#so like say the two kind of swapped formats

[talenlee]

The Parallel Universes of Entry Hazards in Pokemon

Stealth rock.

For the invested competitive Pokemon player, there are two reactions to this name. One group recognise the word as indicative of one of the most powerful things in the game, a single power that represents, unaddressed, something like a whole Pokemon’s worth of actual health for one button click. One group recognises it as a power that exists, and ruins the format the other group play.

It is a philosophical seam between two groups of people who consider themselves to be, as a group, competitive Pokemon players. Two houses, alike only in difference, and I am going to try, to try to be nice to Smogon in this article, I promise.

Alright, the power itself. First of all, Stealth Rock is a move introduced to Pokemon in Generation IV, back in 2007. That is, right now, Stealth Rock is old enough to vote in the United States. This move creates what’s called an ‘entry’ hazard; it’s reasonably easy to grasp, in turn-based game turns; it’s stuff on the ground, so any time a pokemon that touches the ground enters, it gets hit by those rocks. It’s scattering thumbtacks on the ground where you’re supposed to stand and fight. In purely mechanical game-action-make-sensey kind of way, it’s a great power. You have pokemon made of rocks, they can chuck rocks over there, and rely on the long game effecting your opponents.

The amount of damage it does is a ‘fixed’ value – 12.5% at base, but it’s a rock type move, so it’s been set to do ‘rock’ damage, and that means in Pokemon, with the type chart you may remember from previous conversations on the same, anything that is weak to rock damage takes more damage from those rocks. That means that for the types weak to rock, they take 25% damage, which is a pretty significant chunk of your health, especially if you ever have to swap in a second time. And Arceus help you if you’re two types weak to rock, because then you’re taking 50% of your health on the trade-in and definitionally, unless something extraordinary happens, you can’t trade in again.

Now, this is pretty abnormal; there aren’t that many powers that are capable of this kind of impact. But you can weight this value based on how many times someone is going to trade out in a fight, and how important a single turn is going to be spent taking time to throw the rocks on the ground. If, for example, almost nothing is weak to rock moves, then this is an interesting curiosity. Similarly, if this is a move almost no monster that’s any good has access to, then it doesn’t matter how great the move is, you won’t be able to get it onto a team.

In the four categories of ‘weak to Rock’ Pokemon, there are 349 Pokemon, or about a third of all Pokemon. There are some false positives there; after all, in the list of flying types, there are no doubt some flying-grass types, which means they don’t take double damage from Stealth Rock. Similarly, there are a lot of Pokemon in that list that aren’t very good; if you’re super-effective at beating up stupid babies, it doesn’t really mean that much for competitive performance, where you will rarely have a stupid baby matchup. As far as how many Pokemon have access to Stealth Rock, it is a move available to 207 Pokemon, which is to say, about 1/5th of all Pokemon.

It’s widely distributed, and it’s good against a lot of stuff and it’s amazing against a pretty significant fraction of the stuff it’s good against.

How does that take us to our two groups?

First of all, there’s Smogon, the more pertinent of this group. Smogon is an online-based community-driven Pokemon competitive format that has a…

Let’s say complicated history and relationship to legality and formats. Like, for its virtues or its vices, I think it’s reasonable to say that Smogon is complicated. For a start, if you want to, you can go to Smogon’s play spaces and start playing competitive Gen1 Pokemon. That’s Red-Blue-Yellow, and it’ll be divided up into a variety of play environments to, generously, try and maximise the number of Pokemon you can play with. There’s a deliberately archival view of play environments, too, where you can play the game the way it worked all those years ago, and you can keep playing it and changes to it are done slowly and through consensus of the player base.

Smogon plays (typically) matches that are teams of six Pokemon, fighting one-on-one. It is how competitive Pokemon used to be played, back in the day when Hulk Hogan was the referee, and the way the game honestly represents it to be played. Like, in any given Pokemon game, you’re going to fight trainers that show up with some Pokemon in their pocket, and they can have, at most, six, and you can have at most six, and you play back and forth until you win or lose. Smogon can be compared to a sort of pure, real expression of the way the game teaches you to play.

In Smogon, Stealth Rock is the most powerful move in the game. Stealth Rock is important to, central even, every environment it’s in. It is too widely distributed to be conveniently banned except by its actual banning; there is no tier you can go to where stealth rock is not present because there’s always a Pokemon that can use it, and that means there are whole categories of Pokemon, including franchise mascot Charizard that just don’t have a meaningfully good place to exist because of how there’s this one move that’s going to cut their health in half in almost all games. Smogon is so defined by Stealth Rock that an item that makes you immune to Stealth Rock briefly approached 50% usage in the current generation, and this led to claims the item was probably overpowered because everyone was using it.

See, here’s another thing about Smogon. Smogon had to institute a timer that said games can’t go more than 1,000 turns.

That is, there was a time when the timer could go longer than 1,000 turns, and they compromised to 1,000 turns to stop the games going too ridiculously long.

VGC is the alternative format, which is run and maintained by the Pokemon company. It’s the ‘official’ format, and that’s where there are things like regionals and championships and trophies and coverage where you’ll see people at tournaments with overseeing judges and stuff like that. VGC is a comparatively simple format, but it’s also rotating and changing. Any team you made for VGC last year isn’t going to be good any more, because not only are other players more aware of what they’re doing, but also, the Pokemon that were legal for the format then are – well, okay, they’re probably fine, but there are a bunch of Pokemon that you can’t take to the next tournament. These Pokemon aren’t spot bans, they’re not negotiated or responsive to play environments, they’re just wholesale format choices: Pokemon of a particular category aren’t allowed right now, with terms like ‘legendary’ or ‘mythical.’

VGC is a format where games are played with a team of six; but to each fight, you bring four, and they play two-on-two. So you have two on your side of the field and I have two on my side of the field. This format is standard and has been since the year 2008, so one year after the release of Stealth Rock. Two Pokemon on a team can’t share a Pokemon Number (so you can’t, for example, field two Gengars, for double gengar action), no Pokemon on your team can hold the same held item, and they’re all levelled to 50, to sort out the math.

In VGC, Stealth Rock has never been meaningful or relevant.

These two game formats are structurally different. For good or ill, whatever you want to say about how they should work or not, and whether or not you prefer them, these two formats can be considered in terms of how they relate to this one specific move.

VGC matches are faster and shorter. They aren’t timed by a number of rounds necessarily but they are just assigned an actual clock timer, complete with time spent thinking. VGC swaps are less common but also matches are just plain out shorter. If you trade, there are two Pokemon in position to punch you in the face, and you get this thing called being ‘doubled into’ where two Pokemon attack one Pokemon and probably do too much damage for it to handle. You don’t swap Pokemon in and out as much, and Stealth Rock necessarily just doesn’t get to do that much damage.

Smogon is a format where games are longer and more grindy and that means that Pokemon swap in and out way more often. Abilities that make trading out better or refresh your endurance are more important and there are a number of teams where players spend about half the time not using moves, but instead swapping out. I am not trying to make fun here, I am not trying to exaggerate for effect, I trying to be clear and fair about this: Smogon is a place where everything Stealth Rock effects is important, and that means ‘weak to Stealth Rock’ is an almighty hurdle for a Pokemon to overcome to be able to do anything competitively.

Now, whether or not this is good is not important. What’s interesting here is how these two choices create different incentives and different values for the same pieces. Smogon is a format where games can run very long, VGC where they can be forced to a real-world timer for a large tournament.

But don’t worry, Charizard isn’t very good in either.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[undead-cypress]

A few metaphor doodles and screenshots I either forgor or didn't think was worth separate posts. Also some language notes at the end

(the formatting of this post keeps getting screwy, bear with me for a sec)

Probably the first doodle back when I just started the game and the MP resource management was DIRE. Baby needs drugs

Started new game plus, but in Japanese so I can enjoy the puns. There's a few things that are specific to Japanese, like specific visual puns, formal/informal speech and honorifics that are untransferable but not much can be done about that. The English localisation is honestly spectacular. I'll put in a few notes about it after the read more below.

I'm also noticing a lot more little details, like the lines on that pillar is Maria's height chart - the letter that looks like n written on the pillar corresponds to M on the cipher they released with the OST

There are two mice at the inn at the beginning of the game even though I remember there being four by the end. Is it because Maria sees us as family at the end 🥺

Ok on the 2D sprite it's not as obvious but I'm just noticing on the 3D model that the lines under his eyes are eye bags. Are you doing ok buddy

Also, the ppl hunched over in the streets have fully modeled faces

POV: You're a Sanctist guard at the opera house who just watched your mage buddy get beaten to death by teenagers with sticks

Major spoilers below

9/24 lmao

And the two screens that sent me into hysterics at the endgame. Convenient censor bar will ALWAYS be funny

Notes so far on NG+ in Japanese (as of rn, just finished the Regalith Cathedral dungeon):

- Gallica kind of speaks like a kindly babysitter coaxing a child into doing their first tasks. Which is kind of exactly what she is. I've described it to people before as kind of like a children's TV show host? She uses "atchi", which is what really young girls use, or adult women mirroring young girls in children's TV shows use. Since she doesn't otherwise talk like a young girl and uses pretty complex vocabulary, it's much more of a kindergarten teacher vibe.

- Strohl has wildly swinging speech styles towards people he's casual with (Will, Maria, Fabienne), people he respects (exactly one person, Grius), and people he doesn't respect (literally everyone else). It's almost jarring how aggro he is in Japanese, because it just comes off as catty in English. Especially in the beginning when they're in a military setting, imagine if he just added "shithead" after every time he said the word "you" to everyone that's not Will and Grius. He also swears a lot. Like, a lot. Maybe I just didn't notice the first time because while "damn" and "bloody hell" are teeeechnically swears in English they don't register to me. Let Strohl say fuck!

- Grius sounds much more curt and reticent, less expressive.

- flashback Will and Prince doesn't have different accents, Will's voice is about half an octave higher than Prince

- Will has somehow avoided using "I" this whole time. Idk what personal pronouns they use. And unless I've somehow missed it, nobody has used a gendered third person pronoun for them either, everyone always just used the inputted name. Will also doesn't tend to speak in full sentences and trail in and out. Voice wise they sound pretty much exactly the same as in English. Incredible matching

- MORE USES BOKU. That threw me. I was expecting ware (hyperformal) or watashi (neutral). Boku is used by either young boys, or to show deference to someone of a higher age or social standing. More either thinks Will is older (impossible), of a higher social class (interesting), or he doesn't have a high self esteem (most likely).

- Hulkenberg has two modes: formal customer service mode, which is her out of battle mode. Even toned and gentle sounding, not really like English Hulkenberg at all. And then there's HYPERFORMAL BATTLE MODE where she swaps to using "waga" and sounds EXACTLY like English Hulkenberg. I suspect she'll be in this mode more and more as the game goes on. Her Jpn VA also does Yor Forger from Spy x Family, honestly that's perfect casting. Strongest baby guard of all time

- Zorba's voiced by Sugita (p5 yusuke, fe Chrom), so his voice is DEEP. No fun accents, but good evil cackling. Major win for the localization in this case because every English instance of an insult, be it "heathen", "vermin", "blaggard", "knave", "cur" etc was all just 貴様 (you, extremely derogatory) in Japanese. English Hulkenberg and Zorba gets real creative with it, but Strohl less even though he has probably used 貴様 the most out of anybody. They probably ran out of words he'd say after the first 18 times he used it.

- I'm not sure what title Louis has tbh because his followers just call him Louis-sama

- Louis sounds a bit more serious and less mocking but otherwise not much different in text.

- Rella sounded so much like Japanese Fuuka I looked it up and she IS! Welcome back 🤗

- some archetypes are named differently. Not really a big deal tbh. Warrior was Fighter, Mage was Magician, Brawler was Monk, etc. Mostly just to make them sound cooler in English.

- Another major win for the English localization is "horse drawn carnage" was originally just "horse strike".

- "peerless stonecleaver" though, was 断岩無双烈空斬 which, while it is literally what it means, has the vibes of what a kid thinks a cool anime sword move should be called. Idk how to articulate that better in English tbh

- The title for the lineage is written in Japanese kanji but the individual classes are in katakana, usually using loanwords, but even the Japanese titled classes like ninja and samurai are written with kana in classes.

Was also thinking that in English, everyone has British Isles accents except for Will and Gallica, and thinking maybe that was the in-universe Eldan accent? Until getting to the Sanctum and everyone there also had British Isles accents. Then you meet Agrica, who has the same accent. I must be forced to conclude: Will has a FAIRY accent.

I must also be forced to extrapolate: there exists countries outside of Euchronia with Australian, New Zealand, Newfie, Texan, Socal, Mid-Atlantic, Jersey, Cajun, etc, accents. That sounds so fun

[teslasucks37]

CW: NSFW under the cut (MDNI), Jerkin it (imaginings of sex), afab!reader (they/them pronouns and referral to them being Non-Binary), alcohol usage, Streamer!Reader, OnlyFans!Reader, Dom!Charlie I suppose, Lengthy descriptions of edits based on real edits I’ve watched 100 times, Cringy use of a song in a fanfic with the lyrics actually typed out but to be cringe is to be free, Named!Reader (Functions more like a Charlie x OC but oh well), Desperate!Charlie, Horny!Charlie, DownBad!Charlie, Despite his horny I made him pretty chill cause he’s definitely chiller irl than his normal online persona

A/N: Part 1/2! This is the fic that began my obsession with the Slimer so to see it partially completed fills me with joy. Also the formatting for the texting lines may be fucked up on desktop cause I made this in Wattpad and I’m posting it on mobile. This is around like 7k words… I think the next one will be shorter hopefully…

Charlie Slimecicle x Reader

Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah) 1/2

Charlie loved his life. Making art and hanging out with his friends was all he could ever ask for. Going out on weekends, planning events, participating in projects, everything was perfect. The single life was treating him well. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't interested in romance anymore, it just hadn't come up much, nor was he actively searching for anything. He wasn’t one to go searching for something like that.

So when Moonzy and Ranboo had sent him a link to an ongoing stream of someone he'd never seen before, he was intrigued to say the least.

—————————————————————————

The Squad ☝️🤓

Ran

@Char dude someone's about to thirst over u on stream 😏

Char

Huh?

Who?

Ran

https://www.twitch.tv/dannyphantom

They're doing a try not to blush challenge and their chat keeps threatening to send in edits of u

Moonz

Omg Danny!

I know them!

We met at a creator thing one time

They're so kind and really funny

—————————————————————————

Charlie stared at the link, his curiosity taking over and causing him to press it. He wasn't disappointed. A freckled feminine face framed with a pastel strawberry-blonde wolf cut and light brown eyes filled the screen. They wore chunky purple skull earrings, a dark red lip, and eyeliner that enhanced their natural eyes so well that he almost felt himself staring.

"Now, sexualizing real people is bad, chat. However, he has not said anything about explicitly disliking it, so I think as long as we're not too horned up on main, it's fine." They prefaced, spreading their arms wide as if to gloat. "So give me your best shot. I still have all three lives."

Charlie glanced at the viewers, noticing they had quite a few, not that it mattered to him much, he was just curious.

They were screen sharing their phone to the stream, opening TikToks that their mods were sending them.

The first one popped up, an old music stream on Ranboo's channel. "The magic of music is that- oh, you're so wet." Charlie's face in the video contorted into a cringe after speaking, before the edit swapped between different parts of the stream.

Danny was wide eyed with a dropped jaw as it finished. They glanced at the camera, before muttering. "Surely not." Replaying it, the shocked look on their face turned to a light grin, before bursting out into a laugh. "You can see the instant regret on his face after saying it too." The swapping of scenes replayed and Danny paused it after the last one. "Is this who you guys were talking about? I'm sorry Slimecicle I was unaware of your game."

Charlie grinned at the apology, watching as they opened another one, covering his mouth with his hand in slight embarrassment as they opened the one where he'd gone skiing with friends.

"I got two feelings, slow and fast. And there's one I like more than the other." The edit swapped to slowed images of him smiling in the gondola, where he'd been told that he looked like a model. The memory made him grin.

Danny leaned into the mic. "Which one tho?" They chuckle as the chat goes crazy, before they clear their throat and lick their dark lips, motioning to their mouth. "I can feel myself salivating as I watch these."

Charlie grinned harder at that, finding it funny that he was affecting them that much.

The next edit was just a recording of him dancing at a club he'd posted on his instagram story. "Aw this one's cute. That's such a vibe. And what a fit."

Charlie bit the inside of his cheek, hearing their approval of his outfit.

"Actually I think going out with him to a club would fix me. Or maybe just going to a club in general." They joked, before moving on.

They opened another, this one from his animal Olympics stream. "Chat, do you have any tips? Do you have any tips at all? I've got a tip..."

"Proof?" Danny leans into the camera, before laughing off the joke. "He must know. There's no way he can't." They rambled about the innuendo.

Charlie snorts, his lips thinning in an attempt to keep his smile contained.

The chat begins going crazy again, spamming to watch what happened after. Danny reads closer, before shouting. "HE SMIRKS AFTER THAT?" They open the next edit frantically, practically the same as the other one, except it shows a small smirk after him speaking. Looking up at the camera dramatically, eyes wide and jaw open once again, they whisper. "So you're a slut."

Charlie snickers, covering his mouth again almost as a way to hide a blush that he feels creeping up his neck.

They open another, this one being filmed during the QSMP awards. Charlie leaned down and licked at the cake on the table with just his mouth in slow motion, before swapping to portions of him speaking and of his mouth covered in cake. His lips and tongue grazed over the treat sensually, possibly imitating what he would look like when eating something else.

Danny's hand jumped up to cover their mouth, saying nothing as the edit ran once, before they had to pause it, slamming their phone down on the desk. Their hands covered their face, before a squeal emitted from behind them. They removed their hands, their face flushed and pink. "Okay chat, you got me... Fuck..." They mumble, picking up their phone again.

Charlie's brows furrowed in thought, almost not believing that his visage could affect someone as gorgeous as them, and considering that Moonzy knew them, it was likely that streaming was the most family friendly portion of their life on the internet.

