#not fully related to that poll just got me thinking

[defectivegembrain]

Like. Autism doesn't come with an automatic love of hearing anyone infodump about anything they love. In fact sometimes it comes with the opposite. Sometimes restricted interests are in fact restrictive enough to make anything else boring. Sometimes it's just hard to process that much speech. Doesn't mean we get to be unkind about it either but yeah. This fantasy people push of autistics having endless energy and appreciation for each other's special interests is just not realistic.

[blushstarot]

PICK A CARD: what's your genshin impact life like, and what vision would you have based on it?

DISCLAIMERS & CONTEXT: this is important so don't skip it.

Since genshin has 7 types of visions, it felt unfair to me to just do three options to choose from like I normally do, that being said, I'm doing 9 options, with (hopefully) a short backstory, and then based on that, choose a vision. That means probably some visions would be left out of the post, and/or one or two elements could appear a lot. I could try and control that all the 7 elements appear but it wouldn't be a genuine reading since it'll be some manipulation, and that'll be dishonest and I'm not about that. Also in case anyone want to know what I took into account for selecting the visions, unless stated otherwise, I used this as a guide.

Anything said here about your life/ideals/past events is ONLY related to the hypothetical scenario of you living in genshin, DON'T take the reading as guidance, and DON'T feel that you HAD to experience the things said in real life to be able to relate and have that vision. This is just a fun what if based on your energy right now.

With the explanation and disclaimer out of the way, pick whichever picture you feel more attracted to and skip to that pile.

click on the picture to get a better view if necessary. rant and poll at the end.

Pile 1

the moon, ten of pentacles, ace of pentacles.

So, right of the start, without the interpretation of the meaning of the cards, the moon is in 2/3 of them, and what is the moon associated with? exactly, water. So right when I pulled the second card I knew y'all vision was hydro. I have this feeling that in genshin you would be from a kinda rich family, of course you're not feiyun commerce guild rich, but your family is well off and you don't need to worry about money. Talking about family, it seems that you have a good relationship with them, and they just support you and want you to live a fulfilling life.

So, for how you got your vision. It was at night, you were in your room, laying in bed or looking out the window, and you were thinking about your future. You wanted to continue the family business, how could you not?, your family has always done so much for you, and asked so little in return, this had to be right the way to repay them. At this point someone from your family close to you entered your room, I'm getting father figure vibes, definitely a masculine energy. One thing leads to another and you confide that you want to continue inherit the family business, but something deep within you is toughing at your heart strings, as if to trying to tell you something. This father figure tells you to really think this through and that the feeling you have might be because you are not fully convinced in what you want. Before leaving he reassures you that the family business is not that important, that you don't owe them anything, and that all they've done for you has been out of love. Then when you are all alone again and finally realize that you don't want to stay in the family business, but to do your own thing; a hydro vision appears next to you, and you know you've made the right choice, in wanting to pursue what you are passionate about.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 2

three of swords, king of cups, the empress.

This pile is giving me a lot of mixed messages, like in your genshin life y'all are a kind, compassionate person, and also a very wise, but something tells me that is not dendro wisdom, but more like leader wisdom, if that makes sense. With the empress I see that you have children at you care, could be your actual children, but I'm getting more of a head of an orphanage type of vibe.

For how you got your vision, I'm picturing that you are in some kind of meeting with important people, and they are pressuring you sell the orphanage, so they can close it and make something else where it's located. This is a negotiation they've been trying to make for quite some time now, and are trying to convince you with any way possible to sell it, and at this point you were tired of them showing up to the orphanage trying to convince you; probably some of the older kids starting to piece things together and are worried you might abandon them. So you agreed to go to their company headquarters to negotiate, away form the kids so they can't listen. So once you're there they start to bring up the fact that you're the only staff in the orphanage, and don't have anyone to help you finance and care for the children, and after some other valid arguments you start to doubt if you should just sell it and use the money to open a new one some other place. But something doesn't feel right and you stand your ground, telling them that the property is not for sell, that is your home and the home of all the children, you just can give that away like nothing. When you go back to the orphanage the first thing you see is the kids waiting for you, and you figured that everyone was aware of the rumors of you abandoning them, since you could see some of them had been crying. When you tell them the good news, they run to hug you, and only when one kind complains that they hit their head with something that was hanging from your waist, you realize that the gods had looked at you, and granted you a geo vision.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 3

wheel of fortune, the high priestess, queen of swords.

Something about this pile gives me anemo, but at the same time it feel too different from it. In your genshin life, you went through many hardships, and there was a point were you ended up in a situation where you couldn't defend yourself, and needed help to overcome it. This brought a big change into your life, an that's how you were able to obtain a vision.

Now, the story of how all that happened, actually started long before you got your vision. When you were on your lowest, a feminine energy help you, someone intelligent, witty, honest, and strong. She saved you from some monsters that were attacking you, and even tho you tried to fight back, they were way more stronger than you, so when she came to your rescue you felt ashamed for relaying on another person that happened to pass by and were kind enough to help you. You ended up asking them to teach you how to fight, so you could become stronger and better defend yourself. At first she refused and point out that your intentions weren't pure and that you just wanted to become stronger for selfish reasons. After some meditation on why you wanted to become stronger, you reached the conclusion that you actually wanted to be someone reliable, that everyone could depend on if they ever needed your help. After you told her that, she agreed to train you. You spend day and night learning from her, not only things combat related, but also how to be a better and more kind person. By the ending of your training, you viewed her as a mother figure, even to she wasn't exactly caring and gentle, despised her cold and serious face, you knew she cared for you. When you finally finished training and she said you were ready for anything you wanted to do, she gave you your first weapon as a gift, along with a box that contained a another gift she prepared. When you opened the box, next to the bracelet she bought for you, there was a pyro vision placed next to it, although no one knew how it got there.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 4

ace of pentacles, the emperor, queen of swords (reversed).

I'm getting this strong feeling that you would be some business owner, although I don't get a feeling for anything specific. You also probably come across to others as someone really intelligent on the art of business even if you follow these unorthodox methods that look like they are meant to fail, but for some reason for you it always work out. I feel that some might see you as a stubborn, maybe even ruthless person, like you are definitely a serious type.

For how you got your vision, you were probably in your office, just when you started to see profit from your new business. You went through a lot of challenges to get where you were, but you still weren't satisfied and had a lot of goals in mind, so you never let yourself take a break and were always working. You were drowning in paperwork, quiet literally, you couldn't even see the surface of your desk because of all the papers scattered. At this point you had too much in your mind and were starting to get a headache, so you decided to take a short break to eat something. Before leaving you decided to clean your desk and organize all the papers on it, and while moving them, that's when you realized that there was a dendro vision on your desk.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 5

the sun, page of swords (reversed), queen of wands (reversed).

I'm getting really positive and playful vibes, almost childlike, so my guess is that y'all are really young, or that are in touch with your inner child so much that even in a hypothetical scenario about a video game, you still are coming across as someone curious, with and adventurous spirit, and overall really happy and someone comforting to be around, definitely someone who is always playing with kids and helping those in need. With that being said, it may come as a surprise that y'all are involved in a bad organization, and not bad as in "they don't pay extra hours" bad, but more like "we control all the city and we decide what are the rules and the only valid law is ours" bad. The thing is, I don't really have any information about what the organization does, or what is the thing that you're supposed to do in it, so I think you actually don't really know either, and that's why I can't see it, OR there's too much hidden things around you that you want to keep a secret. Like I feel that you want to bring justice to bad people, and that you joined the organization because they basically lied to you and made you believe that they were good guys. I really have a feeling that you found out about what the organization really does but you're unable to leave so you are ashamed of being part of it or are ashamed of what the organization asked you to do, so you don't want anyone to know. Anyway, this is funny because I can't see how you got your pyro vision either, just that it happened near the time you joined the organization.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 6

ace of wands, four of swords (reversed), ace of cups.

Something happened to you that made you isolate yourself from the word, in the literal sense. I feel that the was a heartbreak, not necessarily romantic, that made you so sad that you decided you needed to go get yourself lost in nature, to meditate and work on yourself. I don't have a clear answer on who that person was, but I'm getting the mixed signal that was a lover or a really close friend that betray you, and your trust, and then not long after they got out of your life, either by death or by moving really far away.

So, how you got you vision is a little interesting. Remember I said you went out and got lost in nature? Well I'm not sure if it was 100% true, I can feel that for quite some time you actually were living in this sort of cave, with a river nearby and some sources of food, but also I can see that some weeks before getting your vision you were living in a really really really dark cave and I believe is some kind of metaphor on were you where mentally at the time. But then this beautiful moment happens where you decide you've been lamenting and torturing yourself emotionally for a long time now, so you gather courage and decide to go out of the cave. and of course at first the sun is too blinding, and you have to close your eyes and cover them with your hand at the same time. Then you start to thinking about going back to the comfort of the darkness, but really want to feel the warmth of the sun in your skin again so you continue forward even with your eyes closed. After some steps you can feel that you are outside but are too afraid to open your eyes so you just keep walking until to feel your feet touch something metallic, you look down and open your eyes to see what it is. And the first thing you are able to see is an anemo vision, and at that moment you know is yours, and it feels as if you've been born again.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 7

the magician (reversed), wheel of fortune, king of swords (reversed).

I don't know how much y'all are gonna like this but listen, someone from this PAC had to be the bad guy, surely from 9 piles not everyone was going to be good people... it's you guys, y'all are the bad ones, and you know it and you aren't ashamed of it (remember this is about your genshin life and that I'm not actually saying that in real life y'all are bad people). So, how do I put this. Y'all actually don't have a vision right now, you will, you will soon, I promise, just not right now.

Okay so, give a chance to explain. Y'all are power hungry, ruthless, tyrant, or at least that's how the others perceive you. They see you like an authority regardless of your ethics and morals not aligning with what everyone considers as "good", and they trust your judgment in a way, since you seem so disciplined and don't allow yourself to doubt on what you believe. That being said, I so feel that there's some major event that is going to shake your foundations, and send you on a spiral of some kind of identity crisis, and realizing that the things you believed in were wrong, or weren't even true at all. When that happens and you try to seek support on someone you trust, they're gonna deceive you again and betray you, which in return will amplify all the negative and complicated emotions you are feeling, and somewhere along your journey of change and acceptance is when you're going to get a cryo vision that's going to make you company for the rest of your life.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 8

ace of cups (reversed), four of swords, ace of wands.

So, you guys had a lot going on, that left you in a really bad mental space. With the ace of cups we can assume it was something like a wedding or engagement getting cancelled, but that doesn't have to be necessary it, since I'm also seeing that there was some type of social event where there was something you did and people didn't approve that left you so anxious and/or embarrassed that you had to leave early, so if you're not vibing with the wedding/engagement thing, it could be that. The point is that that event made people single you out and start to be more wary of you and more hostile. This left you feeling overwhelmed since you always thought that you were well liked in the community, like at the end of the day it wasn't that serious to them, but for you it hit really hard and made you see that maybe the world wasn't really like you believed.

At the end you allowed negativity to really set in your life, until at some point you decided that you needed some peace and quiet, make some introspection, relax and really think about how you are going to life your life from now on. Thankfully you found a solution once put your mind into it, and made a plan of moving somewhere else, to start again, so actually in that same day you started looking into it and by the end of the day of the day you had almost everything sorted out. You went to sleep really excited to the though of finally having your life back in control again, and there was definitely this new spark in your eyes and this feeling that almost didn't let you sleep, thankfully you did, and when you wake up you'll start this new life and the first thing you'll see will be this electro vision that accompanied you on your sleep.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 9

two of swords, the high priestess, the devil.

So uh, a lot to unpack here. First things first, like pile 7 based on the story that the cards are telling me, I don't see you having a vision right now, but you will have one in the near future. Funnily enough, you guys also share with pile 7 that you will have a cryo vision. So yeah, I just wanted to be straight forward with it in case you don't care about your backstory that much because it doesn't really mention how you got the vision, I just a very general idea of how it happened.

So your story is that you're feeling trapped, and like if things are out of your control, and that you have to make this big decision between two friends. I feel that one of them is trying yo leave, it could be from town, or organization/institution, or isn't happy with the friend group anymore and how it has changed. And they're your best friend so of course you want to support their decision, but you have another really close friend that isn't happy with they wanting to leave, and this ideals they have, so both of them start fighting with each other. And you are such a loving and caring friend, you don't want to see them fight, so you're trying to mediate the constant argument, and trying for them to reconcile, and it's very stressful because none of them wants to give in and compromise. And this is pretty much what the cards say, except for the high priestess, that is encouraging you to trust what you believe, and take action, follow your intuition, etc. So my guess is, you guys realize that the argument is pointless, and let your friends know, and kinda distance from them yourself from them because you realize they're not the friends you've always loved anymore, and that their change is not really the best thing for you right now, and then when you do that and you accept it and really embrace and believe in your decision, you'll be granted your vision.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Thanks for reading!

I usually write this notes before doing the readings, so I don't really know how it went, BUT I can already tell this is gonna let me feeling really tired.

So yeah, I'm drained, it's been two days and a lot of hours spend on this so future me can worry about spelling mistakes to fix. If I ever do a PAC this long again, I better get paid or something this felt like working 12 hours straight, I had so many issues with the formatting it's not even funny, and don't get me started with pile 5, or that error I had with the poll, or the fact that the cryo users didn't have a vision yet. Anyway, this will be my only 9 option one in a while, the next ones will be back at 3 options, 4 if I'm feeling generous.

All jokes aside, it was really fun and I really wanted to do this PAC, so it's still worth it. Can't wait to read what you guys think, lot's of love! 💕

You can find more of my PACs on my master list, and if you have any suggestions on future PACs you want to see me do, you can send me and ask.

Bye byee ✨

[gadriezmannsgirl]

Heyy!

Can i request relationship habits with Gavi?

