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mirukimary · 1 year

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My Art Summary for 2022!

(Under the cut I'll go into more details for each month, for memory's sake. Warning: It's LONG.)

Come one, come all for your opportunity to see all of the drawings I should have posted but never did! The ones that make me work harder every december to remember when tf i drew what! The ones that, in missing, make it seem like i only draw once a year--! (going through my twitter media tab is depressing LMAO)

JANUARY

[Pictured: Iola in Prenda clothing. There was a Twitter Post going around asking you to draw your WoL in your country's traditional clothes. Ofc I didn't skip the opportunity to do it! And drew my BF's WoL too for good measure. Still my fav drawing of the year!]

Also worked on a VTuber model for a friend (i drew it as a bust january last year; then this year was asked to expand it to full body). It was very challenging, but also fun!

For the rest, I designed some backstory NPCs for Asera (Daimyorus childhood friend, his goddess and a mage that helped us multiple times); and drew some twitch emotes for a client. Was a fresh, fun start. I remember having a lot of fun and finding that month quite relaxing.

(Goddess Rondra, Mage Rupin & elf-friend Pedro (RIP))

FEBRUARY

[Pictured: My friend's bunny boi~]

Further work was done on the VTuber model, a lot of parts that weren't quite working before were redrawn. He was taking form!! Now that most of the work was done, also did a ref sheet to go with it. I couldn't wait to see him moving!

That's when I started preparing to open commissions for realz, trying to think of prices and set up examples. I drew some BGs and the Complexity Guide, and set most of the boring things up. I plan to open comms either Jan 2023 or February 2023, so let's hope all the work paid off~

MARCH

[Pictured: 'Smile at the Blue Skies', or "Fuq i need a bust sketch ref for my commission examples page". Sounds a bit less dreamy now, huh? LMAO]

But yeah, most of the month was dedicated to the VTuber model, working to fix it as the rigger found issues. Ref Sheet was finished this month. I'll stop mentioning the model, but the back and forth lasted till june or so?? Had to fix all of his toggles; and redraw his entire hair to allow for a better 3D effect when moving (it went from 3~6 layers to over 20). This was my first time working on vtuber models, so there was A LOT to learn. It surprising how many pitfalls there is in vtuber making. I'm very proud of how it turned out, and eternally grateful to the rigger (and to my friend) for being so patient with me. I was sent a small demo of what he looks like, and seeing your drawing move so beautifully like that feels magical!! There's still much to design and draw before he can debut, but hope you can support him then!

Oh yeah, there was this attempt too:

APRIL

[Pictured: 'With Friends' the commission I worked on through March and April. Extra special because that's my friend & his pets there!]

Also sketched some ideas for illustrations of our RP characters (hi Irene), but never really completed them:

It feels so long since I made these... Double checked like 3 times to make sure it wasn't April 2021 LMAO

I REALLY want to revisit some of these now.

MAY

[Pictured: #XIVARTBASH drawing, featuring Nero.]

Also drew the catgirl from Love2DrawManga. Didn't do much this month (...or did but forgot). I believe I worked on some BGs I can't show, but these are still very much stuck at WIP :(

JUNE

[Pictured: Nia's WoL, Mat. Just a smol gift for someone that brings a lot of joy to FFXIV Twitter.]

So... I completelly forgot I was drawing my OCs outfits [facepalm]:

(Don't mind the two in the corner, I don't want my essay to get hit with Tumblr hammer LMAO They're nowhere near done). But yeah, these are my OCs from 'Elder''. I've had them since childhood, and still love them, even if I gave up on the book idea. Will make an actual post once all is done and I can go back to their character illusts uwu

JULY

[Pictured: Cade from 'Still Shining'. Working on this was an amazing experience~ Won't go on detail bc I already did, but still glad for the experience!]

Instead I'll talk about... Art Fight month!!!

SO.MUCH.FUN

I'm 100% going back next year! This event just proved how much I love drawing people's OCs. I really want to be a commission artist so I can do that for a living. Sadly I didn't get to draw everyone I wanted, plus I wasted a lot of time trying to look through OCs while the website was dying LMAO Next year I'll come prepared!

Also I drew that Spring picture to use as a reference in her profile there. I missed drawing her!

AUGUST

[Pictured: Commission for 'Under Maintenance'.]

Mostly worked on commemorative stuff. Anniversary chibi for Brie; that Under Maintenance pic; Thank You for DL message for 'Loving You Fully' and 'Still Shining'. Also designed some outfits (and painted some sprites) for Mythic Meetup: Midnight Mystery (not released yet!).

Started a bday gift for my boyfriend, but something kept looking 'off' about it so I didn't finish in time. Turns out it was overblended... And will require a redraw. Sorry boyfriend TT But my wife (tm) needs to look perfect!!

Also made the design for our new RP characters:

(mine is the not-cat girl, obviously)

...And I belive this is when I made that cursed Yshtola feeding Zero picture? Yeah.

SEPTEMBER

[Pictured: Witch Torunn]

Made the YCH bases, as well as 3 examples. I have no memories of this month, but Windows says this sketch is from september:

OCTOBER

[Pictured: Old OC redraw, for my Commission Guide. Decided to do it after a client asked for clarification if an old drawing was halfbody or fullbody (august last year, Torunn sitting down).]

They're really old OCs of mine. Ever RP-ed in Deviantart groups? I did!!

Cecilia (<-) is pretty much a Iola prototype: salve maker and potion seller who lives with her dad (who taught her the craft). One day he collapses during work, and Cecilia ends up overworking herself to afford his medicine and other living expenses. In desperation, she joins The Guild as a novice magician for money, and gets herself involved on a war she never intended to join.

Celticca (->) is a archer and aspiring musician who wants to make the most beautiful song (tm) for her family. She's very sweet, but naïve and scatterbrained. I didn't have much planned for her, but had a lot of fun seeing her constantly get involved with Evil/Neutral alligned characters w/o noticing LOL

....Now that I think about it, she's literally a FFXIV bard, before I knew anything about XIV.

The rest of October was focused on Magni's Birthday Project and my YCH Halloween Commissions.

...And THIS:

Halloween pictures of our current RP characters \O/ To go with our halloween session~ Also drew these two for our halloween one-shot:

Ellie (<-) and Hadrianus (->). Ellie is a yandere witch I made as a joke and fell in love with. Hadrianus is my BF's wizard. Yes, he looks like Dr. Strange. Yes, that's the joke. The 3rd character was Rosemary, but I didn't ask to draw her so she's missing :( I do want to draw all of them at some point. We accidentally made "Spy x Family, but it's horror and Loid wants to run away" LOOOL I love this trio!!

Made 2 adoptables, but since they went unsold I decided to remove them and redraw for next year:

(The neutral pose doesn't help them stand out ^^;; Sorry bbys)

Also sketched Julio from Atelier Sophie~

(Hoping to finish it early next year. He's not the only idea I had while playing, but other stuff took priority"")

October was so much fun!! Sadly it let me completely drained by the end of it. I got hit with such a HUGE art block it was like my hands just... Forgot how to draw. Everything came out weird. Sadly, that resulted on me having to drop a drawing I was making for Brie :/ Hoping I can pick it back up soon... (better late than never right?)

It's around that time I decided to work on an AI redraw. Used Crayon (old Dall-e Mini) to create some monstrosity for me and tried to turn it into an actual drawing.

The monstrosity:

The Work In Porgress:

This drawing is a bit painful to look at, because of all the self doubt and bad feelings attached to it. But I want to finish it someday. My prompt was something stupid like 'cute anime girl having fun'. I want to remain true to the prompt and make her meeting with lil ladybug feel warm and fun!

...Like of the feelings I was missing back then, and am just now starting to get back.

TL;DR: Take breaks or you'll break.

NOVEMBER

[Pictured: Chibi Adra for Kyou.]

Managing burnout through most of it. Eventually just decided to stop fighting and played games instead. Even with the frame drops, Atelier Ryza is pretty fun~ Hoping to go bk to it soon.

At some point my boyfriend said I should just draw things to have fun for a bit. I followed his advice...

DECEMBER

[Pictured: Art Party (DracoLunari's WoL)]

...By drawing Iola as a sheep herder. It was much more fun than it sounds. I didn't care for polish at all, just seeing Iola in a cute outfit LMAO It's... A mess of a drawing. But it's MY mess of a drawing. I feel this thought calmed my mind a lot.

Also went for my first ever Art Party. It was fun, tho brain did get in the way after a bit, as expected ^^;;; Still want to go to these more often!! It's fun to draw & chat with others.

For random drawings, all I have is a(n embarrassing) fanart of Elf from Isekai Ojisan. I'll post eventually..... (that anime is hilarious)

For now I have a commission and a collab to take care of, and a certain Moon Goddess to draw as soon as possible~ Will be doing my best these next few days, and hope Iola can be my sheperd and guide me to the path of 'having lots of fun drawing again'.

ONWARDS TO 2023...

May my year be filled with bad drawings that I love;

And good drawings I'm proud of.

May your year give you the same

And everything else you wish for!

Thanks @/Taxkha on twitter for the Template!

#maryart #art summary 2022 #it's a wall of text #but i feel i'd regret it it any other way #happy holidays all

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elecman108 · 1 year

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It’s finally done. I’m... feeling a little emotional, honestly. All my D&D character references are now “recovered”, as in redrawn completely, from my broken SSD whose files were all lost.

I... I just want to sit back and put my head in my hands. [Cont’d]

This... It’s every character I have made for D&D since I started playing. The first two I designed - Miri Evenwood and Cecillia - down to the most recent two - Zarris and Joy - all together, all forms, all types, all everything, all at once. I’m just... This was so much work and effort.

When I lost the original file with all these guys in it, I thought that was it. Nothing. But I do post my art here and on Twitter, no? I saved what I could off here and there, and the quality of these guys was... bad. Like, really bad. Most of the pictures I downloaded looked like this:

Fuzzy, illegible, and most details lost. Some were better quality, but...

...the image compression of being uploaded to Tumblr or Twitter was... difficult to contend with. I did have some I shared on Discord, however, those were a little more to work from.

I had some sketches, linearts, in-progress images, and some poor-quality finished works. All out of order, all wildly differing in quality. I sat back and had to think, what could I even do here? My character references, all lost to an SSD that Windows Recovery corrupted the data off of. That was probably the end of the story.

But I am stubborn.

I started to redraw them. Why did I start with Ezra, Axel, and Blaze? I don’t know why, but I’ve held these three close to me. And then I started making the basic line art for each other character, either completely by scratch (see Verda here) or with a crunchy, fuzzy, off-my-twitter-or-tumblr reference to work from.

With each new character I drew the lines for, with each finished reference, I felt like the task ahead of me was monumental - impossible at times. Work got stressful, life got in the way, and whenever I had a few minutes to myself, I was putting character after character through the redux machine and redrawing them by hand.

Some stayed incomplete for a while. Some were started and finished within a... week, reluctantly. I spent a lot of time looking at what I’d done so far, and then back at the ones I had yet to finish or start. At a certain point, I felt like I had given myself a task that I would never complete - a problem I could never solve. Maybe I would’ve given up after a certain point.

But then I didn’t. I refused to give up. I made notes for myself, I reviewed old notes saved to my old phone that barely worked that told me which of my unsaved list I had later dropped or redone. I kept drawing these characters, and about at this time I realized something.

I had been making D&D characters for almost a decade. Some of these guys are from that time - Miri and Cecillia, namely - and some had been in-progress for years before I actually ended up using them - Blaze and Axel came to mind - and here they were. Again. After I had initially lost them.

This was something that gradually made me better at drawing. This was history - my own personal brain’s history, at least - and I was doing everything I could to ensure I kept it. Not only was I determined to have at least one single full-body reference of each character I could ever use in D&D, I remembered my original goal when I was drawing these guys.

One of each race and class combination. Of course, a silly goal, but it allowed my creativity to flow and make some genuinely cool characters. I would always look back on these guys and smile, and now I can do that again - and add more.

And the satisfaction of lining them all up in a colour order was so good.

So yeah, from October to December. So much work, and the payoff was absolutely worth the effort and time that went into it. Through every burnt-out evening, from days I spent stuck on the couch unable to move through the pain to days I spent here and there and back again. Through each hour worked at my job, to each our I worked at home and doodled these guys. They’re here again, and they’ll see me through.

And I encourage you to design your own characters. I use D&D as inspiration for these, but I have others, after all...

But at least these references are more stuck towards their names than their full outfits, fuck’s sake. These were my May-August project of recovering files so... This year’s been certainly interesting.

