#the fact that i really like underwater exploration is probably helping a lot too. in general loving the vibe
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also idk what it is but i love this remuria world quest... i usually take a backseat in world quests bc i admittedly am not the most patient at reading through and processing the huge text dump they normally are and i get distracted by all the exploration anyways but this one feels so engaging also i love scylla
#0.txt#the fact that i really like underwater exploration is probably helping a lot too. in general loving the vibe#like narzissenkreuz. i understand it was probably really good lore-wise but it was also just too much for my brain ajfdklasf#i'm too casual for this ya know#what was another recent one. chenyu vale like fujin's great and all but it wasn't that interesting tbh#i was also extremely distracted by the ost#but yeah i'm usually not that invested in world quests all that much i'm more here for the exploration
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I am absolutely IN LOVE with the Gambit x sea monster mutant you did. Sea monster stories are my favorite thing EVER and it got me thinking about random little tidbits of Remy and leviathan’s life that I wanted to share
The first time Remy sees the sea serpent form he’s definitely a little scared and maybe a bit horny because hot DAMN. I can see him having a huge fixation on leviathan’s teeth, whether it’s the huge fucking chompers that could snap his spine in half or the human sized teeth that are a bit sharper than they should be
Remy placing a cute kiss on leviathan’s cheek while he’s in serpent form. He’s much smaller than him and leviathan can barely feel it, but he loves the gesture
Sex is definitely something that takes a bit to get used to. Leviathan’s skin is tougher than most and the first few times they do it, Remy finds himself having to do something skin aftercare due to the scaly version of beard burn. While I LOVE the idea of bottom Remy, I REALLY love the idea of him being in control. Leviathan is powerful and often finds that people expect him to take on a more dominant role in every day life so he LOVES being able to trust Remy to take care of him. It also gives Remy a HUGE ego boost, knowing that leviathan has that trust in him
Leviathan telling Remy all about the different sea life he encounters
Someone asks Remy about his jewelry and he proudly says “my boyfriend made it”
Remy Lebeau x Mutant male reader
Headcanons
Part two to a thing I wrote a while ago, which you can find here.
Finaly went on Christmas break, so I can hopefully sleep off this sickness I’ve been dealing with all week. How’s everyone else doing?
I imagine the first time you discovered that you could turn into a serpent was an accident. It was sometime during your time apart, where Remy was an X-man, and you were… doing whatever you were doing.
Maybe it was even during a fight with good ol Namor, who was pissed about some other being, entering his territory, since you carry such a powerful aura. The fighting came to a stop when you turned into a massive serpent.
It probably didn’t help your case that your serpent form had some waterproof feathers and was pretty damn colorful underwater. Or the fact that you could make rain, rainbows, extreme storms, so on and so forth.
After that Namor seemed to just accept you as his “brother”, in his own way… he was and is an arrogant ass, but he’s cool, if hed just stop his people from trying to worship you. At least Namor turned out to be a great help when it came to mastering your new serpent form.
After all of this, and you finally feel comfortable with it, you finally show it to Remy. At some point when he’s taking a break from the team or he’s just got some time off, that he spends near the sea since it’s close to you.
At this point you two arent dating, so Remy is very thankful for his coat, since it helps him cover the very sudden heavy pressure between his thighs when he watches you transform.
It’s not his fault is almost erotic, to him at least. Just the way your body lengthens, your muscles stretch and twist, how your scales grow and spread, and feathers burst out. The huge teeth bigger than his own body also has a lot of blood rushing south, something he doesn’t feel interested in exploring why.
He blames it on it being you.
It’s a very comical sight to see you two together around Krakoa most days, since you are very comfortable in the serpent form. So, it’s just you bobbing around outside the island, with Remy riding on top of your head.
Anyone with eyesight good enough can see Remy regularly leaning down to kiss the top of your scaley head, or how he wraps himself in the giant feathers.
But people also know not to look too closely, since Remy likes to… sunbathe up there. Or he says it’s sunbathing. And most days it is, but other days… well, its likely that it isn’t sunscreen splattered across his chest, and his twitching body and flushed appearance doesn’t help.
You almost always dump him into the ocean before putting him back on land, since he likes chilling up there for very long, and will give himself heatstroke doing so. This is where your feathers help, since they act as a parasol or cover at times.
It’s not as if you can feel much of what he does up there, since he’s sitting on top of your head and outside your field of vision. But just knowing he’s there, and sometimes smelling his more intimate actions makes your blood rush.
Remy also always demands kisses before going on missions, or you leaving for longer periods of time. This is both in your serpent form and your more human form, you better kiss him enough to make up for all the kisses he’s gonna miss when you’re apart.
I don’t think Remy does a whole lot of topping in the relationship, since he gets real hot and bothered about how big you are and how much you fill him. But he does do a lot of power bottoming.
He will never hear you complain though, since it allows you to lay back and watch as that half feral haze falls over Remy’s face, and his movements get rough and needy.
Even better if you purr or growl, flashing your teeth at him so it “seems” like you’re not just laying back and being lazy. You both know logically you could very easily throw him off and overpower him, but it makes Remy feel really good to be on top, and you feel good too when he does it, so why not.
Remy is very saddened that he can’t leave hickeys on you though, thanks to your scales, healing factor and just you being sturdy in general. You guys can’t even go with something more extreme like using a knife or leaving scars, since it heals up.
The closest you guys have ever gotten to a lasting hickey on you was after Remy spent hours sucking and biting at the same spot on the front of your neck, on a spot of skin without scales, and that faded after an hour or so.
Remy ends up having to cope, which results in him drawing on you instead with markers. He even finds ones he can use on your scales, and ones in colors that almost look like bruises. It’s not the same but its good enough.
I get the feeling the x-men have met Namor at some point, or will in the future. They don’t get why he’s extra sassy towards Remy, until you casually mention knowing him and how you guys fight on the regular as a “bonding activity”.
Apparently Namor is just mad that you’re dating someone from the surface since they all suck in his eyes, but you couldn’t care less. You love your Cajun.
You end up having to draw a lot of the sea creatures you see, since cameras can’t stand the pressure or see in the same way as your eyes, so Remy has a lot of those drawings saved in a folder. Hes debated on getting one or two tattooed.
He doesn’t know too much about the ocean, even after you guys have been together for a while, since very little is known about the ocean, but hes always curious and ready to listen.
There being a whole ocean people did freak him out for a bit, because obviously there were. There were literally people from space, so why not in the ocean? Them wanting to worship you at least got a good laugh and some flirty jokes out of him.
Speaking of Namors people. They would treat Remy better than other surface people, especially if he’s wearing jewelry made from your scales and feathers. They still don’t really like him, but they respect you so…
Remy is also definingly the kind to always wear the stuff you make him, he’s got multiple sets and many different pieces of jewelry. The feathers are most colorful and fit any outfit, but there are also normal stud earrings made from an old scale.
Remy likes wearing stuff you make him. But you also like seeing him wear it, since it puts your mark on him even if you hadn’t thought about that at the time.
#male reader#mutant reader#remy lebeau#gambit#xmen#x-men#marvel#remy lebeau x male reader#remy lebeau x reader#remy lebeau imagine#remy lebeau headcanon#gambit x reader#gambit x male reader#gambit imagine#gambit headcanon#xmen imagine#xmen headcanon#xmen x male reader#xmen x reader#marvel imagine#marvel headcanon#marvel x male reader#marvel x reader#x-men imagine#x-men headcanon#x-men x male reader#x-men x reader
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happy belated mermay! i drew that final pic after i went with my family to the new england aquarium recently, and picked out something they had there for each of the nocturnal detectives - plus kurumi! more description (spoilers) under the cut:
kurumi - piranha! it fits her color scheme, and her little freckles… and well, you know *bites you*
yuma - emperor tetra. actually i lied this one wasn’t at the aquarium i had to look it up
yakou - anemone man. ouughhh so sillyyyy
desuhiko - tried to ID the guy I took a picture of and it looked closest to the crosshatch butterflyfish. could be wrong though.
halara, fubuki - i could not find the labels for either of these fish unfortunately
vivia - electric eel (yeah he’s there, look again)
———-
the mermaids were kinda based off these species, except fubuki changed to a betta fish. bred for glamour, not for function. she is out there living her best life tho!!! nothin gets this mermaid princess down!!!!
obviously squid shinigami (squidigami) is based off ursula. but also i liked her having squid tentacle hair. woomy!
i imagine it would actually be kind of a reverse ursula situation though (reversula?). poor unfortunate amnesiac yuma would go up to sea witch shinigami asking her for his memories back, but she reveals she was the one who took his memories in the first place, and they’ve actually already made a deal. which she’s not going back on, sorrynotsorry lol!!! of course he’s actually not a mermaid at all but a human under a spell to go investigate…. something underwater. idk. maybe the mystery labyrinths are still a thing in this universe?
vivia, i’m sorry to say, would be a hundred times more miserable than we ever see him in canon, because guess what. no books. he’d still have some sort of coping mechanisms like watching other fish, watching stuff above the surface of the water, wanting nothing more to join them and fly someday. (the dragonflies, of course, are a reference to the famous water bugs and dragonflies story.) he’d still find something to get distracted by… although if he had his forte he probably would ghost up to the surface and read whatever the humans are reading up above. i guess this would make him the real ariel of the story.
kurumi of course is still based on a piranha, because it’s cute. of course these fish shouldn’t all live together but whatever. it’s mermaids. she probably is still some kind of informant, and probably hangs out near yakou’s place a bunch.
i could see yakou running some sort of shop. or if he’s still into detective work, he’d probably need kurumi as an assistant since he’s uh. not much of a swimmer. (he claims he can too swim, but it’s really silly looking. google swimming anemone. you’ll thank me.) he considers those little teeny fish to be pests (or at least claims they are. they’re probably helping him hide some sort of secret in there.)
desuhiko is a wandering trader with a keen sense of fashion. he’s great at repurposing sunken sails into mer-clothing, not so great at making sales. also the fact that his hair is gelled is way more obvious when everything is underwater. he’s basically got a helmet.
halara of course puts up an intimidating front, but has a secret soft spot for cute sea creatures. i asked my irl friend what she’d consider ‘the cat of the sea’ and she said pufferfish. i do think they are very cute and make a lot of sense as an allergen. but i don’t think halara’s taste is limited to pufferfish only, no no no. they like anything cute.
fubuki has got to have been kept captive before the story - by humans? or other mermaids? but either way, now she’s free and having a blast exploring the deep blue ocean. she really wants to know what kind of exciting creatures live in the deep!!!
and that’s it. hopefully all this description makes up for being 2 days late to mermay LMAO. i guess now it’s merGAY
#rain code#master detective archives#mdarc#rain code spoilers#yuma kokohead#shinigami chan#kurumi wendy#yakou furio#vivia twilight#desuhiko thunderbolt#halara nightmare#fubuki clockford#mermay
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i was thinking about how ariel from the little mermaid is criticized so harshly for "giving up her voice and family for some guy" when there was definitely a lot more to it than that.
ariel had dreams outside of eric. she wanted to see the world, she wanted to get acquainted with humans and human traditions and she wasn't satisfied with her life underwater. that was the whole point of "part of your world", she barely mentions eric in it. he was just a bonus in her new life, not her entire purpose.
why am i talking about a random disney movie? it's because i was thinking of lumity, and how amity also rebelled against her family for a new life. except.. amity really only mentions luz (and "the others" because let's be real, she did not give a shit about willow and gus at that point). amity's sole reason to go against her family's values was luz.
this, if anything, could be considered "giving up everything for a love interest" but people don't see it that way because amity's parents were shitty to begin with. but if you look at the little mermaid from a different perspective, you could argue that king triton wasn't a very good parent either.
he literally throws a temper tantrum just because his teenage daughter has a crush on a guy. ariel is legit terrified in that scene, and regardless of whether triton had good intentions or not, he made his daughter feel unsafe and turn to an impulsive decision in a moment of emotional distress.
all of this to say, you could argue that ariel had no reason to stay with her family either, given that her father lacks emotional sensitivity and does not sit down and try to communicate with his child, instead of destroying her collection and scaring her away.
coming back to amity, i can understand that luz inspired her to actually do something about her abusive parents, and that's sweet. but we never get to see what else amity wanted. since they never established a friendship arc between amity and gus or willow (she apologized to willow, sure, but the rekindling of their relationship happens much later on), all we know is that amity is tired of being abused and she wants to be with luz.
from an abuse victim's perspective, amity standing up against her parents was powerful. but unlike ariel, amity doesn't seem to want anything besides luz. and she never explores what she wants to do, now that she has successfully cut herself away from her mother's influence. her whole life revolves around luz after that.
there was that abomination brawl episode but even that ended up being about luz. the brawl was just a quick montage, it only existed for the emotional drama that came later on. in fact, even when the plot was focused on amity, it was more about her relationship with her father rather than her autonomy and personal interests.
there's a reason why a lot of people liked the mean girl version of amity. she had personality, she had interests and goals, she had CHARACTER. it was all fake and a result of trauma, but it was there and it helped flesh out her character. but after she is redeemed? there's nothing left of the old amity, not even the more positive/neutral traits, and her only personality is "luz's awesome girlfriend".
amity's arc should have been about exploring what she wanted outside of her parents' wishes. abuse often turns you into a shell of a person and recovering from years of trauma isn't as simple as getting a romantic partner. it takes therapy (and that is canonically an option in the boiling isles, let me remind you), it takes self-reflection, it takes giving yourself the permission to choose your own destiny and explore yourself outside of your abusers' expectations.
and amity gets none of this. her trauma and arc was resolved too quickly, even for a show that was cut short. they just gave her a makeover, got her into a relationship with luz and called it a day. the only reason people aren't giving her the ariel treatment is (probably) because lumity is a queer ship.
#i still find it hard to believe that the only thing odalia did afterwards was bug amity to change her hair color#it is NOT that easy to get away from an abusive parent lol#especially if you're still under their care#abuse tw#the owl house#toh salt#toh critical#toh criticism#toh discourse#anti toh#toh#amity blight#(not lumity hate btw i'm fine with the ship itself)
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Greetings! I can be wholesome.
Jessica can shapeshift into anything right? What if Vertin decides to have like a pool party type thing in the wilderness and Jessica meets Vila and decides hey maybe I could try to be a mermaid/ Rusalka!
Kinda just wanna see Jessica and Vila interactions, kinda cool if Jessica could hang out with Vila swimming by shapeshifting into one for fun. (Can deer swim?)
(Probably would gave Jessica and Blonney ideas for a siren based horror movie as a bonus so everyone wins)
(Heads or tails Windsong can swim, I kinda wanna see her being taught to swim by Vila)
Very suspicious that you're being wholesome... What sort of devastating ask are you preparing to send, comrade?
It'd be cute to have these two interact! A loving teacher and a cute non-human eldritch horror. They would get along really well!
I do think Jessica is able to swim since she spent her life in Green Lake, would make sense if she's able to swim, but since she's trying to be a Rusalka like Vila, it would be like learning to swim and walk all over again. Luckily Vila is willing to help her out!
Vila probably misses part of her life underwater, swimming with her kind and exploring the underwater mysteries. She might not be close to her kind anymore, but swimming with Jessica brings back old, loving memories (there has to be some good memories there)
Blonney is probably getting a tan somewhere out of the water but she's really proud of Jessica's behavior and how she's interacting with others.
Windsong and Blonney interaction? Neither say anything they're just waiting for their lover doing their own thing. They do get along and probably end up in double dates since Jessica became good friends with Vila, but they're so different they're just standing there like 🧍🧍
In the end, at night or some time around midnight, Blonney (or Jessica) have this idea of a horror story involving mermaids and such. They do have to respect Vila's culture since a movie can affect people's views of her kind and make the existing war even worse between human and Rusalka
Instead, they chose to make the mermaid the protagonist of the story and asked Vila to play the part! (She had to learn acting)
Worth it, the movie was a success (as every other movie by Blonney), and Jessica had a part as the monster of the story (at this point she's in every movie).
+ WINDSONG MY PATHETIC CHILD
She probably doesn't know how to swim judging by the fact she's always in cold areas and studies a bunch which takes up most of her time.
She's good at learning the basics but when it comes to practice she sucks, really sucks.
Vila has a lot of patience because Windsong gets too panicky too quickly, or clings onto her for dear life. Girl does NOT let go of Vila.
They had to get the kids to help Windsong. She didn't learn how to swim right away and even when she masters floating, there's a hand around Vila's arm out of fear.
#reverse 1999#i have remembered too little#Vilsong and Blossica interaction? God knows I love that#the only happy couples aside from Yenisei and Jiu Niangzi (as in not doomed)#double dates includes: Jessica commiting a crime and all four of them running away from the police/j#Windsong is good at learning but practice makes perfect and Windsong is scared of drowning#understandably so
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I'd like some help with ideas for a comic I want to make.
This is the first Tumblr post I've ever made, so hopefully I'm doing this right, sorry it's so long, I don't know if anyone will even see this post, but there's a comic I want to make with some of my OCs and I'm pretty good at coming up with roughly how I want the story to go, like how it starts and ends, but not so good with coming up with what happens in between. Like filler and stuff.
The basic plot:
Two 14yo boys (best friends) are at a summer camp and while exploring the woods they find a crashed spaceship with an alien inside, adventures ensue with the alien for the rest of the summer camp. At the end of the camp, a spaceship -following the alien's distress signal- brings the alien back home.
Random info:
The two 14yo boys names are Timothy and Chris. Chris is kinda nerdy while Timothy is more adventurous.
The alien's name is D'mitri. He is an adult.
There is also a turtle named Pete, but he's not really important to the story.
The camp is not boys-only.
D'mitri does speak a different language, so miscommunication might be an idea if his translator doesn't work quite right.
D'mitri also has some unique characteristics -he is an alien after all- and I will get to those characteristics later.
I don't really want romance to be a major plot point, Timothy and Chris might get together at the end of the story though.
I am a fan of cryptids and stuff, but I don't want the story to be super focused on stuff like that, it's supposed to be more "an alien has come to earth and now two teens have to deal with it" / "an alien has crash landed on earth and now has to deal with two teens". There can be a little bit of spooky stuff, but I don't want it to be the main plot.