How he’s changed since he’s with the reader

FIC NUMBER 1 OF THAT LIL "POLL" I DID A FEW DAYS AGO

Okay, this might be really short but I think I've covered what personally, I think Gavi could be in and before a relationship in some of my past works, but still here you go anon, I hope you like this, let me know!

Relationship Changes? -P.G6

Summary: Relationship habits with Pablo Gavi

I truly feel like Gavi has been kinda forced to grow up somehow, I meant it in a way of not fully acting like a 18 year old would be thanks to his work, the media and everything, restraining himself to do a few things, so he would be really serious thinking that all you want is a though guy but after a while dating you he was more open about himself and let go acting all goofy and funny. Which you loved and let him know that little fact of loving him the most when he let himself go.

Gavi often wouldn't pay attention to anything unless it was football related, until he started dating you, after that he listened everything you had to say and it was like almost every word you say gets stuck in his head. Even if you never thought he heard them because he's always on his phone.

We all know his love languague is touch, so he would definitely hold your hand whilst driving, whilst being sat in a going out night with friends or just walking ocasionally on the streets. However, at home is a whole different story and not everyone sees his clingy side with you, he perfers it to stay only in between you two.

He also isn't much of a talker, unless he gains confidence and then, out of one hundred, he'll speak a forty-five percent. Meaning he had some trouble letting you know how he feels before and when you started dating... And still does sometimes when things get too much for him. Instead I feel like he would rather show his love for you than actually say it. Only saying it when it's a big moment for either you or him.

He gets worked up so quickly, you have to step in and calm him down, what is Pedri's position inside the camp, is yours outside it. You calming him down, looking into his eyes or kissing him make his craziness for you go up and his bad mood down in an instant.

But, I feel like he wouldn't like arguing with you, so he tries everytime an argument might come up, to talk with you properly about it but that doesn't happen everytime and although it sounds bad, if the argument's really serious and you can't find a solution to it, he would be the type of if he gets angry, go to bed to calm himself down and keep on the conversation in the morning.

He's a proud guy, so if you achieved something I feel like he would be so proud of you and telling everyone and everything, until someone points it out and he's back at his usual awkward self.

He would definitely teach you football stuffs if you don't know or if you do he would talk to you about them and even go ahead and teach you a few tricks with the ball on your big backyard; it's a bit obvious he will give you all of his jerseys, so you can go and support him on his games.

He wouldn't change a lot just because of the fact he got into a relationship, he would still be the same, with of course being a strong mix of cute, shy, angry, hot, confident, awkward, smart mess but you like it just the way he is and dating him should be one of the best things ever as he would treat you like a queen.

°°° °°° °°° °°°

Taglist: @gaviypedrisbride @stuckinaf4nfiction @elijahslover @azzpenswrld

[read-write-thrive]

part 1 (both girls in their full outfits) ; part 2 (Edwina in several other outfits/sketches) ; part 3 (the companion to this piece aka Edwina getting ready :)

part 4 of my fem!payneland fanart series!!!! as I talked about with the poll, I have quite a few variations of this piece as I couldn’t make up my mind on a few of the elements, but I listened to your feedback and have included them all here !! the winner of the poll is above the cut with the rest of the variations below to hopefully make this not take up too much of your dash lol

lmk what you think - especially people who voted on the poll!! I’ve also included my thought process below the cut since I know y’all are interested :)

- first and foremost: I have absolutely no idea what order someone would get ready in with all these outfit components, so if you’re sitting here like “why is her makeup done when she has to pull a shirt over her head?” or something like that: you’re probably correct but my getting ready process is always chaos and there aren’t exactly articles on this sort of thing

- along with that: her straightening her hair is probably not accurate to how hair works but again I’ve got v little experience to pull from and trying to find a proper reference was a pain in the ass

yes her bra is fully rendered and then got covered up by her arm. I'm still mad that I did that to myself but I like the pose too much to change it so oh well

- (onto actual historical stuff!!)

- her hair is being straightened here despite straight not being in style during this era for several reasons:

1. I based her hair (and a lot of her style, as per part 1) on Rhoda Dakar of the band The Bodysnatchers, which was an all-female band that was part of the ska revival in the late 70s/early 80s. Rhoda Dakar in particular is a British artist (who’s still making music!) with an English mother and Jamaican father—so not only was she one of the only women of color I could find as part of this subgenre/in ths era/with plenty of photo references, but considering Jayden Revri is Jamaican and English (alongside Indian) himself I thought it was fitting! Her Bodysnatchers look is also much more femme leaning than the rest of the band, as well as her hair styled in a way that suggests straightening, so I carried that over to Charlotte here as well.

2. On a related note, there is a clear historical and modern difference in hairstyles worn/made popular/deemed fashionable by non-white versus white individuals and I thought it only appropriate to acknowledge that in my design of her. I even went so far as to research how her mom’s hair may have been styled since I assume that’s who would’ve been teaching her how to care for her hair in the first place. With that, I looked at popular Indian hair trends from the 60s (figuring that’s when Charlotte’s mom could’ve still been in India and following those trends) which also involved a preference for straight/wavy hair, with soft fringe made popular by Sadhana and the styles ranging from long and luscious to styled up into a very 60s beehive. Charlotte could easily also rock a beehive, especially since the 60s revival was a part of the ska revival movement and Dakar herself styled her hair as such, but I figured Charlotte is a little too much of a rebellious teenager to go for a look she’s seen her mom wear!

- her makeup is based off of the different members of The Bodysnatchers as well as other punk/ska fans at the time. The look usually required more blush that what I gave her here, but I wanted to make sure the eyes were the feature (since Charles wears eyeliner himself) and then the lips being any less just looked weird to me. Also, Dakar doesn't seem to wear the same heavy blush that the other members do, which could be a stylistic choice but could also be the potential lack of blush shades that would work well on her skin tone, so I went that route for Charlotte here

- her underwear is all based off of meticulous searching of historical advertisements, though I will admit the sources are (presumably) American since I couldn't find British equivalents (I'm hoping the styles were similar enough...) in particular:

1. Her bra is based off of: Playtex’s New Made for Me, Playtex’s Right For Me, and Playtex’s Thank Goodness It Fits (which are seriously the names of these as per the ads—how creative /s)

2. Her panties (or pants or underwear or whatever term you want to use) are based off of: Sears Best’s Nylon tricot panties, Sears Very Impressive Panties Nylon panties, and JCPenny’s eiderlon fashion panties

3. (In the below variations) Her pantyhose are theoretically based on L’eggs and Spirit by Stevens’s Slim & Slender pantyhose. But, honestly, they’re mostly based on my own experience wearing hose bc almost none of the ads showed how the gusset of the pantyhose actually looked so I needed to fill in the gaps (one of the many reasons I’m still unhappy with them—plus the wrinkles would not look right no matter what I did !!)

4. Her socks are called slouch socks! I don’t have a specific brand for them but the style was all the rage in the 80s-90s (and I want to own some so bad ngl)

- the hair straightener is just a blob based on the reference photo since trying to research historical hair tools was beyond me at the time apparently, but the style of outlet/plug is accurate to Britain in 1989 so there’s that at least (I have no idea why my brain works like this)

- since I talked about it in the poll I feel like I should address it here: technically having a bush was well out of fashion by 1989 due to the grooming boom and new types of hair removal popular throughout the 80s and 90s. However, she’s wearing multiple layers over it and is technically a teenager (in an abusive household and a catholic all-girls school, at that) so I kept going back and forth on it. It won the poll so it’s in the main post, but you’ll see in the below variations that I really went back and forth on it. that being said I do think it’s interesting given her nylon pants being semi-sheer besides at the gusset, so I’m not mad at it. plus I figured she was definitely shaving her legs/underarms, so maybe that balances it out ?

and finally here’s the other seven variations of this piece :) lmk what you think!!

[thelonelyshore-if]

Poll time for y'all, though this one isn't directly story related. Writing the waking up drabbles and the 2k special was a lot of fun, and helped snap me out of my writer's block. And they also got me thinking.

I know a lot of authors have Patreon or Kofi for their projects, and I was wondering if that's something people would be interested in for TLS? As in, paid monthly extra content/early access to game updates?

Disclaimer that this is not in any way an announcement or even a fully formed idea. I don't know for sure if it's something I'd want to do, especially if there isn't actually an audience for it.

More than anything, I'm just curious to see what people think!

[piosplayhouse]

what are your controversial wwx views? 👀 (asking as a fellow controversial wwx view-haver)

In the grand scheme of things I personally think my opinions are pretty lukewarm but I got a lot of shit a while back for making a post saying that it's important to acknowledge that wwx has privilege as a male cultivator member of the gentry and certified genius, and that that's important because even though he knows that his position in society is extremely tenuous and that so many people are willing to fight to force him to lose it, he still chooses to stand up for those even lower in society (in that post I was thinking specifically of the women in mdzs, particularly the brothel women because they're basically never considered). And then? A bunch of people started shittalking me because apparently wwx is the most underprivileged character in the story? And he's lower status than even the non cultivating sex workers because he was homeless as a kid?

I'm also neutral-positive on Jiang Cheng and made the great sin of making a completely neutral poll asking for people's opinions on him correlating with if they grew up with siblings and got a bunch of accusations of being a wwx anti, rigging the poll, and misrepresenting the answers (the results of which were completely even btw) based off . The fact I used a picture of grapes as the poll banner. Yeah . Wwx was never mentioned in the poll at all also. You can probably still find all that shit if you search my username, anons were just fully accidentally pinging me and everything, it's why I don't name search any more even though I know some people make posts based off my ideas but are afraid of pinging me (don't be btw!!! Please ping me 🥺🥺)

I actually really didn't like wwx in my first read-through of mdzs because I really related to teen lwj and felt very personally about the idea of overly pushy boundary breaking teenager attitudes, but I definitely grew to like him lol. I don't know how much that shows through in my posts, I think I've made a few comments about thinking that he was definitely a little bit of a dick as a teen but I don't know how controversial that is

So overall I'm sorry to disappoint, not very controversial opinions, but I've gotten so much grief for them anyways you'd think I posted some shit like wwx is my least favorite character in all of fiction 😵‍💫😵‍💫 there's probably more stuff that could be considered controversial but I'm so disconnected from mdzs fandom at this point that I don't really know what the general consensus is. I'd love to hear yours though!!!! Feel free to anon or message or whatever you feel comfortable with, I won't judge

[imthepunchlord]

Which miraculous(es) the perfect miraculous group would weild the best in your AU(Wu Xing and Ying-Yang)?

This recent poll will change something of your AU or is just for fun?

Again, it would depend on what I'm doing story and setting wise. Cause the Miraculous I crafted are made up of 27 and that's 7 potential team members I would do, with not all 7 being for sure. Not all 27 need to be in use, so that would come down to what swaps I want to do and what characters I'd want to focus on.

I really don't have an exact answer for you on this.

Though for this poll, I can tell you that it may. It is being done for genuine curiosity. How Miraculous are set up is something I always go back and forth on. Like, doing this all based on Chinese myth and culture and themes can work, but they're also not fully committing to it.

Like, the Five are based on Wu Xing.

By this fact, Fox AND Turtle should have an edge over Butterfly, and be solid alternatives to Ladybug and Cat by extension. Say Butterfly is Wood, Fox as Fire should "burn it up" and Turtle as Metal should "break up Wood". But with how they went about things, it's hard to see how they could. Especially with canon pushing that Ladybug is the SOLE solution to dealing with Butterfly.

That's not working off Wu Xing properly.

And then there's Ladybug and Cat themselves.

Cat can work there. China really likes felines. But the Cat Miraculous works off the unlucky black cat which is exclusively west. China doesn't see cats as a catastrophe, they see them as lucky and as protectors, black as a color is tied to protection. So going with a kwami who's name is based on plague, and having a destructive power that could be easy to misuse, yeah that doesn't really work off what I've read.

And Ladybug has very little to it in China, I can't find a lot talked about to warrant the placement. Like, here's all the notes I put down on ladybugs in various cultures and what they're tied to and what they represent.

There's a lot for Ladybug in Europe, but I couldn't find a lot of expanded details for Ladybug eastward, which tells me it should've been more Europe based and just traveled a bit. To add to it, looking up lucky animals in China's culture, so many animals come up but not ladybug, though it's regarded as lucky by default of being red, a lucky color.

And between the Ladybug and unlucky black Cat, it works more off the western view, which makes sense as it's a French show, which makes me wish they worked off French/European culture instead.

Which just comes back to how the show sets up Miraculous. They don't really click well coming from China. And looking at the poll at the time, a majority are in agreement.

Miraculous I feel should've been tied to iconic/major civilizations/regions OR they were just universal, had no set region that they were tied to and they traveled about and that's how you got a lot of the same animals popping up in different cultures.

The latter especially allows a lot of creativity in how Miraculous relate to each other. You can have it be that all are uniquely powerful in their own ways, and certain ones can be specific answers to Miraculous misuse. You can roll with Ladybug and Cat as counterparts and not question it. There can be other wish granting pairs and maybe the wish you want depends on the pair. Like, if you want immortality, does the Ladybug and Cat really need to recreate reality for that? And it's a give and take that swaps things around, what human is going to naturally be immortal? Can also do Miraculous can have a lot of different pairs, like Cat can pair with Mouse, Dog, Snake, or Tiger. But that does come with a lot of trying to figure stuff out, deciding what should exist, like, Cat can easily represent all cats, so iconic cats like Tiger and Lion may not need to exist, but they also don't have the same symbolism and myths as Cat, so arguments can be made for them to exist. And how big of a number of Miraculous should exist? I do think there should be more than 7, but I don't want the hundreds the show is going with. And then there's figuring out a system of control and how do they relate to each other? This option has a lot of open possibilities, but a lot will need to be thought of and have some foundation put down.

