#yes i hate ace I've been here since day 1

[reduce-reuse-recycle]

MORE TWST! RuPaul's Drag Race AU -- headcannons

Doesn't it look fancier when I add the exclamation? Gotta work on that tittle still

I want to set the rules for this AU, talking about magic and characters I'd make queens and charas I won't

Magic

Magic exists as in twst, I want to keep it as close as canon possible on this part. The capability to which the contestants can use magic entirely depends on the challenge: To win some challenges you don't need any magic really, beacuse not every queen is required to have magic to be a queen.

However, drag race test the possible talents a queen must have to be a good entertainer, but doesn't mean everyone has to be good at everything. I think it can be more of a skill, like sewing or singing, but having a magic prowess sort of challenge sounds very fun.

"Every queen will try and makeup as many pit crew as they can in thirty seconds" as a mini challenge, obviously you do better with magic etc etc, something like this. In a season with more magic-using queens, this'll be more prevalent maybe.

(The pit crew being mostly beast men sounds so funny to me so I'll make it a thing)

Queens and non-queens

In my first post I mentioned that I didn't think Vil would be a queen because he's a celebrity in canon already, and I'd put socialites in the same category, royalty won't be included because you don't necessarily have to be known(??) I mean, a lot of people know them, but they're not really percieved as such in game, by npcs or other main characters, Malleus is just spooky for example.

Following this spaghetti logic, the following charas I don't see as queens, apart from the teachers because that's a whole other thing:

Vil – celebrity

Neige – celebrity

Kalim – socialite (money)

Idia – socialite (money)

Lilia – he is already very busy being the in-universe Lady Bunny and having three kids

Ace – I don't like him so I know nothing about him on purpose, if someone wants to make him a drag persona, go ahead

Epel – not his vibe, I don't think Epel would like to be a drag queen, he is already quite close-minded (and as much as it pains me, I don't think Epel can be queer canonically but I love him)

Judges

Crowley definetly is the RuPaul of the whole thing, the face, the comedy and the dust. Just adding his personal "I am very kind" here and there, as something he's kown for.

NOW, Divus is definetly Michelle Visage and I won't change my mind nor I will elaborate, it just,,, match made in heaven.

For other judges, we can make up some celebs to be guests in the episodes,, "Famous comedian Juan Mouse is here. Hi Juan" fun. Of course, Vil and Neige would be invited, Kalim too. Idia would accept to be a guest too because his bro is there and he is very loving and proud.

Carson and Ross can be also made up because they judge comedy, fashion and... whatever Ross does, but Mozus can fill the position too if needed, I don't see Vargas or Sam in the panel, but they can be too, one of them at least.

And yeah that's all my mind can produce with a sick brain, I'll continue my brainrot while watching season 5, I don't watch seasons in order www

[paper--moons]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

So I was tagged by @agerefandom for this fun little game. Thanks for thinking of me! Seeing as how a lot of these questions are AO3 focused and a bunch of my agere writing is here on Tumblr, I may blend my answers a bit. Hope that's okay! Anyhow, going to pop this under a readmore so as to not clog anybody's dash. 🌙

1.) How many stories do you have on A03?

On my primary AO3 account I currently have four public works and six private works, though I've published quite a few more on the site under a different pseud. And then I have many headcanon posts/ficlets here, of course.

2.) What's your total A03 word count?

My total AO3 word count is 51,743 words (again, that is just for my primary). Comparatively, the word count for my little old blog here sits at 145,222 words! (Not including my minis, that's just my big posts.)

3.) What fandoms do you write for?

Whatever speaks to me, really! If it's something I'm a fan of, there's a good chance I've got WIPs and scraps squirreled away in my files for it. Whether those ever see the light of day is another story entirely however haha.

4.) Top 5 fics by kudos?

Going to do another split answer here—my top (public) fic over on AO3 is Being Okay. My top blog posts are regressor!Zuko, regressor!Peter Parker, regressor!Bruce Wayne with cg!Clark Kent, and regressor!Shigaraki Tomura with cg!Sako Atsuhiro.

5.) Do you respond to comments?

Always! Unless some terrible, ill-fate has befallen me (migraine or some such), I make sure to respond to people's comments.

6.) What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I believe the angstiest ending I've written is for one of my private works tbh. Whether I'm writing fanfic or original work I tend to gravitate towards themes like the loss of self and what it means to be changed. Change can be good, yes, but there's always grief there as well.

7.) What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

This is a harder one to answer, given that the happiest/fluffiest stuff I write is for the blog and even then I skew towards hurt/comfort. Maybe Taako on Board? That one I tagged as fluff at least, but it's a few years old now so it isn't the greatest.

8.) Do you get hate on fics?

Mm, not particularly? I did receive a rather rude comment the other day, but I just blocked and moved along. I have received a few "kys" messages over my agere works before, though it's been awhile since the last one.

9.) Do you write smut?

Indeed I do! Though perhaps not in the most traditional sense? Flashing my ace card here. When I write smut the focus is more on the sensuality and emotions rather than the physicality of the scene since that aspect doesn't exactly appeal to me. But none of that is posted here, of course.

10.) Craziest crossover?

While I'm not against crossovers, I personally haven't written any. I've certainly come across some neat ones though!

11.) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not in its entirety, no. Though I have had scenes and ideas clearly lifted beat for beat, with the person admitting they "saw the idea around but couldn't remember where" despite it being a small community back then. But hey, it's fanfic. They can play in the space all they like as far as I'm concerned.

12.) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Funnily enough, I have been approached quite a few times over the years about having one fic or another translated or made into a podfic. Each time I've given the go ahead, but nothing ever came of it.

13.) Have you co-written a fic before?

No, not unless you consider rp as co-writing a fic. Which personally I feel like it counts? It is co-writing.

14.) All-time favorite ship?

Oh, a real toughie! There are so many... I enjoy Erasermic, obviously. Really any combination of the rooftops (all four of them), as I have always been one to polyship. I've been reading a lot of Kazumaji lately though. And then there are the classics that will always have me, like Vegebul.

15.) What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

All of them haha. But really, out of my fanfic WIPs I think I'd like to finish the one that's closest to being AO3 ready. Which is (perhaps unsurprisingly) a regressor!Aizawa fic. Featuring things such as quirk shenanigans, a well-meaning yet meddlesome Class 1A, and cg!Yagi. The draft is at 21,131 words, but I just can't settle on an ending.

16.) What are your writing strengths?

Probably my ability to establish the mood of a scene? I've been told I'm very good with creating things like suspense or an unsettling atmosphere in my original works (which are quite a bit darker than what I post here, naturally).

17.) What are your writing weaknesses?

While I am forever honing my craft, I feel I always struggle with endings and perhaps always will. Also, I worry over my dialogue not sounding natural enough, or not having nailed the correct character voice. Pacing is another thing that I tend to fuss over quite a bit and tweak constantly. And I tend to operate in a cyclical manner rather than a linear one, which Western culture does not particularly favor.

18.) Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

This is pretty situational imo. If the POV character doesn't understand the other language, I tend to focus on how the words are being spoken (gently, harshly, etc.) to convey the meaning/emotion. However if it is something they speak, then I tend to indicate in another way the language they are using has changed (so typically through italics and dialogue tags). But some words and phrases don't necessarily have a one-to-one counterpart in English, and so those should be kept as is.

19.) First fandom you wrote in?

The first fandom I wrote for was Batman, I do believe. Published my first drabble of a fic over on ff.net when I was somewhere in the ballpark of 13ish. It was pretty agere adjacent, too. Iirc it was a little fluff piece with Bruce and Dick centered around the concept of bedtime.

20.) Favorite fic you've written?

Wish I could tell you, but it's a secret! As for my posts though, I think one of my favorites is my regressor!Cody Walsh, or maybeee my regressor!Okuta Kagero. I'm also very fond of my cg!Gildarts Clive post, though all of my creative works hold a special place in my heart.

[super-luna-fic]

Camp Justice, Marvel Series, and others Q/A

Hey ya'll! I decided to answer a few questions I came up with just to pass the time while my AC gets fixed and just in case you were curious about what's to come!

What to expect from the rest of Camp Justice?

You can expect more drama between Artemis and Cal over a certain someone. Romance is obviously in the making but I won't say who just yet ;). Also, expect an unexpected turn of events.

How will the Young Justice storyline fit in with the Camp Justice storyline?

Since Camp Justice is something I added to the storyline some of the stuff that happens in Young Justice would be changed just a bit. And I'm specifically talking about seasons 1 and 2. I will NOT be including seasons 3 and 4 because I HATE it. I hate all the changes they made and so much more. As a matter of fact, seasons 3 and 4 don't exist, they never happened. And I know some aren't going to like what I just said but that's my take on it and I know I'm not the only one who thinks that. Therefore I will be making my own storyline after the events of season 2.

Will there be any more series related to Camp Justice after it finishes?

Yes! I plan on creating more series showing how life is for Cal and the team after it finishes. I also plan on creating a series about Brucie boy younger days before he became Batman and his relation to Cal.

When will the Marvel content be released?

I'll start writing the material once I'm halfway through Camp Justice then release it either during Camp Justice or right after it finishes. I'm excited to show ya'll what I have planned for that one because while it's similar to Camp Justice it covers a lot of topics I've never written.

Sneak peek of the Marvel series?

The main character is the child of a well-known hero and ends up going against that parents wishes which leads to tons of conflict between multiple parties. What that conflict is and who it involves will all be revealed very soon :).

What does the weekly new chapter release look like?

I try to release a chapter a week but quite literally since the beginning of July my house has been without AC. And ya'll know how brutal this summer has been and the high humidity doesn't make it any better. So my brain has been in a bit of a fog lately. I will say I will start releasing a chapter a day again and this time stay as consistent as possible. But I will be away for 15 days in October so I'll release little things here and there through the app!

If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

[daddywright]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

tagged by @samioli ! (late getting to it, happy holidays!)

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

44... so far :)) (not-so-secret: i actually have a second pseud for one-shots in very small, random fandoms, but i don't use it often.)

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

ah hah. 682,262. i didn't really publish much before the pandemic, but then suddenly all i ever wanted to do was write, and i found such a community online in different fandoms that i haven't really stopped since!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I've published (written is a different story, haha) fic for a few fandoms: namely ace attorney, different sherlock holmes properties, witcher, dragon age, good omens (before the show), and most recently, metal gear!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

a badge of honor [ace attorney]

plumeria (new beginnings) [enola holmes]

pressure (pushing down on me) [ace attorney]

your heart is cold (but we will warm you) [the hobbit - the first Real Fic i ever published, when i was a kid]

if i woke up (next to you) [ace attorney]

flattering but not surprising that ace attorney is near the top, as far as kudoses go; i joined this fandom in 2020 and it's just EXPLODED since then. it's so cool getting into an older game series and being able to connect with a thriving online community <3

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I absolutely do! I miss one here and there, on occasion, but i try to say thanks as often as i can. i often return to the comment sections of my more popular fics on rough days when i'm convinced i'm the worst writer in existence kasd;jfalskfjf

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hm... while i tend to avoid endings that leave readers in pieces, i do enjoy some angst now and then. i wrote a one-shot about john watson reacting to holmes's death in OG sherlock holmes titled 'when good men go to war' that definitely deserved the 'major character death' tag, even if it's one of the most famous fake-out deaths in literature LMAO. i've also written canon compliant lanamia, which just hurts. and a miles edgeworth christmas fic, which is self-explanatory. i also wrote a fic for the animated film Klaus a while back that made me cry writing it, which i don't often do HAHA

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

hmm. 'if i woke up (next to you)' is the epitome of cheesy fix-it for narumitsu, but i think the end of 'pressure (pushing down on me)' was written at a time, for me, when i most desperately wanted to read about a happy ending-- the whole series is a fix-it, but pressure in particular dismantled phoenix's disbarment and brought back characters i missed/wanted more of in a way that was utterly self-indulgent, so for me, that's probably the happiest ending i've ever written. :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, thankfully. but i've gotten enough of unsolicited crit type comments to piss me off eternally-- though i've gotten better at deleting the ones that hurt rather than engaging. (I stopped writing a witcher fic i really liked because i got a comment that a chapter was boring, and it totally shattered me :///)

9. Do you write smut?

Sure! I have been known to enjoy and write explicit fics. I have an academic interest in sex and education about it, and I think some of the best character study fics in the entire universe are explicit. i also think the saddest fics i've ever read have also included explicit scenes, too.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I have! I love a good, clever crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. (knocks on wood)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, several!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Most recently (published, that is), for pacific rim.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

OOF. well. i have several, of course. i'll always be attached to classic sherlock holmes x john watson. for fandoms i fell into recently, the bangers are narumitsu, taibani (tiger&bunny, aka narumitsu lite), and newly, otasune (metal gear solid) is THE Moment. the MOMENT, damn it, PLAY METAL GEAR SOLID. and then DM me @solid-snaked because i want to TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT.

some more well-known ships i haven't published fic for over the years but still love: leopika (hxh), kakairu (naruto... YEAH. NARUTO.), kaishin (dmck), and superbat (dc). also, i tend to really gravitate towards platonic/gen fic for different fandoms as well, almost if not more strongly than shipfic.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

ooooh. toss up between 'call me through thunder' (dragon age), because honestly while i loved writing it, i liked the original writing ideas that came from it more than the actual fic elements and 'when the way is dark' (witcher), because of reasons listed above.

16. What are your writing strengths?

i would like to say my dialogue?? i suppose? i really like writing dialogue and specifically, the framing around dialogue-- i like writing body language and trying to describe facial expressions and tone shifts so that people can hear and see the scene i'm trying to write.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

ahh, i'm definitely guilty of writing intimate/emotional scenes at the cost of pacing, and of favoring tone accomplished by dialogue rather than immersion via setting (i'm bad at like. window dressing and connective tissue between scenes, i think)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

beyond my skillset, I'm afraid

19. First fandom you wrote for?

supernatural. mmhmm. i was a high school sam girlie. the first fic i ever read, also, was supernatural. destiel at age 13. life-ruiner. but i recovered.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

aaaa. overall, i'd say 'pressure' is a fic i'm quite proud of but it's the series overall that makes it my favorite as a writing and a community experience, one that got me through a really tough time in life. however, as far as my writing skill goes, i'm pretty proud of a fic i wrote on a time crunch for Holmestice, a sherlock holmes exchange, called 'the emerald circle', because i got to reference queer history in a way i really enjoyed while writing it.

feel free to pass along this prompt to yourself, fellow writers <3

[voidify333]

20 Questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @almarnatiaam- thanks!

1. How many works do you have on A03?

36

2. What's your total A03 word count?

133,211

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Ace Attorney these days.

