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#as long as i've motivated one person i'll consider my job done
ttteanimalau · 7 months
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Hello yall!
Firstly, I wanna apologize for this blog being...in a coma for a bit there. I promise, I'm not done with this blog or au, I've actually not stopped thinking about it. I've just been lacking motivation to make art for it, any artist would know lol
Because it's been so long, I've decided to finally settle on making references for the mains, meaning engines 1-7 plus Emily.
So far, this is Thomas, Edward, Henry, and Gordon, I'll make everyone in time but I had these done and wanted to post now. Also, have some fun basic descriptions of their characters in my au.
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Thomas is, to most workers, a lil prick. In all seriousness, his basic personality is a lovable yet cheeky young dork, with a big heart. There are few figures of authority he has respect to but he, overall, doesn't find joy in causing distress or harm to others. He causes trouble in a more-or-less fun kind of way, even though it can get under the skin of certain co-workers He does have a bit of a hero complex though, after all he's been through.
Edward is an older mentor-type figure, basically everyone's dad. He's thoughtful and very reliable, always willing to do what's necessary to get the job done. When a scenario would call for it, he does have some bite when it comes to verbally disciplining his younger peers, especially Thomas and James. He takes no nonsense and can be pretty scary when he's ticked off, despite his usual softboi appearance. Also yes, he's very gay, I felt that was important to mention lol
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Henry is also a softboi, though he's definitely less of a mentor figure. He's careful and gentle, especially with smaller beings. He can get prideful, especially when he primarily pulls the heaviest trains. He has incredible strength and he knows it, though part of his pride comes from hidden insecurity, considering his past and how fragile he used to be before the Flying Kipper. But that's a long story that'll be explained in the future.
Gordon is the pride of Sodor's railway, and he basks in the spotlight. He's boastful and proud, and that's not entirely unfounded. As the worker who primarily pulls the Express passenger train, he's aware of how important he is. Though, he does have a fondness for his younger co-workers, even the ones who annoy him (*cough cough* Thomas). However, he isn't above pulling the one-off cruel joke.
I hope you enjoy this! One again, I apologize for my absence lol
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unexpected theory that i stumbled upon
I am in a JOJOLands discord server and a member of the server had this theory that I think should be shared. They plan on posting the full scope of it on Reddit (so I'll add the link to it here when it gets posted). In the meantime, I'm gonna summarize what I've found based on their discussions so far and add my own theories to it.
(This will be a long one :P)
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The theory in particular involves the star emblem Jodio poses in that has numbers at each arrow.
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On one hand, those numbers could simply be counting each point or is in reference to how there has been 9 parts for JoJo so far. But... what if the numbers are in refrence to this instead:
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This is the Enneagram of Personality, a personality assessment that consists of nine personality traits. It's a system that focuses on a person's emotions regarding motivations and fears. Each of the nine personality types is defined by a particular core belief about how the individual thinks the world works. It's believed no one really changes from their numbers but one can relate to more than one number and each number has levels ranging from "healthy" to "unhealthy" that a person can resonate with over time. What's interesting is that the Ennegram is made to resemble a star, with the number 3, 6, and 9 working as a triad that symbolizes wholeness.
There are other details regarding the arrows such as sub-types, wings, and arrows, but we're going to focus more on the surface stuff in this post (the Reddit post can dive deeper). But, how does this relate to The JOJOLands?
Well, what if you place the numbers with the arrows? Not just literally but let's also have it match more with the Ennegram as well. Let's also try to put the numbers aligned in two different ways (images created by the person on the server).
With the numbers aligned vs with the empty arrow pointing upwards:
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We can call the first one the original placement and the second one the "inverted" placement to differentiate the two.
But, there's more. Do you remember what the cover art for "Chapter 8: Let's Look at Luxury Watches" is? Remember how it shows the same emblem but with the 5 known characters at the moment?
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It looks like each character is associated with a particular point of that emblem. Let's put the Ennegram numbers on them and see what they look like with the original placement and the "inverted" placement. The original OP also made these images.
Original Numbers vs Inverted Numbers:
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Why does this all matter?
It obviously looks like the characters aren't just decorated around the star emblem but each one is associated with a number on the Ennegram. With the inverted, it also appears as if most of them change numbers.
Now, if you look at the numbers they're associated with in the "before" photo, you realize their personalities align with the numbers in the Ennegram.
Jodio has the ambitious goal of becoming obscenely rich. He prides himself for being reliable, getting the job done with no questions asked and mentioned how being this way gained him praise and money among other things. His recent diagnosis makes him speculate he could be a psychopath. 3s are are goal-oriented, viewing success as being praised for their achievements, and they act with efficiency. Their ambition can cause them to be relentless, even psychopathic.
Rohan is looked up to by Jodio among others and is considered a creative, inspiring individual due to his success as a mangaka and the perfection he strives to have in his works. Despite his actions towards the team, he continously warned them of danger during their interaction and even advises Jodio before they part ways. 1s are known to be perfectionists due to their creativity and their self-awareness, which inspires many. This belief makes them think they're different from others, which can translate to being critical of others and an air of self-righteousness due to their moral compass believing they are better than others.
Usagi is considered an oddball since the beginning yet proves his potential with how intelligent and inqusitive he is. Even if it got the team out of trouble in some cases, his approach is unconventional and he is still considered a troubled individual to his peers, even rejected from further connections. 5s are known to be inquisitive and would spend hours observing and experimenting every detail and concept to gain more knowledge if given the opportunity. However, going too far with their discoveries makes them very eccentric and their desire to seek knowledge can eventually drive them to insanity.
Paco is a kleptomaniac addicted to stealing due to the rush it gives him and, despite being academically weak, is a very capable fighter and planner of the group. He's rather rash with his decisions but can take control of any situation, especially in a fight. 7s are known for being quick on their feet, able to plan and act on instincts when the situation calls for it, and make up their lack of studiousness with their street smarts. But, this impulsiveness and desire to act on energy means their addictions can lead to self-destruction much faster due to how much energy they go through and they could be associated with BPD.
Dragona goes out of the way to avoid further fallout or conflict deemed unnecessary or cause further trouble. They engage in peaceful things like yoga and is the voice of calmness and trust that contrast Jodio's more violent nature. 9s are known as peacemakers, valuing harmony and simplicity above all, which makes others trust them due to how stable they seem. This stubborness to keep peace can put them in a state of disorientation and reclusiveness that can manifest into multiple personalities.
While some believe Ennegram numbers don't change over time, seeing the inverted numvers show different numbers seem to indicate that the characters we see will evolve into their new numbers as the story progresses. This may foreshadow what will happen to each character or what they will become in the end.
2s are known to be empathetic, putting others first as givers, and desire to be loved above everything, yet it can be seen as manipulative and lead to self-victimization.
4s are known to be authentic, finding creativity and deep connections with others, but can fall into despair when dreams and hope are lost.
See 5, 7, and 9 above.
Jodio as a 2 means he could become more loving to others and take on the typical Joestar personality of pursuing justice and determination due to empathy. It doesn't necessarily mean he's "cured" of his inability to feel guilt or have no affection to others beyond his family, but it may indicate him learning to find connections and going on some sort of self-discovery as a result. At the same time, the happiness he desired could be interpeted as love he yearns to feel for, and he could be changing his purpose of pursuing riches to fit more of a 2.
Rohan as a 4 is harder to speculate what will become of him besides a possible return. We know little of Rohan's full personality in The JOJOLands but we know Rohan as an arrogant, discourteous perfectionist from previous iterations. This does seem to imply Rohan will be a more present mentor who embraces more of his imperfections and increasing an appreciation towards those around him. He's sort of started doing that already with Jodio at the end of chapter 5.
Dragona as a 5 means they may start becoming less avoidant and more assertive and proactive in taking control of the situation. I speculate they have some sort of block that discourages them from doing this currently, maybe due to lack of confidence or having a not-so strong Stand compared to Jodio or Paco. Or, maybe being in Jodio's shadow has made them comfortable with doing minimal work. Regardless, they are finally able to show themselves as their own Joestar and fighter in their own right. As a possible 5, this also means Dragona may discover something ground-breaking and it could lead to some major sacrifice; possibly, Dragona's life may end as a result.
Paco remains a 7, which I find interesting but understandable if there needs to be a balance between characters that dramatically change and characters that remain constant; Paco in this case is the latter. Still, Paco could become either a better or a worser version of a 7 to show how much he's changed as the plot continues. I could be possible that Paco becomes more valued for his quick mind despite his lack of intelligence or his addiction to stealing and being impuslive causes issues with the team and ultimately his downfall instead.
Usagi becoming a 9 points two scenarios. On one hand, his transformation points him to be an ultimate traitor. Maybe the reactions to his eccentricities results in him feeling like he needs to hide more of himself and pushes him to villainy because of rejection. On the other hand, Usagi may come to realize he doesn't need to be complex and go beyond to try making friends, so he starts feeling more at ease. Either way, it seems like Usagi still has a wall of sorts hiding who he really is and becoming a 9 might reveal it soon.
We don't know too much about Knife Guy so far, but I'm guessing he's either going to be a 7 like Paco or a 2 who eventually becomes a 3. In the case of the latter, it could be due to Knife Guy pursuing the gang out of orders and following them to gain validation while lacking his own agency. Becoming a 3, especially under Paco's mentorship, may lead him to think about his own goals and ambitions instead of aiding the goals and ambitions of others.
The Enneagram also explains how the Stands work too. The Reddit post can go more into how these personalities relate to not just the characters but their Stand abilities and what the Stands might evolve into.
With that out of the way, I now want to talk about my two cents: the main villain.
What number would the main villain be? After all, there are 9 numbers total and only 5 (6 including Knife guy as I'm writing this) characters identified.
If we look at the chart and the inverted chart, there are only two numbers that remain untouched: 6 and 8. Coincidentally, they are the "inverses" of each other.
Between the 2 numbers, the main villain most likely will start as a 6 before turning into an 8. If you look at the Ennegram, the most obvious triad shown is the 369. I mentioned earlier how these three numbers hold significance in the Ennegram.
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If Jodio and Dragona already took the positions of 3 and 9 respectively and no other character is a 6 so far, the main villain would most likely be the one to hold the 6 position. As a 6, this also implies they start out very close to Dragona and Jodio prior to becoming the main villain going against them. In terms of how close, a mutual friend or a relative is most likely since the two Joestars are siblings and the closest to each other in their gang. The main villain can also be someone completely unrelated but due to their role in society they are a major, unknown influence in Jodio and Dragona's life. Regardless, whoever it is will still fit being a 6 who becomes an 8.
If we look at the 6 and 8 traits on the Ennegram, something interesting comes up:
6s are seen as reliable. They are dedicated and ride-or-die with what they believe in, find security in having these loyalties. However, they can be driven to hysteria and dependency on what they believe in, being in deep denial when the beliefs starts failing, and then being lost when it crosses a point of no return.
8s are seen as assertive. They are the epitome of the ideal hero, confident in what they do and they end up becoming the voice to those who are saved or supported by them. Their actions, if left unchecked, can be seen as delusional and domineering, and some 8s are known to have ASPD and be sociopaths.
It seems like the main villain starts off as someone very loyal to some sort of system they support and are a part of. Something then happens (such as corruption, betrayal, and/or realization) changes them from a 6 into an 8. As an 8, they start doing things as a means of addressing the issue they found with this system that caused their change. They could be trying to save, improve, reform, or destroy it, and their actions cause more harm than good despite believing they are doing otherwise. Whatever the case, it clashes with what Jodio wants and thus making them a main antagonist preventing Jodio from his goals and harming his loved ones in the process.
What is the system, then? We don't exactly know but we have some possibilities.
The system could be something tangible and visible. The American legal system could be an example; we end up with a main villain who is a police officer, judge, lawyer, or social worker. Another example is American capitalism; someone as low as a migrant worker or as high as a CEO could become a main villain. Both could be individuals who feel mistreated by the system or has an epiphany on how to optimize it and both ways lead to them wanting to heavily alter said system at the cost of many lives.
Alternatievly, the system could be a more philosophical and invisible. A great example of this is the mechanisms. We end up with a main villain who either failed to achieve their goals because of it or succeeded yet remained unsatisfied. We can even have someone who started out with a similar life and goals as Jodio. In that case, the main villain could be some sort of warning of what would have happened to Jodio if he didn't change his ways.
In both cases, the main villain becomes someone who is a "hero" or "a voice to the people" because their change leads them to find followers that feel like they are being heard as a result of the main villain taking action for it. There are many careers that can allow someone to become such a voice, such as cult or religious leaders, social media influencers, celebrities, politicians, and more. Especially with how social media has made parasocial relationships prevalent, this could bring a new concept of betrayal that is seen today; think of modern influencer stardom or Asian idol culture. Similar to how DIO would have loyal minions sent to deter and defeat the gang in part 3, the followers of the main villain may become minor villains trying to stop the gang in part 9.
It seems to make sense that a villain would be an 8 because the last three villains we had could be described as 8s. Pucci wanted everyone to understand their destined fate, Funny Valentine wanted America to be a great nation, and Tooru wanted to change society for the sake of Rock Humans. All three were people of influence like mentioned above relative to where they worked (GDSP's Chaplain, president of the United States, Head Doctor of T.G. University Hospital respectively) and all 3 thought they were doing something good for a group of people. So, I speculate the main villain is in a similar boat and his attempts of doing something good may end up clashing Jodio's plans.
Something you might notice is that all the numbers have an associated personalty or mental disorder/symptom associated with them. This happens if the individual falls into the "unhealthy" levels of the number they are associated with. Note: they don't mean you will end up with such symptoms but rather they can explain why you have developed them. Most of the things listed repeat itself in some way and are rather generic (acts of self-destruction, having some sort of dependency or addiction, and becoming reclusive) but there are some that have specific diagnosis like BPD and multiple personalities listed.
What's interesting is ASPD and sociopathy is associated with the 8 personality. As someone who was diagnosed with ASPD by his school psychotherapist, you would think Jodio should have been an 8 for this reason and maybe start out as an 8 before becoming a 6. Instead, he starts as a 3, which does mention psychopathy, but that's about it, and he's expected to become a 2. Could this hint that Jodio's diagnosis is wrong (since the test itself is sketchy and diagnosing somone with that tends to be difficult to quantify in practice)? Or, is this going to end up being a battle between two individuals with ASPD and this could be some weird story about nature vs nurture (Jodio as nature and the main villain as nurture)?
I do wonder what this would all mean for Jodio and the rest of his gang. Even though Rohan mentions someone from the 3 of the gang members being potential traitors, the main villain is set up to be the ultimate betrayer of sorts. This is especially because of the potential that the main villain is very close to Jodio and Dragona, and it makes me speculate the main villain being someone like their estranged father, Meryl Mei, or maybe even Barbara Ann. When someone once mentioned the possibility of Josuke/Gappy becoming a villain, this theory puts him on the table too.
What do you guys think?
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Rejected Requests Pt. 16
Hello everyone! I am unfortunately back with another set of Rejected Requests (Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt 4, Pt 5, Pt 6 , Pt 7 , Pt 8 , Pt 9 , Pt 10, Pt 11, Pt 12, Pt 13, Pt 14, Pt 15)
I understand this is very disappointing for many of you. I promise it has nothing to do with you, and mostly it’s just because my brain has decided it doesn’t want to cooperate.
I will post the rejected fics below the cut. I want to give you the opportunity to ask another Writer (check the list of Writers seeking requests here!) For some of you, I've already heard back from someone who agreed to take over your request!
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Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of experience with schizophrenia, so I wouldn't feel comfortable writing this fic. I wish you luck, though, and I hope you can find someone who can write it for you.
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As much as I love Spencer teasing a blushy Reader, I don't have any particular ideas for this.
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I'm the furthest thing from a pro athlete, so I'm afraid I wouldn't have much of a reference point for writing something like this!
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I've never been great at writing shy Readers, and it's only gotten harder as I've gotten older 😅
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I haven't been able to motivate to write a non-CM fic lately, so I'll have to pass for now! I still love me some Chip Taylor, though. I get it.