The former though can get into representing cultures, it can give you nice defined themes and groups to work off of. Most cultures work off an elemental system, which can offer clear systems of control for Miraculous in relation to each other. But for animals that do pop up in different cultures, yeah you need to sit and decide who should go where. Some are easy, like Turtle, Monkey, and Tiger should be with China, Snake and Peafowl should be with India, Ladybug and Bee should be somewhere in Europe. Horse though appears in various European cultures, China, India, Egypt; how do you decide where Horse goes? That's another thing to really think about and debate. As well as doing extra research to decide what themes and groups they should be tied too.

So, yeah the poll may influence things. Going with Miraculous tied to China, I do like what I set up, but I also acknowledge 27 is a lot. And I can't promise all 27 would get focused on. And I'm also still not sold about them all coming from China. And I do debate should some really exist?

Depending on the poll, I may reconsider things and make changes. Majority are in agreement with me about not being crazy about all Miraculous coming from China. If people are up for it, I may do more polls to help decide things, as I can struggle with making choices.

We got another 6 days on the poll at this time, so we'll see.

[ask-welland-and-the-uk-bros]

An Event? On my Ask Welland and the UK brothers blog? More likely than you think!

Uh-oh! This is what they get for not checking the mail everyday... Usually England does it, why did this important letter have to arrive when he was on a business trip? Luckily he checked the letterbox as soon as he arrived, and he found this: A party invitation letter for Welland... But the date of the event is today in...THIRTY FIVE MINUTES!?

Well, at least the Party City store is 5 minutes away from the house, and if they ignore the laws of safe driving, they should be able to make it from there to the event in 5 minutes too... Only thing left to worry about is the costume. If they only take 5 minutes to try out each costume they consider... they should be able to try out a few before making a final choice?

[EVENT INFO BELOW]

[Hi yall :) The event i teased a few times is finally there! Sorry for the long wait lol... I admit i got lazy. this is the test event]

[Okay so, PARTICIPATION AND RULES!]

[TO SUBMIT A COSTUME you need to send an ask with the picture attached. In case you want to stay anonymous, you can by submitting a link to the image, and your costume might get picked still, but then you will not win any prize as i can't verify who posted the submission. Descriptions of costumes are not valid submissions, but you can name a specific character with their full name and/or recognisable nickname and the media they're from. Nothing innapropriate of course, we're dressing a child up. Fake blood is fine though. I will be drawing Welland wearing any costumes i pick. You can place several submissions, but i can only pick one costume from each person.] [Note: you don't have to draw the costume or Welland wearing the costume, just an image you find on the internet works!]

[THE EVENT WILL LAST 6 POSTS, 5 asks and one poll. So as long as you haven't seen 5 costume asks answered, you can still submit images! Don't feel bad if your costume isn't picked. After all, places are limited. And... your costume might end up appearing in the final post anyways, who knows?]

[Once 5 asks are answered, the submission period ends. I will make a week long poll with all the costumes i've drawn and you will vote for the winner. Once that is done, a winner will be declared and i will release a little story with Welland having fun at the party in the costume :) ]

[Here are the prizes! 1st place - Fully shaded and stuff drawing from me of anything you want, doesn't have to be hetalia related 2nd place - a colored doodle of anything you want, not necessarily hetalia either 3rd place - same as 2nd place]

[I really hope everyone finds this fun!]

[mwexodusofficial]

Chapter XXIII: Succession

2 weeks before the Magna Victoria...

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(Music: "Adagio in C Minor", by Nicholas Britell)

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A few weeks had passed since his first moment of awakening on the Aurora. The day after overthrowing the Patrolman's Bureau, his control and authority were embedded within it. In the following days, Rothman, Jimmy, and a trusted few of the Patrol Bureau concocted a scheme to prod into the other departments and bureaus onboard the Aurora; a most devious goal in mind.

"James, I got the medical files on Moretti."

"Good, hand 'em here. Get Idra to set up a meeting with me and the CMO this evening at 8 PM."

Salmire, one of his subordinates in the Patrolman's Bureau, nodded firmly and ran off just as an olive-skinned, frilly brunette with a bright imposition and a penchant for malice giddily skipped up to him and handed a hand-written note from the Head of Maintenance, Jom Eidre, to Jimmy. He took it into his hands and unfolded it, reading the text:

10 PM, Hallway by aft airlocks, bag body, place next to waste bin

Jimmy nodded silently at the brunette, Lorienna, who winked at him and ran back off to deliver more nefarious messages. Rothman came up to Jimmy, who was casually patrolling the cells to find potential informants and soldiers amongst the rabble.

"Jimmy."

"I told you to call me James."

"Uh- nah, that's cringe-inducing."

Jimmy grit his teeth and sighed. He was at the top of his game, taking power as he was destined to, and of course, he had the most intelligent jester by his side to keep him humbled- to remind him that he was not the top of the universe- that even he, a cunning mastermind overtaking an entire ship's worth of people, had to pay deference. How divine it felt to him; events aligning one after another to pave the way for his ascension to power; for what purpose, he knew not yet. But DAMN did it feel euphoric to have such immense control beneath his fingertips- for the first time in his life he held more power than he'd ever tangibly felt before.

"Alright, fair enough," Jimmy conceded with a grumble. "But only when it's us."

"Maybe."

Jimmy groaned as Tanyr walked beside him, whispering a message.

"The only Bureau we have fully aligned under us is Maintenance & Sanitation. The rest are either neutral or their Department Heads are aligned under the Captain."

Jimmy clicked his tongue against his teeth, rubbing his chin in deep thought. Being free of a deluded existence was probably one of the most enlightening things he'd ever experienced- being able to distinguish fantasy from reality was a massive step up from his previous life. The natural traits he'd carried since birth- quick wit, cunning, unparalleled persuasive charisma, the ability to read people- no longer were they stunted in growth. It also meant that he found it extremely difficult to cope with the new perception that had slammed into his head repeatedly since the moment he'd awoken on the Aurora. In fact, the delusion he'd carried from his first and second life were still ingrained in his memories, which meant every time he tried to recollect those horrific displacements, it was like a self-induced acid trip into another person's mind.

Every word that related to the past; Tulpar, Jimmy, Curly, Anya, Swansea, Daisuke, Polle, responsibility, M-o-U-t-H-w-A-s-H; it was simply unbearable to be forced to recollect those awful memories.

As much as he wanted to pay penance and think on his atrocities, he had a journey of ambitions to fulfill first; and thus forgetting those past memories was the best thing for his mental state at the moment. He beckoned Tanyr closer to whisper in his ear, concocting a plan in his head.

"We need Communications, Robotics, Supply, and Engineering for this to work. Who in Comms has shown interest in a first handshake?"

"Tawny and Raynar both said they'd consider it, the rest weren't interested."

"Alright, give them both twenty Han and tell 'em I'll be walking back to my Bureau from Medical at 8:30 PM."

Tanyr nodded, darting his eyes around for a moment before proffering a question.

"Can I, uh, ask for a bonus if they agree?"

Jimmy sifted in his coat pocket (stolen from the previous Warden) and took out a wad of fiat money- Han, as it was denoted. The standardized currency of Hannou, and with little supply of it circulating around Hannou, the buying power was tremendous; which was the primary reason why Hannou often resorted to pirating and pillaging vessels, as the rewards reaped from such victories resulted in a mass amount of wealth from currency exchange and selling off valuables and materials to brokers. On the Aurora, the previous Warden had a small safe that, upon being broken into, revealed stacks of Han accumulated from years of kickbacks, bribes, shares from pillaging, and varieties of other criminal methods- all those years, to be passed down violently to Jimmy to fund his great escapades.

Jimmy handed the wad of cash to Tanyr, who took it and bowed his head deeply in respect.

"Thank you, James."

"Yeah. Make sure they agree."

Tanyr nodded once more and headed off. Jimmy continued patrolling the cells as Rothman unfurled a long parchment and began listing off names and allegiances.

"We have the heads of departments here. The Head of Maintenance, Jom, is in cahoots with us. The CMO of Medical, Bailey, is neutral. Chief Engineer, Quzare, is aligned with Moretti. The Supply Quartermaster, Billy, is neutral. Both Head of Robotics & Research don't care, either. And in Comms Division, neither Head of Navigation nor Surveillance care, either. The only one I'm seeing that could be a big threat is the Chief Espionage Officer, Sidlon, who's being paid a handsome salary to keep an eye out for mutineers and traitors."

Jimmy chuckled wolfishly. "Fat Moretti grew complacent. That would explain why everyone's been speaking so terribly of him after the skirmish."

Control over the Patrolman's Bureau had been set the moment the Hannou Patrolmen were killed. From there, over the few weeks Jimmy and Rothman had to scheme, gather information, and prod the members of other departments for allegiances, they'd come to make a large network of connections onboard the thousands-strong vessel; the most prevailing revelation they'd discovered was that-

Most people onboard did not like the Captain.

Such a crucial key to the takeover of the ship had outlined the next courses of action for these two deviants; one equipped with a silver tongue, and the other equipped with immense knowledge and education. They complemented each other almost too well, as their ascension from simple employees to low-level bureau leaders was only a gateway drug of ambition for the twin-stifled minds. Money shifted hands daily, blackmail gathered, information collected from spies, brokers, and trusted connections. Within those few weeks, Jimmy had discovered just how well-adapted he was for the criminal underworld that ruled this ship; not only was the identification system utter garbage, but the forgery system, in contrast, was always up-to-date; and within little time, Alani, Gryn and Salmire had received new identities for the new world they were traveling to; a third-world that would likely have little in bureaucracy and a world of opportunity awaiting these Canari-in-disguise. But before the grand vision Jimmy and Rothman wished to accomplish could, in fact, be accomplished- they had to take over this vessel first and place themselves in a strong foothold to ascend the ladder (as Rothman put it to Jimmy). Not only that, but they also needed to ensure that when they pulled this move, the other Captains and the fleet's admiral would not blow them to smithereens as soon as they did so.

Lots of planning, lots of info-gathering, lots of money changing hands, and allegiances drifting like sand- propelled in a slow-building wind of a soon-to-be takeover. Rothman, with all his years of experience in politicking and plotting behind the scenes, could almost smell the air when conflict was abound and betrayal was around the corner; and thus ensured to instruct Jimmy to action based on his estimation of how long they had to execute their plans before the Captain caught on and ordered their executions. 

"What's the composition of Hannou versus non-Hannou on this ship?" Jimmy asked Rothman, who pulled up his holopad notes and scrolled through them to verify.

"Roughly 30% of the ship is Hannou, they mostly make up senior positions. The 70% are non-Hannou, either pressed into service or joined up in junior or auxiliary positions aboard."

Jimmy nodded, feeling as if the pieces were aligning for a perfect takeover. Even if he hated Captain Hawkes to his bones, as he reiterated, Canaris was not to blame for that unique hatred; it was only borne out of a circumstance where a self-righteous psychopath had made his own terrible, biased judgments against Jimmy in the isolation of his own authority. If Jimmy could turn the ship against the Hannou and get the necessary heads of departments on his side, it'd be a clean, bloody sweep. Alani would get a clean slate, and by the time they reached Hannou, they could make plans to continue rising up the chain of power, or take his current crew and find refuge elsewhere.

"I'm going to check on Alani," Jimmy said to Rothman. "Find out if anyone in Robotics will sit down for a drink with me sometime tomorrow."

Rothman nodded, marching off to execute the numerous plans the two of them had carefully crafted and were executing in waves. Jimmy made his way toward the Patrolman breakroom, scowling at prisoners along the way and noticing one that had caught his attention in the last few days.

"Syeong." He called out, receiving the attention of a lean, somewhat frail-looking asian individual with matted black hair and an aged face that peered at him with uncertainty and a glint of opportunity. "Get the fuck over here."

Syeong crawled over, waiting to hear what Jimmy had to say. Jimmy knelt, eyeing the other prisoners before leaning in to whisper.

"I've heard you used to be a go-between for the Xan Rebels, fought against the Krai Dynasty with sabotage. Am I getting that right?"

Syeong moved closer as Jimmy knelt, leaning in to hear him whisper. "That... would be correct."

Jimmy nodded furtively. "So you could put those skills to use, then."

Syeong eyed him with a glint in his irises. He'd been discussing this with Jimmy for days now in private 'interrogation' after Jimmy reviewed his files, this was just a formality to prevent the other prisoners from knowing the play happening here. "I could, yes."

Jimmy suddenly stood up, unlocking the door to the cell, and pulled Syeong out with exaggerated force, treating him as if he were about to be interrogated. "Get the fuck moving!"

The other prisoners eyed Syeong cruelly, thinking he was taken in for a long night of physical beating. Once Jimmy brought him into the breakroom, he pointed to one of the footlockers.

"Get dressed up, grab a holopad, Gryn will meet you in here a bit later to get your new identity and paperwork filled out. You'll only be patrolling when the prisoners are sleeping so they don't recognize you, and you'll be wearing a face-mask for the same reason."

Syeong nodded plentifully, expressing extreme nonverbal gratitude before heading over to get dressed. Satisfied with that small task accomplished, Jimmy moved past the locker room and turned the corner to enter the R&R section of the breakroom.

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(Music: "Like Real People Do", by Hozier)

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Sitting in the chair with a cup of steaming coffee in her hands was Alani, dead in the eyes and staring for an inordinate amount of time at a holopad message her eyes scanned slowly, occasionally falling still and gazing into the void. Jimmy rubbed the back of his head, feeling intensely uncomfortable whenever he entered the room.

"Jimmy." Alani said simply, her voice hoarse from not speaking for so long. She sipped on the coffee, seeming unbothered by its scorching temperature.

"H-Hey, Alani. How's, uh, the financing going, heh?"

Alani set down the mug, almost spilling it from the violent shaking her hands were doing. Jimmy took a seat across from her, patting his lap and looking around the room, trying to think of how to start the conversation.

"You, uh... you look pretty well. I'm, uh, glad you recovered so quickly!"

"We Canari are used to strife," Alani stated coldly, though Jimmy could tell she was still suffering immensely inside. "Our funds have been dwindling for all the favors, bribes, and incentives we've been offering out, but we still have more than half of that pig's fortune left over. It'd be good if we could start a few revenue streams, though, in case this doesn't pan out as quickly as we expect."

