#please tell me you all know both the reference and the trend

[arrowheadedbitch]

Tim: Let's kill the horse

Dick: WHAT!?

Kon: We're so tired, wing!

Cassie and Bart nodding fervently on agreement behind them.

[gaymaramada]

Rise! Boys reacting to S/O using their full name:

Y’all know that tiktok trend where ppl were calling their partners by their first name? This is basically that.

Leonardo

He’s definitely caught off guard, physically recoiling when you say it, “Whoa?? Government name??”

He makes a few jokes about it but inside he’s genuinely nervous that you’re mad at him.

When you don’t stop, he immediately assumes he did something to upset you and begins to defend himself.

“Look, I know I’ve had to cancel our last few dates, but these villains are getting crazy! I’m not trying to avoid you, I just— how about we do something tonight, yeah? I promise I won’t flake out, okay?”

Is low key on his knees begging for you to forgive him.

He doesn’t even know what he’s apologizing for, poor thing.

He’s extra sweet to you for the rest of the day, going out of his way to compliment you, ask how you’re doing, care for you—

You two are out and he breaks into a full sprint to open a door for you that you won’t reach for another three minutes.

When you eventually explain it was just a trend, he gets super embarrassed but tries to brush it off.

“Oh. Yeah, yeah, I knew that. I was just playing along for the joke, heh. Duh.”

Donatello

Uh, no. He must have misheard you.

He does a full 180 at his workbench and all but yanks his goggles off his eyes, “Pardon, what did you just call me?”

He’s almost offended because that is not his name when you two are alone.

Hell, it’s not even his name when you’re not alone — it’s just Donnie.

He immediately abandons whatever he’s working on and starts typing up a list of all the pet names you two use with each other.

“As you are already aware, my terms of endearment tend to range from ‘dear’ to ‘darling’ to ‘my love’ in the majority of our interactions.”

“You often refer to me as ‘D’, ‘honey’, ‘love’, and — my personal favorite — ‘Einstein’. Never once in the length of our relationship have you ever called me by my full name.”

He’s petty about it because, in truth, he doesn’t know why it bothers him so much.

It’s just his name.

But something about the way you say it so casually just feels very wrong.

When you tell him about the trend, he’s even more perplexed.

“What kind of ‘trend’ is that? That is the lamest idea I’ve ever heard of. Please, for the sake of both our sanities, just call me Donnie.”

“… or Einstein. That’s good, too.”

Raphael

Oh, he is immediately worried and it shows, “Are you okay? Did… did I do something?”

The two of you use pet names religiously, so hearing you say all three syllables of his name is jarring.

He’ll ask you if there’s anything he can do for you and give you space when he thinks you need it.

Which would be very sweet if you were actually upset, but you’re not.

He misses being called ‘Raphie’ and ‘bubs’ and ‘sweetheart’.

Eventually he takes your hands and says, “I’m sorry if I made you upset, or if I’m just being dramatic, but… Raph loves you, and he just wants you to remember that.”

And that’s all it takes for you to cave in and tell him about the trend.

“Aw, honey, don’t do that to me! You know I get all worried about that kind of stuff. I’m glad you’re not mad at me, though — I was starting to miss your nicknames.”

“Sorry, bubs,” You say, and his tail is wagging immediately.

Michelangelo

He’s not too phased at first.

Like yes, that’s his name.

But then you keep doing it and he starts getting confused.

He doesn’t get why you’re doing it but he won’t stop you.

He does get a bit self-conscious after a bit, though, when it’s the only thing you call him.

He tries to subtly guide you into using nicknames throughout the day.

“Don’t worry, Mikey’s got it!”

“Hey, there you are! Your loving sweet potato made you some lunch!”

“Aw, come on Y/N! Could you say no to this cutie pie?”

Eventually, he’s had enough, and you find yourself in a stern confrontation with Dr. Delicate Touch.

When you explain that it’s just a trend, he immediately pulls back.

“Oh! That makes way more sense! I was starting to think you’d just forgotten all my pet names, or something!”

[rainbowsky]

GQ & ADLAD CPN

@accio-victuuri has a post about some of the CPN from the GQ feature on GG. There are a couple more CPNs that I wanted to talk about because - with the exception of a couple of tidbits - I haven't seen turtles talking about some things that really stood out to me.

Both of the tidbits being discussed by BXG are based on fake rumors from the past.

Godly Back

Turtles feel that the backless jacket might be what was referred to in the recent LRLG rumor (Apparently wangwang senbei can be a homophone sounding like 'godly back').

In this context, "You saw what I wore, can you please choose something normal" becomes hilarious. 😅

If he really was talking about GG's back, well... DD, the rest of the internet agrees with you given the hotsearch that was trending on both the main and entertainment hotsearches. 😅

Xiao Zhan's back ditch is so deep

GGDD and ADLAD

This one I wanted to dig more deeply into because it's connected to a few different CPN from a long time ago, and a lot of turtles might not be aware of all these connections.

In the GQ interview GG mentioned he was really nervous for the first performance of ADLAD.

At the time a LRLG rumor came out with some exchanges between GG and DD in the days leading up to that first show. GG talks about being nervous, DD and his staff video call him to wish him Jiayou, and at one point - presumably the last time they talk before that first show - DD video calls with GG and closes off by giving him a high 5.

The day after the first show, GG posted on Weibo.

At the time there was a lot of speculation about what that second photo was. One of the theories was that GG had screen capped DD's hand high-5-ing his phone. Some fans even tried doing that themselves (screencapping their hands up against their phone cameras to see what would happen) with somewhat similar results - photos that were an ombre of pale pink to red.

Some additional CPN

When I saw GG talking in GQ about the first ADLAD show and how nervous he was and I saw turtles looking back over the LRLG rumors from that time, I decided to look over those rumors myself. I found a couple things there that really hit me in the gut, but which I haven't seen other turtles discussing.

Magician DD

One thing that stood out to me from the ADLAD LRLG rumor was when DD told GG he could do magic, and told his staff that only GG believed him.

Back in 2021 a series of pages called the 300G were released, which claimed to be transcripts of some of the best unseen moments from The Untamed BTS (300GB of BTS footage was reportedly sold to BXG fansites). They were translated by an all-star team of some of the best BXG translators and overall fandom MVP on Twitter back in the day (god I miss those days of Twitter 😢).

Disclaimer: We must remember that these are unconfirmed transcripts. As far as I know, none of the footage that could substantiate these transcripts has ever been released, so it could just be someone's fanfic.

Anyway, my absolute favorite moment in those transcripts was an exchange between GG and DD, when GG had been struggling with nailing a scene. My synopsis from a post I made about GG and DD's personalities a while back:

GG is having a hard time getting a take right for a scene, and the director tells him to take a break. DD scoots over to where GG is resting and holds out his two fists facing downward in front of GG and asks him to pick one for a surprise. GG agonizes a bit over which one to choose, but finally picks a hand. DD gives GG a mysterious smile and asks GG to hold out his hand. GG does, and DD opens his fingers over GG’s palm. There’s nothing there. DD says, “I’ve just given you some luck, so that on your next take, you will succeed.” GG asks what is in the other hand and DD turns it over and opens it and says, “See, there’s nothing there! Zhan-ge is so good, you guessed right on the first try!” GG rolls his eyes at DD and says, “WYB, in your heart, do you think I’m more than 10 years old?” On the next take, GG nails the scene.

So it's just possible that DD and GG have a long history of this type of exchange, of DD giving GG his 'magical' support. GG is just superstitious enough that it might genuinely help him, and anyway, who could fail to be soothed by such sweet magic? 🥹

GG and Sleep

Another thing that stood out to me is when GG talked about being unable to sleep. Honestly this part of the interview really got me because I have always struggled with extreme insomnia and I could totally feel his pain. I've tried so many of the things that he's tried, and have had similarly mixed/poor results.

Anyway, aside from the aromatherapy candle CPN that's been heavily discussed in the fandom, what stood out to me CPN-wise was the fact that LRLG rumors have (I think this has happened at least a few times, but I can't recall specifics), featured moments where it seemed like GG and DD left their phone/video calls active to keep each other company when the other one was sleeping.

In the ADLAD LRLG rumor there's a moment when it seems like GG might be having difficulty sleeping and DD keeps him company.

Find someone who will keep you company over the phone while you try to take a nap. 🥹

Firecrackers

Just another quick thing from that same rumor, DD talks about wanting to set off some firecrackers for GG, which... ugh, so sweet. My god.

His staff encourages him to do it, and he says he will be 'taken away' if he does (maybe get into trouble, likely exaggerated a bit), and his staff says he'll cover for DD.

In Chinese culture (and in fact, in many cultures), firecrackers are considered very lucky because they are believed to drive away evil spirits and bad luck (which is why they're such a feature of Spring Festival celebrations).

GG and DD always look out for each other, and this CPN around ADLAD and around GG's sleep struggles really hit me hard. I love them both so damn much!

[dadsbongos]

can you make a Itadori x reader where reader is gyaru please? :]

yuuji with a gyaru honey headcanons :) hehe

tried to keep as gender neutral as possible!! but reader is kinda feminine-coded, reader is implied to be like early 20s or laaate teens (18-19), didn’t place this anywhere in canon - just that at some point you two meet when he goes to tokyo

Knew of the subculture, obviously, but didn’t really know anybody who partook in it - especially since he grew up in a small town in the country where nobody was so bold (unlike in Tokyo, where you meet! omg)

Actually almost made you cry (dramatic) when you two first met because he referred to it as a trend 

Verbatim, his goofy ass said “Woah, I didn’t know people still followed that trend!” to your face

He likes how proud and confident you are though!! You don’t care if other people think it looks good because you think it looks good

The only reason you even cared what Yuuji had to say was because he implied your fashion was just another fad

He also likes how passionate you are, often pointing out your idols and collecting old magazines from the gyaru boom when you were little just to keep that early 2000s-ness thriving

“How do you have no idea who this is, Yuu?! That’s Na-chan!” and he thinks you’re so cute when you’re all flustered, giving him lil history lessons, “Helloooo? Suzuki, Nana! She was in Popteen!”

Whenever he has the extra cash, Yuuji also finds it fun to buy you accessories or clothes that fit your specific aesthetic of the gyaru umbrella

Even though he totally turns into a little mess when you end up loving what he gets and are grateful (which was the end goal btw lol, he just can’t handle it)

People who don’t know you two kinda assume that you made Yuuji dye his hair pink and just garner negative opinions about you corrupting some nice young man

Not that you care, and Yuuji knows that, but he still gets upset when people have poor impressions of his hottie partner

And you never tell Yuuji this, but you also assumed that he dabbled in a bit of hair bleaching when you both met - so you ask one day if he can help you with yours and he looks at you all “ :o ?”

“Me?” 🤨👈

As if bro doesn’t have bright pink hair

He does try to help if you decide to wear colored contacts though!! And by help I mean… he wants to be emotional support 

“You’re stronger than me, babe, I would’ve puked getting my finger that close to my eye.”

Hey he tries!!!!

He also likes sitting with you to do your makeup, he finds the process very hypnotizing

Like his own personal grwm video 🙂 wow

He can just blabber on and on and on about whatever while you hum and put your face on

Sometimes for no reason at all, he’ll go from staring at you to staring at the mirror and then back at you

Like if you asked he would actually have no answer as to WHY this mf does that, he just… does

Starts carrying special metal straws around for you so you don’t have to worry about ruining your lipstick if you get a drink in public that doesn’t have a straw (all WASHED and CLEAN and kept SECURELY, don’t worry babe✋ HE’S got you)

And just in case this dude’s green flags couldn’t be more apparent - he’s the type where if you wear thigh high, or generally long, socks/leg warmers then he makes sure they’re in place all day

He gets on a knee and fixes them up so you don’t have to sit or bend down <3

[creative-heart]

I'd like to request something cute 😘

I'm extremely insecure (that's why I request anonymously 🫥), especially when it comes to deserving to be loved and my body 🙄 and I'd love to read something that kinda "fits my personality".

Two ideas, love to read both but feel free to choose one.

Happy ending desperately needed! 😭😍

1. She's just a normal girl and loves Enzo (maybe they're friends or neighbors or whatever you'd like) but is afraid to tell him because she's too insecure, self doubting, overthinking, thinks she'll never be "good enough" for him because she's not like the perfect model he may be following in Instagram or the beautiful actress he was filming with... rest is up to you.

2. They're together and she believes Enzo deserves someone better... more beautiful, smarter, thinner, someone who's perfect like he is. And he reassures her that she IS perfect for him.

❤️

Awe my sweet sweet Nonnie! I feel honored that you've sent these requests my way, I'm happy to write both!

First of, I'm sorry to read you feel this way, we're all deserving of love! and I know and hope that you'll find the love you deserve soon enough! 😘😘🥰🥰

Here's the first prompt! I really hope I've made it justice and that you enjoy reading it! keep your eyes peeled for the second one! will be posted right after this one 💞💞

Drabble for prompt 2 Here

"Hot summer days"| Enzo Vogrincic

T.W: Just a whole lot of fluff with a tiny reference to something shmexy.

Word Count: 581

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y/N and Enzo have been neighbors their whole lives, and with your moms being close friends, you’ve grown up together, spending almost every single waking moment together, practically the same time you’ve been in love with him. Specially on summers like now, when the families usually go on a beach trip together. Even with him being all famous and well known now, he always takes the time to come on these fun times.

