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corvidae-corvus · 10 months ago

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My Spider-Man & Batman Fanfic (WIP) #4:

Omg I just realized that since Aunt May is literally a nurse she could be the first link to the Batfam.

So I've been having trouble deciding on how the Parkers and Batfam would first meet. Like...how they would meet, why, where etc. What reasons would the Batfam would want to know more about them. I finally figured some of it out.

The first reason I feel like it would be mentions of Dick walking around the city. Then they would meet Richard Parker and just assume he's a doppelganger. (When two people who are unrelated look exactly alike.)

Then like 2 weeks later, there'll be evidence of 2 people breaking into Wayne Enterprises or something similar. 2 weeks after that they're seen again and they're inconsistently breaking into rich people's companies etc.

Now 2 months after the Parkers arrive in Gotham, one of the Batfam is incredibly hurt and can't communicate with the rest of the Batfam. They're hurt and are in need of medical assistance. That's where May comes in! And guess what she conveniently has a whole med room ready and prepared to help them. She helps them and while they're passed out or something and when they wake up, they're a little confused but they like May. (I don't know who gets hurt, either Tim, or Jason. I'm leaning towards Jason since May's gonna be in crime alley and all that but I also would not mind Tim.)

Now why does may have a whole med bay set up? And how? Well like a month after they arrived in Gotham, they all managed to find each other. Peter is discovered last and they all obviously know that he's Spider-Man. (they have some memory of Peter's life. Not a lot but they all know that he's Spider-Man. Should I keep it that way or change it?)

Peter wants to go back to being Spider-Man and they need to stock up on Items. Mary and Richard are in charge of gathering supplies (stealing) and Peter isn't allowed to join since it could jeopardize his identity before it's even revealed. They know that the Batfam is onto Richard and May.

Now whether or not Peter joins later on or does his own runs, idk. But that's for future me to decide on.

So because the supply runs May gets her own medical equipment, and decides that she's going to help the people of Crime Alley get the medical attention they deserve. Also she wants to bring back F.E.A.S.T.

So may is gonna be a Charity worker/organizer/founder of F.E.A.S.T. by day and the nurse of the fucking underworld by night! Ok I'm kinda exaggerating but what I mean is that she will be an illegal nurse during the night ( idk who will be on stand-by during the end of Peter's patrol, but I was thinking that the rest of the family would, maybe Ben.) She would help anyone in need, that includes the VILLAINS!! This would be interesting since she died in an explosion that was caused by one of the people she tried to help (green goblin). I feel like she'd have a bit of trouble with the villains. She'd help them but she'd be really scared while doing so and maybe a little angry. She died and I want to explore that part of her character. Peter would definitely object to her becoming like an illegal Nurse but gives in to her because he loves her very much and wants to support her. He's just constantly worried about her.

Anyways I was also wondering if there are any canonical "illegal nurses" that are in Gotham. I've read fics where there is a nurse that Jason, or the rest of the Batfam go to when things get rough on patrol and the nurse/doctor is a civilian. Maybe they can be friends with May!!

Anyways this will obviously get May investigated. And boom! She has documents and stuff! Now I feel like the Batfam won't realize that the info is fake for awhile. Since Peter's parents are literal spies and they're pretty damn good at making a whole new identity without getting caught (my head cannon) and Peter's intelligence is crazy. He's also like 20 here he's definitely smarter now than when he was a teenager. And he had Ned and Tony teaching him how to hack. Now I feel like Barbara is the better hacker but I need the plot to slow down sooo....

I need to think more on this later. Anyways yea! This is like a part of May's Story that I would want to write!

Hope you enjoyed it! If y'all have any questions you can ask me about it! Maybe even give me some ideas if ya want! This is all just a WIP and I honestly I am not gonna start this fic for a while...but Everytime I post the story gets more and more coherent. Lol.

#fanfic #batman #crossover #dc universe #gotham #peter parker #richard parker #spider man #marvel #mcu #may parker

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gnbrkrs · 4 months ago

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Viper questline impressions now that I've finally done it

It went pretty much as I expected it to go (as I was wondering whether there would be more twists I wasn't noticing at certain points, but there weren't). I feel like overall it was okay. There were good things about it, but it also fell to some very specific writing pet peeves in my book that prevented it from standing out in comparison to other job questlines. My one particular frustration was the amount of time it forces you to follow along with what Innocent Stork does despite the fact that her villainy is revealed pretty early on and overall telegraphed rather clearly even without the cutscene that revealed it. There was a similar moment with Misija in Bozja, but that was kind of mitigated by the facts that Bozja was a longer story overall and we don't spend half of it doing the villain's bidding as our characters stay oblivious, as well as Misija being a more complex/ higher-stakes villain (which Innocent Stork is not). I know I criticized one aspect of the Sage questline on EW release, which is that the villain's writing suffered because of a poorly landed "villain who seemed to have reasons is actually just an asshole" twist (as we only get hints of him being sympathetic, but never buy into the idea wholly for the twist to work). I feel like Innocent Stork's character suffers a problem that is kind of the opposite, where she is a clear-cut evil antagonist with no redeeming qualities, but also the clarity of it makes certain moments in the story frustrating because you are also locked into following along. I think this is the case where showing less would have been more, and her betrayal being less foreseeable would have made the first half of the story easier to follow. On a brighter note, as I already said, I really like Keshkwa's character and his (initial) awkwardness. It creates some moments that range from funny to endearing, and I like how he is actually capable despite it and learns to overcome it over the course of the storyline, eventually managing to pull Golias out of trouble. I kind of wish his personal vendetta against Iq Soq Xmajun/ the loss of his comrades was more elaborated on, as it is a personal bit of the character, but at the same time I feel like if it was, the questline may have ended up too similar to the ShB tank role questline. Overall, he is a highlight of the questline for me. I don't think I particularly feel one way or another about Golias. I suspected something was fishy about him early on, but it also became pretty clear a quest later. I guess it makes sense that he is so easy to read, with him being that naive and gullible. I guess good for him that Keshkwa bailed him out and made him his assistant.

Overall, I'd say the questline is pretty straightforward (in certain regards too straightforward for my taste). The whole "following along the villain as the viewer knows" thing aside, I don't think I noticed any other things from a writing perspective, but with that said, it also doesn't stand out to me as some of the other questlines in the game do. Now on to finish the melee DPS EW role quest, and I can finally do the MSQ.

#ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #dawntrail #viper quests #ffxiv spoilers #keshkwa #innocent stork #golias #dawntrail spoilers #7.0 spoilers #ffxiv 7.0 spoilers #final fantasy xiv spoilers #patch 7.0 spoilers

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m34gs · 9 months ago

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Please tell me the plot, in point form, of your least favourite horror movie (to date).

House of 1000 Corpses. Without a doubt, that is my least favourite horror movie I've watched at this point. It's not even a contest. It's also been a while since I watched it so forgive me if I'm a little vague or fuzzy on the details, lol.

Also, it's a bit...well, it's a lot. Under the cut because LONG (and also murder I guess)

Plot:

Two criminals attempt to rob a gas station run by a man in faded clown make-up (Captain Spaulding); and he murders them with his assistant.

Four teens show up looking to write about roadside attractions off the beaten path, and Captain Spaulding shows them his Museum of Monsters and Madmen. He tells them a story about a doctor (Dr. Satan. Yes, you read that right. His name is Dr. Satan) who was hung at a nearby tree and of course they want to go.

From there, they end up lured out to a house of a strange family. The family is *obsessed* with Hallowe'en. There is some attempts at seduction going on, also some sort of halloween show? but it's a private show just for the teens and the family.

The family tortures them. The family has also tortured and murdered several cheerleaders at this time in the story.

Cops have been called as one of the teens' fathers notice she's missing. The father also comes to help search?

The cops and father end up murdered as well.

3 of the teens (because one is dead) are paraded outside...in rabbit costumes? and taken to an abandoned well (I think? it might have just been a pit).

One gets murdered for trying to run, the other two are lowered down into the ground in coffins (in the well/pit thingy).

The failed experiments of Dr. Satan (under the ground on the property???) steal one of them away and leave the other to make her way through the underground on her own (there are tunnels????)

She comes across Dr. Satan (who was alive this whole time?????and his assistant is the mutilated but still alive ex-husband of the matriarch of the strange murderous family???) murdering her friend.

She manages to escape, and flees to the highway. She is picked up on the side of the road by Captain Spaulding.

She passes out from exhaustion and probably also shock. *jumpscare* suddenly one of the family members pops out of hiding in the back seat (he had time to get there???? before her????).

When she wakes up she is strapped to an operating table and Dr. Satan is there. She screams.

The End?

Ok ok ok so initially, initially I felt bad about disliking this movie so much. And then I found out that the director, Rob Zombie, actually doesn't even like it and won't watch it because he feels it is not good (source) (warning for clown if that scares anyone; that's the picture for the article) and I didn't feel so bad about it. (also, I get it, I also have things I created when I was first getting into writing fanfic that make me kind of shudder inside) Plus, it's not like I'm obligated to like a film. Also, I never said I hated it, just that it's my least favourite.

My reason for disliking it isn't really complicated. In my opinion, it's a bit of a hodge-podge of random horror tropes that are kind of pasted together like a giant horror collage. That's not bad, exactly, but it kind of made the plot feel a bit halfhearted at points and it made things a little hard to follow. It also made character motives hard to believe (or even figure out to begin with).

I think what I can say is that it explores the possible brutal and violent nature of humans, and that it clearly shows a love for horror, even if I personally think that all the tropes being mashed together like that are a bit much. (if people don't know what tropes I mean, I can list a few: teens on a roadtrip, mysterious stranger at a gas station, clown, cheerleaders/scantily clad women, local legend of an old execution that turns out sort-of true, disfigured hillbilly-ish villains, family that tortures together, doctor experimenting unethically on humans, plot twist that the man that supposedly helped the protagonist is actually in cahoots with the murderers, etc. That's not even all. That's just what I can remember.) The thing is, any one of those tropes alone can be a great plot for a horror movie. Even a couple of them fit really well together and have proven to be good horror stories to the masses (teen roadtrip + family that tortures together = Texas Chainsaw Massacre; mysterious stranger at a gas station + disfigured hillbilly villains = The Hills Have Eyes; etc). But putting them all together is kind of overwhelming and you end up losing the plot. There was a point where I went "what the fuck is even happening" and not in a good way.

