#that i thought it would be nice to just put some screencaps up

[mmkin]

The Siren's Shark (The Edification of Fishmen)

New chapter of the Siren's Shark is now up and the chapter title is pretty self-explanatory. Link here to a03, also under the lovely screencap of Arlong and his bois because I don't have a drawing this time. Enjoy! Felt this screencap was appropriate given the setting of this chapter.

Content warnings - some smex. Violence (as well as past mentions of it) some threatening behavior, someone gets bitten.

(The Siren's Shark - After losing Arlong Park to that damn rubber kid, Arlong is forced to confront his inner demons and the consequences of the choices he made throughout his life, which is not easy for a prideful and arrogant sharkman. However, a chance encounter offers Arlong and his fishmen a chance at happiness even if it's hard-fought.

And for a fishman hybrid who's spent her life hiding who and what she was, life with a crew of pirates proves itself to be one hell of a ride.

This story centers on Arlong, but other fishmen get love, too, this story is not just for us Arlong simps but fishman lovers as well :)

Content/trigger warnings... sexual situations -mostly consensual, a couple of references to noncon- violence, abuse -physical and mental- slavery, racism, alcoholicism and drug use)

XV

o0o0o0o

The legless man spoke with several of his friends as he drank a swig of ale at the tavern that had once served exclusively the masters of the island and their guests. The life of a slave really was a miserable lot here on Marzu and few laws governed the welfare of a slave, so those unfortunate enough to find themselves enslaved only had as much privilege – or comfort – as their masters were willing to allow them.

Many other former slaves came here, enjoying the quality beer and the ambiance of the comfortably appointed tavern. There were very few former slaves who could complain about their reversal in fortune, and many of his brethren were giddy over having their collars removed. Not that he could blame them, of course.

It would have been nice if Arlong had come here years earlier when he still had his legs, but better late than never, the man supposed.

Things seemed to have shaken themselves out nicely. The fishmen left the humans alone for the most part, and there was no denying the schadenfreude in seeing the former masters ground under the heel of Arlong and his pirates.

Bayan wasn’t going to hold his breath, though. He’d been here for years, but he was not a native. His unit probably thought he was dead, and if not for the twisted “mercy” of the former Mayor, he probably would be. He let out a quiet sigh as he listened to the chatter, listening carefully for anything interesting.

“…fishmen are having a party next week. So Shioyaki ordered extra…”

“What’s this I hear about a party?” Bayan asked.

“The fishmen are throwing a party for their captain. So they put in for extra provisions and fine foods. And word is that one of Arlong’s men – Toma, I think – is cooking up some special entertainment.”

“I don’t suppose we’re invited?” Bayan asked dryly. The fishmen kept to themselves mostly, Bayan noticed, when business wasn’t involved.

His friend shrugged. “I don’t know. But they’ll be gone soon enough, won’t they? And then we’ll have the island to ourselves.”

Bayan frowned thoughtfully, running one hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. It was not very often – the last time was several years ago – that a Celestial Dragon came here. Much of the island’s surplus produce was sent to Marijoa. The former slaves had the most knowledge of the practical workings of the island, and production went on with few hiccups. Arlong had the island on lockdown, fishmen patrolling the waters.

The fishman could very well decide to stay here permanently, and who would stop him? If he left the humans alone, there was no reason the current system couldn't continue for a good while – It was an improvement over the old leadership if nothing else.

If the fishmen left, the humans would be able to continue operations for the most part, but inevitably a Celestial Dragon would come here, or a representative, and when they noticed the absence of the old masters…

There were plenty enough islands scattered along the Grand Line and the Blues. But there were not many islands that had a pleasant clime year-round, with mild winters and especially fertile soil. It didn’t take long for some Celestial Dragon, hundreds of years ago, to claim the island, understanding its potential and taking advantage of it. It was quite far from Marijoa, but that didn’t stop the corruption from spreading to this far-flung place, setting in place masters and slaves, and free people who could become enslaved if they were not careful enough.

Slavery was supposed to be illegal, but he and others knew that slavery was still practiced in various parts of the world, sometimes openly, other times more covertly. He'd been investigating rumors when he'd been betrayed and kidnapped and brought here. An attempt to escape cost him his legs.

Well, having freedom was better than nothing, he supposed. So he offered his cooperation and knowledge to the fishman. Well, most of his knowledge, anyway…

o0o0o0o

Arlong strolled along the island path, bypassing the tavern and market, seeing the bustle of humans as they traded produce from various parts of the island. The legless man was sitting on a barrel under an awning, almost looking like he was napping, but Aelong sensed that he was fully awake and alert. There was something about Bayan that reminded Arlong of Genzo. Perhaps it was the calm self-assurance he maintained even in the face of a fishman that could easily stomp him to a pulp.

There were only a few clouds in the sky, and Arlong took a deep breath of satisfaction as he inhaled the sea breeze. It’d been so long since he truly had his own ship. The Marine ship, the Sorrowfree Wanderer, and the White Mermaid were all stolen. But as luck would have it, a new ship was halfway constructed in the shipyard on Marzu. He’d set Kaneshiro to modifying it and creating a new craft for the Arlong Pirates. One that was truly their own – even if many parts of the White Mermaid were being cannibalized for this ship. And he got to rub it into Aiuchi’s face that the slaver’s beloved ship was being torn apart.

The goldfish fishman barked out orders to several other fishmen as beams were laid into place. Superior fishman strength ensured that this monumental task was carried out more quickly and efficiently. It would be a fine vessel, and he would not be so quick to abandon this one as he had done the Shark Superb. Placing his hands on his hips, he leaned back, basking in the sun for several moments. Sometimes at Arlong Park, he would walk around the island, getting some fresh air and stretching his legs. It'd been many months since he did that, and he'd almost forgotten how good it could feel to enjoy a leisurely stroll on land.

He looked at the fishmen moving around under Kaneshiro's command, paying particular attention to a striped gray-purple eel fishman. Jaxon and his mother had been captured and enslaved when Jaxon was a preteen. He'd shown an aptitude for mechanics, so he was trained to maintain and repair the various machinery that was used around the island, whether it be ovens, engines, heaters, or even weaponry. It wasn't quite shipbuilding, but Jaxon had proven himself useful, following Kaneshiro's orders to the best of his abilities. Like that old fishwoman cook, Jaxon had been surgically hobbled, now walking with a limp.

It shouldn’t surprise him to see what masters were willing to do to their slaves when some of them killed their slaves on a whim, but it infuriated him nonetheless. He’d never treated the people of the Conomi Islands that way, but he was the villain? How fucking dare these filthy humans and the World Government. Bah.

The fishman captain stood there with his hands in his pockets, staring out at the bustle of activity for a while, lost in thought. His fortieth birthday was approaching. When he was younger, he’d imagined that he’d have achieved glory on that fateful day. The Arlong Empire…

Now he had an island that he would have to leave eventually. Much as he was enjoying the perks of Marzu, its connection to Marijoa would only bring trouble, and he'd had enough of it. Which was a shame, because this island really was lovely. There was no monthly tribute, but the fishmen were still provided with food and some labor, and the crew had their booty from the plunder of Marzu. But it was still hard to live in peace with the humans of the island and be on friendly terms with them. Many still gave him a wide berth, but they didn't cower before him like the people of the Conomi islands did, and he missed that.

Seemed like every good thing that had dropped in his lap since the loss of Arlong Park had some strings attached to it. Bah. He needed a distraction. Sometimes he was irritated by this newfound wisdom, why couldn’t it have come to him earlier? Then he’d still have the Conomi Islands and Arlong Park. What was it they said about hindsight? But it’d be better to not have made these mistakes in the first place!

He huffed softly as he walked past the shipyard to the cove the fishmen had claimed as their own. The villas were nice, but they were high up on the summit of the island, and the fishmen liked being close to the water. Some lawn furniture had been set up here including a couple of tents and a grill. Fishmen who were not on duty or patrol could come here and relax by the water or play in it. One could see the shipyard from here, and Arlong sometimes enjoyed sitting on one of the chairs, watching the construction of the new ship.

It was a warm day, so most of the fishmen were shirtless and the fishwomen were in swimsuits. He stood there for a few moments, content to listen to the waves crash on the sand as his brothers and sisters enjoyed their time and their freedom. There was laughter wafting through the air, and a hint of smoke and spices rode on the sea breeze. He was offered a beer by one of his brothers and took it, taking a long swig from it. Damn, he really needed to unwind. Running Marzu Island did not come without its hiccups. Idly, he thought about the simplicity that came with living on a ship, sailing the high seas.

He was pulled out of his ruminations as he saw Yolande stroll along the shore, wearing her cargo shorts and one of her old shirts. Why did she keep wearing that old stuff when he'd given her all these pretty things to wear? And he'd laid out something for her this morning. Oh, wait. Perhaps she was wearing it under these clothes, hmm? He could not help but imagine her in the black two-piece swimsuit he’d chosen for her with such care.

Yolande chatted with Yurie and Shioyaki for a few minutes before she noticed Arlong. He beckoned her over, and she obeyed.

“Is there something for me under that?” he asked, lightly tugging at the collar of her shirt, his tone flirtatious. She quickly looked down for a moment before raising her head again, although this time she did not look him in the eye. She shook her head.

“Why not?” he asked impatiently. He had been certain it was a good fit.

“I didn’t want to,” came her soft reply.

“Pardon?” he asked, his softly-uttered words taking on an edge. Her gaze met his.

“I didn’t want to wear it, that’s all.” Though she maintained her composure, Arlong could detect a faint trace of fear. He tutted a couple of times as he looked down at her.

“I chose that for you to wear.” His voice was deceptively low, no one but Yolande could hear it, but it was heavy nonetheless.

“I’m not your doll,” came her quiet but defiant reply as she took a step back. His grip on her collar tightened, and he saw her eyes widen in alarm.

“No, you are my siren. And I am your captain,” he replied with a low growl, feeling her try to pull away from him. She put her hands on his, trying to pry his fingers loose, but of course, it was a futile attempt. He smirked at her coldly before he heard the tearing of fabric, his grip having tightened so much that the old material couldn’t hold up under his fishman strength.

Then everything went dark for a moment. He yelped in shock and let her go, clawing at his face and wiping his eyes before he flailed around to grab her, his fingers grazing her arm before he managed to grab hold. Oh, the little squid had fucking inked him. He’d show her who was in charge.

A roar of surprise and pain burst from his throat as something bit the back of his leg. He looked down, seeing Rekiin through the ink that was running across his eyes. In his moment of surprise, his grip on Yolande loosened, and she grabbed Rekiin and darted off down the beach. Frustrated snarls burst from his chest as several fishmen closed in on him, holding him back much like they had after Usopp attacked him in Cocoyasi Village.

o0o0o0o

What the hell what the fuck what what what the fucking fuck just happened oh fuck, Yolande thought frantically to herself as she ran into the water, diving down when she was deep enough. She did not dare look back as she and Rekiin moved deeper into the sea.

Yolande wasn’t sure if Arlong was just riding high on his recent victory, but he’d been plenty bossy lately, both in and out of bed. She’d tried to be lenient, leaving him be and letting him enjoy the spoils with his nakama, but there were inevitably times he wanted her at his side. Now he was choosing clothes for her to wear, and although the matter itself seemed trivial enough, this was where she chose to draw a line. The swimsuit Arlong had laid out for her that morning remained where it was as she outfitted herself in something considerably more modest.

Now she was wondering if she made a mistake, her heart pounding as she sliced through the water with Rekiin, following the descent of the ocean floor, feeling the tight embrace of Rekiin’s arms around her shoulders, his little fingers clutching the material of her shirt. Finally, she ventured to look back and was surprised and relieved to see nobody. She looked forward again, seeing the mines, casting murky shadows on the sea floor as they swayed in the currents, tethered by their chains.

With a slow sigh, she sunk to the ground, sand billowing out a bit as she leaned against a rock, looking up to see the sunlight filtering through the water. Fuck. She had defied the captain in front of his crew. There was no way there wouldn’t be repercussions for that. Fuck.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Rekiin signed frantically. Oh, she didn’t doubt that, given the terrified expression on his little face. She kept her arm around him, trying to reassure him as she wiped the last traces of blood from his face.

“Why did you bite him?” she asked gently.

“He was hurting you.” He pointed to the tear in the collar and sleeve that left her right shoulder bare. She looked down, assessing the damage. She remembered Arlong glaring at her angrily and then grabbing her. She couldn’t help but flinch at the memory.

She was grateful they were already in the sea, so he couldn't see the tears coming from her eyes. Was that what Arlong was intending to do before he was bitten by his siren's would-be defender? She stared down at the jagged edges of fabric waving slightly in the water.

“We stay here!” Rekiin signed firmly. She offered him a wavering smile before nodding slowly. No, they couldn’t do that indefinitely, but she was in no rush to get back. Suddenly, a voice called out her name. Her embrace around Rekiin tightened, but the kid offered no protest and curled against her chest and stomach. This was the closest Rekiin had ever gotten to her, she mused. Technically, he was her ward, but he spent more time around the crew than he did her, obviously feeling more comfortable in the company of his fellow fishmen. Given what he’d been through, she didn’t begrudge him that and gave him his space, letting him approach her when he needed an interpreter or had a question. She certainly had never expected him to attack the captain in her defense, though.

She ran her hand along his hair, feeling him tremble. She wouldn’t let Arlong hurt him, she promised herself.

What about you, a voice in her head whispered, memories stirring unbidden. Ah, fuck. She stared out through the water, her mind feeling like scattershot as she tried to figure out what she would do next. She stilled as a shadow passed over her, and her gaze drifted upward to see Chew slicing through the water. He circled around after a few minutes and saw her on his way back, beelining toward her. He held his hand out to her. She shook her head, hugging Rekiin tighter.

“He’s calmed down,” Chew said. She glanced at him skeptically.

“He won’t be calm for too long if he’s kept waiting,” the fishman added. She grumbled to herself before pushing herself off the sand and following Chew.

The air felt harsh as her lungs drained of water, and Rekiin kept his grip around her shoulders as she climbed onto the sand. Arlong stood there with squared shoulders, the breeze ruffling through his hair and shirt. He'd just been cleaning the ink off his face with a towel but a stain of it remained, making his lavender skin a shade darker, and his collar was also ink-splattered. He was tracking her movements, his gaze fixed on her unwaveringly as she approached. She felt her heart pound in her chest, and the sunlight on her skin did nothing to dispel the chill she felt as the fishmen surrounding them stared at her and Arlong. Cliche as the phrase was, Yolande could understand right then and there just what it meant to have the air feel so thick it could be cut with a knife.

"Chew, take him away," Arlong said, gesturing to Rekiin. "And the rest of you…" He waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal. Fishmen started to leave, a few of them looking over their shoulders. Chew glanced at her before reaching for Rekiin, who snarled at him and snapped his teeth.

“Don’t hurt him,” Yolande said to Arlong in as firm a voice as she could muster.

"He'll be fine," Arlong said gruffly. She sighed and gave Rekiin a brief nod before the boy allowed himself to be taken away. She felt her pulse pounding in her ears and tried to fight off the light-headedness that threatened to bring her to her knees. She barely registered the sound of waves crashing against the sand or the rustle of the breeze through the trees.

“… Do you need me to look at your leg?” she asked, seeing the drops of blood on the sand before her gaze moved upward. She stared at the sun on Arlong's chest, partially obscured by his shirt.

Looking at that scar helped her to focus on something other than the glare she knew Arlong was giving her.

“Why were you unable to follow a simple order?” he asked in a deceptively calm voice. Her gaze inched upward, taking in his nose and teeth. She flexed her fingers.

“Why does it matter to you what I wear?” she asked back. The corner of his mouth twitched impatiently.

“I wanted the pleasure of seeing you in a swimsuit,” came his reply as he took a step toward her. She took a step back.

“You’ve seen me naked. Surely that sates your appetite,” she responded dryly, keeping her focus on his mouth and nose, reminding herself that she was dealing with a predator.

"You're part of a fishman crew now. Don't be so shy… follow the example of our sisters who welcome the admiration of their brothers. Why shouldn't I want to see my sweet siren sunning herself on the sand, where I can admire her curves, hmm? Like a mermaid whose tail just split? Or when we’re swimming together, I’d like to see more of my little squid as she moves so gracefully through the water..." he asked in a velvety whisper. She rolled her eyes.

“So you’re jealous of your friends for having girlfriends who are willing to go around like that? That’s what this is about?” she asked with a scoff. Why the fuck didn’t Arlong realize how silly he was being? “You want me to look like a… uh… pin-up girl? Eye candy, all that?”

“Yes,” came his firm response.

“To think I thought you respected me for my mind and skills!” Yolande said with a scoff, feeling a bit bolder now.

“I do. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have a nice ass,” Arlong responded, closing in on her and grabbing hold of her arm – more gently this time – and pulling her to himself. “And after that sexy dance you did for me a few nights ago…”

“I was drunk!” she shot back.