#the disappointment speaks #drawings by me #OCs #D&D #the powerful stance I have rn is off the charts. look at these fuckin guys. so many of them #I challenge any AI artist to capture this feeling. spoiler: they cant! art is the combination of imagination and skill #and god. my skill is nothing in comparison to every other artist out there.#challenge yourself in the new year: become an artist. I don't mean like picasso or the group of seven artist. I mean draw something.#doodle a guy now and again. make some stick figures. have fun. get some cheap paints and printer painter and go ham. *make something*#one of these days you'll look back on those first drawings and smile. oh how far you've come.#that is the feeling I have.#the feeling of ''look at me now. look at my road and how far I've come. I could cry.''#and to be honest...?#I might. who knows.#<3 anyhow love everyone and be kind. peace out and catch you all later

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justarandomsloth · 1 year

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3d Asks Part 2

*sighs* I did bring this upon myself didn’t I..

(Questions/Answers under the cut)

Either book 8 (Winter Turning), book 14 or DarkStalker (which was the first one I read)

hmm…. I’d say probably Irza or Vara… I can’t decide

(however I would like to see Rick the Dick get the karma he deserves)

WoF around 4-5 years I think?!?! It’s been a while! Eragon only 3-4 years ago.

I never redraw the FULL picture but when I’m working on it I’ll redraw a LOT. I’ve never redrawn a finished drawing tho

(I might to see how I’ve improved)

NOT AS MUCH AS I SHOULD!!

What I do is I work in chunks and will rewrite different parts over and over. Once something is finished (even if I hate it) I just can’t be bothered to rewrite it. Also I rarely proofread…

(Poisoned Arrows is an example because I’ve had that written for a while but never rewrote any of it before posting)

—

Thanks so much for the questions I actually enjoyed them! (Even tho I’d never admit it)

#Sloth Q’s #3d ask #I’m finally done #I’m free #Ive learned my lesson 3d I swear #that won’t stop me from doing it again in the future tho #Because I am stubborn

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fablewritesnonsense · 1 year

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Welcome to the Pizzaplex

Chapter 7: Art for Kiera

Felix returns the favor for Kiera, and her father breaks the rules…

After a week, he’d finished his little side project, and printed it out in the employee room before dashing down in time for the kids to show up for daycare.

Sun did his normal jump and scoop in the ball pit, but when the kids were all dumped onto the ground, he was there waiting for Kiera to roll off the pile. She giggled and ran up to him.

“I’ve got something for you,” he said, handing her the picture. She gave a little gasp as she looked over the picture. He’d redrawn everyone in the cartoon style of the big animated sign, just as they’d been in the picture she’d given him the day before.

And her cartoon self was holding the picture she’d drawn the day before, edited in from a scan.

“I love it!” she said excitedly.

“Well, you drew me a picture, I drew you one,” he said, and she gave him a big bear hug.

“Ohhhh,” Mason said, looking at the picture. “That’s why you don’t do arts and crafts!

***

“Can you draw me a picture like you drew Kiera?” Moon asked, crawling up during naptime once everyone was asleep. Felix smiled, looking up from his logo art.

“Yeah bud, do you want it of everyone? Because I can just print out another copy,” he said.

“But that has Sun in it, not me,” Moon pouted.

“Yeah bud, I can draw you one too,” he said. Moon grinned and his head spun.

“Is this what it’s like having a friend?” he asked softly. “We’ve never had real friends before. Just the children.” Felix smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, we’re friends, like brothers,” he said. Moon’s head spun again.

“I thought it was just Sun. Nobody likes me as much as they like him,” he said sadly.

“That’s not true, plenty of people like you as much. It’s just that they’re not able to be in the daycare cause they’re too old,” he replied.

And making horny art online of you, he thought.

“But yeah buddy, I like you as much as I like Sun. I just get to see him more, that’s all,” he assured the bot.

“Thank you, It’s nice to have a brother,” Moon said before skittering off. Felix melted a bit in his seat, and began drawing Moon in the picture too.

***

“Alright, here’s Kiera’s stuff,” Felix said, handing over the child’s backpack and the folder with her art and report for the day to her father. “Hey Kiera! Your dad’s here to pick you up!” he shouted. Kiera, who had been playing tag with the other kids, continued running around and trying to tag one of the faster kids.

“Hey, what’s this?” her father asked, holding up the art that Felix had drawn.

“Oh that!” Felix said with an embarrassed smile. “Well, I’m sure you saw in her daily report last week, but she made me this little picture, it’s currently on my fridge with the rest of the pictures the kids have given me. So I thought I’d make her one like it and put her little picture in it there.” Her dad glared at him and he backed up.

“And you thought it was appropriate to make my daughter a drawing?” he asked.

“I asked her mom for permission, she said it was totally fine,” Felix said with a shrug. The man snorted.

“She thinks it’s appropriate to leave our child in a daycare run by stupid ass robot, how would my ex-wife know what’s appropriate,” he snapped, Felix clenched his jaw when the man glared at Sun, who was trying to round up Kiera. “If I call her and find out you didn’t ask permission, I’m going to come back and you’re not going to have a job.”

“Our Daycare Attendant is actually extremely intelligent and fantastic with the kids. And since he’s not human, he doesn't have to deal with the same mental stress, so he’s never going to slack in his job,” Felix said, trying to keep his tone even. “There’s a reason the kids love him. And it’s because he has an abundance of kindness and patience, as well as being extremely sweet.”

“Oh fuck off with this bullshit,” the man snapped. Felix registered Sun stopping and turning to stare at the man yelling, still doing his little bouncing.

“Sir, I'm going to ask you not to curse in the daycare,” Felix said. “If you continue to do so I will have to page security and have them escort you out. Kiera! Kiddo come on, your dad’s waiting, it’s time to go ho-” he was knocked off his feet, blindsided by Kiera’s backpack being swung into his face.

“You can’t tell me what to do! Do you know who I am?” the man spat at him. Some of the kids started crying out, and the pitter patter of feet ended. “I can end your entire fucking career for speaking back to me!”

“Friends, let’s go play ball-pit hide and seek,” Sun said, and some of the kids ran off, giggling with the head start. “You have until five to be fully hidden!”

Felix straightened up and pulled out his walkie, paging and saying, “Security, I need a parent escorted out of the Daycare.”

“Five!”

“How dare you call security on me you worthless-”

“Four”

“Sir, if you continue to act in this manner, you will be banned from the Pizzaplex-”

“Three!”

“I am a County Commissioner! How dare you threaten to ban-”

“Two!”

The ball pit stopped rustling and the man spat on Felix.

“You’re worthless trash compared to me!”

The lights in the entire daycare went dark, and the only light came from the screen behind the security desk. Felix turned and saw Sun shifting into Moon.

“Oh no-” he muttered, and tried to pull the lights up on his Fazwatch, but there was something blocking his access.

“Don’t ignore me!”

“Sir, I need you to get behind the security desk!” Felix said, running past and slamming the doors to the daycare shut. He was going to have to turn on the backup generators.

“Don’t fucking tell me-”

“Naughty, naughty,” Moon said, and they both turned to see the animatronic walking slowly towards them, his arms extended. “Rulebreaker, rule breaker,” he went down on all fours and skittered up to the county commissioner, grabbing him by the collar.

“No hitting in the Ḓ̸̢̬̺̟͔̻͇̟̙̤̙̹̯͎͇͐͆͑͑ͅͅͅͅâ̵̢̛̺̰̝͉̤̩̩͍̱̖̘͑̅y̵͖͓̱̻̺̭̤͖̜̺͓̱̖̽͛̽̇̓c̷̢̼͓̥̔̃̊͂͂͌͝ͅͅå̶̢̢̛̦̣͈̮̪̓͊̉̐̌̀́̂̽́̑̍͆̚͘͠r̶̢̛̳͉̲̦̗͋͂́̑͊̂̒̐̔̓̈́͛e̵͖̤̹͙͕̞̣̺̬̹̹̥͗͊̉͊̓̃̓̕͠ͅ!̶̡̘͚̘̮̱̙͎̥̖̠̮̩́̉͂!̸̗̗͉̥̳̳̞̟͇͔̳͎̣̹͎͙͈̏̒͊̅̄̃̕̚͠!̸̫̯͈̲̭̣̊̐”

If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a like and a comment here, and also consider clicking on the header link to leave a kudo and comment on AO3! Maybe even bookmark it and subscribe to my account? You'll get notifications when I post updates!

Have a wonderful day!

#felix dca #fnaf fanfic #fnaf security breach #fnaf daycare attendant #fnaf #fable writing stuff

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gale-gentlepenguin · 3 years

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ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 36

Sorry about the delay. But now its here and its ready for consumption.

Also, Shout to @asongeverlasting for beta reading for me and making sure I actually got this out.

Check her writing out on AO3 as ShamelesslyRomantic,

(Master post)

(Read the fic in a more condensed on Ao3)

_____________________________________________________________

“Finished,” the artist akuma stated as he addressed his master.

Masquerade got up from her throne to look at the room. The classroom had been transformed into a rather spacious throne room. The artist had erased and redrawn walls to ensure the room was much larger. This new space also had several large windows adorned with elegant black and white curtains hanging from the top. Reflekta servants decked out in masquerade themed armor stood at attention on each step leading to her throne. Beautiful artwork of her decorated the walls, including an imposing portrait of her behind her throne that made it look as if she was looking down at everyone looking up at it. To her that came off as self-interested yet tasteful. The masked akuma even loved the addition of a red carpet that led up to her throne.

“This is quite satisfactory, Evillustrator. Just be sure to reinforce the walls of the room then head to the roof and locate Simularé. I want this place to be a fortress,” Masquerade ordered

“Understood,” the akuma nodded, his expression unreadable from the white face mask. He quickly headed to the door out of the room and Stone heart was guarding the door with his large frame and had to let the artist out.

“Gamer! Robostus! Status report!”

“We have made it so we could hack into every screen in Paris that is connected to the internet, as per your request,” the Gamer responded in monotone.

Masquerade smiled at that.

“Excellent. Do we have the cameras ready?”

The Reflekta copies near the robot akuma were being outfitted with recording gear.

“Affirmative, we will be ready to go live at your request.”

The masked akuma smiled at that news, she turned her attention to Princess Fragrance and the original Reflekta, who had just finished turning the last of the captured individuals into obedient copies of her.

“Has everyone in the school been rounded up and handled?”

“Dark Cupid and Reverser are doing a final sweep of any runaway stragglers. Stormy weather is going around flooding and freezing any empty hallways to flush out any that are hiding. There are Reflekta copies guarding the blocked off exits should anyone try and escape. But over 96% of the student body has been accounted for and 99% of all Faculty.” Princess Fragrance answered.

‘The missing ones are likely Marinette and Adrien. Those two never did make anything easy for me, did they? But it didn’t matter, their luck would run out soon enough. Once Ladybug and Chat noir were handled, then I could focus on making them pay,’ Masquerade grinned to herself.

She could picture how it would be, finding them and seeing their desperate faces as they realized that no hero would be able to save them. The first thing she would do was show them both her little empire. They thought she was bad when she had the school wrapped around her finger, they will be mortified when they see Paris. She would have all their friends and family captured, their best friends leading the cruel treatment of the rest. This would have them in tears and begging for mercy.

She did once consider letting Adrien be her boyfriend, with some perfume to sway him. He would have been a perfect boytoy to taunt Marinette with, but Masquerade realized how far above him she was now. She didn’t need him anymore, and truthfully, he was just as bad as Marinette, if not worse. Marinette had the audacity to dislike her and challenge her, but Adrien, he was so condescending, acting like she should be better than her actions. She could swear she saw pity in his eyes, and that was so much worse.

Though she wasn’t completely heartless, if they begged to be her personal servants and apologized for standing against her, then maybe she would let them have some mercy. Having Marinette clean up after her and make those admittedly delicious baked goods would be nice and having Adrien wait on her hand and foot like a personal butler would be quite fun. Maybe they would think if they did a good enough job their families would suffer less.

She did want to daydream about that idea more but she knew that she needed to focus on the present.

“Alright, Let’s start moving to stage 2. Gamer! I want a comprehensive list of every akuma victim outside of the school. Robostus! Make sure the cameras and broadcast are ready when I tell you. I want everything to go off without a hitch.”

“Affirmative!” Gamer and Robostus responded in equal robotic unison.

“Reflekta! Princess Fragrance! After all of the copies pick up the stragglers, I want you scanning the area for Ladybug and Chat noir. Bubbler and Lady Wifi… wait. I think I remember something.”

She paused to check her charm, she noticed the question mark charm and touched it, allowing her to focus and see what akuma it was.

“Cancel that order, remain on standby unless we get approached.”

“Yes… so this is what that voice meant by merging. How very interesting. I think I will let that new akuma keep its directive. Ladybug and Chat noir will have no chance of beating...”

An akuma merged with Lady Wifi, Bubbler and Oblivio. Combined to make something new. Something that she knew even the heroes would have trouble fighting.

“Deadzone.” Masquerade said with a devilish grin.