That all being said, I will stand by my statement that the movie shows the director's love of horror, even if I personally didn't like it. I am still glad I watched it, even if I didn't get it at times or the plot seemed really disconnected. I definitely think it should be viewed as a "for fun" horror movie, rather than a super serious one, and honestly whenever I think of it like that I feel I can connect to it a little bit better. So, yeah. That's my thoughts on that one.

#thanks for asking!#horror #horror movies #personal #personal thoughts #my opinion #horror is subjective of course #also the “the end?” is not me being confused #that's literally on the end credits

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laurel-dreams · 1 year ago

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hello you haven't talked about your own superhero story in awhile and I wanted to more about the order like their goals maybe some Powers or ideas behind them

Yeah It has been a while huh? Mostly I've been super busy IRL so that's why I haven't talked much about anything lateley. Alright, allow me to tell you some stuff about The Order! Ideas behind them: An Idea I knew I wanted to implement with The Order was the senses. Each order member is related to one of the main senses. Cordyceps is sight. shroom(neo pronoun of chice) can use parasitic mushrooms to watch anything that happens in the city, like a red of camaras of sorts. Since said mushrooms are parasitic shroom can also see throught the eyes of whoever is being infected. Think about how real mooshrooms have mycorrhizal networks. Harlequin would be hearing. By Shapeshifting into his hero persona it's not hard for her to catch up on the news and plans the heroes have, this plus his knowledge of pretty much any important underground movement on their villain network makes her a very useful aset to The Order. DoubleH is touch. This is pretty self explainatory, his healing powers work by making phisical contact with the wound, so yeah. He is the medic on the villains team. He wasn't to keen on joining at first since he wanted to help people, but he eventually realized that, while heroes, had a heck ton of medical assistance, no one was there to help the villains were they to get hurt. "Medical assistance is a basic human right, regardless of your ideology" so he stuck it up and switched from vigilantism to villany. Aroma is the sense of smell, with her power she can generate different smells that alter someones perception or mood. THis power, which technically sounds quite weak, is actually secretly very OP, since she can cover the groups tracks easily and oh, IDK create such a disgusting smell that it makes you sick and forces you to puke pretty much instantly. Glass Shard is our delicios sense of taste. By ingesting someones DNA he is capable of ussing that persons powers for a limited ammount of time. Technically any type of DNa would work, but he has his preference in blood and flesh since it's more available and easy to eat than hair, for example. Don't let this fool you he is perfectly capable of putting on a fight without using someone else's power. Father with his telepathic and psychic abilities would be the so called "Sixth sense" and as the leader of the organization I think it fits quite well for him to be this misterious element.

But wait, what about Neutro? Neutro is a bit of an odd case. Since he works on the shadows and is never actaully on the field, (Plus his existance is compleatly unknown to the public) he doesn't have a representative sense that describes him, but well thats to be expected, he doesn't have any enhancement either. In regards to their objective? You will have to wait for that, but if you have some theories, reading then will certenly be entertaingin for me

#laurel superhero story #Ocs:villains

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adultqueerbookrecs · 1 year ago

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Book Rec: A Marvelous Light by Freya Markse

Book 1 in the The Last Binding Trilogy

This may have been the most exciting book that I've read in a very long time. It's the book that got me back into reading after a very long slump - so much so that I read it twice in a row, and then again twice more via audiobook. I cannot think of a single miss-step in this book. The descriptions are rich and vibrant, a perfect blend of character voice and wit and image. The characters are beyond charming, and the villains straddle the line between melodrama and realism that makes every victory a delight and every loss heartbreaking. The plot is perfectly paced, a perfect parlor drama for someone who grew up reading Agatha Christie.

Plot/Character: The main characters are the new Sr Robert Blyth (Robin), the newly appointed (and sole) Assistant in the Office of Special Affairs and Complaints, and Edwin Courcey, the magical liaison with whom he'll now be working. Only, Robin has never heard of magic before, and Edwin is focused first on finding what happened to Gatling, Robin's predecessor. (Who is, by the way, very dead. We know this. It's the prologue. They don't. That's plot). Everything is complicated when Robin is cursed by Gatling's killer, who is looking for something called The Last Contract, and then it's off to the races (Courcey's family home in the country) to find a way to un-curse Robin, who is now subject to random bits of pain and alarming dizziness. Robin is a delight, trying to balance the untimely (possibly welcome) death of his parents, and the social-and-financial mess they left behind (unwelcome), with the revelations of magic and the magician who introduced it to him. He's easily characterized as a privileged jock, but his socially impeccable smile hides a large heart, a clever wit, and a deep love of art. He also boxes. Edwin might be my favorite character (with the exception of Robin's sister, Maude). He first appears as a tight-ass, and is quickly revealed that his tightness is born of both a need for control and an astounding lack of it in his personal life. He is magical, but "only just" and in a world where might-is-right, has internalized a lot of negativity while dealing with the external negativity of his family - his brother is a cruel bully, and his sister (and her friends) are habitual bullies. He compensates by living in London and studying *how* magic works - he is one of the most well-read magic users in the book. Perhaps because magic is a special interest - Edwin is also one of the best examples of an Autistic character that I have read. The development of the relationship between these two, while dealing with increasingly deadly stakes, is perf3ectly paced. It simmers and sparks, and it's so wonderful how they each fill needs the other has as well as desires. World building: The best word I have to describe it is immersive. From the very first chapter you get a sense of the history and presence of this alternate society that feels organically grown even as it is unfamiliar. The details are perfectly placed, the slight alteration of language - of common expressions beyond the terms used for the magic system itself, really ground this fiction in a sort of reality. Not to mention the *incredibly* fascinating magic system, built on contracts and cat's cradle and *consent* And speaking of consent, this book has some of the best written spicy scenes that I have seen in published fiction. These scenes break tension, forward emotional arcs, and explore characterization while being genuinely sensual and without the awkward phrasing that can sometimes be so off-putting. 10/10, no notes. Ultimately, I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy a healthy bit of drama-plot in their romance, or romance in their fantasy.

#a marvellous light #book rec #mod:scarletjedi #author: Freya Marske

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greatwyrmgold · 2 years ago

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I've spent a few posts talking about things I like about Bleach. Now for me to talk about things I don't like.

The Soul Society arc.

Thank you, have a good day.

Okay, yes, I will explain myself. I recall that the Soul Society arc is one of the parts of Bleach that its fans generally like, and I...don't. There are several reasons for this.

Why I dislike the Soul Society Arc

Rukia

I've made a bit of a running gag about how Rukia is my favorite character, which I might actually try to explain at some point. She's determined, she's resourceful, she tries to do the right thing (even if it means breaking the law), she can switch from being the straight man/voice of reason to being the silly punchline guy without feeling like she's out of character. And while I wish she'd kept a meaningful fragment of her powers, having her fight a Hollow without them was pretty badass.

And she spends basically the entire Soul Society arc as a damsel in distress. She thinks that doing anything will make things worse for the people she cares about, which is a better reason than most damsels in distress have, but it still feels like an excuse to let the deuteragonist gather dust in the corner while the series focuses on a bunch of new soul reapers. Speaking of which:

I lost track of how many new characters were introduced

In principle, introducing dozens of Soul Reapers isn't automatically a bad thing. There are some bit-part Reapers who add a lot to the texture of the world without taking up too much narrative real estate. That one officer who hits on (what he thinks are) female Reapers in the middle of a crisis does a good job making the Reapers seem both varied and...banal, in a three-dimensional sort of way?

But then there are the dozens of Reapers (and non-Soul-Reaper souls) who are supposed to be main characters. There's the thirteen captains, and most of their assistant captains, and a bunch of others besides. And I like some of these!

Hanataro is a nice weakling, contrasting the overwhelmingly powerful and callous captains. He's just...a nice dude. And despite being weak, he's allowed to do stuff.

Renji, aside from being a vehicle to explain Rukia's backstory (yay, Rukia when she wasn't damseled!), is a

Kenpachi is just that shonen fight-loving dude, but...he's the most that dude I have ever seen. And despite that, he's absolutely shit at using his zanpakuto; he has to get by on raw brute force. He feels like a subtweet about all the worst anime heroes.

Yachiru is adorable and I love her dynamic with Kenpachi.

But there are also plenty of Reapers who I dislike, like Mayuri the generic mad scientist, Gin Ichimaru the obvious villain, or Rukia's brother Byakuya (who isn't as evil as Gin, but is also a less audacious and interesting flavor of evil). And worse, there are a bunch who I just don't care about, like...the guy with a fox head, or the old leader guy, or the glasses guy, or the other six captains, who the series tries to make into main characters.

It's too much to keep track of. And so is...

All the fight scenes

I get it, this is a shonen battle manga, shonens are gonna battle as the manga goes on. But do the battles need to seem so superfluous?

It could be worse. I've been reading Jump manga long enough to know that. Lots of Big Event arcs turn into chaotic melees, almost impossible to follow. Others throw fights back-to-back at you, with no room to breathe.

The Soul Society arc doesn't do either of those. The participants in each fight are well-defined, the fights separated from each other by several blocks at minimum. There's space in between them, time to reset the tension and explore some character stuff that comes up. But it still has a lot of superfluous-feeling fights.

(Aside: While splitting the party this way and giving everyone periodic downtime is good, it also makes the timeline feel less cohesive than it probably is. It sometimes feels like one group is resting up and having lengthy conversations in the middle of another group's action scene.)

For instance: We're supposed to be invested in a multi-chapter fight between the mentor character who barely existed before the Soul Society arc* and her ex-student who barely existed before this fight? Really? The student's backstory had to be explained midfight for it to have a semblance of emotional...anything.

I assumed that fight was just introducing the sleeve-destroying lightning technique, but the wiki says it's only used by those two and the mentor's sister. Which is a shame, because A. it means we don't get to see Ichigo in one of those goofy open-sided uniforms, Hawkeye Initiative style, and B. it means we really were supposed to care about the student who got mad her teacher left.

I realize I've harped on this one segment, but...well, it's mostly the recency effect, but also that segment knocked me out of my reading groove and made it hard to get back into it. No offense to either Yoruichi or...(checks notes) Sui-feng, but your backstory was introduced in the worst way, and there doesn't seem to be that much to it.