“If that’s what helps you loosen your inhibitions, there’s plenty of booze in that icebox…”

“You’re such a bastard Let me go!”

He started laughing softly, and she looked up into his eyes, getting lost in these cool depths. “How about this… I’ll stop asking about swimsuits if you tell me where the scar on your back came from.”

She stilled, staring at him with indignation. Her hands balled into white-knuckled fists as she tried to not get lost in the memories. She took a steadying breath as she felt his hand squeeze her arm.

“I refused to use my chemistry skills for a warlord… and he burned my husband to death in front of me before doing this to me. I should have died, and sometimes I wonder why I didn’t.”

“Burned, but I thought Yoshi…” Arlong’s eyes narrowed in comprehension. “You had another husband before him. You have been through plenty, haven’t you,” he murmured thoughtfully. She tried to tug free, but his grip remained firm.

“Yes. A psychopath did that to me because I refused to be a good girl for him. He wasn’t the first one to tell me to be a good girl, but it would be a long time before anyone ever called me that again,” she said, squaring her shoulders as she glared at Arlong.

“Who was he,” Arlong asked. “So I can kick his ass.”

Sharks are predators, but then, so are squid. A smack smirk twitched at the corners of Yolande’s mouth. “I took my vengeance, but thanks for the offer,” she said dryly.

His eyes widened before he broke out into laughter. "Shahahahahahahaha! What the hell, Yolande? All this time I thought that your scar was something you were ashamed of. But honestly, that's pretty badass of you. Why on earth or sea would you hide that? At least from me?"

"Look who's talking," she snapped back as she glared at him. "You barely want to talk about Arlong Park, despite how awesome it was supposed to be! You kidnapped me from my home and dragged me onto your ship! Yeah yeah, there's no denying our bond, but I'm entitled to my privacy!"

He growled at her softly before his free hand trailed along the edges of the tear of her shirt, ghosting over her gills and his claiming mark.

“You would have taken me away even if Yoshi were still alive.”

"Of course," Arlong replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She scoffed quietly at that. "You were too badass for that old man. A pirate captain suits my spicy siren much more, hmm?"

"I didn't feel badass when I was writhing in pain from my burn, certain I was going to die and even welcoming it because I was in so much pain. Being a badass was the last thing I felt like when I saw my husband murdered in front of me. And I didn't care if I looked like a badass or not when I immolated that son of a bitch who hurt and killed so many people." She set her jaw as she stared up at him.

-Surprise, nervousness, admiration-

Oh good, she’d managed to surprise him and make him nervous. Maybe he’d treat her with more respect. As for the admiration… well, that was one of the better possible responses to her scar and its story.

“You survived an ordeal and got marked up for it.” he stared at her ponderingly. “It doesn’t make you any less attractive. And if anyone mocks you for it, I’ll tear them apart.”

“Thank you.” She looked away, waiting for him to relinquish his grip on her arm. “You letting go anytime soon?” she asked dryly.

“Are you so eager to get away from me?” he asked with a wide grin.

“I just want to sit down,” she breathed. He maintained his grip on her but led her to one of the wicker chairs. She flopped down in it, gripping the armrests.

“For someone so badass, you get pretty damn anxious,” he observed coolly. She glared at him, trying to still the shaking of her hands. Fucking bastard. Part of her wished she hadn’t told him about her scar. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, wishing the sharkman would just fuck right off and let her listen to the melody of the waves. He stood in front of her, staring down at her. Good lord, this was one of his most intimidating angles. His sharp eyes gleamed under the brim of his hat as he studied her, his nose pointed right at her face.

“I don’t like talking about it,” came her terse reply as she looked past his legs, seeing the waves throw themselves at the sand.

“Mmh. I can see that.” He reached down to lift her face to him. “I know pain. I understand vengeance. It seems we’re better suited for one another than we might have thought, hmm?”

o0o0o0o

Arlong regarded her, commanding her attention as he studied the emotions straining her features. Bloody hell, he wanted to know more details of the story Yolande had condensed for him. But he could also feel her tension, and hear the tiredness in her voice. She was stiff under his touch. He tutted at her before letting go.

“Have a drink,” he coaxed, gesturing to the icebox.

“I’ve been drinking too much lately,” she muttered.

“You earned it. After all you’ve been through, you deserve a good time.” he took a couple of steps, pulling a bottle of sake out and offering it to her. “Come, come, this is meant to be a happy place.”

Her eyebrows furrowed and she took a short, sharp breath before collecting herself. “Happy place… right. Let’s not spoil the fun. Call the crew back, throw some fresh meat on the grill, and so on,” she said with a sigh. She took the bottle but did not open it, slumped against the chair, and fiddled with the large tear in her shirt. She should just throw away that shirt instead of giving it to Take to fix, Arlong mused. He should throw her old clothes out altogether so she’d have nothing but the things he chose for her, he mused idly. Rather tempting thought…

“Can you open the bottle, please? My hands are shaking…” he heard her say. He looked down and took the bottle from her hands.

“Of course, sweet one,” he said in a gentle rumble as he twisted the cap for her.

“Arlong?” he heard Chew call out. He looked up to see Chew peering down at him, the thick grass around him swaying in the breeze as he stood there at the crest of the dune.

"The matter has been resolved, come back down. Oh, and Yolande needs a new shirt," Arlong said calmly as if he hadn't needed his men to hold him back earlier. He looked down at his leg, the bite mark was relatively small, but damn, the kid was fierce. Rekiin could make a fine pirate one day.

o0o0o0o

Hatchan walked by Yolande’s side as she swung her arm, twirling the bottle of sake she had in her hand. He’d been on patrol when it happened, though no one knew what the fight was about – but something was said, and Arlong ended up with a faceful of ink and a bite on his leg. No one wanted to see Arlong tear apart a little kid, so he’d been held back and given time to calm down.

Now the boss was acting like nothing had happened. Which… was pretty normal for Arlong. Hold a grudge or sweep it under the rug, depending on his mood or who he was dealing with.

“… Did he hurt you?” the octopus man finally ventured.

“No.”

Hatchan let out a sigh of relief.

“Doesn’t mean he’s not a real jerk though.”

“Hmm,” came the assenting hum.

“So I figure I’ve been patient enough… tell me about Arlong Park and what happened.”

The octopus man froze as he looked down at her. He’d been able to put her off a couple of times, using their life on the ship as a reason to be extra cautious, who knew who could be listening. But here they were on the beach, a distance away from Arlong’s gathering. He swallowed thickly as he looked down at her, and she crossed her arms, raising her eyebrow.

"Damn," he muttered. "Here we go…" She gave him a few moments to organize his thoughts before he started. The waves lapped around their feet as they strolled down the beach, a trusted nakama of Arlong the Saw and his good friend, the siren of said saw. He kept his voice barely above a whisper as he told her of Arlong's bitterness after being released from Impel Down, and how those who had joined him were either from the Fishman Island days or had tired of the fighting that came with being part of the Sun Pirates. So they'd headed to the East Blue, looking for easy pickings, and come across the Conomi Islands, a sunny, tropical paradise with mild weather year-round and humans that had no knowledge of Haki, and barely any of Devil Fruits, where the Marines were easily bribed.

He spoke of Nami, and how Arlong’s betrayal of the girl had snowballed into the loss of his beloved park. Their arrest by the Marines, and how Arlong had managed to turn the tables on his captors, freeing his nakama.

Yolande stood there as he finished his tale, taking a long swig from her bottle. “Bloody hell… I was expecting worse,” she said musingly as she looked at him, sounding almost relieved. “What does it say of me that I hear that story, and I think to myself that I’ve dealt with worse men than Arlong?” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Yeah, believe it or not,” she added dryly as she saw his inquisitive gaze.

"Nyu," Hachi said softly. "I'm not proud of what we did. I worked on making it up to the Straw Hats when we came across one another. After they got scattered, I went out to see if I could find and help at least one of them. But I came across Arlong making his way down the South Blue. I thought about leaving again but… we grew up together and I said to myself that if I could become friends with the Straw Hats, then perhaps Arlong… might hate humans less." At least Arlong behaved better around the humans here than he did on the Conomi Islands.

“That’s quite respectable, and admirable,” she acknowledged. “Although Arlong’s a lot more closed-minded than you are… I take it he doesn’t know about your reunion with the Straw Hats.”

Hatchan sighed. His long-time nakama still held himself apart from the humans on the island. Meanwhile, Hatchan was happy to go amongst them. Many of the humans were friendly toward him, so when he went on patrol it was generally a pleasing task. “He’s always been like that. And I do mean always,” Hatchan said with a rueful chuckle. “But he took care of his nakama, even when we were kids. And he took care of his sister, too. And even though we’re grown, he still takes care of us. Including you.”

She crossed her arms, staring out at the water. The sun hung low in the sky, making a pleasing mixture of light and shadow on the waves.

“You’re not going to tell Arlong I told you this,” Hatchan asked to confirm. She shook her head.

“How could I do that to my sweet octopus friend,” Yolande replied, tutting gently at him. She finished the rest of her sake. “But seriously, I appreciate it.”

o0o0o0o

Caten had found for her a deep fuchsia shirt with very short sleeves, and even after a few hours, it still felt a bit odd having her arms so bare. Years in a cold climate paired with modesty made for habits that were hard for Yolande to break. But aside from a few curious glances at the scar on her upper arm, no one said anything. Then she'd played a game of volleyball – and quickly learned that a ball spiked by a fishman was not necessarily something you wanted to get in the way of. But it'd been hella fun while Arlong watched from his chair, drinking and enjoying the game.

She offered no protest when the sharkman slung her over his shoulder. He growled and snapped at her playfully as he set her down on one of the mats in the cabana tent on the other side of the cove, the ocean breeze rustling through the draping. “It’s so lovely out here,” she whispered. The setting here was considerably simpler than the amenities the villa offered, but there was something to be said about the ocean breeze and the sound of waves. She was pretty damn buzzed, but she realized that the chatter had quietened considerably, becoming distant laughs as other fishmen switched shifts or went off for their own fun.

“Mmhm,” Arlong hummed as he tugged down her shorts before sliding on top of her, caging her in with his arms and legs as he looked down at her. In this position, it was impossible to not be aware of his strength. She reached out to run her hands along his shoulders and biceps, feeling the warmth between their bodies. He stared down at her as her hands moved to his neck and face. Lightly, her finger ran along his nose.

She could never forget that he was a predator. The events of earlier had proven that all too well. She could just think of him as her boss, but the situation was complicated by two inexorable facts… she was fucking her boss, and leaving the job was not an option. She was stuck with Arlong, for better or for worse. They hadn’t been together that long, but ooh boy, the ups and downs were intense.

Mine. All mine. If I need to lock you up or chain you… You may share my bed, but not my captaincy. You belong to me...

Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt his hand massage her hip, the one he’d bitten a few days ago. She shivered and sighed in pleasure, her insides tightening warmly as he caressed the entire curve, his large hand enveloping the bite he’d placed there. She bit back a soft moan as he squeezed her, fingers and palm kneading to soothe away any lingering soreness his teeth had caused.

She placed her hand on top of his, feeling the flex of muscle. In the semi-darkness, his eyes seemed to almost glow. She could practically taste his desire, dark and coppery with an irresistibly sweet but sharp tang to it. The cool metal of the gold chains he now wore around his neck draped against her chest, providing a surprisingly delightful contrast to the heat elsewhere.

"Mine," he whispered as he hooked a finger into the waistband of her panties. She studied his hungry gaze and predator's smile and offered no argument.

o0o0o0o

Arlong propped himself on an elbow, taking a swig of the rum that had been set out for him, relaxing as he listened to the waves. On occasion, he'd hear some chatter or laughter, but the tent had been given a good-sized berth by the fishmen who had no desire to see their captain pissed off again. Yolande lay next to him, eyes closed, loosely curled up with her back to him. He set his drink down and ran his fingers along her back, surveying smooth and scarred skin alike. Halfway up her upper left arm, extending across her back and ending several inches below her right ass cheek.

Yeah, that would be one hell of a recovery, he mused as he thought about his sun mark. Fuck, but that had hurt more than he expected, despite the resilience of his shark skin. It was one of the few times in his life he'd wanted to cry, although he'd managed to hold off on the tears until he was finally alone.

She started to get off the mat and gather her clothes. He tutted and grabbed her forearm, pulling her back to him before he wrapped an arm around her.

"Are you just going to fuck me and then run off?" he asked, chortling at his joke. "Besides, you look sexy under this lighting." There was a bonfire and lanterns outside, casting wavering light into the tent. Their bodies were cast into dancing shadows, and the visuals were not lost on him.

“Mmm… it certainly helps to set a mood,” she said, reaching up to touch the side of his face. The rum glistened darkly under the light as he picked up the bottle, taking another swig before offering it to her. She stared at it for several moments, seeing the liquid slosh through the glass. She gave him a brief nod, and he brought the mouth of the bottle to her lips, carefully tilting it up so she could take a swig. They stayed where they were for a bit, listening to their surroundings, taking comfort in the ambiance outside of the tent as they cuddled one another, passing the rum back and forth.

"When I was a kid, we were told that the gods did what they did for a reason. That suffering was supposed to be for our good. I always thought it was a pretty shitty thing for a god to do. Like, no one asks to become an orphan, you know? Or be abused by a parent, or any of the other shitty things that happen to people, but I was told it was all part of some mysterious plan. Which never made sense to me and I could never understand why people would buy what was clearly not a good explanation," she said as she rested her head on Arlong's arm.

Oh, are we getting into philosophy now, he wondered. Yes, there were gods and Sea Kings. There were festivals and rites, depending on which god you followed or how faithful you were. But the whole system seemed pretty bunk. Prayer had done him no good when his mother died. He'd learned to make his fate, gathering together his nakama for protection against various ills. And with the Sun Pirates, his crew had helped to fight against some of the world's ills.

Was there something out there? He didn’t doubt that, given the existence of Devil Fruits, Haki, and sirens. But so many of the stories of gods made them seem like such immature and fickle creatures.

He was willing enough to observe funeral rites out of respect for his brothers and sisters. Some of his crew sometimes prayed, but he did not concern himself with that. They were a crew of pirates, not priests. People could talk about spiritual or heavenly rewards, but Arlong was more concerned with survival, and lasting as long as he had in the life he had.

“Think you know better than the gods, hmm?” Arlong asked.

“Hell, yes. Don’t you?”

“Yes,” Arlong rumbled. “If I were a god, I’d do a much better job of running things,” he said confidently. She looked up at him for several moments before smirking.

“You’re already tough enough as it is,” she replied lightly, placing a kiss on his jaw. “If you were a god, the other gods would be afraid of you.”

He chortled at that. Idle talk, he knew this was. But it was nonetheless pleasing to have this sort of banter. "I scorn the gods. I make my fate," he declared. He looked down at her, running his fingers along her jaw. Whether or not the gods existed, he was the captain of his crew and protector of his nakama. She breathed slowly as he ran his hand along her neck, chest, and stomach, idly exploring her and soaking up the warmth of her body.

“You say you’re not a doll – but consider this pertinent point…” Arlong said, his voice like butter. He was a stubborn bastard, and would not give up on the matter of her clothing so easily. He could no longer command her to put on a swimsuit, but ever the wily shark he was, he did not hesitate to look for loopholes. “Recall the times you’ve enjoyed the sight of me clad in nothing but a pair of shorts. Or when I am wearing my captain’s coat. You like that, yes?” he asked.

“You know very well I do,” came the quiet scoff.

“I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the favor to be returned… at least on occasion. Hmm?” Arlong asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at her. She quickly looked away but even though it was relatively dark, he could see that she was blushing. Shahahahaha…

o0o0o0o

Kuroobi heard the pants and grunts, as well as the impact of fists on stone, as he walked by the line of fishmen that were pounding at the wall. The masters of this island built the wall to keep in their more powerful slaves, which made it an excellent tool to train his students on.

“You all know well the power of a fishman in water. But not all of our fights take place in the sea, and we must always be prepared for these times when we are called on to fight out of our element,” Kuroobi lectured as he watched the fishmen pound the admittedly well-constructed wall.

This wasn’t the Conomi Islands, where houses could be flipped over. He took a deep breath before focusing, driving his fist into the wall, feeling the sheer density of the stone as he felt the energy of the impact spread through his arm and the wall. He was gratified to see a large crack grow upwards.

[keep-on-trying]

Alright, my mobile data allowed me to watch WonderPre ep 12 from Crunchyroll without lagging, nice nice!

Couple thoughts on the ep. It seems my mobile data is bad with uploading images so, no images, despite me taking screencaps lol.

The way Satoru reacted to Iroha being happy to see him (because she knows Satoru knows about animals all alike so asking him about Yuki's odd disappearances is perfect!) was really, really cute, but also, the classmates clearly know Satoru has a crush on Iroha because they giggled with Satoru not understanding why lol.

Then, the way Mayu reacts to Iroha saying they're friends. Mayu clearly has some sort of background where either she's been unable to make friends with anyone before, or whenever she's made friends in the past they ended up backstabbing her or smth. I just know I kind of relate to her reaction here? She feels genuine happiness at Iroha being her friend. She even acknowledges her reaction to it is a bit odd and tries to act normal to Iroha.