______________________________________________________________________________

Ladybug and Chat Noir made their way down the hall. They easily dealt with a few Reflekta clones without much effort and continued moving.

They were expecting to see more akuma lurking about, but strangely, the halls they were walking down were all either empty or only covered by Reflekta duplicates.

“Masquerade likely has her stronger forces consolidating after bringing in as many people to her as they could. Those that didn’t hit the mark likely got turned into the copies we bumped into.” Ladybug answered.

“That does explain why they were singing, like when Princess Fragrance made servants,” the cat hero added.

“This might be our only time to catch a break before confronting her.”

“So, since we have time, do you mind if I ask if you're free to go on Patrol tonight?” the cat hero casually inquired.

Ladybug stopped.

“Tonight? That is quite sudden. Plus, we still don’t know how this will play out.” Ladybug gestured to the school.

“Well I am going to assume we stop the akuma and save the day like always.” Chat noir commented. “Call it a safe bet, but we usually win.”

“Always the positive outlook, Chaton. I’m glad you have so much faith in us despite our numbers disadvantage.”

“You said it yourself, most of the servants are pushovers or just puppets. The only real threat is Lila. And we have faced worse."

“True, but not anything this sinister,” Ladybug tacked on.

“Didn’t we fight Hawkmoth a couple of months back?” Chat noir asked with a twinge of confusion. Was Ladybug implying what he thought she was?

Ladybug held her tongue.

“You’re kidding right? You think Lila is eviler than Hawkmoth!” Chat Noir exclaimed in shock.

“No no no! Not eviler … just a bit cleverer than him,” Ladybug confessed.

Chat noir looked at his partner skeptically, but then considered her words.

“She is manipulative. Considering even without being akumatized she has done some rather twisted stuff. But thinking she is evil is a bit much. Especially when there is someone responsible for forcing emotionally vulnerable people to do his bidding,” Chat noir pointed out.

“Isn’t that what she is doing right now?”

“Yes, but she was akumatized. If we started blaming people for their actions as akuma we would have to throw innocent people in jail.”

“Right… but you read that article on the Ladyblog right? She could be more than just a victim of Hawkmoth, she could be an ally.”

The Cat hero thought about it more but was still not entirely convinced.

“I guess underestimating her would be dumb, but maybe she isn’t completely evil. I mean Chloé ended up showing a bit of humanity and did some good, maybe Lila is capable of it too.”

The crimson clad heroine smiled a bit.

“That’s what I like about you, Chat, you always focus on the good in others.”

The black clad hero gave a Cheshire grin.

“When it comes to the team, you’re the brains, and I’m the sidekick who brings the smiles and the heartfelt speeches.”

“You aren’t my sidekick, Chat Noir, we are partners. And you could be the brains too, if you would use yours outside of pun making.” Ladybug playfully bonked his noggin.

The cat chuckled at the playful teasing.

“Fair enough, but I can’t help it if I FELINE making a quip.”

Ladybug could feel herself groan at the lame joke.

“I take it back… you are the sidekick,” Ladybug deadpanned, her tone of mock annoyance causing the cat to chuckle.

“Alright I’ll…” He stopped speaking as he noticed something was amiss.

Chat Noir’s left ear twitched. He heard approaching footsteps.

“We better get moving, this abandoned hallway isn’t going to be so abandoned in a minute.”

“More Reflekta clones?”

Chat Noir extended the staff to the ground, his face showing a sudden sternness.

“No… Winter is coming.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Viperion peered through the door of the locker room.

“Clear.”

The snake and dragon heroes entered with their akuma prisoner.

“Pick a locker and let’s toss her in,” Ryuuko commented as she held the squirming akuma.

The two paused their movement when they heard a rustling in the lockers.

“Do you hear that?” Viperion questioned.

“How could I not?” Ryuuko replied.

Just as the two stared at the rustling lockers. The two shaking lockers doors flew off their hinges.

And stepped out an akuma that neither hero recognized.

“I don’t remember seeing that akuma before,” Ryuuko stated.

“Neither do I, but it seems vaguely familiar,” Viperion responded.

As the Akuma was gathering its bearings, the heroes tried to gauge its powers. It had broad shoulders that had spherical, dark purple balls around them, which were connected to tight black sleeves with 3 white circular stripes at the end that ended at his wrists. Its left hand had a fingerless black glove which showed its skin akin to a purple silhouette. The other hand was what appeared to be a black laser canon with a phone attached to it. On its back was a large red, purple and black pipe which seemed to act as a holster to a blue bubble wand. Its face was obscured by a large white theater mask much like all the other akuma. But there was the impression that it had distinct features. Its chest had a rounded purple bubble on the top half of its body akin to round armor and it had a logo that appeared to be a WiFi signal within an eye in a cage. The lower half appeared more akin to a skintight jumpsuit that was black with white stripes at the feet.

The akuma turned its attention to the two heroes.

“So umm… what are you doing in the locker room?”

“Merge complete, Deadzone is active. Mission objective, Capture Ladybug and Chat Noir,” The akuma answered in a robotic tone less as a response to the question and more as a statement, their voice sounded like the mix of two people.

“Well, Deadzone, we can’t let you do that!” Ryuuko exclaimed as she glared at the akuma.

The akuma pointed its blaster at her.

“Your opinion on that really doesn’t have an impact on us.”

Deadzone’s left hand touched the phone on their blaster, and a purple bubble with a pause insignia shot out. Ryuuko and Viperion both jumped back as the bubble had direct contact with their akuma prisoner, causing her to be motionless as the bubble turned green and floated to the roof of the room.

“Okay, so don’t touch the bubbles,” Viperion noted.

“Positive side, we don’t need to worry about that one akuma,” Ryuuko commented.

Viperion and Ryuuko knew this akuma would be trouble if it got to Ladybug and Chat noir. They were going to need to find a way to stop it.

______________________________________________________________________

Fu had been observing the spoiled Mayor’s daughter after her confrontation with the Reflekta replicas. Using it as a means to help him find Ladybug and Chat Noir. He was aware that this girl had a knack for getting into trouble and making akuma target her, so it would not be too far off to assume she would be useful in locating his chosen. He would have called her, but communication was down, so he would need to adapt. But now he had a rather interesting quandary.

“Should I lend her the miraculous or not?” Fu spoke quietly as he pondered.

It was a tougher question he had initially thought. If he was asked if she was worthy of being a miraculous user, the answer would undoubtedly be negative. She was clearly a spoiled brat who saw herself above others. But after the events when the bee miraculous temporarily fell into her hands, he had started observing her. He did this with all of the chosen ones that Marinette had picked. Not because he didn’t trust his student, but more out of curiosity of why Marinette picked these individuals.

With the one she picked for the fox miraculous, Fu could see that the girl valued justice, but was cunning and saw the importance of distinguishing truth from illusion, an ideal pick for the fox miraculous. As for the Turtle miraculous wielder, Wayzz spoke highly of Nino, which really made him curious about the young lad. That boy showed a willingness to protect those close to him even if it meant getting hurt, and the calm to be ready to wait and roll with things. The miraculous of protection required someone that can keep a cool head and be ready to defend at the drop of a hat.

The other temporary heroes matched pretty well with the traits of the Kwami and were all good people deep down. Fu had no doubts that Marinette had the instincts of a guardian. The only one that brought doubt was Chloé. After the incident where she found the miraculous and got akumatized, Chloé was trusted with the bee miraculous 3 times. And her record had been mixed but overall she was decent when she fell in line and worked with Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Marinette mentioned that she didn’t want to trust Chloé with the miraculous after the last time. But has admitted to Fu that if needed she was a decent Bee heroine.

But if he was wrong and she decided to use this chance to stay being a miraculous wielder, he would have to deal with her as a rogue. Though, considering the circumstances, that would honestly not be the worst situation, as her identity was public and Ladybug and Chat Noir would deal with her like before.

“Wayzz, what do you think?”

His kwami companion popped out of his shirt pocket.

“This is quite a dilemma, Master. The situation is dire, but putting the miraculous in the wrong hands would also make things worse. Perhaps Pollen would be able to give better insight.”

“Very true, my friend.” Fu patted the kwami.

Fu cautiously went into the cleaning cart and pulled out the Bee Miraculous. The bee kwami popped out.

“Good morning, Master,” Pollen greeted the guardian with respect.

“Good afternoon, Pollen. We have a situation and I would like to know your opinion.”

“Very well, I am happy to serve,” The bee kwami replied.

“What do you think of Chloé Bourgeois? The one that used your miraculous recently.”

The kwami put her little hand to her face as she compiled her thoughts.

“She is complicated, Master. She didn’t talk to me much but I kind of got to feel a lot about who she was as a person. She is brash, she is confident, yet she is insecure. She is blunt, stubborn, and set in her ways. But I can tell that she is at a crossroads in her life. There is some small part of her that wants to be good and do good for others outside of herself, but her upbringing has made such a mindset seem like weakness, and she is scared of letting herself be vulnerable. Ladybug has been a good influence on her, but she is still immature in several aspects. She has the potential to be a good queen. If she could break through that self-imposed selfish mentality, she could be something extraordinary,” Pollen explained, finally.

“I see, well that is quite informative. Thank you,” Fu responded, nodding thoughtfully.

He put the Bee Miraculous back in a tiny box, causing her to go dormant.

“So, she is at a crossroad.” Fu repeated as he stroked his chin

He turned his attention back to Chloé, who had continued walking towards another dead end. When he caught the eye of approaching Reflekta clones. And with that, Fu figured out a way to know.

“I think I just found a way to know the correct answer.”

______________________________________________________________________

“I swear this place is a maze.” Mayura grumbled to herself as she walked the halls.

She noticed her fan shake, notifying her of someone calling. It was Hawkmoth

“Yes?”

“Mayura what are you doing?! You were supposed to find the target and get out!” Hawkmoth exclaimed angrily. “And why did you transform? You knowutilizing the Peacock Miraculous is dangerous.”

Though she wouldn’t admit it, she was somewhat touched by the concern in his voice. Unfortunately, she did not have time to dwell on that so she was going to ignore it, as she had a task at hand

“Some unforeseen circumstances have caused some rather unfortunate delays. I am going to locate the sentimonster and gather information regarding the target. Afterwards, I will assist in getting Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.” Mayura responded.

As she was speaking, an akuma with black wings flew into view along with an akuma riding a paper airplane.

“Seems the akuma servants have located me.”

She notices the akuma began preparing to attack her. They were practically mindless puppets that saw anyone who wasn’t their master as an enemy. This was quite an oversight, but it fit with the motif of the akuma villain. She felt the emotions of that girl, she knew exactly the type of insecurities Lila held. Thankfully for her, it meant they could easily be exploited.

“Get out of there this instant it is too dangerous. You are in no shape to…”

The akumas aimed at the unidentified villainess and fired off paper airplanes and arrows.

“We will discuss this later.” Mayura hung up before turning her attention to the two servants of Masquerade.

Mayura dashed through the hall, expertly avoiding projectiles and blocking with her fan those she couldn’t dodge. She jumped onto Reverser’s glider, grabbed the akuma and threw him at the flying Dark Cupid, leaving the two dazed and tangled together.

“I’m weakened, not helpless,” Mayura commented as she dusted herself off and hopped off the floating paper airplane.

She noticed that the two akuma that attacked her were slow in getting up.

‘Seems the akuma created by Masquerade aren’t just mindless, they are also rather slow in reacting. Ladybug and Chat Noir can exploit that. I suppose with the number of servants she made, this was to be expected. I should locate Simularé and get some details on our akuma’s little plan. I should step in and seize control if she gets too distracted like the last one. Gabriel has always been far too cautious when it comes to his plans, it’s time we were more active.’ Mayura mentally concluded.

She closed her eyes and focused on locating the sentimonster.

“She is on the roof. Odd placement for her most powerful ally, but I suppose there must be some sort of logical reason for what she is planning,” Mayura rationalized.

The peacock themed villainess noticed that the akuma that attacked her were starting to move again, and she decided to pick up her pace a bit.

______________________________________________________________________________

“This is super ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!” she exclaimed with anger. “Not a single exit in this place! Why is every exit coated in icky slime?”

She checked her phone.

“And still no signal.”

She ended up chucking her phone out of frustration.

“I wish Ladybug would just get here and beat the akuma, or better yet, come here and give me the bee miraculous so I can help kick butt,” she grumbled as she went to go see where she threw her phone. She'd remembered she actually liked the case she just bought for it and losing that would be a waste.

“H-help me please!” The wails of a person in danger caught Chloé’s attention.

“That sounds like a non-me issue,” the blonde told herself. As she continued walking to her phone.

“If only there was someone here to save me!” the voice called out again.

Chloé stopped moving for a moment.

“Well I am not a hero without the Bee, so I guess he better hope Ladybug and Chat Noir are nearby, or maybe those other two costumed nobodies that I saw earlier,” she said, clearly trying to convince herself not to do anything.