Anyways, that's just one fight out of dozens. Some of them advance the plot, or help the heroes understand/develop their powers. Some are just obstacles for the heroes to overcome. And some are just squabbles between Soul Reaper captains over everything from the dumb, violent version of Machiavellian scheming to "Why didn't you bring me with you when you left, sensei?!?"

Anyways. Circling through the technique introduced two pages before it was used to win a fight to the mid-fight-scene exposition, we come to another problem.

Maybe Bleach deserves its reputation?

Before reading Bleach or watching Geoff Thew's Bleach video, I had heard some stuff about the series. One of those things is that it had bad power creep, with new powers being introduced on a dime as the plot requires. For the whole pre-Soul-Society monster-of-the-week segment, this didn't come up.

Then we get to the Soul Society. The main characters are faced by overwhelmingly powerful Soul Reapers, with far greater spirit energy (power level) and a variety of special techniques and powers among them. Ichigo &co struggle against low-level Reaper officers, knowing they will have to fight captains who can mop the floor with those mooks. And then...they get stronger, and have about the same level of struggle against the strongest captains, and win.

The worst has to be Ichigo getting his bankai. For those who don't read Bleach: I hope this has made sense, and also bankai is kinda like a super-mode of the magic swords every Soul Reaper has, which can summon monsters or deadly flower petals or a bone snake whip thing. I don't really get it yet. Anyways, bankai is super rare; only a fraction of Soul Reapers ever get a bankai, and it takes a decade or more of training.

Of course, Ichigo takes a shortcut. It involves a quasi-symbolic fight against the incarnation of his magical sword; the goal is to find his real magic sword, which is stated to be the one piece of his spirit made for fighting. This has the potential to be an interesting training scene, forcing Ichigo to introspect and figure out why he fights, what he's fighting for.

...it happens offscreen. We cut away from Ichigo's training for a while, stuff happens, Rukia's about to be executed, Ichigo appears a day ahead of schedule, having figured his bankai thing out. There's no flashback, we don't get to see Ichigo figuring out why he fights or anything. He just comes back, and he's stronger now. And when that's not enough (because of his shonen BS), he gets a spooky Hollow mask.

But it's not just this kind of convenient power-up. There are also a lot of techniques that are explained in flashbacks right before (or after) they win a fight. Some of these make sense; Quincies can manipulate reiki in the world around them, the afterlife world is made out of reiki, it makes sense that Uryu would be able to draw power from nearby buildings and stuff. Others really don't; the thing Uryu pulled in the same fight which boosted his Quincy powers but then made him lose them at the end of the fight came out of nowhere.

There's a lot of backfill, a lot of mid-fight exposition, and yet a lot of stuff that isn't explained. Orihime and Chad getting powers still isn't explained beyond "Hanging out with Ichigo and Rukia awakened dormant magical powers," and it's weird that two of Ichigo's friends would have those. And while the way Orihime's powers work is explained decently, I still have no idea what Chad's armor arm does. Strong, tough, draining? Iunno.

But I guess it's not surprising that some stuff would fall by the wayside.

It's Too Much

This isn't so much a new point, as a new angle on the points I already made, synthesizing everything.

I liked the small-scale conflicts in Bleach's early monster-of-the-week arcs. One chapter, there's a cursed parakeet (there's a Hollow involved). A few chapters later, soul-Ichigo needs to chase down his body and the artificial autopilot soul that was supposed to be safeguarding it. Then he meets the Hollow that killed his mom, then a TV psychic who understands spirits just well enough to accidentally make everything worse, then a different kind of monster-hunter who thinks Soul Reapers need to back off and let humans handle their own world.

It's episodic, and that's not a bad thing! It gives us time to get acquainted with the world and how it works. And, of course, how Ichigo's Reaper magic and Uryu's Quincy powers work. Plus, it's just kinda fun? Every few chapters, you get a different flavor of urban fantasy nonsense, which all feels like it fits in the same world.

Then all of a sudden, Rukia abandons the Kurosaki household, and Ichigo sees her getting kidnapped by her brother, a high-ranking Soul Reaper, who is going to execute her. Ichigo and his friends (and Uryu) need to train fast so they can go to the Soul Society, where they're promptly smacked in the face with a whole mass of characters and powers and technobabble and politics, both class politics and powerful individuals maneuvering for more power.

And I like some of these elements. The divide between haves and have-nots in the afterlife is worth exploring, bankai seem neat (especially that one tidbit from when Ichigo was training, which never paid off and I'm still mad), plenty of the Soul Reapers are interesting and fun, some of the fight scenes are cool.

But I don't have the time to enjoy those elements. They're drowning in a sea of other things introduced at the same time, and a stream of new things being constantly introduced. New characters (and characters we technically already saw getting developed), more part of that big scheme coming to light, more technobabble, more powers, more training.

Bonus: Shonen BS

I couldn't fit this into the neat stream of segues, but there's a lot more shonen BS in this arc. You know, characters doing things that help set up fight scenes but don't make a lot of sense in-character.

Some shonen BS, I can accept. Kenpachi, for instance. Shonen BS is his whole character; he wears an eyepatch because binocular vision would make fights too easy. (Also, there's something in it that limits his spirit energy.) It makes sense that he'd go out of his way to let his opponent fight. And even characters who aren't pure, unadulterated shonen BS, sometimes shonen BS is in-character. That's fine.

But when Ichigo has his sword to the throat of Rukia's evil brother, who he considers irredeemably evil for callously trying to execute his sister (fair), and backs off for no apparent reason so they can fight for a couple more chapters...why? Why did he hold back his bankai until after Rukia's brother cut him up with his flower bankai? Why did he not kill him when he had such an easy chance? If you're gonna kill him, kill him!? You could have finished this with one fewer convenient power-up!

I don't have any big point here. Some shonen BS is expected in any battle manga, Bleach got a bunch more in the Soul Society arc, it's starting to get on my nerves.

What do I wish had happened?

I think the big problem is how suddenly Bleach goes from pre-Soul-Society MOTW stuff to a big, dense plotline in a whole new world. It's a sudden change of pace, a change in place, a whole herd of new characters, and a bunch of new powers and setting elements, introduced all at the same time.

So instead...don't do that.

Keep up the monster-of-the-week format, and introduce these things more gradually. Maybe Ichigo starts running into tougher Hollows after Uryu's stunt, so he needs to recruit Orihime, Chad, and Uryu to help him fight. Then they start training their supernatural abilities to stay on top of the problem.

Meanwhile, spirit world stuff starts getting introduced. Maybe Uruhara sends Ichigo and Rukia on an errand that takes them into the spirit world, or pursuing a Hollow takes them there, or Renji visits the mortal world to figure out why Rukia's been gone so long, or something.

Or if nothing else, have some Rukia flashback chapters. Those could introduce basics of how the Soul Society works, and since Rukia was adopted into one of the big spirit world families, she could plausibly have met most of the major characters in the Soul Society arc. Plus, more Rukia is rarely a mistake.

My biggest problems with the Soul Society arc come down to dumping so much information on the reader at once (too much to be contained in organic-feeling scenes) and how much of a disconnect between Soul Society and what came before. But that's an obvious problem, right? It makes me wonder why Tite Kubo wrote Bleach this way. But I don't know enough to meaningfully speculate, and I shouldn't baselessly speculate.

Anyways, beyond that...Rukia should actually do stuff. This would require a lot of rewriting about why she was imprisoned and how she felt about her execution, but it's not like you could adjust the pacing without changing all of that stuff. Also, I don't like it. "I'll let my brother kill me and hope that the other captains don't have any reason to go after Ichigo, who they hold partially responsible for the thing I'm being executed for" isn't the worst motivation a damsel can have for accepting her distress, but it's still not a great one.

Finally, cut down a bit. I can't get specific without toeing into the "fix-it fic" zone, but I feel like all thirteen Soul Reaper captains and most of their assistant captains and a bunch of their flunkies and several people living outside the spirit city is a few more principal characters than a single arc needs. Part of the problem is that the Rukia execution plotline has a lot of scenes setting up some kind of big conspiracy plotline that I haven't really gotten to.

I feel there should have been more space between them. That might be tricky; Rukia's execution was a step in the conspiracy's plan, and I'm not sure how close it is to the end or how easy it would be to restructure the conspiracy so that there was more of a gap. For all I know, something not yet revealed about the conspiracy will make it seem like as crucial a part of the Soul Society arc as Rukia's execution, and not just the next thing that happens. But at the moment, I feel like jamming them together weakened both.

Conclusion

The Soul Society arc is not bad; I just like it less than what came before. It feels like too many things are introduced too quickly, with loads of characters and powers and worldbuilding details being dumped in at once.

Those things are not bad, just crammed in too tightly for my taste. I could have found Sui-feng a compelling character, if her story wasn't crammed into the middle of a fight scene which feels like it has no purpose except introducing her and showing off her ex-master's powers. It could have been a side-story about a character dutifully following the path laid out for her by her ancestors and superiors, only for that path to stop making sense when her mentor bailed.

But instead, it's a backstory that was squished into a fight scene that felt like a big plot cul-de-sac. And that stinks.

(It also stinks that Rukia was just kinda tossed into the corner like a forgotten toy.)

#manga #bleach #soul society #pacing #meta

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broodingnightgoddess · 2 years ago

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I had finally arrived at the house after days of road trips in my trusty motorcycle, traversing such a large distance that I had long forgotten if this place used miles, kilometers or even something else entirely. My mind and body were exhausted beyond belief, with my heart broken upon realizing the fate that had fallen upon our world.

I cried for hours when I read the news. My cup of coffee fell to the ground, and weeping on the floor I became once again that little girl kidnapped by a faction of the military to use her powers for their benefit, same story. Most ironic is who the leader of those soldiers was.

It's true that my psychic abilities had warranted me undesirable attention, but only since a few days ago I had never despised my ability as much as I do now, an young adult.

I was enchanted where the heroes rescued me. The action, their might, their kindness... All those virtues had stuck on my mind, and every night afterwards I prayed and dreamed to eventually join them. I sent emails, telephone calls, drawings, donations once I started to earn my own money, everything.