Also, the episode really showcased cats well imo. They're elusive, able to do all kinds of tricks to get where they want (be it outside or hidden rooms or just out of a room lol), and well, can either be loving or very, well, "staring into your soul because not entirely happy". Yuki mostly seemed low-key pissed in today's ep lol.

Then the scene where Mayu rushed off after Iroha and Komugi because the girls really didn't realise they should have told Mayu to stay put and wait in peace because oh my god she got attacked by Garugaru and was shown to be in genuine horrified fear and my god the animators did an excellent job at that scene! Then Yuki- ahem, mystery Cure comes to save her and only utters same words as the blonde girl last ep did: You mustn't get involved. Yuki cares about Mayu so much fellas-.

Ahem. We also see that right now, Yuki is fighting Garugarus like a traditional Precure would. Physical fighting. It would seem she doesn't consider Garugaru to be corrupted beings, as well, no one has told her so. She thinks they need to be dealt with no matter what. It's only after Cure Friendy goes in front of the Garugaru that she stops attacking. Because Friendy knows it's a corrupted animal. That they don't deserve to be attacked for being corrupted, that deep down they're gentle animals deserving to be rescued. Nyammy's reaction to that says enough. She starts feeling conflicted about that, for sure. We'll see if she starts struggling next ep or whether she's not convinced about the change of battle style to chasing style yet. I guess she'd need to learn more from Friendy and Wonderful. Because those two have been told all the necessary info. While Nyammy is all alone, fighting Garugarus to make sure no harm can come Mayu's way. She's such a loving cat y'all-

So like, considering this ep pretty much aligns with my thoughts on the chasing scene decision and all, I'm quite curious of how things will develop. it is entirely possible the fighting scenes return later with a proper, perfectly reasonable way. Like the big bad wolf that's been teased couple times not being a corrupted being but actual, genuine bad fella who needs to be taught a lesson.

But yeh. For viewers it's clear who Nyammy is, but for the cast it's not yet. I am totally looking forward to seeing how Mayu's precure status comes to play, and how Nyammy ends up joining Wonderful and Friendy. Gosh this series has me hooked so well so far.

[tinkerleaf]

Because I just finished season 5 of Bungou Stray Dogs, I would like to provide my personal thoughts and opinions. This has been this months hyperfixation. I have not read the manga, but plan to.

Warning: spoilers ahead!

Okay, so to start off, I have been shaken to my core by the amount of emotional turmoil this put me in. Like the plot twists???? I couldn't even crochet while watching because I'd look up and see something else crazy happen. It didn't matter how much I could've been spoiled because it would have been twisted around anyway.

Like when I saw screencaps of Chuuya as a vampire?? I was so mad because I thought for sure he was gonna die. BUT HE WASN’T A VAMPIRE AT ALL. I couldn't believe it. I was absolutely flabbergasted. Who knew you could trip up one of the smartest men in the world with a pair of contacts and some Spirit Halloween teeth.

Tachihara being an undercover Port Mafia member?? Threw me across the room. The leader of The Hunting Dogs being the big villain? Killed me. Teruko being the one to unlitmately end Fukachi's life?? Are you kidding me?

Dazai was, of course, a mastermind as always. Had me pulling my hair out, but it's fine. Every time he gets in these sticky situations, I get so anxious. But I should know better since he's the way that he is. I thought for sure he was gonna die and then he says "you can't kill me" like?? It's almost like he's mocking me lol

Also?? We were blessed with some Dazai forehead???? I really tried to find a photo but I just couldn't it.

ALSO Dazai had so many facial expressions that I feel like he just? Never has? He always has that smug look on his face and seeing him expressive is really...nice.

Also, the whole thing with Aya and Bram was so sweet. Like she was literally the one who saved everybody from the vampires. And now, she can actually have a father figure instead of the icky one she had. This was such a cool little part of this arc. Probably one of my favorite parts.

Speaking of favorite parts, I loved the prison break. The intensity of this part was absolutely phenomenal. I was so sure that Chuuya drowned, but I knew Fyodor couldn't be killed that easily. And when the reverse happened with Dazai and Sigma, I figured they wouldn't die because that's too simple (at least for Dazai anyway). I really like the interactions between the two.

Chuuya shooting Dazai had me so concerned. I wasn't sure if that would actually kill him, but he legit shot him?? Idk it looked pretty convincing to me.

I'm so mad Fyodor killed Sigma. So mad. He was adorable. The most sane person in that whole building. Bless his heart. I was so convinced that he was gonna join the Armed Detective Agency if he had survived.

If I had to spend more than a few minutes with Dazai and Fyodor in the same room, I'd lose my mind. Don't even get me started on Nikolai. He was scary tbh.

OMG and Dazai handing him Fyodor's ARM??????

This whole season shoved me into a janky washing machine and rung me out to dry. I absolutely loved it.

[thehighfiveproject]

Round two: ready to go!

Here’s the card we’ll be using for this month’s edition of our bingo! Grab it up and get going. Remember, zero need to sign up, but if you want to share it with us so we can reblog and share the love, make sure you do so by next Wednesday, December 7.

Below the cut: a list of definitions for each of the squares in case you need help or ideas (don’t worry, those will be added to the FAQs post for easy reference), and a black & white version of the card, in case you want to get creative with it.

☆ How do I fill my card? How is each square defined?

Here’s the way we’re defining the activities associated with each card. If any of this is confusing after you read it over, send us a message and we’ll help!

- ‘leave kudos on a fic’

This is the easiest one! Just go out and find a fic you like and leave a kudos on it, if you haven’t already. It’s a small gesture but it makes an author know that someone actually read their story!

- ‘reblog/retweet an art post’

Find any art post you like and share it! Here’s the catch: you need to interact with it a little. When you reblog/retweet, please tell the creator what you thought about the piece – you can add some tags, or reply to the post, or quote-retweet or add a comment, or anything! A simple “I love this!” is nice but some details are even better (“your linework is so good!” or “that shade of blue is perfect”). One thing to think about: a lot of art on Tumblr is reposted (like when a user posts another artist’s work from Pixiv, say), so it’s nice if you make an effort to interact with posts that are actually from the creator if you can. That way the artist will see your comment!

- ‘reblog/retweet a fic post’

Same as the above, but for fic! Again, tags/replies/comments are needed, preferably with a little detail. You don’t need to be super eloquent or leave a detailed review (although if you have time/energy, that would be appreciated!); a tag as simple as “that was really cute” or “great characterization!” will do. Like with the art posts, it’s nice if you reblog directly from the writer (if you can) – some fics are posted by AO3 feed bots and the like, so the author may not even know a reblog has happened.

- ‘reblog/retweet an edit’

Same as the above, but for edits! Edits can include a gif set, or a set of screencaps, or even a fanvid. And, again, some simple tags/replies are needed. “I love that song choice!” for a vid or “great coloring!” on a gifset can let people know their work is being appreciated.

- ‘comment on a fic’

Find a fic, on any fic-hosting site you like, and leave a comment. That’s it! Again, no need to leave a novel-length comment (unless you’re inspired!) – a sentence or two is all we’re asking for this square to be considered complete. This is a great opportunity to let a writer know how their piece made you feel, or what section you particularly liked.

- ‘message a creator’

‘Creator’ here can mean anyone who makes *anything* to do with fandom: art, edits, fic, meta, knitted sweaters with character faces on them – if they’ve made anything, they’re a creator, and now’s your chance to let them know they’re appreciated. Send a message (anonymous or not!) letting them know that you enjoyed their work!

- ‘rec a curator’

You know that one blog that's just a joy to follow? They find and post all the stuff you love, whether that's art or fic or screencaps or really elaborate fan theories that just make you want to applaud. Maybe they write great tags that help you understand the fandom you're in a little better, or maybe they're in the know about what's happening in your fandom, or maybe they're just fun to see on your dashboard. This is your chance to rec a great fandom curator -- one of those people who put in the effort on tumblr to make your scroll a better place. Please make a little rec post, tag the blog and explain why they're a great follow, and show them that their work is appreciated, too!

- ‘promo a fan project’

Here's where you get to help boost the boosters. Fan projects are great: they encourage creators to get together and make more of the stuff that makes fandom fun to be in. Find any fan project you love -- this can be a brand new big bang, a kinkbingo that runs every year, an old art exchange that you loved and wish could happen again -- and then help people see it! Reblog their announcement post, their fic/art masterlist, make a little rec post for it and link to their blog/AO3 collection/Livejournal -- anything that lets people know that the project exists. Maybe you'll get more people to join in, or more people to admire the work, or maybe if it's an old or abandoned event you'll get people excited about running it again! Can't hurt to try.

And here’s the non-decorated version of the card, in case you feel like making it your own. Go hog wild! (Seriously, put hogs on it if you want.)

[void-spells]

Survivor! Finale!!!

Still grieving Cere...but I found her lightsaber! Finally I can return to my favorite lightsaber layout with Tapal’s and Cere's emitters!

Okay time to go kick Bode's ass.

Ah, sneaky infiltration time!! I'm sure no one noticed the big non-Empire ship just parked out here.

MAN it sucks that it didn't let me change Cal's hair up when he had the ISB uniform on. This is NOT a military-appropriate haircut!!

Weird place for an apartment at the end of a wide hallway?

Oh....a baby....hello!!!

Mookie...

OH SHIT!

Love Cal. Fully called this man a monster to his face in front of his daughter. He would give loud annoying gifts to kids who's parents annoy him.

Also??? Bode???? Why are you suddenly so stupid????? It's a whole PLANET dude! With like one and a half ways to get to it! And you want to JUST have you and Kata there??? How safe is Kata gonna be if you get hurt and there's no one else on the ENTIRE PLANET?????

Fine! Run bitch!

Wait huh.

Embrace

Embrace Cal’s WHAT??????

OH

OKAY

That was uhhhhh. I'm just gonna try and avoid that as much as possible.

SHIT I accidentally went Dark Mode

I DID IT AGAIN WHY WOULD THEY JUST REPLACE SLOW

Love Cal and Merrin talking it out to the sound of crunching bones

This is fine! It's all good!

Hop back to Koboh and it's FINE

HA I KNEW THIS PLACE WAS SUSPICIOUSLY ARENA-SHAPED!

Nasty Cal UNLOCKED

Huh. This is an elevator. Okay then.

Zee....still annoyed by her.

...and then I put Cal in a green outfit, stopped playing for the night, and didn't touch the game for several weeks

Realized the green outfit was NOT as cute as I thought it was. This red lighting in the menu is fucking with me

To Tanalorr!!!

Sidenote: Love when BD goes backpack mode with the bomber jacket bc the metal on the back looks like lil handles for his tiny feet

"GREEZY DOES IT BABY" I want that on a mug

Oh man Tanalorr is pretty....the water is reminding me a bit too much of the Pool Rooms tho

This game can't condition me to destroy every plant that sparkled and then do this.

Like why would they do that. Do you know how many times I shmacked a plant for nothing

BODE STOP BEING STUPID!! EVEN TOUR DAUGHTER THINKS YOU'RE BEING STUPID!!

Oh this fight is. Woof.

Ohhhhhhkay turns out if we don't get Nasty then Cal just has his skull bashed in to death. Got it. Embrace the Nastiness or die

Got myself a Drink after attempt number 3. Surely alcohol will help me play video game good.

Attempt 4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Nine attempts later and Bode really just made Cal kill him in front of his kid like that. Fully attempted to strangle two people to death in front of his very young child, was given ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO SURRENDER, then proceeded to not do that. I'm sure Kata is feeling so safe as a result of your decisions, Bode. Rip you and your bara tiddies tho ig.

The entire scene of Cal standing at Cere's funeral pyre...non-stop tears. What the fuck man.

And now I'm sure they definitely won't make Cal "23-years-old,-should-be-at-the-club" Kestis raise a kid. Because that would be dumb. Right? Right? Not gonna make the kid who is still very seriously struggling with his own trauma suddenly be responsible for another kid, right?

So super cool how Greez gets another kid and Kata is like Cal's non-force-sensitive baby sister, right? Greez is gonna teach Kata how to cook, she's gonna be great at it. One big happy family.

Right?

Welp, guess I'm gonna run around some more! I'm gonna take SO many nice screencaps! And probably replay jfo. And cry.

[mrcrowblargs]

The final battle... to confront the Netherbrain. Even though I had gotten more used to switching up the party during Act 3, I wanted to have my favourites along, though I ended up choosing Lae'zel over Karlach because one Lae'zel quest thing remained.

So it was Aldiirn, Astarion, Gale, and Lae'zel, all in for a big headache. End spoilers below!

big brain! big scary brain! Throwing the Netherstones was scream inducing. They gave a variety of options for each throw but it was always my weak stats grouped together lmao. Aldiirn passed the first INT check, then fucking whiffed the second CHA check because I just assumed I would pass and hit continue... but then I kinda got the sense passing or failing would not make much difference here and... yup.

Empy scoops us up into the Astral Prism and it's Orpheus time, babey. Freeing Orpheus was no question but I did question, "what if I became the mindflayer" which prompted Astarion to be like, "could we have an aside, privately? You're not really going to throw away that pretty face of yours?????" very cute.

Aldiirn knew Emperor was vehemently against freeing Orpheus, but hoped he could convince Emperor to see reason. Like they all got the same goals, they can all combine their power, we can talk Orpheus into cooling don his blood feud for the sake of a bigger bad. Aldiirn's a fucking bard with +15 Persuasion if anyone could do it, it would be him, but--- NO!!! EMPEROR HAD TO BE A GODDAMN BITCH AND SWITCHED SIDES LIKE. IMMEDIATELY. NO DISCUSSION. BRUH.

Also one thing I feel there was a missed opportunity on was confronting Emperor over, hey buddy weren't you the mindflayer that put tadpoles in our heads??? It's definitely Emperor in the opening scene. I really wanted to hear from it about what happened on the nautiloid but all we got were like, some records in Gortash's palace and it's ambiguous if Emperor was of itself at the time. alas.

Gave Lae'zel the honours to free Orpheus aaaand here's the mindflayer conversation all over again. And like, shit, after everything that was done to free the guy and drive the githyanki revolution, becoming the mindflayer felt most in character for Aldiirn. I'm pretty sure I sat over the decision for a solid ten minutes like WONT SOMEONE PERSUADE ME OUT OF THIS lmao. But Astarion kinda had with the aside before. I might make a comic to flesh out the moment like... I think it would be a good one of the party backing Aldiirn up to choose his own freedom after pushing for everyone else's.

Orpheus became the mindflayer, tragic but necessary. I felt so bad for Lae'zel. Uuggh the emotion in her face here.

and then the goofiest smile ever in High Hall haha. Everyone from Gather Your Allies being mushed in there felt a little contrived but, what the hell, SUMMON YOUR SOCIAL LINKS!!! I love a good friendship moment.

Hooboy the battles here really gave the D&D experience: waiting 40 minutes for your turn in initiative to show up. IDK why but at first I thought it would be a brilliant idea to surround the enemy but soon realised it turned the battle into an immediate slog. Reload, and instead fought starting from the wall on the west side. Got this nice little screencap of my mans fighting side by side even though neither should be anywhere near melee haha.

I have to say, I think I would have preferred that all the companions be allowed into the battle over the ally summons for the final battle. At least the origin ones. I want to replay it at some point with the party limit begone mod.

The tower was the hardest part, getting up past that stupid statue that COULDNT BE BROKEN DOWN... Aldiirn and Lae'zel could fly but Astarion and Gale couldn't even see where to teleport. It's SO annoying that Dimension Door has to be a point you can see now, its whole thing in 5e was that you didn't need to.

Whenever Gale brings up exploding himself I wanna do that Archer slap fest bit to him. Buddy, no, we are ALL getting out of this alive!

Up we go to the brain of the bad bitch herself and THE BIGGEST TRAITOR BITCH!!!!!! okay but bringing out the dream visitors to fight was cool. Seems Aldiirn's got reverted to the default drow dude (he should have had similar green skiin and short white hair) and I'm guessing the others are just kinda like, stock random ones. Looks like they are all human female. Would have been nice to see ones tailored for each companion you bring. Then they can all chide each other later like "so THAT'S what you find attractive?" hehe

Remember I stole that runepowder bomb from Wulbren? Yeah, I brought it with me as a parting gift for Emperor. Threw the bomb at its feet and then KA-BOOM!!!!! Wiped out Empy, all the Guardians, and fucked up everything else INCLUDING ALDIIRN. I have no idea WHAT happened -- maybe Emperor's shield of thralls??? -- because I'm certain he was behind Lae'zel when she threw & exploded the bomb and she was kind. Aldiirn just fucking dropped dead behind her. I just laughed and rolled with it, Astarion got Aldiirn back on his feet.

Fight was good, the most annoying bit were the Mindflayers and Dominating Aylin AGAIN. I swear to got that woman can never pass a WIS save.

