#like its not that i ever really did those. i would do a couple battles before wiping out bc my pokemon arent competitively trained lmao

[brucebocchi]

Ranking 2024 anime, Pt. 4: #20-11

hey, this post is also available on my ko-fi, so please check it out and consider tipping/donating as i do this for free and am currently between jobs. you can find part 1 of the list here, part 2 here, and part 3 here. thanks!

You know, I'd really planned to keep my re-reviews much shorter but I'm finding it harder to do so when I get into the anime I actually liked. Maybe that's a good thing.

And away we go.

20. Solo Leveling

Portal isekai, sad loser secretly gains crazy powers and instantly becomes a stoic gigachad, menu screens everywhere, entry-level power fantasy. You’ve seen it before. Honestly, Solo Leveling is total slop. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

If you’ve watched a couple isekai, like, ever, you’re not going to find much new here. There’s some interesting enough worldbuilding outside of the dungeon stuff; I did find myself intrigued by the level consideration given to how much this preponderance of portals would influence Korean economics and politics, and even moreso that much of the story so far revolves around how those corrupting powers can lead to hunters using dungeons as their own playgrounds for personal gain at others’ expense. There also seems to be a larger malefactor behind all of the menu screens driving protagonist Sung Jinwoo’s growth and titular leveling, so there’s the hook.

Even putting aside the few interesting parts of the otherwise boilerplate story, Solo Leveling both looks and sounds pretty darn good. The soundtrack is laden with Hiroyuki Sawano’s trademark build-ups and drops, and though the character art and dungeon designs aren’t always the most eye-catching (early on it did look like A-1 Pictures was going to default to “fuck it, we’re making money anyway” mode), the action animation goes absolutely bonkers in its best moments.

The second season is already up and running, and although I can barely remember anyone’s name outside of the protagonist (maybe that’s on me, I consume very little Korean media and am not great at retaining Korean names), I’m in this for the long haul. Great turn-your-brain-off action schlock.

19. Wind Breaker

At this point you could put a sign that says “DELINQUENT WITH A HEART OF GOLD” underneath a box-and-stick trap and I’d walk right in. I am not immune to your Josukes Higashikata, your Ryujis Sakamoto, what have you. The angry and violent type who will nevertheless stick up for what’s right and remain fiercely loyal to those they care about. Wind Breaker is rife with characters who fit that archetype, but it’s not exactly a delinquent anime so much as it’s a Dudes anime. More specifically, a Dudes Rock anime.

Yes, Wind Breaker’s ensemble cast is almost entirely Dudes, and they do indeed Rock. Protagonist Haruka is a self-inflicted outcast, and his tsundere ass does not appreciate all the positive attention he’s receiving after proving himself in street combat prior to his transfer to an all-delinquents high school. Nevertheless, he wants to fight his way to the top of his new environment, and if that means sticking up for the little guy along the way, all the better. 

I love that Wind Breaker’s overarching messages of self-improvement and helping the weak without expecting a reward are basically anathema for the base power fantasies that largely come from light novels over the past decade and change, but even moreso that Haruka, loner that he is, keeps having to learn that he’s not going to get anywhere without surrounding himself with the right people and relying on their support. Battle shonen are usually pretty blatant with this stuff, but to see it spelled out so clearly in a series like this just hits right.

Wind Breaker looks terrific at just about every step, too. Every single thing I’ve seen from CloverWorks from the past few years has been a bop, which makes it that much more maddening that this is the studio that bungled the Persona 5 anime and supposedly botched The Promised Neverland in its second season. I get that not everything works out as planned sometimes but I find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop sometimes. I’m glad it’s been smooth so far, at least. Some pacing issues and a weird place to end the show, but I know for a fact I'll be there when this comes back in spring.

18. Laid-Back Camp, season 3

I am not immune to the Cute Girls Doing Cute Things genre, and when all is said and done I think Yuru Camp could very well stand alone at the top. A show this directly responsible for the uptick in camping culture and countryside tourism in Japan clearly holds some sway over pop culture, and it’s clearly deserved.

Returning to the present day after the 2022 film gave us a look at the Outdoor Club in adulthood, Yuru Camp’s third season gives us exactly what we wanted: More of the same. We largely focus on the solo expeditions of Rin, Nadeshiko, and the latter’s hometown friend Ayano as they trek to their collective meetup spot, and as the seasons change we get the entire gang together for some springtime hanami. It’s cute, it’s funny, it’s whimsical, it’s Yuru Camp. You know what you’re getting into at this point.

With studio Eightbit taking over the series in its third season, Yuru Camp still largely looks the same, and wonderfully so, but it can be a bit off at times: CGI vehicles look far more distractingly out-of-place, and for as gorgeous as the background art was in the first two seasons and movie, it can come across as a bit more uncanny this time out. I don’t know whether some of the shots of sakura branches were traced or run through some kind of AI post-processing from archival photos, and I hate to speculate on that, but given that this is the same studio that bafflingly under-animates the money printer that is Blue Lock, I can’t exactly put it past them.

Production quibbles aside, I can’t really complain about more Yuru Camp. It’s a bit lighter on plot than previous seasons, but this is a series that was light on plot to begin with. We get to spend time with these goofs, learn about camping and the Japanese countryside, and then maybe go touch grass ourselves. That’s a good message for a Cute Girls Doing Cute Things series to have: Go do your own cute things.

17. NieR: Automata Ver. 1.1a, part 2

The second half of this adaptation was going to be the metric by which fans of the 2017 action-RPG judged the whole work. The first half in 2023, covering the game’s A and B routes, was a solid if troubled production that did a good job of covering the narrative and action, even implementing surprising easter eggs from NieR Replicant along the way. Sloppy CGI integration in early episodes and a COVID-induced delay hampered things, though, so there were some nerves about the show’s return.

Any fears were quickly allayed once the second half of the series began, covering the real meat of the story in routes C-E. Ver. 1.1a immediately looked exceptional, with expressive character animation and fluid action sequences. Real pathos was instilled into the route’s early tragedies. Most welcome of all was the serious work put into expanding A2’s character and role in the story (as well as her backside). It felt like she’d gotten the short end of the stick narratively in the game, so it felt right to spend more time with her, tie her story in the present back to the past that was hinted at in the Resistance flashbacks, and just get to see her be a tsundere a couple times. I’m gonna have to go back and rewatch the whole series dubbed because I just know Cherami Leigh crushed it.

I’m of two minds about Ver. 1.1a as a whole: On one hand, this is just about as good an adaptation of the game as we probably could have gotten. On the other, a big part of what makes the NieR games’ narratives work so well comes from the fact that they could pretty much only be told through the framework of a video game. While Ver. 1.1a does a perfectly fine job of delivering the game’s narrative and providing its own take on the game’s extremely video-game-y ending, much of what makes NieR’s tragedies so impactful is the player’s agency (and occasional lack thereof) in these matters. 

Nothing can replace actually playing NieR: Automata as a means of experiencing its story, but Ver. 1.1a is a darn good companion piece, and one that may even hint at the future of the Drakengard/NieR franchise. Now if only Yoko Taro would focus on something other than gacha games and death game anime for two seconds…

16. Train to the End of the World

The writer/director duo behind Squid Girl came back to give us one of the best and most bizarre original anime this year. Train to the End of the World is overtly and unapologetically weird, and that’s the way I like ‘em.

This weird and wonderful trek across a warped and wildly varied landscape dazzles the eyes and rots the brain in unexpected ways, but it’s a stellar character comedy through and through. Shuumatsu Train’s oddball protagonists are goofy, galaxy-brained, and sometimes flat-out mean in ways that only teenage girls can be. The dialogue is expertly written and some of the punchiest I’ve ever seen in anime. The girls bicker, mess with strangers, and engage in the kinds of inane conversations you only have when you’re the most bored you’ve ever been in your life.

While rarely laugh-out-loud funny, Train to the End of the World is intrinsically hilarious. The sheer absurdity on display is the kind that leaves you just shaking your head in disbelief. One episode they’re playing House of the Dead to get out of a real-life zombie situation, and in another they’re acting out their favorite fictional anime that you, the viewer, are just expected to know about already. It’s a stupid show in the smartest ways; a classical Homerian epic with ruminations on the future, but also one where the girls threaten to wipe out a Lilliputian colony by peeing on it. It’s both eschatological and scatological. With the recent discourse over modern adaptations and interpretations of The Odyssey, this anime might as well be the nuclear option.

Train to the End of the World was a standout in a strong spring season, but it didn’t shake out super high in a long and darn good year of anime. That’s fine and all, but I really hope it ends up attaining the cult hit status it seemed destined for. 

15. Mayonaka Punch

This one had been distant on my radar for a couple of weeks after it premiered, but as soon as I found out it was a P.A. Works original, I picked it up immediately. Any original series by the studio that gave us Akiba Maid War’s glorious gut-wrenching insanity (as well as last year’s exceptional Skip and Loafer adaptation) is going to get my attention, and although Mayonaka Punch doesn’t quite reach the same highs as Akiba Maid War, it does try to match the latter’s most madcap moments.

I don’t have a better pitch than “Canceled YouTuber starts up a new channel with a house full of lesbian vampires,” nor do I really need one. Mayonaka Punch’s comedy largely revolves around the personality clash between the disaffected, avoidant Masaki and the pushy, hyperactive Live (who definitely wants Masaki for more than just her blood), but the whole cast is a riot. Throwing in a baby day trader, a taciturn fujoshi, and a big-titty pachinko fiend are just the right spices to make this a particularly tasty stew.

Chaos naturally ensues, and watching these women try to channel it into a successful YouTube channel is an easy recipe for comedy. Everyone has terrific chemistry and I was rapt with attention every time we got to learn more about each of these vampire girls’ history. What came as a huge surprise, though, was how potent some of the emotional hits ended up, even when it involved characters outside of the main pairing. The fact that the biggest one came in just the fourth episode was a masterstroke; I was already on board for the comedy but just like that I was fully invested in a character other than the one who wants to suck the protagonist dry. I’m not rephrasing that.

This one absolutely deserves to be a cult classic, and the door is left open just maddeningly enough at the end that I can only pray for more. Mayonaka Punch is a boatload of fun and deserves way more attention than it’s gotten. You can change that. Right now. Watch this show.

Prior to writing this, Fairouz Ai (Live’s voice actress and a huge presence in a handful of the shows I’ve already discussed) announced that she would be taking a hiatus from VA work following a PTSD diagnosis. I wish her all of the time, recovery, and support she needs.

14. Urusei Yatsura (2022), season 2

The opening salvo in the ongoing Rumiko Takahashi revival (weird thing to say about a mangaka who’s still alive and working, I know) returned this year for the second half of its “all-stars” run, marathoning us through retellings of the classic manga’s greatest hits, the oddest of its many oddballs, and its spectacular, heartfelt conclusion. More Lum is always a good thing.

I’ve written plenty about Urusei Yatsura’s remake following each cour except the first, and I don’t have much more to add at this point. It’s a classic for a reason and it laid the foundations for dozens of jokes, tropes, and standards that are fundamental to comedy in anime to this day. Even when some of the jokes may come off as trite or tropey, it’s easy to see just how and why it made Takahashi so successful. The exaggerated slice-of-life hijinks, outsized slapstick, and time-and-space surrealness are just as much of a treat as the deep, eclectic cast. And to top it all off, here’s Ataru and Lum being a couple of freaks who deserve each other.

Even though the 46-episode run certainly feels truncated compared to the 191 episodes, six films, and ten OVAs that came before it, David Production did a fine job of putting a modern touch on such a classic work and highlighting its strengths. And even though most of the run was an abridged run through the greatest hits, I’m really glad the studio made sure to dedicate the last few episodes to the manga’s final arc, bringing Lum and Ataru together in a beautiful and (briefly) satisfying climax.

And even for as satisfying as that ending was, it was nearly overshadowed by…

13. Ranma ½ (2024)

…the revival of Takahashi’s biggest hit.

Yes, right on the heels of the ending of the remake of her landmark romcom classic, came the announcement that her even BIGGER landmark romcom classic was also getting a remake. Ranma ½ is one of the hallmarks of 90s anime writ large, working late-80s Japan’s fascination with Chinese martial arts (partially due to Dragon Ball’s success) into a romantic-comedy framework that also accidentally served as the genesis of the harem genre. I’d somehow never actually engaged with Ranma prior to the remake, so I was happy to get in on a new ground floor and I was immediately sold.

As the youngest daughter of the Tendo Dojo, Akane Tendo is put in a predicament when her father betrothes her (at her sisters’ urging) to his friend’s son, Ranma Saotome. Though both are skilled fighters and a good match in that regard, Akane is a bit of a hothead and doesn’t much care for boys, so she’s not a fan of this arrangement, but it’s made all the more bizarre by the fact that Ranma is also a girl sometimes. Thanks to a bizarre accident in China, Ranma turns into a girl when soaked with cold water and back into a boy when hit with hot water. Shenanigans ensue as Ranma and Akane’s contentious relationship hits innumerable peaks and valleys, all the while fighting off an ever-growing menagerie of powerful, fight-happy suitors gunning for the hands and lips of Akane and both versions of Ranma.

