#at least we got the dock scene though

[theyaremycrocsyoudonut]

I liked the finale of season 7 for Gallavich. But like. ONLY because I knew Mickey was coming back. I read a spoiler somewhere about it, so I watched the ending of season 7 KNOWING that it was temporary. But I cannot, for the life of me, imagine how bad of an ending this must have been if Noel Fisher actually left the show after this, like it was supposed to happen in the first place. It had a lot of references to earlier seasons Gallavich, for instance "The fuck are you looking at?" or the fact that they met up under high school bleachers, but the whole concept was stupid to begin with. They really thought that the best goodbye to Mickey Milkovich who, by the way, carried the show in season 4 and was already a fan favourite when this was being filmed, was to break his heart into a million tiny little pieces at the Mexico border? That the best way for this love story to end and for us to get closure was to have Ian drop LITERALLY everything in his life, including his supposedly happy relationship, for a 3 day fuckfest with Mickey? You can't tell me with a straight face that if this WAS the actual end of Gallavich it would have been satisfying. It was a good TEMPORARY ending. It felt like a really good "We can't be together right now but we will someday". And I loved it for that. But as an ACTUAL ending? Holy fuck it was horrible.

#shameless #gallavich #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #no cause if I noel coming back wasn't spoiled to me i would have probably stopped watching after the end of season 7 #at least we got the dock scene though

[cozage]

A Journey of Two Cooks

Chapter 4: Reunited

Previous Chapter | Masterlist | Read on AO3

A/n: This sweet little fic is all finished! I hope you enjoyed it :) Word Count: 2k CW: some family trauma/manipulation done to the reader Characters: female reader x Sanji ---

You didn’t leave your room until the next morning. Luckily, you had stored snacks in your room for days when you felt on the outskirts of your family and alienated from everyone on the ship. They could all make their own food for one day. 

You rose early and began breakfast, working quickly to avoid confrontation with anyone. Even though you didn’t want to speak to anyone, you still had duties you had to do on the ship. You may have been a lot of things, but a freeloader wasn’t one of them. You could hear the crew starting to rise as you finished up the biscuits, and left everything on the stove top to keep warm until the others showed up for breakfast. You could cook and still avoid everyone. 

Berk knocked on your door almost an hour later. “Time to eat.”

“Eat without me,” you called back, not bothering to be pleasant. 

“We eat as a family. Hurry up, we’re docking today.” There was no room in his tone for argument. You sighed and rose from your desk, treading after him down the hallway and to the dining hall. 

You were the last to arrive for breakfast, and it was clear the group had been waiting for you. As you sat down at the table, Berk cleared his throat. Your stomach lurched, knowing a fight was about to come. 

“We’re landing on an island today,” he said. “Should be there in ten minutes. Once we restock, I have a pretty good idea about a target we can hit.”

You clenched your teeth, but didn’t say anything. You wouldn’t make a scene two meals in a row. 

He went through the details vaguely, but everyone knew the way it worked. You would be the distraction, they would be the thiefs. Even in these high-level missions, you were always the one who was alone. 

When he was finished, you stood up and cleared away your plates without a word.

“I’ll get the groceries,” you said. There was no point in reigniting an old argument. You had said your piece. You wouldn't be a part of this mission. They were welcome to proceed without you, but you refused to be involved with any more honey traps. 

“Be back in an hour!” Berk called. You ignored him. You would take as long as you needed. You had nothing else on the schedule for today. 

You got ready quickly and departed the ship, finally breathing a breath of fresh air for the first time in days. Island air just felt so much cleaner than sea air these days. The air held possibility. 

You intentionally spent a long time at the market. You searched the crowd for golden hair and refused to give up. You browsed over every fruit and vegetable, every fish and spice you could see, meticulously picking apart every specimen. Anything to delay your return to that dreadful ship. 

“Y/N.” A sharp, husky voice came from behind you. For a moment you hoped it was Sanji, but that voice was familiar. It was your captain. 

“You’re late,” he said. 

“I told you I’m not doing it,” you hummed, trying to keep a pleasant tone in your voice as you browsed the bread selection. 

“You will. That’s an order from your captain.”

You finally turned to him, glaring. He was at least a foot taller than you, but you refused to let that intimidate you. “Did you call the Navy to attack Sanji’s crew?”

He raised an eyebrow. You could see him trying to figure out how you had discovered his plan.

“So what if I did? I was doing it to protect you.”

You frowned at him, your entire body tensing at his practical confession. “You weren’t protecting me. You were trying to control me.”

“Because I know what's best for you!”

“You can’t keep controlling me like this! I said I’m not doing it, Berk!”

He grabbed your wrist, putting it into a vice grip. “And I said you will.”

“No.”

He scoffed, almost amused by your defiance. “Are you disobeying a direct order? Do you know what type of punishment that gets you?”

You could see the sinister look in your eye, and you suddenly realized you had crossed a line. You tried to pull your hand away, but he squeezed harder and twisted, causing you to cry out in pain. 

“Berk stop,” you pleaded, still trying to get away from his hold. “You’re hurting me.”

“Oh-” he gave you a demented smile. “A sprained wrist will be the least of your worries when we’re finished.”

“Stop, please,” you begged. “I’m sorry-”

Out of nowhere, the pain disappeared, and Berk seemed to vanish before your eyes.

And then, sunshine gold. Crystal blue orbs, staring back at you. 

“Sanji,” you whimpered. You were frozen in place, unable to move even though every muscle in your body was screaming for you to run to him. 

Thankfully, he approached you. He had a look of pure concern and worry, and his eyes darted back and forth between your face and your wrist. 

“My dear, are you alright?” he cooed, gingerly touching your wrist. “It looks like it hurts quite badly. Let me take you to a doctor.”

Your hand felt like it was on fire, the heat intensifying every time you tried to move it, but you did your best to hide it. “Sanji, I’m fine.”

He frowned, examining your hand closely. “I think you need to see a doctor. We have a good one back-”

“Who the hell do you think you are?!” Berk’s harsh voice made you flinch, but he wasn’t directing his anger at you this time. 

Sanji gently ushered you behind him to keep you out of danger, making sure you were properly supporting your wrist. 

“You shouldn’t harm a lady,” Sanji growled. “The likes of you shouldn’t even be allowed near one.”

Berk went in for a swing, which Sanji gracefully dodged. He had a playful smile on his face, as if this were a game. 

If he actually was a member of the Strawhats, it probably was. 

Sanji’s dodging only pissed Berk off even more. “Stay the hell out of our affairs!” your captain screamed. “This is a crew matter, you bastard!”

Sanji delivered a strong kick directly to Berk’s chest, sending him flying backwards. 

“Berk!” you screamed, starting to run to him. But you could feel his rage exuding from him and you hesitated. When Berk got this angry, he usually attacked whoever was closest. And you had caused this whole mess. You stood between Berk and Sanji, unable to move forward but too headstrong to retreat. 

Berk stood to his feet, breathing heavily. If looks could kill, you were fairly certain they would already be planning your funeral. 

“Choose,” he snarled. “Your crew or him.”

“Choose?” you glanced back at Sanji, unsure how to proceed. 

The chef was calm and relatively unbothered, opting to smoke a cigarette instead of acknowledging your captain’s words. The only hint of concern was in his eyes, which were stuck to you, watching you carefully. 

Your family, or a man you barely knew? No, that wasn’t an accurate depiction of the choice you had to make. Your crew had taken you in and been kind enough to you, but despite your captain’s overuse of the word, they weren’t your family. They barely knew anything about you. You were just the person who helped them out around the ship and who made robbing other pirates easier. 

Sanji, on the other hand…you weren’t sure. He knew more about you than anyone else on this planet, but you weren’t sure if he wanted you to come along with him. What if you chose him and then he left you? You would be left with nobody, forced to fend for yourself on an unfamiliar island. 

“I-”

Berk spat at you. “The fact that you're hesitating proves you aren’t loyal.” He turned and began walking away. “Your belongings are now property of the Buckaneers, since it’s on our ship. Have a good-”

Sanji was next to him in a second, kicking Berk down to the ground. Sanji put his foot on your ex-captain’s chest to hold him down. 

“We’ll be getting her stuff. If you have a problem with that, then we can fight like men instead.”