And then when we got to the unshakeable will of the netherbrain???? Lae'zel fucking shredded it with 9 attacks. Astarion gets a crit with an Arrow of Aberration Slaying (but no sneak attack). It's hanging on by a thread.

Aldiirn enters.

"TWIT"

"TWAT"

"TWERP"

fucking. Vicious Mockeried the BBEG to death. The most legendary goddamn move a Bard can ever do. No other bard I play will ever top that.

Down she goooooes and oh fuck everyone's getting fucked from the tadpoles dying in their heads

And then... silence. it's over. Aldiirn has his cute face back I wanted to sob seeing it again. I really expected more consquences for taking the Astral tadpole but... still, I wanted him to survive and enjoy the rest of his life.

But of course there were still things to go wrong.

Lae'zel and Orpheus, I couldn't let Lae'zel devote her life to another cult and endless war when she could have her own freedom, forge her own destiny, so I persuaded her to stay on Faerun. Orpheus went and committed sudoku which, eh, tbh I feel like he was weak willed for that. It does feel a bit like everything done to free Orpheus was for naught but Lae'zel deserves a chance to live her own life.

Side note, I was amused that Aldiirn apparently still had his Illithid Expertise feature as that was his source of Persuasion Expertise at the end heh.

continuing the mood of "fuck doing anymore quests" I told Gale to leave the crown in the river... completely fucking forgetting that Mystra was gonna remove the orb in exchange for it afhdjkfsd. I like to think it keeps Aldiirn awake at night sometimes. "why did he listen to me. why hasn't he gone back for it. all our brains were fried right then why couldn't any of you make your own decisions." lmao.

and POOR ASTARION. Just fucking fried right there in the beautiful sun. Gale's like "well we'll never see him again" UH BRO WHAT??? PLEASE JUST HOLD THE OTHER END OF THIS FUCKING TARP SO WE CAN GET HIM INSIDE SOMEWHERE. Thooouuughhh I headcanon that Aldiirn cast Darkness on Astarion and tell him to hold on while another pressing matter ignites...

Karlach, baby, noooo!!! Promising to be with Karlach at the end is the only reason Aldiirn wouldn't immediately chase after Astarion and, yeah. Aaa my eyes were tearing so much. I thought back to her post-Gortash breakdown and was like, "karlach. you want to live. you SHOULD get to live. Go with Wyll to Avernus."

Kicking demon ass never looked so good. I figure, there's some hellish real estate opening, those two should look into it, and the REAL celebration party should be at the House of Hope so everyone can be there. :D

Aldiirn would have gone with Karlach and Wyll, but he's needed on this plane.

God, Astarion looks so hollow when he mentions losing his time in the sun. Aldiirn wants that back for him so badly, but also needs a fucking break from adventuring. I headcanon that reverting the partial illithid transforation was not a clean cut thing by any measure and Aldiirn has a longer road to recovery ahead of him. But he's not gonna sit idle. There's thousands of vampire spawn in is home, the Underdark, that need guidance, and just maybe a bardy bard is just the type needed to inspire them to band together. Aldiirn's gotta know of a large enough abandoned megadungeon that could house them all while they work to support themselves. And then, when he's in good enough shape, Aldiirn will find a way for Astarion to bask in the sun again.

[theadventurerslog]

King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella | Part 2

The Adventurer's Log

King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella Part 2

Oh boy. Ohhh boy. This session is one of the highlights of the several ways you can dead-end yourself! Let's get to it, shall we?

I left off last time with my goal being to bring Lolotte the unicorn. I (mostly) knew what to do or this would have been more of a mess and probably would have had me running to hints.

First, while unrelated, I did want to have a quick look around for the minstrel to give him that Shakespeare book. I didn't find him, but the RNG (sooo much RNG in this game) was kind and I encountered Cupid at the pool who dropped his bow. At least I assume it was RNG; it could be a kinder situation have him always show up there after you're sent on the unicorn mission. That bow is one of the things we'll need for the unicorn.

After that I decided to just get on with things. First step: go back to the beach and start swimming. Now, there is a hint about this--at the beginning, when Genesta says it's time for her fly back while she still can she does fly out to the ocean. Still, I doubt I would have thought of that myself. But, since I did know, it was time to go swimming!

And get eaten by a shark.

I got eaten a few times before I made it. Gotta love that RNG. Hovering near the top or bottom edge helps, so you can switch screens quickly to hopefully get rid of it, but even that isn't a surefire way to be safe.

I did eventually make it to land--Genesta's island itself.

Pardon the tiny point discrepancy you may notice in the upcoming screencaps. I took this after wandering the island.

Look at that fairy-tale castle. It's actually quite a nice island. With peacocks!

But maybe I do need the peacock.

Further along the beach is a peacock feather lying on the ground. Unlike the peacock I apparently don't need, the feather is needed as will be shown soon.

More exploration. It's pretty! And I feel a good highlight in the update in graphics from the previous three games. Putting that SCI engine to work!

Then I entered Genesta's castle and was proven she's good. Look at these stairs having railings. I didn't fall off even once.

The most leisurely stairs ever.

At the top is Genesta's room.

I couldn't talk to her snow leopard :(. Rosella needs some dough in her ears.

Other than looking around and of course visiting that glorious snow leopard, there's no point in coming up here yet. If you look at Genesta the game reminds you she's fading. If you try to talk to her, her fairy companions get mad and furiously shoo you away. Still, seeing the snow leopard seems like reason enough to me to come up here.

Now that that's done, it's time to swim back to the main land. Start swimming back, hope you don't get eaten by a shark again (haha, that sure happened again) and then see a whale! Isn't that neat? Until a whirlpool sucks you in.

Here it is. We begin the chain of potential dead-ends and why was this a good idea again?

But first I was gross.

I love it when the game get emphatic at my crap.

Anyway, there's a bottle with a note in it. The note has a bunch of random messages pleading for various help with puzzles from Sierra's other games. Just a cute easter egg.

The skeleton is a skeleton of "an unlucky man (let's call him James)..." This feels like a possible reference I don't know.

And now the why. The first step to get out of this predicament is to climb that big ol' tongue. There is a set path. There is no way to identify that set path except to just keep trial and error-ing it. Even having a rough idea of where the path is from seeing it done, I still fell several times. You don't die from falling...which I shouldn't have to clarify, but this is King's Quest. But, it is still annoying to nearly make it only to fall. Also, you can die if you take too long because you succumb to noxious fumes. I did at least manage to avoid that.

Once you make it up you need to get close to the uvula, also without falling, and if you look at it the game tells you that it is an uvula and that it looks like a big punching bag, which is completely useless information. You can punch it, which is mean, but it doesn't do anything except to tell you it doesn't do anything.

Nope, you better hope you got that peacock feather on the island because you need to tickle the uvula with it.

If you miss the feather you're stuck here forever. Better hope you have a recent save.

The whale sneezes you out into the ocean near a small island where there are a couple more possible dead-ends.

A Monkey Island joke pardon me.

Okay, as said a couple dead-end possibilities here.

First: there's a mandatory item here. If you look at the boats it tells you there are wrecked boats and a glint though it doesn't specify which boat. Still, the one of the sand is the only one you can get to. If you keep looking you get the same message. You have to get close and Look in the boat to find a golden bridle. This is, as far as I can tell, your one and only chance. Once you get off the island you can't return and you can't get the unicorn so you can't progress. If you miss it you'd have no idea and there's 0 reason to even expect to find a golden bridle here. Not great!

Second: To get off the island you need to feed the pelican a fish. If you didn't fish up a fish, you're trapped here. Now it might be possible to fish up a fish here, but only if you found the worm! And that's assuming you've even gotten the fishing rod yet. I did try swimming away a few times and always drowned.

So, you feed the pelican the fish and it spits out a whistle. You use the whistle to summon a dolphin which you can ride back to shore. All is well.

So yeah, to sum up three rapid dead-ends. Miss feather: you're doomed. Miss fishing pole and/or worm or possibly fish: you're doomed. Miss golden bridle you're hooped without even knowing it until it's time to deal with the unicorn.

Thankfully, these were all things I knew aside from forgetting to feed the pelican and trying to swim away a few times before cluing in.

Safely back on shore and not in a dead-end state I wandered around until the unicorn appeared. Gotta love more of that RNG. And I kind of hate this.

First you have to shoot the unicorn with Cupid's bow to make it trust you. And then you can talk to it and it whinnies softly at you. You can pet its velvety nose. You can kiss its velvety nose. All these nice things before you put the bridle on it and have to ride it back to Lolotte's mountain where it makes a point of telling you it gets fearful.

I'm SORRY. The game is cruel in many ways, but I'll save you...

Once that wretched task was done, Lolotte decided she still doesn't quiiite trust Rosella, because of course she doesn't, not while she can still make us do things for her. Now she wants a golden hen.

This time in my wandering I found the minstrel. He very happily accepted my book of Shakespeare and gave me his lute, for he shall "become a famous ACTOR!". With lute in hand I quickly ran into Pan again and we had our own little jam session.

For Rosella's good playing or maybe just the fun had, Pan gave her his flute in return for the lute then off he went cheerfully playing at the end of this little trade chain.

I wasn't quite sure what to do next. I knew I'd have to deal with the ogres and after running into one of them a few times--yay more deaths--I was able to enter their house only to die to their big dog.

I wound up wending my way back to the manor. I did discover I'd forgotten to grab the shovel again after reloading away from the dreaded stairs last time. I also tackled the dreaded stairs again which went much better. At the top is a pipe organ you can play but it doesn't do anything at this point. At least I mended my wounded stair ego by making it up the stairs this time.

I mean, I accidentally stepped into the hole and died anyway but I did make it up!

None of this was helpful at this point and I wandered around more before succumbing to looking up a hint, not a walkthrough, just hints. I got bone. Yes, of course, that would be good for distracting the dog, and I was also reminded of the waterfall. Right. I knew I had to do something at the waterfall, but I hadn't been able to figure out how to get behind it because the water pushes you away. After staring at my inventory I realized I'd been forgetting that small crown from the frog.

The crown turns you into a frog and then you can hop into a cave behind the waterfall which leads to the other awful part of this game that I mostly avoided for now.

Most useless lamp ever. I got my bone from that pile there and skedaddled for now, but I will have to go there. The lamp at best lights up wall edges a little as you can see there. A troll will also randomly appear and is hard to get away from. I did make one attempt but ultimately got killed by the troll. So that whole bit will be stumbling through the dark while hoping the RNG gods are kind and won't keep spawning the troll...

I'm going to focus on getting the golden hen first, but then that'll be my next step. Getting the talisman back from Lolotte isn't the only goal after all; I still need the fruit.

Next time should be...interesting?

--

Points: 83/230

Deaths: 22

Time: 2:40

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Foreshadowing mmm but wait I need to go back and reread hollyhock now I sincerely remember there being some part where I was like “this is prime foreshadowing material Mira def slid sth in here” but I can’t remember exactly what so off I go

LMAO Nagi putting in actual effort whenever he battles mc while chigiri and Reo are looking at each other like “there’s no way this mf doesn’t like her he never battles like this”

My exact thought fr I typed otullia out and thought “wait this name lowk looks unbalanced I don’t like the way shit ship name sounds or looks just like phonetically” SHSGSH ok as much as I love the Otoya Tullia dynamic I do agree I think keeping the four of the platonic would kinda keep that familial vibe of the group throughout the story…also them eventually dating kinda gives me those “dating within the friend group” vibes LMAO (not that it’s a problem all the time but usually means they’ll eventually sorta grow apart/kinda separate within the group from the instances I’ve seen so) but lowk I kinda vibe with her being with some from from the mc trio?? (Or ig duo since Nagi is def off limits LMFAO) idk why it sticks out to me particularly but I feel like it’d probably also be easiest to integrate without you going out of your way to create interactions (since they probably encounter reader and co enough considering nagi and reader are rivals)…ultimately up to you though ofc LOL I think it also kinda boils down to how prominent you want their relationship to be? Like if it’s something you wanna showcase more then mc trio probably gives more room to show development (kinda like Tullia and toge from pi LOL) but if it’s kinda more just something you’d hint at and then show in the epilogue then tullisagi or yuki or hiori would work (from these options i kinda vibe with tullisagi the most though)!! But lowk from the vibes I got from pi Tullia though I will say that mc duo is what my gut is feeling LMAO

Pause you should curate a listening playlist for this fr im sobbing you KNOW a story will cook when it manages to show a characters importance even if they’re dead the entire time SHSHDDK but YESS THE TITLE ATE another stroke of genius lowk I love how your titles all strike the balance between simple and complex like usually only one to two words but there’s soooo much analysis you can do abt the meaning behind them!! (Ignoring the crackier fics LMFAO those are still genius but in a diff way yk)

Your graphics slap too I’m still not over how nice the oaeu one looks too (and that epigraph you showed me LMFAOOO) but I LOVE THE SCREENCAPS we’re fr on the same page because my first thought was also ���LMFAO PANGORO JUMPSCARE” but WAIT MC TRIO GROWLITHES wait the one on the right is so Reo too I think it’s the eye shape but I totally see the vision

IM SAT TWENTY FOUR ARCS GUYSSSSSSS we’re in for a ride this is gonna be fire and based off your other works I would also be surprised if every arc is just 10k (considering sae oaeu got to 7.9k too LOL) imagine the 240k increases exponentially like Karasu bfb /hj guys are we gonna hit that orv wc (jk LMAO….unless….)

EPILOGUE I’m fr getting all the exclusive tea on this I love it but WAITTT I LOVE THE TIMESKIPS??? The grave visits have me crying /sad (bonus imagine everytime she visits she leaves him pudding from their childhood) and AWEEWE everyone fulfilling their dreams I love it and reader giving up the champion status is so real and such a move like no I don’t wanna be a politician lemme live my life with my pokemon and my white haired sloth

The “(otoya?? Isagi??)” has me laughing LMAO NAGIY/N CHILDREN I’m gonna need full profiles for their kids when you decide to develop them omgggggg THE FINAL LINE GOES HARD bro gege could never I love how fleshed out the epilogue is too like we get the full picture essentially of their lives which is honestly so nice

I love stupid dumbass otoya LMAOOO the tabieita dynamic is just too peak but im crying those lighter/faded ends of karasus hair are grey hairs because of the stress he’s endured LMFAOOO Karasu going through the stages of grief three separate times only to be like “there’s no way that happened to me AGAIN”

FRRRR I feel like the pokemon fandom is one where it’s like almost always active but in a very different way than most fandoms like bllk jjk etc…probably because the content is very different LOL trust you’re reviving it with this fic

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS problem solved im crying mc is actually so chaotic when you put it that way like neither nagi or chigiri care to manage (??? Im suddenly forgetting the English word for this) other people’s bad decisions and when Reo has his moments reason just flies out the window LMAO

I SAW THAT POST I fr looked at it and was like “hah I already got the vip premier screening two asks ago sucks to suck” /j but UGHHB ROUGH AND TUMBLE YUKI ON TOP I’m just really hoping kaneshiro doesn’t sideline characters like him and even Kunigami too (although idc THAT much abt him) like a certain author does…especially since the way he kinda prepped them all for their moments way showing their backstory too like don’t drop the lore and leave like that please!!! I have faith though I don’t think kaneshiro will follow in a certain someone’s footsteps sooo

LMFAOAO wait so real if you can get through orv like that you can read anything…from the like three chapters I read I almost passed out trying to understand wtf was going on between the romanization of the names and the plot but I’m glad you were able to understand LMAOO but yes do lmk if anything’s ever really confusing (yk it’s bad when even I don’t know what I was trying to say)

People just don’t see the vision smh (or they’re just trying to project a little too hard LMAO) guys why do none of you want the cute clueless losers??? Anyways…but HAHAHA nah when in doubt just blame aiku for any ooc moments he just brings out a hidden side to the characters he’s wingmannjng for dw about it….LOL you should pull up one of those generated spin the wheel sites and use that to pick what to do

Also NOEL NOA ok the jacket unzipping thing is just kinda >>>> the whole pants thing has me laughing though because there’s no way that feels completely comfortable to wear although ig they have to to keep their bodies warm SHSHSH