MAPPA of all studios being the one to re-adapt Ranma came as a surprise, and you probably could’ve convinced me David Production took over this Takahashi adaptation as well. Ranma’s remake adopts several of the same visual flairs you’d see in Urusei Yatsura, including the Ben Day dots, color inversions, and manga-style onscreen onomatopoeias. On the other hand, while most of the moment-to-moment character animation is pretty much what you’d expect from any given anime, several of the action sequences are very well-animated to MAPPA’s typically high standard. I just hope the animators weren’t getting the Chainsaw Man or Jujutsu Kaisen treatment.

Ranma ½ is as hilarious as ever, but it can get a little wonky thematically when it comes to gender politics, boundaries, and expectations, as I’d been made aware before ever engaging with the work. I also knew from the Urusei Yatsura remake that this was basically Takahashi’s wheelhouse, as there are a couple of pretty genderbendy characters in there as well. Several of the male antagonists in Ranma are more than a little pushy when it comes to women who catch their eye, and a lot of the humor around Ranma’s gender swaps revolves around how their male socialization affects the lack of modesty with which they present their female form (more on that later). People who are much better versed in gender matters than myself, both academically and personally, can speak on the positives and negatives of these things much better than I can, and it’s too early in the series for me to really make a judgment call. I do think it’s odd, though, that even with the central romance, Akane doesn’t seem to remotely entertain the thought of getting involved with Ranma’s female side, and unfortunately I don’t really see that ever happening. So far, all of these things just come across as flat-out silly and more of a product of its time than anything nefarious. 

The original Ranma ½ adaptation remains a seminal work for a solid generation and a half of anime fans, so of course a remake was going to be met with some criticism. Some didn’t appreciate the more muted color palette compared to the late 80s/early 90s Studio Deen version, and while it’s certainly missing some of the flair of the hand-painted backgrounds and saturated lighting effects the medium has missed since that era, I personally like the softer hues; I find them a lot more reminiscent of Rumiko Takahashi’s own colorations for her art outside of the manga. It’s not as technicolor as the Urusei Yatsura remake, but I think that actually helps set the new Ranma apart rather than riding the former’s coattails.

The main difference people seem to be complaining about, however, has more to do with boobs. Takahashi has never been shy about including nudity in her manga, and in an era where uncensored bazongas were perfectly fine to publish in boys’ manga magazines, she was typically more matter-of-fact about the female form instead of pursuing titillation. As such, a story like Ranma’s, in which its title character is typically blase about presenting their female incarnation modestly, had a lot to work with on that front, and the original anime played along.

Not so with the MAPPA version. Nipples are conspicuously missing in scenes that legitimately do call for nudity, and an ass crack appears to be missing from an early scene as well. Personally, I don’t mind the Barbie doll treatment, and as I’d been reading the manga as the anime’s story progressed, I didn't find all that much missing in the transition from page to screen. Weebs tend to convince themselves they’re the most oppressed people on earth, so of course there were cries of censorship, which is a claim I don’t really care to entertain. These are different times, broadcast regulations in Japan are almost certainly different from what they were 35 years ago, and Netflix and/or MAPPA likely didn’t see the need for it. Could be any of those things. I’m not losing sleep over it.

And with that, I’m done talking about Rumiko Takahashi (for now). I’m grateful for everything related to her work, even tangentially, that came out this year, and my life is richer for it. I’m glad to have gotten into her work in earnest this year, and I can say with all conviction (hot take incoming) that she’s one of the greatest mangaka ever. I look forward to diving further into even more of her work.

12. The Elusive Samurai

I’d have been perfectly happy if Wind Breaker had been CloverWorks’ only beautifully-animated oddball shonen hit this year, and then they went and outdid themselves the very next season with this one.

The Elusive Samurai is a gorgeous, timeless-looking piece of historical fiction beginning at the very end of the Kamakura period, following the last survivor of the Hojo clan, the young Tokiyuki, as he’s urged by an eccentric priest to lead a pack of freedom fighters and take revenge. Despite coming from a prominent family within the shogunate, Tokiyuki was an impertinent kid and preferred to play hide-and-seek instead of attending any combat training. The priest, Yorishige, receives a vision of the future that predicts that Tokiyuki will fell his family’s usurper not by becoming a powerful warrior, but by doing what he’s already best at: Being a squirrelly little shit.

I just gushed about how good this show looks three months ago, and even now I’m thinking back fondly on how well it blends whimsy with brutality. You can have Yorishige and the kids goofing off and cracking jokes one minute and vibrant crimson beheadings the next. Even little Tokiyuki makes a joyful game out of slicing a bandit’s veins to ribbons later in the season. It feels like a callback to anime films and OVAs of the 80s, with the film grain effect to match. Almost every single thing about this show looks and sounds incredible.

Of course, there’s the CGI. I really don’t like complaining about that sort of thing, but it was such a blatant and unnecessary cost-cutting move that it almost cheapens the rest of the show. Look, I get that horses can be a pain to hand-animate after a while, but having characters’s CGI models speaking while riding on horseback is just enough to take me out of the show, especially when they already look as bizarre as, say, Sadamune. How that passed muster with the rest of the show’s standard is beyond me.

So, maybe I did dock it a spot or two for that, but I see that as a wrinkle that can be ironed out. The Elusive Samurai is absurdly promising, and its debut season is a tremendous statement. Can’t wait for more.

11. Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!

As I made clear last year by putting 100 Girlfriends’ debut season in my top ten for 2023, for as much as I love a good straight-up romance story, I have ample room in my heart for trashy dipshit romcoms as well. Makeine shares that affection and forges its own identity from it, establishing its own throne atop a hill of garbage.

This is not a “yeah it’s good if you can look past the tropes” show. Makeine is firmly on its bullshit, and it is firmly about its bullshit. It’s not nearly as off-the-wall as 100 Girlfriends, few shows are, but it’s well aware of your expectations and leaves you guessing whether you’ll have them expertly subverted or just thrown right back in your face. Even the protagonist, the light novel fanatic Nukumizu, is calling out the tropes as they happen, but it’s been a fun time watching him learn that he’s more than just a wet-blanket LN protagonist. He thinks he’s just along for the ride like any other blank-faced self-insert in these stories, as gets roped into the personal lives of these poor girls and learns that, yes, they are real people and that, yes, he is too.

I could go on and on about Too Many Losing Heroines’ idiosyncrasies and offbeat characters and punchy dialogue, but I did that plenty just a few months ago. Instead, I want to call attention once more to just how freakishly well-made this show is. A-1 Pictures had zero reason to go this hard on a goofy, trashy light novel romcom adaptation, and yet here they were, throwing their A-team at the whole project. Character animations are intricate, background art is sumptuous, lighting effects immaculate, and music on point at all times. The OP is an earworm (and one of a surprising number of ska intros and outros I’ve taken in this year), and having each of the main titular heroines perform her own story-appropriate ED was a masterstroke. Even the visual gags are perfect and allowed to land on their own.

I already cannot wait for more of this. If A-1 has given us all we’re going to get of the Kaguya-sama anime, then I’m as all-in on Makeine as they are. Not the best romcom out there, but easily one of the best-made out there.

[claitea]

still thinking about anthea and lacey btw. getting first-hand coaching from one of blueberry academy's finest, probably getting in touch with the rest of the bb crew through lacey. in addition her brother is a champion-tier trainer, who in turn is friends with More champion-tier trainers who could also help her train

i'm imagining her starting a journey at some point and absolutely DEMOLISHING anything in her way. just blitzing through the entire gym challenge bc the early gym leaders didnt account for the fact she's maybe gotten Overprepared. she should take the champion title she deserves it i think

[mondaymelon]

OMGGG what about the tall genshin men reacting when u suddenly distance urself from them, but they dont know its bc of something they said? feel free to edit n modify this as much as ud like :3

₊˚ෆ "𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓, 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄…" | diluc, childe, kaveh x gn!reader

art by @/kongqingkoqi on twitter! (not too sure on who you meant by tall characters, so i just chose a couple males with the tall model~ thank you for your request!)

— cw: angst + comfort ? injury (diluc), ngl reader is kinda a bitch in childe's but it was the only way i thought up of of making the situation work so. lmao. cries

[ Perhaps it was the winter cold that had bit him so, or perhaps it was merely a gloom that had briefly descended upon him. Either way, an unfortunate slip of the tongue has wounded you, yet they themselves remain unaware. ]

"Love?"

DILUC's eyes are round with worry, and his concerned gaze sweeps over you - from your crestfallen form, and then to your eyes that shy away from his. Ever since he had returned to the estate after being out of business since morning, you've been avoiding him, not wishing to speak a single word to his self and not even bothering to spare him a fleeting glance.

At first, it was bearable. Perhaps you just had had a long day and wanted some alone time, no? It was always a possibility, that is, until he saw your smiling self as you busied yourself in chatting away with the maids, and most importantly, that brother of his.

What had he done to warrant such treatment? You loved him, that he was sure of. Otherwise, you would've rejected him, wouldn't you? You wouldn't have let him take your hand and bring it to his lips ever so slowly, pressing a kiss into your knuckles?

"Love, I... I'm sorry. Please, tell me what I did wrong." His voice contains a shred of his desperation, and his crimson eyes only hold you in their gaze. You, who had broken past his carefully crafted walls and rekindled the flame that had long since been extinguished within his heart. "If it's something I did, if it's something I said-"

“Diluc, you…” Your quiet voice ebbs to silence as your eyes glance away, landing on everything except for the red-haired man before you, whose broad shoulders give the slightest tremor. The darkness in your expression, the displayed hurt… Ah.

Diluc’s weary mind raced, recollecting the hasty conversation from this morning, when dawn had yet to break and he had arrived home, coat blazing, skin littered in bruises and still-bleeding cuts. You had rushed out of your bedroom, still in your night garments, panicking over the wounds that covered his body and the red that blackened his already dark clothes. In a strained voice, eyes wide and frantic, you had called for the maids, only for Diluc to forcibly shush you, steadying himself on shaky legs.

“Love, what happened, what were you doing and how did-??”

“It doesn’t concern you.” His tone is low, tired. “Stay out of this, you won’t be able to offer any assistance anyhow.”

Begrudgingly, the man recalled his absolute exhaustion, having just returned after a bloody night of battling monsters, muscles sore and crying for relief. There was no need for your concern, his cuts would mend and his wounds would heal. Yet he hadn’t meant for his words to come out so harsh, for his tongue to pierce you in the way it had.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't in my right mind when I said that- I just... I just didn't want you to be hurt also... If I'm injured, those wounds will fade with time, but I.."

His words trail off, replaced with your silence - a voiceless agreement, one that Diluc takes as an answer. Holding both your hands in his gloved ones, it's somehow easy to feel his fiery warmth despite his cold demeanor. Cold... was it really so? The male's eyes shone, and then you were in his arms, tightly intertwined.

"..I don't know what I would do if harm were to befell you, love..."₊˚ෆ

"Love!"

CHILDE's playful smile fades at its corners as you walk past him, the way you're failing to even acknowledge his presence painfully apparent. "Hah... what's with you today?" Another absence of a response. You dash your way out of his sight, and he's left alone in the dark living room, a half-smile still on his features. The fuck?

Okay, maybe it was just one of those days. There had been several since the start of the relationship, and the harbinger offered his utmost understanding. Sometimes people just felt like shit, and didn't feel like doing shit, and he could understand that to some extent.

There, mystery solved, yeah? Ah, but just one problem, how come you had been completely fine just an hour before? He had the day off, and so did you, so there was a mutual agreement to just stay home and laze about in one another's presence - yet it was only nearing lunchtime and you had already given him the cold shoulder? For what..? You hadn't even gone outside or did anything today-

Oh. Then he had to have been the problem. He raps his knuckles on your bedroom door, but it's really his bedroom too, and is bold enough to poke his head through the frame without waiting for your confirmation, a hesitant grin decorating his lips. "Love, I'm sorry- for ah... whatever you disliked...?"

You're sat at your desk, weariness evident in your darkened eyes. "Childe, do you find me someone who needs to be protected?"

He blinks. "...What?"

"Childe, do you really just want to spend the entire day lying around?" Snapping your fingers, your eyes lit up with sparkles. "We should go to a cafe or something for lunch, maybe, and then-"

"Why through go all the effort? We're staying home because I thought you wanted to, aren't we?"

"Not to that extent Childe... if you were with friends, what would you be doing? Not sitting on the couch all day, I hope?" A sheepish smile crossed your face.

"Hmm.. friends... I suppose we'd duel...?"

"Then-"

"Nope, no way am I dueling with you, you're way too weak, love, that's why I gotta protect you, hm?"

He immediately shakes his head at your words, almost frantic. "W- No, I didn't mean it in that way, love. You're capable, it's just that... Well- you don't have a vision, or a weapon, or-"

"Childe." Not your usual 'love', a bright smile on your lips, and he flinches just the slightest at the sight. "We're in a relationship. I don't want to be in a give all take all relation, you know? I.. I want to be independent, I want you to rely on me sometimes too... I just feel like sometimes I'm just such a burden to you and-"

"A burden?" His eyes widen, features instantly shadowing with disbelief at your words.

You, a burden? Such a thing couldn't possibly be. The warmth that you had granted him, the delicate arms that had held him in its hold, the lips that had whispered such affections and pressed kisses on his skin-

"No, love. You are not a burden, not when you are someone who makes life worth living." ₊˚ෆ

"Love...?"

