashes mixed with Turnabout Goodbyes) to unravel Starline's underground empire built in the shadow of Eggman Industries.

When there isn't enough evidence to convict Starline, Lanolin finally brings out Kit as the witness, where it's revealed that his memory never got wiped, and instead he's been pretending for years to not know so convincingly that Starline thought he had him. (If written there would be hints)

After the Not Guilty verdict is given and Starline is arrested, and they're walking out of the courtroom, Surge starts tearing up.

Amy gives her a tackle hug, Blaze gives her a soft hug, Lanolin gives her a comforting hand on the shoulder, and Surge starts bawling her eyes out, now that years of being under his boot have come to an end.

The four move in together, and while watching a move they're like "Are they gonna let us see eachother in court now that we're together?" And Lanolin says "One time an attorney sued someone and prosecuted the case themselves, I think we're fine."

The end.

Bonus tidbits:

Lanolin always has a coffee mug in the courtroom. "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

Surge works in Shadow the Hedgehog's law firm. He wears golden bracelets linked together by a chain as a reference to the inhibitors and to Simon Blackquill. He calls Amy to his office and tells her "Don't give up on Surge." He's known as the "Ultimate Lifeform" because no one has ever seen him take a break or sleep.

Sonic really is the fastest thing alive, having beaten the top speed of the peregrine falcon the year before the events, and the reason he retired from olympic sprinting early.

Since pretty much everyone wears gloves 24/7 cuz it's Sonic, finding a fingerprint is almost exculpatory evidence, and how Blaze proves Whisper is innocent and Mimic is the one that did it.

They do manage to cure Vanilla.

Cream fills a similar role to Maya as Amy's aide.

Vector is the detective, ala Gumshoe. He, Charmy and Espio are also guards in the courtroom and they capture Fang, Bark and Bean when they try to run away.

More pending, will add on reblogs

#lore dump #that's what this is huh #sonic the hedgehog #amy rose #surge the tenrec #lanolin the sheep #ace attorney amy rose #surgazamolin #sort of lol #surgamy #very #surgaze #yep

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artsywriter25 · 2 years ago

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Let’s talk about Kung Fu Panda 4

Okay, so we finally got some updates on KFP4, the plot, the director and what to expect to see in the film. My reaction to this is….mix.

On one hand, I’m so happy we got something! But on the other hand, I’m just really nervous and I don’t like this deflated feeling. So I’m writing this out to share my thoughts and wanting to hear what the fandom thinks. I’ll try not to make this too long or sound like a rant, I’m going straight to the point and talk about the good and bad about KFP4.

So first let’s talk about the director: Mike Mitchell

……Oh boy.

Ok I’m not gonna give the guy any crap, I’m willing enough to give him a chance. Yes I know he directed Trolls, but he also directed Shrek Forever After. I looked back at that movie after The Last Wish and it’s not really that bad. It was actually sweet and serious in some parts. And that’s what I hope this director will do, have the 4th film at least serious in some parts and don’t make it too goofy or jokey where it feels awkward.

Now on to the story and this is the best way I can summarize this from a few articles I’ve read:

“ Po is getting promoted to be the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace, but he has to choose someone to take his place as the new Dragon Warrior. He catches a theft fox who he could see potential in their skills but they don’t get along. But Then a Chinese sorcerer known as ‘The Chameleon’, has summon Po’s past villains from the dead. Now Po and his (student?) must journey together and stop this new villain. ”

So judging by the information that we got, it sounds like many years have passed since the third movie. Po becoming leader actually worries me because it’s probably hinting that Master Shifu may pass away and now Po has to take his responsibilities (This is just a guess so sorry Shifu fans!).

There is also this fox character they have mention in the articles which they can’t seem to get the name right and they keep flipping their gender. First it was misspelled as Shen, then it was Chen and Zhen so I’m just gonna call them Fox for now on.

I wonder what kind of story arc will they give Fox. What’s their backstory? What kind of lessons they must learn? Does Po see himself in them or are they both different with different views? These are some questions I hope they answer. Giving Po a student to teach was a direction I theorized DreamWorks will go down and I’m glad they did. The trilogy had Po as a student, now taking the role of masterful teacher, it make sense to passed down those experiences to someone. I can really image the funny shenanigans they can get in to, along with the Furious Five. I think it would have been awesome if they each had a student too and they all come together fighting the villains with the skills they were taught. If there’s one thing I’m really worried about is the Five getting pushed aside for this new character or Fox ending up being a perfect character. Have Fox be flawed, have them be a kid we can relate and root for and something that the kids will like too.