- Karasu anon

AHH idk if you managed to find it or not but i shall spoil down below because i need someone to freak out w me over the ending (and also because it’s technically not a spoiler?? like if you know anything abt oda nobunaga you know how reader’s story ends)

the spoiler is in the dream that reader has of her “mother’s” death which she explains to anri!! that’s actually HER death and the man is otoya 😰 basically in actual japanese history there’s this one battle where the opposing general almost certainly would’ve beaten nobunaga’s forces but he mysteriously dies before he can reach there?? so in hollyhock the explanation is that reader sends otoya to do it…he’s initially very reluctant as he doesn’t think he can do it but reader is very very paranoid and drunk on her power so she tells him he has to and eventually he’s like “ok 👍” and vanishes but he never returns?? this makes reader go INSANE she’s like convinced that he’s betrayed her until karasu tells her oh btw your enemy is dead…and then she’s like okay so where’s otoya then?? and karasu’s like bruh idfk 😭 so she’s lowkey spiraling because she thinks otoya’s plotting on her downfall (and otoya knows EVERYTHING about her so if he betrays it’ll be awful and she, karasu, and otoya all know it) anyways then in actual history nobunaga is betrayed by one of his retainer lords who sets his castle on fire and he commits suicide in his chambers so his body is never found by the enemies and uh. well. in hollyhock land there’s only one relevant retainer lord who swore allegiance to reader and that’s yukimiya 😓 they never got over reader ruining their plans and they believe that reader’s power should be theirs so it’s yuki who sets the mansion on fire and reader kills herself in her room…as she’s bleeding out she has a vision that otoya appears and embraces her (as the man in her dream embraced her “mother”) and she asks him why he left her but he doesn’t respond and she doesn’t argue, instead just telling him he’s not allowed to do so ever again and commanding (although it’s really more begging) him to die by her side 😔 it’s never outright stated (since we’re supposed to have reader’s twisted mindset) but heavily implied by the narrative, otoya’s characterization, and also karasu, that otoya died earlier assassinating that general, which goes against his earlier goals of just doing as he pleases because he loves reader enough that he’ll die doing as she commands and literally nothing BUT death could stop him from coming back to her 😩 anyways this isn’t written because the story ends with reader’s death but as a small consolation (??) in actual history hideyoshi (who karasu is based off of) kills the lord who betrayed nobunaga so karasu does get rid of yuki, thereby avenging reader, but then he’s the only one left which is sad ☹️

OKAY back to pokémon au LMAOAOA YESSS nagi has all of these creative strategies and he’s genuinely engaged whenever he’s battling reader meanwhile chigiri and reo are giggling to themselves because this is the only time they’ve seen him put effort into anything!! SEISHIRO NAGI WE KNOW WHAT YOU ARE…(a loser)

tbh i agree i also think that by making otoya and tullia romantic it also changes reader and karasu’s dynamic a bit?? idk how but it just somehow makes karasu seem like more of a love interest for some reason when he is explicitly meant to be a barou panel…def changes up the vibe of the group too so i do think we’ll have to hold off on ei/otullia (also their ship name isn’t good so that’s another sign…actually wait tullieita isn’t horrible maybe tullia’s name just has to be first in all of her ships) and yeah mc trio definitely pulls up a lot!! nagi more than the others for obvious reasons but all of them are def around much more than any characters aside from reader and co…the only reason i would hesitate to put tullia with reo is because i don’t want people being like “you always put reo with girls in your nagi fics because you hate gay people” or smth LMAOAO and tullia + chigiri give gossiping bestie vibes more than anything (you know every single reader and co + manshine trio link up is just them updating one another on the tea while reader and nagi battle) so lowkey tullisagi might be the play…tbh isagi is actually kind of relevant now that i have everything planned out so i could def have that brewing in the background!! especially because romance isn’t the main focus of the story so it’s not a big deal if it’s not front and center yk

the difference between my crack fic titles and my actual fic titles is so funny to me like wdym my blue lock masterlist has “pursuit”, “hollyhock”, and “peregrine” next to “freaky friday” and “oliver aiku’s guide to getting girls” LMAOAOA omg a pursuit playlist would kind of go crazy though tbh

that’s exactly what i was thinking ngl like if my silly crack one shots are now reaching like 8k+ words each there’s no way i’ll be able to fit entire arcs into 10k words 😭 some of the arcs are def single chapter events more than anything so those ones might be shorter but again plenty are longer…with 24 arcs though even if each arc is only one 5k word chapter a piece that’s still almost 100k words so either way this will be long 😩 LMAOO PLEASE THE ORV WORD COUNT FOR A POKÉMON X BLLK CROSSOVER WOULD BE CRAZY WORK 😱 maybe not that long but i can def see something hefty cooking up in the future

I LOVE THE EPILOGUE i think it’s so nice that everyone managed to accomplish their dreams and AGREED reader wants 0 part of being champion she just wants to sit on the couch and take naps with houndoom and nagi 😭 she did her time protecting the region it’s someone else’s turn now fr 🙂‍↕️ PLSSS YK THE NAGIY/N KIDS ARE SO CUTE my headcanon is that they have two and one of them takes reader’s aegislash as their starter and the other takes nagi’s reuniclus (since both give the vibes that they age super super slowly and they’re probably bored without getting to battle much anymore) and they literally storm through the region without any difficulty because their parents’ pokémon are literally champion level (since reader resigned instead of being beaten her team is technically undefeated in league battles)

I’M CRYING no because after the third time karasu’s deadass like “i’m not mourning for you until your literal ghost appears in front of me and tells me you’re dead 😐” someone free this man 😭💔

THAT’S EXACTLY THE TRIO’S VIBE as we know from epinagi reo does occasionally crash out (omg wait not to world build even more but maybe reo has a rival too [zantetsu] we just never see him because it’s not relevant to reader) and when he does nagi and chigiri are just like “you do you man 👌” because they cannot be bothered to give him actual advice (tbh even if they did it would not be good) honestly whenever mc trio links up with reader and co i bet reo BEGS karasu to talk to him so he can interact with someone else intellectual for a change

i do trust kaneshiro more than gege i think the nel arc just isn’t as strong as some of the others!! but also you can’t expect every single arc to be 100% perfect honestly he’s doing great w what he has so i def appreciate him…i doubt he’d drop that much lore and then just do nothing (unless it’s a naruhaya situation where he’d make it very obvious what he’s planning) so i will be patient hehe

LMAOOO okay sae nation is slowly finding the sae oaeu and it seems like people are kind of liking it so that’s good 🤩 agreed there needs to be more love for losers in the world they truly are so peak…agreed when in doubt blame aiku!! also having aiku’s perspective in the story adds a diff viewpoint which is pretty unfavorable for all of the characters so that can also add to some “ooc” energy because it’s just aiku slandering them DHSKDHSJSJ i think at one point aiku literally says sae is being ooc but then he’s like eh whatever 😭

NOEL NOA IN THAT PANEL???? OMG??? you know my fav of the masters is chris prince but i am SEEING the noel noa vision FBDJSJNSA this is reminding me of the ego fic i started where noel noa and reader have a very uhhh interesting dynamic 🤫 yeah icl the pants are silly but he looks so good unzipping the jacket that he gets a pass 😏

[811320000]

I said I would make this account a priority, but also there is not Jing Yuan and I grow very bored. I have made decisions I lowkey regret in these accounts but at the same time, I feel like its a sunk cost fallacy on these ones so I'm not sure what to do but just keep advancing on the storyline and prep up for when another opportunity arrives. That said, I will be putting more effort in other accounts, building it instead of just getting the rewards. So new priorities on this game.

That said, I am dumping this shit (WW) here and just taking it and leaving. I may also put my other stuff here (namely like R99 and other gacha stuff so this can be like my one stop all for gacha and in figuring out future runs and stuff.

Not sure if I want to abandon these accounts, I just need to approach it differently. Building a character takes a lot of effort and I get distracted w shiny stuff especially in light of advancing the storyline and new meta enemies so uh yeah. Building the characters and account > over rewards / shiny new characters.

That said: Wuwa.

I had been Lv15 but kept doing the daily training and leveled up to Lv17 so quickly. I started the main storyline again.

Saw that this is Ma Yang and Sun Ye here. Nice. I had a lot of thoughts about these two which were really fucking cool and I got to come up with approaches to this essay I have yet finish lol. It's just me fangirling about Sun Ye and how lucky I am to get his voice for a character I will no doubt have in my team for at least 1 year or more (shout out to Kaeya for never leaving the team for 3+ years).

Not going to post dialogue screencaps here but yeah, I will be putting some of them here for my own self as a reminder.

I finished the quest and it had me with lv15 characters against a lv40 boss. I have no idea how I did it, but thank fuck for soulsborne dodging mechanics.

[aranarumei]

could not fit this into the tags my bad. people shouldn't ask me questions bc i'll just say things...

okay. fantasy / kingdom au. just spitballing here assuming sasaki & miyano are the tenuous center of the cast (meaning. they are like the Main Story but so much other shit is going on it's like. debatable.) fantasy kingdom has lots of different ways to go with it but my specific source of inspiration is coming from like rpgs & stuff. i have no idea where the "this" u speak of is going but i am supremely excited. anyways. in no particular order:

first thought is that kuresawa's a healer. this is a fairly obvious pick for me--he's intelligent and i think he'd be interesting in healing + medicine since his girlfriend is in the hospital (a similar situation occurs here i would think) and that probably made him like. consider the profession etc. however i think hes also like. epitome of that. "i'm a healer, but..." *cocks the gun* screencap only he's like that abt minor inconveniences. doesn't like traveling too far but does go around with miyano. probably employs frequent use of teleportation, if that's a thing. anyways yeah. kuresawa's like a healer but if ppl try to fuck with him he does just start swinging. whether hes actually Good at Fighting is debatable.

tashiro's a regular old adventurer! does quests explores places etc. pretty friendly with various innkeepers around the continent (its his old people charm) in dnd terms he would magically be multi-classed into just abt anything--he's rly quick at picking up new skills and stuff (this is my extension of his like natural athleticism in canon) jack of all trades.

hanzawa is also a jack of trades but in a very like. different direction. tashiro's like. Just A Guy with a wide variety of skills that'll surprise you, and hanzawa is like. why are all these Specific Flavors Of Guy The Same Guy. maybe the first time miyano meets him he's working as the bartender. he gets some nice info, moves to a different town, and hanzawa is offering his services as a fortune teller. nobody looks at him wrong. its like he's been there forever. in another location he's a sellsword. basically he's sort of like anna from fire emblem or nurse joy from pokemon. seemingly ubiquitous to the point that you're like okay there's gotta be clones of you doing all of this right? but in this case it's literally just hanzawa... or is it? he could have clones. thats something ogasawara & miyano discuss in mundane canon so i think it would be funny if like he Did have clones doing work for him here and he was still overworking himself.

*grabs your hand* listen to me. listen to me. hirano in canon adores the sky. adores planes. if it's a fantasy au i am GOING to give him wings. so to me he's like. a nebulous shapeshifter. this doesn't actually come up that often bc he is a lover not a fighter researcher. cases of strange magic going wild, interesting tales or treasures... people mistake him for a cursebreaker but he more just Identifies things. i'm not rock solid on his occupation but i think hirano would have 1) a job that helps people and 2) a job that's really meticulous so that's me putting that into practice. i think it'd be neat if ppl just assumed by the slight claws that come out every once in a while that hirano shapeshifts into a tiger. but he's actually got a very badass dragon form. kagiura gifts him some kind of magic-sensing earring as a gift on their travels together.

speaking of kagi! i think he'd be like. a fairly standard adventurer in terms of like. actual style but he's really competent. his weapon of choice is the bow. he makes it look easy, but it's not. runs into hirano during some rest period of his and basically after seeing how goddamn nice hirano is, offers to be his bodyguard. hirano's like. i can take care of myself so kagiura switches it around and is like. well. i think what you do is really cool. teach me. so kagiura's like his apprentice / bodyguard. (shirahama and niibashi, who were part of an informal adventuring party with kagiura, are like. ...seriously? seriously? and he--he's letting you come with him, just like that? ...maybe you both are weird. even after they split with kagiura they cross paths lots. shirahama's a sorta rogue type. despite being so tall he is weirdly conscientious abt many things and therefore real good at being sneaky. niibashi's also the tricky type too so they work fairly well together. niibashi is a mage. ofc. its the most aesthetic type of combat, he says. shirahama: youre considering the aesthetics of a fireball? niibashi: yeah dont you? they've probably met up with tashiro a couple of times)

ogasawara's a sellsword / mercenary type guy and travels around with his girlfriend eimi, doing various odd jobs. reputation wise they're known for being a bit chaotic and abrasive but. they're also really fucking good at what they do. eimi uses an axe. she also spends a lot of her paycheck on buying incredibly wild gay romance novels much to ogasawara's eternal annoyance. hes like "we TRAVEL how are we gonna carry all those books!!" and eimi is like "my axe is way heavier than your goddamn sword these books weigh NOTHING to me. also ofc i'll get a friend of mine to keep them in storage!" ogasawara, confronted with the fact that someone who would keep these books for extended periods of time, is left speechless, and then speechless again when he realizes there are other people... who like those novels...

that hits like... Most of the major sasamiya characters i think. minus sasa and miya themselves lol. okay. sasaki first. um. spoilers for the song party x party by hitoyama. sasaki is miku. by which i mean he is secretly like a demon prince. miyano meets him first when sasaki's just like. working at a bakery.... he loves sweets so its a good occupation for him. sasaki had been very bored by the whole demon life so he was like. well. lemme just disguise myself a little and. there we go. lets live peacefully. he's like. pretty far down in terms of succession line or whatever so he really is just pretty chill. have to get in my bad boy whos not a bad boy agenda. in terms of like class / weapon / combat... sasaki is a bard. he does not own that many cds for no fucking reason. miyano is always impressed by just how many instruments sasaki knows how to use (sasaki's usual i

miyano is like... belle. he comes from a small town and basically like, really enjoys literature and stuff. and one day he reads a book by some author and is like. in love immediately. and is like. i need to find more. and maybe i would also like. to see the world. so he ends up meeting sasaki, who is like, immediately captivated by him, and they end up like. i think the author would be the main mystery plot... they'd be like, a secretive pseudonym miyano was trying to track down. and then he'd also be doing quests on the side to like. yknow. make a living. bonus if hanzawa is the secret novelist. i havent decided to optics of that as plot yet. but yes. miyano and sasaki grow closer and like... fall in love and sasaki kind of gets to reconcile with his family and miyano gets better at like. expressing himself and stuff. bc i think hes um like. very cagey abt things at first? like he's intense enough to just go out into the world searching for an author. but not vulnerable enough to talk about what he liked abt the book so much (it was the deep closet). miyano uses a staff and does magic with it but also does practice physical combat a little i think. before all of this he was probably planning on like. being the local librarian, and doing odd magic jobs in his community since magic isn't that commonly practiced there. so miyano's a bit self-taught which leads to some fun things. they end up running into hirano every once in a while who gives him like. magic Theory lessons from his research and knowledge. hirano's good friends with sasaki. his earring and also just his senses in general kind of. he Knows Something's up with him. maybe even that it's demonic in nature. but sasaki's also like. he'd helped hirano out a couple of times before. so hirano's gonna be in his corner. sasaki also probably knows hirano's a dragon... they both like Not Talking About Things.

okay that's the big stuff. u asked abt other aus i had in mind and truth me told. i have never thought of a single sasamiya au in my life until u brought this up. i rly enjoy the intricacies of canon plus the extensions we've cultivated here so it's never really occurred to me... anyways i don't think it's like culturally a Thing in japan, but. sasamiya in a marching band au would just be fun for me.

marching band to me just fits their chaos. (i was in marching band). going to lean heavily into my personal views here they may conflict with your own ideas of what instruments r like. just from the top of my head, kagiura is drumline. it's the Serious Act of the biz imo (our drum line was like nationally ranked or some shit. they knew Rhythm. had extra practice compared to us. also it was like year round. insane.) so they would rly be the sport ppl here. shirahama's on drumline as well. niibashi is like the one color guard member I respect. i'll make it tentatively two bc kaede could be head of color guard. sorry to anyone who was color guard its just like. the amount of times they almost ran into me was tough.

hanzawa is drum major. “hey what instrument did he play” you ask the upperclassmen. no fucking response. :) (he was a mellophone. all the mellophones in our marching band were people who likely had done orchestra. bc mellophone wasn't a part of sit-down band) assuming that this follows the four year American highschool system as well id say he became drum major his junior year.

hirano is section leader of the trumpets, because like there’s always annoying as hell trumpeters and then there is That One Person who is super competent and usually better than everyone else at trumpet and is actually nice, and that’s hirano to me.

sasaki is… mb a clarinetist? he likes it bc he can slack off on playing. i say this bc i played clarinet and 1) we are quiet as hell and 2) we literally never get the melody. we also cant wear full gloves unlike literally everyone else so we literally like. took our standard issue gloves and cut them into fingerless gloves with like craft scissors the day before our first performance. sasaki can complain that it's cold on his fingers and do some gay handholding with miyano. see sasaki i'm your best wingman.

miyano picks flute. it’s light and convenient to carry around. very tough for him that 95% of the flute section is women. does not help the comments that he looks like a girl.

tashiro… i just know he picked the saxophone bc ha. cool instrument u can play careless whisper on it. and then he did it for enough years and now he plays bari sax. kuresawa isn’t in marching band. way too much of a time commitment. but he does hang around with them at the football games they have to play pep band for. ichinose is a drum major as well. he does get cramps but he's genuinely pretty cool and ppl like how laidback he is. ok that's all.

anyways. now i'm going to go look at everyone else's replies and be amazed by their cool ideas. btw if the sasamiya cast ever got isekaid into a dating sim it would do irreparable damage to me. ough the rituals the confrontation of expectations of standard romance vs reality... im Normal!