My main plot problem is how D'mitri interacts with the camp since he's not really supposed to be revealing himself to humans. He couldn't hide as a camper since he's an adult, and the counsellors would probably notice that he's not one of them.
D'mitri basically got adopted by Timothy and Chris despite the fact that he's older than them.
D'mitri knows very little about Earth, so that's an idea or two.
I have never been to a summer camp so I have no idea what goes on there. Please give me info.
Chris is totally geeking out about the fact that there is an actual alien at his camp.
One idea I have is a camper being suspicious as to why Timothy and Chris are acting so weird. Kinda like Wes from Danny Phantom.
Alien info:
I had way too much fun coming up with ideas about what exactly D'mitri is, stuff about his planet, the language, and more, so this might be a lot.
D'mitri is what I call a Luranian. They're aliens from the planet Luran.
Aliens from that planet can also be called Lurans.
Luran is a largely aquatic planet with rainforest-like biomes covering the land. Aka, it's wet and damp.
Luranians are mostly inspired by amphibians/reptiles, so they have a few characteristics of stuff like that. Such as, larger lungs to hold more air and skin that can breathe air through water (like frogs) because they're underwater alot, larger feet (kinda like flippers) so they can swim faster, a little bit of webbing between appendages, they're also a bit bigger than humans, and most obvious, chameleon-like skin. Basically, they can change the color of their skin and hair to blend in with the enviroment. Their skin/hair is usually cool colors like dark blue and green, but they can change it to any color they like. So D'mitri is able to look human, except for the fact that he's slightly bigger. And his eyes can't change color to normal human eye colors, unlike his skin. Luranians' skin do unintentionally change color due to emotions and stuff sometimes.
I have been working on a written language for the Lurans, and the language sounds mostly like chirps, whistles, clicks, etc.
There is another type of alien in their universe called a Rolasian (from the planet Rolas), but they never show up in this story. If you are wondering, they are inspired off of bugs. I will make a post about them eventually.
Sorry this is so long, and if anyone reposts this on pinterest or something, please let me know so I can see if those people have any good ideas. My pinterest is https://www.pinterest.com/jothejo93/ btw. If anyone has any good tips for creating comics, that'd be helpful too.
Here's Timothy, Chris, and Pete btw,
Sorry if it doesn't look great, I had to mess with contrast, exposure, saturation, etc. to make it look good in digital form.
#help#writers block#original comic#story ideas#alien oc#camping#comics#please help#aliens and ufos#how do i make comics#idk how to tag this#summer#art#ocs#my ocs#original character#drawing#drawings#my draws#hand drawn#pencil#sketchbook#artwork#artists block#Rolas#Luran#aliens and humans#writing ideas#creativity#writing
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Just another Sontails question, because I desire some cute fluff. XD
What does each one do to support and comfort the other through their respective fears of water and lightning?
Sorry it took me so long to get to this ask, wah, but I can finally talk about these two again!!! Here's some fluff :D
For Sonic, I think the fact he has Tails with him at all is already a great comfort. He can fly him over any water, which is a huge help during general exploration, and he can also use his tails as propellers underwater. He's really made Sonic's life a lot easier with that.
But for the times they just have to go through a long, watery area and can't avoid it at all, Tails would try to encourage him and even offer to take the lead, so that Sonic can take it easier while he's out of his element. Probably take a hold of his hand to reassure him if he finds it appropiate, too.
His courage and kindness always let Sonic stop worrying about the water so much, since he has Tails to help out. I kinda like to headcanon that he got better with it in recent years, thanks to Tails supporting him and taking his fear seriously.
Tails, on the other hand, I feel he'll always be scared of lighting. I mean, I'm almost 20, and I get scared myself when there are strong storms outside XD It's more of an 'irrational' fear than Sonic's hydrophobia, which makes it a bit harder to deal with, but thankfully Sonic is up to the ask.
When he's with Tails when the lightning strikes, sometimes he tries to coax him with comforting words, but more often than not he jumps directly into physical contact, since he thinks it's the best reassurance for Tails.
He'll just hug him and pet his head until he's begun to calm down. It's one of the few occasions Sonic is willing to stay still for as long as needed - he really cares about Tails and wants to make sure he'll be okay.
Usually, just having Sonic be there for him is enough for Tails to get it together, given that Sonic's presence is very grounding for him. There are times they do hug a bit longer than needed, though, but hey, neither of them is complaining :') It makes for great bonding time.
Thank you for the ask, and apologies for the delay in answering! I hope life has been treating yall well <3
#sontails#the fact they're always there for each other is soo important to me#answered#flashoneonetwo
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Genshin 4.0 Thoughts
So I finished the Chapter IV Archon Quests (And some of the major World Quests) for 4.0 a while back and like very other long-time Genshin fan whose been playing since it's launch in 2020, it's been a joy just going through the new nation and for the first time in so long I finally felt like I'm having fun in Genshin again. To the point me, someone who will admit never 100% completed any Genshin area or region, 100% COMPLETED THE FONTAINE 4.0 AREA IN A WEEK, it think that says something about how far we've come from the early days.
There will be talk of 4.0 spoilers under the cut so be warned!!
Funny enough, I've never made a post like this since 2021 when Inazuma went live. Mostly for a lot of personal reasons (college courses, moving away from home, etc.) and how i felt about the game post-Inazuma / pre-Sumeru wasn't exactly positive. Plus the initial backlash Sumeru had soured my mood to the point i was just playing through the game just for the sake of it. But that was before the Archon quest finished, and while I'm not going to talk about Sumeru's exploration aspect (no one mention tunnels in the desert to me ever again), The Archon quest was a MASSIVE improvement and showed how the story of Genshin can be good when they take their time. It did make me hope the next region would take a page from how Sumeru handles it's characters. Besides that tangent, So what is it about Fontaine that's making it so fun?
Well for starters, the water exploration is VERY fun. Even without Fontaine characters the atmosphere and just overall game-play feels smooth and easy to control. I found myself mindlessly swimming around just taking it all in. It's probably also why I felt motivated to 100% the area since 4.0's area is small and feasible to do.
Surprising no one, Genshin's soundtrack for Fontaine is fantastic as always. I could pinpoint some songs the 4.0 livestream played but the rest are still beautiful to listen too. Especially the vocals in the underwater tracks or even just the songs that play in Fontaine's countryside.
Staking a page out of Sumeru's Archon Quest, the first two acts of Chapter 4 really set a new high bar. Mostly because they mystery of why the Nation of Justice treats trials like a spectacle plus the the looming threat of the entire nation being flooded and dissolved away with only Focalors remaining makes for a chilling mystery.
As a fan of Ace Attorney (and Danganronpa unfortunately/lh) the trials section are so much fun to play thru. The way we get to piece it all together, granted with not much penalty, felt like we were uncovering a case before our eyes. And hey! the traveler got to talk some more! also shoutout to Paimon's Groucho glasses staying for that 1st half.
Even though Genshin is no strangers to killing off NPC's at this point, something about how the methods of murder are done here feel eerie. From the jumpscare of the Box being crushed with someone inside to the fact PEOPLE IN FONTIANE JUST, DISSOLVE? so there was a Serial Killer going out murdering girls in a way that leaves nothing behind is very scary to think about even with the lack of blood and gore onscreen.
Of course the real stars of the show are the Fontaine characters we have already met. It's nice to finally see Lyney & Lynette after the Teyvat Trailer showed them nearly 3 years ago, and their dynamic is so nice to see (even if Lyney is rizzing us up lmao). I also love the direction they're going with Navia, Clorinde, and even Neuvillette with how they came across from the teasers.
As the 5th Archon we've met, I already love Furina's personality and dynamic she's got with the traveler. We haven't had an Archon whose been an outright rival to us since they've either been helpful to us from the get-go (Venti, Zhongli, & Nahida) or or straight up tried to kill us for exisiting (Raiden Shogun / Ei). Furina not only is committed to acting al high and mighty every chance she gets, but also really seems to want to show off how grand she is. I also love how we get to see a lil' bit into her psyche and how underneath that bravado she's really just scared her people will judge her if she didn't act like a god fit for the land of Justice. which makes me really excited how were going to convince her to devolve info about the traveler's twin.
Less serious but i love that Arlecchino is called the "Father" and is King in her home we love a GNC queen <3. That being said I am a bit excited to how they portray her since the way Lyney and Lynette talk of her is very much rose-colored since she saved them from horrific circumstances and they trust her with their life, but that remains to be seen
But if that's what I think is good, whats some stuff I think could have been better?
Even though the water exploration is fun, I wouldn't say the puzzles and some of the underwater power are balanced. The Bullet Barnacles took me way to long to figure out before i took too much damage and since underwater you done have access to hearing other than specific areas your characters are just dead until you revive them. Plus the Sonar you get from the Seals feels weaker to use then say the Crab or Manta Ray power-ups. Plus the time trials and such are just your normal fair for genshin 'secrets'
The Pneuma and Ousia mechanic for the Meka enemies feels a little janky in combat. Maybe because from the start we only have Lyney & Lynette (and the Hydro Traveler) that can use this system right now make be why, but the targeting on certain Meka enemies looks like they hit them with the correct energy but doesn't stun them. Maybe it'll get better once we have more Fontaine characters but for now it's just another combat mechanic.
This is more of a nitpick, but there's one story moment that has one of the worse timing in Genshin. You've prob seen how people reacted to the Traveler seemingly random hostility towards finding out Lyney & Lynette are Fatui (or at least part of a Fatui household since House of Hearth raises Fatuus Soldiers), and normally that would make sense since they spent an entire trial trying to defend them but that omission of crucial info almost cost them the case. BUT, from the players perspective not only hours before were they JUST friendly to Childe, a Fatui Harbringer that despite being friends they are still wary of and now suddenly is willing to treat him like any old friend now in Fontaine makes it come across as cruel to the twins and weird in context. Why would the traveler, whose a twin themselves, show a lack of compassion two twins that opened their heart about their (surprisingly dark) backstory? It's not a horrible choice but it's definitely a weird writing choice in this instance. Especially since you have to finish Act's I & II to seen Lyney's Story Quest, and the traveler is somehow okay with them now? It's just weirdly timed is all.
I need more Freminet PLEASE I JUST WANNA SEE THE BOY!!
That's pretty much all I got. Hopefully I'm more hopeful of Fontaine's hype to the end, especially with how great Sumeru's story quest went. So we'll just have to wait & see what 4.1 and 4.2 gives us!
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Monday: Some Swimming, Mountain-Biking, and Hiking!
At around 10 a.m. on Monday morning, we arrived to a large swimming pool complex in Schladming, one of these great public places with indoor and outdoor slides and lap-swim lanes and kiddie pools. It took a little while to figure out where we were supposed to park, and what our summercards included (or didn’t) in terms of fees we needed to pay, but once we all got our suits on and got to the pool, Eric proceeded to do a good lap-swim and the kids did lots of splashing and swimming and playing – and like “a hundred” rides down the slide. What Eric loved most was that the pool had a metal bottom, with some bumps for traction, and the sides were metal, too. Eric thought it was radical and Cece thought it was somewhat creepy—because with the metal bottom, the underwater scene looked like the vastness of the deep.
After swimming, we went and parked the car at the parking garage by the Planai ski area and then, Eric and Rowan went to get their bikes and full-body protection. We had to go through several steps in order to get our gondola tickets and for Eric and Rowan to get different mountain-biking gondola tickets . . . and figure out what part of both was covered by our summercards. Once we had it all sorted out (and I scratched my head about the apparent habit of travelers in these parts of just cutting in front of people in line or just standing almost literally on them), we all boarded the same gondola, all four of us plus the two bikes and we went up the mountain. We made a rookie mistake of getting off at the halfway point. Once outside, we were like, wait, this thing continues to go up, and so we got back on.
Once at the top, Cece and I explored “Hopsiland,” with the mascot of a rabbit, which was the play area and extensive kid-play infrastructure built out at the mountain top. Cece and I checked out a lot of the play-spots, but her favorite was the zipline. We decided we were going to hike down to the halfway point and then get apple strudel at the restaurant at the halfway gondola station. We had noticed on a sign during our mistaken disembarkation from the gondola that they would have that.
It was really confusing to me which trails were hiking trails and which were mountain-biking ones, though most of the mountain-biking ones were very obvious, not only for their physical features (berms and jumps) but also for the fact that this mountain-biking setting was super-duper busy, so we probably would’ve been smushed in short order if we’d actually tried walking on a mountain-biking trail. So, because I couldn’t identify an actual hiking trail for Cece and me, we just took off down a ski run, tramping through the wildflowers, but not really, because we decided to follow some car-tracks (probably tractor-tracks, actually). We got to a trail-junction and a gravel road, and took a left. We encountered a tiny lake we’d seen from the gondola and then I noticed Eric had called me. I called him back and he said he’d meet us at the mid-way restaurant. Conveniently, this lake was kind of a popular stopping point and we saw other hikers (and Eric and Rowan sailing over us in the gondola overhead!), so I followed some other hikers and checked my All Trails app, and it became much clearer at that point which trails were exclusively for hiking.
We got ourselves on a hiking trail—and you know what else we discovered? All of those Austrian-flag spray-painted signs on trees and rocks, which we noticed at the Dachstein Glacier, are actually hiking trail markers--and it was super helpful once that fact was verified by Reddit and we confidently trucked on down the mountain! Once we got to the midway gondola, we only had to wait about five minutes for Rowan and Eric to turn up. They had had such a fun time! Eric was so excited by Rowan’s mountain-biking and his resilience and keep-on-truckin’ attitude. But, Rowan was thirsty! The mountain bikes did not have bottle cages, so we went over to the restaurant for our apple strudel, and Eric and Rowan both got very large waters. And the apple strudels were gorgeous! And the view from their whole-wall-sized windows was amazing! Setting up right below us outside the window were nearly a dozen paragliders. Eric helped me finish my apple strudel and then he went on his way down the mountain on his bike, because Rowan said he was too exhausted to ride more. So, we sat there, as Rowan slowly, apply chunk by apple chunk, finished his strudel and we watched about 6 paragliders launch and sail across the valley. It was amazing to see!
After watching the paragliders for a while and finishing his strudel, Rowan felt recharged and ready to ride down and meet Cece and me at the bottom; he rode down alone and had a great time, even though he said he had a little crash. Cece and I rode the gondola down and then, soon after, Rowan showed up and we returned his bike and walked again through the quaint village center. For some reason, Rowan started to get very irritated with Cece –for walking and swinging her arms in a way that did not please him—so he became less pleasant to be around. Within twenty minutes, Eric was back down too, and we went into the Billa grocery store to buy a few things to enhance our dinner, as we needed to use nearly everything we had in the fridge on Monday night to prepare to fly to Helsinki on Tuesday. So, we bought an avocado (avocado toast, here we come!), some hummus, and Rowan was indulged by me buying him some sushi.
We got home and chatted with our host Christoph for a while, and Cece heart-eyed the cats she saw around our Airbnb’s yard. She was outside, eyeing them, for quite some time while I made dinner (and almost burned the leftover linguini on the induction stovetop; luckily Eric was inside while I was on the deck talking to Christoph!). We all ate dinner – a real smorgasbord—and then Cece, Eric, and I went on a 2.5-mile walk along the river trail, while Rowan finished his book. I accidentally let the kids stay up rather late again, because I was super preoccupied with packing, rather than haranguing them to go.to.bed!!!! They did, though, and Eric and I got to bed at our usual, too-late, hour.
I want to mention before signing off that there are so many different kinds of tourists in Schladming, though we heard no other American voices and only a few British ones. There were lots of tourists from Arab nations, it would appear, or perhaps they were tourists from throughout Europe, and Austria even, who were observant Muslims with regard to their dress. What was a “new one” for us on this trip was that at Schladming we saw a really large group of Hasidic Jewish tourists from Israel—I am presuming. The children in the group (and there were a lot of children) were wearing fluorescent green shirts (for the boys) and pink (for the girls) that said, in English on the front and Hebrew on the back, “Good Energy Schladming 2023.” I was so curious what that tour was all about! For us, Schladming was pretty out of the way and a real “shot in the dark” in terms of a place to travel to, since all we knew about it was internet mentions of it as a great place to hike in Austria (which is totally was), but now that we’ve been, we know it’s very popular for good reason and is pretty easy to access for those coming from Munich, which is such a major international air-travel hub.
And, now, as I write this from the car en route to the Munich airport, we have about six days left on this adventure—all of which will be in Helsinki. I will write about our travel day in my next post, which included a one-hour pitstop in Salzburg, in the pouring rain!
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when you start writing for ushijima >>>>>>>>>>>>>
can you tell im begging?
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inevitable | u. wakatoshi
➳ tags ;; fluff n smut, getting together, first times together, unprotected sex, intentional lower case 18+
➳ wc ;; 1.9k (WHAT THE FUCK)
➳ a/n ;; ask n u shall recieve (i had rlly bad brainrot tn actually)
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if you had to describe ushijima wakatoshi in one word, you think the word you would chose is inevitable.
in·ev·i·ta·ble | /inˈevidəb(ə)l/ adjective certain to happen; unavoidable
of all the ways you could describe a person, it's probably not the best word. you could think of a laundry list of other ones to describe - really. hard-working, dependable, strong-willed, mindful, cautious. he's a lot of things and you think that's why he's so good at what he does. he's powerful but he he's brilliant at where he uses that power.
you would also use words like that to describe him, if you had too. if you had to give someone the run-down of wakatoshi - you could probably give them a whole speech about his accolades. he's probably the kindest person you know and he does that mostly on accident. he helps little old ladies carry groceries and lets your niece climb his arms like monkey bars with the most plain look on his face.
he's a lot of things - funny on accident, charming on purpose. but of all the things he is - to you, the thing he is most, is inevitable.
it's not hard for you to admit that you weren't exactly.. welcoming to ushijima when you first met him. you were a barista and he was well.. a big, pro-athlete who came to buy straight dark coffee every morning. after his work-outs (or what you figured was workouts since he always looked pretty sweaty) he bought himself precisely one pastry and a bottle of water and went about his day.
and it went like that for months. obviously you found him handsome - the way you could basically autopilot your shifts but completely broke down when he was there was evidence of that. he was tall, broad, handsome and nice. the kind of man who meets your grandmother, you think.
he always asked about you and you gave him short answers. too nervous to elaborate but he made you anyways, somehow and some way. and he comes back to you every week with details of your life you'd only mention in passing. he'd chuckle - a soft little smile at the way your eyes went wide. for someone so dense, he wasn't all that out of touch when it came to you. one morning your hands trembling just a little more than normal when you hand him back his change
(he tells you later he paid in cash just to see you stumble)
and he asks you with a plain look. observant.