I've also written for Les Mis and Good Omens; Les Mis makes up most of my works at 20 (though 4 of those aren't really fics, they're fanart pieces I posted to ao3 for sewerexchange).

And there's a couple random fics that aren't any of these: The Temptation Of Immediate Relief is a Pride & Prejudice missing scene fic that I wrote for high school english class and posted a polished version after graduation, and All Alone is a short War & Peace fic expanding the character of Anatole's wife who's entirely just a plot device with no character in canon (elephant in the room: the name I chose for her was retroactively made weird by my later fandom journeys by being cognate to the name of a completely different character, but like, whatever). I still think both of these are pretty good

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Wilson & Sons (Good Omens outsider POV fic about Aziraphale's barber, a family business that he's been going to since the 1700s), at 1861 kudos

You're Better Off Without Him (Good Omens outsider POV about the guy in episode 4 who says that line), at 763 kudos

perfectly statue-still (Ace Attorney 3+1 fic about elevators being a trigger for Miles, angst with a happy ending), at 433 kudos

driving back in style (in my saloon will do quite nicely) (Good Omens fic, silly cute little A/C getting together scenario), at 303 kudos

naughty list (Ace Attorney fic; angst with a happy ending; the premise is that Gregory didn't get to tell Miles that Santa wasn't real so when the von karma household didn't do santa Miles thought he was on the naughty list for a solid 4 years. If you haven't read it, ho ho ho 'tis the season to read it now), at 241 kudos

Yeah, my good omens stuff is never being unseated from the top of my leaderboard unless I end up getting into an even bigger fandom at some point in the future

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to, because comments absolutely give me life and I need a constant stream of them, but unfortunately I don't get around to it often enough

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Absolute angstiest out of my published works is probably my very first ao3 fic, not quite nowhere to turn. Valjean sees Javert die and is too late to do anything. The fic is very flawed in that I was 15 and had not learned how to do subtlety, I can't look at it now, but I was a hyperlexic kid with A's in English so I think it's still better than what most people were writing as teens

Second answer is merry christmas., my most recent fic (if you haven't read it yet, HO HO HO TIS THE SEASON), it's Miles' POV for the first bit of Turnabout Goodbyes, it ends on a note of hopelessness that he's doomed to be convicted, but it only debatably counts since anyone who's played the games knows that the turnabout is coming

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my stuff has pretty happy endings, that's just my sensiility as a writer-- even "not quite nowhere to turn" has an afterlife reunion scene-- so I'm not sure what to say here.

There's some fics where the conflict was trivial in the first place (comedy and crack stuff), there's some fics where I feel in hindsight that the ending was a copout and that a rockier path to happiness would have been more interesting if I had mustered the strength to write it (When Tomorrow Comes is the primary example tbh), and there's some where it feels earned (the fics in this category include the ones I like the most)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've thankfully never gotten hate on AO3 that I can recall

9. Do you write smut?

Yes I do, but none of it is up on my ao3 account at this time. I have a ton in my google docs though...

10. Do you write crossovers?

I've written a couple. Both of them, funnily enough, of the format "javert meets one of my other blorbos and they recognise what they have in common"

In "and if you fall" (honestly the point of the title would have landed better if I did the full lyric "and if you fall (as lucifer fell)" but at the time that felt too corny), Crowley happens to be in the right place at the right time to talk Javert down from jumping (context: within GO book canon Crowley was asleep for the 19th century except for getting up in 1832 for a loo break)

In "The Choice Of Death" Miles Edgeworth meets Javert's ghost (AA ghost lore notwithstanding) one liminal night during his year away

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

On a tangent though, bc there's no question directly relevant to share this info, I HAVE gotten fanart for a fic before: this amazing fanart by @maym0rin for chapter 2 of "perfectly statue-still" (she gave me permission to crosspost it on tumblr bc she didn't have tumblr at the time but she later got tumblr when the twitter ship started sinking). There is nothing more flattering as an author than getting fanart, I hope this first time isn't the last time

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, I helped with @almarnatiaam's fic A King's Heart and got a co-writer credit.

And outside of cowriting on the level of be listed as cowriter on ao3, my friend who doesn't have tumblr (it's tsl for all the mtnr server friends reading this) and I have been collaborating and bouncing ideas on each other's fics for... wow, it's been over a year now!

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Honestly it would have to be Valvert because it got to me at a formative time and has shaped the kinds of ships I like for life

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

What do you mean "the" wip????

I have two dead fics and counting (one for les mis, one for good omens), and that's just the ones where I posted the initial content before realising it's too intimidating to finish. There's so many more in my docs; my friends know about some of them

16. What are your writing strengths?

Here are some that I have no problem bragging about, I reread my own fics often and smile at the moments where I did a banger line

Character voice (especially when the characters are my blorbos)

Using fancy vocabulary with precision in the prose to achieve effect (a skill born from trying to copy the vibes of victor hugo)

Witty prose humour (a skill born from trying to copy the vibes of pratchett & gaiman)

Prose from the POV of someone in a fucked up state- someone in a dark place emotionally, or someone whose motivations are fundamentally misguided or outright malicious. This is THE most fun shit to write for me

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Committing to long term character pain and tragic character conflict when it's not pulled/extrapolated directly from canon. I have many times read a fic where the author puts blorbo through the ringer and thought "damn if only I wasn't such a fucking coward and could write stuff like this". I've become less of a coward over the years and now enjoy

Writing anything long without a detailed plan for the entire thing

The need to use words with precision and write perfectly in character is as much a weakness as a strength. I am not a "write a whole first draft then edit" person I am a "dot points for the bits I don't have perfect words for" person and this sometimes causes issues where I assume I'll figure out how to get from A to B later but then it turns out to not make sense to get from A to B

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I have 4 years of Duolingo French and have used this occasionally for my Les Mis works. The way I think of my Les Mis works is that the characters are all speaking French behind the fourth wall but the fourth wall translates for us, so I avoid puns that only work in English except on a couple super cracky occasions.

For Inspector Javert Chooses Death (a fic with the premise "AU where instead of dying Javert fakes his death like Edgeworth and goes to england and unrepresses his homosexuality") I was originally planning to write the whole letter near the end of the fic in french and put the translation in footnote but my beta reader got confused so I scrapped that and had the prose paraphrase most of the letter and only included one French sentence

19. First fandom you wrote for?

First fandom I published fic on ao3 for was Les Mis. First fandom I published fic anywhere online for was Animorphs (when I was 12 I published a weird dark comedy fic to FFN which was a 5+1 or similar format of Visser Three executing people for slighting him by morphing into huge creatures and eating them. Then people on animorphsforum.com told me the fic was bad so I lost all confidence and didn't write fic again for years)

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Right now it's between my two most recent AA solo fics: merry christmas. (already explained; 1-4 fic) and the perfect weapon (Manfred POV throughout his revenge plot, SUPER fun to write all that villain pov, grew from the premise "he had to have known about the nightmare to plan all that")

My best Les Mis fic is but i have seen the same (i know the shame in your defeat); it explores my favourite parallel with a cool alternating scene format and I actually still like the writing and characterisation even all these years later which is a rare honour for one of my high school Les Mis fics

Tagging: @squadron-of-damned @kaleran @samioli @ashkazora @azalawa-scroggs

[septic-dr-schneep]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tag, @sneakyfox55 :D This should be fun!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

It says 894 but I've anonymized some older/lower quality fics so those aren't accounted for in the public number. Including those, it's 1045!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

At the moment it's 1,760,756!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The big ones have been Tolkien, Transformers, JSE and Markiplier, Undertale and Marvel!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Locks To Fit The Keys The Little Things Out of Suffering Come Strong Souls Tell Me Where It Hurts In All But Name

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Feedback is love, feedback is life! Comments fuel me to keep creating :D There are some I wasn't able to respond to at the time because I was too busy/tired/ill/etc. but I do my best to get to as many as I can!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Wrong Turn, Dying Light and Last Words come to mind because they all involve everyone dying horribly. Sorry...

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Retrouvailles is just a ball of warm and fuzzy family feelings <3

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have on a couple of occasions, usually because someone didn't like my characterization or I declined to write ships that made me uncomfortable.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I gave it a try back in the day before I figured out I was ace and sex-repulsed. Since then I've sworn off it :'D

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I do! My Fran Bow + Undertale crossover is one of my favorites but the weirdest one was probably The Hobbit + Doctor Who XD

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. I have seen another writer use my OCs without crediting me but when I brought it up, they were apologetic so it was resolved cordially.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have, I just can't remember which one it was at the moment asfjks

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, I have, with a couple of different roleplay partners. It's been a while though; I've found I prefer art collabs over writing collabs.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I don't know if I have an all-time favorite; I usually prefer platonic, QPRs and familial dynamics. Grillby/Muffet and Eowyn/Faramir come to mind, though; they're adorable!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Just yesterday I was feeling guilty for the umpteenth time over leaving the tenth (and arguably most important) part of The Pacemakers series unfinished. I posted what I had of it so my readers could know how it would have gone but still...

16. What are your writing strengths?

I like to think I'm pretty good at detailing high-intensity emotions and the effects they have on the characters so the readers can feel them too.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Actually finishing longer fics :'D I have a terrible track record of cliffhanger WIPs and trust me, it frustrates me just as much as it does my readers. I'm not sure how to remedy it, unfortunately.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've done it here and there with Dr. Schneeplestein's German and it's a lot of fun! Since I'm not fluent I have to be sparing with it, though; it'd suck to overestimate what I know and end up mistranslating something.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I think I wrote something for the 90s TMNT movies? That was before I knew it was even called fanfiction or that there were websites for posting them XD

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

That's such a hard question! I don't know if I could ever pick a #1 without second-guessing it later but In All But Name is pretty far up there <3

No pressure tag for @jacky-rubou! Have fun!

[chloe-spade]

The Glass Slipper Ch. 1: A Meeting to Remember

Sun rises as a new day began. 6:00 is as early as they come, early for everyone to start the day. Even the clock thought so too, as every single second passed since 6:00, the bell rang throughout town, loud enough that some may felt the ground move as it rang.

Cater was one of the those who hates waking up, twisting, and turning to cover his face, hoping that the pillow would somehow soften the loud sounds of the clock. But it doesn't work for everybody.

"Ugh..." Cater groaned, looking up from his bed and at the clock, "It's too early for this." He yawned and got up at his bed, "You always alert everyone with such loud booming sounds, as if it was peaceful way to start the day. And I'm sorry to tell you, but it's not."

With that, Cater closes the window, which somehow muffled the clock.

"...too early," Ace yawned, "wanna sleep in.."

"You always sleep in," scoffed Riddle, "get up, you two! It's early in the morning and we have work to do."

"...not now," Ruggie groaned.

"Ugh, you two are always the laziest," Riddle pulled them both by the tails, "it's not healthy to stay asleep."

"Today's going to be a great day," Kalim spoke, stretching, "We should get our bodies moving and our brains tinkering."

"Easy for you to say..."

Cater grinned and sat down on the bed.

"Shame," Cater sighs, "I was having the most wonderful dream."

"Hmm? What was it about?"

"Oh no," Cater laughs, "I am not telling any of you. Besides, my mother always says that if you tell a wish, it won't come true."

✨

A dream is a wish your heart makes

When you're fast asleep

In dreams you will lose your heartaches

Whatever you wish for, you keep

✨

Cater got dressed in his usual rags as he begins to brush his hair, looking at the mirror. He opens the windows to let some birds in as some chirped to greet him for the day. He opens the door to prepare the new day of same old chores, same old demands and same old bossy people.

✨

Have faith in your dreams and someday

Your rainbow will come smiling through

No matter how your heart is grieving

If you keep on believing

The dream that you wish will come true

✨

As Cater walked downstairs, he heard clashes and clangs of a nearby cage. It was one of Last Rosalind's mousetraps, a way to keep mice away, to starve and die when the time comes.

"A new one?" Riddle ponders, "I thought we got rid of every single one of those stupid things."

"Maybe we missed one?" Ruggie added.

Cater walked over to the mousetrap, and checked inside, seeing a small blue mouse, lunging himself forward to break over the cage that trapped him inside. Cater uses his finger to stop the mouse from injuring himself.

"Hello," He greeted, "What's your name?"

The mouse didn't answer, only staring in fear.

"Cater, let us do the talking," Ace spoke before jumping down from Cater's pocket before walking over to the mousetrap. "Hey hey," Ace chuckles, "I see you accidentally got yourself in this situation, and I can also see you're scared."

Ace walks over at the mice, "Trust me, I've been there myself, everyone else as well.' Ace pointed at the other mice behind him, which calmed down the mouse. "See that human?" Ace asked, then turning over to the mouse, "That's Cater, the only nice human in this old house, and he won't hurt you, we promise."

"How can you be so sure?" The mouse questioned.

"Because we're alive, aren't we?"

The mouse looks at Ace and sighs, before following Ace out. "...so, this guy says your a nice human?" The mouse asked.

"Well, yes," Cater chuckles, "I'm Cater, one of the residence here. And I'm sorry about the mice traps, my step mother hates mice."

"And you don't?"

"No! I find them to be the smallest but the bestest friends you can have..which is saying much before I don't have much contact with my other friends." Cater looks down at the mouse, "So, what's your name?"

"Deuce," the mouse introduced himself. "Nice to meet you."

Cater grinned and takes some extra clothes, "Now, try these on."

Deuce was confused but got dressed in the tiny clothes Cater gave him, and what do you know? It fits perfectly and it's comfy. "You made these?"

"Yeah, small hobby of mine," Cater looks over at the other mice, "Make sure you show him around," Cater gets up and looks back, "and please, stay away from Pom-Pom."