The process to become one of them was a long and arduous one. Before I could even start that process, I had to go to a regular university to study Law, especially and ironically, Ethics. It was almost required for heroes to know how to operate in legal matters in case they destroy something or need other sorts of assistance. I excelled in my classes through perseverance and discipline, without use of my powers. However, my dreams broke when I heard the news.

The heroes, almost the same squadron as the one that rescued me so many years ago, had attacked the government in a violent coup. Many other countries had already fallen to the tyrants, and ours was perhaps the only one who could truly do something to stop it. It was in vain, and the heroes took control. Disgusted, I refused to use my powers from then on.

In just a week, many of my peers had been killed by them. "Security", they claimed, "Order". Bullshit.

- "Bullshit!"

I yelled at myself, on the verge of crying again like I had done when I heard the news. Quickly, I bit my hand until it bled to focus on what I had come there for. My injured hand knocked on the door, and a man was quick to open, dressed in casual, sporty attire.

- "Lady? Can I help you?"

Yes. He absolutely could. And must.

I recognized his face inmediately. The infamous Nilord, once a mighty and strong villain with powers of dark that could suck the souls of his enemies with his black eyes on his hands. I noticed how those eyes where blocked with gloves. And, the man who wanted my powers so long ago. The leader of the rogue soldiers who kidnapped me.

- "Nilord...you probably don't remember but..."

The man began to close the door in shame, until I blocked its path with my foot.

- "Lady, please leave. I just know that I used to do terrible things. I don't want to know anything else" - the man was visibly saddened and regretful, but I wasn't going to give up so easily - "I've heard the news and I understand you are scared but..."

- "But only you can help us! I don't care about what you did! Are you going to wait until they kill us or do you want to be a hero?"

The man began to laugh, and cursed his lack of ability to resist persuasion. I was let in, and while the man offered me some tea he had just made, we sat together in a glass table. I explained myself to him, without mentioning our history together. He looked at the ground confused but I knew very well that memories can't be destroyed like that. Only forgotten. My powers perhaps served a purpose.

- "...so that's why. I can restore your memories with my powers. Only you and I can...kill them. The last two heroes are us. Are you still going to help me? "

- "Yes. It's the only thing I can do. But with one condition"

I had foolishly expected to convince him quickly. I should have expected he would want something in return. But I was surprised when I heard his next words.

- "I have no idea to what state I'll return to after you restore my memories. I will for sure fight the heroes, like I always have, but what will happen afterwards is out of my knowledge"

The man almost drank the entire tea in a few gulps, a sign of his nervousness. I ignored the name of the infusion, but I could feel it's calming effects, perhaps chosen for that very specific purpose. Soon, Nilord spoke again.

- "This world, and the once heroes, cannot consist. A reality where even the mightiest and most heroic can turn into such tyrants is one in where we don't belong. Lady, we are the only ones left that haven't been corrupted by the thirst of power yet. At least you haven't"

The idea of what he was saying placed itself in my mind. Far from being scared, I accepted my fate.

- "Lady. This tea is poison that will kill us in a few hours. Enough to save the world from total tyranny before we go mad with power and turn into them. Once all heroes are dead without descendance, this planet will be rid of scum. I have an antidote on the kitchen if you refuse but..."

Before his very eyes I drank the entire tea in my cup, smiling at peace for the first time ever since before the dystopia began. I rose my hand towards his face, it shining in a white flash of light.

A few minutes passed, and as I rose up from the chair and walking away a few steps, the man also arose, his eyes having that very same lack of light I had witnessed in my younger years. He spoke in a sinister but caring tone. He managed to retain part of his kindness, but that wouldn't last.

- "Oh...I remember you. Well, time to ruin your dreams. Kidnapped Lucia, it's time for your abilities to be useful"

We both walked out of the building, and got into his car towards the capitol where the tyrants now resided. The road towards death. My powers could finally mean something.

The most fearsome super villain in history was defeated and for judgement received two options: death sentence or memory wipe. They chose the latter. When the super heroes perform a coup and take control over the world, there is only one person powerful enough to aid you…

#writers #writers on tumblr #writing prompts #writing inspiration

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televinita · 1 year ago

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2023 Goodreads Choice Award Winners - Reactions

Opinion time! Long, loud opinion time.

FICTION - Yellowface: wow! I figured this was a strong contender but I did not expect it to stomp 2nd-place finisher (Hello Beautiful) by a margin of nearly 4 to 1. I guess it had more time to gain traction? Happy my pick (aka the only one I might actually read) The Wishing Game got 3rd at least.

HISTORICAL FICTION - Weyward: doesn't look like my cup of tea but not bad. At least it's a cool cover. I wasn't super invested in the outcome of this race. My pick (the one actually on my TBR before the first round, The Echo of Old Books) only got 6th but oh well.

MYSTERY/THRILLER - The Housemaid's Secret: honestly that surprises me, I knew she was popular but I thought it would go to Lisa Jewell or Riley Sager. (who did take 2nd, by not a huge loss, and 3rd, respectively)

(I loooove Kate Morton but I only voted for her book in round 1 to get it contending; I still think she was misplaced in this category. My 2nd round vote went to Sager on a hunch...but I'm fine with the winner. It seems a bit generic for my tastes but not bad at all.)

ROMANCE - Happy Place: SWEET BABY JESUS THANK ALL THE ANGELS ABOVE that Emily Henry's massive fanbase is in fact strong enough to crush Ali Hazelwood, 'cause nobody else is. I ultimately picked the Jimenez book for my vote because between her and Henry's book that one sounds sliiightly more my taste, and I'm relieved that wasn't wasted.

I don't like how how up my sworn nemesis Curtis Sittenfeld's book still landed, nor some of the trashier titles (they have shirtless-man covers in their true form I just know it); I was hoping The Seven Year Slip would do better because it was both well received and seems more in line with the women's-fiction kind of romance I like, though this particular title didn't thrill me. Still: the evil has been defeated! (she said, forgetting there were two categories to clear)

ROMANTASY - Fourth Wing: lmaooooooooooo we all knew this was going to win but TEN TWELVE TIMES more votes than the 2nd place finisher?? Twelve?? Almost 400k in total; I don't think any book has ever had that many votes put toward it in the history of the awards. And since 2nd place was not-particularly-romantasy-like Assistant to the Villain, I have to assume everyone was desperately trying to conscientiously object to either that book's inevitable win or the category in general.

FANTASY - Hell Bent: gdi I specifically did not want that to happen. By a comfortable margin, too, ugh. What little I've heard about Ninth House sounds gross and this cover is also gross. I don't wanna look at it. Emily Wilde 4 lyfe. (4th place)

SCIENCE FICTION - In The Lives of Puppets: *shrug* not surprised, TJ Klune feels a bit inescapable. But ultimately I did not have a horse in this race.

HORROR - Holly, by Stephen King: oh, good for him. He has not actually won every time he's been up for it, and this one sounded decent. (I abstained from voting in this category too, because for all that I love scary books I've not read any of these and don't feel particularly called to)

YA FANTASY - Divine Rivals: oh, okay, so that one is the heavy-hitter, nearly double the 2nd place pick (whatever stephanie garber book is up this year) I picked A Study in Drowning, just because I can't in good conscience choose enemies to lovers, but the important thing is we kept Cassandra effing Clare away from the crown.

*holding my breath as I wait for the next category, the one I'm most invested in after romance, to load...*

YOUNG ADULT - Check & Mate:

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My scream shattered the rafters. When I first saw Ali Hazelwood's name in there I thought, okay, YA, perhaps she has toned down her garbage enough to be readable? but then I looked at the reviews and I am very much not confident that this actually reads like YA. If it does, I suspect it might be the kind of YA that Teen Me hated and Adult Me still doesn't love.

Anyway. The point is I specifically voted for The Brothers Hawthorne to avoid this, but while that did take 2nd place, even that powerhouse series failed to dominate (though only by 3k! closest race so far i think) over this woman who is now officially my sworn enemy. Colleen who? I have never held half the animosity toward that woman like what has been growing in my heart for Hazelwood.

DEBUT NOVEL - Weyward: well I guess that makes sense. (I didn't vote in this one either...although I could have sworn that The Wishing Game was in this one too? because I thought I voted for it at least in round 1...oh n/m, I see. "Why are there only 19 books in this category? Following new information from an author that they had previously published under a pen name, one book was no longer eligible for this category and was removed."

NONFICTION - Poverty, By America: look, I'm just glad it's not the "I'm voting for this because it's funny" Butts book. But I voted for the Pacific Crest Trail one about missing hikers because a Goodreads friend gave it 5 stars and also it's the only one that interests me.

All right, time to see how much Britney Spears won the next category by...

MEMOIR & AUTOBIOGRAPHY - The Woman in Me: but not quite by double! I honestly did not think Prince Harold had that many fans. (I love calling him Prince Harold (The Ridiculous) don't take this from me) Really surprised that Pageboy got 3rd; pure diversity rep vote? Thought those who actually read it agreed it was disjointed and poorly structured. Anyway. I can't really talk because I voted for Paris (Minka Kelly first, hoping to get her to round 2, but then Paris Hilton because I genuinely did enjoy that one more than i expected)

Up next is history/biography. Did the dad book win?

HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY - The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder: the dad book wins! (I did vote for it. I'm sorry. I thought the Astor book actually sounded cooler but I just dislike Anderson Cooper so much)

And finally...god I hope it's Henry Winkler. I'm sure it's gonna be Leslie F*** Jones because people think swearing is funny, but I specifically refused her a vote because of it (and no other reasons) so I really hope I'm wrong.

HUMOR - Being Henry: The Fonz...and Beyond: HENRY WINKLER WINS!!!!!!! That's all I wanted, because this category looked baaaaad. I still think he should have been in the regular memoir section but I'll take it.

#goodreads choice awards #I know these are fully a popularity contest and that's fine. these are my opinions on the public's taste.#I am mostly chill and fine but I still raged about two of 'em

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spoilertv · 1 year ago

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#SpoilerTV

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midnight-and-his-melodiverse · 2 years ago

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WRITEBLR RE-INTRODUCTION lol (because I'm going to be more active on this account than the actual writeblr)

Hiya there! The name's Midnight and I'm 17 and an aspiring author! I've loved reading sci-fi and fantasy ever since I was a kid, and thanks to my dad getting me into the game, I'm also a self-proclaimed D&D nerd as well lol I have four WIPs going on right now, and they all take place in my fictional world I have, called the Melodiverse! Before I list them off though, here's what you can expect from this blog (because it's a hybrid of a primary blog + a writeblr LOL) 1. Obviously some rambles abt the Melodiverse's worldbuilding 2. (sorta?) frequent posts for my writing (I'm working on that!) 3. reblogs of other writer's stuff (cuz I'm supporting others to be also supported myself!) 4. and that's it basically!