KAVEH's in instant full blown panic mode, the dark bags under his eyes especially evident with how wide they've grown. "H-Hey, are you okay?" Of course, something wasn't okay - otherwise, why would you be ignoring him like this? But his sleepless mind has grown frantic, and he's desperate for relief. His hand latches onto yours before you can disappear into another room, holding onto your wrist loosely enough to not seem forceful. "Ah..."

He'd moved without thinking, almost as if on instinct, and now that you had glanced back with something colder in your gaze, that same urge told him not to let go. "I, I'm sorry!" For what exactly, he wouldn't even be able to tell a soul, yet the words seemed to have done the trick, as your feet pause in the middle of a step away from him, hesitance clear in your expression.

"For what, Kaveh?"

Shit, he's fucked. This was it, all the all nighters and hours of laborious planning and calculations had led to this one moment... His mind was spurred into action as his mouth sputtered useless stutters and... oh, could it be?

"Kaveh, you should go to sleep, it's already so late, and you haven't gotten a good rest in days, love..." Your concerned tone rang clearly in his ears, but he shook the words away, his disheveled form only focusing on the work before him, the endless tasks he had yet to complete.

"No, I... I can't. Love, could you brew me a cup of coffee, the extra strong kind? Thank you..." He gave his sleepy eyes a rub, completely missing the look that had flitted across your face in that moment.

Your sigh invades his flashbacks, and you look completely done with him, brows furrowed a fraction and lips drawn into a thin line. "Kaveh, please, for the love of the archons, take some better care of yourself."

"...Ah?"

Suddenly, your tone had shifted in the span of a half second, and instead of the angry gaze he had expected, it was more so... scolding. Concern. "Close that jaw of yours, Kaveh, how come you look so surprised? I've told you this time and time again, you need rest!"

An accusing finger was pointed in his direction, the bearer someone he was certainly very familiar with. "Well, it's a big project, I have to finish it by next week and there's barely any time, so I need to-"

"-And how can you possibly plan on functioning if you haven't gotten any sleep?"

Curses, a valid argument. Kaveh slowly held up his empty hands in defeat, chuckling sheepishly. So this was about him, and not you? Thank the archons, for a second he had thought he had messed up big time-

"That look of yours, you better not be thinking what I think you're thinking! And, besides..." You glanced at the ground, as if suddenly reluctant to speak another word. "I was waiting for you so we could sleep together..."

...An angel? Was that who was before him?

"I-I'm sorry... I promise I'll take better care of myself and... you won't have to wait for me, tonight. I'll turn in early, love." ₊˚ෆ

(a/n) not all that proud of this one. but here. sigh

reblogs are veryyyy appreciated!! if you liked this fic, please consider following, as im super close to a follower goal id love to hit before new years! thank you.

໒꒱ || ᴛᴀɢʟɪꜱᴛ (open! send an ask or a comment ♡) : @manager-of-the-pudding-bank, @iamdedinside, @ilyuu, @achlysis, @swivy123, @scara-is-my-wife, @lupicalbestwolf, @justyoureader, @fiannee, @aether-darling 

[madkiska]

watching the entirety of jrwi: riptide again. here's some important things from the first few episodes that I feel we forgot (<110 mentions too though)

Jay

Had night terrors similar to those of Kubakinta's curse in episode 5, and they eventually start returning even after Loffinlot's curse is lifted ○ All of them were about her family and/or the navy ○ I simply think people leave her out of the nightmare stuff and she deserves it. Hurt her more, please (he said, lovingly)

was actually very upset at having to use her medal to get a Loffinlot rebellion to shut up ○ This could be because she didn't want them to guess she was a spy, but I choose to believe it's because she felt guilty

"If you're gonna be sailing with someone, you should have a good relationship with them. [nervous chuckle]." She says, while asking him for information about the Black Rose Pirates (ep. 10)

Said "thank god they didn't find me" after a nightmare about the navy attacking. Even when she was supposedly a spy, who one day would have to return to the navy ○ Very unclear if she was scared of her dad, or if it's because she was a secret spy so the navy would've just killed her

Rewatching, she was suspiciously into the plundering and gold and stuff. Like that was real sus. It doesn't fit her current character much

The only one among them who's gambled before

Chip

The entire thing literally starts off with Bizly holding a lit match

Called Gillion "Gill" and Jay "Sureshot" from an early stage

Was SO much more of a bastard. Lied to Gill constantly, didn't care about anything but the money, etc.

Had aggressive hand tremors alongside Jay's night terrors ○ Gill cures it with lay on hands

When he gets drunk married, they talk extensively about how he'd be released when he's dead. Welp.

They did actually break up and it was fine and they were still friends. They parted on good terms

Is really fucking good at chess ○ Beat Earl twice and Jay once. Jay had a point of exhaustion after a nightmare but Earl had no excuse ○ Lost to Gillion though, but only cause of prophetic screwup ○ This kid is smarter than he lets on, y'all

Was the first one to have a backstory dump while Jay is asking him about the Black Rose Pirates, yet still we know jack shit about his life before them other than "orphan"

Gill

Charlie has referred to Gillion with 'they' many times. I can pull receipts.

When describing Gill, Charlie said: "He's more.. elven, if you had to make a comparison. 'Cause I don't wanna be a fish guy". Oh, honey.

Smote a bald person by using his hair as a whip (ep. 4)

Was given anxiety and self-doubt alongside jay's night terrors and chip's tremors ○ "What do you want?" "I want the feeling of satisfaction I've been chasing my whole life." ○ This was episode FIVE.

First mention of the prophecy and how Gillion wasn't their ideal student is ep. 7, after he divine smites + prophetic screwups and deals like 60 damage to some beetles ○ Chip spends the next 30 seconds in gay awe

He refers to the crescent moon Niklaus tattoo as "my zodiac" (probably a bit) ○ It's not a lil basic white girl moon this thing is the entire size of his forearm

Gill had never heard about the Black Sea - it's unclear if the Undersea just don't know, or if that's just how sheltered he was (ep. 10)

Biz: "What would Gillion do. If he just had no goal - was just sitting there." "Gillion always has a goal." "Would his goal ever be to just.. Sit there?" "Absolutely not." ○ Later, Chip expresses that he doesn't know what Gillion likes. What he would want out of winning a bet. Gillion doesn't have an answer

Other

Apple, in a couple of early battles, acted like Gill's familiar (see: ep. 7)

They also pecked at his Niklaus tramp stamp and looked all confused at the idea of eating seeds

The specific crescent of the moon in the Niklaus tattoo is known as a symbol of "corruption" (ep. 9) and its antonym is the sun, for "life", similar to the yin and yang ○ Interesting to consider after what the tree said in 110 <_<

Pretzel has a masters degree in couple's therapy (ep. 10)

The Albatross/Millennium Chipper was described as the colour of rosewood or mahogany

Captain Lizzie's first introduction was a wanted poster, and Chip wanted to turn her in for the prize, then decided to try learn from her instead

Chip/Bizly called Old Man Earl "Erol" for a loooong time ○ Maybe it's an accent thing but I have an uncle called Erol and so this stands out to me

[novankenn]

Cinder: (Swings door open quickly ignoring the note.) My Queen! Those brats have broke into the castle we must stop!

(Pauses while looking at the scene)

Jaune: (His head on Weiss's lap as she runs her fingers though his hair) Alyx was a brat but she still was like family she didn't deserve what that cat did.

Salem: I understand life is usually cruel. Now tell me more about this Curious Cat.

Cinder: WTF?!?

Cinder stalked through the halls and corridors of EverNight Castle. Her twin obsidian blades ready to strike down the intruders... if she could find them. Normally she would have zeroed in on the sounds of conflict and combat, but there was none. The grimm she passed, when she did come across them were just wandering about aimlessly, that was if they weren't sitting or laying down.

So without the sounds of a fierce pitched battle to guide her, Cinder was forced to actually search for the interlopers... who she knew was team RWBY and their friends.

Cinder: This is RIDICULOUS! I must ask my queen for help, to locate these brats.

Cinder made a turn at the next corner and stomped her way toward the throne room. She emerged from one of the side halls into the main corridor and turned towards her destination. Five minutes later she stood there before the large double doors... in total shock.

Cinder: I...

A Beowulf, dressed in a tasteful skirt and blouse ensemble, matched with a set of sensible heels, and topped off with a pearl necklace, and a pair of wire rim glasses... stood before the doors baring her entry.

Cinder: I...

The Beowulf pointed to a sign near the door, well a set of signs in fact. It took ever ounce of her will power to draw her eyes off the figure before her, and look at the signs.

(1) If the doors are closed there is either a meeting or session in progress. Unless it is an EMERGENCY no admittance.

(2) Sessions are by appointment ONLY.

(3) This is a ZERO TOLERANCE work place. Anyone causing a disturbance, or harassing staff will be asked to leave. Failure to do so will cause the authorities to be summoned.

(4) I am the boss, but my secretary is in charge. If she says NO then it's NO. There are no exceptions.

Cinder: Secretary?

The Beowulf nodded its head and using a metal ruler tapped the desk name plate.

Cinder: Grendelsa Grimmsald, Executive Assistant to Doctor Salem Salem?

The Beowulf who Cinder now knew was named Grendelsa nodded.

Cinder: But, I...

Grendelsa: *Grunt like growl*

Cinder: I know I don't have an appointment, but this is an emergency! The castle is under attack! I must speak to Queen...

Grendelsa: *Growl like grunt*

Cinder: I mean Doctor Salem.

Grendelsa pointed to a set of rather comfy looking waiting room chairs, and Cinder knew instantly she had no choice. So she sat down, and after a few seconds wiggled her butt into the plush cushioning getting more comfortable.

Cinder dozed off, and awoke with a start at the sound of the door opening.

Salem: I understand it is quiet the commute so I will have Grendelsa arrange for some accommodations for you, as in my opinion there is a need to have a few more sessions over the next week before I feel confident that we can space them out further. Is that acceptable Ms Schnee? Mr Arc?

Weiss: More than. Thank you for your hospitality, and all your help.

Cinder shot to her feet, her eyes wide in shock. Salem, her queen. Malevolent Evil Incarnate was in a black pant suit, wearing glasses and SHAKING HANDS with the SCHNEE who was holding the hand of the blond wanna-be knight from Beacon!

Jaune: I still don't...

Salem: It's alright Mr Arc. These things take time, and we progress at the pace that you set. There is no rushing this. Your mental health is very important, and with Ms Schnee's support and my assistance we will help you find resolutions.

Weiss: Can we give it a couple more sessions Jaune? I really do think this is good for you, me and us.

Jaune: Okay. I'll try a few more times.

Salem: Excellent. Grendelsa will make all the...

Cinder: WHAT THE FUCK IT THIS!!!!

Salem: Ms Fall. Those types of outbursts are not acceptable!

Cinder: WHAT THE FUCK, SALEM? THEY'RE FROM BEACON! THEY'RE YOUR ENEMIES!

Salem: Lower your voice or you will be escorted out.

Cinder: WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?!? ARE YOU GIVING THEM THERAPY???

Salem: You were warned Ms Fall. Ms Grimmslad if you please...

/==/

Twenty minutes later Cinder found herself sitting outside of the main gate of EverNight Castle, right next to Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, and Blake Belladonna.

Ruby: You get kicked out too?

Cinder: ...

[neiptune]

hihi v ! i wanted to join your event with buche de noel + childe and prompt #3 ! also, the trope is opposites attract. i am pretty much the opposite in every aspect of him. we are literally golden retriever + black cat duo LMAO ! tysm for hosting this cute event :> 💝

childe x first christmas as a couple/family

“I’m not coming”.

Childe hums, not at all bothered by your pragmatic refusal.

“See, I knew you’d say that”, with the swift movement of lithe fingers, a letter appears in his hand and he offers a wink. “That’s why I already told them you are coming”.

Incredulous, you grab the letter from his hands and do everything in your power to ignore the double-edged sword that cheeky grin in your peripheral is. He’s not lying: the missive, signed by his older sister, conveys rather clearly how excited they are at the idea of you joining them for the holiday celebrations. A sudden dizziness worms its way into your limbs.

“What did you tell them?”, you don’t mean to sound so hostile but the urgency in your tone is hardly sufficient to express the frosty anxiety clutching your chest.

Childe’s gaze softens. Some might argue he had not been in your life as a lover long enough to catch on every inflection of your voice, to interpret every crease between the brows. Yet, he just knows. Despite a confident, often frivolous exterior and a thirst for battle that never subdues, his world never really stops revolving around those who are most dear to him. He’s always been a keen observer and he’ll be damned if he fails the test of noticing when the person he’s in love with is upset.

“Nothing”, because he wouldn’t dare share what you have layed bare in yet another display of genuine trust, “only that I would like to bring home someone who is very important to me. I’d like her to meet the people my heart is always with, my family”. He gently slips the letter from your shaky fingers and offers a smile, eyes warm with fondness.

“Oh, don’t do that”, you feel the guilt threatening to bubble up from your throat and swallow you whole, yet stubbornly push against it still.

“Do what?”.

Be so caring. Make me believe I’m worth all the fuss, every time.