Now let’s talk about my most favorite thing of all: THE VILLAINS!!!

OH MY GOD MY FANGIRL IS TRYING TO TAKE OVER! TAI LUNG, SHEN AND KAI ARE COMING BACK!! AND I DON’T KNOW IF THIS IS A GOOD OR BAD THING!!??

I am shock, like I never expected they go down this route. Story wise, I understand why the three shouldn’t come back as they served their purpose as villains, but no, they are bringing them all back. A actual animation studio is listening and giving the fans what they wanted??

DreamWorks must be watching their fandoms, that’s the only explanation I can think of. They must have saw all of our fanarts and fanfics and went like “Oh damn, they really love are villains…you know what, let’s bring them back.”

So how will this affect the story? I honestly don’t know, maybe Fox has to learn all body, mind, and spirit in order to help Po and the Five.

Now what I’m really surprised is they choose a chameleon to be the forth villain. I did some research this morning, and there’s not that many species that look intimidating. But if they could make a peacock threatening, I’m sure they can make a chameleon threatening too. I even looked up about sorcerers in China and I think they meant shamans. Chinese shamans are known to be wizards or spirit mediums, this could mean the Chameleon may have some connection to the spirit realm, which I hope they explored more on. I read some of this under Wikipedia, its very interesting.

And that’s all I have to say for Kung Fu Panda 4. I am a little worry for this film but I’m not gonna get worked up about it, I’m gonna stay positive that it will work and I’m sure it will. The only thing that could save this film is the animation. I think KFP is perfect for that hybrid spiderverse animation.

But what do you guys think and are you still excited for the sequel?? If you wanna discuss anything about this I’m all ears.

#kung fu panda #Kung Fu Panda 4 #kfp #kfp4 #Dreamworks #sharing some thoughts #discussion #artsy's writing

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happyk44 · 1 year ago

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Thinking about that long form feral!Jason fic I wanna write but probably never will get around to doing so, and like. It would be such a disappoint to just keep my meandering thoughts in my head, right?

As far as plot goes, it'll probably end up being more character driven introspective than plot important. Like yeah there's a plot they're following because it wouldn't be PJO without a stupid quest but that's really just an excuse to bustle everyone together. Thought process is Thanatos goes missing ala SoN and Nico, flocked by Hazel and Jason, drags Percy and Thalia along to help find him because - idk, he just does. Cousin outing lmao.

Hazel is alive for no other reason than I want her to be. She was a "gift" from Zagreus as thanks for Nico helping out in the war, because he was annoyed Nico got snubbed in all the congratulations. Naturally Bianca was Nico's first thought but she was like "Nico, fuck off with that shit" and directed him to their lonely sister sitting beneath a tree and poof. Hazel.

Leo was in the Kronos army and ran away at the end of the war, because he didn't trust the gods or CHB not to kill him. He wasn't really a fighter - he just made their armor and weapons, so he wasn't technically even in the actual battle, which made it a lot easier to escape detection.

He also lives with Piper now - idk if I want to include my mute!Piper thoughts, and I'm murky on how Piper and Leo will get brought into the mix. I do know it will be a "Nico knows a guy" situation. But anyway Piper and Leo live together. Idk how they met - probably crashed into each other or caught one another stealing shit or Piper saw Leo and thought "opportunity to make my dad pay attention to me" and took him with her or whatever. Obviously it doesn't work, but Leo sticks around because Piper enjoys having a friend, and he's the one who pieces together that Piper is a daughter of Aphrodite, and warns her from ever going to CHB. Up in the air if she knows his background regarding the war and shit by this point, but they're the people they have so they're tight.

Frank's backstory is more or less the same, except after training in Camp Jupiter for a couple weeks, he's like "no. I can't do this. This is awful. How do I get back to Canada and the snow?" And then Nico pops up doing his ambassador to Pluto thing (bc while both camps know about each other now, they haven't yet started mingling and Nico is aware that Octavian has... issues).

Anyway Nico is trying to get the scope of the place, wondering it would be a good place for Hazel to live so she doesn't have to hang out in the Underworld all the time, which she doesn't mind for the most part - but she does want to socialize and make friends with living people. And Nico thinks that she'll probably have a better time with the Romans than the Greeks, because they'll associate her more with wealth.