WIP LIST Now the main event that y'all have been waiting for: the WIPs I have!

🎶 THE MELODY BLADE SAGA 🗡️

An four book urban fantasy series with the long-standing "chosen one" trope, and two young kid villains! Word count for Book 1 is projected to be 51k as of currently!

Book 1: Midnight and the Gift of the Melody Blade

Summary: A wolf-human boy named Midnight tries to keep a mysterious blade that he recieves on his doorstep one morning secret, as he uncovers the source of strange arcane events disrupting the city, and a young villain who wants the blade for malicious purposes. Synopsis: After a wolf-human boy named Midnight recieves a strange gift from the goddess of his world, otherworldly events pull him into pressuring situations where he's subconsciously told to keep this gift a secret. He doesn't know why, up until he notices a mysterious young villain and a familiar sidekick stalking him. It turns out the sidekick, who was the boy's alternate personality, was charmed by the villain into taking his side. With the threat of corruption moving ever closer, the boy must brandish his newfound blade whilst learning new skills, and restore his realm…

Characters:

Midnight - the main protagonist, and wielder of the Melody Blade, who is a complete pacifist up until Twilight teaches him that not all fights can be solved with peace.

Ambrosia - a side character, and Midnight's girlfriend.

Twilight - a mentor, of sorts, and Midnight's brother who runs the fencing team at Midnight's high school! Staticlight - Midnight's personification of his negative thoughts and fears, as well as being in love with a Night-Demon called Dev over their mutual bond in chaos. One of Dev's sidekicks.

👺 GOBLIN THEFT AUTO 👺

---THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS---

🌟 STARS, BITS, AND BYTES 🌟

Summary:

(Credit to OpenAI Playground)

Stars, Bits, and Bytes follows the adventures of two pilots (Arietta and Quintus) and two young kids (Ottava and Lyric) along their journey to a brand new world, escaping the destruction of their home planet, Terra Melodiae on their spacecraft Titania (which has a cranky AI assistant.) But they have to dodge asteroids, fight space pirates and try not to lose their way as they navigate to this new world.

When they get to this new world however, they must get accustomed to the strange society that has built up there with robots and magic as far as the eye can see and very strict military force that protects the planet from invaders.

However through information passed down by the general, the group finds out that Emperor Tetrachord and his army of Silencers wants to destroy this new planet. Even though the two kids are scared to operate the ship themselves and steer it into a great battle, Arietta and Quintus are confident. The four of them must team up and use all the skills they have to stop Emperor Tetrachord from ruining this new world and find a way back to their own home planet.

💎 SILVER MOON SONATAS 💎

---THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS---

#writeblr reintroduction #lol

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chronicallylatetotheparty · 3 years ago

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Float Like A Butterfly... Ch.6 ...Sting Like A Bee

Summary: An unexpected ally appears before Marinette. The only problem is, he's stumbled onto something he shouldn't have. And she needs it back.

---------------------------------

Marinette was having a terrible day.

First she shows up late with the principal accessory of the Gabriel line's Fashion Week showing. Fashion Week! Marinette was looking forward to it all month!

Next Audrey Bourgeois, Style Queen herself, treats the hat Marinette worked so hard on like gum on the bottom of her shoe. Sure Adrien had been super encouraging but he hadn't seen the look of utter contempt on Audrey Bourgeois face. No one could look that disgusted all the time!

Speaking of Adrien, he didn't make getting over him any easier by being so kind.

And if that wasn't enough Marinette's brain insisted on using Chat Noir's Miraculous to fight the akumatized villain. Again! She didn't want to think about Chat Noir right now because... Because... Marinette blinked rapidly. Deep breath... Because thinking about Chat Noir was painful.

But that wasn't even the worst part.

"Don't worry, Tikki. We'll get the box right after the show," Marinette stage whispered so as to not alert her parents. Who walked not even a meter away.

Tikki let out a concerned whine. Oh, this was a bad idea. She could feel it. Marinette was right that they couldn't get away from her parents beforehand. But that only made Tikki even more anxious to get searching. And Marinette really didn't need something else to worry about on top of... everything else.

She hoped no one found it.

----------------

Chloe's day was ridiculous. Utterly, ridiculous!

She sat next to her mother as Adrien walked down the runway. Lingering dread squashed and thrown into the very back of her mental walk-in closet where she kept unimportant things. Like shoes she never wore anymore, problematic outfits and lingering guilt that totally wasn't her's. Adrien wasn't slowly disintegrating anymore so why dwell on the past?

Adrien's performance was flawless and Chloe was absolutely certain she appreciated his efforts more than anyone else... Even if Alya Cesaire was livestreaming.

The show went off without a hitch. Adrien seemed fine but then he was almost as good at pretending as she was. Chloe eyed him as Gabriel's lackey, um, assistant pulled him along. Not physically, of course. It was more of a metaphorical pulling.

Ugh, Gabriel Agreste started talking with Chloe's mother through his assistant's tablet. Like, yeah, apologizing to the Queen of Style was a no brainer. But he could have at least come in person! Not like Gabriel was doing anything important besides being the world's richest hermit.

... And Dupain-Cheng was there too. Of course she was. At least her mother would put Dupain-Cheng in her place. Chloe felt herself smirk at the thought.

Adrien raised an eyebrow. As though reading her mind.

Chloe pretended not to notice. No petty satisfactions here! No, sir! But it wasn't like the Queen of Style was going to say anything about Dupain-Cheng's hat except-

"It's the most exceptional thing I've ever seen!" Audrey Bourgeois announced.

Exact- Wait, what!?

"You're a visionary, Marinette! Glitter's had its day..."

Chloe's ears rang, drowning out her mother's voice. Exceptional? Her? Over a- a- a hat!? A vice squeezed Chloe's chest with cruel precision. When her own present was rejected without even unwrapping it!? Chloe's fists shook as she bit her tongue.

"Isn't that nice for your friend, Chloe dearest?" Andre Bourgeois asked.

"It's ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" Chloe whirled on her mother. "I've never been to New York with you and you're taking Marinette Dupain-Cheng!?" She spat.

"I'm afraid I have a last minute meeting to attend, my dear Audrey," Gabriel announced from the tablet. "Nathalie, bring Adrien home immediately."

Adrien's attention snapped from Chloe to Gabriel. "But, Father, I-"

"Do not embarrass me in front of the Bourgeois," Gabriel snapped, ending the call.

Jaw clenching shut, Adrien stared at nothing with stormy eyes as Nathalie led him away.

"I'm taking her because she's exceptional, Claudette. Uh- Chloe," Audrey stated matter-of-factly, the Agrestes already forgotten.

"I'm exceptional too!" Chloe shot back.

Audrey inspected her white gloves, bored of this exchange. "The only exceptional thing about you, my dear-" Audrey deigned to glance at her daughter. "-is your mother."

Chloe's blood boiled as she shook off Andre's hands on her shoulders, standing straighter. "I'll show you how exceptional I can be!" she promised.

Just as an akuma entered Chloe's present.

---------------

Alya was having an amazing day!

Her livestreams hadn't gotten this many new views since she almost got sacrificed by Pharaoh. The Ladyblog's activity was up. And Ladybug chose her as the Black Cat!

Sure it was weird that Ladybug didn't want to talk about it. But still! Black Cat! Alya tried to contain her grin as she thought about being Ladybug's partner for a day...

Her pace on the sidewalk slowed, enthusiasm dampening a little... Setting her face in determination Alya skipped into gear. All the more reason to piece together what happened! And she'd start with-

A burst of yellow light shot forth from the Grand Palais. Jolting Alya out of her thoughts as the newest akuma victim gave their villain speech from the roof.

"I am Queen Glitter! And from now on the only exceptional person in Paris will be me!"

Alya ran... straight for the villain who was obviously Chloe as she summoned a cloud of glitter and shapped it into a collection of accessories. The constructs restricting the movement of whoever they landed on. Scarves wrapping people's legs together or tying them to lampposts. Hats covering people's eyes as they tried to yank them off. There was even someone with his hands stuck in high heels. Queen Glitter made a giant floating scarf to stand on and took off in a random direction; leaving a trail of gaudy accessories in her wake.

Great. It was going to take forever to catch up to her now! Taking cover in an alleyway so Queen Glitter's sparkly formal wear wouldn't notice her, Alya scanned the street. Mentally kicking herself for not having recorded the villain speech for the Ladyblog.

"Looks like you're raring to go," Ladybug observed as she landed next to Alya. A familiar box in her hand.

"Ladybug! Didn't think I'd be helping out again so soon!" Alya held out her palm and Ladybug placed the Black Cat Miraculous in her hands again.

"Y'know the drill, right?" Ladybug's eyes wandered to the people in various states of running-for-their-lives.

"Give it back when we're done and don't take it personally," Alya paraphrased as Plagg emerged in a ball of light when she placed the ring on her finger.

"Ladyblog girl again?” Plagg gave her a once over. Ears flat against his head but swishing tail betraying his apprehension. "Well, at least Alya's not blue boy."

“He wasn’t that-“ Ladybug shook her head. “Y’know what, never mind.”

Glancing between them Alya filed that tidbit away for later. "C'mon, Plagg. We did great together!"

"You were okay," Plagg acknowledged. "Could've used more cat puns."

Alya chuckled. Of course he'd like those. With a -slightly forced- encouraging smile from Ladybug, Alya called out: “Plagg, transforme-moi!”

Green lightning traveled from Chat Noir’s ring across both arms and down her torso. A green sash wrapping around her waist and trailing into a tail. Running her clawed gloves through her hair as cat ears materialized. Said hair puffing up into an afro. Armor padding her shoulders and torso. Alya flexed her fingers to get used to the feeling. Chat Ombre's suit still felt strange on her skin compared to Rena Rouge.

Ladybug leapt onto the rooftops and Chat Ombre followed her lead. Racing towards the villain while avoiding her glitter. "So what's the plan?"