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Absolutely adorable visual. I am, however, currently wedding planning myself (surprise!) and the idea of having to deal with that stuff in my escapist fantasies is a bit too much for me right now!
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Ah, this is so fun, but it doesn't seem like something I could write very much about. I wish I could watch it as a video, though!
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With all my medical trauma, which is currently a problem in my daily life, I'm not sure I can struggle through a request. I already have a couple requests I'm still considering that are similar, so keep an eye out!
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This is such a lovely idea. I haven’t been feeling angst lately, but I know a ton of people always do. I’d love to see this classic one done!
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I’ve thought about this idea a lot since I got this request. I might eventually write it, but I don’t have any inspiration to write it down right now. It's also super general, so I could see multiple great pieces coming from it!
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This is such a cute request but I don’t have any concrete ideas for it. I hope someone has the inspiration to do it justice!
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I’m afraid to get burnt out on Hotch’s daughter fics (only a few people know this, but… I do have a potential series for a Hotchner!Reader…). This is a wonderful idea, though. Definitely funny.
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Ah, this would definitely spiral into a massive series for me, lmao. I unfortunately just don’t have that in me right now… but someone else should write it so I can read it 🤭
NSFW REQUESTS, MINORS DNI
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I'm not too big on voyeuristic/getting caught situations, so I'll leave these wonderful ideas to someone else!
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This is such a fun, niche little kink request, but I'm just not inspired enough to write something like this lately. I hope someone can do it for you, though!
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This is simply not one of my interests. I think it's too similar to those "getting caught" kind of situations for me. I know it's pretty popular, though, particularly for submissive men!
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I always struggle with as-smart-as-Spencer Readers. I wish you luck, though!
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Ah, hybristophilia... I think I'm too far away from Protege to be able to go back to those kinds of kinks. I haven't been in a Dead Dove mood for a long time. Godspeed, though, friend. I feel you.
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I got so many very specific female oral receiving requests in a row 😅 I burned myself out on the blurbs. This would have to be a much longer piece, which I'm just not sure I'm up for. Who doesn't love a flirty Reader, though?
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I’m personally not a big fan of as-smart-as-Spencer Readers. I’m also not the biggest fan of lawyer Readers because I do enough of it at my day job 😭 it sounds like a lovely idea, though! And thank you for all the kind words ❤️
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Songfics are super hard for me, unfortunately 😓 Especially if I don’t know the songs, which I don’t know either of these.
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Sorry, friend! My request guidelines say I don’t accept requests involving cheating. I hope you can find someone who can write it for you 🫶
Thank you everyone! Again, I'm so sorry I had to reject these requests. I hope you can find someone else to write them for you!
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I'm Quitting My Job
Not a joke. Not an idle threat. Not a spur of the moment.
Come Monday I am putting in my 2 weeks. I have about 2 dozen apps out today and I'm calling out tomorrow and will be putting in more.
It has become plainly obvious that the leadership at my job is more interested in covering their own ass than even CONSIDERING backing up their employees. They say one thing and do another. They make assumptions about your motives with NO evidence and then punish you based on those assumptions. They train you, DRILL into you, with one set of standards/rules but when you get to production you're punished for not going against those standards and not "thinking outside the box". They view your intentions in the least charitable light based on perceived tone of voice yet view the opposing side as the most innocent and kind being in existence regardless of what that person actually SAYS AND DOES.
I've had enough.
I could handle the callers. I could handle rude. I could handle stupid. I could handle the blatant chauvinism. I have learned to let 99% of it all flow off my back.
What I can not, and WILL NOT, handle is leadership that does all the above.
I'm done.
I can not handle this stress. Its causing an uptick in migraines. Its causing the hormone therapy for my Endo to be seriously less effective. Its making my brain dance on the edge of thoughts I havn't had for a very long time and never wanted to have again.
I have some savings to live on if need be, the biggest issue is my insurance. I'll be digging into that in the next few days to see what options I have for continued coverage. I think as long as I pay my premium then I can keep it for at least a few months? If I can find a new job with benefits that would be great but I can look into the marketplace too.
I just didn't see this curve ball coming. I was just about set to start looking for our future home. Thats not going to happen any time soon.
I'll be putting up a new commission sheet soon and working more on comic art and fandom art stuff.
If you made it this far, thanks for putting up with my venting. I think I'm gonna head to bed now and hope I can forget this day ever existed.
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dearcat1 · 1 year
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hello! i was just rereading your bleach/KHR fics, and had a thought to try my hand at one. my only problem is deciding on flame types for bleach characters.
i think it'll make it easier if i just let all Shinigami be dual-types (the thought process being that not everyone on the afterlife becomes a Shinigami, and stronger flames would mean a stronger flame) but I'm still unsure of which types to give everyone 🤔
do you have any insights on a similar au, or a list of what flames you've used for bleach characters previously?
Well, I have a few of them and I'll reblog this post later with a few recommendations once I've had the time to go through my own bookmarks. But mostly, what I do is I go to the wiki and remind myself of the poems associated with each flame.
For example, my first instinct was to connect Kisuke with Lightning, given the mad scientist thing. But if you look at the poem, it doesn't fit at all.
To draw damage to himself and away from the rest of the Famiglia, serving as a lightning rod.
I think that fits Ichigo more than it fits anybody else but if we're assuming Ichigo is a Sky and has a Lightning of his own, I might consider Renji or maybe Rukia. Though I'm shaky on this flame, honestly. It's complex. Renji I'm not sure, I think of him because he keeps trying to keep up and one of his motivations is to not be left behind but he also seems determined to fight beside and not behind. If that makes sense. And he seems to have no problem sacrificing himself if that's what it takes to feel like he's not dragging anybody down. But Renji is a long shot.
My justification for Rukia is that she knew full well that giving Ichigo her powers was an execution worthy offense but knowing that and understanding that without doing it, Ichigo and his sisters would have died, she gave him her powers anyway. And when time came to face the consequences, she didn't even try to have Ichigo return the favor and protect her in turn. She went out of her way to avoid his involvement because she knew Ichigo, for all his conviction, wouldn't stand a chance as he was at the time.
Now, Storm:
Continuously at the heart of the attack, the furious Storm that never rests.
Renji or Grimmjow, for example. Neither of them are the kind to sit back. But if we're going for duh, that one: Kenpachi. That one lives for the fight. It's his main characteristic.
For Rain:
To square away conflict and wash away the blood spilled. The Requiem of Rain.
If we're going by my head cannon, I think Mizuiro would do nicely here. But if we're stepping back and going through personalities: Yoruichi (I'm not sure if I wrote her name right.) Or Shinji.
She's pretty good at mediating between Ichigo's friends and her whole job description is to take care of problems that need to be done away with, quietly and bloody if need be.
Shinji's approach is more mental manipulation than assassination, I think. But he was captain of a the militaristic afterlife for centuries, I doubt he's squeamish. Either way, both of them are good at keeping peace inside of a group of loud personalities and both of them feel to me like the kind that would deal with a threat with weapons in hand.
Honestly, the rains are the ones I'd be personally more wary of, they seem to be the kind that could genially talk to you, smile and all, while fully knowing you're ending up dead by the end of the night.
The Sun:
Destroying the misfortune that attacks the Famiglia with their own body, they become the Sun that brightly shines upon an area.
If we go by "activation", Kisuke. Come on, that guy has spent the entire manga just pushing and prodding and provoking Ichigo into becoming a powerhouse. It's why I made him a Sun in Mizuiro, the information Broker and I find Reborn fits into this category as well.
But if we're going only by the poem: Chad. Come on, his physical ability, protectiveness and willingness to physically defend the rest of the group is practically his entire point.
For Cloud:
A drifting Cloud, whom cannot be bound. Protecting the famiglia from an independent standpoint.
I briefly considered Shinji but then I remembered he all but poached Ichigo from the Shinigami and fully declared him one of theirs from the get go. There was no independent standpoint, that was point blank: "I have adopted you and your silly denials matter nothing to me."
So Yoruichi. She mostly does what she wants and thinks needs doing, though she does coordinate quite a bit with Kisuke. Which might be just common sense, no point disturbing Kisuke's carefully crafted plots. But consider: Byakuya. He's supportive and has Ichigo's back but they don't really coordinate in any way, they just know soul deep that the other has their back. It's even outright stated in the full bring arc.
Well yikes, this is an enormous post. I tried to be quick but alas. I hope this helped.
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sepyana · 11 months
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Jjba Stardust Crusaders Ep. 30-33 Thoughts
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Iggy goes to do fuck all while the rest of the crew splits in two.
Before I actually talk about the episodes, I wanna briefly give my opinion on the OVA. I haven't watched past part 10 obviously but I think it's important I'll mention it in a later post.
I vastly prefer 2010 anime over the OVA. The production value of the anime is just way higher. The dark tone of the OVA doesn't fit JJBA tbh.
BUT. I actually kinda love them? They have their charm. The darker alternative take is fun, if it was the only animated JJBA option I wouldn't be satisfied with it but as an alternative it's nice. Polnareff and Kakyoin's expressions in the N'Doul episodes are just so funny.
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^ Joseph and Kakyoin's reaction to Iggy just. destroyed me
There is a thing or two it does better than the current anime and the manga I think. I really like Kakyoin's portrayal in some of the episodes. There is awkwardness to his mannerisms that you would expect from a teenager, that is not present in the anime OR the manga. His build is also a lot more closer to your average teenager too. That being said, OVA Jotaro runs in the opposite direction by looking 40 in some of the episodes. I don't wanna talk about that tho since everyone has talked about it death.
Also the long haired Star Platinum is pretty sick ngl. Looks even more like Bruford.
Ep. 30-31 (Mariah)
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Oohh boy. I don't do well with second hand embarrasment. There are a lot of embarrasing moments in part 2 and 3 but these two episodes are filled to the brim with them. From the walking stairs to entering ladies restrooms to the y'know what. Managed to push thru tho!!
I've noticed a trend with the second half of SC of putting more attention the the stand users. With more iconic designs an all. I wouldn't call Mariah's design original, it just gets the job done (The job being looking conventionally hot).
Advol being really proud about digging a hole to avoid the train is kind of endearing :)
I thought the back and forth between Mariah and Joseph at the end was nice. Joseph's va was especially good in it (R.I.P. Unshō Ishizuka). Mariah saying she'd be down to be with him despite their ages being far apart is really funny considering Dio is tecnically 130+ years old.
Mariah's motivation is a bit of a downgrade compared to N'Doul before her. I mean, being down bad was only part of the reason why he was following Dio, c'mon.
Yeah I don't wanna talk more about this episode. Sorry to all (both) people reading this for reminding you about Ep 31.
Ep. 32-33 (Alessi)
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Look at baby Chariot. No don't look away,, you will look at him and you will appreciate him.
Let's also take a moment to appreciate Set not being given to any other person, because the only thing keeping Pol and Jotaro from dying is Alessi being one of the stupidest mfers in the show.
I bet everyone has mentioned this before but I don't care, this was such a good opportunity to bring back part 2 Joseph that it hurts. If you are can do all that fanservice the episode before you can certainly do a part 2 Joseph cameo. I can't complain too much, I do love these episodes as is.
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^ Tiny man omg. So tiny and brave...
I would say Jotaro not recognizing the earings and the clothes of kid Polnareff is stupid but he thought Joseph's story was bs while having an evil spirit following him, like, in the first episode. So. Not out of character really.
I like the detail of Kid Chariot being more like a sentient companion since kid Polnareff is not fully attuned to his stand yet. It even reaches for Pol when he is drowning :(
If I had a nickel every time Jotaro casually walked into Polnareff dealing with one of Dio's goons without fully knowing what's going on, then beating the shit out of the goon; I'd have two nickels. It isn't a lot but it's pretty funny that it happened twice.
Kid Jotaro kicking ass and then rolling up his sleeve just so he can point and say a cool one liner is killing me. Jotaro is secretly the funniest character in the show.
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^ Link
You can tell Chariot's sadistically smiling under that mask. Amazing.
I love that story goes out of it's way to tell us Alessi is 38 and single.
And the episode ends basically the same way as ep 1.
Overall, I do like these episodes a lot. It's silly and fanservicey in a completely different way from the last episodes. The "your favourite glup shitto has a cameo in the new movie" kind. Seeing baby versions of our favourite characters is something most of us would like. I'm over here not shutting up about baby Chariot. It's like baby yoda. Clearly it worked on me.
Jotaro and Polnareff's interactions this episode really helped to show their friendship. It's hard to remember that fact sometimes with how Jotaro especially is but they really do care about eachother.
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I wanna do 34-39 next, then 40-44, lastly 45-48. Seems like the most logical way of going about it.
I know in my heart that the confrontation with Dio is NOT gonna go well. No one has died yet and considering JJBA's track record, yeah, I don't think they'll all make it alive. I did say Kakyoin was my favourite early on but I do love all of them, it's gonna hurt real bad no matter what.
This post only covers 2 goons so uhhh, here is a shot from the OVA I merged into one picture as extra,
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My little sister came over earlier this morning to hang out and talk. She's been crazy over this guy she's known since high-school. He's a real fucking bum. He doesn't have a job, doesn't want to get one because he said he doesn't like it when people tell him what to do, says he shouldn't have to work, and he wants to strike it rich by scamming people and making music. I'm being absolutely serious btw. He just recently asked her for money and now she's considering blocking him. Apparently it isn't the first time he's done that, and it's like dude, leave that guy alone. She told me she's gonna stop talking to him, but I really hope she does this time, because dealing with people like that is draining asf.
Talking to her reduced the time I could cam. Usually I try to work for 5 hours a day. I was only able to work for 3. I was still able to make it to my minimum goal, but I could've made more had I stuck to my 5 hours.
My sister and I walked at a nearby park today. My body felt so heavy and I didn't wanna go, but she motivated me to go through with it. She's actually 20 lbs away from being my weight, so that's really been a motivator for me. I haven't started doing my calorie counting just yet. Right now, I'm trying to find certain meals and snacks I like that're low in calories. Eventually, I want to have a menu of food to make to eat. That way I wouldn't have to worry about what I should make. I feel like, when I don't plan my meals, I end up over eating.
My little sister came over again to spend the night and she put on this movie called Acrimony featuring Taraji P. Henson. That movie is insane. I've watched it a long time ago, but watching some of it again made me realize how vulnerable people are when they experience traumatic events, and how manipulative people can truly be when they catch wind to what you're going through. They don't see the harm in doing it, because there's not really a big or meaningful consequence to their actions. If you were to rob somebody, there's a consequence for that. It's on your record and shit right? If you were to lie to somebody about some detrimental shit to take advantage of their character, yeah you would make that person mad, but if you really don't give a fuck about that person, then there's no consequence to it. You see where I'm getting at? There's no consequence for lying and being a manipulator. There's no consequence for having ill-intentions with someone. There's no consequence for pressuring someone into doing shit they don't want to do. And then those who do get manipulated, those who are victims of it all, they either lash out and get labeled as crazy or have to go to therapy for years on end to cope with the damage. That's not fair, but that's how life is as of present day...
Enough of all that talk. I just got done eating these cup noodles and oh my god my stomach did the sore thing again. It was very subtle this time though, but still. It sucks to deal with, because I get anxious when it comes to stuff related to my health. This is pretty new to me. Idk why this is happening. It's just more shit to deal with, you know?
My sister works later on in the day today, so I get to stay up a bit longer. I'm starting to get pretty tired though, so I guess I'll be heading to bed.
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pielplastica · 11 months
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Almost 4 years ago I made a promise to someone very special to me. Before she was gone of my life I told her that I would be a better person. I told her that I would work hard to keep a job and that I would follow my dream of becoming a Nurse.
I've had many jobs since. The last one I kept for a year until I was fired because I was so tired of it and decided to stop going and almost quit. At least I got more money that I would have gotten if I did quit.
I never tried to apply to the Nurse Faculty due to not really having the motivation of doing so. And yeah, covid. I didn't had a laptop back then so online classes was a complete no-no for me.
I've been lost for this 4 years but I do not regret what I did and did not do during that time because I was learning and healing.