“Please! Ladybug! Chat Noir…. “

"The heroes will handle it." Chloé reasoned with herself as she picked up her phone. Now getting ready to go somewhere else and likely away from the screaming.

“ And a…Queen Bee.”

Chloé’s eyes went wide. Did someone call out for… Queen Bee?!

Chloé started dashing down the halls to the sound of the voice.

“Did someone call for a hero!” Chloé called out, looking confident.

She arrived to see an old man in an ugly Hawaiian shirt being cornered by 3 Reflekta copies. The akuma copies turn to Chloé.

“Surrender,” they sing-songed as they began to approach.

Chloé ran right at them, and proceeded to push them into each other, and let the impractical heels make it hard for them to get back up.

She rushed to the old man.

“Don’t worry, old man with good taste in heroes and nothing else. I, Queen Bee, am here to save you,” Chloé blustered.

“Thank you.” Fu said with a forced smile. She clearly only came when he mentioned her name. But she did show up. In hindsight, maybe his test was not as conclusive as he thought. But then again, he actually planned those out more.

Chloé looked around.

“Alright old man, normally I would have just left you to get saved by Ladybug, but you have good taste in heroes, so I am going to help you out. We need to move before those creepy akumas get back up. So follow me, I know a place you can hide out.” Her tone tried to come off as abrasive, but it did show an inkling of care.

Chloé began moving away from the cluster of Reflektas. The old man shrugged and followed behind. He supposed that this would be another good test for her. Maybe he will get a more definitive answer by keeping an eye on her. And if worse comes to worse, he had a feeling she would make a good distraction should he need to escape a band of akuma.

______________________________________________________________________

“Did you just make a...”

Ladybug was able to pick up on the sound of harsh wind heading their way and decided her scolding of lame references could wait for later. She grabbed her partner's arm and pulled him into the nearby science lab.

She quickly closed the door just as a cold front blasted right past them. The window on the door was covered in ice.

“Stormy Weather?”

“Stormy Weather.”

The two both look at each other with a bit of worry. The storm akuma was one of their more powerful foes, and with complete control of the weather in such a tight space, things were going to get tough.

“Any ideas?”

Ladybug weighed her options. Would now be the time to use her lucky charm? or should she save it for when they are in front of Masquerade? It was starting to get harder to make that call.

“We can’t have her roaming the halls, we will need to incapacitate her. So I say have your ice power up ready, and be ready to swap power ups at the drop of a hat. Stormy Weather may be tough, but we still have tricks up our sleeve.”

Chat Noir nodded.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir both popped their Ice blue power ups and shift into their Ice forms. The two watched as the other’s suit gained ice skates, ice crystal and snowflake accents, becoming Ladyice and Icecat.

(AN: Yes, according to the Wiki, that’s what they are calling them. Personally, I would have called them Ladyfrost and Cold noir/ Cool Cat but that’s just me. This isn’t relevant to the story, I just wanted you all to know that.)

“You know, Ladybug, you really give off the ice skater vibe. Would you say you have experience ice skating outside of this form?” Chat Noir asked.

Ladybug felt her mind flash to her date with Adrien and her cheeks turned red.

“I- I may have some experience. And how about you, Kitty?” she deflected.

“Well, now that you mention it, I…”

They heard a loud bang on the door, cracking the ice that covered the window to reveal the white theater mask that Stormy Weather had covering her face.

“I’m gonna give it to her, she really knows how to break the Ice,” Chat Noir joked.

“Chaton, cool it with all of the ice puns,” she stated.

“Wait, was that a pun? My Lady I... OH SHI…”

A large ice stalactite burst through the door interrupting their banter and almost skewering them.

Chat Noir was about to say something when Ladybug cut in.

“Chat Noir, you are my partner and I respect you greatly. But so help me, if you say we should put this conversation on ‘Freeze’, I will not save you if you get impaled.” Ladybug stated.

Chat Noir paused.

“You know me so well,” he said with a smile.

The two watched as Stormy Weather entered the room through the stalactite hole.

______________________________________________________________________

“Hey Viperion?”

“Yea Ryuuko?”

“We both agree that we need to stop that crazy akuma right?”

“That is correct.”

“Then why are you carrying me away from it!?” Ryuuko exclaimed.

Viperion had picked up the dragon heroine fireman style in order to pull her away from the pursuing akuma.

“Do you want the reasons in alphabetical order?” the snake hero sassed.

“We can take it,” Ryuuko asserted. “We can’t retreat! There is no honor in it!”

“Well considering neither of our weapons can touch them, the concept of honor has flown out the window. Not to mention, I seriously doubt that we can take them on without a plan, and don’t say ‘try to hit them harder’ is a plan. It isn’t.”

Viperion had a smug look as he noticed Ryuuko look away.

“You’re right, but I'm mad about it,” the dragon heroine huffed.

“I can live with that.”

Viperion took a sharp left and noticed a dozen Reflekta duplicates.

“Juleka?”

“Come with us,” the clones sang.

“I’m going to assume they aren’t her,” Ryuuko said as she got off Viperion’s shoulders.

She punched his arm.

“Ow.”

“Your shoulder was bumpy.”

Ryuuko drew her weapon and dashed past the group of Reflekta clones. After a second, she holstered her weapon and all of the clones dropped to the floor groaning.

“Wow.” Viperion was impressed. He had to admit that it was super cool.

“Don’t worry, I used the flat end of the sword. They will be fine, and hopefully they will slow down the akuma.”

The two continued running, but glanced back as Deadzone arrived. He looked at the clones getting up and blasted each one into a green bubble in which they remained motionless and floated to the ceiling of the hall.

“It can’t distinguish between friend or foe,” Viperion commented.

“What?”

Viperion turned to his comrade.

“I think I just got an idea.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“This way,” the bossy blond teen motioned.

Fu pushed his janitor cart as they moved in the hallway.

“Do you really need to move that hideous thing with us?” Chloé questioned with clear aggravation.

“It's very important,” Fu responded.

“Ugh, whatever. Just move faster, then.”

Fu nodded and picked up the pace.

The mayor’s daughter led them down the hall and they had managed to avoid attracting attention.

“Okay, we are here.”

Fu looked at the door and realized that it was the nurse’s office.

“Hopefully the nurse didn’t get herself captured while I was gone.”

Chloé went to open the door and noticed it was locked.

“What the…”

“Let me try.” Fu interjected.

“Fine, just hurry up.”

He pulls out a jingling set of keys. Chloé shrugged as she turned around to keep watch.

Fu let his kwami companion out to open the door. Wayzz quickly undid the lock and opened the door before sliding back out of view.

“All done,” Fu said.

Chloé turned around as Fu opened the door.

The two quickly ran inside and locked the door behind them.

“Nurse Arugula!” Chloé called out. “I have a guest for you!”

“Arugala?”

“It was something with an A.” Chloé commented.

The two waited a few seconds, but there was no response.

They moved deeper into the office.

“Are you here?” Chloé questioned.

They flicked on the light switch to see the nurse in the cot.

“Oh, that’s great, I leave to go get help and be a hero and she goes off napping!” Chloé fumed.

Fu moved to the nurse and noticed she had a bruise on her neck, indicating that she was clearly forced into this state. He jabbed a pressure point and the nurse jolted awake.

“HUAGH!”

She nearly fell out of the cot.

“Glad you can join us from your nap,” Chloé hissed.

“Chloé? Did you call for help?” The nurse inquired as she gathered her bearings.

“No, the school is a total dead zone, and I couldn’t find a way out because they are all blocked by slime. Side note, I found this old guy.”

The nurse turned to the old man.

“Hello. I’m Angela.” She politely introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you. I am… Fung,” Fu lied. He couldn’t be too careful.

“Nice to meet you Fung, despite the circumstances,” she tried to make light of the situation.

“Every meeting can have a positive circumstance if one is looking for it.”

The calm in the air died when Angela realized that someone was missing.

“Oh no! The women you left in my care! She knocked me out and stormed out of here.” Angela exclaimed.

“Welp, she is probably captured,” Chloé shrugged.

“We have to find her, she has some sort of strange illness. Leaving her out there might be dangerous, akuma or not.”

Angela prepared to move to the door but was stopped by Chloé.

“Oh no you don’t! I brought this old man here for safety. You stay here with him.”

“But my patient!”

The woman was clearly shaking, but she was determined, she wanted to help her patient even if it meant going into danger. But much to Fu’s surprise, Chloé stepped up.

“I will bring your patient back. Mostly because being stuck in here seems much worse than dealing with a bunch of dumb akuma.”

Angela hugged Chloé.

“Thank you.”

Chloé tried to look annoyed, but a ghost of a smile appeared on the mayor’s daughter’s face. She accepted the hug for a moment.

Fu took notice. He had made his decision.

“Alright, enough touching! You deal with sick people all day. I don’t want germs,” Chloé stated as she tried to give off her usual air.

“That is very brave of you, young one.” Fu spoke.

“Pff, this is nothing. It’s what heroes do.”

As Chloé began making her way out of the nurse’s office, Fu quietly slipped the tiny miracle box into her bag.

‘I hope this was worth the risk.’

_____________________________________________________________

(END OF CHAPTER)

Well things are really heating up.

Will Ladyice and Icenoir be able to deal with stormy weather? Will Deadzone be the dead end for Ryuuko and Viperion? What is Masquerade's villainous plan? Will I update faster than every 40 or so days?

Let me know your thoughts and if you did enjoy the story.

REBLOG it and comment. Likes are nice but they don't really help content creators like they should.

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vigilvntes · 3 years

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Sucker Punch (Kylo Ren x Reader)

A/N: In which a bitch (hux) really tries it. This was actually a request sent to me yesterday that i just had to write because i love it so much <33 my request box is open so feel free to send (you can find out what I'm taking requests for here and if you need any ideas for a request feel free to use my prompt list.) hope you’re all having a wonderful day <33

Masterlist (to be updated asap)

Word count: 1000+

Warnings: none!

You stormed out of Kylo’s quarters and down the hall, your face bright red with anger. Before you made it to corner you turned your head checking for any sign that Kylo was following after you, and you let out a huff when you noticed he was no where to be seen, continuing on your way.

After turning down more corridors, trying to get as much distance between yourself and Kylo as possible, you slowed your pace, allowing your mind to wander to the argument which had taken place only moments before.

A lot of hurtful things had been said, and you honestly couldn’t tell whether Kylo was genuinely hurt, or whether it was the pressure he was currently feeling from the Supreme Leader causing him to act out. But what you did know is that the both of you were pissed.

You meant no harm in your words, you were simply concerned for his safety. The plans for the next mission to that Hux had drawn up, which had been approved by Kylo and Snoke himself, were far too dangerous for your liking. Part of you thought that Hux was actually plotting to purposefully throw your boyfriend into danger in hopes that he’d end up dead. Or maybe that was the part of you that really didn’t like Hux talking.

And to your complete and utter shock and disappointment, Hux didn’t like you either. Whether it was a cruel, snide remark or a cold glare, he made it known that he didn’t want you around. And you relished in every moment of it,

You see, you held a certain power over Kylo which Hux could never have. He listened to you, you could reason with him, make him see the error of his ways. No one else on board the ship could do that, or rather no one else would dare to do that. Hux hated having to approach you about how to deal with the Commander, or even asking you to deal with him yourself.

Before you could snap yourself out of your thoughts, your body collided with another. Once you regained your balance, preparing yourself to let out a string of apologies, you looked up and saw exactly who you had bumped into. Suddenly, all thoughts of the word ‘sorry’ had been discarded. “General Hux.” You greeted him coldly.

“Officer (Y/N).” He replied, his tone just as cold. You were about to keep walking, not exactly in the mood to engage with the ginger haired man, however his voice interrupted that. “Your... boyfriend,” He spat, “Sent a message out to myself and the Supreme Leader. He wants the mission plans redrawn. You wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would you?”

You couldn’t help but smile to yourself. So, Kylo had listened to you all along? However, now was not the time to think about your triumph over the Commander. You cleared your throat, “Whatever Commander Ren has chosen to do with the plans has nothing to do with me.”

“Well what is it then? Has he grown weak? Maybe there’s too many... distractions. Maybe he truly isn’t as focused on the greater good of the Galaxy and the First Order as the Supreme Leader thought.” A smirk tugged at Hux’s lips.

“He is not weak.” You growled out, your voice low. “You of all people know that.”

“Not weak? Yet he allows a measly officer to interfere in his business. Tell me, (Y/N), how is that not-”

Nothing, no one, not even Kylo himself could have stopped you from what you did next.

As he spoke you pushed your tongue into your cheek and turned, as if you were about to walk away. However, only a moment later, you turned back around quickly and your fist connected with Hux’s nose, knocking him back against the wall, and stopping his little speech in its tracks.