Jimmy groaned in frustration, rubbing his forehead. "It has to pan out as quickly as we need it to, according to Rothman. Any longer and we risk our plot getting discovered by the Captain, and taken out for good."

Alani eyed Jimmy with a stern expression, and Jimmy was afraid he'd said something offensive; when suddenly tears began to surface from the folds of her eyelids. "Promise me, Jimmy. Promise me you will put a bullet through my head if anything-"

"Alani, please don't say that!" Jimmy begged her, his voice tinged with quivering terror. "I-I'm not gonna allow that to happen... not another suicide... I'll execute this plan to perfection. If we have to shank a few bastards for this goal, then so be it. I'm sure you Canari have experience with that?"

Alani shook her head in disgust. "We'd never be so dishonorable as to stab our superiors in the back- it's open combat, winner takes all."

"O-Oh..." Jimmy muttered, a bit humiliated at Alani's brutally honest opinion. Alani noticed his dismay and chuckled hoarsely.

"I'm more than happy to make an exception for you, Jimmy, even if I don't contribute in the backstabbing; though I'll gladly slay my share of armed opponents. When we finish this takeover, I'll head back to Canaris and ensure you never have to fear poverty again."

Jimmy rubbed the back of his head and awkwardly chuckled- knowing he couldn't get anywhere near Canaris until that seven-foot killer was dead and gone first; hoping deeply that Hawkes and a few of his crewmates were the only ones to know of Jimmy's past, so that Jimmy could eke out a chance at living in luxury on Canaris- a vain hope he grasped to as a distant ambition. "I appreciate it, but I just want to make sure you get home safe."

Alani's eyes glittered for a moment as she eyed him, and Jimmy blushed to himself. 

"What?" She asked coyly. "Did you fall for me, is that it?"

"N-No! It's not that, obviously-"

"Well, if I didn't have a husband, I would certainly entertain your proposals of romance. You're fierce, cunning, charming- Canari-like qualities. There's only a few flaws that offend me, but we can iron those out over time once you visit Canaris."

Jimmy nearly fell off his seat at the blatant forwardness of Alani; and the sheer arrogance behind her unwavering tone of conviction. "W-Well you're quite straightforward! And... I think that'd be inappropriate regardless, because, you know..."

You were violated.

Alani smiled with a frenetic but introspective gaze, understanding his implication as she swirled her finger around the rim of her coffee mug. "It's okay, Jimmy. You killed half the people I planned to, anyways, and I'm currently thinking of how to bleed the rest slow once I've gotten my shit together and can walk around that disgusting shitpit. I don't dwell on past events much- I just like to exact vengeance and move on. Thank God we have the medical tech we have now, or I would have killed them all and then myself for the visible shame they wrought unto me."

Jimmy was a bit off-put at this Amazonian warrior that had suddenly manifested in front of him, but conceded that he was of much weaker will than her- and guilt simply ravaged him from head to toe every time he laid eyes on her, on top of the fact that he had to contain the urge to sob perpetually everytime Alani recited his name. "I-I understand. Well, on a good note, what are your plans when you get back home?"

Alani continued to swirl her finger around the cup's rim, seemingly both deep in thought and repressing the urge to fall into a perpetually comatose state. "I'll be getting my cervix and body repaired with nanites, and a few other areas I don't wish to speak of. Then I'll find my husband and hug and kiss him until I fall asleep. I'll contact my family, and let them know I'm back and safe. Then I'll speak to the Atriarchs about declaring Annihilatio on Hannou and the insects chirping on its surface so I can watch the planet explode into a hundred-trillion pieces and pleasure myself to the sight of it." 

"Well, that escalated quickly." Jimmy joked, quickly growing unsettled as Alani simply flicked her eyes up to peer at him, before resuming her reading. "What, uh... what is Annihilatio?"

The look in Alani's eyes were far more unsettling than anything Jimmy had lurking in his mind- glinting in her eyes was pure, spiteful, black-gut, eye-gouging, soul-rending HATE. What was even worse, was the deeper sadistic pleasure riding around in the darkest depths of her sea-blue gaze.

"I shouldn't be telling you this, it's basically deep-state secrets, but you're owed an explanation for saving my life! It's a variety of weapons we have remotely hidden in the deepest recesses of empty space. The most effective one we have is an Orbital Kinetic Kill System, basically launches massive, miles-long tungsten rods at planets which are like nuclear explosions without the fallout. Everything else is a prototype, right now- inverse to postmodern technology, it's actually really hard to weaponize advanced spatial phenomenon without annihilating yourself in the process. But, you know, we rarely get to use the weapons nowadays because the uptight asses in GAPC outlawed WMDs a couple years ago, the pricks."

Jimmy was now horrified. Alani had gotten significantly more passionate once the topic of weapons of mass destruction came up. "And, uh, you know all this, how-?"

He had recalled just now what Pandan had remarked to him the first time Jimmy had left jail, but Alani was more than happy to re-contextualize.

"I am the daughter of one of the most powerful weapons designers in the galaxy, Hamoch Hyletta. My father has his fingers in every pie from Canaris to Soslau, from Yalnir to Krai. We bleed money onto our investors and death onto our enemies, and there is no empire nor tribe that is not in need of our services."

Jimmy nodded with half-wide eyes, mouth slightly agape as he was more busy admiring her dazzling features than being wow'ed by her terrifying background. "I see. Do they give that script to you guys in your childhood?"

Alani grinned widely, then burst out laughing at the quip, much to Syeong's startling as he was getting dressed in a Patrolman's outfit. "Not only is my savior kind, but witty! I am blessed, truly."

And without many seconds passing, Alani's laughter suddenly turned into a quiet, then loud, then deafening sobbing into the palms of her hands; having let her guard down for a second, she was assailed by the trauma, despair, terror, and misery inflicted on her for months at end. Jimmy moved to comfort her, but reeled back in sheer self-loathing.

DO NOT DARE TOUCH MY CANARI-!

"HHH-!!!" Jimmy almost screamed, having suffered an auditory hallucination of Hawkes once again- was he actually free of the delusion, or was this some kind of traumatic after-effect?! And yet, his own trauma was damped loudly by the wailing cries from Alani, who continued to weep into her palms as streams of tears dripped down her arms and onto the table and her lap.

Fucking. FUCKING. Fuck. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUUUUUCK-!

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(Music: "To Be Alone", by Hozier)

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Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, I'm gonna fucking kill them if they stand in my way. They are nothing. Nothing. PEONS. PAWNS!

In the same time Jimmy was storming toward the CMO's office to have a 'strategic' meeting, a particular Chief Engineer was being lured to the aft airlocks in five minutes, to meet a very similar fate to Barnos. It was truly an oversight of whomever designed the ship to not account for the area that was right next to the airlocks- where things could be easily spaced to no one's knowledge. It shamed Jimmy immensely to admit it, but he had ample experience in finding the flaws in camera FOVs.

He arrived in front of the Medical Wing, texting the CMO he had arrived, and a moment later the door hissed open, allowing Jimmy to pass by the front desk and beeline straight for the CMO's office. He came upon the blue-colored blast door, pressing the button to signal arrival and finding this door to open as well. He walked in, viewing a well-decorated office with equal parts advanced blueprints of medical procedures and large landscape portraits of city lines and 1920s noir-aesthetic streetviews. It was a bit jarring, but Jimmy simply honed in on the 5'8", athletic-built, 32-year-old woman laying her legs on her desk and leaning backward in the padded chair she sat in, eyeing Jimmy with her hazel eyes through an orange HUD visor and a lit cigarette hanging lazily from her thin lips.

"Jimmy, I presume."

"You can call me James-"

"I'll call ya Jimmy."

Jimmy forced a smile, wanting to verbally lash out but having the self-awareness now to recognize when his narcissism was actively kicking in- a very useful skill for long-winded or confrontational negotiations. "Sure, whatever. You know what I'm here for."

"Aye, I do."

Jimmy and the CMO exchanged gazes, and Jimmy gestured with open palms and a twitch of the neck as if saying, "Well?"

"I want up-to-date equipment," The CMO began rattling off. "10% increase in my staff's salaries across the board, contract revisions and worker protections-"

"Jesus, do you want three hundred PTO days and maternity leave, as well?"

The CMO giggled, entertained by the quick-wit humor Jimmy seemed to exhibit at the drop of a hat. "It's an ignorant backward age we live in. I'm surprised, no offense, that a male like you knows what maternity leave is."

Jimmy immediately felt tears surface to his eyes and wiped them away, a mound of stress and guiltguiltguiltguiltguiltguiltguilt smacking him to and fro, ever-present the very moment he was incited to recall the past instinctively. The action, however subtle, was obviously noticed by the CMO.

"I won't dig further. Bailey, by the way." The CMO stated, having been oddly touched by the tortured disposition of this man on a clear journey to redeem... something. "Tell you what, Jimmy. I fuckin' hate this pudgy Italian fuckwad that's piloting our ship. Our medical bay was overloaded after that skirmish because of his shit maneuvering and incompetent command. He's a fucking glorified scum-ridden pirate that only got his title by pay-to-win. I'd be more than glad to see him dead- but I'm not gonna stick my neck or any of my staff's necks out to potentially die if this shit goes sideways. The only thing I can assure you is, if it looks like your side is winning... we won't be triaging any of the... chosen demographic, to put it non-treasonously."

Jimmy nodded, glad that this conversation was wrapped up nicely. He was beginning to feel as if he'd break down and lie shivering on the floor if he tried to stand on the same mental fortitude as this person right now. "Alright... sounds good."

He turned on his heel to leave-

"Jimmy."

He stopped in his tracks, glancing over his shoulder- more tears surfacing in his eyes. He was a wreck. And a CMO like Bailey could sense it from a mile away.

"What you're doing is... a scary endeavor. With the mental state you're in, I hope you have someone solid and reliable you can trust by your side. Just some advice from a veteran on this hopeless ship."

Jimmy nodded firmly, grateful for the advice. Wiping his eyes one last time, he proceeded out the door to fulfill his next-

Scum.

-He froze as the doors to the Medical Wing shut behind him. He had figured out now what was happening. Hawkes had physically and mentally beaten this ever-engulfing feeling of terror and organ-shredding guilt into him. Guilt turned to introspection- turned into humility, renewed appreciation, and insight.

He dropped to his knees, wrought with mind-drowning despair and agony. Why? Why?! Why did he have these revelations AFTER the fucking Tulpar?! WHY?!

Ignorance. Ignorance was the bane of his entire life- led astray by delusion and an inflated ego far beyond the pithy little boy he was. And yet, he knew in equal measure that fault laid with him. The acts he committed, the ones he failed to... they did not disappear with his resurrection. They were magnified.

I can't get lost in this sea of guilt. I have things to do. Goals to accomplish. People to rid from this universe, he thought with slowly-reforming composure. 

Beep, beep.

Jimmy brought up his holopad, reviewing a message sent by Rothman.

CE gone

Jimmy sighed in relief, taking pride in the news that the hit on Quzare had been done; with the one Head of Department aligned with Dino (aside from the Espionage Officer) taken out, the only thing left to do was start convincing the rest of the big wigs and by the end of this week, it was likely that Jimmy would be in position to execute the coup d'etat swiftly and mercilessly.

Renewing himself with reinvigoration, he stood up shakily and proceeded towards the cafeteria, where two Surveillance Officers were planning to speak with him.

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Fucking hell, what is this, a female-led industry?

Jimmy was thinking this both in frustration and anxiety as the two Surveillance officers sat before him; Tawny and Raynar, who'd both personally sent their messages of interest in speaking only a few days after Jimmy's coup of the Patrol Bureau. He entered the cafeteria, barely making eye contact with the hundreds of others moving about; Jimmy specifically removed the badge and insignia identifying him as the Head of Patrol (as badly as his ego wanted to wear it and strut around like a peacock), as he didn't want to attract extra attention when he was trying to orchestrate treason amongst the ranks. 

In the same timeframe Jimmy was attending this little meeting, Lox and Norm were orchestrating an 'accident', wherein the EVA Specialist Teila, aligned with Jimmy through heavy bribery, had geared up and ventured outside to feign 'witnessing' the frozen body of the Chief Engineer drift out into the depths of space, unable to be retrieved based on its speed. Lox was placing a half-empty bottle of liquor next to the airlocks to suggest non-sobriety, whilst Norm was causing a dramatic ruckus in the recreation complex by telling blatantly horrific and offensive jokes with a smirk on his face- to draw the attention of surveillance to the building conflict, and delay the Comms Division from reviewing the footage of the cameras near the aft airlocks.

This was where these two crucial figures came in. Once Jimmy had an 'in' with Comms, he wouldn't have to worry about avoiding the duplicitous number of cameras onboard the ship. Not only had he found out his murder of the officer beating Alani weeks ago was on CCTV, he'd found it was recorded on a number of hidden cameras that were incredibly small and placed in shaded areas for minimal visibility. It was, yet again, a miracle that the only two officers to have seen the footage live were the ones sitting across from him, feasting on microwaved ramen and instant noodles right before his very eyes.

Is criminal ascension supposed to be this easy? Jimmy pondered to himself. "You'll eat like kings for however long you're on this ship, if I win this 'contest'."

"Deal."

Both officers responded in unison, both offering to shake his hand and slapping the other's hand out of the way repeatedly to do so. Jimmy glanced with concern at these deceptive gluttons, wondering what kind of crew he was going to be leading when he inevitably reached the top.

"What led you two to join my little circus show?" Jimmy said, using derisive words and terminology to humble himself intentionally. With the new insight he had, looking back on the actions of his first life was like seeing his fifteen-year-old self dressing up as Julius Caesar on the first day of high school- except in this case it was murdering two of his classmates, mutilating a kid he'd handicapped, and violating another then causing her to commit suicide.