My psionic warriors. What kind of professions/classes would sasamiya characters have in say like. A fantasy/kingdom AU. Hypothetically. Or what other kind of AUs would be cool. Hypothetically. No reason.

[edorazzi]

Once again, it’s the post everyone’s been waiting for! 

This is a followup to the post I made on the first Miraculous “Felix” episode (two and a half years ago! 😱), so if you haven’t already read that one then you might like to! 

This one’s going to follow a very similar format, and as it’s pretty long I’ll put it under a cut. So like before, click through for my complete scene-by-scene reaction to Miraculous Ladybug’s “Gabriel Agreste” episode (feat. Felix) and my thoughts afterwards! 💕

---

Before I get into everything, just a couple of disclaimers:

   1) This post is heavily adapted from much more unhinged and screamy notes - all my reactions are genuine and just a bit more coherently worded. I watched in French, but am taking screencaps from the English dub so I might have some additional commentary!    2) I went on content lockdown between the time this episode aired (Saturday) and when I could watch it (Wednesday). Unfortunately some spoilers were unavoidable but I did go in 99% blind.    3) I was WAY behind on the current season of Miraculous, so as of right now I’m only caught up to Queen Banana and now this one.

That’s the important stuff, let’s get into it!

-

So I really had no idea what I was getting into here. Season 3 was a self-destructive mess (which is why I’m so far behind, I didn’t really want to come back!) but Season 4 has so far been surprisingly good! 

However, it was still a case of weighing  “Season 4 has been pretty respectable and good with its characters” against “Felix Graham de Vanily is a character created as a giant FUCK YOU to longtime fans” so I truly didn’t have a clue what to expect. Felix’s introduction was the lowest point of the Season 3 trainwreck right next to the nonsensical finale, so were they re-introducing him in a bid to fix things or to double down on what they started? 

I wasn’t eager to find out, but in I went anyway. As a longtime Felix fan I have a duty to keep tabs on what my terrible boy is up to.

- Ol’ Gabe’s in the basement soliloquizing to his comatose wife again. I think I made a comment last time about it being no wonder Emilie remained unconscious for this, but I still think it’s for the best because she would MURDER Gabriel for bringing her sister and nephew here to target them on purpose.

- I do love that Gabriel apparently invited Felix here, fully intending to rob him right back. Like has he MET his terrible nephew? Gabe gets regularly dunked on by children and the Miraculous Holders are nice kids; Felix has a thirst for chaos and nothing to lose so good luck. I guarantee Uncle Gabe won’t be getting what he wants out of this.

- AAAAA, IT’S MY BOY. BABY. I’m sure it’ll only go downhill from here but it’s lovely to see Felix again all the same! 

- I like that he’s keeping up with the Ladyblog too, though I really wonder if it’s safe for Alya to be putting out so much public information about the Miraculous. I expect she’ll tone it down now she’s personally involved with Marinette’s secret, but since becoming Rena Rouge you’d think she’d understand the necessity of keeping it quiet. Too much public knowledge is how Miraculous get stolen, you know!!!

- French Felix is interesting. I only ever saw the previous episode in English so this is the first time I’m hearing him! Clearly he sounds exactly like Adrien but I was hoping he’d be softer-spoken, he sounds way too perky for our demure little menace. 

(But going back over this scene in the English dub - while I screencap things - Felix actually sounds really good! It might be a one-off but his voice is pitched significantly lower and calmer; it’s very distinctive from Adrien’s and it wasn’t like that in the previous episode. I really like this change!)

- God, I love how much Amelie loves him. She seems like a massively irresponsible mother - and I’m still concerned about whatever happened with Felix’s dad, which was only briefly touched on in the previous episode - but they really do adore each other. Their little hand touch and the way Felix presses her kiss to his cheek afterwards is the cutest darn thing I’ve ever seen! :’0

- Oh hi Nathalie, thought you were dead.

- Awww, Adrien, sweetheart! He brought her some lunch on a fancy little cart! And then immediately sits down on her bed and starts venting about Gabriel banning his friends from the house again. Nothing comes free in this household.

- Don’t talk to him about Kagami or Chloe, Nathalie. I know you’ve slept through most of this season but things have happened.

- GABRIEL JUST BURSTING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE “GET OUT OF NATHALIE’S ROOM AND LEAVE US ALONE IN HERE”, MY GOD. In the previous Felix episode he was furious at Adrien for thinking they were dating but then he goes and does things like this, what’s the poor boy supposed to think?!

- Do both Agreste men just periodically come into Nathalie’s room unannounced and cry on the edge of her bed? Is this in her job description? :/

- She just shuts Gabriel up with food and a to-do list. This is basically marriage.

Okay, listen. Sidebar for a minute. 

I don’t dislike Zoe. She’s a perfectly fine character and I think she’s an okay addition to the Girl Group at large. However, I in no way believe she was planned before the Season 3 trainwreck and I don’t like that she’s been introduced as a superior version of Chloe - whose obvious redemption arc got trashed halfway through while SOMEONE (Astruc) was on Twitter claiming that bad people can never be redeemed, and that anyone who emotionally relates to Chloe is either naive or evil like her.

I was pretty invested in Queen Bee Chloe, and her sudden regression plus the introduction of Zoe feels like we’re being told “people don’t change!” and having our spicy redeemed bully replaced with a completely bland and inoffensive character who’s a good person right from the start (and gets a Miraculous within two episodes with minimal effort). I do not like it.

ANYWAY.

- It’s nice to see Marc again! They’re reusing a lot of the unique supporting characters this season and I like that a lot, it’s more fun to catch glimpses of Aurore and Wayhem than an endless sea of generic backgrounders. Though why wasn’t Marc involved in the filmmaking episode, isn’t he a talented writer? Is it because that was another of Astruc’s indulgent self-insert stories and the person Marc is based on blocked him on Twitter? Makes you wonder.

- Marinette, your feelings for Adrien are not a secret. We’ve established this. Luka’s akuma established this. Marc may have kept his distance enough to be blissfully unaware, but Nathaniel’s been in the same class for as long as Adrien’s been here. TRUST ME, HE KNOWS. 

- Juleka’s remarkably chill with this new “get Marinette and Adrien together” plan after what happened with Luka, though maybe she truly doesn’t care or even prefers that her bestie not be dating her brother. Hurry and hook her up with Adrien before family dinners get weird again. :/

- Nath and Marc are “romantic comedy specialists”? As in everyone saw them trying to kill each other in the park that one time (during Reverser) and now they’re dating? Because that IS funny, they’re right.

- They wrote a love story about Ladybug and Chat Noir? 1) That’s a surprisingly hetero choice for them, but 2) since Ladybug and Chat Noir are real people, is this like the people who wrote One Direction fanfic when I was in school? Who’s the person who trips in the hall and drops their XY/Prince Ali fanart everywhere, I have to know.

- Ahaha, this Sleeping Beauty parody with Gabriel and Adrien. This is cute as heck actually and really well-drawn, not to mention Adrien being in a flowing dress the whole time which was apparently Nathaniel’s artistic choice. Also it’s nice to see how much Nath’s art has improved since Season 1! I don’t know if that’s intentional or just inconsistent (the same way Marinette’s thought doodles keep changing art style), but he’s really upped his game from those early classroom scribbles and that’s some nice subtle character development when he hasn’t had lot of focus episodes.

- And I was going to say “I don’t think Zoe knows Adrien well enough to joke about his life yet”, but to be absolutely fair it’s likely he comes up in conversation among the girls often enough for her to have picked up on a lot of this stuff already. Zoe may suffer from chronic Mary Sue syndrome but this does make sense, she passes for now.

- Nath really drew Adrien in a princess gown like six times for this flipbook, I’m YELLING.

- CHLOE, WHAT THE HELL. HER BURSTING OUT OF THE CEILING IS LITERALLY THE LAST THING I WAS EXPECTING, THAT’S SO FUNNY. This is what I mean about Zoe being so bland and inoffensive, she hasn’t done a single thing you’d call “entertaining” and yet we get this from our irredeemable villainess. Which sister do YOU think deserves a Miraculous??

- CHLOE’S DOODLES ARE ALSO SO FUNNY. THE RAW EMOTION IN THESE SCRIBBLES. The evil in Marinette’s eyes! Adrien’s fear grimace! Gabriel’s fragile sensibilities!!! And Gabriel holding Adrien protectively like that in the following picture is all I want in the world, even if Adrien has absolutely no clue what’s happening. He’s just tapped out of this whole situation.

- Oh, he put Adrien in a cage forever. Never mind. What happened to that hug?? :(

- OKAY BYE CHLOE. That whole sequence was so funny, oh my god. All the protagonists are being so serious and Chloe just busts in, proclaims her comedically evil plan and busts right out again. I miss her redemption arc but I think I can get through this season if she’s like this; cartoonishly villainous but wildly incompetent. She’s not a hero but I don’t feel I’m being encouraged to HATE her either, you know?

- So tonight is a dinner where Gabriel “invited all his close friends with their children” as in ONLY the friends who have children, or he just invited his close friends and if they have children they’re welcome to bring them? This is an important distinction. Imagine commuting from London to Paris just for dinner like the de Vanilys are apparently doing, couldn’t be me but only because I’m poor and very jealous. :(

- Oh no PLEASE don’t bring Zoe into this. If she’s going to stick to Marinette like glue she could have been Bridgette, get your own plotlines! >:0

- Oh okay, she’s not going because Chloe pitched a fit about it?? Thank goodness, oh my god. I don’t mind Zoe hanging around with the girls but I draw the line at her being a main character when I’m trying to focus on Felix. No offence girl but I’m not here to learn how good and sweet you are compared to your horrible sister, I’m here to see an old man get robbed of his one remaining wedding ring.

- “The Knight” (Marinette) may not have an invitation to “the ball” (Gabriel’s party), but the Knight previously stacked like 15 wheelie bins with the intention of breaking into the Princess’ castle so I don’t think entry will be an issue. 

- They’re going to dress Mari up as a waiter to break into the mansion?? She’s a skinny teenage girl with Ladybug hair! There’s no possible way this can end well, unless Felix is going to catch her out and then lie for her or something but why would he? :/

- I’ve already shared my negative feelings about Zoe, but I do like the performance skills she puts on to act like she fits into her unpleasant family. It’s a nice detail that she has to visibly psyche herself up to be mean to anyone, I’d feel the same! 

- I would also say “just be nice to the staff and they’ll be willing to do more things for you!”, but to be fair (again) it could be this guy’s job on the line. It does make sense for Zoe to act like a brat so he won’t question her - trying to explain that a group of teenagers need him out of the way so they can infiltrate a high-class party and potentially wreck the whole thing isn’t going to get her anywhere.

- I do like Marc hanging out in Marinette’s room. It’s a real change from him physically hiding from her under the stairs at school because she was so intense. You gotta let him come to you, Mari!

- Okay, I get the mustache to hide Mari’s face, but doesn’t it look strange when she’s a 4′11″ schoolgirl?? If the girls won’t be there to see this plan in action then surely Rena Rouge could hide nearby and project a better illusion over her; I understand the responsible use of power and everything but Jem does it! :(

(On writing this up I did remember the five-minute Miraculous timer - and while it would be even funnier if the “waiter” had to make constant quick exits while Alya recharged her kwami and cast fresh illusions, that would mean less focus on Felix and Gabriel so I’m glad they just went with the stick-on mustache!)

- “Close the office. Done!” Oh, you think a shut door will stop Felix if there’s something in there he wants? Where is my boy anyway, I get that he’s just a side character this episode but it’s been ages since we saw him!

- THE FUCK KIND OF EYES WIDE SHUT BULLSHIT IS THIS?? Is Gabriel running a cult? Are they the rich Squid Game patrons? More importantly, are these masks going to be yet another excuse to not show Felix’s face for most of this episode, like in the previous one where he was just Adrien for half of it??

- Oh poor Gorilla, I’m the same with the three different TV remotes my dad programmed. I feel you buddy. But WHAT is happening here? The whole place is on lockdown, there are robot units skittering around instead of real staff, everyone gets fingerprinted and picks up a creepy animal mask? This whole setup feels uncomfortable as hell and how come Adrien isn’t dressed extra-formal like everyone else? 

- Love how this catering lady does not care enough to interrogate this random child in a fake mustache. You can’t scan Marino’s fingerprints though, he’s got a record. :/

- Okay, I love “Marino” grabbing the boxes and insisting he’s THE SUPERIOR MUSCULAR MAN. I’m sure that’s some kind of comment on toxic masculinity but it’s very funny when Mari’s half the size of this lady and trying so hard. :’)

- Why isn’t Chloe dressed up either, by the way? Are the adults having a cult meeting/blood sacrifice and the kids are just going to hang out and have a regular dinner? WHERE is Felix.

- Adrien. Darling. I can buy that you wouldn’t recognise Ladybug but is “Marino” truly enough to fool you?? Is this his Li Shang moment where he spends the rest of the day wondering why he was so attracted to this strange man?

- YESSS, FELIX. BABY BOY. But oooh, did he spot the peacock brooch before Gabriel hid it under his scarf? Does he know what it is or does it just look stealable? 

- What has Gabriel done for Felix that Amelie needs to thank him for? Did he lift the ban on him re-entering Paris or something, because no way there wasn’t any kind of fallout after Felix stole his goddamn wedding ring last visit. I’m amazed Felix had the guts to come back here.

- Oh, does she think Gabe GAVE him the ring?? That’s so funny. AND FELIX’S CUTE LITTLE WAVE LIKE HE’S DARING HIS UNCLE TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I’d better get another hug between Felix and Adrien by the way, even the previous episode gave me some cute moments and that was almost entirely dedicated to proving how evil Felix was.

- That sneaky, smug look on “Marino’s” face when the catering lady tells her to stay in the kitchen. Is she about to wreck the place just so she gets kicked out-- YES SHE DID EXACTLY THAT, AHAHA.

- AM I GETTING INTERACTION BETWEEN FELIX AND CHLOE?? MY DREAM, OH MY GOD. I remember it was confirmed they knew each other (and Felix thought Chloe was annoying) but we never got anything more than that, GIMME.

- “It’s Fake Adrien!” Did she hear about that?! Who told her. Felix better have heard about Queen Banana to even the playing field of embarrassment.

- Is he instantly pretending to be Adrien just to mess with her? I’m WHEEZING, she doubled back on herself so fast. THEN HE JUST LAUGHS AT HER AND LEAVES. I should turn this off now; like when Adrien hugged Felix in the previous episode this is peak content and it’ll only go downhill from here.

(And rewatching in the English dub - it sounds like Felix’s deeper voice is consistent! In French there was no difference between his tone and Adrien’s so of course Chloe was fooled, but in this scene you can hear it’s Felix. I really appreciate it! :0)

- Hi Kagami!! But WHAT is this dinner. Once again, why is the place on lockdown with everyone being masked and fingerprinted. I hope this is some kind of weird top-secret rich person fashion reveal because it ABSOLUTELY seems like a murder cult right now.

- I like the subtle motion of “Marino” removing the earpiece when the audio feed gets interrupted with that shrill interference, it sounds like it HURTS but she holds it together really well! I have a lot more appreciation for Marinette than I did last season; I feel like everyone’s being written a lot better now and there are more subtle details to appreciate.

- Everyone gets to go upstairs but Felix, huh. He must be sweating bullets, did he actually not get away with stealing the ring and now Gabe’s going to sacrifice him to the cult?? 

- Oh, a private confrontation?? But this is a really sweet look at Felix actually - I’m sure it’ll turn out he’s faking this wide-eyed remorse and gave Gabriel the false ring, but in this moment the guilt over what he did and his pride in the way he’s “fixing” it is very cute. That bright look in his eyes when he hands the “real” ring back to Gabriel and puts on the new one, he’s such a cutie! :’0

- That evil look as Felix left the room though. He definitely gave Gabe a fake.

- But oooh, the way he pauses at the top of the staircase and looks back! Does he know something’s up? We saw Felix notice the peacock brooch earlier but he was also watching Alya’s Ladyblog content, so is he just looking to steal something else and mess with Uncle Gabe (though he had a reason for taking that specific ring, as it was an heirloom Amelie wanted returned to their side of the family) or does he have a hunch Gabriel’s up to something?

- Bro, don’t freak out in Nathalie’s room. Just grab Felix again and tell him you know the ring is a copy. It’s no wonder this man gets dunked on by children every day of the week when he can’t even handle this minor confrontation.

- It’s very interesting for Felix to hide and listen outside the door. Is he trying to overhear whether Gabe believes him about the ring? Also it’s so nice that Adrien’s happy to see Felix, I love that a lot. :’0

- I’m also realising that if Nathalie’s room is directly through that door, there’s no reasonable way Adrien would have been able to get that service cart up there. It’s all stairs!

- “Akumatize him.” That’s cold as hell, Nathalie. Jesus. No nonsense in this bedroom. I like how we’re back to nearly everyone in this house wanting Felix dead, the Agreste mansion is usually so uneventful.