I've met a lot of people who I can now consider as true friends who have helped me in more ways that I can describe and I owe them so much. I connected with long lost friends last year who are now an essential part of my life and that I'm so glad to finally have them back. I started going to therapy and even though I haven't been able to afford it, now I can because I found a new job that I actually enjoy. And yes, I finally found a new job: fast food. And I love every second of it. You can call me crazy but I do enjoy making food most of all, there's a satisfaction I can't define when I see people enjoying what I and my co-workers made with so much passion and attention. I've been working there for a month but now I'm a leader trainee so I'm most than glad that my effort is being recognized by my leaders and manager.
This year, back in March, I applied to the Nurse Faculty and did the entrance test back in May 26th. I stopped playing WoW and every other videogame for 3 months straight (I'm sorry Sub-Zero Guild, love you guys!!!) so that I could focus in just studying day-in, day-out. My days were just waking up, working out and studying. For 3 months I also walked away from every social media that I still use, that includes this one. I deleted my last blog because I knew that I would be spending so much time waiting for something that wouldn't happen but now I'm back just to update you.
I got in. Out of the 380 available spaces I scored the 16 highest score in the entrance test and all I could say is: thank you. I knew that I should've done it for me but when we spoke last year and the beginning of this, you reminded me of what I want to be, and that's the person that you thought that I was back then.
You don't know how much you've been helping me even though we don't speak anymore. I'm eternally grateful for what you taught me.
I made you a promise and now I'm on my way of finally make it true. I'll work hard everyday of my life so that I can be the person that I want to be. I'll work hard everyday of my life so that you know how grateful I am.
And, if you ever read this, I want you to know that I'll move forward. I'll always love you and keep you in mind. Always has and always been. But now it's time for me to start walking on my own. I love you. I miss you. But I can't keep wanting you back when I know that's not going to ever happen again, and I can finally say that I accept it. I'll try to be as active as I can on here so that you know that I'm still alive and try to update this once in a while if anything interesting happens but for the time being I will focus on my work and my studies. And I want to let you know that even though I'm planning on moving forward, if you ever need someone to talk to: I'll always be happy to hear from you. And I'm waiting anxiously for the next part of your writings! You got me with that cliff hanger changing the part2/2 to a part2/?, I'm looking forward to read what's next. Anyway, I think that covers pretty much what's been going on with me for the last 3 months. Until next time.
See you cowgirl, someday, somewhere!
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stillness-in-green · 2 years
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Hi. What are your thoughts on Lady Nagant? Personally i believe she was handled rather badly.
My usual apologies, first off, for letting this sit so long, anon! Holiday season means I've been cramming giftfic writing into every spare waking moment, and I knew answering this was going to be a rant. This is, in the end, perhaps not as meticulously organized as it could be--I have a lot of thoughts, and they all spiral off into things I've talked/complained about before--but I hope this sampler platter of commentary satisfies your curiosity in any case.
The Pros: I really like Nagant conceptually; I think her design is fun; I like her interplay with Overhaul.
The Cons: She is completely squandered; her character through line makes no goddamned sense; she is perhaps the most emblematic character there is of Horikoshi's total lack of understanding of what extended solitary confinement does to people; she's a clear depiction of my worst fears of how Horikoshi will handle all the issues he's raised.
Hit the jump for the expanded thoughts!
So, I know a lot of people had issues with Nagant--that she hadn't been foreshadowed well enough, that her motives/loyalties didn't make sense, that her backstory was just too much, and so on. I'll concede that she could have been foreshadowed better, but I have exactly zero problems with any of the rest of those alleged issues. Like, if you can buy the existence of Tartarus in this setting--indefinite solitary confinement with zero enrichment and the constant threat of violent death for quirk use, no requirement that it only hold duly tried and sentenced inmates, wardens that talk about the people in their care as monsters in human skin and casually complain about all the protests about human rights violations they're always facing--I do not in any way think a covert government assassin is a bridge too far.
Why didn't anyone notice that people were going missing? Well, why would they? Nagant wouldn't have just been acting alone. Oh, sure, she had to be the one to fire, but I very much doubt that she had to do all her own cover-ups. She probably had a clean-up team of some sort, people to dispose of the bodies and any pink-and-blue evidence left behind, and to doctor crimes scenes as necessary for whatever narrative the HPSC required. I also doubt that Nagant would have been out there committing multiple acts of premeditated murder every single night; it's quite easy for me to imagine that, like Hawks, she mostly did hero work, but then got periodic assignments when the HPSC needed something done on the sly and had done enough investigatory groundwork that they could send her in for a quick assassination, rather than an extended infiltration. I imagine there were quite a few people whose job it was to both get the pieces in place and tidy the board after, and Nagant was just the quick, bloody middle.
And it makes sense! One of the things I thought was odd in the wake of Mr. Compress's big identity reveal is that Harima Oji, Robin Hood figure extraordinaire, is considered an infamous villain despite having a career brief that reads like a folk hero's. If, however, the (proto?-)HPSC realized back then that Harima had a point but that they absolutely could not openly acknowledge said point lest they undermine the public confidence, then of course a covert response is what they went with, and a demonizing of Harima after the fact. I never had the slightest problem believing Nagant's role/backstory.
I also have absolutely no issue with her being willing to throw her lot in with AFO. She never says she thinks his rule's going to be all flowers and sunshine, after all; she just doesn't want the happy pleasant façade going back up, and thinks it won't if AFO wins but will if the heroes do. Makes perfect sense to me. The woman's spent 15+ years in apparent solitary confinement for what she probably could have argued was self-defense, after spending somewhere in the neighborhood of a decade--the greater part of it as a minor!--being manipulated with a smile and encouraging words by a man 20+ years her senior. No shit she doesn't want the system rebuilding itself.
I even like the approach of her being super jaded but still comparatively kind towards Overhaul. I might question the verisimilitude of it, but from the reading I've done, it's not uncommon for people who've spent a lot of time in solitary to lose the ability to empathize with people who haven't, themselves, experienced solitary. If she sees Overhaul as someone similarly broken, I can buy that she wants to look out for him--not because she was a hero and her kindness is a sign of her buried Heroic Heart, but simply because, whatever stunted human compassion remains to her, Overhaul triggers it. (But that doesn't mean she won't drag him around and talk roughly to him and use him as bait.)
So yeah. I really enjoy Nagant from a worldbuilding perspective, and I like her personality as it's presented to us…
…All the way up to Chapter 315, which is where it all falls apart.
There are, to begin with, issues with the fight mechanics themselves. Deku should be having difficulties with parallel processing, but for some strange reason, even though lip service is paid to that issue, neither the relatively new Smokescreen nor the on-its-first-outing Fa Jin give him enough problems for Nagant to land a hit on him square. Black Whip is now treated as such a solid substance that Deku can detach it from his person, despite the fact that it apparently wasn't solid enough that he was worried about Shigaraki decaying it (and through it, him and the other people he was holding) back at Jakku.
Deku, a studious kid but not one who's a genius with numbers, is somehow able to precisely calculate trajectories (despite the fact that Nagant can curve bullets) and distances (despite the fact that it's dark and raining and Nagant can fire at different velocities). Further, even though Nagant clearly has a level of control over the shape her gun takes--sometimes it has a tripod, sometimes a sight, sometimes hideous bulging to boost aforementioned velocity--Deku breaking it once puts it out of commission instead of just meaning she has to put it away and then reform it again good as new.
But that's just logistics quibbling. The worse problem by far is how incoherent her characterization is. I joked about this with friends a while back but it really does boil down to this:
Nagant: Your hero training beat one thing into you above all others--that you can't let people die on your watch.
Deku: *doesn't let Overhaul die on his watch*
Nagant: *shocked Pikachu face*
It makes no sense to me that Nagant should be impressed by the (alleged) strength of Deku's ideals. None. The fact that some teenaged hero student is an idealist in exactly the way she believes he has been trained to be does not in any way invalidate her stance. Her entire contention is that the current system enables some people to live in blissful ignorance while all the dirty work gets shoveled off onto others. Deku gives her a couple nice lines, but I can think of no reason that nice lines would work on someone who says in that very moment that platitudes make her want to puke.
And Deku's words are platitudes, however much he might believe them in the moment. Remember, that whole fight accompanies the return of Overhaul, the man who explicitly called out Shigaraki as lacking a defined plan for how to achieve his grand goals! Deku is the same--he doesn't offer Nagant any specifics, not the smallest scrap of a concrete, practical action plan, just a lot of vagary about "fighting by our side" and "bringing light to the dark." Yet somehow, he doesn't get called out for it.
And frankly? For a kid who's so allegedly driven by a mad desire to save, he sure does fall back on talk of "dealing with" Shigaraki the red hot second All For One gets under his skin. Nor does he have the slightest shred of compassion to offer the psychologically shattered Overhaul, despite earlier claiming to regret not having been able to understand the man. But sure, Deku's the kid who's got the spine, gumption and political savvy to take on the entire system All Might and the HPSC have built and rebuild it to be more willing to try to understand villains rather than just beat them down.
Platitudes. It's those sorts of platitudes that are at the heart of my fears for My Hero Academia: that Horikoshi has raised all these legit issues, put faces on them via people like Nagant and the League and post-Tartarus Overhaul and the heteromorph giantess and on and on and on, but ultimately, he won't know how to actually address them with the appropriate gravity. Instead, we have gotten and will continue to get moments like these:
Deku's idealism winning over a woman presented as loathing idealists by doing exactly what she expected him to do, just slightly faster than she expected him to do it.
The desperately shallow attempts to engage with the real pain and loss suffered by the civilians, typified by a girl telling a crowd of refugees, any number of whom she herself might have pulled out from under the rubble of their collapsed homes, that "only heroes" are covered in mud and blood.
The neat disposal of nearly all of the 115,000 dissatisfied people who made up the MLA and the wildly illegal dissolution of their actual, legitimate political party.
The alleged fact of half the hero population of the country dying or retiring despite the fact that, conveniently for the audience, of all those hundreds upon hundreds of dead or retiring heroes, exactly one of them is a character that the audience could reasonably be expected to have any significant emotional attachment to. And the next-most relevant character after Midnight is Death Arms. I'm sure he has his fans, but come on.
The writing-off of villains in whom Deku and Friends can't personally find any redeeming value in favor of the """villain trio"""; pretending that saving three (3) villains with known sad backstories and personal connections to the main characters indicates any systemic change whatsoever.
The worrying possibility that the extreme bigotry faced by heteromorphs will be addressed by Shouji showing up to be the model for reform by being a good kid who's not too angry or too radical about it (which just so happens to translate to him never showing anger at all and bending over backwards to fit into the status quo).
The fact that the most significant threat to the heroes' moral high ground, the HPSC, was neatly dealt with by Clone Re!Destro without a single good-aligned character ever having to lift a finger to oppose them, much less risk actual license revocation and the criminal arrest warrant that gets issued against vigilantes the cops no longer feel like tacitly ignoring.
It's just…my god, I just don't get how the worldbuilding can be so nuanced and interesting while every attempt to engage with and address the issues raised by that worldbuilding is so facile. My problems with the war arc were mostly about my character favoritism. Everything since? Ties back to the egregious speedrunning and handwaving the series has been doing of all the conflicts it spent 300 chapters setting up.
Nagant, obviously, didn't have 300 chapters of set up, but she represents the darkest heart of Hero Society while, at the same time, her fate jumpstarts Deku's slide into his own darkest hour. For any of that to work, she needed so, so much better than the perfunctory treatment the narrative gave her.
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starshiningsirius · 4 years
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Dr. Jerkyll and Mr. Hyde (Yandere Leech twins x reader)
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An au idea I had came to mind based off @yandere-wishes Victorian twst story and @yandere-romanticaa 's Extraterrestrial story.
I love these two eels and I'm late on their birthday but it's still their birthday for me.
The clear moonlit sky shown brightly over the waters of the ocean. As yet another scream echoed within the streets of a supposedly vacant city.
The detective woke up with a start but not from the scream, but from the ringing of her phone. A report she had been writing stuck to her face from the humid atmosphere. She picked it up getting a few details from Idia, who was panicking on the other side of the line. Considering he worked in the criminal department at the desk and didn't have to see any bodies whatsoever you would think he'd be calm when trying to say what happened.
"Calm down Idia. Tell me what happened?" Her voice was gentle since yelling wouldn't help his nerves.
"Therewasanothermurder! Theyclaimedanothervictim!" He spoke so fast that his words wouldn't be understood by most but she was used to this with him and every word was caught by the detective's ears.
"Where's the crime scene?"
"In front of Sam's shop on Crystal Road, Ms. Y/n L/n." The voice of Idia's younger sibling popped up a contrasting his older brother's cowardly behavior.
He wanted to be just like his older brother so he spent his days in the office with him. Though there were times when Idia tapped out and his brother had to step in.
"Thank you both. I'll head their now." She hung up after hearing a farewell from both brothers.
The candle was long out and she grabbed her gun, notebook, and pen within the darkness, before venturing out the confines of her home.
When she got there a crowd had surrounded one spot in particular.
Cater was already there taking photos of the scene as it was his job being a forensic photographer.
"Hey, hey! Y/n's here, make way!" The crowd parted for her as soon as he announced her presence.
Whispers were muttered as she passed through into the middle of the crime scene. Mostly about how she hadn't caught this killer yet. She ignored them though and went on to meet with her coworker.
"It never ceases to amaze me how your always here first Cater, if anything you should be a suspect." She started off saying to her compatriot.
"Can't help it if I want to stay informed dectective, I just want to stay informed before anyone else." His smile on his face was out of place as he took another photo of the corpse.
"Who was it this time?"
"Such a poor fate to befall dear Monsieur Heart." A new voice joined in the conversation.
"Rook, I see you've arrived but can I get their name please?" The detective said sighing at the theatrics of her friend.
"His name was Ace Trappola, I can't imagine how Monsieur Spade must be feeling about this tragedy." Rook feigned a sorrowful look.
"Oh yeah A-Deuce kun were inseparable, I feel sorry for him. Think he knows already?"
"If there as inseparable as you say Cater then I suppose not, he isn't here yet otherwise I'm sure he'd cause a scene." She noted.
"That doesn't make him a suspect though right? I mean sure he's been a suspect in many crimes before, but Deuce kun far too soft!" Cater was a bit frantic at the thought alone.
"No, I doubt it was him he wouldn't want to disappoint his mother with something as vulgar as murder, he cares for her far too much to do that." That calmed his worries.
"You know I've heard Monsieur Heart have many laments on how his delivery to Roi d' Rose-" Cater didn't let Rook finish.
"RIDDLE?! No way he did this! Have you seen how strict his mother is? Just waltzing in their office and so much as suspecting her son is a one way ticket to hearing her screams! Besides I doubt his mother would even let him out this late anyway, he's always about following the rules set in place for him." Cater says with an imaginary sweat that could have formed to express his fear and anxiety.
"True, and I can't afford another headache from that lady, but we could get some valuable intel from him about Trappola's demeanor the past few days seeing as it may be a pattern in the serial killers motives."
"What about Sam? He's gotta know something considering the murder occurred in front of his shop." Cater's gaze went toward the shop to the right of them.
"Ah the shop keep, a wonderfully eccentric man with many secrets." Rook stated his opinion of him from what he gathered on his own free time.
"Says the French man whose got info on everyone from stalking them on the street." The detective says shaking her head at the strange man next to her who happily smiled at her statement.
"I wouldn't call it that more so getting to know my prey more personally." She sighed hearing his reply.
"A crime analyst such as yourself is such a good cover up!" Cater's response made her sigh once again.
She shook her head toward her coworkers. They took their job in a mild manner but beyond that they did do well to get it done. Even though the means of how they did it were very much questionable in her eyes.
She looked toward the ground seeing the body of the former male right on the cusp of adulthood. His orange hair was a bit disheveled and the looks of shock on his face petrified in time.
"Ah, the dectective is already using those perceptive eyes of hers." Cater's words fell on deaf ears as she was examining the crime scene closely.
"As expected of Reine de la déduction, such dedication in her work. Très bien!"
Their bones were disfigured, just like the last person. No one has this type of strength it didn't make any sense. The only lead that was given but she noticed a glowing substance in his mouth.