He walks downstairs to the kitchen. After a few minutes, breakfast was prepared along with a pot of herbal tea, all in their separate pans. He was so busy that he didn't noticed Ruggie now on counter, staring at the delicious bread. Ruggie snickered as he goes up to sneak some food, hiding beneath a teacup, and plan his next move.

"Is this normal for him?" Deuce asked.

"You'd be lucky if he didn't alert Pom-Pom," Kalim answered, watching Ruggie.

"Who?"

"Stepmother's evil cat," Ace looks around, "She has an eye for us mice," he looks around more before climbing down. "Oh, that doesn't sound nice," Deuce mumbled.

Cater rolls his eyes as he set up the trays. "Don't scare him, Ace."

"I wasn't!"

"You are," Riddle concluded.

Cater begins to carefully balancing the trays of food on his head and hands, before walking up the long row of stairs without a single wobble.

"Woah," Deuce gasps on awe, "How can he do that? Aren't those very heavy?"

"Cater's a professional," Ruggie chuckled, grabbing some cheese, "He's good at what he does, though under sucky circumstances."

"Sucky?" Deuce echoed.

"It's a story for another time." Riddle answered, "Let's just get some food and leave."

"You don't have to tell me tell twice," Ruggie laughed, grabbing everything he could carried.

Cater, meanwhile, had the trays set down and started to open the blinds that covered the windows, adding light to the hallway. He looked over to the door and started with Astrid. "Good morning, Astrid," he greeted.

"Ugh! It's too early for this!" She gasped as Cater opened the blinds, "Close them!" She demanded, covering herself in the blanket.

"That can't do," Cater says with a proud smile," You can't miss out on a good breakfast, now, can you?"

He sets the tray by her side table, a perfect breakfast that they are all so used to. She pouts as she gets up and takes her tray, puts it on her lap, and begrudgingly starts to eat. "Now, that wasn't so hard, now, was it?" Cater teased with a smile, grabbing the remaining trays.

"Shut up, worm," Astrid hissed venomously, "now, leave me alone."

Cater shrugs and leaves the room. "Suit yourself." He strolls over to Elise's room and does the same thing with a smile.

A small groan was heard from under the sheets.

"Good morning, Elise," Cater greeted, "I hope you had a good rest. Here's your breakfast and tea, and some extras like you requested."

Elise sighs as she looks over at the food beside her. ".... leave," she mumbled, "...didn't you hear me? I said leave."

Cater nodded and walks out the room, closing the door behind him, now ready to enter that last room Lady Rosalind's. With hesitant breath, he walks inside.

"Ah, you're here, Cater. And with a delightful breakfast," Rosalind's voice rang from her bed, "you've seen nervous. Is something the matter?"

Cater shakes his head. "No, ma'am, just early morning getting to me." He gives her a cup of tea. "It is nothing."

"So formal."

Cater kept a grin as he set down Rosalind's tray and gives her a cup of tea, and cat food for Pom-Pom.

"How's your tea?"

"Delightful. Now, your chores," Rosalind starts, petting her cat, Pom-Pom, who wickedly grinned at Cater, "sweep the stairs at front and back, scrub the floors again, take care of the laundry and do the dishes, and clean the chimney,"

"I've cleaned the chimney yesterday," Cater reminded.

"Clean it again!" Rosalind snapped but gave a small smile. "I do not like arguments, dear Cater, and you should know that if I make the order, you do it. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Cater sighs.

"And," Rosalind added, "feed the chickens. They seem hostile lately, and if they have eggs, please do collect them. I do want my girls to have a very healthy breakfast, like this one."

"Of course, Lady Rosalind." Cater nods and starts to walk out the door.

"Don't forget, Cater," Lady Rosalind added, "My daughters are going to need you at the village today, as they have been lacking in dresses."

"I haven't forgotten."

"That's why I like you. You don't ask any questions." Cater left the room as fast as possible, before sighing in relief, watching the mice reach the final step.

"Now, what are you all doing?" Cater whispered, walking over to them, offering his hands.

"Deuce wanted to see you in action," Ace explained.

"Well, I was interested on how he can do this, day to day."

Cater takes them and helps them in his pocket and walks down the stairs. "Well, try not to get caught, and prepare for a day in town...a long day in town."

✨

Malleus was staring at a window towards town, ignoring his grandmother and Lilia speaking about his future spouse and his time as king, for when the Queen passed.

"Malleus, are you listening?" The Queen asked, "Did you hear anything we've said."

Malleus looks over and didn't respond and looks back at the window.

"For heaven's sake, Malleus," the queen groaned, "Don't you understand what's happening?"

"That I am of age and to wed soon," Malleus spoke solemnly, "But the lady you brought in wasn't someone I felt a connection with. She seemed to care about wealth and wealth alone, which is not I want in a relationship, even in an arranged one."

"Malleus, who cares about connection. You need someone to rule with and I am running out of options for you."

"Lilia said it was important."

"I did say that," Lilia admitted, "because, your highness, I truly believed that love is essential for a positive marriage and a fruitful ruling. Malleus should be with someone he chooses."

The Queen looked at Lilia and back at Malleus. "Do you still have your handmade letter for our annual engagement ball?" The Queen asked.

"I do, Grandmother." Malleus answered.

"Here's what I'll agree too," The Queen explained, "If you happen to meet someone that you feel that you really care about, I'll let marry them."

"Then I should start at the village."

"Pardon?" The queen stammered, "I-I didn't say you should do the village."

"But you did say I should choose whoever I want, villager included."

"It does count," Lilia agreed, "You didn't say it wasn't allowed."

The Queen groaned and sighed, "Fine, go to the village and watch how those will tremble at your feet for money and status."

"Grandmother..."

"No. I will not interfere with this process. This is your idea, and I won't say a word." The Queen walked away after, leaving Malleus and Lilia in the ballroom, verbally speechless on what the queen had said.

"You are welcome," Lilia chuckles, "So? How's about it? Going to the village today?"

"I don't know, Lilia," Malleus sighs, "Grandmother seemed upset and what if she's right? About the connection to the greediness of others? I'll be honest, Lilia, I have no idea how love works and yet I just made a deal to find love."

"Oh, remember what I said? You'll know when you know, Malleus. Now, get ready! We have a day in the village!"

✨

"Oh! And this! And also this!" Astrid shrieked in glee, picking many dresses, fabrics, shoes and more.

"Ooh, these shoes are much more my style!" Elise cheered, grabbing a pair of shoes.

How long as Cater's been in the village? At least for 3 hours, no breaks and he was carrying every single thing that they've bought with or without thinking. It was taking a toll on his physical strength, but he's surviving. The mice in his pocket say otherwise. It was painful to watch Cater do this much physical labor, even through he said he was fine, but the small shakes of his arms claimed otherwise.

"Now you! Wait outside until we are done." Ordered Astrid, who was still looking for more jewelry to try on. Cater sighs as he walks outside and waits.

"Exhausting..." he mumbled, "who knew shopping at the town square was an exhausting encounter," Cater paused for a moment, "Hold on, it's not the first time I've done this." "I'd say, you've gotten stronger though," Kalim complimented, "But do you need help?"

*Jingles Jingles*

Kalim's perked up. "Oh! Looks like I'm needed for something!" He climbs out and grabs his wand. "I'll be right back!"

"Be careful," Cater smiles, "and don't cause a scene like last time."

Kalim nods as he disappears, leaving a sparkling trail.

Deuce could only stare and opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"We'll explain," Ruggie started.

✨

Kalim appeared in a small alleyway, cleaning himself up, and was clearly dizzy.

"Ah, Kalim." Lilia greeted, "Look at you, fruitful as ever."

"Nice to see you again, Lilia." Kalim spoke, "Sorry if I'm a little dizzy! I've been a mice for way too long! Anyways, do you need a daily report?"

"One would be nice."

"Well, helping Cater! He still doesn't want me to just *poof* him out of there. But he was right about us having a plan before I could even consider it."

"Fairy Godfather business does feel like that sometimes. You just want to help but they won't let you."

"But I am great at using my magic for small specks of revenge." This caught Lilia attention and a cat like grin appeared on his face. "Do tell." "Well, The mean stepmother so cruel that I stick her nose into a spoon. She has a spoon on her nose for the rest of the day...or well, a week." Lilia let's out a laugh, "Oh, I would've done that too if it wasn't for me retiring."

"But I just wish we could so something to actually help Cater and not just...help with chores. I need some sort of plan."

"Oh, lucky for you." Lilia guided Kalim to Malleus, who was looking at some sorts of desserts, clearly distracted.

"Isn't that the prince?" Kalim gasps.

"Yeah, surprise," Lilia softly cheered, "I'm the queen's royal advisor and I take him to town to find someone he fancies, but no luck."

"Lilia, are you saying...?"

"Oh, I am. Watch this." Summoning his wand, he aims towards Malleus and carefully takes the envelope out of pocket, alerting Malleus.

"Hmm, must be a windy day," he mumbled as he followed but failed to grab the letter each time, causing giggles from Lilia.

"Now, let's get to Cater."

✨

Cater was now internally cursing at the sky above as the new items were causing a decreased to Cater's speed.

"Great Stars, must you be so slow!?" Astrid complained, "Mother is right. You do get lazier and lazier everyday."

"Hurry up! Or else everything is off sale!" Elise added, "It seems you like getting locked in your room."

"..I don't think you noticed that I have besn carrying everything for 3 hours," Cater murmured underneath his breath, clearly spiteful.

"I'm just surprised you can carry it all." Deuce spoke, "Look at all of that. It's a mountain that's ready to collapse."

Because it was about to. With the boxes covering his vision, he could only depend on hearing to get him moving. What he didn't expect was a carriage that zoomed across carelessly, startling Cater enough to trip. Everything else happened so fast. Cater gasped as he felt a hand around his waist, and heard an unfamiliar voice, "are you ok?" Cater looks up to see someone he can't recognize but a strangely handsome man, Cater thought. Over them was all the boxes, surrounding by fae magic, not even close to the floor.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," He looks up. The man above him took a relief and helped Cater up on his feet, fixing his outfit. Cater was distracted by how tall he was and the unusual but amazing horns on top of head.

"Cater! You clumsy worm!! I hope everything didn't break when dropped them!" Elise screamed.

"Mother will hear about this!" Astrid screamed as well. The stranger looked over and gave them a glare, which silenced them immediately, but ignored them, still brushing off Cater. "Hello, Cater." The stranger greeted, "I hope you didn't hurt yourself when you almost fell." "No," Cater gulped, "I just..uh, I should thank you for helping me. I appreciate it."

"I'm glad I came by in time. And also, I believe Cater is a lovely name." The stranger spoke, taking Cater's hand and kissing his hand.

Cater gasps. "W-what's your name?" "Malleus," he introduced himself. "Like the-" "Not in front of your...what am I supposed to call them?" "Oh you mean my stepsister?" Malleus nodded and kept the boxes above as he approached the girls. "Hello ladies."

"What do you want?" Astrid asks.

"I simply requested that you should not overwork Cater, he seems very lovely and I hate the thought of him possibly fainting of exhaustion. So I recommend we bring you guys back to your home and Cater will have a nice rest."

Cater just had to blush at that. The prince himself was calmly scolding his stepsister not to overwork him. It wasn't the first time he was defended but considering that it was Prince Malleus himself doing it. It was doing something to Cater. Ace took notice of it.

"Oh, there's the look," Ace said.

"What look, Ace?" Riddle asked.

"That's what I call the look of love." Ace answered, "Come on, the evil stepsisters are getting scolded by that man."

"Yeah, how can Cater not fall for him?" Ruggie added.

"Well, I suppose I can see it," Riddle admitted, "I just think it might to sudden for you."

Cater didn't add much to the conversation as he continued to watch, as well as the other townfolk.

"Although," Malleus continued, "Look at all of this. You bought so much that it could've lead to an injury. Tsk tsk. How about this, I'll come along as a helping hand. Would that work for you, Cater?"

Cater, still amazed, just nodded. Malleus smiles. "Ladies, would you please lead the way?"

With a small huff, Astrid and Elise started to lead Malleus, Cater walking with him.

✨

"I can't believe that worked." Kalim gasps, "I didn't mean to summon the carriage!"

"Even if you didn't mean to, that definitely helped us a lot." Lilia laughed and watch them walk away, "and besides, did you see the way Cater looked at Malleus?"

"And Malleus scolding them?"

"Perfect."

"Cute."

"We should follow them."

"Right!"

✨

"Thank you for helping," Cater thanked Malleus as they walked down the path to the Diamond Estate.

"Of course, and here's everything that they bought. And I must say, you are quite a conversationalist, Cater."

Cater smiles.

"Oh, I had plenty of practice, with animals. Hmm, yeah I can tell that shouldn't be a good thing, right?"

Malleus looks over at Cater and does a small chuckle. "Oh, I have a Knight who can talk to animals as well, so I'm used to that. And I think it's a good thing, as you may understand all animals around you."

"Oh, phew!" Cater sighs of relief, "that's a relief. I'm used to being called weird because of it."

"Oh, I am very aware of weird it is but it never weirds me out." "Really? I suppose someone like you seen so many stuff."

"That is true. But sometimes it's all repeated affairs, so going to the village was a nice change of pace for me." Malleus explained. "And that did lead me to meet you, Cater. So today is a lucky day."

"Oh..lucky?"

Malleus smiles as he takes out a envelope and hands it to Cater.

"This is for you to open," Malleus explained, looking over at the sisters, "When you are alone of course."

A neigh from a horse caught Cater off guard again and stumbled into Malleus.

"My, my, you seem very clumsy, Cater," Malleus laughs, "Perhaps you have fallen for me?"

"Or is it perhaps you made me weak at the knees?" Cater flirted and laughed at his off guard Malleus was at that comment.

"Our coach is here!!" Astrid called, "You two! Put the stuff away and get a move on!"

"Are they always so demanding?" Malleus whispered as he loaded the coach of their bags and boxes.

"You should've seen them in the mornings." Cater answered. Malleus looks back as everything was now packed. He grabbed Cater's hand once last time and couldn't help but ask: "When will I ever see you again?"