“Will you die if we spend one christmas apart? Go enjoy it with your family. We don’t have to be together all the time, you know”, it’s painful, covering up traitorous fears that squeeze your heart with razor-edged remarks. You don’t want your presence, so different from his bubbly one, to be an imposition.

To your surprise, Childe bursts in vibrant laughter.

“Why, yes! I may in fact die if we are not together all the time, I already feel dangerously close to my own demise when I’m in Inazuma and you stay in Liyue!”, the infectious grin lights up his playful stare. You roll your eyes.

But then he takes your hand to gently press his lips to your knuckles, eyes never leaving yours.

“I write to them. About you, I mean. I have ever since meeting you”.

“What is there to write?”, it’s a genuine question. Your life is quite ordinary, far less exciting that the one of a Harbinger or a traveller, made of a calm routine, architecture and interior design projects you and Kaveh constantly exchange ideas over.

Childe furrows his brows.

“Everything. How you healed me when I couldn’t admit to myself that I needed someone’s help, the way you still take care of me. I write about the dishes you allow me to cook for you, the recipes I learned when we visited Sumeru. I told them all about how easy it was to fall for you”. He smiles again when he notices how flustered such simple, sincere words make you.

“Teucer really wants to see you again. He still remembers, you know? Won’t shut up about the nice lady who once found him by the harbor. Forget me but you’re really going to break a kid’s heart?”.

You deflate, sparing him a good natured glare that is met with a shameless wink. He wins, doesn’t he always?

“Fine”.

“It wouldn’t feel like home without you there”.

“Ajax, I already said yes!”, despite the mock exasperation in your voice, you’re smiling too. Because he wants you there and it doesn’t matter that it’s only your first christmas together as an official couple, it doesn’t matter that you can’t remember the last time you had someone to celebrate the holidays with. Let alone a family.

It doesn’t matter, because Childe loves you so much he’s eager for his family to love you too.

And so you hardly care that you had to pack to spend an entire week in the frozen nation of Snezhnaya, the small seaside village of Morepesok being as welcoming as an environment perpetually covered in ice can be. How can you even remember how much you hate the cold when, the minute you walk inside your lover’s childhood home, his father takes your hand in between his and greets you with so much warmth? Five minutes and you’ve been hugged by all three of Childe’s youngest siblings, Teucer being particularly keen on not letting go of your hand as his eldest sister guides you further inside the house. Ten minutes and you’re dressed in traditional Snezhnayan clothes, a necessary protection against the harsh climate outside, one not even locals like to face if they can avoid doing so. It takes several minutes to comprehend that Childe’s sister has made the clothes herself, just for you.

“So? What do you think?”, his eyes always carry a peculiar light you wish it could be bottled up to brighten dark nights, but it’s different now that he’s home. The joy in his stare is so intense your heart grows in size each time you meet that wondrous gaze.

“Well, it’s cold”, you tease, blunt. It makes him huff with impatience.

“About my family”.

“Oh, that”, you grin, “they’re really… loving”. It’s a word you don’t use lightly. You knew about familial relations carrying a special meaning in Snezhnaya, being so close is part of their culture. Yet, you weren’t prepared to feel all that warmth yourself, a stranger who was enveloped in their affectionate embrace right away. Even when Childe wasn’t there (you kindly but firmly refused to join him and his father on their ice fishing expeditions), his siblings never once left you alone or made you feel like an outsider. You spent days drinking tea, helping them cook so much borscht, you laughed when Tonia got flour on her nose while you were all in the process of preparing the dough for a good serving of pierogi.

It’s christmas eve, the only day you were shooed out of the house because guests are not allowed to help with the arrangements. It’s not like you don’t have a feeling it was just an excuse to grant you some time alone with him.

“They are. And now they love you, too”, his gloved hand playfully squeezes yours. You hum with a smile, the almost empty glass of Fire-Water making faint memories resurface. Back then, Childe didn’t know how bad you are at holding your liquor and once ended up having to patiently carry you home when you downed one too many shots, perhaps also too quickly.

As you observe the way Childe beams next to you, with his childlike glee, you’re once more reminded of how in love you are with him. While he never shies away from providing tangible proofs of his deep fondness, your house practically overflowing with letters and gifts in every size or shape, it feels like this is the most significant evidence you’ll ever get. Him wanting you where he doesn’t have to be Childe nor Tartaglia, the one place where he gets to wake up and be nothing more than a son and a brother. Here, where he drinks hot cocoa with tiny marshmallows and reads his younger siblings stories by the fireplace. Home, where there’s room for you as well from now on, a seat saved at a crowded table, the comfort of a couch illuminated by the colorful lights of a tree too big, one of the presents crammed underneath it carrying a tag with your name.

“And now I love them, too”, you whisper a little too quietly and his smile grows. “Thank you”.

“You never have to thank me. This is also your home now, my heart is yours and so is my family”.

“Ajax”, his name is coated with amusement but Childe recognizes a deep emotion behind the playful tone, one that matches his.

“Promise you’ll always spend christmas with us?”.

“I promise”.

“Pinky promise?”.

“Pinky promise”, you grin. He hums.

“You know what that means. You make a pinky promise, you keep it all your life”.

“I break that pinky promise, you throw me on the ice”.

“Damn right”, he grins, proud. When he kisses you, it feels like even the blizzard raging outside the pub would surrender to the prodigy that are his lips.

thank you for your generosity and for supporting @ficsforgaza. request a character + prompt here :)

[thankskenpenders]

I know Ken is notorious for his, um, odd creation habits, but even I’m shocked that it’s been over 10 years of work and THIS is all he has to show for it. I would maybe be a bit more lenient if each new page was hyper detailed or something like that, but as you pointed out in your review, he reused the same images across plenty of panels and so many of his backgrounds are just stock photos. The only way I can reconcile this to myself is wondering if maybe a bunch of that time was eaten up by extensive rewrites to his plans for the whole series, but even then, I’ll be even more shocked if the next volume ever comes out.

So I didn't get into this in the review because I really just wanted to focus on the book and the weird copyright situation that led to its creation, not Ken's personal life or his other endeavors, but he did make something else in the time since The Lara-Su Chronicles' announcement 13 years ago. That being his independent film: The Republic. Because after he left Archie Ken figured he'd move on to a career in Hollywood.

I think this was originally supposed to be a TV show, the pilot episode for which was released in 2010, but then in 2016 he decided to retool it as a commentary on Trump's immigration policies. I think the movie is still somehow not out despite being shot a few years ago, but he put out a trailer here:

Yes, the trailer really opens with 30 seconds of footage of Trump from CNN. I know writers who use subtext and they're all cowards etc. etc.

At least the cast is clearly trying their best in spite of the material. It's not Birdemic bad. And yes, that's Sean Young. THE Sean Young! Rachael from Blade Runner! I guess Ken's really eager to flex the fact that he's friends with a couple lower-level Hollywood producers.

Anyway, I think he's still looking for a distributor for this. It's truly a mystery why no one was eager to pick this up.

Ken's also said some stuff about how he waited years to put out TLSC: Beginnings as part of the 4D chess game he's playing with the copyright stuff. He has a general idea of what he can do based on the terms of the settlement, but he's eager to push it as far as he can. He tested the waters with things like a few small pieces of TLSC merch and an NFT announcement, to see if Sega would take legal action. In particular, the announcement that he was going to sell an NFT of Shade from Sonic Chronicles was a stunt designed to see if Sega would challenge his claim that Shade is legally the same character as Julie-Su. Since they haven't gone after him, and now it's been a few years, he's taking that as evidence that Sega isn't actively exercising those copyrights and isn't going to fight for this stuff.

There's some logic here. Part of the reason Dan DeCarlo lost his battle with Archie over the rights to Josie and the Pussycats is that he didn't take action against them sooner for making merch and whatnot. It's "use it or lose it" with copyrights. But it mostly just comes off as an excuse. If it was purely a waiting game and he had all this extra time, why did he need to recycle art so much in Beginnings? Why is he only releasing 30 new pages of material instead of a whole graphic novel? Where's the app? Why didn't he spellcheck the damn book?

[dcdreamblog]

do you have any tidbits about the Red Bee? I heard he died decades ago but I also saw some people claiming that he showed up a few years back helping that Peacemaker guy

Depending on someone's level of familiarity his entire life is a fun tidbit but I will do my best.

(Art piece of The Red Bee that adorns one wall of the Superior City Historic Society) Richard "Rick" Raleigh would have appeared to anyone who knew him as the most stand up kind of guy that existed at that time. The assistant DA in the booming pacific port town of Superior City. His only major quirk was a fascination with bees but hey, everyone has to have a hobby right? No one knows for sure what caused his turn to crime fighting, as I've stated before it really was just something in the air during those days. If people like The Sandman and The Atom could do it, and make the jackals preying on vulnerable communities shiver, then anyone would with the right willpower.

His abilities were modest. A motorcycle, a "stinger gun" (which in reality was just a souped up BB pistol but sting it did indeed do) and his secret weapon. A trained bee named Michael. Those of you who do not know this story just balked at that. How does one train a bee? Don't bees live like, two months at best? I need you to look at me when I tell you a couple of things and then the best guess we have. I am NOT fucking with you. 1. That bee is still alive, and has recently reunited with Raleigh's time displaced sidekick. 84 years after Raleigh's debut. Michael sat, and waited until Ladybug returned to the honey farm where he was housed and upon her return instantly flew up to her acting with direct recognition of the young woman after 8 decades.

2. Michael is able to sting multiple times without any ill effects on his person. (Bee-son. You know what I mean) Our best guess? The bee has a metagene.

A random mutation in this seemingly random worker bee has given it, what is from its perspective superhuman abilities of intellect, longevity and invulnerability. It is a theory because under no circumstances are we ever going to get to find out unless for some god forsaken reason the two heirs to Raleigh's estate pass it off to science when and if it does finally die.

Perhaps the discovery OF Michael's abilities were of partial inspiration for Raleigh's career. Truly we may never know.

Raleigh himself died in a battle with Nazi war criminal Baron Blitzkrieg in 1944, distracting the Baron long enough for his teammates in the Freedom Fighters to free themselves and turn the tide of battle. His memorial rests in Raleigh Park, Superior City for those curious. Note that it is a somber place of respect, those who have gone in an attempt to trivialize or joke on Raleigh's legacy have found themselves suspiciously targeted by the park's many large bee hives. The local superstition is that Michael has made it clear to all his fellows in the thousands of following generations who made their undisturbed home possible. (The park was built and is now maintained by the Raleigh estate, currently in the name of Raleigh's grand niece Jenna Raleigh and the descendants of the Rivera family who owned the honey farm where Michael was born) To this day, in Superior City, is considered very bad luck to harm a bee. And the city's annual Pollination Parade is held on Raleigh's birthday in July.

[mitsua]

Hello it's me again 🌹🎀 I must say that I saw your post that you had made and I loved how you wrote it, you have some talent ✨ I had this thought a few days ago, I saw myself again of an anime Magical Girls (Precure, although in English the adaptations of two of its anime franchises are called Glitter Force) And I was wondering if I could make a request for A female reader who is a magical girl (Precure or Sailor moon) and is in a relationship with Izuku Midoriya (It would be fun to know how they would get along their relationship).

And no thanks for the other request! You are the most never forget.

: 🌹🎀

Hiii 🌹🎀!!! Thank you so much for your support! I wholeheartedly appreciate it!

Ohh, this is probably gonna sound weird but I've actually never watched a whole series involving magical girls... sure I watched a couple of Sailor Moon's episodes but I preferred something else so never got to engage with them too long. However—this request definitely made me re-think about my choices and I'll most probably go watch some when I can! Soo, enough rambling—hope you enjoy this headcanons!

With an S/o who's a Magical Girl

Warnings: none Genre: fluff

Series: Boku No Hero Academia Pairing: Izuku Midoriya × FEM! Y/N

Words' count: 0.50k

Better be prepared when he first sees your transformation! Undoubtedly will stare in awe and probably malfunction for a while, so if you got a sparring match of any kind, you could have some advantage hehe.

He can't help it! All those sprinkles and the sudden glow coming from your body flabbergasts him—the dress that could or could not reveal some parts of your body shocks him more. Nevertheless, he really loves your costume so much and makes sure to let you know while he is interviewing you about your power's benefits and drawbacks.

Even when you're one of the best couples in the Heroes' world after getting your official license, he can't help sometimes but admire you as you get into your matching clothes.

You carry your special weapon everywhere, it helps you to transform quicker and Izuku notices quickly along the way. That's something he gotta do since he's been witness and victim of villains attacks and without the proper equipment close to him, he may get more hurt at the end of the battle. (Like without the red gloves All Might's niece did for him.)

So, after asking you how it works or you lending it to him to investigate it, he may be able to come up with some device that adjusts to his necessities so you both are never caught unprepared on the streets.

That's something else, the eye public has on you. They've been supportive ever since you decided to announce your engagement with Izuku.

Everyone thinks you're the cutest couple ever!

They've got clips of battles when Izuku's mouth is slightly agape as he watches from behind you as you transform and—in the other way around when you smile profoundly when he activates his power and his whole body starts glowing green. Yeah, definitely made for each other.

If you have a maskot, whatever creature they might be, they give you both that sense of comfort and normality while spending quality time in your shared home.