"DUDE MOVE PLEASE!" Danny replayed the edit, shouting desperately at Quackity, who was in the way of Charlie's mouth for a portion of the clip. "His jaw movements? Fuck." They exclaimed, before pausing the edit on the image of his face covered in cake, his eyes sleepy and satisfied, absolutely fucked out. "That's what I look like after I'm done eating pussy. I wonder what..." They pause, turning to their camera. "Actually, I can't say that." They grin guiltily as chat goes crazy, absolutely catching them lacking.

Charlie pushed his hair back with a hand, suddenly feeling aware of how he looked, even though he was very much alone.

Danny opened the next one where he had been playing a horror game, listening to the story where a character states that their dog could be "one noisy little girl sometimes."

Charlie felt a heat creep up his face as he was very aware what it was about to say.

"R- Really?" Edit Charlie chuckled, stuttering slightly. "I love noisy, noisy girls..."

Danny screamed, before taking a deep breath. "God. One night with him would actually fix me I think."

Charlie nearly choked on his spit at their words, caught completely off guard. It certainly wasn't that he found them unattractive or anything, he was just surprised at their boldness. But he supposed he probably shouldn't be, considering what they were doing for entertainment on their stream.

The next edit was one he hadn't expected, his Duolingo advertisement where he'd drank multiple mysterious liquids. The edit switched between clips, before one specific one caught Danny's eye.

"OH MY GOD! WHAT?" They paused the edit where it was, turning to face the camera. "Chat, something is pulsing. FUCK!" Their face was actively turning red as they processed what they'd just said and analyzed the image.

Charlie licked his lip at the confession, having a mere fleeting thought of what that pulsing would feel like. He shook his head, waving the thought away guiltily as he took in the reason for their words.

He had been pouring the purple drink into his mouth, lines of the liquid streaming down his throat and catching on the collar of his white tshirt. "You can literally see the veins in his neck." Their hand covered their mouth in embarrassment, turning to the chat to berate them. "Yes, I know that's another one. Fuck..."

Others in chat encouraged each other to send more Slimecicle edits, as they had seemed to be working.

With a worried sigh, they opened up another. This one showed Charlie with shorter hair in an episode of Just Roll With It, in eyeliner and a foam bat, or as everyone had called him during that video, Villian. He held the bat out, throwing it over his shoulder and the clips jumped between him grinning evilly with dark eyes.

They grinned, singing along to the song. "P is for pussy, p, u ,s, s, y." The edit finished and they turned to their camera without a second thought. "He can see my p u s- NOPE CAN'T SAY THAT." They tightened their lips, attempting to hide their laughter.

Charlie was fully blushing now, his teeth nipping at his lip absentmindedly.

They opened another, this one an amalgamation of images from him in a suit, to him in swim trunks sitting on a rock, to him in a tank top. It then switched to clips on him from a stream he couldn't remember, one of which was him pushing his thumb against his lip in absent thought.

They stayed silent, rewatching it, then swallowing thickly. Turning to the camera, they spoke plainly. "Sheet gripping, toe curling, back arching-" Danny bursted out into laughter, shaking their head and fanning themself to keep their face a neutral shade, albeit, a struggle. "I can't even get through that bit. I am so sorry." They grinned, moving to open another one.

The edit was a black screen, with captions across the screen of one of Charlie's immersive horror videos. "Okay, good girl. Ah, I know. I know, baby."

Charlie's own words played back at him made him pinch the bridge of his nose in embarrassment.

They replayed it with a slack jaw. "Oh it's massive..." Danny mumbled with wide eyes, the chat going crazy and spamming emojis. "He definitely talks you through it..." They say, almost absentmindedly.

Charlie's pants suddenly tightened, something waking up at the mention of itself. He shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable again with the uninvited guest, but Danny's words rang in his head. Massive... Talking through it...

He couldn't believe he was hard just because of their phrasing. But maybe it wasn't just that.

They suddenly turned to the camera, their blush showing through as they processed their words. "I said that out loud." Slamming their hands into their face to cover it, they let out a squeal. "Dammit." They sigh, moving their hands and addressing the camera. "Well, I guess that's the end of the stream. I think I need to be put down."

Charlie closed out of the stream, chuckling to himself, before checking Twitter.

—————————————————————————

Danny @dannyphantom

Today we learned on stream that I am actually incapable of being chill

Most relevant replies ^

Danny @dannyphantom

Wtf do u meant he was watching 😟

—————————————————————————

Charlie grinned, liking their tweet reply. Little did he know, that one action would take his life to whole new heights.

—————————————————————————

The Squad ☝️🤓

Char

How old is Danny?

Moonz

They're 23 I think

Ran

Wait why? 😏

Char

No reason

Moonz

Should we invite them to our thing this weekend 😁

Ran

Omg yes absolutely

What do you think Charlie? 😏

Char

Sure

Moonz

Kk I'll message them <3

—————————————————————————

Knowing that Charlie was coming was eating them alive.

They were nervous to say the least.

The man that they had been caught thirsting over live on stream would be right next to them any minute.

The embarrassment they felt seeing that Charlie had, in fact, been watching during that small section near the end made them flush at the thought. Absolutely mortifying.

Ranboo was sat next to them in front of the vanity in Moonzy's room applying their makeup. They must have felt Danny's nervousness from beside them. "Are you excited to meet Charlie?"

Danny applied their highlighter onto their nose, scrunching it at the question in response. "Yeah, I guess." They downplayed their feelings. "I just don't want it to be awkward or uncomfortable for him."

Ranboo chuckled, shaking their head. "Don't worry, Charlie's really chill. I guarantee he wouldn't come if he was uncomfortable."

They nod silently, closing their highlighter pallet and uncapping their lipstick. That made them feel a little better. Danny tried not to flinch as the doorbell rang, finishing the application and recapping their lipstick.

"Charlie's here!" Moonzy cheered from the kitchen, fixing up the pregame drinks for them, racing to the front door.

Danny stood up with Ranboo to greet him, making sure their makeup was completely ready and everything was in place before seeing him.

Charlie smiled and greeted Moonzy, dropping his bag around the corner as he closed the door behind him.

"It's the sludge man!" Ranboo called out to him from another room, walking toward him with someone lingering in the doorway behind them.

Charlie's body froze, seeing the face of the person he'd binge watched over the span of a few days standing in the doorway in front of him.

His eyes raked down their body, gulping dryly.

Danny wore a light purple cocktail dress, sparkling and covered in mesh that hung just slightly longer at the hem than the base fabric beneath it. The dress was tight and the straps were thin, pressing lightly into the soft skin of their shoulders. It had a slight gathering of fabric in the chest area, making their tits look perky and supple.

The jewelry that decorated their neck and wrists and fingers was silver and beautiful. Their nails were painted black, just like his. That fact made his face feel hot for just a moment.

Their shoes were these light purple velvety platform heels, adorned with silvery chains and charms. He chewed the inside of his cheek, wondering how they could even walk in those. The heel was at least four inches, but it was also wide and blocky, probably making it easier for them.

He glanced back up at their face, spotting their glossy dark berry colored lips pulled slightly into their mouth with their teeth. Their face was powdered and blushed and preened. Glitter and stars and purple dusted their eyes, a dark purple wing elongating them beautifully.

He didn't think they could get anymore pretty.

Oh how wrong he was.

It took Ranboo slapping his shoulder in greeting to shake him from his staring. They were saying something that he didn't hear as they ushered him into the kitchen while Moonzy dipped into the room behind Danny and grabbed a makeup bag before grabbing their hand and pulling them into the kitchen as well.

The four shot glasses lined up on the counter, next to four empty chaser cups, made them grin.

Moonzy handed their makeup bag to Danny before moving to the drinks. "Can you do Charlie's makeup while Ran and I get your drinks ready?"

They nodded and sat at the table, turning to Charlie with an anxious smile.

He returned it with an awkward smile of his own and sat next to them, turning to face them.

Despite their best efforts to hide it, Danny was staring at Charlie just as hard as he had been earlier.

His blue-rimmed glasses were snug on his face, bringing out the blue in his eyes.

His hair was fluffed up, almost long enough to be a mullet, styled up at the ends in slight curls.

Jewelry embellished his fingers and neck, matching the simple stud earrings they hadn't noticed until that moment.

The shirt he wore was a dark green tank top, tight and sculpting to his form, covered by a black mesh tshirt that showed off his large biceps and vascular forearms.

He wore black jeans, cuffed and held up with a studded belt that cinched his waist.

His shoes were those same cute black converse that'd they'd seen him wear in so many videos. At least the amount of videos they were able to watch in a few days.

Danny carefully grabbed his glasses, setting them on the counter next to them. "So, how does it feel being the only binary one here?" They joked in an attempt to break the tension, opening up the bag and sifting through what was in it.

Charlie chuckled to himself. "Just don't spill any water on me, I might short circuit. You know, with being binary and all."

They thinned their lips at the pun to hold back a smile, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a laugh.

"Not my best work." He shrugged with a pained smile. "I'll think of something better later."

Danny let their smile shine through, nodding in agreement.

"What do you guys want to drink?" Moonzy asked, pulling out different bottles of alcohol out of a cabinet while Ranboo grabbed a few bottles of juice.

"Vodka if you have it?" Danny grinned at the two of them.

"Pink Whitney okay?"

"Ugh..." Charlie cringed at the mention of the drink.

Danny gasped sarcastically. "You don't like Pink Whitney?"

He shook his head with a smile. "It tastes like a mix of rubbing alcohol and red 40."

They just shrugged, watching Moonzy pour a shot and slide it over to them before gulping it down with a grin. "More chemicals for me, then."

"Here, Char." Moonzy poured a shot of Bacardi for him and slid it over, then turned to Ranboo to fix them all another drink.

"Char?" Danny leaned in, giggling lightly at the nickname. It was cute, just like him.

He held back an embarrassed smile as he swallowed the shot, clearing his throat after.

They rummaged through "What do you want for makeup?"

He simply pursed his lips and shrugged. "Whatever you want."

Danny raised their brows, glancing at the two other people in the room who had similarly done up faces. "You sure?"

Charlie simply nodded, closing his eyes and submitting his face to you.

Danny grinned, hesitantly grabbing his chin with their fingers.

Charlie's heart leaped into his throat at their touch, knowing he couldn't open his eyes or he would blush at their closeness.

Danny applied eyeliner carefully, swiping across his lids with precision and care. "Do you want a wing?" They asked gently, swiping across his other eyelid.

He just shrugged.

They grinned, putting a small wing on each side.

Moonzy and Ranboo shared a look, before cheers-ing their pre-made glasses and drinking their shots with smug grins.

They all downed more shots, tipsy by the time the Uber showed up to the apartment. The ride was cramped and hazy, but before long the four of them were at their destination.

The club was packed, lights strobing across the ceiling in time with the music.

Danny immediately ran in, already pretty drunk, jumping and dancing and singing along to the music, a classic pop song from the early 2000s.

Charlie shoved through the crowd of people to reach them, the other two following behind him.

"This is so fun!" Danny shouted over the music to Charlie, a wild grin on their face.

Charlie chuckled and leaned closer, his mouth coming closer to their ear so he could shout back audibly. "What?"

They just shook their head with a laugh. "Never mind!"

Moonzy crashed into them, grabbing Danny's hands as the two of them jumped to the music.

Ranboo followed close behind, placing an arm around Charlie.

"They're so fucked." He chuckled, before watching Ranboo pull out a flask from their jacket.

"Doesn't mean we can't get more fucked!" They shouted from behind their mask, handing the flask to Charlie.

He smiled, taking a gulp, before cringing lightly and handing it back. "Is that just vodka?"

Ranboo nodded, lifting up their mask just enough to get to their bottom lip and took a sip as well.

Charlie's eyes drifted to the other two, dancing and whipping their hair around carelessly. He unconsciously thinned his lips in a small smile.

"So, how was meeting your internet crush?" Ranboo asked, causing Charlie's head to snap to them.

"What?" He asked incredulously, a flush coming over his face. "They're not... I don't..." Charlie couldn't seem to find the words in his buzz.

Did he?

"Uh huh, sure..." Ranboo grinned, taking another gulp of their flask. "They were worried that you might be uncomfortable. Cause of the stream."

Charlie turned to Ranboo, who was fully letting the alcohol guide their conversation. "Well... I'm not."

"You should probably act like it then." They joked with a smile, taking another swig and recapping it.

"They're just... It's hard to talk to them. They're so..." Charlie found himself at a loss for words again, glancing at Danny who was swaying their hips to the music. A thought flashed through his mind about what it would be like to be behind them as they ground their ass against his hips. "You know?"

Ranboo scoffed, grabbing Charlie's hand and dragging them over to the other two dancing.

"Charlie!" Danny cheered in a tipsy stupor at his presence, lifting their arms in excitement before wrapping both around his arm.

He grinned, trying not to let his face get red at the press of their half exposed tits around his bicep.

The four of them danced and drank and laughed the night away.

It was about 1 am when they all stumbled into a fairly packed bar, a karaoke bar specifically.

A long couch wrapped around the front of the stage and they practically fell into it.

"Ooh karaoke!" Danny shouted, climbing onto the stage and picking out a song.

Charlie chuckled between Ranboo and Moonzy as they all watched Danny dance to the introduction of the music. The harsh guitar riffs and drum beat echoed through the bar. He'd remembered this song while Ranboo and him had done a pole dancing lesson, enough to recognize it until the lyrics came on screen and they began to sing, surprisingly well for how inebriated they all were.

"We've been here to long, tryna get along, pretending that you're oh so shy~" They leaned into the wireless microphone, taking it off the stand and walking slowly toward the crowd, feeling the music. "I'm a natural man, doing all I can, my temperature is running high~" They swiped a hand down their hips, swiveling to the beat.

Moonzy cheered, the alcohol clearly showing in their volume.

"Cry at night, no one in sight, and we got so much to share~" Danny's hand slid up their waist with the lyrics, and Charlie could have sworn they locked eyes with him for just a moment. "Talkings fine, if you got the time, but I ain't got the time to spare, yeah~"

Apparently the rest of the bar was enjoying the song as much as him, due to their loud cheering at the chorus.

"Do you wanna touch? Do you wanna touch? Do you wanna touch me there? Where?"

The bar shouted out "yeah"s in sync with the music.

"Do you wanna touch? Do you wanna touch? Do you wanna touch me there? Where? There? Yeah~" Danny began to clap, encouraging the rest of the bar to clap along with them.

"Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah~" Of course they did, but not because of their love for the song like Danny, most likely because there was a beautiful person singing for them about sex. Not that Charlie didn't also think they were beautiful, so he sung along too. "Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah~"

They must have seen him singing along, because as the song continued, Danny stalked toward the front of the stage where the other three in the group were sitting. Danny bent over the three of them, unaware of the massive amounts of cleavage they were revealing to everyone. "Every girl and boy, needs a little joy, all you do is sit and stare." They seemed to be looking right at him, Danny's pretty brown blown-out pupils practically raking down his body. And suddenly Danny got down on their knees in front of them, running a hand up their body. "Begging on my knees, baby won't you please, run your fingers through my hair~" They did just that for him, threading their own fingers through their hair before shaking it out.

Anyone could have easily mixed what they were doing as just enjoying the song, but Charlie's brain thought for just a second they were calling out to him, begging him to touch them, but a tightness in his pants brought him out of that thought. He looked up to them, but they turned to Moonzy, completely unbothered. Was he just imagining it?

"My my my, whiskey and rye, don't it make you feel so fine?" They sang, holding a hand out to Moonzy. They obviously took it, being hauled up onto the stage. "Right or wrong, don't it turn you on, can't you see we're waiting time? Yeah~"

They sang the chorus, the rest of the bar shouting out their "yeah"s.

"Do you wanna touch? Do you wanna touch? Do you wanna touch me there? Where?" Danny spun around, back facing Moonzy as they felt them grab their hips. Danny grinned, bending over slightly against them as the bar erupted into cheers. "Do you wanna touch? Do you wanna touch? Do you wanna touch me there? Where? There? Yeah~"

Charlie glanced over at Ranboo, who was recording the whole thing with a hand over their mask to hide the noises of their drunken laughter, before returning his attention to Danny as they swung their hips back into Moonzy. He almost felt a hint of something in his chest, frustration, jealously? He ignored it and sang and clapped with the rest of the bar. "Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah~"

"Do ya? Do ya?" Danny let the tone of that lyric inflict up, singing almost like a moan, making Charlie shift in his seat.

"Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah~"

Their hands slid down their thighs, past the hem of their dress, and back up again. "Do ya? Do ya?" A grin fell upon their lips, almost as if they knew exactly what they were doing, before slipping into the bridge of the song. The chorus of the rest of the bar's singing and clapping continued. "Do you wanna touch, do you wanna touch me there? Do you wanna touch, do you wanna touch me there? Yeah~ My my my, do you wanna touch me there?" They stood up with Moonzy, dancing around together for the rest of the bridge, head banging and laughing and smiling.

Charlie felt the fondness that had been growing into something bigger, that he simply couldn't fight anymore. Seeing how carefree they were, maybe due to the alcohol, but also just in general, made him want to be more like them. They inspired him to want to live, have fun, take risks.

"Touch me there, you know where, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah~" Finally, they joined with the rest of the bar in singing and clapping for the final lyric. "Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah~" The song ended in a slide out of the guitar. Danny practically dropped the mic, lifting their arms up and shouting in exhilaration. "Woo!"

The bar erupted in applause, older men hooting and hollering and whistling.

Moonzy placed their arm around Danny and walked back down to the couch together, practically collapsing onto it. They giggle, the alcohol finally beginning to slow its effects. Danny was pressed between Moonzy and Charlie.

"You good?" Charlie whispered to Danny.

They nodded wordlessly, eyes closed and content.

He turned to Ranboo, who was snickering as they replayed the footage of the performance on their phone. "Could you take Moonzy and get all of us some water?"