For a long time, Berk said nothing. He kept his eyes locked with Sanji, and you could feel a battle of wills occurring between the two. 

“She has thirty minutes,” Berk finally said, cutting his eyes away. 

“She has as long as she needs.” Sanji spat back, and then lifted his foot from Berk’s chest. 

When Sanji looked back at you, he was a different man than the one who was staring at your ex-captain. His features instantly softened under your gaze, his warm smile returning. He held a hand out to beckon you toward him, and your body moved on its own. You walked to him and took his hand, and the two of you walked to the ship together. 

When you could see your ship again, you couldn’t help but grip Sanji’s hand a little tighter. You didn’t want to have to face all of these people alone. 

Sanji squeezed your hand and you were reminded that you weren’t alone. He was there to protect you and fend off anyone who gave you problems. 

“I never even asked if you wanted me around,” you whispered, letting out a light laugh to ease the tension of your words. 

“My darling, I always want you around.”

You gave a half-hearted smile at his words, and then lowered your voice to a whisper. “Are you really a part of the Strawhat crew?”

“How did you…” he trailed off, and then gave a bold smile. “I am. And you can be too, if you’d like. You’ll never have to cook again. You’ll never have to do anything.”

You doubted that. Surely you’d have to pull your weight, but you understood what Sanji was saying. You’d never have to do something you didn’t want to do. You gave a small nod, and the two of you started toward the ship. 

It was empty. You didn’t see anybody onboard. They must’ve all gone to rob their target, whoever it was. You wondered how that was working out for them, since you hadn’t distracted the captain. 

You quickly went to your room and packed up the essentials: your clothes, important memories, other small things that were easy to pack away. Your wrist still ached, so Sanji packed as you instructed him around the room, all without a single complaint. 

Lastly, you popped into Berk’s captains quarters and grabbed 50,000 berries. Your payment for the free labor you had given him against your will. He probably wouldn’t miss it too much. You didn’t care if he did. 

Sanji carried all of your bags and still managed to hold your hand as the two of you departed your old ship and headed for his ship. It was his home, and hopefully it could be yours too.

“This is the Sunny. Nice ship, isn’t it?”

Their ship was similar to the size of your old ship, but you could tell it was crafted by an expert. The wood alone was a hundred times better than the quality of the Buckaneers’ ship. Whoever had created this ship truly had a vision. 

Sanji squeezed your hand. “A new journey awaits you, my dear.”

You smiled at him, and then looked up at the Sunny. “A better one, now that I’m with you.”

#one piece #one piece imagine #one piece scenario #one piece x reader #one piece x you #cozage #sanji #black leg sanji #sanji x reader #sanji x y/n #sanji x you #✧˚sanji✧˚

[guardian-rocket]

What GOTG Vol 3 reveals about MCU Rocket that we didn't already know

He is depressed and he knows he has 'emotionalistic issues' that prevents him from being able to help Star-Lord

Regardless he is worried about Peter.

After 7 years of friendship, Star-Lord keeps calling him a raccoon even though he knows Rocket hates it. (12 years total, -5 of the blip)

He did modifications for Nebula including creating her new versatile cybernetic prosthetic arm, and likely work on her facial implants

His wasn't built for anything other than to be learned from for science never being intended for any greater purpose

Rocket had a kill switch installed in him during his creation to protect his creators research

He can drink from a straw?

He eats grilled orloni meat

His first word was 'Hurts!' said while trembling

He was fed a false narrative he'd have a life worth his torture and obedience and that his docile nature was desirable and he was full of hope for it

He loved the other experiments he was caged with wholeheartedly and without a shred of callousness

He writes with his right hand (and in a language that goes right to left?)

He wanted to fly, this is something that is pure to him and him alone. The sky called him on a personal level.

He never intended to become violent. This happened after he got to his breaking point in losing his friend Lylla which immediate pushed him into his violent nature resulting in his first assaults and murders

Rocket's creation was physically painful and he was operated on while conscious and likely without anesthesia. Nebula says it was worse than what Thanos did to him and while we don't see the 'footage' it appears to be hard to watch from the characters who view it

Rocket's nature to steal was something he started doing out of impulse

Rocket is incredibly smart beyond what most people assumed, while some of his knowledge was rote memorization he also has a unique capability of inventiveness that was accidental, making him one of the most advanced intelligent characters in the MCU

Rocket use to not speak very well, he's add s's to the ends of words or just pair one or two words together 'What sounds?', 'We like it?'

Rocket escaped because if he didn't they were going to remove his brain (for science!)

The raccoons that Rocket was among came from North America, Earth which makes him Terran

Rocket wasn't introduced to music from Peter. He liked it since he was little (which was likely why he use to hum to himself whenever he worked at putting things together in vol 1 and listened to music while he worked in vol 2)

Rocket does sing and know words to songs (we saw a glimpse of it in the Southern Nights scene in vol 2 but we see more of it solidifying he does it often)

Rocket has his own apartment, he steals Peter's zune so frequently he even has his own dock for it (and also seems to take care of it when it's in his possession)

Rockets apartment is literally right next to Peter's

Rocket's bed is just a damaged door and a thin blanket, confirmed by Gunn that it is because sleeping on metal is what he was accustomed to

Rocket has a plant in his apartment; not important but he's a plant dad to more than just Groot

Rocket is a dancer (at least at the end of the movie)

He immediately appears to panic hearing the voice of his creator showing he has some ptsd from it (very valid)

He didn't deny being a Raccoon out of self denial or wanting to be seen for 'what' he is now, it was just a misunderstanding that he thought it was akin to a slur or something because of how he was introduced to the word (as an insult) and he embraces the name after realizing it for himself now no longer wondering if he's a rabbit or a Build-a-Bear.

Rocket was able to escape when he was basically, mentally a teenager

Rockets body was covered in braces while his body covered from the operations he underwent on his hands, legs and chest and didn't get clothes until after he escaped

Rocket has his subject number tattooed on his chest

Rocket is multi-lingual in at least English and whatever language the Star Children speak Orbose and this may likely not be just due to a translator implant like most cosmic marvel characters

Rocket has been carrying a physical reminder of his failure to his friends his entire life (the key to the cages of the lab he created from scraps he stole over his time there)

He never elaborates on his past to his friends about his origins. 'He won't talk about it'.

End of movie we see that Rocket likes discussing music (and confirms thinking Brittany Spears and Korn are good favorites)

#gotg3 #gotg3spoilers #gotg3 spoilers #gotg #rocketraccoon #rocket #long post #tw: spoilers #spoilers

[malicedafirenze]

I unintentionally skipped a lot of the romance content in Baldur's Gate 3 and I want others to learn from my mistakes:

So: I managed to lock myself out of romance entirely and ended up alone, which was a huge bummer and a serious crack in my motivation to play the game. I finished my playthrough (because I was already close to the end of Act 3 when I realized it), and plan to do another one eventually. I'm making this post in hopes of a) keeping others from making the same mistakes and b) to possibly get some additional insight re. what to watch out for in my next playthrough.

PSA: Pick a Partner before Act 3

The key learning here for me was this explanation from the poly mod

In BG3, romance is divided into 2 steps: dating and relationship(also called partner). Dating is basically where you are at after the 1st romance scene. Relationship is where you are at after the 2nd romance scene (relationship also unlocks the kissing menu). BTW, If you enter A3, all dates will break up with you (partners won't, ofc).

I hadn't realized this until well into Act 3, at a point where going back to a save to properly fix it would have meant replaying large parts of Act 2 as well - I decided to finish my run instead and then start a completely new one later.

Note: lots of spoilers below. (click here to read this post on reddit instead)

My Romance Woes

I read in advance that you couldn't romance multiple people (except for the specific Halsin combos with Shadowheart and Astarion) and therefore turned down Gale and Lae'Zel early in the game (not realizing you could just date/bonk them without fully committing or getting anyone upset)

I didn't take approval all that seriously, thought I'd have more opportunity to fix things later. I was playing pretty good guy, and ended up with high approval for Karlach and Shadowheart, but low for Astarion. Weirdly, I don't recall an option to romance Shadowheart (no clue what I missed?) and the only option I had for Karlach was at the Tiefling party, where I went with Astarion instead. I had a scene or two with him, but then didn't progress further in the relationship, without really realizing what I was missing.