"Queen Glitter is basically a reskin of Style Queen," Ladybug thought aloud.

"But without that annoying habit of turning into a cloud!" Chat Ombre supplied.

Ladybug launched her yo-yo at a pedestrian and yanked him away from Queen Glitter's constructs as they passed by. "But she can spread her power over a wider area."

"Don't worry, Ladybug. We'll be- Look out!" Alya tackled Ladybug out of the way as a trio of glittery top hats zoomed past.

"Your reign is over Ladybug and wannabe Chat Noir!" Queen Glitter announced as she floated over them. Her appearance was similar to Style Queen except her crown was even bigger and gaudier. A foux glitter scarf around her shoulders. "I don't even care if you don't give me your Miraculous! I'll simply immobilize you and take them by force!"

They evaded a flurry of coats by jumping down to the street. "Really?" Chat Ombre called out. "That all you can throw at us? A tacky outfit?"

"Wouldn't be the first time!" Ladybug agreed.

"No one ever appreciates my gifts!" Queen Glitter stomped her foot. "Fine then. Why don't we try something more expensive!" Raising her hands she lifted two cars wrapped with giant bows into the air.

Alya's eyes widened. "Oh, shi-" Chat Ombre evaded Chloe's attacks as the villain played wack-a-chat. Glitter accessories flying in and attempting to restrict their movements as well.

Ladybug wrapped one of the vehicles with her yo-yo and spun it back at Queen Glitter.

The bright red sports car hurled towards her and- She stopped it with the palm of her hand. "You'll have to do better than that if- Where'd you go!?" Queen Glitter scanned the empty street, rising higher for a better vantage point.

Chat Ombre locked eyes with her for a second before a chimney obscured her line of sight. "Somehow I don't think that bought us much time." Alya voiced as a wave of clothing rose over the city.

Ladybug spotted a strip of blue between the rooftops. Thinking quickly, Marinette grabbed Alya's hand and turned them towards the Seine. Diving into its waters with a torrent of glitter in their wake.

Queen Glitter's constructs crashed into the river and washed away with the current.

Chat Ombre made for the surface once it was clear but Ladybug pulled her back. Chat's staff in her hand and yo-yo on her face. Pointing towards the magic tool Ladybug offered it to Alya.

Nodding, Alya quickly pressed it to her lips and took a deep breath, sweet oxygen filling her lungs. Giving Ladybug a thumbs up once she didn't feel like her chest was on fire.

Grabbing her hand Ladybug led Alya further upstream until they found a boat.

Gasping the (relatively) fresh air Alya examined Chat's staff. "I didn't know it could do that."

"Yeah, the Miraculous are full of surprises. And we'll need one of our own to beat Queen Glitter. Lucky Charm!"

A spotted snorkel fell into Ladybug's hands.

"Don't we already have one of those?" Chat Ombre asked.

Ladybug's brow furrowed as she stared at it. "Yeah... Wait, Queen Glitter's powers don't work underwater!"

"So, all we need to do is get her there!"

Ladybug glanced at a pair of recycling bins. "And I know just how to sneak up on her."

Chat Ombre grinned. She liked this plan.

---------------

Chat Ombre hated this plan!

It had all gone smoothly. The glitter constructs ignoring the recycling bins they used as disguises. Snake style. Chloe was dumbfounded when she saw them. Enough to let them take the elevator up to the Grand Paris' rooftop where Queen Glitter set up her makeshift throne. Giving them the opportunity to tackle her towards the Seine.

Unfortunately, Queen Glitter could make constructs of any size. Like, for example, a wide brimmed hat big enough to stretch from either bank of the Seine.

"You were going to make me wear this?" Queen Glitter held up the Lucky Charm- "No thanks!" -and struck it across her knee.

Alya winced as the villain broke Ladybug's insta-win button in half. "Please, tell me you have a plan?" Chat Ombre glanced at the spotted hero currently wrapped up in an extra long scarf just like she was. The floating constructs squeezing just a little bit more as Ladybug struggled against them. Alya tried bending her wrist to Cataclysm her restraints but her right hand was held away from the rest of her body.

"No planning! Not that it'll do you any good. I've already won! Me! Queen Glitter! MWAHAHAHAH- Do you mind? I'm trying to savour the moment!" Chloe snapped as Papillon's emblem glowed over her face.

Alya's head turned from an increasingly frantic Ladybug to the annoyed villain.

"Of course I'm going to take their Miraculous! Why wouldn't I take their Miraculous?"

"An excellent question, your Highness!"

Three pairs of eyes snapped towards the source of the unexpected voice.

"... Who the heck are you supposed to be?" Queen Glitter demanded.

"Aristos! At your service!" He bowed with a flourish, giving Alya a good look at the bee shaped comb at the base of his ponytail. Blond hair highlighted with black stripes. Goggles obscuring his face, making his green eyes hard to read despite the grin on his lips. Suit mostly yellow with black, V-shaped stripes on his torso, forearms and lower legs. Three hexagons on his chest giving the impression of honeycombs.

"No no no no no no." Ladybug stared at Aristos, not realizing that she was speaking aloud.

...Well, that can't be good, Alya thought.

"Ha! Did you really think more insects would help, Ladybug?" The villain mocked. Her constructs closing in on the interloper.

Aristos' smile took on a darker edge. "I'm not with her, your Majesty. I'm here to pledge myself to the most exceptional Queen I've ever seen! Really, where does Papillon get off talking to such a glittery figure as your Highness like that?"

Alya blinked. Really? Even Chloe wouldn't fall for-

Raising her hand the villain halted her constructs' advance. "Hmm, well at least you know how to treat royalty." Queen Glitter offered her bejeweled fingers. "I guess you can be my underling."

Ah. Right. Never underestimate the power of Chloe's ego.

The Bee, Alya was ninety-nine percent sure he was the Bee, took Chloe's offered hand and leaned down. Lips hovering over the back of her hand. "Oh! That reminds me your Highness, I have a gift for you."

Queen Glitter's eyes shone. "A present? For me? It better be the latest- Ow! I'm getting to that!" She snapped at Papillon, looking away from the Bee to glare at the absent supervillain.

Aristos removed the striped top Alya recognized as his Miraculous tool from around his waist.

"You didn't beat them! I did!"

Casually, carefully, Aristos placed his top on Queen Glitter's hand. Point against her glittering skin.

"You couldn't do it yourself so you sent me!"

"Venom," the Bee breathed.

"What was-"

Queen Glitter froze as Aristos' top glowed; his power paralyzing her. The constructs bursting into clouds of glitter. Chat Ombre landed in a crouch as her restraints vanished.

"It worked." Aristos sounded as surprised as Alya felt. "It worked! Yes! Nailed it!" He pumped his fist as relief overflowed and- Was he crying?. "Independent hero debut successful!"

"What?" Ladybug was staring at the Bee apprehensively and that didn't help Alya's nerves.

Aristos' mood instantly became more subdued. Blinking rapidly to get the water out of his eyes. "Oh, right. You're still here."

Chat Ombre tried not to take that personally. He did just save them, after all.

Ladybug stepped forward. Voice even, diplomatic. Never mind that she seemed this close to freaking out. "Listen, Aristos was it? I don't know how you found that Miraculous but you have to give it back."

His face was disturbingly neutral. "...Don't I get a 'thank you' for saving the day?"

The tension in Ladybug's shoulders wouldn't budge. "Thank you, but I really need that Miraculous back." She held out her hand.

Aristos stared at Ladybug's hand like it was something alien. Cracks appearing in his facade. "Yeah, pass." Walking backwards, away from Ladybug and Chat Ombre, he kept them in his field of vision.

"Wh- The- Y-you can't just decide that!" Ladybug sputtered, stepping forward.

"Just did! How do I even know this Miraculous is even yours?" Aristos asked, increasing the distance between them.

Alya got the distinct impression that he was bullshitting them.

"I'm the one who lost it!"

Alya's eyes widened. "You lost a Miraculous?"

"Not helping, Chat!"

Aristos' features twitched, eyes narrowing. "Sure you say it's yours but how do I know that?"

Chat Ombre bristled at the implication. "Ladybug is the Hero of Paris!"

Aristos gave her a once-over, his expression inscrutable, but said nothing.

Wow. Rude.

"That Miraculous belongs to the G- to me."

"That's interesting because I say it belongs to me." Aristos laid a hand on his chest. "Looks like it's your word against mine. Guess which one I'm choosing?"

Ladybug's yo-yo was suddenly spinning in her hand. "I swear, I'm not gonna lose another-"

An insistent beeping from Ladybug's earrings interrupted her.

"Welp! Love to stay and dance but it looks like you two need to buzz off before your precious identities are exposed to little old me."

Why did he sound bitter? Everything about him made Alya's head spin with questions. Not least of which being how the heck someone holding the Bee Miraculous showed up in the first place.

Taking his top, Aristos hopped onto the edge of the Grand Paris' roof. "Might want to deal with her before that happens."

Alya looked to where he was pointing to see Queen Glitter still paralyzed. When she glanced back at the Bee he was gone.

---------------

Adrien's day sucked.

Paris Fashion Week was always a chore but this year was even worse. Despite having friends around he felt lonelier than ever. Getting to talk to Marinette only helped so much. Adrien was still expected to plaster on a smile and represent 'the brand'.

And that was before he got turned into a freaking statue!

At least it's better than mind control.

Shut up!

He did not want to see Ladybug or her new partner up close and personal! Thank you, very much! But like always what Adrien wanted didn't matter.

Imagine his surprise when a Miraculous practically falls into his lap. A familiar glow blooming in his chest against all reason as Adrien opens the box.

"Hello, my King," the unknown, bee-like kwami greets formally.

There's a turning in his stomach that Adrien tries his best to calm it. "H-hi! I'm Adrien. What's your name?"

"I am Pollen," she bowed. "Kwami of Subjection. An honor to meet you. It has been a long time since I've had a king."

"Just Adrien is fine." Taking the Miraculous, a comb of all things, out of it's box Adrien stares at it. It's disguise all black and only vaguely shaped like a bee compared to the details he glimpsed before Pollen came out.

"Of course, my King."

Adrien sighed. Pollen was nothing like Plagg. Then again, Adrien wasn't sure the world could survive two of him. The lazy little jerk was enough to drive any Guardian mad all by himself... God, he missed Plagg.

