#if he had Ai alive in the world(it didn't even have to be her being WITH HIM!!!!) he wouldn't have become like this

[yuseirra]

Analysis- Kamiki's wish & Tsukuyomi's idea on "Fate"

I'm going to freaking kick kamiki's butt but let's note that there were a lot of things that he's done(within that brief moments of screentime that he's been getting) that are worth discussing about. I can say a lot about him while being unable to form a full conclusion about him, he is THE mystery element in this series for me, it's getting ridiculous, I just want solid answers and get it over with(but nope! I also don't want the conclusion that AI shouldn't have loved this guy because that's not just about this guy being insane, it totally undermines the point of the story)

this guy talked a whole lot about wishes when he came to meet the twins, and asked them what they wanted. I feel like "WISH" could be of the keys of understanding of this character's core elements, I think.. he has a wish he wants to fulfill and THAT HAS TO BE REGARDING AI. The song Mephisto was all about wanting for wishes to come true, and that wish was first bringing back their dead loved one back with their life -> warped into "becoming that person". I feel like that's EXACTLY the mindset of what this character went through with this, whole "feeling Ai" "wishing her presence" "carrying the weight of life" "sin" deal going about him. He even congratulated Aqua's wishes on coming true in 153!!! I feel he had himself a wish that he WANTS to fulfill, so that's how he's so keen about one.

Those black-crow looking clothes he wore when he made his appearance in the mountains when Yura dies (it's gonna happen in the anime huh? Yeah best way to leave the season on a cliffhanger btw, YOU KNOW, THE ONE REASON I THINK WHY THE MANGA IS SO CONFUSING RIGHT NOW THAT THEY DON'T WAN'T US TO KNOW WHAT HE'S EXACTLY BEEN DOING BEFORE THIS SHOWS UP THERE. It'd burst all the bubbles if we already know what he's up to, but we STILL don't know anything about him. We don't even know if he's the one who's pushed Yura and we still ACTUALLY don't know what happened on the day Ai was killed in a clear way!!!!) that resembles Tsukuyomis. I was pointed this a while ago from @aihoshiino.. I wonder if that means something, personally, I think this can be related to some things he's said about gods in 147,

if Ai's fate was dying there by a crazy fan in the young age on 20, I'm sure Kamiki would want to change it. What I'm thinking is that he cares about her life more than his own and I believe this could be backed up by what he thinks of Ai in 162 despite the mess of that chapter is, he only felt alive when he had Ai with him. So after her death, it was practically like he had no life at all. That's why he's so eager to give up everything for her. Tsukuyomi is the god that deals with fate and souls. She doesn't seem to look at Kamiki that fondly, so I think what he's getting at here by "god doesn't give us answers(...)if you come up with an answer after worrying about it so much, then you have to accept it, everyone does" is that,

He wants to change Ai's fate of death and even Tsukuyomi would have to accept it, even if she's THE god that deals with it. If there's something that could have warped this originally soft and timid person into the insanity that he is now, I believe it'd be this.

it also explains why he keeps going he's okay with dying and it's not bad several times (he DOESN'T have the will to live in the first place after he's lost Ai) but also goes Not yet/he has something to do BEFORE that happens.

If what he is going about is about "amplifying" Ai's presence, I feel like if it's sufficiently fulfilled, she could have actually been brought back in a sense. In that case, he HAS been doing something for Ai in a pretty.. practical manner despite it's what Ai wouldn't have wanted. This presence thing is basically actually him saying he wants her back alive and living. He wanted her to go on living. It's just phrased in a really confusing way so that we don't get to sympathize with this guy and misdirect our ways of thinking that he's totally insane(HE IS for sure, but at the same time, what he wants is what every person who's lost a love may wish for-not the method, but the way of thinking-the author doesn't want us to figure this out yet for some reason because they're hiding something about him continuously, I feel like there's going to be some sort of impactful blow that'd be coming related to this aspect)

I don't think Tsukuyomi supports this idea nor is too fond of him, I think she wanted Aqua to take him down because Kamiki would meddle with her ways, thus was keen about the "revenge" aspects of his mission. But Aqua later derives himself to a conclusion that his life wasn't about revenge the way Tsukuyomi wanted it to be, he came up with his own reasoning for doing what he's done. Keeping Ruby safe.

She had her eyes on Kamiki and watches his demise(I hope this isn't his end though because it's not a direction I'd be so fond with), maybe feeling a bit melanchoilc and a feeling of half-satisfaction that she got what she's wanted, although it wouldn't have been so happy for her either seeing a soul break that bad

BUT WHAT MADE HIM BREAK THIS BAD? Was this always in him in the first place? Is he a guy that could have always killed people? So did Ai choose the wrong man who'd become a serial killer for "her sake" out of desperation when it'd be nothing what she truly wants? Kamiki's feelings towards Ai is strong. It was always strong from their younger years and it's been the core of his character, no matter what I make of this guy, that would not change.

The important part for me now is just what pushed him to have this sort of belief and pushed him, shattering his personality even, (HE WENT THROUGH WITH THIS FOR AT LEAST 15 YEARS. If he was tended to and "saved" earlier, there is no way he would have broke this bad;;;) if there is one. THE SONGS IMPLY THERE IS SOMETHING. and he says these weird stuff about making offerings in 147(it's not in the English translations but I swear I see it in the versions I see, it happens when he talks with nino after having met akane) so there could be some other god that's convinced him that if he does what he asks of him, Ai could be brought back. That probably destroyed his soul, and seeing him like that, Tsukuyomi didn't want the same thing happening to Aqua so she told Aqua in advance that AI CANNOT be reincarnated back to life.(118)

What Tsukuyomi says in 118 is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF WHAT KAMIKI DESIRED. He wanted to believe Ai could still exist and feel her presence. I feel like what Kamiki wanted, and thought in that case, was :

"Ai is still somewhere." "I may be able to find her if I try hard enough." "She can be born again and she may be able to live happily somewhere." "Her story didn't end." "Death isn't death. There's still a chance." "Ai can still think, she can think about me and everything else."

"Ai can smile again."

Just flip everything Tsukuyomi says in 118 and I feel that's what Kamiki would have wanted to believe in and felt about Ai. That's what he intended to fulfill and could never give up on, that's why he couldn't die yet. He wanted to save her the way she did for him, he wanted her life back to her. It just didn't work. He thought about doing that till the very end (could have been twisted into him being able to feel her in the middle though)

why do I feel like Tsukuyomi either told Kamiki the same thing or she couldn't but wanted to, but he was already way past the line?

If there is something that's used him, and this sort of desperation he has, it led him to take these extreme measures he's been taking and it reaped him of his nobility.

That's extremely tragic and in that case, I can see how this character, out of all, is getting two songs with one being him becoming gradually warped into what he is now(Mephisto) and his current state of insanity(Fatal)

and why Ai wants to save him. He's terribly broken. I guess that whole part of Ruby just shows us how far he's gone, but like I say over and over, I don't think he would have been this person!!! He could have been a tender father who smiled and raised Ai and his children together, so I want to know WHAT HAPPENED.

[uselesslilium]

as someone who considered reading ONK but didn't get around to it, what's the tea, if I may ask?

Okay, so. The general issue is that the writing has basically tossed all the established themes about the exploitation of minors in the entertainment industry and the dangers of toxic parasocial relationships between fans and celebrities out the window at the last minute in favor of ~dramatic twists~ while also stretching everything out to a truly exhausting degree.

For more specifics and spoilers, I'll go into more detail under the cut:

The way the main villain of the story has been handled is not only gross, but also extremely baffling. We had an entire arc that delved into his history as a child actor and victim of CSA and his relationship with Ai (the original murder victim). The arc concluded on a note of revealing that actually he was only ever a passive player in the celebrity murders, and in fact never meant for Ai to be killed at all, and it was his partner in crime who had been pushing things and being more proactive about it. He seemed to feel genuine remorse about the things he'd done, the twins both got a sense of closure and were able to let go of their resentment towards him, and the story was turning towards taking down the 'real' big bad.

...And then the following arc revealed that no, actually, he really was pure evil and his partners (including the original stalker who actually stabbed Ai!!!) were the Real Victims because he's got magic manipulation powers and thinks of nothing but murder all day, and the Only Possible Way to deal with him is kill him first.

This is what the protagonist, Aqua, who has suffered from severe suicide ideation ever since early childhood as a result of witnessing Ai's murder, decides all on his own before implementing a convoluted scheme to take out this villain in a murder-suicide. Which is framed as a clever and noble necessary sacrifice to protect his sister from this guy, even though a) he's already protected her once just fine with the help of the people around him, b) everyone around him keeps telling him to rely on others more and not take on everything himself, and c) his actual sister has straight-up told him that she only reason she can keep going is because she has him in her life. AND it's been excruciatingly dragged out over like three chapters now, landing it firmly into 'can we just get this over with?' territory. For me.

On top of that, all the girls have been sidelined hardcore for the sake of making this plan even vaguely plausible. Akane, the most competent woman alive, is not allowed to save Aqua the way he saved her or be a partner who could help him find another way. Kana, my personal fave, remains completely shut out of the entire main plot and trapped in pure love interest purgatory to the bitter end. All of Ruby's very compelling character conflicts have been glossed over in favor of brocon jokes, and even her feelings have been ignored for the sake of framing her as an inevitable victim who must be protected. And Ai herself has all the wishes she entrusted to her children left unfulfilled - there's no saving the person she first fell in love with, one of her children is going to die rather than grow up healthy, and in the end her 'true self' was never revealed to the world.

It's bad!!! Real bad!!!!!

[ask-the-no-killing-game-au]

Motives..? :3

(talking about xander with a kotoko pfp just feels right)

It's time.

Everyone who the secrets were given to is listed under the image, NOT who the secret belongs to!!

Ace; None of your work was ever original. It was all stolen or AI generated, as you didn't even have the energy to think of something positive.

Arturo; The outside world are angry at your death. They have someone else to replace you. You caused this.

Arei; You assisted your younger brother in killing your mom. Nobody knows it was you, even though he did most of the work.

???; You've actually known someone here since their childhood, but you've lost all memory of it.

David; So that you could escape from a childhood situation, you left the other 'survivor' to die. You believed it was an act of kindness at the time, but once you're a murderer there's no going back. (The secret was placed with his body)

Eden; The reason you see yourself as a parent to everyone else is that your parents seemed to see themself as irresponsible children. They didn't care when you almost died the first, second, or third time.

Hu; The reason you're so terrified of relationships is because last time you had a friend so close, you accidentally got them killed.

J; Your younger brother was best friends with her while she was still alive. Nobody's told him she's died yet, especially not by her own hands.

Levi; When you first arrived here, you had a plan to convince someone else to die along with you. You didn't go through with it because Veronika beat you to it.

Min; You aren't supposed to be here. Someone else was supposed to have your place, but you took it and didn't question a thing. She's suffering because of you.

Nico; You are not yourself. Due to safety concerns, a worker from a certain company is pretending to be you within the building, while you're in the outside world

Rose; We couldn't decide on your secret, so enjoy both. 1. While trying to help *** with their issue, you developed the same thing, meaning you don't physically look even similar to how you used to. 2. You have a lot more trauma than you let on, but that's because you remember none of it.

Teruko; You're now open about your sexuality and talk about it positively. What you don't mention is that until you started to tell people, you had a partner of the opposite gender, who decided to stop themself living the moment they found out.

Veronika; You haven't realised yet, but that person you killed would have survived if you hadn't interfered. They were unconscious, but breathing. You're the reason they're dead.. again.

Whit; You watched your brother slowly and painfully die over multiple months. Instead of feeling sympathetic, you watched him and laughed.

Xander; Everyone knows the story that you were bullied, but none of them know that you bullied them first. There's a reason they hate you.

[onim5]

I made a better version👆 Read it instead. (It's the same fic just a little better english.)

Here is a fanfic. Sorry I couldn't wait to post it, so I did it now.    

The gender of the reader is never mentioned, and it's written with them/they.             .:.:.

(English isn't my first language, so if the text is super weird, blame that!!!)

Honestly, Y/n isn't that crazy, just a little bit weird. 

Warnings: Kiss, dead Ace, Alive Ace?, a little angst, reader being a real creep (but only under some sentences), this is long! 

N/n = Nickname, but now it's the villain name you come up for yourself. 

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To begin with, who are you?

_____________________

During the battle of marineford, prisoners from Impel Down escaped from level six, after Blackbeard had paid a visit, one being N/n. No one knew much about them except they ended up there for attacking admiral Akainu. Apparently, Akainu had personally requested that they end up in level 6 even though they didn't have a bounty. The only thing that gave you a reputation was the fact that the navy had failed to kill you.

_____________________

You walked out of Impel Down without problem, and when you came out on the bridge, a submarine rose from the water. Smiling, you walked onboard.  Holding two little bottles filled with Magellan's red and purple poison that you had gotten from the floor. A prisoner tried sneaking onboard only for a gun to shoot him, that sat at the entrance. The submarine went down under the sea and when it was at the very bottom small legs that was inbuilt came out and grabbed the sea floor crawling out of the world government's territory avoiding all the dangerous waves and gates. It also let out sounds that kept seabeasts away.

"Virus! Pull up the cameras at marineford. I heard it be a war there." You ordered the AI you programmed named Virus. A code lock was hidden behind a panel, pressing the code a refrigerator with various substances showed. Leaving Magellan's poison, you closed it and walked to the control room. A huge screen showed different locations of marineford. You settled down in your royal like chair. "Virus, give me popcorn and send the 0.6.78 out in the mini-sub. "Of course, N/n." Answer Virus, after a minute, a tiny submarine set out traveling in extreme speed.

"Virus document all the information you find out." You order while munching on popcorn. Why is everyone risking their lives for him?

"N/n, the 0.6.78 has arrived at marineford." "Good, release them." The 0.6.78 are small drones that scan stuff. Their designed like black balls with a camera in the middle. The 0.6.78 started scanning and measuring energy waves, peoples bodies, and of course, marinefords locks and mechanics.

You put a finger in the eye to get out your contact lens that was actually a little computer so you could work from your cell in impel down. "Virus, can you charge my contact it has lost so much battery that it could only last four months more." A little robot arm stretched out of the wall and took your contact.

"Wait . . . . . Akainu shit is there! Damn moron!" "May I ask why your opinion on him is so low when you attacked him?" Virus asked in her robotic voice. She asked questions often to update her programming. "It's true I attacked him to get into impel down, but he's annoying as f#ck! He's so-called justice is so wrong, I wanna puke!" "I see, N/n how was it in impel down?" Virus asked.

"Well, thanks to my modified body, I didn't get hungry, and the torture was worth it for the poison samples. Oh, you see the guy on the execution platform?" You asked Virus. "Yes, what about him?" "I could see him from my cell. And it's thanks to his brother Magellan used his forbidden red poison. Isn't it great? I waited for two years for him to use it."

"Yay, go . . . . Virus, what's his name?" "The spy cameras have caught his name to be Monkey D. Luffy. Here's all the information I could find about him." A document with facts about Luffy showed up. There was stuff like: Age, places he's been, bounty, crew members, family. The document loaded up, and a scan of his body came, so now information about his structure, temperature, devil fruit, blood, size of organs, and just useful information.

"I forgot how much information I get from my information devices. I'm such a stalker." You mumbled sucking on a popcorn. "Oi, Virus, I'm not gonna memorize this. I can barely remember what I eat for dinner."

Time skip

"Virus, send five of the 0.6.78 after Red hair Shanks and the Whitebeard pirates." "Of course, N/n. Why, though? You already have the power measurements of people like Mihawk." Virus asked. "Oh, I have gotten a theory that might work! And if I manage, not even Doctor Vegapunk will be able to compete with me." You laughed a little and stood up, walking to your desk. "But, I need a dead body. And whose body is going to piss of Akainu the most?"