You spend mornings cuddling and when your maskot sees you two, they go straight to enjoy your warmth when they settle between you two on the bed.

On a sad side, you two know how painful it is to watch the other get or be injured. Of course you do your best on the battle fields to end up victorious and smile comfortingly to everyone, alas, it's not always possible.

Izuku went through a spiral of thoughts when you were deciding to be a couple of active heroes. If you ever decide to for a family, he might have gone further than just a spiral of thoughts—instead suffering anxiety and insomnia as only fatal outcomes kept on appearing on his dreams.

He may try to disuade your idea to keep protecting people when you do get a family together, but if you stay strong you will come with a resolution that would work perfectly.

You two would undoubtedly make history as the 'glowing couple' because of your quirks!

All writings' rights reserved © 2024 Mitsua. (Credit to the respective owners of the base idea, picture and tagged anime character.) ⌇ my navigation!

[sanjisboyfie]

๑ keep safe : crimson red icicles (9)

one piece x male reader

chances in my veins,

i'm running out of time 

『 prev 』

tw: slight gore (?), self-inflicted wounds

as they were running up the mountain, sanji and luffy were taking part in a very childish conversation. [name] wished he had the energy to be apart of it, but with the way he felt as if his insides were turning into solid ice, he refrained.

he was really, really, really bad in extreme cold climates, same went for hot climates too.

his body wasn’t made to deal with that type of stuff. and it was annoying that he was made like that because now his face felt as if it were completely frozen. his feet, even though they were angrily running across the snowy biome, felt heavier than ever before — the feeling in them was completely gone too.

then finally they came across what dalton warned them about: a lapin.

sparing time for a fight against such a small creature was out of the question. they had no time to waste and they all collectively ignored and dodged it whenever it tried deterring or attacking them.

thankfully, sanji took care of it as quickly as possible. but a part of [name] did feel bad to hear the poor thing cry out in pain from the kick.

[name] grit his teeth as his eyes narrowed at the terrain ahead. it seemed that attacking a lapin was inevitable as now, the three of them stood in front of what seemed to be a whole army of rabbits.

he could make out their figures if he squinted hard enough, his jaw really set in place as he sensed just how many were really out.

“huh? what are those?” luffy said, eyes wide as he saw the sheer size of the rabbits.

“they’re even bigger than polar bears, it looks like,” [name] added on, grunting as he adjusted the grip he had on nami to make sure she was completely secure, getting into a stance that showed he was ready for a fight.

“so this is the size of a pack of them?!” sanji said in annoyance, clicking his tongue at the inconvenience.

“luffy, sanji, do you know what this means?” [name] checked, looking at the two out of the corner of his eyes, “i’m counting on you guys, okay,”

“what? what do you mean by that?”

“idiot, he obviously means that we do all the fighting, nami-san can’t get anymore injured than she is right now! if [name] does anything to fight them back or if he takes any hits, nami-san will feel everything! so you and i have to take on all the fights, understand?!”

luffy took a second to process it before nodding his head, “alright, [name] leave it to us!”

“i will, now let’s get running,” [name] said, dodging one of the bunnies that tried attacking him, and running off to the side.

he didn’t look back once, knowing that he only had to worry about what was ahead of him and that luffy and sanji were trustworthy enough to take care of whatever was behind him.

he ran and dodged a couple of bunnies that were ahead, jumping on a couple of them for a height leverage and made sure that nami was secure anytime that he could.

unfortunately, it seemed that the battle would only grew to be more aggressive the higher they went and [name] was really feeling it to his core now. his breathing was coming out completely white, his face was becoming even more red at its high points and his legs felt like lead.

but for nami’s life, he knew that he had to push forward.

when they ran through many lapins that were standing in their way, [name] thought they’d have a break from being chased down, but his assumptions were wrong. when he thought they were in the clear, there was a shroud of lapins that were awaiting them. they looked like an intimidating white shadow over the horizon.

“i’m about to take care of them myself,” [name] said, trying to control his chattering teeth.

“no! no way!” sanji rebuked.

“i’m a long distance fighter anyway, it’s alright if i take care of some!” [name] said, his patience wearing incredibly thin, “there’s no way we can fight all of them individually, the more we run the more off course we get…if this keeps up, i can’t guarantee nami’s safety!”

“stop trying to jinx things! just leave it to us for now!” sanji said, wanting to fight against [name] participating in fights for as long as possible.

“if they get too close, i can’t guarantee that i will!” [name] shot back, watching carefully as the lapins started to jump up and down. it seemed as if there was no point to their repetitive jumping, but [name] put two and two together: if you assumed they weren’t up to anything, they’d definitely be doomed.

so he stiffened to brace for something to happen.

and when the snow that was far ahead began to crumble towards them, his fists clenched at his sides.

“you’re fucking with me right now!” he shouted out into the snowy abyss, recognizing the signs of an avalanche right away.

he had an idea of how to get away, but he didn’t know if it’d be healthy to use it with nami’s condition. he knew his body could take it, but if nami would even survive him using it once, it was unknown.

so he wouldn’t use soru, he decided. because even if it was conveinent for him to use to get away, if nami’s health could be in an even more compromised position, he wouldn’t risk it.

“the only option is to run, let’s go, both of you!” [name] commanded, adjusting nami once more and hoping that the ropes would stay completely tight. he had to free his hands, use them to gain the most momentum when running away. he couldn’t securely have his arms around her.

he knew that the rope he tied was effective, but having his arms to support her legs was still a comfort he wasn’t exactly the most prepared to give up. the snow was quickly approaching so he cleared his mind and only focused on running.

sanji and luffy were close behind and eventually, he caught sight of a cliff. sanji had the same idea in mind because he soon directed them to all take advantage of the height.

the three all stood at the edge of the cliff, but [name] quickly realized it would be enough. they weren’t high enough.

[name] grit his teeth, ripping off one of his gloves with his canines, spat it out, and took a dagger out from the sheath that was resting on his hip. he stabbed into his palm with no hesitation, gritting his teeth and watched as the blood spurted out.

“oi, [name] what the hell are you doing?!” sanji cried out, watching in horror as [name] maimed himself and also at the approaching avalanche.

“hey! [name]!” luffy shouted in shock, eyes going wide and almost completely white.

[name] ignored them and stabbed himself once more in the arm to cause more blood to gush out of his wound. after putting the dagger away, he grabbed luffy and sanji by their collars with his clean hand and timed his jump with the avalanche.

the trio were completely vulnerable in the air, but [name] quickly thought fast and held the two close to him. he made sure he was facing the ground and focused on the blood spilling from his arm as he held his bleeding and wounded arm in front of him.

“come on, you fucker!” [name] shouted at no one in particular, “i know it’s cold enough, so this shit better work!”

“[name]’s gone crazy!” luffy shouted, looking at him in disbelief.

“luffy, sanji, nami!” [name] shouted, getting ready to time his “creation” correctly, “please pardon the mess!”

the two looked at him in confusion but their eyes widened drastically when they noticed what was going on.

the blood [name] had let dribble down and spurt out of his arm was turning solid underneath them. it was even taking shape. a large sled, the ones that a person would use as a child, was created and solidified underneath them. it wasn’t fancy, just a smooth tube for them to ride to glide down the mountain without suffocating due to snow.

“you two, grab ahold of me — watch out for nami!” [name] commanded, sticking his entire bleeding arm into the snow. he shouted at the pain that shot up his arm, but continued to keep his limb implanted inside.

out of nowhere, the crafted sled turned to the side, fighting against the snow current. [name]’s arm in the snow was slowing them down, thankfully, but the way the lapins were still charging after them made him stressed.

“unbearable bastards! i hope you all get buried,” [name] cursed under his breath, directing their sled and fighting against the current of the snow as hard as he could.

but the icy pain was getting torturous, to the point he felt like passjng out. his entire arm was buried underneath the fluffy snow. his heart was slowing down, it had been the moment they started their journey. slower heart rate meant less blood pumping. less blood pumping meant he was running out of what he could use - without completely endangering his life, of course.

he could always just cut into his flesh once more and he was entirely prepared to - but that was a worst case scenario choice. he still needed to be conscious for the rest of the journey, obviously. passing out due to blood loss would only be more of a burden on sanji and luffy.

“shit, there’s still more snow coming down!” sanji cursed and his grip on the sled was wearing thin. “[name], i’m gonna-”

before he could finish his sentence, sanji went flying and luffy in a concerned filled haze, jumped after him.

“idiots!” [name] cursed, but instead focused on getting nami to safety before he went to rescue those two. finally, they reached a point on their journey where nami would be safe, or as safe as she could be, on her own.

she had blood splattered across her face, which [name] gingerly wiped away before setting her down on the snow. he untied the ropes in a hurry - throwing his cloak over her and promised her that he’d be back.

he looked over the terrain in focus, seemingly glaring at the snow before nodding in determination. he was able to see where luffy and sanji had dropped off. at least they were close to each other, [name] thought to himself before jumping into the snow.

to him, it felt as though it was an ice bath. but he bore through it, understanding that this was not the time to pay attention to that. sanji and luffy were up ahead, a couple dozen feet away. and nami was waiting for him!

he had to bear it for a little longer!

even if he was lightheaded from blood loss, even if he could physically feel his heart going slower — as if it were freezing, even if his legs were close to being completely numb.

“fucking snow,” he breathed out, lifting luffy up from the snow and throwing him over his shoulder, “fucking disease for infecting nami,” he said, stomping through the snow and looking for sanji. “fucking island for only having one doctor, how idiotic is that!”

when he got a grip on sanji’s jacket collar, he brought him to the surface quickly. the both seemed to have passed out, probably due to the sudden cold shock.

but he carried the both of them to where he had left nami.

he got to work in re-tying nami’s ropes, making sure they were tight. the cuts on his arm were no longer dripping, but rather turned into icicles in the cold snowy winds. crimson red shards were attatched to his skin and he grunted as he broke them off, throwing them down the snowy mountain without a second thought.

he looked at the arm and hand he had stabbed, attempting to move it at all. under his cloak was just a simple shirt so he made contact with the freezing snow with no protective boundary. his arm looked like it was turning purple, as were his fingertips now that he had discarded his glove. he cursed under his breath, finding it took a lot of effort to even wiggle his fingers back and forth.

“fucking stupid weather, i hate this island!” [name] shouted into the nothingness that surrounded them. his shouts made luffy stir awake on the ground.

sanji and nami remained unresponsive.

“[name]?! are they okay?!” luffy cried out, running to nami’s side, “is she alive?!”

“yeah, she is, but we have to go, now. you can make it, right?”

luffy’s eyes lingered on [name]’s mauled arm and hand, nodding as his hat shadowed his eyes.

“you take sanji, nami will be with me,” [name] said, luffy following the command easily.

[name] crouched down, getting nami’s cocooned body to rest snug against his. at least she herself provided some warmth to him, but without a doubt, he missed his cloak terribly.

he just hoped that this castle had sufficient heating, he felt like he needed to de-thaw himself as soon as possible. with nami and sanji both accounted for, [name] and luffy began their trek back up the mountain.

“you saved us back there, thank you, [name],” luffy said sincerely, watching with grim eyes as [name]’s arm showed dried blood.

“you’re my captain, she’s my navigator, and he’s my chef,” [name] obviously stated, taking in a deep breath, “of course i’d save you guys!”

he forced himself to smile, to ease luffy’s conscience.

luffy looked at him in shock before bowing his head down.

deep down, luffy began to feel incompetent. there were a bunch of thoughts running through his head, like if it was his fault entirely nami was sick? did he drag the whole crew, especially vivi, down with his antics?

[name] didn’t let him think about it for long though, seemingly reading his mind and pressing his bleeding hand along luffy’s strawhat.

“take it easy, captain, i’ll look out for us from now on,” [name] said simply before picking up his pace. "it's not all resting on your shoulders anymore, not while i'm here."

the two were running as fast as they could, now desperate for medical attention for almost all members of their travelling party. on the way to the top, they encountered a small lapin who was pawing at its parent.

“stupid bunny,” [name] murmured under his breath as he eyes the pathetic creature.

there was a pause as he and luffy both lifted the paw of its parent out of the snow, walking off before they could waste more time.

it seemed, though, their time was just made to be wasted today as they now encountered a familiar face.

“splinter shitter?” [name] asked out loud, recognizing the ugly face of their past enemy.

“we’ll teach you to not mess with us,” the crew next to wapol screamed.

“luffy, no fighting if you can help it! we’re all injured here and have sanji and nami to look out for! be serious!” [name] reminded him, “just keep running,”

“i know! don’t berate me!” luffy said in annoyance, finding it incredibly difficult to hold back his attacks as he could only dodge.

[name] jumped through the air in disgust of their attacks, knowing that they were only fighting so hard against them to take advantage of their weakened friends.

“i’ll kill you guys when i come back!” [name] shouted, tilting his head ever so slightly and causing the two of his lackeys to fall over. but they assumed it was the strong wind and continued their assaults.

thankfully, those lapins they had saved earlier did not forget the kindness of their actions. they jumped in [name]’s and luffy’s defense, creating a wall between the strawhats and the stupid wapol pirates.

