#and the plot barely changes but he does get to have an actual happy ending as opposed to being a self fulfilling angst filled prophecy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thegoldenavenger · 4 months

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not gonna write this right now but!

svsss / lotr fusion au

proud immortal demon way is a grimdark fantasy story sorta like game of thrones/song of ice and fire which shen yuan hate read because he liked the protagonist and really wanted him to get a happy ending but, that, uh. DID NOT HAPPEN. EMPHATICALLY.

anyways, shen yuan transmigrates into a hobbit, waits for the plot to Happen, and when it doesn't for almost 10 years he realises he must have transmigrated to sometime before or after the plot happening and dives head first into being a hobbit. the food! the books! the gossip! yes, he'd love to get out an explore this fantastical world a bit more, but hobbits weren't very adventurous and shen yuan didn't want to stumble into the plot any more now than at first.

shang qinghua is his fellow transmigrated hobbit. once shen yuan realises this, he latches onto shang qinghua and they become somewhat antagonistic friends. shen yuan cherishes him! despite having written the novel, shang qinghua also does not know exactly where in the plot they are. the shire got very little mentioning in the original novels so they could really be at anytime at all except for the part where the shire gets burned down or what not.

this is all very well and good until someone knocks on shen yuan's door in the middle of the night and he opens it to find a strange, tall, extremely, tall, extremely beautiful, man who waltzes into his little hobbit hole like he owns it.

this is shen jiu, a wizard. who... knows? shen yuan? shen yuan does not know shen jiu. shen jiu does not seem to be worried about that. shen jiu, after making himself QUITE at home in shen yuan's little abode, gang presses shen yuan into a fun little quest. shen yuan is not quite sure how exactly he ends up on the trail towards a mountain to free it from a dragon but he is--in a word--excited.

a dragon? he's only read about them! in two worlds now! and he'll get to see one, and possibly more amazing creatures. he is accompanied by shen jiu of course, snappy and acerbic, stern and moody by turns, but obviously and intimidatingly powerful. he is also accompanied by ming fan, a relatively young dwarf who falls all over himself to impress shen jiu; ning yingying another excitable dwarf happy to be on this quest of some import; yue qi, a solemn but friendly man who falls over himself around shen jiu more than ming fan does; also like three to five more people i cant be bothered to squish in. this isn't about them!

anyways, it turns out that this is the prequel story--shen yuan only finds out when he returns from his adventures with an unbearable amount of treasure, to a shocked shire and an even more shocked shang qinghua who explains that Shen Jiu, whom shen yuan has grown a bit fond of in spite of himself, is actually Shen Qingqiu, the wicked wizard who set Luo Binghe on his path to becoming the dark and gritty protagonist in Proud Immortal Demon Way.

shen yuan boggles. surely not????? shen jiu is prickly, yes, but he didn't seem like the man the book described. shang qinghua shrugs, said this was a light hearted fantasy he wrote when he was younger and more idealistic but it is definitely the Same Dude.

but, shang qinghua says, they obviously aren't following the same plot since Shen Yuan was definitely not in shang qinghua's writing, and several things didn't happen or were changed. in any case, this prequel was decades prior to anything that occurred in the main novel so shen yuan delicately decides he probably doesn't need to worry about it.

he fingers the jade pendant he'd been given on his journey.

the pendant, of course, belongs to Luo Binghe. in Proud Immortal Demon Way Luo Binghe started the novel out as an orphaned halfling, without family or community, and barely the clothes on his back to his name. he struggled to survive on his own, his only treasure the jade pendant he'd always had since he was a baby. he could only imagine that his parents bequeathed it to him before they--died? probably. luo binghe had never known what happened to orphan him so thoroughly.

he'd stumbled into wardship with a powerful wizard who was meant to mentor him, however instead of nurturing luo binghe's relative youth (halflings aged much slower than men, a hearty thirty years was mere teenage years in comparison) he had set jealous eyes on luo binghe and made his life miserable. when he caught sight of luo binghe's pendant, he'd stolen it and with it released the other half of luo binghe's heritage.

su xiyan was a creature much like a hobbit, as these things go, but his father was a powerful demon (dark elf? listen i am not deep in the lotr lore but w/e the hell sauron is haha). the union wasn't meant to be, and when separated, tianlang-jun tried to raze the realms in fury, and almost managed it with his demon sword of power xin mo. however, he was defeated, xin mo shattered, and sealed under a mountain.

luo binghe's heritage was also suppressed. whatever su xiyan carried from her entanglement with tianlang-jun, resentment or pity or fear, she evidently cared enough for her child to try and give him a normal life free of a tainted ancestry. she gave him a pendant and set him adrift on the luo river where his tale of misery began.

when shen qingqiu removed the pendant, in the situation it happened in, luo binghe's powers and heritage manifested. shen qingqiu disavowed his newly unmasked disciple and abandoned him among the shadows of the badlands around mount doom.

embittered and adrift, luo binghe fought through what was tantamount to hell, laid claim on the throne his father left empty, commanded the wayward bands of orcs and goblins and other unsavory creatures, and worked on claiming or conquering all else. the realm of men never showed him any kindness at all, and so he would burn it all to the ground.

what started as a fairly interesting, if dark, coming of age story morphed into a grimdark grapple for power, politics, and sex. shen yuan, who had been charmed by the young luo binghe's enduring effort to find somewhere he belonged, became swept away with the darkened and awakened luo binghe's effort to create somewhere he belonged, without mercy if necessary.

however, somewhere during luo binghe's rise to power more and more of the plot threads were being dropped. luo binghe's cunning coups and strategic battles became more single note. at some point the adversaries became one dimensional, canon fodder. luo binghe's plans came to fruition with barely any struggle. as a power fantasy, shen yuan supposed it was fine-enough. one could, theoretically, turn their brain off and enjoy luo binghe's methodical scouring of the realm, conquering of power, and claiming of women. but everything shen yuan had started reading for, and had stayed for, was stripped away except for the protagonist himself.

in the end, the only place luo binghe could make for himself was a cold, lonely world empty of anyone luo binghe could turn to.

it was, perhaps, no wonder that shen yuan had frothed himself into such apoplectic fury he had died cursing the author's work.

the point is, though, that there was absolutely no way the cute youth shen yuan had encountered in the goblin caves had been luo binghe. the boy hadn't introduced himself, but when shen yuan was fleeing the wrath of the goblin king, the boy had given shen yuan his necklace.

"it will turn you invisible, so it can help you escape." the boy had said.

"what about you?" shen yuan had asked, reluctant to take the boy's only means of defense.

"it's fine!"

"but it's your treasure, isn't it?" shen yuan recalled the hours of commentary he had coaxed out of the boy as he'd been led through the dank tunnels trying to reunite with his wayward band of dwarves and wizards.

"it can help you now, i want you to take it!" the boy's eyes had been starry in the dark.

"but--" shen yuan was forced to hold the pendant as the boy shoved it into his hands. with reluctance, he settled it around his neck. "how will i return it?" he asked instead.

the boy had smiled at him, eyes wet with emotion. "i'm sure we'll meet again, shen yuan from the shire."

"okay then. i'll give it to you next time."

the pendant had turned him invisible and shen yuan was able to escape the goblins, somehow rescue his teammates, sneak into the dragon mountain, steal the treasures he'd been tasked to steal, liberate the mountain he'd been tasked to liberate, and even accomplished his own secret goal: save the dragon.

(you see, shen yuan loves creatures of all sorts, and he'd always sort of been sad when things like dragons had to be killed to save the day. didn't they also deserve to live in peace? so, when a snake like creature conspired with him to help relocate the dragon under the guise of burying it with melted gold, what could shen yuan do but agree? and the plan had worked! the mountain was liberated, the city nearby was freed from constant dragon-induced fear, his traveling companions were happy enough, and the dragon and presumably its snake-friend were safely living somewhere else probably.)

anyways, the boy can't have been luo binghe and the pendant cant be the pendant because the pendant never turned luo binghe invisible in the novels shen yuan read, and luo binghe would have never given it away! he'd reliably become berserk if the pendant had ever been in danger and of course the moment shen qingqiu had stolen it luo binghe had erupted into a coalescing tornado of unleashed power.

that did not happen when the starry-eyed, lonely, somewhat skittish but still kind and receptive young kid had given shen yuan the pendant. therefore, that kid wasn't luo binghe and this pendant is not The Pendant. there are probably a hundred sad orphans and a thousand more magical pendants in the wide million-word history of proud immortal demon way.

so when shang qinghua points at the pendant some years later and starts yelling hysterically, shen yuan has no idea why. shen jiu, who is visiting for shen yuan's birthday celebration, and quite used to shang qinghua's hysterics, offers to look over the pendant. shen yuan lets him, though if shang qinghua was awake he might get scolded for that. yes shen yuan knows shen jiu steals the pendant in the book! but! shang qinghua said it himself: shen yuan has already changed things! probably shen jiu won't steal from shen yuan! they're friends! also, this isn't the pendant so it's all a moot point.

this leaves shen yuan completely open when shen jiu does actually steal the pendant. he whisks it away, barely touching it, folding it into his billowing sleeves, eyes as flinty as shen yuan had ever seen them.

"i need to find out what this is," shen jiu explained, as shen yuan angrily stormed after him on his way out. "it feels-- hungry."

"i--" shen yuan is stopped when shen jiu whirls around and places his hands on shen yuan's shoulders.

"do you not trust me?"

shen yuan thought that was very unfair, as he had just determined to himself to trust that shen jiu wouldn't steal his pendant and the wizard had just gone and done that. but the look in shen jiu's eyes stayed shen yuan's tongue.

"do you think i would just take from you for no reason? have i not labored enough under your ceaseless expectations of me to have earned your trust in this?"

shen yuan carefully breathed out through his nose. "is it not the same question for me?" he asked, "do i not deserve an explanation? must i always sit here in the dark as though even the simplest of truths would make me suspicious of you. do you not trust me to listen?"

shen jiu seemed to struggle.

shang qinghua managed to recover, at this point, and catch up to them. he interjected, for once his tremulous tone evened into a sober enough inflection that even shen jiu listened. "It is exactly what you suspect! we can do whatever tests you need right here, in shen yuan's hearth, you needn't journey with it yourself."

shen jiu's eyes narrowed, and shen yuan cast confused glances at both his friends. even if it was luo binghe's pendant, wasn't it just a seal limiting binghe's power?

"you're not even touching it and can feel it whispering, can't you?" shang qinghua asked.

"what do you know of it?" shen jiu snarled, but his eyes betrayed a sort of fear shen yuan had never seen from his friend before.

"it won't do you any kindness to keep it, whatever you mean."

shen jiu, for a minute, looked as though he would ignore shang qinghua, but in the end the wizard closed his eyes and lifted the handkerchief covered pendant from where he had stashed it.

"it's heavy," shen jiu said, and dropped it into shen yuan's waiting palm.

it turns out the pendant is actually xin mo. "xin mo was actually uh, pretty fucked up? it corrupted tianlang-jun's mind, that's why he tried to destroy everything. su xiyan sealed its power into the pendant, but as luo binghe gets older and his heritage closer to awakening, xin mo grew more powerful." shang qinghua explained once shen jiu left ostensibly to research the predicament they were left in, but more realistically to recover from his brush with xin mo's corruptive influence. at least according to shang qinghua.

"but binghe didn't have the pendant when he started his conquest." shen yuan pointed out.

"no? he didn't need a hell-artifact trying to corrupt him. you read the story bro, his life sucked. he didn't need much of an excuse to get revenge."

"then why the pendant at all? isn't that too confusing? a macguffin you don't even use?"

"that was the point though!" shang qinghua was picking up enthusiasm now. "Luo Binghe had Xin Mo, the same thing that drove his father mad, but Luo Binghe could have resisted that. but being treated the way he was? his master undermining him and, ultimately abandoning him? magical artifacts don't make people into all of that," he said gesturing as if he could encompass all of luo binghe in his hand, "People make people into monsters quite enough on their own."

shen yuan bit his lip. that was, of course, why he'd stuck with reading pidw after all. he couldn't refute shang qinghua's words. watching luo binghe's slow descent into more and more anti-hero grimdarkness was enthralling because of how thouroughly the bright niavety had been beated out of him. shen yuan had wanted luo binghe to get his revenge, to get his power, and to create a place he could call home. he'd had plenty of the first two, but the latter had never come to fruition.

"wait! that was the point?" shen yuan asked, "but you never explained xin mo at all? or all this about the pendant! after shen qingqiu stole it, it might as well have disappeared! even after luo binghe captured him, the pendant wasn't brought up again. i had to bend over backwards to try and gather all of your loose plot threads! half the novel was just him winning another fight or finding another woman!"

"well, i mean, it was supposed to be the point. but ah, well i lost my notes and then--" he made a noise as shen yuan hit him. "But! I tried! Luo Binghe got a sword didn't he? after he captured shen qingqiu? that's xin mo! that's why he does all the fighting and fu-- uh, women. shen qingqiu couldn't destroy the pendant, and breaking it only released its true form. so luo binghe got his father's sword after all and it doesn't matter at all that he could resist it, because he didn't want to."

"why is shen jiu so worried about it anyways? i mean, i didn't feel anything." shen yuan looked skeptically at the drawer they had hidden the pendant.

"uhm, most people can though." shang qinghua said. "that's a lot of why luo binghe's life sucked so much? everytime someone was around him they felt xin mo."

shen yuan frowned, remembering the bright eyed youth from the caves. that had been luo binghe then? with his messy hair and messier clothes and dirt stained hands and feet. shen yuan, breathless from fear and running, had still not been able to resist the urge to wipe at the kid's face with his sleeve. people looked at that and what? felt compelled to be mean?

"most people are petty," shang qinghua said, correctly interpreting shen yuan's furrowing brow, "not everyone can be as peerless as the great peerless cucumber--"

"shut up." shen yuan frowned and crossed his arms. "you didn't answer my question! okay so, it has bad vibes. what about it? it's a pendant? i'm certainly not going to scour the realms. even if i wanted to, i could be squashed like a bug. who cares? why steal it from binghe?"

"because, if someone squashed you like a bug or stole it from binghe then it would eventually find someone who was powerful enough to scour the realms. i mean, even shen qingqiu wasn't immune to it! he thought taking it from binghe was the right choice, because he was worried someone stronger would take it, but obviously it wasn't. even with binghe's heritage being revealed, shen qingqiu ended up fracturing a lot of his connections while he held onto the pendant. he thought he was protecting the realms from it, but really he was just protecting it until binghe picked it up again. he practically laid the ground work for his own imprisonment with that. besides that, there are plenty of people who would think xin mo was a tool they could use for good. and they'd be wrong. so it's best to destroy it."

"but if binghe can resist it, and taking it from him is half of what makes him turn into you know, bing-ge, isn't it best just to give it back?"

shang qinghua boggled. "how did you come to that conclusion?"

"well, it's his treasure, and he wasn't doing anything wrong with it. you said yourself he could resist it! so isn't it best if the protagonist holds onto it? binghe's strong enough no one could take it..." well, besides the time someone had taken it.

a look came over shang qinghua that shen yuan couldn't identify. "i don't know. maybe he had such a tolerance because he built it up while it was in his posession all those years. but you've had it for like ten? twenty? years?"

Shen Yuan frowned. it wasn't that long for a hobbit, but it was incredibly long for the human shen yuan had been once.

"who knows how he'd react to it now! and absolutely no one is going to agree to just give an artifact of ancient evil to some kid no one knows!"

"he'd be almost thirty now, wouldn't he?" shen yuan said, almost without his own will putting together the timeline. in the novel, this is when luo binghe would be meeting shen qingqiu for the first time. thirty was too young for a hobbit to be on his own, never mind that shen yuan had been living by himself in both lives by the time he was 19.

"you are, frankly, impossible." shang qinghua gave up.

shen jiu came back in the middle of the night, as he was prone to doing, and whisks shen yuan and shang qinghua away on a journey to bring the pendant to a meeting of the realms in order to further discuss what to do with it.

"destroy it," shang qinghua murmered.

there were whispers of a dark power coalescing in the north at the bad lands bordering mount doom. orcs and goblins and other sort being organised and turned against the villages and townships close to the border, each raid pushing their powers further out.

"it's too early for binghe yet, isn't it?" shen yuan asked under his breath.

the worst of it. "they know the pendant is in the shire." shen jiu informed shen yuan and shang qinghua in the middle of throwing things into packs for travel.

"what? how?" shang qinghua quailed.

"who knew about the pendant? ming fan? yue qingyuan?" shen jiu asked, at once correctly inferring the only possible time shen yuan might have come across it.

"no--" shen yuan faltered. luo binghe had been the only other one to know, as he'd given it to him. but would luo binghe sell that information to the dark forces rising against them? or was he, indeed, the dark forces themselves?

shen jiu tsked. "it doesn't matter just now. we have to leave."

so they left, headed towards the cang qiong mountains where shen jiu hoped they could foist the responsibility of the pendant onto some other poor sucker.

#kamaeteWRITES #svsss #shen yuan #shen jiu #shang qinghua #shen qingqiu #ughHH i didn't even get to the part that i wanted to get to.#oh well. i'll rest and do a part two i guess.

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rollinouttahere-writes · 8 months

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I wanted to write out the character dynamics between Lucky and the Straw Hats because I have fallen deep into the Little Lucky AU. At first it was just gonna be a series of one shots with little to no plot for funsies but now I’ve gone and fleshed it out into its own fully developed AU and I feel compelled to share my thoughts on it.

Since I have this happening right after Arlong Park, I realized that at most, they’ve known her for like a week and some change with Sanji only knowing her for a couple of days. I think that this would make adjusting to her becoming a child much easier because ultimately, none of them really knew her. Hell, with her amnesia Lucky barely knew herself.

It would take about a week for everyone to accept that this is how it is now. The devil fruit user tried to warn them that the effects were permanent (meaning that she’s not going to suddenly switch back, not that she’s permanently 4 she is still going to age normally), but they thought this person was bluffing in order to get mercy or something. As time passes and Lucky is showing no signs of turning back, everyone begins to feel some regret about punting the user into the sea, but now it’s too late.

In Lucky Break, she doesn’t come clean about the truth of where she came from until after Enel is defeated in Skypeia, but in this AU she would tell them the truth during the Alabasta arc. After Drum Island when Nami is recovered because she felt bad for keeping it a secret when Nami was sick.

Luffy’s relationship with Lucky has by far been my favorite to develop, I find it super interesting. Despite not knowing the adult Lucky for very long, Luffy’s emotional intelligence being sky high helped him to understand her better than she probably even understood herself. There was something off about her, and he knew it within their first conversation. The way she had a tendency to shrink in on herself and physically close herself off, and the fact that her smile never once reaches her eyes told him a lot. He doesn’t know where she came from or what it’s like, but he can’t imagine it’s all that great if this is how she acts. He still wants to go there, but now it’s because he needs to throw hands with whoever made her that way. After she’s turned into a child, he immediately notices that she now has that spark that was missing from her eyes before, and he’s bound and determined to fan that spark into a flame so that he doesn’t see that same look when she becomes an adult again.

Having a small child on board does ever so slightly mature him. At first he’s like “Oh there’s a little kid here now? Fun!” but then it evolves into “Hang on I’m responsible for her”. He realizes that this little kid is going to depend on him for everything. Sure, he has his other crewmates to help, but as captain he feels the weight on his shoulder more.

After the Enel situation happens he becomes more noticeably mature and goes out of his way to hover around her more and make her happy. He’s more prone to involving himself in the actual childcare aspects of her life instead of just being ‘the fun best friend’ to her. He sits in on her appointments with Chopper and helps as much as Chopper will allow, both because he wants to help and also as a way for him to see what she had to go through in the moment that he wasn’t there to protect her. He also tries to give advice, mostly about following her dreams and understanding how valuable the freedom to do so is. He’s still her best friend at the end of the day, but there is an air of seriousness to it now.

Lucky idolizes Luffy intensely, he is her Shanks pretty much. Between him being her best friend and saving her, she wants to be just like him when she grows up. He’s the best person ever in her book and she will fight anyone who tries to trash talk him (much to the horror of everyone else who is rushing to stop her).