As you sit on one of the lounge chairs by the pool reading your current romance novel, third one on this trip alone, swim cover still on -you’ve always felt insecure about your body being slightly curvier than the magazine covers say it’s on trend, not like you’re not absolutely gorgeous inside and out, your curves are all placed on the perfect places, making your body breathtaking, you’ve never believed your mom and Enzo’s when they said so-, you take your eyes off the book for a brief moment seeing the tall dark handsome man, climbing out of the pool and you can swear he’s moving in slow motion like on those perfume ads. He shakes his hair trying to get the excess water off it and makes his way over to you “Hey chiquita, you’re not gonna get in the pool? it’s so hot today” The older one says as he’s a few years older than you.

You look back up at him as you had gone back to pretending you were reading just before he looked at you “I don’t think so En, I’m good here, reading my book in the shade” you smile softly a light blush covering your cheeks, really not feeling comfortable with being in your swimsuit around him, believing he’d just laugh at you as you’re nothing like those gorgeous, tall thin models he’s been surrounded by as of late. As you’re about to go back to your book you see the cheeky devilish grin plastering across his face, same one he had when he was a boy coming up with his next mischief. 

“None of that bullshit” he puts your book down and picks you up in his arms with extreme ease walking to the pool.

“No! put me down Enzo, please!” you plead kicking your legs and taking a go at his back as you shriek being over his shoulder, holding your breath just as he jumps into the deep end of the pool. He gently puts you down from where you rest, still holding you close to his body as you can’t reach the bottom on this end of the water. Your eyes find his deep chocolate eyes and you smile softly saying quietly “You’re mean Vogrincic, you know that?” the blush a deep read staining your cheeks.

He looks down at you smiling a smile you had never seen on him before, as he leans down to join his lips to yours in a soft, long awaited kiss. You can tell by the way his lips feel on yours there’s been anticipation and longing for this moment, as he pulls you even closer to his body if that’s humanly possible, your hands wrapping around his neck. When your lungs burn for a new breath you pull away just enough as he rests his forehead against yours whispering “you look real nice all wet chiqui”, the once playful smirk much darker and promising. And then you understand, sometimes, you need to let your guard down in order to be seen.

[mentalhells]

昭和百年少女 - SHOWUP 100 YEAR GIRLS

(Scroll to the bottom for translation notes!)

SHOW UP SHOW UP SHOW UP

Girls of the hundredth year of Showa*

This seriously sick epidemic,

We’re its' girls

SHOWUP SHOWUP SHOWUP

昭和百年少女

流行り病　マジヤバい

少女です

Lately it’s been all like, unfamiliar faces, right?

There’s mob of modern boys and girls but we’re not human memes**

She’s put on jeans, that fine and proper lady***

The fallen influencer aristocracy

近頃ちょっと　見ない顏でしょ

モガ・モボ・モブでも人ミームでもないの

ジーンズ履いた大和撫子

インフルエンサー斜陽族

To sorta create this era, we’ve come all this way, kinda

In booms and bust both, we’ll dropkick in our stilettos 

A lipstick-wearing warrior of the revolution

The Material Girls of the Lost Generation****

時代をちょっと　創りに来たの　ちょっと

景気・不景気も　ピンヒールでドロップ・キック

口紅ぬった革命戦士

焼け跡派のクリスタル族よ

Are you a ghost?

If you ask me that, I’m done

My life comes to its end

I’ll become history, become words, and go back to the beyond, so

“All together now, if you’d please”

Are you　幽霊？

って言われちゃおしまいよ

命尽きたって

歴史になって　言葉になって　黄泉返るから

“御唱和ください”

SHOW UP SHOW UP SHOW UP

Girls of the hundredth year of Showa

I’ve loved you for a hundred years

SHOW UP SHOW UP SHOW UP

Girls of the hundredth year of Showa

This seriously sick epidemic,

We’re its' girls

SHOWUP SHOWUP SHOWUP

昭和百年少女

百年前から　好きでした

SHOWUP SHOWUP SHOWUP

昭和百年少女

流行り病　マジヤバい

少女です

The future’s kinda, like, I don’t really wanna see it

This ain’t no retro boom, it’s just plain old nostalgia-ism

Even baby boomers and Shin Godzilla are gonna die*****

The sun also sets on the aristocracy******

未来はちょっと　見たくないでしょ　ちょっと

レトロブームじゃないでしょ　でしょ　懐古主義でしょ

新人類もシン・ゴジラも死んで

沈む太陽族　斜陽族よ

I LOVE gloom too!

If you can’t tell me that, we’re done

‘Cause that’ll end our love

So let us part ways and leave, meet once again, and go back to the underworld

“Say it, all together now”

I LOVE　憂・鬱！

って言わなきゃおしまいよ

恋は終わるから

別れて去って　また出会って　黄泉返らせて

“御唱和しなさい”

SHOW UP SHOW UP SHOW UP

Girls of the 100th year of Showa

Once a hundred years pass, come on out

SHOW UP SHOW UP SHOW UP

Girls of the 100th year of Showa

Even if weeping cherry blossoms fall out of fashion

I remain a maiden

SHOWUP SHOWUP SHOWUP

昭和百年少女

百年たったら出ておいで

SHOWUP SHOWUP SHOWUP

昭和百年少女

しだれ桜　廃れても

乙女ですもの

Peach and chestnut take three years, persimmons eight years*******

A lifetime is just eighty years

To love, to know love, until you die, only eighty years

Life is short, so love; the girl’s 

Night is long, the dreaming girls’

Hakusen-nagashi will go on for a hundred years********

桃栗三年　柿八年

人生たったの八十年

恋をして　愛を知って　死ぬまでたったの八十年

命短し　恋��よ　乙女の

夜は長し　夢見る　乙女の

白線流し　百年つづけ

SHOW UP SHOW UP SHOW UP

Girls of the hundreth year of Showa

I’ve loved you for a hundred years

SHOW UP SHOW UP SHOW UP

Girls of the hundreth year of Showa

Even if a hundred years pass,

You’re still alive

SHOWUP SHOWUP SHOWUP

昭和百年少女

百年前から　好きでした

SHOWUP SHOWUP SHOWUP

昭和百年少女

百年たっても　あなた

生きてる

SHOW UP SHOW UP SHOW UP

Girls of the hundredth year of Showa

Once a hundred years pass, come on out

SHOW UP SHOW UP SHOW UP

Girls of the hundredth year of Showa

Once a hundred years pass, 

We’ll all be girls

Each and every one of us

Will be a girl!

SHOWUP SHOWUP SHOWUP

昭和百年少女

百年たったら出ておいで

SHOWUP SHOWUP SHOWUP

昭和百年少女

百年たったら　皆んな

少女です

皆　皆　皆んな

少女です！

TRANSLATION NOTES

First of all, thank you so much to Utsusemi-san for this excellent and informative Note!! it was a lifesaver in the translation process and I learned so much! ;u; I recommend checking it out because it goes into way more depth on the cultural context and references, and also has some great analysis~ うつ蝉さん、ありがとうございました！！😭❤️‍🩹

*: In addition to the imported Gregorian calendar in the modern day, Japan’s traditional method of counting years uses an era name and is measured in tandem with the reign of the current Emperor. The Showa era, or the rule of Emperor Hirohito, was Japan’s longest to date; spanning from 1926 to 1989.

**: Moga and Moba, shortenings of Modern Girls and Modern Boys respectively, referred to those in post-WW1 Japan who opted to follow western “modern” pop culture and style trends. Moga in particular were comparable to flappers in America, and other contemporary “modern woman” movements.

***: The original term here, 大和撫子 [Yamatonadeshiko], refers to an idealized “proper” “traditional” Japanese woman

****: The original terms here, 焼け跡(派) [Yakeato(ha)] and クリスタル族 [Crystalzoku] are pretty specific Japanese cultural references. The former, literally translating to “after the burning”, refers to the generation that were children during WW2 and witnessed its devastating effects firsthand. The latter comes from Yasuo Tanaka’s novel “Somehow, Crystal”, which depicts cosmopolitan city life in Japan’s thriving 1980s economic “Bubble” era. The term Crystalzoku became used to refer to materialist and trendy young women of the era. I chose western terms that I felt mirror and give a more immediate sense of recognition than a literal translation would at first glance (granted the Lost Generation refers to WW1 as opposed to 2… I tried^^;).

*****: The original term 新人類 [shinjinrui] literally translates to New Generation, but refers to the same generation as boomers, with special attention given the contrast between those born into the post-war economic miracle and never experienced the hardships of life during wartime.

******: The original line refers to the 太陽族 [taiyozoku], a label associated with rebellious youth and delinquent counterculture at the turn of the century, similar to and partially inspired by American greaser subculture. The label was taken from the title of a novel that famously depicted it, "Season of the Sun" by Shintaro Ishihara. I tried to keep the pun with a similarly literary reference…

*******: This is a Japanese proverb signifying the importance of patience and perseverance, ie “some things take longer than others”

********: This is way too specific to even bother trying to translate in-lyrics lol. It’s a specific regional graduation ceremony where graduates tie their white seifuku scarves and white bands of their student caps together in one continuous line and float it down a river. It was popularized by a drama of the same name in the 90s.

[lilac-hecox]

Ian realizes he may have a crush on Tommy. Tommy realizes he may have a crush on Ian. Something pushes one of them to make a move.

Ian/Tommy - Crush

--

Of all the stupid things to make Ian realize he has a crush on Tommy, it was watching the fucking Spymate movie with him and making fun of it for his show. The movie alone wasn’t what made Ian realize, but it was a vital part of the puzzle. It was hearing Tommy’s jokes, and listening to him laugh, and seeing the spark in his eyes when he found something really funny. It was how Courtney had said that he and Tommy were both keen to be deadpan, to veer on the darker side of comedy.

Tommy was interesting and hilarious and very easy to have a crush on. Who could blame Ian? It’s not something he would ever act on, especially because Tommy just got out of a long-term relationship, but then Tommy comes to him after the episode is uploaded and smiles all soft and fond and says, “That was really fun, I’d love to be on again.” And Ian feels a little breathless.

“Anytime you want,” Ian says with a somewhat nervous laugh, “consider it an open invitation.”

Tommy quirks an eyebrow and seems like he’s about to say something before he decides against it, instead giving Ian a little smile and walking away.

--

During Ian’s birthday roast episode Tommy mentions how the two of them are alike, and how the two of them are single, and something about it only highlights how much Ian is feeling drawn to Tommy. Is it that deep down loneliness that makes them compatible with each other? That begs the other internally to ease that self-doubt and insecurity.

Tommy is exceptional at playing confident, but Ian has seen the extremely rare moments that his real insecurities come out and Ian sometimes feels it is like looking in a mirror. All comedians at one point or another use their pain as fodder for their art, Anthony is a living breathing example of that, no matter how many times Ian tells him he’s not upset, doesn’t hold anything against him.

--

At Smosh’s 18th birthday party someone brought a cooler of alcohol. Now, granted they are a fun workplace, but it is the mid-afternoon on a Friday on company time. Still, a few drinks are had and Ian maybe has one White Claw, and when they find out that Food Battle 2023 has hit the trending page and Ian finds himself wrapped up in people hugging him, he quickly realizes that one of those people is Tommy, and Ian is looking up into his eyes, and Tommy is smiling down at him with a fond yet goofy and all too earnest grin.

It would be so, so easy to kiss him. That’s the moment Ian pulls away.

He briefly retreats to his office to clear his head, get his mind right. That was too close, the temptation to kiss Tommy too much for him at the moment. He is alone when he hears a knock on the door. Ian opens it and finds Tommy standing there, a long and lean line in his doorway.

“Hey,” Ian says, a little breathless.

“You slipped away so fast,” Tommy says as a way of explanation, “wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m okay,” Ian says, “Maybe I had too much to drink?”

“You had one White Claw and I’ve seen you do shots of whiskey,” Tommy says with amusement in his voice, “can I come in?”

Ian backs up and lets Tommy into his office. Tommy shuts the door behind him. Ian feels nervous, too hot in his sweater for California, for being this close to Tommy.

“This might be one big HR violation but…did I catch a vibe back there?” Tommy asks.

“A vibe?” Ian croaks out, sure his face is getting red.

Now Tommy looks nervous, “I just…it felt like we were having a ‘moment’ or something?”

Ian is quiet and Tommy slowly turns as red as Ian feels.

“Nevermind! Please forget this conversation ever happened and let me know if I need to start submitting my resumes to other companies? Do you think Anthony would give me a reference letter? I-“

“Wait!” Ian says, interrupting Tommy’s nervous babbling.

Tommy does wait, turning to face Ian.

“Fuck, okay, there was a vibe or whatever.”

Tommy gives a half-smile, “It’s cute when you say it.”

“Because I’m the ‘dad’.”

“Because you’re cute,” Tommy corrects.

He steps closer, closes the space between the two of them. He smells like some cocktail that Ian can’t name.

“So, again, huge HR violation but would it be okay if I kissed you right now?”

Ian looks up at Tommy and nods, “Um, yeah, definitely okay.”

Then Tommy meets Ian half-way, and their lips press together, and Tommy gently shifts Ian’s party hat back so it doesn’t poke him in the face as they kiss.