- “He might be feeling negative emotions now, thanks to you, Gabriel.” Except he was NICE to Felix just now. There won’t be any negative emotions if he thinks he got away with it, can this man do nothing right?! WE know Felix overheard Uncle Gabe figuring it out, so he probably knows he’s in trouble - insert the “(chuckles) I’m in danger!” meme except it’s Felix on the stairs outside Nathalie’s room - but neither of the adults know that, right?

(The English dub phrases this as Gabriel being capable of creating negative emotions in Felix from this point onward, which makes more sense. The French subs may be a little wonky.)

- Gabe’s really going to transform right here in Nathalie’s bedroom?? Can he do nothing without his bedridden assistant on hand to approve each step. He didn’t even do the full elaborate Drag Queen Moth transformation, so either he’s REALLY mad at Felix or doesn’t want Nathalie to know how dramatic he is when alone in his lair. :/

- I love that he hasn’t even TRIED to approach Felix and demand the truth about the ring, he just jumps straight to this. Drama queen. Also, Gabriel looking at a perfect copy of himself and lustily whispering “tu est PARFAIT” is something to unpack later. Anyway, let’s see what the kids are doing--  

- I love whatever silent conversation Felix and Kagami are having. I always thought they’d get along great. I also like the little detail of Kagami having a straw in her fancy juice drink but not using it, that’s very her. :)

- Nice to see Adrien got his foosball table back from the void in Sole Crusher! We never did see that being returned. But I’m already curious where Felix is going, I know it’s not really to talk to his mom so is he up to something other than fooling Uncle Gabe with a fake ring? I figured he was just listening in to see if Gabriel bought the lie or not, but then why would he need to go back out there?

- God Adrien sweetie, I’m so sorry. This is awkward as hell. It would have been fine to get left alone with Kagami if you guys hadn’t broken up literally last week. Also I wish Prince Ali and XY were here (and maybe even Lila), we know they have connections with Gabriel and it would be a great excuse to get all the weird rich kids together for once. Even Luka could have come along if Gabriel would let Jagged Stone into his house, I’d love to see Jagged touting him around as his son now they’ve reconciled and he should come see Adrien’s cool room sometime!

- “Marino” getting away with literally anything to “entertain the youth” has me wheezing.

- WTF is going on in this room. This is like a horror movie. I’m so confused about what this party is supposed to be, is this just rich people nonsense?? 

- Also I should at least mention the subplot of Chloe trying to get hold of a phone so she can show Gabriel the video of her classmates planning to set Adrien up with Marinette via fairytale metaphors, but I just didn’t take many notes about it because I’m way more interested in what Felix is doing. Rest assured that Chloe’s here and I’m enjoying her presence.

- I’m absolutely enamoured with this screencap of Felix peeking over the balcony rail. It’s cute as hell and I want it as my wallpaper. But he’s still spying on Gabriel, what for?

- Oooh he got into the office. I SAID a closed door wouldn’t stop him. And it’s heartbreakingly sweet to see him appreciating that portrait of Emilie - maybe it’s just that she looks like his mom, but the previous episode established that Felix and Adrien played together as kids so Felix probably has a lot of nice memories from that time. If he didn’t then surely he wouldn’t have been THAT angry about Adrien “abandoning” him after his dad died, there’s a terrible bitterness there and I get the feeling Felix has been seriously damaged at some point in a way Adrien hasn’t.

- He’s getting kinda close to the secret buttons on that painting--

- OH JESUS FUCK. OH GOD.

- Felix’s recovery time is IMMACULATE. He just brushed that jumpscare right off and turned around all super sweet like “Oh Uncle I want to get to know you! :3″. I would have DIED.

- So Gabriel made a Sentimonster just to ask Felix where the ring was? What if he’d actually told him and/or given up the real one, what would Gabe have done then when his elaborate plan of revenge on a child was already laid out?? He’d be a fool dressed like a peacock in his secretary’s bedroom.

- WHAT? PARDON ME?? FELIX GUESSED HE’S SHADOW MOTH????? I’m sure the Sentimonster clone will “prove” he’s wrong, but YOU’RE TELLING ME FELIX FIGURED IT OUT BEFORE ANYONE ELSE ON THE WHOLE SHOW???

- Startling revelation aside (for now), it’s a VERY bold claim that Gabriel has “the power to destroy (Felix’s) life”. Gotta catch the slippery little bastard first and I don’t think your old man joints are up to it. :)

- LEAVE MY SON ALONE!!!!! What does he MEAN snapping his fingers is enough to get rid of Felix, is he threatening to have him killed?! I’m loving this dramatic framing though, holy shit, this is so intense!!!

(And I didn’t consider this at the time, but when chatting with my friends afterwards they brought up the theory that this could mean Felix - and by extension Adrien - is a Sentimonster, and that’s extremely interesting. I’m not sure I buy into it quite yet, especially when the English dub words this line slightly differently, but it’s a pretty strange and intense threat for Gabriel to make right here...)

- I already saw it coming that Sentimonster!Gabe was to remove suspicion from the real Gabriel, so that’s no surprise (though I hope Felix holds on to this theory, he’s come SO close to the truth and I’ll be devastated if it stops here!), but FELIX REJECTED THE AKUMA??? HOLY SHIT. BRUH. I was expecting anything from “Felix causes an akuma because he’s terrible” to “Felix becomes an akuma because he’s terrible”, but “Gabriel goes out of his way to akumatize Felix and Felix simply does not allow it” was NOT what I anticipated!!!

- Didn’t I draw something like this after Chat Blanc, with Adrien wrapped in a shock blanket and Felix insensitively going “if Papillon tried to akumatize me I simply wouldn’t let him, RIP to Adrien but I’m different”. Is that canon now??

(I did draw that, and already made a joke post about it! UNBELIEVABLE.)

- What was that?! Felix grabs a worryingly-sharp cufflink off his shirt, skids under “Gabriel’s” legs and slashes his trouser cuff with the pin?? Look at my boy GO! The way he books it out of there, instantly blocks the door and starts planning an exit strategy because he’s literally fleeing from Shadow Moth!!! This is so insane, I didn’t expect this episode to go anywhere NEAR this hard!!! >:0

- Nathalie really wants Felix dead, doesn’t she. No empathy, just “akumatize the Sentimonster”.

- OOOOH, THE COLLECTOR IS BACK!!! I MISSED THIS GUY. I’m not naïve enough to be optimistic (they still have a good 5 minutes left to ruin Felix’s character, ample time for him to set Adrien on fire or something) but this episode APPEARS to be getting better and better!

- I love how upset Adrien looks that his dad got akumatized, like this day is not going the way he wanted but he’s not particularly surprised. I also adore Kagami stuffing him in the closet and grabbing a rapier to fight with, she’s the real knight in this fairytale and I appreciate that she still cares about Adrien’s wellbeing even though their friendship has been rough lately! 

- This catering lady running in with a broom!!! It’s kinda fun that akuma are so integrated into Parisian life that regular people are prepared to just grab a weapon at any time. I really like the borderline-mundane reaction to the party host going nutso, like they’ve just gotta hold their own until Ladybug and Chat Noir get here.

- I don’t blame Felix for not getting involved (he’s the target after all, he’s not getting anywhere NEAR his insane possibly-supervillain uncle!), but smart boy for making Collector take out the front doors so he could escape! I’m deeply pleased by how clever and resourceful Felix is, it might be intended as a negative trait but he’s VERY capable in a way we’ve only really seen from the Miraculous heroes so far.

- Ladybug catching Felix in her arms is everything. And are the heroes making boomer jokes about Collector finally catching up with technology? That’s extra funny considering Gabriel engineered this whole thing because he couldn’t approach one (1) child. He’s been dunked on by every toddler he’s fought today!

- Now before catching up with this episode I did see a glimpse of this part with Felix on Chat’s back, but I thought the circumstances of getting here were going to be MUCH more unpleasant and offensive than this. I love the way Felix has been yanked around between the two heroes and neither of them have reacted negatively to him. He seems a little starstruck - he isn’t even smirking! - which is a huge contrast to the way he acted in the previous episode. Maybe I didn’t get a hug between the boys this time but this is just as cute!

- Oooh, alright, so he guessed Gabriel was Shadow Moth but he seems to have no clue about Adrien! I love him immediately going “Oh I don’t know WHY my uncle is after me, he’s so weird and scary :’0″ - I doubt Chat will buy that for a second but this kicked off in such a short amount of time, what the hell did Felix manage to do in 20 minutes to make Uncle Gabe hit the roof??

(And in the English dub it’s really pleasant to hear Felix and Chat talk back and forth here; they sound very similar but no longer identical. I know I’ve commented on this like a hundred times already but it’s a tiny change I appreciate so much!)

- A very bold assumption that Collector’s tablet has a finite storage space! I’m sure the kids are correct because otherwise this fight will never end, but you think Gabriel Agreste wouldn’t equip himself with unlimited Cloud storage?? Though if he locked down his mansion so thoroughly for a party (allegedly NOT a cult gathering) I imagine he’d reject the idea of storing any of his top secret fashion data online. They know this boomer is limited to offline storage only!

- I do like the use of the map with everything disappearing into Collector’s tablet; it draws attention to how many individual assets they have in this one location (especially compared with how barren it was in Season 1!) and it’s cool to see them stripped away piece by piece!

- TRAMPOLINE??

- The building getting zapped out from under the heroes while Ladybug is TRYING to make a plan is so funny. They landed safe - and we’ve seen Chat hit the ground after getting thrown off a skyscraper (during “Lies”) and he was fine! - but neither of them saw it coming! There’s no safe place to perch!!! Also nice “ZAG” numberplate on the catering van, I do appreciate these little details.

- There’s something hilarious about the Lucky Charm plan being to just throw a bunch of plates at Collector until Chat yeets his baton along with them, smacking Collector’s tablet out of his hand and smashing it. It’s so simple compared to some of the ultra-complex plans and really highlights how thoroughly Gabriel’s getting dunked on by children today. :)

- SO WHAT DID THIS ACHIEVE. Gabriel’s playing it nice and graciously returning the fake ring to Felix as if it’s the real thing, after threatening him in his office and trying to kill him? There must be some bigger plan here, he already “proved” he wasn’t Shadow Moth so why go to the effort of pretending he isn’t mad any more, and why treat Felix so carefully if he thinks he’s gotten away with this elaborate cover story? What else does he want from this??

- I also really like the contrast between Sentimonster!Gabriel and Shadow Moth right here; fake Gabe sounds very sincere and apologetic but the cut to Shadow Moth’s precise, deadpan delivery of the same words is terrifying. WHAT is he up to.

- Felix’s lil face when he gets the ring back. Both of them know it’s a fake but is this permission for him to keep the real thing without Uncle Gabe murdering him over it? I didn’t even need another screencap for this part of the scene, I just want everyone to look at our boy.

- The contrast between Sentimonster!Gabriel accepting the protective charm from Ladybug and Shadow Moth speaking through him is CHILLING. Goddamn.

- DUDE, SHADOW MOTH IS TALL. WHAT’S WITH THAT. But OOH, Gabe and Nathalie are going to work on reverse-engineering the protective charms! That’s an interesting possibility; I like the introduction of those to prevent the same akuma being created over and over again but I don’t know if the show’s budget would allow it. Gotta start poking holes in Ladybug’s new Guardian powers.

- I see Felix is still lurking around suspiciously. But oh my god, is THAT why he tore Gabriel’s pants, to see if he was using a body double?? So he doesn’t have definite proof he’s Shadow Moth but he had a hunch from the moment he was targeted with Gabriel still in the room! And even after the whole akuma debacle (which should have “proven” Uncle Gabe’s innocence) Felix still held on to that theory and went back to check the evidence. Oh my god.

- I should think Gabe would be quick to change pants given he’s an elite fashion designer hosting a party full of high-profile guests, he wouldn’t be seen walking around in damaged clothing so this seems like flimsy “evidence”. I won’t put that burden of common sense on Felix though, he’s my baby boy and he’s SMART. :)

- I see Marc keeping his distance while the girls are hugging Marinette for a job well done, he’s not getting too close in case she decides they’re besties again and he has to go back into hiding.

- That’s a nice Mini Menace reference with Marc and Nath’s new comic! But Nath sweetie, WHAT happened to your cool digital art style?? :’0

- What is this, a postscript?? Gabe putting the peacock brooch away in the vault again? I see that stick drawing of him and Adrien in there and it’s very cute, he really does love his son even if you wouldn’t know it sometimes. :’)

- “A little surprise will be waiting for you when you return, my dear nephew...” When he returns? WE’RE SEEING FELIX AGAIN?? I’M ACTUALLY EXCITED, GODDAMN. But I AM very nervous Uncle Gabe’s going to murder him, what does this MEAN--

-

-

WELL. Just like before I can say “THAT WAS AN EPISODE”, but with a completely different tone this time! Obviously I was trying to avoid spoilers to the point of not even knowing whether this episode was good or bad, but I was truly expecting another hearty “fuck you” to PV fans and I’m actually amazed at how they turned this around. I’m going to split my thoughts into two parts:

What do I think of Felix?

If you’re familiar with my posts you probably know how I’ve been straining to embrace Canon!Felix; his introductory episode was a huge middle finger to longtime Miraculous fans and obviously on purpose; the entire thing was a mess going out of its way to prove how unreasonably horrible Felix is and why he should never ever have been in the show - despite his characterisation going against all known concept art, including the original 2DPV where Felix is animated as a shy, reluctant Chat Noir who comes out of his shell around Ladybug.

He did cartoonishly villainous things. All the characters talked about how evil he was. It confused a lot of casual fans who’d never heard of Felix and had no idea why Adrien suddenly had a doppelganger cousin with an entire episode devoted to hating him. They even threw in a moment where he tries to assault Ladybug, because we really NEED to despise him. He also spent half the time just dressed as Adrien (using Adrien’s character model) so we barely got a look at him to begin with. It was an appalling vendetta and made me lose a LOT of respect for the show for a very long time - until literally right now, in fact.

I can quite honestly, unironically say I love this boy. He’s not the same character from before. He’s still a clever little bastard with a quick wit and a habit of sneaking around, but he’s been toned down a LOT. His conflict is solely with Gabriel and he doesn’t do anything to harm other people, also Gabriel fucking STARTED it this time. I love that Adrien enjoys seeing him. I love that the Miraculous heroes are indifferent to him instead of waxing about how evil he was last time they met, and he even has a tiny moment with Ladybug. I love that he gets to roast Chloe a little bit. I love that he and Adrien are now distinctive characters, so for the first time it feels like I’m really seeing and hearing Felix instead of a weird clone. I love his soft moments with his mom and looking at Emilie’s portrait. And most of all I love that he’s suddenly become a very significant character - not just an insulting throwaway. 

What do I think of the plot?

This episode was completely insane, girl help. I didn’t expect a single goddamn thing in here, I thought Felix was going to arrive back at the mansion to cause more problems-on-purpose for poor Adrien! But instead this boy just walks in, identifies Gabriel as Shadow Moth and simply says “No.❤️” to being AKUMATIZED. RIP TO ADRIEN BUT HE ACTUALLY IS DIFFERENT. 

Alya and Chloe have rejected akuma as well - and both were displays of huge inner strength - but one of my friends pointed out that Felix is the first to have done this without ever being akumatized before or wielding a Miraculous. He has no direct experience with magic (that we know of) or how Shadow Moth gets into people’s heads, he just has that much self-control! That’s incredible!!!

I’m also deeply invested in this rivalry between Felix and Gabriel; it’s so much better than watching him go after Adrien for no (coherent) reason. Gabriel is terrifying when Felix gets too close to his secret, and despite his elaborate plan to conceal his identity, Felix actually holds on to his suspicions and fucking figures it out!!! THE FIRST PERSON TO PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER IN THIS ENTIRE SERIES AND IT’S FELIX. The status quo isn’t restored at the end either, Felix actually knows!!! I can’t put into words how mindblowing that is to me - it almost feels like an apology for the way they introduced him.

Actually, yes, that’s what this whole story feels like - a goddamn well-deserved apology while this show is trying to recover from Season 3. Felix returns and there’s only minimal hell raised - the important thing is he stole Ol’ Gabe’s wedding ring and there’s no mention of the frankly fucking ridiculous lengths the previous episode went to. He’s an important character now. He’s clever. He figures something out that completely rocks the status quo and makes Gabriel scarier than he’s ever been. He’s strong in a very significant way which implies he would have been a good Chat Noir in some other life. He’s not a “good person” but he doesn’t have to be in order to bring something interesting - if they’re going to put Felix in the damn show at ALL it should be like this, I think.

-

So there we go, I think! Thank you for coming on this journey with me, I’m astounded to say I actually had a lot of fun and I’m fascinated with where this story is going to go. Roll on the next Felix episode, I think I might have faith in this.