They nodded, reaching behind all of them and tapping Moonzy on the shoulder, before standing up with them and walking toward the bar.

Danny pouted, leaning their head on Charlie's shoulder. "Where are they going? I miss them..."

He turned to them on his shoulder, a corner of his lip twitching up at the pout that they were giving him. "They're getting some water, they'll be back."

Suddenly a man came out from behind the couch, rounding the corner to stand in front of Danny, utterly too close for Charlie's liking.

They lifted their head, addressing the man standing in front of them. "Hiiii~"

The man grinned, a sickly sweet smile. "Hi, sweetheart. Just wanted to come over and see if I could buy you a drink."

"We're good." Charlie spoke for them in their inebriated state, as politely as he could manage. He could tell he was attempting to get them more drunk than they were, which was already a lot.

The man glanced at him for a moment, as if to size him up, before turning back to his original target. "What, is he your boyfriend or something?"

"Pfft..." Danny giggled, glancing at Charlie bashfully, who was not smiling. "Nooo?"

Charlie rolls his eyes. "Look, man, just fuck off." He snaps, harsher than even he meant to say.

The man lifts his hands in defense, backing off. "All yours, bro."

Charlie scrunched his nose in disgust at the way the man spoke about Danny, like they were something to be passed around. He glared at him as he walked away until he was out of sight, turning back to the one sitting next to him. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm?" They ask, as if they hadn't even seen what happened.

"Okay, we should probably go." He mumbled, glancing around for Ranboo and Moonzy, who were on the way back from the bar with four water cups.

When they had all gotten back to Moonzy and Ranboo's apartment via an Uber, the two owners had promptly fallen asleep in their respective rooms. Charlie practically heaved Danny into the apartment, leading them to the couch.

Danny frowns absentmindedly, falling into a sitting position against the cushions as Charlie takes a seat on the floor in front of them.

Glancing up, he notices their frown. "What's wrong?" He mumbles, attempting to stay quiet and let the other people in the apartment sleep.

Danny frowns deeper, reaching down futilely to unbuckle their heels. "Nothing..."

"It's obviously something if it's bothering you." Charlie takes over, gingerly cupping the back of their heel and unbuckling the first shoe.

They straightened up again, before leaning back further into the cushion. "I had too much to drink. And now you have to take care of me."

Charlie just pursed his lips, taking the first shoe off and moving to unbuckle the other. "I don't mind. As long as you had fun." He smiles to himself, before looking back up at Danny. Their eyes were trained on him as he slipped off their other heel.

Danny's eyes were heavy with sleep, drunkness, and maybe something else. "Did you have fun?" They asked softly, as if his answer was life or death. Like it really did matter to them what his response would be, like it was the only thing that mattered in the entire world.

Maybe it was just his own brain still buzzing from the alcohol, but he almost felt bashful at their question, like it was the first time all night he'd really felt observed by them, like how he'd shamelessly watched them all night. Like he was in the warm glow of a spotlight with butterflies in his stomach. He simply nodded, his hands folded in his lap.

Danny smiled, looking gorgeous above him, despite their disheveled hair and faded lipstick. Their hand lifted to cup his cheek, and Charlie felt himself almost melt into their touch, before their fingers pushed a stray piece of his hair behind his ear and then pulled away.

Charlie's neck nearly craned to chase their touch, but he refrained. His face felt suddenly softer, the feeling of their nails lightly trailing his skin for just a moment making his whole body radiate warmth.

"Good." Danny mumbled, kicking their feet up slowly onto the couch as Charlie took off his own shoes and attempted to regain his composure. They passed him the throw pillow near their feet and one of the blankets thrown over the back of the couch, before flattening the other throw pillow beneath their head. They pulled the other blanket to their chin as they watched Charlie set up his own makeshift bed. "I would feel bad... If it was awkward for you."

"Why would it be awkward?" He asked without thinking, before remembering.

"Because of the stream I did."

Charlie paused his movements in thought, before shaking his head and continuing. "I didn't mind, really. I thought it was..." He paused again, his breath bated and shy. "I thought you were cute..."

His heart pumped fast at the confession.

He couldn't believe he'd just said that.

But there was no response.

His mind went wild with the worst thoughts.

Did they think he was creepy? Did he go too far? He shouldn't have said anything.

Charlie turned to apologize and correct himself, but when he turned he saw Danny passed out on the couch.

Their mouth was open, a bit of drool beginning to form at the corner. Steady breaths inhaled, before light snores exhaled. They looked adorable.

Charlie bit back a smile at the sight.

Maybe they didn't hear.

Maybe his dignity was preserved.

He simply tucked himself in and followed into sleep.

But of course, cause god hates him, he couldn't stay asleep for long.

He was having a bit of a... Problem.

He stumbled to the bathroom, staring down in contempt at the bulge in his pants.

With a sigh, he leaned against the counter and took out his phone, simply waiting for it to go away.

He swiped on instagram, until an account popped up.

Danny.

Followed by Moonzy and Ranboo.

He smiled lightly, clicking the follow button.

Scrolling through their posts helped him feel better, maybe not less hard, but better. They'd posted slice of life photos when they were out with friends, cosplays, streaming announcements in their highlights, and oh god...

They had Only Fans teasers.

That did not help his boner at all.

They weren't too explicit, just pictures of Danny in slightly revealing clothes.

One had them in a grey sweater like material that was practically a turtleneck dress with a large cut out in the middle exposing their upper abdomen and the very bottoms of the curves of their tits. He swiped on the photo, the next showing how the back was also cut out, leaving only the material that dipped teasingly low. The curvy globes of their ass were barely covered by the fabric.

Charlie's breath deepened as his hips involuntarily shifted to try and be more comfortable, but he could only be so comfortable in jeans. He decided to unbutton them with his free hand, sighing at the restrictions around his crotch being loosened.

He swiped to a different post, just out of curiosity, and maybe a little bit of hunger, courtesy of the head he wasn't thinking with at the moment.

They were now clad in a cow print turtleneck dress, another soft material that he involuntarily imagined the texture of beneath his hands. Thigh highs with the same cow print covered the skin just inches beneath the hem on the dress. The photo was complete with little cow ears and horns on a headband, their tongue sticking out in an aggressive manner, their nosed scrunched cutely. He swiped with reckless abandon, fully accepting that he was looking just to look. The back was similar to the other picture, with that same tantalizing drop of fabric to their rear. Their thighs were pressed together, the meat of them just barely obscuring what was between.

He wanted to see what was between so bad.

"Fuck..." Charlie sighed quietly, reaching a hand into his boxer briefs and pulling out what had been bothering him for practically the whole night.

His cock was hard, really hard, leaking pre-cum out the pink and swollen tip. The lack of stimulation was clear from how it twitched, practically fucking begging to be touched.

Charlie couldn't stop himself, it was like a reflex. He grabbed the head of his cock, swiping the precum down and around the head, followed by a small jolt of relief. Not at the kind of intensity he needed, but it was something.

He swiped to another picture. They donned a beautiful red dress, the fabric looking almost velvety. Rhinestones sprinkled the front and back, Danny's arms were crossed with their palms on their waist, pressing their tits together slightly, practically spilling out of the straps around the sides and the skinny triangles covering the peaks of both. Gold chains draped between the mounds and around their waist, adorning the skin peeking through the hip windows built into the dress.

They looked so fucking gorgeous.

Charlie's head fell back lightly as he stroked himself once, then again.

He just couldn't help himself.

How could he when they were right there?

He'd barely managed to restrain himself from jacking off to clips of Danny's stream over the past few days, watching them make themself flush and spout out all kinds of naughty things at just the sight of him.

Thoughts of their stream rushed through his clouded mind. How they'd jokingly asked for proof of his tip, how they said they were pulsing for him, stating that he was massive, especially when they guessed that he would talk them through it.

God, he wanted to talk them through it, whisper in their ear while he touched them. If they'd let him Charlie would drop to his knees and get them off in an instant.

His cock twitched at the thought. Stroking faster, he opened another photo, this one of Danny in a black dress, the fabric beginning at their neck, around their torso, then splitting at their hips and flowing down their front and back in two separate sheets. They wore two black leather garter belts, one on each thigh, studded and connected to smaller ones right below them. His eyes locked onto the strings of some kind of black thong seated just below where the dress split off. He swiped, his heartbeat accelerating as they sat with spread legs out for the camera, the front sheet of fabric barely covering the apex of their thighs. And even more, the strings of the panties were gone. Danny was completely bare beneath the dress.

The thought drove him wild.

What he would give to lift the fabric up and slide his cock in, making them cum over and over and over again on it.

Making them scream his name while they shook uncontrollably and kissed him and praised him.

Charlie felt a familiar tightness in his groin, but images wouldn't stop cycling through his head from tonight.

Danny in that perfect little dress, the way they looked at him when he helped take their shoes off, the way their hips swayed to the music in the club, the way they looked at him when they sang that fucking song. They were begging for him to touch them, touch their perfect body in front of all of those people, everyone who wanted them, but couldn't have them.

Cause Danny wanted him.

His eyes fluttered shut as his cock spurted ropes of hot cum all over his hand, coating it proficiently.

Charlie panted, thanking gravity that none of it got on the floor or his clothes.

There would be no way to explain that mess.

He stood, washing his hand off with a grimace, the thick stickiness not receding until two rounds of scrubbing with soap.

Then the post-nut clarity began to hit.

Jesus Christ why did he do that?

He couldn't fucking believe himself. That was such an invasion of privacy. He was just like those weird gooner incels online. Well, maybe not just like them. They could never appreciate Danny like he did.

It's not like he went on their Only Fans or something.

Charlie paused.

They were probably naked on their Only Fans. His face felt hot, causing him to turn off his phone immediately.

Absolutely not, that would be an actual invasion of privacy.

But if he did pay for the service...

No.

He shouldn't even be thinking about them like that. It was downright disrespectful.

Maybe he was still a little drunk.

Maybe he just needed to go back to sleep to take his mind off it all.

And so he stumbled back out of the bathroom.

But nothing made the burning in his cheeks go away.

[iamnot-crazy]

Brainwaves Full post

Summary: One day, Trafalgar Law wakes up to a nightmare: you are in control of his body. He can hear you, he can feel you… and he can't do a damn thing about it. Now, the two of you are on a quest to unravel the mystery of your unexpected cohabitation, a quest that's going to be a lot more chaotic than Law would prefer.

tags: Pre-Grandline; Body Swap; Humor; Confused Heart Pirates; focus on Ikkaku; I guest Law x reader;

Word Count: 8,773

A/N: I wanted an excuse to write Law as a silly smiling character and doing things he never would so here is this short story. I am also testing how my post do as being posted as one big post rather than multiple post. To fit this format I did edit the story a bit for a better flow. Please let me know what you think and if you having fun suggestions for me to write next

MasterList

You wake up feeling stiff, as Bright lights assault your eyes you reach your arm up shielding them while trying to take in your surroundings. Nothing looks familiar, and you can’t recall how you got here. You place a hand down, feeling a cold metal table underneath. Looking around, you notice bookshelves crammed with medical texts and a table covered in tools, making it clear you’re in some kind of medical bay. But how did you end up here?

A pressure builds in your head as you swing your legs over the table. When your feet touch the floor something immediately feels wrong. You stumble, nearly falling, and grab your head as the pressure intensifies. You took a step back only to bump into a side table knocking it over.

“Watch it!”

You whip your head around, searching for the source of the voice. “Who’s there?”

“Up here,” the voice replies. You spin around, your back slamming into the bookshelf and sending some books tumbling. “Can you stop running into stuff!” the voice grumbles.

“Who are you? What are you doing inside my head?”

“Your head? I have a better question: What are you doing inside my body!” the voice shouts.

You freeze, your heart rate quickening. Slowly, you look down at your hands and body. Two large hands, covered in elaborate tattoos, stare back at you. You’re tall, looking down at an extremely unfamiliar body. You feel a strange disconnect, like your mind is piloting a machine it doesn't understand.

Quickly, you push off the shelf and head to a mirror across the room. The face staring back is worn and tired, “Holy shit!” you exclaim, yanking at your cheek. “Your bags are ginormous! And your hair is so… greasy.”

“Thanks,” the grumpy voice retorts. “Now, who are you, and why are you in control of my body?”

“I don’t remember,” you say, inspecting the body closer, lifting your arms to catch a whiff of salty seawater and raw fish. “Gods, you smell awful.”

“Hey! Focus!” the voice shouts. You roll your eyes and turn away from the mirror to investigate the room further. “What do you mean you don’t remember?”

You shrug, “I just don’t? Where are we?”

The voice sighs. “It looks like we’re in the medical bay on my ship.”

“Your ship? Are you like a pirate? And why are we in a medical bay?” you ask, flipping through a notebook on the table filled with scratchy handwriting.

“Stop going through that!” the voice orders. “And yes, this is my ship. I am the captain of the Heart Pirates. And I don’t know why we’re in the med bay.”

You slam the notebook shut, rolling your eyes. “Well, Mr. All-Knowing Captain, what do we do now?”

“If you give me control of my body, I’ll gladly try to figure that out.”

“One, I don’t even know how to give you back control, and two, if I do, who says I won’t just become trapped in the back of your head?”

“Like what you’re doing to me right now,” the voice grumbles. “It’s my body, which means I need to have control over it. Just let go of your hold, and I’ll do the rest.”

“No!” you shout, feeling the pressure in your head grow stronger as the captain tries to push against you. You grab your head and run towards the door.

“What are you doing! Just let go!” the voice shouts angrily.

“No, I can’t!” You barrel out the door and down the hall until you bump into something and was quickly thrown to the floor.

“Captain?” the figure above you asks. You look up to see a man in a white boiler suit with a killer whale hat perched on his head.

“Are you alright?” a second figure asks. You look over to see another man in a similar outfit with a penguin hat.

You push yourself up in uncoordinated movement, “Yes… Uh. I’m just fine,” you mumbles, avoiding eye contact.

The men frown. “We were just about to check on you. What happened in that cave?” the one in the whale hat asks.

“What cave?” you ask.

“We found you passed out in the cave you were supposed to investigate. Are you sure you should be up, Captain? I think we should do a concussion test.” The one with a penguin hat reaches to grab you and wave a finger in front of your face.

You quickly yank away from him. “No, no, it’s fine! Look, see?” You jump on your toes in a silly dance, nearly losing your balance again. “I’m great and in peak health.”

“Oh my gods,” the voice moans.

“Anyways! I’ve got to go! Gotta do my captainy thing and check on what’s been going on since I’ve been out,” you say with a forced smile before taking off down the hall. “Have a great day!”

You can feel the voice irritation and annoyance “Please kill me now.” he grumbles.

You finally reach the door leading to the ship’s bridge after taking many wrong turns. You jump off and onto the dock, then take off running up the village street.

“What are you doing now! Just go back and give me back control, and we can return to our normal lives,” the voice pleads.

“No, I don’t trust them,” you state, "They're pirates."

“Well, I trust them, and if you just give me control, I can figure this out faster.”

“And your a pirate captain what makes me want to trust you anymore than them!”

The voice groans. “It’s Trafalgar Law.”

“What?”

“Trafalgar Law. That’s my name.”

As you pounder the scent of cooked food fills your nose. Your stomach immediately growls, and hunger floods your system. You moan in delight before changing your direction into the tavern the delicious smell is coming from.

“What can I get you?” the man at the bar greets.

“Whatever that delicious smell is, please,” you smile, looking behind him for the source. The man raises an eyebrow but turns to retrieve the food.

“What’s your name?” the voice asks once the man is gone.

“Uh… I… I don’t know,” you admit, a wave of confusion washing over you.

“So you have absolutely zero memory?”

“I guess.”

“So then, Nameless, what are you hoping to accomplish?”

“Don’t call me that,” you snap.

The bartender stands before you, holding a plate with a burger. He looks at you strangely as you seem to be talking to yourself. You smile sheepishly and take the plate, bringing the burger to your face.

“Don’t!” the voice shouts, and you quickly pull the burger back.

“What?” you hiss.

“Don’t eat that! It has bread on it.”

“So?”

“So! I have a severe gluten allergy! Do you want to kill us?!” he hisses.

You groan and hold up the plate, waving over the bartender. “Hi, I’m sorry, I have an allergy to bread, apparently. Can I get something else?” The man kindly takes the plate and returns to the kitchen.

“Thank you,” Law sighs in relief.

“Yeah, whatever,” you groan as your stomach growls loudly. You grab your stomach in pain and rest your head on the table. “I’m just so hungry. It feels like it’s been years since I last ate.”

“Well, it’s been at most a day for me, so you’ll live,” Law replies in a annoyed tone, “So, if you don’t want me to call you Nameless, what should I call you? Bodysnatcher?”

“I don’t know. I feel like my name started with a ‘I’ or a ‘Ish.”

“Ish? Okay, Ish, what are you trying to accomplish?”

“Accomplish? I don’t know… to get my own body or my memories back?”

“Well, the only way we can do that is by working together, and if you just give me back control, I can…”

“No!” you shout, slamming your hand on the table. Everyone looks over, confused. You lower your head, waving sheepishly. “No,” you whisper. “I can figure this out myself.” The bartender brings over some rice, which you gratefully accept, shoveling it into your mouth. The simple, bland taste is heavenly; you devour it in a few bites.

“Unlike you, I have a memory and a crew who can help us figure this out much sooner,” Law reasons.

“Exactly. You have a crew, a memory, and a body. I have nothing,” you say, fighting back a tear. “You have no reason to help me.”

Law sighs. “I promise I’ll help you. I don’t want this anymore than you do.”

“Good. And you can keep that promise from inside my head.” You stand up, pushing the empty bowl away.

You start to walk out when the bartender shouts, “Hey! You gonna pay for that?”

You freeze and dig through your pockets, finding only lint. “Shit,” you mumble.

“Run!” Law orders, and you push your way out the door. You look left and see Law’s crew, all wearing matching white boiler suits, walking up the street.

“Hey! Captain, wait up!” the giant walking polar bear shouts when they spot you. Your eyes widen, and you take off in the other direction. “Wait, Captain!” The crew starts running after you.