Zoro naively thought he would be escaping Lucky fussing over him now that she’s a little kid, but he was very wrong. She’s still trailing behind and yelling at him to sit down so she can “make it better”, but now she’s just got a box of colorful kid band-aids instead of actual bandages. Zoro is covered in a rainbow of band-aids at any given moment and he can’t even take them off because she’ll put more on there while scolding him.

There’s a post where I talk about their interactions a little bit here. With the part about sword fighting, he is very serious about it, but if you look closely you can see small smiles here and there as she makes more progress. He is very proud. He wishes Kuina could have met her, he thinks she would have liked Lucky. Tries to shield her from the idea that she will only be able to go so far because of being a woman, he doesn’t want that stupid mentality weighing her down.

If someone asks him what his relationship to her is, he would state that he’s her teacher. If you asked Lucky, she would say he’s her big brother. Zoro feels like he’s going into cardiac arrest but keeps a straight face and says “that’s fine too”. Lucky looks up to him too, but she also lowkey likes to bully him in true sibling fashion. Like telling him to put his boobs away, running off with his sake, pulling pranks on him when he’s trying to nap, that kind of stuff.

Right after Arlong Park, Nami was feeling very attached to Lucky (tbh she’s the first to start showing yandere tendencies in Lucky Break), so she was honestly a little disappointed at first when they realized Lucky wasn’t turning back into an adult. She would never admit this out loud, but she did feel that way. She snaps out of it pretty quick though and declares herself ‘big sister Nami’. She gets very into it, and likes being the big sister for a change.

As far as she’s concerned, she’s the only responsible adult on board (until Robin comes in). As such, she’s constantly trying to keep Lucky attached to her hip because she’s worried that the others are going to hurt her by doing something stupid. This doesn’t work all that well because there are other people on the ship that are more fun and goofy than she is, so Nami spends most of her day running after Lucky. Lucky is the only person that she doesn’t have a tab for. She’s a little kid, and as adults, it’s everyone’s job on board to take care of her and that includes buying her stuff like clothes/toys/etc. Nami does teach her the value of money and how to be responsible with it for when she’s old enough to have some money of her own, but Lucky isn’t indebted to her or anything.

Lucky finds it a little odd at first when some woman she barely knows insists that she’s her big sister, but she goes with it. Nami can be a little bit of a stick in the mud, but Lucky knows that she can go to her when she needs help. Since they sleep in the same room (sometimes at least, there are lots of sleepovers in the guys’ room), Nami is usually the person she goes to when she has a nightmare.

Usopp is great with kids, and that includes Lucky. He found adult Lucky a little intimidating (for reasons we will get to soon enough), so he honestly gets along with child Lucky more. He loves having a gullible little kid around that he can tell his tall tales to, given that she’s too young to be able to immediately call bullshit. However, he doesn’t anticipate how many questions she’s going to ask about the story. He wasn’t ready for the constant flow of why’s, how come’s, and what’s that’s that get thrown his way. On the bright side, his improvisational skills skyrocket from this.

His job in regards to Lucky is to grab her in a dangerous situation and run away as fast as he can, a role he chose for himself. He does fall victim to being roasted by a tot over this because she will call him a big baby for screaming and crying (lessens post Enel). As a sniper, he is supposed to be further from the battle than others, so he typically is the best choice for her to be with. Like Zoro, he wants to teach her how to use his own weapon of choice and even makes her a tiny slingshot. This backfires because now she’s terrorizing him and Zoro with it (and also takes cracks at marines sometimes).

Usopp is her friend. He doesn’t have the title of best friend or big brother which hurts a bit, but he learns to cope. Lucky does spend a lot of time with him since she thinks he’s funny and fun to play with. He only helped her prank Zoro once because she immediately played innocent and threw him under the bus. That being said, only she can bully him, Franky better sleep with one eye open for beating him up!

Sanji is her dad now, and no one can rob him of that, he will kill for this title. He held off for a week tops after she was turned to make sure that she wasn’t just going to go back to normal, but after that he took a page out of Zeff’s book and adopted her. He wants to go back to the Baratie long enough to let Zeff know he’s a grandpa, but for now will have to wait. He’s always trying to get her to call him “papa” to varying levels of success. She doesn’t cooperate at first because she really doesn’t know him, but she’ll warm up eventually and start calling him that. Though she does sometimes switch back to using Sanji just to mess with him.

Lucky is his entire world basically. You thought he was obsessed with women? That pales in comparison to his devotion to his little princess! His wallet has more pictures of her in it than it has actual money. What money isn’t spent on getting food gets spent on her. If she looks at something for too long, she’s getting it. Nami gets on him frequently about spoiling her too much, even though he says there’s no such thing. Ironically, he has better luck with women now because he’s more toned down around them and it’s just cute to see a doting dad, but he is completely oblivious to it. He genuinely believes that the women are only approaching him because they think Lucky is cute and doesn’t even pick up on them flirting with him because he’s too busy showing off the pictures in his wallet. Nami thinks this is hysterical and won’t point it out.

He wants to cook with her so much, he’s always trying to involve her in the kitchen (with age appropriate things of course). There are limits to what she can safely do, but he’s happy just to have her in the kitchen as a taste tester if that’s all she can do. She doesn’t need to become a chef or anything, but he wants her to know the basics at the very least. If she wants to have a tea party, he’ll get her to help make the little treats to go with it and show her how to perfectly steep the tea. No imaginary tea parties on his watch. The one thing he’s strict on is her eating habits, she needs to stay healthy and that’s not up for debate. If she just genuinely doesn’t like something, that’s understandable, but she can’t just feed Luffy under the table to get dessert faster.

Lucky’s actual father was very emotionally and physically distant, so it takes very little time for her to latch onto Sanji as her new dad. When she does, she basically becomes a daddy’s girl overnight. Sanji gets pulled into playtime whenever he isn’t in the kitchen, whether it be including him in the tea parties, “styling” his hair with dozens of colorful barrettes, or simply making him get in on the games she was playing with the others. With how god awful his childhood was, it’s honestly a little healing for him. He’s happy that he can give someone else the childhood he didn’t get to have.

Chopper doesn’t get to be the baby of the crew anymore. Lucky would probably be the first to be able to really get close to him on Drum Island, because even Chopper isn’t going to be scared of a four year old. Wary, but not scared. However, after seeing that she isn’t afraid of him and is genuinely trying to befriend him, he comes around. It’s shocking to him to learn that she’s part of a pirate crew, but also inspiring. If someone so young can do it, he can too! They’re fast friends and become thick as thieves.

Lucky thinks all of his doctor stuff is super interesting and likes to watch when he’s making medicine. She asks lots of questions and also gives out compliments easily. Chopper even shows her how to do some very basic first aid since that’s a good thing to know in emergencies. He also goes over what plants are poisonous and to not eat anything she doesn’t know for a fact is safe. Besides the medical stuff, Lucky enjoys hanging out with him lots because she thinks he’s around her age (and does not believe him when he insists that he’s 15).

Lucky keeps referring to him as her little brother and it’s driving him insane. No amount of “I told you I’m 15!” will stop her. She thinks he’s lying because they’re both the same height give or take so obviously that means they must be the same age. He can’t even grow into a bigger form because she’ll just say that it doesn’t count since it’s not permanent. Like Luffy, being responsible for the safety of a child does make Chopper slightly more mature. Don’t get me wrong, he will still run away if Lucky is already safe, but if she isn’t then he will square up. Maybe if she sees him protect her, she’ll start calling him big brother! She doesn’t.

Robin feels so conflicted when they first meet. It’s one thing to be taking on grown adults that knew what they were getting into by taking on Baroque Works, it’s another to see a small child being dragged into by association. She intentionally leaves Lucky out of reports to Crocodile. She keeps hoping that Lucky will be dropped off somewhere else and be off the radar, and feels sicker and sicker as they keep getting closer to Alabasta. She’s just a little kid and doesn’t deserve to be dragged into something like this.

After joining the Straw Hats, she finds herself drawn to Lucky, and even uses her name. She does some mental gymnastics to justify this by telling herself that technically it’s a nickname so she’s in the clear. She’s totally not getting attached, she tells herself as she tucks Lucky into bed and reads her a bedtime story. It doesn’t help that Lucky follows her around like a duckling because she finds her very mysterious and cool. Having Lucky think that her devil fruit and all her knowledge is awesome really warms her heart.

It takes a while for her to be called it (post Enies Lobby), but she becomes the mom of the group. Unlike with Sanji, Lucky came to call her this entirely on her own. Robin needs a minute after she gets called that for the first time. That being said, she fills the role well. She’s got that calm and caring vibe to her, while also being a total mama bear. If anyone looks at Lucky the wrong way, she’s eliminating the threat on the spot. Her baby is not about to be punished for existing with what the government deems to be “bad people”. She’s harsh towards anyone she sees as a threat, but especially with marines/government agents.

Franky is definitely surprised to see a little kid with the Straw Hats, but it also earns some respect from him. He appreciates seeing pirates that don’t just abandon their children, thank you very much. Franky has an energy to him that kids love, and Lucky isn’t immune to it. Granted, at first she just wants to fight him and he can expect to be pelted with pebbles from her slingshot until she’s forgiven him for the Usopp incident. He doesn’t take this personally. In fact, he encourages it. Hell yeah kid! You stick up for your friends! Show me who’s boss! His attitude makes it very hard for her to stay mad for long, especially with Usopp telling her that it’s okay they already made up.

His goofball personality and eccentric behavior make him a lot of fun to be around. On top of that, Lucky likes to sometimes watch him work. He’s very quick to engage her in it, too. He’ll explain what he’s doing and why in great detail, and is happy to answer any questions she has. He’ll even let her hold a flashlight for him even though he has his own built in. Very supportive if she wants to learn more from him, but won’t push it either.

After Lucky comes around on him, she calls him uncle Franky. He’s just got those fun uncle vibes to her. He truly loves the title and is proud of it. He gets a bit cocky and asks if he’s her favorite uncle only to get humbled by her saying no with zero hesitation. Sorry, Franky, you’re no competition for uncle Ace. Despite the devastating blow to his ego, he is a very fun uncle and is insanely protective.

#lucky break #little lucky au #monkey d luffy #luffy #roronoa zoro #nami #cat burglar nami #one piece nami #usopp #sanji #black leg sanji #tony tony chopper #nico robin #franky the cyborg #cyborg franky

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starseungs · 2 years

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➳ invisible ties. ksm

ೃ࿔₊• pairing | kim seungmin x gn!reader

not all childhood friends are known as such. those with invisible ties also exist, a bittersweet reminder of such friendship.

ೃ࿔₊• genre | hurt-comfort, sprinkle of angst, fluff(?), childhood friends to lovers, highschool au, popular!seungmin — 2.6k words

ೃ࿔₊• warnings | self doubt, a whole lot of doubts in general, misunderstandings (with a happy ending)

ೃ࿔₊• note | this is #1 on my skz as types of childhood friends to lovers series! tbh i didn't think i was going to like how i wrote this as much as i actually do but its one of my favorites now-

Seungmin had always been a talented guy. He had a knack for being good at whatever you would throw at him, proving to you that he could, in fact, probably do anything. But if there was one thing Seungmin was a total master at, it would be getting on people's good sides—heck, even just the bare minimum of gaining their attention. He was a shining star in everyone's eyes. That was the kind of guy Seungmin was.

So it was to absolutely no one's surprise that he was always considered popular, even as a kid in kindergarten.

That small neighborhood kindergarten was also where you met Seungmin. At the age of five, your little brain had already decided that making friends was a social construct, stubbornly refusing to interact with the other kids for more than three minutes. You were quite an interesting child, to say the least. And maybe that was why five-year-old Seungmin quickly took an interest in you—making it his life's goal to befriend the "shy kid" in class. The teachers would actually beg to differ with that title. You weren't shy, they said. Just "troubled."

As if that changed anything (and it really didn't.)

Yet, Seungmin did what no other kid would have dreamed of attempting, aka, interacting with you. And boy, did he do it with the passion of an Olympic athlete desperate for a medal. The five-year-old was determined to make you his friend—which, now that you think about it, maybe could have just been his pride; not wanting to accept that he couldn't charm someone. Kim Seungmin was the center of attention; that was just his natural role in life. But he stuck to his goal anyway, so you applaud him for his determination on that one. There were a lot of things to describe Seungmin, and being persistent was certainly on the list.

From sitting with you during activities to following you around on the playground, Seungmin would not leave you alone at all. He would trail behind you like a lost puppy (to be fair, he does resemble one) throughout most of the day, even though you barely looked back and acknowledged him. The only time you ever did so was when you got annoyed and told him to go away. And he did.

For about six minutes, before you had someone tailing you again.

One day, you'd just had enough of his antics, already planning to blow up without a single remorse on the poor guy to stop all this nonsense—up until he suddenly presented you with a pen with your favorite cartoon character on it, saying it was a gift he got you. Apparently, he begged his mom to buy it as a gift for you because you were the first thing he thought of the moment he saw the pen's design. Young you immediately felt so bad for plotting war on him only a few minutes back, your resolve folding only seconds later.

Seungmin wasn't that bad, you remember convincing yourself.

Your view of Seungmin turned a complete one-eighty after that event. It was then that you finally accepted his advances and allowed the friendship to start. Surprisingly, it survived past kindergarten all the way to elementary—something you probably should have expected since you even ended up in the same grade school (courtesy of your dear mother, who—like everyone else—took a liking to Seungmin and wanted you to keep being friends with him.)

Seungmin was as popular as ever, earning countless recognitions left and right for anything and everything under the sun. The complete opposite of you, who your classmates often forget was even there in the first place. You didn't mind, of course—still bearing the same mindset you had in kindergarten. As long as you had Seungmin, everything was fine. You didn't need anyone else; you'd already made it through life without your only friend before he even remembered your name. It's not like they were really needed.

Right?

That's what you originally thought, anyway. Yet, there was something you failed to notice up until the two of you reached middle school. And boy, were you in for a rude awakening. One that was worse than hearing your father turn the TV on at the break of dawn, with a volume louder than you flushing the toilet at midnight.

The first seed of doubt was planted during ninth grade, when you overheard a group of girls from your class talking about Seungmin. It wasn't long 'til you understood that they were his admirers, seeing as they were blatantly conversing about how Seungmin looked very attractive during baseball practice yesterday. How they could find him handsome in all his sweaty glory is beyond you. He honestly just looked like a whole bucket of water was dumped on him. But you guess there was always something for everyone, and continued to listen in. After all, even you knew that the Kim Seungmin of your school was pretty well-known as the "campus crush."

So when one of the girls mentioned wanting to give him a drink during today's practice break, you decided to give them money-worthy information—revealing your best friend's favorite drink. You knew that Seungmin wasn't very vocal about his own preferences, very much aware of how that would only cause more problems for him—his words, not yours. If his middle school fan club heard him complaining about them at the kitchen counter, shuddering over the sheer thought of what they could and are capable of doing, they'd be floored.

It was merely a short comment. "Seungmin likes coffee beverages," was all you inserted into their (rather loud) conversation. You had no particular expectation of the response you were going to get, but the one you actually got caught you off guard. That was because instead of focusing on the detail you had just dropped, they were more dumbfounded by the fact that you even knew that at all. What, did they think you were a stalker or something? Seungmin's fangirl deep inside? You knew what drinks he liked because he was your best friend—oh.

That was the exact moment you realized: in the eyes of almost everyone else, you and Seungmin had no connection other than being schoolmates in the same batch.

All your interactions with Seungmin were after school: you would go to school and home together, as well as hang out on free days. But you had little to no contact once you entered the school gates, which was where Seungmin normally bid you farewell to head straight towards his other friends. And that was fine with you. Not everything has to be shoved in people's faces.

You could survive even without your and Seungmin's friendship being public knowledge.

Except you soon come to the conclusion that you actually do—because that ugly green and sticky feeling in your stomach (which you later recognized as envy) was loudly screaming every time you heard one of his friends get addressed as "Seungmin's friend." Now, getting your identity watered down to being classified as merely a friend of another person is something that would greatly piss other people off, but you could care less. Your brain was experiencing tunnel vision on the fact that these people could be seen as Seungmin's friends by everyone else while you were stuck hiding in the shadows. It was eating you alive at that point; you wanted to stand right beside him too, like the "best friend" you claimed you were.

The ache grew even more during high school, when you found out you had formed romantic feelings towards Seungmin. It was sudden—or maybe not. Who knows? All you did know was that the realization crashed into you like a speeding bullet train. Seungmin wasn't even doing anything noteworthy—simply on the verge of dozing off during one of your many study sessions. But you found yourself focusing on little intricate details, such as the way he held the pen in a way that made him look like he was ready to write anytime in the next second despite his eyelids drooping oh-so-endearingly to the point that it warmed your heart (and face.)

Something about him that day was making you feel things you knew you shouldn't be feeling. And the mere knowledge of this terrified you, because how could you? If you couldn't even be known as his friend, how could you ever become his lover? And so you chose the most rational course of action.

To distance yourself from him.

Fine, maybe that wasn't the best decision you ever made. Especially not when the Kim Seungmin himself starts chasing you around school just to get you to talk to him. The whole deal greatly reminded you of your younger years, when it all started. And maybe that was why you folded once again, exactly like you did back then.

"Y/N, just talk to me," you remember his exhausted plea along the school's covered pathway, the one connected to the gym where the rest of your classmates were. Why was he even here? His class didn't have the same PE schedule as yours—if anything, you remember from the short conversation you had with Seungmin back at the start of the school year that they had math during this time (a detail you scolded yourself over, because why did you know that?)

His softening grip on your arm brought you back to reality, effectively making you turn and finally look at him. What you saw broke your heart entirely. Seungmin, the Kim Seungmin, campus crush, the main character of everyone's lives, was barely holding back his tears from escaping his glistening eyes, swirling with anxiousness and fear. "Did I do something wrong?" He asked in a fragile tone, his voice so small and soft it was practically a whisper—almost as if he were any louder, you'd fade away into the wind and leave him. "If I did, please tell me. I—I don't want to lose you," Seungmin choked out, the words feeling so heavy on his mouth. The same words he spent days dreading the implications of, nights he lost sleep over from the overwhelming emotion.

To you and everyone else who knew him, Kim Seungmin was a bright light. Yet, right now, only for your eyes—he was the dimmest he had ever been.

"No. There's nothing wrong," you lied through your teeth, tearing yourself apart inside for subjecting him to another kind of pain; one that he wasn't even aware of yet. All you had to do was cover it up with a white lie, "I was just—I was just being stupid. This thing... It was bothering me so much. So, I just wanted to be alone. That's all."

"I'm sorry," were the final words of your guilt-laced excuse. You didn't know how you even got through the whole thing. At this point, you don't even think you deserved to be called Seungmin's friend anymore. He trusted you, but you betrayed him with lies. Maybe the shadows really were the right place for you. A place where you could enjoy everything you desired, even in the midst of complete darkness.

These thoughts stayed as you relayed every single detail of your fully made-up concern to Seungmin after school.

Both of your lives returned to normal after that. Or at least, how normal it would be for you after the shocking revelation. You often found yourself worrying over almost everything, overthinking even the smallest of details. It certainly didn't help that Seungmin had been acting all weird lately—unconsciously avoiding your eyes when you spoke to him, and getting all fidgety when you two were alone. Maybe it was the weeks of silently doubting the validity of your friendship, or the dismay of feeling like he wanted to be anywhere else other than with you during your hangouts, that you finally burst out crying in front of him one day.

Seungmin was completely rattled, not expecting you to suddenly break down in his room while you two were watching a comedy movie. One would think that you were supposed to be laughing; that's because you actually should have been—not full on sobbing. Yet when he eventually got you to pour out everything you've been holding back, his mind went into static.

All he could say was that his thoughts greatly differed from yours.

This whole time, he believed that just like in kindergarten, you would have preferred him to stay away from you in school—wanting to attract as little attention as possible; something that was unavoidable if you were to be known as someone connected to him. So, for that reason, he kept his distance, opting to make up for the time you spent practically ignoring each other by walking you to and from school, treating you to small meals and snacks along the way, and hanging out whenever you both were free.