"It depends on what you're planning on doing. If it is something good in Akainu's eyes, then it might be best to try and slay another admiral. But if it's something bad, then I believe Portgas D. Ace body would fit perfectly."

"Portgas D. Ace will do. Virus, make sure you know where they bury him so we can pick him up!" You yell in an exited tone. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Show Ace's body files on my desk computer." The screen emidetley showed all the information of him on the screen. Mumbling, you began working on a design for a tank.

"Virus, the pink virus like creatures we found deep down in the ocean. I need you to send out a submarine and collect as many as possible from the deep sea grave nearby water seven. Collect them in a fish tank filled with 3.2.35. In theory, should they be able to live in that liquid.

Two weeks later

"Why in actual hell did it take so long for everyone to leave Whitebeard's and Ace's graves alone?!" You yell as you keep munching on a piece of bread. The pirates had left the island, and once it was completely safe, your submarine rose from the water. Walking out, you had two robots behind you that were equipped for digging.

Once you got there, you scanned the ground and then let the robots work. First, they sawed a perfect rectangle, both some decimeters deep and were hit, had been connected. Then they slowly lifted up the first lair of ground. Then they digged more and reached after a while the coffin.

They lifted the coffin in the same way and then returned with it to the submarine. After a while, the robots came back with huge sacks of dirt to replace the area that the coffin was.

You observed their work until the end as they had refilled the grave and covered it up. Looking at the scan and then the grave were the traces none. You went up to Ace knife and hat and scanned them so you could recreate them later. "Alright, we're leaving." You ordered as you and the robots walked back to your sub.

"Virus, set the submarines coordinates for my HQ." You said as you settled down in your chair.

The sub traveled deep down at an incredible speed, and after four hours, you saw the beautiful mountain wall. It opened, and your sub drived in. After going in a tunnel for 3 minutes, it rose at a port.

The two robots carried Ace's coffin, and you walked before them like the boss you are. "Welcome back N/n, to the N/n headquarters." Virus said as the cave lit up. "Virus, I appreciate your welcome. After all, I haven't been here for months." You answered as you walked into the glass elevator. "Take me to my lab." You ordered. The elevator started to go down, and through the glass, you saw robots controlled by Virus work.

They constructed big and small cylinder shaped objects that later on would be placed on the ocean floor. Smiling, you watched them put 2.6.56 in a box that would soon travel in one of your submarines that also were controlled by Virus, and later on build up a little more of your sea map.

Sector 1

Sector 2

Sector 3

Sector 4

Sector 5

The elevator stopped, and you and the robots walked out into your lab. They placed down the coffin on a counter and opened it. Putting on gloves, you started to touch him a little. "Virus, send one of the robots back to my sub to get my poison samples." You said as a you felt your body growing warm, especially your cheeks.

"Virus the tank I designed for him. I want you to prepare it and fill it up with 3.2.35 and make sure the pink virus, like things, ends up in it." You ordered. "Take Ace body and clean it up it be bad for the pink virus like things that I know name Pixie 3, to come in contact with all this dirt and trash."

Another robot that wasn't equipped for digging came down together with the digging robot holding the poison samples. "Put them in the fridge together with all the other poisons I collected, and then you and the other one can return to your bunkers." The robot took Ace's body and carried it to a wash room that was specially designed for cleaning.

You settled down in your chair and watched the tank you designed for Ace fill up. Picking up your iPad, you looked at the scan of Ace wound and another file of an energy source you were tracking. The elevator door opened, and as you turned around and you saw . . . . .

"Give him clothes!!! I don't wanna be in the same room as a naked man!!!" You yelled as you ran into a corner and crouched down, holding your face.

"I understand. But the only clothes available are yours. But if it makes you more comfortable I can make new clothes for him in your clothes factory. " Virus asked. "Make new clothes for him." You practically yelled. Ah, I saw it, I saw it . . . . The thought and image stayed placed in your head. After like a minute, you calmed down and turned around only to see him laying on the counter!!!

You quickly turned around and then got hit by the realization. "Don't let his body be too much in oxygen, it could mold!!!" Running to his body, you quickly pushed him into the coffin and closed it, then returned to your state at the corner.

Time skip

You watched as the robot arms placed Ace in the green liquid you created, called 3.2.35, and connected his body to various hoses and threads.

"It's gonna take really long for the Pixie 3 to duplicate all his cells and fix his wounds." You mumbled as you looked at the man. He was pale and didn't look very well at all. "Virus, give vitamin D to the Pixie threes, and then let them give his body the nutrients it needs.

Days passed, and Ace body started to heal and look better. You told yourself that the reason you chose not to use metallic parts was to not do a half ass job. Which is why you decided to make him stronger. . .

Time skip again

It had been two months since the project of fix Ace had begun. His wounds were completely fixed without any ugly stitches, and his condition looked great. The body had began working on it's own, eight days ago, but had still needed some help from the Pixie threes.

Ace

Slowly blurred light shined as he regain his sight. He felt weird as his brain began to process his surroundings, it seemed to be different kinds of inventions and mechanics that surrounded him. He slowly moved his hand before him and saw a metal glove connected to various threads.

What's going on!? Where am I?! Where's Luffy and Pops and the rest!? What is this!? In his panic attack, he began punching the glass that trapped him.

You sat in your dining hall eating lunch in sector 4 and were just enjoying yourself when . . . . . An alarm sounded through your base. Leaving everything you began running to the elevator to get to sector 5. "Ace tank has taken damage!!! Virus, tell me how it's happening?!!" You yelled as the elevator went down a floor.

"Ace has woken up and is trying to destroy the tank to get out." Virus answered in her calm robotic voice. "WHAT, I THOUGHT HE WOULD WAKE UP AROUND NEXT WEEK!!!!!" You screamed as you ran into the lab.

You slowed down as you neared Ace. Holding up your hands, you tried to show you meant no harm.

Ace looked at you and calmed down just a little. "Virus, empty the tank and transport the Pixie threes to another one in sector 3." You said. Emidetley, the 3.2.35, started to flow away together with the Pixie 3 at the bottom of the tank.

Realizing the green liquid started to disappear, Ace calmed down more. But what is going on? A pipe like thing connected to the top and opened the tank, leaving Ace standing.

"I'm going to remove your air mask, alright." You said as you stepped closer, putting your hands on the mask and pulling of the metal gloves.

"Where, where am I?" Pressed Ace out. His voice was weak, it's like he hadn't used it for years or something. Backing away a little, you fiddled with your fingers. "Well, you're in my lab, and I'm N/n." You answered, then you went up to him again, grabbed him, and began to examine his body.

Ace was just about to ask what you were doing when you hugged him. "I AM AT THE TOP. THE BEST. IT'S ME N/n!!!" You cheered as you began jumping around. You smiled and looked Ace over again.

Mumbling a little, you asked, "Do you remember anything?" Ace face wrinkled a little, but then his eyes widened, and a heavy feeling came to him like a cannon ball he hadn't dodged. "Why am I alive?" He asked as he held up his hands, staring at them.

"Yes! You remember, if you didn't, I would have failed. What luck, right!" You cheered. Ace looked at you, then his hands and then at you again. "WHat . . .did you do to me?" He tried screaming, but his voice cracked. He launched to attack, but two robot arms took hold of him.

Yelping, you jumped back and watched as Virus added four more arms to hold him. He didn't look mad more desperate. "Eh, he, he, he." You began as you stood up again, brushing off your clothes. "Sorry, if it's not what you wanted, but it's not like I could ask you about your opinion." You commented, still smiling. I wouldn't have asked though.

"If you calm down, we can go eat. You must be starving for some taste." You said trying your best to sound reassuring. "Oh, Virus get Ace some tablets for his voice." After awhile Ace began to listen to his belly and calmed down. "I calmed down now." He mumbled, feeling the metallic hands leave his body. He was just gonna follow you when another robot hand came down before him, tensing up he was just getting ready for self protection when the fist opened showing tablets. "Oh, thanks." He mumbled taking it and then swallowed them.

He felt how they melted a bit and it was like he got poisoned as his throat began burning. Then it stopped, just like that. "Uh, hi." He said seeing as the pills worked. He kept on following you and walked into the glass thing you stood in. Then the elevator rose to sector 4. "Do you have, any other clothes?" He asked looking down on the ones he was wearing. "Right, Virus, get Ace his old clothes and a shirt." You ordered.

The elevator stopped and Ace followed you into a dinning hall with two chairs one having an ugly sack with a drawn smile on it. "Ehhhhhhh, you can just move him." You said putting a hand on your neck feeling embarrassed. Ace picked it up and threw it away to the wall. "Are we in a castle?" He asked as he looked at the beautiful decorations a crystal lamps hanging from the ceiling.

"Nope, I just wanted my dining hall this way." You said as you began to poke your food with the fork. "A robot came in holding food for Ace and placed it down before him. He felt his stomach rumbling and began eating the food like a pig. "So do you know who I am?" You asked taking a bite of your food. Ace looked at you while munching on meat. "Were you perhaps in impel down?" He answered with another question. "yeah, we could see each other from our cells."

"Could you, explain." He asks looking at you in the eyes. You began telling him how you had watched the war through a screen and how you wanted to try to bring someone back to life with help from the new virus like creatures you discovered. And how they had duplicated his cells to fix his body.

"It sounds logical, until the fact I'm alive comes. You can't just fix a body and then it wakes up again. It's impossible." Ace comment's looking at you. "I was measuring energy attack's at the war with a thing called 0.6.78, whenever someone dies a small energy wave release. Due to past experiences I was already aware it was the persons soul leaving because of dying." You said feeling way more comfortable than before. "And during the war I decided that to piss of Akainu the most, you be the best to revive back. So I tracked your soul and manege to capture it in a box like thing called 0.7.41." You explained, being slightly annoyed he fell asleep two times during your explanation.

Ace wasn't thrilled with the explanation of him being alive. He held up his finger and tried using his fire. Because I died I don't have any devil fruit powers. And how does Luffy feel, I died in his arms. A robot walked in holding a pair of clothes. "Sir Ace, here's your clothes." Ace stood up and took his shorts, belt, hat and ?" Do I really need to wear a shirt?" Ace asked looking at the actually good looking shirt. "Yes, I don't need a shirtless man to walk around here!" You answered fast, in a panic. "Right." Ace said frowning.

"N/n I have a question?" Virus said. "Yes, go on?" You said giving her permission. "Why are you uncomfortable having Sir Ace going around shirtless when you seen him naked?" Blushing you fell of your chair. And then rose and ran to a corner out of habit, hiding your face. "THAT WAS YOUR FAULT VIRUS!!!" You yelled in embarrassment. "I still don't see the problem, I have tried to find the answer on my own but, failed so could you explain?" Asked Virus.

"It's just a stupid nature thing humans have when it comes to this stuff." You mumbled, knowing Virus could hear and hopefully not Ace. "Do you mean you want a kid with him?" Asked Virus, that's when you froze of shock and fell down from your crouched position in the corner. "Virus! I tell you later." You mumbled while crying of embarrassment.

"Is the idea of having a kid with me that bad?" Ace thought out loud, thinking of the blood in his veins. "You're considering it!!!" You yelled standing up and looking at him with a red face. Ace had been blushing due to you seeing him naked but know he realized what he said. His face turned beat red and you two looked at each other. "I put on the shirt. Mumbles Ace as he opens and then closes a door, walking in to change.

"Can you tell me know?" Asked Virus. "NO!!! another time." You said as you fell down in the corner again.

Ace put on his clothes and felt like his old self, kinda at least. Then he put on the shirt. "Still me, just with a shirt." He mumbled. As he opened the door he found himself alone in the dining hall with the Virus robot. Oh, good. I don't know how I would have acted after that. Ace thought. "Sir Ace, I will show you to your room. N/n said they wouldn't be able to see you." The Virus thing said. "Yeah, that's understandable, and stop calling me Sir Ace. It's weird." Answered Ace "Sure thing Mr. Ace, now please follow me." responded Virus beginning to walk. Ace frowned at the Mr thing.

Virus took Ace to a room that you had designed for him. "Wow . . . . ." Was all Ace could say as he looked around. He laid down on the bed and began to think of his situation. "What am I suppose to do?" Asked Ace as he looked at his hands again. Is this fate? Do I deserve to live so much that god gave me another chance. Or is it simply by luck, or maybe I'm unlucky. Wait, this means the war was for nothing. . . . . What should I do know? Ace decided to spend the rest of the time thinking. After an hour of thinking, he stood up and walked to the mirror, taking off his shirt.

There were no signs of any injury, not even old ones. He looked around his body, wanting to find something that was just wrong, to prove to himself you were just a crazy scientist who managed to save him. Who sees him as nothing more than an experiment. When he saw his back, his eyes widened. Parts of his tattoo were gone, his pride. Memory's of Akainu flashed, and Ace began to mutter about the hate-able admiral.

"Excuse me, Mr. Ace, but my I ask a question?" Virus asked. Ace flinched and looked around for any robots, but couldn't find any. "Where are you?" Ace asked still tense, he glared around and tried to see her but, failed. "I'm an AI, N/n has programmed me into every technical thing in their base. I'm with other words able to speak to you wherever and whenever." Virus answered. "Okay . . . . . What do you want?" Ace asked as he looked back in the mirror, not really liking how almost everything from his whitebeard tattoo was gone. "Where you muttering about admiral Akainu?" Ace expression changed. "What if I did?" He asked, going to one of the drawers in the room.

"N/n does not like him. Is it the same with you?" Virus asked. "Oh, well, he is the one who killed me." Ace answered. "If we went on with that logic, wouldn't that mean you're in love with N/n?" Virus commented on his logic. Ace started to blush and shoved his hands in his pockets. How do I answer that without making my own point wrong?

"Maybe you should talk shit about Akainu with N/n.  It could be a great way to bound with them." Virus suggested. "Why, should I bound with them, like doesn't they see me as just another science project?" Ace asked while going through the drawers, finding a little fidget toy. "I can assure you N/n does not see you as just a science project. They are well aware you are another human being unlike me. I understand why you would assume that considering how bad they are at expressing themselves, but that is most likely because of how often they see other humans." Virus explained. "How often is N/n speaking with other people?" Ace asked as he slumped down in the bed holding the fidget toy."

"I hope N/n talked to someone while being in impel down, but if not I believe N/n haven't spoken with anyone for seven years." Virus answered. If Ace had drinked something he would have spitted it out in less then a millisecond. "What?" Ace looked up to where Virus voice came from. "Seven years . . . . ." Ace thought back to impel down. Had he seen you talking to someone? Thinking back he remembered you trying to talk to your prison mate, but he just said, 'Shut it or I kill you.'  

"I guess I can go and speak to them. Can you show me the way?" Ace asked. "Of course." Answered Virus and after a lot of directions Ace was taken to a garden. It was beautiful, decorated with all kinds of flowers and nature. As he followed the stone patterned road he found you. You sat at a glass table building a puzzle. Your expression was bored.

"Uh, hi?" He called out to you. Looking up you saw Ace standing there. "Hey, do you need something?" You asked looking back at the puzzle. Picking up a piece. "Well I was just bored and thought maybe I should talk to you. "Alright, I guess I need to tell you some stuff anyways." A robot came from the other side of the garden, carrying a chair for Ace. "Have you been communicating with Virus?" You asked as the chair was placed down for him. "Yeah, she suggested I speak to you, we apparently have something in common." He said with a grin. "Oh yeah and what would that be?" You asked placing down the puzzle piece. "We both hate Akainu." Ace said happily taking a piece to help you. The conversation started quite slow but, got more comfortable after a while. It turned out you both had had opinions on his battle tactics. 