A bitch really tried it.

You couldn’t lie, half of what fuelled the punch which currently left Hux bleeding from the nose came from your argument with Kylo, but the other half came from just really wanting to punch him.

You both stared at each other. Hux, holding his bleeding nose. You, expressionless. He walked away first, and you were kind of relieved when you did, although slightly panicked at what consequences you could face for what you just did.

Panicked until you heard a familiar chuckle and voice come from behind you. "You can take Hux? I’m impressed.” You turned quickly and smiled a little when you saw none other than your lover stood before you a smirk on his lips.

“Why so surprised? You didn’t think I had it in me?” You joked lightly, twiddling your fingers in your hands.

“I never doubted you.” He replied, taking a couple of steps closer to you.

Your expression dropped at the idea of ‘doubt’. That’s what he had been so upset about, after all. He thought you didn’t trust him, that you doubted his power. You didn’t, you just worried for him and would rather not lose him. You let out a sigh, “Look, Kylo, I’m sorry. For what happened earlier. I would never-”

Before you could finish your apology speech, he placed a gloved finger on your lips, silencing you immediately. He didn’t need to hear it. “What I just saw was a good enough apology.” You both let out a quiet laugh before he continued, “And I’ll make this up to you by getting you out of whatever trouble you’ve just caused.”

You smiled at him, nodding, “Sounds good.”

He ran his hand down the back of your head, smoothing out your hair, then leant down and pressed a kiss to your forehead, pulling you into his embrace. “And you said I’m the risk taker.” He jabbed playfully.

It’s true. Not long ago you had told him that everything he did was too risky, that he needed to calm down and evaluate his options. And what had you done immediately after? Punched the General. You deserved that little jab.

Rolling your eyes, you pressed your face further into his chest and mumbled a, “Shut up.”

#kylo ren #kylo ren x reader #kylo ren fanfic #kylo ren imagine #kylo x reader #kylo x you #kylo ren x you #star wars #star wars imagine #kylo imagine #star wars x reader #the force awakens #the last jedi #rise of skywalker #armitage hux #imagines #requests

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gofancyninjaworld · 3 years

Text

2020 in One-Punch Man. Part 1: Manga

How shall I describe this succinctly?

It's like ONE and Murata looked around them, saw a raging pandemic, massive disruption to all walks of life, uncertainty of when, if, or how it might affect them, took a massive drag of their cigarettes and said: “Fuck being conservative. Let's go wild. Fuck making our current arc a webcomic retread with fancier fights. Let's introduce more lore, let's have more characters interact in ways one would never have imagined, let's have characters do things that hadn't previously been thought of and make this really exciting.“

If you were holding onto the webcomic as your guide to what next, 2020 was not a good year for you.

723 pages in 24 updates (including revisions) changed the status quo ante in deliciously unanticipated ways!

Where we left off in 2019, we were following the webcomic pretty faithfully, with most manga-original elements being removed at a fast clip. Phoenixman was dead, the mercenaries had died a brutal death, the ninjas had been resurrected but had run off buck naked, Orochi was dead, G5 was very much destroyed, Drive Knight had appeared but had obligingly limped off, taking Nyan with him. The S-Class heroes were in trouble with the cadre exactly as expected and Saitama had met up with Flashy Flash. Tatsumaki had finally found Psykos. Yup, no real changes here.

2020, HAHA!

Awaken!

Throwing manga-specific elements away? As if! They took the great opportunity that preparing chapters for publication to critically review and revise the story so as to first, make it move at a faster pace and second, to be enriched. It’s meant that chapters for volume 22, 23, and 24 (to come) have been redrawn to accommodate the changes and we got the benefit of many of them between April and August of this year.

We started with Phoenixman’s fight with Child Emperor. It started innocuously enough with Phoenixman resurrecting, but then we got a much more interesting chunk of knowledge -- the existence of a metaphysical world modelled on one’s on psyche where the assault on Child Emperor’s sense of self took a much more existential nature.

From a purely physical battle (and some nifty cool info about the Subterraneans) to an otherworldy battle happening in parallel with the physical battle:

It ended up a very interesting examination of Child Emperor’s character and his relationships with other heroes, as well as telling us something else freaky about Saitama’s ability to be anywhere he damn well wants to be.

Ah, and Phoenixman lives. Albeit as a little chick (for now). He’ll probably be back, but not just yet.

The mercenaries were next. They didn’t die. Not because Amai Mask had a change of heart, but because Iaian listened to the niggling feeling in the pit of his stomach and turned his team mates around to intervene just in time.

As you’d expect, trying to guide the mercenaries back to the safety of the surface has been an incredibly challenging ordeal for the disciples. It’s revealed much more about the way the disciples trust each other and lean on one another, and yet, when there was no option to do so, Iaian stepped up wonderfully to fight to save the mercenaries.

We’ve also learned something interesting about why mercenaries exist at all in a world supposedly at peace. I look forward to seeing where this plot might go next.

Elsewhere, we got to learn a little less about Puri Puri’s dancing and swimming lessons, but we got some really awesome nods to the mythical in Bakuma (the baku is a long-nosed creature formed out of all the bits left over after creation that eats dreams) and Electric Catfish Man’s sudden sense of doom is both reference to the way catfish are supposed to detect earthquakes and just damn cool.

A monsterised exploitative business man taking the form of a demonic dream-eating monster that consumes weaker monsters so as to exploit their abilities is so appropriate on many levels (and unreasonably hot!).

Yes, Waganma does make it to the surface, along with Saitama and Child Emperor. Saitama gets chased away by a Sekingar outraged that there’s a clueless hero just wandering aimlessly around. Child Emperor goes back underground and I loved to death Waganma being pierced with remorse as he realises that the hero is going to go risk his life anyway. He’s spoiled, but his keeping quiet came from a place of being a scared human being desperate to be saved (a surprising number of fans did not like that -- they preferred to think of him as a psychopathic monster incapable of remorse).

Orochi still has a date with a gloved fist, but he’s getting to live a little longer than he did before.

Overall the story is tighter and there’s a lot more interest as well as future plot hooks than there were. I’m interested in seeing how it gets tied up in the next volume sometime in 2021.

Reddit did not take it well. Summary of discourse:

sorry not sorry, I lost patience around the 500th whiny post

Advance!

What about the new chapters we got? Also here, ho ho ho, that status quo has gotten a good kicking!

Orochi came back. Not the most surprising surprise in the world, given how carelessly Saitama punched him. Also not surprising that he came back stronger; Phoenixman had wonderfully demonstrated that monsters can bounce back from near-death situations much stronger. But his form... such a disgusting, slimy, ever-shifting mass of tentacles and dragons, consuming all in its way led to the third craziest development: his fusion with Psykos to launch a new monster.

I’ll spare you the disgusting intermediate stages but the end result has been the birth of Psykos-Orochi and with that, what had been a total sweep for Tatsumaki turned into a much more dangerous enterprise where every mistake of hers got punished brutally.

Why is that only number three? Because Tatsumaki raised up the entire base to try to encompass the whole monster (and it turns out that she was thinking far too small -- the monster had actually eaten large sections of City Z) and Psykos-Orochi uses the space to launch a beam so powerful that it literally cuts off part of the Earth itself. It was a real I see it, but I don’t believe it moment.

if you didn’t spend a few seconds just staring in disbelief, you’re not paying attention. OMG. Boy is the Earth in trouble.

Why is that only the second craziest thing? Because of why this fusion monster was able to do as it did. ‘God’ doesn’t just go round looking like a semi-tangible being giving random homeless men magic powers. Yup, the Earth really in in trouble if some supernatural being is smushing monsters together to make a stronger one and then granting it extra powers. Just like that, the struggle has turned cosmic.

Tatsumaki trying to figure out how to fight back and save City Z from being swept away by a tsunami, save the heroes, and save the planet from further damage by the beams all at the same time was one of the most spectacular fights to date.

As I said earlier, this monster has presented Tatsumaki with a real fight where the slightest mistake on her part leads to severe punishment. She wound up in trouble when she underestimated how extensive the monster actually was and let up on twisting it too early, only to have it come right back and skewer her hands.

Thankfully, Genos came in and saved her from that pinch, then held the monster at bay long enough for Tatsumaki to finish saving the strike team so she could give the monster her undivided attention.

Which is a very tame way of saying that that was an incredible development in capability. That some of the fandom had trouble accepting (they suck). Watching their protests has been an exercise in special pleading. They have no trouble understanding how Murata uses scale...until it came to accepting the size of the explosion resulting from Genos smacking away Psyko-Orochi’s execution beam then it had to be a fisheye lens (visibly incorrect, but who’s talking facts here?). Have had no trouble understanding how Murata portrays escalation... until it came to accepting that Genos is strong then no, somehow the monster had to be weaker. Have had no trouble with the freeze frame language that Murata uses to portray things happening at great speed... until it came to accepting that Genos could move really, really fast. For some people, the new is only welcome when it confirms and validates preconceptions. Anyway, that’s my rant done!

the most unlikely of partnerships and they’re still going despite having taken a hell of a battering since this scene

Guess who’s back?

We’ve also been seeing more heroes come back to the fray. The emergence of the Tower of Doom acted as a clarion call to every hero around and able to move. Metal Bat sneaked out of hospital to come running back. Tank Top Master hitched a ride with Mumen Rider to go to City Z. He intended to stick around and save people, but seeing how much wider scale the fight was, he literally threw himself into battle.

Drive Knight decided he literally had to have a piece of the action, took up a ton of power from the nearest substation and came flying in to intercept a desperately escaping Psyko-Jet... ah, I didn’t say? Yes, the monster turned into a machine to run away once hard-pressed.

And we finally got to see what Blast actually looks like, courtesy of a flashback of Amai Mask’s. He definitely looks the part of a caped superhero and it’s little wonder he’s stuck in the imaginations of so many. But now I’m even more interested in seeing what his deal is and what is he’s like now

The one thing we know for sure will be happening is that Garou will not be denied his destiny. He’s coming. But what else is happening? Ah, that’s all in the air.

Bring on 2021!

#OPM #review #long #2020 #so much has happened #so much still to come #manga #Garou is coming BACK #13th #December #December 13th 2020 #so many incredible developments #Genos coming back far stronger than he's ever been and then hanging tough despite overdoing it #the unquestionable appearance of a meddling godlike entity #the Psykos-Orochi fusion and all its crazy permutations #the massive loss of life in Z-City: such an irony between heroes killing themselves to save a few individuals when mass death is all around #Not mentioned; Saitama Flash and their misadventures with Manako

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cinaja · 3 years

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Before the Wall part 41

Masterlist

----

Getting the Autumn Court into the Alliance is easier than expected. If it had been a Continental country that sold out an emissary to the enemy, it would have taken centuries for any other country to even consider associating with them again. But the Autumn Court is from Prythian, and Prythian has always been an outsider in Continental politics, so Miryam only received a few odd looks for championing its case.

It certainly helped that most of the Alliance members had more important things than a Prythian court changing sides to consider lately. In the past months, they managed to win more and more ground, pushing the Loyalists back further and further and advancing into their territory step by step. Each mile they win is bought in blood, and the Loyalists seem to become more brutal the more desperate they become. Still, the Alliance is moving towards complete victory quickly enough that most of the Fae members deem the time right for the first discussions about what to do after they have won.

Like most humans, Miryam desperately wishes they’d postpone their discussions until after they have actually won. Their new unity is fragile enough as it is, and the last thing Miryam wants is to watch it shatter over another useless argument. Besides, the Fae seem interested only in possible new territory, money and trading rights for them, and Miryam couldn’t care less about that as long as there are still millions of humans living in slavery.

“I believe we are taking the fifth step before the first,” Miryam says not for the first time. “Before we argue about what to do with our defeated enemies or their land, shouldn’t we finish defeating them first? Or we could figure out a way to safely free the humans from slavery.”

She looks around the table, hoping for nods of agreement, but except for Drakon, Zeku and two or three other Fae, most of them seem doubtful. Miryam pushes her disappointment down. The human side of the Alliance has been more unified than ever, but the Fae have been causing trouble lately, pushing back against Miryam’s suggestions more than they ever did. If she could only make them understand that this war isn’t just about power or land or politics, but about ending slavery.

“Treaties take time,” Emperor Shey says. He’s the ruler of one of the northern territories and is in the comfortable position of having his country remain mostly untouched by the fighting. “It is best for us to at least begin discussing now so that we can all agree on the terms of surrender we’ll offer the Loyalists.” He nods to Miryam. “And as for the human slaves, their liberation will of course be included in our terms.”

As if it would ever be so easy. No one here seems inclined to discuss what they will do if the Loyalists decide to use their slaves as hostages. She hasn’t heard anyone bring up where they will go after the war, either. Maybe they don’t care. Miryam knows for a fact that Shey doesn’t.