He and Frank bump into each other and Nico realizes Frank is trying to escape camp. Offers to help him and gets Hazel and Jason who help him leave in the middle of the night, while Nico socializes publicly with the other cohorts, so that like. No one gets suspicious that Frank disappeared right after Nico showed up. On their journey back to Canada, Frank discovers his shapeshifting powers.

Currently the POVs are probably gonna be a switch between Thalia and Percy. But maybe others will join in as the story flows.

Also Jason really likes Frank's shaping shifting powers, and every time they visit him and his grandma, Frank turns into a wolf (or bear or other large predator animal) and lets Jason wrestle him. Frank does not enjoy this as much as Jason does. Jason also has to wear a muzzle inside the house as per Grandma Zhang's rules, because he "does not know to keep his teeth behind his lips". Despite this, he is a decent-ish wolf pup with her, and will grumble loudly but let her click the muzzle on with only a few pitiful whines.

#happy talks about his stories #happy talks pjo #feral!jason

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starfayy · 8 months ago

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Writeblr Intro (cuz i forgot about this)

AYUP everyone my name's Fleur, i'm a 19 years old woman, im cishet and painfully neurodivergent (AuDHD and MADD). Im also brazilian and christian so there's that! (Trilingual beast coming at ya!)

I've been a writer since who knows when, started to write fanfiction in the worst fandom i could've started (...the beatles), went to an amazing fandom -that turned out to not be that amazing but my writing and storytelling evolved exponentially so im grateful- to now being more focused in original works

I'm currently writing a book with my friend (@serenity-of-waffles)*, and i might probably work in scripts for comics, animations and maybe games????? Let's see-

yeah im an artist too hehehe

Genres i enjoy reading/writing: Fantasy, Scifi, Romance, Thriller/Suspense, Horror, Slice of Life, Supernatural

Here comes the lists of things i like to see in a book and that i tend to write it in my own stuff:

FOUND FAMILY!

A good well written romance sometimes doesn't kill ^.^ (im a cliché beast, careful)

Tragic Backstory? Sign me in

NEURODIVERSITY

Supernatural ocurrences and creatures. Analog Horror, Psychological Horror as well

Super heroes? Yes

Mythological metaphores

I write for both Youth and Adult (im a sucker for children's books they can get so dark suddenly and is amazing)

Mystery elements yesyesyes a good suspense

Deep relationships

Consequences. I love consequences.

Historical plots and period inspired fiction

Super powers, creatures, magic, a whole well made worldbuilding (Tolkien wannabe)

SOOOO what am i looking for??

FRIENDS! People to rant about my silly stories and worlds!

More writers to follow and engage and and- ykwim

Current WIPS? hmmmmm

• Eden Fables: The Inkweaver's Diary - (*NOT WRITING ALONE) So this one i won't give much detail, just know that me and my friends we're going absolutely insane over this book and the entire possible series and is our child, you're not fucking ready. The best fantasy book i ever written in my life TRUST ME. Blame Tolkien and C.S Lewis for inspiring us so much- (sorry for the vague synopsis muahahahah) A story of a boy displaced in time and space as he finds his heart and returns to his throne, finding a family along the way while dealing with the craziest adventures.

• Boreal City (future comic :O) - A retrofuturistic cyberpunk super-hero universe about many different points ot view and adventures that are actually connected (like the Marvel Comics universe or DC comics). Its being one of my favorites so far im having so much fun doing it hehe

Its very inspired by many superhero and retro-cyberpunk media, i cant count here how many hehe Synopsis (for at least one of the stories): From a family of superheroes, turned into a villain by his own demise, and disappearing for 5 years, GlitchWave makes his stupendous comeback in an unexpected redemption arc, and it all starts when he meets his brother again.....

• Gritia's Great Mystery - An amazing story about a corrupt kingdom trying to hide all evidence that god exists, aside from other...cruel crimes against certain groups of people. The aesthetic is a mix of enlightnment era, renassaice and victorian age, all together mixed with elements of thriller, romance, mystery and BIG drama. Maybe one of my most serious stories, since i wont hold back in the critics n shit

The Crown Family of Gritia, for centuries, tries to make the existence of the Mighty King, aka god, a tabboo, or even erase him from all existence, alongside his followers. Anything that goes astray the status quo is suscetible of punishment (or worse....)