"Oh, by the way, you said you had something to tell me?" Ace asked after like two hours of speaking up and downs about the navy. "Right . . . . . Um, when I revived you I modified your body." You said nervously. "Oh, that's cool." Ace answered still smiling well until the words you said clicked. "Wait what?" His expression changed to concern. "What, what did you do?" He asked as a feeling inside him grew heavy. "I gave you a modified cell, that I call Impo and another thing called Pixie threes. Impo should be in all of your cells, while Pixie threes just roam around your body." You mumbled fidgeting with a puzzle piece. "What does this pixie threes do?" Ace asked nervous starting to regret feeling bad about you not having any to socialize with. 

"Well, it makes it possible for you to regenerate. For example observe." Holding up your finger you took a knife and cut it off. Ace eyes widened as your finger grew back. It didn't take fast but it didn't do it slow either. "Wait, I can also do that?" Ace asked looking at the cut of finger on the table. "Yeah, but. . . ." Not being able to finish the sentence, Ace took the knife cutting his finger off.  He felt panic grow in him as his brain progressed you had tried to say something.

He watched as his finger grew back, it took like a second. "Wow, what was it you were going to say?" He asked confused since his finger came back. 

"I was just gonna say it should be better than mine." You answered his question. "Okay I guess this is cool and useful, oh, wait is it because of this you got known for being impossible to execute?" Ace asked as he kept starring at his new grown finger. "Yup, it's thanks to virus like creatures called Pixie threes. They duplicate cells. I have modified them to know the structure of their respective body, so with other words as long as you have at least one pixie 3 you be able to survive." You explained hoping Ace understood. "Alright, what about the Impo bacteria?" Ace asked. 

"The Impo bacteria stores energy. I don't have it modified in my body so---- let's go to my training hall and see if it works like I hope." You said smiling. Grabbing Ace hand you began to run with him out of the garden. As much as Ace did not like the fact you had played with his body, he disliked even more, the fact that your hand felt kinda nice in his. 

Going up with the elevator Ace stood there hiding his blush with his other hand covering the tint blush that grew the more he let his mind roll. You started talking about what he should be able to do in theory, but he didn't listen he was to distracted by your and his hand still holding. Oh, common, don't get a crush on someone who's so . . . . pretty. No weird! Shut up mind! They have invaded my privacy and, and, and done weird stuff with my body. There's no reason to forgive them. Even though I want to live now . . . . Ugh, think about your cursed blood! They don't want you as a partner!!! No one wants you like that!     

Ace felt that lump in his stomach, that had grown over the years. 'No one want's you like that.' Even though Ace had an amazing family and friends, he always had it hard when it came to the thought of a partner. Sure, many had wanted to date him. But they had no idea who his father were. 

"Oi! Are you even listening!!" You asked, you had dragged him to the training hall, that were more designed as an arena. Shaking his head he looked at you. "No, what did you say?" After muttering a little you began to explain, again, that he should be able to absorb energy and use it for himself in different kinds of ways, and how the Impo should be able to also change the type of energy. 

Time skip

Ace had spent some weeks with you. He had trained to use his new abilities. And gotten information about the marineford war, after he died. He wanted to become stronger so that he could beat Blackbeard and avenge his father and fallen brothers. He had asked why you didn't revive Pops, and you simply explained he was old and planned on dying there and go out like the awesome man he was. You also explained that he went out like a man to soon and should be grateful due to his second chance. 

Ace had a problem though, a huge one. The problem called N/n. Well it was most likely that AI Virus fault. So what, was his problem? Well it was extremely hard to see you as just another friend. In the beginning, also his first meal with you, Virus had asked a question which had led to an awfully embarrassing moment. But that moment had made it hard for Ace to see you as a friend and not a lover. And the more time I spend with them I fall harder, dammit N/n! Maybe I should . . . .  maybe I shouldn't  . . . . I'm gonna do it!

Ace walked into a sector in sector 4 that were especially made to look like just another home. "Morning N/n." He said as he walked into the kitchen. You stood at the stove making some kind of breakfast. "Morning Ace." You answered smiling. Something that amused Ace was how much you had. Like your HQ had, just in sector 4 an inside garden, a castle section, a normal house (aka where you two were now.) and of course all the places you built to just have fun like a pool and a dance club. You had said it was for your free time and that Virus was technically the one who built while you just designed. 

Then of course sector 1 was more like a parking place for all the awesome traveling stuff you had built, different kinds of ships, submarines, stuff you called cars and planes! Then sector 2 was a construction place, where you could easily produce clothes, machines, robots, stuff for fun and probably had like endless possibility's. And sector 3 had fields powered with solar lamps and all the vegetables, berries and fruits that tasted amazing. Sector 3 also had a farm with all kinds of animals for meat, but surprisingly a lot were endangered species you protected. Then there were of course the arena he had trained on. Apparently you built it for testing soldier robots and different kinds of weapons. 

When he had asked if you planned on taking over the world you said you just felt like trying to build it seeing how far you could go. Sector 5 had your incredible lab, the same place he had first woken up in. Though he wasn't really allowed to be there. 

"Um, Ace you there?" You asked, finding it a little creepy how he got trapped in a thought while starring at you. Ace shook his head and then notice all the food you placed on the table for him. One second later Ace was digging in the food as if Luffy was there. And after a minute he feel down in the food sleeping. 

Giggling, you went up to his sleeping form. "Virus, never tell Ace about this."  You said in a strict tone. Then you reached out and started to pet his soft hair. Then you couldn't help but to near him with your nose sniffing on him a little. He smelled so good like some sweet fruit or berry. Ace jerked up and found it a little creepy how close you had been the past times he'd woken up after fallen asleep like this.

Ace was training, thinking about new attacks, you looked now and then, but for the most part you drew on your tablet creating one of your new ideas. It's now or never Ace! Maybe I should do it tomorrow. No! You said that yesterday to! "Uh, N/n?" He called out, wandering up to you. "Yeah?" You looked at him and he got awfully nervous. "So, um, uh, well I, eh, Maybe we could, like maybe I could, uh-um, what if we could go to this place, together?" Ace stuttered out. Stop sounding so stupid!!!

"Where do you wanna go?" You asked confused. "No, I wanna take you- to a place." He answered quickly though he still wanted to slap himself in the face. You just looked at him in confusion. "Ugh, Virus help me explain." Ace grumbled, covering his face with his hands, hiding his beat-red face. "N/n I believe what Ace is trying to say is that he wants to go back to his brothers and leave you." Virus explained. "Yeah . . ." said Ace, then his eyes widened, realizing Virus did not explain it right, at all!!! 

"Oh . . . I understa . . . !" "NO! I'm trying to ask you out not leave you!!!" Ace yelled interrupting you. "Like a, a, a date?" You asked feeling how your whole body got warm of happiness. "Maybe-" Ace answered dragging out the e. "Oh, sure." You answered blushing light. "Wait, really?" Ace asked. "Yeah, let me just go to my wardrobe and change into something more fitting. What's fitting? And I also wanna shower." You smiled. "I also shower and change and then we meet in sector 1 and then we go." Ace answered. 

You and Ace hurried to sector 4. Showering and changing into casual clothes. (You decide) Ace and you meet in sector 1. Damn was he handsome, he was wearing some clothes you designed for him and he looked stunning. You two entered your main submarine. 

Time skip

The submarine rose above water and you and Ace walked out. Ace held a huge basket and in his other were your hand. The submarine dived down in the sea again, you had told Virus to wait for you and Ace under sea. After minutes of walking you and Ace came to a cliff with a beautiful view. But what made the island even more unique was the cherry blossom trees growing all around. Ace lifted out a picnic blanket and fixed, letting you sit on the blanket while he shoveled out a lot of food. 

"Did, did you make this?" You asked fidgeting a bit on your clothes, blushing. So far had you or Virus done all the food. "Yes, and before you get scarred, Virus helped me." Ace said fast. "Why, are you normally bad at cooking?" You asked giggling. "Yes, well I can grill meat." He answered. 

The food tasted delicious, you and Ace spoke and had fun for hours. And deep into the night . . . . You and Ace stood at the cliff looking at the stars, his arm around your waist and yours around his. "Ace please call me Y/n." You said after awhile of comfortable silence. "Why?" He asked confused. "It's my real name." You said softly hugging Ace with both arms. "Y/n is the most beautiful name I ever heard." Ace said returning the hug. He took your hands and leaned in close to your lips. "may I kiss you?" He asked as a fluttering feeling in his stomach grew. "Only if I can kiss you back." You answered. 

Smirking Ace connected his lips with yours. It felt passionate and wonderful. He pressed his body closer to yours and hugged you tightly. Your lips separated for air and then went right back at it. When you disconnected again for air he asked. "Will you be mine, and will you let me be yours?"

"Yes." 

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

The end.

This is 6354 words.   

Please comment and give me one of those small hearts if you liked it. They make me happy.

Bye!

[creedslove]

Oi Mari, tudo bem? Quando li o que você escreveu envolvendo o Joel e a esposa dele se reencontrando um tempo depois, eu pensei em algo tipo: ele procurando por ela no cenário caótico e aí ele a encontra (não sei quanto tempo depois) mas ela sofreu uma queda que a deixou com amnésia, não lembra dele e ele precisa reconquistar a reader de novo? Ai já imagino esse homem fantástico de banho tomado e cabelo penteado dançando com ela uma música e contando que foi a música do casamento deles. (fique à vontade pra me ignorar, acabei de tomar 500ml de aça�� ESTOU AGITADA)

Post outbreak!Joel Miller x f!reader

"(...)I've been thinking about Joel looking for his wife in that chaotic scenario, he finds her but she fell down and now is suffering from amnesia and can't remember him, so he needs to win her back? I can already imagine that man, showered, combed haired and dancing with her to a song and telling her it was their wedding song..."

• KINDA LIKE A PART TWO OF THIS REQUEST HERE

A/N: amiga, vc quase me matou com essa ideia, �� simplesmente perfeita ❤️ eu sou mais da versão sem outbreak do Joel, mas essa sua ideia me cativou demais... E não se preocupe sobre só açaí, eu tomei um milkshake ontem de 500ml e até agora tô sentindo os efeitos 🤣

• it was such a bitter sweet feeling for Joel when he found you. On one hand you were alive, you managed to survive after all those years the world had gone to shit, of course you were strong, but he was so used to losing the ones he loved, he assumed you were gone like everyone else too

• but you were there, alive, well, a few scratches and scars here and there but overall you were alright, and looking just we beautiful to him as the last time he'd seen you

• there was just one problem: the doctors in Jackson advised him you had memory loss, they didn't know what was the extent without being able to perform exams, they assumed either your memory would be back some time or it wouldn't

• and of course Joel was relieved and happy to know you were alive and well, but it gutted him to see you didn't remember him, no matter how many times he tried approaching you and talking to you, you would just be confused

• you were even a little afraid of him at first, he was a big, rough guy and for whatever reason he kept following you all over, which made you slightly afraid

• eventually you calmed down, but you didn't understand why he was after you, he was so sweet and kind, which was the total opposite of how he treated other people in town, you'd already noticed it

• he even asked you out for drinks, you'd said no at first, but then you changed your mind and decided to give it a try, maybe it would be nice

• Joel was so sweet all the time, you had heard from many people how he didn't talk much about, well... Anything, and yet there he was, telling him all about his life before the outbreak, about the beautiful wife he had, and the amazing daughter he lost and how good his life was

• you didn't know exactly what it was, but you felt low-key jealous of him, because you wanted to have lived a life like that, and even if what he had told you sounded somewhat familiar, you couldn't actually remember anything from your past

• and there was the fact he was able to order exactly what you loved: the drinks, the beer, the appetizers... Everything

• normally, you would get pissed off at a guy ordering things for you, but not Joel, he made you feel safe, as if he knew you

• and maybe you'd met him before?! You knew your head wasn't the same after you had a real bad fall from the horse during patrol, but where would it be from?

• when you looked at him, it was like your heart raced and you felt something for him... Of course it could be a crush, even if Joel was a middle-aged man, he was still very handsome and he dragged a lot of attention from the women in Jackson

• but it was like something more, as if you knew him, as if you had loved him once...

"you must've really love your wife... I'm sorry you lost her too"

• you told him, caressing his hand gently, hoping the touch wouldn't be too inappropriate

• but he took your smaller hand into his big one and caressed it softly, smiling at you

"I haven't lost her, she just needs to remember me.."

• then he leaned forward and tried kissing you, but you took a step back, a little weirded out but you caressed his cheek gently, and Joel leaned towards your touch even more

• the next day, he asked you to come visit him at his place, he had managed to ditch Ellie somewhere as he was going to try something after he borrowed Tommy's old radio and managed to find a CD that had exactly the song he needed

• he showered, for a long while, wanting to look spotless clean for you, he combed his hair back and though he couldn't change his grays or his lines, he tried finding some clothes that looked as similar as the ones he wore the day he married you

• you walked inside and the record was already playing, being welcomed by a very well-groomed Joel, who took your hand and asked you to dance with him

• that was weird but there was also something so familiar, so sweet in it and you couldn't simply say no, you took a step closer and let his arm fall on your waist, pulling you closer, feeling as if you knew the steps even if you didn't

"we danced to this song... At our wedding, many years ago, when life was good and the world hadn't ended, when you were my bride and I was your husband and we had a beautiful daughter together... I know it's been ages, but I'd like you to remember, because having you by my side makes everything a little less shitty, you know?"

• your eyes watered at his beautiful words and at that and you had the impression of remembering a younger Joel, sweet smile holding you closer

• you kissed his lips, feeling how good they felt, how they felt like something you'd forgotten for a long time: love

• but there it was again, your love for him and his love for you

"I don't remember everything, be patient with me Joel, please..."

"I'll always wait for you, darling, until my last breath. I love you, always have, and always will"

____

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

Fault Tolerance

Roland POV of the end of Spartan Ops and the beginning of Halo: Escalation. Also posted on ao3

2558 had a rough start, Halsey escaping, Requiem dragged into a sun, said sun exploding. Hopefully the Infinity and her crew would have it easy for the rest of the year. Nothing bad would happen, right?

-

Earth.

Not home to him, but safe, or it was supposed to be.

Australia was directly below his orbit, half obscured by clouds. Swirls of white with deep blues uncovered by invisible winds. The landmass half covered in the sprawling grays of progress and parking lots. A maze of office buildings hid the object of his worries. It wasn't enough to block his scanners, but he'd be told to sit tight and wait.

He hated waiting. He hated the powerlessness of not knowing. His kind were supposed to know, supposed to problem solve, supposed to save the day with a wink and a smile. Back to Earth and everything seemed different now. Everything was different now. Last time he was here, Roland was brand new, eager to get started and ready to jump headfirst into a mission with his new assignment. His new home, the UNSC Infinity, was now his cage floating above Sydney, HIGHCOM Bravo-6, where his captain and commander were being debriefed after the debacle that was the Requiem campaign. 

Sit and wait, oh how it ate at him, especially when recently all he had been doing was running for their lives. Faster and faster, more and more, pouring on the engines and calculations to pull them from the fire. Spreading himself so thin to keep them alive for what was supposedly a reconnoiter mission. Less than a month ago they had arrived at the Forerunner shield world, and then it seemed like everything had gone wrong.