His revisits of memories were visceral, intense, and horrific. And he could not stop thinking about it when this DAMN GUILT refused to allow him to think clearly. The officers looked between each other as they noticed his visible attempts to restrain himself from breaking down.

"If you didn't kill Einer, we would have paid someone to. That pond scum was turning the prison into a horror show. You did everyone a service by taking him out as violently as you did." Raynar asserted strongly, showing her clear approval of Jimmy's actions.

"Facts!" Tawny stated boldly. "And you used Hannou to frame a fight with those jailbird predators?! I'm startin' to believe God sent you to this floating grave!"

Jimmy chuckled dryly, not particularly in the mindset to feel compared to a divine savior.

"I'm surprised you two know this much," Jimmy muttered. He was asking questions with obvious answers, to garner more information from these two and elicit a better understanding of their opinions of both him and how they would feel about his plan to coup. Only a few dozen people had knowledge of Jimmy's plot, out of the thousands onboard; and already that would increase the chances every second that the Captain would get wind of his schemes.

Tawny seemed more than happy to respond. "We're the only two assigned to a quarter of the ship. Dino doesn't want a lot of surveillance officers because he knows everyone's doing illegal shit, and he's profiting off of it, and he doesn't want the feds on Hannou to crack open the records and see what happened- so he's throwing out the whole thing right before he gets back. It's like a tradition at this point."

Jimmy nodded along happily, half-euphoric that this vital information was being vomited at him, and half-terrified he was being exposition-dumped only to get stabbed to death at the end of this conversation. "I... I see. Well, I don't want to waste your time, I'm glad we've come to a consensus."

Jimmy stood up and exited, his retreating figure followed astutely by the gazes of Tawny and Raynar.

"He's giving me 'Dexter Morgan rapist' vibes."

"Don't turn this into -Class of '09- dialog, please."

"What the hell is that?"

"You should look it up. You know, when someone drops a reference on you, you should... look it up."

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The next few days were a rush of meetings with different departments, regardless of their rank on the hierarchy. It somewhat worried Jimmy that word was traveling quite quickly between the departments on Jimmy's intentions; it turned him into more of a nervous wreck than he already was, having to handle the deluge of tasks that awaited him throughout this long week—oddly enough, he took it in far greater stride and competency than even the most basic tasks onboard the Tulpar.

Even the murders that would be unfolding over the next few hours were rather soothing on the mind. Compared to the sickening thought of forcefully shoving painkillers down his best friend's gullet- the cold-blooded, gruesome ordering of hits on a few key individuals who kept tabs for the Captain was almost like drinking water. There was no guilt associated with it; the delusions were gone, which meant critical thinking and long-term planning were far easier to produce in the mind; and most of all, the reinforced idea in Jimmy's head that he was brought back to life by a higher power solidified not only his conviction in carrying out his 'vision' of righteousness, but skyrocketed his already-insane confidence to new, unparalleled heights.

It was the only conceivable conclusion as to why this former(?) horse-obsessed degenerate ever had a chance in this massive pond of devils and demons.

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(Music: "Blockbuster Night Pt. 1", by Run The Jewels)

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"Do you want to do it?" Raynar asked Tawny, who gladly took the combat knife from Raynar's hands, her eyes shining with unhinged wanton violence. "I'm not good with, uh, first-degree murder."

"I'll take it off your hands," Tawny replied sinfully, pushing open the cabin door to the Chief Espionage Officer's quarters. He turned around on his swiveling chair, curious then paling in horror as he saw Tawny and Raynar rushing him like pack wolves. 

"WHAT THE FUCK-?!"

He tried to grab for the radio to call in help, only to get tackled by Raynar and restrained as Tawny jutted the knife into his gut repeatedly with sickening, devilish euphoria that only certain minds could gain enjoyment out of; splattering the small room with fountaining blood and spurts of gore across the floor and consoles.

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"Scalpel." Namo called out to Edna, his nurse, who quickly handed him the surgical tool with latex-gloved hands. He grabbed it and began the incision into the upper chest area of a Hannou corpse laid out on the operating table before him- performing an autopsy as the cause of death was undeterminable from exterior observation alone.

"Hemostat." He requested, Edna reaching onto the surgical tray and handing him the tool, which Namo used to clamp nicked vessels during the incision.

"Retractor." He snapped quickly, and Edna took the retractor from the tray and placed it in Namo's hand, immediately prompting him to slowly work it under the folds of the skin and pull the flesh back. Edna heard the sound of quieted footsteps and turned her head.

"Bone saw." Namo snapped his fingers. Silence. "Bone saw! Edna-! OH FUCK!"

Namo stumbled backward in horror as Edna was stuck in the gut by a knife; held for a moment by CMO Bailey, before she wrenched her knife out of Edna's gut and let her fall to the ground in a bloody mess. Nurse Idra was duelly present in the room, carrying a pristine scalpel of her own that she spun between her fingers like it was second-hand nature.

"What the FUCK are you doing, Bailey?!" Namo sputtered, tears running down his eyes as he foresaw his death in the next few seconds. "Don't-!"

Sst-!

Namo cried out in pain, and then immediate horror as his eyes followed the spurts of blood shooting out from his sliced carotid artery. He attempted frantically to apply pressure, hyperventilating as the reality of the deathly situation closed in on his mind. He felt a horrible mixture of betrayal, rage and terror as he saw Nurse Idra wielding the bloody scalpel like a toy in her hands. Consciousness only lasted for a few more dozen seconds, seeing Idra's brutally indifferent expression and Bailey's underlying indignation.

"Your nurse here been OD'ing my patients," Bailey scorned him, wiping the blade of her knife on the edge of the operating table. "And you've been hiding Dino's hits. Right under my nose."

Namo stumbled and crashed against the back wall, sliding slowly down to the ground and leaving spurts of crimson brushing across his portion of the room; a morbid, visual ballad of his final moments alive. Bailey rounded the table and knelt down, glaring him down in his hazy eyes.

"You can die now. A little faster, please. Yes. Like that. Thank you."

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Rothman and a small team from PB (Patrol Bureau) were hiding amongst the shady and dim-lit corridors near the aft airlocks- where Quzare had been framed and officers commissioned by Captain Dino personally were sent to investigate the matter of a Department Head aligned with Dino suddenly expiring randomly.

"Stay on your toes," Telfrey relayed to his partner Security Officer, Saxna. "There might be a takeover underway."

Saxna paled in the face, glancing frequently over her shoulder with rising panic as the words registered in her head.

Takeover underway.

"A-And," Saxna muttered fearfully, pulling up closely behind Telfrey. "You're sure that... this is happening right now?"

"No coup takes place in one day," Telfrey snarled unreasonably at Saxna, stressed beyond capacity as the smell of an incoming bloodbath lingered in the air; a kind of sixth sense that a vigilant, veteran leader would know if they weren't always lounging in the upper decks of the Aurora. Still, money was money; and Captain Dino paid his enforcers well to quell these kinds of plots. If he could get some visual confirmation of treason, he'd radio in confirmation and have the entire Military Garrison swarming the area in minutes. The only reason he wasn't doing it now was simple- if he was wrong, or didn't have evidence, any coup that was happening immediately became far more probable as people would now be incensed to get revenge for the tyrannical beating of their persons and ransacking of their private quarters.

"Sax, watch my back, we're sticking to the outer walls as we approach aft airlocks, in view of the cameras. If anything should happen, we'll have the entire ship up in arms within seconds."

"Wh-!" Sax muttered in terror. "I-I don't want to be bait! I don't wanna fuckin' die!" She cried out, tears streaming down her reddening face; a relatively new recruit on the vessel who was caught up at the worst possible time.

SHICK! "A-AAAAAUGGGHHH!!!!!"

Saxna crumpled to her knees, incapacitated by a makeshift bolt puncturing into the lower left area of her back and almost tearing a hole in her liver. As Saxna screamed and fell writhing to the ground, Telfrey only had time to look back before two Patrolmen turned the corner and stuck him with knives in multitudes, letting him drop to the floor in a bloody mess. Saxna screamed in pure horror, watching in helpless agony as the blooded, knife-wielding Patrolmen turned cold-blooded eyes on her, advancing with murderous intent-

"Hold on!"

Saxna fell silent with wide eyes, shuddering as rivulets of tears tore their way down her paling face in what she believed to be her final, gruesome moments. A 6'2" fair-skinned Patrolman entered from the rightmost periphery of her vision, looking her up and down curiously. 

"Heard you hail from a family of diplomats," The individual rasped, eyeing her continuously. "That true?"

Terrified but looking to survive the encounter, Saxna nodded her head feverishly, and Rothman nodded in satisfaction. "Good. My friends here will escort you to the Patrol Bureau, and you'll keep your mouth shut the entire way. We have need of your services, and the payout is more than worth it."

Saxna tried not to sob, nodding frantically to stay alive- it wasn't as if she had any more choice in the matter.

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(Music: "MARK - Emrygul Remix", by SHAHMEN)

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Beep, beep.

Jimmy didn't even have to pull up the holopad to know the hit jobs were finished. Sat in the breakroom alongside Alani, he tapped his foot in excess stress, knowing that the more bodies he stacked, the faster this scheme was going to get uncovered; and with a lot of 'neutrals' onboard, he couldn't take chances betting on their joining him against Dino just yet. Not until-

Hsssssshhhh.

Here he arrived. The key player. The alloyed door to the room hissed through its hydraulics, opening up and revealing Syeong with an individual from Robotics behind him, who walked in while surveying the breakroom with an idyllically-noir look about him. A 5'11", tan-skinned male with a stocky physique who looked to be in his late 30s with a beauty mark below his left eye and a horizontal scar across his right eyebrow, accompanied by a foxy smirk and mischievous look in his lavender irises. He wore a set of copper dog tags around his neck, paired with a dark purple tropical shirt and grey slack pants tucked into black military boots. 

Jimmy had heard plenty about this character, Deeno Olpharios, days before this meeting would take place. A programmer with a natural inclination and expertise in hostile takeovers of operating systems and sensitive data, Deeno's skills would be most useful to Jimmy in the coup; whilst Jimmy's agents would be cleaning house with the Captain's backers, Deeno would be overriding door-lock mechanisms, hard-breaching protected archives within the Aurora's servers, and generally tearing apart the various security networks of the ships then rebuilding them with far sturdier, pen-tested security software.

"Nice place," The second-generation Hannou remarked humorously, a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth; seemingly devoid of that subtle, brimming hatred underneath the skin that most Hannou exhibited as a result of Canaris-inflicted hostility passed down through the ages. He moved around the room rather loosely, as if entirely unbothered by the strangers before him, before taking a seat next to Jimmy and Alani, who eyed him with their own calculations in mind. "Ghyun told me you wanted a 'favor', per se."

Jimmy glanced at Alani before moving his arms onto the table, getting comfy to make his proposition. "I've heard word that you're one of those 'Black Hats'. Is that true?"

The casually dressed employee from Robotics took a drag from his cigarette before removing his from his mouth and blowing a cloud of smoke to his side, eyeing Jimmy rather disdainfully. "All of five seconds in this room, and you can't bother for pleasantries?"

"With the kind of plan we have in mind, no that's not something we can oblige everyone."

The tan-skinned individual snickered, taking another drag from the cigarette.

"Well, you'll oblige me. I'm one of your 'key' pieces, yeah? Bet you don't call all your clients in for these little one-on-twos. So oblige me with some pleasantries, or find another Black Hatter on this floating Little Italy."

How about I use you, then space you out of the fucking airlock when I've finished my takeover? Jimmy thought spitefully. "Fine. James." He stated, jutting out his hand for an honest shake. The Black Hatter eyed his hand briefly, puffing from his cig before throwing his right hand forward and clasping it firmly against Jimmy's.

"D-Note. And if you wanna be taken seriously with this upcoming 'merger' you got in mind, stick with what people know you as."

"Right..." Jimmy muttered. "And I guess 'D-Note' is your government name?"

D-Note chuckled. "It's the pitch I speak at. Sometimes nicknames are dumb as shit, not much you can do 'bout it. Anyways. Up for a game of Blackjack?"

(Above art credited to @rabstergabster on Instagram)

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Before Jimmy could protest, Alani jumped on the opportunity to his shock. "Best of 1."

D-note nodded with a grin, pulling out a set of cards from his coat pocket and placing it neatly on the table, dealing two face-up cards to Alani (7, 6), Jimmy (King, Ace), and himself (Queen, 4), placing one card face-up and one face-down in the center of the table.

"Got a 21 already, eh? You've done a pretty good job at moving this coup along more quickly than anyone I've seen before," D-Note complimented Jimmy, analyzing his cards before calling 'hit' and pulling a card from the stack.

Ace of Spades

Deeno smirked at his luck, placing it face-up next to his 4. "But, uh, from my observations, you've been showing your hands a little too much."

Jimmy, disinterested entirely in the card game, flicked his eyes up at Deeno with slight loathing, but nonetheless open to hearing the flaws in his framework. "In what ways?"

Deeno looked to Alani, waiting for her to make her call on her cards. She called 'hit', and Deeno drew the next card from the pile, placing it in front of Alani's set:

Eight of clubs

"Another 21," Deeno muttered, seemingly becoming more invested in the game as it went on. "I'm sensing some divine luck from this side of the table."

Jimmy forced a half-smile, unamused with the drawn-out interaction and time this was taking. Deeno stared over his set, returning his gaze to Jimmy. "Several people have died in the last few days, that's the biggest indicator. Your cronies have been seen and heard by quite a few hundred people by now. You ascended to power rather quickly because the last Warden had 'miraculously' gotten shanked to death by a bunch of prisoners. It doesn't take a rocket scientist. The only reason you're not lying in a puddle of your own blood right now, is because the Captain's in a deep depression over the recent battle loss and you've had miracles line up for your ascension one after another."

 Alani kept her eyes trained like a predator on Deeno, narrowing and widening her eyelids as if visibly dissecting Deeno's nonverbal actions down to the basic building blocks.