I wanted to romance everyone, sat on the fence for too long, and ended up not romancing anyone at all, by missing a thing or two in act 1 and 2 and being too late to fix it in act 3. Don't be like me, it feels bad man.

Early Act 3, I got Astarion's breakup dialogue ("we haven't spent a night together in some time" --> him explaining it was just transactional and he doesn't see the value in it anymore) and got super worried, but when trying to look up if I'd messed up, I didn't find a clear answer for without more spoilers, so I just continued playing Act 3, including all of the companion quests.

I later learned that I missed out on at least one important Astarion romance interaction by not going to Moonrise Towers until after freeing Nightsong. (when the Towers are already on high alert, i.e. I could only fight and not have a lot of conversations)

After realizing I had messed up companions romance, I instead fucked everyone it was unwise to fuck (Emperor, Mizora, Harleep...) for fun and to see what would happen... but chickened out and reloaded after Emperor and Mizora. Still, got to enjoy some fun content that way!

The ending I got (going to Avernus with Karlach) was really cool and made me cry a lot. I then did try to reload my last save though, to see if I'd get any other epilogue content if I didn't go to the Hells, but... apparently that scene on the docks (Astarion goofily running off, everyone kinda agreeing to go party after this, no other conversations with anyone again.... is just... it?

Idk how much of this is the lack of romance, but I really felt like something was missing there. I at least wanted to talk to everyone again one last time.

This is a post about my romance failures and regrets so I'm not gonna talk about everything else that I loved about the game, but just in case this is getting a bit too negative: I had an absolute blast with the whole game regardless, I'm stoked to give it another go the "proper" way (i.e. with romance). I also generally think it's really fucking cool that this game's romance options depend on how you behave, and that you can't just e.g. give someone the right kind of gift 20 times in a row to make them love you, like it works in games like Stardew Valley.

Next Playthrough Plans

I'll probably wait for another patch or two - considering how much got fixed and tweaked with the first three patches, I suppose it's worth to wait a bit and see what's coming

I'll play with the Poly mod next time and try to romance all of the Origin characters.

I plan to play with the camp notifications mod, as well as the approval ratings in dialogue mod. Both in hopes of being able to game the romance a bit better and get much of the romance in one playthrough

I'll play Dark Urge (haven't seen any of that so far!), but probably still go for a "good" playthrough mostly

I plan on equipping & levelling all Origin companions and switch them out more freely, in order to get approval from everyone and edit my party as makes sense depending on story events (e.g. take Lae'Zel to the Creche, take Gale to the Ketheric fight...)

I want to romance everyone. I already saw some tips for early game Astarion approval and assume the aforementioned mods will help in optimizing this

Am probably not gonna do anything all that differently otherwise because my heart can't take an actually evil playthrough

Aand that's about it. As mentioned, I'm mostly posting in case this helps anyone else.

I was really damn sad when I realized I had locked myself out of all romance, because the romance was a significant part of my motivation to start playing this in the first place. At the same time, I loved so much about the game that I still got a lot out of it in 110+ hours even with minimal romance content.

If you see any red flags about my plans for the next playthrough (or if you have experience with the mentioned mods!), I'd appreciate comments and insights. Other than that, here's hoping others can learn from my mistakes. Thank you for reading <3

#bg3 #baldur‘s gate 3 #baldur's gate #astarion #bg3 romance #karlach #gale #lae'zel #shadowheart #astarion romance #baldur's gate 3 romance

[roach-works]

hey so I've read After The Storm (... repeatedly) and the Midnight Chicken one, but the next two seemed kinda like PWP one-shots and the porny bits are the ones I was least interested in in AtS so I skipped them (and completely missed the third which seems a bit more plot-like?). Only now I really want to know how Rich got to New York and what he's doing there etc. (I guess that is on me for buying from the erotica section, but it was SUCH good hurt/comfort heavy on the comfort and post-traumatic development and juicy future setting...)

So I guess my real question here is: what's the porn:plot (in the loosest sense which includes fluff and parties and character development and world building stuff) ratio in all of these? Should I get them for the plot or would I end up skimming most of them...?

my co-writers should probably chime in on this one but in my opinion:

-learning the ropes: rich learns more about boundaries and limitations. almost entirely sex scenes with a few pauses for negotiations. like 90% sex.

-the art of boytoy maintenance: a look at rich's near-future recovery and a cozy domestic fic during storm docking. almost entirely sex scenes with breaks for recovery and cuddling, 80% sex.

-cross my heart: mitch gets in on the action. mostly sex scenes with breaks for negotiations and heartfelt confessions and so on. 80% sex.

-a taste of new york: a meetcute fic with very frequent sex scenes, interspersed with tourism, meal breaks, some entertainment and misadventures. 60-70% sex.

the sex in this series isn't ever pwp: we do our best to make it a central, crucial part of the story. it's pretty vital for the development of everyone's feelings and characters, though in the first novel you can skim it and you definitely don't HAVE to read the novellas. but still, this is a romance/erotica series, and the novellas (minus the kiddie adventure one) are extremely steamy by design, and employ sex as the main driver of action and progress.

if you don't care for the sex scenes in after the storm that's perfectly fine and im glad the story stands just fine without them! but most of the novellas aren't likely to be to your tastes. the new york fic is the most likely one to have any story left after you skim all the smut, but i genuinely can't guarantee it would be worth it.

the upcoming mega-sized novels we're working on will have much more non-sex story per story, tho! but you're going to have to be patient because they're like more than 200k each and that takes so much editing.

we also have a few more novellas in the works and in planning, one of which is a road trip with katrina and selkies! that one's likely to be gen. ditto the one with a pair of detroit cult escapees, and there might be another young thena story too. all of these are a long way from publishing tho, and we get stuff done in a pretty random order, so. look forward to those! but very, very far forwards. orz

#sorry dude #we do our best to deliver really high quality and plot-relevant fucking #but boyyyyyyy is there a LOT of fucking #boat boys #we're definitely working on a variety of fics so there will be less porn-centric stories eventually tho!

[rising-volteccers]

Would you consider doing a kidnapping fic? Where Friede gets caught by Spinel and has to wait for the others to rescue him?

Well after working on this on and off for the past week, it's finally done! I had fun writing it so I hope it'll be an enjoyable read! I envision this to be a what if scene between HZ016 and HZ017.

Series: Pokemon Horizons

Characters: Friede, Spinel, Mollie, Murdock

--

Distantly, Friede wondered what crimes he committed in a past life to earn himself this Arceus damned awful day. 

His working memory might be poor but he did recall how the day started. After they docked the Brave Asagi on the outskirts of Mesagoza, each of them split up to cover more grounds with their resupply efforts. They were heading off to the Galar region, and while it was a considerably shorter trip from Kanto to Paldea, any trip that involved them crossing the ocean required their supplies to be topped up. The last thing they wanted was, in the event of an emergency, for them to run out of essentials far away from civilization. 

With the recent excitement of Liko’s disappearance still fresh on their mind, it was decided that the kids were to remain on board for today. Murdock, Orla and himself would do the resupply run. Friede trusted in Orla and Murdock’s ability to fend for themselves if something were to happen, though he hoped it won’t come down to it.

Really, what were the chances of trouble brewing so soon after the last crisis? 

(He would come to regret thinking that).

Friede’s task was to pick up the potions and other similar medication Mollie required from the Pokemon Centre. She already called and placed the order in advance so it was a simple matter of picking it up. He soon left the red-roofed building with a medium sized box filled with various bottles. Friede knew to be careful when carrying such fragile items lest Mollie would be very displeased with him. 

He planned on at least heading towards the city gates before releasing his trusty Charizard. Having more space to spread his wings led to a smoother take-off, thus reducing his chances of spilling any of the potions. Just as he spotted the large archway exiting the city, he paused in his steps from the sudden light tug of his jacket.

Looking down, Friede found a young girl looking up at him with large, brown doe eyes. He easily fixed a kind smile even as he tried to subtly search for her guardians. 

“Hello there lil miss. Are your parents around?” he asked, adopting a gentle tone.

“Mister mister, can you help?” she responded instead in that high pitched voice kids her age were capable of reaching. Before Friede could question further, she pointed at an alleyway off to the side. “My Meowth got spooked and ran in there. I think he’s hiding behind some stuff but I can’t reach him.”