"do i make you nervous?"
that's when you knew, really. you stood no chance against the all-consuming force that was and is ushijima wakatoshi. the subtlety and nuance in all of his actions left you worse for wear and any suspicions you had about how he might be treating you were to be confirmed much later down that line.
he's dense in the same way avocadoes are fruit. it's true, technically - but in a lot of ways and functionally it's just not the same. you think that the better word to use for him is selectively intelligent - like he doesn't bother thinking about anything that doesn't interest him for more than two minutes. but on the rare occasion it does interest him, i.e how you interest him - he becomes some kind of expert.
you've always been a little stubborn when it came to love. heartbreak does that to you - and you were overly cautious with ushijima. you let your heart walk on eggshells. you didn't let his gestures or touches or glances mean anything to you. you didn't let yourself be swayed by the smell of his cologne - sweet and woodsy on the back of your throat. not by the way he placed his hand on your lower back to walk past you on days off.
and when he took you out, to see the movies and stargaze, you told yourself it isn't a date. you tried your best really. because there is something really unbelievable about ushijima wakatoshi liking you - beyond the fact that he's some pro-athlete.
there's something about him that's a little unreal. not that he's perfect, but that all of his flaws make him more attractive. it almost bothers you but he doesn't seem to understand when you give him those lengthy explanations. hands making all types of gestures, flustered as he smiles. he doesn't take anything from your little lecture that day, just gives you a once over as he drives you home.
"oh, so you find me attractive?"
you didn't stand a chance. he was, and is, inevitable. everything about him has this powerful but subtlety all-consuming nature to him. you think the best way to think of it is like letting yourself float. the way you release the weigh in your body and inevitable give into letting it hold you. even if waves came - you'd probably stay in that state.
ushijima is like that. a constant presence and overwhelming force. you get swayed without even thinking. he could probably become president, if he really wanted. lucky for everyone else, he just wants to play volleyball. you think that it's a shame in equal parts that it's a gift but you digress.
the point is that you could never really be away from ushijima. and as hard as you tried to avoid the growing affection - you find that ushijima is always a few steps ahead. always reaching far beyond you with big, strong hands.
you try so hard, to avoid the inevitable. you do it with your whole soul. you're honestly just.. intimated. you've never felt something like him before - not once in your whole life. you're afraid of what'll happen when you succumb to the waves so you dodge the deep sea for weeks and weeks.
he found you after your shift one day after 3 weeks of dry texting and avoided phone calls. wearing a suit and a purple shirt and a nice watch, he has flowers too. and you're in.. a barista uniform with tousled everything and smudged mascara.
inevitable is really the only word. as you stop dead in your tracks, and as ushijima pulls you aside with the mostly gentlemanly smile. you kind of wanna cry when you look at him.
"i've waited a long time but i don't think i can much longer,"― he shifts a little. he almost looks nervous - it's the first time you've ever seen him look anything but overwhelmingly confident ― "i like you and i'd like to be with you,"
he doesn't really offer you much other than a confession and his hands. the frustrating thing is that he doesn't need to. it's the first time he's seen you cry but he handles you well, does it easily like he does everything else. like somehow he's just good at it, soothes you while you sob into his chest and melt into his presence and let yourself fall underwater.
in a probably not so surprising turn of events, you find that ushijima fucks with the same approach that he does most other things.
with careful consideration that seems effortlessly. it makes you feel a little hopeless that he feels good at everything. even at comforting you.
the first time you have sex, you take off his shirt for him. and he takes your hand and puts it up to his chest. gives you the most gentle look. his heart-beat is rapid.
"you make me .. nervous too. just so you know,"
the one thing about ushijima is that everything about him is big and wide and broad. he kisses you like he's trying to circle the solar system - there's a slowness to it. a vastness as he has you seated in his lap with his hands exploring up your body. his hands are everywhere. he's good with them. not too gentle but not too rough as the spread your thighs open.
he cups your pussy and it fits in his whole palm. his middle finger teases your slit as his kisses travel south, down your jaw and onto your neck. they latch onto your chest with a little breathless sigh - like he can't even breathe. it makes you clench when he talks to you - raspy.
"you're.... beautiful,"
he makes you shy. so shy as you lean forward a little and rock into his hand - a burning need nipping at you. and his eyes widen and his cock stiffens and his breath hitches and you think this is the first time you've caught him off-guard before. you wanna bask in it but you're too desperately so you latch onto his lips again.
ushijima does everything right. with knowledge in it. he kisses you and sucks on your tits and plays with your clit with this.. knowing. he likes seeing you fall apart he thinks. he likes how you get when he takes it much slower than he needs too - how he drags you through one orgasm to another with this lithe. he lets you lean over his shoulder when he fingers you - and his two fingers stretch you out like four of your own.
his cock is big. bigger than you think any person could ever take. you stare at it for a long while, gaping at it. your hands barely fit around it and that image burns itself into ushijimas brain like a permanent memory. your mouth falls open and your eyes look hazy and ushijima thinks that he's never wanted to be inside of something so bad before.
"it's so big," ― you whisper, hoarse ― "i-it won't fit,"
"i'll make it fit," ― is his only reply, kissing the crown of your head ― "sit tight,"
he does, by the way. make it fit. he makes it fit good - makes it stretch your pussy out but you don't feel like you'll break. there's a little pressure inside, and your clit swells with desire and blood - but it fits. and his eyes are glued to the way your cute little cunt seems to be swallowing him like it's nothing. it's enough to make him lose his mind.
"c-can i move?"
you nod and he does. slow at first. he draws the noise from you - a slow and soft moan leaving your lips as he drags his cock in and out of you. but it gets faster, goes much faster than you thought it could.
eventually he has you bouncing in his lap, on his cock, with such force that you feel like you can't breathe. it feels unbelievable, sets off a supernova in your gut like at any moment you could come undone. you feel like you're breaking and ushijima doesn't help, soft grunts and whispered affections.
"you're so beautiful," and "im so happy" that make you feel dizzy. you'd probably give him anything he asks for. he bounces you on his cock and lets his thumb just rest on your clit and you're so close you can almost taste it.
"cum for me," ― like he's begging ― "please,"
what choice do you have anyways? you cum on his cock with a silent scream, like your voice is tearing a blackhole into space and you shudder while he holds you in place. he finishes only seconds afterwards.
"did it feel good?"
you give him a wide-eyed look. he's dense at times. you don't know how to hate him for it so you just sigh and nod, cozying to him.
"y..yeah,"
he kisses your forehead, sweaty and tired.
"good,"
yeah. you were right.
you never had a single chance of winning against him.
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#WHY DID THIS GET SO LONG WHAT THE FUCK#return to sender#ushijima x reader#haikyuu x reader#prettyboy.thirsts#formal#writing tag#IM GONNA BE SICK HOW DID THIS EVEN HAPPEN#haikyuu smut#ushijima smut
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Siren Song (Song Mingi)
Ateez Masterlist Group Masterlist
A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINGI!!!!! I hope he has an amazing day
I wrote this being incredibly inspired and I quite like how it turned out so please let me know what you think
Tags: Pirate au! Mingi x Fem siren! Reader, death, nudity, alcohol
Smut tags: Quite soft, explorative, Mingi is curious, oral (reader receiving), passionate sex, body worship, a lot of kissing, cumming inside
Word count: 6177
Sirens, they were a beautiful myth. A story that sailors told to convince themselves they weren’t going mad at sea. A legend... if that’s what you believed in.
But they weren’t a legend, they were very real. Some pirates and sailors would tell you that, tell you their stories. That they had heard their beautiful songs at sea and were almost lured in. Although not many, if any believed them. Being a pirate or at sea for a long period of time makes a man lose his credibility. However sirens, were very very real.
Mingi was new to the boat, a fresh faced, wide eyed, young man who was ready to see the world. Becoming a pirate wasn’t something he had planned, it’s not something anyone truly plans. But society had failed him, because of his status. Being accused of something he didn’t do and found guilty, he didn’t have a choice but to run. Mingi feared nothing more than death, if he was caught he’d surely be hanged.
No, becoming a pirate was never what he had planned. After running, he stowed away on a goods ship and somehow found himself in a pirate hotspot. Surrounded by pillagers, murderers and some things even possibly worse, he was terrified. Until a cheery man approached him named Kim Hongjoong, had a proposition for him, an offer to get Mingi out of there and give him a family. A man in his position could hardly say no.
Now he was here, staring over the rails of the ship as they sailed slowly over misty water. He hadn’t been on waters like this in his entire life. They were filled with mystery, so much so it gave Mingi the feeling of fear in the pit of his stomach.
“Carefull, lean over too far and you might fall in.” Yunho joked as he placed some crates on the deck. “I could’ve sworn I saw-” “You saw something in the water? Not uncommon in these parts.” Yunho told the younger, watching his expression shift. Mingi was a bit paranoid, you had to be when you’re life took a turn the way his did.
“It’s common here?” Mingi asked, feeling a wave of security flow over him. He was just relieved to know he wasn’t the only one seeing things. “Very common. Don’t scare him Yunho, you were just as scared as him the first time you came here.” Captain Hongjoong’s voice startled the both of them, making them whip their heads around. ���Sorry captain, I couldn’t help myself.” Yunho apologized and the captain shook his head with a smile. “Go bring those crates down to storage, Yeosang is waiting on them.” Yunho wasn’t one to disobey orders, so he grabbed them and left.
“Don’t let them make you crazy. Or this part of the sea. I’ve known plenty of men who’ve gone crazy in these parts. I like you Mingi, don’t let yourself become one of them.” Hongjoong placed his hand on the younger’s back and watched as he smiled at him. “I won’t, Captain.” Mingi laughed slightly, feeling more at ease by the second. Hongjoong smiled at him in return before going to walk away, only to turn back at the last moment. “If you hear the sweet song of a woman, ignore it.”
All that ease Mingi felt suddenly disappeared at those words, because well he didn’t quite understand what he meant. Siren’s weren’t common knowledge or a local myth in the town he grew up in.
Scared, the man backed away from the railing and carried on with his tasks. Ignoring any sound that came from anywhere other than the ship. He was so immensly paranoid now , but there was also something in the back of his mind that his crew mates were just messing with him.
That evening, he found himself drinking with Wooyoung and San, admittedly his first mistake. He didn’t know how it was possible but with those two, he found himself drinking way more than he normally would. At least he was a happy drunk, cheery as ever this way and almost forgetting the reason he was there in the first place. The crew felt like real friends however, similar to one’s he had before running away so he didn’t quite have the right to complain.
Mingi placed his bottle down on the deck and swayed over to the side of the boat. He felt like he was going to be sick, not that Wooyoung and San would’ve noticed. No they had long fallen asleep like the rest of the crew
Leaning over the deck, he looked at the black water. It was terrifying to him because of how deep it was. He couldn’t see anything, just a sea of black surrounding him. If he wasn’t nauseous before, he most definitely was now.
When he looked back at the water, he wasn’t expecting to see eyes looking back at him. Let alone warm eyes, full of life, blinking at him from the water. It was a woman seemingly bobbing along and just watching him. He could only see her face and he wasn’t even sure he was actually seeing it.
“It’s the alcohol.” He mumbled to himself, blinking and rubbing his eyes. But she didn’t disappear from sight. As a matter of fact, it seemed like she had swam closer. “Are you a pirate?” Her voice was smooth, warm in contrast to the brisk air and it made her all the more real. Mingi was frozen, just staring back at her with wide eyes and taking in the details.
It seemed like she was surrounded by light, it reflected off of her damp skin as she raised her head and body more. Now exposing her bare shoulders, he realised she wasn’t wearing any clothing and averted his eyes, but only for a moment. He had caught something out of the corner of his eye, something silver that reflected the moon light.
It was a shiny, silver tail that practically glowed. The closer he looked, the more he noticed that it was attached to her and well the more his fear rose. Though he wasn’t sure what the fear stemmed from, if it was not knowing what this creature was, or that he thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
“What are you?” He asked, staring at her with an intrigued expression. Mingi couldn’t help but get goosebumps as she laughed, throwing her head back and expelling the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. “That’s not a very kind question... though in hind sight I asked you the same thing.” She said, lifting her hands to move her long wet hair from her face. This left her body even more exposed to him, as she bobbed along the water. Though she didn’t seem fazed by it one bit.
“How about this, you answer my question and I’ll answer yours?” She rebutted and Mingi stood with his mouth agape. “Alright.” He barely choked out and watched as she disappeared under the water, only to appear closer to the ship again. Now that she was closer, he could see her face better and he felt himself get nervous. She was beautiful, an ethereal being.
“Are you a pirate?” She asked again, a curious smile on her face as she looked up at him. “I am.” Mingi responded, watching as she clapped her hands in joy. “Oh I do so much like pirates. So much more interesting than fishermen.” Her eyes sparkled as she spoke and Mingi was lost, as if she had cast spell. “Their stories are so much more interesting.” She added on before locking eyes with him once more.
“Your turn.” She smiled at him and Mingi dried his hands on his pants, the situation had caused a cold sweat to form. “What are you?” His question was simple, yet still made the woman laugh again. “Surely a pirate knows a siren when he sees one, though if that was the case you probably would’ve tried to kill me.” She rambled as her tail splashed the dark water lightly. “A siren?” Mingi asked, not quite having heard the word before. “A siren... surely you’ve heard of them. You must be quite new to sea.” She said softly, the young pirate intrigued her.
“Tell me your name, handsome pirate.” She asked softly and Mingi felt himself doubt whether he should tell her. She somehow managed to see right through him, however she called him handsome and that made a feeling bubble in the pit of his stomach. “Mingi.” He said it softly, merely a whisper, one he didn’t think she could hear. “Mingi.” She repeated much to his surprise. “Mingi... I like the way that feels to say.” She added on and he leaned down a bit more, trying to get closer to her.
“Mingi, make sure to ask your crew about sirens.” She giggled before disappearing underwater, only to appear further away. Mingi’s heart sank, not wanting her to go, not yet. “Wait! Wait! At least tell me your name!” He called out to her, watching as she halted once more. She turned to look at him and with small laugh, she told him. “Y/N, my name is Y/N.”
Mingi couldn’t find sleep, not at all after that. There was question in his mind whether all that he saw that night really happened. He had drank a lot and he had been at sea longer than ever before. It must’ve been a dream, a vision even. You were a dream, a vision.
“Did you drink that much last night?” Captain Hongjoong asked, staring at his younger crew mate. He was gazing off into the distance, eyes small due to lack of sleep and hands restless. “No, I just couldn’t sleep.” Mingi admitted, not quite wanting to ask anyone about what he had seen. But if anyone would tell him seriously, it would be the captain.
“What’s bothering you?” The man could tell when something was bothering his crew and it was incredibly obvious that something was bothering him. “It’s just something San and Wooyoung said yesterday...” “I told you not to listen to their stories.” The captain laughed and Mingi shook his head. “No, I just- what are sirens?” Mingi choked out the question, the thing that had been on his mind all night. Hongjoong wasn’t expecting the question to lead here, he thought the man knew.
“You don’t know? I thought you did when I made my comments yesterday.” He watched as the younger shook his head. “Well, many think they’re legend. I suppose I understand why, the brain refuses to believe what it can’t see. But they are very much real.” He paused and Mingi was starting to become scared. Maybe it was his captain’s tone of voice, or maybe it was the validation that you weren’t a figment of his imagination.
“They’re beautiful beings, more beautiful than any of the other evil things put on this earth. Top half of a beautiful woman and the bottom half a tail. Not to mention their voices, they lure sailor men in with their song and beauty. Only to drag them to bottom of the ocean and drown them. Most sailors fall for it, they just want a kiss from the beautiful thing so that when they go back home they have a story to tell. Fools, can’t blame the creatures for doing it.” Mingi was mortified at his captain’s words. To think he found you to be the most beautiful thing in the world. The prettiest things were the deadliest, that was what Mingi was starting to learn.
Mingi took the words as warning, if you appeared again he wasn’t going to give you the time of day. At least that’s what he told himself. Despite the tale, he wanted to see you again. So badly, he found himself dreaming about you. His eyes deceived him as stared out at the sea, he could have sworn he saw the sunlight reflect off of your silver tail.
But he had to push the to the side, there was an island incomming. It was nothing more than a small island, no living thing in sight. Nothing but beaches and trees, good enough to hunt and good enough to make sure the men didn’t go crazy on board. Which meant everyone around was scrambling around and preparing to drop the anchor.
His eyes were glued on the water as they rowed to shore. Mingi was entirely sure he would never see you again, they had travelled quite far in the last 2 days and well it’s not like you had a reason to stick around. He was sure of it, but he didn’t want to be right.
The plan was to stay on the island over night, sleep in the tree line and then go back in the morning once they had gathered enough and hunted enough. Simple enough.
Well, night rolled around quickly and the crew was sound asleep. Everyone except Mingi, no he had hardly slept a wink since you visited him. He simply laid in his hammock and counted the stars through the tree tops. That was until he heard a song. An absolutely heavenly voice coming from the shore.
Mingi knew he shouldn’t have gotten up, he knew it. But there was a chance that it was you and he just couldn’t help himself. He wanted to see you again, despite what his captain had told him.
The sand crunched beneath his boots as he slowly walked over to the shore line, scanning the beach and looking for the source of the voice. Looking over, he could see a group of rocks and on top of the largest one, he spotted it. That familiar glow of your tail in the moonlight and the way you looked up at the sky and sang.