Cater smiles and brings Malleus down for a kiss on the cheek. "Soon. If fate brought us here once, I bet it'll do again."

Malleus liked the answer and helps Cater get into the coach. Malleus watched as the coach rode off, waving back at Cater before it was no where to be seen.

"... fate will bring us together again," Malleus whispered before walking back to the village.

✨

As soon as the returned, Cater was already putting things inside, but he was humming and softly dancing as he did so.

"So did something happen while I was away?" Kalim asked, startling the mice.

"Yeah! Cater's fallen in love," Deuce exclaimed, "I mean, look at him!" "This could be a good or bad thing," Riddle muttered. "Nah," Ace disagrees, "Cater's so happy. What's the best thing you can ask for?"

"Nothing I suppose."

✨

"Well, I hope your happy," Lilia pouted in fake anger, "Leaving me with more grey hairs then pink ones?"

"Sorry for my scare, Lilia," Malleus apologies, "but you need to hear this." He spoke with a smile and started walking ahead. "You should've met him, Lilia. I never thought I...I could meet someone as understand as him. Cater is so exhilarating."

"My, did fate help you?"

"...for the first time? Yes, fate has helped me learn love."

[kousaka-ayumu]

Christmas Fic day 3: JamiAzu

Warnings: yandere Azul, spoilers for chapter 4 of the main story, spoilers for the vignettes, yandere content, stalking, kidnapping, and blackmail, implied unwanted sex.

Mention ships: Malleus X Ace

Flashback

"I've always admired your work, you know. Scarabia is lucky to have a vice-dorm leader as competent as you."

"Grade-wise, you show no outstanding weaknesses in classroom learning, applied lessons, or PE. Even I'm miserable at something-namely flight and magic."

"But you? You're almost impressively middle-of-the-road in all regards. It's almost like you prefer to keep it that way..."

Flashback ends

The octopus boy laid on a bed smiling at the photo of the black haired boy, the boy in question is Jamil Viper.

Azul smiled- well bit more lovesickly at the photo.

To put it startly Azul has been curious about Jamil since their freshman year. He noticed that Jamil's been maintaining a perfect score in the middle in his studies, which made Azul suspect that there's more to Jamil's personality. He confirms this through the plot of the whole Scarabia incident, where he's able to observe Jamil's behaviour more, remarking that Jamil perfected the art of feigning defeat. He also tells Jamil that he believes the two of them would get along well, and even asks if he would like to transfer to Octavinelle - something that Jamil promptly refuses.

He is deeply- no he is madly in love with the Vice-dorm leader of Scarabia, too put it simply he is thee god dam yandere for the black haired boy.

He always dreamed about Jamil every night, wishing for the black haired boy to be in his arms, for Jamil to be with him forever and ever until the end. 'He. Will. Be, mine..' He thought to himself as he drift to sleep.

The next day

After another basketball practice Jamil was about to get changed into his uniform and went back to Scarabia until.

"Umihebi-kun." A voice called out, Ace and Jamil noticed Floyd walking towards them more specifically Jamil and handed him an invitation. "Azul told me told me to invited you to the Monstro Lounge at 9:00 PM." The energetic eel said and left, leaving Ace and Jamil confused.

"What the heck was that?" The ginger haired boy asked, "I don't know but what ever it is, I have a feeling that he's is up to no good, say shouldn't you be on a date with Malleus-senpai now." The black haired boy said reminded Ace of his date with the fae prince, Ace jolts "Oh great seven!" The ginger haired boy yelled out, getting change to his uniform when Jamil notices Ace have a some sort of a love mark on the back of his neck but didn't question it when Ace have left.

--------------------------------------------------

9:00 PM at Monstro Lounge

Jamil arrived at the Monstro Lounge, for the first time in his life he was nervous 'What does Azul want with me? I swear to the great seven if he wanted me to transfer to Octavinelle again, I refuse it!' He thought angerly to himself, just before he could say anything he was knocked out.

--------------------------------------------------

He woke up in some sort of a room, well an unfamiliar room to say the least, he looked up and saw Azul petting his hair.

"Ah, you're awake so early." The octopus boy said in a surprisingly soft voice "You should sleep a lot more, you have history class tomorrow, it's 1:00 am." He said "How did I get here? My voice.. It's so weird." The black haired boy said softly, then he remembers something.

He arrived at the Monstro Lounge last night, and got knocked out "You planned this?!" He said softly but angerly to Azul, "Yes, I did planned this, I always mad whenever you with Kalim, you always have to take care of him like a mom, he always depended on you. I admit that's pretty cute but the thing is that.. I wanted you to be mine." He said to Jamil's ear "But, if you didn't I guess I have to hurt Kalim." He said, the last part made the black haired boy freak out.

Although he hated the white haired boy, he did cared for him, and he didn't want anything bad happen to him after what had happened in his childhood(I just saw a comment on AO3 saying "for some reason i just imagined a Jamil with a pesonallity like kanade otonokoji from SDA2, terrifying image" terrifying is it?).

Jamil had thought about it now, 1st he don't wanted to become Azul's lover and 2nd if he didn't then tue octopus boy might hurt Kalim.

"I.. Became your lover.." He whisper under his breath but Azul had heard and was happy for it...

--------------------------------------------------

It was Christmas and everyone was having the day of their lives with their loved ones well only Azul have forced Jamil to become his lover.

The snake was now in the tentacles(get your mind off of the gutter) of the octopus.

❃The End❃

[mutxnts]

20 fic questions

tagged by @oodlyenough to do this!! thank you <33

1. how many works do you have on Ao3?

i have 22 works posted!

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

42,292 words! that actually really surprises me bc all of the things i write are one shots, and they aren't particularly long. i thought this number would be farrrrrr lower

3. what fandoms do you write for?

currently only ace attorney!

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

a cold night in ikea (xmen) good old days (ace attorney) lost (xmen) sunsets over genosha (xmen) hot, sticky, sweet (ace attorney)

5. do you respond to comments?

yes!!!! i always make a point to respond :) i don’t really get that many comments on my fics so i always want to show some appreciation for the people that do take time to write something!!

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i guess lost? but the thing is i don't really like to write pure angst. most of the angst i write has a happy ending so by definition, that's probably the only fic i've written that has an angsty ending

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

hmm see this is difficult when most of my fics have a happy ending and i think it's a little subjective which one is the happiest. but maybe sweet, sweet bliss since it's basically just pure fluff?

8. do you get hate on fics?

thankfully not, although i did get a slightly weird comment a couple months ago that i THINK was trying to jokingly tease me about how the characters were being ooc bc phoenix never gave edgeworth a blowjob in the games. and then they ended the comment with “but good job writing a story.” the problem is i did not know the person and so it did not really feel like much of a joke and it just. idk it felt very weird so i ended up deleting it

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

i only recently started posting smut. i still feel a little awkward about it bc both times it’s been pwp, and with that it’s just like. yeah here’s two guys fucking. that’s it. but maybe that’s just the ace in me talking and feeling kinda weird about it gjsjfjdjfjdf

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

normally no i do not, but i started talking about which pokemon some of the ace attorney characters would have with a friend. and from there we started talking about so many headcanons that i started writing something for that universe bc i was inspired, but i honestly haven't touched it in a few months bc i got distracted writing other things lol

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i’m aware of, so hopefully never!

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

yes!!!! again this goes back to my fics i wrote as a kid (so back when i was still on wattpad), but a few people translated my fics into other languages. the only one i can remember specifically was it was translated into turkish, but i remember there being other ones as well

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

i have not! and i think that’s just bc i write roleplays with people instead

14. what’s your all time favorite ship?

either cherik or narumitsu <3

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

probably the one i ended up posting anyway since i feel like i'll never come back to it skdfjgjsdfgkj

16. what are your writing strengths?

i think i’m a pretty concise writer, since i write how i think most people would speak. if that makes sense? my answer in the next question kinda gets into that, but i think i’m just not really someone who goes super artistic with my writing

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

i think i’m not the best at writing prose. like, i’m not great with using very flowery, poetic kinda language or vocabulary. i struggle with that a lot. also, i can’t really write long fics, or even multi chapter fics. i just do not have the energy or motivation to do either one lol so that’s why all my fics are one shots

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i try to do it as little as possible bc i only know english, so i have to turn to google translate. and even then i try to stick to only pet names and other terms of endearment, so it’s not like i’m even really writing full sentences or anything in another language

19. first fandom you wrote for?

percy jackson!

20. favorite fic you’ve written?

honestly it's so hard to choose but maybe blinding lights! i'm pretty sure it was the most excited i've ever been to write a fic, but i also recall really enjoying the setting of a cold night in ikea and being able to write that :) that one was the first time i had written fan fic since i was in high school, and it made me fall in love with writing again

tagging @japanifornication @sevenyeargap @ivy-saurs and anyone else that wants to do this! though no worries if you don't want to :)

[benefits1986]

YE Countdown 2023: Lessons from Gen Alpha and Gen Z Goslings

Let's try giving "Lessons from Geese" an update it deserves, shall we?

One of the first things I vividly remember back in Leon Guinto days is the session in Marketing 101 staged by my second dad. Back then, I'd nonchalantly listen to his mentions about Katips, his alma mater. Honestly, I found it trivial because he's housed in Taft Likod or Taft Tabi-tabi. He's fond of using terms like Jesuits and angling it toward his dry humor about Benedictines.

However, his deep dive about "Lessons from Geese" caught my usually bored self. It was rather long and a bit too poetic and unapologetically philosophical for a class that's right after lunch time. Though I knew I wanted to ace this class since it's my major, this particular session turned my grade-focused existence to my yearning to be under his wing. I guess it's the pivotal moment when I wanted and needed him to mentor me. Check the full document here --JICYMI, this may give you more context about what I'm talking about. ;)

You see, I am fully aware that schools and any social spaces are not just about grades. Mother Dragon said that it's always important to get to know how any situation, any person, any conversation and all things in between should enable me to bring a lesson I can use as I go through life. She didn't mention anything about getting a 1UP based on status or title. All she wanted me to do is to go beyond the medium to masticate the message as I come up with a derivative that would allow me to learn from other's mistakes and milestones. She reminded me passionately about this a little too much, but, I knew that the wild child in me had to whacked in the head a little too much to let her message rise from the noise and the clutter.

This holiday, I spent a whole lot of time with my Gen Z 4th anak-anakan and her three Gen Alpha siblings. I wasn't expecting anything from this long holiday leave as I planned a very detailed Iloilo & beyond trip. This "coming home to ina's house" is easily the longest time I've stayed here. This time around though, this stay is the most intentional that's not too focused on averting a family matter that matters most. This time around, it's my homecoming to heal the wounded healer in me.

I actually paused as I plugged in the previous sentence. This statement made my insides swell with nostalgia that's like a really deep, dark chocolate with Level 5 matcha laced with vanilla.

I've shared that I love interacting with Gen Z and have been wondering how Gen Alpha would come in the picture. And then, poof. Here we are! I'd like to list down some lessons that aim to marry a classic and an upcoming school of thought, because we're weird that way, yes?

(I'm kind of excited because postmodernism is a staple in my book, however, I seem to have too little time to indulge in it. Perhaps, this is a good start as I fine-tune my slants, writing-wise.)

#1 Before the "V" formation comes the battle of the egos and the "lost in translation" phase.

I used to be so irritated when I see Gen Alpha get too physical and too graphic when they have sibling rivalry. While I know so well that sibling rivalry dates back to Cain and Abel, this generation is off the roof. They don't murder each other literally, however, they indulge in really cutting words tripled with bloody punches, bites and the like and are teeming with hate that makes my empath aura bleed so badly.

However, I've tried using lines like "You hate your sister? Did you know that love and hate are the same? Love and hate are both energies and you just choose one each time you talk to your sister."

Gen Alpha and Gen Z are already loaded with biases based on their algorithm, their digital and analog selves along with the influence of millennials, Gen X and boomers as the supporting characters in their avatar-filled his/herstory.

Their comments, questions and answers are too personal and at times, unforgiving. However, it's their way of asking for help about managing their one too many biases that they're yet to test out and figure out.

#2 Flying alone is a choice and shouldn't be antagonized. However, choosing to fly with a group is also a moral obligation.

Speaking of the avatar-filled digital and analog selves of Gen Alpha and Gen Z, I strongly feel and think that this generation's silent pandemic is the managing being alone, feeling alone and thinking alone.

I really can't imagine how the lockdown mutated their genes and impacted their spheres mentally, physically, emotionally and the list goes on and on and on.

Social awkwardness in these two generations is more pronounced; however, these generations ache for connections that are both digital and analog --no in between, no but's, no if's.

I've seen how my Virgo Baby Girl (VBG) cousin indulged in really, really bad tantrums that made my boomer dad unleash his boomer parenting without the belt slash or hanger flyer. LOL.

I've come across this random parent who shared that moody kids like hers are usually overstimulated, overwhelmed and yes, may well be overreacting. She also recommended giving hugs and words of affirmation a good try. Her comment section exploded and when I scanned, the netizens are both hating and loving her content piece.

And so, since I'm a fan of social experiments, I tested this hypothesis on my VBG in the light of trying to up my ante as a progressive millennial Tita. The reason is that VBG is too similar with my Virgo Baby Brother (VBB). LOL. It's me trying to see a quantum jump of some sort, too. Back then, I was too tough love on my VBB, and this time around, I'd like to be a bit better to him through my VBG interactions which are still calculated risks because I'm not always out of Manila. :p

Most importantly, hugs and words of affirmation combo is my waterloo. I'd want to try making it a waterWOO this 2024, because, late is better than never ever, right?

The first time I hugged and affirmed my VBG was when she's about to burst. As a recovering overthinker, I cling to my people watching skills to detect when's the best time to jump off the cliff. LOL. Akala mo naman napaka hirap, but, that's how I egg roll. CHOZ. It felt weird then wonderful. Kaya ko naman pala e. She didn't reject me vehemently, but she pushed back, obviously. There goes, my ugh vibe when it comes to being rejected. But, mature roles era na tayo, so, I hugged her again. This time around, she didn't bulldoze me. Instead she rested her head on my chest. Chest pa talaga, mhie. She just stayed there and I tried super tiny words of affirmation na gentle and no bashing. HAHAHAHAHA. Again, bloody baby steps po kasi nga, I'm not exactly in my element as an ember girl.