While his smile never faltered, inwardly he was mildly surprised at the request. The whole setting seemed… odd. Friede didn’t see anyone who looked like they were missing a kid, not to mention no one seemed bothered that a girl this young went up to a complete stranger asking for help. He supposed that Meowth could be a family pet and was accompany this girl. Still, it didn’t sit right with him.

“Mister pretty please help with a cherry on top?” The girl tugged at his jacket a bit more urgently, her eyes welling up with her bottom lip wobbling. Briefly, an instinctive panic filled him at the thought that a kid was about to cry on him.

“I’ll help, don’t worry! We’ll get your Meowth back in no time,” he agreed, swallowing down the mild panic and the rest of this strange feeling. It never really faded as he followed her towards the alleyway in question. 

The alley stretched far back till it got blocked off by a wall. Several boxes littered one side while a large bin was laid out by the wall. Friede supposed that between the two, it was likely that the Meowth got stuck within the bin, out of sight from the girl who barely reached his stomach. 

“Meowth? Meowth come out please. We gotta head back before mommy gets worried!” she called out while Friede placed down the box of potions. He passed the boxes and made a beeline towards the large bin, unaware of the eyes that trekked his every move. 

Seeing that the lid was partially closed, Friede pushed it open so he could peer in. 

He didn’t find a Meowth. What he found instead were multi colored lights that swirled in an odd, rhythmic pattern. 

That was the last thing he properly recalled before his world faded into darkness. Well, he still remained within it when consciousness trickled back in. The fog in his head lifted quickly upon realizing his current predicament.

Namely, the fact that he was seated with his arms and legs restrained. His hands were tied uncomfortably behind his back with bindings keeping his legs in place to the chair. A blindfold covered his open eyes, and he could only grunt and breathe harshly through the duck tape over his mouth. 

Initially he struggled, trying to wiggle himself out of the rope but soon surrendered to the evidence that it was too tight. Then his mind went into overdrive. Everything pointed to the undeniable fact that he was tricked into getting kidnapped. 

At first he went through a whole slew of questions. Who kidnapped him? What was the reason behind it? Where was he taken to? How long has it been since then? Did his crew knew of his disappearance? 

Once Friede managed to wrestle his thoughts together, his mind quickly whirled to those multi colored lights he saw before he (presumably) fell unconscious. Oh, it couldn’t be–

“I see you’re awake now, Professor.” Friede tensed up the moment an affable voice spoke up somewhere in front of him. “I hope you don’t mind the way I brought you here. It was far too easy to appeal to your helpful nature that it’s a little boring, I must say. Very predictable.”

Appeal to his–? Oh, the chilling realization hit him like he dunked his head in ice water.

“Don’t worry, she has no memory of the instructed task,” they replied, casually admitting to having hypnotized a young child into luring him towards a trap. Then again, Friede had no doubts now on the identity of his kidnapper. 

He jerked in his chair, briefly tugging at his restraints before settling again. Friede released a harsh breath through his nose, throat strained from the sounds he made behind the tape. He was showing his anger one way or another.

“Right, I suppose speaking is difficult for you right now.” 

With the rest of his senses restricted, his hearing became far more sensitive to the sound of approaching footsteps, the soft squeak of leather making him tense with each step. A finger started to scratch at the top left corner of the tape. He felt the fingertips that grabbed hold of said corner, and without any warning the tape was yanked off his mouth. 

Friede winced, both from the sharp pain and the loud sound of tape being ripped from flesh seemingly echoed around him. 

“There, that should–”

“You’re sick. How could you tamper with a child’s memories like that? She was younger than her," Friede hissed out, anger swiftly burning within him. Fury was better than fear at the moment, so he held onto it even as the cadence of his heart elevated from the sudden grasp of his chin.

"Mouthy aren't you? Haven't you heard about utilizing the tools around you? She did her part and she's now safely returned with her parents. I can't fathom where this undue anger is coming from." No shred of remorse was in their tone. The even, clinical way they compared a child to a tool sickened him.

To actually hear the voice of a person who had zero hesitation in having his Pokemon attack defenseless children added layers to the muted horror he felt when he listened to Liko's tale the first time. How simply they threatened to wipe the memories of the kids present on that ship. 

Friede could have gone off about that. The anger writhing inside him demanded that he do something to wipe the smile he could hear in their voice. Unfortunately for him, the rational bit left within him yanked back the impulse to throw his body forward, chair and all, in the hopes of at least pinning them down with the combined weight. 

He didn't know whether this person was alone or had their Pokemon with them. At least a Magneton and Beheeyem judging from their last encounter. That person with the Bisharp had acted as bait to lure him away, likely ordered by his kidnapper or had been an unfortunate victim of mind tampering too. 

This person was dangerous, that Friede could not deny. Being trapped and restrained left him utterly powerless. Who knew what this person was capable of had Friede chosen to be uncooperative. 

So he held his tongue from the hot spew of vitriol, swallowing down his anger to at least ground out a "What do you want from me?" in a somewhat neutral tone.

"Me? I just wanted a proper chat with the illustrious leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers," they replied. From the faint scraping noise, he presumed that the other took a seat in front of him.

"Really? Last time you were awfully shy by ordering your mons remotely. Wasn't too keen on that guy you sent too." Was it smart to be sarcastic at a time like this? Perhaps not but the words slipped out of his mouth before his brain comprehended it.

"Oh that? It was simple data collection. It was rather disappointing until you terastalized your Charizard. Even I couldn't predict it to have a Dark Tera Type." 

"Oh I'm sorry for not putting up more of a fight in a two versus one. I'd be more than happy to make it to you if you could free me from these restraints, hm?"

Friede's breath got caught in his throat when slender fingers once again gripped at his chin. He felt the slight dig of nails, resisting the urge to swallow.

"Perhaps it'd be better to have gagged you instead." It took a considerable level of impulse control to not blurt out an inappropriate comment right there and then. "But time is limited as is, and I really did mean what I said. I simply wanted to chat with you."

"Then what's so important to talk about that you had to kidnap me for?" Friede asked through gritted teeth.

“It’s that girl, isn’t it? She’s the key.” Ice swiftly filled his veins. He had an inkling on where they were going with this. “That pendant of hers… it has similar properties to terastalization. It didn’t react at all when I analyzed its properties until she was within the vicinity and in danger. That pendant protects her.”

Damn it, only Amethio knew of that connection before this. The guy was straightforward but treated people and Pokemon well enough. This kind of information in the hands of an enemy that had no qualms about harming kids directly was downright dangerous. 

“Even if it was, what did you think I’d say? Congratulations, here’s a gold star.” Friede’s snark kept trepidation from creeping into his form. “You’d think we’re going to let you waltz in and grab her again?”

“Really, I just want a civil talk. I don’t know where all this vitriol is coming from.” Oh, the mocking undercurrent to his pleasant tone really had Friede consider his earlier impulse. They should be in front of him, right? Just a sudden surge forward to knock them somewhere that hurts would be enough. “But, I suppose I should thank you for confirming it. I’ll have to consider my approach next time.”

“How about you just never do and leave her alone? Or is that too much to ask?”

“Such a silly question to ask Professor Friede. I have my orders and I will see them through. Still, I suppose there’s no harm in reevaluating the data I’ve collected.”

So they’re following someone’s others. The higher ups of the Explorers? Their boss? Friede thought, storing that bit of information at the back of his mind. Before he could run his mouth any further, he heard a series of beeps.

“Ah, it seems that our time is nearly up. I must say, perhaps there is more to this motley crew of yours, especially that girl.”

Did they mean Liko? Or Dot? Friede felt his hackles raised at the thought of his kidnapper going after the kids again. For the third time, his chin was grasped with slender fingers. 

“It’s a shame that our lovely chat has to come to an end. A little saddening too that I’ll be the only one to remember it.”

The blindfold was suddenly yanked off, and the abrupt flash of light initially blinded Friede that he had to squeeze his eyes shut. He instinctively blinked to clear the whitish haze–then found himself face to face with multi colored dots that flashed in an odd, rhythmic pattern. Friede could not pull away, not with the hand keeping his head still. 