Waling slowly, he listened to your song and your beautiful voice as you stared at the night sky. The closer he got, the more he found his chest aching. He couldn’t tell if it was with fear or desire and that line got more blurred the closer he got.
“Mingi!” Your voice was cheery when you noticed him approaching you and it was accompanied with an enthousiastic wave. “Surely Y/N isn’t as malicious as Hongjoong told me.” He thought to himself as he stood in front of the rock. You were as beautiful as ever, sitting in front of him.
“I was hoping you’d be the one to come and find me.” She teased, a soft smirk on her lips as Mingi tried not to gawk at you. “You’re even more handsome up close.” She added on and he felt himself get nervous. “You told me to ask my crew what a siren was. I did.” Mingi told you, playing with his hands so he had something else to look at. “Hmm and what did they tell you?” You were staring at him, truly wanting him to look at you again.
When Mingi finally brought his eyes back to you, he noticed that your tale was gone, now showing a pair of legs and a very, very bare body. “How?-” He stuttered and you laughed, loving the surprise on his face. “They apparently didn’t tell you everything. if we’re dry and on land, we have legs.” You explained, watching as his eyes trailed over your body.
“Are you going to kill me?” Mingi asked, finding it better to be straightforward from this point on. It’s better to have feigned confidence than nothing at all. “No. You fascinate me. I don’t kill the things that fascinate me.” You were so blunt about it, raking your hands through your hair. “Come here, pirate and tell me your story. It’s not every day a pirate doesn’t know the legend of a siren. Whether they believe it or not.” Mingi was caught off guard, not sure what to do. The sea was far enough away, which comforted him because he knew you couldn’t drown him on this rock.
He moved to sit across from you on the rock and tried to avoid staring at your bare body, averting his eyes before shrugging off his vest and handing it to you. “I’m sorry, I’m having a hard time concentrating.” Mingi stuttered, you smiled at him though and an odd feeling shot through your chest. “Most sailors would simply enjoy.” You said and slipped the clothing over your shoulders. Mingi shook his head, a small smile now forming over his own lips. “It’s not that I don’t enjoy it.” He clarified and looked at you wearing his clothes. You were beautiful.
“You’re a different type of man, Mingi.” Why his name sounded so good coming from your lips, he had no idea. But it was absolutely addicting.
“How did you end up out here?” You asked, stretching your legs and leaning back. You loved a good story, where as your sisters didn’t quite like talking but preferred a siren’s typical methods.
“This wasn’t how my life was supposed to be, I wasn’t supposed to end up here.” Mingi had te delve deep for a moment. Sure some of the crew knew his story, but it wasn’t something he told just anyone.
“I lived in a town that was quite progressive, I worked under and iron smith as an apprentice. I did good, I was a good man and i just tried to make it by like anyone else.” You watched as he spoke, taking in his details and tone. He was sad. “I never tried to hurt anyone and if I did it wasn’t on deliberate. But my master, he wasn’t good. He actively tried hurting people, especially ones he hated and he didn’t hate anyone more than his own daughter. I never understood why, she was pretty, kind and well liked among the town but he hated her.” Mingi had to pause, remembering that time, remembering the sweet girl that was always so nice to him when he worked.
“I came into the shop one day and found her, dead on the ground, strangled. Her father did it and pinned it on me. Claiming that I ‘always watched her when she was around’ and that I was ‘just wait for a chance to be alone with her’. I-” Mingi was cut off when a tear dropped from his eyes. You had placed your hand on his chin, wiping it away with your thumb. “You never touched her.” You said softly, scanning his face. “I never did, They were going to hang me for something I didn’t do. I had to run.” You continued to wipe the tears from his face, moving onto your knees to get closer to him.
“And that’s how you ended up here.” You had heard many sad stories in your life, but none of the men had seemed nearly as regretful as Mingi did in this moment. Your hand moved from his chin to his cheek, taking in his handsome features. Even when he was upset, he was handsome. Sharp jawline coupled with a sharp nose and pillowy lips. Definitely one of the more handsome men at sea.
“You know in your heart that you didn’t do it.” You said softly, moving your fingers to thread through his hair. Mingi found himself staring at your face, taking note of your sympathetic face. Surely you weren’t the murderous creature he was told you were.
“My sisters aren’t fond of men, they kill them for sport. But I like hearing the stories, it takes a lot to drive a man out to sea.” You explained and gently pulled his face closer to yours. Mingi felt himself sink into your touch, allowing you to guide him into laying down with his face settled in the crook of your neck. Your skin was soft under his touch and his hands found your waist to hold onto as he relaxed. Your nails scraped over his scalp lightly, making him hum.
“You have a pure soul.” You said softly, enjoying his touch. Mingi didn’t know what had gotten into him, he had went from being scared of you to being held by you and well he was enjoying it. Your touch was comforting.
Your legs tangled with his, fingers still running through his hair. “Go to sleep Mingi. Dawn is almost upon us.” You whispered, kissing his forehead and allowing him to lul to sleep. Mingi had let his guard down fully for you and as ridiculous as it sounded, he was falling in love.
The hours in your arms, were the best hours he had ever slept. Being in such a deep dream that he didn’t think even an earthquake could wake him. He dreamt that he was underwater and absolutely weightless. Just floating under the surface of chrystal clear water. You were swimming circles around him, silver tail catching the rays of light from the sun as you did so. He felt as if he was one with the ocean.
It wasn’t until the feeling of something pushing him (quite roughly) woke him up and brought him back to reality. “Jesus Christ Mingi, we thought you’d be killed by something. What are you doing all the way out here?” Wooyoung’s voice was shrill as he yelled to wake Mingi up. “Huh?” He shot up from his position on the rock, looking around frantically for you. But you were nowhere to be found and well, neither was his vest.
“What are you doing out here?” Wooyoung asked again and Mingi shook his head, needing to come up with a response and fast. “I uhh couldn’t sleep last night, went for a walk and then sat down here. Guess I fell asleep.” He cleared his throat and blinked at his friend. “You’ve been acting strange Mingi. Are you alright?” He asked, voice full of concern. Mingi never acted this odd, Wooyoung was worried.
“I’m fine, just haven’t been sleeping properly.” He admitted and ran his fingers through his hair. Your touch was still lingering on his skin, he could feel you everywhere.
“Captain wants to stay here one more night, founds some caves and a lake he wants to check out.” Wooyoung explained and Mingi nodded. “Alright, I’ll be around in a bit.” Mingi said softly, needing a moment to process some things. Where had you gone?
He had managed to pull himself together, rejoining the crew in exploring the island. Traipsing through the trees, he looked around the area and took it in. One thing he could admit was that he never would have seen half of the beautiful things he had if he had stayed in his village, you included. He couldn’t take that for granted, especially not as he was standing in front of a small waterfall that fell into a small crystal clear lake.
“Wow.” He said quietly, feeling Hongjoong clap his hand onto his back. “Not something you see everyday.” His captain said, a big smile on his face. Mingi couldn’t help but crack a smile himself, shaking his head. “Definitely not something you see everyday.” He laughed, looking over to the waterfall and laughing. The bad feeling he had had about you was gone, the bad feeling in his gut was gone. Airing his worries out to you made him feel better, things were looking up in his opinion. Maybe he would sleep properly from now on too.
The pirates made camp near the water and Mingi found himself once more staring into water. It was so clear but you couldn’t see the bottom. It was deceptively deep, someone could easily make the mistake of swimming too deep and not make it back up for air. It looked like the water from his dream.
The feeling of gentle fingertips gliding over his cheek woke him up that night. He knew his crew wouldn’t spare him the same gentle touch, it had to be you. “Wake up handsome.” Your fingertips moved from his cheek to his chin, stroking it gently as you took in features. Truly handsome.
“Where’d you go this morning?” Mingi asked, eyes opening slowly to see your face. He watched as your lips curled into smile and your eyes sparkled. “Come on.” You said softly, taking his hand into yours. Pulling Mingi from his bed, he didn’t even question it. He had decided that this island was his paradise.
“You stole my vest.” Mingi commented once they were further away from the rest of the crew. He watched you let out a hearty laugh and turn around to look at him. “I found myself quite liking it. I think i could get used to this clothing thing.” You smiled, before tugging him closer to you.
He felt his breath hitch for a moment as your chest met his, it was a natural reaction. The only thing keeping his body from yours was his vest, naturally he was flustered. Mingi pressed his chest against you, the weight of his body making you step backwards until your back hit a boulder.
“You keep calling me handsome.” Mingi remarked, his hand coming up to rest on your bare hip. It was the first time a man’s touch had made goosebumps form over your skin. “You keep calling me handsome and I don’t think I’ve told you how beautiful I think you are.” His words made you almost shiver. Of course you had heard them all before, he wasn’t your first pirate or sailor. But surely they had a different effect on you than most.
You grabbed his chin again, this time with more force than any of the other times. Mingi flinched slightly only to find your lips not inches apart from his and he took the risk. He was going to kiss a siren.
He didn’t intend to kiss you so roughly, but need took over as he pressed his lips to yours. You moved your hands to his hair and gently scratched over his scalp as he kissed you. Deepening the kiss as you did so, you could feel him hum against your lips. His hand moved up, from your hip to your waist underneath vest and his grip tightened slightly.
Mingi moved his hands down to your thighs, lifting you off the ground to lay you down on your back. The vest had shifted, being useless in covering you up at this point, so you simply took it off. He sat on his heels as you wrapped your legs around his waist, not wanting his body to leave yours. You simply looked up at him as he looked over your body, his regularly soft expression having turned dark and intense. It made heat pool inbetween your legs.
Reaching up, you undid the ties on his shirt and tugged it off of him. The action made him laugh before he leaned down and pressed his bare chest to yours. His hands moving your hair out of your face before kissing you again. This kiss was so much more intense, teeth clashing and hips rolling into yours. Not to mention the feeling of his bare skin on yours, you were infatuated with him.
His pants didn’t do much for hiding how much he enjoyed you, bulge pressing directly into your bare core. You let out a gasp at the pressure, making him nip at your lips before trailing the kisses down your jaw. He wasn’t horribly experienced but he knew enough and well he seemed to be doing just fine. That gave him a confidence boost, not to mention every little sound coming out of your mouth, boosted his confidence even more.
“Mingi-” You hummed, feeling his lips over your neck. The kisses were gentle, soft praises being whispered inbetween them. “So beautiful.” He said softly and groaned as you tugged harshly on his hair. Mingi looked you in the eyes and flashed a smile in your direction. “Where did you learn how to kiss like that?” You asked, your fingers tracing over his lips. “I had a life before this.” He chuckled before turning his face back to your skin.
His hands moved to massage your breasts, thumbs swiping over your nipples before latching his lips over one. Sucking at your skin and sending a wave of pleasure through your body and making your arch your back.
Mingi was absolutely straining in his pants now, your body was perfect to him as if you were made for him. Your soft skin, your precious lips and your gentle hands, you were everything he had always wanted.
Your fingers threading through his hair got a bit harsher the more he flicked his tongue of your nipple, you already felt like you were on fire. He moved his lips down over your stomach before stopping at before your core. This was something he had never done, but something he had always wanted to do.
Spreading your thighs a little further, he settled between your legs and wrapped his arms around them. “What are yo- Oh.” You moaned, feeling the light kiss on your core. It almost made you feel lightheaded and dizzy, as his tongue delved deeper. Licking up your juices, he couldn’t help but moan. Perhaps it was because of what you were, or maybe you truly were built for him, but you tasted sweet and addictive. He wanted more of you.
You raised your hips, guiding your core over his tongue and moaning out. “Mingi please don’t stop.” You moaned out, needing to feel that sweet sweet release. it was the way you moaned out his name, repeatedly like you were saying a prayer, he wasn’t going to stop until you came. He pulled you closer to his face, harshly and showed you that he truly wasn’t planning on stopping.
The coil in your stomach quickly burst, making your hips buck as you tried to pull away from him. The whines coming out of your mouth were music to his ears as he continued to lick over your core, lapping up every bit of your juices that he could and finally pulling away.
You looked at him as he sat on his heels again, lower part of his face glistening with your juices and breathing heavily. “Did that also get taught to you from your life before this?” You asked, sitting up to undo his pants. His arms hung at his sides and he simply let you do it for him. “Actually, I’ve never done that before.” Mingi admitted, making your actions halt. It felt entirely too good for it to have been his first time. You raised an eyebrow at him before pushing him back, making him lay on the ground.
“I feel like you’re lying to me.” You said, tugging his pants down and watching his cock spring up. “I don’t lie.” He said and you shook your head. You straddled him, your core right over his and you braced your hands on his chest. “All men lie.” You whispered, leaning down and placing a quick kiss on his lips. His hands moved to your ass and helped you sink down onto him. “I like to think I’m not like all men. Especially not what you’re used too” He groaned, finally being enveloped in you. You took a moment to let your body adjust to his, breathing through the stretch and feeling a warmth in your chest as his fingers laced with yours. It was a comforting action, to distract you from the discomfort however slight it was. Maybe Mingi wasn’t like all men.
You raised his hands over his head, pinning them there with your own as you started raising your hips. Allowing yourself to bounce on him, you felt so incredibly full. Filling you up completely and making your legs shake slightly but you put that to the side. It felt too good to stop.
Mingi was even more convinced than before that you were made for him with the way you squeezed him. You released his hands and placed yours back on his chest, needing more support as you continued to ride him. He was hitting that sweet spot inside of you with every little bit he raised his hips to meet your thrusts.
“You feel so good.” Mingi moaned out, hands pulling your chest flush against his. he planted his feet on the ground, fucking up into you and taking over. He was chasing his own high, needing a harsher pace and leaving you stuttering.
You watched his face, from his shut eyes to his clenched jaw. That alone was almost enough to make you orgasm again. You kissed his lips to hide your moans as you felt them getting louder, his crew still being only a small distance away. He kissed you in return as his own stomach filled with warmth. He was so close to release and just needed that little bit to send you both over the edge. Your hand found his hair once more, tugging it in response to a harsh thrust and that did it. His hips stuttered and deep groans left his lips as he planted himself deep inside of you. Orgasm coating your walls and sending you over the edge with him.
You lay there ontop of him, feeling incredibly full as he stroked your hair. “You are different from most men.” You mumbled softly, feeling a wave guilt come through you. “Most men don’t care the way you do.” Your words shrunk in volume even more, guilt and shame taking over you. Maybe it was guilt over your past actions, the men you had dragged to the bottom of the ocean, maybe it was about what you were going to do.
Mingi helped you get off of him, watching you lay down next to him. You rested your head on his chest and he stroked your hair. The few times he had been with someone this way, yes they had been special. But nothing quite like this, Mingi was overwhelmed with love.
“Y/N?” His tone sounded questioning, almost as unsure as the first night he had met you. “I think I might be in love with you.” He confessed, the feeling in his chest no longer being contained. He really couldn’t help himself, the last few days had been filled with you. Not just physically, but you were in his heart. You were speechless at his words, the guilt now eating you alive.
“Come with me.” You said, pushing yourself off of the ground. Mingi couldn’t care anymore, not if you were completely bare or if he was. No, he only knew he would follow you anywhere.
“Where are we going?” He asked, as you lead him towards the lake. “I feel sticky, I want to go for a swim.” You told him, hardly being able to look him in the eyes anymore. “Join me.” You added on, holding his hand gently, you stood before the water together.
“Hey.” Mingi said softly, bringing his hands up to cup your cheeks and make you look at him. You hadn’t even realised it, but tears were falling over your cheeks. “What’s wrong?” He asked, those beautiful brown eyes boring holes into your own. You had never felt this guilty before. “Nothing’s wrong...” Your voice trailed off and looked to his lips once more. You started walking forward, making him walk backwards towards the water.
He stepped in slowly, leaning forward to kiss you as he did so. “Mingi... I love you too.” You admitted, deciding that that was where the guilt stemmed from. Mingi felt his chest get warm once more, not being used to this at all but wondering how your life together could be from this point on.
He kissed you, harshly and you sighed into it before diving forward. You both fell into the water, lips still locked and you gripped his wrist. You needed to get rid of your guilt and now was better than any other time.
Mingi wasn’t entirely aware of how far down into the lake you had pulled him. Your hand wrapped around his wrist as your silver tail brought you both down towards the bottom quickly.
It wasn’t until it was already too late that Mingi realised that this was his dream. Down at the bottom of a lake, the moonlight shining down through the surface as Mingi felt absolutely weightless. You let him go and swam around him, watching him blink under the water as he watched you.
He started feeling himself go lightheaded, dizzy as his lungs started to burn. He was starting to realise that his dream wasn’t a dream, it was a warning and it was now too late. Feeling his vision go dark, the last thing he saw was that silver glimmer of your tail in the moonlight and your beautiful face.
Despite being the thing that killed him, he still thought you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
A/N: Again please let me know what you think! This is quite different from what I normally write. There will most definitely be typos but please,ignore those lmao
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Book Recs
I was gonna do one of these at the end of the year, but I’ve somehow managed to read 26 books this year already (12 novellas, 14 novels), almost all featuring queer authors and/or characters so this is already a long list.
Note: There’s a few on here I was kind of meh about, but in most of those cases it was a ‘book might be good but it’s not for me so i’ll mention it to put it on people’s radar anyway’ type of thing. Insert the usual necessary tumblr disclaimer about all of this being only my opinion and your opinions are valid too etc etc.