Don't get him wrong, though; his actions weren't just purely platonic. Seungmin had actually liked you since elementary school but decided to keep it to himself until you showed any signs of returning the sentiment. Admittedly, he first approached you with the aim of being friends for a petty reason. "Y/N doesn't seem to like you, Seungmin," he recalls as clearly as a bright day. The observation came from one of his classmates back in kindergarten, and as a child used to receiving only love, Seungmin was not about to accept not earning yours.

Yet, as time went on, he soon realized that you were the only one who actually stuck by him (aside from his family, of course.) Seungmin never wanted to admit it, but he grew quite attached to you—to the point that if someone asked him if he saw you in his future, he would one-hundred percent say yes without any hesitation at all.

You were a very precious person to him, and there was no denying it.

During elementary years, Seungmin's fondness turned into something more. He wasn't ignorant, even as a child; he knew well what crushes were and had no issue classifying you as his. At that time, though, just like any other kid, he didn't dwell too much on it—opting to enjoy growing up with you rather than bother himself with feelings that he believed didn't need to be complicated.

Seungmin's not-so-platonic emotions directed towards you were placed to the side, unmoving and silenced. It stayed there until high school—when they pushed their way back to the forefront of his mind, where there was no escaping it. The reason? Your decision to distance yourself from him.

In school was one thing, but for you to avoid him outside of it? Unheard of. There was only one time you two were separated for this long, and that was back before you even became friends. Seungmin was definitely suffering with each passing day, but he still chased you. Giving up was not a choice when you were probably hurting too. The thought pained him more than he wanted it to be.

Though the memory of him revealing his raw emotions to you in such a manner was sort of humiliating (but because it was you, he felt less judged); Seungmin didn't regret it one bit. Still, he found it hard to act normally after all that. Having his romantic feelings out in a place where he could barely contain them was more difficult than he thought. Every moment with you just felt so overwhelming—he had to restrain himself from smothering you in a tight hug and never letting you go.

But he didn't need to hide it anymore.

"You're worth more to me than you'll ever know," he says, cupping your face gently as you hiccup through muffled apologies, unable to stop the tears from streaming down your cheeks like waves. Seungmin placed a feathery kiss on your forehead, the unexpected feeling taking you out of your own spiraling thoughts of negativity to notice that his hands were trembling—along with his wavering voice. "I'm sorry too," he swallowed, sensing his emotions rising as a result of your sniffling. "I'll do my best to never let you feel that way again."

"So give us another chance, please."

mastertag 🏷️ :

@h0neydewmoon @starzzns @lhskokoro @bookishcalls

— let me know if you want to be added or removed^^

#starseungs-library #🗃️ — skzatchftl #stray kids imagines #skz imagines #stray kids #skz #skz x reader #stray kids x reader #kim seungmin imagines #seungmin imagines #kim seungmin #seungmin #kim seungmin x reader #seungmin x reader #stray kids fanfic #skz fanfic #skz angst #stray kids angst #seungmin angst

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wingsdippedingold · 1 month

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The purpose of the mating bond (TL;DR at the bottom)

I was thinking about the mating bond (and consequently how much I hate it) and I started wondering about it's purpose. Apologies: This is barely organized rambling.

Our current explanations are: to create the most powerful offspring, and that the mates are perfect equals. We know its not romance since there are examples of unhappy mates so I'm ignoring that.

Rhysand suspected he was Feyre's mate while she was still human, aka before she was a high fae, and they were still mated after she was. This means that the bond doesn't care about physical bodies, which would play a part in powerful children since fae are just supposed to be so much better than humans in EVERY WAY. Therefore it had nothing do with offspring, but knowing SJM Nyx is gonna be even more powerful as an adult because her favs need to be worshipped like gods.

If the purpose was to create the most powerful offspring that wouldn't even work logistically? The two most powerful beings being mated would work, but everyone after that, not so much. Its kinda weird to explain so imagine 4 fae, their power ranking aligning with their number. 1 & 2 are mated because as the most powerful, their children would then also be the most powerful. With Rhys logic, 3 & 4 would be mated. But 3 & 4 child would be much less powerful than a 1 & 3 child, so that mate bond wouldn't produce the most powerful offspring. Of course the mother could just go by pairing the next most powerful people, but we've seen examples where even then that's not what happens. Of course unique combinations of genes could lead to powerful kids without the need of powerful parents, but considering Rhysand's high lord father was mated with an average Illyrian mother, that doesn't always seem to be the case.

Okay so power aside, the other explanation is that the two mates are two equal halves. Sure? I guess? But that seems to be a product of being mated rather than the reason. Rhysand's parents had huge power imbalances and their personalities didn't mesh. Sure, you could be equal without compatible personalities but power and livelihood? I find it hard to believe.

The mating bond is so inconvenient for it to be a reasonable way of getting any offspring produced in the first place. Rhysand and Cassian were both mated to people from the human world, of course those humans came to the fae world so their mating bond lines up with fate. BUT. They went 500 years without a mate just to end up with 20 yr old women as mates? Same thing with Rhysand's parents. A 900 YEAR OLD MAN AND A 19 YEAR OLD WOMAN. WHAT THE FUCK. High fae rarely leave their courts too, and considering everyone supposedly has a mate, most of their mates would be in other courts, whom they'll never meet. The fate argument that works for Feysand and Cassian fails here, because a mating bond being found is so incredibly rare (except for the fact all three archeron sisters found theirs) that it has nothing to do with fate and circumstance.

Nessian. I hate it with my entire heart. Their ENTIRE romance plot was Cassian domesticating Nesta. He consistently abused and ridiculed her, but Oh! They're mates! So it's out of love! Get out. Pack your 50 shades of domestic violence and get out. That man bitch laughed at her as she fell down the stairs, locked her in a house, insulted and made fun of her regularly, and lusted after her emaciated body while she was clearly struggling. He does not give a fuck about Nesta. They were happy at the end! SO WHAT. That doesn't change the way he acted. She kept pushing away his advances and he didn't not care. The same goes for Feysand but I've already discussed them enough.

Considering all of this, I have come to a conclusion!

SJM used the mating bond as an excuse to not have to write compelling romances that actually make sense and instead a fast track to poor fairy porn and her kinks.

#mating bond #acotar #sjmaas #sarah j maas #anti sjm #anti acotar #anti sarah j maas #anti rhysand #anti feysand #anti inner circle #anti nessian #sjm critical

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showtoonzfan · 10 months

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I watched Sarcastic Chorus’s video on if “Unhappy Campers” fixed Millie or not, and I really liked it, because it actually brought up the giant elephant in the room that the fandom won’t acknowledge. While this episode certainly does have Millie in it and we actually get to see her vulnerable about herself for once, she still was attached to Moxxie, and at the end of the day, he was the one who got more focus, with the episodes plot being more about him and his journey.

It was Moxxie who was put in charge of the investigation and planned for him and Millie to dress up as brother and sister to eliminate suspects. It was Moxxie who wanted to show his worth to Blitz in that he could handle a job. It was Moxxie who tried to bond with the kids but ended up being made fun of and making him insecure. It was Moxxie who ended up getting jealous at Millie for all the fame but couldn’t snag the attention no matter how he tried, and also couldn’t find the suspect. It was Moxxie who ended up snapping at her, but needed to realize in the end that he was a being a dick. It was Moxxie who had the character focus and growth to change his actions at the end of the episode.

—-

Millie for the most part, did what she always did, stood by at Moxxie’s side and supported him. She may have finally got a song, but most of it was fluff and just animation eye candy, showing off her skills, something the audience already knew she was good at. I don’t think fans realize this, but the argument scene she has with Moxxie is legit the ONLY scene in the entire episode where she’s in the spotlight that actually has to do with her character, because the rest was focused on Moxxie at the front. Not that there’s something entirely wrong with that, but it is the bare minimum, especially since what fans want is her to be purely the focus and not just trotting along with another character.

Her feeling happy for once that others aren’t screaming in agony at her is one thing, it could actually make sense and I wouldn’t find it hard to believe, however as everyone else keeps saying, her randomly spewing about how she finally feels like she’s important and “something to be proud of” makes no sense within the narrative, because Millie has always been a strong killing machine, painted as a really good assassin with her family, Blitz, AND Moxxie praising her. She legit has no reason to feel like she isn’t important or something to not be proud of, because she’s always been portrayed as really strong, saving Moxxie millions of times and helping the IMP gang out. And for all the audience has seen and knows, she’s very happy go lucky and loves her job, her co workers, and her family, so this small bit of character exploration feels half assed, unearned, and not thought through.

Finally, the most funny thing about this episode is that Moxxie needs to learn to let Millie shine since she always supports him, and yet the writers struggle with that themselves. Even when Millie finally does have her “big moment” that she was talking about, it’s just an anime montage of her doing stunts and playing the guitar, while the ACTUAL plot of Moxxie trying to kill the target and fighting Barbie is going on at the front, and even ends with the target dying before cutting back to hell later. Millie doesn’t even get any lines, how nice would it have been to see more…like what if she felt bad for her fans since she’s never coming back, or what if she looks through the pictures of her phone of the camp friends she made and wishes she still had that? Feeling sentimental? For Pete’s sake, you’d think after spewing about how much she feels like she isn’t valued, Blitz and Moxxie would confront her in the end and we’d have some heart felt scene of them reassuring her they care and her deciding to be more open. We get none of that, it’s not only wrapped up so quickly, but ends with Moxxie himself, getting the credit from Blitz he wanted, only to end on an unfunny joke of Blitz calling him a disgrace before the credits roll, so we legit close out on Moxxie and Blitz instead of Millie herself.

Putting the bad writing aside, “Unhappy Campers” definitely didn’t fix Millie’s lack of depth and focus, but I would say it’s a small start, wether the writing is dog shit or not, and wether we had to wait this damn long for crumbs or not. At the end of the day, this episode in my opinion opens more of a door to more potential on actually fleshing Millie out….but I do have my doubts, as not only do we have to wait until season 3 for Millie to get the focus again, but Viv and Adam really do make it clear that they have no idea on how to flesh Millie out without attaching her to Moxxie, since the upcoming ghost demon episode has her trying to off herself because she feels like she’s holding him back and a bad wife. I’d say I hope she gets more in the future, but I’m done believing in Viv and Adam. For Millie to work, I feel like she just needs new writers man, cause these writers clearly don’t care for her enough to put the work in and flesh her out and focus on her, bc they suffer from biased favoritism regarding the other characters. Millie will always deserve better and I honestly don’t think it’ll get better for her from here on out. Someone take the rights for her out of Viv and Adam’s grasp and give her the attention and development she deserves lol.

#long post #Millie #Millie and Moxxie #Helluva boss #vivziepop critical #spindlehorse critical #helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #helluva critical #Adam Neylan #Vivziepop #helluva boss millie #helluva boss unhappy campers #rant

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youngerfrankenstein · 10 months

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So today I watched two movies where the deuteragonist goes kinda nuts and turns into a dragon thing, before the protagonist has to calm them down.

They were both a pretty fun time!

Promare is something I had been meaning to watch for quite a while but somehow never got around to. Glad I finally did!

Promare has quite possibly the Worst oppression allegory I have ever seen. A bunch of people are discriminated against because they burned half the world and killed billions (with a B!) of people. Also it’s not actually anything inherent to them it’s a bunch of alien parasites that will destroy the planet. However, since this is basically just an excuse for robots to fight other robots on fire… I can’t say I really care in the end. Promare is ENTIRELY style over substance, and I mean that in the best way.

The plot is breakneck and stupid. Most of the characters barely register as such. The dialogue is so dumb. And it FUCKING RULES! I’ve seen the film described as “Anime the Anime” and that does kind of sum it up. Everything feels like a ten year old boy smashing his action figures together and you can’t help but get swept up in the enthusiasm.

Helped by the absolutely (excuse the pun) FIRE soundtrack. The energy almost never lets up, and on-the-nose engrish lyrics just add to the experience. Even if you don’t watch the movie holy heck listen to the soundtrack.

The characters may be paper-thing but holy hell are they fun to watch. Our protagonist, Galo, himbo extraordinaire is as ridiculous as he is somehow charming. You can’t help but admire his drive to help people. And his foil, the ironically icy Lio, here to set fires and fight for his rights. Aina, a nice, spunky girl set up as a love interest for about five minutes before it turns out her character has more of a story based around her relationship with her sister. Which is a nice change! In fact the only romance in the story arguably involves CPR for plausible deniability. And our hero remembers to open the airway thank heck. Though whether intentional or just ship tease who knows? And who cares. You can guess who the villain is about ten seconds after he shows up and he is as much a blast to watch as the rest.

And really, this is a movie with a secret robot used to save the day called the Deus X Machina. A movie that ends with two shirtless guys setting the Earth on fire to stop the Earth from being set on fire. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and really neither should you. Let it sweep you away for almost two hours and you will feel much better afterwards.

I started reading Nimona around the time it was wrapping up as a webcomic. I have a copy of the graphic novel on my shelf. I was excited when I heard the movie had been greenlit (less so when I heard it was Blue Sky Studios), disappointed by the cancellation and, well, I’m happy it’s here now. While I’ve gotten grouchier over the years, it does make me smile to see these guys on my television, even if they’re not quite the same people either.

Because the movie is very different, and yet much of it feels similar as well. Certain scenes, like the board game, are almost directly from the comic, others are from the comic but not quite the same. The characters are different, Ballister is less jaded, Ambrosius less delusional and Nimona less, well, monstrous. She seems to more beat the snot out of people than commit mass murder. In the comic she’s every bit the monster people fear her to be, though a sympathetic one, and perhaps one who will heal someday. While the ending of the movie is far happier, it fits the new tone. And honestly? I need to stop making comparisons and judge the damn movie on its own merits. Of which it has many!

Our setup is fairly simple, Ballister BlackBoldheart is a new knight of the realm, who immediately gets framed for the murder of the queen and disarmed (heh) by his boyfriend Ambrosius Goldenloin, while on the lam he is approached by a shapeshifter called Nimona who is up for a little mayhem and hijinks. Together they try and clear his name.

My fist fear when I heard Blue Sky studios would be the ones releasing the movie was that a lot of the humour would be Quite Bad. And while there definitely is plenty of that, I think more gags hit than miss. Hell the movie got quite a few laughs out of my dad and he’s a fair bit less likely to chuckle than I am. It is quite a funny movie, which is good because it helps the harsher moments hit harder. Because there are also plenty of those, especially in the final act.

Speaking of, the film is somewhat surprisingly well paced. Scenes tend not to overstay their welcome and the movie flows well. What else flows well? The animation! (My segways not so much) Everything is very smooth, which is rather necessary for all the shapeshifting, and there’s quite an interesting scene made to look as if subway tiles are telling the story of Nimona’s origins (ish).

And the main trio really are quite fun to watch. Ballister, always the underdog, now a public enemy and trying to both clear his name and perhaps open his mind a bit. Ambrosius, golden boy, trying to do the right thing and not always doing a great job. And, of course, Nimona, who’s just here to break shit, though it is quickly clear there’s more underneath, also a pretty blatant trans allegory.

The relationships Ballister has with both the other two are sweet as heck, but also riddled with mistrust that they all have to work to overcome.

And while the movie does get a little preachy at times, it’s a kid’s movie. What do you expect? Rah rah fight the power, all that jazz. I may be too jaded for it but it certainly works.

—

Would recommend checking out both or either if they sound like something you’d enjoy!

#Promare #Nimona #I should polish this up more but ehhhhh #Quick thoughts I guess

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medusapelagia · 4 months

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The restless sea calls back to you - Harringrove Mermaid AU [NSFW]

I'm super in love with this fic and I want to clarify that it's super self-indulgent! I love it because it all started with this beautiful picture, and I love it because that's how I became friend with @lemonhitsu and I had a great time plotting with them and I am very grateful to them for allowing me to use their art as inspiration and for trusting me even if the first story I was writing was not good enough and I had to start back from scratches.😅 I want to thank Lemon for the fun and the incredible support! Nothing of this could have been possible without you! Thank you so much for being so kind and supportive and holding my hand when I was feeling low! 💜 And a special thanks to @applewillowstone and @spaceofentropy for helping me doing some research about monster sex!

That said, I wish everyone a happy holiday season and I am sharing with you this fic which is the present I made for myself and I hope you will like it! Please mind the tags!

Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Merpeople, Merperson Billy Hargrove, mermaid trainer Neil Hargrove, Aquariums, Violence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Sex Change, mermaid trainer Steve Harrington, Murder, Murder Mystery, mention of past Non con with original character, Anal Sex, Human/Monster Romance, Eventual Smut, Blow Jobs, Blood and Injury, Sex, Slow Burn, They/them prononun, Angst with a Happy Ending, Light Angst, Angst and Feels, Enemies to Lovers, Monster sex, Switch Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, POV Steve Harrington, No Beta Read

And because AO3 is not working... get ready for 15k words under the cut!

Steve sighs as soon as his alarm goes off.

He has been working at the Birch Aquarium for a couple of weeks and all his enthusiasm has already died.

He was so happy when they called him back to take the place of the actual mermaid trainer, but two weeks of working with Billy were enough to make him regret his choice.

The blond merman is the biggest pain in the ass ever. He never does what the trainer requests of him and is always glaring and hissing at Steve like a feral cat. The boy has learned on his skin that there is a reason why everyone tells you to not go near an angry mermaid without wearing protection.

Mermaids are rare but not uncommon, the biggest aquariums in the world have at least one, and Steve’s aquarium was so lucky to have a baby mermaid that now became a beautiful merboy.

Steve remembers the day he decided he was going to become a trainer. It was the day his parents brought him to see the baby mermaid that was the main attraction of the aquarium. If he closes his eyes he can still see the little mermaid hiding behind some big black rocks, his little red tail barely visible between the rocks.

A kid punched the glass, trying to get the attention of the little mermaid and Steve saw for a moment a pair of ocean blue eyes big and terrified, and from that day on, every time his parents left him with a new babysitter he asked to go to the aquarium until finally, one day, when Steve and the babysitter were the only visitors of the aquarium, he caught a glimpse of the little merboy. They stared at each other through the glass for a long moment and then a man called a name and dragged the merboy away with a big fishnet. Steve turned toward his babysitter, Angela, and asked her who that man was and she told him that he was the mermaid's trainer.

“So he plays with mermaids all day?”

“It’s a job, Steve, I don’t think that he plays a lot, but yes, he spends his time with the mermaids.”

Now that he is changing in the locker room, Steve is regretting for the umpteenth time having been so adamant about wanting to become a trainer. He sighs. He can’t quit. His father told him really clearly that if he is not able to keep the job he will cut him out once and for all.

Fuck.

He wears the diving suit and gets into the swimming pool where Neil is already waiting for him.

“Go catch him.” He tells him, throwing him a spiked collar. Steve looks at the object with disgust.

“Still too naive, new boy? That monster could kill you in more ways than you think and he is not cooperative, you should know that by now.”

Steve nods, he has a red cut on his forearm that the merboy gave him on his first day, so now he wears the protection every time he has to get to Billy’s tank.

The merboy is brushing his blond curls with his long fingers while resting on a rock, half of his big red tail still in the water.

“Still here, pretty boy? Didn’t I scare you enough?”

“It’s just a scratch.”

Billy smirks “No, it is not, but I appreciate that you came here to bring me lunch. Be so kind and bring it to me.”

Steve knows better than to lean toward the water so close to the merboy so he throws him a couple of fish.

“So stupid. How do you think you can convince me to put on your collar if you already gave me the food?” Billy asks, reaching for the fish that is floating on the surface and tearing a big chunk.

“Asking you kindly?”

Billy bursts out in a laugh “You are funny, I’ll give you that.” The merboy replies, resting on a big rock “Not smart, but funny.”

“Come on, the pool is bigger than your tank and you need to swim more freely or your tail could atrophy.”

“Oh, so that’s it. You are worried for me. No other motives, right?”

Steve sighs “You know that the aquarium is not doing too well, they want to use you as an attraction to sell more tickets, is that a bad thing? I mean, they are still the ones that pay for your food, and your tank, and that make sure that you are healthy and…”

“How kind of them, isn't it? The owners of the aquarium care about my wellbeing so I should repay them by doing some stupid tricks in front of an audience? No, thanks.” The blond merboy replies disgusted.