That makes Spencer's life a bit complicated, even if he doesnt know abt the Mighty King's existence, he's part of a secret society...lets see where this goes right?

OOF DAMMT I SPOKE A LOT HUH SORRY IM A TALKER! Hope to find more writer friends along the way ^.^

#fleurfay speaks #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writeblr intro #female writers #artists on tumblr #adhd writer #madd writer

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the-selfship-corner · 8 months ago

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Canon S/I Selfship Ask Game!

Original Post Here!

Using Kasumi for this :)

✍️: Overall, how does the fandom trait you? Are you a beloved character, or hated? Are you popular, or a minor side character? Anything in between?

I’d say Kasumi is a beloved secondary character. Not quite as small of a role as a side character, but not important enough for a main character either. I like the think she’d be a fan favorite.

📝: How would your story in canon go? How would you influence the events of the original story?

Kasumi would have transferred to U.A. under recommendation. Her appearance wouldn’t change much of the main storyline, but it would change small things like how Bakugo acts later in the series. She would probably have her own side arc.

🤪: What is your trait that fanon would exaggerate?

The fanon would exaggerate her quirk, Angel, and probably draw her as some immortal being with six wings, floating eyes, and a halo.

🥰: How would someone who loved you portray you?

They would portray her as a sympathetic, kind person.

😡: How would someone who hated you portray you?

They would probably portray her as an emotional crybaby who obsesses over Bakugo.

👯: What canon character are you most similar to?

Probably a mix between Mina and Uraraka.

🌦️: Would you be accompanied by mostly fluff or angst fanfics? Both? Explain why.

There would probably be a lot of angst with Bakugo and Kasumi, mostly because of Kasumi’s backstory and Bakugo’s aggressiveness.

🏷️: What is you and your f/o’s ship name?

Katsumi :)

❤️: How popular is you x your f/o? Are you a rarepair?

Pretty popular. Most people either love it or hate it. Katsumi is almost canon, but never officially talked about. There’s plenty of scenes that hint to it, though.

💞: Aside from with your f/o, who else would you commonly be shipped with? Why?

Probably Kirishima. The two of them get along pretty well and have those similar bright personalities.

☕️: What are the most common plots of shipping fics between you and your f/o?

One rescuing the other from a kidnapping, one comforting the other from a nightmare, cuddling after Bakugos had a long day

🛌: What tropes show up in fics involving your ship?

Apocalypse, enemies to lovers, angst, fluff, villain x hero, married AU, breakup

🪐: What would be your most popular AU and why?

The most popular AU would probably be the World End AU, just because the designs are cool and Bakugo and Kasumi only have each other to rely on.

💘: Why would people love your ship? Why would people dislike your ship? How might it start debates?

People like the ship because Kasumi and Bakugo balance each other out. Bakugo teaches Kasumi how to stand up for herself more and get stronger, while Kasumi teaches Bakugo to have an open mind and try to be vulnerable with others. Some people dislike the ship because they feel Bakugo is too toxic for Kasumi, or that it’s doomed to fail due to the amount of stress on both of them. Some people may headcanon Bakugo as Aroace, while other avid Katsumi shippers would argue.

🙈: Why would your ship be thought of as cute/fluffy? Why would your ship be considered problematic?

The ship would be considered cute and fluffy because it shows a side of Bakugo the fandom wouldn’t see otherwise. He’s this really tough, hotheaded character, but when it comes to Kasumi, he becomes gentler.

🎞️: What ‘canon’ scenes would the fandom point to as evidence for the validity of your ship?

Kasumi and Katsuki were walking silently together after All Might lost his powers. Katsuki hadn’t been the same since that night. “It’s not your fault.” Kasumi said, seemingly out of nowhere. Katsukis eyes widened a little and he stopped in his tracks. He balled up his fingers into fists, knowing exactly what she was referring to. She turned to face him, putting her hands on his shoulders. “I can’t stand seeing you give up. The Katsuki I knew didn’t give up, no matter what.” Kasumi said softly. It was already dark outside. Katsuki didn’t say anything, he just looked down. “I know you’re angry at the world and yourself right now.. but…” She moved her arms slowly to hug him. “I think you’re pretty cool.” Katsuki stood there in shock for a second, before one of his shaky hands found its place on her back, just barely noticeable. After a few seconds, he pushed her away. He wiped his eyes. “Of course I’m cool… I’m gonna be #1..” His said, trying to go back to his snarky tone of voice, though a quiver could still be heard. He had that cocky smile on his face, though forced. Kasumi smiled.