“thanks, you saved us,” luffy said quickly, recognizing the animals, before running ahead with [name]. “[name] that was rude, you didn’t even say thank you to them!”

eventually, the wind got so strong that [name] couldn’t feel his arms or legs. but they were so close. the harsher the climate was, the closer they were. and his assumptions were proven correct as they were soon greeted by some cylindrical post, and at the top was the castle.

“let’s go, don’t think twice,” [name] advised. he walked over to luffy and sanji, gently unwrapping the scarf from sanji, quietly apologizing as he did so, and used that to secure sanji around luffy’s waist. he even made the blonde wrap his arms around luffy’s neck for extra security.

“[name], are you ready?”

[name] laughed, “wasn’t this whole journey a good enough sign for you, captain?! let’s get going already!” he ripped off his other gloves, knowing he’s get a better grip on the walls if he went in without a barrier between his fingers and the rocks.

luffy agreed with a hearty shout and the duo began their climb.

[name] was struggling due to the extreme frostbite he was experiencing, as well as the hole in his left hand, and the numbness in all his limbs. luffy was exhausted from running and fighting and only just woke up from passing out a couple of minutes ago.

the both of them were tired beyond their limits, but knew that this was life or death.

nami and sanji were both counting on them.

the wind was picking up the higher they were going and it genuinely felt like someone was cutting [name]’s fingers with each breeze that blew by. he cursed under his breath each time he had to go up one.

then his head whipped around in concern as he saw sanji slip from luffy’s back. that scarf could only take so much weight for so long.

“luffy!” [name] cried out in worry, eyes going white as he saw that sanji was only getting farther away.

“sanji!” luffy shouted, bringing his arm to whip backwards to catch the falling chef. the momentum of his swing, and the fact that the surface they were climbing was completely straight up made luffy fell back as well.

“shit!” [name] shouted, smacking his injured hand onto a particularly sharp edge of a rock and reopening the once frozen wound from his hand. blood seeped out almost instantly, splattering across his face.

but he only focused on sending it down to luffy, “grab on, luffy!”

the rubber man listened, stretching his hand and grabbing onto the solidified and frozen blood of [name]’s wound and grunting as he felt himself stop midair, due to [name]’s anchoring. sanji was now being held up by his teeth and he focused on making it back up the mountain to meet [name].

luffy’s fingers and toes were bleeding, completely ruined by the stone wall they were climbing. [name]’s hand wound was reopened and bleeding profusely. the cold wasn’t helping the h/c haired man’s heart either.

if they didn’t make it to the top soon…he’d surely die.

the treacherous journey seemed to last for hours on end before they finally made it to the snowy top.

[name] grunted, swinging his arm back and launching luffy and sanji forward. it didn’t take long for him to join them, falling face first to ensure that nami wouldn’t feel the entirety of his weight crush her.

just when he thought they were safe, the snow that [name] and nami had collapsed on began to slide at their weight. and before he could stop it, they were falling off of the top.

“save me, you cunt!” he shouted, sensing someone at the top of the mountain — very close by. but he was prepared to use his blood to stop their descent once more, if this figure didn’t act fast enough. but it was unnecessary, as a warm, fuzzy, strong hand stopped their fall.

[name] squinted as he looked up at the figure, feeling his vision go blurry as he tried to catch a look at the savior.

“hah? reindeer?” [name] breathed out in confusion. and those were his last words before he fell limp in the hands of the one who caught them, completely passing out.

『 prev 』 ˗ˏˋ꒰ 🌊 ꒱ 『 next 』

[purrfectly-nina]

IN SEMI-DEFENSE OF JACKSON <3

Jackson hate is a little forced imo cause he’s really just a teenage boy battling depression and grief and is constantly stressed and anxious about things being out of his control for really no reason. Like you have to remember Jackson has known these people for only a couple of months at this point and they bullied him and Exer made his life shit for a good bit of it 😭 now I love Exer that’s my princess and Jackson has made mistakes but it’s what makes him an interesting and dynamic character, people complain all the time that Jackson is boring and one note but he’s really not if you pay attention to his flaws as character traits and not just “oh Jackson here we go again 🙄”

+

For just season 3 stuff so far he’s kept 1. leaving therapy a secret from Pam 2. Not telling anyone about the diary and Used the diary to manipulate Exer (both consciously and unconsciously) and 3. Spent time with the reds as a form of getting information and its kinda manipulation tbh so I just wanted to give my 2 cents on it in defense and criticism of Jackson cause he’s paralleling Exer in a lot of ways and it’s unfair that he gets shit on so much when Exer is loved and praised by the fandom (again Exer is my favourite character).

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1. Leaving therapy a secret from Pam is not a good thing Jackson is doing, he shouldn’t have kept it from her and he shouldn’t have lied that it wasn’t that big of a deal because a big theme in this comic is that keeping secrets and lying really hurts people and relationships and you need to be open and honest with those you love. That being said it’s a really hard subject that he’s still getting over himself, therapy was a safe space for him where he was finally in control and was heard not just listened to. He’s still getting over this and he could barely even talk to Harry for weeks without feeling horrible so yea it’s a really troubling thing for him to think about. He told the detention kids because sometimes it’s easier to be open with friends who get the situation than your girlfriend who you don’t want to disappoint because she was so happy you were getting better and how do you tell her your world fell apart all over again and you’re scared. I’m not saying this excuses his actions I just think there needs to be a bit more understanding here, Jackson should have told her sooner and tell her that he’s not happy about it but he’s also not ready to talk about it just yet, it’ll be good for him to open up to Pam more instead of trying to keep up an illusion that he’s doing great but it’s a hard thing to shake.

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2. Telling anyone about the Diary, especially Exer is not fucking easy at all. Some of you are making it sound like if he just told them everything would go smoothly and well and that he’s the bad guy for keeping it hidden. So go on and tell me how exactly you’d tell the person who bullied you over petty reasons that you might have accidentally manipulated and fabricated their feelings and that you’re the reason he apologized, you’re the reason he got a job and started over, you’re the reason he confessed as is dating his boyfriend and that none of it is real and that you did it all by accident. Because that’s exactly what Jackson thinks he did, while I don’t agree with Jackson’s theory he’s convinced of it himself. For all Jackson knows Exer really is that prick back in season 1 and the only reason he changed is cause he wrote it down. That’s a lot of weight on your shoulders especially the whole romance thing I mean Jackson wholeheartedly thinks he accidentally manipulated Exer into falling in love with someone and that’s a very heavy burden to carry cause wtf do you do with that as a 17 y/o depressed child. Not to mention that the Diary is his therapy journal so that’s his one healthy outlet destroyed and he feels guilty about ever coping using it so that only fuels his self hatred and mental health issues. All of this without mentioning he’s still grieving over his mother who gave him the damn thing and now he can’t even have that once connection he has with her because of course it’s tied to Exer the person who’s made his life so difficult up till now. NOW!! Pause, this does not excuse his actions but it does explain them, Jackson is not in the right here because at the end of the day he does need to talk to Ex about it because, accident or not, he’s manipulating him and he needs to know. It’s actually incredibly interesting how much this parallels to season 1 Exer, Exer who started purposely using his magic to cause harm and then slowly losing control and doing it by accident (all while not telling Jackson he has magic which made it hurt so much more) versus Jackson’s harm being on accident at first but now he’s experimenting and knowingly causing changes to Exer. This is a big flaw of Jackson’s, he wants to understand before he takes action but only in ways that benefit him. He wanted to understand Exer’s magic before he told Pam and now he wants to understand his own before he tells anyone and we all saw how that turned out with Pam and the others in season 1/2 so Jack’s definitely going to learn his lesson. Remember that if Exer got that mad cause he was jealous over petty things how do you think Jackson, who thinks he’s one of the only reason Exer became nice, thinks Exer is gonna react to something as big as this!!

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3. This is a bad thing aaallll around and Jackson needs to stop 😭!!! Jackson hanging out with the reds just because he wants to study Exer is not a good thing but it’s an interesting character flaw!! This goes back to what I was saying earlier, he wants to know and understand and will fixate on it so bad he neglects the consequences. Not only is he harming the reds by manipulating them into thinking he cares and is friends with them he’s also really hurting himself. As much as I would love for them all to be friends again, Jackson just isn’t in that headspace right now where he can. He’s so obsessed with the magic and how it’s affected him that he can’t get over the bullying, he can’t get over how Exer used his magic to hurt him, he can’t get over him hurting Pam, he can’t accept the many apologies, he hasn’t even accepted that Exer wasn’t in control all the time. He just can’t move on. He needs to move on and not because what happened wasn’t hurtful and is all in the past now (it’s been like 2 months since Halloween mind you) but because he needs to let go and prioritize himself instead of holding onto all this anger. He’s not just an asshole who can’t get over being bullied (which like even if he was that’s valid to a degree), he’s so obsessed with regaining control of his life and understanding what the fuck is going on that he’s actively choosing to hurt himself to hang out with people he doesn’t like. He doesn’t have to be their friends and he doesn’t have to forgive them, yes they’ve gotten better and yes they’re sorry but tbh if my bullies apologized and everything I would not forgive them and I’d certainly not be friends with them. They just need to go their separate ways until Jackson knows what he wants. But it’s hard. Being 17 and struggling with mental health (IN THE 80s!!) is very very hard and that’s before you even begin with the magic shit so cut him some slack.

Anyways this was so long and rambley I’m sorry, I just don’t love the Jackson hate I see when he and Exer are so similar but he doesn’t get the grace of being adored and pawed at. Do I love Jackson? Not as much as I do Exer but I get him, I get being a teen trying to save myself while everything around me keeps trying to push me down so I respond in anger and I’m so over everyone being so mean to him. I could go on for ages and make more points but that’s it for now so!!!! Anyways support Paola on patreon 🩷🩷🩷

[privatebooth]

Okay, so years after its release I finished DAI, but tbh I only ever played it to see Hawke and hear what the world had to say about him and my warden. ok, also to meet the new companions personally

I did not enjoy it very much (don't want to say hated it because it had some fun bits), despised combat so much I chose to skip it altogether by using a cheat to instantly kill all hostiles, because dammit I just wanted to see the story for myself and the casual mode was not casual enough for me. No, I'm not going to rant about that game, that's not the point.

Even if it was not as emotionally engrossing as the previous 2 games, it still fucked me up. These last few days I spent trying to come to terms with it.

That Hawke was the one to stay in the Fade is a given for me now, because the story simply doesn't work otherwise. Yesterday I was thinking about how much I'd love to see Fenris and Carver working together, possibly somehow going into the Fade themselves to get Hawke out.

Then my stupid brain proposed to make it so only one of the three of them could get out (don't care about the details, those are basic concepts), and of course it had to be Carver, because we must protect him at all costs, and Fenris would choose to stay with Hawke no matter what where and when anyway. They would never be parted again, and i don't really understand how the Fade works, but maybe they could actually settle there? ascend to another plane of existence together, and how the hell do beings of flesh manage in the realm of spirits? And how do they die there and what happens to the bodies and aren't souls of the dead supposed to go to the Fade or something? I am so not good at processing Lore...

And then I thought to myself, what the hell, aren't I a pro at bending canon to my will? I overwrote the Mass effect universe to have Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley happily settle down as a throuple and my brain now accepts it as canon and nothing else matters.

Then why can't I overwrite the tiny relevant plot of Inquisition, and simply have Hawke and Fenris appear there together and work as a battle couple and solve the problems together like they're supposed to? Don't need to account for other variables and worry about fitting any technicalities.

I can make it happen.

[castleinthemist]

Still technically a couple more weeks left of the year and I was hoping to try and finish at least one or two of these before then but ah well...

Anyway here's my end of year game list. If you've been following me for a while it probably isn't too surprising to see what's on here. My main rule for end of year lists is 'have to have finished it' but there's a couple of games on here that I like what they're doing enough of, and that i've played a fair bit this year, that lets them make the cut.

Without further ado:

1000xResist A blend of 3d visual novel meets simple adventure game all wrapped up in a bombastic sci-fi story of clones existing under the ALLMOTHER and everything that entails that and the world they live in. Excellent stuff. Really excels at understanding the medium it has chosen to tell its tale in (even if it is light on the gameplay). High contender for my goty if I did those.

Seabed I've said it before and I'll say it again: A mystery, yuri visual novel that makes use of quiet mundanity to propel its tragedy to a staggering effect. Entwines the day to day lives of the women it focuses on to make for a fairly comfortable read if often mysterious one that builds itself up well.

Super Junkoid A romhack of Super Metroid, Super Junkoid ( I really should've played Junkoid first) is just an absolute blast of a game the entire length though. Nails the atmosphere that makes SM while very much doing its own thing with it and recontextualises abilities in such a fun way. Likely one of my all time faves now.

UFO 50 Just awesome. Awesome game that is a collection of games. Still making my way through them and will probably be for a long while but what I have played has been such an exciting mix of things. Designed for designers sake in a way. Exploring the medium through a lense of 80s video games for explorations sake.

Cataphract OI Did a mini-review of this in attract mode but I'll echo some thoughts on it here: Really engaging with the mechanics of an RPG and recontextualising them in such a fascinating way - frontline/backline positioning in battle, command based menu for exploration, a constant push-and-pull of risk-reward due to the time limit. Really creates this sense of desperation that's so excellent. Didn't get the chance to finish it because it is quite hard but I'll def come back to it.