“A lot of mermaids do stupid tricks in aquariums and they have fun! Maybe you will have fun too?”

“Have you ever been in a tank, Harrington?” The merboy asks, glaring at him.

The boy sighs “You know I have.”

“I’m not talking about giving a walk in the tanks to clean something or sedate some big fish, I’m talking about living in captivity. What do you call it… Oh yes! Living in prison! And be grateful to your captors because they feed you and make sure you are healthy.” Billy glares at him and Steve blushes.

“I know that is not the most perfect place to be but it’s not too bad, you should admit it.”

Some smugglers kidnap mermaids to sell them as expensive pets to rich assholes and only god knows what they do with those poor creatures.

“Have you ever spent a day with Neil? He is no fun either.” The sea creature retorts.

Steve shouldn’t talk badly about his supervisor, but everyone knows that Hargrove has a very impetuous nature and sometimes he gets violent even toward the animals, but especially toward Billy.

“You should try to do what he asks from you for once, maybe he will stop hurting you.” Steve tries to suggest.

Hargrove is no fool, he hits the merboy when no one can see him and he makes sure not to leave any bruises behind.

“Thank you for your kind advice, Harrington, I’m sure everything will be so much better now that you told me exactly how to act when I have to deal with a fucking psychopath!”

“He is not…” but Steve doesn’t have time to finish the sentence that Hargrove is back in the tank.

“What the hell are you doing? It’s not tea time! Get the stupid collar around his neck and come back to the pool. Where is the fish?”

Billy grins, licking his lips “It was delicious, Neil. Thanks.”

“You gave him the fish? Are you fucking stupid, Harrington?! How the fuck do you think to get him off that stupid rock?” The man asks, pinching his nose.

“With some persuasion?”

“This!” Hargrove yells, showing the collar “This is the kind of persuasion that Billy understands and now it’s too far from the shore so you get into the tank and drag him to the pool or I’ll make sure you get fired!” And to clarify the concept he grabs Steve and pushes him into the water without the scuba cylinders or the regulators.

Steve was co-captain of the swimming team but he knows too well that Billy could drag him down and drown him if he wanted to, that’s why every time he gets into the water he makes sure to have the scuba cylinders with him, but now it’s too late, he has his back turned and he knows that the merboy is going to attack him. He tries to regulate his breath and to feel the water break as the merboy reemerges.

As he was expecting the merboy tries to drag him down, but Steve has the lucidity to close the collar against Billy’s throat and yank it hard against the gills the merboy has hidden on his neck.

The sea creature shrieks and releases his grip, freeing Steve who resurfaces and gets back on shore coughing.

“Good job, Harrington. Next time try not to lose all this time.” Hargrove states “I’ll wait for you in the swimming pool.”

Steve takes some deep breaths while the merboy resurfaces glaring at him.

“Come on, Billy. Don’t make me activate it, I know that is already bad as it is.” Steve begs him, showing him the passage from the tank toward the swimming pool, and Billy gets in the pool, always hissing toward him.

Steve takes a look at his clock. Half past nine and he already barely escaped death. Not bad. It could be his new record.

***

When the training ends Steve brings Billy back to his tank. The merboy is tired and he has red bruises where Neil hurt him.

“You ok?” It’s a stupid question, Steve knows that, but he can’t avoid it.

“Are you worried about me, Harrington? How sweet.” The merboy replies, licking his sharp teeth “Maybe next time you’ll get into my tank I’ll keep you.”

“Fuck you, Billy!”

“Are you proposing, pretty boy?”

It’s just their usual bickering but Steve can feel that his cheeks are blushing.

“Oh, so you do have a crush on me. That makes so much sense: that’s why you are obsessed with me. Don’t worry, pretty boy, I’m not going to fuck you… at least not as you are thinking, but I’ll keep fucking with you because it’s the funniest thing that I can do in this stupid place.” Billy replies and then he gets underwater, while Steve stares at his big red tale covered in shimmering scales.

“He has an attitude, I’ll give him that.” Hargrove says appearing from nowhere “But stay away from him. He is still a mermaid and even if he hasn’t had the time to learn the songs from other mermaids he is still capable of convincing you to kill yourself in his tank. It would not be the first time.”

Steve stares at the old man “Did he… Did he kill someone? For real?”

The man nods, walking Steve toward the lockers “You are too young to remember, but there was another girl who trained with me years ago, pretty thing, red hair, sweet smile, the name was Susan. She was even more innocent than you are, she treated him like a kid, not like the monster he is, and one day when I got to the tank to feed him, he was underwater, holding Susan’s body into his arms.

Billy attacked me when I tried to take the dead body from his arms, and the authorities had him sedated and they were ready to put him down, but there was a petition against it and he was still the biggest attraction of the aquarium, so, in the end, they decided to keep him but they moved him to the tank where he is now, in a more secluded area and where no one else could get in a part from me and you, so pay attention if you don’t get killed during your first month of training.”

They are changing together for the first time and Steve sees many claws scars on Neil’s body “Did he…”

“Mermaids are like that. You have to pay attention every single second.” The man gets up “Listen, boy, I know that you don't like my way of training him, but you have to understand that he is not a pretty pet, he is a ferocious monster and our luck is that he was taken from his family too young so he doesn’t really know what he can do and how easy would be for him kill everyone.” Hargrove closes his bag “I don’t pretend that you agree with my method, but I want you to be conscious that he is a menace and you are the only person that stays between him and the visitors. Think about yourself like a sort of paladin. That’s what I do.” They are looking each other in the eyes when Neil asks him “Wouldn’t you do what you can to protect the people you care for?” And then he leaves Steve alone with even more questions.

***

The conversation he had with Neil opened his eyes: the old man is right, the mermaids are dangerous and he was a fool thinking that with some kindness and some fish he could have convinced Billy to do what he wanted.

“Raise and shine, Billy. Are you ready to jump throught some hoops today?” Steve enters the tank but Billy is not on his favorite rock. He looks around and he can’t see him. The merboy is too big to hide in the tank, but from the surface, Steve can’t see where he is hiding, so he takes his equipment and, with a sigh, he gets into the water.

The water is full of colorful fish that quickly swim away as soon as the boy gets closer, he swims toward the rocks when something shining attracts his attention, mermaids are famous for having a passion for shiny things. Steve gets closer to the big rock, the same where the little mermaid used to hide, and reaches out for the shiny thing when he sees it, the big red tail.

In a moment Billy is in front of him, yelling with a voice that has no words but that gets directly into Steve’s mind even if they are in the water.

Steve shakes his head, ripping off his mask and his scuba regulator, trying to free himself from Billy’s tight grip screaming in his head, then he opens his mouth to breathe. Underwater.

***

“Boy? Are you with me? Harrington?”

Steve coughs, holding for dear life to the person who is speaking to him.

“Harrington? Steve?” The voice calls him again, urging an answer.

Steve pukes some water “Fine. I’m fine.”

The man’s grip relaxes while Steve tries to take some deep breaths.

“What happened?”

“You told me! I saw in the security monitor that you got in the tank, next thing I know that monster was holding you underwater and you were drowning.”

“Billy… where is Billy?”

“Oh, he is lucky if they don’t decide to sell him even sooner.” Hargrove hisses.

“Se… Sell him?” Steve asks, still coughing.

“You must have seen that he is no good with little tricks and his care it’s expensive, the owners of the aquari will sell him sooner than later, but after he tried to kill another trainer I don’t think any other aquarium will be willing to buy him.”

“He didn’t try to drown me.” Steve tries to protest and Hargrove looks at him with pity.

“He messed with your head. Didn’t he?” The man looks at the pool “I knew it! They should have cut his vocal cords when I suggested it but no, animal rights activists said that it was too cruel. Cruel. Wasn’t it cruel to let him drown Susan? Or you?”

Steve shakes his head, trying to concentrate even if he is too confused at the moment. Did Billy try to kill him? He can’t remember what happened, just that he saw something shining on the floor of the tank, something that didn’t belong to the aquarium.

“Come with me, I’ll drive you to the hospital.” Neil says, helping the boy stand up.

“I’m ok… I don’t need to go to the hospital.”

The old man stares at Steve, then he helps him back to the lockers “Take a hot shower and change back, you and I are going to have a little chat.”

Steve nods, confused, it’s the first time that he sees Neil worried. Did Billy really try to kill him?

Steve knows that some mermaids have the ability to use their voice to manipulate fish, it’s how they hunt: some of them sing to the fish and the others capture them, but he never knew that they could do something to humans’ minds. And how does Neil know it? He has indeed been a trainer for years but if the mermaids were able to manipulate people someone would have said something, right?

The hot water helps him relax and when he gets back to Neil, all this terrible adventure seems just a bad dream.

"Sit down." Neil says, holding a cup of tea, and Steve sits in front of him.

"A few years ago there was a lovely girl who wanted to be a mermaid trainer like me. Her name was Susan. Susan was a dreamer, just like you, she didn't like to use the collar, just like you, and she was convinced that mermaids needed better care than the one we were providing.

Billy was just a baby fish at the time and I guessed she thought about him like a baby, but not like a baby monster. You see, all mermaids are dangerous, but some of them are more dangerous than others."

"What does it mean?"

Neil sighs, sipping some coffee "It means that some of them can emit some frequency that can drive you crazy, convincing you to do things you would never do in your right mind. And our boy, well he is one of those."

"How do you know it?"

Neil raises his elbow and replies "I always suspected it. Billy used to play with the fish and the water horses in his tank but he was clever, he only did it by night. Fish don't really sleep, you know? And so do mermaids. But one night I caught him playing with the fish. They were making shapes for him, not the classic shape of a school of fish, the kind he was asking them to do, and I swear to god that I heard him giggle."

Steve closes his eyes, concentrating on the hot cup between his hands. He knows exactly what Neil is talking about. He saw those shapes. Or even worse, he showed those shapes to Billy on one of those days when he and his babysitter were the only people in the aquarium and the girl was too busy chatting on his phone. And Billy made a square of fish for him.

How could he forget that?

"Well, making shapes with fish doesn't sound so dangerous."

"Yeah. Until he doesn't decide that he is tired of making squares and circles and he decides to attack you with some sharks." Neil lifts his eyes to meet Steve's "That's what happened to Susan. He convinced her to get into the tank and the shark attacked her. When we were able to recover the body the merboy was holding it so tight that there were little red punctures made from his claws in her skin."

Steve gulps, trying to keep his heart beating under control "What happened?"

"The coroner said that she fell into the tank and drowned before the sharks attacked her, but I think that he ordered her to jump into the tank and then he kept her there until she was out of breath, then he tried to cover his tracks by ordering the sharks to eat her."

"What about the security cameras?"

Neil smirks "There was a big storm that night. The security cameras were off." Neil gets up "Finish your tea and go home."

"But we still have training..."

"After what I saw I don't think they are going to keep him for long. If you really want to be a mermaid trainer, is it better if you apply to another aquarium." the man replies, leaving Steve alone in the relax area with the quiet hum of the refrigerator in the background.

***

Having the day suddenly free, Steve goes to the local library to do some research. He could go back home but he doesn't want to see her mother's disappointed look when she will ask him why he is at home so soon.

He was her perfect little boy until he started to attend high school and started to party every weekend.

It is not his fault if his parents were always away on some business trip and he hated being home alone! That's how he started drinking and smoking and his grades got worse and worse.

His mother decided to come back after the night he almost fall into an alcohol-induced coma and ended up on the first page of the local newspaper, fucking up his image as the perfect golden boy and definitely fucking up the future his parents were dreaming for him.

Steve hasn't drunk a single drop of alcohol since then, but that doesn't mean that his mother stopped to smell his breath every single time he doesn't respect the schedule so, no thanks, public library it is.

He gets to one of the old computers that has nothing to do with his Mac, he even searches for some link from his smartphone and then he copies the link on the computer to read it more easily.

The first information he looks for is about Neil Hargrove.

His Facebook page has very little information about him, on his profile picture Neil is holding a rifle, he is fifty-nine, if the birth date is correct, and ex-marine with a penchant for weapons.

The profile picture is an old one, as Steve sees as he enlarges the images, he is smiling, standing next to a bullseye, with a cigarette on the side of his mouth while holding a big rifle.

Steve searches for more information and finds a little blurb about his departed wife and how he left the marine and became a mermaid trainer to stay close to her when she got sick.

Perfect husband and perfect citizen, or so it seems. He even rescued his old neighbor from the fire.

A hero, practically.

Then Steve starts to look for Susan.

Even if he doesn't know her surname it's easy to find her given the information he has: Susan Mayfair, twenty-five, a degree in marine biology and a passion for mermaids, deceased after being attacked by sharks while cleaning their tank.

Not exactly what Neil said.

Steve looks for more information and finds an old Instagram page still open. All the pictures are old, and the latest are some selfies she took at the aquarium. There are some old penguin tanks that after the renovations have been moved to another section of the aquarium, and there are a lot of Billy's pictures.

He looks like a human kid, he couldn't be older than ten, maximum twelve, they are playing in the water, Susan is winking behind her mask and Billy's red tail emerges from the water.

In another Susan's hand is holding what looks like an aluminum can tab, the caption says "My prince gave me an engagement ring".

Steve snorts, who the hell would give an aluminum can tab to a twenty-five-year-old girl as an engagement ring? He keeps looking at the pictures and the answer gets too easy: a kid would. Or, to be more precise, a merkid.

Steve keeps looking at the pictures, trying to find any evidence, any sign that Billy is the monster Neil talked about, but all he can see is a happy little fish, playing with the person who took care of him.

He is still looking through the picture when something gets his attention. Something shining in the background, something that he had seen before but didn't understand what it was.

A dog tag.

A military dog tag.

***

This is the worst idea Steve has ever had, even worse than the time he and Tommy decided to jump from Steve’s window into the pool and almost kill themselves in the making.

Steve has a badge that allows him entrance to the aquarium at any time and he knows the night guard, all he has to do is tell Jim that he forgot something in the lockers, and he will not ask any questions, maybe he will mumble something about how he should pay more attention, but he will not stop him, not until it will be too late.

Steve passes his badge and the backdoor of the aquarium opens with a slam that in the silence of the night reverberates like a gunshot.

“Who's there?” The chubby guard asks, walking toward the door with the hand ready over his gun and a frosted donut in the other hand.

“Jim. Hi. I’m Steve. Sorry to bother but I forgot my… my wallet in the locker.” He says, trying to remain calm under the sight of the armed guard.

“Your wallet uh?”

“Yeah. You know… I’m so messy sometimes.”

The man gets closer “So you forgot your wallet. Here.”

Steve shivers for a moment when he repeats “Yeah. My wallet.”

The man is so close that he can smell coffee in his breath.

“I see. Do you want me to get it for you?”

Shit! He didn’t think about that! What now?

“No. It’s fine, I can get it.”

“Are you sure? I know you had a hard day.”

“A hard day?” Steve asks, confused.

“Neil told me about the mermaid. It’s a little piece of shit that one: he keeps turning the camera in his tank so I can’t see shit! But if he thinks I’m going to get inside and let him fucking kill me he is fucking wrong! I’m not going to get close to that monster!”

“He is… he is not a monster.” Steve tries to protest but his voice sounds unsure even to his own ears.

“Are you sure you are ok? It’s not the… mermaid thing? Neil said that they can convince you to do what they want… Oh god. Are you under a spell?”

Steve quickly shakes his head “No, no spell, just a little bit shocked to be honest, but I need my home keys.”

Jim glares at him “I thought you were looking for your wallet.”

Shit!

“Yeah! I’m looking for my wallet because I have the electronic key that opens my house in my wallet, but I call it my home key, you know?”

The man raises an eyebrow “Fancy rich shit, uh?”

“Obviously.” Steve replies with a smile so fake that his cheeks hurt.

The man stares at him for a moment and then he tilts his head “Go, but be quick. I don’t want any problems.”

Steve nods and rushes toward the locker room, he knows that there are no cameras either in the locker room or in the passages behind the tank with access limited to the dedicated staff, when they have to move from one tank to the other, and if Billy’s camera is not working he has at least twenty minutes: not enough time to change and to take all his equipment but Steve was always the best one at free diving. He wears the wet suit and runs toward Billy’s tank, hoping that the mermaid is asleep somewhere.

Mermaids never really sleep, not like humans in any case, they just rest, so Steve really hopes that he is lucky enough that Billy is resting and not ready to attack him.

When he gets into the tank he looks toward the rocks where the merboy usually rests but doesn’t see him anywhere. He takes a few deep breaths, trying to expand his lungs to their maximum; he hasn’t weight around his waist but it’s not too deep, he should be able to get to the floor easily enough, and if he is lucky he will manage to get behind the little rock without disturbing Billy.

Steve dives in, his sight concentrated on the tank floor and on the little rock he saw that morning. He knows that Billy is there somewhere and that he probably felt the water vibration when he dived in but he really hopes that he will be quicker than him.

All Steve’s hope crashes when he sees the merboy swimming rapidly toward him screaming something in the water but Steve has come too far to stop now, he reaches out his hand and catches the shiny thing, military dog tag, and turns it to see the name of the owner, but Billy is screaming pushing Steve against the glass wall.

Steve screams something back, the stupidest idea ever, he realizes when he sees the bubble of air running toward the surface, fuck. He will drown. He has no time to get to the surface. He tries to swim toward the surface, his hands reaching up, but Billy is holding him and he can’t reach it. The boy lowers his eyes and Billy is in front of him, his blond curls waving in the water, so beautiful and so deadly.

But especially beautiful.

Steve is going to die so he finally does it: he slips his fingers in Billy’s golden locks, and now that they are so close he can see that Billy’s eyes aren’t blue. They have golden flakes near the pupil that he has never noticed before.

Billy’s eyes are the last thing that he will ever see and they are so fucking beautiful.

He is still lost in these thoughts when Billy pushes him against the glass wall so hard that he whimpers and in a moment Billy’s mouth is on his, kissing him. No. Not kissing him. Breathing into him!

Steve’s eyes widen, the mermaid is pushing air into his lungs, and then he takes him under his arm and drags him toward the surface.

“What the fuck Harrington! If you want to die go jump from a fucking bridge, don’t come to my tank!” The merboy complains, irritated.

Steve stares at him, touching his lips incredulously.

“You kissed me.”

“It’s not a kiss if you are almost dying. And I’m tired of saving your stupid life.” Billy replies looking at him with flaming eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“This morning? When you removed your regulator? Does it ring a bell?”

“I… I didn’t…”

“Oh, you fucking did. And you breathe water in, stupid moron, I had to push on your stupid chest and breathe air in your lungs. And you are back here, trying to kill yourself!” The merboy rebukes “Don’t you have a life? A girlfriend waiting for you somewhere?”

Steve shakes his head, then he asks “You gave me CPR? How do you…”

“Someone taught me.” The sea creature replies “She thought that I could have helped people one day. Be a lifeguard or something like that.”

“Susan?”

Billy turns his head for a moment, biting his lips as he was fighting with himself, before he hisses “Can you tell me what the fuck do you want from me? Do you want to prove that I am a monster? Is that it? I could have killed you!”

“I know.”

“So why the fuck are you here! And with no oxygen!”

“I didn’t have the time and I wanted to check on something.” Steve tries to explain.

“What?”

Steve opens his fist and shows him the metal tag in his hands.

“That’s mine! Give it back!”

“Can I read the name of the person who owned it?”

“What?”

“It’s a military dog tag.” Steve tells him “It’s a kind of microchip, like the one the dolphins have. They gave this to the people that were fighting in case… in case they die, so that someone could have brought it back to the family.”

“A name? This thing has a name on it?”

Steve nods and the mermaid uses his webbed hands to turn it but then looks at Steve ashamed “I can’t… I can’t read.”

Stupid Steve, Billy has spent all his life in a tank. How do you pretend he could read?!

“I could read it for you.”

“My mum gave it to me when I was a baby fish.” The blond merboy tells him, holding the tag so tight that his knuckles whiten “She said… she said it was my father’s…”

Steve stares at the merboy astonished “You mean… you mean that your father was human?”