Oh Arceus not again–

“I’ll be looking forward to our next meeting,” was the last thing he heard prior to his world darkening once more.

–

“.... wake up…”

“...not… pulse…”

Light shakes slowly but surely jostled the cobwebs from his foggy brain as Friede regained consciousness. His brow furrowed slightly, and he must have made some kind of noise as the muted voices around him grew more animated.

“...ede. Friede, come on wake up if you hear me.” Those words were punctuated with another gentle shake on his shoulder. 

A soft groan slipped out but he did listen to the familiar voice. Yellow eyes slowly flicker open, the bleariness sharpening with each subsequent blink. Eventually, he could make out Murdock and Mollie’s worried faces.

“Friede, are you with us?” Mollie asked, her hand pulling away from checking his pulse on his neck.

“Mrgh,” came his eloquent response. A large, firm arm slid behind his shoulders to properly help him sit up. His head pounded something fierce while his wrists felt rather tender. “Yeah. I’m. I’m up.”

Mollie muttered something he couldn’t quite catch aside from alert and no other signs. Still pretty out of it, Friede instinctively jerked back when something cold was pressed against his lips.

“Sorry, I should’ve warned you. It’s a water bottle. Come on, try and take sips. You’ll feel better.” Murdock soothed him in the same vein that he does for the kids. Friede might have felt a little chuffed from the treatment but he eagerly took sips to ease his dry throat. Once done, he laid back against a warm surface that his mind informed him to be Murdock’s chest. 

“What happened?” Friede managed to ask.

“You were kidnapped. Dot received an encrypted message that had an image of you tied up. Thanks to her, she was able to narrow down your location before Rockruff sniffed you out.” He appreciated Mollie’s swift, straight to the point responses. Made it easier to take in the fact that he had a large gap in his memory.

“Ugh, can’t remember anything. Feels like my brain’s in a blender,” Friede uttered, briefly pressing the heel of his palm against his right eye. He heard a soft snort from Mollie.

“The forgetting bit’s nothing unusual but it’s safe to assume that you got your memories tempered with by that Beheeyem from before.”

It sucked because now Friede can’t help but wonder what went on during that long gap in his memory. “Man, I got kidnapped and can’t remember anything for my troubles. Not even a t-shirt.”

“If you’re aware enough to crack jokes like that, I suppose we don’t have to worry too much,” Murdock said, sounding mildly amused. 

“Still, I want to properly check you up. You’ve got some mild rope burns on your wrists, and knowing you, I’m guessing that you tried to struggle your way out,” Mollie piped up, storing away items into a small pack. 

“Wish I remembered I did that,” Friede muttered. With Murdock’s aid, he got to his feet. Surprised by the weakness in his legs, it was due to the arms supporting him that prevented Friede from taking a tumble.

“Just take it easy. You’ve been gone for hours and been tied to a chair all the while.”

“I can carry you if you want,” Murdock kindly offered. Friede briefly considered it but his pride couldn’t take it after apparently getting himself kidnapped and not remembering anything from it.

“It’s fine. Just be my support,” he grumbled. Murdock’s soft chuckle and the arm wrapped around his waist did ease his twitchy nerves. 

“Ready to head back?”

At Friede’s nod, the trio slowly made their way out of what looked to be a small abandoned building at the outskirts of Mesagoza. They head back towards the Brave Asagi, unaware of the Beheeyem watching them from the rooftops. 

Back on board, Friede would find himself hounded by worried kids, having to spend a good amount of time calming them down while Mollie treated the mild injuries he sustained. He too made sure to thank Dot personally later for her aid in finding him, and apologize that she had to see an image of him tied up. No doubt it was a scary sight.

Whoever that person was that kept messing with them… they better hoped that Friede never regained his memories because oh boy, the things he’d do for putting the kids through this… 

Still, he shelved that thought away for a later time. Right now, he had to assure Liko, Roy and Dot once more of his well being.

#Pokemon Horizons #Anipoke #Pokeani #Professor Friede #Spinel (Pokemon) #Mollie (Pokemon) #Murdock (Pokemon) #Hana writes stuff

[leohtttbriar]

the people have expressed my own deep desires (and by people i mean @cmayw and @holodax on this post, so thanks y'all) and i felt compelled to at least try to offer something in answer. so. i give you. the final scene of the unwritten kiradax bringing-up-baby au. baby (not present) is a giant tardigrade. bareil (present) is boring.

you drop an olive i sit on my hat. it all fits perfectly.

With their Bajoran space-faring ship finally docked at the station (a certain Starfleet Commander Sisko was thrilled to witness its mooring), the Bajoran and Cardassian law enforcement officials having retreated and released Jadzia and Kira, and Baby the tardigrade long gone into the ether or some other obscurity known only to Starfleet freaks, Kira donned her blue robes and walked along the promenade with Bareil, trying and failing to communicate even a fraction of messiness of the previous three days.

His quiet presence was jarring. And then, worse, he started asking her questions like: “when the wormhole would officially transfer to the authority of Bajor” and “what exactly is a tardigrade” and “why are you talking so much about a worm-person” and “honestly, Nerys, stop talking about this Dax creature” and “Are you paying attention to me?”

If Kira had taken a hammer to her skull she’d have less of headache and, if her luck prevailed, she would also be dead.

“Are you paying attention to me?”

“Yes, love,” she said, patting Bareil’s hand gently.

“Well then,” he grabbed her shoulders and hauled her in front of him. “Mind telling me why you look like someone’s just spit in your tea?”

Kira shrugged. “I don’t look like that,” she said, mildly.

“You definitely don’t look like you’ve just robbed the Cardassians of a chance to stake a claim on a strategic point of travel in our star-system…”

“I’m not the one who did that, Bareil,” grumbled Kira.

“Nerys.”

“What?” she snapped, stepping out of his grasp and turning her gaze back out the observation window. She couldn’t help but think of how ridiculous the wormhole looked, all squiggly lines and heaving waves and so on. She said as much: “It’s a silly thing, isn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t call it silly.”

“It is, though,” she insisted. She twisted the length of her blue sleeve around her wrist anxiously. “It’s the silliest thing I’ve ever encountered.”

Bareil stepped next to her and tried to dislodge her busy fingers from her robe. She stubbornly kept twisting away at the fabric—Don’t tell me what to do, I’ll ruin my clothes if I want, she wanted to snap, as if that would at all indicate an appropriate level of mental stability.

“What’s going on, Nerys?” he whispered to her, in his careful tone. Kira wanted to un-stick his vowels with a pick-axe.

“Nothing is going on,” she said. “We got what we needed—the wormhole is free for exploration and free from the Cardassians—the provisional government has stopped whining at me like children—the tardigrade is back where she—”

She cut herself off with a sob.

Bareil tried to pull her into him but she just shrugged him off again and began vigorously flapping her hands around her face, as if to fan away her own stupid sadness.

“Nerys…” he said, reaching. “Tell me, please? What’s wrong?”

“Just,” she sucked in a breath that sounded more like a honk. “Do you think she’s happy?”

“Do I think who’s happy?”

“Baby.”

“…Baby?”

“The space-bear!” cried Kira. “The tardigrade! That—that—crazy Starfleet woman—she didn’t tell me where she put Baby—after chasing around the star-system, trying to find a place for a thing like that! That space-bear is as much mine as it is hers now. She can’t just keep that information from me!”

“Nerys—”

“And, what, just because I’m not Starfleet I don’t deserve to explore the wormhole, too? That’s I’m just supposed to stay here on Bajor and be a Vedek’s wife?”

“What—”

“After she trapped me on that planet and made me listen to the ‘songs of the proto-universe’ or whatever horse-shit,” she threw her hands out, now getting truly angry, “after she ruined my ship and delayed this whole project for a dumb animal! After she tried to trick the Prophets and then almost made the wormhole collapse and then dared the Cardassians to invade again! After she lost my earring and nearly wrecked everything! She doesn’t even want to share the space-bear? Are you kidding me?”

She slammed her hand on the observation glass.

“Not on my watch,” she snarled. “I’m getting Baby back. And my earring.”

Bareil looked at her for a long moment. Then he drew a hand down his face and said, “You don’t want to be a Vedek’s wife?”

Kira blinked.

“Bareil,” she said. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

He sighed. “I’m not sure I know you anymore. Let alone anything you mean.”