Rule of Rose Where do I even begin with this one? Miserable and mostly boring to play, actively trying to not let you finish it? An absolute gut punch of an ending that's like the final twist of the tragic knife? I wouldn't change a single thing about it. Abrasive and wholly cohesive for it.

Anthology of the Killer One of the funniest games I've ever played. Brilliant in execution and critique. Really a joy to watch it strengthen through each game of the anthology. Play as BB the zine-maker looking for her next scoop and get into scooby-doo style chases from the horror-of-the-week. A weaker game would allow for fail states in the chase sequences but this game keeps it rolling and often gives you a good joke to boot. Another high contender for my goty (if i did those).

Prey (2017) In some way I can see why people bounced off of this title (I did initially too) but it's such a fucking awesome game in how it plays and the overall Talos I space station and its open world within (and outside of!) that's it's a blast to wander around it. Just that real excellent Arkane world stuff they do ya know? Trolley problem the video game. I love how it quietly tracks choices and actions you make and do (and not so much love how it tosses that out right at the end to give you a lame dichotomous choice).

Shiren the Wanderer: Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island The sixth game in the long running Shiren Mystery Dungeon series (you may be familiar with that title from the Pokemon spinoffs), Shiren 6 is a return to classic Shiren form bringing in more approachability to newcomers for the wonderfully emergent rouglike gameplay of these "mystery dungeons". A real feast of a game that will have you full for a very long time. High contender for my nonexistant goty.

Drakengard Probably one of my favourite things I played this year for its cohesivness. They really wanted to make a great game and they made a mostly janky one. Kusoge game of all time. 100%'d this game which is not something I do often or at all for any game, and especially noxious to do for a Yoko Taro lead title but I think it made me love it all the more to see it through to the end. Surprised to see no-one has really taken "Ace Combat but with Dragons" as a game premise and ran with it.

ZeroRanger Finally finished this one. Fun as hell shmup/stg that just really is a love letter to the genre. True ending took a good while to get to and now I'm trying to 1cc it. Just one of those games that knows what it is and does what it does super well.

Helen's Mysterious Castle Another RPGMaker game that plays with form and really excels at making a fun and unique combat system. Battle feel like this snappy back and forth as the game displays all turn order information with a "wait" system that ticks down per action allowing you to make quick judgement on which weapons or abilities best suit the moment.

Ys: Ancient Ys Vanished Omen (aka Ys 1) Played the EGGCONSOLE port of this, which is the PC-88 version of the game (no translation). Damn, bump combat is so fun! The level design is really engaging even when somewhat tricky and the story elements are so very there and classic feeling - there's a lot this game does well and very solidly that makes it a extremely fun rpg/adventure romp. Also the final boss is the equivalent of a DVD screensaver and I love that.

Thirty Flights of Loving Despite being a longtime fan of Gravity Bone, this game and Quadrilateral Cowboy I had somehow never actually played Thirty Flights of Loving? Well I did this year, and it is still such an exciting, short vignette of a game. Best credits drop. More games need to make use of jump cuts. .

Ringlorn Saga Now this is actually a title I haven't finished just yet and, to be honest, it took me a few tries to really get into it - I'm not even sure I like it *that* much. Yet I came back to after playing Ys and getting more comfortable with bump combat; Ringlorn Saga takes more inspiration from Hydlide than Ys but it's got a great sense of classic rpg overworld exploration to it, and does just enough interesting things that I find myself continuing to drift back to it.

Dread Delusion Another title I haven't finished (I really thought I would've by now but alas), and while there are aspects of the RPG'ing I wished it did more strongly or with more player expression, the acid fantasy world of the floating Oneiric Isles is such a engaging and oddball-yet-so-classic sense of place that it's hard to not enjoy it. Can't wait to unlock and airship and travel to the giant floating nautilus with the city built within it.

The House In Fata Morgana I was of two minds about this classic visual novel for a long time, dispersing my playthrough with month long breaks between chapters, only to eventually lap up the home stretch of the final few chapters of the game earlier this year. I think it is a title I will enjoy exponentially more on a re-read. A must read for tragedy enjoyers.

Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind (SNES remake) With news of the new Famicom Detective Club title, and my love for murder mystery adventure games, I had been keen on playing this classic duo of games for a while. Sadly there isn't any fan-translations of the first game, and the official remakes are a bit pricey for my liking so...fan-translation of the 2nd game it is! It's solid, likeable, got a good mystery and payoff. A few weird interactions to progress the story brings it down a bit but otherwise I had a blast with it.

That Which Gave Chase Remember a few games ago how I said I wish more games had jump cuts? Well this game delivers! Surprising in-depth-yet-simple-enough-to-grasp sledding controls, That Which Gave Chase builds a tense narrative as you sled through the Arctic with your guide, chasing something he is after. Introduces new gameplay bits in short enough bursts to never really be boring and nothing overstays its welcome (I played this some short time before Mouthwashing came out and it does several similar things but I think it does those things "better")

Judgement Silversword 2024 Year I Really Got Into Shoot 'em Ups. A classic, simple yet really understands how to make the player feel good at it. Still need to finish it haha

Crow Country Nice, solid survival horror game. Its real strength is the ability to play in a classic survival horror mode or choose an "adventure" mode, where the puzzles are deliciously substantial enough that it can do something like that and still be cohesive as a game. Not anything super excellent but I did really enjoy my time with it. Highly recommend if you're looking to dip your toes into the genre (but might be a tad but scared of horror) due to the adventure mode.

Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter I would've preferred to have finished this to speak about it as a cohesive whole but like goddamn dude. Shit rules. Likely to be abrasive to many people due to the limitations it places on you, yet deeply conscious of how you will be replaying it, BoFV is a game that is set in a oppressive world where the main three party members are trying to escape upwards to something better. Every aspect of this game is in lockstep with it's mechanics and theme. Pure gold that's so rare to get. Batting for some really risky changes that I think it nails well.

Dishonored Death of the Outsider After Prey I was on a bit of an Arkane kick and decided to do a no powers re-playthrough of Dishonored 2. That was heaps of fun and led me to finally try and properly play Death of the Outsider, which, for whatever reason, I seemed to have never stuck past the first two levels for. It's like a real distilled essence of the Dishonored games, mechanically - Billy has less abilities and you can't upgrade them but I think it allows for some tighter design in the game. The narrative, like 2, is a bit whatever though. Also, it has a extremely fun bank heist level. We love a good bank heist.

Fate/Stay Night Technically I played Ultimate Blade Works and Heaven's Feel, the last two routes this year and like...it's Fate what do I need to say about it? It's a classic visual novel for a reason. I played the fan re-translation of the first two routes with the final route being the older fan-translation of it. Keen to check out the recent official release properly even if it doesn't have the classic music in it :(

Sephonie I'm a bi fan of Analgesic's games but I avoided Sephonie for too long since it's a platformer (and I'm not particularly fond of them). It asks for patience to understand it and, much like the way the scientists in game come to understand the island of Sephonie, you too with find much rewarding here if you spend time with it. I think due to it being a very non-standardised 3d platformer, and really playing around with the form of those, it strikes a good balance of "newness" and comfort for me. There's this playfulness about it with the way you unlock new abilities that almost makes it feel metroid-like in a sense...I find the puzzle game while linking with creatures really fun too, quiet calming if anything.

[c7phers]

waiting for a meta post on kory's relationship with her father and how it shaped how she looks at and approaches relationships, but so far i haven't found any, so here we go ig.

myand'r gave kory abandonment issues, it's clear as day. whenever kory is there in the comics, and if it's obvious or not, she clings onto people. now, this could just be her general extroverted nature, but it's pretty obvious to me that it's not healthy. she does have extreme reactions to being left alone or the thought of being left alone but simultaneously we can see her attempting to cover it up by slowly pulling away because she doesn't want to be dependent on anyone.

dick in a way during the ntt run (because let's be real he was not always a good boyfriend) aggravated the already existing issues kory had, because at the end of the day, her father was the one who abandoned her first. i think at the end of the day, she expects to be left behind, to be abandoned just like how her entire family did. she feels like she doesn't belong anywhere (the part in ntt when shes in tamaran battling her conflicting emotions on how shes not enough of an earthling, nor does she feel fully tamaranean anymore).

kory willingly put people's (especially those who she loves) emotions above her because of her fear of losing them (something she obviously took from her dads behaviour).

she agreed to the marriage with karras because she believed that that was what she needed to do, but simultaneously her wishing dick would say something, and save her somehow told me that she was not ready to fully stand up for herself which explains the cognitive dissonance she feels for the next couple of issues.

its also obvious to the readers and the characters outside that everything her father did is 50 shades of fucked up, but she cannot see past her idealised version of her father, she cannot get herself to come to terms with the fact that at the end of the day, her father sold her as a bargaining chip to the gordanians which lead to 5 years of slavery (amongst other fucked up things he's done) it's easier for her to pin it all on kom, especially because kom did have some type of involvement.

the entire time when she's trying to fight alone for the throne when myand'r has given up shows to me that she cannot see how her father wasn't ever a good father, but wasn't really a good king either. he isn't completely to blame for this (i can elaborate on this in another post).

in the end with her, everything started with her father. he abandoned her first, and her mother simply let her get sold into slavery, effectively abandoning her too. the man she loved franklin (for a bit at least even if i do not agree w the storyline), karras, her parents again, her planet, donna, ph'yzzon, her planet again, her unborn child, her entire team. they all left somehow in the end.

kory loves people, she truly does love them. but also, it's obvious enough to me that she's not just afraid of being left alone, she also expects to be left behind, every single time ; inevitably, alone with her pain and grief, again and again and again.

[alex31624]

Duck Comic Reading Club Week 23: Paperinik New Adventures: Absolute Zero

This week review is on time. What a novelty. Have to say, when I found Urk was on this one, I got a bit scared, but it was actually a good one. Let's check it out.

We're in the space, the final frontier. A couple of astronauts are having a regular day (as regular as a day in deep space can be) when their computer alert them about a big anomaly.

I love all the spaceships this comic gives me.

The astronauts enter the ship, and I wonder if they ever watched Alien, because they were ambushed by something inside the abandoned ship.

This comic starts big.

Meanwhile on Earth...

Uno is telling the news about the missing astronauts, and PK has to prepare a team to save them; the first reclute is no other tham Urk.

The big duck is having a friendly chat with some extortionists, and here I want to do a pause. The amount of crime in Duckburg is ridiculous.

Ignore the space pirates and evil aliens, there are theme gangs, high-profile thieves, extortionist and what more. I get that PK has to fight someone, but damn, this place needs mayor Owlson.

Anyway, Urk beat most of those punks, and good old PK took care of the biggest. PK ask for Urk help, and he accepted.

That was funny.

One more duck joins the mission.

I would double check is really her. We had a lot of cases when Lyla is not really her.

Lyla presence triggers Urk's flashbacks, I think that's the best part of this issue. Looks like Urk was about to be granted the Champion Cup, but a lady warrior challenged him.

Back to the present, the group arrives to their destination, and whatever is in there knows it.

The look of the ship is amazing.

The team gear up, and Urk can't stop looking at Lyla. Who could blame him? Once again, the Lyla's aura reminds the warrior about that woman who face him.

But enough with the flashbacks, is time to work.

This is the good stuff.

Well, I get that a comic has a limited space to tell its story, so, I won't complain that there wasn't at least one more page of the group going through the ship.

What I'll complain is, why is the monster in the cover?

The design and its entrance, it was perfect. But the freakin robot is in the cover man, how many times are you gonna keep doing this?

PK excels in action, but it doesn't know how to work mystery.

Talking about action, the fight against the robot is great, full of chaos and destruction. That's why I'm here, and PK knows it.

After destroying the floor where they fight, the group escape to plan a new strategy. The found the computer and learned the truth, this was a Xerbian ship that was intercepted by the Evronians.

Anyway, time to round 2.

I love how they described what fear means to each of them.

After a fierce battle, PK traps the robot in a force field. Before leave, Lyla hack in the computer. And we have one more flashback.

Urk and Lyla went to rescue the astronauts, while PK went to destroy the ship antenna, that antenna was cutting the communication with Uno. And the timing was perfect, because the robot was about the beat PK into oblivion, but Uno burn it to a crisp.

Thanks to Lyla, we found out the robot was the security system of the ship. It didn't do a great job, have to say. The astronauts were saved and PK and Lyla celebrated.

But Urk is having one last flashback.

The lady warrior let Urk defeat her, in order to assure his future leadership. Urk bows to the strongest warrior. If you tell me that lady is going to become his wife, I would believe you. It has that vibe.

We end this issue with a strong and sad line.

Oh man, that hits.

Goddamn PK, you can't make me feel things for Urk. But that's exactly what he did. I didn't care about the guy, but those flashback were perfect to create sympathy; now I know who he was before, what he was destiny to, and who was by his side. And that last line was so powerful. It really makes you feel sorry for him.

Good work Urk.

[sorcerous-caress]

Reflection | Minthara - Gale

[Smut, angst, drama, fluff, cheating, nb!reader]

[Reader cheats on Gale with Minthara, both know.]

It should bother you, shouldn't it?

Unfaithfulness wasn't something to pride yourself on. But you've never tasted anything sweeter before. It was so inviting to indulge in. How could you ever resist your wandering eyes.