Milestone ko when she didn't clench her body and hugged me back. OPAK. Real quick naman din pala e. WOOT. WOOT. Tacca. Kaya naman pala e. You know what's even better? When she was dressing for our luwas to Manila yesterday, she asked me to tie her hair using the pink big bow I gifted her. She even told me that she'd use the water bottle I gave her even when she has one too many Aquaflasks na. HUHUHUHUHU. Ang babaw ko talagang tao. But wait, there's more, she showed her wrist to me and proudly said: "Ate, we have gold and silver bracelets. Look." LUH. Syempre, wala akong comment kasi caught off guard ako, so I just said OK. Did you know? OK is my word of affirmation, believe it or not. Ang lala ko 'di ba? I'm the type kasi who's always saying no and I don't care, literally and figuratively.

Happy to share that she had ZERO tantrums kahapon so we managed our super duper limited time in Manila very wisely. Hihihi.

#3 Rest is not for the weak, but rest if meant to strengthen your flying performance and stamina.

Gen Alpha and Gen Z have sleeping problems that may be worse than the previous generations. I think this is anchored on synchronous and asynchronous communication.

The gift and curse of being the multi-hyphenated generation is off the roof. Again, millennials are trying to live vicariously through these generations. I've seen Kumon top tier kiddos sleep and snore like adults hustling and working so deeply. I've seen the defeated cries of kids losing a super "wala lang" game in spite being Top 1 in class across all subjects. I've seen kids fear rivers because they don't look like pristine chlorine-filled pools. I've seen kids try posing as grown ups even when their drips don't fit their vibe and mood.

NKKLK. And so, when I interface with my Gen Z med student cousin, I try my best to be gentle and firm. Bashing and crashing and limited time love language namin, pero when she shared, "Ate, ang gusto ko lang naman in life, 'yung kalmado naman. Ayoko na nga sigawan na walang tigil. Bingi na nga ako e." It felt so graphic and true. Kaya, 'di man ako kalmado, eto na tayo sa ultra femme era natin. I don't know if I can wing it, pero OK. OK. Hahahaha.

Rest is something that ALL generations lack. Choosing not to rest seems like a mortal sin to this population. However, as a recovering burnout bitch running on adrenaline addiction x anhedonia mash up, rest is integrated in all my flows. Hindi siya madali. Hindi siya part ng sistema ko. Hindi siya nakakakalma, however, rewiring your totality is integral in all spaces and places you go to.

Huminga. Kumalma. Magpahinga. Then, saka ka balik-sabak na. GAH. I miss my home buddy tuloy sa work RN. HUHUHU. Alam mo 'yung sobrang simpleng feedback niya na kahit ang kalat ko talaga nitong Q4 2023, he tells me na 'yung tip ko na huminga siya in between his lines sa reporting, gamit na gamit niya. Not always pero a good number of times. This Gen Z is teaching me na it's OK to be gentle and firm. HUHUHUHU. OK. OK. Shemay, kamusta na ba sila? But, wait, kalma. Magpahinga. Huminga.

#4 Encouragement is both a blessing to the healing ones; and may be a loud senseless honk or curse for those who are yet to see and feel that they're badly wounded.

Another lesson I'd like to overhaul about the geese is the HONKING to keep the "V" formation pop and fly high. LOL. Eto na po tayo sa highly polarizing bit ng piece na 'to na napaka haba. Gawin ko na ba 'tong thesis proposal? Hahahahahaha. Gusto comm-focused e. CHOZ.

There's encouragement that's called for and uncalled for. Gen Z and Gen Alpha don't like to be scolded and honked at. LOL. That's the other thing that seems crass about these new generations; however, honking is kinda outdated when I revisited these geese lessons.

How so? Honking may be intrusive and kinda condescending. A honk is usually loud and triggering. A honk is typically making you jump, like that of a bike or car honk, right? So, what?

Instead of honking, I picked encouragement as a better alternative so it's more empathic and inclusive. Encouragement is something that should be used and not misused or abused. Gen Z and Gen Alpha already are in deep pain points that have not existed since The Land Before Time Era. (OA ko na naman, pero I want that graphic reference right here and right now e.)

I am trying to be more encouraging and taming my wild horse while at it. Gen Z and Gen Alpha are generally not afraid to ask for help, however, the manner they ask for help is something that I'm learning as it is not the same as the older generation. They usually lambing to say they are in trouble. They usually go offline when there's something bothersome. They usually mask their depression with fancy and fluffy stuff. It's kind of the same with millennials, but not quite.

#5 A damaged geese either dies or lives. It's all about how the perspective of the geese who help the wounded PLUS how the damaged geese perceives it.

Lastly, the circle of geese and the depth and stamina of that circle defines the life and death of any damaged goose. I view asking for help as a demerit. Ang lala natin talaga. But, what I'm painstakingly learning is that asking for help is a choice. People who help are also making choices. It's not about wala na lang silang maggawa kasi kawawa ako. LOL. Milestone achieved. Akala mo again kung anong napaka profound learning, ano po? I won't say sorry kasi akala ko talaga tama 'yun e noon e.

The quality of your circle of control is also impacted by the quality of the people you cling to as you try your best to control your circle of control. Read that again and again. When you're in a chaotic space and state, it really is a plus to have people who believe in you no matter what. 'Yung tipong won't baby you pero medyo delulu levels ng tiwala sa'yo kasi kaya mo naman talaga... sabaw or traumatized ka lang talaga. Or puwede rin namang wala sa mood. LOL.

Help is a two-way thing and multi-faceted as well. Hindi siya one-sided lang featuring nangaabala 'yung kabila so walang choice 'yung naabala. I guess, this is my first time to ask for help na taos-puso tulo ang uhog at dugo era ko. HAHAHAHA. As a recovering wone wolf, this is always a coliseum for the mere mortal me. However, OK OK OK na, I am giving this a really good try and nag-start na ako.

Gah. I started this at around 430 AM and I just finished. Daming hugot-lagot niyan? LOL. Maybe, I just love the sound of my suking electric fan on a balmy Thursday morning with the pitter-patter of soft rain coupled with soft glowing ambient lights na walang maingay. Add queen sized bed and the chirping birds, too. Ah, provincial life. Sa Year 41 na tayo mag-tuos sa araw-araw. Piliin ko muna 'yung good fight sa araw-araw din, because, the best things take time and sanay naman ako maghintay kahit impatient ako.

<3

[astersofthesky]

Reasons why I ship LawLight

It's been a year since I last watched Death Note and up to this day, it still remains on my TOP 5 FAVORITE ANIME (alongside Attack on Titan, Daiya no Ace, Gintama, and the Inazuma Eleven franchise).

Be as it is, the ship between L and Light holds a special place here in my heart. And today I want to talk about the reason why I am head over heels for this painstakingly beautiful ship.

For a quick heads-up. "LawLight" is a non-canon ship pair from Death Note. The two person involved are Yagami Light also known as "Kira" and the Great Detective L otherwise known as Ryuuzaki. I believe that their trope belongs to the enemies to lovers. They are also the most famous ship for the said fandom.

I admit that I am a certified fujoshi. So when scenes like walking together under falling sakura leaves, going to a cafe for their date to confirm their suspicions about each other's identity, and was even CHAINED 24/7 were shown, I can't help but ship them despite the fact that they are LITERALLY TRYING TO KILL AND CATCH EACH OTHER.

Actually for me, what makes this ship so appealing is their cat and mouse chase. A criminal and a detective. The spark and sexual tension apparent in their battle of wits. Who shall fall first? Who shall emerge victorious? And I firmly think that this dynamic between them is also one of the biggest factors why this anime/manga became such a success.

In the eyes of a shipper, some of their interactions are seen as a potential fuel to lit a burning flame called romance. Another thing, they also complement each other.

Why? Well, let's look at Yagami Light first.

Light used the notebook to alleviate his boring mundane life. Because of his high IQ, normal things don't ellicit excitement for him. Also, always hearing about everyday crimes, his strong sense of justice tells him to rid the world of this disgusting humans who continue to cause chaos for the world. So, immediately grabbing the death note as an opportunity to make his ideals a reality, KIRA IS BORN.

Of course, no matter how good the intention is. Taking lives is still a murder. And the fact that Light wanted to take advantage of the situation to become GOD OF THE NEW WORLD, it's true essence is slowly turning into selfishness. Just like any ordinary case, the police have taken interest, no, it's more accurate to say that they were FORCED to take interest. With no more cards to play, the worldwide police decided to ask help from their trump card. Yes, the world's greatest detective L.

Hiding in a single gothic letter and synthetic voice, Light had found his other half. The yin to his yang. Why you ask?

It's simple. L is the only person who can match his intelligence. Who can see through his barrage of lies and alibis. He was the only one who doubted him, the only one who almost sent him to his doom.

He was the ultimate obstacle Light needed to overcome. Because of this thrill, of this danger, Light found true challenge. Other than the joy of killing criminals for his dream, battling with L brought an unexpected bliss deep within his soul. Because of L, his once dull world had been painted with complicated colors. L is the only one who can understand Light.

He is his enemy.

He is his Equal.

He is his captor.

The same goes for L.

Being the number 1 detective in the world, I bet that cases has become repetitive for him. With his astounding deduction skills, he could immediately solve a case while eating his favorite sweets. Thus the appearance of Kira is a mystery for him.

A highly difficult game for him to solve and win. As he said himself, he is childish and he hates to lose. So in order to win, he's given away his identity. He steps out of his shadows and approached Kira himself. Maybe it's a call for responsibility, a call for justice, or a call for his pride, whatever his reason is, he's willing to risk his life.

When he made contact with Light, he had realized that Light is the only other person who can see through him. His trials, his tests. Light never fails to amaze and surprise L. He had even considered him his successor, even though he only used it to test Light, with the latter quickly grasping the subtle accusation.

He is his enemy.

He is his captee.

He is Equal.

No one knows if their relationship had gone beyond detective and a criminal. If they ever had a genuine conversation. One without lies and hidden intention.

A talk as L and Light.

Looking at a watcher's perspective. A single particular scene showed a glimpse of their relationship. The rooftop and foot massage scene who fueled a lot of LawLight shippers.

"The bells are unusually loud today." - L

At the rooftop, L had asked Light if he had ever uttered a truth once in his life. With Light regaining his memories, L knows that this attempt is futile, yet he still tries. And maybe, even held a little hope that Light would surrender himself.

Light on the other hand, as expected caught the meaning of his question, within that short silence, he contemplated his answer even if it's just for mere seconds. But because Light had already steeled his resolve, he chose to lie.

He had already made a choice.

And that is to kill L.

And L himself knows it.

At the stairs, an intimate scene between them is shared. Both are drenched in the rain, then L suddenly offered a foot massage to Light. For non-shippers, they say that it's a Bible reference.

But for people like me, it's simply nothing but a bittersweet moment where for once, emotions are stirred and shared.

The atmosphere, their longing stares.

Light drying L's hair.

The exchange of words.

It truly is a very painful and touching picture.

"It will be lonely isn't it? You and I will be parting ways soon".

L is known for not showing his true emotions. Yet in here, he bares everything. From the way he looks at Light and that slight curve on his mouth, like he's very regretful of something. Maybe it's because he wasn't able to personally give him the verdict or it can also be what ifs and what would they have become if they didn't meet in this kind of circumstances.

On Light, he looked shock and somewhat sad. They say it was an act, but the knowledge of his arch-nemesis soon dying, the one who has been with him since this "chase" started, the one being who gave him thrill and pushed him to his limits, the one who for months, was chained with him 24/7, the only one who could stand as his equal, the one who made him feel, losing that person will surely give you mixed emotions, and I believe that the sadness there is genuine, even though it had been overshadowed by his delight for victory.

It was only a for a short moment but for once, they've dropped all facades as they face each other as L and Light, not Ryuuzaki and Kira.

After L's death, Light is shown to have lose some of his sanity. I've read in a site before telling that L was the one who's holding his ground. And with him gone, with the thrill of danger gone, Light suddenly found himself at loss. He spent months trying to rid of his enemy. His disappearance had caused a void in his heart.

I remember a certain scene where Light imagined L sitting at his usual chair. His eyes were dead and devoid of color. That's where he also started to lower his guard down. For him, L is his only formidable opponent, his other half. He is his equal. It proves with the appearance of Near, where Light says that he's far inferior to L. That he doesn't deserve to wear his mask.

Light had come to respect L.

In Light's final moments, he sees L. A hallucination some says. But they're missing a point here.

The fact that L showed up, either his soul or an imagination, means that he had become an important figure to Light. Maybe he was thinking what L said during the times that they are wearing the chains.

"As long as we are wearing this chains. You and I are bound to share the same fate. If you die, I die." - L Lawliet

Yes, the chains are gone, physically. But because Light had allowed L to become an important piece of his life, he had secured the chain for L to held him captive for as long as he's alive...and if you let your imagination wild, even after death.

This are the reasons why I fell in love with this ship.

They're both broken.

One is blinded by power.

One had secluded himself from the outside world.

Their chase will never be forgotten. A game that only the two of them understood knowing from the beginning that they will never achieve a happy ending. This painful and bittersweet ship will go down in history.

[azurevi]

on land where we can touch the moon (2/?)

PART 1 PART 3

A quick note- this is pretty messy. I'm planning as I write, so there'll be information scattered across the words, and it may be overwhelming...kinda. I have added a little note about what happened in this chapter in the end. This series is also up on ao3.

There is, naturally, a reason Azul was stuck with the name 'The Sea Merchant'.

It wasn't a bad name, and there was no hint of degradation in it. It just wasn't particularly suiting. Azul wasn't a merchant. He wasn't even a shopkeeper. He was just invested in a little magic, and this hobby of his got leaked out somehow. 

His magic was certainly something. It's A Deal allowed him to confiscate another person's valued quality in exchange for their wish. Anything could come to life as long as the deal was equal.