[scarredwoods]

I know I'm pretty late to the trend of making your own Rise version of this and that character, but if I may, I would like to introduce you to my Mona Lisa and Miyamoto Usagi.

At first, it was going to be Yuichi, but I'm too addicted to the comics and Usagi's silly behavior. He's not as much of a serious badass as most people think, trust me. As for Mona Lisa, well... I'm not sure how to not make it sound like a self insert, because it's not, but overall I really wanted to make her Hispanic for the sole purpose of her cussing people out in our native language. I know my language, I know my culture, and I like putting in references of what I see and hear in my day to day life with my family. Overall, the story I had planned I mostly centered around them.

After Usagi's master died, he was told to deliver an artifact and scrolls to a member of a "dead clan" out of respect because as it turned out, Mifune's clan was once allies with this other clan. The last place anyone remembers last seeing this last clan member moved to Hollywood, California. To fulfill his Lord Mifune's last wish, he leaves his country in Japan to go find this dead clan. The problem is that Usagi has only ever known about being a Samurai and nothing else, considering this is what he was raised to be. He doesn’t know how to function in a busy city or with other strangers. And he especially doesn't know about scammers.

This is when he first meets Mona Lisa. Usagi has just arrived in California, and the Yokais there immediately sniffed out the foreigner. Trying to get him to spend all his money at their store or over price his food, saying it's "authentic" only to be saved by the Salamander who puts the others in their place. After hearing that Usagi has never left his village before and that he needed to find a human with what minimal information he had, Mona saw that this guy was gonna be in serious trouble and become flat out broke in the next two days if she didn't help him.

That's all she was planning on doing, help him find the human and teach him how to survive properly in this new place. One thing led to another, and they find out that the human they're looking for is an action star actor who was last seen at the Battle nexus over a decade ago.

After both realizing that Usagi had to travel to the other side of the world in order to find him, Mona begrudgingly tells him that she's a bounty hunter for the Yokai police and that she travels everywhere to find who she needs to find and offered let him travel with her for a while up until there's a moment where they need to part ways.

But that didn't happen.

After sticking by eachothers side and going through all these adventures/near death experiences, they've basically adopted each other as siblings and Mona has promised him that she will get him to New York no matter what.

Unfortunately, through their travels, someone has been following them and has even placed a price on Usagi's head. With Mona being a Bounty Hunter, this person offered her a large sum of money in exchange for her travel partner. She refused and tried to get away as far as possible, not telling Usagi about her interactions with this strange Yokai.

The relationship that Mona and Usagi have is heavily based off of my own protective relationship with my little brothers. Including all the jokes and teasing and buying them ice-cream as a treat for being good.

I've seen a lot of duos and team ups of Usagi and Mona Lisa with other tmnt characters, but I've never seen anyone do one with them together (Understandable considering they've never met in anywhere, I think)

Please let me clarify that THIS IS NOT A SHIP. They have a sibling relationship in my AU, and I do hope you respect that.

I also want to clarify that this is NOT Yuichi Usagi, this is Miyamoto Usagi

Thank you for listening to my rant

[cr33pz-mck3nna]

Fandoms I am willing to write for:

The following fandoms are ones I am willing to write for, the accepting of your request depends on the prompt and the character, if I am comfortable with the request then I will write for them.

Creepypasta(my main fandom if u can't tell lmao)

Slashers/Horror movie killers or survivors

FNAF(Movie or Games, not comfortable with the book au yet until I read the trilogy)

Gravity Falls(I will only write Bill, Ford and Stan for x reader or romantic requests)

Deadpool and Wolverine(have yet to watch the movie but I saw when #deadpool started trending and now I'm hooked on pepperoni hold the pedo(Krueger reference) and the furry-)

Genshin Impact

Demon Slayer

My Hero Academia(only if characters are aged up or pro heroes/villains)

Tokyo Revengers

Record of Ragnarok

Castlevania(the Netflix series)

Dead by Daylight(all hail Ghostface and Legion)

Resident Evil

Dress to Impress(Lana lore theories, let me know if I should start uploading my fits)

Hazbin Hotel

Helluva Boss

Twisted Wonderland

Obey Me!(I will not write for Nightbringer so please specify)

Please be made aware: If a Character is in a specific ship or has a ship I agree with then I may deny x reader requests and I will not accept x reader requests for child characters (such as the MHA teens, the tokrev teens before the timeskip, child crps) unless both the character and the x reader are teens, I will not accept anyone younger then a teen for any requests then a random blurb or headcanons(you BEN x reader's are safe for now.

[beansmakesthings]

You 🫵

Yes you

Give me your Penny Lamb headcanons (legoland)

Boy, what happened to 'hello' and 'please'. I have a name, you know /lh

I will preface this one by saying I think it's very funny if Legoland Penny and RTC Penny exist in the same universe as separate people and all my hcs are approached from that perspective. Cool? Cool.

This one is also just random general stuff and will feature some vague references to parental abuse and mental health issues. Cause you know, it's Legoland.

- RTC Penny started calling her 'PB' when she found out she had a crush on Constance. As in, she's the future Penny Blackwood. (I will refer to her as PB for the rest of this for clarity)

- Yes this means there's a Penny Lamb dating Ocean and a Penny Lamb dating Constance. I just think it's funny.

- PB and Ezra'a parents were neglectful at best days and cruel at worst. PB did everything in her power to keep their attention off of Ezra and took care of him as best as she could. As a result, she's a lot more affected by their childhood than Ezra is.

- She has a bad habit of getting into fights as she has pretty poor emotional regulation due to her childhood trauma (see biting Johnny Moon in the face) and the internal anger over being unable to stop it. She's going to therapy and has improved considerably, but she still sometimes has a tendency to lash out at people who bother her.

- PB and Penny absolutely hated each other at first. It was just plain creepy. Both from somewhere a little outside Uranium City, have the same name, both have parental problems, both subject to bullying, both autistic, it just rubbed them the wrong way. They eventually grew to like each other though.

- PB still has a legally enforced curfew she has to follow as part of the court order after the Johnny Moon incident. This is a great travesty as it means she can't join any choir sleepovers.

- When Constance finally cracked and told PB all about the warehouse after the Cyclone accident and coming back to life (she felt guilty lying and hiding it from her), PB took it rather well. She once used her brother's money from selling his ADHD meds to cross the boarder into the States, snuck into a bar, and attacked a celebrity once, so who is she to decide whether or not 6 people collectively remembering God in the form of a fortune machine making them perform a musical for a rat was a real event or just mass hysteria? Weird things happen all the time. She's just glad they're all alive either way.

- PB loves going into the woods and finding little bugs and frogs and things. She takes pictures of everything and gives them all names

- She has no idea where the whole 'PB' thing came from, but literally everyone except Ezra calls her that at this point and she DOESN'T GET IT

- Constance usually shortens the PB nickname even further and just calls her Peebs. It's so far from her own name at this point that it's kind of frustrating, but she can't convince anyone to stop (Constance is also in on where it comes from and thinks it's adorable)

- PB has no idea how most teenagers dress and has never been in on a trend in her life (aside from Seven Up and we all know how that turned out) so she usually dresses like a 70s hippie

- She has a tendency to bring home wild animals and try to sneak them into her room. She once hid a family of raccoons in her closet

- PB formed a weird friendship with Ocean that almost entirely relies on comparing their shitty drug addict parents

- PB absolutely loves music. It's so stimmy. Once she's out in the world and becomes friends with the Saint Cassian Chamber Choir, she's being introduced to more music than she ever knew existed. She loves watching the choir perform and loves being in a car with any one of them and cranking their music until she can feel the bass in her chest.

- Constance keeps telling PB she could join the choir if she wants. They have plenty of room for her. PB declines because, while she can hold a tune and play ukulele, she doesn't like singing nearly enough to get in front of so many people and open herself up to judgement. She prefers to listen, so she'll just sit in the front row, thanks.

- PB does not like eye contact and will never look anyone in the eye ever unless she has no choice

- PB and Ezra were featured in one of Mischa's rap songs on YouTube

- Elysium didn't have a lot of modern technology so PB is terrible with most of it. She can barely use her phone without getting trapped in the notes app and panicking and needing someone to fix it

- Since she was homeschooled and kind of got to pick whatever she found most interesting to learn about, PB is incredibly knowledgeable about a lot of history and biology, but is god awful at math. She's pretty convinced she'll fail grade 12 math because what the hell is a parabola?

[nehswritesstuffs]

Double-Date from Hell

Y’all ever think of something so hilarious that you HAVE to write it, and then it just spirals out of control? Yeah, this is it.

8941 words; I’ve seen versions of this general joke going around and it’s still pretty funny in my brain so please just humor me; I guess it’s a Modern AU w/No Devil Fruits, but Brook is still a skeleton and Minks and Fish-men exist… somehow…? idk; SO MANY PEOPLE ARE ALIVE IN THIS AU THAT SHOULDN’T BE but you know what this is my story too damn bad I mean it’s already set in a quasi-Midwest metro; this took me so long to write because I kept cracking the fck up and I’m sure you’ll be able to tell where

Double-Date from Hell; Law has a new girlfriend. Cora-san’s got a hot date. Nami’s shagging a doctor. Things might be easier if Bell-mère had mentioned to her daughters she’s actually bi before she reconnected with an old flame. [modern!AU, LawNa, Bellazón]

Shuffling into the kitchen, Law blearily went into the fridge and began to poke around almost absentmindedly, hunger the only reason as to why he was currently existing on the mortal plane. What had supposed to be a twelve-hour shift in Logue Town General’s emergency room—as a favor, no less!—had turned into a twenty thanks to the perfect storm of call-offs and reckless pieces of bullshit trying to copy a social media trend. It reminded him of why he never wanted to stay down in Emergency full-time—fuck… doing clinicals there had been bad enough…

“Oh, there’s the sleepy-head!” Law jumped at the sudden confirmation that his father was in the room as well. He took a container filled with leftover noodles and popped it in the microwave oven with a bit more aggression than was necessary. “Rough night?”

“I remember when social media was used to share pictures of cats with poorly-spelled captions and complain about the accuracy of the fantasy book-to-movie pipeline, not to show off doing handstands in dangerous places and getting high off lip balm.” He glanced at his father to see he was dressed rather nice—that was a risk, considering how clumsy the older man was—though most things were better than his current pajama-pants-no-shirt-tousled-bedhead-at-four-in-the-afternoon look. “Cora-san, you know what happens when you wear a tie.”

“I know, I know, but I need to look nice tonight. What do you think?”

“That you look like a man about to turn forty who can’t so much as wear a tie without catching it on something every five minutes.”

“Well, yeah, but the shirt’s nice, right?”

An extremely pale pink with a red heart pattern; the tie was black, though his trousers were white.

“It’s… you.”

“I’ll take what I can get.” The microwave oven beeped at Law and he took the container out to stir. “Probably won’t be back until late, if I’m back at all tonight, so don’t worry if I’m not in.”

Law stopped mid-stir and stared at Cora. “Why would you both be alright, but also not come home tonight?”

“What, you can’t tell?! Your old man’s got a hot date!”

The silence that fell over the kitchen was simply unbearable. Law did not currently have the reserve mana to process that the grinning goofball he referred to as his foster father—foster roommate, on particularly irritating days—had anything even close to a potential sexual encounter lined up. He put the noodles back in the microwave oven and turned it on again.

“You don’t have to lie to me, you know,” he grumbled. “You know I don’t care what you do—we’re both adults now.”

“Oh, come on… you aren’t even the least bit happy for me?”

“I can’t legally be happy until I get at least six cups of coffee and these noodles in me, then we’ll talk.”

“Fine, fine; spoilsport.” Cora sat at the table and pouted, watching his son put together some coffee. He knew he was tired when he brought a mug of it over, as well as the noodles still in the container he heated them up in. “It’s not like I’m an old man—can’t I take inspiration from the fact my son got himself a cute girlfriend?”

“You’ve never met her, so there’s nothing to get inspired from,” Law replied dully. He twirled some of the long pasta on his fork and scowled. “No, this is not an offer for you to meet her either. I want to make sure of this one before that happens.”

“You make it sound like I’m embarrassing.”

“You picked me up from school in clown makeup.”

“It wasn’t that bad…”

“Multiple times.”

“It kept things interesting.”

“Kids recovering from near-terminal illness don’t exactly enjoy being interesting.”

“The assholes that were scared of clowns never bothered you after that.”

“Okay, that I’ll give you.” Law shoved more pasta in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “You know, I think I’ll go out tonight too—bound to be something going on.”

“There you go,” Cora beamed. “Here we are: a couple of young stallions, ready to make the night theirs!”

“Never again say those words in that order again, by all that is good in this world.”

“Spoilsport,” Cora scowled. A devilish grin then flashed across his face. “We should double-date!”

That too was a resounding, firm no.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was the generally-accepted consensus that there was no party like a Straw Hat party.

They weren’t all rowdy affairs that got the cops called at two in the morning—they reserved those for when the on-duty officers were ones likely to just turn the music down and bring their own drinks—but it was always the collection of people who were there that boggled Law’s mind. He had only started attending such shindigs recently after a weird series of events led to him pulling the charismatic teen out of the bay and helping make sure he was still alive. Luffy had declared them friends and that he now had an obligation to hang out, which would have been a one-and-done thing if it wasn’t for the people he collected in the nearly-rural house hidden amongst trees and actual property.