"Um, anyway, how does your power work?"

Pollen clapped her small appendages together. "It's very straightforward, my King. You simply call out 'Venom' and your top will activate. Then strike your opponent with the point and they'll be paralyzed for however long you desire." She whooshed toward him for emphasis.

"Paralyze..." That was certainly more straightforward than using Cataclysm.

'Cause you sucked at that, didn't you?

Shut up. This was... What was he doing? When Adrien held the Bee in his hands he felt... Alive. Like a promise that things could be better this time around.

Adrien jumped as insistent knocking on his changing room door startled him out of his thoughts.

"M. Agreste? Mme. Sancoeur says we're back on in five."

"Be right out!" Brushing the Miraculous with his thumb to make sure it was really there Adrien placed it in his pocket. Hesitating for a moment he offered his jacket to Pollen.

Nodding, she zoomed into Plagg's old hiding place.

Taking a deep breath, Adrien opened the door. "Let's get this over with."

---------------

Adrien ran off as soon as Papillon's mark appeared on Chloe's face. Catching Marinette doing the same from the corner of his eye. Glass raining down as Queen Glitter broke through the Grand Palais' roof.

Pollen zipping out as he tied his hair into a makeshift ponytail. Holding it in place with the Bee Miraculous.

"Quickly, my King! Say 'Pollen, transforme-moi'!"

Adrien stared at her. He could hear screaming as people ran.

"My King!"

His oldest friend just got akumatized for the second time.

"My King!"

All he had to do was speak!

"Adrien!"

His knees shook as his back hit the wall behind him for support. "But... I wasn't chosen."

Pollen floated higher as her eyes widened in surprise. "Weren't you given my Miraculous?"

Adrien shook his head. "I f-found it... After giving up the Black Cat."

This time Pollen dipped as she nearly fell out of the air. "Chat Noir."

Adrien shook his head even more emphatically. Hands going up to cover his face. "N-no! Not him! Can't be him!" he choked.

Pollen laid her hand on his and Adrien tensed at the touch. "My King."

Something in her voice made Adrien look at her.

"You wish to help, do you not?"

"... Yes."

Pollen's eyes softened. "Then help."

Adrien stared at her. So sure that she'd want nothing to do with him once she knew what a failure he was... But that wasn't the case.

Rising shakily to his feet Adrien gave Pollen a grateful smile. "Pollen, transforme-moi'."

----------------

Aristos panted as he glanced up from the alleyway. Spotting no pursuers. "Pollen, detransforme-moi."

Landing on Adrien's outstretched palms, Pollen beamed tiredly at him. "Excellent work, my King."

Adrien smiled back. "Oh! What do you eat? Plagg loves Camembert but..."

"That would be fine. However, I prefer something sweeter."

"Yeah..." A weight settled on his chest. "Let's see what we can find..."

Pollen frowned. "Is something wrong, my King?"

Adrien avoided her gaze. What was he supposed to say? That disobeying Ladybug felt wrong? That he almost let his guilt and resentment make him say cruel things to his replacement? That his heart wouldn't stop pounding? "It's just... Do you want to go back?"

Pollen blinked.

"You're supposed to listen to the Guardian, right?" Adrien bit his lip as his heart tried jumping up his throat. "It's not fair of me to keep you if you want to go back."

Pollen sat up on his palms. "I have been in the Miracle Box for a long time, my King. I can think of worse things than spending what time I have outside it with you."

Adrien's eyes burned as he wiped away tears. "Thanks, Pollen."

Ladybugs swirled in the sky as they repaired the city.

"Of course, my King," Pollen smiled.

"Call me Adrien."

"Yes, my King."

Adrien sighed. A smile coming to his lips. Looks like Aristos was sticking around for a while.

-----------------------------

Retroactively giving Black Cat Alya an afro.

#bee!adrien #bee miraculous #adrien agreste #canon divergence #canon divergent au #ml au #ml fanfic #queen wasp #kinda #ml #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #chloe bourgeois #alya cesaire

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singingshutin · 2 years ago

Text

Well, I tried.

I tried my darndest.

The result is mediocre at best, but have my best attempt at 'fixing' Ignatz's and Lysithea's support chain. I suppose I'd call this a B+ support with some light contextual padding involving the other Deer?

(I am so sorry Ignatz and fellow Ignatz lovers out there: writing this from her point of view made the most sense and each time I dissed my boy I felt it in my heart, dude. I'm in pain right now.)

hilda is his big sister and i will live, breathe, fight, and die on this hill

Read here on a03 or down below the cut-

Lysithea hates hot days. She hates the feeling of sweat trickling down her forehead into her eyes; hates the cloying smell of the candles in the entrance hall. She hates the constant bustle of the harvest, filling the monastery with crowds of new people who all - without exception - treat her like a child.

She hates that most of all. How anyone could stand being patronized and assisted at every turn, she didn’t know. To be treated as lesser. As weaker. That she could never understand.

As if on cue, the painter she doesn’t understand rounds the corner, and he offers her an all-too-cheery wave.

“Oh, hey.” She doesn’t bother to wave back. “It's you. Going for a walk again today?”

He shakes his head. “No, I'm on cooking duty today, and I have to head into town for some groceries.”

“All on your own?” Lysithea puts her hands on her hips. “Hm, I'd better go with you. I'd be worried if you went by yourself.”

“No, please! I can manage on my own.”

“But won't you have a hard time carrying everything back?”

“Not at all. I'll be fine. I'm just replacing a few ingredients. Also, I may not look it, but I'm actually quite strong.” He holds up an arm, pride beaming from his smile. “I've been exercising every day!”

“You're right-” Lysithea crosses her arms, “you don't look it. Your biceps are a fraction of the size of Raphael's. If you start fumbling around under the weight of all the groceries, and then you trip and spill everything everywhere…”

Ignatz’s arm and smile have both dropped. Lysithea shrugs.

“Look, I'm just saying, that could be your future. It could happen. It doesn't look pretty.”

He looks down toward his shoes. “That's what you think of me, huh?”

“Yep. You're honestly a bit of a mess.”

“I see.” The painter lifts his head. “If that's how you feel…”

Lysithea feels her lip curling up, and she does nothing to fight the disdain. “Oh, knock it off with the wounded puppy-dog eyes! As though I'm some sort of villain in your story…”

“I'm sorry. That wasn't my intention. I'm just a bit sensitive, that's all.”

Of course he is.

“You're talking like you don't respect me.”

Lysithea snorts. “I see. So now it's my fault? No matter how grown you seem to think you are, there's so much you're incapable of. You can play at being a mature adult, but it only ever complicates things. And that's exactly what makes you look like a child.”

“Oh, enough already!”

Lysithea has never heard Ignatz yell before. The sound is startling and shrill, grating in a way she never expected his soft voice to be. She’s never seen him angry before, either - his eyes hot and face flushed as he clenches his hands to his chest.

“Would you just leave me alone?!”

The boy turns and darts away- and for a moment, his eyelashes glitter with a wetness that wasn’t there before.

A long moment of silence hangs over Lysithea as she stands alone. Finally, words return to her tongue.

“Maybe I… went a bit far that time…”

She shakes her head.

“But he's so stubborn despite his ineptitude. I can't just leave it be. He's so foolish—constantly making a mess of things. Wait... But then... No matter how much we stretch, some things are always beyond us. I think it's fine to be vulnerable and ask for help sometimes. What he said to me before…”

She stops.

“To everyone else, do I seem just like Ignatz?”

Lysithea von Ordelia wasn’t in trouble - at least, not yet.

It seemed that despite Ignatz’s many shortcomings - the artist was indecisive, absent-minded, and woefully inadequate at any attempt to care for himself - he wasn’t a tattletale. Though, Lysithea thought, that probably had more to do with his scaredy-cat nature than anything else. The kid acted like a baby at the sound of thunder. The first and last time he’d ever been on a pegasus ended in an emergency trip to the infirmary when he’d panicked and flailed himself off the animal mid-flight, leaving him concussed, confused, and blind as a bat without his glasses - and the rest of class time had been wasted in a house-wide search on hands and knees in the grass for the blasted things.

Ridiculous.

But he would crack. Eventually, he would crack.

Lysithea sighed, leaning her head on her hand. At the very least, a good tongue-lashing from the Professor and Manuela would mean Lysithea wouldn’t have to sit with this strange heaviness in her chest anymore.

She could move on.

One day passed. Ignatz was nowhere to be found. No one said anything about it, not even the Professor. Leonie was put on cooking duty in his stead that night; at least she used less vegetables than her predecessor did. Still not enough sweets… but Lysithea wasn’t sure she had the stomach for cake today, anyway.

One day turned into two. Ignatz’s seat at the front of the lecture hall was still empty. The Professor reminded everyone to be careful- winter was just around the corner, she didn’t want to worry about anyone getting sick due to changes in the weather. Like always, Marianne excused herself after class- though Lysithea was pretty sure that the stables were in the opposite direction of the lower student dormitories. Where Ignatz’s room was.

Two days turned to three. Claude was sitting in Ignatz’s seat today, lounging comfortably like he had been in that spot all year. His own usual place next to Hilda in the back- well, the door creaked open a few minutes into the lecture, and Lysithea ducked her head to peek. There was Ignatz, somehow even smaller and paler than she remembered, being shepherded toward Hilda by an unusually solemn Lorenz. Hilda pulled him down to sit beside her and bumped her cheek gently against his shoulder.

Three days turned to a full week - and Lysithea realized she hadn’t seen Ignatz in the dining hall for a while. Raphael shrugged it off when she asked him why he was leaving the dining hall with two plates- one specifically full of his best friend’s favorite foods. As her fellow student disappeared out into the late morning, Lysithea found herself wondering how much of it Ignatz would actually eat.

Soon, an entire moon had passed. And still, no one had come to reprimand her for her outburst.

She hadn’t moved on.

Ignatz wasn’t in the library. He wasn’t in the stables. He wasn’t in the cathedral. He wasn’t in the training grounds, or the sauna, or market. The infirmary only held a tipsy Manuela, and the knight’s hall had an arguing Catherine and Shamir- but no sign of the be-spectacled artist.

At this rate, all the courage Lysithea had summoned over lunch was going to dissipate before dinner. She shook her head as she pushed open the door to the greenhouse-

"There you are!"