Only the drunk and people in desperate need of help ever went to him for help. After Azul had started mastering his magic, he reckoned that it hadn't been used to its full potential. If the person on the other side of the deal failed to meet the requirement, Azul could take even more from them without suffering any loss. 

And so he sugarcoated and exaggerated his words, put up the most professional smile he could manage. For a few weeks all was well. He'd gained himself a melodious voice, splendid flexibility and a ton of unique magics, but nothing great ever lasted. He was soon exposed as a scammer and his notoriety was whispered among the streets, passed on and on until every family warned their kids not to ever run into him. And Azul, with his fame and prosperity wilting under the gossip and points of fingers, was forced into giving up his success.

He had been in hiding ever since.

He could never understand how something as atrocious could happen to him. If it hadn't been for the sneers and isolation in the entirety of his childhood, he wouldn't have grown up hating everything and everyone around him that called him ugly, unwanted, repulsive. It should've justified his desire for revenge.

Instead, God decided that his suffering was not anywhere close to enough and kicked him down the cliff where he was crying for help.

That being said, Azul was grateful to have Jade and Leech sticking around after everything. The two of them were also unpopular among others, so they eventually got close as a tight-knitted trio.

"No you didn't," Jade said firmly. 

"I did, Jade. I did," Azul sighed, "They were dying, Jade, I couldn't just let them die,"

"Well, you should've."

"Don't be so uptight. Azul was doing the right thing, wasn't he?" Floyd winked. "So. Were they good-looking?"

"What?"

"The human. You must've saved them for a reason,"

Azul hated how Floyd's words implied that he would never do good unless there was something in it for him, but one could never lie in the face of truth. 

"I just didn't want to let them die. It was their birthday,"

"What does that have to do with everything?" Jade asked. "You went above the water. You saved a human. You were almost caught. You could've died up there, you know. How did you even manage to breathe?"

"I just… did." Azul said, twirling his tentacles in nervousness. Jade was entirely disapproving of his actions, while Floyd on the contrary seemed to be mildly intrigued. 

Everything still felt like a fever dream. All the fireworks and cheering and explosion were still vividly scorched into his mind as if they'd been put on repeat. The splendid colors, light giggles and- 

And those beautiful eyes of yours. The way your hair flowed in the night sky with ease, how you laughed like tomorrow was promised and your life had been planned out before you, a clear and untainted path to success. Azul couldn't decide on whether he was jealous or amazed.

"Well, you better hope they didn't really see you, or that they forgot about it. If the humans come down here to hunt us down-" Jade couldn't even bear to finish the imagination. He simply shook his head in dismay.

"I swear I saw someone! I couldn't have just been washed ashore!"

"Apparently, you were," Jack said, stroding with large steps that had you panting to keep up. "Near-death experiences do things to our mind, your majesty,"

"That may be the case for others, but I'm sure I was conscious," you retorted. "I woke up to a pair of pale, azure eyes, then in a blink they were behind the rock. If it hadn't been for you-"

"I apologize for worrying about you, your majesty."

You bit your tongue. Fighting with Jack always ended with him being passive-aggressive and you stepping back reluctantly. Plus he was as stern as a rock. Almost nothing could move his belief.

Shouting and grunting could be heard from inside the medical room where Ace, Deuce and Grim were being tended to.

Jack flung open the door, and the three stumbled to get into the blankets and put on a excruciated expression.

"I see you're all healed up," Jack said. Ace hummed lowly and slapped his forehead with the back of his hand. 

"I'm at death's door, commander. It pains me to say this, but I might need to take more days off,"

Jack was quiet for a while, and you could almost see a drop of sweat sliding down Ace's forehead.

"And you, Deuce?" Jack challenged.

"I'm traumatized," 

"And Grim?"

You arched your brow, at which he shivered in fear. "I- I'm feeling fine already,"

"So it's just Ace and Deuce, right?" Jack said. Ace and Deuce nodded their heads so hard they could fall off.

"Alright. Your health is of utmost importance to us, so I'll contact the Raven Healer…"

"The what?!" Deuce's voice croaked.

"The Raven Healer. Surely you've heard of him. He's best known for being able to treat any diseases, both mentally and physically,"

You were sure there were sweats rolling down Ace's cheeks now. "But- but doesn't he heal by using bizzare mediciness…?"

"Oh yes. His magic is what makes him such an infallible doctor. You two seem to be in a lot of pain. I'm sure he'll free you of your suffering."

You turned sharply towards the door and stifled a laughter. 

"That's… not very necessary…" Deuce's voice faltered word by word. He was fully aware that he'd already lost. "You know what, commander? I think I can dive back into work right this instant!"

Jack smirked smugly. "Splendid. And you, Ace?"

The two of them stared at each other so intensely there seemed to be sparkles between them. Finally, Ace gave in. "I'll start work tomorrow,"

They didn't even wait for Jack to walk completely out of the door to whine. They looked fully healthy, even more energized than you.

"Anyways, did you find your saviour?"

You sighed. Ace and Deuce were still skeptical about your 'story', which you'd corrected to 'experience', but at least they were open-minded. 

"No clues. I've had guards patrolling about every two hours. Nothing has yet to happen,"

They eyed each other uneasily, then back at you with a worried face. Before they could make assumptions, you defended yourself. "No, I'm not sick. My head's not concussed,"

"Well," Grim scurried to your lap. "Perhaps your saviour doesn't wish to be found?"

That'd be unwanted. You would wish for anything but to create troubles for your lifesaver. Nonetheless, you knew you wouldn't be able to sleep without sending your gratitude. 

Alright, there might be a selfish motif. You were admittedly curious about those light, pensive eyes and silvery, gleaming hair under sunlight. All these unknown were like a gravity pool, pulling you deeper and deeper into the mystery.

"Well, you ought not to lose hope," Ace patted your shoulder casually, like you weren't the princette of the kingdom he was serving for. "Maybe you'll actually run into him. Fate has a weird habit for setting unexpected traps."

It wasn't so much love as a tender curiosity, but the line segregating them was so flimsy that one's got to mix them up at some point.

Azul found himself in such a dilemma. He couldn't decide whether it was attraction or nosiness that he was feeling. Either way, it's got him hooked like a drug. Something beautiful had finally entered his life like light piercing through a thick fog of ink, and it was possessive. Azul had a feeling that it wouldn't go away until it had drained him of his mind.

The door to his room was thrown open and Azul had to hide the peeled petals and green stem in a jumble. He had been chanting 'they love me, they love me not' for the past hour. To his luck, Jade and Leech didn't seem to have noticed his haste expression. They were both panting when they swam inside.

"What's wrong?" Azul's first instinct was that something had gone south.

"There-" Floyd wheezed. "There's a sta-"

"There's a fallen statue in the Coral Maze," Jade finished the sentence. "People are fussing over it,"

"Okay," Azul eased back into his bed. He'd already lost interest at 'Coral Maze'. It was at the centre of where the majority of sea creatures inhabited. Nothing could make him go anywhere near civilization and its hubristic aesthetic again.

Or so he thought.

"No- you don't get it. It's a statue of a human that sank along with wreckages of a big ship, and it's made of gold,"

A statue made of gold.

He recalled it now. It was supposed to be your birthday present. The consternation of what followed the present revelation had been so intense that it'd washed the memory of the statue out.

"We just thought that it could be the statue you mentioned in your story, you know? It looked really grand…" Floyd sighed.

Azul wanted to get up and swim over right there, right then, but he knew he couldn't. What would others say to him the moment they saw the shadows of their tentacles crawling on their pure and oh-so royal ground? What accusations would they throw his way? How many children will be led away from him like he was some man-eating, brutal abomination?

Not to mention the unforgiving rage he'd evoked in trying to scam them in the past. Dishonesty was highly criticised in their high-class society. It was as if they were saints that had never done one thing wrong. Bet they'd never even stayed up past midnight.

"You ought to come take a look!" Floyd suggested. A casual, friendly proposal.

"No," Azul snapped. "No, no. I'm not going there,"

"They're planning to use the gold," Jade said. "You know how they are. They see one thing from the ground and start screeching in pain,"

They were going to use your statue. The statue that was perhaps the only thing that was related to you, the one way to never have to forget about you again in case that you never met again.

And to imagine the effect it'd add to his collections! A big gold statue in the centre of his grotto, accentuated by the sparkling of other jewelries. It'd be complete.

"I'll sit on it," Azul decided. He was not to act rashly, lest he walked one step wrong and brought upon himself misery and misfortune. If he really was to pay a visit, he would act in secret. Perhaps in the veil of the night. 

"Just don't act alone, okay?" Jade said. Azul nodded despite not paying any mind to him.

In the dead of the night Azul decided to sneak out. Alone. It was a mistake, really. Azul couldn't stop thinking about your statue, and by the time he realized how absurd it was, he'd already gone to the Coral Maze.

There was nary a shadow except his own. Still, it was much lighter than where he lived even at night. The distorted image of the moon waved from above as Azul made his way through the many identical corals. Then he finally found your majestic statue standing solemnly in the centre. The only beauty in the water.

It was a sight for sore eyes. White, pure light reflected off the gold and created streams of gleams onto the ground. That someone would ever find it to be disgraceful was incomprehensible to Azul. Something like this deserved to be put on display in the museum for all to see.

There was no radiance on your face and no splendid colors in your eyes. It was merely a fraction of what you were. Nonetheless, it was enough for Azul.

"Who's roaming there?" an alerted voice asked. When Azul turned, he saw a silhouette looming from outside the Coral Maze, holding two anglerfishes in hands and waving them in the water.

Panic was the only thing Azul felt as he hid behind the statue, struggling to keep his tentacles out of sight. The light stayed right in front of him for a while before skimming away.

Azul grabbed the statue and swam, pushing his tentacles through the water as hard as he could. 

"Wait there- oh goodness!" 

There were several voices now, mumbling and inquiring. Then light was casted upon his flitting figure and there were bemused gasps before someone yelled, "Seize him!"

Azul was out of breath. He wished he excelled in fitness but instead he was stuck with incongruous tentacles that would never cooperate at the most needed times.

A hand grasped the end of his tentacle but slipped off. He kept the statue tight in his arms, as if his life depended on it. He could tell that they were near now, and was trying very hard not to imagine the gruesome outcomes.

Someone grabbed his tentacles. He faltered and was pulled back despite protests.

"Keep him in place!" another person yelled as the crowd moved to keep Azul fenced in.

Azul couldn't see anything. Everything was a poor mixture of shadow and distaste and sneers. He was probably going to die right there.

"I can't believe you have the guts to come back, Ashengrotto. After all the things you've done!" someone spoke up.

"Yeah! How shameless of you!”

"And he's stealing our properties now! Imagine how desperate he is,"

"You guys don't even want it!" Azul said.

Some guy lurched forward. Azul cowered backwards.

"It's disgusting, yes, but it's still gold." he said as if it was a completely just thing to do. "It landed on our ground, so it belongs to us. On the contrary, you don't have the rights to lay your filthy hands on it. What more do you want to steal from us?"

"I'm taking this because none of you understand the beauty of it!"

This evoked a negative reaction from the crowd, but words could never be taken back. Azul could feel his heart pounding like a prisoner hellbent on escaping. He had to escape. No more of this degrading gazes. No more of the points of fingers.

"Beauty?" the guy scoffed, and for a moment his face scrunched up and he was ready to spit out rage, but then it softened into a smug smirk. "I guess only ugly understands ugly, huh?"

Azul's head throbbed.

"It doesn't justify your actions, ink-blasting thief. Hand that piece of trash over right- uff!"

He was flung deep into the water until he disappeared into nothing but a black dot. People around Azul immediately made way as they fled in screams and wails. His tentacle was still tingling with the impact, but he couldn't quite feel it. Even if he did, he couldn't care less as he skyrocketed to the surface of the water. He blinked and blinked, but his eyes were still blurred by what would be mixed into the seawater eventually. 

He'd had enough. Heard enough, seen enough. If he'd spent one more second down there he would have suffocated to death.

The familiar freshness of air welcomed him the moment he broke through the water's persistence. The land wasn't far ahead. He swam towards it as if it was his sanctuary. 

There was a man sitting on the rock, face hidden under the hood. Azul considered retreating. He had no idea what would happen to him if he was spotted, but nothing better would happen if he were to go back. So he continued swimming and crawled onto the cool soft sand, only letting his head be seen by the man as he hid behind yet another rock where he placed the much valued statue.

He seemed to be asleep, chest heaving up and down at a steady pace. Just as Azul started sliding out, the man raised his head and looked straight at Azul.

They were a pair of humming, white circles, seemingly void of any sentiments. The man had a mask on that shielded his face except for his tightly shut lips. Two crows were staring right at him with the same uncanny manner.

"You've finally arrived," the man said.

Probably the humans had been searching for him. Azul decided to keep his mouth shut.

"I've been hearing your calls…" he tilted his head. "You can come out. I know what you are,"

Azul still hesitated. But he was much closer to the ocean than to the guy, so he slowly let his tentacles into light.

The man remained calm, not a bit taken back by the revelation.

"Well, I've been hearing your calls…" he resumed.

"I never called out to any humans,"

"Not literally. But you have been calling out a lot," he smiled amiably. "You have to know that it's especially hard for me to hear from creatures undersea, so if your wishes managed to reach me, it means you're pretty desperate,"

"I think you have the wrong person," Azul said and started retreating.

The guy sprang up and his crows curled up together beside him. "Wait- I should introduce myself first. I'm the Raven Healer,"

Azul pondered for a while. "That doesn't explain anything except for the crows,"

"You lots haven't heard of me?" he frowned so deep that his brows and eyes were a cluster. "You guys are really secluded,"

That was when Azul finally realized that he knew about them. About all the lives and creatures that inhabited the deep sea.

"And I mean no harm to your realm. My only target is you," he smiled again, this time at an ominous angle.

"Well, I'm quite famous in this realm. I heal people for a living, whether it be physical or emotional needs. Anything you need, I can grant you,"

That's not very different from Azul's magic. 

"Sometimes, when someone is really desperate for a change, their thoughts can be heard by my crows. And you, Azul Ashengrotto…" his smile dropped a bit and his eyes drooped. "is particularly distressed,"

"Alright. It was nice meeting you," Azul nodded respectfully. The man didn't seem to be harmful. If he fled right now, he could probably throw him off.