The East Blue kendo and archery champions? A world-class chef? A teenaged medical prodigy? The preeminent Void Century historian turning academia on its head? One of the most sought-after mechanical engineers in the world who also moonlighted in architecture? A living rock music legend? The man that kept literally all the trains in the region running smoothly? That didn’t even get into the kid’s brothers, or people outside of his innermost circle…

…and it certainly didn’t get into Nami.

He had originally begun talking to the redhead after observing her at that first party he attended. She was very level-headed—especially compared to Luffy despite that not meaning much—and knew precisely the situation they had going. It was the modern equivalent of the Enlightenment salon, where people got together and exchanged ideas and made changes happen. It was a counterculture hotbed with significantly fewer hard drugs and way more bellyflop competitions between people who couldn’t swim in the backyard’s in-ground pool. It was the next generation figuring shit out, getting ready to usher in a new age. Except, not only did the weather-and-surveying whiz keep everything running, it was very easy to say that she was the brains of the entire operation, making Luffy’s natural charm work for something. The next thing he knew they were chatting amiably, then kissing, and—after a considerable blackout—woke up very naked in bed with her the next morning.

It was a little awkward as they put everything together after that. They both thought the other was older than they really were (he thought her only a couple years younger than him instead of the actual six, and she thought he was well into his thirties (to be fair, he did say he was an actual surgeon while flirting)), and there was the wolf whistles that came out of some of the other Straw Hats as they went down to breakfast, but they settled into something… comfortable after that. The “crew” generally accepted him and he found their antics… tolerable, he guessed, especially considering what putting up with them meant for his love life…

“Oi! Witch! We need you to stop sucking geriatric face for two minutes and rein in Luffy!”

Nami groaned into Law’s mouth in frustration before breaking the kiss to glare at Zoro from across the large, open-concept living room that thankfully only contained the main Straw Hats crew aside from the man beneath her. Law knew to not remove his hands from her waist and rear, else she get pressured into something more involved. “What happened to someone saying he could handle him?”

All she got in response was a one-eyed glare.

“If she’s not back in two minutes like you said, Roronoa-ya, I will make you regret that age comment,” Law warned, voice dripping in sarcasm. Zoro flipped him his middle finger, which he returned.

“Boys, behave,” Nami sighed as she left the room. Law took it as his opportunity to see if there was any food available yet, shuffling over to the kitchen island where Sanji was working. A mug of coffee was already waiting for him as he sat down and watched the blond at work.

“Thanks,” he muttered, drinking the coffee gratefully.

“Just keep her happy,” Sanji replied. He and Law were in a tenuous sort of agreement, both men recognizing they were from the same Blue from the moment they met. Neither of them talked about it much, but it was clear that they were both in the East because it was not the North, and that was all they needed.

“If not, then you know it won’t be from lack of effort on my end.”

“True. Oh, Nami-swan told me the other day you don’t eat bread. Is it a gluten thing, or…?”

“Nah—just don’t like it. I physically can eat it, but just haven’t wanted to for a while now.”

“Not since home?”

“Something like that.”

“Okay, good, because I remember you eating breaded things the last few times you were over, but I have a special coating I can use if it’s a gluten issue.”

“Nope—just a preference.” Law sipped his coffee and watched the other man work, his hands nimble as he prepped and cooked. It reminded him of himself at his own craft, in a way, mesmerizing him until he felt a pair of arms warp around his midsection from behind. “Luffy tamed?”

“For the time being,” Nami murmured in his ear. “He’s going to be a handful next week when his brothers are over.”

“Not entirely sure how you do it,” he admitted. “Then again, I don’t know how any of you do it.”

“Luff just has that magnetism, you know?” Sanji chuckled. “When we’re all together, it’s because he knows we need to be in order to move forward. It’s why we’ve even got old-timers with us, as you know.”

“Nami, your friends are childish.”

“People wonder why I don’t date boys,” she replied. “That would just set both parties up for disappointment.”

“How true your words are, Nami-swan,” Sanji crooned. “We are all but mere amateurs compared to your beauty and grace. The fact you decide to honor us with your presence is more than we deserve.”

Fuck… to be that idiotically horny again. Law tried to remember the last time he said anything as stupid as the heart-eyed cook and, to be honest, couldn’t remember anything of the like. Seas… was he really that old…? No, he decided… just… busy during those years. He would take busy… as though busy was having an impact on him now…

“Sanji-kun,” Nami said sweetly, “I’m going to bring Torao upstairs for a little discussion before dinner, if that’s alright with you.”

“As you wish, Nami-swa~a~n,” the blond swooned. He blew her a kiss as she winked and pulled Law onto his feet.

This place was so fucking weird.

Heading up the stairs, Law silently followed Nami as she led him through the house he was already strikingly familiar with. They slipped into her room and she locked the door behind them. Finally—peace and quiet.

“Don’t you think you were a little rough on Blackleg-ya?” he asked as she unbuttoned his shirt. “I only meant it as a joke…”

“Don’t you worry about Sanji-kun,” she hummed, pressing kisses along his neck and collarbone as her fingers went over his toned abdomen. She guided him down to his knees before sitting on the edge of the mattress. With his hat long-forgotten in the living room, she was able to gently card her fingers through his fluffy hair as he turned his attention to her legs. He gently massaged her calves with his expert hands, wandering up her thighs. He went under the hem of her skirt and his eyebrows rose at what he discovered.

“Nothing…?” he smirked. “Naughty.” He lifted her leg to hook her knee on his shoulder before slowly tracing a line of his own kisses down her inner thigh and towards her hot, wet core. Hiking her skirt a bit higher, she let her other leg fall a bit more to the side, opening up for him. He lapped at her experimentally, smiling smugly at the noise she made.

“Fuck me good, Law-kun,” she ordered. “Make him hear me scream.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was quarter past four in the morning before Law actually left the house at 1000 Sunny Road, dragging his ass into his car and wishing it was quieter as he pulled away. The only consolations to his pre-dawn walk of shame was that he slipped out when all the other Straw Hats sans Nami were asleep and that he could still taste his girlfriend the entire drive back. She had seen him out after some additional, varied rounds in her bedroom, kissing him through the open car window.

“Don’t be a stranger now,” she had smirked. Fuck… she had him on a leash and they both knew it. Her taste had almost faded by the time he pulled into the driveway at his dad’s. He killed the engine and leaned back against the seat—a few hours of sleep and he could be back into something of a normal rhythm for when he went on day shifts the following week. It was all he could do to haul himself out the car and into the house, blaming his exhaustion on the twenty hour ER shift from hell messing with him and not his girlfriend fucking his brains out.

As Law walked through the dimly-lit house, he heard a snore come from the living room. He took a peek and saw Cora-san laying on the floor again, having passed out after some sort of fall. Again. Law hefted the other man onto his shoulder and helped him up the stairs to the main bedroom, where he deposited him on the mattress with little fanfare.

Wait a second… were those bite marks…? He looked closer at the bit of Cora-san’s chest that was exposed—buttons undone while his tie hung loose around his neck—and sure as shit, there were bite marks and smeared lipstick on both his chest and neck. It was a burnt-orange, which was definitely not a color that was in the house, lending credence to the “hot date” theory as much as Law shuddered at the thought.

He left a container of salve on the nightstand and made sure the other man was at least fully on the bed before going to sleep himself—with any luck, he wouldn’t have to hear a thing about the date and they continue on with their lives in peace. The less he could think about his father and sex, the better things were going to be.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“So… this old man you’re fucking… he at least cute in some weird geriatric way?”

“Ugh, what has Usopp been telling you?” Nami groaned. Her sister Nojiko chuckled at her from across the table, drinking her tea smugly. One of her rare mornings home and she was already being grilled. It was too early for this shit. “I’m not fucking an old man. He is in his twenties, thank you.”

“Turning thirty next month, is he?”

“He is twenty-six, for your information. He just looks a little rough because he’s got tattoos and is already a surgeon. Med school, clinical rotations, and residency are all vampires.”

“Sounds fishy to me,” Nojiko frowned. “I can’t be worrying after both you and Bell-mère now.”

“Bell-mère is a lesbian who just started reconnecting with an old flame from her Marine days,” Nami reasoned. “The circumstances are completely different.”

“You keep telling yourself that, sis,” Nojiko teased. “I still have on great confidence that he’s older than dirt, and that’s despite the fact you hang out with a man so old he’s a skeleton.”

“I am going to kill Usopp!”

“It wasn’t Usopp…”

“Who the fuck are you talking to behind my back?!”

It was then that their adoptive mother shuffled into the room, still half-asleep from the looks of things.

“I was woken by the sound of mockery; show me the object of ridicule,” Bell-mère grunted. She looked at her daughters and knew instantly what was going on. “We calling out the Old Man Fucker for what she is?”

“BELL-MÈRE!”

“Honey, if you’re planning on becoming a young widow, then at least make sure he’s loaded first,” Bell-mère said, unfazed by her youngest’s ire. She poked her head in the refrigerator and frowned. “Nojiko, sweetie, did you get more milk?”

“Haven’t been to the store yet,” her elder daughter said idly. “Will take care of it on my way back from work.”

“Since we’re currently in the habit of wanting to know about each other’s love lives,” Nami growled through grit teeth, “how’s Cora? That was your date’s name from when you went out the other night, eh?”

“That tongue still knows its way around a clit, let me tell you,” Bell-mère grinned devilishly. Both her daughters grew pale at the admission and immediately excused themselves from the table, neither in the mood for the conversation to go from zero to a hundred in less than a sentence.

Fine—ask about details, then run away at the details. Bell-mère chomped on dry cereal and wondered how she got two prudes for daughters.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Please don’t embarrass me more than they already do,” Law warned. He had his three best friends piled into his sensible, bright yellow crossover—Polar Tang—in the middle of making the huge mistake of driving them to the Straw Hats’ lair on a Saturday morning. They were already on the freeway, headed from the city towards the outer suburbs.

“We get it, we get it: you’re in it for the tight-ass pussy,” Shachi scoffed from the back seat. Penguin hit his shoulder in jest.

“If he was in it for just pussy, he wouldn’t be bringing us to the weirdo, sus-as-fuck party house in the middle of buttfuck-nowhere he goes to get said pussy in,” the other backseat gremlin said, tone rather matter-of-fact. “We’re a nurse and a couple of techs—how would we be embarrassing to a surgeon?”

“By talking about pussy the entire time,” Bepo stated flatly. He looked at Law and saw his grip on the steering wheel was unusually clenched. “Do you want me to drive?”

“No… I just need to remember this conversation for the next time I get asked why those two don’t just bite the bullet and get full nursing degrees instead of being the most overqualified nursing techs in the East Blue.”

“This,” Shachi said, pointing at himself with the first two fingers on both hands, “being able to sign off on patient care-related shit, would be dangerous and you know it.”

“It’s best for everyone involved that we stay Bepo’s gofers, because that makes us available as your gofers, and if we suddenly have to worry about shit like responsibilities, then where would you be?”

“Able to have competence on all my shifts?” Law snarked.

While tuning out the indignant protests in the back seat, Law turned off the freeway and headed towards Foosha Township, where Sunny Road was located. It was generally a tranquil road, with clusters of houses now and then to breakup wooded areas and the occasional farm. The car was thankfully quiet as he turned down a wooded drive, with Penguin breaking the silence as the conspicuously large house came into view.

“Law? Is this Straw Hat kid, like, loaded?”

“I don’t ask, so you don’t ask,” Law sighed. He parked the car on the front lawn next to Franky’s turquoise muscle car and turned to fully glare at the hooligans in the backseat. “Strawhat-ya’s not fully legit, but I don’t think he’s technically breaking any laws, and the cops here like him for some reason, so don’t fuck it up.”

“I thought you said the kid’s nineteen,” Penguin frowned. “How are you not wholly-legit at nineteen?!”

“Like I said: don’t ask.” Law then unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the Tang, getting some cloth shopping bags and his backpack from the trunk before heading around to the back of the house. It was just Luffy and his brothers there, all three splashing about in the shallow end of the pool while wearing arm floaties and inner tubes.

“TORAO!” Luffy squealed in delight. He jumped out of the pool and ran towards the surgeon—floatation devices and all—who got a sopping wet hug whether he liked it or not. “I was hoping that you’d come over today! Ace and Sabo are here! And Auncle Iva’s coming later! Grunkle Rayleigh can’t though because Grauntie Shakky made him promise something, and…”

“Strawhat-ya, I want you to meet the friends I was telling you about,” Law said, turning so that Luffy could get a good look at them. “That’s Penguin and Shachi, they’re nursing techs on my floor, and Bepo there’s one of the floor and hospital’s best charge nurses. We’ve known each other for ages.”

“Any friend of Torao’s a friend of mine!” Luffy grinned. He wrapped the two techs in a noodly hug, making them gurgle. “Oh! Yeah! Ace! Sabo! Say hi to Torao and his friends!”

“Luff, you’re going to kill them with affection,” Ace smirked.

“Yeah,” Sabo agreed with a laugh. “I don’t think we have enough space to bury more bodies in the backyard.”

“Please tell me that was a joke,” Shachi squeaked.