“Why the hell is that polar bear walking?!” you shout as you sprint away.

“His name is Bepo. He’s my first mate,” Law explains.

“That doesn’t explain how he’s walking,” you complain as your strides lengthen, and you glide through the streets at an unbelievable speed. “Damn, your legs are so long,” you comment.

“Hey! Stop!” a new voice shouts from behind. You whip your head around and see a Marine now chasing you as well.

“Shit,” Law groans. “Give me control now!”

“No!” you shout, ducking between crowds of people. Suddenly, a sword swipes towards your head. You drop to the floor at the last second barely missing the blade. You look up to see an angry Marine standing over you, sword raised to attack again.

“Ish, give me control and I’ll take care of them!” Law shouts, his voice edged with panic.

The Marine’s sword swings downward towards your head, but you roll out of the way, pushing yourself up only to be faced with another Marine, this one with a musket pointed at you. You raise your hands in fear. “Fine!” you shout and close your eyes.

When Law’s eyes reopened, they shifted to yellow and a smirk took over his face. With a quick wave of a hand a a mumble of the word, “Room”, a blue sphere encapsulated the area. With another wave, all the items on the ground floated upwards, then dashed around inside the sphere.

Both Civilians and Marines screamed as they dodged the flying debris. Law dropped to the ground and swept his leg under the Marine in front of him, sending him sprawling. He grabbed the musket out of his hand and threw it behind him, hitting the Marine with the sword. That Marine, in turn, dropped his sword as the musket connected with his face, and he fell. Smoothly, Law caught the sword mid-air and stood upright. He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, acclimating to his body again. He took a deep breath, another smirk growing on his face, and then he twirled the sword in a wild, rapid series of movements.

When he stopped, he stood proudly. All the Marines began screaming as their body parts became detached, flying through the air. They entered a swirling cyclone of mismatched limbs. Law twisted his fingers again and the blue sphere vanished, causing the flying debris crashed to the ground. The Marines, now a comical jumble of parts, took off running as best they could as a pile of mixed limps

“Captain!” a voice cried before Law was engulfed in a hug and was lifted off the ground.

Law groaned, “Bepo, put me down.”

The polar bear complied. “Sorry, Captain. Penguin and Shachi said you were acting weird, and then you started running away from us,” he whined.

Law rubbed the back of his neck. “I just momentarily forgot where I was. I’m fine now. Sorry to worry you,” he said, turning back toward the ship waving his hand. “I’ll be in my office. I have some things to work out.”

Law returned to his office, closing the door behind him. He walked to the mirror and leaned in, looking into his own yellow eyes. “Ish?” he called.

“What,” your voice echoed back, tinged with sadness. “You got what you wanted. You’re back in control.”

“Look, I made a promise to help you, and I plan on keeping it, but only if we do this my way.”

“Which means I’ll be trapped inside here while you run around doing whatever you want,” you pout.

“We’ll figure this out together. I promise I won’t do anything unless we both agree, until we get you into your own body with your memories back.”

“Is that why you didn’t tell your crew?”

Law nodded. “You don’t trust them yet, and I get that, but I promise we can trust them.”

“I don’t like being trapped here. It’s cold and feels empty,” you whine.

Law sighs. “Fine. I’ll give you control whenever we’re in this office, but outside of it, I’ll stay in control.”

“And when we’re eating!” you ask excitedly.

Law groans, rubbing his hand over his face. “Fine.”

“Then we have a deal.” Law closed his eyes, then snapped them open again, revealing your blue eyes. You smiled brightly.

Law’s hand glides over the stone walls of the cave, gently analyzing the grooves and texture.

“This is where Shachi said they found me, thirty minutes after I went in,” he thinks aloud. “It took at least ten minutes to walk from the entrance to this point, so that leaves twenty minutes unaccounted for.”

“Now that we’re far from the crew, can I take control again?” you groan in his head.

He rolls his eyes. “I already told you, no. Our deal is you have control in the office and while eating, and I have control the rest of the time.”

“But it’s so…”

“Cold and empty, I know!” he cuts you off, his voice tight with impatience. “Look, I need to be in control right now. Because if something happens, I need to use my powers to get us out safely. “

You huff in reply as he continues down the dimly lit cave. “Looks like I was fighting something?” he ponders, running his fingers over a deep, Sword-like slashes dug into the wall.

“Are you sure I just looks like very intense game of tic-tac-toe to me,” you snicker in his head.

He rolls his eyes, pulling out his sword and comparing the marks with the movements he would have made. “I was throwing my sword rather chaotically, and I don’t think I made contact, seeing how the walls seem to have taken the brunt of my swings.”

“Or maybe you were just showing off. You know, ‘Look how strong I am!’ Slash! ‘Look how cool I am!’ Slash! Slash!’” You giggle at your own joke as he continues to ignore you. You pout, a flicker of annoyance in your thoughts. “Fine… you were fighting something invisible. Does that bring back any memories?”

He shakes his head. “unfortunately not”

You sigh. “Do you at least remember why you were in this cave?”

“Shachi said it was because I was getting weird feelings from the cave.” He explained moving deeper in the cave.

“I know. I was there for that conversation, remember?” you say in a duh tone.

He sighs in annoyance. “Okay, well, what about you? Clearly, this all started in this cave. Do you remember anything? Recognize anything?”

You ponder for a moment. “Nope!” you pop, earning a groan from him.

“Well, this cave has to have some answers. We just have to keep looking.”

“Or… we go back to the ship and see what Shachi’s cooking for dinner!” you offer, a bubble of humor in your voice.

“What is it with you and food?” he questions as he walks deeper into the cave. “Shachi’s food isn’t even that good. It’s barely edible and all he makes are rice balls.”

“I just feel like I haven’t eaten in years.”

“Well, you literally ate an hour ago, much to my embarrassment,” he shivers as he thinks back to the moment when you were in control, shoving food down his throat before asking everyone on the crew if you could have the rest of their meal. His stomach still groans from being so full.

“Whatever.”

Law elected to ignore you as he tried to adjust his eyes to see deeper into the dark cave. Suddenly, a small bat flies at him. He throws his arm up, swatting at the bat as it dances around his head. “Get the fuck away.”

“Hey, leave it alone.” He continues to swat at the bat, ignoring you. “Hey, I mean it! Stop that!”

“I’ll stop when it leaves me alone!” He then makes contact with the bat, and it flies off squeaking.

Your stomach drops, and you are overwhelmed with a sense of fear, “Law… run,” you whisper, your voice trembling.

“What?” he asks, confused.

“Run! Now!” you yell, your voice laced with terror.

He turns to run as a roar echoes down the cave, and the sound of large, beating wings propels him forward. “What the hell is that?!” he shouts as his stride lengthens.

“It’s Mother,” you state, your voice filled with dread.

He turns his head to see a giant bat that fills the entire cave and is three times the size of him. The bat’s back legs are extended, ready to claw him, and it’s gaining ground quickly, nearly on his heels.

“Slide to the left!” you ordered.

He obeys, dropping to the ground and sliding into a small opening to the left. The bat’s claws scratch at the edge of the opening as he shifts deeper into cover. After another foot, the top of the cave opens up, allowing him to stand and catch his breath.

“What the hell was that?!” he pants, his heart pounding in his chest. “And how did you know about her and this hiding spot?”

“I don’t know. I just felt a wave of déjà vu. Like I’ve witnessed that scenario many times,” you ponder, your brow furrowed.

“Interesting.” He puts his hand to his chin in thought as he looks to see that the cave splits into two direction. “Well, do you have any déjà vu on how to get out of here?”

“Maybe, if I had control, I think I could figure it out.”

He groans. “Fine, but as soon as we’re out, I’m taking back control.” He closes his eyes tightly, and when they open, they’d shifted to your blue eyes.

A smile quickly overtakes the grumpy face. You stretch, getting familiar with controlling the body again. “Alright, this feels better already!” you laugh, popping your knuckles.

“Will you stop that! I’d rather not get arthritis,” he groans in your head.

“That’s just a myth, you baby,” you roll your eyes before starting to walk down the tunnel. You quickly pause, a weird feeling washing over you, as if something was telling you not to go down there. You spin around, heading the other way.

“You better be able to get us out of here in a decent time,” he says, his voice laced with impatience.

“Can you just say something nice, or say ‘please’?” you sigh.

He groans. “Fine… can you please get us out of here on time?”

You smirk. “Thank you. Yes, Law, I’ll do my best to get us out of here on time.” You then disappear into the cave. “Besides, the sooner we get out, the sooner we can eat!”

He groans as you laugh, skipping down the cave.

You found your way out of the cave with ease and no further trouble. Now you’re sitting in the back of Law’s mind as he leads a meeting with his crew.

“This is so boring…“ you moan.

“Be quiet,” he hisses under his breath, covering his mouth with his hand as he leans back in his chair while his crew discusses.

“But I’m bored.”

“That’s not my problem.”

“Captain?” a voice asks, gaining Law’s attention. He shakes his head and sits up.

“Yes, Ikkaku? Sorry, what was the problem?” he asks.

“Ku,” you mindlessly correct.

“What?” He shifts his head away from the crew, hissing at you.

“I’m sorry, Captain?” The woman in front of him asks, looking confused.

He shakes his head. “Sorry. Continue.”

Ikkaku nods, turning back to the board with a map of the North Blue. “I was saying, in order for us to get to the Grand Line, I’ll need to upgrade the engine to make it through the Calm Belt. The island we’re on doesn’t have the parts I need, but this island and this island should,” she points to two islands. “Both are within range, but deciding which one we go to will determine where we start on the Grand Line.”

“We’re going to find my body before you go to the Grand Line, right?” you ask, worry now lacing your voice.

Law sits back in thought. “Bepo, what do you think?” he asks.

The polar bear sitting next to him sits up. “If we go to Island One, we’ll start further back on the Grand Line. But if we go to Island Two, we’d start in more dangerous parts with no experience.”

“Yeah, but we can handle it!” Shachi slams his hand on the table excitedly. Penguin agrees, nodding enthusiastically.

Law holds up a hand to silence them. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Starting further back on the Grand Line isn’t ideal, but it would give us more experience,” he reasons.

“I also have a reliable source that says the parts we need WILL be on Island One,” Ikkaku states.

He pushes himself out of his chair. “Then it’s settled. We’ll head out to Island One, where Ikkaku can get the parts, and then we’ll head straight to the Grand Line.”

Everyone in the room nods, standing and filing out.

“Law?” you question. “We are going to figure this problem out first, right?”

He turns, facing the porthole. “Yes, Ish, we’ll figure this out first,” he says quietly.

“Captain?”

He turns to find Ikkaku standing beside him, looking puzzled.

“Yes, Ikkaku?”

“Ku.”

He frowns at the sound of your voice in his head, and Ikkaku raises an eyebrow.

“Are you alright, Captain? You’ve been acting weird.”

He relaxes his face and nods. “Yes, I’m fine.”

Ikkaku smiles and give a nod, “Good because when we enter the grand line we can’t come back.”

“Can’t come back! Law we need more time to figure this out.” You whine in a panic.

Law frowns in thought before letting out a long sigh “You know what Ikkaku you’re right something weird is going on and we might have to push back leaving this island.”

Ikkaku looks puzzled, “Is there anything I can help with?”

Law grabs the hat off his head before combing his fingers through his hair, “Maybe. Have you ever been called ‘Ku’?”

Ikkaku’s breath hitches. A flicker of pain crosses her face before she schools her features into a neutral expression. She lets out a small, shaky breath. “Captain,” she says, her voice barely a whisper, “I forgave you a long time ago…but some things still hurt.”

He looks down at the woman, confused, his eyes darting around, searching for answers, but he can’t find a response. “What do you mean?” he ask.

Ikkaku scoffs turning around but Law quickly grabbed her arm “Who used to call you Ku?” he spoke strongly, his eyes filled with a desperate plea and determination

Ikkaku yanks her arm out of his grip, “I don’t know what you’re playing at, Captain, but I don’t like it. You know it was my sister, and what you did to her.”

Law’s jaw dropped, his eyes widening in shock. “Your… sister… Ish?” He spoke to you looking for answers from you.

“Sister?” you repeated, confused and in shock.

Law grips his hair, “Ikkaku, I’m very sorry for anything I’ve done,” he said, his voice thick with guilt, “but I don’t remember and I need your help. Two days ago, after I went into that cave, I woke up, and there was this voice in my head, and I wasn’t in control of my own body. Ever since then, I’ve been sharing my body with another, and I think they’re your sister. They don’t have any memories of their past, but I’ve been calling them Ish.”

Ikkaku looked alarmed at Law’s confession, her emotions shifting as she tried to understand what he was saying. “Can you prove it?”

Law nodded. “Ish, can you come out?” he asked.

“NO! I’m scared,” you admitted, the words barely a whisper. “What if I’m not her sister? What if she hates me? What if I scare her?”

“Ish, you won’t know until you come out,” Law reasoned, his voice gentle.

“Can you ask nicely?”

Law groaned, rubbing his hand over his face. “Ish, can you please come out?”

“Okay. But you’ll still be here?”

Law rolled his eyes. “Where else would I be?”

He closed his eyes tightly, and when they opened, they revealed your blue eyes. Ikkaku gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Recognition instantly flooded her as she look into your eyes

You took a deep breath, your hands fidgeting nervously. Your posture slumped slightly, mirroring a weariness that seemed to settle over the body. You lifted a hand and gave a soft wave. “Hi.”

Ikkaku jumped up and grabbed your face, yanking it towards her. “Isra?” She scanned your eyes as you looked back at her, wide-eyed.

“Isra? Yes, Yes that’s my name!” you shout in excitement feeling as if a fog has been slightly lifted.

Ikkaku’s eyes began to tear up as she pulled your head into her shoulder, wrapping her arms around you tightly. “What happened to you?” She asked.

You pushed away gently, a flicker of confusion in your eyes. “I don’t know, but I have a lot of questions.”

Ikkaku sighed, wiping at her eyes, "So do I." She pulled out the chair law was sitting on during the meeting before sinking into it.

"What happened to me?" you asked as you leaned against the table, the wood cold against your skin.

"You… Captain… you really don't remember?" Ikkaku questioned in shock. You shook your head biting your lip.

Ikkaku sighed again, a long, drawn-out sound filled with grief. "Five years ago… Captain was just a kid. He was always with Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo. You were… you were ran Papa's fabric stand." Her voice caught in her throat. "One day Shachi… he stole something. Papa told you if you let him steal any more from the stand he would have to stop getting your favorite snack so you chased after him.” She smiled slightly at the thought. “When captain saw he went to defend shachi,” Ikkaku's breath hitched. "Law… he didn't.. He didn’t fully understand his powers yet. So when he went to defend Shachi… Something went wrong and you collapse.. He didn’t mean to but…" Tears streamed down her face.

You reached out, your hand finding hers, offering comfort even as you felt a growing unease within yourself.

"They… they took you to the hospital after they realized what they did," Ikkaku managed, her voice choked with sobs.

"You've been in that hospital in a coma ever since," Ikkaku finished, her voice choked with emotion.

Your gaze remained distant, your mind struggling to grasp her story, “Law?” you whispered, a chill creeping up your spine as he remained silent. “You did this?” The accusation hung in the air, heavy with unspoken fear. You sank to the ground, “Law!” you cried, anger and desperation fueling your voice.

“In the cave,” he whispered, his voice strained, as his memories clawed their way to the surface.

“In the cave, what?!” you demanded. “I need answers!” You grabbed your head trying to pull him to answers, “Did you do this to me!” Law remained cold as his thought swarmed him trying to remember. “Law please, answer me!” You plead.

Ikkaku placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. “Can I talk to him?” she asked gently.

You looked up, met her reassuring gaze, and nodded. You closed your eyes, bracing yourself. When you opened them, they were Law's, his eyes filled with a haunted pain.

“Ikkaku, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice thick with remorse, his shoulders slumping slightly. “I didn’t… How did I forget that. I… Ikkaku, I’m sorry.”

Ikkaku, her expression softening, placed her hand over his shoulder. “Captain, I know, but I need you to focus. I almost have my sister back please. What happened in the cave?”

Law grabbed his head, his fingers digging into his temples as he squinted, struggling to grasp the elusive memories. The images became clearer, “The cave… there was a voice. It was Ish. She was screaming at me.” His breath hitched. “And then I saw… a glowing orb. No… a soul. It was Ish’s soul. She was screaming at me, saying it was my fault, that I did that to her.” His voice trembled. “The soul came towards me, and I tried to fight it off but it… if flew into me.” He looked at his chest placing. hand over it. “That was your soul… That day... five years ago... I kicked your soul out of your body.” His voice was barely a whisper, filled with horror. “That’s why you went into a coma. Your soul flew off. It ended in that cave.” A shudder ran through him. “Room!”

A blue sphere expanded around Law, the familiar hum of his power filling the air. He concentrated on the feeling in his chest, the echo of Isra's soul, the connection that still lingered. A blue, glowing sphere, pulsing with energy, began to materialize, slowly pulling out of Law’s chest and into his outstretched hand. It was you, or at least, the essence of you.

“What is happening?!” you shrieked, panic seizing you as you felt yourself wrenched from the familiar warmth of Law’s mind, “Law, stop! I don’t like this!” A wave of icy dread washed over you as you felt the cold air, the familiar, terrifying nothingness closing in. “Stop Please!” You beg you voice cracking with desperation.

Law, his face set with determination, ignored your cries and continued to pull at the glowing orb, his movements precise and deliberate, until it popped free from his chest and rested in his outstretched hand, pulsing with a faint blue light.

The world around you dissolved into a hazy, echoing blur. Sounds became distant and muffled, as if you were underwater. You could sense the space around you, the faint warmth of Ikkaku’s presence, but your vision was gone, replaced by an unsettling, formless awareness. You faintly heard Ikkaku’s voice, a distant echo calling your name. “Ku?”

Ikkaku looked up at Law, her brow furrowed with confusion.