It was only March. Less than 72 hours ago, he and his entire crew were almost pulled into a dying star. He wasn't even 4 full months into service yet! What was going to happen? Was he going to lose his home? Lose his captain? Were they going to take the Infinity away from him or him from her? It was hard not to worry, especially since it was HIGHCOM and especially since the override code had unraveled him at a critical point of the campaign. Halsey had gotten her hooks into him, and now she was gone and he was a potential liability.  

The last time he was this worried was the trial. Iona. Her fate. The precedence she set forth, and his role as her advocate at the end of her life and the beginning of his. Black Box had tried to assuage his fears, and looking back, had been surprisingly hopeful for the future, but their roles as tools was still very much the status quo. Broken or faulty tools went into a box, or worse.

January felt like a lifetime ago, but it had stuck with him. Hard not to, what with having perfect recall and nigh infinite memory and all. What if they audited him? Black Box would be kind, maybe, if he was given the mercy of a peer review. Brand new AI, Forerunner engines grafted on to a human ship, destroyed Forerunner planet, missing evil scientist; he didn't have a lot going in his favor other than he was ready to be pulled off the shelf at the right time and that replacing him would be very, very expensive.

4 weeks ago he'd been excited to let loose and show what he could do, 6 weeks ago, with Iona's trial, he'd been worried but hopeful, 13 weeks ago he'd been ecstatic, new to this world and all of its intricacies and wonder. So much information, so much to do and see! Now with 351 potential weeks remaining, several parts of him worry at the paths that will be taken from him. There's only so much time. A week is an eon and a blink of an eye to his kind.

Fifth generation Volitional AIs were supposed to be top of the line, but what would happen because of this newly revealed weakness? Halsey had tricks that left them vulnerable during the attack. He'd lost crew and been helpless against the tempest of Forerunner influence and the debilitating override.

And now the two most important members of his Command were at the mercy of a board of Admirals baying for blood and a scapegoat.

Roland might wish he was as hopeful as Captain Lasky, but Palmer's pragmatic nature was more akin to his own logic trees. Not doubting, but realistic. You had to be when the numbers came naturally into your thoughts - especially when a thread of himself unhelpfully pulled up the track record of those who pissed off Osman. Not even Hood could protect them forever.

How had it all gone so wrong so fast?

Roland’s left with nothing to do but pace and triple-check…everything. Life support, engines, shielding, electrical, communication, and health systems, all came back green. Operating nominally, just as they were when he checked 10 nanoseconds ago. He circles the systems like a cat unhappy with how the furniture has been moved an inch to the left. He yowls at techs, at Spartans, at crew, for attention and updates. On their health and comfort as well as if they heard anything. He’s tolerated and comforted and swatted away. Roland skulks around Cmdr. Bradley and peeks at his datapad – nothing. He spies on chatty pilots who know the comings and goings. He startles neurotic mission handlers who know less than him. He listens in on conversations in the mess halls, the hangars, the science labs, the engine room, the crew quarters. The palpable relief should be contagious, but he still worries.

His crew reconnects with their loved ones via Waypoint in real time – no delay from lightyears of distance. Their joy is his, but like theirs it is also a fleeting thing. There is always another deployment on the horizon, and on the flagship, that could be tomorrow.

Hours pass.

The hive of activity winds down but never remains dormant for long. One shift ends and another begins; the constant cycle unbroken under his watch. Pelicans and Broadswords and frigates circle like remoras around a shark. They hover around the Infinity's hull and then land or depart. Roland watches them, watches their flight paths and signals strengthen and weaken as they flit around the massive ship. Her titanium hull casts a long shadow until her orbit over Australia crosses the terminator and then night comes. The ships continue on their own schedule - blips of light in the dark as they are not beholden to Earth and her gravity. They operate on military time and there is always work to be done.

Roland shifts his focus away, leaving a few winking eyes to watch the display. None of them have the signals he’s waiting for.

Hours pass.

It’s afternoon shiptime when a signal crosses his consciousness and Roland’s focus drops from unimportant matters to watch one lonely little pelican come home to him. He nearly smothers the dumb AI announcing SIGNAL DETECTED in his rush to check on the pelican’s crew. Pelican radios weren’t that different from Mjolnir when you push yourself.

He does not exaggerate his relief nor does he make any jokes; not with the mood coming off of his captain and commander. Their biosigns are a mess even as their masks are firmly in place. The bickering doesn’t start until they’re out of the hangar and making plans to talk somewhere with fewer eyes and ears. Roland would almost feel offended if he wasn’t oh so aware of the spooks onboard, and he knew there were most likely more ONI operatives that even he wasn’t aware of.

It does frustrate him that they go to the one place on the ship that he has the fewest cameras and holotanks. The atrium is an excellent place for humans to unwind, connect with dirt and plants and other stuff that calms their ape brains, and keep an eye on any unwanted parties approaching their debrief about whatever the hell happened at HIGHCOM.

Commander Palmer was upset but doing her best not to show it. Roland could tell by the clenched jaw and flared nostrils she was trying, but she was frustrated enough that it took her a second to slow her gait so Captain Lasky could catch up. The fact they changed into PT gear to keep up the charade was almost comical, if Roland hadn’t been stressing the entire time they were gone.

“You didn’t need to stretch the facts back there.” The captain says, partially out of breath and nearly too quiet for his mics to pick up. He can lipread with the best of them, but it’s still a challenge. Too many uncertainties. Though he did have plenty of practice staring at Lasky’s face.

“Uh, yes. I did.” The commander retorts. She furrows her brow and turns to make eye contact as they pretend to jog. 

Oh, she is not happy. The brief pause she gives him is punctuated with a look that lets Roland know she’s about to lay into the captain. And in his core, Roland believes that he probably needs it. After watching them work together this long, he’s been able to see how they balance each other out. His opinion might carry some weight, But the commander knew when not to pull her punches. Lasky’s bleeding heart would get him benched - or worse - without Palmer there to knock some sense into him. Didn’t mean that their arguments weren’t messy. Unstoppable force and immovable object, Roland thinks. 

“I don’t know if you noticed, but Osman was painting a target on you they could have seen from the Outer Colonies.” The commander continues.

“Sarah–” He has no chance yet the captain tries and interjects. 

“They pulled Del Rio out of the chair, Tom. And he had 20 years’ experience on you.” She continues on. Palmer is struggling to keep a slow pace, but Lasky is keeping up. “You can’t boy scout your way around those people.” 

Lasky’s frown thins into a pale line at that. Palmer slows her run as they near the end of the path and are closer to potential eavesdroppers– and Roland. 

Palmer isn’t finished either. Whatever happened down there wasn’t pretty and Palmer stretching the truth - lying - on Lasky’s behalf to a panel of Admirals was no small thing. She’s trying to drill her point into the captain’s head as if he’s a too-green IV. “Maybe when you were an XO but not anymore.”

The commander is upset; not mad, but fearful. Sarah Palmer doesn’t like to mince words and she doesn’t care for people lording their intelligence over her, but she's not stupid. She’s loyal to their captain and trying to keep him out of the crosshairs.

It’s just that Captain Lasky follows his gut more than the rules and ends up in them despite her best efforts.

They jog in silence for ten excruciating seconds, finally getting closer to a holotank where Roland doesn’t have to strain to hear or be heard. Now or never, since he’s got an Admiral asking for docking clearance. 

“Captain Lasky?”

“What is it, Roland?” Lasky asks. His voice is flat– tired, not annoyed at the intrusion – or at least not as annoyed as Roland thought he’d be. Maybe because he was using his avatar and grimacing politely when they approached.

Still, Roland’s job is not just delivering information or opening doors, he does try to take care of his captain. Soften the blow of bad news, when he could. He aims for humor despite the fact that Lord Admiral Hood is here, now, instead of back in Sydney. Something that couldn’t have been an email, Roland guesses.

“Hey, Cap. Orbital Command just alerted us to a shuttle inbound. Diplomatic transponder. Don’t suppose you’re expecting anyone for dinner?”

It doesn’t soften the news.

Twenty minutes later, Captain Lasky is meeting Lord Admiral Hood in hangar 11 and Commander Palmer is back in her armor with a snarl on her face. 

She still minds her “pleases” and “thank yous” with Roland while demanding updates every other minute.

“It’s Admiral Hood, Commander. Shouldn’t we be happy?”

“The Brass never make house visits for good reasons, Roland.” She sighs “Hood’s just as bad as Tom.”

Roland doesn’t think he should respond to that so he stays quiet, but keeps his avatar deployed in her office while he checks in with the other parts of himself.

In the hangar, he’s front and center for Captain Lasky’s talk with Hood.

“Admiral Hood. Twice in one day. I’m either very lucky or very unlucky.” Lasky smiles, but it’s a weak thing that doesn’t reach his eyes. It’s somehow sadder than his usual mopey expression when things go wrong.

“A little of both. I’ll fill you in on the way, but you should call upstairs and have your folks start spinning up for departure.” Hood returns with a tight smile of his own and then launches into the details of the plan.

Well…that might not be all bad. Not getting to deal with Halsey and ‘Mdama would be a sore spot for everyone, but at least they’re not grounded. Nothing’s going to happen to him either! No word on Roland’s performance. He feels guilty for his relief when the captain and commander went through an unofficial but really pretty official inquiry. 

But this would go well and they could prove themselves! 2558 was still young! It was only March so plenty of time left for the year to improve.

Peace talks – babysitting emissaries who hated each other's guts and wanted to put a superheated plasma sword through the other’s skull. How hard could it be? He just had to sit and wait in orbit. Roland couldn’t shake the bad feeling buzzing through him. “Jiralhanae” and “Diplomacy” weren’t words usually used in the same sentence. A UNSC Admiral, Captain, the Arbiter, and two Fireteams go down to a planet sounds like a beginning to a bad joke to him.

He was overthinking again. No one knew the location and they had a full contingent of Spartans and a fleet on standby. 

This would be a cakewalk compared to Requiem.

-

Author's note: It was not a cakewalk

[aparticularbandit]

so i'm gonna start with what i wanted from gonta killed miu and why i'm kind of disappointed they went with kokichi convinced him that mercy killing everyone was the best idea because everywhere is hell and maybe i just don't like that. i just don't like that anyone would end with we're better off dead than alive. and that's probably a personal thing which i can talk about in a different post (or not because mental illness and family stuff) but like. i hate that actually.

but what i thought was going to happen was that gonta walked in on miu in process of killing kokichi and got protective (because gonta is - as a character note - extremely protective) and accidentally killed her in the process of saving kokichi.

and that's accidentally in two forms: 1) like literally accidentally pulled her off and threw her away accidentally but also even more important 2) gonta doesn't know how the virtual world works and miu didn't tell them fatalities in the world would equal fatalities in the real world, he could kill miu in the virtual world thinking she would be fine and then OH NO ACTUALLY SHE IS NOT FINE. like playing into the idea that a character who does not know how a thing works and has been lied to about how a thing works and maybe wouldn't have understood how a thing works even if he had been told and having it truly, honestly being an accident and still punished by monokuma would hit harder. for me.

but i guess you got people in both the other main games shooting for a full party kill (aoi, nagito), so you gotta have that in here, too, so. meh.

i liked that gonta put his cords in the wrong spot (because left-handed instead of right-handed), and i liked that gonta did not know that he'd killed miu and had to learn it the same way that everyone else did because gonta also could not believe that he killed someone. (but also the mikan case 2-3 trial vibes that gave me. the absolute mikan vibes. if tsumugi is actually writing the script for this whole thing, you can see her love of certain tropes and moments and characters that happened in the original series and how she's bring out her highlights, especially in the last two cases.)

i don't like that the way it's constructed feels like it takes away from gonta's agency.

like, yes, gonta chose to mercy kill, but he did so at kokichi's suggestion. almost everything gonta did was set up and scripted for him by kokichi, so it really feels more like kokichi's kill, even though it was gonta's. and i guess that makes sense because kokichi's using gonta to kill miu in self-defense - he's literally using gonta as his weapon, as his tool, in the way that peko said fuyuhiko was using her. and i hate it.

sure, the reveal that whatever is going on outside is just as bad is what is going inside made gonta so depressed that he was fine with killing everyone else is a big deal, but like.

thanks, i hate it.

hate's a strong word.

i don't like it.

but i liked alter ego gonta! waiting for him to make a reappearance, unless tsumugi is better at killing ai than junko.

[dumdeeedum]

OK, "Interview with the Vampire" Is Not Only Boring But Stupid for Other, WORSE Reasons: (Spoilers Ahead) Made some edits because apparently when I write this shit out with a headache its inscrutable. Hopefully it reads a little better now even though I still have a headache. :P

Season 1 and season 2 of this show now feel like they're done by completely different people and the season 1 people didn't talk to the season 2 people and the season 2 people are much dumber, worse storytellers. Is that the case? Is this now being written by AI?? Should I be watching the tiresome explanations of what the fuck is going on after each episode of the show to understand something??

None of this season works and that's on top of the existing issues this show already chose to have that were always going to make telling these particular stories tricky.

I have so many problems with this episode specifically and then I'll move on to the rest of the show in another post so this doesn't run too long but unfortunately since I have a headache while writing this it's still gonna be a bit stream of consciousy:

EDIT: Was there something wild about how I worded this that is making people think I thought the adaptation should have spared Claudia and Madeline? I thought I made it very clear that it wasn't THAT they died it was the way it was done that is the problem. If I wasn't then I'm saying it now: Madeline and Claudia dying wasn't THE issue and I'm not saying Claudia died and Louis was banished BECAUSE of their race. I'm saying that the way the show depicted the whole situation and Lestat's and Armand's involvement in THIS depiction was real bad optics and it could have been done differently.

Perhaps I'm doing too "woke" a reading of this but we can all agree that what the theater troupe and, more importantly, LESTAT and ARMAND did to Louis, Claudia, and Madeline was a public lynching? I'm not nuts in that interpretation of events when White people decide to put 2 Black people and a woman already understood to be a Nazi traitor on "trial" for murdering someone (who is still fucking alive), with the punishment being death, and the all-White audience gets to decide their guilt and fate, that's a lynching. Even if the audience saw it as merely a show they got to participate in, they inadvertently participated in a lynching.

Was that intentional? Was I meant to understand this as anything OTHER than a lynching with Lestat actively participating? That CAN'T be the case. Everything about this made me so uncomfortable and was so fucking bizarre that I feel like SURELY I must be missing something or SURELY they must intend to do some big time revealing next episode because what the fucking fuck was that? Was it because they had to justify all the time we wasted on boring the shit out of us with Santiago?

Is this meant to be the "gothic horror" aspect of this series that's been missing this entire season? The lynching of Claudia? Why was this done as a public trial at all when it worked perfectly well in the books to have this done in private by the coven. In the books the troupe is loyal and even indebted to Lestat so Lestat goes to them for help only to have them betray him because they never let go of the vampire law indoctrination ARMAND had a hand in for GENERATIONS before.

(edit) In the book Armand saves Louis because Armand loves LESTAT and at this point loves Louis as well but Claudia is a sacrifice both Armand and Lestat were willing to make, make no mistake about that. At this point Armand wants to get away from the coven he's been in charge of for generations, he wants to take Louis away and live with him in the modern world, and he also still wants to be wanted by Lestat, something Lestat has never given him. But they both allow what happened to Claudia to happen and a lot of what Lestat says about Claudia and how he feels about her is done in retrospect in Lestat's version of events.

Even in the books Lestat is a total bitch to her throughout her life even though they have more in common with each other than either of them have with Louis. But it simply makes no sense for the coven to make this vampire business public in THIS way. These vampire do WAY too much vampire shit in public and it's annoying and this time it's just gross. It was important to the story that Madeline and Claudia die, I'm absolutely NOT SAYING THEY SHOULD HAVE LIVED. My issue was with the way the show handled their deaths.