Law opted to not respond to that and instead left Penguin and Shachi in Luffy’s clutches while he and Bepo brought the bags in. Sanji was already in the kitchen prepping, while Usopp, Franky, and Brook played a racing game on the television.

“Did you get the goods?” the chef asked, pointing at Law with a knife. Law put one of the bags down and pulled out a bag of white powder covered in Wanolese script, which he threw at the man.

“I feel like I just watched a drug deal,” Bepo deadpanned.

“Even better than drugs,” Sanji claimed. “I don’t use a lot of it, but I’m practicing dishes from Wano for whenever it is Luff makes good on his threat to temporarily kidnap the consul’s son again.”

“Say the word ‘borrow’; it’s less incriminating,” Usopp shouted from the living room, not even taking his eyes off the game once.

“It’s just MSG,” Law shrugged.

“Yeah, but the good shit,” Sanji emphasized. He helped Law and Bepo unpack the rest of the bags and put everything away—odds and ends that weren’t of much consequence, but would be dangerous if missing later. “Nami-swan’s with Robin-chan picking Chopper up from school, by the way. They won’t be in until after lunch.”

That made Law’s eyebrows raise. “Sakura U is in Drum County. Four hours just driving round-trip.”

“Yeah, I know; I helped move the kid in freshman year.”

“Nami never volunteers to go get Chopper… unless…”

“Sounds like her mom’s getting some speecy-spicy dating action this week and she doesn’t want to hear about it,” Franky laughed. “I give the woman credit; she’s super feisty.”

“My dad just started dating again too—I get it,” Law said. “There are just some things you don’t want to hear… or learn… or think about…”

“If my old geezer started dating again, I’d die,” Sanji admitted with a shudder.

“Saaaame,” Usopp chimed in. The race ended and the teen groaned. “Brook! You are literally older than video games themselves! How did you beat me?!”

“I guess I’m a gamer down to my bones… which is all of me!” Brook cackled. “Law’s friend! Would you like to join us for the next round?”

“Uh… sure…” Bepo said warily. He sat down next to Usopp and accepted the fourth controller. “Are there any bear characters?”

As Usopp explained the game mechanics to Bepo, Law took his backpack up to Nami’s room and began to set himself up for later that night. He took care of the shit like condoms and lube because he wasn’t a goddamned barbarian and didn’t want his girlfriend to get worried if in the chaos of everything she forgot her medication for a couple days. It was just part of being a responsible adult and not some skeezebag looking to fuck how he wanted and whom he wanted without thinking about repercussions. The thought of a physical consequence crossed his mind as he shut the nightstand drawer and shuddered—Cora-san as a grandfather of all things would be something he’d need more than a few months to brace for.

“Law, there you are, holy shit.” He looked over his shoulder to see Penguin and Shachi both standing there, looking precisely the amount of moist that would be appropriate if they had been dragged into the pool against their will. Not only that, but they appeared to be absolutely flabbergasted by the entire situation they found themselves in. “That’s the second-in-command of the Revolutionary Army in the pool… the national-level political party, not state-level!”

“I know, Penguin.”

“…and the other’s one of the lieutenants of the Moby City mayor!”

“I know, Shachi.”

“…and apparently the host of Impel Drag Race is ‘popping by’ later?!”

“…and the straw-hat kid’s referring to the former state lieutenant governor as his grunkle?!”

“…and the one in the kitchen you had us go to six specialty import stores for is sous chef and heir to the Baratie?!”

“…and apparently your girlfriend is currently on a fetch quest to haul over here one of the few who can out-prodigy you when it comes to medicine?!”

“…a kid, may I remind you, whose grandparents are part of the reason why we even have world-class medicine in Greater Logue Town, let alone the state?!”

“…and Bepo’s getting his ass handed to him in video games by the Soul King himself…?!”

“I get it: we stick out the least despite the fact you two hold multiple state-level swimming records each, I’m the youngest surgeon in all departments at Logue Town General by at least a decade, and Bepo’s a bear,” Law reminded them casually. “To consider this as anything close to a normal party house is sort of a disgrace to the very concept of a party house.”

“This place is batshit,” Penguin stated. “It also might break physics because it feels like it’s bigger on the inside.”

“That’s your crisis to work through, not mine,” Law said. He reached into the nightstand drawer and pulled out two single wrapped condoms, throwing them at his friends. “Be careful; if Hancock-ya shows up tonight, she’s going to bring the whole team, and I know how strong of a will you two have in front of a pretty face and thick thighs.”

“Wait, what…?” Shachi gaped. Law shrugged.

“The captain of the Amazon Lily roller derby team out of Kuja has a weird crush on Strawhat-ya that he doesn’t quite recognize and when she’s here, the entire team is here.”

“Law, have we ever expressed how much we truly appreciate your friendship?” Penguin said, his and Shachi’s demeanor clearly changed. They were in such awe that tears were beginning to well in their eyes. “This could honestly be the best night of our lives!”

“Step-on-me-pussy is literally the best pussy,” Shachi added with a sniffle. “We are in your debt.”

“Remember that next time I need changed dressings, blood draws, and vitals from everyone in the unit half an hour before shift change,” Law warned. His friends didn’t hear him—they were too busy imagining the possibilities for later on.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“What does it say about everything that you still don’t strike me as an adopt-into-single-fatherhood sort of man?” Bell-mère asked. She was at Cora’s for the evening, glad that the mysterious kid of his was gone with friends for the weekend. Picking up a picture frame from an end table, she looked at the image of her former comrade-in-arms hugging a sullen tween with Reverse Mountain National Park in the background. “Cute kid though.”

“Yeah, that’s from not long after I became his official guardian,” Cora said from the kitchen. “He was sick when I got him—didn’t think he’d make it past thirteen.”

“No shit. Now you said he’s in his twenties?”

“Yeah—went into medicine; his birth family was full of doctors and I think he wants to honor them that way. Works at Logue Town General and everything.”

“Who knows? He might know my youngest daughter’s beau.” Bell-mère went into the kitchen and sat at the table, watching Cora cook on the electric range—the only reason he wasn’t spontaneously bursting into flame while cooking their dinner. “She’s fucking some doctor who’s got to be closer to our age than hers if the intel we get from her friends is anything.”

“Possibly, though there’s a lot of doctors in LTG.”

“True.” She watched as he splashed some sauce on himself accidentally. “Sure you don’t need help?”

“I’m sure,” he winced. “So, what about you? Still never gave me an answer about the girls.”

“Something just clicked in my brain, you know?” she shrugged, taking it upon herself to pour the wine instead. “I’m sure you had a moment like that with your son.”

“Yeah, but Bell-mère the Beast? Adopting two little orphans while out on deployment?”

“You blew your cover on a covert job when you left, and the only reason you’re not dead is because it involved infiltrating your brother’s criminal empire and you both are worth more to him alive and unperturbed.”

“Technicalities,” Cora scoffed. He brought two plates of food to the table and sat down. “Things are still a little frosty between Sengoku and me for it, but I’d do it all over again and I’m sure you feel the same.”

“Beyond a doubt.” She ate some of the rice on her plate and chuckled. “At least fatherhood made you a decent home cook.”

“I’ll show you what else I’m still decent at after dessert,” he teased. She snorted in laughter—of course he would, because of course he was.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was late that night as Law and Nami both laid in bed, curled up together with their naked bodies flush against one another. The house was finally quiet and they could both just relax—a rare treat for the place they were currently occupying.

“Hey… Nami…?” He could feel her smile against his chest at the dropped honorific; something he did only when they were alone.

“Yeah…?”

“Is this… what you want…?”

She sat up and stared at him, raising one perfectly manicured eyebrow in a curious arch. “What do you mean by that?”

“Having the extent of our relationship being sneaking off to fuck in the middle of a house party?” He tried to shrug aloofly, but was too taken in by the sight of her in the moonlight to do more than twitch. “Would you like to be… I dunno… more involved…?”

“Depends on your definition,” she replied. She hugged her knees as she looked at him, the very sexy and very naked man in her bed bringing a tattooed arm up in order to rub circles on her back.

“Seeing one another without any of our friends needing to be there,” he mused. “Showing up at one another’s workplaces as a surprise, meeting my dad… your mom and sister…” He exhaled heavily, avoiding eye contact by staring at her shoulder tattoo. “I’m not saying commitment, but…”

“I get it; you want to know what’s on the table, if you need to keep future options in mind.”

“I guess.” He paused, trying to find the words. “I don’t mind if we’re a temporary thing…”

“You can say ‘fling’. I won’t be insulted.”

“Okay, fine: I don’t care if this is a fling and we drift apart or we’re actually friends with damn good benefits or I’m just what you’re into for now and you drop me like a rock next month. I mean… I’m getting sex out of it… sex with you…”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” she reminded him, patting the bit of blanket covering his dick. “This is working for more than just you, trust me.”

“What I’m saying is…” he swallowed hard, “if you’d like, I’m willing to start exploring what a life together might be like.”

“See if we like what’s being laid down?”

“Pretty much. We’d need to meet each other’s parents first—hiding you from my dad any longer than I have to will be torture.”

“Well, I’ve never tried the meet-the-parents routine with anyone except for friends, so if you want to try, I’d say it’s worth a shot.”

A small smile twisted the corner of his mouth upwards. “Yeah…?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Law exhaled, only then he realized he had been holding his breath. “Okay. We can do this…? We can do this. I mean, we’re adults.”

“We are.” She then laid back down, settling herself between his arm and his chest. “Let’s talk about it more after some sleep. Then I’ll tell my mom when I get home.”

“…and I’ll tell Cora-san.”

“Wait…” she giggled incredulously. “Your dad’s name is Cora?”

“It’s an old nickname,” he grumbled, “but it is what he prefers to be called. I’ll break that down for you later as well.”

“No, it’s just funny because that’s the name of the woman my mom’s dating. Sorting through the Two Cora Situation is going to be a group bonding exercise in of itself.”

“I guess so.” He closed his eyes as he felt Nami bring the blankets around them again, taking in the wonderful silence of the night.

Well, it was silent for people without really good hearing, as he could have sworn he heard Shachi sob through an orgasm in another room. Only his friends could ruin a moment and not even be there.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The following morning went the average amount of well an after-party morning could go. Most of the house denizens were some version of worn-out thanks to either staying up late, copious amounts of alcohol, or both. The pair of Kuja that stayed the night with Penguin and Shachi both left early—Law had still been on his first cup of coffee when they did—dragging along the smitten Hancock with them. The surgeon watched as his friends found their way into the back by the pool, plopping down at the little table next to him as he scrolled through news headlines on his phone.

“You’ve been holding out,” Penguin scolded.

“Yeah,” Shachi said, expression to be too relaxed to be anything but blissful. “We got them on social and everything. What took you so long to bring us here?”

Law shrugged through his coffee, which his friends refused to accept for an answer. They both glared at him, waiting for whole minutes until he cracked.

“I wanted to make sure of it… you know.” He contemplated his next sentence, thought better of it, and went through with it anyhow. “I’m having her meet Cora-san.”

“Oh, fuck,” Shachi cringed. “That’s… that’s a hell of a step for you.”

“The number of people that have both met your dad and seen your dick is extremely small, and the list even exists in the first place purely due to changing rooms and nothing sexual,” Penguin noted.

“Yeah, you think I don’t realize that?” Law fired back. “Nami-ya and me, Cora-san and his… lady-friend I’m surprised actually exists, and Nami-ya’s mom with her lady-friend—just going to tear the bandage off and get us all together.”

Shachi let out a low whistle. “Oooh… you got it bad.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Law grunted. “I’m putting up with Strawhat-ya to be with her, so might as well.”

It was then that Luffy, almost if on-cue, ran out of the house and did a cannonball into the pool, splashing water all over Law, but not Penguin and Shachi. The latter two tried to hide their giggles as a now-familiar shishishi echoed through the yard.

Yeah, he had it bad alright.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

As it turned out, it didn’t take long for Law to get a hold of everyone’s schedules. After looking at the family calendar and swiping her mother’s phone while she was in the shower, Nami was able to confirm that three weeks from that Tuesday worked well. He felt a sense of triumph as they coordinated the event, all the way down to the thumbs-up emojis that were sent his way when she asked her mom to join them.

Now, for the big one. It was luckily Law’s turn to make dinner that Monday, which meant that he was able to have everything ready by the time Cora-san came home from work. The older man raised an eyebrow when he saw his son in the kitchen with food nearly ready.

“Anything the matter?” he asked.

“Nothing’s wrong; just sit.” Cora did and Law brought over two plates of carbonara. “I just want a nice dinner for once.”

“Not complaining,” Cora nodded. He twirled some pasta on his fork and took a large bite, proceeding to talk with his mouth full. “So… you gonna tell me what this is about…?”

Fuck, busted.

“Okay, I’m going to need you to listen to me and not get too excited,” Law frowned. Cora perked up, his attention piqued. “Since we’re both dating someone…”

“…yeah…?”

“I thought it would be nice if we took a very non-committal step to clear the air and all meet one another.” Sparkles formed in the older man’s eyes and Law almost instantly regretted it. “She’s inviting her mom and mom’s girlfriend, while I’m supposed to invite you and… whatever it is that you consider a hot date. You know… be adults.”

“A triple date! How social of you! This young lady of yours must be doing wonders for your tolerance levels!” A thought then came to Cora and he instantly grew serious. “The crew isn’t jealous, are they?”