In order of when I read them:
Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir - Fantasy novella from the author of gideon the ninth that’s a twist on the classic princess trapped in a tower waiting for a prince story. Quite fun. (novella)
The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht - Dark fantasy about revenge and magic. m/m couple but like I said it’s pretty dark and twisted all around so definitely not a happy queer romantic story. My opinion was interesting premise that could have been executed better and probably should have been a full novel to embellish on the world building potential. (novella)
A Memory Called Empire & A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine - Probably tied with murderbot as the best things I read this year. Scifi, f/f couple, wonderfully done exploration of what it means to fall in love with a culture that is destroying your own. More of the many queer anti-imperialist books that have come out recently and certainly some of the best. The second one is a direct continuation of the first. (2 novels)
The Tyrant Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson - This is the third in the Baru Cormorant series (The Masquerade) and was my favorite so far. The second and third book were originally one book that got split I believe and the second book didn’t stand alone as well (though was still great), but the third book really made up for that. Dark fantasy world starring a queer woc whose country and culture is destroyed by the imperial forces of that world colonizing and assimilating them. She vows revenge and decides to work her way up within her enemy’s ranks to enact it from within and bring an empire to ruins. Really really fascinating study of so many different aspects of our own world and the systems which enable and allow bigotry and how bigoted and violent narratives are used to control minorities. This is definitely a darker series and I was particularly impressed with some of the commentary on the racism prevalent in non-intersectional feminism as depicted through a fantasy world. Can’t wait for the last one to come out! (3 novels, 1 forthcoming)
The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells - There’s six of them--5 novella and a novel--and the first is All Systems Red. Told from the point of view of a self-aware droid/android that is rented out by a corporation to provide protection in a dystopian capitalist hellhole future that isn’t that unlike our current capitalist dystopia but is in space. Muderbot hacked the chip that controlled it and instead of going rogue just wants to be left alone to watch its favorite tv shows. Murderbot is painfully relatable and the books are both funny and poignant. Highly recommended. (5 novellas and a novel).
Winter’s Orbit - Everina Maxwell - This was a m/m romance novel with a scifi backdrop of royal intrigue. Generally I’m more into scifi with a queer relationship in the background than vice versa, so it wasn’t my favorite, BUT I think it was still well written and someone looking for more of the romance angle would enjoy it. Has all your favorite romance tropes in it, especially the yearning. (novel)
The Divine Cities - Robert Jackson Bennett - Three book series. I’m very conflicted about this one. Set in a fantasy world where an enslaved nation overthrew the country enslaving them and now rules over them. It’s a story of what happens after the triumphant victory and within that it’s also a murder mystery tied into the dying magic of the conquered nation. It also has a six foot something naked oily viking man fist fight a cthulhu in a frozen river. The second book was by far my favorite, mostly due to the main character being brilliant. My conflict comes from the fact I don’t feel like the story treated its women and queer characters well. Like it had really great characters but it didn’t do great by them overall. That and the third book didn’t live up to the first two. But still definitely worth a read, can’t stress enough how cool some of the world building was. (3 novels)
Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant - This might be the only one on here I disliked. It’s got a doomed boat voyage and creepy underwater terror and monsters and a super diverse cast of characters, but I just didn’t enjoy the writing style. While having a diverse cast is great, there were a lot of moments where it felt like characters were pausing to explain things about themselves that felt like a tumblr post rather than a normal conversation you might have while actively being hunted by monsters. I also bounced off all the characters. But a lot of people seem to have liked it so if you’re into horror and want a book with a f/f main couple then maybe you’ll enjoy it. (novel)
Dead Djinn Universe - P. Djèlí Clark - Around the early 1900′s, a man in Egypt discovers a way to access another world and bring Djinn and mysterious clockwork beings called Angels through. As a result, Egypt tells the British to get fucked and Cairo becomes one of the most powerful cities in the world. So Egypt, magic, djinn, a steampunk-ish vibe, oh and the main character is a butch queer woman who enjoys wearing dapper suits and looking fabulous while she investigates supernatural events. Her girlfriend is also mysterious and badass. And she has a cat. There’s three novella (one of which technically might be considered a short story) and then the first novel. You should absolutely read the novellas first (A Dead Djinn in Cairo, The Angel of Khan el-Khalili, The Haunting of Tram Car 015). Super fun and imaginative series. (3 novellas and a novel, more forthcoming)
River of Teeth & Taste of Marrow - Sarah Gailey - From the book description
“In the early 20th Century, the United States government concocted a plan to import hippopotamuses into the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This is true. Other true things about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two. This was a terrible plan.”
Queer hippo riders!!!! Very much a western but with hippos. Main couple included a non-binary character. Loved the first one. The second one I was more meh about due to one of the characters I was supposed to like having obnoxious man pain that a woman had to take the brunt of the whole time. Also there were less hippos. But queer hippo riders! Definitely read the first one, and they’re both novellas so no reason not to read the second as well. (2 novellas)
A Psalm for the Wild-Built - Becky Chambers - I may be the only person who hasn’t read the long way to a small angry planet at this point, but I did grab her new novella and I loved it. It made me want to go sit out in the woods and feel peaceful. The world it’s set in feels like a peaceful post-apocalypse...or diverted apocalypse maybe. Humans built robots and robots gained sentience, but instead of rebelling they just up and left and went into the wilderness with a promise that the humans wouldn’t follow them.The remaining human society reshaped itself into something new and peaceful. It’s the story of a monk who leaves their habitual monking duties to go be a tea monk and then later wanders into the wilderness and becomes the first human in ages to meet a robot. Very sad there’s no fan art yet. (novella, more forthcoming)
The March North - Graydon Saunders - This was such a weird book that I’m not sure how to explain it. The prose style is hard to get used to and I suspect a lot of people will bounce off it in the first chapter. There’s no third person pronouns used at all and important events get mentioned once in passing and if you blink you’ll miss them. Set on a world where magic is extremely common to the point that rivers sometimes run with blood or fire and the local weeds are something out of a horror movie and most of the world is run by powerful sorcerer dictators, one country banded together (with the help of a few powerful sorcerers who were tired of all the bullshit) to form a free country where powerful sorcerers wouldn’t rule and the small magics of every day folks could be combined to work together. The story revolves around a Captain of the military force on the border who one day has three very powerful sorcerers sent to them by the main government with the hint that just maybe there’s about to be a big invasion (there is) with the implication of take these guys and go deal with this. The world building is extremely complex and very cool...when you can actually understand what the fuck is going on. There is also a murder sheep named Eustace who breathes fire and eats just about everything and is a Very Good Boy and belongs to the most terrifying sorcerer in the world who appears as a little old grandma with knitting. It had one of the most epic badass and wonderfully grotesque battles I’ve ever read. But yeah, it is not what I would call easy reading. Opinions may vary wildly. I did also read the second one (A Succession of Bad Days) in the series which was easier to follow and had a lot more details about the world, but overall I was more meh about it despite some cool aspects. The chapters and chapters of the extreme details of building a house that made up half the novel just weren’t my thing. (novels).
The Space Between Worlds - Micaiah Johnson - In this world parallels universes exist and we’ve discovered how to travel between them, but the catch is you can only go to worlds where the ‘you’ there is already dead. This turns into an uncomfortable look at who would be the people most likely to have died on many worlds and how things like class and race would fit into that and what we would actually use this ability for (if you guessed stealing resources and the stock market you’d be correct). The main character is a queer woc who travels between worlds with the assistance of her handler (another queer woc) who she has the hots for. She accidentally stumbles on a whole lot of mess and conspiracy and gets swept up in that. Really enjoyed it. (novel)
Witchmark - C.L. Polk - Fantasy world reminiscent of Victorian England (I think?) where a young man with magical gifts runs away from his powerful family to avoid being exploited by them. He joins the army and fights in a war and comes home to try and live a quiet life as a doctor, but a murder pulls him into a larger mystery that upturns his life. Also he’s extremely gay and there’s a prevalent m/m romance. This one was a fun-but-not-mind-blowing one for me. (novel, 2 more in the series I haven’t read)
The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon - This was one of those that everyone loved but I couldn’t get into for some reason. I tried twice and only got about halfway through the second time. It’s got dragons and queer ladies and fantasy world and all the things I like, but I wasn’t that invested in the main story (which included the f/f couple) and was more interested in the smaller story about a woman trying to become a dragon rider. There are few things that beat out a lady and her dragon friend story for me and that was the storyline that felt neglected and took a different turn right when we got to the part I’d been waiting for. But, I know a lot of people whose reading opinions I respect who loved it, and if you like epic fantasy with dragons and queens and treachery and pirates and queer characters then I’d say you should definitely give it a try. (novel)
Bonus: I didn’t read these series this year, but if you haven’t read them yet, you should.
Imperial Radch (Ancillary Justice) - Ann Leckie - Spaceship AI stuck in a human body out for revenge for their former captain, but that summary does not come close to doing it justice. Another one examining imperialism and also gender and race.(3 novels)
Kushiel's Legacy Series - Jacqueline Carey - This is two series, six books total, and starts with Kushiel's Dart. Alternate universe Renaissance-y Europe in a fantastical world where sex isn't shameful and sex workers are respected and prized. Lots of political intrigue and mystery. A lot of BDSM and kinky stuff too (the main character is a sexual masochist, oh and also bi!). I first read this series when I was fifteen or sixteen and it definitely made a big impression on me. Same author also wrote the Santa Olivia series which I’d also recommend. (6 novels)
The Locked Tomb (Gideon the Ninth) - Tamsyn Muir - I mean, if you follow me, you know. If you don’t follow me you still probably know. I’d have felt remiss to have left them off though. Lesbian Necormancers in Space. Memes! Skeletons! Biceps! Go read them. (2 novels, 2 forthcoming, 1 short story)
Books On My To Read List:
Fireheart Tiger - Aliette de Bodard
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water - Zen Cho
Black Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse
This Is How You Lose the TIme War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Ninefox Gambit - Yoon Ha Lee
Also, if anyone has any recs for scifi/fantasy books starring queer men (not necessarily having to do with a queer relationship) and written by queer men I’d love them. There’s a lot written by women, and some of them are great, but I’d love to read a story about queer men from their own perspective.
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Lie For Me (part IV of V) (Part I) (Part II) (Part III)
Pairing - Modern!Ben Solo x Reader
Summary - You haven’t heard anything from Ben Solo, and you can’t figure out why. It takes a run in with Han, a forced doorstep conversation, and a confrontation in a bar for you to get any answers. Once you do, you’re even more confused than you were to start with.
Word Count - 5.1k
Warnings - Language and a small bit of violence, but that’s it!
It had been over a week since you had heard from Ben Solo.
You tried not to let that fact bother you. In fact, you didn’t have time to let it bother you, because you were starting your new job today.
The job that Ben had helped you get.
That was unimportant though. You had your dream job, and you weren’t going to mess it up for anything. So it was time to focus and prove how you deserved to be here. You wore your favorite outfit, woke up early to make sure you had enough time to get a coffee, and arrived at the bottom floor with ten minutes to spare.
“Someone’s trying to make a good impression.” A voice from behind you said.
You turned around with a smile, happy to see a now familiar face. Vic had joined the company at the same time as you, and the two of you had done all of your training together. You got along rather well, and it reassured you to see him first thing this morning. “I could say the same for you. Are you ready for today?” You asked.
“Ready as can be. Want to walk up together? I want to see the new office.” He teased you.
Grinning at him, you nodded. It was a new perk that you enjoyed, having your own office, and you couldn’t deny you were eager to show it off. You led him there, discussing random things in your life until you reached it, unlocking the door and leading him inside.
“Wow, those are some nice flowers.” He said as he caught sight of the large bouquet sitting in the middle of your desk. Flowers that hadn’t been there the last time you left this room.
While he explored the rest of your space, you walked over, curious as to where they had come from. When you saw the card that said, “Good luck on your first day.” You assumed that they had to have come from one of your friends, but when you flipped the card over, your stomach plummeted to see the name Ben on the other side.
This man was really going to ignore you for a week, and then send you flowers for your first day at work and act like nothing was different? A flicker of irritation went through your body, and you placed the card down on your desk.
Vic called your name, and it took him doing it twice before you heard him. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I was asking if you wanted to go get drinks after work. Celebrate surviving the first day?” He asked, biting his bottom lip as he waited for your response.
It would be so easy to say yes. You should say yes. You liked being around him, and you knew that he was good company. There was nothing stopping you.
Except for the damn card sitting on your desk and haunting you.
“I - uh, can I take a rain check?” You asked, sending him a small smile. “I already have plans tonight with some friends.” It wasn’t a lie . . . but you . . . you couldn’t do it. Besides, if someone saw you with a guy who wasn’t Ben, and the word somehow got around to Ben’s parents who thought you were dating . . .
Even though the relationship was fake, you liked Han and Leia. You didn’t want them to think any less of you.
“Sure,” He said, shrugging his shoulders, and to his credit, didn’t seem disappointed at all. “I will be taking you up on that raincheck sometime.” Vic added as he started to back out of your office heading to his own work station.
“Sounds like a plan.” You said with a smile, waving to him as he closed the door. After he left, you glanced at the clock, and you realized that you had a couple of minutes until work started.
And that card still sat on your desk.
You didn’t even think about what you were doing. In seconds, you had your phone out of your pocket, and had selected Ben’s name in your contacts, bringing it up to your ear as it began to ring. Of course, the longer he took to answer it, the more you thought about what a bad idea this must be. But after about four rings, he did answer, his hello rough and low in your ears.
“Hey, um,” it was a startling revelation to realize that you were kind of nervous. For as long as you had known Ben Solo, you had felt several different emotions around him, but never had you been so anxious to hear his voice. “I - I got your flowers.”
There was a pause, but only a moment. “I ordered those a couple of weeks ago. I apologize for not cancelling them.”
“Cancelling them?” Your brow furrowed together as you sat down in your chair, frowning. The two of you were supposed to be dating, and your boss knew that. Why would he have wanted to stop them? Plus . . . they were beautiful, and you had spotted several of your favorite flowers in the arrangement.
He didn’t give you a chance to ask anything else though. “Someone walked into my office. I’ll talk to you later,” and without waiting for you to say a word, he hung up.
You looked down at your phone in disbelief at the sudden dismissal, and leaned back in your chair with an annoyed sigh.
What the hell was going on with him?
____________________
It was a full week before you found out what had happened. You had decided to take your lunch break at a nearby park since the weather was nice. You were sitting and enjoying your sandwich when a large, brown mass of fur ran and jumped on you, knocking your food out of your hand and licking all over your face.
At once a huge smile formed, and you began petting the large dog. “Well, hi there, Chewy. It’s nice to see you too.” You said through your laughter.
“Get off you fuzzball!” Han’s annoyed voice called, and you glanced up to see the man in question running in your direction, stopping once he realized who you were. “Oh, hey,” he said, and you watched as he ran a hand through his hair, “sorry about him.”
“It’s fine,” you reassured him, giving him an encouraging smile that seemed to put Han more at ease. “I’ve missed the troublemaker.” You said, ruffling the dog’s fur. “I hope there haven't been any more attempts at escape?”
Han let out a chuckle and sat down beside you on the bench. “Not yet, but I’m sure they’re coming. Damn dog’s almost more trouble than he’s worth.”
You let out a chuckle of your own, turning your smile to the dog in question. “Well, if you ever need any help catching him, let me know. I wouldn’t mind helping out.”
At your words, Han gave you a confused look. “You wouldn’t?”
“Of course not. Why would I?” You asked, giving him your own unsure look.
Han shifted around in his seat, his brow furrowed as he responded, “Since you and Ben broke up I thought -”
Everything else he said was muted in your head. It felt like you were underwater, your brain trying to catch up with his words. Ben had told his parents that the two of you had broken up? Without even telling you? You understood that there probably wasn’t a reason to keep the ruse going any longer, but a head’s up would have been nice so there wasn’t an awkward situation like this. Now you were scrambling for something to say, and Han was looking at you like he was waiting for you to speak. “Oh, um, right.”
Thankfully, it seemed your confusion worked in your favor as Han gave you a sympathetic look and placed a hand on your shoulder. “Listen kid, give him time to come to his senses. My son’s got a stubborn side, that he got from his mother of course,” You couldn’t help but give him a small smile at that. “But I can tell he cares a lot about you. He just needs a minute to get his head on straight.”
Ignoring the way Han’s words made your heart stutter, you nodded. “Yeah . . . maybe that’s all he needs.”
____________________
This was a bad idea.
Ever since you had talked to Han this afternoon, his words had echoed in your head, and you hated it. You had never been the type of person to spend hours thinking about a guy’s motives behind his actions, but now it seemed as if your brain could do nothing else. All during work you had been distracted, and that was not how you wanted to be when you were still new. So you weren’t going to let it continue. If Ben wasn’t going to give you any closure on what the two of you had gone through, you would make him.
Sitting on the porch of his apartment with Poe probably wasn’t the best way to get it, but it was the first thing that you had thought of.
You had a general idea of what time he came home, and thankfully you had only been sitting there for about an hour when you heard footsteps on the stairs. Your heart did an odd little stutter and anxiety filled your chest as you stood up, but you brushed it aside as best you could, determined to get some answers.
He was startled to see you, that much was easy to see, but almost as soon as you read it, it was gone, a blank mask replacing the expression as he shrugged his bag higher up on his shoulder. “Are you waiting for Poe? He’s going to be late tonight.”
“Waiting for -” You gave him an incredulous look. “Of course not. I’m waiting for you. Thought it might be a good idea to talk where your work couldn’t interrupt you.”
“Well, you’ve never been here to see me, so I thought Poe was the logical conclusion.” Ben said, walking up the remaining steps and beginning to unlock the door.
A flicker of irritation started to form in your heart, and you clenched your fists at your side. “I ran into Han today.” Even with his back to you, you saw the tension form in his shoulders. “If I had time to prepare, I would have brought a box of your things to return.”
Ben turned back to look at you then, crossing his arms over his chest. “I guess I should have sent you an email. I told them last weekend.”
“An email?” You repeated, your mouth almost dropping in disbelief. “Is that what I’ve been reduced to now? Not even worthy of an email?”
He shrugged his shoulders as if his words hadn’t cut into your chest like a knife. “I didn’t expect you to run into my parents anytime soon. I apologize for that. I decided since we both got what we wanted, there wasn’t any need to keep lying.”
“Don’t you think I should have had some sort of say in -” You started to say, but he cut you off.
“In what? Our transaction?”
The breath was robbed from your lungs. You had come here for closure, trying to discern his behavior, and with those words, you had gotten what you wanted. If, no matter everything the two of you had shared, all he saw from this was a transaction? It was obvious where his ‘caring’ feelings stood.
If only you had been able to keep the same mindset.