"Cater, Rook, I need some confirmation. Out of all the other times these cases have been appearing there weren't any liquid substances to be found beside the occasional blood right?"
"You are correct."
"Yeah, nothing else to be found from what I could see." They both confirmed her suspicion.
She had to go talk to Jade again, but first thing tomorrow she had to interrogate Sam, as well as Riddle Rosenhearts which was sure to be headache on her part.
* * *
His mother was an agitation to say the least. During her entry into his mother's office and upon stating the reason for her entry, Riddle's mother had already hated her the moment she finished speaking. Yelling and hollering about how her son would never commit such a crime even though the dectective never stated he was a suspect in the slightest.
She only asked to question the behavior of Mr.Trappola as of late before he met his end. He was under no suspicion whatsoever but she wasn't having that and kept screeching until her son had to calm her down.
It was much more pleasant afterwards but the headache Y/n had in the early morning just listening to her screeching didn't disappear throughout the whole endeavour.
Just before she bid him farewell he apologized deeply for his mother's behavior with a red face of complete embarrassment. To which she replied it was alright and thanked him for his time. Unfortunately though she had to bear that burden on her own as Rook and Cater had their own jobs to partake in analyzing the other crimes and investigating the trend within the series of murders. It was unfair but that was life. By the time she exited their establishment it was already in the afternoon a little after lunch.
Next was to venture to Sam's shop which was right where the crime had taken place. The body was already removed and taken to forensics, so the only thing left was a broken street lamp.
"Ah, well if isn't the dectective, I believe I already know the pleasure of seeing you here on this fine day," He tipped his hat to her with a smile on his face.
"Afternoon to you too Sam. I would like to acquire any information you have on the murder of Ace Trappola that occurred last night, in front of your establishment."
"Such a shame the little demon, was too young to have bite the dust. But you know as well as I my information comes with a price."
"A thousand madols should suffice a description of what you saw right?" She questioned handing a stack of the paper currency to which he smiled at.
"All I know is that last night was certainly something else. I heard a smash of a lamppost outside my window, up on the second floor. Shop was already closed though. When I looked down I saw what looked to be two silhouettes outside the window. One way taller than the other though, I recognized of Trappola on the ground and something glowed within the hands of the killer, a vial of sorts. He poured it down the throat of the little demon, but Trappola put up a good fight before it was over."
"Over? Can you specify?"
"As in he was left on the ground for dead, it looked like he was choking on whatever was consumed. The killer held him tightly after he realized he was choking. It was similar to a hug but one that was more deadly than a normal one. After he dropped him to the ground and walked away laughing hysterically at who he squeezed."
"And you weren't going to go to the police to inform that you had witnessed the murderer of a serial killer!" Her voice had raised a bit in volume as her agrevated state didn't alleviate since earlier in the day.
"I'm not one to get involved in others private life, Dectective. I've got a business to run." She understood his point though exhaling a sigh through her nose.
"Right. If you want to keep your life you keep your mouth shut. Alright I thank you for the intel." The dectective closed her notebook after writing down many notes on the case.
"Pleasure doing business with ya, Dectective! Best of luck to you as well! You'll be needing it more than anyone." She was only able to hear the first part of it not when his cheery demeanor went away.
She walked out to her final destination of the day, a close friend of hers. His name was Jade Leech, a smart man that excelled in pharmaceuticals just as did Riddle's mother but in a more different sense. His potions were revolutionary with in the subject of alchemy and his botany skills and knowledge made his fame and fortune.
He's helped her on countless cases before, with his expertise in potions it aided in knowing key components to solving head bangers such as this.
As she reached the door of his manor she knocked before waiting a moment or two to see his smile.
"Dectective, how pleasant it is to see you today." He flashed his signature smile toward me, with pearly teeth straight and white.
"It's nice to see you too Jade. May I come in?"
"Your always welcome here, though I must say you do look exhausted how about I put on some tea?" He made way for me to step in.
"You don't have to Jade."
"I insist, naturally I should show good hospitality to all my visitors. Your free to take a seat wherever you like."
"So how are your mushrooms doing?" She said starting up conversation on a favorable topic for him. He was in the kitchen that connected to the empty dining room, that opened the way to the living room where she sat.
"I imagine you didn't come here just to speak on how my mushrooms are doing alone?" He spoke it in the form of a question but he already knew the answer with a knowing smile on his face that she couldn't see but knew he had.
"You are right, my apologies, I actually require your aid with a substance that could be the key in solving the recent serial killings." She watched as he walked in with two plates in hand.
"It's fine, I'm glad you can come to me for help." He served the two plates, one in front of her and the other in front of himself.
They had pasta on both of them with the mushrooms I mentioned. It smelled heavenly. Her stomach growled loudly which caused Jade to laugh lightly.
"I'm assuming you haven't eaten much of anything have you?"
"No I had too much work to do today." She blushed looking away from him.
He sighed making a small 'tsk' noise.
"You have got to take better care of yourself, that dedication of yours is admirable but otherwise you'll drive yourself into an early grave with that sort of work ethic." He chastised.
"Ah, I just don't have the time these days, I'm sorry for all the trouble you have to go through for me." Her eyes traveled toward the food with a slight guilty feeling.
"You speak as if your some sort of burden on me, quite the contrary I worry for your safety and yours alone. You may be a skilled dectective but, I care for your well being first."
Her face grew to an intolerable temperature that would make people think she was sick. She was very much surprised by his words. The first time anyone has ever said anything that endearing to her in a while.
So to ignore the feeling of her heart racing she picked up her plate kept her eyes trained on it. Her expression looked to resemble pouting.
"L -let's just eat then shall we?" She stumbled on her first word internally cursing as she heard Jade's laughter.
. . .
After they had eaten Y/n had spent some time explaining to Jade the situation with Trappola's murder and handed him the vile of the substance found at the crime scene.
He listened attentively and chimed in few times for clarity. He said he would have the analysis of the substance done within two days. Soon enough she was on her way out the door even though he had offered her to stay the night she had declined politely. It wasn't weird since they were close friends with one another anyway. Not to mention there were times where she would fall asleep while waiting for Jade to finish his analysis and he would be nice enough to place her in a room.
"Thank you Jade, I would have loved to spend more time with you, but I've been really busy as of late with all these murders." She thought for a moment and then looked up at him. He was a bit tall, scratch that he was tall, of course so she got on the tips of her toes and placed a kiss on his cheek to show him her gratitude.
Jade's face lit a flame, cheeks flushed as he touched where her lips made contact.
"I'll see you later." Was all she said before walking away briskly passed the gates of his house not looking back.
She would've heard the glass breaking inside the male's house in which indicated another presense inside.
. . .
Two days had passed and the dectective was trying to piece together what was the link between these series of murders.
She had to go check with Lilia who is the pathologist that had completed an autopsy on all the bodies of the victims. As eccentric as he was he was more tolerable than the combo of intricacies that are her co workers. Then again everyone in this office was weird in their own way.
"Ah, dectective what great weather we're having today, is it not?" He said with a smile on his face.
Unlike Jade he was significantly shorter than him so she had to look down a little to see him or stand a few feet away.
"It is indeed, Lilia. You seem to be in a good mood today."
"That is because I have made a breakthrough on today, while working through the night." His smile grew and the magenta eyes affirmed his happiness toward the news he had to share.
"On Mr. Trappola's body, I have found something strange but interesting nevertheless! A scale and not only that, but there is something you should see for yourself!" He brought her over to said man's corpse luckily the bottom half of his body is covered and the top half as well up to his shoulders.
Lilia grabbed one of his tools for dissection and beckoned her to come closer as she showed her what he had found. That's when she saw it.
Lilia had a small knife and maneuvered it to a small spot itself, lifting up a small piece of skin that was already slit and based on the size of the knife and similarity to another a butter knife it wouldn't have been able to cut the skin.
"There are two more like this on this side of his neck and three on the other side. So it seems like they're gills.
"What about the other bodies?"
"I spent the night examining those as well and they all have the same gills but Trappola here is the only one who had a few scales."
"So maybe the substance has something to do with these oddities on him. Trappola probably ingested some."
"It's quite possible that whoever this murderer is trying to test the substance on the person instead of themselves but based on Trappola's few scales being the latest attempt it seems they are making improvement for whatever the elixir's use is. These strange characteristics it reminds me of some fairytale I heard some time ago." He drifted off sounding like an old man reminiscing.
"Enlgihten me then Lilia." Knowing just how Lilia liked to ramble on about myths and legends like he'd seen them and lived through their stories.
"Well if you insist but this one involves merfolk certainly you've heard of mermaids and such right these scales on legs don't they remind you of those types of things. Gills on their necks so that half people half fish would gain the ability to breath underwater."
"Ah right but this is reality. Seeing is believing though right? Who knows though maybe they could help with the case." She was skeptic hearing about a bunch of lore that could just be coincidental but she knew better than that. Coincidents were more than just preordained.
. . .
Now back at Jade's manor the dectective was contemplating what in the world such a myth could play a factor in a murder scene. It just didn't make any sense as to why the person would need such a potion. What type of person would you have to be to go that f-
She couldn't finish that thought since Jade had opened the door.
"Ah, Jade good day to you-" the dectective looked up toward him to see the tall man staring at her for a bit longer than a few seconds. She did notice the strand of black hair usually on his right was on the left.
Unconsciously she reached up and was about to grab it before her hand was grabbed.
"Just what are you doing little dectective?" His voice got a bit darker towards the end sending shivers down her spine for a second before she saw his eyes in front of her and thought to herself for a second.
'Was his gold eye always on the right?'
A slight tighter squeeze on her hand woke her up form her head. She was reminded of the situation again. She could feel his breath closer to her face, she was internally malfunctioning and was losing her train of focus.
"Ah, I was, I was just trying to flip your black strand of hair." She stuttered and didn't internally curse herself this time since the proximity was still a factor in her brain turning to mush.
Jade suddenly smiled a wide one at that. Usually it'd be small and polite even when teasing he'd have a signature closed eyed smile keeping the adorable image of his flustered dectective in his head. But that wasn't the case this time. This smile was more menacing and sent bad news toward all who saw it.
Jade towered over her a bit more leaning to the right a bit toward her ear.
"Dectective do you know what you remind me of?" He questioned with a wide smile on his face.
He leaned in too close for comfort his breath could be felt on her right ear, while his hand on her shoulder kept her still.
"An adorable little shrimp! I could just eat you up!" He said it slow to build up suspense but it sounded serious and at the same time.
She pushed him away feeling her face heat up tremendously like an oven.
"J -Jade!" She couldn't find the words to describe what she just heard feeling beyond embarrassed and having her heart pound loudly that she swore he could hear.
"I -I have to go, thank you for your time!" She frantically stated about to run off but before she could Jade had grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.
"Aww can't I get a kiss too, little shrimp? Besides aren't you forgetting something?" She was too put off by the request to understand the sentence, but her mind did process part of the sentence and she remembered why she came here.
He held up a folded up sheet of paper in his hands toying with her holding it out of her reach.
How could he say that in such a cool voice? Her nerves couldn't handle so much teasing, it wasn't unlike him but it seemed he had gone over his usual gentlemanly behavior.
She hurriedly kissed him on the cheek in which he hadn't expected such a quick response to his question with a blush on his face becoming apparent and his frozen stature. She took the opportunity to jump up for the paper and ran from near the doorstep bidding farewell with the sheet of paper she had took in hand leaving a blushing male to watch her run out. His smile grew as he saw her frantic behavior, excitement bubbling within him.
He ran outside to the backyard of the mansion to go share his newfound happiness.
. . .
"Jade! Shrimpy is really cute!" The one male spoke to Jade in a tone of voice that was different than that of a few minutes, one that would have made him believe he was Jade himself.
There appearances were so similar, cept for the eyes and voice they were twins after all. With a little makeup and easy voice tone change one could hardly tell the difference anyway.
"I'd thought you'd understand if you saw her up close, Floyd." Jade was actually outside tending to his mushrooms in the garden while his look alike was entertaining the female detective that had left in a hurry. Though knowing his brother he could already assume how it must have went. Thinking of his little dectective being so flustered indefinitely brought out his sadistic side a bit.
"Can we keep her?" Floyd was so fond of her seeing her turn red, hearing her heart beating loudly, when she stuttered and that kiss on the cheek pretty much sealed the deal for him. She was so full of life and it brought excitement for him since he had to stay within the manor and avoid everyone. His behavior would be brash and scare many in the public eye not only that but his strength was inhuman which could cause problems for the person on the receiving end. Especially if you were trying to blend in.
They only came from the sea to see the lives of humans and unlike one of their friends who started a business in this day and age. Jade could survive on land with the ability to easily fool others with a facade whereas Floyd couldn't do that all the time and would probably squeeze someone for no reason other than boredom.
He didn't like being confined but after seeing the dectective sleeping on the couch once, he became curious as to who she was and why Jade spent so much time helping her. He knew for a fact his brother was not at all kind or generous. He was beginning to finally understand.
"We are but you have to be patient, you did give her both sheets of paper before she ran off correct?" His brother inquired finally seeing the hunger in his brother's eyes.
"Yup, she gave me a kiss just so she could distract me and take it. Shrimpy is so cunning she makes me want to squeeze her and pay her back for catching me off guard like that." The thought alone sounded enticing to Floyd, he couldn't wait to wrap his tail around her.
"I need you to go on another 'outing' tonight we have to perfect this first if we want to have any shot at having her to ourselves." Jade's words did nothing to damper his mood as his excitement reached a new level at the thought of showing his little Shrimpy off to everyone.
They were trying to get make a potion in which a human could become a sea creature, though it was easy for Jade to make one for himself and Floyd to come on land. The same can't be said for a person that's been human and has not a single gene that ties them to the ocean. Altering genetics is difficult and delicate and one mistake and their dear little detective could end up just like those poor unfortunate souls that were test subjects. Jade would never risk bringing her with them under the sea if he wasn't sure she'd make it.
"Okay~ Jade!" He said eagerly!
Now that Floyd was on board as well he would be more motivated and inclined to help, making it more easier for Jade as he wouldn't bother and complain so much about being on land longer.
. . .
She barely slept a wink after what had occurred. Every time she thought about her encounter with Jade she'd blush and bury her face into a pillow with frustration.
She tried before to get some of her work done before that, but that didn't work out too well as her mind drifted back to the same situation.
How close he was, the warmth of his breath against her ear, it was enough to make her brain stop functioning as if he were there again.
He seemed far more clingy than usual and she didn't know how to describe it other than strange. The notes from the alchemist were neat and precise and confirmed what Lilia and her examined on the bodies earlier in the day. But that wasn't the only thing that fell from the folded piece of paper. It was another small piece with neat cursive that matched the analytics on the other page.
'Would you like to spend your day off with me?'
Yet another reason she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.
. . .
After getting off from work she mentioned to her coworkers how Jade had offered her to spend her day off with him. Well they asked what she was gonna do with her day off since it was a rarity. First Cater asked her if she said yes to him yet. She said no and he understood from the get go that she was way too flustered to even respond to him. So he offered to go respond to him on her phone.
Rook congratulated her and went on a rant about love even though she tried to get through his head it wasn't a date. He asked what she would wear and she had no actual clue, in which Rook took that as an invitation to lend his aid and expertise.
He brought her to one of his friend's businesses. Cater said this place was highly recommended and that anyone whose anyone came to the place for a makeover. Specifically called Vil's beauty salon and boutique. She didn't understand how a person could have both but he seemed to be managing it fine. The said shop owner gave her one look and shook his head at her appearance.
His words were, "What a poor excuse for a girl to go on date with such a potato face such as that, it's shameful for not only you but the guy as well."
He had her try on clothes and by the end of it all, she felt different. Her head hurt from all the pulling around of her hair. She had put on enough clothes that she believed she was playing dress up. The outfit settled upon was different from her usual style and she had on makeup for the first time in her life.
Rook and Cater applauded Vil's work new appearance. The dectective had to admit that when she looked in the mirror she understood why Vil had such a reputation that Cater reccomended him highly.