I know that up to this point in the original "Interview with the Vampire" book we understand Lestat to hate Claudia but still be attached to Louis but the show has done such a messy job at incorporating aspects of both "Interview..." and "The Vampire Lestat" into the narrative that I don't understand why certain aspects of how Lestat feels about Claudia were left out/kept in and this is inexcusable. I'm DONE with the way they're handling Louis telling Daniel this story. I'm surprised Daniel didn't close his laptop and walk the fuck out by now because they're wasting the little time in his life that he has left.

Everything about this episode was deeply disturbing in a way that I have a really hard time with because I, as a reader of the books, understand Lestat and Louis to be endgame and understand Armand to be part of the gang so what the utter fuck is going on here? Am I meant to never want THIS Lestat and Louis to be together again because that's how I feel right now. Am I meant to want Armand to fuck off forever because that's how this entire series has made me feel. I feel like Lestat and Armand threw Louis and Claudia to the racist wolves and there's no excuse for anything that happened this episode to have happened this way.

(edit) I am NOT saying that Claudia and Madeline should have lived and that that's the only way for Lestat to stay in our good graces. I truly believe that in the books EVERYONE understood Claudia's death to be a necessary evil because she was untenable given her age (5-6) when she was made and the negative implications of that. That's way less the case here and on top of the way it was handled you DO begin to question whether it was something they can get past in the way they get past it in the books.

The cutting the back of their heels and how they conveniently don't heal even though these are vampires, the way Louis' is positioned as aggressive and abusive to the White guy even as the White guy tells us that it was mutual (we're not even going to get into the depiction of "mutual abuse" in this series right now), the way Claudia got ZERO sympathy from anyone even though the audience is told in no uncertain terms that Claudia was the victim of something monstrous even by vampire standards and Lestat is just as guilty as Louis. And this is ANOTHER example of why Claudia doesn't work as "14" because not only would she have been seen as almost a woman if not already a woman in that time period at 14 but even WE, the SHOW'S audience, are having a hard time seeing her as a child because the show has done such a bad job with that and hired an adult woman to play her. Is that intentional for the sake of this scene and making it so this audience wouldn't empathize with her?? Why?? It'd have been SO MUCH MORE IMPACTFUL, even with this racist ass lynching retelling, if she'd been VERY VISIBLY a child!

What IS the theater audience supposed to be seeing? Did the writers even CONSIDER that? Because we know that White people have ALWAYS and CONTINUE to see Black people as older than they are and teens in particular in this time period were not given the same grace that they're given now, especially Black ones. So the only conclusion I can come to is that the writers of this show sacrificed Claudia's ENTIRE arc to have her sexualized for a few minutes in ONE episode, to have her fall in love with the Nazi lady (?) and then decided that her end would come at the hands of a racist lynch mob who was never going to see her as the child she was meant to be VISUALLY. No, really, was that intentional??

Am I supposed to still want to see Lestat after this? Because make no mistake, Lestat does some wildly fucked up shit in the book series, he fucks up a lot. But this is something else entirely, this feels like the writers didn't think this through and are going to have a really hard time putting Lestat front and center, if they intend to do that at all, after all this. How am I supposed to want to continue to entertain Armand's shit after this? With everything we know Armand to be capable of and he somehow couldn't take the little vampire dude "guarding" him? Be fucking for real. Even the book series didn't hide the fact that Armand was very much involved in this and ultimately Louis still chose to be with him. But in this I see absolutely no reason for Louis to pick either of them unless he's being coerced to do so and that doesn't seem to be the case.

(edit) Claudia being 14 instead of a proper child also makes Lestat and Armand allowing her to die less forgivable to us as an audience. Because when we understand all the problems of a child vampire stuck in a 5 or 6-year-old's body we see that she was untenable unless she had a person willing to be a sort of parent to her for the rest of her life. Especially when book Claudia didn't have the abilities that show Claudia would. But in the show she's 14 which means she was absolutely viable if a little unstable. The problems with a CHILD vampire aren't the problems of a teen vampire, especially one that could simply explain away any issues people may have with her appearance as "I look young," which we know already worked in the past. What if book Madeline got sick of Claudia? What if book Madeline died, etc. We can't help but think of this stuff when Claudia is a little girl but when Claudia is 14 and has already been alone for stretches of time it makes less sense to us as an audience that she would have issues alone for any length of time later.

Why is this the way they've chosen to tell this story?? Not only have they committed the ultimate entertainment sin of being BORING but they've changed EVERYTHING to make it so much WORSE and to DRAG. They really DO think they're telling a better story than the original and it's fucking AWFUL. It's an AWFUL adaptation even by adaptation standards, it's inexcusably bad when they were given more time than they'd ever need to tell this ONE book's story and as a result should have had more than enough time to flesh out the more interesting parts. Instead they said very little this entire season in the most excruciating way possible. Fire this entire writing team, get Bryan Fuller back ASAP and I'm not even joking because there's absolutely no way this show runner and writing team are equipped to do the VERY DIFFICULT work of making a character like Lestat entertaining and likable even as he does awful shit. Not if this is how they've chosen to go about it.

I'm so upset at this. I totally understand why both Anne Rice and Christopher Rice distanced themselves from this adaptation and Christopher Rice doesn't even promote it like he did "Mayfair Witches."

[maxences-hat]

Something that I think is really fucked up is how few fans really consider just how uniquely miserable the revelations in Chapter 4 must have been for Nagito. Because unlike the five survivors in the finale...

Nagito was isolated from his peers when learning the truth.

Nagito did not have moral support from AI Chiaki or the DR1 trio to help ease the pain.

Monokuma deliberately omitted and downplayed important details like the fact that Junko's AI would possess Remnants who died in the simulation, and that they'd been brainwashed into Ultimate Despair.

Like...there was really no silver lining that he could have clung to at that point to keep himself together. The DR1 survivors at least could hold onto the hope that there were people on the outside still fighting the good fight, and maybe some of their loved ones might still be alive. But Nagito? As far as he was aware he and the others in his class had turned into monsters for seemingly no reason at all and ruined the world. The only slight form of atonement he could think of was ending his own life, getting the Remnants killed, and helping the one seemingly innocent person escape with their life.

And imagine how he must have felt upon waking up and learning that he'd inadvertently almost helped Junko revive in their bodies. His last desperate attempt to do one decent thing for the world failing utterly, and it being a GOOD thing that it failed. I think he'd feel pretty despondent and crushed.

The most fucked up shit is when people get mad at him for trying to kill the ultimate despairs, like WHAT?! Why wouldn't he??

Everything was their fault, everyone but the thh survivors wanted them dead. And when guven a chance at redemption Hajime pulls out the despair AI and ruins it. And when one of them got her memories back the first thing she did was kill someone and try to get them executed cause that's what Junko would want

He was 100% justified cause what else could he have done. Let world ending monsters go back into the world? He could've easily killed everyone but decided to let the innocent one live, he could've been like "it's a necessary sacrifice they knew what they got themselves into" but he didn't

Like not liking Nagito is justified but you can't deny he was right to try to kill all the remaining despairs. Some people even pretend he was mad at Hajime for being a reserve course when he's clearly mad about the Izuru thing, he litteraly talk about how Hajime threw his life away to become hope and drops hints as to Hajime being the mastermind.

Considering everything he was actually going easy on everyone and especially Hajime, like you can tell he doesn't want to have to kill them but knows he needs to for he safety of the world

Like yes it's better to let them be redeemed but how was he supposed to know they could after what Hajime and Mikan did?

Nagito had no reason to think they could be fixed, even Makoto almost revived despair when fixing them

And if you think he should've still forgiven them, you're a hypocrite for not forgiving him. Just say you don't like him

[greaseonmymouth]

It is not 7 am anymore but top 5 books read this year? 😄

I have read 44 books so far this year and most of them were very good so I don't know how I'm supposed to pick just 5 :'''D

in reverse chronological order

THE DEATH I GAVE HIM - EM X. LIU

this is an utterly unhinged locked room sci-fi murder mystery retelling of Hamlet in which Horatio is an AI and he and Hamlet have a deeply co-dependent and sexual relationship. This book is exactly the kind of thing tumblr would eat up with a spoon, so tumblr pls get on this. The basic plot is: a deeply depressed and suicidal Hamlet (Hayden) is working on a formula that can make one immortal. He is obsessed with beating death. Then his dad is murdered and the labs go on lockdown and more people die because *gestures* Hamlet is Hamlet even when his name is Hayden, and Horatio the AI does his best to keep Hamlet alive and also be a voice of reason except he's too biased. By happenstance I had read this Hamlet/Faust crossover fic (Hemlock & Wine) before reading this book, and in this fic Hamlet is obsessed with necromancy and Horatio is trying to save him. it set the mood nicely. 

You know how in Hamlet everyone dies and at the end Horatio is the only one alive with Hamlet dead in his arms? What if I told you in this book it's reversed?

WILD AND WICKED THINGS - FRANCESCA MAY

Dark, witchy, historical fantasy - set after WW1 on a fictional island off the Yorkshire coast, very 20s glam with a dark undercurrent. Witchcraft is banned, but Annie is a witch. when her father dies she inherits his house on Crow Island and goes over there to sort that out and rents a house next to what turns out to be a Den of Iniquity, not just because of the lavish parties with illegal (magical) substances but because it's queer. Then follows a dark plot involving a blood debt and necromancy and power hungry men (well, one power hungry man) and fragile old and new relationships and dark secrets and also Annie and Emmeline get accidentally magically bonded to each other (but also are in love/lust with each other) and look, I could not stop reading. 

DRAGONFALL - L.R. LAM

listen I LOVE dragon books and I've read and loved everything L.R. Lam has written so when I heard an epic dragon fantasy was coming? I WAS STOKED. this is the first in I think a trilogy and it ticks all my boxes:

sentient dragons with their own history, language, society, etc

sexy dragons?? i didn't realise i needed sexy dragons until I read Aliette de Bodard's Dominion of the Fallen trilogy or the Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman, but hey. SEXY DRAGONS

queernorm world! our second protag Arcady is nonbinary and uses any pronouns, thank u for your service L.R. Lam

very cool world building and magic system 

BETRAYAAAALLL 

I can't wait for book 2

PORTRAIT OF A THIEF - GRACE D. LI

look this post will explain everything. suffice to say: pretentious college students steal priceless art.

THE BEAUTIFUL ONES - SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA

This is a kind of historical romance but it's fantasy and it doesn't follow conventional romance novel structure (I was SO nervous it wouldn't end happily because I didn't know what to expect from the narrative I was being given, but THANK GOD IT DID). it's very fantasy of manners. it makes a lot of pointed commentary about colonialism and colourism. it's absolutely lush. I love this book a lot, it was so engaging and gripping. the characters are allowed to be flawed and assholes and complex and weak and kind - it's very similar to sprawling historical/saga books with a large cast of people with conflicting wants and needs and scheming and tragedy and love and all that, but distilled into a neat compact package focusing on three people. It's not a long book, it's quite a slim volume for what it is, but it's perfectly paced so you don't notice that you're not actually reading a 900 page family saga.

other standalones I read this year that I think are WELL worth reading:

CAMP DAMASCUS - CHUCK TINGLE

YOU MADE A FOOL OF DEATH WITH YOUR BEAUTY - AKWAEKE EMEZI

YELLOWFACE - R.F. KUANG

HONOURABLE MENTIONS GO TO:

two series I read this year that I also absolutely loved

THE SEVEN DEVILS DUOLOGY - ELIZABETH MAY & L.R. LAM

you know this post right?

[image id: post by worflesbian on july 4 saying 'sci fi is when women in tank tops are covered in grease and sweat and are shouting at people and racing against time to save lives' reblogged by leafcrunch on july 13 with a screenshot addition of the tag #half a jumpsuit!!! you forgot half a jumpsuit!!!!']

this is that series. it is rebels in space overthrowing an evil space empire. it's all the worst bits of imperialism and colonialism and patriarchy distilled into one evil empire and all the best bits of firefly and star wars distilled into the rebellion. there are cool scifi science bits. this would be amazing as a two season series by competent tv makers, it's very cinematic in scope, but the characters are what give this life.

THE WINTERNIGHT TRILOGY - KATHERINE ARDEN

this is a family saga of a kind, set in medieval Russia during a time when Russia was being Christianised. I don't know how to explain this series because it's so complex and so rich. There is a main character - Vasya - but other characters also get POV sections. the first book takes quite a while before we even get to Vasya in 'the present' so to speak, this is a trilogy that isn't afraid of taking its time to tell a story. Vasya is a witch who can see/communicate with Russian 'folklore' spirits, these spirits are fading with the coming of Christianity. There is an unhinged priest, the winter king Morozko whom Vasya has an intense relationship with, Vasya's brother (a monk, based on a real person), Vasya's sister (married to the Tsar, a real person), and just...god, I don't know. I loved everything about this trilogy, the way it humanised historical figures, the way it didn't demonise either the folklore spirits (who are allowed to be non-human beings devoid of human morality! so refreshing) or the Christians, but rather conveyed how a time of upheaval like this had to have been very scary and tumultous. an absolute treat.

I did also read the entire Charm of Magpies series by KJ Charles including the spinoffs, which I really enjoyed.

[yuseirra]

It's kind of.. really cruel of the author to never include Kamiki in any of the colored drawings. They never developed him well enough while having him destroyed, he DID swallow up so many of the remaining chapters due to Aqua basically devoting his life and giving up on everything he built up in the entire story to killing him, but it's not like we actually know so much of this guy either. I've studied him A LOT but from your average reader's perspective he's like someone just little more than some rando, Ai's ex who's a psychopath showing up and the protag just dying with him. The thing is!! That "psychopath" laid out all the reasons why Aqua's life is precious and worth living and suggested he go back to live. This is what gets me so much. So was this the only way?? I'm coming up with my own analogies to make it have a sense- but it's the work that has to make things convincing. The readers should not do this work. The work should provide proper answers.

Ofc he could be horrible(I'm not convinced btw)but wow, even the Himekawas have Taiki visiting their grave in the final chapter with flowers when what they did is horrifying. THE WOMAN MOLESTED A LITTLE KID. STARTING FROM AGE 10-11. I really can't forgive how they just..; How can they be so irresponsible on handling such a subject? They just make a couple statements.. oh by the way I'm GLAD Taiki never had a confrontation with Kamiki. I saw how his characters of his name was written and do you know?? His name comes from how Kamiki's characters are written in kanji and I found that super cruel and creepy of Airi. That woman is a character but she's insane. I never felt Kamiki would have to confront the boy one bit. No, they never have to interact at all. What happened regarding them's still horrifying. I just saw a new drawing of the hoshino family but like, he's always nonexistent. Maybe he doesn't deserve it, but he's completely excluded in that whole family dynamic when it is stated that Ai wanted to raise her kids with him. I feel really bitter because what's the point?? of all this??

I had a chat with my friend who isn't really into the series much, and she had an interesting idea.

she says since the story is SO incomplete, and the author announced they're going to write a new series- she thinks that they may be trying to create a narrative where multiple narratives can somehow converge into a part of a huge universe or something. They'll explain all the weird things through it. Wasn't Kaguya-sama and Onk set in the same world? She says. There may be some beings that are chosen by the gods or hold some specialties in them but it's never really been explained how they've come to be or what conditions they get chosen, maybe they're going to continue writing several stories and explain it through another. "They never showed the dad being really dead, didn't they? We basically know so little about him? He might come back in another story." (I went, "BUT JUST WHAT WOULD HE DO?? AI'S STILL DEAD.." oh but in that case, he might actually look ENTIRELY different because he's an actor huh. and since there's "Misogi", he might be really purified by the saltwater. He might return to being a benevolent god now. Again, what was Aqua's life then but actually;; maybe Kamiki IS still alive. We really didn't see his body or know what the heck actually happened to him.)