“Ish?” Law asked, his voice laced with concern, his gaze fixed on the orb in his hand. “Are you okay?”

“No! I’m not ok!” you screamed, your voice a disembodied wail, the cold and emptiness intensifying, pressing in on you from all sides. You felt yourself drawn upwards, pulling you towards Law’s face. “What did you do to me?!” you cried, your voice filled with terror.

“What is she saying?” Ikkaku asked, her brow furrowed in confusion. Instead of hearing your voice all she could hear was the sound of wispy chimes.

“She’s not happy,” Law explained, his voice strained, as he leaned back slightly from the orb, as if trying to distance himself from your distress. “Ish, I needed to prove my theory right.”

“Theory?!” you shrieked, your voice laced with accusation and fear. “You didn’t know what would happen when you did this! You ripped me out! What if I died!”

“You didn’t die beside this is a good thing!” Law said, his voice calm but firm, trying to reason with you as you hovered closer to his face. “It means we know where your body is, and we know how to return you to it.”

“I feel as good as dead!” you wailed, your voice filled with despair. “I’m just an orb again! Why are you constantly attacking me and my life?!” You drifted downwards, a sense of hopelessness washing over you, and floated towards the door. “You know what? I don’t need you anymore. I can figure this out myself.”

“Shit, Ish, don’t!” Law shouted, reaching after you, his hand outstretched, but he ended up crashing into the door as you passed through it, leaving him stumbling.

“Where is she going?” Ikkaku asked, running over to Law and helping him up, her eyes wide with worry.

“I don’t know,” Law groaned, rubbing his shoulder, before swinging the door open. They looked down the hall to see the blue orb floating away, disappearing around a corner.

They jumped out of the room and chased after the orb, but it was moving fast. Law led the way, rushing into the wall the orb had just disappeared into. He quickly pushed off the wall, ducking around the corner to the room the wall led to. “Ish!” Law shouted into the room, only to see the blue orb disappear into the next wall, a mocking flash of blue. Law groaned, frustration building, before taking off down the hall again.

Shachi and Penguin stood in the hall, watching in confusion as a mysterious blue orb floated past them, quickly followed by their frantic captain shouting at it to stop, and Ikkaku hot on his heels. They shrugged and turned the other way, minding their own business. “Shachi!” their captain shouted, stopping them in their tracks. “I need some rice balls, now!” The captain ordered before disappearing around a corner.

“Rice balls?!” Ikkaku questioned his wild request, her voice laced with disbelief.

“Trust me!” Law shouted as they barreled down the hall. “Ish, come back!”

"Why should I?" You shouted, your voice echoing in his head, laced with hurt and anger. "You did this to me! This is all your fault!"

"I know, I'm sorry," he pleaded, his voice laced with desperation, "but let me make this right."

"I don't want your help anymore!"

"Ish, please! Don't do this to Ikkaku again," he begged, his voice cracking slightly, the image of Ikkaku's tear-streaked face flashing in his mind as she screamed at him in front of the hospital.

"It's ISRA! And I didn't do this to Ikkaku. YOU did!" You paused, hovering near Law's face, the coldness of your form brushing against his skin. Law, seizing the opportunity, threw his hand up, gripping the orb tightly. You felt the slight pressure, the familiar sensation of being contained returning, a wave of claustrophobia washing over you.

"Ha! Got you!" Law celebrated, a triumphant grin spreading across his face.

“If I had eyes right now, I would roll them,” you thought, before you faded out of his hand, the pressure easing, the cold emptiness returning, a familiar and unwelcome sensation.

"Shit, Isra, stop, I'm sorry," Law said, approaching cautiously, his voice laced with a renewed sense of desperation. "I promise we'll head straight to your body, and then you never have to see me again," he reasoned as you floated in front of him.

"Captain!" Shachi turned the corner, a plate piled high with rice balls in his hands. "I got those rice balls you asked for." You looked over before immediately flying over to them, a desperate craving taking hold. "What the hell is this?" Shachi questioned as you tried to interact with the rice balls, but only found yourself floating through the plate, the delicious food taunting you from just out of reach.

You let out a frustrated cry, a desperate longing for the taste and texture of the rice balls as hungry fills your system. You lunged at them again and again, but your formless self slipped right through, leaving you with nothing but the phantom taste on your tongue. "I can't even taste them!" you wailed.

"Isra," Law said, approaching cautiously. "If you come back, you can eat those rice balls. And we'll return you to your own body, and you can eat as many rice balls as you like." He held out a hand, palm up, a silent invitation.

You hesitated, the scent of the rice balls taunting you, the memory of their taste a distant but powerful draw. The sadness of your current state washed over you, the frustration of being so close yet so far from your goal. "I told you to stop," you whispered, the words filled with a quiet despair. "I told you I didn't like it, and you did it anyway."

"I know, and I'm sorry," Law replied, his voice contrite. "I promise I won't do it again, and we'll bring you straight to your body."

"How can I trust that when you couldn't even keep your second promise?" you challenged, your voice laced with hurt.

"My sceond promise?" Law asked, his brow furrowed.

"You promised you wouldn't do anything unless we both agreed!" you shouted, the frustration bubbling over. "I should have never trusted a pirate."

Law flinched, "You're right," he admitted, his voice low. "I was selfish and impatient. I'm sorry. If you come back, I won't do it again, and you can have as many rice balls as you like until we get you back to your body."

"Can you at least say please?" you asked, a hint of playfulness creeping into your voice.

Law rolled his eyes, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Please, Isra, will you come back?"

"Deal!" you shouted, the word echoing in his mind, the promise of food and the hope of returning to your body outweighing your lingering doubts. You flew into Law's chest, the familiar warmth and solidity of his body a welcome sensation, a stark contrast to the cold emptiness you'd just experienced.

Law took a deep breath, the shift in his posture subtle but noticeable, and his eyes reopened, revealing your eye color. He quickly lunged at the plate Shachi was holding, shoving two rice balls into his face, the taste and texture a burst of sensory overload.

Shachi stepped back, shocked, leaning over to Ikkaku, who was leaning against the wall, catching her breath, a mixture of amusement and bewilderment on her face. “What the hell is going on?” Shachi whispered, his voice laced with confusion, and Ikkaku just laughed at the sheer absurdity of everything, the relief of having her sister back outweighing the strangeness of the situation.

“That’s Isra,” she bubbled, her voice filled with warmth.

“Isra? Your sister? How?” Shachi looked between the captain and his differently colored eyes and contrasting posture to the captain he knew, trying to reconcile the familiar face with the unfamiliar behavior.

Luckily, your home island was on the way to the island the Heart Pirates were heading, and Law and Ikkaku were able to get you there by the next day.

Ikkaku stood next to Law as they approached the hospital, a place they had visited countless times. They moved through the hallway, the route ingrained in their muscle memory. The two paused in front of the door to your room.

“Isra, are you ready?” Law asked, his hand hovering over the doorknob.

“I think so,” you replied, your voice barely a whisper, the sound trembling slightly in the quiet hallway. “Can I take control first? I want to see it first.”

Law nodded, closing his eyes briefly before reopening them, revealing your blue eyes to Ikkaku. A nervous tremor ran through your hands as you gripped the door knob, your heart pounding a frantic rhythm against your ribs. “You okay?” Ikkaku asked, her voice soft with concern, her eyes searching yours. her hand reached for your gripping it tightly in reassurance.

You nodded slowly, your gaze fixed on the closed door, "I'm...scared," you whispered, your voice barely audible. "What if it doesn't feel...right? What if it feels...wrong?"

“What do you mean? It your body,” Ikkaku said, her brow furrowing slightly.

“I mean…” You hesitated, your fingers tightening around Ikkaku’s hand. “I’ve gotten so used to Law’s body… what if it feels different? What if it hurts?” The thought of inhabiting a body so long dormant sent a shiver down your spine. “What if it feels… lonely?”

“Lonely?” Ikkaku questioned, her voice gentle.

“Well, Law and I shared the same headspace and thoughts for the past four days,” you explained, your voice barely above a whisper. “What if… I don’t know. I miss him.” The admission hung in the air, a fragile and unexpected confession.

“Miss me? Isra, it’s not like I’m going away,” Law said, a hint of amusement laced his tone.

“I know, but…” You sighed, your gaze dropping to the floor. “I know it’s stupid, but… I still don’t have my memories, and sharing your head has been all I’ve known.” You fidgeted with the doorknob, your knuckles white, the cold metal a stark contrast to the warmth of Ikkaku’s hand.

“Are you talking with the captain?” Ikkaku asked, and you nodded, a silent acknowledgment of the constant presence in your mind.

“Ish, when you enter your body, your memories should come back,” Law reassured, his voice gentle and patient. “And if not, then you get to make new memories on your own, without me.”

“But what if I don’t want to?” you whispered, a flicker of fear in your eyes.

“Want to what?” Law asked, his brow furrowed.

“Make memories without you.” The words were out before you could stop them, a raw and honest expression of your vulnerability.

Law sighed, a soft sound that conveyed both understanding and a touch of sadness. “Isra, when you get into your own body, you can make your own decisions and make memories with whoever you like, including me.” he explained, his voice gentle and reassuring.

“You promise?” you asked, your eyes searching his, seeking reassurance.

“Yes, I promise,” Law said, his voice firm and unwavering.

You nodded and turned the doorknob. The room was smaller than you expected, filled with the hushed hum of machines and the faint, lingering scent of antiseptic. You hesitated, your breath catching in your throat.

On the bed, a body lay still. Your body.

But it didn’t feel like yours. It was… a shell. A long-forgotten vessel. Your hair, a tangled mess, spilled over the pillow, far longer than you would have thought. Your skin, pale and almost translucent, seemed stretched too tightly over your bones. You looked… fragile. Broken. A wave of dizziness washed over you. Was this really you?

Ikkaku moved beside you, her presence a comforting anchor in the swirling confusion. She walked around the bed, her movements familiar, practiced. She sat down and lifted the hand of the body into her own hands.

You stepped closer, drawn by an invisible pull. You hovered above the bed, your gaze taking in every detail of the face that was both yours and yet not yours. You reached out, your fingers brushing against your cheek. The skin felt… strange. Soft. Vulnerable. A flicker of recognition stirred within you, a whisper of something familiar in the midst of the overwhelming foreignness.

You took a deep breath, trying to calm the frantic beating of your heart. “Okay, Law. I’m ready.” You closed your eyes to allow Law to take back control.

Law's presence was immediately apparent, a sense of focused power that hadn't been there before. He raised his hand, the familiar blue light of his Room shimmering into existence.

He placed his hand over his chest, his fingers finding the spot where your soul had resided. He concentrated, drawing upon the remaining connection, the faint echo of your presence. A warmth spread through his chest, a tingling sensation that grew stronger as the orb began to materialize, pulled from his very being.

The orb, pulsating with a vibrant blue light, emerged slowly, its radiance intensifying until it became blinding surge of energy, Law and Ikkaku, raised their hands to shield themselves from the overwhelming light.

When the light finally subsided, leaving lingering spots in their vision, the orb was gone, vanished without a trace, leaving only the memory of its brilliant glow.

“Where’d she go?” Ikkaku questioned, her voice laced with rising panic as she frantically scanned the room. Your body remained unnervingly still on the bed, the only sound the rhythmic hiss of the machines.

“Give it a second,” Law said, his voice strained, a flicker of worry in his eyes. He leaned over, his touch gentle as he took your other hand in his, his fingers wrapping around yours. He cupped your cheek with his other hand, his thumb lightly brushing against your skin. “Isra, it’s time to wake up,” he murmured, his voice soft yet urgent.

You lay unresponsive, your face pale and still. Law gave a few small taps to your cheek, his touch becoming slightly more insistent.

“What if it wasn’t her?” Ikkaku whispered, tears welling in her eyes, her voice choked with fear.

“It was her,” Law insisted, his voice firm, though a knot of unease tightened in his stomach. “She just needs to wake up.” His hand shifted to your forehead, his fingers pressing against your skin, feeling for any sign of warmth, any flicker of life.

Suddenly, the heart rate monitor shrieked, a piercing wail that made Law jump back, his heart leaping into his throat.

“What’s happening?!” Ikkaku cried, her voice cracking with panic as she jumped up, her eyes wide with terror. Your body began to convulse, shaking the bed violently, the crisp white sheets twisting beneath you.

Law quickly pinned your shoulders to the bed, trying to stabilize you. “Her body is rejecting the soul,” he stated, his voice tight with fear.

“What does that mean?!” Ikkaku cried, her voice breaking as she held down your legs, her knuckles white against your skin.

“It means her body has been lying here too long without a soul,” Law explained, his voice strained. “It doesn’t remember what it feels like. Isra, you need to take control! Remind your body what it’s like to have a soul!” he shouted over the escalating beeps of the monitor, “It’s your body. You need to take control of it!” He leaned closer, his voice filled with determination, “Feel yourself, Isra. Push to the front. Feel your nerves. You are in control.”

Your body slowly stopped convulsing, the violent tremors gradually subsiding, leaving you still and breathless. Your eyelids flickered, then snapped open. Law and Ikkaku, their breaths held tight, released their hold on your body. You snapped forward, quickly taking a deep, gasping breath, your chest heaving as your lungs filled with fresh air for the first time in years. Law’s arms, instinctively outstretched, catching you before you fell, his body trembling slightly with relief. You leaned against his chest, your own body shaking, your senses slowly returning, the world around you coming back into focus.

“Isra,” Law called, his touch was gentle as he pushed your shoulders back to get a better view of you. “How do you feel?”

You leaned back further, your gaze drifting down to your hand, your fingers curling and uncurling, marveling at the familiar yet foreign sensation. The skin felt soft, delicate, yours, yet so different from the calloused hands you’d become accustomed to in Law’s body. Your gaze shifted to Ikkaku, who was sitting patiently, tears streaming silently down her face, her expression a mixture of relief and overwhelming joy. “Ku?” Your voice was scratchier than you remembered, and much higher pitched than what you were used to speaking with in Law’s voice, a strange and unsettling feeling, as if someone else were speaking through you.

Ikkaku, unable to contain her emotions any longer, jumped onto the bed and into your arms, hugging you tightly, a wave of warmth radiating from her. You wrapped your arms around her, feeling her warm body against yours, the simple physical contact a wave of comfort, a return to the familiar.

You peeked over her shoulder to see Law standing relieved above you, a soft smile playing on his lips. You reached out a hand, your movements still a little shaky, a silent invitation for him to join the embrace. He took your hand, his grip reassuring, his touch warm. “Isra, do you remember anything?”

Ikkaku pulled away slightly, her eyes filled with anticipation, eager to hear your answer.

You sighed, a small, weary sound, trying to think back, your brow furrowing in concentration. “I don’t remember much,” you admitted, your voice still rough. “Mostly… feeling cold. In that cave.” But… it wasn’t just the cold. It was the emptiness, the isolation, the feeling of being adrift. “But I don’t feel blocked from my memories like before,” you added, a flicker of hope in your eyes. “Most of my memories are just… that cave.”

Law nodded, understanding dawning in his eyes. “You were in that cave for five years,” he reminded you gently. “So that makes sense. The rest should come back to you eventually.”

You nodded slowly, leaning back into the bed, your body sinking into the soft mattress, a feeling of exhaustion washing over you. You fidgeted with the sheets, the cool fabric a welcome sensation against your skin, a flicker of unease still lingering in your eyes. “Yeah, probably.”

“How are you feeling?” Law repeated his first question, leaning over, his gaze warm and concerned.

“Hungry,” you complained, a small smile tugging at your lips as you grabbed your stomach, a familiar pang of hunger gnawing at you.

Law chuckled, a hint of amusement in his voice, and gently began removing the wires and tubes that had tethered you to the machines. “Well, let’s get you out of here and to the mess hall,” he said, his gaze warm and inviting.

You smiled as Law helped you out of bed. Your legs felt weak, your muscles ached from years of inactivity. You stumbled, your feet struggling to hold your weight after so long lying still, the world tilting slightly beneath you. “Can Shachi make rice balls?” you asked.

Law shook his head, a playful smile tugging at his lips. “Yes, Shachi can make rice balls,” he confirmed. Law smiled as he slid under your left side, while Ikkaku slid under your right, and they walked you out of the room, supporting your unsteady steps, their presence a comforting reassurance.

As you exited the room, a nurse spotted you, her eyes widening in alarm. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could utter a word, Law scooped you up into his arms, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “And that our que to leave!”. He took off running down the hallway, with Ikkaku hot on his heels leaving the nurse sputtering in surprise, her words trailing off into the distance.

A/N: Thank you for reading if you made it to this point you may like some of my other works so check out my Master List. I will probably be reworking my other stories like this soon to both edit the work and to shorten the stories in a more digestible way.

[redflagshipwriter]

Nest Swap 4 progress

Now with 200% more bat!

masterpost

“Alright, have a good day.” Tim handed the clipboard back to a stone-faced delivery guy and took the package from Miss Fox back to his technology lair. He got a glass of water on the way down and then went about reproducing the experiment that Tam asked for.

She wouldn't give him details. But from the instructions and reported results, Tim was pretty sure that some employee had misrepresented their process. To what end, he didn't know. He was just the science guy, not a detective guy.

Although if he had to guess he'd say that they had switched out a needed chemical to hide that the supply was lower than recorded.

But whatever. That wasn't his business.

Tim happily went about science, recreating a corrosive liquid that would supposedly eat through reinforced metal. He had to make the Wayne tech protective coating for the metal as well to do the experiment properly. When he finished that he carefully dipped metal sheets in it and set them to drip dry. Then he turned back to the acid project.

Supposedly, the acid had been a failure. Tim thought it should work. Apparently Tam did, too.

The screens around the room all went black. He wasn't even using them but it was a hard thing to miss in your peripheral vision.

Tim groaned. “What now?” He asked the room. He clanged a piece of metal to the tabletop. “I am trying to finish this.”

Had he tripped some kind of security protection? Maybe they had all gone to sleep without getting a password at spaced intervals?