💌: How would your dynamic be portrayed? What might people focus on most? Any misconceptions?

A misconception would be that Katsuki is abusive because of the way he acts towards other people, however, he’s never shown to be this way towards Kasumi. He’ll get a little snappy, but he’d never lay a hand on her. The dynamic would probably be portrayed as Ray of sunshine x angry gremlin. People would focus must on how they grow throughout the story together.

👀: How does your ship with your f/o influence both of your characterisations and the world? Would there be any interesting metas written about your dynamic?

Bakugos character would definitely be a little different. The way he treats situations would differ, how he treats people he’s fighting and people he’s saving.

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odericevertz · 2 months ago

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26, 30 & 33 for the writing asks! (please)

some fun ones!!!

26. what would you describe as OOC?

OK I HAVE TO CONFESS. i am SO picky with rpf characterisation that it annoys me an unreasonable amount when these guys are mischaracterised....i genuinely tap out of the fic and sit there stewing like NO. my pet peeve is lowkey when people woobify them to the point where i can't suspend disbelief like these guys should not be crying or calling each other cute pet names or acting like anxious girlfriends. the main appeal of rpf to me has always been strong characterisation — as fantastical as the worlds we put them in are, i have to still be able to identify the character in the au as being clearly drawn from the irl counterpart. so it goes doubly hard for fics set in canon—don't get me wrong i love when they're pathetic, but it has to be done in a nasty terrible realistic way. less is more

30. describe a fic that almost happened, but then it didn't

ooooh this is an interesting question. went hunting in my graveyard (docs scattered with unfinished ideas) and found that i'd actually planned out a short hunger games au.....martin-centric, starring him as a victor from 4 who slowly discovers his mentor granit and granit's capitol-client-turned-lover mikel are orchestrating a rebellion. i think this ended up abandoned because i could not give less of a damn about stringing the plot together i was having too much self-indulgent fun working out the backstories of all the boys

33. give your writing a compliment

oh! hm. i'd like to think i have a knack for scenes that capture the undercurrents of a complex relationship without explicitly spelling out what's going on between them.....still working on precision of metaphors but i think i manage to portray relationships that have a strange mix of tension/desire well. there's that one quote that goes something like when writing you should always know what the character means vs what he actually says out loud and i try to write in a way that shows that.

thank you for asking <333

#ki.ask #the hunger games au is so silly i can share some excerpts if you want....was written wayy back in 22/23 #martin and granit from 4 b from 11 gabi from 12 and a big reveal was martin realising mikel is district-turned-capitol elite #peep REAL WORLD PARALLEL to mikel's arsenal > city > arsenal journey #in other fics that never happened: summer of like au and declan/leah williamson tinhet fic #😭😭😭

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teecupangel · 2 years ago

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OG anon of the Reborned Desmond in Unity. I'm mighty proud that my ideas spur you fun writing. I'll confess you a secret, I'm also og anons of the ideas I've sent you prior but I don't wanna have you see me aggressive or pushy because I enjoy your content immensely (I had bad experiences of people's harsh words in irl and online on my personality). Anyway, it's similar in Unity idea. What if Desmond is reborned in AC Rogue, like became Shay's childhood friend or Liam's older or younger brother. Or possibly in a time earlier so can Desmond be established in Brotherhood maybe master assassin for Connor's happiness. Haytham's confusion and frustration in some point in the plot that Desmond won't kill him but has a look of a disappointed or pained look of a family member and Lisbon is saved. Desmond and Shay could become platonic soulmates or slow burn childhood friends to lovers (up to you) or better yet Desmond unintentionally became mentor (he was supposed just be an assassin in the background damn it lmao) and Shay is like a bodyguard or right hand which had these intense sexual tension between the two. Sorry for messy and long ask

Ah, well, I don’t see a problem with your personality and I like the ideas you throw at me. To be fair, I do try to limit my time with everyone’s asks to a certain time so I can still write. So if you don’t see an answer, that only means it’s been pushed to next day or something.

Alright, let’s think about how to make this work.