Billy nods “That’s what mum said.”

“Where is she? Where is your mother?” Steve asks, getting closer.

“I don’t know. I was just a baby fish when they brought me away from her. That’s all I have.”

“You can hold it, I just need to turn it and read the name under the tag. Will you let me?”

Billy shivers, Steve has never seen him so nervous, he is usually sassy and sarcastic.

Steve gently pries Billy’s hand open and then turns the tag, gasping at the name.

***

The chestnut boy definitely doesn’t have the time to take a shower, so he changes back and runs toward the exit, hoping that Jim will be too busy looking at the last episode of his favorite series to check on him.

“Thanks, Jim! You saved me! Have a good night!” Steve says, while he keeps running toward the door.

“Hey, Steve, everything ok?” The guard asks him but Steve is almost at the door.

“Great! Have a nice night!” He tells him before closing the door behind him and taking a big breath of relief.

He can’t believe what happened: he got into the tank, Billy saved his life, apparently for the second time, and… they kissed. No, not kissed, he was just breathing air into his lungs, Steve repeats to himself trying to slow down his beating heart.

And that’s not even the most crazy thing.

The craziest thing is that Billy is half-human, like literary half-human, like… he has a human father. A father whose name is written on a metal tag that the merboy hid for years. A name that makes absolutely no sense, because if there is someone who seems to hate mermaids it is that man.

Steve gets home and gets in the shower, feeling the wet sensation of Billy’s plump lips on his. He shakes his head like a dog and a million tiny drops fly everywhere.

It wasn’t a kiss! It was a life-saving maneuver. And that’s not even the point! The point it’s that the name on that stupid tag is the one he suspected, but now that he knows that it’s Billy’s father's name he can’t believe that he was right.

He gets out of the shower and, still dripping water, gets to his computer, searching for every article about the aquarium, Billy, Susan, Neil, Jim, every person that he knows has worked at the aquarium, and he finally finds a very tiny article about Billy’s birth.

“Blue Ribbon at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Nerea, a young little mermaid with beautiful blond hair, has given birth to a very healthy baby merboy. His name, William, was chosen by the visitors of the aquarium, but the staff of the aquarium affectionately calls him Billy.”

Nerea, the young blond mermaid, is looking with terror at the man who is holding her child in the picture.

And that man, it’s Neil Hargrove.

Steve searches for other information about Neil and quickly finds out that his wife's death and Billy’s birth are suspiciously close to one another and that the men left the aquarium when the veterinarians decided that the merboy was old enough to be sold to another aquarium.

Nerea, the young mermaid, died of sorrow a few weeks later.

Steve keeps searching on every website but there is no info about Billy or Neil after that, only a few news about Susan and her premature death, which was labeled as an incident.

Steve goes back to Susan’s Instagram page, searching for every image with the dog tag; there are just a few, in one of them the caption says “My little prince brought me to see his sacred treasure.”

Could Susan have known about Neil?

But how could she? No one knew that Billy was the son of a human and a mermaid.

Unless.

Unless Billy told her like he told Steve.

Holy fucking shit!

Steve looks at the clock, it is far too early and he knows he will not sleep, but he tries his best to rest a little, tomorrow will be a very interesting day.

***

When he enters the locker room Neil is already dressed in a wetsuit “Are you ready to go? Yesterday was a difficult day, I get it if you don’t want to train with him, especially now that you know that he is going to be sold.”

“And why is that? He seems like a unique specimen.” Steve says, feeling disgust for himself but trying to hide it.

“Because he is a monster, maybe?” The man replies sarcastically “Or because he is too stupid and stubborn to be trained? He is good looking but he definitely has no brain.”

Steve nods, wearing his wetsuit.

“You know, I read some articles about Billy last night. He was born at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, did you know that?”

“Yes.” Hargrove replies.

“His mother died of sorrow when they took away her kid.”

“She probably got some infections during childbirth, they are like animals, Steve, they have no feelings.” Neil insists and Steve does his best to hide his repugnance.

“You worked there too, didn’t you?” The boy tries to make it sound like a casual question but, from the way Neil stiffens, Steve knows that he got the point just right.

“Are you implying something, kid?”

“No. Why should I? I just wanted to ask you how she was. If you were able to train her, maybe you can train Billy too.”

“Billy can’t be trained, I already told you. I tried everything. I tried to be kind, I tried to give him prizes, I tried to hurt him, he is indomitable.” The man growls.

Steve nods but he doesn’t think that it’s a bad thing because that’s exactly what Billy is: he is the biggest and scariest wave of the ocean, the one that can destroy an entire town, but that gives you so much adrenaline if you ride her.

Indomitable.

Sounds like a nice nickname, doesn’t it?

“That’s a pity. As we said, he is a beautiful specimen.”

Neil nods “There are places for creatures like him. Maybe they’ll find a way of making him more cooperative.”

Did Neil say the same to Susan?

Did they fight over Billy’s future?

Steve has no proof but he feels that Neil knows more about Susan's death than he is willing to tell him.

“Come on. No fish this time when you collar him. Show him who is the master.”

“Don't you think he will try to use his scary voice powers?”

“Only if you let him. That’s why we have the spiked collar. If he tries something you can activate it.”

“And what did Susan think about it?”

Neil glares at him “Why?”

“I don’t know. She seemed like a nice girl.”

“You have done an awful amount of research, Steve, I’m impressed. Are you studying for something in particular?” The man asks, glaring at him.

Steve keeps smiling innocently “I would like to find a new way to make the mermaids cooperate without hurting them.”

“That’s a nice idea but it’s not possible. How many times do I have to tell you that they are not like us? They are monsters. Free him somewhere and he will feed himself with human meat.”

Steve follows Neil toward the training pool, then he gets back in the tank where Billy is resting.

“No fish today, pretty boy? Are you offering yourself to be my lunch?”

“Nah, just wondering if you were in the mood for a little swim in the big pool.”

“I hate that fucking pool. And I hate that fucking man.” Billy’s eyes shine gold for a moment.

“Billy…”

“What?”

“Don’t do it.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“He has the collar. He will mute you and he will hit you.”

“Not if I hurt him first.”

“And then what? If you kill your trainer someone will put you down because you are too dangerous, do you understand that?!” Steve hisses, trying to resonate with the sea creature.

“Why the fuck do you care?” Billy growls.

Because I like you. Because I liked you since the first time I saw your little red tail waving in the water and your blue eyes pinned on me.

“Because you are a living creature and…”

“Go fuck your self Harrington!” Billy yells and then goes underwater.

Steve sighs, he shouldn’t have told Billy which name was written under the metal plate.

“Harrington! Where the fuck is my merboy?”

“He is tired. Can we try again tomorrow?”

“You are too soft, Harrington, you will never get him to do what you want!” The man yells and then he gets back to the tank where Billy is hiding “Get out of there! Stupid fish!” He yells again toward the water.

Steve understands what’s going to happen just a moment before it does.

Billy gets out of the water so fast that all that Steve sees is a blur of the red silhouette dragging the old trainer down with him.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Billy! Don’t!” He screams, before diving in the water too.

Neil is trying to escape from Billy’s tight grip but Steve knows how strong the marine creature is, there is no chance that he will free himself without the spiked collar.

Steve swims closer to them trying to free the man but Billy’s screams in his mind.

Back off.

And Steve does, unable to resist the command in that voice.

He sees Neil stopping to struggle and finally stiffens, while Billy releases his hold on the man and gets closer to the boy.

Did you like kissing me so much?

The voice sings and then Billy’s lips are on Steve’s, breathing into him and dragging him toward the surface.

It takes a moment for Steve to come back to himself this time.

“How… how did you do it?”

“I sang.” He simply states, keeping Steve lying on his body while he lazily swims in his tank.

“Neil. You killed him.”

“I did.”

“They are going to put you down. You know that, right?”

Billy nods “I know, but when you told me the name I couldn’t… I couldn't resist anymore.”

“Resist?”

Billy nods “My mum. She said she didn’t want it, but he kept abusing her during her training, tiring her out so much that she wasn’t able to fight back. She always wore the collar, speaking was hard for her, but she told me what I needed to know, that I didn’t have to trust humans, and that I should take revenge for her. And I did.”

“I don’t want you to die.” Steve whispers.

“I know.”

“How do you know?”

“You are the only kid that came every fucking day for weeks. You are the one who showed me shapes. You are the one that promised me freedom. You are the one that lied to me.” Billy glares at him.

“I didn’t lie. I was just six. How could I have freed you?”

“I guess, maybe you didn’t lie. Maybe you finally freed me. Today.”

No, no, no, that’s not how he wanted things to go.

“I don’t want you to die.” Steve repeats feeling tears in his eyes.

“I don’t think there are other options, pretty boy.”

Steve is still lying on Billy’s stomach when he sees it, the sewage canal. Not the cleanest way to escape but…

He points at the grate “I guess you are strong enough to pull it.”

Billy sighs “I’m strong enough, but I have webbed hands, did you forget that?”

“Use me. I mean, use my hands, I’ll grab it and you will pull.”

“I will hurt you.”

“I will not let you die, Billy, so help me or I’ll do it myself.”

They swim toward the sewage canal and Steve grabs the grate with all his strength before Billy grabs his arms and pulls so hard that the grate cedes.

They hear the sounds of steps.

“You can still say that I made you do it. That it was my plan all along and you did what you had to to survive.”

Steve shakes his head, here, in a big aquarium tank with a dead body floating just a few feet away, Steve feels finally useful.

“I will not leave you alone.”

In his mind he is still six years old, asking his babysitter if Billy will feel alone at night.

“No, honey, he will not, can’t you see how many fish are there with him?”

Only maybe he did. Maybe he was just a mermaid child, missing his mum.

***

The loud splash brings Steve back to the present time, he has no fucking idea where the water will bring them, and the flow is strong, Steve is a good swimmer but all the adrenaline of the last few days is getting to him so he is starting to feel tired.

“Let the water carry you.” Billy suggests from behind him. Even in the dirty water, Billy is still the most beautiful creature Steve has ever seen.

His tale is huge in the tight canal, but he seems completely at ease even in this unfamiliar environment.

“Are you not scared?”

Billy smirks “Oh, Steve, I have been scared all my life. This? This is nothing.”

He gets closer to Steve and hugs him “Hold on me.”

Hold on me.

Like… you can count on me.

Like… I’m here for you.

And somehow, while they are swimming in the semi-darkness toward an unknown future, Steve feels that he is exactly where he was supposed to be.

He starts to giggle in the dark.

“Are you definitely going crazy, Steve?” Billy asks, but his words are not harsh, just curious.

“I was thinking about my parents, how proud of me they will be when they find out I helped you murder Neil and escape.” The boy chuckles.

“Are you regretting it?”

Steve’s chest gets tight.

Is he scared out of his mind? Yes.

Does he have any idea of what they are going to do now? No.

Is he regretting freeing the merboy? Absolutely not.

They stay in silence for a long time, then Billy sighs "I wasn't trying to kill you, but you were putting your dirty hands in my den.” he explains, without looking at Steve.

“Your den? I thought your den was in the farther part of the tank.” And then the boy suddenly remembers the little red tail hiding behind that same rock “Oh… that was your hiding place.” The place where he collected and hid his treasure.

Billy sighs “I can't believe that I had the answer under my nose for all this time and I didn’t know it! I knew that the stupid necklace had something to do with my father but I never thought that Neil… He was kind, you know? At least at the beginning. He brought me sweet things and some shiny ones. Mum always said to not trust the human but he was the only person I had any contact with so it was hard not to become attached to the only person I saw every day. I could speak with the fish in the tank, but they would not answer me. Neil did. Neil always had some adventure to talk about. How could I not notice that it was him? My mum was fucking terrified of him! And still, I didn’t understand.”

Steve turns Billy’s face until they are watching each other “Don't get angry at yourself. You could have no idea that he was… that he did… who could have ever imagined all of that?”

“Susan.” It’s Billy’s cold answer “Susan did. She told me that she had a plan and that all I had to do was wait for her. Why didn’t she tell me what she discovered?”

Did Neil kill Susan? That’s what Steve has been thinking about since he saw the pictures on Instagram.

He has no proof but if Susan saw the dog tag and Billy trusted her enough to tell her about his father, Susan must have understood that Neil was Billy’s father and everyone knew what kind of trainer he was.

Steve tries to imagine for a moment the red-haired girl confronting the old man, maybe even threatening him.

“But why did she do that? Why didn't she talk to me?”

“I can't pretend I know why she did, Billy, but I'll tell you why I would have done it: to protect you. I would have faced Neil and told him to quit. There aren't… there aren't laws against the abuses of mermaids so the only thing she could do was pressure him into quitting. She probably tried to blackmail him and he… he killed her.”

Billy remains silent, flapping his fins, keeping Steve close to his body.

“She was kind. I think I liked her.” He whispers “She always made sure that there were a couple of shrimp in my food because she noticed I liked them the most. After she died I have never eaten another shrimp.”

Steve holds him even tighter “I'm so sorry, Billy.”

“She was so young. Maybe a couple of years older than you. I thought she fell into the water, I tried to help her, I really did but… but…”

It was too late.

There are no words that can erase such pain, so they stay embraced like that, following the water.

“Listen. Seagulls.”

***

When they emerge from the sewage canal the sun is setting.

For a moment Steve wonders if they will find the police waiting for them, but everything happened so fast that he doubts that anyone had the time to study the watery system and understand exactly where they would have ended up.

When Billy sees the ocean his eyes get wide and the gold in his irises shines even brighter, his gills open, breathing in the salted air, and in a moment he disappears under the water.

For a few moments, Steve sees the red tail, now almost violet, and then nothing more.

He stays on the shore, wet and shivering for the cold, looking at the blue expense of the ocean in front of him, wondering what he should do now. He definitely can’t follow Billy underwater, no matter what, and he has no equipment to swim with him even just for a few minutes.

The boy stares at the ocean, waiting to see a red tail or something but when nothing appears he lets himself fall on his knees.

It’s ok, they didn’t promise each other anything at all, and now Billy is finally free,

The air is crisp on his skin, he is wet and tired and all he wants to do is rest, just for a moment.

***

Steve lies on the shore, looking at the stars and wondering what he is going to do now.

His old life is gone, he is a fugitive and his parents will never get him back after what he did. He vaguely wonders if the police will inquire, if they will look through his computer if they will come to the same conclusion he did. If they will understand that Neil killed Susan.

A gasping fish falls into his lap and when he lifts his eyes, Billy is staring at him, eating another one.

“You should eat.”

“I can’t eat raw fish.”

“Why?”

“It’s bad for my stomach.” Steve tries to explain “And I have no fucking idea on how to make a fire, but thanks.”

Billy raises an eyebrow but doesn’t comment when Steve puts the fish back in the water and the animal starts to swim faster than he could.

“What can you eat?"

"Raw? I really don't know, honestly, I never had the urgency of eating something raw directly from the ocean." Steve replies tilting his head.

Billy turns toward the ocean "Have you already been here?"

"In this place?"

"In the ocean." The merboy says, looking at the horizon "It's the first time for me." Billy whispers "My mum told me something about it but… it's so big. I could swim in every direction and tired myself before getting to the glass wall."

Steve chuckles "Billy. The ocean has no glass walls."

The merboy turns toward him, his eyes big with wonder "No?"

For the first time, Steve looks at him like he was a child, not the deadly creature everyone said he was.

"No. You can swim wherever you want, with no limits."

Billy stares at him, silently.

"Are you scared?" Steve asks, getting closer to the water.

"No." the merboy denies, and Steve sits on the shoreline.

"It's ok if you are. I will not judge you. I'm scared too, you know?"

"About what?"

"Everything? I mean, I think I technically lost my job, I'm pretty much a fugitive and I can't go back home. All I have right now are the clothes I'm wearing and they are soaked." He confesses with a wry smile.

"Why don't you strip?" Billy suggests.

Steve startles "What?!"

"Why don't you strip? Your clothes will get dry faster."

"I'm not going to stay naked in front of you!"

"Why not? I'm always naked and it makes no difference to you."

Steve blushes "It's different!"

"How?"

Steve can't point out if Billy is being sassy or naive, so he turns his face to avoid Billy and he sees a Lifeguard Towers a few feet away with a white little boat resting at his feet, the word lifeguard written in big bold red letters, and goes toward it: if he is lucky enough he will find some spare clothes.

The boy is not worried about adding breaking and entering to all the crimes he probably committed in the last few hours, so he breaks the lock with a rock and gets into the lifeguard's tower. He finds an old backpack with a pair of bright pink swim trunks, and a long faded tank top, then he takes his wet clothes and throws them inside the little boat and he pushes the boat toward the sea.

"What's this?" Billy asks, swimming around the little boat.

"It's a boat. It's a floating thing that humans use to move in the water without swimming." He never understood how little was Billy's knowledge of the world until now and for a moment he regrets his actions, the merboy is used to living in captivity, how could he survive in the wild?

Steve starts to row but Billy complains loudly about it "Stop it!" He yells, barely avoiding one of the rows.

"If I don't row in some direction I'll go adrift!" Steve complains "I have no map and I'm no good at reading stars, if the water flow will drag me far from the shore I'll be lost." And probably die.

"I can push you."

"Sorry?"

"I can push this thing.” Billy repeats “I'll stay close to the shore, I promise."

"We need to find a cove or something like that, a place where we can both rest but where we can hide." Steve says, looking around.

"Like a den."

"Like a den." Steve agrees, getting the rows inside the boat.

Steve wonders if it is crazy to entrust his life to a killer merboy who could literally eat him, and the answer is probably yes, but he is too tired, and the gentle rocking of the waves is so soothing that he falls asleep.

***

An unusual weight on the chest is what wakes up Steve, who yells when he sees a big seagull resting on his chest.

"You ok?" A familiar voice asks.

Steve turns and sees the merboy resting on some rocks nearby while the boat is resting on the shoreline.

"Where are we?"

"In a den, like you said."

Steve looks around him, they are in a little cove, the water is bright green where the boat rests, but it gets darker and darker a few feet away.

"A sea cave." He whispers astonished.

"Do you like it?" The merboy asks him, jumping into the water and reemerging just in front of Steve "We could live here."

Steve's stomach grumbles.

"I can get you some fish." Billy proposes and Steve starts to look in the old backpack to see if there is something useful and finds a crumbled packet of crackers and half a bottle of water.

"Thank you but I'm good." The boy replies.

That is a limited-time solution, he will have to get back and Billy will swim away soon, but all he can do right now is let himself enjoy the moment.

His feet hit something, and when he looks down he sees many colorful little rocks, some of them are bottle glasses that the waves transformed in little gems, but there are also some shimmering shells.

"What are those?" Steve asks, confused.

"Presents. For your treasure."

"I don't have a treasure, Billy." Steve tries to explain to him.

"I know. But you need one. A big one. I know you are not strong enough but I'll help you guard it." The sea creature replies, smiling with his sharp teeth.

"Billy… I don't need it."

"You do. My mate needs to have the biggest treasure ever!" The merboy declares proudly.

"Your what? Billy, are you ok?"

Now that Steve notices it Billy's tail is even brighter and he is almost dancing around the boat, like the sea lions do before mating.

"Billy?" He calls again, but Billy's eyes are golden than ever, with no blu in his irises "Billy I don't know what you are thinking but you are not in your right mind, ok? I understand that everything that happened was overwhelming, but please, look at me. I'm Steve. I'm your trainer."

"We kissed."

"We… sort of kissed but it wasn't a real kiss, ok? You were giving me air to breathe, do you remember that?"

"I want to give you more air." Billy's voice is so musical, and even if he is not singing to Steve, he definitely could.

Steve shakes his head, he must remain lucid, they are still in danger… Billy's lips look so nice and all Steve wants to do is feel them on his own.

"Steve…" that’s music. Not the kind he experimented when Billy gave him the order to say back, but is still a song, a song about a kid who preferred to stay at the aquarium all day instead of going to play at the park, a song about a boy who was lost, a song about a mermaid child that was scared and alone, a song about a powerful creature willing to kneel for one person alone: Steve.

The boy is leaning toward the merboy, their faces so close that he can feel Billy's breath on his skin.