"Looks like you're the only one left who has to get above the dealer's value." Alani concluded, lounging back in her chair and watching Deeno closely to try and pick him apart. Deeno's eyes traveled toward the house's card set; The face-down card was unknowable, the face-up card was a Queen.

Shit, He thought in resignation. I have to hit or I'm fucked.

He tapped the table as was traditional in Blackjack card games, signaling his intent to 'hit', pulling the next card from the stack and laying it next to his current set:

Ten of Spades

Deeno sucked in through his teeth- 25. He had busted and lost the round. Jimmy and Alani quietly high-fived each other under the table. "Well, I suppose that settles it." He stated.

"What?" Jimmy inquired. Deeno gathered the card stack, tucking it into his coat pocket. "Settles what?"

"I'm in. Seems like the divine wind, proverbially speaking, is blowing in your favor."

Jimmy didn't want to say 'That's all it took?', but-

"That's... that's really all it took for you to hop on the bandwagon?" Jimmy muttered. Deeno flashed a shiny grin, his onyx ear piercings glinting momentarily in the haphazard lighting of the breakroom.

"It's a lot simpler than listening to you yammer about your whole mastermind scheme and wondering if you're a good bet or not. When the cards or die decide, that's fate speaking. In an age like this, especially? That's a philosophy I'll double down on. With the luck you seem to have consistently, I think you'll be a better payoff than spending the rest of my years rotting on this vessel coding drones and soldering circuits."

Jimmy's eyes briefly flicked to Alani, before settling on Deeno and nodding his head. "Uh, well, so be it then. There's a few things I need you to do because we're about to rally some important big wigs in the Starboard Lounge..."

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(Music: "Sympathy For the Devil", by The Rolling Stones)

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A few hours later, most of the Department Heads were gathered in the Starboard Lounge, at the request of a rapidly ascending figure among the ship's crew; their consent only given after they had the guarantee that Surveillance officers loyal to Jimmy would be monitoring the Lounge and its surrounding corridors. Along with the Heads of Departments were many of the people who were aligned with Jimmy and Rothman, attending to hear how this coup would be unfolding. Confirmation of the essential departments being onboard with this was enough for a coordinated effort to take place, and so the dozens of attendees idled around nervously, still anxious that they were about to initiate a takeover and potentially lose their lives, or suffer much worse fates.

The most important figure here was Mons Lanicaster, the Assault Captain of the Aurora and direct commander over the Assault Squads. If he didn't align with the coup, even if Jimmy got every other department onboard, they were fucked from the start; he who controlled the military, controlled the power structure.

Mons was idling at the front of the crowd, flanked by four of his most apt fireteam members and surveying both Jimmy and Rothman with cold, half-open eyes; a startling 6'4" in stature, built like a tank, fair-skinned with a short blonde buzz-cut and sculpted facial features emphasizing his stoic yet grim expression. 

Rothman was more than a bit anxious; their life or death was hanging in the balance based on Jimmy's persuasive abilities and the Assault Captain's openness to betrayal.

"Thank you for attending, Mons." Jimmy obliged the Assault Captain with a welcoming introduction. "And the rest of you, as well. I have done my research, as you can tell- which is why I've managed to wrangle all of you into one room together!"

A light chuckle passed through the crowd, which Jimmy allowed to pass before resuming his speech. In the back of his mind, he was thinking to himself, How is it possible that I have gone from a stumbling, faltering anti-socialite to an eloquent, outspoken, and witty personality? Has my prior mental illnesses impaired these gifts of mine this terribly?

"I know of the feuds between your various departments," He continued speaking, changing the inflection, pitch, and intensity of his tone based on the changing subjects in his speech. "And I am more than aware that my tenure onboard this ship is dust compared to however long many of you have served onboard."

He paced back and forth on the elevated stage granted to him for this little speal, his eyes darting to the CCTV cameras scanning across the room; placing trust in the Surveillance Officers to keep them in discrete secrecy. As it was the dead of (solar) night, it was unexpected that anyone would be raising alarms over the Heads of Departments not being at their offices.

"But I have little doubt as to why all of you chose to come here tonight," Jimmy insisted, scanning his gaze across the room to try and read the expressions of those in attendance- his attention paid most to Mons, who seemed inclined to listen more to Jimmy's proposition in detail. "The Captain of this ship... is incompetent. The leadership is not up to par with the employees they have authority over."

The rabble whispered and glanced amongst themselves, as if speaking more at near-silent length about the topic at hand. Jimmy did not let the issue settle.

"Was the recent escapade not proof enough? The failed takeover of the Argonaut- now, whether or not you believed that was a good tactical decision... I'm sure many of you agree with the claim that the Captain performed poorly in carrying out the plan."

The crowd was silent, nonverbally agreeing or stoically unmoving whilst Jimmy delivered his precise oration. "So then, the solution seems simple. Everyone's here. His... associates within the ranks aren't an issue, and I know none of you had attachments to them. So the only question remains: Do you have the stomach to rid the ship of its last waste?"

Jimmy kept the speech short, simple, and to the point- as he had been instructed by Rothman. If he had gone on for minutes on end about facetious matters and trying to appeal to their emotions, it wouldn't have ended in his favor. No, according to Rothman the battle was already won the moment they entered this meeting area; all that remained was to confirm the objective of this discourse and the desired outcomes from the Heads of Departments.

"I'll be the first to lodge my demand," Mons stated coldly, his gravelly tone echoing through the spacious Lounge with tinged authority and stained bloodlust. "I want decision-making power when it comes to boarding maneuvers and deployments. I'm not gonna send my crew to die needlessly anymore."

Jimmy nodded. "I don't see a problem with that. It's your control, should be your choice by right. The rest of you feel free to make your requests now, before we fully commit."

Mons nodded in return, appreciating the granting of the request. "Then me and the rest of the squads are onboard. There's a few scum-shit officers being paid by Dino to keep tabs on my boys and girls, I'll be glad to rid them from my company permanently."

"Speaking of which," interjected Jade Nautica, assistant researcher to Miroslavka, Head of Research. "Do you have a planned date for this whole thing?"

Jimmy grinned, interlacing his fingers as he announced the desired date for takeover.

"Tomorrow."

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One day later...

Vane and Parill changed from their casual clothing into their military outfits as the day began, getting ready for their routine patrols across the Aurora as was the norm. The only thing both of them had to look forward to was the end-of-day bonus they got for acting as inside informants for Dino to ensure the Assault Squads of the Aurora remained loyal to the Captain, free of treason or mutinous mutterings.

"What's the score currently?" Vane asked, referencing a very popular soccer game happening between two galaxy-acclaimed teams competing on Nova Terra in the bi-yearly SOLIFA (Solar Football Association) soccer games held on various planets every 2 years- this year, it was currently being held on the first-world planet of Biralya.

"4-2." Parill replied, pulling a white sleeveless T-shirt over his torso as his eyes were glued to the holographic television screen projected from the H-DTN device sat on the footlocker next to their bunkbed. "Grand Aldebaran is up 2 but Solinaris has been catching up-"

Slam!

The two of them suddenly jerked their heads as a band of fireteam soldiers stormed into the room, knives in hand; and immediately Vane and Parill knew what was happening. They tried desperately to scramble for their equipment and bolted, but their exits were cut off by more soldiers, led by Captain Mons, who stormed into the room to confirm their deaths as his soldiers swarmed the unfortunate duo and perforated them with sharp instruments until they fell twitching to the floor, dying or dead as quickly as they comprehended their own rapid demise.

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All throughout the Aurora, screams and wails of horror were heard and quickly cut off with the sound of gurgling or choking, then a deadly silence. By this stage of the coup, it had become aware to all those onboard, including the High Command, that a mutiny was in action, and alarms were raised; a bloody civil war was about to take place, and one side was overwhelmingly at a disadvantage.

SHICK! BANG-BANG! BANG! SHICK, SHICK!

The ship was in a horrifying state of pandemonium and absolute chaos; with the battle rapidly swinging in Jimmy's favor as those crewmates aligned with Dino were found, isolated, and killed in quick fashion by Mons' assault squads whilst those who were unknowing of the coup d'etat hid in their departments in fear and apprehension, waiting for the bloody purge to end. This wasn't a battle, so much as it was a series of assassinations carried out on the remainder of the ship which would not concede peacefully to the transfer of power.

"WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!" Captain of the Aurora, Dino Moretti, cussed plentifully and wrathfully, his neck bulging with veins carrying mounds of stress straight to his brain matter. "ROSSI, YOU SAID SID REPORTED NO ISSUES! DOES THIS LOOK LIKE NO FUCKIN' ISSUES?!" He raged at Rossi, his First Officer, as he gestured at the CCTV on his monitor showing the squads of Assault troopers moving from room to room, clearing the ship of Dino's supporters.

"I'll phone him right now, sir!" Rossi said apologetically and fearfully, turning to dial up Sidlon- even though he knew there'd be no response. Dino turned back to helplessly gaze in horror as he watched his power base crumble in the span of minutes. 

"Wh-What the fuck am I gonna do?! Oh, I know! I can request reinforcements from Sake and Pom! Fucking shit, why aren't the door locks activating? Why haven't I heard shit about any of this?! ROSSI, GET THE OTHER FUCKIN SHIP CAPTAINS ON-!"

Shick.

Dino choked, his eyes bulging and staring down at the serrated knife lodged into the side of his neck; faltering gaze moving up the arm of his assailant and settling on Rossi's face. He tried to communicate his outraged, adrenaline-induced cries of outrage and betrayal, but was unable to do so as his esophagus was cut in half by the impaled knife through his throat.

"Always yelling in my fucking ear, malnato rompi scatole," Rossi cursed him out with bared teeth. "Maybe now I'll finally get some quiet around here."

Rossi left the knife in Dino's throat, pushing his writhing body out of the Captain's chair and commandeering it for himself; enjoying the cushy feeling of an upgrade in pay well earned. He grabbed the radio transponder and tweaked the channel, radioing in to Jimmy.

"The Captain is dead. Mons is almost done. It's time."

"Alright. I'm heading up."

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(Music: "A Painting in Paris", by Arrested Youth)

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Jimmy, Rothman, Alani, Deeno, and a number of heads of departments and the High Command who were onboard with the coup gathered in the bridge, anxiously waiting for their communications to establish with the Eversor; vessel of Admiral Raaz Mawe, leader of the SCR Armada. 

"Wh-What should be the first thing I say?" Jimmy asked Rothman, who deliberated on Jimmy's question for a second while the heads of departments quibbled behind them.

"You need to immediately make it clear that you are loyal to Hannou. You'll start with, 'Hail, Lord Admiral.', then introduce yourself and make clear that you have, with the 'consent' of the majority, asserted command as the new Captain of the Aurora. Alright?"

Jimmy nodded, beads of sweat running down his face as he pulled on his collar and cleared his throat. "I-I got it. I got this."

Beep. "Connection successful."

Hearing the confirmation, Jimmy picked up the radio with clammy hands and thumbed the receiver button, taking one last gulp of confidence before initiating the conversation. "H-Hail, Lord Admiral."

Silence. It was a hair-raising few moments as everyone on the bridge awaited a response, their fears and anxieties magnified by the bloodied, dim-lit corridors and open chambers of the Aurora. Then-

"This is Lord Admiral Raaz Mawe. This doesn't sound like Dino."

"N-No, Lord Admiral!" Jimmy was quick to respond. "This is Jimmy Z- Holt. I have..." He quickly glanced his nervous eyes back to Rothman, who silently mouthed the next words Jimmy was supposed to say. "...I have gained the... 'con-sen-sus', of the ship's majority to lead."

Another long silence. Most everyone on the bridge was nearing the point of self-defecation out of sheer horror.

"So Dino's dead and gone, then?"

Jimmy froze, unsure of how to answer. Rothman simply took the radio from his hands and responded himself. "Yes, Lord Admiral."

A sigh emitted over the soundwaves. "Thank fuck. You can't do any worse than that useless cunt, but don't be a repeat offender. I have no more patience for fruitless deadweights. So who's the Captain, First Officer and Second Officer? This is the only information I care to know, for communication purposes."

Jimmy exchanged brief gazes with Rossi and Rothman; the former Second Officer, having been loyal to Dino, was killed; and thus a new position had opened up rather conveniently.

"I, Jimmy Holt, am now the Captain of the Aurora. My First Officer is Thomas Rossi, and my Second Officer is Rothman Monteila."

Silence, then the sound of shuffling movements. "That's that, then. We'll be at Hannou in just a few days. I'll be interviewing you personally and conducting a vast number of assessments, as is procedure, once we land."

Jimmy nodded, then realized the Admiral couldn't see his nonverbal agreement. "I understand, Lord Admiral."

"Then get the fuck off my frequency and start getting your shit together. Word is, one of our diplomats returned from the Magna Victoria and has some crucial information to share."

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(Music: "Succession", by Nicholas Britell)

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A few days later...

Oh, how good it was to be king.

Jimmy sat at the deluge of consoles before him, in a very comfortable Captain's chair and on a bridge full of bustling cadets, officers, and messengers. The day had come- they had arrived at Hannou, only a few minutes from orbit.

The bodies of those killed during the coup were dumped out of the aft airlocks of the massive ship on the same day as the coup's end, their bodies freezing and drifting perpetually into the abyss of space; given a permanent death barring the miraculous discovery of one of their body parts. The hallways were cleaned, the corridors refreshed; and the terrified crewmates who didn't partake or were partaken by force reassured of their safety and career ambitions; the vast remainder of the former Warden's treasury had been doled out to these scared-shitless crewmates to keep them from discontent and dissidence. Not that the former Warden's treasury mattered much to Jimmy anymore- he now had the equivalent of a weaponized palace and all the fortune within it under his control. Still, Rothman and Rossi were primarily responsible for administration and piloting of the ship, since that was their areas of expertise- Jimmy was primarily in charge of making the executive decisions and using his silver tongue in diplomacy and with his own crewmates when the necessary situations arose.