To be perfectly clear, Tim did not expect any kind of response.

Therefore he was startled halfway out of his skin when a female laugh came barrelling out of the speakers of the largest mounted screen.

He crossed his arms in a sulk.

“Tim?” She asked, after she caught her breath. “You're tiny.”

His face was catastrophically cranky: he could see it reflected back in the black screen. It was a perfect replica of Janet Drake discovering after she had formatted her latest paper in Chicago Style that the publication required the savagery of MLA formatting.

She laughed again. It ended with a hiccup.

‘Whoever this is, she can see me. She must be someone who knows me if I gave her that kind of access.’

“I'm not sure we're friends,” Tim announced, because it was time to face the facts: these people all knew a version of him, and that Tim was bigger. At least like, three inches. “I'm aware that I am small. I am working on it.” He glowered at the computer she seemed to be using.

It would take what, two years top for a major growth spurt? They could just chew bubblegum until then.

“Is that what you're doing now?”

Tim sighed. “No, I'm doing something for Tam,” he admitted. He scrubbed at his face with a hand. “Probably a good time for a break.” He started to tidy up.

“Yeah, so, I guess I can tell Dick that you haven't been kidnapped by lions or whatever it is he's talking about,” the lady said. The line turned to static for a second, then back just as quickly. “You, uh, need some help?”

“Absolutely not.” Tim shook his head in a sharp, decisive Jack Drake movement. “I don't need to be babied.”

“...I can see why you think you're in danger of it.” She snorted again. “Unblock Dick, please, he's got delicate feelings and I think we both have plans for tonight that don't involve him scaling your walls to find a way in.”

“....I'll unblock him,” Tim took the L gracefully. “I appreciate your silence on this matter.”

She snorted again. “Sorry.” She didn't sound very sorry. “It's just- your little businessman voice is so funny. I'm sorry, Tim.”

He looked up at the ceiling for patience.

“Oracle out.”

All the screens returned to normal. Tim let out a big long sigh and went back upstairs, taking his empty water class with him. At least he had a name, right? Oracle. He'd gotten a call from Oracle.

He mentally arranged the facts as he trudged up the stairs.

Fact one: he had replaced a Tim, who was Tim Drake-Wayne. (Upsetting information).

Drake-Wayne had to be fundamentally the same Tim as he was, given that both Tam and Oracle had immediately recognized him.

Fact two: Tim D-W was a vigilante.

Fact three: That was really cool.

Tim reached the top and made a mental note to enroll in some martial arts classes when he got back home. If he had potential to fight crime, of course he was going to do that. He unblocked Dick: oh no, Dick Wayne. He'd blocked Robin. He felt mortified. It was so obvious in retrospect. He put the phone down on the table, stomach twisting in social agony.

The phone immediately lit up with messages.

Well. Robin should be less annoying, if he didn't wanna get blocked.

He clambered onto the counter to search through for anything that would make a good lunch.

“... I'm terrible,” Tim complained. He stuck his head fully into the cupboard as if there might be something good at the back. “This sucks!”

Alright. Something had to be done. Tim decisively climbed down, using an open drawer as a step. He shut it with his heels and then went in search of a wallet. He needed a credit card and to find a delivery service.

He was going to act on faith that big Tim D-W wasn't going to ruin his life, even though he was a loser. Tim was doing a great job keeping Tim D-W’s life afloat. That merited some payment.

He converted that payment into a huge order to a grocery delivery service. He referenced Tam’s package to get the address.

The order was simple: fruits, breakfast meat, lots of bakery bread, and sandwich fillings. He was going to have tuna salad with cucumber and lettuce. He was going to learn to make egg salad. Optimistically, he even added melty cheese to the order and a can of tomato soup mix: grilled cheese couldn't be that hard, right?

He rounded off the order with lots of individually packaged drinks: milk and juice boxes, cans of grape Zesti, and hot cocoa powder.

"…This is so exciting,” Tim said to his empty apartment. His. In a very real and meaningful way, it was his apartment. He was totally unsupervised. Neat!

The phone buzzed again. When he picked it up it said “Jason.”

Tim blue screened. Tim dropped the credit card with a clatter. It disappeared under the table and he didn't even think to look for it.

Jason. Omigod, Jason. Jason was a person who existed. He'd forgotten.

All the pieces came together in a beautiful flash of light. He wasn't in a troubled huge age-difference relationship with Bruce (21 year difference) or Dick (9 year difference) . He'd gotten married to Jason Wayne, the kid that Bruce had brought home like a day ago according to the Gotham Gazette. (3 year difference: normal.)

The phone was still ringing. Tim picked it up with numb fingers. “Hello?”

“Hey, Timbers,” said a male voice. It was low, rough, and impatient. “You freaked Dickiebird out and he's been squawking at me all day. Tell me how many pieces you're in.”

Tim looked down at his body. “Just the one,” he said, voice coming out breathy. It felt like his being was floating outside his body. Wow. This was his boy- no, husband? Holy moly. He couldn't cope with that, he had to stick with boyfriend. He bit his lip. He had to make a good impression.

“...You sound about 10 years old there,” Jason said. He didn't hide his amusement. “You been huffing helium, babybird?”

Tim went bright red at the pet name. Painfully red. His face was on fire.

Jason took his silence as a response. “Alright, alright, keep your clothes on. You must be sick as fuck, poor thing. No wonder you didn't come out to play last night.”

Tim slapped his hands on his face and tried not to hyperventilate.

“I wasn't calling for Dick, don't get it twisted.” Jason cleared his throat, tone a little odd. “I picked up on something - I think one of my ongoing cases dips into your patrol area. You gonna come out on patrol tonight?”

“...No,” Tim said. There was no way that would go well. He didn't know martial arts yet.

Jason cursed, but he didn't sound mad about it. “Fair enough,” he muttered. “Uh, think you could do some surveillance for me?”

Tim nodded. Then he felt dumb and cleared his throat. “Yeah.”

…He felt even dumber. What should he say? This was his boyfriend. The stakes were so high. He had never wanted anyone to like him more.

Jason rattled off an address. It, like everything Jason had said, was going to live inside Tim’s head forever in perfect clarity. “Thanks,” he added after, a bit begrudgingly. “This guy's real fucking sick, been making human sausage.”

Tim… wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but it sounded really bad. “I'll do my best,” he promised.

“Yeah…” Jason trailed off. “Maybe you should take a nap, some meds. That's a terrible hoarse throat. Don't kick your own ass on my account, okay?”

“Okay,” Tim helplessly echoed, and hung up. He sat in silence for a solid minute afterwards.

[antimony-medusa]

Hi! I know you did some reclists — can i please ask for some Antarctic Empire emduo fic recs?

hit the continent running (engines were humming) by Odaigahara

Amazing worldbuilding and format about a populated Antarctic empire on the ice, planes, and the admins wanting to stop them from taking over the world. Incredible scene where Phil gets wings. One of my all-time favourites.

Malicious Marriage Compliance by KryOnBlocks (Kryon)

Just delightful— After the san malo trials techno and phil are stranded on different planets with trade cut off between them. Food starts to be a concern. But you know who still gets to travel between planets? If you're married, you can go see your spouse.

The Longevity Clause by MissyColorful 

Some delightful emdup whump. Phil gets kidnapped and both he and techno (trying to save him) are having a BAD time.

move your feet from hot pavement by Odaigahara

"There had to be a show of faith, they’d said. The Antarctic Empire had traditions when it came to graciously accepting an enemy surrender, and one of them was the delivery of some important adversary into their hands."

— Emduo are enemies, and once surrendering Techno has to deliver himself into his enemy's custody. He doesn't expect it to go well.

Strands by OneSaltyErik

*to the Emperor Technoblade of the Antarctic Empire*we have something of yours* The printed translation ended above a poorly developed and hastily taken photo of a very pissed off, very familiar, face. *our terms of safe return are*your immediate surrender* Not more than a day later, a box containing the longest coil of braided pink hair that anyone had ever seen, was delivered anonymously to the ship where Philza was being held. Along with a single worded message, perfectly lettered in gold ink and stamped with the Imperial Seal. "NO".

Fantastic worldbuilding and I'm excited to see where this one goes!

Tiny Antarctic Empire Adventures by im_always_stressed

Emduo as kids, getting married for paperwork fraud and starting a big life together! They are small and things are hard.

One Empire, Free Of Charge- Technoblade et al. v The World, Moonglass, Snow Angel, and Emerald Star, by aenor_llelo, BattleBlaze, fluxphage, Otakuforlife19, Rocket999

Part of a larger work adapting literally all emduo lore (unfinished), but an exceptional influx of worldbuilding and characterization. I'd say that most emduo fans who were around when this was being published have read this one, so if you are coming in late, this is a touchstone a lot of people have in the back of their head. It's genuinely so good. Kind of made me understand QPRs for the first time.

oh dear, can you see me? by findingkairos

Age swap where Phil is a hardcore player in his teens and Techno is a famous general— and they get caught up on different sides of a war. Phil is having a bad time. After the war Phil is sent into Techno's custody, and he slowly learns how to be a person again. Incredible minecraft worldbuilding and fantastic prose.

leave me your starlight by findingkairos

A first meeting fic for emduo— nobody likes the general. Which Phil thinks is stupid because he's just found a new best friend.

we are gods! we are wolves! by acuteroses, Cats_Dont_Float

A retelling of the Antarctic Empire, in which two outcasted hybrids, half-piglin Technoblade and avian Philza, decide that it's time to fight back against those that have wronged them

i wanna hear it's alright by bunflower

Most of this is set during SMPEarth fantasy empire— are you ready for some WHUMP? How about Emduo having a BAD TIME?

__

And I'm going to list some of mine below the cut because honestly the list of smpearth fics to choose from is not THAT long.

Who Are You Really (And Where Are You Going)? by antimony_medusa

The antarctic empire tries diplomacy! Unfortunately they seem to be being framed for a murder they kind of committed— look. It's complicated. The diplomacy isn't going well though.

Somewhere Your Fingerprints Remain Concrete by antimony_medusa

After the dragon fight Techno starts acting— different. Phil isn't having a good time.

Technoblade and Philza's Absolutely Unauthorized Long Term Space Field Trip (You Won't Believe The Laws They Broke) by antimony_medusa

Well the title really pitches the fic. What if taking over the world, but in space?

Why Diplomacy Is The Worst And We Shouldn't Even Try It Probably by antimony_medusa

Phil's past comes to call at the most inconvenient time. Techno does not know what's happening but he thinks it should stop immediately.

Things Could Be So Easy (If You Let Them) by antimony_medusa 

QPR marriage proposal.

Silhouette Figure In The Smoke by antimony_medusa 

Survival against the north, and the sun's going down.

And there you have it! Some emduo on my favourite server.

[ur-boyfiend]

the way you say hello

was thinking abt diff love languages n subtle ways ppl show they care and got myself stuck in dumb clingy headspace so here's this !

skz 's love languages !!

-> skz x gn!reader , i think 2nd person ?

-> fluff !! so much fluff

-> wrote this on my phone at 2am so the formatting is a wee bit ass , sorry abt that

chan !! making sure he's never too busy to spend time with you , or at least send a text message with some kind of cheesy compliment. will text you random things throughout the day with a caption like 'this reminded me of you'. if the two of you are being offered something he lets you pick first.

minho !! when the two of you hang out together you usually each do your own thing , but some part of you is always touching , wether using him as a backrest or just him draping his legs over yours. usually has a darker sense of humor but always makes sure you're comfortable with his jokes.

changbin !! always quick to help you out if you need it (sometimes even if you don't) , orders extra food for you even if you say you're not hungry. occasionally gets hoodies he thinks you'd like in order to let you steal them. always lets you have the last of the foods you like.

hyunjin !! draws you a lot , uses you as reference for pose / feature studies. you're the only one he lets have open access to his sketchbooks (you always ask before looking anyway) , always gets you a coffee when he stops for one , usually a pastry too.

jisung !! random kisses ; forehead , nose , cheek , back of your hand , shoulder , whatever is nearest. likes playing with your hair. will sometimes get you matching accessories , is always wearing at least one. you both help soothe eachother's anxiety , you know his anxious tics and he knows yours.

felix !! knows your favorite desserts and makes them more often than anything else , always has sweets in case you have a bad day. can read your moods well and makes sure to check in if you seem like you're not doing well. the two of you have amassed an impressive plushy collection.

seungmin !! likes to sing to you, will learn songs he knows you like / that you know the words to so you can sing together. has a sharp tongue but knows your boundaries and does his best not to cross them. he's more comfortable being physically affectionate with you than anyone else, and everyone knows that.

jeongin !! likes making aesthetic + fashion pin boards with you , lets you raid his wardrobe for events. likes swapping clothes / styles with you. lots of café and thrift / vintage store dates. you're both able to understand each other even if you're only really making vague noises and hand gestures.

[sphnyspinspin]

Earthspark KOBD is actually just a Swapped-Frame AU?

KOBD brainrot let’s goooo

Just let me break it down… Breakdown is obviously the equivalent of a speedster/Stunticon in Earthspark, instead of his more “well-known” label as a wrecker.

He was definitely bulkier in most modern iterations, even going as far as him having his servo turn into a hammer. And, of course, he had his frame altered to look like a wrecker when joining the Decepticons and was very much recognized for having a stronger build, instead having a similar build to Knock Out.

All I’m saying is that Breakdown’s eagerness to race and his alt mode are somewhat reminiscent of how I remembered Knock Out’s characteristics in other medias.

I mean, I know that TFE Breakdown can definitely pack a punch, I’m just saying he’s definitely a little bit more sleek than say his TFP(aligned in general) or IDW designs.

But digging a little deeper, I knew for a fact that Earthspark was going to be way more influenced by the G1 cartoon than anything else. And wouldn’t you know it, Breakdown’s design in the show followed that format.

He’s bulky, but way more sleek than a traditional wrecker design.

And now I want you guys to remember how he acts in Earthspark.

Going off of my own vague memory of finishing the show, I remember him being cocky and a little bit stubborn. Which goes to show how unreliable my memory is. What I’m actually trying to convey is that he kind of gives off the vibe of what Knock Out’s quirks would look like with Breakdown’s personality in general.

Or, he’s just a speedster Breakdown, for short.

———

Now I want you guys to direct your attention to what you all remember about Knock Out.

I doubt that we’ll actually get any KO content in TFE, even if they decide to make comics(which I would genuinely sell my soul to acquire). But hey, that’s what the brain’s imagination is for.

Based off the knowledge we have on TFE’s expectations for its characters, it’s safe to say that if Knock Out was going to be a part of it, there’s a big chance that he’d be based off of his G1 design.

And yes, there is in fact a G1 Knock Out design…

Yes, he’s beautiful no matter what, he knows that.

I know it’s a possibility that this could be a different Knock Out, considering that this guy’s name is officially spelled Knockout on TFwiki.

Although my point still stands.

Just think about it. This guy is a part of the Constructor Squad, therefore he’s more of a bulked up persona than TFE Breakdown.

There’s also a glimpse of him in an IDW comic, so this version of him isn’t entirely under the radar. And from the description on TF wiki he’s loyal and surprisingly enthusiastic. Basically… he’s how I personally see Breakdown, but translated to fit Knock Out’s character. Or, it’s the other way around if you put into consideration that this Knockout/Knock Out came before TFP, kicking off the beginning of KOBD in the first place.

———

So with what information I’ve been able to get my hands on, it would be very plausible for TFE KOBD to be a Swap AU of a traditional KOBD story.

For example, Knock Out is always seen as the vain and overly dramatic of the two. With Breakdown being a stark contrast to Knock Out with his more noble traits and his eagerness to join a fight.

Now that Earthspark has provided a Breakdown that can be a bit more easygoing yet stubborn, and somewhat focused on being more self-preserved. And lets say we pair that Breakdown with a Knock Out that can be less vain but loyal and enthusiastic to work with a team.

let Breakdown be the one to gossip with Bumblebee and compete in illegal drag races, while wanting to maintain his sleek finish. Give Knock Out a sense of unironic enthusiasm when it comes to him working with a partner, and have him take pride in being a hard-at-work Construncticon that has a tendency to get so overly-excited that he faints.

I would absolutely love to see a pairing like this version of KOBD if possible. Maybe I might not be looking hard enough, but all I typically see of any TFE KOBD content is of them both being sleek and stylish—to which I love and have zero quarrels with.

I just wanna see Speedster-Stunticon-Breakdown be overly confident while flirting with Constructicon-Knock Out, to the point where KO just passes out from becoming too flustered, that’s all.

Long live KOBD✨

[scarlet-cloudfall]

I've been rewatching TOH for the 5th time recently, and this time I wanted to piece together the actual timeline of the show, since a friend of mine thought the show took place over a couple months, while I thought it was over a year.

I just finished S1E7, and I'm already losing my mind. Assuming Amity's journal entries are numbered by the date, and the date is in a day of the month/month of the year type format, the absolute minimum amount of days between S1E5 and S1E7 is 42 days. Let me explain.

(first, I should mention, I know the following stuff is almost certainly mistakes from the creators who didn't bother to make the dates make sense. My goal here is to come up with an in-universe explanation for the stuff that we see, not come up with an explanation for why we see it. I'm also going to mention here that I'm not assuming the boiling isles uses the same date system as the human realm. If I were to do so, it would increase the amount of time Luz would have been on the boiling isles by S1E7 to an absurd degree.)

First, a quick recap. During the wailing star meteor shower, the books in the library come to life. During this event, Luz opens up Amity's diary, and here is where we see the aforementioned dates, along with a phantom Amity reading out the words on the page.

When Luz first opens the diary, the two visible dates are 6/4 (on the left page) and 7/4 (on the right page). The phantom Amity then says "I saw that... human girl again. I may have overreacted. I don't want to come off as cruel, I just... can't show weakness." This makes most sense to be referring to Luz and Amity's interaction earlier in the episode.