It's wrong and it's perfect.

The water opens for him when he falls from the boat, but his beautiful merboy is there to cushion the fall and to share air and spit with him; his webbed hands at the side of Steve's neck are drawing swirls that make Steve shiver and for the first time Steve's hand touch Billy's skin.

It's a strange feeling, Billy's skin is cold and a little bit slimy, but his lips are warm and welcoming.

Steve.

He knows that it's his name but somehow is not his anymore.

Billy reemerges, holding him tight.

"Steve." He calls again, and Steve's decision shatters under the merboy touch.

The sea creature swims toward the shore, letting the boy lie on the sand.

"I want you." The merboy whispers on his lips, licking the salt from Steve's skin and Steve can’t suffocate a moan when Billy’s lips stop just behind his right ear and start to kiss and bite playfully his ear.

“Sing for me…” Billy murmurs, grinding against him with his entire body and it feels like an electric shock.

Billy’s hands are cold and Steve’s skin is far too hot, he struggles with the tank top, and finally Billy tears it, freeing Steve from the offensive piece of tissue, while hovering over him.

The merboy could crush him, but he doesn’t, he is gentle and handles Steve with such care that he thinks that no one has ever treated him as such.

They kiss again, still hungry for each other's taste, Billy pushes Steve against the sand but Steve is not going to stay there and take what the merboy is going to give him, so he turns them, leaving the merboy lying on the sand and straddles him.

Billy’s eyes are wide, his entire body is driven by the oldest force in the universe: lust.

His scales open a little and Steve sees it: a huge red dick pouring a clear liquid.

“What…?”

“I wanna mate you.” Billy whispers, like a plea on Steve’s skin, and there is no doubt about what the merboy is more than willing to do.

“Billy…”

“I’ll be gentle.” He promises, but Steve knows that he can’t trust him, at this moment Billy is just an animal driven from the primal force of reproduction and Steve’s body is not made to take something so huge.

“I can’t. Billy, I can’t. It’s too big!” Steve protests.

“Gentle.” Billy repeats, while he darts his tail and makes Steve slip closer to his chest, his huge dick between them “Touch it.” He asks him and Steve moves his hands to touch it. It’s different from Steve’s dick, bigger but softer, wet and so flexible, and it seems to move almost like a hand.

“How…?”

“It will not hurt. I promise you. I would never hurt you, you know that.”

Does Steve know that?

“How… how do you want me?”

“Close.”

Steve moves Billy’s dick out of the way, the merboy's dick just behind his back.

“What now?”

“Relax.” Billy whispers while he takes Steve’s wrists and pushes him against his chest.

“No, no, I’m not ready!” Steve tries to protest, but Billy’s dick is grinding against him leaving a wet trail that tingles.

“You’ll be ready in no time. And my dick is softer than what you are used to.”

“How do you know?”

How do you know that I have been fucked?

“I scented him on you. Didn’t like it. You smell so much better now. Sea, salt, sex.”

Steve can’t deny that his dick is leaking on Billy’s chest.

“Will you stop if… if I ask you to?”

“You will not ask.”

“But if I do?”

“I will.” the merboy promises, and then, with a sudden movement, he starts to push inside Steve’s rim.

The pressure is gentle but relentless, Steve feels so full as he has never been before, but Billy is right. It doesn’t hurt. Not at all.

“Oh god… I fill you in my throat…” he moans.

“Would you like that? Would you like to feel my dick into your throat?”

Steve can’t answer because Billy is dragging him down on his monstrous dick while kissing him, licking with his tick tongue every corner of Steve’s mouth, eating every moan, every sigh directly from the source.

Then he starts to move inside him.

“Harder! I want you harder!” Steve asks and he will cry if Billy denies him, but he doesn’t, the merboy is ready to satisfy him and he keeps moving inside him harder and harder, making Steve bounce on his slippery tail, his legs spread around his muscled boy.

“Will you show me the most beautiful of your expressions?” The sea creature asks him and Steve nods, he doesn't even know what Billy means but whatever he wants he will give it to him.

“Come. Come for me, my treasure.” He whispers in his singing tone of voice, and Steve clenches so hard around his huge dick that it almost hurts, but it’s just a moment, and then he is falling from the biggest height ever.

When he opens his eyes the mermaid is still deeply inside him, jolting just a little inside him.

“You ok?” Billy asks him, his eyes back to blue.

“What happened?”

“You came for me.” Billy explains to him easily and Steve nods.

“Yeah but… after?”

“You passed out.”

Steve has read in some porno magazine that it could happen, but he thought that it was just an exaggeration, instead, he came so hard on Billy’s dick that he blacked out.

“What about you?”

“I need more.” The merboy tells him.

“More like what?”

“Will you let me come inside you? Paint your inside with my cum? Make you drip?”

The answer is so obvious that Steve doesn’t waste time answering and just nods.

“Give me your hand.” Billy asks him, taking three of Steve’s fingers and sucking hard on them while he keeps thrusting harder and harder. Billy’s teeth are very sharp and he could easily chop off Steve’s fingers, but they are looking at each other, Steve’s body still covered in sweat, and when he feels Billy going rigid Steve pushes his fingers even deeper, not caring for his own safety, and it’s the right thing to do because Billy opens his mouth, moaning something that sounds like a song and comes into Steve. One time, two times, three times, he comes so much that Steve feels his stomach bulge and the merboy’s cum dripping from him.

“So beautiful.” He whispers, lying on Billy’s body and the merboy holds him even tighter.

“Rest.”

“You need to rest too.”

“Mermaids don’t rest.” that’s incorrect, but it’s true that they don’t sleep like humans so Steve doesn’t complain “I’ll protect you.” Billy assures him, and for a moment, before falling asleep, Steve thinks about how quickly their role reversed. He was the kid that promised to free him, he was the one that helped him escape, but now, in their den, it’s Billy who is taking care of him.

Their den.

It sounds nice.

Doesn’t it?

***

Steve hears them before he sees them: angry songs rise from the boiling water. Steve is still on the shore and Billy is in the water, moving back and forth protectively in front of him, hissing.

“Who are you?!” One of the mermaids asks him, and Steve notices that they are all old and female.

“Who are you?!” Billy growls, hissing again.

“If the guppy wants to play, let him play, Muriel.”

Steve can understand what they are saying even if they are not really using words but a strange kind of subtle melody, and the mermaid with the black hair that just spoke doesn’t seem too friendly.

“Go away from my den!” Billy hisses again.

“How sweet is that, the guppy is trying to defend his territory!” Another laughs, and Billy keeps hissing, trying to shield Steve from their view.

“Oh… I see… the mating season made him crazy. He thinks that the stupid human is his mate.”

“Go away!” Billy sings to them but the order has no effect.

“Your mum didn’t teach you how to sing, little guppy?” The one called Muriel asked again.

“Don’t talk about her!” Billy growls, but then he freezes, seeing a mermaid with blond hair getting closer “Mum?” He asks confused and astonished “Mum… I thought you were still at the aquarium!” Billy says with a wet voice.

“She is not your mum Billy!” Steve tries to tell him, running toward him.

“Maybe she escaped like I did!” He replies, still looking at the beautiful mermaid, but Steve gets into the water, trying to shake him.

“It’s not her, Billy. It’s not your mum. Nerea… she died. She died after they brought you away from her.” The last words are almost a whisper and for a moment everything stills, then, something drags Steve underwater and he feels a sharp pain at his waist. He looks down and a red-haired mermaid is biting him.

He screams, trying to free himself, but it is only Billy’s intervention that makes the other mermaid release her grip and then he drags Steve safely toward the shore.

“You ok?” He asks, looking at the red blood that is pouring from his pierced skin.

“I’m good… I’m good.”

“Did you know Nerea?” The blond mermaid asks, getting closer.

Billy grits his teeth, so Steve answers for him “She was his mum.”

“Nerea… Nerea was your mum?” She asks again, and now that she is so close she has something familiar, long blond hair, blue eyes…

“She was… she was my sister.” The mermaid says “Are you really her son? She was too young when they captured her! How… How did that happen?!”

“My mate is injured!” Billy growls “I don’t have time to chat!”

The blond mermaid turns toward the other mermaids “Go get some seaweed to cover the wound.”

“But Onda…”

“Do it!” She sings and the order is so fierce that Steve would have been ready to go too if Billy wasn’t holding him so tight.

“Can I look at your wound?” The blond mermaid asks and is not an order, Steve could refuse, but it hurts a lot, and if she can do something to help him with the pain he will gladly accept the help she could give.

“It’s not too deep and Shui didn’t use any venom. You’ll be fine in no time, little human.”

Steve is not used to feeling little, but between these two creatures, he really feels just a kid.

“Are you really my mum's sister?” Billy asks without looking at her and the mermaid nods.

“Can you tell me what you remember of her?” She asks, and Billy is ready to tell her but she shakes his head “Not like that. Sing it to me.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Close your eyes, concentrate on her image, and let the music flow.”

It’s a sweet and sad song and even if Steve can’t understand a single word, at the end of the song his eyes are full of tears.

The blond mermaid addresses his wound and looks around the sea cave.

“You find a nice spot Billy, but you can’t stay here forever. Would you like to come back home with us?”

Billy’s fins shivers and Steve knows that he has never had a home, but then he looks at him.

“You have to go, Billy. They are your people.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be ok.”

Onda nods “I will personally erase his memory and make sure that he gets back to his home safely.”

“You want to take him away from me?!” Billy snarls and Onda seems to scent Steve.

“I see. You already mated him, didn’t you, little guppy?”

“I’m not a guppy! And he is my mate! I will not leave him!”

She laughs “And what are you going to do, uh? He has no tail that I can see, and no gills either.”

Steve smiles, playing with Billy’s hair “It’s ok. You have to go with them and I have to go home. It’s ok.” He tries to comfort him but Billy is crying into his arms.

”I don’t want to leave you. You are my mate.” The merboy whispers.

“I am not, baby. You just imprinted on me. It happens. And I think I did it too. But you’ll be ok. I’m sure that there are a lot of pretty merboys waiting for you.”

“Steve…”

“It’s ok. Do what you have to.” He tells the blond mermaid and the mermaid nods.

“Thank you for keeping my prince safe.” She whispers, but before Steve can ask any questions a sweet song is already making him sleepy.

***

When Steve opens his eyes he is at a hospital and a policeman is asking him questions about what happened at the aquarium, but Steve can’t remember anything at all. A month of his life has gone completely lost.

He doesn’t know who Neil Hargrove is and he has no idea how he died, in his mind he is still waiting to know something after the interview that he made for the position of mermaid trainer, but the aquarium hasn’t a mermaid anymore so it seems that he is out of a job.

Steve joins many TV shows where they interview him trying to make him talk about his experience. He attends every single one with his mother, always eager to parade him around and ready to play the part of the worried mother. They take the money but the interviews are all the same, an infinite series of “I don’t know.”

Did the merboy threaten you?

Did he try to kill you?

Did he bite you?

Steve doesn’t know.

Public opinion is divided into a group that thinks that mermaids should be protected and left free, while another part thinks that what happened is proof that they are far too dangerous and that they should be exterminated once and for all.

Both of them ask Steve if he wants to be their ambassador and it doesn't matter how much money they offer him, he always refuses.

Every morning he runs three miles and ends his run on the beach, looking longingly at the sea, feeling that he misses something that was really dear to him, but he keeps running and goes back home, takes a shower, and sees the red sign of the bite on his skin, tangible proof that mermaids are, indeed, dangerous.

A mermaid killed Neil Hargrove and maybe even Susan Mayfield.

A mermaid bit Steve.

Still, his heart is mourning.

He dreams of oceans, colorful fishes, and shiny shells, and he dreams of songs with no words but that fills him with emotions and when he wakes up, in the morning, he feels rested, loved, and cherished without any real reason.

After a couple of months, all the interest in Steve has diminished and one more time he is the failure his parents can’t accept.

They tell him to find himself a job and he changes from one minimum wage job to another, trying to find his place in the world, telling himself that when he will find the right job, the right house, the right girl, everything will be ok. He just has to wait, the universe will give him what his heart longs for, he knows it, and he is not wrong.

***

Steve always loved diving, so when the longing for the sea becomes unbearable he takes his equipment and goes to the beach.

He shouldn’t go diving alone, it’s dangerous and he knows it, but he can’t wait anymore.

The boy changes into his wetsuit, which feels like a second skin to him, he wears his diving mask, takes the oxygen and his fins, and gets into the water.

The deeper he goes the colder it gets but he keeps diving, searching for a thermocline where he knows he will find some fish.

He has the impression to have seen something violet in the distance, but when he turns to look with more attention there is nothing.

When Steve reemerges, ready to go back home, he sees a little white boat rocks near the shore, inside it there are many shiny things: pieces of glass, shells, and little jewels.

It’s a present for him, a proposition, and there, when the sun is setting like it was months ago, Steve makes a decision. He grabs all the little trinkets and puts them in his backpack, then he goes back to his sad one-room apartment, grabs some food and some clothes, and goes back to the beach as fast as he can, wishing so hard that the boat is still there waiting for him, as it is.

He gets on the boat and starts to row toward the open sea.

A little voice inside his mind tells him that he will get lost and he will die a horrible death in the middle of the ocean, but another part of him urges him to keep rowing so he does, until he hits a rock. Or maybe not.

“Going somewhere, pretty boy?”

Listening to Billy’s voice is enough to dissolve the enchantment that the blond mermaid did on him.

“Billy!” The boy calls, diving into the water, and the merboy catches him with no effort.

“Hey there, pretty boy. I knew you would have come.”

“Did you sing for me?” He asks, putting together all the little things that happened to him: the dreams, the pull toward the sea, the shiny treasure.

“I sang for you every single day.” He replies, peppering his face with kisses “Onda told me that if you really were my mate you would have felt the pull even if you didn’t have your memory. And you did, didn’t you, sweet thing?”

Steve smiles, but they are still in the middle of the ocean.

“What now?”

“Now I’ll bring you home.”

***

Home, Steve discovers, is a little island uninhabited, or at least with no humans. There are a few animals and a big underwater cave that leads to an entire submerged town. Even if Billy did his best to share oxygen with him, Steve wasn’t unable to visit it, he just saw a big palace nestled between the rocks.

“I hate that you can’t see it.” The merboy says while they are resting on the beach.

“I’m sure it’s beautiful.”

“I could sing it to you.”

“Do you want to?”

“I want to share everything with you.” Billy replies, and then he starts to sing while playing with Steve’s hair, but in his song, there is more than just a castle between the rocks: there is pain and sadness, there is hope and fear, there is a hole that has Steve’s shape, and there is love. So much love.

“I’m sorry.” Steve says, turning away to hide his tears “I’m so sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, baby.” The merboy replies holding his chin and making him turn toward him “Nothing.”

“I left you.”

“You did not. You were hurt and you needed help. And you came back to me. You came back for me.”

Steve nods, while silent tears fall from his eyes and the merboy licks them.

“No more tears, I want to see you wiggle.” He tells him and then he kisses him and Billy’s foreign mouth is the closest thing to home that he has ever tasted.

The blond merboy keeps kissing him, biting the side of his jaw, and then he goes down, and down, until he is breathing just above the tent in Steve’s swim trunk.

“Can I taste you?” Billy asks him, and when Steve nods he lowers his swim trunks and takes him into his velvety hot mouth. His clever tongue insists just under the head of his dick and Steve grabs Billy’s hair, trying to resist the impossible pleasure that is filling him.

“I’m going… I’m going to come…” he mumbles, and Billy sucks even harder, ready to swallow Steve’s release.

With a few hard thrusts, Steve comes with a moan into Billy’s mouth.

Billy smiles like a shark before kissing Steve and sharing his own cum with him and even Steve’s cum tastes like the sea.

Steve’s body is so lax after the orgasm that Billy’s dick finds no resistance when he gets inside him.

The boy whimpers a little when Billy’s big dick brushes against his prostate so soon after his first orgasm, but he doesn’t complain when the merboy keeps moving inside him, boxing him and kissing him until he is a whimpering mess under him.

“So good for me… So perfect…” he praises him and Steve comes again, painting both their stomachs white.

He gets ready to relax and feel the merboy filling him until he is dripping cum, but after the first shot, Billy pulls out and comes on Steve’s body, mixing their cums on his skin.

“Mine… My mate…” he whispers and Steve nods, unable to speak.

***

“You know how important you are to him, right?” Shui, the red mermaid that bit Steve months ago asks the boy.

“I love him.” He replies.

“I know you do but I don’t think you get what it takes to fall in love with a mermaid. And with a special one like Billy.” She tells him looking at him with condescension.

“He has always been special to me, even before you found us in that stupid cave.” Steve retorts angrily.

“Don’t be offended and listen to me, stupid human. He is a Prince. Do you get that?”

“Onda is the Queen, his title means nothing.”

“It means nothing now. It will mean a lot when he changes.”

Steve turns toward the red-haired mermaid.

“He what?”

“Have you seen him today? Are you wondering why I am here babysitting you and not eating shrimp with my sisters?” She points out, annoyed.

“Where is he? What is happening? Can you bring me to him?” Steve asks anxiously.

“Calm down, little human. He is fine. He is just going through a transition.”

“I don’t understand. Is he ok?”

The mermaid nods “He is. It’s a natural process. Some fish do that, didn’t you know?”

“Some fish do what?”

“They change sex when they get older.”

They do. Groupers do it. Clownfish and other fish do it too.

“He is changing sex?”

“Didn’t you notice that all the old mermaids are females?”

He has seen a few other merboys… but no merman.

“Will he be ok?”

“They. And of course they will. They are with their sister, they will take care of them and I promised to take care of you. I just wanted to warn you because I don’t want you to be mean to them when they come back. They have human blood and we don’t know how they will change.”

“It doesn’t matter. I love Billy and I will love them whatever it happens, but are you sure they’ll be ok?”

The mermaid stares at him and then she silently nods.

***

One week.

The entire transformation lasted one week, and in all that time Steve's only company was Shui and his own fears, so when he finally sees a mane of blond hair he runs toward the water.

Billy doesn’t look too different, the only difference that he can spot is “Your tail!”

It’s not bright red anymore, it’s more lavender.

“Did Shui…”

“She did.”

“And you are ok with that?”

“Me?” Steve asks, confused.

“I’m not… I mean I am still me but… different…”

This time Steve is holding them tight “I don’t know what happened and I don’t want to know. I’m just glad that you are ok.”

“I am not ok.” Billy replies, avoiding Steve’s eyes.

“What do you need? Can I do something for you? I can ask Shui…”

“I’m not… complete.” Billy replies with humiliation.

“You are not… what?”

“I don’t have any fucking tits, Harrington! Didn’t you notice?”

Steve blinks a few times, his mouth open in disbelief. He did not notice.

“And is it a problem? Is it hurting?”

“I’m good at nothing!” Billy yells, punching the water and splashing salt water everywhere “All I had to do was transform like every fucking mermaid and I did it wrong.”

Steve gets deeper in the water, holding Billy’s face in his hands “You are fucking perfect. You got it? You are all I ever wanted and all I care about is if you are ok.”

When Billy turns toward him Steve stares at them unashamed: it’s not true that they have no tits, it’s just that they are smaller than the other mermaids. Steve gently cups one of them, weighing it in his hand.

“Can I… Can I kiss them?”

He has never thought about a female version of Billy but now that they are in front of him he wants to discover every part of this new body.

“Aren’t you horrified?” Billy asks.

“I think that the word you are looking for is mesmerized, and I am.”

Billy’s tail winds around Steve and drags him toward their chest “I’m still going to fuck you. You know that, right?”

***

They are on their honeymoon, that’s what Onda called the period they gave them before dragging Billy back to work at the palace now that they are officially the second in line.

Billy’s body is softer and their tail has a different color, but for the rest, they are still sassy as they used to be.

They haven’t had sex since Billy transformed and Steve is determined to put an end to their period of chastity.

“You know, humans have sex during their honeymoon.” He says, caressing Billy’s shoulder while they are resting under a swaying palm tree.

“Oh, do they?”

"Definitely."

“And what’s your plan? Convincing me to have sex with you talking about human customs?”