She had to buy all of it of course and thanked Vil immensely for his efforts. There was actually a discount considering Rook brought her and she looked so 'pathetic'. He had a victoriously smug smile on his face and complimented his own efforts before waving the trio off. She thanked her two coworkers and bid them farewell, looking forward to the her first day off in a millennia.
When she met Jade the next day at his door he was plenty surprised by her appearance. He blushed with his eyes widened in astonishment at the change. Not to mention on the side of the manor Floyd could see just how beautiful she had dressed. It was going to be a long day especially with the heels she was wearing and trying her hardest to walk in.
. . .
The two friends went to Clover's bakery where Jade offered to pay for any sweets she wanted but it seemed they were terribly busy today and the line was a bit long not mention the place was packed inside so there weren't any tables to sit in.
Trey said it was nice to see her out and about for once not on dectective business for once. He said hello to Jade as they were all friends though she only knew Trey from Jade who introduced me. On rare occasions she would go to his bakery for something sweet. He handed them two cupcakes for free but also asked for a favor for him.
"Can you give deliever Riddle this tart please? His mother isn't home and he rarely ever gets anything sweet. I usually have Ace do it but-" He looks away for a moment.
"It's fine, Jade do you-"
"It's no trouble at all, we'd be happy to." He says with an enchanting smile on his face.
Trey handed over the box containing the tart to them and they made their way over to the clinic where Riddle resided.
On the way Jade and her conversed. She asked him why he agreed so quickly and he responded with his own unique answer.
"I know it's in your nature to help others. Yet another fond trait of yours."
It's more embarrassing hearing it for the first time and out loud no less. She could feel her face heat up again.
"Then there's when you turn into a cherry, one of my favorite traits." He said in a teasing tone with a smile toward her making the dectective flush even more and look away biting into her cupcake. To ignore the laughter emitting from her friend alongside her. Now this is the Jade she knows.
. . .
To be completely honest both of them enjoyed their time today with one another. They had delivered Riddle's tart which was almost a complete disaster.
Considering she asked Jade to be lookout in case his mother came back. Long story short she did arrive earlier than expected. After she and Riddle heard her voice outside the walls right near the entrance gate, the dectective told Riddle to go before she found him with the tart. Riddle was far more worried about her but the dectective told him she'd be fine.
By fine she meant ducking in the rose bushes for cover, there weren't any thorns surprisingly all been cut off. She waited for Riddle's mother to enter the house and had to scale the wall that was located next to an alleyway. Climbing up was the easy part but getting down was the hard part. She was wearing heels and that drop looked like she would possibly break a bone if she landed the wrong way.
She came to a decision to take a leap of fate and let her heels drop to the ground. One thought passed about Vil being pissed about her ruining them. She shook her head though and pushed herself off.
Before she could land someone else caught her. Looking up at her savior she saw the two colored eyes of Jade. Who smiled happily at making it on time.
"Ah look at that, my assumption was right. I thought you'd take this route out their place. It would've been such a shame if you were to get injured."
"Thank you Jade, can you put me down now please?"
"I don't think so I'd rather hold you like this until we get to the resturant for everyone to see." He playfully said watching her face heat up.
"Wha-? N -no I can walk on my own!"
"But you might have hurt something besides someone who can't get their words out is akin to a child so they must be coddled correct?" His teasing was endless today.
. . .
After leaving the Monstro Lounge a business run by one of Jade's friends, Azul Ashengrotto, the sun had already long set.
"Let me accompany you to your apartment, Y/n it's supposedly dangerous to be out after dark correct? Or you can just spend the night again?" He offered.
"I have to decline besides I've already used enough of your generosity I don't want to take it for granted. It's been such a great day thanks to you Jade, wish we could do these more often cept for the fact I have work tomorrow." She said in a relaxed tone.
Despite all the teasing she really did enjoy herself with the man. Having her heart beating loudly all day and having her brain short circuit was all too amusing to the man beside her, but out of everyone else even his own brother she made him feel strangely different. He couldn't explain the feeling itself, but he knew for a fact he'd never do all of this for someone he would use.
"You wish to spend more time with me? I can grant that you know." Jade had said that so simply and out of the blue but in a calm tone as well.
"There's no way you can do something like that but I appreciate the thought. It's fine though you've done enough already. I'd rather not burden you with a simple wish." She said with content.
Before he could respond to that statement fast footsteps hurried over to them both and made the pair turn around.
"I saw the killer it was Mr.Leech! He ran away from the scene!" His hair was a light green, eyes full of life and the loud tone of his voice was distinct.
"Sebek what do you mean you saw Jade kill someone he was with me the entire time!We just left the Monstro Lounge Azul saw us leave!" The dectective was defensive pertaining to justice being served, not to mention her friend was being accused and she had been with him the entirely of the day.
"No it was him I saw him Felmier was killed by him!"
"Felmier was killed?! You should've started with that! Take me to the body did you make sure he was dead?!"
. . .
Sebek had spread all about the town that Jade was the murderer even though the people who had seen us together throughout the day vouched. Trey, Riddle, Azul, Rook, and Cater even Vil had seen them together. Some actually took Sebek's words in and started to distrust Jade even so.
Vil and Rook two friends of Felmier had paid for the funeral costs as Epel's family was struggling. It was admirable to see the young man take on the vicious job as Vil's protégé. It really was a shame. Vil actually kept up a face and Rook though he looked upon the casket with blank like expression it was easy to tell he was out for blood. Jade did show up to pay his respects even though some glared at him and were suspicious.
Vil came up to dectecrive during the repass and told her to make that fool pay dearly. She would of course no argument there. Epel had been a good kid and may have been a bit brash but still good nonetheless. So was Ace.
And thus a good day ended on a sour note.
The dectective would have more sleepless nights. Lilia performed an autopsy on Epel's body with Vil standing by his side to make sure he didn't damage it. Even he was shocked to see more and more scales near his legs and gills that were more prominent.
These people were getting even more closer to there goal it seemed and she couldn't do a thing. She was so frustrated at that fact alone. Jade's analysis did help some though. Looking through shops though that sold what would be the components of the elixir nothing suspicious could be found in any of the people who had brought those items. Not to mention those who did didn't have all the items brought from another store, there was no reoccurring name in sales.
Speaking of Jade though she had begun to think back to Sebek. He wasn't the type to lie not on the name of the mysterious nobleman Malleus Draconia that he served would he ever embarrass himself to stain his name even slightly. That's what Lilia told her at least.
He said Jade had did the deed. But he was with her the entire time. Come to think Sam's description had also matched Jade's strange behavior before he gave her the analysis, but it didn't make sense. Jade was one person he couldn't be in two places at once!
Maybe someone was trying to frame him and to that extent she went to go question if he had any enemies of the sort. His response was that he didn't have any as far as he knew. That could have been a good lead.
With no others she sighed looking extremely worn out and Jade had a frown seeing her state. He insisted she stay the night and she denied saying she had to finish this case even more so now. He at least offered her a meal in which he put slipped some sleeping pills that made her fall asleep after eating.
Both pairs of two colored eyes gazed at her peaceful state not liking how she'd exhaust herself with so much work. Only for the sake of others and waste time and effort for people that isn't them. It was annoying to Floyd and agitated Jade more than he liked to admit. She did say she wanted to spend more time with them right?? If only she didn't have that stupid job. Even more a reason to push the date up to the next few days.
. . .
About a week and a half had passed and the dectective had no other leads still. It was killing her to say the least. All those unfortunate victims and those families and friends that mourned definitely weighed on her shoulders, guilt eating at her insides. Such a shame too within the end of the day she was at home taking an evening nap on her day off in which she didn't even go out today. Her phone buzzed waking her up from her slumber.
A text from Jade. It had been awhile since they last talked seeing as she fell asleep at his manor again even though she didn't intend to.
Rubbing her eyes she read the text from her bright phone screen.
'Meet me at the dock at 10 today.'
She wasn't as flustered as last time in fact she considered not going as this case took top priority. But this was Jade, her closest friend, and she hadn't taken much of a break as her nap was only 30 mintues probably the only amount of sleep she would get today if she was being honest with herself.
She reluctantly sighed and decided to get ready an hour before meeting him and walk there a bit early to have some time to her own thoughts. She thought about going to Vil's shop to buy another outfit but it would have been a waste if they were only meeting for a short time. Not to mention she didn't want Vil to come to the conclusion she was slacking off with Jade even though the bags around her eyes were very much proof.
As she sat at the edge of the dock admiring the stars the waves hitting the edge of the pier calmed her head. It was nice to say the least.
She wondered what Jade would have to talk about. She looked at her phone and saw it was 10:05, Jade being late was a surprise, hopefully if she waited a bit longer her worry would ease. That atmosphere could not have lasted any longer.
A slight wind blew and during that exact moment something pulled her under by her feet into the cold ocean waters below. She managed to hold her breath and open her eyes to see nothing but darkness even with the moon behind the clouds right about now only endless shadows were there.
She could barely hear but she could have sworn something swam by her. Arms touched her waist which almost made her scream for a moment though that was something suicidal. It touch the sides of her stomach and stayed there for a moment.
Even though she tried to struggle it was fruitless when the thing that held her tickled her sides making her open her mouth and succumb to breathing in water then choking soon after. That wasn't the only thing to occur since the next second lips were on hers and a fluid trickled down her throat along with the water that she was trying to swallow. The tongue of said thing dipped inside her mouth and would have made her gag if they hadn't pulled away.
She regretted it the moment they did cause she still could breath and with her mouth open she thought she would take her final breath. Both or what she assumes were two people backed off letting her go to meet her demise with her slowly closing her eyes. She didn't notice the glow of what transpired around her lower half of her body. She could finally take in some much needed breaths except her neck for some reason felt sore and she could no longer move her legs separately to try and swim up for air.
Looking down she saw the horrid image of a long tail with a fin on the end where her legs were supposed to be. The pain form her neck was from three newly formed slits on either side of her neck. Her fingers traced over them finding this whole situation unbelievable. When she finally came to her senses she found herself hearing voices as well.
"Shrimpy's still here! It worked, Jade!" A cheerful voice could be heard in the cold waters that surrounded her.
Something slimy wrapped about her new found lower half. Pulling her closer to be within someone's arms. They held her a bit too tight like all the air, water in her lungs could have been? Did she still even have those anymore she wondered? Even still the amount of pressure put on her by the creature hugging her was able to be felt.
He was laughing happily spinning around in circles with the former human female getting dizzy by the second.
"I can see that Floyd. How wonderful, but do take it down a notch she only was just turned after all." That voice was all too familiar. She couldn't help but say it aloud, but that couldn't be true.
"Jade?" Her voice was a whisper but of course he still heard it.
"Yes, my dear angelfish what is it?" He responded in an endearing tone that was calm despite the situation she was just put through.
She glanced toward the voice to see what appeared to be a creature similar to that of an eel by the tail. Her eyes trailed up to the sight of his face. It was him no doubt about it. The eyes were exact and so was the hair the only difference was the body and skin.
"Aw Shrimpy why'd you acknowledge him first? I'm here too." A voice whined in a more child like tone directly in her ear. It brought a shiver down her spine.
'Shrimpy?' That was unmistakably the nickname Jade gave her when he acted weird.
She turned toward his way and saw a sharp toothed grin on his face when she looked at him.
"Floyd you haven't even introduced yourself." Jade sounded like his normal self and this Floyd person was just the complete opposite of him.
"Oh right Shrimpy I'm Floyd, Jade's brother and your going to be with us in the sea from now on! Isn't that great? I can't wait to show you all my favorite places you'll love it!" He sounded so excited while dread built up in the mermaid.
"What do you mean stay here?! What have you done to me? Who, what even are you two?!" She said those words with malice laced into them having them both chuckle in response.
Jade had also wrapped his tail about her upper half restraining her further. He brought himself closer to her face, a smirk etched on to it.
"My, my, Y/n you did say you wanted to spend more time with me, isn't this what you wanted?" He tilted her chin up showing a sadistic smile on his face that only built up even more dread than what his brother had already.
"I didn't realize or expected anything like this and you know that! Why would you do this?! You! You-" She thought for a second processing all that had occurred the past couple of weeks.
"You killed them you gave them that exlixir that ended their lives. Every single one of them." This time it was the other brother's turn to speak.
"There's our little dectective she's so smart!~" Floyd just made her completely uncomfortable with how he would call her that nickname and whisper words in her ear.
"Why? Why would you do this?" She became defeated knowing turf like this was theirs and she stood no chance against them in the first place.
"Eh why? Is Shrimpy really that blind Jade?" Floyd mocked her with no remorse as tears streamed down the dectective's eyes at the thought of letting so many people down.
"Why? My dear angelfish haven't you noticed? We've become quite enamored with you. Hm no better word to put it is obsessed, at first it was just me but with Floyd's impatience I just had to get him in on understanding why we didn't go back home already. As for those people they were necessary for testing the elixir for this very moment. We couldn't have you dying on us afterall." He said with absolute calmness evoking rage within the mermaid.
She clenched her fists.
"So many were sacrificed, I should've died, instead." She murmured the last half but both the twin eels heard it.
There expressions turned dark and their tails gripped the female tighter startling her from her state of guilt.
"Eh, why would you say that Shrimpy, we can't have you leaving us. We finally got you all to ourselves and I haven't had much time with you, and yet you say you want to leave." Floyd's arms contracted her more than Jade's tail already, now she understood what it must have felt like for Trappola.
"He is right Y/n dear, we only want what's best for you and having you say that only makes our blood boil so please understand." Jade gripped her chin with a scary amount of strength. This was the first time he ever seemed so much more intimidating to her.
"Don't ever say something like that again am I clear?"
From that point on she was stuck between the twin eels who loved her so. She only wished she could have been able to listen to Sebek when he said the truth. Mr. Leech did do it just not the one she thought.
576 notes · View notes
manjiroro · 3 years
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hello there! can i have a match up?? and congrats on reaching your 500 milestone keep up the good work :)) ❤
• my top kins are constantly changing, so there's no certain one but for now they're izana, yosano akiko, wakasa, edogawa ranpo and vanitas.
• i'm an introvert, and prefer to stay at home rather than going out to be with my friends. my energy drains a lot when i'm outside especially going to crowded places but i don't mind hanging out in a bookshop or anywhere that has lesser people. even though i tend to have a couple of friends, i would rather be the listener during a conversation. if a topic interests me, best believe they have my full attention or else i'll be in my imagination world.
• i would describe myself as hard to approach and silent type but will get along well with if warm up to. at first, i ignore the person that tried to talk to me and not even giving them eye contact until i think they're trustworthy enough. if i do warm up to the person, i talk more and be more active but not too much. i don't like telling others about myself and what i think. i keep most things inside of me but eventually forget what they are. i'm pretty forgetful when i'm tired or when i wake up early in the morning. i'm considered as a "forgive but not forget" kind of person, but i won't keep my grudge for long periods of time. i also am a no-nonsense person, trash talk doesn't work well with me. i'm a creative person and likes to imagine plenty of things, doesn't matter if it's realistic or fantasy. i tend to procrastinate a lot but still got my job done without pulling an all nighter.
• hmmm it's actually tricky when i'm switching from one hobby to another- but my hobbies are playing the piano&guitar and writing. i've been interested in poetry and write them during my free time or at school when the lessons got boring. even though i play both instruments, i like the piano more since i find it easier when i've been playing it for a long time. another hobby is practicing my martial arts especially when my mom wants me to protect myself.
• i dislike cockroaches, that's it. also i don't like it when people get too noisy for my liking, same goes to people who keeps nagging at me. i don't like hot/humid weather as pimples are extremely hard to take care of. mathematics and accounting are a big no to me.
• my main favourite traits are when people show their vulnerable side to me, it makes me really happy that they can trust me. i like it when people are loyal and this makes feel like i can trust them, to not betray me or toss me aside after using my trust. another one is passionate people, i like how dedicated they are to what they do and this makes me feel motivated for some reason.
• i don't do much tbh i'm lazy as hell- but with my s/o, i like it when we both get to stay at home and just cuddle while napping together. i don't mind it when we go out for dates but maybe a stroll in the park is nice, or hangouts at somewhere quiet.