As usual, we’ll keep the same limitation as the Unity AU one

Desmond remembers his life as Desmond Miles

Desmond will have his ancestors’ memories and skills but those memories will be vague

So he either gets reborn as Shay’s childhood friend or Liam’s older/younger brother. Since Liam is Shay’s childhood friend, we can combine the two and make Desmond’s Shay’s childhood friend who is also Liam’s sibling.

Now, according to AC wiki, Liam was Achilles’ first acolyte and it was Liam who also recruited the rest of the Colonial Assassins. He’s pretty much Achilles’ second in command and maybe even being groomed as the next mentor.

In this scenario, Desmond and Liam would both be inducted into the Brotherhood together (whether we keep the whole “Liam’s father got executed to save his son” part of his backstory is up to you, nonny) with Desmond being more of Liam’s shadow. Many will see him as the little bird who whispers in Liam’s ear. Everyone in the Brotherhood knows that if you want Liam on your side, you get Desmond on your side.

We’ll get to Shay later as we need to talk about how Desmond’s inclusion would affect the Colonial Brotherhood as a whole.

Achilles Davenport

Desmond would still remember how Ratonhnhaké:ton thought of him as a father-figure. He also remembers how Achilles sometimes treated Ratonhnhaké:ton like a stubborn child so he has mixed feelings for Achilles. What he does remember is that Achilles’ family would die. Here’s where we get a bit creative with this. Desmond doesn’t have actual medical know-how. What he did had was a Shaun who was more than happy to explain what killed Achilles’ family and how that could have been prevented, which literally boils down to “cleanliness”.

So, in this scenario, Desmond is kind of a clean freak. People assume it’s because he used to live in a dirty place and Liam never tried to correct them that Desmond had always been a clean freak since they were children. The homestead is always clean, especially the kitchen. Achilles learned to live with it because his son loves the ‘wash your hands’ song that Desmond taught him. In this case, Abigail and Connor live and that means that Achilles would be ‘milder’ than his canon characterization. (Maybe Abigail even treats all of Achilles' students like her children as well?)

Hope Jensen

The main difference for Hope in this scenario is how she controls her gangs. Desmond knows it would be impossible to stop crimes from happening but his words and his adherence to the Creed would resonate with Hope. Instead of having something akin to a Proto-Rooks, Hope would be in charge of something similar to how the media portrayed the golden age of the mafia. They’re criminals, yes, and they sell illegal shit but they’re organized and they have a code. They protect the people in their district and take care of crimes not their own. In exchange, the people (and maybe even the police) look the other way when they do illegal stuff. (Hope becomes a mix of Vito Corleone and Red Hood in this scenario… does this mean Desmond accidentally created the mafia in New York during the 18th century?)

Kesegowaase

Not much would change for Kesegowaase although he would consider Desmond as a close friend. They’re also hunting buddies and Kesegowaase would notice how many of Desmond’s movements are very similar to him or to other tribes that he knows of. Desmond would just wave it off as a coincidence or maybe even say “I had a great teacher”. Kesegowaase would seesaw between thinking Desmond had been trained by one of his people (or one of the other tribes) and thinking Desmond may have been blessed by one of their spirits.

Louis-Joseph Gaultier

Oooohhhh bbooyy. This one… okay. So… Gaultier will be the one that keeps butting heads with Desmond. A lot. Desmond would even argue against his inclusion as he sees Gaultier as violent and arrogant but Achilles will argue that his connection with the French army made him invaluable. Even his suggestion of just keeping Gaultier as an ‘ally’ would be denied because Achilles sees how loyal he is. “He is loyal to a master, not to the Creed!” will be Desmond’s main argument. So there are a lot of times that he and Gaultier would argue on what it means to be an Assassin and what the Creed means. Gaultier would emphasize on Desmond’s Irish immigrant heritage to belittle his knowledge about the Creed and Desmond will argue that blood doesn’t matter. On the flip side, Desmond’s constant arguments with Gaultier and critiquing of Gaultier’s actions make all the other Assassins have a better understanding of the Creed and what it means to be an Assassin.

Liam O'Brien

Honestly, I think Desmond should be his younger brother, mainly because that would make Desmond be of a similar age as Shay and because Liam just has big bro-vibes. Just imagine him being a protective older brother who likes to tease Desmond. In this scenario, Liam would feel responsible for Desmond’s safety (especially if we do decide that their father still dies for Liam’s mistakes) and he’s a bit overprotective at times which Desmond finds both tiring and also makes him feel warm inside. Liam would also be torn whenever Desmond and Achilles would butt heads. On one hand, Achilles is like a father to him, on the other hand, Liam also knows his brother long enough to understand that everything Desmond does is for what he believed is right. Achilles may have been the one to choose Liam to be an Assassin but Liam knows that it’s Desmond who embodies what being an Assassin is supposed to be.