Not the brightest plan ever, but at least they are addressing the matter once and for all.

“Are you in pain? That’s why you don’t want to have sex with me?” he asks and Billy shakes their head “Are you worried you will not like it?” another nod of refusal “So what?”

“I’m worried I’ll get pregnant.”

Steve almost chokes on his own spit.

“You what?”

“Oh, Steve, do I really have to be the one who tells you? When two people love each other very deeply, sometimes they have a baby.”

“No, I get that, I mean I didn’t think that…”

“That you could get me pregnant?” Steve’s mouth feels too dry so he just nods “You could. Just like Neil did with my mum, and the younger the mermaid is, the easiest is to get pregnant.”

Steve nods “Oh, I get that, you don’t want a child from me. I mean, it’s ok, it wasn’t really in the cards when we met so…”

“Would you like that? A child? Our child?”

It’s a tricky question.

Short answer? Yes.

But he is respectful of Billy and their choice so he says “All I ever wanted was a family, and you are my family.”

“That means that you hate the idea of having kids?”

“No! I… I… I’d like to have them. With you. But if you don’t want them I get it. I mean, our life is pretty complicated as it is, right?”

He is not wrong: Billy has many responsibilities and Steve can’t exactly follow him underwater.

“I want them. But I’m scared. What if they are damaged, like me?”

No, Steve is not going to have any of that.

He pushes Billy until they are lying with their back on the sand and their arms over their head.

“You are not damaged Billy, and our hypothetical kids will not be damaged either. And if you will never want them I will never ask, but I can't stand listening to you talking like that about yourself.”

“You are really in love with me…” the mermaid grins.

“I really am.”

“Maybe I should fuck you, just to know if you are still a good partner.”

“You are such a brat!” Steve complains, but after a moment it is he who is trapped with his shoulders on the warm sand.

“Do you think that your human dick is good enough to fuck someone? It seems so tiny, doesn’t it?”

Steve’s dick is far smaller than the one Billy had “Do you think it is too small?” The boy asks, blushing at the humiliation.

“Oh, I think that with such a tiny dick I will barely feel it, and I really don’t think it will catch.”

“There is just a way to find it out, what do you say? Are you ready to let me try to knock you up?”

Billy’s dick is smaller than it was but is still there, so Steve takes it in his hands and finds it even more flexible now that it’s smaller.

He rubs his dick on Billy’s and when the tip of Billy’s cock gets into the slit of Steve’s dick he whimpers.

“Oh fuck, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”

Steve shakes his head “It’s just… intense. And strange. But mostly intense.”

“Does it mean that I could still fuck you, pretty boy?”

“Oh, I think you could even if I was inside of you but this… this feels…”

“Good?”

“So fucking good.”

Billy’s dick keeps thrusting inside the tip of Steve’s cock and when it withdraws with a quick movement Steve comes copiously on the mermaid.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” he moans, trying to stabilise his breath.

“Harrington, I thought that all of that was supposed to get inside me, not on me.” Billy teases him.

Steve rests at Billy’s side “Give me a moment and then I’ll fill you until you beg me to stop.”

“Do you really think you could?” The mermaid keep teasing the boy, but Billy let Steve rest a little while they go back in the water to keep themself hydrated; when they get back from their swim Steve is more than eager to show them that he can be a good lover.

Billy tries to play with Steve’s dick again, but the boy grabs Billy’s sex with his hand and starts to jerk them off while he slowly penetrates inside his partner for the first time.

Billy’s body is wet and warm and when they whisper on Steve’s lips that they want it harder, Steve doesn’t hesitate, thrusting harder and harder, listening to the watery slaps sound and to their moans.

“You are so warm, baby. So velvety and warm. I wanna bury myself inside of you and stay like that forever.” Steve whispers while Billy keeps repeating that they want it harder. “If I keep going like this I’m going to come in no time.”

“I’ll fucking kill you if you stop now!” Billy almost yells while they keep moaning under Steve and when the boy feels that he is close it takes Billy’s dick in his hand once more and starts to jerk them off quicker and quicker, doing his best to get them off before coming inside of them.

“Let go. I’m here. I’ll get you.” Steve reassures them and finally, Billy comes with a moan that reverberates inside Steve’s soul, clenching so hard on Steve’s dick that he comes too, filling Billy’s inside.

They hug each other, Steve still inside Billy “I want to keep you inside me a little more.” They tell him and Steve couldn’t deny them if he wanted to.

“You ok?”

“It was… intense.” They reply and Steve smirks.

“Was it?”

“I think I’d like to do it again.”

“I’m your humble servant.” Steve replies with a smile, brushing away the blond locks “You are so fucking beautiful.” He whispers, kissing their cheeks, and somehow it feels more intimate than the fact that Steve is still buried deep inside Billy.

Steve sighs, content, if Billy want he will try to breed him again, and again, and again, but for the moment holding them in his arms is more than enough.

#stranger things fanfic #steve x billy #harringrove #Christmas presents 2023 #mermaid AU #merman billy hargrove #mermaid trainer Steve Harrington #my fanfic #medusapelagia #medusapelagia fanfic

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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 5 months

Note

What if Emily from the end of "Breaking dawn" travels back in time to the day before Sam accidentally cuts her face in the forest? What does Emily do to change the future?

☆Remember, Sam has already imprinted on her and Leah is confused why Sam is acting weird.☆

Does she has a happy ending or is more miserable than before?

Anon, you should write the fic.

(gif credit @franzias-cave)

Because honestly? Emily's not in a position to do much or change much, that was the entire damn problem.

She might, maybe, be able to avoid her face getting slashed as she realizes that getting into arguments with Sam is a very bad idea but probably part of what helped the lack of repeat performances there was that this had happened the first time and Sam had realized that he had to get this under control (and probably what helped with the other wolves as they started phasing as they then realized "oh shit, that could be me", we see Jacob terrified he'll cut up Bella accidentally and shift when upset and is very concerned about getting too angry in her presence even when she really pushes his buttons.)

Beyond that, though, she's human and the events that happen aren't really avoidable. She can tell Sam the newborn army is coming, but knowing in advance doesn't really help anything and they'd still have to team up with the Cullens to have the numbers to take them down (as several were very injured the wolves could not do it alone). Worse, someone could very well die in that fight, as several nearly did, and there'd be nothing she could do to stop it as they can't stop it from happening.

She could try to prevent Bella from going to Italy, thus preventing the Volturi from being on bad terms with the Cullens, but the wolves were never given the full story there of why the Volturi were after the Cullens specifically and what even was happening (they were told pretty much "vampires bad" and went "okay" because that's a pretty reasonable take in general) and even if she did know Bella was always going to do something and trying to watch the sea at all times would be a fool's effort.

Emily can't get rid of the vampires in the area, so she can't stop Leah from shifting, and telling Leah why Sam broke it off with her beforehand would just sound insane/wouldn't help anyone or repair their relationship.

She could try to tell Bella "no, really, Bella, don't become a vampire/don't marry Edward/don't have sex with Edward while human" except Jacob already tried that at the wedding and it didn't work out for him and Emily's barely ever talked with Bella and will not get her to listen to her when no one else could get Bella to listen.

She can try to talk Sam out of murdering Renesmee "turns out the girl's fine" and thus prevent Jacob from imprinting, and that might work out, and she might be able to let the Cullens actually move away so that the Irina debacle doesn't happen. But that requires a lot of people listening to her which may or may not happen.

Emily can do very little to change the plot.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #emily young #meta #headcanon #opinion

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princess-of-the-corner · 7 months

Note

I've been thinking about some of ML's most questionable writing choices, and from what I've kinda pieced together it seems like, at least regarding the stuff around Adrien, the writers prioritize what will make Adrien both static and happy the fastest over what makes sense for the characters to do or what actually would make the story feel the slightest bit satisfying.

((This is not me bashing Adrien as a character, but the writers for their inability to use him as an actual character and not barely more than a prop that can talk))

Like, Adrien learning that Gabriel was Hawkmoth and that he's both a Sentimonster and that his very existence was what kinda started everything from his mother's death to him becoming a superhero fighting his own father would, realistically, screw the kid up for a good long while. With very good reason, imagine getting something like that dumped on you.

But, that would make Adrien upset, it would take time to work past, and it would challenge the writers Perfect™ sunshine macguffin. Challenging characters is what causes them to go through arcs, confront their own flaws and mistakes, and ultimately change, whether for better or worse depending on the author and what story they wanna tell.

But the writers don't seem to want to change Adrien from the character they made all the way back in S1. So they never gave him an arc, and jump through hoops to ensure nothing that would truly challenge him as a character, like keeping Maribug from telling Chat Noir the truth about Hawkmoths identity for no reason, bc all of their trust issues were dealt with by that single hug at the end of S4, remember? That plot line is over, all their issues with Maribugs Atlas complex keeping her from fully trusting her partner were fixed by...losing every ally she had except the one she had specific trauma around and then getting a hug.

But hey! Fixing everything with a single hug means Adrichat can go back to being happy with his lady, and that's what matters, right?

And that's why I'm 100% positive that, if Adrien ever does discover the truth about his family in a later season, if we have most of the same writing team still, Adrien will immediately forgive everyone who hid everything from him, and probably even instantly forgive his father for *gestures at cannon* that whole situation.

Bc Adrien is Perfect™, so of course he'll brush off all of those massive violations of trust, he understands they all came from a place of love! And him brushing everything off instantly means he can instantly go back to being happily in a relationship with Ladybug, like he's wanted since Origins.

Bc that's what makes a good story, right?

I love how you said "the writers don't seem to want to change Adrien from the character they made all the way back in S1" when they very much /have/ changed Adrien from his Season 1 self, just not through character development!

Because Season 1 Adrien was rebellious as hell, disobeying Gabriel's orders and sneaking out all the time. He loved his father and wanted his love and attention, but he was also aware that things were a little fucked and he deserved better.

By Season 4-5, he's so obedient and it's not even the Amok doing it most of the time it's just Gabriel giving him A Look™ and he shuts down.

But yeah anyway!

If Adrien ever finds out in Canon? It's gonna matter for a single episode. Maybe he'll even get Akumatized about it. Assuming it doesn't get erased by Bunnyx so he doesn't know anymore, Adrien will instantly forgive everyone who lied to him and even agree that Gabriel 'was a Hero in the end' and all and be totally cool with all of this and it never comes up again.

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mdhwrites · 1 year

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Fantasy Versus Reality As a Theme: Does TOH Have It?

I REALLY wanted to make this a Jumbled Thoughts blog but honestly talking about The Owl House’s elements in this regard, and if it’s even capable of the theme properly, is too all encompassing to use as simply an example. That’s what the media references in my Jumbled Thoughts blogs are meant to be after all: An example to help reinforce and demonstrate the main point of the blog. For this though, I want to talk about the fact that I talk a lot about The Owl House having this theme. Fantasy versus Reality. Kind of like calling Belos boring, it’s one of those concepts I still fundamentally agree with but I’ve never properly supported in argument so I want to do that now because anyone who disagrees has good reason to do so. After all, the majority of TOH is fairly basic adventure fantasy. For all of its attempts at subversion, most of its answers to problems are either classic or lazy fantasy answers. How it brings characters together, the outcomes of situations, etc. like that map pretty closely to normal fantasy. And... I actually don’t mean that in the way of magic. When we talk about this theme, it’s much more about escapism. It’s actually what makes Luz’s commentary in the second episode so important. She explicitly talks about escapist and romantic literature tropes that she is hoping to fall into. That she is destined for greatness. That this is where she always belonged. The escapism King demonstrates in the first episode and many of his B plots where he doesn’t see the world around him as it is but this romantic version where he is its ruler is actually in theory playing into this as well. Both characters want a version of reality that is not what is actually around them. This is not a terrible base... And it’s also not anything special when it comes to criticism of the fantasy genre. When it comes to trying to subvert it. As an example: I really like a game called Sunless Skies and it has DOZENS of different takes on fantasy and eldritch stories. There’s one where you help lead a rebellion on a work world, look like you’re going to make a real impact... And it barely improves anything. The revolutionary you helped just becomes the new governer of the place because if the workers stop working, if the conditions are changed too drastically... Everyone there will freeze and die. From their lower position, the workers can’t see that so the main thing you gain for them is that instead of forcing them to pretend to be happy for tourists, now people can go see the actual work conditions and sympathize with these people trapped in fantasy sweatshops. Also, they will rebel again if you do not keep them happy on subsequent visits. And this is just ONE story in that game. I can’t 100% recommend the game because it is a TIME SINK (I have over 50 hours into my most recent file and are by no means through all the content) but it is a very good one and I suggest checking it out to see if it looks like something you’d like. I bring this example up partially because it highlights two of the core elements in making this theme work: Consequences and follow through. See, one of the biggest problems for the fantasy genre is that a lot of things get cleaned up a bit too neatly. You beat the big bad emperor and the entire empire gives up. You do something nice for a dragon and that dragon is now a proper ally and going to win you the war effort. When used bluntly and without follow through, this stuff, from people who don’t like the genre, can feel cheap and bad. It can feel like just bad storytelling while a lot of fans of fantasy will say that the journey to beating the big bad or the cost in order to get the dragon to help is what makes it compelling and makes them suspend disbelief for the ending. Consequences and Follow Through demand two things though: Focus and complexity. If the consequences don’t make sense, the theme is going to feel cheap and so they need to be reasonably complex to the solution presented. You also need focus so that it feels like what is happening is actually because of previous events and not because of it just being the plot of the day. I have talked at length about how TOH lacks both of these, though much more the focus than complexity so let’s talk about complexity and we’ll do it with one of the most obvious failures of this: Willow and Amity. A common trope to escapism and kids shows says that once you have your big emotional moment, you two are friends. It doesn’t matter what came before. You two are now allies and ready to fight for each other, if maybe not die. This is done because it allows whatever cost it took to get here to have a satisfying payoff and now the characters can interact freely without having to come up with reason as to why they’re hanging out. It can feel cheap but it’s a very useful narrative tool to boil it down to one act of kindness and one act of forgiveness. But that is fantasy. In reality, if you’ve hurt someone for years and the original mark was incredibly cruel, it can take much more than that to heal. This is why Willow states that she isn’t ready to be friends yet. The problem is that this won’t get brought up again for over half a season and by that time, Amity will have been made into a full good guy, full stop, the girlfriend to the main character and also played Grudgby side by side with Willow in order to save Luz’s ass.

So, to put it mildly, follow through is fucked here. How about complexity? Well, that comes down to how the two actually do finally become friends because the show does decide to pretend that the statement wasn’t just a blatant lie. Amity shows up at Willow’s house and asks if invading her girlfriend’s privacy is okay. Now... A reminder. Willow has categorically had the best morals in the series. She spoke up multiple times throughout S1 about those morals. Anytime someone wanted to break the rules, she was the first to say something besides Hooty’s Moving Hassle. She’s the one who makes the broadcast in support of saving Eda. As a note, this is part of why I think Willow repressing emotions is kind of bullshit. And here is Amity, her bully for NINE YEARS, asking for her permission to betray a friend’s trust and privacy. And yet Willow doesn’t lose it, doesn’t say it’s wrong, doesn’t call Amity out for not having actually changed but instead shrugs at the question and comments on it being weird to have Amity over at her house. Then she asks for her hair to be braided. And then the only other time this gets brought up has to do with Willow wanting Amity to respect how strong of a witch she is which frankly at that point makes Amity appear to be blind and deaf since how powerful her magic is is like 80% of her character in S2, if not the show in general. Which... Brings it back around to Amity needing to just have a heart to heart with Willow and now they’re best friends fighting together. Which just loops us right back around to the initial point with a lot more time wasted. And this is EVERY time that the show tries to make this theme have any bit to it. You do have Eda in the first half of S1 actually making statements for it because she’s just mean and sarcastic at Luz for most of that portion of the show and openly mocking every attempt Luz has about the world being fantastical or trying to apply normal fantasy or escapist tropes to things. But none of it really sticks. In fact, for half the show, the writing just isn’t willing to be mean enough to Luz in order for the escapism to be questioned and make Eda feel like she’s making real statements. After all, ALL of Hexide is textbook escapism. Two immediate best friends who are at the top of their fields and love you, a rival who you can show up, bonus points for them actually being your romantic interest because BOY is TOH not the progenitor of rivals to lovers, and you immediately are the most special kid in school, logic be damned. Worse yet, Luz straight up equates shit between her and Amity to the Azura series and NOT being refuted on it. Not having that bite her and have her lose points with Amity. Instead, those wants for escapism and re-enactment explicitly lead to some of the biggest moments in which she grows closest to Amity. Adventure in the Elements is even like this where her wanting a shortcut with magic to play the witch is what leads to her getting a power up and saving the day. So... Why do I claim that TOH still was at bare minimum trying to go for this theme even if it so obviously failed? Well... Because it is the explicit theme of Luz’s character for HALF THE SHOW. In a really smart show, Yesterday’s Lie is when that other foot drops. It shows how much damage Luz’s fantasy has done to others and calls her out properly for it, forcing Luz to actually change how she behaves and interacts with things. Hollow Mind does the same thing but even more severely. Luz states the latter multiple times while Vee herself screams at Luz about how good her reality was and yet she threw it away for a fantasy. That is explicitly trying to make this theme and change Luz’s behavior for it. The problem is the inciting incident of one of these two is AFTER THE FIRST ONE. Elsewhere Elsewhen is S2B after all where Luz doesn’t question her lies, how a person is reacting to things, the fact that things are going so easily for her, etc. like that. She’s treating it still like a fantasy tale. So Vee’s words obviously didn’t stick. This is even more demonstrated by the fact that her promise to her mother is haunting her far more in Falls and Follies than anything to do with her having actually fucked up. She’s more worried, explicitly, about losing the fantasy than introspecting on what she has in front of her. Now yes, this all is handled EXTREMELY poorly. I’ve talked about how Luz’s ‘trauma’ is really poorly written, especially from a fantasy standpoint. If we want to talk about escapism and simple answers to complex problems, we just have to look at Luz’s character finish. She takes the question of accidentally having helped bad people achieve bad goals and somehow turns that into “All I needed was to be understood” and that gets her to stop questioning her actions or feeling bad. It is... bonkers how badly the fall outs from Hollow Mind and Yesterday’s Lie are handled. But it almost doesn’t matter for this blog. How poorly or well it’s handled is good to interrogate but the question is if this is a theme of the show? Is it proper to criticize the show for not following through on it, contradicting it, etc. like that. And normally how well a show does a theme actually does determine if it’s a theme of the show. But TOH states it. TOH makes it explicit. They have, in multiple episodes, stated as a thesis of the show, character arcs, etc. like that, in the text of the show, that this is a theme. That this is the point. That there are consequences to you living out your fantasy and denying reality. It makes arguing that it doesn’t impossible because the writers make it clear that this was part of the intent. Much like how you have to judge Eda, King and Luz’s relationship as found family rather than just as friends because the show makes them explicitly a family. Explicitly tries to make itself about found family. Regardless of how true that is.

It’s another one of those elements of the show that make it appear to be BEGGING to be analyzed. After all, most shows prioritize, I dunno, showing off their concepts more than their themes because the concept matters more. The themes people get out of the work is a secondary, more academic enjoyment. This is, yes, normally considered a higher class of enjoyment but I think as a content creator, if that’s your focus then you need to get your head out of your ass unless you are explicitly writing something that’s trippy as balls where the symbolism is also the substance. An adventure, comedy show for kids is not that. The themes should be a secondary priority after just telling a good, engaging, morally rich narrative. Avatar the Last Airbender has themes but when the show starts, those aren’t the point. It’s about meeting Aang, Zuko, Sokka, Katara, understanding their dynamics, understanding their world, their viewpoints etc. like that. It focuses on engaging you through these elements before it gets into its deeper lessons or goals. Even then, those elements are usually still explicitly tied to the characters. Episode 2 of TOH doesn’t do that though. Most of the elements in that episode will be contracted by season 2 (cool to be threatening the child you adopted with rent Eda. Real cool.), we don’t learn much about any of these characters that we didn’t know from the first episode, it doesn’t really establish their dynamic because S1 struggles to have a dynamic with the three of them because Luz is so busy with Hexide stuff and so... The point to the second episode is about that theme. About having a message of “There are no chosen ones” and “Luz, you can’t treat this like you’re the hero in a fantasy book.” And the only reason I’m not commenting on how much the finale is a complete failure of these themes is because I’m waiting until Saturday to do that. But trust me, a show as loud and blunt as TOH as to have thesis statements in the show really couldn’t finish without admitting it had failed to stay on point, somewhat like this rambling blog. And a final note while I’m rambling: It is good for stories to have themes. I’m not saying they shouldn’t. Some will even state their themes, like Amphibia did at the end of its series. But... They usually do it at the end either from a position of strength where they can go back, evaluate their story, etc. like that and say it with confidence, or it can feel like they’re pulling nothing out of their ass right at the end to act like there was a deeper point to the story. TOH is more unique in that it pulled shit out of its ass MID STORY and then didn’t follow up on it. It knew, explicitly, what it wanted its themes to be and still failed to properly follow through or execute on the majority of them and that’s MIND BOGGLING. After all, if you have a theme in mind, your narrative and characters should support that. And I hope I’ve made it clear how much that’s not the case, bare minimum with this theme. ======== I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too.