“Bareil.”

“Are you more upset about losing your old earring?” he asked, crossing his arms. “Or are you more upset about losing the one I gave you? For our engagement?”

Kira opened her mouth to respond, more sure than anything what her answer was and what the right answer should be, but her voice stuttered and squeaked and nothing emerged. She tried again.

A grunt.

She swallowed and tried harder, the words of assurance so real and close and exactly everything she thought would be easiest to say.

Silence.

She patted her throat to make sure there wasn’t an unexpected knife lodged there, cutting off her voice before it could start. She frowned.

Bareil, with the deepest of sad eyes, truly too sad for Kira to fully meet, uncrossed his arms and sighed again.

“You’re not who I thought you were,” he finally said. “Or your…priorities have changed.”

“Hold on—”

“Goodbye, Nerys.”

He walked out.

Kira could think of no rational reason to go after him. Which was probably his point.

She turned and punched the bulkhead and then hissed out a string of curses she hadn’t used since her resistance days.

“He didn’t sound too happy.”

Of course. Of course she'd found her.

Kira had either the urge to launch her phaser at her—Jadzia—like a heavy projectile and screech the screech of the desert lizards on Bajor, or to melt into an amorphous vapor so she didn’t have to listen to Jadzia’s nonsense for a single second more.

Instead she dropped her chin and closed her eyes and groaned.

“How long were you listening, Dax?”

“Oh, not very long,” was the breezy reply.

Kira pinched the skin at her temples, which was now bruised from the amount of abuse she’d put it through the past few days in Jadzia’s presence.

“Dax.” She was going to punch another wall. “My engagement has just ended. My future is up in the air. What do you want.”

“Don’t fret,” she replied, walking lightly up to her side. “I have a gift for you.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather you not.”

“It’s a present, Nerys! Come on, relax. Take it.”

Kira opened her eyes—if only so her brain would stop focusing on the particular rhythm with which Jadzia said her name. She looked up (and up and up, why was she so damned tall?) and narrowed her eyes at the wide-eyed expression of innocence on Jadzia's face.

“What is it.”

“Open it,” said Jadzia, un-phased and smiling as wryly as ever. She shoved the package at Kira who refused to lift a hand to hold it.

“What. Is. It.”

Jadzia pouted but obligingly unwrapped the package herself. She opened a box and then held it out for Kira to see. There, atop a black fabric, an earring shimmered.

The earring was the same burnished silver of her old beritium one—only this was darker in color, with a purple tint. The puncture point was still a half-circle, but within the rounded center was a starburst pattern, its tendrils expanding out amongst the rings.

On the upper chain was the ear-cuff, made of a reddish-gold with a thin flare like a glass wing, or glass sail.

The bottom chain had a single amethyst stone and, within its crystal, the tiniest carve-out of a planet—Bajor.

Kira, with a shaking hand, touched the stone and gasped at is warmth.

“So you can always have Bajor close, of course,” said Jadzia, in her casual—her weird—way. “I know—I know I made things hard for you. And I’m sorry. For not…understanding…why you have to do what you do. I know it’s my fault that the others were lost. But there!” she thrust the earring. “Made of beritium and an alloy from Trill—I didn’t have enough beritium. The stone is also from Trill, but I can take it off if you want. The cuff is made from a granite from Bajor, though, look!”

She was speaking far too fast. Kira briefly considered fainting.

“How cool is that?” continued Jadzia, unconcerned (habitually) with Kira’s sanity. “It’s just metallic enough to be manipulated, and in direct star-light, it’ll light up like a gold moon! Isn’t that neat?

"There was this bacteria that used to eat up the earth and then poop out this granite-like waste—which is sort of how all granite is made, tumbling and breaking apart and then being smooshed together again under intense pressure. And this Bajoran bacteria used to have guts strong enough to remake rock! Delightful, right? They used this granite thousands of years ago to build their space-ships, too!

"That’s what the sail on the cuff is for. To be like your ship. The ancient Bajorans used the granite for the ship's bolts and mast, to hold everything together. And help capture sunlight.”

She took a breath and withdrew her fingers, which had drifted around Kira’s wrist so she could hold the earring steady as she lectured about ancient bugs and space sail-boats—both things that were present on the earring procured and gifted to a now brain-dead Kira.

“Anyway…” said Jadzia, dropping her gaze, looking awkward for the first time since Kira had met her. “If you don’t want it, that’s okay. I only thought I should try to replace the other one. All that happened, happened, because I just wanted to keep you near me. And I just did anything that came into my mind.” She shook her head at herself. “And well—I want you to know that”—she raised her gaze to Kira’s again—“I am sorry, Nerys. Truly.”

Then, business done, she nodded and stepped away.

Rapidly, Kira’s brain came back online. The facts of the situation hit her in the lungs and had her coughing out a phlegmy and embarrassing, “Wait.”

Jadzia paused at the stairs, turned around, and raised a single eyebrow.

“Don’t apologize,” said Kira, sounding a bit like a strangled bird. “Don’t apologize. I ought to thank you!”

Jadzia frowned. “Thank…me?”

“You see,” blurted out Kira. “I’ve just discovered that the past few days were the the best few days of my whole life.”

Maybe it’d taken her a little too long to understand. But, to be entirely fair to her, she’d been a soldier since she was a child and, since then, she’d been far more on the lookout for threats than treasure.

But now there was no escaping it. The truth. She didn’t want her old earring made of the scraps of Cardassian vessel she’d shot down as a kid. She didn’t want Bareil’s earring, precious to her planet, the sign of a leader and a leader’s faith. No she wanted this one—this chaotic one, this privilege of wonder and love and duty—made out of the actual shit of prehistoric bacteria.

“Nerys,” said Jadzia, her eyes filling.

“Jadzia,” said Kira, reaching out a hand.

Jadzia didn’t take it, choosing instead to rush forward, pin her against the wall, and scoop her into a kiss. Kira threw her arms around Jadzia’s impressive shoulders, feeling weightless for the first time in her life, feeling pink and full and happy.

Jadzia pulled back but Kira was wasn’t in the mood for her contrariness. She yanked Jadzia’s lips back to hers and wrapped her legs around Jadzia’s waist. Below, her new earring dropped to the floor with a sweet thud.

“Darling,” gasped Kira, breathing in Jadzia’s smile and kissing it again. “This is going to be terrible—but will you marry me?”

Then she kissed her before Jadzia could even begin to start talking once more.

#kiradax #ds9 #jadzia dax #kira nerys #star trek #my fic

[cyphyree]

Giorno 2, 3, 9,and 15

Hell yeah, the lil guy himself!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

I love how the narrator states that Giorno's heart became a righteous one, but whatever that means is incredibly subjective. Sure, I like to think that he tries his best to do good, but we hardly get to really see what his goals really are. Can we trust that he actually wants to ban the drug trade aimed at vulnerable people, or did he say so because he's deduced that he could manipulate Bucciaratti that way? That's something I've seen being debated a lot, especially since the manga didn't have that anime scene where The Gangster is specifically against drug trading with children (therefore implying that Giorno adopted the same belief). He also just has no qualms about killing an enemy before he's met them properly (like Sale), because hey this is the mafia, they're going to kill you if you don't kill them first. Even in the enemy rush that's Stardust Crusaders, most enemies just have to get bonked hard enough to take a nap.

But listen, maybe it's because I'm biased or whatever, but even from a more objective lens, Giorno seems to care deeply even if he can't show it. I keep thinking specifically about the part where he talks to Bucciaratti in the car to Rome, and how distraught he seems. You can argue that his pride was hurt because GE failed and he was about to lose a strong ally, and I mean maybe that's part of it. But it's during the solitary and quiet moments that we see Giorno as himself a little bit more, and coincidentally those are my favourite canon moments of him.

He also just let cats walk all over him at the docks and doesn't bother to do anything about it. So there's that.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

We could've gotten a cool 1 v 1 battle between pre-GER Giorno and Daivolo, BUT WE DIDN'T and I'm so sad about it. His dad got to destroy half of Cairo with Jotaro, this just isn't fair. I want to see what a life-bringer vs time-skip fight looks like. Maybe Giorno's doing that to distract Diavolo while everyone else was chasing after Chariot Requiem, you know?