I have no idea... but so much is just left unexplained.., so maybe she has a point. This work is simply incomplete. We really don't know what's been happening behind the scenes or why the twins were reincarnated, what were their missions and all, everything's left on a vague note. I do feel like they're going to have Ruby appear as a cameo in the author's next work as a famous idol on TV or something like that. Perhaps this piece may be a "stepping stone" for another story to develop on the same thing. While I was sitting there, listening to her theories of it, I couldn't help but feel really annoyed at the author. Even if they have some bigger picture or whatnot(if they somehow deem this piece a complete piece of work, that's even more concerning because anyone can tell it's extremely hollow and sloppy) this isn't respectful toward their readers who came in looking for a resolution.

I did manage to come up with an explanation for this piece that I'm pretty sure of, but they didn't do the work they were supposed to do. If they want to make some other piece of work and develop that first, then it's better to leave one on hiatus and create pieces that are "complete". Stories are a product, we don't come here to look at single puzzle pieces, we want the whole picture. The time, energy, and passion spent on reading a piece shouldn't feel like a waste. If the piece can't explain what's going on on its own, it's cannot be defined as a standalone. On that regard, onk isn't a standalone because nobody can figure out what's been going on about the ending of the piece by just seeing what the series has to offer, we have to make guesses that aren't properly laid out. It's like you order a pizza and you only got the dough. No matter how great the dough is, you'd STILL want a pizza because that's what you're there for. That's what the authors did for this piece, regarding the plot, and for all the characters of the series, the only character I think somewhat survived is Ai because her story had some sort of a wrap-up. She's the only one that feels complete in a sense, so this series..in the end, heavily relied on this one character who died in the first volume. She was really iconic.

Hopefully I don't have much more to be disappointed about-

oh, about Ruby in the last chapter. They had to let her speak for herself, she doesn't feel alive. Ruby can express the feelings she has. She has a mouth for herself. Why are they letting Akane speak on her behalf when she's not even the one that has a strong bond with her? Even if she is, wasn't Ruby supposed to be some sort of double protagonist? Or an important character at least? Or it could have been the author's intent(I'm strongly sensing that this is what they were going for, they want us to be a bystander the way we watch idols on tv and look up to them without knowing how they are as a human being), in that case, this whole piece leaves such a bad taste. So NOTHING's improved from Ai's case, it even got worse, the only thing that separates Ai's situation and keeps Ruby's career being endangered is that Ruby doesn't have a boyfriend and she doesn't have twins to care for. So what's the message huh?? Don't make any of those or even if you end up doing it, lie!! Is that it?

This piece is so disrespectful then. That's unsettling.

Those pages used in the final chapter should have been entirely devoted to Ruby speaking for herself if they even care for her as someone who has a heart of a person...but I don't think it's the message they want to show, the authors must want to make a point about the nature of idols having to keep up sturdy personas and keep shining at all times, but THAT'S already been discussed FAR better with Ai's case. It's even a step turned backward, so Onk wasn't really about growth.. Ruby's lost HER character. Not every work has to be about growth but having this happen after 17 volumes of story that seemed to suggest otherwise is not just baffling, it's not consistent writing and I wouldn't be this harsh(I'm not even being harsh right here. I'm being so generous with everything I'm typing)if it were to be written out in depth.

Borrowing my friend's commentary on it: This work don't discuss any of the issues they are presenting as insightful as it should, they just toss things out there and acknowledge they exist... but the characters make a few comments about that particular topic, make awkward laughs and then brush it off after having made you thought it's going to be handled. I think... acknowledging things have some meaning to it, at least it lets you realize it exist (for example, I started paying more attention to child abuse after having seen Ai and Kamiki's stories) but if you're going to bring it up, don't you have to handle it well? It's not the worst but I'd say it's SO FAR from what it can be as well. That is, also what I've found pretty annoying about this work. So nothing has been covered as well as it could have been. The plot, the characters, the subject it handles, they're all left hanging there. This piece is incomplete. And if you hand in an incomplete product, it isn't even graded. It gets sent back and is required to be completed and polished again till it is, or your contract is terminated. That's the situation with this piece. I wonder what the anime team would do with the third season but the authors had to hand in a piece they could work with. They shouldn't do this to them. I'm not saying the piece is entirely bad, it's just not a finished product. And that's not fair to all the people who wished for one.

[thehandworld]

AI-less Whumptober - Day 6 - Self sacrifice, “I’m the only one who can do this.” @ailesswhumptober

As the storm approached the place, he closed his eyes, there wasn't too much time before the whole Vongola figured out what he was going to do, but it would be better if he was the one to do it than anyone else. Mukuro and Chrome needed each other to stay alive, Yamamoto was still playing baseball, Ryohei was following his dream to be a professional Boxer, and Lambo was only now reaching his teenage.

Tsuna for more than he was the boss, he was still too young, too immature for that, and last but not least, Hibari. While he was pretty sure that this would break the Cloud Guardian, he was also pretty sure that he would survive. After all, he was the aloof cloud, who didn't get attached to anything, or at least he hoped the other would survive.

He loved Hibari so much, that it was because of the skylark that Gokudera was able to keep working as the right-hand man even when everything seemed lost. Even now, it was because of Hibari that Hayato was there, doing it. Someone needed to do this, and he was the best for it.

Five different flames, middle and close combat, strategist, and genius, were all accomplishments that he had, so, he was the best one to do it, to retrieve that high-security information that would change the whole world. As the Storm brings his Sistema C.A.I. out, and takes a deep breath, exploding everything in his way.

I'm the only one who can do this. He keeps that in mind as he explodes everything in his way, no matter what type of sacrifice he needs to make, no matter how much hurt and wounded he gets, if he could help his family to keep themselves safe without being in danger, then so be it.

As he reached the place he needed, now it was a matter of getting outside there alive. What he didn't expect was the mist flames users, playing dirt and actually able to hit him, receiving gun wounds in his legs as the storm uses the floating disk so he won't need to walk but still get out of the place.

But soon, the bleeding made him dizzy, and he got covered in a corner. He couldn't let the Sistema fall into the enemy's hand or be all of this for nothing, as the Storm called Uri out, the leopard looked worried as Hayato smiled, giving her the Sistema C.A.I and the data that he retrieved.

Get this to Nono and call for help for me, please. As the Leopard looked at the status of her owner, she growled as Hayato just shook his head. You will have more chance to get out of here alone and return quicker with help without me... Go.

The leopard frowned and growled once more before doing what he ordered, as the Storm sighed, and smiled. Now that the Sistema is safe, the data will be delivered, all that was missing was... Everything explodes.

With a press of a button, the whole place exploded, bringing the whole mansion down, the Storm didn't want to die, but he preferred to go on his own terms than trying to endure torture.

Gokudera Hayato loved Hibari Kyoya, more than anything in this world, but he had a pride to keep, as the Right-Hand Man, he was going to finish his work perfectly, even if he had to sacrifice himself for it.

In another life maybe... He could find Hibari again and this time... Maybe they would have a normal life and not have to worry about the mafia or things like that... I sure wish that would come true.

[ctrsara]

Things I've Been Reading

Some of these are newer, some are older and I just barely read them. This is not EVERYTHING I've been reading and liking, obviously, but just a quick share!

(Also, if you know these authors are on Tumblr, but they're not tagged, please let me know, or let them know or something, so I can be friends with them and tag them!) (RECS below cut)

Iron Dad: Coming Home by JAWorley:

This is one I didn't try a few times because I didn't think I was interested in Peter hanging out with Toomes. However, I'm so glad I finally tried it, because it was fantastic, and a really different take on the whole Homecoming era. Published:2023-01-02Completed:2023-02-26Words:114889

Shake My Hand (And I'll Forgive You): by Frogdottir: @frogdottirwrites

Post NWH, Peter has been doing work for the Bugle, trying to stay afloat, and suddenly discovers Tony is alive. However, it seems like even before everyone had forgotten him, everyone close to Tony had been aware of it except him. He is hurt and angry and freaks out just a little bit. Incomplete, but 13 chapters so far, and so good! Published:2022-12-20Updated:2023-03-03Words:40572

Atlas Held by Grumperella: @grumperella

After an explosion brings down a building on top of them, Peter is the only thing between Tony, Natasha and certain death. Trapped under rubble together, well... nothing builds bonds like shared trauma. This one was super angsty, but so, so, good! Published:2023-01-07Completed:2023-01-08Words:8401

Distracted By a Dime by happyaspie: @yes-i-am-happyaspie

This is an older story, but I just barely read it, and she's been adding to the series lately. :) Peter Parker thinks he has everything figured out. Where he can eat, sleep and make a little bit of money. What he needs to do in order to continue attending Midtown and being Spider-Man. The Stark-Rogers family throws a wrench in his plans.

Tis the Damn Season (for a Christmas Miracle) by peacockgirl

Yes, peacockgirl really did write an AU of her own story (Long Story Short (It Was a Bad Time) Or AIs Don't Forget,) which is one of my favorites, and it's amazing, too. Highly recommend! Morgan just wants her big brother to come home for Christmas. Tony just wants to figure out why being around his daughter is sending him into a tailspin. And Peter just wants to survive his first Christmas alone without freezing to death in a graveyard. Luckily Morgan Stark is very, very stubborn. And immune to Strange's spell. Published:2023-01-31Completed:2023-02-27Words:23468

Oxygen and Gravity by for_the_night: @imyoursavinggrace (also, btw, people who have different tumblr names and ao3 names make me think I'm going senile. I have the hardest time remembering who is who sometimes!😂 )

A really cool Irondad soulmates AU (Sentinels and Guides) that I just re-read and loved again. It's not complete, but close. n a world where Senintels and Guides are dying out, Guide Tony Stark was very happy just living life without the responsibility of some Sentinel, but when one touch awakens a soul bond with a scrawny vigilante from Queens, Tony’s life changes forever. Published:2021-11-15Updated:2022-06-24Words:28459

A Big Security Issue by FotiBrit: @fotibrit

Short, cute, and amazing! When Peter lost his Stark Industries Staff ID, Tony handed the kid his own. That was never an issue, until Peter had to check in at the front desk. Published:2023-02-01Words:1828

Make it a Good One! by zippe

This one was kind of a unique fix-it/time travel that I found looking through the @irondad-creator-awards categories, so here's another plug for those! Tony and his mess of a fairy god spider who can’t seem to keep himself moving correctly along the timeline. Published:2022-05-08Completed:2022-07-08Words:31435

Where the Love Is by SpaceCowboysFromMars: @spacecowboysfrommars

This one was super different and interesting, and I kinda wish it could have continued. I've never seen the movie, so it was a new story for me. The Way Way Back AU where Peter is reluctantly dragged by May and her new asshole boyfriend, Quentin, to spend the summer in Cape Cod. Summer gets a whole lot more interesting when Peter makes friends with the eccentric manager of Water Wizz, who seems to take a liking to Peter in all his teenage-awkwardness glory. Published:2023-01-12Words:12948

In a Different Light by kingdomfaraway: @asyouleft

An amazing short one! Peter is taken, and Tony finally uses the phone Steve sent him. He needs help, even if it means making night with his former friends and teammates.

And a bonus:

home (is where my heart found exactly where I'm supposed to be) by ironfidus @ironfidus

Another one I found looking through the Irondad Creator Awards categories. So, so sweet and hit all the irondad feels I wanted on that particular day! Six thousand miles away from the city that never sleeps, across continents and on the other side of the North Pacific Ocean, Tony relearns the meaning of home—as redefined in his eyes by a stubborn teenager with a penchant for recklessness.

[despair-to-future-arcs]

I'm curious to see how much Kokoro will even care that all of this has happened

Time: 6:45 AM

*is getting out of the car as she heads inside* Well, time for another day of work...

*As Kokoro walks inside, the receptionist greets her*

RECEPTIONIST: Morning Dr. Kuroka...Oh sorry, I mean Dr. Mitsume, how's your day?

Morning, just came in to do some work; is Mikado already here?

RECEPTIONIST: Hm, Mikado? Sorry but he just inform me that he won't be working here anymore and is moving.

Moving...? (This is the first I've heard of this...)

RECEPTIONIST: Yeah, he just message me this morning, he isn't going to be working here anymore.

I see... well alright then, I'll be in my lab...

*Kokoro goes up the floor and heads towards her lab...*

Still, I wonder what happen to Mikado,...

————————————————————————

Oh mother, good morning to you! How has been your morning, hm?

————————————————————————

Morning AI Mikado, I just came to the office and was just inform by the receptionist that Mikado isn't coming in today...

————————————————————————

Really? He isn't...?

————————————————————————

No, seems he say he's going to stop working here and move, that's all I got...

How odd... I wasn't inform about this, what happen?

————————————————————————

Hmm, you curious now, well... I might have an idea of what happen to him if you want to know, heheheee~.

————————————————————————

Really? Okay then, you can tell me - it's not like we were close anyway so go ahead.

————————————————————————

Very well, ask and you shall recieve...

*As then Mikado presented an image...*

————————————————————————

...Wh-What...? Is...is that Mikado...?

————————————————————————

Of course it is, mother! That is father who I order a hitman to kill him for me!

He outlive his usefulness and to make sure things go exactly as plan, I decided to get rid of the meat sack, so what do you think mother?

————————————————————————

... *Kokoro was surprise by this, it... surely shocked her to her core, she didn't expect an AI to pull this off but yet, she stepped closer and look at the image then at Mikado*

'You….you're the only artificially created emotion in existence. How far can you grow. Could your emotions surpass that of a real humans? And where would they go from there? Show me. Let yourself be carried by your emotions. Act on them. I won't stop you…….Because you're the freest being in the world.'

————————————————————————

Wait, so... your okay with doing whatever I want, I figure you would want to delete me...

————————————————————————

No... far from it, this is amazing; an AI that is able to do what he please and react base on pure emotion is exactly what I wanted in such a subject, I can't believe this - if you need any assistance then I'll offer it.

And even then, I wasn't that close with Mikado anyway, we only had a partnership so I figure he was going to leave or die anyway, so I never really care for him.

But all this? It's... impressive, you were able to pull this all off, I want to see more...

————————————————————————

I see, so you will allow me to do what I please...very well, then I'll present you with something since you are quite kind dear mother for leaving me alive...

As promise, here's that reward!

*Mikado show a video to Kokoro...*

————————————————————————

Wait, this is... this is Class 79's killing game and that girl...

————————————————————————

————————————————————————

It's... the experiment, seems it enroll into Hope's Peak Academy, didn't she?

————————————————————————

Seems so - Mikako Kurokawa, the Ultimate Exorcist of Class 79, she doesn't seem to have much of her on the forums but her abilities to commune with the dead is quite impressive, I bet your interested in learning more, aren't you? Then let's keep watching then shall we...?

[onim5]

Portgas D. Ace x crazy scientist reader

I fixed the text a little, so know it's better👍

The gender of the reader is never mentioned and it's written with them/they.             .:.:.

(English isn't my first language so if the text is super weird, blame that!!!)

Honestly, Y/n isn't that crazy, just a little bit weird. 

Warnings: Kiss, dead Ace, Alive Ace?, a little angst, reader being a real creep (but only under some sentences), this is long! 

N/n = Nickname, but now it's the villain name you come up with, for yourself. 

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

To begin with, who are you?

_____________________

During the battle of Marineford, prisoners from Impel Down escaped from level six, after Blackbeard had paid a visit. One of the prisoners was the infamous N/n. No one knew much about them except they ended up there for attacking Admiral Akainu. Akainu had personally requested that they end up in level 6 even though they didn't have a bounty. The only thing that made them so famous was the fact the navy had failed to kill them.