• a match up for tokyo revengers plsss
• personally i don't mind any gender, but i'll go with male
500 milestone event (closed!!)
hi!! thank you for joining my event hoho im gonna be honest, i kinda had trouble picking and i hope you like the character i picked huhu
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i ship you with.. HANEMIYA KAZUTORA
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okok lemme explain, yes kazu wasn’t the best but he’s a changed man
i always see kazutora having a lot of issues but never feeling safe enough to be vulnerable
so with enough time to open up to you, he’ll actually show you his vulnerable side and he finds the most comfort being around you
baji is a really important person in kazu’s life and so he’s loyal to baji even if it’s not shown in the anime currently
he’s gonna be very loyal to you as well
kazutora doesn’t really care what the both of you are doing as long as he’s with you
if you wanna stay at home, he’ll stay with you. if you wanna go to a quiet cafe, he’ll go with you
he wouldn’t be discouraged with you ignoring him at the start because to me, if he really loves you he would never stop trying
he loves and cherishes you a lot and so he’ll quite literally do anything for you
kazutora’s favourite thing is when you’re playing the piano and he’s sitting at the side, watching you and listening to you play
your presence makes him feel comforted and safe
“hi hun~”
kazutora hums as he walks into your room to see you laying on the bed. you sit up at the sight of him and gave him a small smile, making him smile back at you.
“i missed you~”
kazutora said as he walked over to you, hugging you tightly as he nuzzles his face into the crook of your neck. he sighs at the feeling of you stroking as back as if to take away all the stress built up.
“but you saw me yesterday kazu.”
you giggled at him, making him chuckle as well.
“that’s too long for me. i wanna stay like this with you.”
he lays down on your bed beside you, wrapping his arms around you, bringing you closer to him. he rests his chin right on top of your head, hands threading through your hair. he sighs again, feeling a sense of security and comfort when with you.
“i love you hun.”
he mumbles sleepily as his eyes start to close slowly. you can’t help the smile forming on your lips as you raised your head to give him a kiss.
“and i love you too kazu.”
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17 notes · View notes
xxkellsvixen19xx · 3 years
Text
Spotlight: A Life Of A Troubled Celebrity Heartthrob Ch 3
Word Count 5,033
The first leg of the tour in the USA and Canada was complete and the next stop was Europe. Y/N had avoided Colson as much as possible and they had one or two brief run-ins but there were always people around. She had stayed at the penthouse with the others until they left for London.
So many times he had tried to call her, to talk to her, to try and get her attention but he always got cold feet. He had tried to get Jax to go and speak to her on his behalf, threatened him even but Jax wouldn't budge.
"She's a good girl and you're not worthy of her yet.. Leave her be." Jax said, causing him to become more frustrated.
"I always get what I want and I want Y/N. I'm going to get her with or without your help." He vowed.
"Why do you want her Colson? So you can hurt her? To ruin her? Just to stroke your ego?" Jax challenged. "Why would you want to pursue her when you have no good intentions towards her? You know you will go back to your old ways once you get what you want from her and ruin her for the next guy!"
"She's different from all the other girls I've been with.. I don't know okay??! I know I can't be faithful but I just want her!" He pulled his hair in frustration. "It may be for selfish reasons but -"
"Then what Colson?! After you promised to keep your distance you do a 360 and your hormones are taking over as usual." Jax bellowed, as he came face to face with Colson.
Daring him to say the wrong thing. He was ready for anything at this point. He couldn't understand why Colson would want to ruin a sweet, innocent girl like Y/N. Colson would never change for her-for anyone for that matter. It would take a miracle for that to happen.
Colson stared at him with his icy blue eyes and walked towards the window. He couldn't explain it but he wanted Y/N like he never wanted anyone before. Maybe it was in the way she looked at him, her melodic laughter, her natural beauty or her child like innocence. He couldn't quite place his finger on it but all he knew was that he had to have her. He was tired of being with shallow-minded, pea-brained girls that just wanted him for his fame and fortune-for his body. Y/N was just content with cuddling and talking or just sitting in a comfortable silence. He had never been with a woman that just wanted him for just him. They always had some hidden agenda-their career, money, sex-but Y/N had never exploited their relationship for personal gain.
From the first time he laid his eyes on her something inside him shifted. He had offered to drive her home although he knew that Jax was waiting outside. She was a mystery to him and he wanted to spend more time with her to try and unravel it. He had made sure to keep the music low so that they could talk-once again in his life he wanted to just talk to another person with no hidden motives.
"So tell me about yourself Bambi?" He had asked with genuine interest.
"Ummm..there's nothing much to tell." She twisted her fingers on nervously in her lap. She was shy. He decided there and then he would help her to break her out of her shell. He wanted to know everything about her but the ride was so short. There wasn't enough time.
"Then tell me a little?" He urged on.
"I-I..I'm a student at-uh- Cleveland State University..and I-want to major in music." She stumbled over her words and it made her even more appealing to him. Her long lashes brushed her cheeks as she blinked rapidly.
"My Dad-he died..three years ago and I live with my Mom."She said out of breath.
"Sorry..about your Dad. Mine is as good as dead." He frowned deeply. "But-your Mom? She's cool?"
"Yes-she's the best." She still wouldn't look at him and he wanted her to. More than anything he wanted to look into those big brown eyes.
He had pulled up outside her house and as she made a jump out he thought quickly.
"Hey, smile." He said as he put up his phone and snapped a selfie. It took her completely by surprise and she looked like a frightened deer in the photo.
"Let's try again?" She relaxed slightly and the next photo was definitely a Kodak moment.
"Do I make you uncomfortable??" His hand tightened on the steering wheel as he stole a glance at her. She was standing outside the car and boring a hole into the ground with her eyes.
"Yes." She squeaked. .
"Then we're going to have to do something about that Bambi." He chuckled as he stepped on the accelerator and turned up the music. She was going to be a challenge and Colson Baker always loved a challenge.
"Byron." He spoke through the phone. "I've changed my mind..I need you to set up that thing with Y/F/N Y/L/N."
"Sure thing Colson. I'm on it." Byron replied.
"One more thing-as soon as we get to London, make sure Y/N and I live separately from the rest. You think you can manage that?" It was more like an order and not a question.
"Consider it done." Byron said.
"Thanks Byron." He cut the call and smiled to himself. His plan was starting to come together. Byron could convince an Eskimo to by an ice-machine. Y/N wouldn't be able to say no once he worked his magic on her.
Colson went to take a shower with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. He was Colson-fuckin'-Baker after all. No one could say no to him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When they arrived in London their luggage was taken care of as usual and they were ushered to the waiting limo. By this time everyone was suffering from a mixture jet-lag, exhaustion, hangover and a dash of homesickness.
"Hey guys! Great to see you again." Byron was waiting to meet them outside. "I see you're all tired and stuff so I've instructed the driver to take you straight to Eaton Place. You will be staying at that penthouse for the next three days-then we leave for Paris. However, Colson will not be joining you this time he will be living at an undisclosed location-for security reasons."
"Any questions? Great. Go home and rest guys tonight will be a busy night." He turned to face Y/J. "Miss Y/L/N, you have to come with me. We have that meeting remember? This way please."
"Oh yeah, sure." Y/N turned to Ashleigh. "I'll see you later."
"Good luck. Call me okay?" They embraced quickly before Y/N went after Byron.
Not wasting a single minute, Byron dove right into it as soon as the car started moving.
"Y/N, you already know what this is about right? We spoke about it before and also last night on the phone." Byron asked.
"Yes but I'm not sure it's a good idea.." She said skeptically.
"I don't want to insult you-but what if I threw in some money to make it worth your while? Name your price."
"What? No! What do you take me for?" She cried out.
"Okay. Okay. Calm down," He raised both his hands. "What about an internship and a guaranteed job at XX Entertainment once you graduate? Sounds good huh?"
"Byron, I don't want to feel like you've bought me..Whatever job or post I get, I want to earn it. Not to get it because.." She felt so dirty right now and insulted. Was Colson behind this? She couldn't help but wonder if he was the one that put Byron up to this.
"Okay let's do this your way." He sighed and massaged his temple. "What't it going to take for you to go along with our plan? If not money then..should I appeal to your humanity?"
"Look..it's fine I will help-"
"Yes!" He threw his fist in the air in triumph.
"But on my own terms." She said firmly.
"Whatever you want Y/N. Name it and it's yours." Byron looked at her earnestly.
"I will only agree to this if you will allow me to call it off anytime." She swallowed hard.
"What? What do you mean?" Byron asked, confused.
"If I feel it's becoming to much for me to handle then I will pull the plug on this..thing-anytime-without notice. Any questions? Great." She opened the door and jumped out without waiting for a response.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The penthouse One Hyde Park in London was were Colson and Y/N would be co-habitating. Only she wasn't aware of this yet. She thought they were just coming here for a meeting to finalize their "deal", although she didn't want anything out of it. The house was a contemporary and modern property, sitting on over an acre with a large garden, set back, screened and secluded with automatic solid sliding gates. It had a roof terrace and jacuzzi. 5 bedrooms that overlooked the garden, 4 bathrooms, 4 reception rooms. The servants quarters were on the first floor along with a stunning spiral wine cellar. The property had under floor-heating, surround sound and electronic sliding curtains.
"Wow!" Was all Y/N could say as she twirled around the house in awe. Jax showed her to her room and turned to leave.
"Wait...am I going to be staying here? Where's everyone else?" She asked.
"I'm sure Byron will fill you in soon." Jax responded.
"Oh." Her face fell.
"Don't worry about your luggage Miss Y/L/N. I will send someone with it shortly." Jax assured Y/N. "Welcome to Colson's humble abode."
She felt like Belle in Beauty and the Beast at this precise moment. Surrounded by so much luxury and yet she felt so unhappy. She kicked off her shoes and threw herself onto the bed, where she fell into a fitful sleep.
Meanwhile Colson was pacing up and down his bedroom floor, trying to think of how to approach Y/N. He had never had to make a move on a girl, it was always the other way round. He was clueless when it came to girls.
"Byron! Jax! Get in here." He hollered as he leaned over the banister.
They came up to his room promptly and sat on the chaise lounge waiting for him to speak first. He was in a plain white t-shirt and sweat pants but still looked like he stepped out of a magazine. He sat at the edge of the bed and looked on them.
"Byron, any progress with OGB?" They had labeled it Operation Get Bambi.
"She's on board." He pursed his lips into a thin line.
"But..? He raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow.
"She wants it on her own terms..which she will discuss with you. But she's taking a nap now." He bounced his knee.
"Cool. I can handle that." He pushed his hair back and let out a sigh of relief.
He never expected her to agree but then again Byron could be very persuasive. He wondered what Byron had offered her in exchange for her help. She never struck him as a girl that could be bought but maybe he was wrong-maybe everyone had a price. His heart sank the more he thought about it. She was probably just like the rest he thought.
"So why the long face? I thought you would be glad-" Byron stated.
"How much?" He gulped and stared at the floor, not meeting Byron's eyes.
"She doesn't want anything. I offered her-" Byron sat forward and tried to explain.
"What??" He looked up in surprise, his blue eyes startled.
"I could have offered her all the money in the world but she would have still turned me down." He said dryly.
"That's my girl!" Jax grinned widely as he clapped his hands dramatically.
"Shut up Jax." Colson scowled but inwardly he was just about to burst with happiness. So he was right about her after all. He didn't know why but, he felt relieved beyond comprehension.
"Now you can see that I was right about her." Jax shot back.
"Whatever-is everything set for the concert tonight? What time is sound check?" His heart was racing at the thought of seeing her again, that she was under the same roof, sound asleep in the next room.
"Yes but I'm about to head over to Wembley Stadium now to check if everything is in order..so if there's nothing else..?" He stood up and straightened his suit.
"Nah, that will be all." He said with a wave of his hand. "Jax you can stay."
"Still up for the after party?" Byron asked as he stood at the door. They always had one after every concert at a five star hotel, but only the who's who of show business in the city were invited. It was strictly by invitation.
"What else do I have to live for?" Colson rolled his eyes. "But I'll just make a brief appearance for an hour or so, I really need to rest."
"See you in a bit." Byron saluted and left.
"So what's your game plan?" Jax pursed his lips.
"I thought maybe you could help me with that?" For once he looked uncertain. Jax's heart melted.
"If and a big if- if we going to do this then you going to have to change Colson. Otherwise I won't be a part of it." Jax said with seriousness written all over his face.
"Yeah, yeah spare me the lecture Jax." He gave himself a face-palm.
"Don't you roll your eyes at me, I'm being very serious right now." Jax said.
"Jax nothing in life is guaranteed man. People make up to break up and so on. You need to chill out man." Colson replied.
"Look I'm not expecting you to marry Y/N, ride off into the sunset, have adorable twin babies and live happily ever after. But if you don't have good intentions then let's drop it. You can have any girl you want Colson. Young and old, short or tall, they're yours for the taking. Just don't go and ruin an innocent girl just for kicks. That's just plain downright cruel."
"Why do you care so much anyway?? You don't even know her man!" Colson burst out.
"That doesn't make it right. You know what forget it. I'm out." Jax stood up but Colson pulled him back.
"Listen Jax, don't get your knickers in a twist..I hear you man. Now let's discuss this like adults? How do I get my girl?" Colson cocked his head to the side and smiled.
"Thought you would never ask." Jaxs' face broke into a grin as he sat down again.
Y/N's phone was vibrating somewhere on the bed and she finally heard it.
"Hello." She said, half awake.
"Hi sweetie. Sorry did I wake you?" Mrs Y/M/L/N asked.
"Hi Mom," She propped a pillow behind her back, "Don't worry I'm awake now. Is everything okay?"
"Yes. I just miss you that's all." She said wistfully.
"I miss you too Mom." All of a sudden she broke down and started crying. She was overwhelmed by a cocktail of feelings right now and she couldn't keep the tears back any longer. Hearing her mother's voice made her homesick and emotional.
"Hey honey? What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"Ye-yes." She tried to compose herself. "I guess I'm just tired. Haven't slept properly you know.." She sniffled.
"I thought you were having a great time? Did something happen? Is it Colson?" Her mother rained questions Y/N couldn't quite answer herself.
"No-yes I am Mom. It's been great. Colson's been great Mom." She reached out for a Kleenex and wiped her face and nose. There was a soft knock on the door and she asked her mother to hold.
"Come in." Y/N called out and immediately regretted it. Well kind off..
"Hey-is this a bad time? You're crying? Why? Is it me? Did I do this??" He rushed to her side and held her at arms length.
"No-wait.." She held up a finger to her lips. "Mom, can I call you back? Colson is here."
"Put him on the phone. I need to have a word with him." She demanded. Y/N was sure Colson heard that and her fears were confirmed when he held out his hand for the phone. She looked at him hesitantly then handed it over to him with resigned sigh.
"Hi Mrs Y/M/L/N. Colson Baker here." He turned on the Baker charm and there was no female on planet earth that was immune to it, so far anyway.
"Oh hi there-um-Colson." Y/N imagined her Mom fluffing her hair like she usually did. She had already fallen for the trap.
"I just wanted to thank you personally for allowing Y/N to come on this tour. She is such a breath of fresh air. You raised her well." He smiled at Y/N as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Oh thank you Colson. You don't have to say that." Mrs Y/M/L/N gushed.
"Anyway we got to run now, I promised to take Y/N for lunch and I'm a man of my word." Y/N gasped and he turned his back on her to keep from laughing.
"Really?? You don't have to! Surely you're too busy for that?" She asked.
"Anything for my Bambi." He said sweetly.
"Awww you even have a cute pet name for her?? You know they used to call her that in kindergarten?" She laughed.
"Really?? Why don't you tell me all about it when we visit this weekend?" He turned to face Y/N, her mouth almost hit the ground.
"You're coming over? Y/N didn't say.."
"It was a surprise but now it's out there." He shrugged.
"Okay let me not keep you then. See you then." He rang off.
"Explain Baker." Y/N crossed her arms and pushed her tongue in her cheek.