What if Diavolo thinks he can stand-rush Giorno's vine shield during the time skip, but when time resumed he gets pummeled via attack reflection.

What if Giorno distracted Diavolo with a giant tree growing, which Diavolo dodges via time skip, only to get skunk-sprayed in the face.

What if he slips on a banana that turns into a gun.

We were robbed of self-proclaimed time lord mafia boss getting decked by a 15-year-old flower boy in the most looney tune ways possible.

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

Eh......... I feel like that's more up to him. I'd probably be nervous because I don't like to bother people in general, but I think we'd mostly likely keep to ourselves most of the time anyway. Maybe share infodumps sometimes, I don't know.

It might just be a security concern if I keep bumping into enemy stand users and gang members though.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

I don't have one, to be honest. I like the symbolic duality that he and Fugo has, but I've never felt super strongly about Giorno being attracted to anyone romantically.

I do think he has very deep bonds with his friends though. I just like the idea of him trying to maintain relationships with what's left of the team. It would be hard because of power imbalances, the journey's aftermath, and the consequences of Giorno's actions. Maybe he grows up never being close to anyone, platonically or otherwise. But there's still the possibility that, after years of ostracization and neglect, maybe he'll finally have a family.

#ask box #giorno giovanna #golden wind #vento aureo #jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo thoughts

[buckleupbrochachos]

Byler/ ST V2 Theory

Ppl are definitely going to say I'm reaching- but I really want to focus on the "black-eyed Susan" which is the most relevant out of all the flowers.

The first line states the main significance/meaning is happiness and friendship.

Now we all know that Mike Wheeler didn't pick out specifically the black-eyed Susans from research about what they meant to send El a secret message that he considers their relationship a platonic friendship because El wouldn't understand and Mike sure as hell wouldn't go out of the way to find a very specific type of flower (we all know he got them at sum airport gift shop)

But we do know that the Duffers LOVE little details, and they would totally do their research for simple flower symbolism. (it's practically the most common type of subtext there is, especially in film)

The flowers aren't meant for the characters to understand, they're meant for the audience to understand.



Now, onto my favorite part about the flower symbolism- is the origin of the name.

The name for the Black-eyed Susan flower, as stated above, is derived from an 18th Century poem by the same title, written by John Gay.

The poem (in short) is about a woman (Susan/Mike) searching for her lover (William/Will) shortly after his ship docks back from war, only for him to be sent back to battle shortly after.

But if you read the first and second to last stanza- they are both obviously paralelling Mike and Will. (Susan paralelling Will, Mike paralelling William in the first stanza- vice versa in the second and last stanza )

The flower symbolism is not only hinting at El and Mike's relationship becoming platonic, and byler eventually becoming endgame but it could also be hinting at Will's new part in the supernatural plot (and him possibly getting powers)

(Now here is the poem, parralled to Will and Mike's story so far and most likely the ending)

ALL in the Downs the fleet was moor’d,  

The streamers waving in the wind, when black-eyed Susan came aboard,

‘Oh! where shall I my true love find! Tell me, ye jovial sailors, tell me true,

If my sweet William sails among the crew.

In the first stanze its obviously parraleling the airport scene, both William in the poem, and Will in ST, both reunite with their "lovers" (quotations for Will+Mike since it isnt established yet) Susan and Mike, after a long time apart. (In ST though, Mike flies across the country to reunite with Will, unlike the poem where the Will in the story sails back to Susan in their hometown.)

Now, in the poem Susan- is very estatic about seeing her lover William. Just as Will is seeing Mike again after almost not talking for 6 months. But compared to William in the poem, Mike doesn't show any affection besides an awkward side hug and a measly pat on the shoulder-( but not everything can be a perfect parralell so yall are gonna have to bear with me.)

‘Though battle call me from thy arms,   

 Let not my pretty Susan mourn;  

Though cannons roar, yet safe from harms,   

 William shall to his dear return.

Love turns aside the balls that round me fly,

Lest precious tears should drop from Susan’s eye.’

--

 The boatswain gave the dreadful word,   

 The sails their swelling bosom spread,  

No longer must she stay aboard:   

They kiss’d, she sigh’d, he hung his head;

Her lessening boat unwilling rows to land:

‘Adieu!’ she cries; and waved her lily hand.

The second and last stanza's, I'd like to believe is paralelling a possible confession scene from Will to Mike (a succesful one at least) - right before Will has to go and eventually battle against Vecna, since Will is obviously going to have an importance in the main plot in VOL. 2

(Hopefully it consists of the painting because how else will Will confess without a meaningfull gesture such as giving Mike a painting like he did with his drawings ever since they were little kids.)

Anyways, thanks for listening to me theorize. I hope I don't sound too insane lmao

All of this was written of the top of my head, so if you want to add onto anything, you can read the full poem here

#byler #st4 #byler s4 #stranger things #stranger things season 4 #st s4 #will byers #byler season 4 #mike wheeler #byler endgame #byler obsessed #byler is real #byler is endgame #byler is canon #byler theory #byler tumblr

[tobiasdrake]

Off to discover the secret behind the pattern breaker.

So. Crime scene #3. To summarize: Victim was killed by a blow to the back of the head. Only one doll found, with paintings nailed up to kinda-sorta imitate the style. There existed two copies of the key when there's always only one. Nothing is right and everything is wrong. In other words,

There's honestly no reason to assume that anyone we've questioned is the killer for a copycat crime. Because Amaterasu's covering these crimes up for the sake of concealing... something... that means that any number of corporate assassins or higher-ups we've never even heard of could have done this.

We're in the realm of assassination and espionage from the highest echelons of power. There is zero reason to assume that this is still as simple as "Oh, that guy who looked suspicious, he did it."

But since we have to choose from the established suspect list?

He did a shit job of trying to replicate a Nail Man crime scene, but he did remember to create a rope burn on the victim's neck. That detail was never released to the public, which means the only way to know about it would be to have visited the crime scenes.

Worshipper was first on the scene at every crime scene. So if we're assuming out-of-hand that Amaterasu has nothing to do with this, they have no involvement in these crimes whatsoever, it can only be one of the church crew for no apparent reason? Then he's the only known suspect that would have that knowledge.

His pattern of behavior was also different. He would typically contact the Peacekeepers on his way to the crime scene and have them accompany him, but at the art gallery, he grabbed some museum staff instead.

Though it still doesn't explain why Amaterasu would be invested in covering up these crimes, if Worshipper was trying to hide them from the Peacekeepers. That would suggest he's not working for them. So. Why the cover-up?

Well. I guess this is the solution. Mystery Labyrinth says all truths have been answered.

I'm glad it's not Halara; I do not want the enby to die first. Still don't understand how they managed to make a complete sketch of a room they'd never visited but I guess the explanation is "They're just that super-duper smart." We cool, Halara?

We cool.

But this still feels like there's so many things unanswered. Why is Amaterasu shielding the Nail Man? Why was the watchmaker out in the woods instead of the working on the clocktower like he was supposed to be? Who even is the fourth victim?

I also don't see how this is going to get us out of trouble with the Peacekeepers either. Or exonerate the watchmaker. Seems like this will make things worse, if anything.

O_O Okay apparently that's a thing Shinigami can do. She can puppet dead bodies around and make them confess to their crimes once she's killed them. That's horrifying. I'm horrified. Never do that again!

Shinigami! Immediately do that again!

Honestly, I don't even know what we're afraid of at this point. Halara hospitalized all of these jackasses before we went into the Mystery Labyrinth. They even kicked one of them off the dock and that guy hasn't resurfaced so I think he drowned? Halara has definitely killed at least one of these cops and the others sure don't seem to be waking up.

Seth's barking orders but he's got no fangs left to bite with. Halara can hang Seth off the scaffolding by his underwear while he kicks his legs and impotently cries that he will be respected goddammit and then we can hop in the sub and leave. Because it has vehicular capabilities and need not remain in one vulnerable spot forever.

#master detective archives: rain code #drake plays rain code

[three--rings]

OFMD ep 7 holy shit let's go

HE's THROWING OUT THE BLACKBEARD OUTFIT AND HE'S WEARING VELVET. MY FIC MY FIC It's...no fine fine, he was gonna through out the leather I promise I just didn't write it yet, but I talked about his thing for velvet...at length tho.