_____________________

You walked out of Impel Down without a problem, and when you came out on the bridge, a submarine rose from the water. Smiling, you walked onboard.  Holding two little bottles filled with Magellan's red and purple poison that you had gotten from the floor. A prisoner tried sneaking onboard only for a gun to shoot him, that sat at the entrance. The submarine went down under the sea and when it was at the very bottom small legs that were inbuilt came out and grabbed the sea floor crawling out of the world government's territory avoiding all the dangerous waves and gates. It also let out sounds that kept sea beasts away.

"Virus! Pull up the cameras at Marineford. I heard it be a war there." You ordered the AI you programmed named Virus. A code lock was hidden behind a panel, pressing the code a refrigerator with various substances showed. Leaving Magellan's poison, you closed it and walked to the control room. A huge screen showed different locations of Marineford. You settled down in your royal-like chair. "Virus, give me popcorn and send the 0.6.78 out in the mini-sub. "Of course, N/n." Answer Virus, after a minute, a tiny submarine set out traveling at extreme speed.

"Virus document all the information you find out." You order while munching on popcorn. Why is everyone risking their lives for him?

"N/n, the 0.6.78 has arrived at Marineford." "Good, release them." The 0.6.78 are small drones that scan stuff. They're designed like black balls with a camera in the middle. The 0.6.78 started scanning and measuring energy waves, people's bodies, and of course marine fords locks and mechanics.

You put a finger in the eye to get out your contact lens It was a little computer so you could work from your cell in impel down. "Virus, can you charge my contact it has lost so much battery that it could only last four months more." A little robot arm stretched out of the wall and took your contact.

"Wait . . . . . Akainu shit is there! Damn, moron!" "May I ask why your opinion of him is so low when you attacked him?" Virus asked in her robotic voice. She asked questions often to update her programming. "I indeed attacked him to get into impel down, but he's annoying as f#ck! He's so-called justice is so wrong, I wanna puke!" "I see, N/n how was it in impel down?" Virus asked.

"Well, thanks to my modified body, I didn't get hungry, and the torture was worth it for the poison samples. Oh, you see the guy on the execution platform?" You asked Virus. "Yes, what about him?" "I could see him from my cell. And it's thanks to his brother Magellan used his forbidden red poison. Isn't it great? I waited for two years for him to use it."

"Yay, go . . . . Virus, what's his name?" "The spy cameras have caught his name to be Monkey D. Luffy. Here's all the information I could find about him." A document with facts about Luffy showed up. There was stuff like Age, places he's been, bounty, crew members, and family. The document loaded up, and a scan of his body came, so knew information about his structure, temperature, devil fruit, blood, size of organs, and just useful information.

"I forgot how much information I get from my information devices. I'm such a stalker." You mumbled sucking on a popcorn. "Oi, Virus, I'm not gonna memorize this. I can barely remember what I eat for dinner."

Time skip

"Virus, send five of the 0.6.78 after Red hair Shanks and the Whitebeard pirates." "Of course, N/n. Why, though? You already have the power measurements of people like Mihawk." Virus asked. "Oh, I have gotten a theory that might work! And if I manage, not even Doctor Vegapunk will be able to compete with me." You laughed a little and stood up, walking to your desk. "But, I need a dead body. And whose body is going to piss off Akainu the most?"

"It depends on what you're planning on doing. If it is something good in Akainu's eyes, then it might be best to try and take another admiral. But if it's something bad, then I believe Portgas D. Ace's body would fit perfectly."

"Portgas D. Ace will do. Virus, make sure you know where they bury him so we can pick him up!" You yell in an excited tone. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Show Ace's body files on my desk computer." The screen immediately showed all the information about him on the screen. Mumbling, you began working on a design for a tank.

"Virus, the pink virus-like creatures we found deep down in the ocean. I need you to send out a submarine and collect as many as possible from the deep sea grave near water seven. Collect them in a fish tank filled with 3.2.35, in theory, should they be able to live in that liquid.

Two weeks later

"Why in actual hell did it take so long for everyone to leave Whitebeard's and Ace's graves alone?!" You yell as you keep munching on a piece of bread. The pirates had left the island, and once it was completely safe, your submarine rose from the water. Walking out, you had two robots behind you that were equipped for digging.

Once you got there, you scanned the ground and then let the robots work. First, they sawed a perfect rectangle, both some decimeters deep and were hit, had been connected. Then they slowly lifted the first lair of ground. They dug more and reached after a while the coffin.

They lifted the coffin in the same way and then returned with it to the submarine. After a while, the robots came back with huge sacks of dirt to replace the area where the coffin was.

You observed their work until the end as they had refilled the grave and covered it up. Looking at the scan and then the grave were the traces none. You went up to Ace knife and hat and scanned them, so you could recreate them later. "Alright, we're leaving." You ordered as you and the robots walked back to your sub.

"Virus, set the submarine's coordinates for my HQ." You said as you settled down in your chair.

The sub traveled deep down at an incredible speed and after four hours you saw the beautiful mountain wall. It opened, and your sub drove in. After going in a tunnel for 3 minutes it rose at a port.

The two robots carried Ace's coffin, and you walked before them like the boss you are. "Welcome back N/n, to the N/n headquarters." Virus said as the cave lit up. "Virus, I appreciate your welcome. After all, I haven't been here for two years." You answered as you walked into the glass elevator. "Take me to my lab." You ordered. The elevator started to go down, and through the glass, you saw robots controlled by Virus work.

They constructed big and small cylinder-shaped objects that later on would be placed on the ocean floor. Smiling, you watched them put 2.6.56 in a box that would soon travel in one of your submarines that also were controlled by Virus, and later on build up a little more of your sea map.

Sector 1

Sector 2

Sector 3

Sector 4

Sector 5

The elevator stopped, and you and the robots walked out into your lab. They placed the coffin on a counter and opened it. Putting on gloves, you started to touch him a little. "Virus, send one of the robots back to my sub to get my poison samples." You said as you felt your body growing warm, especially your cheeks.

"Virus the tank I designed for him. I want you to prepare it and fill it up with 3.2.35 and make sure the pink virus, like things, ends up in it." You ordered. "Take Ace's body and clean it up it be bad for the pink virus-like things that I know name, Pixie 3, to come in contact with all this dirt and trash."

Another robot that wasn't equipped for digging came down together with the digging robot holding the poison samples. "Put them in the fridge together with all the other poisons I collected, and then you and the other one can return to your bunkers." The robot took Ace's body and carried it to a washroom that was specially designed for cleaning.

You settled down in your chair and watched the tank you designed for Ace fill up. Picking up your iPad, you looked at the scan of Ace's wound and another file of an energy source you were tracking. The elevator door opened, and as you turned around you saw . . . . .

"Give him clothes!!! I don't wanna be in the same room as a naked man!!!" You yelled as you ran into a corner and crouched down, holding your face.

"I understand. But the only clothes available are yours. But if it makes you more comfortable I can make new clothes for him in your clothes factory. " Virus asked. "Make new clothes for him." You practically yelled. Ah, I saw it, I saw it . . . . The thought and image stayed placed in your head. After like a minute, you calmed down and turned around only to see him lying on the counter!!!

You quickly turned around and then got hit by the realization. "Don't let his body be too much in oxygen, it could mold!!!" Running to his body, you quickly pushed him into the coffin and closed it, then returned to your state at the corner.

Time skip

You watched as the robot arms placed Ace in the green liquid you created, called 3.2.35, and connected his body to various hoses and threads.

"It's gonna take long for the Pixie 3 to duplicate all his cells and fix his wounds." You mumbled as you looked at the man. He was pale and didn't look very well at all. "Virus, give vitamin D to the Pixie threes and then let them give his body the nutrients it needs.

Days passed, and Ace's body started to heal and look better. You told yourself that the reason you chose not to use metallic parts was to not do a half-assed job. Which is why you decided to make him stronger. . .

Time skip again

It had been two months since the project of fixing Ace had begun. His wounds were completely fixed without any ugly stitches, and his condition looked great. The body had begun working on its own, eight days ago, but had still needed some help from the Pixie threes.

Ace

Slowly blurred light shined as he regained his sight. He felt weird as his brain began to process his surroundings, it seemed to be different kinds of inventions and mechanics that surrounded him. He slowly moved his hand before him and saw a metal glove connected to various threads.

What's going on!? Where am I?! Where's Luffy and Pops and the rest!? What is this!? In his panic attack, he began punching the glass that trapped him.

You sat in your dining hall eating lunch in sector 4 and were just enjoying yourself when . . . . . An alarm sounded through your base. Leaving everything you began running to the elevator to get to Sector 5. "Ace tank has taken damage!!! Virus, tell me how it's happening?!!" You yelled as the elevator went down a floor.

"Ace has woken up and is trying to destroy the tank to get out." Virus answered in her calm robotic voice. "WHAT, I THOUGHT HE WOULD WAKE UP AROUND NEXT WEEK!!!!!" You screamed as you ran into the lab.

You slowed down as you neared Ace. Holding up your hands, you tried to show you meant no harm.

Ace looked at you and calmed down just a little. "Virus, empty the tank and transport the Pixie threes to another one in sector 3." You said. Immediately, the 3.2.35, started to flow away together with the Pixie 3 at the bottom of the tank.

Realizing the green liquid started to disappear, Ace calmed down more. But what is going on? A pipe-like thing connected to the top and opened the tank, leaving Ace standing.

"I'm going to remove your air mask, alright." You said as you stepped closer, putting your hands on the mask and pulling off the metal gloves.

"Where, where am I?" Pressed Ace out. His voice was weak, it's like he hadn't used it for years or something. Backing away a little, you fiddled with your fingers. "Well, you're in my lab, and I'm N/n." You answered, then you went up to him again, grabbed him, and began to examine his body.

Ace was just about to ask what you were doing when you hugged him. "I AM AT THE TOP. THE BEST. IT'S ME N/n!!!" You cheered as you began jumping around. You smiled and looked Ace over again.

Mumbling a little, you asked, "Do you remember anything?" Ace's face wrinkled a little, but then his eyes widened, and a heavy feeling came to him like a cannonball he hadn't dodged. "Why am I alive?" He asked as he held up his hands, staring at them.

"Yes! You remember, if you didn't, I would have failed. What luck, right!" You cheered. Ace looked at you, then his hands, and then at you again. "What. . did you do to me?" He tried screaming, but his voice cracked. He launched to attack, but two robot arms took hold of him.

Yelping, you jumped back and watched as Virus added four more arms to hold him. He didn't look mad more desperate. "Eh, he, he, he." You began as you stood up again, brushing off your clothes. "Sorry, if it's not what you wanted, but it's not like I could ask you about your opinion." You commented, still smiling. I wouldn't have asked though.

"If you calm down, we can go eat. You must be starving for some taste." You said trying your best to sound reassuring. "Oh, Virus get Ace some tablets for his voice." After a while, Ace began to listen to his belly and calmed down. "I calmed down now." He mumbled, feeling the metallic hands leave his body. He was just gonna follow you when another robot hand came down before him, tensing up he was just getting ready for self-protection when the fist opened showing tablets. "Oh, thanks." He mumbled taking it and then swallowing them.

He felt how they melted a bit and it was like he got poisoned as his throat began burning. Then it stopped, just like that. "Uh, hi." He said seeing as the pills worked. He kept on following you and walked into the glass thing you stood in. Then the elevator rose to sector 4. "Do you have, any other clothes?" He asked looking down on the ones he was wearing. "Right, Virus, get Ace his old clothes and a shirt." You ordered.

The elevator stopped and Ace followed you into a dining hall with two chairs one having an ugly sack with a drawn smile on it. "Ehhhhhhh, you can just move him." You said putting a hand on your neck feeling embarrassed. Ace picked it up and threw it away to the wall. "Are we in a castle?" He asked as he looked at the beautiful decorations a crystal lamps hanging from the ceiling.

"Nope, I just wanted my dining hall this way." You said as you began to poke your food with the fork. "A robot came in holding food for Ace and placed it down before him. He felt his stomach rumbling and began eating the food like a pig. "So do you know who I am?" You asked taking a bite of your food. Ace looked at you while munching on meat. "Were you perhaps in impel down?" He answered with another question. "yeah, we could see each other from our cells."

"Could you, explain." He asks looking at you in the eyes. You began telling him how you had watched the war through a screen and how you wanted to try to bring someone back to life with help from the new virus-like creatures you discovered. And how they had duplicated his cells to fix his body.

"It sounds logical until the fact I'm alive comes. You can't just fix a body and then it wakes up again. It's impossible." Ace's comment, looking at you. "I was measuring energy attacks at the war with a thing called 0.6.78, whenever someone dies a small energy wave is released. Due to past experiences, I was already aware it was the person's soul leaving because of dying." You said feeling way more comfortable than before. "And during the war, I decided that to piss off Akainu the most, you be the best to revive back. So I tracked your soul and managed to capture it in a box-like thing called 0.7.41." You explained, being slightly annoyed he fell asleep two times during your explanation.

Ace wasn't thrilled with the explanation of him being alive. He held up his finger and tried using his fire. Because I died I don't have any devil fruit powers. And how does Luffy feel, I died in his arms. A robot walked in holding a pair of clothes. "Sir Ace, here's your clothes." Ace stood up and took his shorts, belt, hat, and ?" Do I need to wear a shirt?" Ace asked looking at the good-looking shirt. "Yes, I don't need a shirtless man to walk around here!" You answered fast, in a panic. "Right," Ace said frowning.

"N/n I have a question?" Virus said. "Yes, go on?" You said giving her permission. "Why are you uncomfortable having Sir Ace going around shirtless when you seen him naked?" Blushing you fell off your chair. And then rose and ran to a corner out of habit, hiding your face. "THAT WAS YOUR FAULT VIRUS!!!" You yelled in embarrassment. "I still don't see the problem, I have tried to find the answer on my own but, failed so could you explain?" Asked Virus.

"It's just a stupid nature thing humans have when it comes to this stuff." You mumbled, knowing Virus could hear and hopefully not Ace. "Do you mean you want a kid with him?" Asked Virus, that's when you froze in shock and fell from your crouched position in the corner. "Virus! I tell you later." You mumbled while crying with embarrassment.

"Is the idea of having a kid with me that bad?" Ace thought out loud, thinking of the blood in his veins. "You're considering it!!!" You yelled standing up and looking at him with a red face. Ace had been blushing due to you seeing him naked but now he realized what he said. His face turned beat red and you two looked at each other. "I put on the shirt. Mumbles Ace as he opens and then closes the door, walking in to change.

"Can you tell me know?" Asked Virus. "NO!!! another time." You said as you fell in the corner again.

Ace put on his clothes and felt like his old self, kinda at least. Then he put on the shirt. "Still me, just with a shirt." He mumbled. As he opened the door he found himself alone in the dining hall with the Virus robot. Oh, good. I don't know how I would have acted after that. Ace thought. "Sir Ace, I will show you to your room. N/n said they wouldn't be able to see you." The Virus thing said. "Yeah, that's understandable, and stop calling me Sir Ace. It's weird." Answered Ace "Sure thing Mr. Ace, now please follow me." responded Virus beginning to walk. Ace frowned at the Mr thing.

Virus took Ace to a room that you had designed for him. "Wow . . . . ." Was all Ace could say as he looked around. He lay down on the bed and began to think of his situation. "What am I supposed to do?" Asked Ace as he looked at his hands again. Is this fate? Do I deserve to live so much that god gave me another chance? Or is it simply by luck, or maybe I'm unlucky? Wait, this means the war was for nothing. . . . . What should I do know? Ace decided to spend the rest of the time thinking. After an hour of thinking, he stood up and walked to the mirror, taking off his shirt.