"Can we eat first sweets? I'm starved." He said with exaggeration. "Can we call a truce? No more mind games. No more ping-pong with feelings and let's learn how to communicate okay?" He held out his hand and she shook it. He would have preferred them to seal it with a kiss but he didn't want to get ahead of himself.
"So we're good?" He asked.
"Yes." She said with a smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Colson was lying on his bed but for the life of him he couldn't fall asleep. It was 3:00 am. He had sang his heart out at the concert, stayed very briefly at the after party and tried to get drunk but failed. Women had tried to entice him but he just wasn't interested. He kept his eyes on his prize all night. He even got jealous when a dark-haired guy approached her and engaged her in conversation. She seemed taken with him-they laughed, they smiled and even flirted. The guy kept her entertained most of the night and he saw them dance a couple of times. Finally, when he couldn't take it anymore he walked over and cut in. After the dance he faked a headache and asked Y/N if they could go home.
"Bambi? Can I come in?" Colson knocked softly on the door and got no response. He had a serious case of insomnia and this was his only remedy. All the alcohol that he had didn't seem to do the trick, even some stronger stuff-he was wide awake.
Colson opened Y/N's door slowly and found her fast asleep on top of the covers, her long legs overlapping each other and her flat stomach exposed. She was in shorts and a sports bra, her smooth, milky skin glistening in the moonlight, her hair fanned all over her pillow and her face looked so serene. He sat on the edge of the bed and lightly traced his fingers across her stomach and then up to her face. If it were possible, he could sit here and just watch her sleep all night but she would freak out when she woke up and found him staring at her.
Common sense told him to leave the room but he found himself jumping on the bed and snuggling behind her. Taking in her scent, nuzzling her neck and just reveling in being close to her. She was completely out because she never once moved. He gave a contented sigh as he put his arms around her and fell asleep almost immediately..
Y/N woke up an hour later feeling thirsty and tried to move but she was firmly secured in a grip. She woke up with a start and turned to see Colson sleeping like a baby. Just watching him sleep made her heart melt into a puddle. Her hand reached out on its own accord, to stroke his hair and his beautiful face.
A smile lit her face as she reached out for the glass of water on the nightstand. Colson Baker was lying in her bed in his bare necessities. He was right here with her and not some floozy or flavor of the night. This was the stuff dreams were made of. Her heart fluttered as she took in the sight before her again as she assumed her position once more. Their bodies fit so perfectly together when they were like this, if only it could apply in every area of their relationship. That's if you could even call it that. But a girl could only hope...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Y/N!" Ashleigh barged into the room, "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry-I didn't know-sorry!" She covered her face and quickly backed out. The said couple were deep in sleep and were oblivious to the intrusion, fortunately for Ashleigh.
"There is such a thing as knocking you know?" Jax stood at the foot of the stairs, with his hands behind his back, as she descended in a hurry.
"I didn't know-" She said, her face beet red.
"You should learn to expect the unexpected when it comes to those two." Jax said with a knowing look. He had learned that the hard way.
"I didn't expect them to be..you know..Gosh I wish I could unsee that!" She covered her face, trying to hide her embarrassment.
She didn't anticipate walking into Y/N's room to find her and Colson half-naked and glued to each others bodies. After all how could Y/N get with him after everything he had done to her? She just couldn't understand it. But then again this was Colson Baker and he was beyond irresistible. I mean who could say no to that hot body? If Ashleigh was in the same position then they definitely were not going to be sleeping.
"May I interest you in breakfast per chance?" Jax asked as he led her to the sitting room, drawing her out of her nasty thoughts. "What brings you here so early anyway?"
"It's way after 9 Jax." She flopped onto the couch. "I need to talk to Y/N..about something.."
"Well, you just have to wait or come back later?" Jax suggested. "When ever they sleep together they have been known to wake up way past noon..and we had a pretty late night coupled with the heavy hangover.." He perched on the armrest.
"What do you mean "when they sleep together?" She looked at him suspiciously.
"I think I've already said too much-breakfast?" He stood hastily and retreated to the kitchen.
"I think I'm going to go then!" She shouted after him and followed him to the kitchen.
"Slow your roll there little lady. I'm sure they will be up and about in no time." He said. "What would you like the chef to prepare for you?"
"An omelette and toast-he can be creative but I don't eat mushroom." She slid onto the stool by the kitchen island.
Y/N began to stir when she heard a murmuring of voices coming from downstairs. She tried to turn but Colson's arms-and legs were tightly wrapped around her. Why would anyone want to ever wake up from this, she thought as she tried to sleep again but Colson had other plans.
"Good morning sweets." He said, his voice still husky.
"Hey." She said nervously as his arms tightened around her waist
"I could get used to this." He buried his face into her hair and groaned.
"What? Waking up in someone else's bed?" She turned onto her back and faced him.
"Your bed you mean?" He smiled and pushed her messy hair back so he could look at her face. Never had he wanted the female specie as much as he wanted her right now. Never had he slept in a bed with a woman and just traded war stories. He knew that if he made a move she would comply but he couldn't. There was more to him agreeing to keep from jumping her bones but she was clueless, and he hoped it stayed that way until he had dealt with the issue. He would take that secret with him to the grave.
"No ping-pong remember?" She was saying to him. Maybe dreams do come true, she thought. Maybe he was really into her? But then again there was no telling with Colson Baker. He was just to complex and she didn't have the energy to try and figure him out.
"Yeah, yeah I get it but-I think we've already crossed that line Bambi.." He looked pointedly at their tangled limbs. Not to mention her undergarments left very little to the imagination. She looked at their entwined bodies and fell silent for a moment. They were in quite a predicament-it was clear as the light of day.
"Well..you decided to invite yourself into my bed Baker. After you promised to keep your distance." She said in defense mode.
"..and you were purring like a contented cat next to me. You never really put up any form of resistance sweets." His blue eyes twinkled like the sea when they were hit with the rays of the sun. The liquid courage had worn off and both of them were now completely aware of their actions. She felt her cheeks redden as she looked at Colson's inviting body . Fortunately, Y/N's phone broke the awkward moment.
"Hey Mom." Nice save Mrs Y/M/L/N.
"Hey sweetie. I'm sorry to disturb you but the press has been camped outside my house for two days now and-"
"What do they want? Why didn't you say something?" She sat up and Colson looked at her with concern.
"I'm sorry sweetie I just didn't want to worry you. Plus they have been blowing up my phone and my practice has been overwhelmed. I know I'm a good therapist but this has just been ridiculous. I have had people make appointments just so they can ask me questions about your relationship with Colson. Even your friends Liv and Lisa are being stalked-it's a nightmare. Urrgh.." She screamed in frustration.
"I'm so sorry Mom. This is all my fault. How can I fix it?" Y/N said with determination.
"No, no honey, don't do anything hasty. I think I'll just take a well needed vacation to Bora Bora or something and I think I have a conference coming soon-" She sighed.
"Should I come with you? I can-"
"No. You stay put. Besides, that will do more harm than good." She murmured.
"So what can I do?" Y/N raked her hair with her fingers. Colson motioned for her to hand over the phone and she gave it to him.
"Mrs Y/M/L/N. I'm sorry to hear about your little inconvenience but not to worry I got it handled." Colson said confidently. Y/N looked at him in disbelief-who did he think he was? Ethan Hunt?
"Oh really?" Mrs Y/M/L/N was equally shocked.
"I'll get my team to come and get you out of there and set you up in a place where you will be secured and- where you can enjoy your privacy once again." He assured her.
"Oh no Colson, you don't have to do that sweetie." She protested.
"I want to. Please let me? It would mean so much to me." The Baker Charm was turned on.
"Okay sure." Mrs Y/M/L/N caved in.
"Great." His face lit up. "One of my assistants will be in touch shortly."
"Am I still going to see you guys on the weekend?" She asked.
"Yes. We will be there sooner actually." Colson confirmed.
"I can't wait." She squealed in delight.
"Okay speak soon." Colson rang off.
"Colson Baker did you just lie to my mother?" Y/N said in bewilderment. There was no way they would go back to Ohio and back again to Paris in time for his show.
"FYI sweets my Paris Show has been cancelled because of the bombing at Ariana Grande's concert. I'm not taking any chances and my security team has advised against it. So..we can fly to Minnesota then straight to Norway after the weekend. Easy." He gestured with his hands.
"You're too sweet. I could kiss you right now." Y/N said without thinking.
"Then what's stopping you sweets?" He leveled his face with hers.
"I- we-can't." She hopped of the bed and grabbed a robe. "So what you got planned for today?" His heart sagged, he expected her to be all over him. Most girls would have jumped at the opportunity-but not Y/N.
"Pack your bags Bambi. We're going to Ohio." He said as he left the room, his shoulders sagged. She really wanted to kiss him but she wanted to tread carefully. Things between them were complicated enough.
Tagged: @kellysimagines
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45 notes · View notes
choicesfanaf · 3 years
Text
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The Meeting of a Lifetime AU
Part 13: The Pre-Wedding Rituals
Pairing: Ethan x f!MC (Dr. Arundhati Kulkarni)
Characters: Elijah Greene, Bryce Lahela, Rafael Aveiro, Tobias Carrick, Naveen Banerji, Alan Ramsey, Sienna Trinh, Aurora Emery, Jackie Varma, Harper Emery, Kyra Santana, Mridula Patel (OC), Ruby Ramsey (OC), Uma Kulkarni (OC), Sahil Kulkarni (OC), Greg Barnett (OC), Edward Walter (OC), Apoorva Sharma (OC)
Word Count: 1458 words
Rating: General
Summary: Ethan and Aru hold a ceremony to conduct certain pre-wedding rituals according to Aru's traditions.
Category: Fluff
Tagging: @nooruleman, @izzyourresidentlawyer, @jooous, @schnitzelbutterfingers, @sophxwithers, @red-rookie
A/N:
@nooruleman: Noorie, I am extremely thankful for your help, support and motivation. It was only because of you that I decided to write this series. You are a literal sweetheart. Thanks a lot for your help!
I sincerely apologise if this turns out to be messy or not up to your expectations.
A day before their wedding, Aru and Ethan had a pre-wedding ceremony according to her traditions, known as Haldi. This ritual consisted of the bride and groom's family members and loved ones applying turmeric paste on them using mango leaves.
For the ceremony, Aru invited all of her friends from Edenbrook, as well as Mridula, Sahil and her good friend, Apoorva. She wanted everyone she knew to celebrate her happiness along with her. Ethan brought Alan, Naveen, Jenner and two of his closest friends from college along with him.
The day started with Naveen and Sahil explaining everything about the ritual to their guests so that they knew how and what to do as well as arranging some delicious Indian and Continental food and snacks for their guests.
The ceremony started as soon as Aru and Ethan arrived, both coordinating in yellow outfits, dancing to some famous Bollywood songs, which were being played by a DJ.
Naveen was the first person to smother the turmeric paste on the couple, who was applying it almost everywhere. He was doing it so excitedly as he was very happy to see Ethan finally getting married to Aru and respecting her culture as well as letting her plan her wedding the way she wanted to.
After Naveen was done teasing and blessing the couple with a long and peaceful life, Alan came forward to apply the paste and told the couple to always take care of and understand each other, which they promised they would.
"Ethan, big man, before I apply the paste, I just want to remind you how lucky you are to have a chance to marry the love of your life. So, please don't do anything that will make you lose your chance, okay? And didi, don't forget, I'm saying the same thing to you. I'm equally protective of both of you."
"Don't worry, young man, I'll take good care of your sister. And I know very well that she is strong enough to see that if anything happens to her, she will take good care of it all by herself."
"Sahil, don't worry about your big man, I know to not do anything that invokes his bad side and to stay away from it."
"That's comforting to hear, so I wish you all the happiness in the world, you guys. Always stay happy and healthy and take care of the little angels."
"Thanks a lot, Sahil. Your approval means a lot to both of us."
"You know, I started trusting Ethan from the moment I met him. The way he spoke about you and looked at you, I knew he was the one for you. I'm really glad fate gave you two another chance and you guys took it."
"I know, I thank God for it every day."
"And every day when I look at her, I forget how difficult my life was before her."
"Oh, Ethan", Aru said, on the verge of tearing up.
"Okay, you lovebirds! Dry up your tears! Enough with the sappiness and bring on the happiness. You are getting married tomorrow! You guys must be really excited!"
"We are! It seems like I've been waiting for this day to come ever since Aru returned into my life."
"Who knew Ethan would be such a softie, hey!", exclaimed Bryce as he and her friends joined Sahil to tease the couple.
"You know what, Aru has turned him into one!", teased Elijah.
"That's true, Elijah, you should have seen him before her. He was extremely grumpy back then", pitched in Harper.
"Harper, you'll have to tell us some stories of Ethan before Aru waltzed into his life", mentioned Tobias, "cause I knew how grumpy and annoyed he used to be at all times."
"Yeah, definitely. You'll love to hear them."
"Did you know, he was so grumpy that we, along with Tobias, had nicknamed him Major Grumpy Pants back then."
"Aru, meet my friends, Greg and Edward."
"Thanks for the nickname, Greg, now that's what he is going to be saved as in my phone."
"Even we have some good stories about Ethan's grumpiness that we would like to share someday."
"Sure, you all are welcome to."
"Well, Aru, it seems like you have cast a spell on our Ethan."
"So has Ethan on Aru. Just look at them!"
"I hope that this spell never wears out and may you live happily now that you have gotten another chance."
"Hey, Ethan, why didn't you invite us for your bachelor party?"
"I did, but you said that you both were extremely busy that week and would love to catch up later."
"Greg, did you say that? Cause I don't remember saying so."
"Are you kidding me?"
"Relax, Ethan, they are joking around", Aru said, as Greg and Edward started cracking up.
"Never change, Major, never change."
"Okay, guys, now let's get done and get going so we don't block others from meeting the couple. We'll have plenty of time to talk to them later", chimed in Sienna.
"But before you leave, let me give you something", Aru said, as she applied the paste on her friends.
"Why did you do that? It's your Haldi, not ours", said Bryce.
"Meathead, the bride and groom apply the paste to their unmarried friends so that they can find a partner soon", explained Jackie.
"Enjoy this new chapter in your life, you guys. May you be blessed with happiness and joy all the time."
"Aww, you guys, you are going to make me cry, you all are too sweet", Aru said.
After the group was done, Mridula and Apoorva came in to meet and greet the couple.
She pretended to be happy for the couple, but she couldn't stop thinking about how she missed her chance to be with Aru and how much she regretted letting her go.
"Is everything going well, Mri?", asked Aru.
"Yeah, everything is going good, there are no major mishaps or issues as of now."
"That's great, Mri. We are very glad that you are our wedding planner. All of this was a part of our imagination and we could turn it into reality all thanks to you", Ethan replied.
"Oh, you don't need to thank me, I am glad to have met Aru after this long. It's been a pleasure doing all this. I've always dreamed of planning Aru's wedding and I'm extremely glad I got a chance to do so."
"You don't know how happy I am to hear this. You are seriously the best wedding planner out there."
"Aww, Aru. Well, can I?"
"Yeah, go on, it's literally our Haldi. You have a right to apply the paste on us today."
"She's right, Mri. Go on. You don't need to ask us today."
"Alright, then, may you all be blessed with good life and be together forever", Mri said while lathering them up with the paste.
"You too, Mri", Aru said as she applied the paste on her face.
"Hi, Apu! I'm delighted that you could come for my Haldi. It's been ages since I met you."
"I know. We need to catch up as soon as possible. I want to know everything that has happened since the last time we met."
"Yeah, we will need an entire day for that."
"Well, that's what makes it interesting. So, congratulations on your engagement, Aru! I would have never thought that you would get married to the guy who you so deeply admired."
"Just like Ethan, who never thought that he would get married to one of his interns", joked Greg.
After everyone was done wishing and blessing the radiant couple, they went on to take a ceremonial bath, while the others had fun applying the paste on each other and enjoyed the party.
When Aru and Ethan came back, Naveen and Alan told them, "So, children, you will not be allowed to meet each other until tomorrow, okay? Will you be able to do that?"
"Definitely", they said together.