The boy crouched on the floor with a sketchbook jumped like he’d been struck by a bolt of lightning.

"L-Lysithea-"

"I've been looking everywhere for you."

It was ever so slightly, but Lysithea could still see it: Ignatz had paled at that statement.

"Ah," was all he said.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two. The artist stared down at the ground, hunched over his sketchbook like he was hiding something naughty.

Lysithea took a step forward. "What are you drawing?” She tried. “Flowers?"

"I'm not drawing." He clutched the papers a little closer to his chest.

"You've got charcoal on your hands," she pointed out, "you've been drawing."

He gulped, turning wide, frightened eyes to face her.

"I- it isn't anything important."

"Can I see?"

"U-uh-"

He hadn't said no.

Lysithea walked over next to him, peering over his shoulder. He scrunched down a little lower, but his narrow frame couldn't hide the massive bouquet of flowers sprawled across the page. One huge lily was the centerpiece, entangled in a rich bundle of baby's breath and forget-me-nots. A doodle of a bumblebee, as fuzzy and soft and round as the real thing, sat sleepily on the lily's petals, resting delicate legs against the flower's elegant throat.

Lysithea's breath caught in her throat. "That's- really good."

"It's… not done yet." The boy fidgeted. "I wanted it to be finished first… before you saw it, I mean."

"Before I saw it?"

Ignatz nodded once, somehow shrinking even further into his uniform. "Lilies are your favorite, I thought, a-and I wanted to get it perfect-"

“They look done to me.”

"My shading isn't right-" The boy shook himself. "But- I guess that doesn't matter anymore."

Lysithea glanced up. Now was the perfect time to say it. She opened her lips; and all of a sudden, her mouth felt drier than the Sreng desert. The two were just staring at each other. Funny- Ignatz’s ears were bright pink, she noticed, the same color as the carnations behind him.

Then, like a water through a broken dam, the words came tumbling out of his mouth. “I wanted to apologize- for yelling! I shouldn’t have yelled at you before-”

Lysithea's mouth dropped open and she stared at the red faced boy on the ground in front of her. He - Ignatz Victor - was apologizing to her - Lysithea von Ordelia?

Surely she had heard him wrong.

“That’s what the flowers were supposed to be for. And-" Ignatz dove into his bag, rummaging frantically, "and I asked Hilda what perfume she wears, and she helped me find some. It took a month for it to arrive in the caravan, but-"

"Stop it, Ignatz."

Ignatz froze, clutching the tiny crystal bottle to his chest. “S-sorry.”

"No, just-” Lysithea bit her lip. “Listen. Is that why you've been avoiding me?"

Ignatz stared down at the ground. "I just wanted to apologize properly."

“Oh, Goddess-" Lysithea pressed her palms into her eyes. "If you were literally anyone else, I’d think you were doing this on purpose.”

“Doing- what?”

She dragged her hands down her face and blinked at him through her fingers. "Just- piling on the guilt."

The painter blanched. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Stop saying that."

Like magic, Ignatz fell silent.

Lysithea looked down at her hands. "Stop saying it, because… um…"

She swallowed hard.

"Because I'm the one who needs to apologize."

Her face flared hot at the look of shock on his.

"I- I yelled at you first. And- and I said some really… really awful things. To you. About you- just because I was mad. And- I felt like it, in the moment… I called you an incapable child."

He winced.

"And-" she pushed on, "and I was going to let it go. I was going to let it sit and not say anything because, surely, the Professor would find out and scold me, and then I'd be done. But that didn't happen."

There was the apology, forming on his lips; she cut him off before he could start up again.

"And it's good that it didn't happen. Because I would have forgotten it. Like a child, I would have let it go- when… a real adult would say sorry."

She took a deep breath.

"And I am. I'm really, really sorry."

He stared at her, his brown eyes like saucers in his thin face.

Lysithea's heart sunk into her shoes. The thought hadn't crossed her mind until now, but- he wasn't going to forgive her, was he?

She deserved that, she supposed. After all she'd said-

"...can I still give you the perfume?" Ignatz held out the crystal bottle with a shy smile. "I won't use it… and I'd like you to have it. As a token of- my forgiveness? Though…" He flushed. "That sounds silly- a token of our friendship."

A wave of relief crashed into Lysithea's knotted stomach and she smiled back, reaching for the pink vial. "Thank you."

Ignatz paled as she pulled away. "Wait-"

She looked down. A dark line of charcoal was smeared across her little finger, right where her hand had brushed his.

"I'm so sorry-"

"Stop it." Lysithea rubbed her hand on her dress. "See? Gone. Can't even tell against the black uniform."

She dropped to sit next to him, and her hair fell over his shoulder. Normally, she would have avoided sitting that close to anyone- it made her look even smaller by comparison. But today- today it would be okay.

He tapped his paper. "I still want to finish this before I give it to you, though."

"Can I watch?"

"Oh- um…" He blushed. "If you want to. I'm not sure it'll be much fun-"

"I'm too tired for fun right now, I think."

They smiled at each other.

"Me too."

The two sat in silence as Ignatz's stick of charcoal slid across the page with a gentle scratch- but this was different than before. This was mutual. Comfortable. Calming and soothing in their togetherness.

A little thought bubbled up in Lysithea's brain.

"I've been thinking." Lysithea turned to look up at the boy sitting beside her.

His hand paused and he tilted his head at her. "Yes?"

"Maybe… maybe I should try something new. Something I'm- not… good at… right away. And- and learn how to accept help."

Ignatz shifted slightly. "...I could teach you how to paint."

Lysithea looked up. "Huh?"

"I could teach you how to paint," Ignatz repeated, pushing his glasses up his nose with an excited twitch Lysithea hadn't seen in a long, long time. "If you wanted to, of course, but for something new- something different… something I can help you with-"

He stopped, a blush shooting up his neck into his cheeks.

"Not that I think you'll be bad at it, I just meant-"

"I think I'd like that."

Lysithea smiled.

"Thanks, Ignatz."

It’s been a while.

Lysithea looks up at Ignatz’s bedroom door. She can hear him on the other side, humming pleasantly to himself as he muddles about the room. He’s got a nice voice, she thinks. It isn’t clear and full from years of training like Manuela’s, or bright and soaring like Hilda’s. It's soft, and a bit wavery on low notes, but it's warm and sure. Like an old, familiar hug after a long journey.

She puts her hand on the door, and it gives beneath her fingers.

“Um, hey…”

“Oh! Lysithea.” Ignatz turns with a smile. “Something I can do for you?”

“Can you help me out with my shopping?”

“Yes, of course. You need me to carry stuff?”

“Actually, can you pick up some tea for me? I'd do it, but I'm drowning in work.”

”You're so busy you can't go shopping? OK. Do you have a favorite kind of tea?”

“I'm not too picky. I just like having it around, really. Whatever's cheapest works for me." She holds out a palmful of gold. "Here's some money.”

Ignatz doesn’t accept the coins. “One question. Why me? You don't really need my help for this.”

“I just thought I could lean on you a bit. You know,” a smile creeps across her lips, “rather than trying to do everything on my own.”

“Right. I see. Well, good! I'm glad you decided to approach me.” That old familiar blush crosses his cheeks. “Ah, but, for this particular task, you might be better off doing it yourself.”

“Oh?”

“There are so many different kinds of tea, and I'm not very discerning." He rubs a hand against the back of his head. "What if I get you one you don't like? When I do my own shopping, I pick a tea at random. Otherwise I'd be paralyzed by all the choices. It's the same with food. Sometimes I stare and stare at the options and never decide.”

That, Lysithea thinks, is a burden I can take off his plate- and put some cake on it instead.

Aloud, she adds,“You looked like you were just fine when you went to get groceries the other day.”

“I really had to push myself to do that alone. I don't think I can do that again.” His head dips ever so slightly. “Sorry…”

Lysithea pockets the gold with a half-smile. “Aha. So you've stopped trying to do things on your own, then?”

“Yeah. Still, though…” he looks around the room. “For today, how about you have some of my tea? If that'll do…”

“Sounds nice, sure. Do you mind brewing mine while you're at it?”

“OK!” He grins. “Though I can't do it as skillfully as Lorenz, I'm afraid. I'll get it ready right away. Feel free to start focusing on your work.”

His smile still has a hint of the nervous boy from years earlier. He hasn’t changed completely.

Lysithea smiles down at the worn carpet on his floor. “Heh.”

Ignatz tilts his head at her. “What?”

“I mean," she glances up at him, "you seem plenty reliable to me.”

“I do? Really? How so?”

“You're fun, you're easy to be around, and you rarely complain when you help others.”

Ignatz chuckles. He has a pleasant laugh; gentle and sweet. “Well, I'm just pouring you some tea. I'm not sure that qualifies as ‘help.’”

Lysithea isn't going to let him deflect praise this time. She leans forward, an insistent gleam in her eyes. “It's not easy for me to rely on people, but with you, it's different.”

“Well, there aren't many things I can do, frankly."

Lysithea furrows her brows at him with an exaggerated frown. He laughs outright at that, raising his hands in a gesture of placation.

"What I can do, I will do! So if you need anything, ask me, and I'll try to help.”

Hmph. Verbal praise does very little for her artistic friend, it seems. If he won't take it, then-

She sighs.

Ah, well. What was the harm in one childish action?

Like a cat, she pounces. She throws herself at him, squeezing his ribcage as tightly as her weak arms could manage.

This will have to do.

“You really are unreliable, as it turns out!" She laments,"Guess I'll just have to take your word for it.”

Ignatz laughs again- and this time the rumble in his chest tickles against her nose. A gentle pressure slides around her waist: it's his arms, she realizes. Strong despite their slenderness, he's returning her embrace. He's hugging her back.

Lysithea can't stop the hot flush of embarrassment. This is so undignified. So immature. So unlike the perfect image she has worked so hard to cultivate.

And yet, she thinks, she doesn't really mind.

#fire emblem three houses #ignatz victor #lysithea von ordelia #and other assorted golden deer #idk man i tried my best #she's so mean to him #and for literally no reason whatsoever #yes he's my favorite guy but also like #i think unless you actively dislike the little guy you'd agree their support is unnecessarily mean #i thought about rewriting it entirely but i had no good ideas

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