There were no signs of any injury, not even old ones. He looked around his body, wanting to find something that was just wrong, to prove to himself you were just a crazy scientist who managed to save him. Who sees him as nothing more than an experiment. When he saw his back, his eyes widened. Parts of his tattoo were gone his pride. A memory of Akainu flashed, and Ace began to mutter about the hateable admiral.

"Excuse me, Mr. Ace, but may I ask a question?" Virus asked. Ace flinched and looked around for any robots, but couldn't find any. "Where are you?" Ace asked still tense, he glared around and tried to see her but, failed. "I'm an AI, N/n has programmed me into every technical thing in their base. I'm in other words able to speak to you wherever and whenever." Virus answered. "Okay . . . . . What do you want?" Ace asked as he looked back in the mirror, not liking how almost everything from his whitebeard tattoo was gone. "Where you muttering about admiral Akainu?" Ace's expression changed. "What if I did?" He asked, going to one of the drawers in the room.

"N/n does not like him. Is it the same with you?" Virus asked. "Oh, well, he is the one who killed me," Ace answered. "If we went on with that logic, wouldn't that mean you're in love with N/n?" Virus commented on his logic. Ace started to blush and shoved his hands in his pockets. How do I answer that without making my point wrong?

"Maybe you should talk shit about Akainu with N/n.  It could be a great way to bond with them." Virus suggested. "Why, should I bond with them, like don't they see me as just another science project?" Ace asked while going through the drawers, finding a little fidget toy. "I can assure you N/n does not see you as just a science project. They are well aware you are another human being unlike me. I understand why you would assume that considering how bad they are at expressing themselves, but that is most likely because of how often they see other humans." Virus explained. "How often is N/n speaking with other people?" Ace asked as he slumped down in the bed holding the fidget toy."

"I hope N/n talked to someone while being in impel down, but if not I believe N/n hasn't spoken with anyone for seven years." Virus answered. If Ace had drunk something he would have spitted it out in less than milliseconds. "What?" Ace looked up to where Virus's voice came from. "Seven years . . . . ." Ace thought back to impel down. Had he seen you talking to someone? Thinking back he remembered you trying to talk to your prison mate, but he just said, 'Shut it or I kill you.'  

"I guess I can go and speak to them. Can you show me the way?" Ace asked. "Of course." Answered Virus and after a lot of directions Ace was taken to a garden. It was beautiful, decorated with all kinds of flowers and nature. As he followed the stone-patterned road he found you. You sat at a glass table building a puzzle. Your expression was boring.

"Uh, hi?" He called out to you. Looking up you saw Ace standing there. "Hey, do you need something?" You asked looking back at the puzzle. Picking up a piece. "Well, I was just bored and thought maybe I should talk to you. "Alright, I guess I need to tell you some stuff anyway." A robot came from the other side of the garden, carrying a chair for Ace. "Have you been communicating with Virus?" You asked as the chair was placed down for him. "Yeah, she suggested I speak to you, we have something in common." He said with a grin. "Oh yeah and what would that be?" You asked placing down the puzzle piece. "We both hate Akainu," Ace said happily taking a piece to help you. The conversation started quite slow but, got more comfortable after a while. It turned out that both of you had opinions on his battle tactics. 

"Oh, by the way, you said you had something to tell me?" Ace asked after like two hours of speaking ups and downs about the Navy. "Right . . . . . Um, when I revived you I modified your body." You said nervously. "Oh, that's cool," Ace answered still smiling well until the words you said clicked. "Wait what?" His expression changed to concern. "What, what did you do?" He asked as a feeling inside him grew heavy. "I gave you a modified cell, that I call Impo and another thing called Pixie threes. Impo should be in all of your cells, while Pixie threes just roam around your body." You mumbled fidgeting with a puzzle piece. "What does this pixie threes do?" Ace asked nervous starting to regret feeling bad about you not having any to socialize with. 

"Well, it makes it possible for you to regenerate. For example, observe." Holding up your finger you took a knife and cut it off. Ace's eyes widened as your finger grew back. It didn't take fast but it didn't do it slow either. "Wait, I can also do that?" Ace asked looking at the cut-off a finger on the table. "Yeah, but. . . ." Not being able to finish the sentence, Ace took the knife cutting his finger off.  He felt panic grow in him as his brain progressed you had tried to say something.

He watched as his finger grew back, it took like a second. "Wow, what was it you were going to say?" He asked confused since his finger came back. 

"I was just gonna say it should be better than mine." You answered his question. "Okay I guess this is cool and useful, oh, wait is it because of this you got known for being impossible to execute?" Ace asked as he kept staring at his newly grown finger. "Yup, it's thanks to virus-like creatures called Pixie threes. They duplicate cells. I have modified them to know the structure of their respective body, so in other words as long as you have at least one pixie 3 you be able to survive." You explained hoping Ace understood. "Alright, what about the Impo bacteria?" Ace asked. 

"The Impo bacteria store energy. I don't have it modified in my body so---- let's go to my training hall and see if it works like I hope." You said smiling. Grabbing Ace's hand you began to run with him out of the garden. As much as Ace did not like the fact you had played with his body, he disliked even more, the fact that your hand felt kinda nice in his. 

Going up with the elevator Ace stood there hiding his blush with his other hand covering the tint blush that grew the more he let his mind roll. You started talking about what he should be able to do in theory, but he didn't listen he was too distracted by you and his hand still holding. Oh, common, don't get a crush on someone who's so . . . . pretty. No weird! Shut up mind! They have invaded my privacy and, and, and done weird stuff with my body. There's no reason to forgive them. Even though I want to live now . . . . Ugh, think about your cursed blood! They don't want you as a partner!!! No one wants you like that!     

Ace felt that lump in his stomach, that had grown over the years. 'No one wants you like that.' Even though Ace had an amazing family and friends, he always had it hard when it came to the thought of a partner. Sure, many had wanted to date him. But they had no idea who his father was. 

"Oi! Are you even listening!!" You asked, you had dragged him to the training hall, that were more designed as an arena. Shaking his head he looked at you. "No, what did you say?" After muttering a little you began to explain, again, that he should be able to absorb energy and use it for himself in different kinds of ways, and how the Impo should be able to also change the type of energy. 

Time skip

Ace had spent some weeks with you. He had trained to use his new abilities. And got information about the Marineford war, after he died. He wanted to become stronger so that he could beat Blackbeard and avenge his father and fallen brothers. He had asked why you didn't revive Pops, and you simply explained he was old and planned on dying there and go out like the boss he was. You also explained that he went out like a man too soon, and should be grateful for his second chance. 

Ace had a problem though, a huge one. The problem is called N/n. Well, it was most likely the AI Virus fault. So what, was his problem? Well, it was extremely hard to see you as just another friend. In the beginning, also his first meal with you, Virus had asked a question that had led to an embarrassing moment. But that moment had made it hard for Ace to see you as a friend and not a lover. And the more time I spend with them I fall harder, dammit N/n! Maybe I should . . . .  maybe I shouldn't  . . . . I'm gonna do it!

Ace walked into sector 4 that was specially made to look like just another home. "Morning N/n." He said as he walked into the kitchen. You stood at the stove making some kind of breakfast. "Morning Ace." You answered smiling. Something that amused Ace was how much you had. Like your HQ had, just in sector 4 an inside garden, a castle section, a normal house (aka where you two were now.), and of course all the places you built to just have fun like a pool and a dance club. You had said it was for your free time and that Virus was technically the one who built it while you just designed it. 

Then, of course, sector 1 was more like a parking place for all the awesome traveling stuff you had built, different kinds of ships, submarines, and stuff you called cars and planes! Then sector 2 was a construction place, where you could easily produce clothes, machines, robots, and stuff for fun and probably had like endless possibilities. Sector 3 had fields powered by solar lamps and all the vegetables, berries, and fruits that tasted amazing. Sector 3 also had a farm with all kinds of animals for meat, but surprisingly a lot were endangered species you protected. Then there were of course the arena he had trained on. You built it for testing soldier robots and different kinds of weapons. 

When he had asked if you planned on taking over the world you said you just felt like trying to build it seeing how far you could go. Sector 5 had your incredible lab, the same place he had first woken up in. Though he wasn't allowed to be there. 

"Um, Ace you there?" You asked, finding it a little creepy how he got trapped in a thought while staring at you. Ace shook his head and then noticed all the food you placed on the table for him. One second later Ace was digging in the food, as if Luffy was there. And after a minute he fell in the food sleeping. 

Giggling, you went up to his sleeping form. "Virus, never tell Ace about this."  You said in a strict tone. Then you reached out and started to pet his soft hair. Then you couldn't help but go near him with your nose sniffing on him a little. He smelled so good like some sweet fruit or berry. Ace jerked up and found it a little creepy how close you had been the past times he'd woken up after falling asleep like this.

Ace was training, thinking about new attacks, you looked now and then, but for the most part, you drew on your tablet creating one of your new ideas. It's now or never Ace! Maybe I should do it tomorrow. No! You said that yesterday too! "Uh, N/n?" He called out, wandering up to you. "Yeah?" You looked at him and he got nervous. "So, um, uh, well I, eh, Maybe we could, like maybe I could, uh-um, what if we could go to this place, together?" Ace stuttered out. Stop sounding so stupid!!!

"Where do you wanna go?" You asked confused. "No, I wanna take you- to a place." He answered quickly though he still wanted to slap himself in the face. You just looked at him in confusion. "Ugh, Virus help me explain." Ace grumbled, covering his face with his hands, hiding his beat-red face. "N/n I believe what Ace is trying to say is that he wants to go back to his brothers and leave you." Virus explained. "Yeah . . ." said Ace, then his eyes widened, realizing Virus did not explain it right, at all!!! 

"Oh . . . I understand. . . !" "NO! I'm trying to ask you out not leave you!!!" Ace yelled interrupting you. "Like a, a, a date?" You asked feeling how your whole body got warm of happiness. "Maybe-" Ace answered dragging out the e. "Oh, sure." You answered blushing lightly. "Wait, really?" Ace asked. "Yeah, let me just go to my wardrobe and change into something more fitting. What's fitting? And I also wanna shower." You smiled. "I also shower and change and then we meet in sector 1 and then we go," Ace answered. 

You and Ace hurried to sector 4. Showering and changing into casual clothes. (You decide) Ace and you meet in sector 1. Damn was he handsome, he was wearing some clothes you designed for him and he looked stunning. You two entered your main submarine. 

Time skip

The submarine rose above water and you and Ace walked out. Ace held a huge basket and in his other was your hand. The submarine dived down into the sea again, you had told Virus to wait for you and Ace undersea. After minutes of walking you and Ace came to a cliff with a beautiful view. But what made the island even more unique was the cherry blossom trees growing all around. Ace lifted out a picnic blanket and fixed it, letting you sit on the blanket while he shoveled out a lot of food. 

"Did, did you make this?" You asked fidgeting a bit on your clothes, blushing. So far have you or Virus done all the food? "Yes, and before you get scared, Virus helped me," Ace said quickly. "Why, are you normally bad at cooking?" You asked giggling. "Yes, well I can grill meat." He answered. 

The food tasted delicious, you and Ace spoke and had fun for hours. And deep into the night . . . . You and Ace stood at the cliff looking at the stars, his arm around your waist and yours around his. "Ace please call me Y/n." You said after a while of comfortable silence. "Why?" He asked confused. "It's my real name." You said softly hugging Ace with both arms. "Y/n is the most beautiful name I ever heard," Ace said returning the hug. He took your hands and leaned in close to your lips. "may I kiss you?" He asked as a fluttering feeling in his stomach grew. "Only if I can kiss you back." You answered. 

Smirking Ace connected his lips with yours. It felt passionate and wonderful. He pressed his body closer to yours and hugged you tightly. Your lips separated for air and then went right at it. When you disconnected again for air he asked. "Will you be mine, and will you let me be yours?"

"Yes." 

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The end.

This is around 6300 words.   

Please comment and give me one of those small hearts if you liked it. They make me happy.

I'm planning on making a part two so please comment, it one helps me get to writing and two it helps me know people are intressted.

[cyborb]

there have been some asks sitting unanswered in my inbox for an embarrassingly long time so I'm just going to go through and answer a bunch of them at once haha.

Sada and Turo / Paldea

now that the dlc is out I can play around with my own version of paldea's story and the professors (that I may or may not actually talk about), but they won't be in the rainbow rocket stuff with supersymmetry. "officially" at least. maybe I'll draw something for fun, but I don't intend them to actually be in rr like the rest. they're more interesting to me within the story of paldea, especially with the ai aspects and ... other things going on there.

but to the anons who sent me these: those ideas are cool and honestly you should pursue them yourself!

Lusamine

absolutely yes. in the base universe, her "unification" with nihilego kills her pretty quickly. iota lusamine is luckier since her nihilego seems to prefer keeping her around for longer. slow-acting vs fast-acting poisons, I suppose. by the time lusamine is picked up by rr, it's been about 6 months since she became jellyfish. who knows how much time she has left but her mental (and physical) state will continue to deteriorate along the way. an unsurprising consequence of willingly jumping into the mouth of a parasite

possibly? I haven't given that much thought tbh. considering lillie and guzma's proximity to lusamine when she goes motherbeast, they'd both be lucky to make it out alive hahaha. but I could see all three of them trying to help people and pokemon in the UB-overrun world too

honestly, no clue. I don't even think she knows, and she definitely doesn't care. who needs regular pokemon when she's got ultra beasts now! if lillie is still around she might have taken in a few of them herself though.

Other AU stuff

I've actually made a post about team galactic here!

one fun fact about each of them:

maria/mars is giovanni and ariana's first child, and she ran from her home in kanto when she was 16 to become a pokemon trainer and get away from her parents. sorry silver (she hasn't contacted him in a while).

juno/jupiter makes traditional (hisuian) style pokeballs as a hobby despite the fact that they absolutely are not practical to actually use anymore. but they look nice

sterling/saturn helps run the in-universe equivalent of pokemon showdown because he's a nerd. he enjoys simulated battles more than the real thing most of the time

great news: the rainbow rocket invasion all his fault!

by that I mean the choice of the base universe for invasion wasn't entirely arbitrary; rainbow rocket didn't just Show Up and hope this universe had what they wanted. beforehand, someone from rainbow rocket (either giovanni or archer, maybe even colress) scouted things out, and approached faba for information about the general state of the world and necrozma in particular. faba essentially sells out the universe (and aether's work with necrozma) in exchange for the promise of power and whatever tantalizing rewards the rr emissary offers haha. it's possible some of this involves planting a device to let rr come back to the right universe when ready too. what faba is up to when everything is going down in rr is not something that I've thought about, but he definitely gets found out for his actions leading up to it. oops!

unfortunately probably not. the rr stuff is happening on the other side of the planet and I can't think of a situation which might result in them getting to meet up. I'm not enough of an expert on the two of them to say how such a meeting would play out either, but it would definitely be... interesting considering their own universe's version of the other person has been dead for several years.

rose would probably be the least upset about it but cyrus wins the award for most upset (he has control issues). lysandre absolutely would have the most violent response to it though

Compliments

while I'm not going to share the collection of complimentary messages I've gotten over time, I want everyone to know that I really appreciate hearing that you enjoy my ideas and art! it's encouraging and I'm glad people like my pokemon playground hahaha. and that applies to tags too! it's always great to see... I don't always get around to actually answering the stuff in my inbox (whether it's actual questions or otherwise) but rest assured I do see it!