You couldn’t stand to look at him for any longer, knowing what you knew now. You wouldn’t dare let him see how much those simple words had affected you. You wouldn’t let yourself appear weak. “I would have liked a head’s up. That’s all, but you’re right. Whatever we had should end. It was going on for too long anyway.” You said, trying to match his tone. You picked up your bag from the ground, placing it over your shoulder. “Let Poe know I’m sorry I missed him.” You said, and without another word, turned on your heel and headed back to your car.
A part of you, no matter how small, hoped that he would call you back, run to you and spin you around, kissing you like he had that day in the bathroom, like you were something precious that might slip through his fingers . . . but he didn’t.
And you didn’t let the tears fall until you were safely in your car.
____________________
It was a lot easier to say what happened between you and Ben hadn’t affected you than to believe it yourself. However, you didn’t think you were that convincing in the first place. Rey and Finn could sense something was wrong. It was obvious in the way that watched your every move, and came up with things to do to keep your mind occupied. You appreciated it, but you hated the fact that they even had to do it in the first place. In fact, you hated that you had let Ben Solo have any affect on you at all.
Which was why you resolved to not let him have any more.
“We don’t have to do this, you know.” Rey said as the three of you walked into one of your favorite bars, arms all linked together.
“We can go back to your apartment, watch the Office again, and order takeout?” Finn suggested.
“Guys,” you shot them a stern look, one after the other. “I want to be out. I want to do things, and most importantly . . .” You pulled away from them with a smirk, glancing around the bar. “I want to get laid.”
“You want to . . . what?” Rey asked.
You turned your attention back to her, crossing your arms over your chest. “I’ve been stuck in a stupid fake relationship for like three months where I wasn’t getting any, and I’ve been working hard on this new job. I think I’ve earned a bit of stress relief.”
Finn and Rey exchanged glances. “Of course, if that’s what you want.” Finn said, shrugging his shoulders.
What you really wanted was to get the sensation of Ben Solo’s lips off of yours, and this was the quickest way to do that.
Right?
“Yes, this is what I want.” You reassured them, reaching out to grab both of their arms and tug them towards the bar. “Now let’s get some drinks. First round is on me.”
____________________
It turned out finding someone to have a good time with was a lot harder than you thought it was going to be. Over the course of two hours, you had talked to around five guys, none of the conversations lasting more than twenty minutes, for purely, you would admit, shallow reasons on your behalf.
One had the most annoying laughter you had ever heard. Another wouldn’t stop saying “really?” every other sentence. Then there was the guy who had smaller hands than you. If it wasn’t going bad enough, then you met the man who wouldn’t stop smiling with too big of a grin, and after talking to the last one, you realized what was holding you back.
None of them made your heart race like Ben.
“I’ve never seen someone looking so miserable at a bar.” A voice said as a body slid in beside you.
You recognized it at once, turning to give Vic a genuine smile. “Well, I am about to run low on my drink.” You teased him.
“Guess I’ve got to fix that.” He said, returning your smile as he gestured to the bartender.
“Oh, no, I didn’t mean -” You tried to stop him, your face growing hot, but he shook his head.
“You owe me a raincheck remember?” Vic said.
“All right,” You agreed, watching as he turned back to the bartender and noticing for the first time how nice his eyes were.
Maybe this night was finally starting to turn around.
Three drinks later, you found yourself leaning against Vic’s side, snorting with laughter as he told you, Finn and Rey about the most embarrassing first day of a job he’s ever had. “So you just took off?” Rey said, covering her mouth with her hand in shock.
“Didn’t say a word?” Finn asked, shaking his head in disbelief.
Vic shrugged his shoulders. “Boss told me to get out of there. So that’s what I did.” He said, taking another sip of his drink.
“You’re terrible. I can’t believe they hired you.” You teased him, bumping his shoulder.
“Neither can I.” A low voice interrupted from behind you, a voice that made you freeze in your spot. If you hadn’t known by the voice, the looks on Rey and Finn’s faces told you at once that Ben Solo was standing behind you.
You didn’t want to turn around. You didn’t want to look at him because you didn’t know if you could control your expression. Your heart was already pounding heavy in your chest, and if you looked at him . . .
“Well, if it isn’t Ben Solo.” Vic said, and you glanced at him to find a rather callous grin on his face. A look that you had never seen, and had no desire to see again.
As soon as you saw it, you couldn’t help it any longer, and looked behind you to Ben who had an equally unpleasant expression on his own face as he stared at Vic.
It was at that moment that you realized the two of them must know each other.
And not in a good way.
You glanced back at Finn and Rey who were looking as confused as you did as they watched the exchange. Rey shrugged her shoulders and Finn raised his eyebrows, so clearly they had no idea what was going on either.
Turning back to look at Ben, you felt a shiver roll down your spine. You had seen Ben angry several times. Your mind flashed back to that first night the two of you had pretended to be, ‘dating’, when you had overheard those girls talking about you in particular. The burning rage in his eyes almost seemed tame now compared to the look that he was giving Vic. “What are you doing here?” He asked, venom leaking from his tone.
“Having a drink with a coworker.” He said, and did he lean even closer to your side or were you imagining it?
Nope. You hadn’t imagined it, because as soon as you noticed it, it seemed Ben did too. His jaw tensed so hard it looked as if it had turned to stone. The fire in his eyes turned them even darker, a dangerous black, as his hands clenched into fists at his side. “Coming to get my girlfriend.” Ben hissed through his lips.
You barely had time to stutter out the word, “girlfriend?” before Ben had hauled you up out of your chair and wrapped his arm around you. At once, Finn stood up, ready to intervene, but you shook your head at him, not wanting him or Rey involved in whatever this show of testosterone this was.
“Ah, didn’t know she was your girlfriend considering the way she’s been flirting -” Vic started to say, but you cut him off.
“Excuse me? If I was flirting with you -”
“Come on, we’re going.” Ben said, tightening his grip around you and tugging you along with him as he headed to the entrance of the bar.
You thought about struggling. You thought about turning and screaming at him, and you thought about getting out of his arm, running back to the table, and planting one on Vic’s lips right then and there because it was clear how much that would piss Ben off. But you did none of those things, waving Finn and Rey off once more as they both stood to follow you, and allowed yourself to be taken outside where the two of you were alone.
And then you turned around and let him have it. “What the hell, Solo?!” You yelled, shoving his arm off of you. “I wasn’t your girlfriend, but now that Vic’s involved I am?! What the hell is wrong with you?!”
To your indignation, he ignored every word you said to him. “What the hell were you doing hanging out with him?! He’s bad news.” Ben said, sounding every bit as furious as you did.
Which made no sense. “Bad news?” You let out a laugh lacking humor. “Guess he was fooling me, because other than Finn and Poe, he’s the only guy that’s been even somewhat nice to me.” You took a step towards him, invading his personal space. “He doesn’t treat me like a caveman dragging me around everywhere. He doesn’t avoid me. He doesn’t act like I have the plague after I kiss him!” You yelled, punctuating each sentence with a poke to his heaving chest.
If you hadn’t been staring into his eyes with such intensity you would have missed it. The flash of pain that was gone within a blink of his eyes and replaced with that fiery fury. “You’ve kissed him?” He hissed.
Out of all the things you had said, that was what he had picked up on? You weren’t sure whether you wanted to cry, laugh, scream or a combination of all three. “No, you asshole! I haven’t kissed anyone or anything since your stupid lips!”
He looked relieved.
And it just riled you up more. “You know what? Maybe I should give it a shot. He’s got some nice, kissable lips, might even be a good lay too -”
The breath left your lungs in a whoosh as you found yourself pinned between the cold stone of the building and Ben’s blistering, towering body. Shocked by the sudden movement, you looked up at him, but found the breath gone from your lungs once more. You had been trying to piss him off, make him as angry as you were, and there was no doubt he was from the absolute tension that lingered throughout his whole body. When you stared into his eyes though, you saw something you had never seen there.
Fear.
“Stay away from him. You’ll get hurt.” Ben said, his hands gripping your wrists in a tight grip as if waiting for you to haul off and run back in there to him.
Which a part of you wanted to do, to piss him off, but the biggest part of you was more curious as to why he even cared. After all that talk about the deal between the two of you being over, what should it matter to him if you got into a relationship that would end badly? “Quit bossing me around like you give a shit what happens to me.” You said, trying to sound as vicious as possible.
Ben’s grip tightened on your wrist, his eyes tracing over all of the features on your face and leaving heat in their wake. “You think I don’t care about you? Every second of every day I’m fighting not to think about you.” He told you, equal amounts of anguish and anger in his voice. “What you’re doing, who you’re with, if you’re at that stupid restaurant with the bad breadsticks that you inist are the best in town -”
“T-that’s because they are.” You stuttered, your mind not able to comprehend the rest of the words he was saying yet.
“Don’t ever, think for one second, that I don’t care about you.” Ben said, giving your wrists one more squeeze, and then letting them go.
You watched as he turned and took a step away from you. At that moment, you were stricken with the realization that this could be it. If you didn’t say something right this second, nothing might ever come of you and Ben.
There was no way you could let that chance pass you by.
“Then why are you pushing me away?!” You called out to him, making him freeze. “Ben, I . . .” You took a deep breath, forcing the terrifying words to leave your mouth. “I want to be with you. Not in a fake relationship, but a real one.” You said, wrapping your arms around yourself as you took a step forward.
Ben didn’t move, and kept his gaze locked on the ground in front of him when he spoke. “You think that you want that -”
“No. You’re wrong. No matter how big of an asshole you’ve been . . .” You said, shaking your head. “I know it’s what I want. I thought it that night when we were looking for Chewy, and I knew it when I kissed you. I know you felt it too.” You insisted, even though you knew no such thing, not anymore at least, but you had to hope. “Stop fighting your feelings.”
You felt the tension release somewhat as he turned to look at you, but his face was so, so insecure that it took your breath away. Even more so when his hand, with the most gentle touch, cupped your cheek, his thumb brushing across your cheekbone. You closed your eyes as you felt him draw closer, his forehead resting against yours, his lips so close you could almost taste them. “Why do you always push?” Ben said, but it sounded more like a plea than a question.
His lips brushed yours, and you knew, without a doubt, you couldn’t do it. If you let him kiss you, you wouldn’t have the strength to stand firm on what you wanted, what you needed. Your hand rested against his chest, exerting enough pressure to stop him. “Don’t,” you mumbled, shaking your head. “Don’t kiss me unless you’re willing to open up to me too.” You opened your eyes, gazing into his intense dark brown ones. “I can’t take it if you don’t.”
Ben’s eyes closed, almost as if he couldn’t take the emotion in yours. You waited breathlessly for him to say something, do something, and finally he opened his mouth -
Vic called your name from behind Ben, and your eyes flickered over his shoulder to see him, Rey and Finn a few feet behind, all watching the exchange. “Are you okay?” He asked, but you got the feeling he didn’t care. He just wanted to rile Ben up.
It worked. As if that switch had been flipped, Ben took a step away from you, turning around to glare at Vic, hiding your body with his own. “She’s fine.” He answered for you. “Now get out of here.”
“I wasn’t talking to you.” Vic snapped, moving so that he could look at you. “You all right, Sweetheart?”
“I’m fine,” You answered, annoyed at him for interrupting and annoyed at Ben for letting Vic get to him. “I’m ready to go.” You called to Rey and Finn who nodded and went back inside to get your stuff.
“Do you need a ride to your place?” Vic asked, and before you could say no, Ben answered for you.
“I’m sure she can get home fine.” Ben hissed, moving to step between the two of you again.
Vic smirked, taking a step even closer and holding his hand out to you. “He sure is possessive of you isn’t he? I promise if you stick with me, you won’t have to deal with that.”
Ben stepped forward and good God was he menacing, towering over Vic, who was not short either. Everything about him in that moment screamed dangerous, and you found yourself wanting to take a step back yourself. “If you try to touch her again, you’re going to regret it.” Ben growled, sending shivers down your spine.
“Ben!” You said, shocked by how angry he was getting when Vic was clearly trying to irritate him for God knows what reason.
“What are you going to do about it, Solo? Wimp out like last time?” He glanced at you, and then looked back at Ben. “Does she even -”
It happened so fast you almost missed it. One minute Vic was taunting him, the next he was on the ground, clutching his nose, blood hitting the concrete beneath him. “Ben! What the hell?!” You gasped as soon as you realized what he had done, hurrying around him to Vic to check and see if he was okay. “Are you okay?” You asked him, trying to see how bad he was hurt.
Vic nodded, glaring up at Ben, but didn’t say anything else.
Biting your lip, you looked up at Ben who was still staring at Vic with poorly concealed fury. “You need to get out of here.” You told him.
That’s when Ben turned his attention to you, disbelief on his face. “What?”
Did you want him to go? No, you didn’t, but you couldn’t ignore what he had done. He needed time to calm down, and he wasn’t going to get that here, with Vic hanging around. You couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t goad him into another fight, and that was the last thing that needed to happen right now. “Go, Ben.” You insisted. “Get your head on straight.” You said, the words having more meaning than one.
You couldn’t miss the flash of hurt that crossed his face, but then it was replaced by something almost worse. He almost seemed . . . resigned. Like he had expected you to order him away, and he wasn’t surprised that you had finally done it. Your brow furrowed, and you started to say something else, but before you could, he had turned and walked away, his hands clenched into fists at his side.
As soon as he was gone, you turned to look at Vic who was staring after him with a clenched jaw. “Listen, I’m sorry about him, he’s -”
“He’s a dick,” Vic spat, moving away from you and standing up, “and if he’s your boyfriend, you don’t have a fucking idea what kind of person that he is.”
Your eyes widened at the venom in his tone, and you watched as he stomped away as well, so distracted by his words that you didn’t even notice Finn and Rey coming up behind you.
“Hey, are you okay?” Finn asked, rubbing your back with his warm hand.
Sighing, you let yourself lean against his shoulder while Rey took your hand. “Not even remotely.” You admitted. “Can we just go back to my place and watch the Office like you guys suggested, and I can pretend I’m crushing on a Jim Halpert instead of a hot head who punched someone and won’t let me in?”
Rey squeezed your hand with a reassuring smile. “You’re on.”
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Spiritual Spotlight: Hanspur, the Water Rat (and Ashkaelae)
Chaotic Neutral God of Rivers, River Travel, and Smugglers
Domains: Chaos, Death, Travel, Water Subdomains: Exploration, Murder, Rivers, Trade
Inner Sea Faiths, pg. 58~63
Obedience: With the assistance of another priest of Hanspur or by yourself, simulate the act of drowning. You can do this by fully submerging yourself in a body of water, exhaling all of your breath, and painfully inhaling water instead of air. Alternatively, you can lie on your back with your head at a lower elevation than your legs while water is slowly poured on your face and up your nose. If you choose the latter method, you must cover your face with a cloth while the water is poured. When you conclude this simulated drowning, contemplate your life and how your goals coincide with the teachings of Hanspur and the Six River Freedoms. Benefit: You gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus on Survival checks attempted while on or near rivers.
Just reading this makes my sinuses burn and my lungs itch, and not just because it’s springtime and I have allergies! As anyone who’s ever been in a body of water large enough to slap their face with a wave can attest to, inhaling large amounts of water sucks. While this Obedience requires only one wet breath, some... well, some pretty severe complications can arise from it, if your DM ponders even slightly what doing this to yourself every day would do. Dry drowning and secondary drowning are both real dangers from brief immersion, let alone concentrated efforts at simulating one of the worst fates someone can experience (I say this a lot but basically anything that deprives you of air is pretty terrible). The ‘simulation’ will likely only last a few seconds while the rest of the hour is spent recovering from your experience and meditating, but even that may not be enough to offset the fluid likely building up in your lungs. Priests of Hanspur must sound atrocious, coughing themselves ragged every day! No wonder it’s recommended your ritual is overseen by another priest, either, because they’d likely be skilled in helping you manage your symptoms.
Dangers of daily drownings aside, keeping up with the demands of this ritual is pretty easy so long as you’re somewhere with easy access to water. In Hanspur’s homelands, the River Kingdoms, this is pathetically simple! Everywhere else? It’s a lot harder! While I do appreciate that there’s a secondary ritual you can do if total immersion is impossible, but what happens if you’re stuck somewhere with no easy water access? Your waterskins won’t carry you for very long, even if you pilfer them from your party as well. Better invest in a Decanter of Endless Water! Or do something ridiculous like fill the party’s Bag of Holding up so you can just hop in and out whenever you need to.
That benefit is also the weakest I’ve seen in a long time, granting a bonus to only a single skill type and only while near rivers. Survival checks aren’t even all that commonly made, unless your DM is kind enough to let you use Survival to navigate with river rafts rather than Profession or Ride checks. Hanspur really doesn’t want his faithful straying too far from the River Kingdoms, which is only further exacerbated by how his Boons work, so if you’re not the type to linger near rivers you may just want to skip him entirely.
Boons are gathered slowly, typically obtained when a given character has 12, 16, and 20 hit dice. Unlike fiend-worshipers, servants of the Eldest, and devoted of the Empyreal Lords, characters worshiping Neutral gods do not have catch-all classes… but Neutral-aligned characters can enter the Evangelist, Sentinel, and Exalted Prestige Classes earlier than Evil characters, classing in as early as level 6 (they need +5 BAB, 5 ranks in a single skill, or the ability to cast lvl 3 spells); entered ASAP, one can gain the Boons at levels 8, 11, and 14.
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EVANGELIST
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Boon 1: River Sage. Gain Hydraulic Push 3/day, River Whip 2/day, or Hydraulic Torrent 1/day.
Hydraulic Push and Hydraulic Torrent live in the same niche of “giant water spouts what push stuff around,” with Torrent being obviously an order of magnitude more powerful than Push. While Push has a range of Close and can target only a single creature or square, Torrent is a 60ft line that Bull Rushes or attempts to destroy everything it encounters, so it really depends on if you’re thinking you’ll need three small streams or one really, really big one. Notably, Torrent can Bull Rush targets of any size, unrestricted by the limits of your pathetic frame, while Push contains no such limiter removal and thus likely means you can only blast creatures up to a size larger than you.