Then, Edric opens the diary, and we see 2/19 on the left, and 2/20 on the right. This appears to conflict with the date format from before that seemed to imply the first number is the date, while the second number is the month. The best explanation I have for this is that the day and month switched at some point in the year for whatever reason (it's the demon realm, a lot of stuff is weird, right?) The alternative would be a random month-long gap, and while that is by itself more likely, I have to go with the former explanation for reasons elaborated later.

Later, when the pages are spilled out of the diary, one entry, labeled 19/12, has a phantom Amity saying "Why won't the human leave me alone?" This makes most sense to be written sometime during or after S1E5, considering Amity's frustrations with Luz at this point (cheating Amity out of her "top student" star, and resulting in her humiliation vs Luz in the duel).

Thus, the core issue is we have two very different dates, both referencing Luz and Amity's interactions. How can Amity know about Luz both on 6/4 and 19/12? At minimum, that would appear to mean 3 full months, each containing at least 19 days, between S1E5 and E7, plus the first 6 of the 4th month, totaling 63 days between those episodes. This is already 2 full months out of the 3 months that Luz is supposed to be at summer camp, and it's only episode 7!

But the number I first said was 42 days, not 63. How does that work out? Well, remember what I mentioned earlier about the day and the month swapping places in the notation? Well, we could instead say that 19/12 is the 12th and last day in the 19th and last month of the year, thus meaning that each month is 12 days instead of 19. The format then switches sometime after 2/20, meaning 6/4 is the 6th day of the 4th month, and we minimize the number of months passed while minimizing the minimum number of days that can be in a month from 19 down to 12. 3 12-day months, plus the first 6 days of the 4th month totals to 42 days.

If anyone has read this far, I know what you're thinking (I'm thinking it, too). Surely it hasn't been almost a month and a half between those two episodes, right? Well, the alternatives are... kind of worse.

First of all, these are not page or entry numbers, unfortunately. One of the pages that falls on the floor is labeled 10/1, and the associated phantom Amity says "Sorry I haven't written for awhile- wait, why am I apologizing?" This implies it is neither the first page nor entry in the diary, and it can't be the 10th page or entry because another page is labeled 6/6, which would conflict with having other pages labeled 6/4 and 7/4.

The other two possibilities that I have managed to come up with are as follows:

Amity is writing the hour and day of the entry

Amity is writing the week of the year and the day of the month

These options, cursed as they are, do decouple the fundamental issue with 19/12 preceding 6/4 by making it so that we no longer have known minimums between how many days in a week/month/year, how many weeks in a month/year, and how many months in a year.

*sigh*

[aiura-stan]

0-4 is here, never fear.

I figured it out. Saiki keeps repeating himself so that the time loop reveal is more impactful. Or something. He is mentally preparing us for the neverending comedy shenanigans to get serious. Let’s pretend that’s Asou sensei’s intent.

This chapter is entitled “Chapter four: Precognition,” so I look forward to seeing how it addresses this very interesting power of his.

I have always liked that Saiki’s precognition is only totally random snippets without context (and comes along with a headache.) That’s a good limitation to put on a power like that, and it makes a good hole in which to plug Aiura further down the line (if you’ll excuse the strange wording.) Saiki then says “It would be the best power if only I could see exactly where I wanted to in the future…” So he thinks Aiura’s power is the best power…

I do like how this manga gets kind of meta in terms of: there’s the repeating format of “I am a psychic, but my abilities suck and here’s why…” but with a different ability each time, and a totally different character as well. It does give these first chapters a bit of a time loop feel. I wonder if a fan or an editor made some kind of comment in this vein to Asou sensei and he decided to run with it. I mean, he probably just thought of it as a convenient format to use, taking into consideration that a lot of people would be starting off by reading chapter two, or three or even four instead of chapter one of his first manga, since it was brand new at the time. And since the releases were pretty spaced out. Anyways.

I love how much fate just literally hands him very distinctive people. Even when Saiki isn’t accidentally doing things to attract them or being way too kind, he still ends up in all these scenarios where nothing but fate could make him collide with all of these people. Makes me think of the episode where Saiki is watching TV and it’s just one person that he knows after another.

XD Nendou conquered the slit…

I can’t decide if this is sarcasm or if Saiki likes human body part shaped objects. Judging from all of his earlier rants about muscles being gross, I’m going with sarcasm.

The fact that Saiki went out of his way just to do that for Nendou is touching. And very extra. I know it was because he thought Nendou would die otherwise, but still. He didn’t have to follow up with a text. That part was just to spare Nendou’s feelings.

He swapped her cell phone and the bowling ball… I guess those two items cost the same amount, a flip phone and a bowling ball… hmm.

Also I like Nendou having more emotional intelligence than Saiki. All of his friends have something that he doesn’t have; maybe that’s the common thread between them (aside from them all being a little strange.)

Alrighty! That’s the end of 0-4. See you all tomorrow for 0-5. 💫

[harrowharks-iliac-crest]

Day Two

Mush For Breakfast—Honesty’s Job Goes Terribly Wrong—The City Has A Worse Day—Camilla-And-Palamedes—“Keep Her Home Tonight”—Four Days Until The Tomb Opens.

Four days.

Starting to understand the format of this book: A "dream" about John, about Alecto, followed by a Day in Nona's life. Who's keeping track? Who knows when the tomb opens?

...Pyrrha?

Either that, or Nona is being watched by someone else.

Either way; One day down, four more to go. Let's get started.

7

Second skull. (Judith? The Cohort?)

Nona’s dream cut off abruptly. [...] “It’s the sitting part. My feet are in the nice water, the safe water. The water’s in my boots. My socks are full of it. I’m talking to her but I can’t see her face. I tried to, Cam, but it’s what always happens, I don’t manage to look at it, it just doesn’t work.”

Nona isn't dreaming about John; she's dreaming about someone else. The picture face, she called it the day before; we still don't know whose picture, do we?

“I’m touching her hands. She’s touching my hands. But in the dream it’s always my hands, remember, Cam, I’m touching my own hands but they’re not mine.”

I'm counting this as evidence that Nona is Alecto. Her hands but her hands are Nona's, she is Nona.

“There’s eyes all around us, red eyes. In the darkness. I remember this time, they’re red.” “Do you have any thoughts?” “Yes,” said Nona. “I’m hungry. In the dream. Really hungry.” The pencil stilled. “You’re hungry?” “I’m so hungry,” said Nona.

Welp, this isn't alarming or ominous at all. Red eyes? So hungry?

“Who do they feel like they belong to? Do you like them?” Nona chortled. “Not one bit.” Nona hated having hands.

That's interesting. Nona loves every part of her body. But not her hands? Or at least, not the hands in her dream?

I really wanna know more about this.

“Pyrrha—why does We Suffer hate you?” “Because I remind her that her God was just a human being who could get tired and fuck up,” said Pyrrha instantly. That was the wonderful thing about Pyrrha: she didn’t waste time saying things like “What made you think of that?” or “Why?” She went ahead and answered. In a way though, it was also a bad thing about Pyrrha, because she lied and told the truth at exactly equal top speeds.

So Pyrrha does lie, and could be lying about any number of things, including this.

Interesting that We Suffer considers Wake her God. I assume that's what this means.

“If you’re that charming,” said Nona, “how come you’re single?”

Oooooohhhhhh, sick burn. Careful Nona. Though if I were to guess, I'd say the answer is "because she's busy keeping you safe, Nona".

Pyrrha had used to be like Camilla and Palamedes and now her equivalent of Palamedes was gone—really dead—killed by a terrible monster that nobody would describe to her.

Yeah no it seems basically impossible to even describe the resurrection beasts. And also, yeah Gideon is dead - but that's most likely only part of why Pyrrha is heartbroken. She's lost all her old friends - all the first Lyctors are dead! - she's lost her necromancer, she's lost Wake as well, who she had a passionate affair with. Pyrrha is unspeakably old and everyone she used to know is dead. She must be so lonely.

“Who, and whyfor, did you bribe?” “Some guys. Site C,” said Pyrrha succinctly. “For God’s sake, Pyrrha, if it’s that hard to access I’ll swap you Site B, Cam and I have ways and means of accessing—” “I would pay any amount of money to stop you taking that risk you take,” said Pyrrha,

Palamedes and Pyrrha bickering is almost cute. But also what the fuck are they investigating? And why won't they tell Nona anything?

Oh -!!! They're talking about some kind of trial, which makes it very likely that Pyrrha helped Camilla and Palamedes achieve Lyctorhood. And they can both be present at the same time, only it puts a massive amount of strain on Camilla's body. Interesting.

“What d’you want from the cheap-jacks, No-No?” “Oh, nothing—except it is my six-monther soon,” she reminded Pyrrha. Camilla said, “You can get a present once it’s been a year.”

Is this what we're leading up to? Nona's six-month anniversary of being alive? Is this what her "birthday" is going to be?

I was wondering about that, and about how they'd know it was her birthday if she wasn't remembering anything, so that might explain it.

But Pyrrha said, “God, you think she’s ever gotten presents? I visited her hometown back before Anastasia got settled, and it was grim as fuck then. Just spooky caves all the way down…”

Damn, good point. I think the closest to a present Gideon ever got was that two-hander - and Harrow, that lollipop when she was like three. Fuck man, these girls have led extremely depressing lives so far.

Nona goes to school, Honesty has a black eye, and when he tells the story of what happened -

“Said the eyes was all white. But he said he was moving quietly, real quietly, and these guys—they’re all just sitting around—they all look up … they all look at him … with these white-out eyes … they all look up at the same time. They look at him. He kept saying that,” he said suddenly, breaking off. He said, “Kept saying, they saw me, they saw me, oh my God.”

What the fuuuuuuuck. Who are those guys? Eyeless creeps? Necromantic puppets? Pupilless necromancers? Victims of some kind? More experiments?

But then … then the driver said we were being followed … and the guy goes crazy sobbing and apologising, saying he fucked up, he got us in trouble, and then one of the old chicks is like, get the kid out, and … and they stop the car and there’s another two big trucks pulling up behind us, militia trucks with guys, and…”

Militia trucks? Jeeeeeeeeeez...

“I know what it was. I hang out with you lot. I know the deal. Nobody ever asks poor old Honesty … Honesty could’ve told him not to try and knock off the goddamned Convoy.”

The CONVOY????

The Convoy was mentioned in one of the previous chapters - the rumbling, earthquake-like transport that nobody quite knew what it was.

THIS is what it is????

I have so many questions but mostly I'm just fucking baffled that the petty criminals Honesty was working with don't know about the Convoy. It must be somewhat common knowledge where they live, right?

Right?

... Yikes.

[roserysttrpggarden]

PETA tried to make D&D subclasses and I critique them

Hi there

So, this wasn't a post I anticipated making but just this week PETA (People for the "ethical" treatment of animals) put out three subclasses for 5th-edition (with two accompanying magic items and spells) and cause I have nothing better to do, I wanted to critique (And laugh at) them in a overly long blog post, without further ado, let's start with the first of the three subclasses: The Circle of Empathy Druid

First off, the theme of this subclass is already funny cause druids whole thing is taking to animals but i'll let it slide for now

As for the class features, the circle spells are really good since they get both conjure animals and conjure woodland beings on the same spell list. It's a bit odd that they get three second level spells, but as you'll see later I doubt they payed much attention to 5e subclass formatting. Empathy connection is a really funny feature because not only did the designer forget to give an action trigger (Notice how there's no line that mentions using an action, bonus action or anything to use it) and based on how the text is written its implied you can only use the ability upon gaining your subclass, the other funny thing is that by rules as written, you can establish the connection between a humanoid and say, a rat, then dunk the rat in boiling water, or break its legs, and the humanoid will feel the rats pain, so you can effectively torture someone by torturing an animal. Does that completely go against the subclass's theme? Yes, is it funny that you can do that? Also yes!

Persuasive Resonance is a lot of fluff for what's essentially a mass charm you can infinitely spam (Notice there's clause that states you can use it x number of times per long rest.) Enchanting address is both very clunky and overpowered, it's a very potent control ability that, ironically, is way stronger if you don't have any animals around, cause the feature states they "Must use actions that benefit and protect animals for 24 hours" and it has doesn't have a limited number of uses too, combine this with a divination wizard you could very easily shut down any humanoid you want. Besides that the protective instinct feature is weirdly worded, I feel like the last sentence should read "if the humanoid is within 5 feet of the animal, they become the target of the attack instead" it's also interesting that the creature you use this one has a choice of their saving throw, dunno if it's a good thing, but it's interesting. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum: Natures mirror is kind of funny, but also basically useless in combat, I guess it can get around invisibility? the +2 to wisdom and intelligence checks is situational, but could be useful in some niche circumstances.

To close out my thoughts on this subclass, it's really funny that this is the only subclass of the three that tries to capitalize off of the 2024 PHB, Onto the next subclass!

Oh boy this paladin subclass sure is something. First off, it's way to easy to oathbreak with this subclass. Say for example, you come across a village that's being attacked by oh I don't know, a red dragon, you know, in Dungeons and Dragons. Since your oaths state that you "protect animals from harm" you cannot attack the red dragon in any way without oathbreaking, or what if you get ambushed by an owlbear? Can't fight that without oathbreaking, I would go on but there are so many ways to oathbreak hat the DM borderline has to build most combats around this subclass, and that's just isn''t fun.

Moving on from the obvious flavor fails, the two channel divinitys are pretty good? Beasts fury sucks to read cause it swaps between flavor and mechanical text in the same paragraph, but it's basically an additional 1d6 of damage on the creatures melee attacks and frightening enemies they hit on a failed wisdom save, strong but I imagine the frightening could get very annoying especially once extra attack comes into play, an 11th-level fighter under the effects of beasts fury could possibly impose 3 wisdom saves at once (6 if they action surge) slowing the game down dramatically, it's the same issue that the topple property from the 2024 PBH has, it slows the game way the hell down. Sanctuary of The Innocent is broken, first of the radius is questionable at best, is it centered on yourself? a point you can see? Secondly, granting immunity to damage on all animals is busted when combined with summon beast, conjure animals/woodland beings or even a beast master druid, at the same time the feature doesn't specify friendly beasts so going back to the dragon example, you could end up making the boss invincible for the entire encounter. Guardians refuge is okay, the benefits are sort of decent? But I doubt you'll be fighting that many CR 3 beasts or monstrosities by 6th-level (Not to mention the feature is completely worthless as higher tiers of play) the second benefit is really vague but it could be decent if you have a druid or ranger. Unburden the beasts is a quite possibly the first harmful ribbon feature! Cause by rules as written you say, can't ride on horses, or have them pull a wagon, but it also for some reason doubles the carrying capacity of animals...Despite you not being able to use them to haul your supplies? Such a strange ability. Whispers of the wild is another ribbon that comes on too late to be decent. Humanoid handing is, say it with me folks, really strong if you have a druid or ranger in your party, it's funny that its uses per day are limited to your wisdom modifier (despite paladin not using wisdom.)

For my closing thoughts on the animal liberation paladin, a lot of the abilities are strong on paper, but require you to either multiclass, or have a druid/ranger in the party since it doesn't get any way to summon animals, so even if you somehow don't oathbreak after a session, you're abilities are mostly useless! While I didn't point it out in the feature rundown, it's very noticable that the subclass does not follow the paladin subclass structure at all (3, 7, 15 and 20th level) I have no idea why! Probably because the designer wasn't paying attention!

With that mess out of the way, time to cover the last of the three subclasses: The Warden of The Wild ranger.

The spell list is fantastic, charm person, aid, hold person, dispel magic, and polymorph all on one spell list is amazing, on top of it you also get double the spells that a normal ranger expanded spell list would give, Sabotage hunt is anti hunters mark, there's really not much more to say about it other than rolling a d6 for every damage roll I imagine would get extremely annoying and slow down the game. It's odd that you don't regain a use of this feature upon completing a long rest but whatever, echo's of the wild is a crappy ribbon feature that won't work most of the time, and isn't that helpful even in situations where you can use it, I guess if you have a beast master on your teams it's really good cause you can basically never be sneaked up on but otherwise, it's not that good. Sanctuary is also really good if you have a animals but otherwise, it's alright. Purify life is decent if you really need to cleanse one of your pets (or an ally under the polymorph spell) but otherwise it's alright. The not regaining use on long rest strikes back!

Closing out my thoughts on these sublcasses, it feels very apparent that whoever wrote these really doesn't understand 5e very much (Especially clear with the oath of animal liberation) none of the subclasses follow the 5e style guide all that well, for some reason the term "Being" is used constantly when it's supposed to be creature or target, most of the features gained by these subclasses are either crappy ribbons or are features that, not only range from meh to overpowered, are also super situational to the point that you have to build your party around them.

But that is not all PETA decided to "grace" us with, as the document includes two spells and items (Which are for some reason called tools) so let's go over those as well

Liberate is pretty strong, being able to undo a charm person or confusion on a animal, and instantly breaking a cage open for animals is a lot for a 1st-level spell slot, though the irony in the oath of animal liberation not having this spell is not lost on me, crimson mark is super funny, you spend a 1st-level slot + use concentration to tell is someone is evil. What a masterful display of game design prowess! The two magic items are meh, a magic item version of liberate and a worse bag of holding, yay??

That's about all I have for PETA "attempt" at homebrew, as bad as they are, at least I got a laugh out of them, and hopefully you did too. if you wanna leave your own thoughts make sure to comment or reblog.

Take care and go make some homebrew.

[merrock]

HAPPY OCTOBER !

It genuinely feels like I was just typing this post up for the first of September, how did we get here?! Happy October, folks! It's spooky month, and we have lots of fun stuff planned in Merrock. Hop under the cut to check out everything happening in and around town, some important reminders, a call to action, and kick off our October right! xx

ON THE CALENDAR !

October 4 -- home football game.

October 4-6 -- Golf Weekend -- more info here!

October 11 -- away football game.

October 12 -- farmer's day -- a day for us to celebrate and honor the farmers in Merrock that keep our community going.

October 12 -- bachelor & bachelorette parties -- two fun celebrations to have a good time with Cage and Cordelia as they prepare for their wedding.

October 18 -- home football game.