The Raven Healer stilled, then burst into piles of blatant laughter. "No, no. I've been looking for you, don't you get it? I'm here to grant your wish!"

I'm here to grant your wish. Like how Azul'd promoted his business as the Sea Merchant.

"I understand that you've been suffering quite a lot, and that you want a change. But nothing ever comes without a cost… I'm sure you can understand,"

The healer stood up, the material of his greatcoat fluttering in the wind. He made his way freely to Azul, who could only freeze up as he inspected the statue with great interest.

"The heir to the throne! I see why you're desperate now. They're a real catch," the healer then looked down at the outstretched tentacles without a word. Azul prayed in his mind that he would turn away from them.

"Well, here are my terms. I will grant you a pair of legs in exchange for your magic,"

Wait, what?

Azul was pretty sure the Raven Healer was just imitating him now. A great figure appearing out of the blue to answer your hopes. The catch was that the figure would always take away your most important thing. It was never a fair deal, Azul was aware.

"I don't think you need my magic," Azul breathed.

"Why, I do!" he exclaimed. "Collecting magic is a splendid hobby of mine! It is because of all these magic that I am such a renowned magician,"

He was obviously lying. His smile couldn't reach his eyes, and the orbs where his eyes were supposed to be were humming like a hazard label.

"I think I'll be just fine," Azul hurriedly brought the statue to his chest and started sliding away.

"...How are you going to survive?"

"What?" Azul swiveled, exhausted.

"Up here. With your…" the healer wiggled his fingers.

"I'll find a way,"

"No you won't," the healer protested. Azul looked up to the sky, took a deep breath and decided to entertain him. 

"Why so?"

"You're gonna cause ruckus. Chaos. People are not especially used to seeing half-man half-octopuses roaming their land," he said honestly. 

Despite knowing all this, Azul still considered his word rude. There was a thin line between blunt and disrespectful, and he'd just crossed it. 

"There won't be anyone dealing with you, will there?"

"...I suppose not-"

"Exactly! I am your only hope!" he exclaimed once again, throwing his hands up in the air like a dramatist. "Unless you want to go back?"

Azul glanced at the serene water. He knew that down there, the mermaids and mermen must be panicking over what'd just happened.

"You can't hold onto that statue forever. If you really wish to stay here-"

"I just came, Mr. Healer. I'm not going to stay,"

"Yet. Come on now," he groaned, as if he was the one exasperated. "I know you want it. You need it. So what are you waiting for? You're never going to see all the beauties in this world in this state!"

He was right. Agonizingly right. He couldn't just walk around as an octopus. It would be like a stain on a quaint painting. Moreover, now that he was here, he couldn't just give up the chance to find you again. It's not like the ocean would welcome him anyways.

As if hearing his thoughts, the Raven Healer reached his hand out, "Deal? Your magic for a pair of legs. It's a fantastic trade if you think about it,"

One second. Two second. Azul didn't wait until the third to act on it. The moment their skin touched, Azul felt a stream of warmth coursing through him, rushing to his throat, where he choked up a luminous blue orb. It was within the healer's fingers within seconds.

"And your legs," he rummaged inside his pocket. There seemed to be numerous tiny objects inside as he dug around. Finally, he pulled up a thumb-size bottle and handed it to Azul.

He downed the slimy liquid inside under the healer's encouraging nods, and almost gagged at the sensation. "Guh! What the hell is-"

His tentacles started glowing a bright yellow, bright enough to attract people in this dead of the night. They started to shrink until they completely disappeared, and a pair of human legs replaced them.

He couldn't believe his eyes as he stretched around and surveyed the changes on his body. It took him quite some time to adjust to it, but he was surprisingly good at it. The fabric of the pants that came with the gift fluttered against his 'flesh' like a mother's caress. He felt normal, for once. Not some ugly monster that preyed on innocent kids. Not a marginalized criminal. Not even a wicked fraud. He was just a human wanting to explore the world.

"Three days," the Raven Healer said.

"What?" Azul was too joyous to pay real mind.

"If you can't find the most beautiful thing after three days, you will dissolve into sea bubbles,"

Azul stilled as he comprehended his words, then he started to chant no in his mind. He'd fallen for his trap.

"You didn't mention it at all!" Azul yelled. "Refund! You're scamming me!"

"The pot's calling the kettle black now. How comical," the healer giggled. Azul's heart dropped to the bottom.

"Consider this your own medicine. It's not like you're completely at loss over here!"

"Wait!" Azul reached out to grasp his fainting figure, which had become an opaque vision. 

"We shall reunite in three days. Until then, enjoy."

All that was left was the crashing of the waves and songs of the crickets. Bathed in the glow of the moon, Azul finally came to the conclusion that he'd fucked up.

Life never stopped to give him a break. There were haste footsteps nearing from behind. Azul instinctively retracted his tentacles, but forgot about their absence and tripped instead.

"Yikes! That was a nasty fall. Are you okay?" 

Looking up, two formally looking men were standing above him, one with crimson hair and another navy. There was a sword attached to each of their sides.

"Yeah. I-I'm fine," Azul cleared his throat and stood up.

"Are you homeless?" The redhead asked and was immediately hit by his companion.

"You can't go around asking people whether they are homeless!" he scolded, then turned to Azul brightly. "You must be in search of shelter! Please follow us!"

"That isn't any better," 

"Shut up," the blue-haired snapped with the same polite smile. "Come on, Mr…?"

"A-Azul. Azul Ashengrotto,"

"Yes, Mr. Ashengrotto. We can't have you catching a cold out here,"

Despite his friendly facade, Azul could see underlying motives lurking beneath. But clueless that he was, he didn't have a choice but to follow suit towards the castle-like building in the far distance.

"Your majesty will be pleased to see you," the redhead murmured, but Azul couldn't quite catch that.

"What was that?" he asked.

"It's nothing," was all that he received. "Just that you'll surely love the place."

Conclusion : Azul had once gone around scamming others with his unique magic but was busted and had been further criticised since. The Raven Healer is obviously Crowley, and his magic will be further explained in next chapter.

[ilchohand]

Ichidai San vs Seidou: Koshien Aftereffects

@ Anon-san, here's the essay haha!

I've officially watched the Ichidai San vs Seidou match for the fourth time last night. My adrenaline was so high, I couldn't sleep until 3am that I ended up wanting to unleash all these feelings for this show.

Daiya, Act II ep 13

And I kid you not. I'm writing 'bout everyone in Seidou.

Coach Kataoka & Ochiai

Let's start with Boss. I'd like to reiterate that he always had high hopes for Eijun.

Daiya, Act I ep 5

He placed Eijun in the first string even when the boy was still shit with his form, his control, and zero baseball knowledge. Even Osaka Kiryuu's coach implied that it's actually Eijun who is Kataoka's secret weapon.

I remember him even letting Eijun pitch against Raichi during the batter's next at-bat against Eijun. That was cleary a sign that he was starting to trust Eijun. But clearly Eijun wasn't still good enough back then. Kataoka knew of Eijun's potential, it's just that he didn't expect him to grow soooo fast. Eijun was bound to get there someday, but not this soon. However, seeing Furuya's pitching in Koshien, he too was blinded by it since he was desperate for a real ace with an impact. Of course you'd wanna parade your pitcher like that. This is where Ochiai enters the picture. (If you've ever felt personally victimized by Ochiai, please raise your hand! ✋) Kidding. Ochiai was shit during his introduction. It took a long time to warm up to him, but he was an essential addition to the coaching staff. Kataoka, although tough is more of a feeling kind of coach. While Ochiai takes information at face value. Clearly in the Ichidai game, Ochiai was the one who was practical even suggesting that Eijun's pitching is more effective (even though he likes Furuya as a pitcher more). Kataoka was blind, and it was glaring. Why? You see the other teams were watching. And every single coach of the teams Seidou played against with is wary of Sawamura- even Inashiro's Coach Kunitomo. Eijun is the kid who rallied Seidou to one out away into reaching Summer Koshien- during his first freaking year.

This is why I really like it when Ochiai said Kataoka is human afterall. I guess Kataoka also has some growing up to do.

I'd like to add that these two coaches were blinded by the Koshien performance that they didn't even notice that Furuya's form was crumbling. Quoting these reddit posts, the coaching staff was purely after results. If it's not broken, don't try to fix it. We all gotta say thank you to baseball jesus, Chris-senpai, for we won't be having this problem with Eijun.

Furuya

Contrary to people saying Furuya became selfish, I feel like he actually knew what his role is and the expectations from him. He never once lost the goal to win Nationals. It's just that, he didn't know how to actually do it. He was chasing his best performance. He didn't want to be Japan's #1 pitcher for the title you know. He wanted to be the top pitcher to bring his team to the top.

Let's accept it. Despite being a monster rookie, he shouldered the ace number prematurely. Of course the weight of it would one day catch up to him. This is why the phrase 'There are no shortcuts.' keeps being reiterated in the story. I felt bad for Furuya so much. This phase of his baseball life is pretty parallel to Eijun's yips arc.

Eijun

How do I even start with our ball of sunshine? He really puts relief in 'relief pitching'. Such a refreshing player. Woah, like Sanada Shunpei. Yes we know that an ace carries the whole team, we know that an ace saves the team during a pinch, and an ace uplifts the overall mood. Already sounds like Eijun right? We know the role of an ace and how an ace should perform towards the team. What the Ichidai San match highlighted is how a team, in response, acts towards the ace. Trust. It really slapped me in the face the same way it frustrated Eijun. The extreme difference in trust given to an ace versus a relief pitcher.

This was the turning point for Eijun. Probably why I love rewatching it despite the angst. (For a more painful experience, try rewatching the episode before the Ichidai San match 🤭🔪🦝) Anyway, during that scene where Kataoka was dumbstruck with Eijun's top tier pitching I kept remembering that one quote from HQ by the U19 coach--

"We don't look for them, but that doesn't matter. They come to us with solid, undeniable strength and they make us choose them."

Literally screams SAWAMURA EIJUN!!!

Miyuki Kazuya

Where should I stab him? (Ya'll stop taking me seriously when I say stab okay?) I've been saying this all the time but our personality is the same. It's nasty. I love him and hate him at the same time okay?

Anyway, I hope we're all aware and agree that Miyuki also saw Eijun's potential from day 1. Sakuhin shit right there. Miyuki likes interesting people or happenings. This guy played catch with noob Eijun during his day-off! Offered, in fact. (Act 1, ep 5 during that intra squad game of 2nd/3rd yrs vs 1st yrs).

May I also add! Chris didn't like Eijun in the beginning. It was Miyuki who ended up covincing Chris to look at Eijun clearly and say "to a catcher, he's the most interesting kind of pitcher". However, this boy has his first string duties so it was understandable that he focused on Furuya for a while. But what's unacceptable is, during Ichidai's game, he was guilty of prioritizing Furuya over the game. This is 99% on Kataoka but 1% on Miyuki. Bitch you were losing and you couldn't even send distress signals to the coach. He trusted Furuya because of the Koshien performance and the ace number when a whole ass Sawamura Eijun exists. That's why he was quite guilty when Eijun dropped the 'trust' word on him during the switch.

And while I like that Eijun's performance during the Ichidai San match was eye opening to the catcher, I still haven't forgiven Miyuki for the day before the game when he 'ditched' or put Ei on the back burner. No, no. I'm not simply being a bitch about it because we know Miyuki's POV at that point. He needed to figure out what's wrong with Furuya and a match was looming. He didn't throw Eijun away, he just put him off a few hours. What I'm angry about is the way he put it to Eijun.

We all know Eijun is dying for some Miyuki acknowledgement. I'm pretty sure Miyuki is so unaware of this fact. Which brings me to the point. Miyuki is unaware of how his words come across to Eijun. How it impacts the little pitcher. That a simple jab to Eijun like "ace-sama wants to pitch" is a big sore spot. We see this later at night when Eijun keeps repeating, "Since I'm already put at the back burner!". Miyuki was being sarcastic about the ace-sama thing. But you see, Eijun is a big idiot. He takes everything at face value. Miyuki even brushes it off as they practice catch, "You're still angry about that?" he jokes.

And whooosh, everything's okay! Or is it?

You may say I'm being dramatic about it. But no. Here's why. During the Ichidai match, Eijun flashes back to two things. One, while on the bullpen frustrated that Furuya's messing up, he recalls the day before when Miyuki chose to catch for Furuya even though he promised to Eijun. (The other one, at his at-bat, he remembers when Kataoka didn't let him pitch the last inning.) So what seems to be a simple nasty joke to Miyuki is a sore spot to Eijun. I have observed this time and time again, but Eijun is quick to under value himself, and these jokes Miyuki pulls aren't helping. Recall that crippled Sawamura self deprecating joke he did, and him saying he was put in the back burner.

(Well anyway, Miyuki was praising Eijun in his mind the night before so I'm appeased. This is one of those TJ inconsistencies I hate, but okay, that's another post. ☹️)

Everything got better after the Ichidai game. Because as Eijun made Kataoka look at him properly. He also did the same to Miyuki. Eijun's performance just screamed, "I'm here. I'm ready!" It lit a fire to everyone in Seidou.

Fielders/Batters

I want to end my long ass post with a good one. I wanna highlight the team's performance during the Ichidai game.

While Furuya was pitching, I could go as far as say the fielder's were baby-ing him. They were so soft and encouraging because they knew Furuya when he is at his best and that it was off day during that time. The fielders were playing primarily to relieve Furuya's pressure.

In contrast, when Eijun was playing on the mound do you guys know how the batters felt? Kanemaru? Kuramochi? Utter frustration and hopelessness. And I was giddy as fuck when that happened. Because Eijun was performing his best, but they couldn't get any runs in response to his amazing pitching. It mothafuckin felt so good watching them feel powerless.