And now, we get to Shay Cormac.

Shay met Liam first and Liam was the one to introduce Desmond to him. Desmond has no memories of Shay at all since, even before the memories of his Bleed took a hit, his memories of Haytham stopped before Haytham met Shay. Not only that but Achilles never told Ratonhnhaké:ton anything. All Desmond knew is that the Colonial Brotherhood will be destroyed by the Templars while Ratonhnhaké:ton was young. So he grew up treating Shay as a friend. They separated due to their family situations but Liam later reunites with Shay and invites him to the Brotherhood.

And this is where Shay gets hit.

Growing up, he saw Desmond more as Liam’s little brother. A small kid that Shay needs to keep an eye on because he can be a little strange and has a mischievous streak that no one would believe. Shay has lost count of how many times Desmond had made some asshole’s life hell without anyone realizing it was him.

So when he heard Desmond was one of the high-ranking members of the Brotherhood, he wasn’t surprised. Desmond had always been a sneaky little shit.

Then…

He saw Desmond as a young adult for the first time, maybe while he’s looking over reports Hope was showing him concerning the current situation in New York, and Shay just…

Stared.

Desmond as a child was cute. Maybe a little too thin but that was unfortunately normal for them. He always wore Liam’s old clothes which were too big for him.

But Desmond in his Assassin robes? Wearing clothes that actually fit him? Having grown up into a fit young man?

Shay gets hit hard. And Desmond is simply too happy to see him again to see it.

But Hope notices it.

And Liam freaking notices it too.

And now Shay doesn’t have to just deal with his growing affection for an oblivious Desmond. He has to deal with Hope’s teasing and Liam’s seesawing erratically between teasing him and threatening to eviscerate him. Shay’s crush is going to be the worst kept secret in the homestead that even little Connor Davenport knows about it.

But Desmond doesn’t.

Why?

Because Desmond is too focused dealing with the whole Kenway drama at the moment.

Because no matter who Desmond gets reborn to… He will always prioritize the three men he cared for the most.

And, at this point, Haytham Kenway was already in America (but Desmond has no idea where) and there were even slow ongoing talks of an alliance with Ratonhnhaké:ton’s tribe that Desmond has taken charge of.

And this is where I go back to my try-and-tested idea of Desmond spending lots of time with baby!Ratonhnhaké:ton and being bff with Kaniehtí:io. (*whispers*Ratonhnhaké:ton and Connor Davenport being brothers *whispers*)

But let’s focus on the first part of Rogue for this one.

One way for Desmond to learn that Achilles is messing with Isu bs is thanks to Hope. Hope and Shay were the ones to be ordered to find and analyze the precursor box and either of them could tell Desmond about it but, at this point, Shay is still ‘new’ and may be trying to get some brownie points from Achilles. On the other hand, Hope has long been converted to Desmond’s side and would definitely tell Desmond about all of these because she’s heard of how dangerous these items are from Desmond himself.

Desmond would strongarm his way to being part of the mission and might even sneak into Morrigan as a stowaway and only show himself when they were nearing Lisbon. Thanks to Desmond’s ‘affinity’ with POEs, Lisbon will definitely not happen (hell, we can even use some of the plot points from A Pirate's Son for this part XD) and the second part of Rogue would be changed to Desmond and Shay trying to secure all the other POEs in the manuscript they have.

And… maybe they start getting close during their travels and something develops between them during that time… (nudgenudgenudge)

Sidenote: This is also a bit similar to the idea I was thinking of based on @twitcherpated’s suggestion in AO3 of Desmond being reborn as the actual Connor Davenport. The only difference is that Desmond would be a bit young in that one and won’t be able to stop Lisbon but, even if he’s young, he can still comfort Shay and stop him from doing anything drastic while still in shock.

#i focused too much on the colonial assassins #but yeah full on look of disappointment for haytham #plus a dash of 'i expected nothing less from you yet i am still disappointed'#assassin's creed #desmond miles #shay cormac #liam o'brien #achilles davenport #hope jensen #kesegowaase #louis-joseph gaultier

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