“Shachi and Penguin were both ‘stepped on’ by tri-state roller derby champions over the weekend and Bepo has decided that he’s determined to mentor this kid who we hang around now so he also doesn’t get the life sucked out of him by being a teenager in med school.”

“Then they approve! Excellent! Let the appropriate parties know and we can set up a day and time! Oh, this will be fun!”

“I was thinking three weeks from tomorrow, at a place near the hospital so it can be for lunch. We double-checked your schedules.”

“Not a dinner-date here…?”

“No, because I want to keep your shenanigans to a minimum, and that’s usually achievable when you’re trapped in a booth seat.”

“Well, you’re not wrong,” he admitted. “I’ll pass the word along tonight.”

“Thanks—let me know if anything comes up.”

“Oh, not a problem.” Cora couldn’t stop his wide smile as he looked at his son across the table. “You’ve come a long way, you know.”

“Yeah,” he blushed, “I know.”

“They’d be proud.”

“I know.”

“Now: does this mean I’m getting grandkids?”

It honestly took all Law had to not fling pasta in Cora’s face.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Later that night, Cora found himself having his final smoke of the evening before turning in for bed. Law was already asleep—kid’s circadian rhythm had always been fucked—and that meant that Cora was able to take his cigarette on the patio in peace without hearing his boy nag him about emphysema and other such things. He was nearly done when his phone buzzed: The Beast.

“Hey,” he answered, applying a suave tone to his voice.

“You said you wanted to talk about something?” Bell-mère asked. The text was actually a request to call when she was free, but he wasn’t complaining. “Is this about phone sex? Because I am actually in the mood for some phone sex…”

“We can do that later—there is something I want to get out of the way first.”

“Who’s dying?”

“No one,” Cora said cheerily. He stubbed out the cigarette and made his way back into the house. “It’s just my boy’s decided to coordinate something between us, so we can meet his girlfriend and her mom and mom’s girlfriend!”

“A triple date? With mostly people he doesn’t know? Kind of a lot for a kid that only tolerates hanging out with three people aside from his girlfriend.”

“Well, rumor has it that he met her at a party, and he tolerates her friends, so who knows?” Cora was beaming brightly as he looked at himself in the mirror next to the door—this was the sort of thing that was a rite of passage, wasn’t it? Meeting your kid’s significant other? Her mom? Oh, it was exciting! Was this a sign something more was on the horizon?! “He was thinking of going and doing something low-key: lunch at this restaurant that’s near the hospital.”

The line went quiet for a moment. “…Don Silver?”

“Yeah! I guess he and his friends go there during and after shifts a lot. It’s the kind of place that doesn’t need a reservation, but he’s asking them to set aside a table for us anyhow since he’s such a good regular.” Cora then paused, expression falling “How did you know?”

“My daughter wants us to meet her old-man-doctor-boyfriend, his dad, and dad’s girlfriend for lunch there. Tuesday at one?”

“…oh.”

Both Cora and Bell-mère were silent—no… it couldn’t be…

“Belle…?”

“Yeah…?”

“Did she tell you what the reservation was under…?”

“Her old-man-doctor-boyfriend’s name, but it’s not Donquixote…”

“I never gave him my family name, Belle. The adoption papers went through too slow for it to take effect before he started med school, even if he wanted to change it.”

“It’s a weird name, hold on, she wrote it down for me…” He heard a rustling of paper and then her grunting as she attempted to figure out how to pronounce it. “Tra… Tra-faye-el-gar?”

“Trafalgar; my son’s family name is Trafalgar.”

“Huh.” Cora began to chew at his fingernails and pace the kitchen as his mind began to race and the woman on the other end contemplated. He then began to pace and tug at his hair.

“Belle…?”

Nothing.

“Belle, answer me.”

Silence.

“Belle…?!”

“So,” she chuckled, “wanna fuck with ‘em?”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Don Silver was a well-patronized family restaurant within walking distance of Logue Town General, which made it the perfect location for Law to slip out to during his shift, but also to slip back in should an emergency arise. He left Bepo in charge of his patients until he came back, promising to stay late if he was out so long it threw everything off. When he walked into the restaurant, the owner simply gestured to the usual back booth he normally haunted with his friends, seeing that Nami was already there.

“Ah, there you are,” she chuckled, exchanging a quick peck as he sat down next to her. “Everything seems like it’s going as planned. Nojiko was a little irritated that she wasn’t invited, but she’ll get her chance.”

“Yeah, she will,” he agreed. Law felt as though his heart was going to beat right out of his chest. “I still can’t believe we’re doing this.”

“I know… kind of exciting, isn’t it?” She leaned in close and pressed a kiss to the back of his jaw, smiling as she saw how confused the owner was at the scene. “I should have you know that you might not be on the list of favorites after this.”

“Your mom that big of a menace?”

“More like Gin over there and Sanji have had beef since culinary school,” she chuckled. Law caught that the owner was staring at them and he shrugged—how could he have known? “Oh, hey, there’s Bell-mère!”

“…and that’s Cora-san,” Law noted. He watched has his foster father held open the door for Nami’s mother. “Wait a second… where’s their dates…?”

“That is… huh…” Nami trailed off as Cora and Bell-mère made their way to the table. Both parents decided to slide directly into the booth seating, with the leggy, clumsy one on the inside. “Do we need to wait for the others, or…?”

“There’s no others; what are you talking about?” Bell-mère scoffed. A waiter came over to deposit some glasses of water—a handled mug for Cora, as they were warned beforehand—and battered menus, leaving the four to their own devices for the time being. “It’s just us and our manfriends, although I’m honestly impressed you went as old as you did considering mine’s just a year younger than me…”

“Nojiko and I have been under the impression you’ve been seeing a woman named Cora…”

“Short for Corazón,” Bell-mère shrugged. “That was your codename out in the field, right hon?”

“It was, wasn’t it, Law?” Cora smirked. He tried very hard to not notice the deep sense of confusion his son was radiating. “You’ve been here a lot; what’s good?”

After some awkward deliberation, the waiter came back and took their orders and the menus while depositing a breadbasket. A silence settled over the table once the waiter left, one that made the younger couple hold hands underneath the table for strength, while the older couple decided to put their plan into action.

Operation Fuck with the Brats was a-go.

“We want to thank both of you for meeting us like this,” Cora said seriously, deciding to be the one to break the ice. He nearly couldn’t stop himself from bursting into laughter as he watched panic settle in on his son’s face. “It’s not exactly the sort of thing we want to talk about when I’m liable to trip while wandering around the house.”

“What…?” Nami wondered, cocking her eyebrow.

“Man’s a complete klutz,” Bell-mère said before Law could explain. “Let’s just hope it’s not inheritable.”

All the color left Nami and Law’s faces at once.

“What… erm… do you mean by that…?” the younger woman asked. Bell-mère shrugged.

“Eh, just putting shit down in the right places,” she replied. “Should’ve done it years ago, but never had the reason, until now…”

“Cora-san…? What is she talking about…?” Law asked, his voice faint. His foster father grinned widely.

“We wanted you two to be our Best Man and Maid of Honor!” he beamed. “You’d be perfect for the job! It doesn’t even get into being Emergency Guardians…”

“Oh I’m going to be sick,” Nami grimaced.

“Don’t you dare, you little shit,” Bell-mère warned. “I would think it’d be an honor. You did always want to be an older sister growing up.”

“…and we’re already on the older side for a baby, so having their older siblings be the ones to take care of them in case we can’t is perfect!”

Law sank into the booth, completely dumbstruck. Cora-san…?! And Nami’s mom…?! He was almost regretting not making this meeting at the Southern Blue pub down the street—at least they had a liquor license. “Does Doflamingo know about this…?”

“My brother wouldn’t know what to do with a kid if he had one walk in his front door,” Cora scoffed. “I know because I watched it happen. Multiple times.” The mortification on the younger couple’s faces was definitely worth the ruse; the kids seemed to be inventing new stages of grief. “Speaking of front doors—Bell-mère’s moving in since there’s more room, so you have the choice of staying in your current room or out elsewhere.”

“Nami, you and Nojiko get to fight it out over what to do with where we’re at now,” Bell-mère added. “Just don’t rent it out to any of your weirdo friends—I’d like the place to stay intact, thank you.”

“You have to be fucking with us,” Nami decided. She dug into her purse and whipped out her phone. “I’m calling Nojiko.”

“Go ahead, be that way,” Bell-mère said. She watched as Nami hit the button to dial her sister and held the phone up to her ear.

“So…? How’s it going…?” Ah, fuck, she sounded too smug.

“Nojiko, did you know anything about this?”

“…about what…?”

“…about why the hell our mom decided to meet my boyfriend so easily…”

“Ooohhhh, that,” Nojiko replied, a grin on her voice. “Yeah, she should have told us that her kinky reconnect was a dude before she got herself all prego. She offered me Maid of Honor first, but I said you can have it since you’d actually want to sleep with the geriatric Best Man…”

“I fucking hate you all,” Nami said before ending the call. She put her phone screen-down on the table and glared at her mother. “You are absolutely mortifying.”

“I am what I am,” Bell-mère shrugged. She then wrinkled her nose and looked at Cora with a frown. “Oh… the kid’s gonna be a Donquixote, isn’t it…?”

“Unless you’ve got a better idea.”

“Then how do you suggest we tell your brother? Ease him in gently or just let him discover on his own?”

“I honestly don’t know which would be worse.”

“Your brother—that’s up to you. Oh! Food’s here!”

Sure enough Bell-mère did notice their food coming out the kitchen as the waiter dropped off the plates cheerily. Both Law and Nami really didn’t feel like eating anymore, while their parents both began to pick at their fries…

…and laughed.

“Ah, fuck, we really had you going!” Bell-mère snorted.

“Your faces are priceless,” Cora added.

“So… you’re not having a baby…” Nami stated.

“…and you’re not getting married,” Law continued.

“Tch; don’t think I’m ready to settle down quite yet,” Bell-mère scoffed. “Besides, this klutzy nightmare? Fuck baby-proofing—I’d have to Rosi-proof.”

“Then you’re not seeing one another…?” Law knew it was dangerous to be hopeful. He was anyhow, only for his hopes to be dashed against the floor unceremoniously like a slippery water glass.

“Sorry to burst that bubble, kids, but I am one-hundred-percent fucking this goober despite all logic and reasoning telling me that I probably shouldn’t,” Bell-mère shrugged. “Didn’t think I’d be with a man again after we last hooked up in the Marines, but I have to admit he’s improved with age.”

“Belle…” Cora giggled, blushing furiously. “That’s still my son and his cute girlfriend…”

“…and that’s my daughter and her geriatric manfriend,” she replied. “They’re adults; I think they can handle it.”

To be honest? Neither Law nor Nami wanted anything to do with anything at that very moment.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was actually a fucking gorgeous day as Law laid face-down on the grass in the backyard at 1000 Sunny Drive. He hadn’t thought it was particularly appropriate to show his face at Luffy’s sus-as-fuck party house in the middle of buttfuck-nowhere after what had happened earlier in the week, but Bepo and the goons insisted. While the bear chatted amiably with Chopper and Kaya (how the fuck did Usopp of all the kids got himself a girlfriend? That he wasn’t having sex with yet? No one really knew), Penguin and Shachi were biding their time before the Amazons Lilys showed up (and let’s be real: the nursing techs knew they were the lay-conquest), while Law… he was just trying to not die of embarrassment.

“So…” a voice said, almost consolingly. “You fucked your sister.”

“She is not my sister, Roronoa-ya,” Law replied. He didn’t need to look to see the kendo genius standing there, nor that it was the chef who nudged him in the side with his foot.

“Well, your parents fucked before you did, so that makes you siblings.”

“That does not make them siblings, mossbrain,” Sanji scoffed. “Come on, Law. What do you think you’re going to achieve by doing all this sulking?”

“I’m touching grass; go away.”

“I don’t think that’s what they mean, but keep telling yourself that. Besides, you know the marimo never learned about sex-ed, birds or bees. I bet his old man would have reproduced via budding if he could and skipped the adoption paperwork.”

“Yours probably wishes he could bake himself a less pervy son.”

“Fuck off, you overgrown grass stain,” Sanji hissed.

“You realize none of this is helping, right?” Law said into the lawn.

“Eh; worth a shot.” Law heard Sanji flick open his lighter and the familiar smell of cigarettes hit his nose—the man smoked the same brand as Cora.

“Get away from him, you vultures,” scolded a very familiar voice. Zoro chuckled lowly as Sanji pulled him away. Once the clowns had dispersed, Nami sat down on the grass and sighed, hugging her knees.

“I blame Bell-mère for getting Nojiko in on it,” she reminded him. “She’s the reason any of these morons know anything… well, that and Sanji not having Gin blocked on social.”

“I know—it doesn’t make it any less embarrassing.”

“True, but it does mean that we’re probably going to spend holidays together at the very least, whether we’re fucking or not.” She reached over and began scratching his scalp, eliciting a heavy whine. “Look at it this way: they could have not been joking.”

“Doesn’t mean it can’t still happen,” he replied. “Pregnancy can occur all the way until post-menopause, and many are accidental.”

“Shhhh…” she soothed, smoothing his hair. “Don’t think about it.”