Don't you love this whole match? Obviously I do haha! If you guys ended up reading everything, then thank you! I really wrote this for myself because I was overwhelmed while rewatching it. 😅

[disneydreamlights]

So, I've figured out how you'd obtain Moogle of Glory in the MMO. After clearing Beast's Castle, you'd get a cutscene of Donald and Goofy crashing in Daybreak Town. After seeing this cutscene, if you enter then exit the Moogle Shop Menu. Doing that will trigger the cutscene where the Moogle's Keyblade scheme falls through, and the Keychain attaches itself to your Keyblade. Then you can complete the Moogle 'o Glory quest chain.

PLEASE ANYTHING IS FUCKING BETTER THAN THE MOG QUESTS.

I want to max out Moogle of Glory so bad. I literally need a Power Magic medal after pulling every Foreteller but Gula (and guilting Aced and Invi) but the MoG questline is so bad...and only easy to do in 0 AP. I hate it.

You'd actually obtain the Power Bangle after receiving the "Where's Chirithy?" Quest, upon entering the Fountain Square. You'd then get a Guilting tutorial. You'd get a hint that the Chirithy you were talking to isn't your Chirithy when you speak with your own Chirithy after completing the Guilting Tutorial and they have NO idea where you got the Power Bangle (with some foreshadowing since they have a minor, subtle freakout upon seeing that you have it). So yeah, there's that.

Tbh that foreshadowing should’ve been in the actual KHUx now I’m salt.

The Moogle Shop Menu would have buttons for each shop menu, one for Medals, one for Items, one for Furniture, and one for Spirit parts. There'd also be be a button for selling Medals, and a button for selling Keyblade Materials. The Spirit portion of the shop would have two banners that are always there where you can buy Rainbow parts for the Pupstar and Kitstar, plus the limited time banner for other Spirit Parts.

So, the Spirit would be unlocked through simple means, progress past a certain point in the story (not sure where yet, other than it being before Beast's Castle), then head to Daybreak Town. Cue obtaining the new Pet feature. As for the room? You'd unlock it in a Story Quest, after completing the first three Disney World arcs and returning to Daybreak Town, you would get the key to your room. Why a key when you have a Keyblade? To discourage you from abusing the Keyblade's unlocking powers!

Combining these two into both parts because they’re both pet things. I love the idea of a shop where I could buy the pet parts individually. Perhaps do the banners in the same manner as limited edition shop items, with the rainbow items being available for Munny (because let’s face it when you’re at the point I am in the game where you have quite a few million of it, Munny is useless) and having things worth spending Munny on besides evolving medals to guilt them would be nice.

Also the Daybreak Town thing is adorable and hilarious with the key, and if you ask me you actually should hold off on giving the pet until beating the Keyblade War. I think in the MMO since it’d probably go through KHX and KHUx that it would make most sense to not give the pet until the Union Leaders create it in the Unchained Realm.

So uh, I was thinking of an idea for a SUPER RARE Guilt Medal that's used to roll/reroll traits. While Fusing two of the same Medal would still be the best way to go, these SUPER RARE Medals would be an alternative for Medals you don't have duplicates of. It would cost more Guilt and maybe some Munny to use, however. Additionally, I don't know if it should be Phantom Aqua, DiZ, Robed Ansem, Sora's Heartless, or some other villain from the series. Do you have any ideas?

Hooded Ansem. It should be a character not represented yet but still significantly important and powerful within the series.

So, okay, when the Foreteller Deals arrive, everyone would receive a free Medal corresponding to their Foreteller. Each banner would have the "guaranteed in 5 draws", plus the chance of pulling one of the other 4 Foretellers (and Luxu, whom wouldn't have a banner). Luxu would be another Speed Medal. Sharing any of these Medals would change the music in the Player's room to "Dearly Beloved (Back Cover vers.). Players would be able to borrow Friend Medals for single-player portals.

Nonny you’re speaking my language I wasted over 40k jewels for Ava and granted, I got her, that’s 42k jewels I could still have an be well on my way to saving sixty for that Roxas out right now or the Xion dropping in a few weeks.

Okay, so I'm kinda torn on how I want the "Proud Mode" Keychains to be obtained. One way I was considering was having them be available in the "Item" portion of the Moogle Shop, where you can pull a random Keychain from the pool of the "Keychain" Banner. The other way was having Avatar Boards you unlock as you level up where you unlock them with Avatar Coins. I'm kinda torn between the two of them for obvious reasons

So, I think I figured out how I'd like the whole "Proud Mode" Keyblade thing to work. Basically, what if every Story Battle had a "Proud Mode" or something along those lines? I mean, that's pretty close to how canon does it, but seeing as how I've never beaten the first Shadow of the Proud Mode quests... But yeah, what if the first time you clear choice Story Battles in Hard Mode, you got one of the "Hard Mode" Keyblades?

I mean that’s basically how canon does it, but I think having them pull from a banner might be slightly better than just being avatar coins, so long as one Keyblade is guaranteed, but I think it should be available with Event Coins. We have so many event coins left at the end of every event (mine are in the thousands typically) it’d be nice to have something I can throw all those extra event coins at so they’re not wasted.

I also had an idea for the Organization XIII Medals inspired by the AWFUL "Organization XIII Revival" 1 day event. Basically, on the first day of every month, you'd be able to obtain Xemnas from Event Quests. On the second day, Xigbar, and so on and so forth until the fourteenth where you can get Xion. Shorter timeframe? Yes, but it's much less stressful than "Only thirteen days starting from the thirteenth with only ONE CHANCE ever!" Plus, Roxas and Xion medals from the monthly event!

I’d like that if only so I could guilt Xemnas and Xigbar since I failed to do it both times, but I feel like the event will come around again. This is a rerelease of them from the first time after all. Xion medals from any event are also very good to me. XD (Course I more want Xion’s hair but still)

Getting long so throwing the rest under read more for this group.

So, Anniversary Art #6 would depict Nightmare Chirithy in its boss form front and center with Maleficent and Pete at its right and left respectively and two robed figures standing behind them. Anniversary Art #7 would depict Phantom Chirithy in the Background with Maleficent and Pete standing in front of it, and three masked figures (whom players would later learn to be the brainwashed Union Leaders) standing before them. Both would be Reverse Medals.

NIGHTMARE CHIRITHY ART YES.

So yeah, in Unchained X (three whole years after players witnessed their plush companion freak out over the Power Bangle), we'd get a cutscene explaining why the NEW Union Leaders would allow the Power Bangles since they'd probably have learned what Guilt really is. The idea? Use the Medals to imprison darkness with the Guilting Process, and the Nova Attacks are a sort of exhaust to purge dark energy. Now if only they didn't task the TRAITOR with collecting and containing the purged darkness.

So yeah, the plan with that cycle was to keep the darkness from being able to take tangible form so that the Union Leaders could use the Lux the Dandelions collect to turn their dreams into new worlds, void of darkness. Seeing as the series happened, you can guess how well that turned out. But yeah, Lauriam collects all the Darkness and uses it to create Nightmare versions of the Spirits. Speaking of the Pets, as cool as the bottle animation is, spending Jewels for random parts is just, no.

Putting this under gameplay since guilting is a mechanic, but it does make a surprising amount of sense and explain a lot of the reason why the Union Leaders would actually think it’s okay to allow the Power Bangles and guilt in the Unchained Realm.

As somebody who wasted 3000 jewels just to get a full piggy set because she loves pigs and skipped the bunnies because she needed jewels, fuck yes. Do not charge me for my pigs, I don’t care if it’s cosmetic offer at least basics without premium currency and different unique colors for the jewels.

So, I'd probably make it so that you'd use Munny for more than just Fusing Medals. I'd have it so you have to spend Jewels to purchase Items, Medals, and SOME Avatar Boards, sure, but I'd have it so you spend MUNNY on Decorations (furniture), and MAYBE spend both Guilt and Munny on the random Spirit Parts because Spirits are Dream Eaters and those are made of Darkness (the Union Leaders think that they're turning Darkness into Light when they make Spirits. They're not) so continuity nod there.

YOU’RE LITERALLY TELLING ME THINGS SQUARE SHOULD’VE DONE YOU’RE MAKING THE DREAM KHUX HERE WITH MYNNY FOR DREAM EATERS. (How would you sell Guilt given how the mechanics work?)

So, looks like the "Rainbow" parts were exclusive to the Bunstar instead of being a third color type like I thought. So, no "rainbow" Pupstars and Kitstars in the MMO AU. But I probably would still have a permanent banner of some type in there, be it Chocostars or Frogstars or something. Maybe both? Anyway, the purpose of the Spirit is to eat Nightmares that might emerge from the Guilted Medals, with the ones that raise your Spirit's Rank the most being what Brain deems high-risk.

I think they might exist in JPUx, but who cares, do them anyways, they’d be cute. Also frog dream eaters would gladly have me throwing money at jewel boxes. 

So yeah, I was thinking maybe Guilt Prizes would look like the Guilt Symbol, you know what I'm talking about, with each "level" of the symbol corresponding to one point of Guilt. like, Prizes that look like the level 1 symbol would reward 1 Guilt, the level 2 symbol 2 Guilt. The counter would use the Level 7 Guilt Symbol, however. Additionally, Guilt prizes would be inside the bottle in the "Blind Box" Spirit Part purchase animation, until the 3 lights fly in and turn them into a smoke cloud.

Honestly anything that could help with guilt would make anybody more likely to buy those pets blind boxes. XD Only reason I will spend more money on pets is dragon. I got reindeer and fox, that’s good enough.

So, in the MMO AU, the more powerful the attack, the more gauges it will cost. There wouldn't be any 0 SP Medals. As such, Kairi EX's REALLY broken Special Attack would be USELESS in a single player situation, since it would cost 15 SP Guage and only return 5. In Multiplayer, or when using Namine or the Special Attack Guage 2 Skill, on the other hand.

Actually, Illustrated Kairi EX would Coat 10 Guages, restoring 5. Regular Illustrated Kairi would cost 15 Guages and restore 10. They would still have the Canon affects, save for the damage since they would be Team Targeting Medals. Figured that would be more balanced.

Listen I like being broken but anything would be more balanced than what’s currently in the meta with Kairi EX. I actually literally only have my iKairi2 on Treasure Trove just because I don’t have anything better to put there. Actually that’s every Keyblade but Lady Luck now. XD

[itsalwayssunny]

What do you think about the information on IMDb saying the season 12 finale is about Mac, Dennis, and Charlie going to pride? There's no title or source for it yet. I really hope it's fake. I've been a fan of the show since season 3 and I hate seeing so many people on here taking the show too seriously and turning it into some big political statement when it's just a comedy

Here’s the thing: the show is extremely, overtly, outwardly, very political. Yes, it’s just a comedy. But it’s also running amok with political and social commentary and satire.

I say this next sentence not trying to one up you, or diminish you or anyone else as a fan, but rather help illustrate my points and experiences. I’ve been watching the show since season 1 (2005), I’ve had the twitter account since 2009, and I’ve been a part of this account since 2010 (and slowly ended up being the only person on it). Seasons 1 & 2 were very outwardly political, not hiding it, not masking it behind satire. Well, in a way it was because it was obvious that the joke is these people are horrible and the real people behind the show don’t feel this way, but it has become more layered over the years. And I have found that people who became fans in those seasons were either super into the politics and intelligence of the show or thought that they were making fun of them liberal elites #MakeAmericaGreatAgain etc. And as a girl fan I was too young to get it (I was just shy of 15 when it premiered), or would never understand the show because it’s for dudes and I’m a chick. People who ahve become fans in the middle seasons, when it was more silly or otherwise layered with the commentary and not as obvious hate when it is political. It has since circled back and become more intentionally obviously political, and I’ve been seeing a lot of hate from the dudebros/Trumpistas, or if they’re real dumb saying “yeah give it to them liberals!” etc. (clearly not knowing what satire is or how the writers/creators really feel, or able to look at anything beyond face value). The cycles have gone as the creators have grown as people and creators. They’ve gone from young, single, & childless to middle aged people, married with kids. Priorities and ideas and thoughts have changed and grown and ways to convey messages and stories have changed and grown with them. Middle season fans have hated hte last two seasons (12 not included), and OG fans have never been happier with the last two seasons. On the whole, I’m not saying it’s an absolute rule, because it’s a long running show younger people are discovering it, older people are tuning in to what their kids are watching, or people are just simply wanting to check out the show that’s been on this long against so many odds. I have a friend who has known me for like 5 years and I JUST got her to finally watch it. And that’s amazing to me.

My problem with people is not so much they turn it into a big political statement, because again the whole show is nothing but political statements, they read a lot of things out of nothing. Fan theories and expectations and speculations are super fun. I get it. I do it. But I don’t say a character is ace when nothing in his history or the writers room have ever hinted to it. I don’t say a character is gay or bi because I misinterpret “looks” and “glances” that just naturally happen between 1) actors not doing anything 2) super close friends that have been friends since before the show started 3) people who genuinely love and respect and trust each other as people and as actors to be in the moment. I respect when the writers present me with an episode that goes against with what I thought about a character, because it’s their person and they know that person better than me. I don’t look at the hiring of a lesbian director as a way to hint to fans that this episode is all about gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay, but rather an inclusion of two voices of directors the show has not had the previous 11 seasons: 1) woman 2) LGBT+. I don’t present my speculations as fact. I don’t pretend to know more when I don’t. I also think people, like a lot of hardcore fans do, read and watch a lot about the actors so they know their positions and beliefs, and while yes it influences the show and shows their beliefs satire and comedy, people think there’s more going on when there’s not. Sometimes if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and looks like a duck…. it’s a fucking duck, not an undercover  rabbit that only true fans of the animal kingdom could ever understand and read between the lines.

As far as the season 12 finale goes, I’m not in a position to speculate. And by that I mean I know what’s happening. And I have since June when they filmed the fucking thing. Some people somehow already figured out it’s called Dennis’ Double Life though, so I’ll offer that much up.No, I’m not telling you anything else. You don’t have to believe me; tbh I probably wouldn’t if I was on the other side of this just seeing some random no name person claim to know things without proof.But again…. people believe what they want to believe. About me, about the show, about a plot, about a picture, about a phrase, about a title.But I will say that I cried on set about it, should anyone want to take a stab at those speculations.

(sorry I don’t feel like proofreading this or writing more, my brain is fried; I’ve had a long day at work and am still getting over being sick)