Now where is Bri? 🤔

[drops-of-moonlights]

rereading some PGSM liveblogs put in my head the idea of Hina and Mio in the og anime styles. I fucking suck at mimicking the old anime styles tho, so I decided to just do drawovers on screencaps instead lol. Hina first, then Mio (og screencaps from http://sailorsoapbox.com, from episodes 18 and 51 respectively)

Hina I envisioned with warm-colored hair, and given she’s literally named Sun Sun, I thought that warm yellow-orange (strawberry blonde?) hue would work nicely, same for her eyes. I think she ended up looking too much like Reika tho F

Mio I always envision having a pinker shade of Beryl’s hair color, tho here it’s darker than intended to carry the “cel animation” feel better, brighter colors like the one I used at first wouldn’t become common until digital coloring appeared at the end of the 90′s. ALSO WHAT THE FUCK WAS AN/NATSUMI WEARING IN THE OG SCREENCAP LIKE I KNOW YOU’RE AN ALIEN BUT JESUS GIRL THAT WAS A CHOICE

[lutawolf]

Hello Ms Luta,

First of all, I would like to clarify I'm not an english native speaker, so I'm sorry if I commit any misspellings and I'm also sorry for coming here to ask for advice, but I can't talk about this with no one irl and since this is something related to bdsm, maybe it wouldn't be too outrageous to tell it to you? The thing is yesterday I was at home bored and I went to a chat page (where I have found some nice and funny people to talk to) to pass the time and I found myself talking with a guy who said that he was in search for a submissive slut and I said if he didn't have one already in his life and he said yes but he likes to have an harem and I rolled my eyes but I thought anyways let's play along for my amusement, so we continued talking for like an hour where we said some things and kinks that we would like to do together (I'm in my twenties but I have never had sex with anyone yet, so the bdsm things I said were only things I think I'd like in the realm of fantasy) and then he asked me for my instagram because he said he didn't want to lose such a good sub slut, I hesiated and he said it would fine if I didn't want to, respect is first and if I didn't want to continue talking to him I could block him and that's all, then he said if I would be more comfortable if we continue talking while I think about it I said yes so he gave me his ig and asked me to talk to him there when I wanted to, so we talked some more, until I talked to him through a landscapes ig account I have where there are no pics of myself, we continued talking there and he told me to do things and send (temporary) pics to him, periodically asking me if I was alright and comfortable, he sent me a pic of his face but I didn't want to send my (ugly) face to him which he said it was fine, we continued talking for far too long for my taste, I have another guy on ig who is happy to see a pic of my tits, is very affectionated when I do it and he finishes quickly but this dude have been dirty talking and commanding me for hours but doesn't finishes and doesn't praises me, only said I have a perfect ass, which I don't believe I have but whatever, and that's all which leads me to think that I'm being boring and he is not affected by anything I say nor do, so I end asking him if we could end talking for tonight since I need to get up early in the morning, he agreed and asked me to do a videocall because he needs to see my pussy to finish, I did it just for him to finally shut up and leave me alone, I was annoyed by his cold attitude by them, he finally finishes and wishes me a good night and asks me again if I want to be his regular sub slut, I don't want to but I said I wanted to have time to think about it and he accepted. Now, Ms Luta, after making you lose time of your life with my stupidity, my question is how do I say no to him when he next talks to me without getting him angry enough to do something like screenshot our conversation and send it to my followers, which is something I shouldn't be worried about except I commited the grave mistake of talking to him through an account where some friends of mine follow me and the possibility of him sending them screencaps of our conversation is stressing me out. I don't want any pity, only some advice on how to manage the situation I got myself into because of my temporal lack of judgement, but I understand if you decide to ignore and delete this bullshit, thank you for reading this anyway ❤

Hey Hey baby sub🐤,

Oph, little girl. I can tell you are a baby. You got yourself into a pickle. Which is going to be your lesson learned. He played you. This is exactly why I preach, know yourself, know other subs and research before talking to a Dom. You got manipulated right where he wants you. He put you right where he needs you, in order to black mail you.

BDSM in not something you do because you are bored and want to have fun. That's how you meet shitty Doms. Congratulations, your consolation prize is embarrassment. I'm not saying this to be a dick. I'm saying this because you need to get comfortable with your punishment. It is far better to be embarrassed than end up in a situation where you are killed, sexually assaulted, or both. Which, is where his black mailing ass is headed.

Followers and friends are not worth your life and happiness. A minutes embarrassment is not going to be the end of your world. Even though it might feel like it. You will survive and go on to do fun and amazing things but to do that. You can't be manipulated into going further. Then learn the lesson of, if you can't handle the consequences of playing in the kitchen. Then get the fuck out. BDSM lifestyle is not all play and no responsibility.

Don't go looking for him. Wait for him to come to you. Tell him politely that you are a one sub to one Dom kind of girl. That you have a Dom who has indicated interest in that and you'd like to give it a try. If he is actually a Dom, another Dom in the picture should have him back up. If he pushes, do not back down. If your country has blackmail laws, don't be afraid to use them should he bring up showing pictures. Regardless of what he says, stand firm. If you let him blackmail you, you gonna end up in a harder situation to get out of. Trust me, I've seen it.

Wishing you the best of luck. 💜💜💜

[ghoste-catte]

I was curious what advice would you give to someone new to writing fics? I've been wanting to get back into it but haven't seriously written something since high school. I hope this isn't an annoying question or anything!

Not an annoying question at all! I'm just a little worried that I won't have terribly good or useful advice. To be honest, I also sort of stopped writing in earnest right as I finished high school, and didn't pick it back up until my late 20s. It's certainly an adjustment! But I think the few things that really helped me get back into writing fic as a hobby and something I spend quite a bit of time on would be:

Write for yourself first, then find your other motivations. My original inspiration in getting back into fic writing was that there just were not that many fics I liked for my favorite pairing, and I wanted more of them, and I especially wanted more with the tropes and characterizations I wanted to see. I think at the very core of anything you need that internal spark that drives you. At the same time, for me at least, if I just relied on my own drive, I would not get much done; I need some external guardrails. So having people send prompts, or writing for particular events, or writing stuff for friends really helps me to get my ass in gear and finish stuff. That may not be the perfect motivator for you, and that's fine! You just gotta figure out what is.

Be open to inspiration. Anything and everything can be spun out into a story with the right tweaking. Obviously stuff like music is a classic inspiration source, but I've also pulled ideas from poetry, from memes, from Reddit threads, from YouTube videos, from rambling conversations on Discord and from real life to make fics out of. So many times, someone will post a silly Twitter screencap, and I'll think, There's a fic in this. And a lot of the time, there is! Research is a wonderful thing, but so is serendipity. If you're out there actively looking for ideas, eventually one that you like will stumble past you.

Find your community. I can genuinely say I never would have finished more than one fic if I didn't have fandom friends to talk to about even stupid headcanons, to bounce ideas off of, and to encourage me (and to encourage them in turn!). Discord has been a godsend, and some of my closest online friends are people I met in the GaaLee discord server. As I've gotten more comfortable as a writer, I've also joined general writing servers and Reddit communities and have found them immensely helpful on both a motivational level (bingos, sprints, owe-me challenges) and on a craft level (plot workshopping and writing ethics and live grammar help). It's a lot easier to think about fic ideas and hash through problem moments when I have a constant stream of fandom-related chatter coming from the little people who live in my phone! Ao3 is an amazing website, and it's great as, well, an archive, but it isn't social media by design. If you want conversation and human connection and cheerleading, you've gotta forge out and find it.

Make it a habit ... If you want to produce anything longer than a couple hundred words, you really have to set aside time for it. And writing is just like knitting or dirt biking or painting little model figurines: the more you do it, the more easily it comes. When I was first getting back into the proper swing of things, I committed myself to 30 minutes of writing per week. Just 30 minutes. I didn't even hit that goal every week, but there were tons of weeks I got on a roll and went over that amount, and by the end of the year I'd written over 200,000 words. I used to spend an hour laboriously tip-tapping out 200 words, but now I can easily blow through 1k in a 50 minute sprint. It's all about training that muscle.

... But don't make it a chore. With fanfic, you aren't doing this as a job, and you aren't ultimately doing it for anyone other than you. That means you can take breaks when you need them, you can set deadlines and then fail to meet them, you can write stuff and then decide to never post it. When you start getting burnt out, when the practice loses the joy and energy, stop. There's no 'hustle' here. In our capitalist society we're so trained to push past our limits and keep going even when it hurts us, but the hobby you do for connection and relaxation and whatever else shouldn't be like that.

Ignore metrics. Sometimes stuff isn't gonna get hits, or kudos, or comments. There are some basic 'rules' as to the stuff that does and doesn't get traction, but every time you post something it's a roll of the dice. If you're focused on watching that kudos counter tick up, you will get bummed out fast. And any writer will tell you that the stuff you think is your best work will never be the stuff that gets the most accolades. So you have to find something else to give you a sense of success. For me, it's watching my wordcount go up in my stats and those occasional comments where someone has a lot to say and that one person who always leaves me a <3 emoji (and, shout out to @egregiousderp, having someone to have long one-on-one conversations with about the stuff that never made it to page).

Don't strive for perfection. It's really easy to want your first ever fic to be a complete showstopper, the best fic fandom has ever seen, hitting all the tropes and the ideas and the characterization that you just know fandom is missing and would be everyone's top favorite if only it was written. This is a trap. No one fic can be all things. Most people who want to write an epic as their very first venture will not see the end of that epic, because they haven't put in the practice hours to make something on that scale work. That's not to say you can't start out with a big, sprawling multichap, just don't expect it to be the greatest thing since sliced bread if you're just starting out, and be okay with abandoning it for greener pastures if you get to that point. Think of the first time someone makes a vase out of clay or bakes a loaf of bread. That's never their best vase or their best bread. If they keep up with it, they'll make more and better vases and loaves. Likewise, your first fic is probably not gonna be your best fic. See it for what it is: your launchpad.

You can't edit an empty page, but you can over-edit a full one. This kind of spins off of #7, but if the words aren't there, you can't fix them. Daydreams and headcanons are fantastic (and god, how many times have I wished for a speech-to-text engine that projected my falling asleep thoughts onto a Google doc for later perusal), but they aren't fic. If you want to write fic, you've gotta get comfortable with the idea of sloppy outlines and rough first drafts. You can't build a house without a frame and you can't build a man without a skeleton (I mean, you can, I guess, but he'd be one floppy man). The nice thing about fic is that it doesn't matter if that frame is structurally unsound or the skeleton has 18 too many bones, you can clean that up in the editing process. But you can't start hanging curtains and arranging furniture in something that doesn't even have walls. That's the process. But! Also know when to set down the editor's pen and say, "Okay, this is good enough for government work", and call it done. ("Done" doesn't have to mean "posted", but it does mean, "I'm done picking at this for now, and I'm gonna go write some more stuff".) Over-editing can make stuff seem laborious and forced, and it prevents you from actually improving. To continue belaboring the house metaphor, you can spend your whole life rearranging furniture in just one room, but the end result of that is a pretty narrow existence and a room with a lot of footprints and tracks in the carpet.

Write shit down. When you have ideas, jot them down--in a notebook, in a Google Doc, in the Notes app of your phone, in pen on the back of your hand. You think you will remember that brilliant line of dialogue or sparkling snippet of narration or genius plot that came to you in a dream, but you Will Not. Write it down. Write it down. Write it down! There have been so many times when a fic was completely saved by past!me having written down my shower thoughts about what happens next in the fic, that present!me had completely forgotten about and was floundering over.

Have fun with it! Try different stuff. Try stupid stuff. Try experimental stuff. Do stuff you've never done before that you aren't sure will work. It's important to get comfortable with your niche (for example, I know I'm never going to be the sort of person who writes intricate plots of intrigue or super long 100k epics or detailed battles), but you can't find that niche unless you explore lots of different niches! Figure out what you love and what you absolutely hate, and then keep doing the stuff you love.

Okay, so that was actually TEN things, but ... I hope you still found this helpful. Feel free to send another ask if any of this was confusing or unclear. Good luck with your fic writing and, if you want, send me a link to what you've written once you've written it! I'd love to read it.

[thelakesuite]

new gameplay video screencaps & analyses

future aint shorter it just proceeds really quick. does somewhat look like twd's sarah, but we don't see her lil side-ear-hair-bits. fairly certain this is a demo segment from a convention (i mean it fuckin explained what a cube is at the start), so it's not confirmed that these are the only player characters. 'the past' one being rose, obvs.

again, demo segment, this might not be part of the game proper, but iirc these bugs are associated with emma & albert respectively, if anything. the video chose 'bee'. also new anims so idk maybe it's relevant

same past area as in the steam demo, but 1. it's so red 2. new letter! dated to albert's death! he somehow both fully expected himself to get murked (or just poor timing) and was the one to hook up to Da Future. i thought it just kinda barged in, no this shit was consentual. sorta. rose didn't sign up for any of this, maybe

almost definitely some kinda bug over there (bee?). if my venture plans get screwed by this game i'm gonna be vigorously upset. but anyway

confirmation that the past room is at least metaphorically inside the 'cubical device' so that's cool

man doesn't that look. well kinda shit but it's nice. mostly established symbols besides the Rusty Lake Obelisk. why on earth does this exist though, did albert get into glassblowing for a time? doesn't get used in the footage so who knows

ah fuck me bugs are gonna be relevant for this one. at least not the same ones i'm using. forgive me i just like how this looks. albert looks normal, yet he did not get into interior design, those frames are just kinda there. the other walls were blank why'd you do that

so when they confirm that 'the past' got a matchbox, 'the future' gets one that falls from the sky? not from the 'cubical device' or anything, just god hand-delivers it. i hope that's not just a given

mmm, ps3 matches. i won't knock em too hard, though, 3d modelling aint easy

they put a lot of detail into this background, i feel like. maybe it's actually relevant. maybe not.

lil flippy-puzzle. panels being: albert and kid-rose, the house, the bee, one of the voodoo dolls, a cube, and a crow. what's P-17? sounds like an age rating. i think the doll is sam's technically, as ida's had that yarn/worm hair, but i am not exactly an unbiased party. please let him show up god.

ok yea i hate the art style sometimes. are we keeping coal in a velvet-lined box? that's the only way it's ourple like that. at least it boosts my self-confidence by showing the big fish have ugly moments too

no wait after you get the coal the picture changes to a bee. is that intentional? how would it do that? nothing else changed tf is up

mind how rose is gonna burn the house down, al looks even worse, geez.

the fan thing they've got going (the 'cubical device' turned a fan on) is cool but c'mon you're just sliding a jpeg across the screen

overall mood for the game: scared

i know this is only 3 minutes of gameplay but it feels so disjointed. like the worst thing an escape-room game can do is make most of the puzzles just code after code, since it never feels like you're actually doing puzzles, it just gets tedious. that's what this game has to do by design, and i don't think the cooperative nature will overcome that.

still gonna play it though, that part of my character is firmly established

[greater-shade]

Something about the Inspector and the Melter

So, after playing through Inscryption once in English, I wanted to try and play it again in German (since that is my native language), and I noticed some interesting stuff with the localization.

Among other things, the Inspector and the Melter are actually referred to as female there!

I was curious if that was just a little thing the German version added or not, so I checked the other localizations I could roughly understand as well.

This is gonna be a bit long, so putting the rest under a readmore.

-

It turns out the French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish localizations all refer to the Inspector and Melter as female. (These being languages that have a so-called grammatical gender.)

Here’s screenshots that show this off, plus English equivalent screencap for the reference:

Inspector - English

Inspector - French

Inspector - German

Inspector - Italian

Inspector - Portuguese

Inspector - Russian

Inspector - Spanish

Melter - English

Melter - French

Melter - German

Melter - Italian

Melter - Portuguese

Melter - Russian

Melter - Spanish

In case you’re not familiar with how these languages work, basically many nouns, especially for professions, will have different endings and sometimes articles depending on if they’re masculine or feminine. (Compare “actor” vs “actress” in English.)

And for these two character, they always seem to use feminine forms when possible.

-

In addition, while Japanese doesn’t have a grammatical gender quite like this, the Japanese version does have the Inspector and Melter use speaking styles that are generally considered feminine (for example, usage of the “わ” particle), and the Inspector even uses the very feminine first-person pronoun “アタシ”.

Neither of these have to mean that a character is female, they would definitely make most people playing in Japanese likely to think that they are.

The only languages I didn’t check are Turkish, Korean and either version of Chinese, since they lack grammatical gender as far as I am aware, and I don’t understand enough of them to pick up on additional indicators like in Japanese.

-

But, in conclusion, the fact that this seems to be consistent through all the localized versions for languages that use gendered terms or the like, I think this probably isn’t a coincidence, or something the localizers decided on independently. I feel this could be an intentional detail.

So, the Inspector and the Melter are most likely supposed to be women or feminine-leaning, even if that’s not immediately obvious in English.

Now, I wouldn’t wonder if this has been pointed out before, but I still thought it might be nice to have all the reference screenshots in one post and all.

There’s some more details along these lines too that I might look into and document later - for example, the German version had several of the Mage cards be referred to as female, etc.

I don’t know, I thought it was interesting.

-