"Also, the bride and the groom meeting before their wedding is considered to be inauspicious, so we will not be doing it."
"Since when did you two become superstitious?"
"Ever since we realised that we couldn't take any more chances."
"That makes a lot of sense."
"So, you both can go and take your beauty rest while all of us will help clean up."
"Thanks a lot for everything you have done for us and the girls. We can't ever thank you enough."
"Dear, you don't need to thank me. I'm just returning the favour from every time you both have helped me", replied Naveen.
"And I'm just doing my job as a good father, Aru, you don't need to thank me at all."
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retphienix · 3 years
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There are so many fucking games I want to play for the blog and I hypothetically have the time, but the energy, the attention span, the drive?
In more positive terms here are some various titles I plan to give a shot for the blog.
Let's do a 5am state of the blog kind of thing to clear some thoughts, eh?
Morrowind (Current Game ramble)
For the moment the blog is more or less on break with me playing Morrowind ""For the blog"" but mostly for me, because that's just a game I've wanted to explore. Not that every other game on the blog isn't that, just that I looked at Morrowind and said "That'll be a terrible game to present naturally. That's a stream game, or a condensed video, not a liveblog" and then did it anyway.
I'm loving Morrowind! Honestly the sense of mystery, fantasy, and adventure is just chef kiss levels of perfect to me.
But it's terrible in a photoset, I'm not particularly interested in doing another format for the game, and it's a game with less 'intense narrative themes!' and more 'Incredibly different game design compared to modern Bethesda' in terms of discussion material and let's all be real here:
We're all fucking tired of that conversation lol.
So there ain't much to talk on in depth, it's more of a "Here's a newbie seeing new things!" playthrough with nothing to talk about after the fact, which ain't a strong point for the blog- again- that's a stream/video kind of thing.
ANYWHO- Morrowind fun, about the only news I can offer on that series is that it might abruptly end and become a 'for me' series because I'm not particularly interested in beating the game nearly as much as I'm interested in exploring aimlessly and seeing what happens.
I'm not playing Morrowind for the end goal of beating the main quest, or beating the DLCs. I'm playing it to wander into caves and find new pants, so if I reach a point where I'm satisfied with what I've shared and my motivation has not borne a new end goal then I'll end the live blog and move on to a new game :P
Backlog
The short statement I'll make is that this blog is a hell for my backlog.
Even without infinite money on hand I've ended up with so many physical and digital games just sitting here waiting to be played either because they caught my eye or because of recommendations by various people over the years.
I keep sitting down, cataloguing my backlog, realizing it's pointless to catalog, deleting it all, and then starting over yet again.
The fact is, if anyone recommended it it's probably still sitting in a text document somewhere, or physically on my shelf, and I don't remotely know when I'll get to it.
I've yet to hit the point where I decide to turn this blog into work, so I have never sat down and gone "Well, Retphienix NEEDS to post! Sit down, 8-12 hours minimum, let's play the next game!"
And part of me wishes I'd do that, but the fact is this isn't a job. There's no money here, there's the opposite even! I don't remotely see it that way, but if you squint and tilt your head I've spent a lot of money on this blog over the years.
Capture devices (a lot of them!), consoles specifically bought for the blog, controllers out the wazoo, I've gone through multiple computers for this thing, and the games, my lord the games- so many games.
And that's fiscally, what about manpower? So many hours have gone into this blog, so many hours poured into the background of making all this work, researching shit, putting my all into formulating my opinions clearly for posts, writing, hell video shit even though it's mostly clips as my one step into edited content became an impromptu awkward hiatus from doing more lol.
What was I on about.
Despite all that nonsense, Retphienix is a passion project. Not a job.
If I lack the passion in some sense then the work doesn't get done "just for the sake of the work". And I don't mean lost passion as much as "No motivation on x day; tired on y day; interested in doing something else on z day" etc.
If things aren't clickin' I don't force it, so the blog has all this backlog and isn't put together in a way that facilitates burning through it quickly.
I do sometimes wish things were different though, I know I'd still enjoy such a playstyle, but I can't justify "faking it til you make it" in a format that literally isn't built to pay and was never intended to.
I can't work myself for nothin'.
Hypothetical "Next" games
While the backlog is a wild wasteland of titles, there are some that just kinda guarantee their spots sooner rather than later.
Yakuza 6 and 7 along with Judgment, obviously. The series is one of my all time favorites and I generally have some of my absolute most fun on the blog side of things with those games, so it's a winner on two fronts. It's just fun to react to, post out of context things for, and talk with other fans about and for whatever reason tumblr has a healthy enough fanbase for the series that my meager blog gets some attention there.
Dragon Quest has a strangely weighted chance all things considered. DQ has many of the same advantages as Yakuza- it's a series I adore, it's fun to talk about in this format, and the fandom is big enough to occasionally spill my way making the blogging experience a bit more fun. It's also a series where I don't know what'd come next to be fair. Probably DQ4? I mean, might as well continue on from that point since I have 1-3 done. I can't exactly justify replaying the entirety of DQ11 no matter how much I want to! Turning on the games above gave me DQ goosebumps which kinda settled how likely it is to show up sooner rather than later, lol.
Jeez. I looked at one of my surviving lists and that's like all that's popping out at me.
Other series feel like giant leaps with no gas in the tank, like do I want to start playing Kingdom Hearts? Not really, not right now. Do I finally play Lisa? Eeeeeeh. Persona? Hmmmm.
I haven't the fuzziest. There are so many one off interesting titles, but if the drive ain't there they might as well be textbooks.
Perhaps instead of any major next game I'll just do some afternoons exploring random titles for a bit here and there with no intention of beating em.
The idea is enticing as hell, but the feeling of not giving the game's a "real shake" feels bad.
We'll see. The only certainties seem to be Yakuza and DQ, as much as I'd prefer far more.
Side project hypotheticals
Outside of the basic live blog stuff I'm still interested in exploring scripted stuff. Mostly to prove to myself that I can overcome some anxieties and break from the meandering pace the last effort gave- I can write! That much I know! So just gotta trick myself into writing for a video and then make the video after the fact lol.
Current thoughts are on a video exploring the monster taming sub-genre. It's a genre near and dear to my heart, and one I know some weird things about as is- but mostly it's a genre I KNOW I know very little about despite that, so I'd like to give it an overall look, or perhaps just explore some random entries, I haven't a clue lol. I'd mostly like an opportunity to talk about some interesting entries in the genre, things like explaining my adoration for DWM while explaining how the flaws make it really rough today, or the interesting mash of genres that is Lost Magic, or the more modern take that mashes idle-like mechanics with Siralim Ultimate.
Won't lie, playing the demo for Monster Hunter Stories 2 threw a wrench in that plan because it made me want to talk about it and how the genre might have a new breath of life after really grinding to a halt as pokemon became what it is today, but all to be seen or not lol.
As far as other things like streams? Not really.
The concept of writing a bit more on games is tickling the back of my head lately, but that mostly just means "more posts that aren't live-blogging" as I haven't the fuzziest where I'd share such nonsense.
Really it's all up in the air as far as retphienix content is concerned, beyond the live blogging obviously.
5am closing
It's fun to explore what games have to offer, both on the individual level, the personal level, and as a whole- as a medium.
So I like Retphienix.
And I like all I've made here.
I hope to continue for a long, long time- no matter what future formats might look like.
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uncloseted · 4 years
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i have a seriously annoying problem and i don't know what to do. so, i've been depressed for a very long time now, have done therapy twice and quit, and now i wanna seek help again because i'm really fucking scared that if i don't do anything i'll stay like this forever and not get ahead in life. and with not getting ahead in life i mean: i'm currently 18, and about a month ago i got a job, the 2nd one in my life, and i already wanna quit. the reason why this is so bad to me is, when i was 16 i got my first job and stopped after 3 months just because i'm so unmotivated. now it's 2 years later, i'm finally working again, but something is just soooo off with me. no matter how hard i try, i'm so unmotivated in everything i do. and i know that the easy answer is that it's probably that i haven't found a thing that i like doing, but i know that's not it. it's literally just working that i hate. i know that no matter what i do, i'm gonna hate doing it. and wanting to quit is especially hard for me, because i've been fucking up my life consistently, and my parents are proud that i'm working again. now like i said, i've been thinking about going to therapy again, but i also wanna quit my job, at least til i'm in a better headspace. because i honestly think that i'm gonna go insane if i do school, work, and therapy at the same time. now my question is, do you think that's the best solution? or what would you do? should i just try to suck it up and continue to work while i get better during therapy?
First and foremost, I think it sounds like you need to work on recovering from your depression.  I know that’s easier said than done, but there are a lot of things that you can try.  Talk therapy can be great for a lot of people, but it’s not the only option, and it’s really important to have a therapist you connect with in order for it to work.  It may take trying out a few different therapists (or a lot of different therapists) before you find the one for you, and that’s totally normal and okay.  It’s also important to try different types of therapy.  Maybe you’ve tried narrative therapy and that hasn’t clicked with you, but ACT or CBT therapy will.
If you haven’t already, I would also consider meeting with a psychiatrist or your primary care physician to talk about medication.  Talk therapy and medication combined works better than either one on its own.  Like with finding a therapist, it make take a few different tries before you find a medication that works for you.  Don’t be afraid to let your psychiatrist know if you’re not feeling better or if you’re having side effects.
If you’ve been through several different medications and none of them have worked, you may have what’s called “treatment-resistant depression”.  If that’s the case, there are a lot of experimental treatments you can try.  Clinical psychedelic treatments (ketamine being the most common and well-researched, but also psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, and MDMA) can make a really big difference for people who are depressed, and oftentimes are faster-acting than their traditional SSRI counterparts.  Other interventions, like ECT, TMS, and VNS, have been shown to reduce symptoms of depression as well.
Finally, and I hate to be this person because I know how frustrating it is to get this advice, but lifestyle changes can go a big way to improving mood and reducing depressive symptoms.  In one study, 90% of clinically people who exercised for 30 minutes, three times a week recovered from their depression by the ten week mark.  For comparison, only about 50% of the control group (who were taking Zoloft), were in remission by 10 weeks.  Exercise also boosts your cognitive functioning and will help you be healthier for longer as you get older.  This doesn’t need to be intense exercise, either- walking, playing a pickup game of a sport you like, riding a bike, doing yoga or pilates videos online, dancing, whatever you can get yourself to do is better than nothing.
Sleep is the other big lifestyle change that impacts depression.  Seven to eight hours of sleep a night will significantly boost your happiness and well-being.  Like with exercise, it will also boost your cognitive performance and will help you be more focused and motivated.
There are other lifestyle habits that are good to put in place, like meditating once a day, practicing gratitude, actively doing kind things for other people (such as volunteer work), ensuring that you have regular social interaction, and working towards long term goals, but if you’re looking for the biggest bang for your buck, sleep and exercise are your best bet. 
This all probably sounds like a huge tangent from your actual question, but I promise it’s not.  If you can improve your mood, you’ll feel more motivated to work and, importantly, more capable of working.  I would also try to think of work as something that’s not binary (you’re either working or you’re not).  Can you reduce the hours that you’re working so that you have more time for school and therapy sessions?  Are there aspects of your job that are easier than others that you could request to do more frequently?  Is there a job that would provide you with more flexibility or at least suck a little bit less?  Maybe not working at all isn’t an option for you right now, but you might be able to find a way to make it less difficult.
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jamesdyecg · 2 years
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Research & Enquiry: Reflective Post 5 - How do I plan to use my work in a positive way?
- Still pondering... -
Continuing on from my last post, still questioning what video games meant to me, I began to think about what my work meant to me? and how I could use it to positively impact the games industry.
- What does my work mean to me? -
Much like many of my peers today, I grew up playing video games, they where always a great way to connect with friends and family, I remember sinking many hours into Lego Star Wars with both my sisters and my father. I'm sure I could ramble for hours about all the different games I've run home to play or sunk an unhealthy amount of hours into, but I'll spare you the rant.
Fast forward a few years to college, a little lost as to where I wanted my career to progress onto, a friend of mine asked if I wanted to try making a game with him in a program called 'Unity' which I was unaware of at the time. I jumped at the idea, I hadn't realised making games is something any old joe could do, I thought you needed a big studio and millions of pounds...
I tried my hand in coding, that was... a grind at best, hard to stay motivated. However, I did enjoy making the very low-poly and probably extremely badly optimized models in the only 3D program I knew at the time Cinema 4D. So I decided to pursue a path in the games arts, and 3 years later I graduated from Southampton Solent University with a First Class Degree in Computer Generated Imagery!
Still, I felt a little lost as to my role or purpose in the industry, I was being rejected from every job I was applying to, not even so much as an interview. I started wondering why I wasn't having any luck, now of course this is a very competitive industry and finding an opportunity is not easy at all, but I couldn't help but wonder if I was ready for a job. So I decided to continue my studies, hone my craft in, so I moved here to Hatfield! Studying MA Games Art and Design at the University of Hertfordshire, I was extremely happy to get accepted into the program as Herts Uni is one of the highest rated games art schools in the UK!
So now I have the opportunity of working on myself, my craft, my ambitions and what my future may look like. So what does my work mean to me?
I believe video games have given us a great opportunity here in the 21st century to really express ourselves. Games create a place for people to explore their emotions freely and without judgment, push moral boundaries, and so much more. Telling stories is something we as humans have done for centuries, since the beginning of man in fact. Now we get to tell stories in an unprecedented way, with such a high level of detail and freedom. Just take Naughty Dog's The Last of Us series. A fantastic example of what is possible with today's technology, I can personally atone to the sheer amount of emotion I felt playing through these games, there's even many a video essay on YouTube of people sharing their thoughts, and how in some cases these games changed their lives completely. It is my goal as an artist to one day contribute to one of these amazing works of art, even if it is just something that only affects a small number of people, as long as I have the opportunity to express myself through my work and try to make a positive impact with that, I will have succeeded.
- what inspires me most to pursue a career as a games artist? -
There have been many great films and games that have been released in the last few years alone! Some of these big studios are really starting to push the boundaries as to how far they can go with their stories and gameplay. I previously mentioned The Last of Us which is highly accredited with many prestigious awards for what is in my opinion one of the greatest games of all time.
Some recent inspiration I have received is from Riot Games' new Netflix show 'Arcane' which is based off the game League of Legends, a game I consider myself a regular player of. If you haven't seen it yet, stop reading this and go watch it now, you will not regret it! The art style of this show is incredible, immediately you can tell the artists have poured many, many hours into creating each frame. beautifully hand painted background with stunning stylised 3D models and animations. Not to mention the storyline is not only cool but each character is developed excellently, I even found myself feeling for the villain 'Silco' by the end of it! Plus the soundtrack is incredible.
Ok, so enough praising the artistic geniuses over at Riot games. This is just a small example of the inspiration that can be gained from watching or playing through other artists work. It shows that there are real studios out there that have like-minded artists working for them, and I am inspired to one day work alongside them!
- How can I ensure I'm working on something I am truly passionate toward? -
It's very easy to get caught up in the shiny promises of the industry, especially when decent salaries start getting thrown around. So it is important to make sure wherever I end up after I graduate I am happy with what I am working on. There are few things I can do to help with this, extensive research into a studio is important, seeing what projects they've worked on, how they have shared their behind the scenes work. Whether the company has any bad history with employees, and whether its a good work life. This has been brought to the front page recently with the issues arising at Blizzard, I suggest reading an article or two on the subject if you are interested.
Obviously it is very hard to get into a specific studio, and I'd be silly not to jump at any offers I received for work to build experience, I will always be ensuring that It is something I want to do, and something that allows me to contribute for the better, and to never take a pay check over a purposeful position.
- How am I planning to use my studies to support this? -
I'm sat here now with about 9 months left of this course, 1/4 of the way through, and eager to continue. I intend to continue exploring various art styles until I find something that I want to stick, as well as expanding future opportunities. With my final major project coming up in semester C, I would love to conceptualise a project that allows me to express myself and can show off the best of my abilities.
- Citations -
Naughty Dog, 2013. The Last of Us. Video Game. Playstation: Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Arcane, 2021. Series. Riot Games. Netflix.
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