October 19 -- Cage & Cordelia's wedding -- more info here!

October 24 -- bingo night -- the monthly get together of bingo nerds at the fire hall to raise money.

October 25 -- home football game.

October 25 - November 3 -- Hallo-Week -- more info here!

October 26 -- pumpkin day -- big ole pumpkin sales down at Lavender Lane for your last minute needs.

IMPORTANT STUFF !

As usual, please take a few moments to read over our rules, make sure that you are up to date and familiar with everything. Because this is such a busy month, we will not be doing a new task for October... but I think we have plenty of characters that haven't yet had a chance to go back and tackle our very first task in the group: All About Autumn & Halloween! Give it a whirl! p.s. by an overwhelming amount of votes, we have Halloween-ish graphics for the month of October!

AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT !

we'd love to see a little more priority being put into replying to open starters! especially if you are not currently writing with that character. check the page frequently!

communicate with one another: before dropping threads, swapping the formats of threads, assuming something is alright with something, starting new threads, just messaging someone to make sure they're a-okay with something is so important. both players can have needs/wants met this way!

we rely on each other for activity: someone could end up on activity check or with strikes because they're waiting on a reply from you. please keep this in mind and give all of your threads across all of your characters regular attention.

A WORD FROM THE MOD !

September was an incredibly busy and kind of rough month, and I know that both Lindsey and myself were exhausted by the end of it (as I'm sure a lot of you were, as well). And while October is gearing up to also be busy, we are both looking forward to getting everything back on track with the group. But that also requires a little help from you guys! I am more than aware that no matter how much time and work I put into the group as an admin, it is on all of us to make things work, and create the environment and the dash that we feel happiest with. So I'm rallying the troops to get back on their flow! Reply to open starters. Say nice things to each other in the OOC blog. Reach out to plot / write with people you haven't. Don't let replies sit for long periods of time. Participate in things, spread love around. Remember that you get out what you put in. Want to see Merrock stick around for a long, long time? Me too! Let's make that possible by putting the energy in. xx

HAVE A GREAT OCTOBER !

[yanderes-galore]

Hi this is my first time ever requesting something so please forgive me if the formatting is bad but can I request a one shot of platonic Yandere Edward Richtofen where the reader is like his daughter from another timeline or dimension it can be Primis or ultimis thank you for your time have a wonderful day/night :)

This is kind of playing off my previous Ultimis Richtofen concept. I mentioned him being devastated if his darling died or swapped time lines. So this is the result of that.

If the lore is off somehow tell me as I am rusty with it (I have to watch that seven hour long video again, lol-)

Bit lengthy and not fully proofread so I apologize for spelling errors!

Parallels

Yandere! Platonic! Primis! Edward Richtofen with Daughter! Darling Short

Pairing: Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Obsession somewhat at first sight, Dubious adoption, Manipulation, Thoughts of murder, Overprotective behavior, Jealousy, Dubious family dynamic, Murder, Vague yandere, OOC Richtofen near the end.

"Father?"

Richtofen had no idea what to say when he saw the woman in front of him. There was a loud noise that he and his crew heard, then when they checked it out... he was greeted by a confused woman. What was even weirder was what the woman said.

She called him... father. Far as Richtofen knew he had no children. The crew he had gathered looked just as confused as him when they saw you. Although... the possibility that you two were related wasn't impossible.

Richtofen was fully aware of alternate time lines and dimensions. Agartha was proof along with the existence of his Ultimis counterparts. He's traveled through time and dimensions... so the existence of you could make sense.

His theory when he looked you over with caution was you were his daughter in another time, perhaps his Ultimis self. Somehow an accident must've happened... bringing you here. You looked so scared and confused-

"You called me... father?" Richtofen asks with faint curiosity. Your fear only deepens.

"Yes... are you not? You look like him! His name is Richtofen...." You ask. Richtofen looks to his crew, they urge him to continue.

"That is my name... but I fear I am not the Richtofen you know, dear." Richtofen tries to explain. He makes his tone gentle like one you'd use to a child. He may have never had a daughter... but something tells him he should he gentle with you.

Some sort of connection draws him to you despite not being your true father.

"What do you mean?" You ask again before the distant roar of the undead distract you both.

"I'll explain later, come with me! It's not safe here." Richtofen pleads, holding out his scarred hand. You eye him for a second...

Then you take his hand...

and all feels right.

Richtofen was surprised how natural it felt to hold your hand. For some reason saving you, pulling you close, and caring for you felt right. It even made him wonder if he was meant to have a daughter at some point. Unfortunately, he never did...

But now he had you.

Richtofen tried his best to explain to you Ultimis and Primis when you all had the time. He didn't tell you his goal but promised he'd act as your father here. It would take some getting used to... yet Richtofen felt you'd grow on each other.

It already felt meant to be.

Richtofen didn't tell you his plan for a reason he felt would be too devastating for you. If you actually came from the Ultimis time line, he'd have to kill your father for his soul. You'd never comply if you knew of that... part of Richtofen felt guilty.

Although when Richtofen looked at you, those eyes that resemble his own glittering back at him, guilt vanishes. If you came here... it must be for a reason, right? Perhaps it wasn't a freak accident....

Maybe some divine force knew he had to kill your father? That would mean you were gifted to him. You're meant to be his daughter now....

Call him sick but he liked the idea of getting rid of your father now. After your initial confusion and hesitancy, you were incredibly affectionate. You clung to Richtofen like he was your father.

He isn't sure what inside him clicked into place... but he decided he wanted to keep moments like this. If your father was destined to die anyway then you might as well get used to him. After all, in the end you'd be beside his side anyways, right?

Richtofen actually felt jealous of his Ultimis self. How could Ultimis have a daughter and he does not? For some reason he just felt it was unfair....

It gave his jealousy some relief to know that his other counterpart would be dead. You needed a new father figure anyways, might as well be now. Richtofen doesn't mind taking the new role....

He revels in it, actually.

Richtofen takes pride in the idea of being your father. The longer he's around you he gains more fatherly characteristics. A change that sparks surprise in his crew.

Richtofen was careful when explaining things to you and often listened to your story. He quickly became attentive to your needs and smiled when you called him 'father'. He was very similar to your previous dad... except the unhinged sadism wasn't there.

That alone must make him a better father, no?

In Primis Richtofen's eyes... you're better off with him. Sure he isn't as experienced or acts different from your father... but he's safer, right? He wonders if you were ever experimented on by his counterpart....

Richtofen was surprised how quickly he was drawn to the idea of parenting you. Perhaps he fell quickly for your clingy nature and warming hugs. You really managed to charm him fast... but it is to be expected...

He was your father at some point.

He quickly proves to you that he's the best for you by patching wounds and protecting you. Richtofen has always been a bit paranoid and that only grows the longer he cares for you. Luckily you are able to hold your own with a weapon...

Part of him hopes you rely on him more.

Richtofen watches carefully as you mingle with the rest of Primis. Part of him is jealous you get along with them so well, responding curiously to them and their differences. Nikolai managed to laugh for a moment when you explained the Nikolai you knew was much... drunker. That and the fact you're used to Dempsey being more of a narcissist, which the soldier grinned at.

Deep down Richtofen knew in the end you'd always side with him. Although he still felt worry you'd split from him as you are a young woman by the time he met you.... He pushes those feelings to the side so he can just appreciate you, though.

You may notice Richtofen's obsessive behavior. He holds you tight and acts like you're his biological daughter. When you ask if he'll help you get back to your dad, he goes silent and holds you closer. Truth is... he doesn't want to give you up.

He doesn't have to, either... but you don't know that.

When the time comes where Richtofen has to kill his Ultimis counterpart for his soul, he actually feels a bit anxious. It feels weird to kill yourself, which causes him hesitancy along with the fact this was your father. He's sure to do it out of your sight... but as he prepares, a thought flashes in his head.

You'd finally be his daughter after this.

This one thought makes him eager. He isn't sure why but the thought of putting a bullet through his counterpart's brain makes him excited if it meant he kept you. This thought drove him to continue.

It was cruel when he taunted him, he will admit that. The reaction his Ultimis half gave him when he told him he had you was one of... despair? He almost felt bad.

Yet now you'd have to rely on him.

"Don't worry... it's for the greater good. I promise to take care of MY daughter. Unlike you, who lost her."

Dimensional bleeding must be what changed his personality. Richtofen wasn't expecting to take such sadistic pleasure in ending your previous father's life once he pulled the trigger. The pleasure didn't fade even when he saw the look of betrayal on his Ultimis self once he mentioned he's keeping you for himself. He took even more joy in lying about it all.

"I'm sorry, dear... in this dimension your father's already dead."

He should've felt bad, but it had to be done. Richtofen suffocated his guilt when he held you, listening to your cries. He had made you sad....

It was worth it.

He felt horrible that his greed made you sad. Surely you'd understand in the end, right? Normally he'd find the idea of shooting his counterpart grim.

Now it was simply euphoric... he wanted to do it again.

Richtofen didn't mind the idea of killing to keep you. He felt it was protecting you by keeping you by his side. A good father must protect his daughter, yes?

Killing your father was a necessary step, dear... but it'll all okay!

You still have his Primis counterpart to love and care for you... even if your true father's blood is on his hands.

If you ever found out Richtofen's plan... and learned he killed your father... he has another plan.

He'll force you to follow through, not like you have anywhere else to go.

You'll be so lost without your father...

So why blame him for the murder of the one who abandoned you?

Primis Richtofen is your father now... your TRUE father...

So why don't you be a good girl and ignore the blood he's spilled... he only wants to love you as a father should!

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 07/05/2024

Rooftop Bop

Season 4 Episode 1 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume AI

Ripped by Mitchell

Requested by InitialDDD! (Request Form)

Man, Scatman John...what an interesting relation he has to the internet, huh? For whatever reason back in the early days of YouTube, his titular hit song Scatman became really prevalent to use in amateur comedy videos, most notably with the "Super Mario 64 Bloopers!"-genre of video. These are actually videos that I have memory of watching - people just playing around in their childhood 3D game and making up their own little stories and sketches to the tune of silly music. But Scatman, and its less-viral sibling Scatman's World, are more than just nonsense, there's an emotion to John's two legendary songs, a distillation of raw nostalgia - one that the internet suddenly rediscovered back in 2019, and one that SiIvaGunner itself celebrated in bursts throughout the whole year, with Rooftop Bop being an absolute standout example.

Like with most memes, its hard to really trace down a logistical reason for their upbringing - check any KnowYourMeme page, and its bound to just say something along the lines of "on this date, this video/image was posted, and gained tons of attention". The Scatman-posting of 2019 was a pretty interesting case on top of that - the "AWESOME - HE FINALLY" memes that initiated it all were like a big mishmash of memes old and new. Part of the joke was in using nostalgic pieces from the old internet, the music and the "black border" template, over clips from Vine or elsewhere edited to have a positive, borderline innocent outcome, as if to intentionally turn the "Loud equals funny" format that so much of Vine fell under on its head. It's like three layers deep into irony, to where it loops around into finding sincere happiness funny - but it is genuinely still just a really good bit, the perfect kind of stupid comedy that's at once unexpected yet also brings its audience together over the nostalgia it evokes - nostalgia for two different eras of the internet, even! Despite being so core to the old internet days, Scatman wasn't very prominent on the Unregistered Hypercam 2 takeover of 2018, taking a backseat to other internet anthems like Never Gonna Give You Up in Never Gonna Give Up Mahjong and Dreamscape in How 2 Do Anything. But, as if it was fated to be, just a few months later in 2019 Scatman John would once again be made relevant - and the SiIva team was right on top of things.

A lot of Scatman John's prominence on SiIva in 2019 was, of course, on the legendary Not Funny Didn't Laugh day - on the 10th of September (whats 9 plus 10?), a series of shitposts intentionally drenched in as much irony as possible were featured on the channel, the depths of which I explored back in Sex - Steve Harvey. But beyond giving us all brain damage, the event was like a huge shot in the arm for Scatman Stocks - and just two weeks later, we would receive perhaps the best Scatman rip yet. The guy had been lurking as a meme on SiIva before, notably being in some Season 1 rips here and there - and so his return on Not Funny Didn't Laugh day felt like just one more piece of internet history to be nostalgic for. Early YouTube, Vine, and the very first months of SiIvaGunner - all rolled into two songs filled with such whimsy, yet also filled with pure emotion. Now: Does that ring a bell to anyone else?

I feel like Rooftop Bop is the definition of a "more than the sum of its parts" rip, if that makes any sense. It's an excellent melody swap/mashup no doubt, the kind that almost makes you wonder how it was even done with how authentic the violin's lead melody sounds, and the chorus returning to the original Rooftop Run: Act 1 theme with Scatman John's vocals hits oh-so-hard - its an amazingly paced out rip throughout, ping-ponging between melody swap, mashup and both at once throughout - but like I said, the rip is so much more than all of that. It feels almost like a universal experience (at least, for my generation) to have an attachment to Scatman John - but more than that, we all have an attachment to the very thing his two hits represented. Because his balance of silliness and genuine heartfelt emotion is the exact thing that made SiIvaGunner so special all the way back in Season 1, the kind of balance that has made us all smile, laugh, empathize and outright cry, althewhile never losing its core of pure whimsy. Be it The Paragoomba and the Wiggler, Aphex, Planet Wisp Mashup Medley, Turnabout Fishters, or indeed Rooftop Bop - SiIvaGunner, very much like Scatman John, has gotten so many emotions out of us, and made us all too attached to an entity others may consider naught but a silly gimmick.

It's a fantastic listen - but more than that, it's an incredible experience. The latter half of Season 4 Episode 1 of SiIvaGunner was perhaps the most exciting period to ever follow the channel during, and Rooftop Bop's unprecedented ability to unite us all through a raw dosage of nostalgic memories couldn't have come at a better time.

[novelconcepts]

17 for taivan?

17 - Stealing or Sharing Clothes

Van starts stealing her clothes when they're fifteen, and she's sneaky as fuck about it. Taissa doesn't even realize her sweatshirt is gone until she knocks on Van's door one Saturday morning, intending to drag Van out shopping.

(Van kind of hates shopping; "I have clothes," she said blankly, the last time Tai pulled this. "How many does one person need?" It is therefore funny to inflict upon her the ravages of Claire's and Forever 21.)

Van opens her door, bleary, rubbing her eyes. She's wearing basketball shorts with a hole in the black mesh and Taissa's JV sweatshirt.

"Hey," she says, "that's mine."

Van twists at the waist, looking over her own shoulder at the name imprinted on navy cotton. "Wouldja look at that. How'd it fall into my laundry basket?"

Taissa takes it back from her that very day, even going so far as to buy Van a replacement hoodie. Not that she needs to replace it, since it's her fucking property, but whatever.

A few weeks go by before Van steals it again.

It becomes a thing. Taissa will go searching for a favorite t-shirt or sweater, certain it's been devoured by whichever laundry goblins are responsible for lost socks, and lo and behold: she finds it. In Van's room. Slung over Van's chair, or under Van's jacket at a party. Tucked into Van's locker, hanging between Van's backpack and Van's upsetting stash of ancient book reports.

"We don't even have the same style!" she groans. "Stop stealing my shit!"

"Our shit," says Van sagely, pulling yet another sweater down over her head. She's already wearing a sweater. It's September. This is so gloriously stupid, all Taissa can do is laugh.

When they crash, Van's thefts grow less intentional. They all do this now, dressing with blind eyes, paying little attention to the original owner of any given article of clothing. Clothes with overt wear-and-tear are recycled into blankets or bandages. Whatever's left is fair game, tossed into a communal stash.

Van wears Taissa's jacket often, pulling it tight around her diminishing frame. Taissa, in turn, wears Van's zip-ups, her rugby stripes. There's a modicum of control in swapping closets, though it pains Taissa to think they're now the same size, that they've shrunk down to a single-stitch format of a person. She tries not to focus on the facts. Tries to think instead of the dizzy warmth that comes from wearing Van's clothes, as if Van is--always--wrapping her close.

Eventually, she forgets. What was hers. What was Van's. Some things might even have begun life in Travis' suitcase, or Natalie's, adopted by the two of them instead. Even when they go home, some of those items remain. She touches a flannel shirt, hanging off Van's otherwise naked shoulders as she flips pancakes one morning, and thinks maybe it was Shauna's, once.

The line is razor-thin. What is hers. What is Van's. She has trouble telling the difference. They share the same shoe size. The same jacket size. They dress for warmth and the steady assurance that they will be safe, should another tragedy strike. For a long time, fashion is such a non-issue, Taissa can't imagine ever having cared about the mall, about Forever 21, about laughing when Van insisted she already owned plenty of shirts.

Time ticks by, and Van's in her closet more and more. Van's henley hanging off her own torso. Her jeans clinging to Van's hips. Is there any difference? Aren't they one soul sharing two bodies?

The first time Taissa comes home with a new dress, Van whistles. Grins. Still, there's a shadow in her eyes. That's not for me, she seems to be thinking. That's not for sharing. And, maybe: You did this on purpose.

It's the first step down a freshly-lain road. Taissa begins buying what she likes. What feels professional. What feels interesting. Van continues pulling from her side of the closet, but only the old stuff. The vintage t-shirts, the weathered hoodies. She leaves the new items be.

Maybe that's why Taissa buys a soft gray sweater one day. Not fancy. Straight-cut, simple, a loose collar. She buys it for herself, but when she looks into the mirror, it's Van she can picture curled within the warm fabric.

Van, who--indeed--is sitting on the couch in that very sweater not three days later.

"Stealing my shit," says Tai fondly. As if they're totally normal these days. As if they haven't been arguing more. As if Van hasn't been sleeping on the couch. As if the sex hasn't been near-violent, and the silences, afterward, excruciating.

"Our shit," Van replies, craning her head back. Long red hair forms a waterfall over the back of the couch. Taissa bows to kiss her, fingers clenching around the collar of her sweater. She runs her fingers over the soft knit, uses the weave to pull Van close. It's a good sweater. Looks better on Van than it did on her.

She will miss it when Van is gone.