Drakon taps his pencil on the table. He’s been attending more Alliance meetings since discussion shifted towards what would happen after the war. He usually stays out of the political disagreements, but the actual machinations of creating a stable new system are right up his alley. He’s certainly better at it than Miryam, and, as it turns out, also better than several of the other rulers who seem to mostly rely on their advisors for these things.

“Perhaps we should try to centre our efforts around the humans, though,” he says. “We are talking about several million slaves who will get freed. That’s far too many for them to simply disperse into the pre-existing human countries, and I doubt they’ll want to live under Fae rule. Territory lines will need to be redrawn, new countries created. This is what we ought to be discussing first if we truly want to talk about what will happen after the war.”

Miryam could have kissed him. The other human councilmembers seem pleased as well. Drakon is well-liked with them, if only for being one of the few Fae to treat them as equals and actually care about ending slavery. And having a Fae agree with them just makes everything so much easier.

“We can’t simply create new territories,” Shey scoffs.

Nakia rolls her eyes, muttering something to Andromache. Her obvious disgust probably isn’t helpful, but certainly understandable. If Miryam wasn’t being watched so closely, she would have spent most of the meeting rolling her eyes.

“Which is why Drakon said that we should start discussing it now,” she says pleasantly. “Do you disagree, Your Excellency?”

Shey clearly does, but he can’t disagree without saying that he doesn’t care what happens to the freed humans after the war. And that would not go over well with the council. For all that many Fae don’t actually care, they certainly like to pretend they do.

“No, of course not.” He inclines his head at Drakon. “Please, go on.”

As Drakon begins to outline the challenge they will be facing once the war is over – enormous, so much bigger than anything Miryam could have imagined – she keeps watching Emperor Shey. Sometimes, she wonders if he remembers her from before the war started. She certainly remembers him.

When Miryam was fourteen, Shey visited the Black Land on a diplomatic mission. She doesn’t remember the exact reason – some trade agreement if she isn’t mistaken – but she does remember Shey, blond-haired and tall, with eyes like shards of ice. She remembers standing behind the high table together with Liki, the newest of Ravenia’s personal slaves. Liki had been Miryam’s age, but he’d seemed endlessly younger and it had been clear from his first day that he wouldn’t last long. (Not that anyone ever did.) Miryam had made sure he would tend to their guests that night, leaving her to Ravenia, hoping he would at least survive the day if she kept him away from the queen who had been in a foul mood that day. She had been wrong.

It had just been a drop of wine spilled on the Emperor’s sleeve. A minor mistake, yet a death warrant for any slave of Ravenia’s. But the queen hadn’t noticed Liki’s mistake, had been busy with her own food. And she wouldn’t have needed to see. If Shey had just let it slide. He had to own hundreds of coats, with money enough for thousands more; the stain should have been nothing to him, but he’d still made a fuss. And so Liki had died.

Miryam remembers how he screamed, how he kept looking at her as he died, like he expected her to save him. She remembers kneeling in the blood, ordered to wipe it away. And she remembers Shey’s cold eyes watching her, not a hint of sympathy or guilt to be found in them.

She looks into those eyes now, power whispering alive inside her, and she is sure that he doesn’t remember that day, doesn’t remember Liki or her. And she despises him for it. Shey meets her gaze and for a moment, Miryam hopes he sees the disgust in her eyes even when her face doesn’t betray anything.

She allows the memory to linger for a moment longer before pushing it away again. She always does it this way – carefully dips her feet into the memories like a child testing the temperature of water, allows herself to feel the anger for a few moments before pushing it away again. She doesn’t want that anger, doesn’t want these memories. They come with a roaring fury, and Miryam doesn’t know what to do with that, can’t reconcile it with the person she wants to be.

Shey is still watching at her, so Miryam gives him a small smile, forcing any coldness out of her eyes. Then, she turns a back to Drakon and starts listening to what he’s telling the council.

After another hour of discussions, they decide that they won’t be able to solve this problem in one sitting and that they’ll bring experts in on the issue. Miryam thanks everyone for their time and gets up. Drakon follows after her.

“Thank you for the help,” Miryam says.

“Sure.” Drakon tugs at his clothes. “Their priorities are really messed up. Discussing what will happen after the war is important, but they focus on all the wrong things.” Miryam nods and Drakon continues, “I’ve been working on a proposal. For what to do after the war, borders and such. I thought we might use it as a starting ground, but I’m not sure if it’s good enough. Would you read over it for me?”

“Of course,” Miryam says.

Why he asks for her help with this is beyond her. She read over a few of his ethical essays already, which did make sense with most of the texts being about slavery. But this isn’t another essay that will be published and spread around the soldiers. This is a proposal for the council outlining a possible way to deal with the aftermath of the war, and Miryam, who never spent a day of her life in school and doesn’t know anything about laws or treaties, is probably the least qualified person to comment on it. He should ask Andromache or Nakia. But if Drakon is nervous about the council’s reaction and having Miryam read the text first, she’ll do it.

Drakon snaps his fingers and a folder with at least fifty pages appears in his hands. Miryam gapes at it.

“When did you write all that?” She asks.

He shrugs. “It was clear from the beginning that the war would end eventually and we’d need a strategy. I started early.”

Miryam shakes her head and takes the papers. “You’re brilliant,” she says lightly. Flips through the pages. “I’ll read this as soon as possible.”

“Thank you.”

Miryam would have liked to talk more about the contents of that proposal, but now, the other councilmembers are beginning to leave the room and Miryam doesn’t really feel like talking to any of them. She hugs Drakon goodbye and makes towards her rooms.

Once there, Miryam closes the door to her office behind herself and leans her back against it, pressing her head against the cool wood. Tasia, who is sitting behind Miryam’s desk, grins at her.

“From the look on your face, I take it the meeting went well?”

Miryam groans and pulls one of the chairs over to sit down on. “If they could at least pretend to care about anything other than themselves.”

Tasia nods to a half-eaten plate that’s carefully balanced on top of a huge stack of papers. On it, a light dinner has been laid out, already half-eaten. “Want some?” They ask, snatching an olive up from the plate. “Food doesn’t exactly solve any problems, but it usually makes them more bearable.” They grin at Miryam. “Unless it’s poisoned. Then, it actually can solve problems.”

Miryam blinks at them, then laughs and takes up a slice of garlic bread. “Remind me to never get on your bad side. I’d never be able to eat again.” She leans against the edge of the table and nods at the paperwork. “Anything important today?”

“Isn’t there always?” Tasia leans back in the chair. “But most of it can wait until tomorrow if you aren’t up to it today.”

“Yes, I think that would be for the best.”

It has less to do with feeling up for it and more with the proposal Drakon prepared for the council. Reading over it will take a while, especially since Miryam rarely understands proposals like this on the first try.

“Smart,” Tasia says. “I think I’ll call it a day soon, too, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course.” Miryam smiles. “And remind your brother to take his medication, yes? His cough won’t get better if he doesn’t.”

“I will.” Tasia gets up, but then, their gaze falls on three envelopes lying on the edge of the table. Thick, expensive paper. “Oh,” they say, picking up the envelopes. “I think these might be important, actually. I haven’t opened them, but they seem to be directly from the respective royal families.”

“Then I better take a look,” Miryam says, frowning down at the letters. She occasionally gets letters from Continental royals. One a day is normal. Two is unusual. Three means trouble.

“Have a nice evening,” she says, managing a smile at Tasia, and slips into her chambers.

Miryam’s room is uncomfortably cold and she kneels down before her stove, trying to light a fire. There is an entire host of servants working in the palace, but Miryam outright refused to let any of them work for her. She spent too long working in a palace and even though she knows all of the servants work here of their own free will and get paid for the jobs, she still couldn’t stomach having any of them look after her room.

As soon as the fire is burning, Miryam sits down on the sofa and pulls a blanket up to her chest. She lights a candle and rips open the first letter. With each word she reads, the knot in her stomach tightens. With numb fingers she opens the next letter. And the next. The same messages, just with slightly different words.

Miryam’s power stirs. Instead of slamming it back down, she tries to sooth it. Gently talks it down until it settles again. Then, she jumps to her feet and stalks over to the door. Four guards are posted outside, and all of them incline their heads when she opens the door.

“Good evening,” Miryam says. “Could one of you please send a messenger to Grand Duke Zeku to tell him that I need to talk to him?”

Zeku arrives quickly. Because of propriety, Miryam waits until he has taken his seat and they both have a cup of tea standing before them before bursting out, “Why did I find official requests to be allowed to court me from three separate Fae royals on my desk today?”

Zeku takes a sip from his tea and leans back in his chair. “I’m surprised that you’re surprised,” he says. “Surely you are aware that should we win this war – which becomes more and more likely with each day – you will be a very profitable match. You’ll hold quite a bit of political power.”

Political power and arrogant Fae be damned. Miryam can’t believe what she is hearing. “And they honestly expect that I would marry them to – what? Advance their political standing?”

Shrugging, Zeku takes another sip of his tea. He seems completely unfazed by the situation, which just agitates Miryam more. “But you can’t ignore the fact that such a match would be beneficial for you as well,” he says, “You are in an extremely difficult situation politically, without an army or any close political alliances. Marrying into one of the Continent’s more influential royal families would give you what you have been lacking: A security net for when this war ends.”

Rationally, Miryam knows that Zeku has a point, but this idea is just completely absurd. She takes a deep breath and forces herself to calm down. She can’t be freaking out like this in front of him.

“But I don’t want to marry any of them,” she says as reasonably as possible, “I barely even know them.” And what she knows, she doesn’t like.

“It’s not like there is a shortage of candidates for you to pick from. I’m sure any Continental family would be happy to have one of their members marry you. Cauldron, I would marry you if you agreed.”

Miryam gapes at him. “I can’t marry you,” she says. It’s completely impossible. For about a million reasons, the least of which being – “You are over five hundred years older than me.” She shakes her head. “That’s…” Disgusting, she wants to say, but she catches herself just in time. There are rules and protocols for these situations and none of them allow for her to be impolite about her refusal. “I am honoured by the offer,” she says carefully. “But you’ll forgive me if a marriage to anyone who is this much older than I am is out of question for me.”

Zeku inclines his head. “Of course,” he says, “And I apologize, I should not have phrased my offer so carelessly. I realize how it may have been misinterpreted, but I can assure you that I have no romantic or sexual interest in you.” He smiles. “I, too, prefer romantic partners who are closer to my own age. But I think your view of political marriages is slightly off.”

“Oh.” Miryam relaxes a little. Zeku accepted her refusal easily enough, he isn’t trying to push her. And he isn’t actually interested in her, it was just politics.

“I’m not sure if you know this,” Zeku says, “but it is common for political marriages to be sealed with a contract defining the terms.” He drains his cup of tea, then refills it. “Now, on the entirely theoretic assumption that you and I decided to marry.”

He pauses to look at Miryam, as if to check how she will take the comment. She nods at him to go on. Now, she’s more curious than upset.

“Well, in that theoretic case, the contract would probably include a clause forbidding any sexual interaction unless explicitly agreed upon by both parties. It would also allow both of us to have as many lovers as we wish. You and any children would be barred from inheriting the throne, although agreements could be made to provide for your children, should you want them.” He says all of that in a completely cool, analytical tone. This truly isn’t about feelings for him. It’s just another contract, another way to seal an alliance. “On the political side, I assume you would receive a certain amount of political power in Sangravah, although you would not have equal power to me. That would be theoretically possible, but you are a bit too inexperienced for me to be comfortable with putting you in charge of my country. You’d be required to spend a certain amount of time in Sangravah for administrative purposes and I’d require you to join me for foreign politics, as I’m sure you guessed, but you could spend the rest of your time wherever you want.”

Miryam nods slowly and takes a sip from her tea. “That’s rather impressive,” she says slowly.

Zeku shrugs. “Honestly, these types of marriages are more like close alliances than romantic unions. Usually, they also include some political benefits for the countries – trading rights, military alliances, something like this.” He taps his fingers against his cup. “I’m surprised Drakon never mentioned it to you.”

Now that Zeku mentions it, it does seem strange to her that she never heard of it. But of course, they don’t talk a lot about his engagement with Ravenia. She knows that he and Jurian discussed it a few times, but there seems to be an unspoken agreement not to mention Ravenia in Miryam’s presence if not absolutely necessary.

“I still don’t want to get married, though,” Miryam says.

Zeku sighs. “I don’t want to be push you on this,” he says, “but I’d still ask you to reconsider. You don’t seem to realize how precarious your situation is. It doesn’t have to be me, but marrying into any Continental royal family is your best shot at getting out of this.”

Miryam wraps her arms around herself and doesn’t answer. The entire discussion makes her skin crawl. Even with a contract protecting her, she hates the idea of such a union.

“You’d have every protection,” Zeku says. “Nearly every freedom.