Also of note, Torrent attempts to shatter everything it comes into contact with until it runs into something or someone it cannot destroy or push past. The Strength score the Torrent uses is equal to your caster level plus your casting ability modifier, meaning it will start out barely stronger than you are but will eventually be able to punch holes in iron and shatter stone. Hell, with a lucky roll, it may be able to do that anyway. Your choice on which two to take wholly depends on if you want to push three Medium critters around or launch one Colossal one.
What? River Whip? I don’t see any spell like that here! Lets move on! (alright alright; i just don’t like it. it’s good as an emergency weapon but more or less anything else is better in any scenario)
Boon 2: River Scion. As a free action you can breathe underwater, as if affected by Water Breathing, for a number of hours per day equal to the number of Hit Dice you possess. These hours need not be used consecutively, but must be used in 1-hour increments.
A disappointingly weak Boon. Really, what else is there to see or say? If you need to go underwater, this ability is great and has zero downsides. If you don’t, this Boon doesn’t exist. It’s a very binary Boon that relies on your environment, which means that if you’re overjoyed if you’ve remained in the River Kingdoms, but in a desert or jungle or mountain peak, you’re going to be extremely disappointed upon hitting level 11.
Boon 3: River’s Embodiment. 1/day as a standard action, you can transform yourself into a Huge water elemental, as per Elemental Body IV. You can stay in this form for 1 minute per Hit Die you possess, and can dismiss this effect as a free action.
Finally, a transformation ability that doesn’t suck! What does suck is that this is a level 7 spell being granted to you 1/day, when other Boons are equivalent to level 9 spells in power. Hanspur could have at least given you a little bonus on top of it, or made it 2/day, but it’s hard to complain about the force you become under Elemental Body IV. You become immune to bleed, critical hits, Sneak Attacks, and on top of it all get insurmountable DR 5, and the stack of stats you get? Mmmm-mm! Chef’s kiss!
+6 AC, +8 Con, +4 Str, all for the price of -2 Dex (more than made up for with the +AC). And, of course, a swim speed and the power to collapse yourself into a destructive Vortex, but those are only useful if you’re in water, while the rest of the stat buffs are far more universally useful. You’re not exactly the destructive and terrifying Fire Elemental or the deceptively sneaky Earth Elemental, but a wall of surging water can still wreak all manner of havoc on your enemies, your new dual slams able to smash ships (and bones) to pieces, and since Water Elementals are capable of speech and gesture, you can merely bask in your new tank stats while still casting spells.
There’s also the much more amusing but niche use of transforming while already polymorphed by a hostile effect, as having a new polymorph effect used on you while you’re already changed can end the first automatically.
While I wish the effect was usable more often, or at least broken into 1-minute increments, I can’t call it a bad Boon by any means.
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EXALTED
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Boon 1: River Guide. Gain Obscuring Mist 3/day, Haunting Mists2/day, or Aqueous Orb 1/day.
I love the name of this ability because two of the three spells do the opposite of guiding people. Now I’m a big fan of Obscuring Mist; it’s a simple staple in my list for almost every caster I make just because of how versatile it is! But now that I know there’s an alternative, it may have competition. Both Obscuring Mist and Haunting Mists do roughly the same thing, but one could argue that Haunting Mists does it better; in addition to granting concealment and shutting off an enemy’s eyes, it deals 1d2 Wisdom damage and shakes up anyone starting their turn inside the mist... But as a Figment spell with the Fear descriptor, there are a great many creatures immune to its unique power, and True Seeing allows one to see through it perfectly, whereas Obscuring Mist remains impenetrable to the apex predator of the Illusion school.
While it cannot be dispelled by wind or motion like a tangible fog, it’s important to note that there’s no way to protect specific creatures from the sanity-damaging effects of Haunting Mists, and its casting distance of 20ft and 20ft spread means that you will likely always be caught in its radius. The range means using it offensively is painfully limited, unless you want to cast it from invisibility after sneaking into the middle of an enemy formation, which... you probably, definitely don’t want to make a habit of.
It’s great for covering your retreat, but not your advance or setup like the normal Mist is.
Aqueous Orb is a good choice if your party is getting screwed over by the mist more than the enemy, creating a big ol’ 10ft ball of water that intercepts and engulfs anything that moves into it, or which it moves into. It deals 2d6 nonlethal damage whenever it rams into a creature and a further 2d6 to everything it has engulfed each round, but the damage isn’t so much the main draw as the fact it’s a massive, roving Sphere of Grappling, snaring and drowning any creature it manages to get ahold of if they fail the Reflex save. It’s a fun little spell that’s great for mopping up and controlling minions, especially ones you don’t actually want to kill, and even at its worst it can become a makeshift barrier in a narrow hallway since there’s no written way to actually move through it beyond wasting 2, 3, or more rounds by slamming into it and swimming through to the other side while your party books it in the other direction.
Boon 2: River Traveler. As a free action, you can grant yourself and any allies within 30 feet of you a swim speed of 60 feet. This effect lasts for 1 round per Hit Die you possess or until you dismiss it as a free action, whichever comes first. Your allies must remain within 30 feet of you or lose this benefit. In addition, you gain a +2 profane or sacred bonus on saves against spells with the Water descriptor.
See, this should have been added to River Scion as a bonus. River Scion and River Traveler feel like they could have combined into a single Boon to make something decent, but as it is they both fall into the same niche: Solves the encounter they’re meant to solve, useless otherwise. This ability is noteworthy for having no restrictions about how many times it can be used, essentially letting you switch swimming off and on at will. The fact it doesn’t take an action is incredibly important, because using the massive 60ft swim speed the ability grants actually removes the bonus, as getting further than 30ft from you makes it fizzle.
I don’t really understand why it would grant 60ft of movespeed if they’re restricted to a 30ft bubble, nor do I understand the purpose of the bubble in the first place. It makes exploration a slog, and escape scenarios more finicky than they should be. Since it can be activated whenever you need to as a free action, the duration feels unneeded. There’s so much about this ability that conflicts with itself that it bugs me too much to say much in the way of positives. The +2 to saves vs Water spells is a fun little ribbon, though most Water spells tend to be harmless utility spells rather than ones you’d need to make a save against.
Boon 3: River’s Depths. 1/day as a standard action, you can cause one creature within 30 feet to begin drowning, filling its lungs with water. The target of this ability can attempt a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Wis mod) to negate the effect. If the target succeeds, it is staggered for 1 round. If it fails, the target immediately begins to suffocate. On the target’s next turn, it falls unconscious and is reduced to 0 hit points. One round later, the target drops to –1 hit points and is dying. One round after that, the target dies. Each round, the target can attempt a Fortitude save to end the effect. This ability affects only living creatures that must breathe and cannot breathe underwater. This is a curse effect.
Now this one’s just insulting, being a technically weaker version of a level 5 spell, Suffocation. It’s weaker in four ways: 1) It fails against creatures which are amphibious which, if you’re in the River Kingdoms, is many. 2) It’s curse effect, which can mean some creatures are resistant or immune to it. 3) It has a 30ft range, unlike Suffocation’s range of Close (25ft + 5ft/level). And, finally, 4) Just ONE successful save ends the effect entirely, while Suffocation continues to torment and stagger the victim for 3 rounds until its effects finally expire.
It’s hard to ignore fact that it’s a basically a Save-Or-Die with excellent DC scaling, but I can’t get over it being weaker than an existing level 5 spell! ... Granted, Suffocation could probably get away with being bumped an extra level or two higher given how frighteningly effective it is at shutting down any creature who needs to breathe even if they succeed their save. I’m probably slamming down too hard on an ability that, again, is a Save-Or-Die at best and an unavoidable stagger at worst (good for making some emergency repairs against a powerful full-attacker), and for extra fun can be used without any components involved, so you can just drop it on someone out of the blue and they’ll have no idea who just tried to kill them. While I am disappointed it doesn’t meet the power of other Boons, it’s undeniably effective against a large portion of the creatures you’ll be fighting, even at 1/day.
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SENTINEL
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Boon 1: River Warden. Gain Wave Shield 3/day, Masterwork Transformation 2/day, or Quench 1/day.
Wave Shield is one of those rare spells that are amazing to have, but not especially good to prepare or to waste a precious Spells Known slot on. It’s an immediate action spell that grants insurmountable DR and Fire Resistance equal to half your caster level in response to a single incoming attack, which isn’t stupendous at low levels but is a generous equivalent to immediate, on-demand temporary HP as you get higher and higher level. If a creature relies on a lot of little hits rather than a few big ones, blocking even one of them can save you in the long run, and if your DR cancels out the damage from a poisoned or diseased attack, all the better!
It’s not an especially strong spell given how it only works once before fading away, but it’s better than the other two options by a country mile. Masterwork Transformation is something you’ll rarely need more than a few times in a campaign before masterwork items fall into your laps (or you can simply buy them), and by the time you gain this ability it will likely no longer matter. That being said, if you’re in a low-wealth campaign or have been forced to scavenge for your gear, Masterwork Transformation will save you THOUSANDS of gp over the course of your life, because as a spell-like, the material components are ignored and thus you can slowly upgrade your entire party’s armaments for free. Given its ability to affect a generous 50 pieces of ammunition per casting as well means the Ranger and Gunslinger will adore you, and you can work in tandem with a mystic craftsman (PC or otherwise) to get all of your favorite gear enchanted without discarding your precious family heirloom sword for that masterwork one you looted.
Not to mention the simple joy in taking all the gear off a bandit clan, Masterworking all of it, and selling it for a tidy profit.
Compared to the combat utility of Wave Shield and noncombat utility of Masterwork Transformation, it’s hard to make a case for Quench, which falls into the category of ‘niche spell’ like Water Breathing and Water Walking in that it will instantly solve a handful of scenarios and be utterly useless in the rest. Yes, you may need to put out a forest fire or stop a building you’re in from burning to a crisp, but you’ll have to decide if it’s worth giving up three emergency DR 4/-- and Fire Resistance 4 bandages... as the martial-focused Sentinel. If you plan on fighting a fire that day or encountering a magic item that can generate fires (which Quench shuts off for 1d4 hours) and no one else in your party bothered learning Quench, by all means, but as the Sentinel having the DR is probably better in most cases.
Boon 2: River Champion. 3/day as a standard action, you can sculpt water into the form of a melee weapon that you are proficient with. You must have enough water to form the weapon, an amount equal to the weapon’s normal weight. Once formed, the weapon behaves as a weapon of its type with an enhancement bonus of +1, which increases by 1 for every 5 additional HD you have beyond 5 (max +4). This weapon deals double damage to creatures with the Fire subtype. The weapon dissolves into ordinary water after a number of rounds equal to your HD or as soon as it leaves your hand, whichever happens first.
Boons which call weapons to your hand are alright in cases where your signature weapon has been taken from you, and by the time you receive this ability you will have a signature weapon, but such times tend to come few and far between. This one also has the additional caveat that you don’t actually create the weapon from nowhere, there must already be water around to make it, at least enough water to match the weapon’s typical weight. The good news is that a gallon of water weighs about 8 pounds, and a trident--Hanspur’s holy weapon--weighs only 4, with most other weapons barely ever approaching 10, so you can reasonably carry around an emergency weapon in a waterskin or in your backpack... And you know, now that I think about it, it’s kind of cool to be able to turn a glass of water into a dagger.
But when will you need to? How often do you find yourself bereft of a usable weapon often enough to need an emergency armament like this? I can see the niche in front of me, making a new weapon as-needed against creatures whose DR makes them difficult to damage with your normal gear or taking advantage of that delicious little tidbit about doing double-damage to fire-based creatures, but they take your whole standard action to make and last for only a single combat (if that), and you can’t even shuffle around the +1 bonuses for additional effects!
Don’t get me wrong, it’s by no means bad (unless you’re both in a waterless area and haven’t filled your waterskin), especially at 3/day, but I can’t help but wonder when you’d actually need it at level 11+ when you likely already have a primary weapon and several backups.
Boon 3: River’s Renewal. When completely submerged in water, you gain Fast Healing 2. You can recover a total number of hit points equal to twice your HD in this manner each day. At 20 HD, if you fall below 0 hit points and your body is fully submerged in a river, you automatically stabilize.
As a final Boon, I wish the Fast Healing had a higher threshold than just 28 points a day (+2 per level). In combat it likely won’t matter, and while out of combat it’s a decent amount of healing, usually enough to spare a couple spell slots from your healers or some potions, it’s just not all that impressive for a third and final Boon. Sentinels are the only followers of Hanspur who don’t get some method to easily navigate the seas, so taking advantage of this Boon to its fullest extent relies on an outside method of gaining water breathing or a swim speed.
Funnily enough, you can carry around a Bag of Holding filled with water and use it as a recuperative pod in case you don’t have access to a deep puddle, which is dubiously useful but not entirely terrible. HOWEVER, the little addition at the end is also a kick in the teeth; why does that only happen at level 20? Why can’t that be a base part of the Boon? It’s just insul--Wait, it only works if you’re submerged in a river, too? You can’t stabilize with some good old pond water? The mighty ocean? Can’t take a dip in a bathtub to stop bleeding out? Come on, Hanspur!!! Be a little more generous to your worshipers!
I dunno, maybe I’m underselling the out-of-combat healing this Boon offers, but it just doesn’t feel worth it to put up with the Water Rat for your entire adventuring career just for an extra 1/8th of an HP bar.
You can read more about him here.
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Look into the mutiverse chapter 4
Thanks again to ExiledDarkness for writing the charcters reaction for this chapter. Please go check out his stuff. And if your wondering where Qrow came from, We forgot to add a scene for Qrow and didn't feel like going back.
This chapter is based of the Youtuber SomecallmeJohnny and his review of Super Mario 64. I had to cut it short because my laptod was acting up again and google docs was acting wonky, parts of the fic getting erased. Rest assure for the Somecallmejohnny fans, I won't just do his reviews. I have plans to do Super gaming bros reaction as well. And for those who don't know Johnny, go check him! Enjoy the reaction.
The screen lights up again and shows Jaune wearing a cap and hoodie and sitting on a bright red couch. He had a bit of stubble on his face and he was currently holding a controller in his hand as he turned on a device known as the N64.
"Oh? Jaune looks good with stubble." Blake comments. Everyone looks at Jaune and then back to the one on the screen. They all nodded in agreement.
"It's a go time! Super Mario 64!" He said in a high pitched voice with a bad accent.
The Jaune on the screen sighed seemingly tired. "Lady and Gents welcome back to the Super Mario marathon, And just like with Ocarina of time, this is a game that haunted me during the N64 lifetime. Jaune looked the the N64 sitting on his dresser and continued. "It was like the console itself was actively mocking me like: "Hey Jauney? How about you ditch that playstation and try me out instead?" The blonde's eyes lit up in anger. "Well I didn't have a job in 1996 you sensitive prick!" Jaune snapped at the console.
Everyone blinked at the sudden anger. Ruby turned towards JNPR and asked, "Are you okay Jaune?"
Jaune, still frozen from the sudden burst of anger from his other self, snaps back to reality and nods at the question. "Yeah, I think I understand what's happening here. But I'll stay quiet until I know for sure."
Jaune turned toward the screen and went on like nothing happened. "Last time I gave Mario attention, I was focused on what made the Italian "Plumber—"" He said with quotation marks. "—the video game icon he is today. Now we're gonna do it again only in 3d."
Jaune turned to his audience and smiled. "You guys ready for another Super Mario marathon?"
"Aha!" Jaune says as he slammed his closed fist on his hand. "This is me doing video games!"
Ren paused at hearing this information. "Then that explains the sudden burst of anger then." Nora and Jaune nod while the rest of the audience looks on confusedly.
RWBY look at each other before Yang hesitantly asks, "So why did he get so angry?"
Jaune laughs before scratching the back of his head. "I like video games but I hate it when I can't progress further into the game. Sometimes I get really into it, I guess."
"Here we go, Super Mario 64, the 64 being figureded to the console and not the 64 game in the series, Mario's first 3d game, and a launch title for the N64. It was highly praised and hailed as the 3d version of what Super Mario bros on the NES did for platemors at the time, Mario 64 did the same. But I came into the 64 train late, So I don't have what you call: Super Mario 64 memories. In fact my first 3d Mario game was the next game we'll be looking at: Super Mario Sunshine on the GameCube. Jaune's expression darkened as he smiled hurmlousy. "But that can wait. Oh it can wait." The tone of his voice was bitter and venomous.
Everyone laughed now knowing the context of Jaune's anger towards video games.
"Alright booting the game up and the first thing you see is Mario's head. You know to really hammer in that this is Mario's first 3d adventure. You can even fuck around with the face a bit but it doesn't really effect the game it's just there for fun.
We're also greeted by Mario's new voice, provided by Charles Margent. Shockingly this isn't his debut as the Jumpman, that was in Mario Fundamental, a Pc game released a year before. Pretty sure no one heard of it before someone did a document on it.
"This idea of a floating Mario head, perhaps more infamously in Mario teaches typing two. A floating deformed head pop on the screen.
"Hey? Are you ready for Mario type?" It asked.
"Mother of God." Jaune deadpan in horror.
"Despite the new voice, Mario doesn't speak much. It's mostly hiyas woohoos throughout the game. And he only speaks a full phase when he completes a goal or he falls asleep on the job. It shows the red clad mario on the ground sleeping.
"Ha spatgai, Ha ravioli." The plumber mutters in his sleep.
Nora drools over the names of food. They sound pretty good right now.
"Charles as Mario is so absorbed into my head I can't imagine anyone else doing the role. It's not like the acting is amazing or anything, he's been voicing Mario for nearly 20 years at this point. If Charles stepped out of the role for any reason, the next guy would just try to simulate Charles' voice.
"It's weird that way," Ren piped up, "No matter what happens people are going to remember the original no matter how much the new one tries to be the old one.
"Hear hear ninja boy" Qrow cheered a bit and took a swig of his beer.
"Okay nearly forgot that I was looking at a video game, Sorry about that. Well let's look at that plot shall we?"
"I'm curious to hear about the kind of story this game might have," Ozpin said as he crosses his legs.