Meanwhile, the diplomat mentioned by the admiral had been on Jimmy's mind ever since it was first mentioned. He had privately contacted the Admiral after exchanging holopad unique identifiers to hear details on the news, and found out that supposedly the Argonaut was heading to Infernis Robotics Station to fend off a Remnant of the Terror. On the return trip, there was no doubt it would be heavily damaged from the encounter, and thus open to an easy ambush. 

Not only that, but the news that an even bigger swarm was closing in on Canaris bode even greater fortune for Jimmy- he wouldn't have to fear reinforcements being sent to assist Hawkes incase he got wrapped up in a secondary engagement. 

"Roth, come here for a second." Jimmy beckoned to Rothman- who was now dressed in a pristine white and red officer's uniform and beret. Rothman's gaze shifted toward Jimmy with skeptical curiosity, leaning down to hear Jimmy whisper.

"You know there's going to be issues when we confront the Argonaut- with the Canari among us."

Rothman nodded as a silent reply to Jimmy's assertion. It was miraculous that Admiral Mawe had stopped his sentence at 'The Magna Victoria' before clearing off the radiowaves, as that was enough for Alani to immediately begin prodding questions to Jimmy about what news he was talking about. Jimmy was forced to lie to Alani, stating only the news about how the Remnants were targeting both Canaris and the Infernis Station; making no mention of how the Hannou Armada planned to intercept the Argonaut on its return trip.

"How do you plan to break the news?" Rothman muttered to Jimmy. He could see multiple levels of emotion to Jimmy's expression; Wrathful pleasure; terrible sorrow; a sea of guilt; a burning core of pure selfishness. "Somehow, I have a feeling you're not going to give this poor woman the choice of knowledge."

Jimmy sighed, feeling nauseous that the first woman in his life with whom he'd felt an intimate relationship was now a direct obstacle in Jimmy's overarching plan to kill the Canari Tyrant and attain his own solidified power base. "Yeah. Some tough decisions are being made right now."

"If the Argonaut is indeed heading to Inferis Station," Rothman spoke. "They'll undoubtedly be bringing a few other warships with them. Even if they're heavily damaged after the fight, it's still going to be on roughly even ground."

Jimmy leaned forward on the console, deliberating on the next potential actions he could take for this upcoming fight; one that would determine the course of his life- or the abrupt end of it once and for all. "We could kill two birds with one stone here."

He jutted his thumb at the holo-projector button on the top-right of the interface panel. "Took me a while to understand the basics of this layout, but this button apparently projects live recordings to other vessels, for stuff like parlays, negotiations, hostage showcasing, all that jazz. I'm thinking we can use it to present the Canari onboard as 'hostages', then send them over in transport pods to the warships that will be reinforcing the Argonaut. We'll point out that the daughter of Hamoch Hyletta is aboard one of these transport pods, and that should be enough to keep them from firing recklessly on us. We'll use the wall of transport pods to land first shots on the Argonaut's most powerful cannons first, then send our boarding teams in while our ships focus fire its RMF generators."

"And, what? Do we just not fire on the auxiliary warships, then?"

Jimmy shook his head. "From what Alani told me, even if it's in the middle of a firefight, they always prioritize retreats to recover VIPs. Hyletta is Canari-born, so is his daughter, and they're one of the Ten Great Houses, or something like that. She's... guaranteed to be prioritized..."

Jimmy had to fight back the urge to sob. He found it intensely insufferable to have to coldly discuss the forced departure of his first friend onboard the Aurora. Even though it had only been a few months at most, Jimmy felt as if he'd bonded strongly with Alani. She was steadfast, unwavering, wrathful, and passionate, knowledgeable yet surprisingly playful. 

He was going to miss her.

"Let's get ready for Hannou," Jimmy stated, finishing the conversation. Rothman nodded, returning to his newfound duties.

"Aurora, come in."

Jimmy quickly took up the radio and replied to the Admiral's call-in.

"Captain Holt, receiving."

"Captain, we'll be landing in Sector C-4, let your bridge crew handle the landing, you'll stay over radio and provide updates every minute until landing is complete. Got that?"

"Yes, Lord Admiral."

"Good. We'll only have a week of rest while our ships are repaired, because we're launching an ambush on that fucking Argonaut as soon as they begin that return trip."

Jimmy nodded. "Aye, Lord Admiral. I'll get to briefing my crew, now."

"Do it, over."

The radio buzzed off, and Jimmy returned it to its placeholder.

Everything's coming together, he thought in a whirlwind of ambition and aching malice- the yearning desire to return the pain and suffering Hawkes had caused, back unto that self-righteous whore-born bastard.

The only thing Jimmy would regret from this entire ordeal... is that he'd never get the chance to see Alani once the final battle with the Argonaut commenced. But as of right now, staring down at his hands, feeling the constant brimming of absolute authority that washed over his body incessantly and unendingly-

Why. Stop. Now?

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(Art below credited to @rabstergabster on Twitter/X)

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(Artist is a real one for drawing this)

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(Portrait of J-Dawg, Post-Revival)

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(Portrait of Deeno "D-Note" Alpharios)

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[nixierain]

Alright poll time I will hopefully remember and find

Woah I havent showed you much of these, but a recap anyway about the and just an intro ig under the cut if you wanna learn more, feel free to ask questions too!!

DoveTech/LividMetals: Rival companies taking place in California, both majoring in robotics and experimentation. Lots of lore. Makn inspirations: Qualia Automata (Team 6x111) and FNAF. Yall should know about the Fritz family by now, I also got an rp blog for this at @dovetechandlividmetals

Bromind Deities: Bromind is one of my main worlds (2nd newest world as well), the deities were created by the Goddess light and split into two sections; The Astral deities and the Terestrial Deities. The Astrals being; Neptune, Void and Nebula and the Terestrials being; Myca and Fawn (theyre gay). They control over different things. And theres a hierarchy ofc!

Bromind False deities: This plot focuses on Siri (the False deity of the stars) and when she was rejected by Light for Nebula. Then Siri gets vengeful and with Voids help she makes a new hierarchy

Fumbling: Follows Liam and Mason's journey through Harkton Boarding highschool, and being gay they find friends with; Dereck (Drake), Dixie, River, Reef, Kayla and Addicus. Though since middle school our two mc's have been bullied by Mark and his friends. Though some things happen and everything goes askew, throwing thier whole life off balance. This is my gay story, and L and M were my first Gay characters (shocking aint it) I made them in 7th grade

Deadbeat Outlaws (DBO): This story follows two trouble makers, Zach and Craz. The lore has changed a LOT since when I first made it, though I kept the name. Its not fully completed and I don't know how much I want to change so I dont have much to put here

Hellena stuff: this has a LOT of lore and came even before Dragonopolis, like I grew up with this world cause its my lego world that got shaped into this. So the story would be one of many that are with the three heros, Nate, Flower and Nightshade. Nate and Flower have also been tied to DoveTech. But this would focus on their hecktic life of being hero's and going insane to the point where one goes evil and takes over, forcing the other two to have to save the lives, and a lot more!

11:11: Follows the story of a 14 year old girl with ADHD who wishes to not be bored one morning while she eats breakfast, this wish comes true and she gets transported to Trifullium and meets Fenn, the two have to work together to get Mayabelle (the girl) home, eventually falling in love in the process.

Everdollskin: my ragdoll world thing! And my most recent world I've built. Unsure of what part you want me to focus on, but itd probably be either Fargo and Evendor's story and Evan and Bens! Full lf twists and turns and of course Ragdolls and horrors, tears and all!

Apollo: Sooooo, Apollo is one of my newest Oc's, hes got a bunch of lore already though. So he's one of my Yandere's. I know he looks gay (people are arguing with me when I say hes "straight" sl we made a compramise and said he only likes one oerson and that happens to be a girl, and also ig hes bi) But he meets Mae and falls totally head over heels for her, but she... HATES him. Now join him in stalking his new found obsession and killing off anyone she dates!

[rjthirsty]

Mouthwashing Allegory for Armed Forces

Alrighty, guys, buckle up because I've got a lot to say. I'm even going to use the tiny text for this so I can get it all in without it being SO SO SO long.

First, I want to let y'all know what you're about to get into. I watched Mouthwashing last night, and at first I was taking the story for what it was. During the story, some parts made me feel very uncomfortable because of the similarities I saw in it with my time in the military, but surely that was just me being scarred for life from it. However, talking to others, more and more parts kept cropping up, and I've decided that Mouthwashing isn't about a dystopian future where capitalism ruins everything it touches (we're already there) but instead a way to talk about the horrors and stress brought on by joining the armed forces.

I'll be dropping most of this under a cut, but if you're interested in my thoughts, I've got a lot to say.

For those that have played or watched the game, you know we're taking through a series of events both before and after the crash of the Tulpar, the Pony Express' long-haul freighter. The story can get confusing due to the many changes of POVs, and the time changes back and forth. If you followed, we're taken on a journey where we get to play literally the worst crewman on that ship, and his good friend who feels responsible for his actions.

Jimmy, at some point before the game, rapes Anya, causing her to get pregnant. He finds out not long later that they've all been fired, this last mission is their last haul. Face-to-face with no future, he attempts to kill himself and take the entire crew with him. For some reason, he changes his mind now that they've survived the attempted death trap, and we get to see him become more and more unstable as the story continues and stretches into 5 months after the crash.

That's one hell of a story. The addition of several body horror and horse related horrors crop up again and again as some sort of theme in Jimmy's madness, and while humorous and incomprehensible, I think there's a lot more that can be said about what these horrors stand for than taking it as face value.

Personally, I thought the game leaned too hard into the gore and shock value, and didn't fully explore the depths of fear, betrayal, helplessness, and futility that could have been delved into if they had gone with a more reliable narrator. But that's my own thoughts, and for what it was, the game has been a smashing success.

However, I want to talk about how this game can be seen as a metaphorical parallel to war and military. Yes, we're getting into the serious stuff now. If I put Mouthwashing under that lens, Jimmy's actions tell a different story-- everyone's actions tell a different story of what it's like to be part of a squad sent far away from familiar rules and customs, and the stress all of that can lead to.

First, we're bombarded by the companies propaganda. So much of it. A ridiculous amount of it that doesn't seem to be as plentiful as we saw in the first few minutes of the game. Curly, the ship's captain, rushes through the halls, feeling the weight of his responsibilities piling up as the ship burns, eventually leading to Polle (the Pony) attacking him (in his imagination) leaving him an incapacitated mess of a man.

It was the first sign that something was not quite right with Curly, but we didn't know who we were at the time. He has similar psychotic breaks that he strolls through as if they're the most common thing the in the world. His good-natured attitude might be genuine, but he certainly isn't mentally well. He takes on the responsibility for his group as his own, which is an iconic example of military structure. Whatever his group does, he's responsible for. It is his failure if someone fails.

Throughout the game, we are told that everyone is punished for one person, and given examples of seeing it work. This is another key component of military structure. "You're only as strong as your weakest link." Work together, make each other better, or you will all burn together. People to Curly with their problems, and he tries to fix them. That's his job. That's his responsibility. Even when Jimmy becomes captain, he takes on that responsibility - another military structure that command goes to the next highest in line, not the most qualified.

Suddenly, I'm looking at this game as a "what if they were sent into another country?" Maybe not a warzone, but a post that is nearby. Space is dangerous. They had an accident that left them stranded without contact from their people. All these safety protocols (that once again resemble military procedures) meant to keep them safe, but ultimately matter for nothing because they can easily be bypassed if one thing slips out of place. The 'well-oiled machine' seizes from an unexpected disturbance.

I think it's notable to mention that Tulpar is a mythical flying horse in Turkish mythology, yes, like a Pegasus in Greek mythology. That's the ship's name. A flying horse. That's also the name of a Turkish heavy infantry fighting vehicle. Coincidence? I think not. This is really looking more and more like it was intended to be the allegory I thought. Not to mention that when they were complaining about adding a fifth crew member for this HUGE ship only designed for four people... Guys, how many people do you think typically fit inside a tank? An average of four. Yes, it CAN fit five, but most often runs with four.

Curly also says in another game by the same group that he was the reason Jimmy joined. Said something about "good pay and only needing to put in a few years." Then he said that it was someone else's words, words that had worked on him. If that isn't the BIGGEST most common military recruiting method, I don't fucking know what is. Put a few years in, you'll even get paid, set you on a better life. Except you're not taught any skills that will get you anywhere when you're done. And if you've committed crimes (i.e. raping someone), well, you get nothing AND get punished.

We can even talk about the reasons the other crewmembers were on the ship. Daisuke was sent there by his parents, his mother believed he needed a "stricter" environment or he'd waste away his life. (Military.) Anya was promised training and money so she could attempt to get into medical school. (Military.) Swansea tried to get his life back together after being an alcoholic for a long time. He got "a real job" and did all the stuff to maintain the ideal family-man lifestyle. We can put that under military as well.

Ah! There's so much more I want to say, but this is already getting long. Maybe I'll make a second post.

[flightfoot]

So I've been thinking about this poll by @rolo-potato, which at the time of writing this (less than a day into a week-long poll, but there are enough responses at this point that I doubt the overall conclusion of it will change much), has the ace spectrum as being Miraculous fans most common sexuality. I hadn't really expected that, given how heavy it is on the romance.

But then again, I'm ace myself, and I love the show, and I love the shipping in the show. The amount I'm invested in the couples is actually pretty unusual for me, I'm normally fine with a wide range of ships and tend to gravitate towards canon ones since those usually have the most textual support. When it comes to fanfics though, I'll often seek out the gen fics specifically, because while I'm fine with romance being included in a story, it rarely carries the story by itself.

But Miraculous has been different, and it's something I noticed even before this poll reminded me of that fact. The romance makes sense on a level that most other media doesn't for me - for most other media, I think of the pairings as being just a part of the story, an in-universe thing, but it doesn't usually connect with me on that deeper, more relatable level, because I haven't had that kind of depth of experience personally.