All he could do was squeak out a pained groan—he was a doctor… all he could do was think about it.

[sailoragere]

hello!!!! I'm currently riding the high of my Sailor Moon special interest and I've always had this thought!! Usagi and Mamoru are flip4flip to me!! PGSM and the manga like pointing out that Tuxedo Mask is more similar to a magician rather than a Lupin-like character because of his abilities and in the PGSM, he was comforted by one when he was a kid! He's leaning towards the persona of a children's entertainer because of his interest in puppetry and ventriquolism, so he's a natural caregiver. On the other hand, Usagi is more of a listener caregiver who'd let little!Mamoru vent to her about his worries of the past and future, the both of them crying themselves out. <33

Seren: Whoo, a fellow specially interested! Hi!! First ask in-box! Thank you for waiting.

Usagi and Mamoru definitely seem to be the types to swap between caring for each other and being cared for, don't they? Just remembering how they did when they babysat, (For reference: S2E07. EP53 in whole series order.), Mamoru does seem pretty good with kids! Usagi obviously could use some work in that job, but she's got a lot of potential.

Usagi interpreted as a carer is so underrated. Absolutely, Carer!Usagi towards Mamo is unusually attentive and is tender as a rose. She'd just have to be, that's who she is around him. Also, as Mamoru has a trend of different types of amnesia (retrograde amnesia in the manga VS both retrograde AND anterograde amnesia in the 90s anime), due to his childhood, and the clear identity crisis that followed. I can see him having a dissociative disorder of some kind, through instances of this affecting him while regressed or not, especially needing to be looked after and cared for.

Ohh, the thought of these two openly crying their hearts out together makes me sad and happy at the same time. I do imagine Usagi would be the perfect balance of emotional support and childlike whimsy for Mamoru whenever he's regressed. They could visit animal shelters with lots of kittens since he loves animals, go to the library cause he's very smart and loves to read...

I didn't know there was a scene like that in PGSM!! Haven't seen the show at all yet, but Unity has. I'm not too knowledgeable in the manga canon either, haha. (Psst. People, feel free to add onto this post if you can come up with anything relevant covering that !)

Backstory in the R Movie tells that way back when, Usagi likely inspired Mamoru to become someone who protects and cheers up others, including her. So innocently yet already so full of heart, little child Usagi reached out to poor 6yo Mamoru while he was crying by giving him the rose. Then Mamo giving the same flower to Fiore.

I always did find that little puppet of his Tuxedo Mask persona very cute, could see him having an interest in puppetry like that, entertaining and cheering up children all over! The more I think about it, it...makes a whole lot of sense, actually, since he spent so much of his childhood alone after he was orphaned. :-(

He'd want so badly to help kids who are going through the same parental loss, same traumatic events and loneliness that he had endured for so long. Since he was already studying to become a doctor, What if he traveled to children's hospitals specifically to perform for them?

(Uni is understandably nervous and confused about this whole 'running a blog thing' for the first time, so I'll let him add on any answers of his own he might have later.)

SFW INTERACTION ONLY, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!

[vintage-bentley]

If David were giving "wait and see" style answers I'd have a bit more hope but he was talking to the Radio Times which is a reputable publication in the UK so I don't feel like he'd outright lie to them about the nature of Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship.

To be honest, both he and Michael have been pretty clear on this being a ~secret background story~ or whatever, and have repeatedly said it's up for interpretation, and I'm worried everybody's doing another Johnlock where they ignore what the people involved are saying and have convinced themselves they're getting confirmation that will never come. The difference is this would be even WORSE because of the marketing campaign for season 2 and Neil's baity comments.

I honestly don't think Neil would be affected by this either because the second anybody expresses disappointment the asexuals in fandom are going to make it all about them and about how society ignores and invalidates their kind of love etc. I think he'll be successfully shielded. There will be pissed off people (especially olds like me who were book fans first and have lived through this shit a billion times) and I'm sure a huge part of the fandom will be quietly seething but we simply won't be allowed to call it bait because "Neil has always said it's a love story and therefore canon uwu" (even if it's plausibly deniable to homophobes and eludes the casual viewer 🙄).

I also think it's very telling that Neil only drew attention to the fake spoilers circulating when a post appeared saying the season was "500% gay" and that Az and Crowley had many romantic scenes. He has also said that while the marketing dept at Amazon clearly love the show he would've advised them to do things differently were he not on strike.

I know we've all been interpreting David and Michael's tight-lipped squirming when asked about a romantic subplot as an attempt not the give EVERYthing away, but it could also be that they know they're not going to deliver what the audience wants (including, apparently, every single interviewer on press day lol) so have been ordered not to say anything that sets themselves up.

IF all of this does turn out to be bait I am going to become a fic writer just to spite Neil lol. Trust I will be writing the smuttiest fic and finding the nastiest NSFW Ineffable Husbands art imaginable and it will be gay, gay, GAY 😂

I still HOPE we're getting what we want because I'm an optimistic fool. I'm just not sure it's guaranteed in the way the fandom thinks it is.

(btw if this doesn't go through anonymously please message me rather than publishing? Unfortunately I have co-workers and real life friends following me on my main 😬)

Sorry anon I couldn’t help but publish these together, it’s very funny to me 😂

Now, I know you’ve done a complete turnaround, but I do see where you were coming from with your first ask. It’s fun to imagine that the squirmy tight-lipped attitude is them doing their best not to spoil…but it’s sadly true that it could also be them feeling like they’re walking in a minefield, knowing that fans are anticipating something they didn’t deliver.

And I agree with you about fan reception to Neil. Like I’ve said before, spicy straights thinking they can call themselves “queer” has been absolutely disastrous to our ability to talk about queerbaiting. Because that term is really supposed to mean gaybaiting. It refers to the specific trend of shows teasing a gay relationship to get viewers hooked, but never taking it anywhere to ensure they don’t loose the viewership of homophobes. But now since everyone and their mother calls themselves “queer”, they seem to think the term queerbaiting applies to them, too. Which has led us to the point where people say “actually this show isn’t queerbaiting, because they don’t show physical affection which is aro/ace representation! Not everything has to be gay!” (In other words, “this show is gaybaiting but I’m happy about that so you can’t get upset about it”).

So, even if the show ends up being perfect textbook queerbait…we can’t say that, because of how the term has been appropriated. And we’ll have to deal with spicy straights whining about how they’re oppressed by gays wanting representation.

But as I’ve said before, I’m very optimistic about it not being bait! Let’s hope we’re right!

[sunshine-for-serotonin]

Of course!! Thank you for being my first ask!! If anyone could give me some constructive criticism, I would really appreciate it! :)

I personally believe that after his brothers “accident” Michael never really pursued anyone, believing that he was unworthy of receiving love from another person

You moved into what used to be his old family home many years after his death, and from the start he was fascinated with you. All these new technological advances, terms, fashion trends, etc. but most importantly, someone to finally chase away his loneliness after so many years.

He follows you everywhere whether that be the grocery store, college, work, everywhere, anchoring his soul to you as his only attachment to this mortal plane.

Slowly, watching also starts to be accompanied by touching, lingering fingertips ‘ghosting’ (I’m hilarious, please laugh) over your frame, what seems to just be a small breeze coming out of nowhere and playing with your hair, a random cold spot on the side of your bed whenever you lay down to rest.

The more in love with you he falls, the more likely it is that you will actually see him. Such intense emotions energize his soul and give him a form more perceivable to the human eyes.

When you do see him, he is elated, almost in tears, and tries to communicate with you immediately……..it probably won’t go over well because your at least a little scared of him.

After you get over what he refers to as ‘your rough patch’ you will often wake up to him standing over you, holding you, laying on you, no matter how much you tell him it makes you uncomfortable. He just loves you so much!!! Can’t you see that?

I am also a firm believer that William had secret rooms and passages around his house, dedicated to his research on immortality, and well, let’s just say that Michael being a ghost means there are no secret passages to him. He starts conducting his own research on how you could possibly join him, f o r e v e r.

He injects you with the substance while you are sleeping and cries while apologizing as he kills you as painlessly as possible

You wake up to the world looking a little grayer than you remember, Michael holding onto your ghostly form tightly. The moment he registers your awake he gasps softly and presses his lips to yours in a fevered kiss, softly moaning with appreciation and the sheer force of his love for you.

No matter how much you try to push him off, he clings onto you stubbornly for hours. As he has been dead for longer, he is much stronger than you and knows all the tips and tricks of being a ghost, not being afraid to use them against you as long as you don’t get hurt.

Eventually, Michael becomes even more paranoid that you are going to somehow leave him still, so he forces a soul bond between you both. This anchors you two together in such a way that you can barely walk five feet away from him without an invisible force pulling you back to him

Michaels love language is physical touch, both giving and receiving since he was without it for all those years, so expect to be bombarded with kisses and hugs at almost every waking moment, as well as a sobbing Michael if you won’t give into his demands for cuddles.

Let’s face it darling, you’re stuck. After all, not even death can do you part.

[enddaysengine]

Melione (Greek Goddess)

Are we going to roll with what is trending? Yes. Yes we are. Let's watch the trailer.

Games covered in this post: Geist: the Sin-Eaters, Pathfinder 1e & 2e, Planescape, Scion (after the break). 

**HADES 2 spoilers incoming**

Supergiant games has revealed that the protagonist of Hades 2 will be Melinoe. Zagreus was an obscure deity from the Orphic Hymns and Milone is very much the same… except even more so. We at least have multiple sources on Zag, but as far as I can tell, we only have one text on Melione, which is short enough I’ll quote it in full: 

I call upon Melinoe, saffron-cloaked nymph of the earth, whom revered Persephone bore by the mouth of the Kokytos river upon the sacred bed of Kronian Zeus. In the guise of Plouton Zeus tricked Persephone and through wiley plots bedded her; a two-bodied spectre sprang forth from Persephone's fury. This spectre drives mortals to madness with her airy apparitions as she appears in weird shapes and strange forms, now plain to the eye, now shadowy, now shining in the darkness — all this in unnerving attacks in the gloom of night. O goddess, O queen of those below, I beseech you to banish the soul's frenzy to the ends of the earth, show to the initiates a kindly and holy face."

This is complicated and I’m just doing a quick read, so fellow academics please forgive and correct me if I get something wrong. 

It is absolutely clear from this passage that Melione is the daughter of Persephone, but who her father is is a bit more debatable. While the text specifies Zeus, lots of chthonic imagery is involved and Hades/Pluto is mentioned. Different groups of Greeks syncretized Zeus and Hades at different times to different degrees. While most modern people know them as separate gods, some groups (like the Orphics who wrote this hymn) viewed them as aspects of one deity. Others gave Hades a “Zeus'' alias because he was ruler of the Underworld. So depending on the story you want to tell, Melinoe's father could be Zeus, Zeus pretending to be Hades, Hades, or both as a single deity.

The other non-obvious bit from my readings is that the “saffron-cloaked” reference indicates Melinoe is a Moon Goddess. If you watched the Hades 2 trailer, you probably noticed she wears a crescent moon diadem and is trained by a Goddess who is most definitely Hecate, the only other saffron-cloaked deity in the Orphic Hymns (although the epitaph is associated with other deities elsewhere).

 As a chthonic deity, Melinoe also gets associated with the dead, in particular ghosts. She has a terrible and fearful appearance from being the embodiment of Persephone’s, which combined with the darkness motif, makes Melinoe a goddess of nightmares as well. Again, all this is seen in the trailer with Melinoe’s ghostly arm and eyes.

So while we don’t have a huge number of sources to play with, there is still enough for Supergiant to bring Melinoe into their game. And if they can do it, so can you!

General RPG Info

Allies: Hecate, Persephone

Enemies: None

Temples: Caverns, entrances to the Underworld, graveyards

Relationships: Hades (father?), Macaria (sister), Persephone (mother), Zagreus (brother), Zeus (father?) 

Worshippers: Diviners, necromancers, psychologists, the wronged and oppressed

Minions: Ghost, nymphs 

Geist: The Sin-Eaters

Melinoe is a perfect deity to use as the basis for a Kereboi (if you don’t play Geist, that’s a big, nasty ancient ghost). 

Description: Melinoe appears as a giant woman, who alternates between radiating blinding light and shadow so dark it snuffs out all lights. Her six arms are not attached to her body, instead they float around her, the bones within visible through their ectoplasmic outline. 

Virtue: Kind

Vice: Wrathful

Attributes: Power 15 Finesse 15 Resistance 15

Influences: Domain 5, Fear 5, Rage 5

Corpus: 30

Willpower: 10

Initiative: +30

Defence: 15

Speed: 35

Size: 15

Numina: Chthonic Darkness*, Domain Sense, Engulf, Enforcement, Hallucination, Olympian Light*, Puppeteer 

Manifestations: Avernian Gateway, Discorporiate, Emotional Aura, Empower Ghost, Image, Materialize, Possess, Twilight Form 

Essence: 50

Ban: Most obey the Old Laws of her Domain

Bane: A thunderbolt tempered in one of the Rivers of the Underworld

New Numen - Chthonic Darkness: By spending 3 Essence, the ghost can snuff out all light for the Scene. Mundane lights cannot be relit, magical lights require a Clash of Wills. 