"Boswer kidnaps Princess Peach, Mario must go save her, now that didn't take long now did it?"
Ozpin blinked and sat back in his seat, a bit disappointed.
"I'll let it slide this time since they probably wanted to keep it safe for the first game in 3d. Hell, the menu theme is the main theme for the series."
Qrow snorts. "Fair enough. I guess you can't expect these guys to be that ballsy."
The entire game is set in Peach's castle. Boswer has taken the power star, which I believe gives the castle power? Jaune shrugged. I dunno what they do, it's not really explain and getting more powerstar allows you to get into more levels, and that's the name of the game here. Bowser had set up routine courses in painting.
"The courses tend to varies but nothing here gets too crazy like other Mario games. It's not until late game you go to more odd place like in a clocktower or riding rainbow.
"The game's openness is the first thing you'll take note of in Mario 64. You can start a mission with a hint on what to do,but there is nothing stopping you from just doing a different mission and grabbing the star despite not being the mission you clicked on.
There are a handful of expectations like racing against against Koopa the quick who not gonna show up unless you chose his mission, but most of the time you can go at it on your own pace. Eh, I didn't wanna fight King Bo-mb yet, I want free the chain chomp and get the star there. I could take down King twop, or I could do a well place jump and get this unrelated power star. And that's where a lot of Mario's replay value comes in, not just getting the power star but how you get them.
"Oh, this game sounds fun! I should get it if we ever get out of here." Nora exclaimed.
"With what money Nora?" Jaune asked. Nora looked at Jaune with a wide smile. "No." Jaune deadpan. Nora pouted at his response and turned to Ren with a wide smile.
"No Nora. And do not ask Weiss either." Ren said with his eyes still on the screen and Nora pouted again.
Peach's castle acts as a hub world, the place you're exploring and using to get to other stages to get more power stars. But in order to duke it out with Bowser, you need to get a certain amount of power stars to access the level. As a guy who doesn't care for hub worlds I don't mind Peach's castle. The levels aren't too far apart and there are things you can do in the castle that can help you increase your star count. Like a secret race track that gives you two stars if you're fast enough, or an underwater level that contains an easy to get star. It challenges you in a way that makes it still feel like a Mario game.
"It sounds pretty easy at first glance, but I can understand how annoying it can become if you mess up at least once or twice." Jaune says. Ruby, Nora, and even Ren nod in agreement.
The biggest change to the formula was the jump to 3d, like with Ocarina of Time. He still has to break boxes, stomp on enemies, the works but this game gave the man a few extra moves to go along with the change to 3d. The analog stick is used to move Mario, the further you tilled it the faster he moves, instead of the run button we knew from the past game. Mario still has the jumps he's famous for, but pressing the jump button can allow Mario to reach the heights he's never seen until this game without a power up. He can crouch and crawl but I've only used this a total of once. But you standstill and jump you can do a backflip, and if you crouch and run you can do a long jump which I love using so much and because you can do some real fancy shit with it, and it makes Mario move faster to boot. If you snap the anlong back and jump he can do a somersault and if you jump towards a wall, Mario can wall jump as well.
Nora makes a face at the detailed review. "All these moves and stuff sound annoying. Why can't games be as simple like they are now?!"
Ren sighs and begins to explain but Qrow cuts in. "It's because of games like these were like test models that you get to play the good quality games you have now. I remember playing Soaring Ninja back when he was literally unplayable and useless. Now look at him!"
Ruby and Yang gasp, Soaring Ninja was unplayable?
"I wouldn't be surprised if this move came from the gameboy version of Donkey kong. That remake has a fucklord of levels and a handstand jump for Mario. He still takes damage if he falls too far, so he's just a pale imitation. Jaune had Mario wall jump a wall to prove a point. "The Mario I know could fall from any height and take no dam-" Jaune cut himself off his eyes widening when he heard Mario grunt in pain and his health go down a bit. "WHAT THE FUCK! He took damage from a large height! Mario! What's the meaning of this?" He asked in bewilderment, looking at the floating Mario head from earlier."
"Oh nice computer you have here. Can I have it?" the Mario head asked
"No!" Jaune exclaimed.
Everyone's eyes widened at the scene. Ozpin checked his mug with scrutiny to see if he was still drinking the right drink. Looked normal enough.
"Peach's castle has 120 power stars in the castle, but you only need 70 of them to beat the game." Jaune had a strained smile on his face as he continued. But where the fun in just getting 70 power star and beating the game that way, it not like getting all the star is that time com- for fuck sakes yes it is!"
"Let's just get one thing clear, I fucking depise the 100 coin misson. It's as simple as it sounds, grab 100 coins and then grab the star that appears over your head. Lather rinse repeat, for all 15 courses. In a game that usually has you go to once place and grab the star, collecting these coins brings the game to grueling crawl. Mario 64 doesn't have a checkpoint system. It doesn't bother me much. The levels are usually small and with Mario's new moves getting the Power star is not only comartable, it's also pretty fucking fun. And then their these." That venomous tone from before came back. The screen showcased the blue coins that have appeared throughout most of the video so far.
"Aw it's one of those games! The type that needs you to waste your time actually going through all of what the game has planned for you before you get to the final boss! What a rip off!" Qrow exclaims, tossing his hands in the air. Jaune agrees, crossing his arms and trying not to join in on the rage.
"No amount of looking of cute puppies. can cotain the amount of rage i have when I fuck up these mission with a impeferct jump or when a enemey hits me from behind. It's not always a painful process, but sucks so hard cause the coins are either place so far part or because they're so goddamn scarce! "Gotta kill those enemies before the coins blink away and scatter when they spawn. These blue coins are 5 regular coin a piece but you gotta get them before they blink away and you only got one shot! Was there area I didnt search, an enemy I skipped, I did I fuck up somewhere since I only have 64 coins after look around what feels like for fucking ever?!
"And try not get the last coin in a dangerous area or impossible to backtrack to. The star will always appear right above Mario's head, so make sure it's a safe locati-GODDAMN!"
The star had appeared in a caged area that Mario couldn't reach.
Everyone laughed at the other Jaune's misery. The Arf viewing the screen feels relieved that he himself isn't on the receiving end. Or was he?
"Couldn't just tell the star to come to you Mario?" Jaune asked the Mario head on his computer.
"When a moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie, that's amore!" Mario began to sing and Jaune facepalm when he didn't get answered. "When an eel lunges out…
"UNGAI?!" Jaune jumping up. A eel appeared and let out a roar and Jaune wasn't in his chair anymore, It being left spinning by how fast he booked it.
"That's amore!" Mario finished singing and chuckled. Get it? Amore eel? I said funny.
"Fuck you!" Jaune said from somewhere in the house.
All the immature audience members fell out of their seats in laughter while the more mature chuckled at the scene.
At the end of the day, I really shouldn't be going for all the Power star, and that's more of a technical issue, but I'm gonna bitch anyway. But despite the age, this game is still a treat to play even today. This has been Somecallmejohnny, and you guys have a Good Day.
Nora stretches and yawns. "Well, that was a nice one. Funny too! I wonder what's next?"
The end
#rwby#jaune arc#rwby ruby rose#blake bellodona#yang xiao long#qrow branwen#rwby ozpin#headmaster ozpin#rwby salem#rwby nora valkyrie#rwby lie ren#rwby mercury black#emerald sustrai#rwby qrow branwen#rwby oscar pine#somecallmejohnny#somecallmejauney#look into the multiverse
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Stanuary ‘21 - Week One: Charm
Ohohohoho look at me, getting my ducks in a row so quickly that I can post my week one write on the second day of Stanuary.
With a prompt like “charm”, I immediately thought of my MerGucket AU, and how in it, after he turns into a merman, Stan gets the ability to control people like a proper siren. I haven’t explored that in the AU, so this seemed as good a time as any. Enjoy.
———————————————————————————————————–
Stan swam up to the pier where Ford was waiting for him. When he surfaced, Ford smiled at him and held out a hand. Stan took the offered hand. Ford helped pull him onto the dock.
“How are things going in the mer colony?” Ford asked. Stan shifted into a more comfortable position, his scales scraping against wood.
“They’re going all right,” Stan replied. “I’m pretty much settled in. The MerGuckets found a room for me.”
“So you trust them? Even though they’re the ones that did this to you?” Ford asked. He sat next to Stan, his feet dangling off the pier. Stan flicked his partially submerged extravagant tail, splashing water at his twin.
“Did you forget that you’re gonna be stuck underwater with me eventually?” he teased. Ford scratched the rudimentary gills hidden underneath his scarf.
“With how this piecemeal transformation feels? No, I haven’t forgotten.”
“Did you lose the special lotion Mrs. MerGucket made for you?” Stan asked. Ford looked away. “I’ll get some more for you.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem.” Stan stretched languidly. “Anyways, back to me trusting the MerGuckets – it’s not like I have a choice. They’re the only people who can help me with the whole mer thing.”
“You’re willingly taking their help?” Ford asked, raising a querying eyebrow.
“It’s way too easy to accidentally fuck up with siren abilities.” Stan scowled. “I keep using the siren’s call without meaning to.”
“Ain’t it a bit hypocritical fer ya to be judgin’ Stan trustin’ us anyways?” a voice asked. Stan and Ford looked over. A merman had surfaced on the other side of the pier and propped himself up on his elbows. “I mean, yer the one what befriended Fidds in the first place.”
“Lute,” Ford said dryly. Lute tilted his head in acknowledgement. “To be fair, when I befriended Fiddleford, I didn’t expect him to trick my brother and myself into becoming mermen.”
“That’s the risk ya take when ya befriend a merman.”
“I didn’t know he was a merman,” Ford said, beginning to raise his voice. Lute rolled his eyes.
“Irrelevant.”
“No, it’s-” Ford started. Stan put a hand on Ford’s shoulder.
“Let it go, Sixer. He’s just trying to rile you up. Lute really bought into the whole ‘fucking with people’ siren philosophy.”
“Maybe that’s why you get along with him so well,” Ford mumbled. Stan punched his shoulder.
“Dick.”
“Not that it isn’t entertainin’ to watch the two of ya interact,” Lute drawled, “but Stanley, it ain’t safe fer ya to be on the surface ‘til ya get yer siren’s song under control.”
“I’m just talking to Ford!” Stan protested. “I thought you said that I can’t use the siren song on other mers.”
“You can’t. But Ford ain’t full mer just yet. So unless ya want to accidentally sing Ford into attackin’ ya with a pitchfork…”
“Fine, fine,” Stan grumbled. He sighed. “I’ll talk to you later, Ford.”
“Yes, see you later,” Ford said. Stan pushed himself off the dock. He and Lute quickly disappeared into the ocean depths. Ford got to his feet and headed back to shore. “Where would I even get a pitchfork?”
-----
Stan threw open the door of Ford’s study on the Stan O’War. Ford spun around, a gun in his hands.
“Good, you got some protection,” Stan said approvingly. Ford sighed. He set the gun down on his desk.
“What are you doing here, Stanley?” he asked. Stan leaned in the doorway.
“No ‘It’s so great to see you, my twin brother’?”
“I was under the impression that you weren’t allowed on land yet, as you still struggle with your ability to control people.”
“Nah, I can come on land now,” Stan said, lying through his teeth. That morning, the oldest MerGucket child, Violynn, had stopped by with her fifteen toddlers. With all the attention on the children, Stan had been able to sneak out without being seen. Ford looked at him doubtfully. “If I couldn’t, one of the MerGuckets woulda stopped me before I even made it on board.”
“To be honest, Stan, the fact that there aren’t any MerGuckets with you is making it more difficult to believe you,” Ford said. “Angie loves visiting land with you, and Lute sticks to you like glue.”
“They both had work today,” Stan fibbed. The words came from somewhere deep in the back of his throat. The doubt in Ford’s eyes was replaced by an unfocused look for a moment, only for his gaze to return to normal.
“Very well,” Ford said. He got to his feet. “Was there something you wanted me to do?”
“I was gonna go into town, if you wanna join me.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“Is it what you want?” Stan asked. Ford nodded. “Okay…” The two stared at each other silently. “Then…let’s go into town.”
-----
Stan was getting a bit unnerved. Ford hadn’t said a single word since they left the Stan O’War. He was just silently following Stan as they walked down the street.
What’s wrong with him? We went past that bookstore he’s obsessed with and he didn’t even look at it. Stan opened his mouth to say something, but Ford beat him to it.
“What were you wanting to do in town?” Ford asked.
“I was thinking I’d try out this siren song on someone, see if I can’t score something shiny,” Stan replied. Ford snorted.
“You really bought into the mer love for shiny objects.”
“Pfft, yeah right.” Stan elbowed Ford. “I’ve always liked shiny things.” Ford chuckled. They came to a stop outside a jewelry store. Stan looked at the items in the storefront window. “That’s a nice watch.”
“You’re not going to steal it, are you?” Ford asked. Stan grinned. “Oh, no.”
“I was just gonna barter, but now that you suggested I steal…”
“Stanley!”
“I’m a merman now. I’m supposed to commit crimes. Just be glad I’m not killing someone.”
“Hmph.” Ford crossed his arms. “I’m not happy about this.”
“Fine, you don’t need to be. Stay outside,” Stan said, shrugging. He strode into the jewelry store alone. The owner, a middle-aged man with a pretentious mustache, glared at Stan. “Hey.”
“Hello,” the owner said tartly. “May I help you?”
“Yeah.” Stan pointed out the watch he’d seen outside. “I want that watch.” The store owner sniffed.
“Are you sure you have the monetary funds necessary to purchase it?”
“Probably not. But I’m not gonna purchase it.” Like he had been taught to do, Stan dropped his voice, speaking from deep in his throat. When he next spoke, it felt like his teeth were vibrating, a sure sign he was successfully using the siren’s song. “You’re gonna give me the watch for free and, the second I leave, forget my face or that I was ever here.” The store owner’s eyes glazed over. He nodded mutely. Stan walked over to the watch, pocketed it, and strolled out of the store.
“Did you enjoy yourself?” a voice asked. Stan looked over. Waiting with Ford were Angie and Lute MerGucket.
“Yeah. Got a sweet watch.”
“Really?” Lute said, clearly interested. “What color?”
“Well, since I spend most of my time in the ocean now, I couldn’t go with silver-” Stan started.
“You two can have this conversation back home,” Angie interrupted. She crossed her arms. “We’re leavin’, right now. That way ya don’t accidentally control anyone else.”
“What are you talking about?” Stan asked. Angie gestured towards Ford. “I didn’t control him!”
“Yes, you did. I could tell the second I saw him.”
“I’d like to request you stop referring to me as though I’m not here,” Ford said. “And, to be honest, I’m on Stanley’s side. I’ve been aware this entire time. Not to mention, he didn’t sing at all.”
“You don’t need to sing to use the siren’s song,” Lute said.
“As fer ya not goin’ into a haze, that’s ‘cause Stan’s used to convincin’ folks,” Angie continued. Ford raised his eyebrows in interest. “There’s many ways to use the call. The one yer most familiar with is brute force, turnin’ a human into yer thrall who obeys yer commands and ain’t even properly conscious. However, Stan went a more subtle route. It’s possible to just use yer call to make someone do what ya want, but have ‘em stay aware and under the impression that they’re in control the whole time. It’s not quite as powerful as the brute force method, since it ain’t full control. More like puttin’ someone in a state where they’re vulnerable to suggestions.
“Stanley, as someone who ain’t used to usin’ brute force to sway people, accidentally utilized this more subtle siren’s song.”
“Fascinating,” Ford said. His fingers twitched in a way Stan recognized.
If he had that journal of his on him, he’d be scribbling in it right now.
“Yes, it is fascinatin’,” Angie said. “That subtle approach requires a lot of practice to be able to do. Apparently, though, not fer him.”
“Okay, now I’m getting a bit sick of being talked about like I’m not here,” Stan interjected. Lute snickered.
“Good. I ain’t too pleased at ya fer sneakin’ off the second we looked away from ya,” Angie said firmly. “We kept tellin’ ya that ya can’t be trusted with the siren’s song just yet.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Stan muttered. Lute clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“Time to head back so’s ya can get chewed out by Ma ‘n Pa!” Lute chirped. Stan grunted wordlessly, but followed the MerGuckets and Ford towards the beach. As they walked, Ford peppered Angie and Lute with nonstop questions about the siren’s song.
“So, the reason that humans tend to associate this ability with singing is because it’s most effective when sung?” Ford asked. Angie nodded.
“Sirens when interactin’ with humans ‘re goin’ to go as hard as possible immediately, so we jump to singin’ right off the bat.”
“Fascinating,” Ford mumbled. He rubbed his chin. “If Stan would have attempted to sing to me-” Lute let out a bark of laughter. “What?”
“The singin’ needs to be pleasant in order to work, and Stan couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket,” Lute said. “If he tried to control ya by singin’, it wouldn’t have worked at all. Might’ve done the opposite of make ya under his control, to be honest.”
“Hey!” Stan protested. Lute and Ford snickered. Angie put a hand on Stan’s arm.
“It’s okay, Stanley,” she said sweetly. “All Lute was sayin’ is that even becomin’ a magical creature whose songs ‘re renowned fer bein’ beautiful ain’t enough to make yer singin’ voice good.” Stan stared at her.
“…I think I like the way Lute said it more,” he said after a moment. Angie rolled her eyes.
“Wow, that’s what I get fer tryin’ to soften the blow of my brother’s harsh words.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Ang,” Stan said, “but I think you actually hardened the blow.” Angie pouted. “It’s okay, you’re used to killing people with your words.” Angie gasped and punched Stan’s arm.
“Yer just a mean lil squid, ain’t ya?”
“Am I?” Stan asked. Angie punched him again.
“I bet you wish you could use your siren’s call on Angie right now,” Ford teased. “All you have is your regular silver tongue.”
“Hey, I’ve charmed plenty of ladies without magic,” Stan said. Angie rolled her eyes. She walked ahead, muttering under her breath.
“Boys.”
#Stanuary#MerGucket AU#Stanley Pines#Stanford Pines#Lute McGucket#Angie McGucket#my writing#my stuff#speecher speaks
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