#Luz Noceda #the owl house criticism #TOH Critical #Amity Blight #Willow Park

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cheriecherishchen · 5 months

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HP Rec Fest Day 13 & Day 16 - A fic that made you laugh

@hprecfest

Star Quality by who_la_hoop

Summary: Two years after the war, and Harry’s content with his life. OK, so it’s a little annoying that he keeps winning Witch Weekly’s Most Eligible Bachelor award, and he’s really not looking forward to the unveiling of an enormous gold statue of himself, but he loves his friends, and he loves being an Auror. And if he yearns for something more, something he can barely bring himself to think about, well, he’ll probably get over it. No one’s happy all the time, are they?

But then everything changes, and Harry’s thrown into a new and dazzling world he’s not sure he can actually escape from. And as time goes on, he starts to wonder: does he actually want to?

Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter

Rating: E

Words: 118,607

This is so hilarious and full of fun! I never thought I would ever read a story where Draco became a superstar in the Muggle World, but here we are! I wouldn't want to spoil all the fun about the plot, so let's just say, if that description alone intrigues you, you should definitely give it a go! Prepare to laugh so hard your stomach hurts (and then your chest hurts from some angst later because they are idiots.)

The Sleeping Beauty Curse by who_la_hoop

Summary: When Draco Malfoy falls into a cursed sleep and can only be woken – at least, according to the Daily Prophet, that impeccable source of truth – by ‘true love’s kiss’, Harry Potter knows there’s no way on earth he’s the answer to this particular riddle. Is he . . .?

Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter

Rating: E

Words: 152,548

This is one of my favorite Drarry, it also has the hottest smut I've read in fics with over 100k words, and is the best forced-bonding fic!

It is wonderfully beautiful and fantastic, and really, really fun! It's so perfect and I felt content after reading it. Their relationship progressed at a perfect pace, not so soon that I would feel like they were only attracted to each other's appearance, but also not slow-burn to the point I would feel frustrated.

I so love this Draco. All his effort trying to let go of his prejudice but still struggling, how he made friends with Harry's friends because they were important to him, his baking and his invention of MAGIC COCK, his self-depreciation and spikiness, how he loved his parents despite everything, and how he wanted Harry to have his life back despite what the completion of the bond cost.

If a fic with over 100k words looks intimidating simply because of the word count, well, just start reading it and before you know it, you will reach the end with a heart so warm you can't help smiling.

#hprecfest2023 #harry/draco

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misplacedgamer · 2 years

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Guys, don't worry, there's absolutely no way Bakugo is permadead right now.

FIrst of all, there is so much set up for Bakugo's character still revolving around Deku that there is no way Hori will not pay off. Deku saving Bakugo with his own two hands, the hand hold itself, them finally working through their issues, Deku not putting Bakugo on a pedestal anymore, the fact that they are both considered All Might's successors and therefore will have to work together in order to do what All Might couldn't and take out AFO. We all thought Hori gave up on the traitor plot line only for him to hit it at the perfect time and also unveil all the set up that he had actually put into it that we never noticed, so there's no way he would drop the ball on something this important. Hell, his original ending was reincorporated into the second movie, and that used the same ideas that I'm discussing now. Hori is actually thinking about this.

Second, you really think Hori is gonna make Bakugo go out in the most unsatisfying way possible? He didn't land a single hit on AFO that mattered, despite being half of the new Symbol of Peace (and not to mention Deku's Symbol of Victory). He died away from all his friends, without a tearful goodbye to anyone. Deku wasn't even there to see it or see him "off". There are manga that can get away with stuff like this for permadead characters, but MHA is not one of them. Important characters get send offs in shonen manga. These comics are for children, and I'm pretty sure JUMP would not sign off on killing the most popular character in the manga without a bit of fanfare (the most popular six years in a row, lets not forget). If Sir Nighteye got a heartfelt goodbye, then Bakugo motherfucking Katsuki is gonna get the saddest, tear jerking goodbye ever, and that's only after he does something that severely handicaps AFO or helps save Shiggy in some way (cause he needed to learn to save people).

Third, Hori said at the beginning of this year that Bakugo fans and haters would be happy with what happened to his character this year. Bakugo haters? Yes, absolutely fed. Bakugo's ultimate attacks have been meaningless and foiled at every turn, he didn't get his Quirk Awakening (just his Cluster ability, which also did nothing), and AFO has been beating the shit out of him for four chapters. He just went out like a chump without making a scratch on our main villain, and his last thoughts were some Avengers shit about getting a trading card signed??? This is rock bottom, no question.

But as for Bakugo fans...what have we actually gotten so far this year? He and Deku has barely spoken, he's not been all that relevant to the arcs that have been happening (except the Miruko fight), and he's seemingly dead without Deku even being there to see it. Literally anything a Bakugo fan would want has not happened, and I don't see why Hori would change his mind about something like that.

So one of two things is happening here: Either Hori is so fed up with MHA that he is just in complete "raze this shit to the ground" mode like the GoT showrunners, or he's actually smart and is doing this because he knows it will create interest for what's going to happen going forward. I'm willing to make a sizeable bet that its the latter.

#bnha 362 #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #katsuki bakugo #bakugo katsuki #the poor boy #hes not dead #but holy fucking shit #he has been completely torn down #this was a long time coming #but damn it still hurts to see #bnha analysis #bnha meta

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libra-cant-just-dance · 9 months

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My “Official” Review of the Enter the Danceverses maps

Disclaimer: all of this is purely my opinion as someone who just recently got into the fandom, can’t dance, and has only played three games. In no way so I think any of the following is “right”, it’s all just personal opinion. Also I love all the maps so even the ones I like less I still love. Also this was originally written for an audience of my friends who know nothing about this game.

Can’t Stop The Feeling

A cute, simple intro to the danceverses and the story mode playlist. The whole thing of starting out live action and having our main character be pulled into the world of Just Dance is fun, makes you feel like you’re along on the journey. Is it a little bit terrifying to watch this strange blue man reach through a TV screen and kidnap this girl? Kind of, but you get used to it. He’s wonderful. You get this nice little montage of Wanderlust showing Sara around the verses and meeting cameo coaches from older maps. Also great that you can play as Sara or Wanderlust. Always a bonus for playing as Wanderlust.

Honestly i don’t find myself coming back to this map that often, but that’s probably because I prefer the alternate version. The choreo is very simple and I just don’t find it as fun. But the simple choreo makes it easy and a perfect way to start out the playlist and “introduce” the player to the world of Just Dance. You’re having fun doing this silly little dance, then suddenly all your new friends get kidnapped and we have a plot hook. It works great. Bonus points for Wanderlust doing that one move I really like from the alternate version at one point.

I will say, as much as I love being able to play as him in this map, I feel like that’s part of the reason I can’t get too attached to Sara. I don’t usually get super into main protagonists already, and since this isnt’ a solo song for her, I’m never forced to play as her (except in If You Wanna Party, but that one has all the characters in it so even when I’m playing as her I’m barely paying attention to her). When I do actually watch her dance, her style is really cute and I think she’s adorable and fun. But I just can’t get into her as much when Wanderlust is RIGHT there.

Can’t Stop The Feeling- Danceverses Prince Version

The best. I come back to this one all the time, I’m actively trying to learn to do it properly. Technically this isn’t part of the Enter the Danceverses playlist, it’s a separate map. But I don’t care, I love this map, I love Wanderlust, I wanna talk about it. That’s my boy. This map is great. I guess the only downside is it’s not as cinematic as some other newer maps? The background stays mostly the same the whole time. And it’s hard. But that just makes it more of a challenge. It IS the alternate version for a reason, of course it’s gonna be hard.

Starting out with a shot of The Traveler and Si’ha Nova to make it clear that they’re Wanderlust’s parents, perfect. Gorgeous. Wanderlust is just. So silly. Even though it’s hard, the choreo is SO fun to do. Bonus points for that little pose he does that I love, especially the time when he does it and then he does a little nod I LOVE that. This whole map just has the energy of dancing alone in your room having a good time and even though I’m dying by the end of it it makes me so happy. I hear this song in the car and think about this map and replay it several times and it’s a wonder I haven’t crashed yet. I love this map. I want to say more about it, but it really just comes down to “Look at him. He’s so silly. This is great. I love it.”

Witch

Great introduction to our antagonist. Obviously, this map slays. The Night Swan slays. No questions here. She has such a good aesthetic going on, and even though I hate her, I can’t deny it. She does in fact slay. That costume! That background! The way it changes throughout the song where it’s just her throne room in the beginning and by the end it’s full of Swan Soldiers being sent out through a billion portals! The shot with the eye in the beginning makes me feel like I’m about to watch an early 2000s punk rock music video, but it’s still cool.

My favorite shot of course is her sitting in the throne with Jack standing next to her. That shot just. Oh my god. It’s perfect. Him standing there like a knight next to his horrible mother who doesn’t deserve him. Someone save this boy. I wish he was more in the map even just in the background, but I don’t know what he would do. They’re not gonna just pay Mickael to stand there in sweating in the background in full costume for no reason. Actually there really isn’t a reason for Jack to be in the rest of the map, I just like to see him.

Getting back to the actual map, I honestly don’t like this one that much? Like it’s good, it’s just not for me. She does a lot of spooky wavey arms movements which are cool, but it’s just not my style. I don’t find it that fun, but that’s not a criticism of the map. It does, again, slay.

Physical

Love this one. Fun and funky map, good song, good vibes. It’s also got some funky camerawork! Man I’m so in love with how much better Just Dance maps have gotten over the years, it’s not always just a static camera pointed head-on at a dancer. Quick shoutout to Wanderlust’s face when he runs through the portal at the end, but I need to stop just talking about Wanderlust for every song. He’s only there for two seconds. I love the implication that Brezziana is an aerobic dance class instructor who just sets up a boombox in public places and lures people into flash mobs. She’s so great.

The dance is SO fun, but it’s an actual workout. I have to rest for like fifteen minutes after doing just this one song. While Can’t Stop The Feeling Danceverses Prince Version is “Wow this makes me so tired but it’s FUN!”, Physical is “Wow this is fun but it makes me SO TIRED!”. I wish I could do this map over and over again but I physically can’t (pun not intended but welcome anyway). I love the choreo, I love the energy. Even while I feel like I’m dying, Brezziana’s making everyone have so much fun it makes me determined to make it to the end. If she was a real exercise class instructor, would I actually take her class? Probably not, I’m really lazy. But I’d definitely consider it, and that’s saying something. God I love this map and it frustrates me that I can’t do it that often (at least if I want to play multiple songs in a row).

Rather Be

This one’s SO cool. Mihaly is awesome, the map is gorgeous, the vibe is excellent. I LOVE the choreo, the only problem is it’s hard. It’s so cool to watch and I wish I could follow along, but it’s just so hard. This has got to be one of my favorite choreos in the game, I just love Mihaly’s style and the way they go all these funky moves so quickly! My only other complaint is did they really have to decide that their zen magic dance temple is run by a giant anthropomorphic panda named Master Panda? It’s just… yeah. I guess in their defense the panda is kind of the mascot of Just Dance so if there was gonna be a master of Just Dance’s version of the force it would make sense for it to be a panda? Oh well, it’s definitely not the most poor taste decision the game has made in it’s history. Some older maps are… something. On the bright side, Mihaly is basically canonically nonbinary!! They’re SO cool. Or maybe I just like the red and blue color scheme. And the funky glasses. So basically, I love this map, I just don’t play it that often because I just can’t keep up with it.

Locked Out Of Heaven

Okay this one is going to pain me to review. I love Jack Rose with my entire heart. And that initially made me too biased about this map, but I think I can give it an honest review now. Still, we’re gonna start with the good things. First of all, Jack Rose. Duh. Look at him. The red suit, the gold, the earrings, literally everything about this character design is a personal attack on me. I love him. And he’s angsty?? This is a perfect boy! Literally the quote on his character avatar is “With a mother like mine, who needs enemies?”. That’s SO dramatic.

The map also tells his backstory SO well. It’s gotta be hard to tell a whole story like this in a JUST DANCE MAP. Right from the start you get baby Jack Rose practicing and then his mom in the doorway in a spooky silhouette being all disappointed in him, and then the transition where suddenly he’s an adult now and just the look on his FACE tells you everything. You can see how the pressure from his mother made him lose all the childhood happiness and he’s just so serious about everything now. Of COURSE he takes this so seriously, all his mother cares about is perfection so if he’s going to have this one thing that he’s good at (performing) he has to be PERFECT at it! He won’t get his mother’s love otherwise! And at the end of the map, even after he’s given this amazing performance to his thousands of adoring fans, she STILL isn’t impressed by him! He works so hard all the time just to please her and nothing will ever be good enough for her! Who knew you could get that much emotion from Just Dance!! Just watching it you see how good he’s gotten at performing but you wonder “at what cost?”!

And the use of the song! I LOVE when Just Dance can take a song and completely recontextualize it for a map. At first glance, okay, yeah. Locked Out Of Heaven is a good typical popstar heartthrob kinda song for him to perform. But when you think about it for way longer than anyone needs to be thinking about a Just Dance map like I have, it’s brilliant. Sure, the song is actually about some guy feeling “locked out” of the “heaven” that is having sex with some girl. But for JACK? It’s about being deprived of the simple happiness that comes from a mother’s love! He tries SO HARD! He’s won the affection of SO many people through his art, but he still can’t get the one thing he wants! His MOTHER to LOVE HIM! (This is why I hate Night Swan with a burning passion. I know everyone loves her cuz she has a great aesthetic and she slays and all that but she EMOTIONALLY ABUSED my BOY and I will never forgive her)

Okay so now that we know how brilliant this map is, you may ask yourself why I say it’s hard to review. And that’s because despite all of that, the choreography is BAD. Sure, I can do it. And some of the moves are good. But the majority of the dance is just silly. And yeah, Just Dance choreos are always a little silly. It’s a stupid party game. But they aren’t all THIS silly. And for all of the maps to give silly choreo, this is NOT the one. Jack is supposed to be COOL. He’s SERIOUS about his performances. There’s no way you can tell me that man would do some of those moves. Even if he would, I can’t be emotional about the story while dancing like an idiot. Some of the choreo also isn’t very doable, either. The spin is one of the less stupid moves, but they do it way too many times. And the microphone? Look, it looks great. He’s so cool with his big microphone on a stick. But the person playing the game isn’t gonna have a big microphone on a stick, and even if they did they aren’t gonna be able to magically make it appear and disappear out of thin air like he does. You just have to mime it while you’re dancing, and no matter how well you do it you’re just gonna feel like an idiot.

Sure, I’m overanalyzing this map. It just makes me mad that this could be one of my favorites for the existence of Jack Rose alone if it wasn’t for the ridiculously corny choreography. So bottom line, Jack Rose needs a hug. I will be revisiting this. This map is good, it could have been perfect. But they nerfed it. For nothing.

Majesty

This is a really cool one! The first map where you’re picking from two different teams of characters instead of just from different characters! Overall, I really like it. It does however suffer from both “too much story, not enough dance” and “too much dance, not enough story” at the same time. But not too badly? And considering this is the first time they’ve done a “story mode” kind of thing like this where they had to make a map that was a major plot point (the climax of a story, actually) with a whole bunch of characters, I think they did a really good job. It’s fun getting to play the different characters dancing in their own different styles, and they really did manage to tell a whole story through the map.

It’s just a little difficult to follow along with them, partly because you keep switching characters/styles and partly because you’re trying to pay attention to what’s going on in the scene. At the same time, it’s kind of tricky to get the whole story while you’re dancing because you’re trying to pay attention to getting the moves right. There’s a scene you can see go on in the background where Jack is arguing with Night Swan, and that’s when he turns on her and she sends the possessed Wanderlust to attack him. I didn’t even see that until like the third time I watched it, and I think that’s a pretty important scene. If you don’t see that, it doesn’t really make sense that you start out with Jack on Night Swan’s side and end with him saving Wanderlust and teaming up with The Just Dancers (yes, that’s what they’re called).

The ending is cute, I like that they all hype up Sara to be the one to defeat Night Swan. (Side note apparently Night Swan and Sara are played by the same dancer, and I don’t know how to feel about that) I believe she’s supposed to have a character arc about becoming more confident in herself and her dancing, and we don’t really see that much in the story, but that part kind of shows it. Her style is really cute, and I think the whole dance battle thing is just really funny. Night Swan really got danced at so hard that she had to surrender. Also the song is great! It fits the map really well and they did a great job of timing beats in the story with beats in the song. Also also a very nice touch to make this one and Night Swan’s solo map use songs by the same artist, it really makes the story feel tied up.

Now it’s time to rant about Jack Rose again. HIS FACE when Night Swan turns his whole audience into swan soldiers!! He looks horrified, it’s actually heartbreaking I will never get over it. His mom straight-up betrayed him! He loves his fans so much, that winds up being his breaking point to finally stand up to her and then switch sides to defeat her. I’m just so happy he finally realized he has so many people who love him so he doesn’t NEED his mom’s approval! And then him grabbing Wanderlust’s hand to save him and turn him back into a guy?? He made real friends! People who’ll actually love him even if he’s flawed! I just really love Jack Rose. I think his character arc is fantastic. And he’s red I love red.

If You Wanna Party

I feel like most of what I can say about this map is that it’s cute. I don’t mean that in a bad way though! They just took down the Night Swan, they deserve a little bit of a party. Now this song is CHEESY. Just Dance literally made the most cliche stereotypical “lets party everyone!” pop song they possibly could, complete with Jack Rose doing a rap that boils down to “yo yo we’re so cool” and the incomparable lyrics “move your hips from side to side, peanut butter jelly time, mashed potato feeling fine, dip baby dip”. But honestly? I kind of love it. It’s FUN, it doesn’t need to be anything else. Dare I call it camp? Perhaps.

Now my biggest complaint with this map is that you can only play as Sara. What the hell. All of them are there! And they all have solos just like a dance with multiple playable coaches! WHY can you not pick which one you wanna play?? The others are just standing there taunting me! You can’t put Wanderlust on my screen and tell me I CAN’T play as him! Seriously, this map should let you play as whichever one you want. I’d even trade out playing as Wanderlust in Can’t Stop The Feeling if it meant we could have five playable coaches for this map (only because he does already have his own solo song). This map is a bunch of friends having fun dancing together, that’s what Just Dance is ABOUT! Why can’t a player gather up their friends and dance as The Just Dancers together? That’s the whole point of the game!

Aside from that complaining, again, it’s a really cute map. It’s cheesy, but in a good way. I love to see Jack Rose getting ot have FUN for once. It’s also so cool how they all still retain their own dance styles while making a cohesive choreo all together! They’re all doing their own thing but it blends together. I know nothing about dancing or choreography but I’m just gonna assume that’s a challenge. All in all, great map. Great ending to the story. Sara waving goodbye to everyone as she returns to the real world. Jack looking super confused about it. It’s great. Good friends, good adventure, good dance.

#sorry if I dissed your favorite map I really do love them all #just dance 2023 #just dance

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