New Numen - Olympian Light: By spending 1 Essence, the ghost shines bright with the light of the heavens. The victim contests with a Dexterity + Stamina + Supernatural Tolerance roll. If they fail, they suffer the Blinded (Both Eyes) Tilt for the rest of the Scene.  

Pathfinder

For Pathfinder 1e domains, I’m avoiding alignment-based domains on purpose. I’m also going to consider Melinoe a demigod and give her four domains/subdomains. 

Domains: Darkness, Death, Madness, Nobility

Subdomains: Leadership, Moon, Nightmare, Undead

For Pathfinder 2e, things are a bit more straightforward since we’ve done away with subdomains and everything’s just a domain.  

PF 2e Domains: Darkness, Moon, Nightmare, Undeath

Planescape

Placing Melione in Planescape is easy at least - she would be found in the Grey Wastes with her mother or visiting one of Hecate’s two realms on the Grey Wastes and Baator. Faction-wise, the Bleak Congress and Dustmen are natural fits for her followers. The Revolutionary League and Mercykillers could also work for followers who seek to avenge the wronged and the abused.

I think an interesting twist to Melinoe would be if she is also worshipped by aberrations and dragons due to her frightful description. So if you are running a Greek-themed campaign, perhaps you have some chthonic beholders who worship Melinoe alongside the ghosts of their ancestors? Given Melinoe’s association with ghosts and darkness, I would toss in shadows, spectres, and wraiths alongside her minions as well. 

Scion

Making Scion stats for Melione is pretty straightforward. Judge and Passion (Rage) are there because Melinoe was birthed from Persephone’s anger over the injustices against her. I'm also writing Melione as a Guide since they are easy to make and I absolutley love Guides. 

Callings: Judge, Leader, Liminal

Purviews: Darkness, Death, Moon, Passion (Fear, Rage)

Melinoe (One-Dot Guide) 

Asset Skill: Occult

Guide Stunt (1-3 enhancement): Gain an Enhancement equal to successes spent to the next action you take in the current session to deal with a ghost. 

Final Thoughts

This is a new type of post for me. Hopefully you find it useful and informative. Got another one planned for Zag and Mel’s sister Macaria which should be up on my Patreon in the next few days. 

Bibliography

Athanassakis, Apostolos N., and Benjamin M. Wolkow. The Orphic Hymns. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2013.

[klonoa-at-blog]

Famitsu KPRS interview (Part 1)

An interview from Famitsu with Tsuyoshi Kobayashi and Yoshihiko Arai, both original development staff members of the Klonoa series. This interview was translated with help from DeepL and may contain inaccuracies. ----------------------------------

The Klonoa series is celebrating its 25th anniversary and is still extremely popular. The innovative 2.5 dimensional side-scrolling action and the memorable storyline have been a hit with players and have been the talk of the town since their release. Two games in the series have now been revived with Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series (hereafter referred to as Phantasy Reverie Series)!　

The highly popular first game Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (Klonoa 1) and its sequel Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil (Klonoa 2) will be released in a remastered edition on July 7, 2022 (July 8 for Steam). The game will be available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam.

We interviewed Tsuyoshi Kobayashi and Yoshihiko Arai, who were involved in the development of the original version of the games, and asked them about the development status at the time and behind-the-scenes stories. The interview contains spoilers, so please be careful when viewing the interview.

Tsuyoshi Kobayashi Currently a director of Namco Bandai Studios. He worked as a game designer on Klonoa 1 and as a director and game designer on Klonoa 2. He was also in charge of promotion of the game, as well as reviewing the specifications of the game, such as the action and feel of the controls.

Yoshihiko Arai He is currently the lead artist at Namco Bandai Studio. He was in charge of graphics and scenario for Klonoa 1 and art director, character design, and scenario for Klonoa 2. In addition, he has been involved in the series in various other ways, including voice acting, language creation, and writing lyrics and provisional-songs.

--First of all, please tell us your honest impression about the announcement of "Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series".

Kobayashi: I was somewhat aware of the "Phantasy Reverie Series" being produced as part of the internal development flow of the company, but I didn't officially know about it until a little later. I was invited to give my opinion during the development process, and that's how I became involved in the project. I am very happy to have been able to present it successfully.

Arai: I was also involved in the same way, providing some of the materials from that time. It was 25 years ago, after all, so I am very grateful to be able to revive the work in this way.

--The official announcement was made during the "Nintendo Direct 2022.2.10" program (broadcast on February 10, 2022 from 7:00 a.m.), and the word "Klonoa" has been trending on Twitter since early that morning. Did you see that?

Arai: I was up early in the morning watching everyone's reactions. I was happy to see the loud reactions of people from other countries.

Kobayashi: I couldn't follow it in real time, but I heard that there was a great response. The work had many devoted fans even back then, so I am very happy to hear that they are still supporting it today.

--Did you realize that the "Klonoa" series has a dedicated fan base?

Kobayashi: We were aware of the existence of such fans from the time we exhibited at the "Tokyo Game Show" and wrote about our works on our website. What made me realize that there were people who had played "Klonoa" when they were little and later had joined our company. I heard stories like, "I hated going to school, but I managed to survive by playing Klonoa," and when I gave them goods as gifts, they were very happy.

Arai: At that time, I got the impression that we were often mentioned by game magazines and other people in the game industry. I had interviews like this one published, and I also received compliments directly from Koichi Hamamura, who was the editor-in-chief of Famitsu at the time.

Kobayashi: We received good reviews from all over the industry. I didn't know the details of the reaction to "Klonoa 1" immediately after its release, but I was impressed by the fact that there were people who gradually supported it for a long time.

--So you gradually realized the popularity of your work. Was the response more than you expected?

Arai: At the time, just the fact that it was a PlayStation (PS1) game attracted a lot of attention, so we were quietly expecting it.

Kobayashi: Yes, that's true. At that time, Namco was releasing titles such as the "Ridge Racer" series and "Tales of Destiny," and although sales were not as explosive as those, they were good enough to warrant a sequel....... For some reason, the titles we were in charge of were all in the "Tales of" series (laughs).

--Could you tell us about your involvement in "Klonoa 1" and "Klonoa 2"?

Kobayashi: Mr. Yoshizawa* was the development director for "Klonoa 1," and I worked under him as the main game designer. It was not long after I joined the company, but there was actually a game that was the predecessor to "Klonoa," and I have been involved with it since then. For "Klonoa 2," I was in charge of both the director and the producer.

*Hideo Yoshizawa. Game creator, currently a professor at the Department of Games, Faculty of Arts, Tokyo Polytechnic University. He was involved in titles such as "Ninja Gaiden" at Tecmo and the "Klonoa" series at Namco.

Arai: I was a newcomer myself, about two or three years after joining the company, and I was involved in the project from its predecessor, which Kobayashi mentioned earlier. When the development of that game was abandoned and it was decided to start over from the character level, I participated in a competition that was held. I was in charge of visuals in general, as well as director-type work. I was asked to work on "Klonoa 2" as part of that process.

--So there was a predecessor to the "Klonoa" series?

Kobayashi: Yes, there was. Once we decided to flatten the previous project, we held a competition and solicited various ideas. At that time, there was a feeling within the company that we had not created any original Namco characters recently, and that is when Klonoa, designed by Arai, was born.

Arai: My own design was chosen for the character, but the theme of "making dreams come true," which was thought up by the planning team, was also born from that competition.

--What aspects of its predecessor did "Klonoa 1" inherit?

Arai: The concept of moving 2D characters against a 3D background was decided at that point. I remember that I was also doling out 2D pixel art in the beginning.

Kobayashi: The theme of the game was to create the feeling of being in a 3D game while playing in 2D, with curves seen at the back of the stage and enemies approaching from the back. We wanted to make it so that people who had played 2D games before would have no problem playing it.

Arai: One of the reasons was that it was difficult to move characters in full 3D with the specifications of the PS1 at the time. We reduced the rendering to 2D and made adjustments while watching the overall capacity of the game.

--I feel that you have put a lot of thought into the depth of the 2.5 dimensional stages, but do you have any memories or stories of difficulties during development?

Kobayashi: At the time, 3D games suddenly appeared, so the developers all wanted to move the camera. The sudden transition made it difficult to play many titles. So, we had to find a way to make the game easy to play while paying attention to the expressions that only 3D can provide. It was difficult to find the right balance between the two.

--I also felt a strong sense of commitment to the location of the gems hidden in the stages, etc.

Kobayashi: I really enjoyed creating the stages myself.

Arai: The planners had already created the stages using "Softimage" software.

--I often hear stories about the lack of tools and difficulties in development at that time, but I feel that Namco's environment was one of the better ones.

Arai: At that time, Namco had "Ridge Racer" and "Tekken," etc., and there was an atmosphere of "Let's go ahead with 3D!” I myself used a tool called "LightWave" to create base models for Klonoa.

--One of the features of the "Klonoa" series is the double jump action using enemies.

Kobayashi: The idea for the action of using the Wind Bullet itself came from the very beginning, but at first it was designed to place an inflated enemy in front of Klonoa by pressing the △ button while the enemy was caught in the Wind Bullet. The idea was to use the placed enemy as a staircase to go further up, but the tempo was very slow (laughs), and we had a hard time getting out of it until we came up with the idea for the double jump specification. Once the specifications were finalized, we created an experimental stage that included elements like the hidden extra vision Balue's Tower, which was test-played by members of the development team.

--About the Extra Vision! That stage was extremely difficult, and I thought it was meant to be a challenge from the development staff.

Kobayashi: I didn't intend it that way, but I wanted to include it somehow because I thought that the most interesting element of the game would be a series of actions at high difficulty levels like that stage (laughs). I thought it would be okay if they appeared only after the story was completed, so I adopted them as post-game elements.

Arai: In the planning and visual department, members who were good at games would get together and play Time Attack. It was a very interesting situation where we were creating our own illustrations while playing the game.

Kobayashi: As we played, our times got better and better. I wondered what would happen in the end.

Arai: I couldn't keep up with them from the beginning (laughs).

-The character designs are cute, but the enemies and other characters have a slightly eerie feel to them. What theme did you have in mind?

Arai: Rather than deciding on a theme at the beginning, it was more like I and the other members came up with the idea and worked it out as we went along. The cat's eyes in Klonoa are a remnant of that.

--I heard that the design of Klonoa was decided through a competition.

Arai: We made some adjustments, but the design was adopted as it was from the beginning without any changes. The Pac-Man on Klonoa's hat is also from the beginning, but it was a free competition with no worldview planned out at all, so I put it in with a feeling of "Isn't that just like Namco? (laughs). I thought I would be asked to remove it later, but as it turned out, it became something like a vestige of reality, symbolizing that Klonoa is the alter ego of the player.

--I've always wondered about Pac-Man on the hat, but I didn't realize that was the way it was decided. Do you have any memories of other character designs?

Arai: Huepow was designed directly from a postcard I had made during a meeting. At first, it was a completely different design, like a fireball, but we adjusted it based on the content of the scenario and finally came up with the cute look you see today.

--The story is full of cute characters, but as it progresses, it gets heavier and heavier, and the final scene is something that cannot be told without tears. Was that your goal from the beginning?

Arai: Yes, that's right. Mr. Yoshizawa created the flow from the beginning to the end, and I added the branches and leaves. I was trying not to make the story too heavy, so I kept fighting with Mr. Yoshizawa, adding random lines during the storyboarding and having him cut them (laughs). There are still some gags from those days in the work, which is a bit embarrassing when I look at it now.......

--Personally, I imagined that the story had a children's feel with gags in between, but as the story progressed, it became more adult oriented. The ending in particular is impressive when viewed.......

Kobayashi: I was also shocked by the ending movie. I remember everyone in the company was surprised when the ending started playing while we were playing a test game. I often heard about it later from the children who later joined the company, and I think it must have made a big impression on them.

Arai: I was listening to the whole story from beginning to end, so I wasn't completely sure if the players would cry when they saw it. Even at the time of its completion, "Finally finished......!" was all I could think of (smiles). However, I felt afterward that the players' enthusiasm was slowly spreading without being consumed all at once. Perhaps it was deeply engraved in their hearts by being transmitted little by little.

--Please tell us about the atmosphere of the development team at that time and your memories during the development process.

Kobayashi: We would have meetings with each position in the daytime to get the team working, and then at night I would quietly create stages by myself, and that flow went on forever. I had a lot of help from my seniors, and although we didn't get along very well, we did fight at times (laughs). It was a very gratifying experience for me at the time to be able to bring this much to fruition in the first game development project I was involved in.

Arai: Since we were all newcomers, there were not many barriers between us. Normally, I would have been told to "concentrate on your job first," but at that time, I would raise my hand for anything I could do, and in turn, many people would offer me jobs.

Kobayashi: At that time, there was a culture of "whoever could do it, would do it anyway.” Looking back on it now, there were some difficult times, but I think it was a good experience.

--I heard that you were also in charge of voice acting for Joka.

Arai: Eriko Imura, who was in charge of the main sound, was calling on people who looked like they could do it, and I was sort of called in to do it. The language of the game was the fictional Phantomile, so I didn't have to do a lot of acting. At that time, this kind of thing was common at game companies, wasn't it?

Kobayashi: In the old days, they would just say, "Hey, can you give me a voice?” It was not uncommon for voice actors to be called in on the same day to record a scene (laughs). Sometimes I was called in on the same day to record a scene.

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]