But that doesn’t matter, none of it does. Because Miryam looks at the Continent’s elaborate marriage contracts, and all she can see is that they look a whole lot like purchase contracts. What Miryam needs is protection, a security net for her political games, and in return for that, she is selling herself.

And she hasn’t come this far just to end up selling herself to another owner.

Maybe it’s stupid, but she doesn’t want to marry any of the people who proposed to her. Not even Zeku. As close as they are as allies, the thought of marrying him terrifies her. Maybe it would be different if it was someone she could imagine spending the rest of her life with, maybe someone she actually loved – if it was Drakon, she doesn’t think she would mind. But it isn’t, and if what her political survival requires is for her to sell herself, then that isn’t worth it.

“If I’m lucky, this war will be over soon and none of this will ever concern me again,” she says, trying to convince herself as much as Zeku. As soon as her people are free, she will disappear from politics. Then, these Fae nobles can go find someone else to marry. If not… She’ll deal with it then. “Either way, I’m going to refuse. Would you read over the letters for me?”

Zeku’s mouth tightens with displeasure, his blue skin seems do darken a few shades, going from the light blue of a cloudless summer sky to the deep, angry colour of a stormy sea. Miryam can’t tell if he’s actually worried on her behalf, or just annoyed at the missed opportunity. She doesn’t doubt that Zeku cares about her in a way – otherwise, she’d never go to him for advice – but she isn’t stupid enough to believe that he has no ulterior motive in helping her. He benefits from their closeness as much as she does, for while his backing gives her some small level of security, being her ally brings him as close to the leadership of the Alliance as he can get in the current political situation. It is entirely possible he had hoped to advance even further by marrying her.

“Of course,” Zeku says. “As you wish.”

----

“I can’t stay long,” Drakon says as the door closes behind him.

“What a pleasant greeting.” Ghost appears before him. He’s wearing his Black-Land-human look again. Ever since he met Miryam, that seems to be his favoured look.

“Sorry.”

Drakon sits down on the ground and unwraps the lunch he brought along. He is near-certain that having lunch in a sacred cave counts as a direct insult to the Mother, but he can’t quite bring himself to care. If she minds, she can come over here and tell him herself. Maybe blasphemy will do what countless prayers didn’t and get his goddess to care about what’s going on here.

Now that he thinks about it, his frequent meetings with Ghost might have a negative influence on his relationship to his goddess.

“What has you so stressed this time?” Ghost asks.

“There was another attack last night,” Drakon says. Over the past months, he’s grown so used to talking to Ghost that any awkwardness vanished long ago. “Three hundred dead.” He rubs a hand over his face and looks down at his food. He’s been up since two in the morning and hasn’t had anything to eat yet, but he finds he isn’t hungry at all. “And I have to be in Telique for an Alliance meeting in less than an hour. It’s about that proposal I told you about.”

And once he’s done with the council, he’ll probably get an earful from Sinna for slipping his guards again. They’ve gotten into arguments over that several times already. Sinna thinks him reckless for continuously going out without guards, and Drakon can’t explain to her where he’s going.

“You go to Alliance meetings?” Ghost asks.

Drakon makes a face at him. “Funny,” he mutters.

But he has to admit that he probably went to more council meetings in the last month than the entire rest of the war. Now that they are discussing subjects he’s comfortable with, the meetings are far more bearable. A few of the other royals actually seem to respect him. At least a little bit.

“How is Miryam?” Ghost asks.

“Well.” Drakon grins. “Arguing around with the council, but what’s new? She’s getting better at dealing with her powers, though.”

“Good to hear.” Ghost disappears and reappears in a sitting position facing Drakon. “And the two of you? Still as close?”

“Yes,” Drakon says and feels his face heat. For some reason, Ghost is fascinated with both Miryam and their relationship. The interest in Miryam, he understands, but it makes Drakon somewhat uncomfortable that he keeps asking after their relationship.

Especially because Drakon has a hard time answering. Something has changed between Miryam and him in the last months, but he can’t quite explain what it is. They’ve certainly grown closer, but there is also something different, something new between them. He hasn’t dared to mention it to Miryam out of fear that she doesn’t feel the same way, but he is sure that there is something.

It’s just so confusing. He knows he loves her, but he isn’t entirely sure if he’s also in love with her. Either way, he’d never dare to talk to her about it.

“Don’t worry,” Ghost says, “I won’t ask.” He grins. “Besides, I’m probably the last person who should try to meddle in anyone’s relationships.”

“What do you mean?” Drakon asks, frowning. Ghost keeps making hints at what can only be his life, but he never says anything concrete.

“Just that my track record when it comes to falling in love isn’t the best,” Ghost says in a tone that makes it clear he won’t talk further on it.

Drakon nods and looks down at his uneaten food. He won’t have time to eat it now, he has to be off to the council. The other members are only just beginning to accept him, and he doesn’t want to squander that by turning up late. Sighing, he gets up, but Ghost calls him back.

“Before you go,” he says, “There’s something you should know about.”

Drakon doesn’t think he can take any more bad news today. “What is it?” He asks.

“There has been trouble with the wards lately,” Ghost says. “I haven’t been able to truly look into it since I’m stuck in this cave, but it doesn’t look good.”

“Are you going to elaborate on that, or do I need to guess?”

Ghost doesn’t seem to care about the dire circumstances and grins at him. “Actually, hearing your guesses might be fun. But no.” He gives one of his shrugs. It’s no longer quite as jerky as it was in the beginning, like the motion becomes smoother with practice. “I can’t really tell what’s the problem with the wards, though, or which ones are affected” he says. “They might simply be old. After several millennia without being checked, even the best wards are bound to give out eventually.”

Shit. The wards are all that’s protecting Cretea, keeping the sword save. There are several layers, but if just one of them falls, there will be serious trouble. At worst, anyone could winnow on the island or get on via boat. But even if those wards remained intact, Cretea might still become visible or trackable. This is a nightmare.

“Almost ten millennia,” Drakon says softly. “These wards have held for almost ten millennia and they have to break in the middle of the most violent war of the past three centuries?”

This has got to be some kind of sick joke. He must have done something to offend some kind of higher power, causing it to try making his life as terrible as possible.

Drakon doesn’t allow himself to contemplate what it might mean if the wards are truly eroding. He isn’t a witcher and has no affinity towards spells, he won’t even be able to find out what’s wrong with the wards, much less fix any problems. He can only wait and pray – although the latter hasn’t helped with any of his other problems yet, so he doubts it will work this time.

----

Lying on her back on her couch, head in Mor’s lap, Andromache looks up at the ceiling of her room in Telique. She just spent the past three hours sitting through another council meeting and her head hurts.

“How was the meeting?” Mor asks. She wasn’t allowed to join since her uncle chose to participate himself.

Andromache shrugs. “Endless discussions, as always. Drakon’s proposal was good, though.”

Mor nods. “Yeah, I read it. I doubt the Loyalists will like giving up parts of their territories to form new human countries.”

Andromache shrugs. On the list of her priorities, the Loyalits’ emotions aren’t exactly high up. She turns to Miryam, who sits in one of the armchairs with her knees drawn up to her chest. “You were unusually quiet during the discussions, though. Is everything alright?”

She still feels bad for not asking that more often before the wall spell, and she certainly isn’t about to make the same mistake again.

Miryam shrugs. “Sure.”

It doesn’t sound convincing. “You never stay out of discussions,” she says.

“The subject isn’t really my strong suit,” Miryam says lightly. Andromache and Mor both frown at her and Miryam shrugs. “If you must know, most of these discussions require some kind of prior education. Which I don’t have. And I don’t really want to embarrass myself in front of the entire Continental leadership, so I thought it would be smarter to stay out of it.”

Oh. Andromache bites her lip. She never really considered that, and from the look on her face, Mor didn’t, either. Miryam seems so at ease amongst all these royals that it is easy to forget that she wasn’t raised as nobility.

Miryam shrugs again. “Doesn’t really matter,” she says. “Drakon is good enough at this that no one will notice if I’m not as long as I manage to cover the political part without making any big mistakes.”

Andromache frowns. That strategy seems a bit too risky to her and she’s about to say as much, but Mor already jumped on to a completely different line of thought.

“What’s up with you and Drakon, anyways?” she asks.

“The same as in the last five years,” Miryam says a bit too quickly. “We’re friends.”

Andromache looks up at Mor, who grins back at her, and sits up. “Really?” She asks, leaning forward.

Mor brought up the idea that Miryam and Drakon could get together months ago already. At first, Andromache laughed it off, but lately, it seemed far more likely. Her and Mor aren’t the only ones to have noticed, either. If she isn’t mistaken, there is quite a bit of money to be had with betting on if (or when) the two of them will get together.

“It’s complicated,” Miryam says, but she refuses to look at either of them.

Mor throws her hands up in the air, shaking her head. “How is this complicated, Miryam? I know your life has a tendency to be difficult by definition, but Cauldron damnit, you are in the comfortable situation where both of the options you have are good. All you need to do is choose.”

Miryam tugs at her hair and looks away. Andromache grins. Teasing Miryam about her possible feelings for Drakon is probably the most normal conversation they’ve had in weeks.

“Mor’s right,” Andromache says. “Drakon seems perfectly content to be your best friend if that’s what you want. So at this point, it really boils down to you deciding if you are interested in a relationship or not.”

Miryam tugs her knees closer to her chest. She turns to Mor. “Did you hear from your friends lately?” She asks with exaggerated innocence. “I haven’t heard from Rhys or any of the others in a while.”

Andromache and Mor exchange a look – and both of them burst out laughing. “Really?” Andromache asks, grinning. “That’s the best you could come up with?”

Miryam grins back. “Does it work?” She asks.

“Yep.” Mor jumps to her feet and takes a bottle of wine out of a cupboard. Plopping back down on the couch. “I ran into Az two weeks ago and he says the others are fine,” she says and jumps straight into a summary of the latest news she got from Azriel.

A servant brings them dinner and Andromache and Mor slowly work their way through the wine. As the evening goes on, the mood relaxes further and further. It is almost midnight when Miryam suddenly tenses in her seat, fingers gripping the edges of her chair. She obviously tries to keep her focus on Mor and Andromache, but her eyes keep flickering to something behind them. Andromache doesn’t think Mor notices anything except for Miryam being a little skittery, but Andromache knows enough to suspect what’s going on. She knows for sure when Miryam yawns a few times, then excuses herself claiming to be tired.

Andromache jumps to her feet. “I’ll walk you to your room,” she says. “There’s still something we need to discuss about the meeting, anyways.”

“Right.” Mor leans back into her cushions. “I, for one, had quite enough of politics for the day, so I’ll be staying here.” She grins over at Andromache and waves a wine bottle at her. “If you still want some of that wine, you better hurry.”

Andromache smiles at her over her shoulder and follows Miryam out of the room. As soon as the door has closed behind them, her smile fades. Still, she waits until they are in Miryam’s room, door safely closed between them and any listeners, before saying a word.

“You okay?” She asks.

“Sure,” Miryam says, but there’s a hint of tightness in her voice.

“Oh yeah?” Andromache crosses her arms and glares at her. “Back to that shit again, are we?”

Miryam glares right back. “I’ve got it under control.”

“You said that once already. Remember how it ended?”

Andromache certainly remembers. She still has nightmares about it sometimes. Miryam thrashing on the ground, screaming at horrors of her own imagination, is not something she ever wants to see again.

“Yes, I do.” Miryam pulls of her shoes and neatly puts them into the corner. “And do you think it was pleasant for me? Or that I want it to happen again?”

Andromache sighs and stops glaring. Being angry at Miryam simply because she is worried about her is the opposite of helpful. From personal experience, Andromache can tell that it never helps to push another person into a corner. Especially with Miryam, who isn’t the most open person on a good day.

“Sorry,” she says, even though she doesn’t really think she needs to apologize. “But tensions in the Alliance are running higher again, and if you are having trouble, I need you to tell me.”

“It’s the first time in six weeks.”

The only problem is, Andromache can’t tell if she’s telling the truth or not. With Miryam, it’s hard to tell. It’s not that she wants to die – quite the contrary, if Andromache isn’t mistaken – but she wouldn’t hesitate to choose the war over her life.

“I’m careful,” Miryam says. “What happened after I cast that spell won’t happen again.”

And if it does happen again, I’ll tell the council. And if they think you’re going insane, you’ll be out of your position and none of your excuses will be able to help you. Andromache doesn’t say that, though, if only because it would be the surest way to keep Miryam from ever telling her anything again. And if she’s being honest, also because it’s an empty threat. She wouldn’t have Miryam kicked out of the council, not in this precarious situation and not without having a replacement for her.

Maybe she should stop blaming Miryam for being willing to sacrifice herself for this. After all, she would do the same.

“Alright,” she says. “I’d still like to get some of that wine, so I’ll be going back to Mor.”