The subtle curl of her lips when she sees you, the lingering scent of her body soap whenever the two of you happen to bathe at the same time after a day full of ruthless battles.

The longing look she gives you when you offer to help wash her hair, those sighs of pleasure escaping her lips as she leans into your skilful fingers, messaging at her scalp.

How soft her hair is, white strands with grey undertones smoothly gliding through your fingers.

Her offer to help you with your back afterwards, the way you hide your lower body inside the river of water from her wandering gaze. Thighs rubbing together underneath the stream as you feel her hands on your bare skin.

But it doesn't bother you, not in the slightest. 

Maybe that's what's eating you up at night, how bothered you are by your lack of care towards it.

You like Gale, you really do, he is a very sweet and nice guy. You were the one who convinced him to stay after all, at that same camp celebration long ago.

You could come up with excuses, an endless list of justifications for your sudden change of heart.

He is too power-hungry, or he talks about Mystra too much. Maybe it's the fact he still wore her matching earring or the fact he still spoke of her with great reverence and admiration despite her heartless demand for his life in exchange for her forgiveness.

Or maybe the fact that despite his words, you can see how rushed he is to commit to this relationship.

As if you can even call it a relationship, a courtship might be the best term to describe it. Even with Gale's added requirement of complete monogamy during your said courtship.

Your companions respected that, some begrudgingly with snide comments about what's the point of a courtship if you're going to be exclusive from the start, others with more heartfelt comments that wished you the best on your road onward.

It reminded you too much of the comments strangers would tell a newly wed couple.

To say it was suffocating would be an understatement. You didn't realise just how much Gale expected of you when you agreed to this.

Whenever you'd tell him that, sugarcoating your worries the best you could at how fast he was rushing the both of you into a fully committed relationship, he'd simply brush your concerns off.

You barely knew the guy, and he was acting as if the two of you were to be wed the second you stepped foot into Baldur's Gate.

Well, at least someone in camp did share your thoughts. Completely understanding your point of view.

"The wizard's ego blinds him to reality, very typical of his kind." Minthara would tell you as you seeked comfort in her company, too fed up with Gale after another attempt at getting him to lay off a bit.

"He says he loves me, but I'm not sure what is there for him to love when he barely knows me." It tasted sour in your mouth to admit out loud, as if you should be grateful for getting love in the first place.

"What I want to know is why are you so keen on entertaining his delusions?" Her raspy voice resonated with you, for such a voice with a dangerous edge, it never failed to put you in a trance of peace.

You looked up at the night sky, the real night sky with all of its flaws and endless darkness. Very unlike the beautiful magical stars filled skies Gale could make appear with a snap of his fingers, the illusions he so effortlessly covered every blemish of nature with.

"What else do you suggest?" When you lowered your gaze, you were met with her eyes. She was admiring you as you admired the moon.

"If the wizard is inadequate at satisfying you, then you should seek your own fulfilment with another." Minthara's fingers gripped your chin, turning your face fully towards her.

"As if Gale would allow such-"

"He's a male. You do not ask for an allowance from such creatures." She interrupted you with a firm tone, frowning with disapproval "If anything he should be grovelling at your feet for failing at his only purpose, I've seen mistresses behead their husbands for much less offences."

You sigh, "this isn't the underdark, Minthara."

"Yes." There's clear disappointment in her tone, a hint of longing. "Things would have been very different if it was." Her fingers slowly move from your face, lower and lower as they graze your neck. Fingertips pressing at the left side, right where her own tattoo is.

-

Those words echoed through your brain for the next few days, the promise of how different things would be, still could be.

On the surface, Gale and you grew more and more closer to each other. Dinner dates with home cooked meals, stargazing and his seemingly endless source of love poems. 

But on the inside, your hearts couldn't have been further apart. You felt unheard, your needs and preference ignored for the sake of living the true classical romantic dream he so longed for.

The mortal exclusive romantic things you couldn't do with a goddess.

Sometimes you even felt like this was a downgrade from your previous friendship before, at least then he saw you as a whole capable person and shared his own magic theories to you, seeking your wisdom or knowledge. Even if you weren't versed in magic, he'd still appreciate the perspective from an outsider.

Yet these days, you're only his partner. Not the person he confides and jokes with, not the person he has light-hearted conversations with. But just a romantic partner that he gets to live a romantic fantasy with. 

Who is he trying to impress? It certainly wasn't you. Was he just trying to prove something to himself? To prove that he is still capable of something long gone? To prove to the universe that he still knows how to love. 

That his decision to stay after sneering at you about how much of a bad influence you are to him at that celebration was a good choice because he ended up with true love. Love justifies all reasons.

And just like he used you as a shield to take the blame from his own conscience that celebration night, telling you it was your fault for the actions that he himself did on his own will, he is using your love as an excuse to justify the horrors he might commit later on.

He's been talking about the crown of karsus a lot. Not to you of course, not anymore. But to Wyll, Shadowheart, even Astarion. 

When his newfound habits started to bleed outside of the camp and into your battles, that's when you had enough.

"I told you not to attack them, Gale. What were you thinking?" Venom filled your voice, you had set a very clear plan for Astarion to always initiate the fights, that way you could take 2 or 3 of them down before they'd realise you were even there.

Too busy tending to their wounds, your other companions left you and Gale to bicker it out.

It was infuriating, he was infuriating. 

That day ended sourly, Shadowheart's healing could only stretch so far before everyone had to retreat to camp. 

"Just give me a moment." Gale interrupted you at camp that night, "I am fully aware of how reckless my earlier actions were."

You didn't want to look at his face. You couldn't stomach it. With a sigh, you crossed your arms as you finally faced him.

"You're usually smarter than that." He was one of the last people you'd ever expect this behaviour from. 

"I admit, and I'm willing to apologise for my mistake." Sitting down next to you near the campfire, with shame in his voice, he said, "...i was trying to prove myself...to you."

The campfire flame danced against the shadows, its inviting warmth like a blanket over the two of you. 

He continued, "I've wanted to show that I'm still a very capable wizard…but my magic failed and backfired on me when I needed it the most."

You didn't know what to say. Only staring into his deep brown eyes, attempting to peer into his soul through them, and read his intentions as if it was possible to do. 

Well, the parasite did make it more than possible to do. You felt it move in the back of your brain, pulsing and itching at the chance to connect to its sister.

A frown looked very unfamiliar on Gale's face, one you got so used to seeing brimming with happiness. The subtlest of blush that used to adorn it now lacking in colour, the purplish orb veins seemed even more prominent than before.

Rejecting the call of authority, you let Gale's lips speak their own truth instead.

"You should've still told me, at least." Anger faded from your voice, "we are a team. We are supposed to fight together."

"Within reason, yes that would've been the best solution." Gale smiled, a sour pained smile that didn't reach his eyes. "But that's not what you're attracted to, is it?"

For a second, you were frozen, unexpectedly put on the spot. You thought about denying it, his claims. But you knew it'd only be an insult to both your intelligence at this point.

"What makes you think that?" You played it safe, digging for more information before admitting to anything vindictive.

His hand caressed yours, slowly moving over to hold it.

"I know you." He spoke confidentially, "even better than you know yourself." 

Your mind raced. He couldn't possibly have known all along.

"I see how you look at her" his fingers intertwined with yours, your own hand sweaty and limp against his firm grasp. "It makes me green with envy how you openly lust after another while in my embrace."

As if you were suddenly pulled from the warmth of the campfire and drenched into freezing cold water. 

"I can be powerful too." Gale whispered against your ear with tenderness, "even if I'm not a knight in shining armour, say the world and I'll conjure a never ending storm of fire hurricanes for you."

He is choosing to stay despite knowing the truth. Each day, he woke up and chose you, to get stronger for you.

Guilt seeped through the cracked walls you've built around your heart.

"It's not your fault, I don't blame you one bit." His words just made the needles at your throat twist deeper, "These…sinister urges inside you are to blame, they attract you to her power like a moth to the flame."

He has the same look on his face, the same sneer he directed towards you that night at the celebration. The same burning hatred and disgust, except this time it's not at you directed at you, but an imaginary parasite controlling your brain.

You've been quiet for a while now, letting him speak. Feeling his touches getting bolder and bolder as he got even closer to you.

"I can show the correct path, the right way." His lips were so close to yours, yet you couldn't take your eyes off of his. The flames of fire reflect off of them and shadow the previous lovely brown. "I can make sure there never is a repeat of the horror that happened at the grove."

With his body so close to yours, you could feel the subtle gravitational pull of the orb in his chest. Checking you for any traces of magic that it could seep into its endless abyss, only to be silenced immediately but Gale's own weave.

Gale's eyes locked into your lips, he swallowed. "Don't you want to be fixed?"

You pulled back from the kiss before it could even happen. Forcing his attention back to you.

As he looked at you, it wasn't your own image that reflected on his deep brown eyes. It wasn't your own self that his soul was mirroring. As if the current you was a mere stepping stone between him and the perfectly sculpted version of you that awaited in the future.

Confusion was clear on his face, like a sad puppy not sure of what it had done wrong. You closed off yourself again and pulled away from his embrace.

You didn't look back at him. You walked away.

Reaching your own tent, you parted the curtains only to be greeted with a flowery scent. There laid on your bedroll a careful and delicate arrangement of various flowers in bloom, traces of enchantment sparkled against the soft petals.

Picking up the bouquet, a card fell from against your feet.

' Your beloved - G.D. '

They have been here for a long while, their smell overwhelmed everything else in your tent, and even your own bed wasn't spared from the all-consuming enchantment. Leaving the flowers outside did nothing to lessen the smell. If anything, it somehow made it spread even further.

Your stomach twisted. It's chokingly sweet.

With the bouquet in hand, you abandoned your own tent. You kept walking until you reached the edge of the camp. Far in a secluded corner where luminescent mushrooms and plants faded away the darkness.

A familiar earthly scent washed over you. 

Minthara looked pleased to see you, "you're here." She said as a matter of fact, as if she was expecting your arrival. "Good."

She didn't ask about the flowers, she barely acknowledged them as she took your hands into her own. 

She let you in her tent. You didn't even have to ask. The way she parted the curtains and waited for you to go inside, a silent order. Obey her.

And of course you did, ever since that time you tasted her, when she also tasted you, you couldn't even dream of disobeying her commands.

Sometimes you wonder how different things might have been if she had just stayed. How a lot of the current mess could've been avoided, if she had just joined you instead of marching onto moonrise towers alone.

Another part of you dreads what could've happened if you had arrived there far too late, her fate sealed before you could even step a foot inside the tower.

You feel her heat behind your back, her body pressing close into yours. She is warm and brimming with life, not the dead cold corpse laying on the cell's floor that you see in your nightmares.

Her arms wrap around your waist, her nose pressing against the pulse point on your neck. She is listening to your heartbeat.

Does she also think about the night you shared together? Does she remember your moans mixing with hers through the quiet silence of the night. The moonlight illuminating your naked figures above the broken stone altar. 

"Give yourself to me," She whispers, voice full of promises untold, "what we share is much more than anything that anyone else could offer you." 

Her hands grip your thighs, the same way she gripped them that night. A shiver runs up your spine at the memory of her hot mouth on you, heat pooling between your legs.

You make your decision as she lays you down on the bed. The sheer hunger in her eyes made you feel the more helpless in her web, each possessive touch and lasting bite made you melt more into her grasp.

She wanted you to depend on her for pleasure. On her touches and her mouth, on the way she lifts your thighs above her shoulders and places you in a very vulnerable position. 

She liked to feel in control, and you obediently gave up all of your control to her. 

Even as her own wetness dripped down her thighs, her sole focus remained on you and your pleasure. As if the view of you slowly losing yourself to lust was enough to get her off. 

It's not like you could reach over and give her release, not with your hands bound above your head. The small piece of fabric restricting your movement seemed to give Minthara a rush of power and pride, evident in various marks she adorned your neck and chest with.

Thighs and hips, too. She made her ownership known over your body. As if it didn't already belong to her from the way she managed to push you over the edge twice already, while she barely grinded herself against you.

It was almost as if she was worshipping you. Her admiration was clear behind the various veils of lust and power.

Admiration for you, the whole of you as you are. Your reflection in her eyes was purely your own.

You moaned her name like a prayer throughout the night, without shame or regard for who might hear. It drove her wild, her own release coursing through her wave after wave as sweat glistened against her skin. You couldn't look away, couldn't tear your eyes away from the glorious sight of Minthara at the peak of her orgasm. 

At that moment, you could only think about how you've  never seen anything more beautiful in your life.

In the aftermath, when the sun rays filtered through the outside of the tent, you held each other closely. 

Her head on your chest, rising and falling rhythmically with your breathing. Minthara's arms wrapping around your waist and anchoring herself to you.

Your fingers weaved through her hair, parting the silvery strands to place the flowers. The bouquet laid on the ground, half empty next to the bed.

Minthara didn't seem to mind. She indulged you as you crowned her hair with soft, colourful petals. Although the flowers kept slipping off and pooling around her pointy ears.

Maybe you should braid it into her hair instead, use the leftover flowers from the bouquet in the morning.

You don't remember when you fell asleep, only the comforting darkness that you invited when you closed your eyes for a second.