For Miraculous it's different. The romance doesn't just connect to me on a story level, but on a more visceral level somehow? Like when I watch the show, I can actually put myself in Adrien's and Marinette's shoes and get the way they're so head over heels for each other in a way that doesn't normally happen for me, even in well-written, well-built-up romances like between Percy and Annabeth in PJO, and Luz and Amity in The Owl House. I'm not even sure how to explain it fully, because I wouldn't say that the Lovesquare is better written than Lumity is, yet there's something about it, with the way it's presented, that hits me more deeply.

I do think that seeing the different ways Adrien and Marinette interact helps with that. I mean, they've got four distinct relationships with each other, and two of them - Adrienette and Ladynoir - are particularly important and common. For the first four seasons of the show, those relationships are also platonic on one side and romantic on the other, giving both Adrien and Marinette both the overwhelming attraction and secure friendship to each other, but in different ways. It helps that both their superhero and civilian sides, and the relationships between them, ARE true sides of themselves, so we see them get to be close in all these different facets that are still themselves - it's not just "oh this is a romance relationship, this is a platonic relationship" - it's both at the same time.

I'd like to ask other Miraculous fans on the ace spectrum what about Miraculous is special to them though, see whether they can articulate things better. But for me, Miraculous, and the Lovesquare especially, give me a sort of vicarious romantic experience that I just don't get normally.

[aahsoka]

Vaginismus girls rise up!!! But seriously, reading your tags on that poll made me feel like I’m not alone ♥️

sorry I never answered this but glad to help u feel less alone!

I haven’t been formally diagnosed w vaginismus but I have enough problems re: vaginal penetration (whether with sex, tampons, the gyno, toys, etc) that I assume it’s either that or something similar and I know its a common problem for a lot of folks with vaginas, especially those like me who grew up in a high demand religion with an intense purity culture. And sometimes I think there are just a lot of us who still havent fully figured out how our pelvic muscles work in relation to our vaginas and no one has been particularly helpful in explaining it (like I have only recently learned what it feels like to genuinely relax those muscles and it took me a while considering I’ve had these my whole life yknow).

The first time I tried tampons when I got my period at 13 it was extremely mentally distressing to the point that I avoided using them at all until very recently. I still struggle to insert them comfortably so I tend to avoid them unless absolutely necessary (like if I wanna go swimming etc). So I just feel like its really ……… awful to be so judgmental about people preferring pads. I understand someone preferring tampons/cups bc they find pads uncomfortable but the thing about avoiding tampons (or cups) is it can be related to a very real medical condition whether its vaginismus or pelvic floor dysfunction, etc, that requires treatment. And shame very much does not help people with vaginismus overcome it.

Just. We still have a long way to go. And putting people down for their menstrual product preference just doesn’t help. Sometimes people use both at the same time! We should be holding hands emoji about how much it can suck to menstruate in general or how expensive all period products can be lol

And also if someone doesnt wanna use a tampon, they most likely arent gonna wanna use a cup. Recommend reusable/washable pads or period underwear if you’re talking more environmentally friendly options to someone who prefers pads. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 224

Thank you, everyone, for your patience with this being a day late. You are all so awesome and amazing, and make me smile in a huge way, no matter how big my day is. This week’s shout outs go to: @jaden5oo, @the-crushr, @chip5-0, @themightywookie, @walvens, @lord-of-floof, @generouslyandrogynousdragon, @slime-wizard, @benbasscom, and returning champions @dierotenixe, @mustachebatschaos, and @generalperfectionbread.

Whew!

As always, shout out to my beta-reader, @baelpenrose!

“Poll is up,” I sighed heavily. “Joy of joys.”

Tyche flicked open her datapad while scooping up some soup with the other hand. “I would think you of all people, Miss Pacifist, would be thrilled with the idea.”

Charly nodded and shifted to tuck one foot under herself. “Besides, it’s not like your office has to dig through the results or anything this time around.”

Two quiet thunks accompanied my and Tyche’s flat stares as we dropped our spoons.

“Ohhhhh.” Shrinking slightly, she focused more on her food. “Whoops.”

I shook my head and resisted the urge to chuckle. “I can’t figure out if I want a lot of ideas or none at all,” I admitted. “The fewer there are, the less we have to sort through, but the more depressing it gets.”

“Too many and we’ll be working around the clock to get them all parsed,” Tyche agreed. “That wasn’t fun with the med school shit, and it will be even less fun with this.” She froze, a spoonful of potato and carrot halfway to her mouth. “Or not…”

Panic briefly set in and I frantically pulled up the poll to look at it more closely. One week time frame, check. Function in place for group submissions - Grey and Huynh had insisted on that one, thankfully - check. Requirement that they pass the test that would only be available after Simon’s pre-recorded lecture, check. “I don’t see it,” I insisted, scrolling up and down frantically.

“That’s because Xio and Pranav got super-secret secret-squirrel on us,” she responded. “Third paragraph.”

“Anyone voting against the current proposal must submit a feasible counter-proposal, so on, so forth…. Whoa.” I zoomed in and reread it a few times to confirm. “They have to submit a ‘complete and fully fleshed out proposal’... That wasn’t originally part of it. They just had to have a feasible concept.”

“That tracks,” Charly nodded. “Xiomara and Pranav have the most experience working with bureaucracy, so they don’t want the heavy lifting left up to the Council.”

I had to concede to her point. “I just don’t like that it wasn’t mentioned in the meeting that the stipulation would be added. Not like we would have said no, just… It feels sneaky, and after everything we’ve done to be as transparent as possible, it really makes me itch.”

“You agreed to let them be responsible for the release,” Tyche added. “I told you it would bug you to let anyone else release it.”

“We don’t exactly have a media relations department,” I argued. “So I couldn’t exactly stop them from doing it.”

Charly looked confused. “But, your office is de-facto, isn’t it? You always send out the updates and communications to the ship. Like, always.”

I prodded my pasta sullenly. “Something from Pranav about the coding required to link everything together so that no one could spoof anything. It was very technical and I only followed about eighty percent of it.”

Tyche rapped on the table to get my attention - and ended up getting the attention of several other people nearby. “Not you,” she waved at them before focusing back on me. “It’s out, you can fuss at them in private, but you said yourself that you wouldn’t have said no, right?”

“That’s not the - “

“It is the point,” she assured me. “Who else would have most definitely voted yes?”

“Grey,” I answered automatically.

At the exact same time, Charly just as firmly responded. “Huynh. He hates half-assed ideas.”

I pointed at her. “Exactly. Grey isn’t going to argue against anyone doing the mental leg work, even if they are wrong by the end of it.”

Tyche held her palms facing up and tilted her head at me. “That’s five votes, right there.  This isn’t even begging forgiveness rather than asking permission. This is ‘pretty damned sure they have the permission, they’ll ask for forgiveness if they get yelled at’.”

“But it’s sneaky,” I whined quietly. “We’re trying not to slip down that slope, remember?”

Charly just watched us like a tennis match, switching between me sulking at my food while Tyche propped her head on her hands and growled softly.

Lifting her head, my sister carefully inhaled through her nose and steepled her fingers at me. “Sophia. The Council is openly discussing contracting mercenaries to go on a suicide mission and destroy an entire fleet of Galactic Council police-soldier things.  And you are openly soliciting the entirety of humanity as far as we know for alternatives. You are my sister, and I love you, but I really think you are being unreasonable. You are nitpicking the fact that Pranav and Xiomara are doing us a favor and asking for really well thought out and somewhat provable ideas instead of opening our office up to reading the scripts of every Looney Tunes and Jackass episode ever created.”

“Don’t forget all the heist movies,” Charly added finally. “There were a ton.”

She pointed at Charly and added one final blow. “And Tom Cruise movies. All of them.”

My neck got hot and I started rubbing my collarbones to keep what little food I had eaten in its place. “I’ll talk to Pranav and Xio. And I’ll stop whining.” Unfortunately, at that moment my brain was apparently beyond my control. “Isn’t a week a bit of a short turnaround?”

“We can make allowances for proposals that are mostly there but missing the finer points,” Tyche ground out, gripping her spoon like she wanted to stab me with it.

I threw up my hands in defeat. “Okay, okay, I give up.”

She nodded firmly and re-gripped the spoon, going for more soup. I sighed in relief and she froze, glaring at me. Quickly, I shoved a forkful of food into my mouth to show I was shutting up.

Charly, however, was still fascinated by the interaction. “Sometimes, I’m shocked you two didn’t kill each other at some point.”

Lazily, Tyche gestured at me without looking up. “She was two feet taller than me and twice my weight until way after we quit living under the same roof.”

“She did stab me in the eye once,” I offered once I had swallowed enough food to talk around it.

“I was three, it was an accident, and it was paper!” Tyche retorted.

“Hush. I’m defending your badassness here, sheesh.”

Charly nodded. “It was a much cooler story before you gave the details, yeah. Although bonus points for stabbing someone with paper.”

Groaning, Tyche rubbed her forehead. “Full disclosure, I was trying to imitate her doing origami, and I was trying to show her, and it was a papercut, not a stab wound.  I don’t even remember her being mad at me about it.” Shaking her hands and making ghost noises, she mocked me. “Ooo, so scary… Watch out folks, it’s a toddler with paper!”

“Please tell me she’s kidding?” Charly begged me, looking like she was about to burst. “Please tell me that, for once, there is a story about your life that is ridiculous and also made up?”

“Nope,” I popped. “Entirely true. The universe has been conspiring to kill me for a very long time, and it is very bad at it, apparently.”

A mischievous grin told me I was going to regret confirming that. “I can’t wait to tell Alistair about this,” she gushed. “He will blow a gasket, just watch. I’ll get video, just in case. It will be amazing.”

“Oh nonononono,” I begged. “We’re not doing that. You already told him about the bunnies. And the time with the duck. And the boba tea - “

“No, he was there for that - “

“He wasn’t there the first time. Seriously, I am begging. There’s not even any paper products in my office or quarters. Do not tell him, or I will never be able to leave my quarters again. I can’t keep doing house arrest to save me from myself. It’s horrible.”

“Ugh,” she relented. “Fine. I forgot about the house arrest thing, and that was awful.  I will pretend this conversation about origami never occurred.”

“Ohthankeverything,” I exhaled.

“It really does cement that Tyche is incredibly dangerous, though.”

“Thank you, Charly!”

“House. Arrest. Please. No.”

“Fiiiiiiine.”

<<Prev       Masterlist     Next>>

[hupla222]

New Theory "Evidence"

With the conclusion of my poll I see most people don't agree. Which is what I expected frankly. It is a bit of a goofy theory. But I still feel the need to defend my thoughts so bare with me. Now I'm not saying this is proof its gonna be canon or anything. Of course not. Its unlikely but it would be neat if it was. This will most likely end up being adopted as an AU by me. Now for some ramblings about why I think Sidian and Amethio could be brothers.

First with appearances I admit they look very little alike. Their hair kinda crinkles similarly at the end and they both have white pupils (although plenty of Horizons characters do). But they do both resemble Gibeon in their own ways. With Sidian having his skin tone and face shape while Amethio has his hair (if that even is his hair). Plus they would both have white and a darker color in their hair, Amethio's is just more purple.

What gets me the most is their personalities. They both behave similarly, with some notable differences of course. They both act politely towards the crew, I think they've both called Liko miss at some point. They both tend to fight honorably without the use of dirty tactics as well. And what sticks out most to me is the way they both reacted the exact same to someone getting distracted during their battle (perhaps because they were raised the exact same way). Although I will admit Sidian can be a lot more rough but that may be why he's not Gibeon's favored child. He is a lot more combative as well but Amethio has had moments where he goes against orders as well.

Also some other minor things that are the same. Like they both have a fully evolved Paldean pokemon as their ace and then a tangentially related flying type in the back. Sidian's pokemon connected due to their rock typing and Amethio's because they are both covered in armor. They both have never smiled either and seem pretty serious most of the time.

I'd also like to note the Sidian is the only one of the admins who has never insulted Amethio. Like he agreed with him back in episode 27 and even stopped Coral from badmouthing him in episode 44 (although that could be just because she left her post, but she wasn't that far away).

That's all I've got so far since they've never directly talked to one another, but maybe there's a reason for that. I could see Gibeon raising them to hate and compete with each other. Anyway enough out of me, you've probably tapped out by now lol. Once again not saying this is what I think is going to happen, I just think it would be cool if it did.

[ultimateplaylistmaker]

Honestly I find transfem chihiro boring at best, transphobic at worst. (Dw I'm mostly chill with any genderfuckery headcanons, just setting down my expectations) It's stated in the ch2 post-trial that chihiro saw themself as a guy, they specifically died because they actively took the initiative to be more masculine.

I'm not going to yuck anyones yums over it, but my take away is that

chapter 2 is specifically about toxic masculinity and what it means to be a man especially in relation to strength, and I hate when people boil away all the nuance and go "mondo did a trans panic" which isn't what that phrase means and it isn't what happened in the slightest, like no! It was how men react to trauma and how the pressure of constant strength breaks men!

Dying while questioning is a very real trans fear, the tragedy in how Chihiro never gets to fully figure out who they are which I think makes the whole thing sadder, and I don't feel fully right deciding "100% a girl" 'or "100% a boy" when Chihiro never really got to make that choice for themselves, while obviously an unintended tragedy, its a very unintentional but poignant part of it all to me

Why does no one ever talk about nonbinary genders, maybe Chihiro is a boy AND a girl, maybe Chihiro is bigender, wouldn't that be a cool twist

and while if someone else is like "I see chihiro as a trans girl" im perfectly fine with that and often enjoy that content, its not canon, and trying to insist any other view is transphobic, is in fact, utter bullshit only backed up by fanon. Multiple opinions can be had and enjoyed at one time! I put Chihiro on both every time I do a gender split poll because if you don't think Chihiro's a girl you can vote for chihiro on the boy quiz, and then vote for someone else on the girl quiz and vice versa! It's literally being as inclusive as possible!