----

Miryam spent the entire night lying awake in bed, considering what Andromache, Mor and her talked about. Close to the morning, she finally made her choice.

“I think we should talk,” she says.

Drakon and her are sitting on a flat stone by a lake’s edge somewhere in central Erithia, dipping their toes into the water. A swarm of rainbow-colored fishes is swimming around Miryam’s feet, occasionally dipping their noses against her feet.

“Sounds serious,” Drakon says. He leans forward to run his fingers through the water.

“Kind of.” She shrugs awkwardly. “Not really. It’s just…” She stumbles over the words, then decides on the direct approach. “Are you in love with me?”

Drakon freezes, which really is answer enough for the question. It also makes it beyond clear that she should not have been this direct about it. She opens her mouth to say something else, somehow soften her words and make it clear that there isn’t a problem, but Drakon is quicker.

“I’m sorry,” he blurts out. “That’s… Ah, Cauldron damnit.” He starts drumming a hectic rhythm on his leg. “I didn’t mean to…”

No, Miryam really shouldn’t have approached it like this. “No no, it’s alright. I wasn’t trying to, well.”

Damnit. She really dug that grave herself, didn’t she? Maybe she should have tried thinking about how to approach that conversation with Drakon instead of just focusing of if she was going to approach him about it.

Either way, her words seem to calm Drakon. At least a little bit. “I’m not even sure if I’m actually… Fuck.” He sighs. “I enjoy spending time with you. I miss you when you’re not around, there’s no one better to talk to. I love you, I really do. I’m just not entirely sure if I love you that way.” He changes the rhythm to something that’s a bit slower. “Kiko brought up the idea, but I’m not entirely sure. It’s difficult to tell, you know?”

Yes, she understands that all too well. “How did you know with Kiko?” She asks.

“Oh.” Drakon smiles. “That was completely different. I actually got a crush on him before we became friends.” He shrugs. “He was… easy to fall in love with. A year older than me, and far more outgoing. We were both in our first year in university and I thought he’d never notice me.”

Miryam nods. She doesn’t think she could fall in love with someone without truly knowing them first. She certainly never felt any kind of attraction towards a stranger.

“I know I should have told you,” Drakon says softly, “But I didn’t want to make things awkward. I’m perfectly happy to be your friend.”

Yes, Miryam really started this conversation the wrong way. Apparently, her talent for handling situations doesn’t extend to her private life.

“I wasn’t trying to blame you for this,” she says softly. “Quite the contrary, actually.”

Drakon looks somewhat relived. The rhythm he’s drumming slows further.

“But things between us have changed in the last months,” Miryam continues. “Wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes,” Drakon says carefully. Now, it seems it’s up to Miryam to takes the next step.

“Well, what I was trying and failing to say earlier,” she says with an awkward smile, “is that I think I might also be in love with you.”

Drakon freezes. “What?” He asks softly.

Miryam bites her lower lip. No wonder that he’s surprised. She is, too. It’s been less than half a year since she broke up with Jurian, and here she is, already in love with another.

“I’m not sure if it will work, of course,” she says, thinking of Jurian. “But I thought we should at least talk about it. Decide if we want to give it a try.”

“You’d like to give it a try?” Drakon echoes. He still sounds stunned, but then, he seems to catch himself. He buries his face in his hands. “Right. Please pretend that I said something charming or at least remotely intelligent instead.”

Miryam laughs nervously. “For what it’s worth, I believe my opening question was what started the entire problem.”

Drakon looks up and grins. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry.” Miryam grins back. She wonders if they should kiss now, but neither of them makes a move. She hesitates. “If it doesn’t work out between us, we’ll still be friends, right?”

“Of course,” Drakon says without hesitation. “You’re my best friend, I wouldn’t ever want to lose that.”

Miryam smiles. Slowly, she reaches for his hand and intertwines their fingers. Drakon squeezes her hand.

“So we’re together now?” He asks.

“Yes.” Miryam grins. She pauses, thinking of the public reaction this might cause. “Would you mind if we didn’t make it public for the moment, though? You can tell Sinna and Nephelle, of course, but if we could keep this out of the public for a while…”

“Of course,” Drakon says, sobering up. “Everything is terrible enough for Jurian already. If he finds out that we’re together now, that will just make it worse.”

Miryam nods, feeling a stab of guilt at the thought. Especially because her first concern hadn’t been Jurian, but rather the public. She already had one relationship where the entire world watched and every little detail fuelled camp gossip all around the Continent. If she announced a relationship with Drakon now, the public interest would be at least as big, if not bigger, and adding that pressure to their relationship from the beginning is the last thing Miryam wants.

What they have is so precious, and it seems so fragile. And it belongs solely to the two of them, no one else. And Miryam will be damned if she allows the world to ruin this for her.

----

Tags: @croissantcitysucks

#before the wall #miryam #jurian #drakon #andromache

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just-like-playing-tag · 4 years

Text

A totally self indulgent compilation of my favorite works on this blog of the year June 13, 2019 - June 13, 2020

I wanted to do this for the blog's first anniversary but then completely forgot about it lol.

The following lists are all in chronological order according to the date each post was first published.

Top 10 panel edits:

#1: Don and Gilda - Chapter 138: Demon serch (1)

Date: Jun 14th, 2019

Time: ~ 1:30 h

My very first redraw from my very first edit posted here, so it deserves an honorable mention. Back then I was young and inexperienced, I didn't even apply a gray filter (lmao I was so unskilled I even unintentionally scratched the picture, I hadn't realized until today). I'm actually very happy my first redraw was of Don, boy deserves all the love.

#2: Emma and Ray - Chapter 140: I’m Here!

Date: Jun 28th, 2019

Time: ~ 1 h

Back then this looked like so much work to me!!! And to this day, I think it turned out pretty well. I'm particularly proud of how the bow turned out. This is one I was really proud of right after having finished it; it gave me the confidence to try redrawing bigger areas. Also, the edit were I first applied the opacity of layer / opacity of brush for the gray filter that would have stuck with me.

#3: Krone's birthday edit

Date: Jul 15th, 2019

Time: 15 mins

I don't know I just really like how Krone's hair vanish to a more sketch-like style here– and consequently, how I managed to replicate such effect. I think Krone's beautiful.

#4: Emma, Norman and Ray - Chapter 153: Coward

Date: Oct 4th, 2019

Time: 4:07 h (and 67 layers lmao)

Probably the single panel redraw I'm the most proud of. That Norman panel was beautiful and very poignant at the end of a chapter I adored, so I believe it deserved all the time I've spent working on it. It's far from being perfect - the back of his head is too plain, and the difference between my brushes and the original brushes is pretty visible - but I still like it very much and am extremely attached to it. The horn looks kinda big but I honestly believe it to be more of an issue with the original than with what I had redrawn lol. Funny enough, the whole picture didn't make it to the final edit and had to be trimmed.

#5: Full Score Trio - Chapter 154: A Breakthrough

Date: Oct 11th, 2019

Time: 29 mins

I don't have a particular reason for this I just think Emma's hair turned out amazing. It took just half an hour and I didn't even use references like. Wow. @Redrawing skills where did you go please come back

#6: Mujika and Queen Legravalima - Chapter 158: The Reason I Was Born

Date: Nov 17th, 2019

Time: 2:09 h

Sis I love this so freaking much. The shift from redrawing almost exclusively people and clothes to redrawing this mess was so fun and refreshing. Even though it's a mess I think it turned out very clean and overall it looks beautiful? I remember after finishing this I felt so powerful, like now that I had redrawn this thing I would have been able to redraw anything I set my mind on lol.

#7: Emma - Chapter 161: Never Be Alone

Date: Dec 13th, 2019

Time: 57 mins

Again no particular reason except this is a very cute Emma and I think the redraw turned out pretty well. There's this big lock on the left that doesn't make a lot of sense but overall I really like it. Cute Emma is cute, and I love her determination.

#8: Emma - Chapter 166: Going Back Home

Date: Mar 9th, 2020

Time: 3:45 h

I'M SO FREAKING PROUD OF THAT RIFFLE I have not the slightlest idea why this took so damn long BUT I'M SO PROUD OF IT

#9: Norman's birthday edit

Date: Mar 21st, 2020

Time: 1:04 h

This is cool! I didn't know I could manage to draw this, but I did it! The feathers were particularly hard to clean but I think they turned out fine.

#10: Full Score Trio - Chapter 174: A New World (part 1)

Date: Apr 6th, 2020

Time: 2:11 h

I just think they're very pretty? I can't understand if I like Ray's face a lot, or not at all, but I think overall there was a lot to redraw and it turned out pretty cute! Sorry Gillian.

(Also insert pretty much every panel from the chapter 177 Isabella edit– I've spent so many hours on basically every panel there's no way I could choose only one).

Top 5 edits as whole:

#1: Emma and Ray - Chapter 140: I’m Here!

Date: Jun 29th, 2019

Complessive time: 2:57+ h

The very first edit I'm actually proud of; I'm really attached to it. It's the first edit I had put all of my effort into, and I remember feeling anxious people would have left it without notes. It kinda feels weird to think about it now, because I really don't care about notes anymore; yet, it somehow makes me happy to think that past-me wasn't let down. Thank you @neverlandstrio for your support, you may not remember but it really meant a lot to me back then! And it still makes me smile. You're the best!!!!!!

#2: Mujika and Queen Legravalima - Chapter 158: The Reason I Was Born

Date: Nov 20th, 2019

Complessive time: 7:12+ hours

This whole edit was an hella wild ride. It's midnight before a school day, when I think: "Mh, it's been a while since I last made an edit, why not make one about Musica and the queen from the last chapter?" And seven hours after this was born. I'm particularly proud of the queen's redraws on the 3rd, 7th and 9th picture (ofc), the areas which have been redrawn are pretty huge yet I think the difference with the original is almost impossible to notice?? @Redrawing skills where did you go please come back (part 2)

#3: Emma - Chapter 174: A New World (part 1)

Date: Apr 12th, 2020

Complessive time: 6:53+ h

I think the panels that were selected work very well together, especially considering the close-up / full body alternation. I love Emma, and I've always been kinda sad noticing that edits that focus one her take the less notes... She deserves all the love. Also, fun fact: for the last but one panel, I had redrawn Emma's whole left ear before remembering she doesn't have one, so I had to redraw the panel from the start. Besides from the error with the ear, the reason why this (and all the others after) took so long is because official panel take way longer to clean.

#4: Isabella and her children - Chapter 177: Mother

Date: May 22nd, 2020

Complessive time: 13:41+ h (ahah.)

Lmao tbh I can't understand how this has so few notes it's like. Technically speaking, probably the best edit I've ever done. I don't even like Isabella that much, I haven't got the slightlest idea why I decided to spend so many hours on this. Anyway, I find the composition (full body on the left / headshots on the right) really good looking in this as well! And I think the redraws turned out fine, especially Isabella's.

#5: The Promised Neverland manga ending countdown→ 1/7 chapters: chapter 1 - Grace Field House

Date: Jun 9th, 2020

Complessive time: 1:59+ h

I don't know how I came up with that idea for the composition but I find it really beautiful??? I think it does a pretty good job conveying the sudden, terrific shift of atmosphere from the first chapter, and I think that sharp bridge is very nice. I'm very, very proud of this.

Honorable mention #1: Full Score Trio - Chapter 154: A Breakthrough

Date: Oct 13th, 2019

Complessive time: 3:44+ h (+ 1:13 h of working on a panel that ultimately didn't make it to the final edit)

A very good chapter, and the edit turned out surprisingly amazing??? All the redraws look great and make it almost impossible to distinguish them from the original; honestly I feel like I'll never be able to redraw so neatly again lol.

Honorable mention #2: Don and Gilda (+ Norman) - Chapter 160: Shackles

Date: Dec 11th, 2019

Complessive time: 3:14+ h

That one is really one of my favorite scenes; I'm telling you peoples, Gilda and Don are a blessing to the earth. I think I've never mentioned it, but Gilda's hair is a nightmare to redraw??? More specifically, it takes me h o u r s to fill the texture without making it look too weird, it's the worst.

Honorable mention #3: Norman and Ray - Chapter 179: Compensation

Date: Jun 6th, 2020

Complessive time: 4:16+ h

I was so glad to finally be able to make a Norman / Ray edit, and it turned out it was just in time before the series' finale. I like how it turned out and I'm pretty satisfied with the redraws (even though my sister helped me with the lineart of some panels - it was exams time and I really couldn't afford to spend more time on it), too bad we didn't have more chapters that focused on the boys. Ray sweetie one day I'll fix your ear it's just today's not that day.

Btw, I justed realized I have never done an Emma / Norman centered edit? I'll have to make one eventually. I remember considering focusing on them alone for the chapter 154 one, but then I thought "even if the manga is gonna ignore Ray, I will chose to do not" lol.