Oh come on fine clothes ED. My babygirl.

So...do we all need to make new robes now? I could get into this emerald number. I don't have a velvet one afterall, just the bird cotton.

They're so cute.

OH OH OH Izzy. Izzy. Izzy. Well and truly docked. Okay. Whew here comes the sweating again.

He's jealous, and smug Stede, omg, what is this fucking energy my dudes.

There are bombs in the clocks. Or something.

God this is fascinating. Am I nervous, yes. But only mildly so? I mean, I fully do NOT doubt D.Jenk's ability and willingness to emotionally destroy us at the end of a season.

But...IDK.

Setting that guy on fire concerns me, though.

Yikes okay that was a scene. So, yeah, I'm...Stede is right, basically, Ed is panicking. He's not good at being vulnerable and he's suddenly not the one in control, not in the place he's been comfortable and stifling.

Steak Knife. Okay. .

Why do I get the feeling there's going to be a few Steak Knife/Izzy Hands fics on Ao3 soon?

And um, what was THAT look Stede and Izzy, huh?

Fucking Rhys Darby taking me OUT with Fight It Steaky.

I'm trying to come up with what to say at this point. I was right about the clocks, and that does take out Zheng Yi Sao's leverage.

So, big action finale. Happy ending? Maybe? I do feel like even though I wasn't ever sure how this season was ending that it's possible David might give us a non-tragic ending in case he doesn't get S3, all things being what they are. And I feel like, him being so much more in tune with the fans now.

Yeah, yeah I feel good about all of this. And damn, but like the Steddyhands folks be winning, I swear. Cause like, it's hard not to 👀 at all of that.

Though it does feel like Izzy got at least an episode of emotional maturity growth without the actual episode.

Now I have to fucking stop sweating and try to calm down. I don't even have any alcohol. Gonna need to get some for next week.

Hmm, ice cream.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #threerings watches ofmd #threerings' reactions

[wardenred]

Flufftober 1: "I've Got You"

Might be a rough draft of a far future scene for Champagne Problems. I'm not sure how fluffy it is, but compared to what I'm putting these guys through at the current stage of the story, it's definitely fluff.

Elair wasn’t supposed to be here.

He’d had the same feeling before, on each of the previous few occasions Miqualis had brought him home, but never with such persistent intensity. Every sound beyond the heavy oak doors sent ripples of cold down his spine. He kept wondering, irrationally, if Miq had his curtains drawn so tightly to avoid hostile eyes from the outside.

Those previous few times, at least he had been an announced guest. He’d been intimidated by the mansion’s opulence and scrutinized by its owners, but no one had explicitly told him he was unwelcome.

Now, Miq’s family didn’t even know he was here. Even more so, they didn’t know he was once again a part of their son and heir’s life. He felt like a smuggled item hidden at the bottom of a perfectly respectable cutlery drawer. Something illicit and tainted.

The door opened, and Elair staggered back, his eyes darting around the room for a hiding place.

“Relax. It’s just me.” Miqualis smiled, stepping inside with two steaming mugs in his hands. “I thought you’d be more comfortable if we avoided the servants coming in.”

He was, and he wasn’t. “And did your staff see nothing strange about you wishing to handle their tasks yourself? Or that you needed two cups of... whatever that is?”

“They’re perfectly used to my eccentricities,” Miq assured him. His brow creased slightly as he looked Elair over; he stepped closer, pausing only to place the mugs on his desk. “Have you been standing there this whole time?”

Elair tried to will away the self-conscious blush. “I’m quite comfortable standing.” Comfortable was the last thing he felt, though. If it wasn’t for Miq’s presence, he’d be gnawing at his nails. “I’ve been meaning to ask—is your family home now?”

“Lythania is.” Oh no. Not Miq’s sister. During all of their past meetings, she’d looked at Elair like she was politely anticipating him committing a crime—and now look, he’d proven her right! “She is awfully busy, though, so I don’t expect her to show up before supper.” Miq reached out, as if to take Elair by the hand or graze his fingers down his arm. He aborted the motion all too quickly. “Relax, all right? You’re safe here. I’ve got you. Come sit.”

Shoulders tense, Elair followed him to the desk that was as big as some dining tables. He pulled up one of the several chairs—seriously, why did Miq even need so many?—and settled into it. Up close, there could be no doubts about the contents of the mugs. The smell of chocolate tickled at his nostrils, filling his mind with memories of all the best times he’d had over the last few years. The late-night study hours, the walks around wintry street markets, the breezy autumn evenings in that little place by the docks. A string of free, cozy, careless moments. Shared with Miqualis, all of them.

He passed his fingers through the small cloud of steam, focused on the warmth seeping into his skin. His hands always got way too cold when anxiety took hold.

“Are you sure this is safe?” he asked.

“I seriously doubt our cook has poisoned the chocolate.” The mirth in Miq’s expression faded quickly when their eyes met. Elair must be doing a worse job than he thought at hiding his distress. “Sorry. Bad time for jokes, isn’t it? Yes, Lai, I’m sure. You’re perfectly safe here.”

“I was rather thinking about your safety,” Elair pointed out. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have this special power of attracting absolutely wretched situations, and this year, it’s been particularly out of control. So who knows? Maybe if I stick around, one of the Downhill crime rings will storm your property soon. Or there will be a weird magical anomaly. Or your father disowns you.”

Miqualis nodded solemnly, even as his lips twitched. “Perfectly valid concerns. I’m especially excited for the anomaly. Excellent practice for the final exams, wouldn’t it be?”

Elair couldn’t muster the heat for a proper glare, but he did his best. “I’m serious.”

“I know.” 

A moment of hesitation, and, for the first time in months, Miq’s hand was on his shoulder, an inch away from his neck, right over that pesky muscle that knotted up whenever Elair’s nerves consumed him.

Elair expected himself to freeze. Instead, he relaxed into the familiarity and the warmth.

“Everything’s going to be fine.” Miq’s voice was scarcely above a whisper. “I’ve got you. Drink your chocolate.”

#warden's random scribbles #writeblr #original fiction #snippet #flufftober2023 #day 01 #writers on tumblr #my writing #champagne problems #fantasy #romance

[abysscronica]

Do you think One Piece is a political anime?

I guess it depends what you mean by "political"?

I've always thought there's a curious duality in OP: it definitely portrays a lot of politics, showing many different facets and crafting complex political and social dynamics among various states/ethnicities/races. AND YET it all happens around a main character that just wanna do his own thing and couldn't care less about labelling himself part of any group. Quite the opposite in fact, he wants to be the most free a person can be. His dream is to be a King that rules over nothing and answers to no one. I think it's very poetic.

Granted there's a part of Luffy's dream we don't know yet and Oda chose to keep a secret, so it's possible that may change this image a little bit. For example, if since he was a child Luffy uttered to Ace and Sabo something like "I want to tear down all the barriers of this world", or something to that effect, that would already give him a sort of ideology.

At least this is how I always perceived One Piece, keep in mind politics is not really my forte, so take it with a grain of salt. I'm sure you can find analyses around from people much more versed than me on the matter.

In the story itself, there's a recurring theme of revolution against a totalitarian power (the Revolutionary Army vs. World Government), and you can draw many parallelisms between situations in OP and the real world. The fascinating thing is that Oda presents this struggle from so many points of view! Even though most of the time it's pretty clear which one is the wrong side, the story as a whole doesn't buy into a simplistic vision of "all the good guys vs. all the bad guys".

Let's take Alabasta for example. When we dock there, it's a kingdom torn apart by a mounting revolution against the current monarchy. And yet in this case Oda doesn't really pick a side between the two, does he? Or better, he leaves the choice to the reader. He draws the struggles of the desperate population turned rebels, the passionate strong princess that tries to avoid the war, a king that (in his weakness) loves his people, the old man that stays behind and chooses to have faith. Sure, Oda gives us an actual bad guy, a culprit to blame, the mastermind that orchestrated the misunderstandings behind the crisis. But I don't think this takes away from the depth of the political overview we're met with in the Alabasta arc (on the contrary, it adds layers, as we're certainly not exempt from manipulation behind the scenes in our world).

And then, AND THEN! Oda goes on and offers Crocodile redemption?! Or, once again, putting it into better words: he leaves you free to choose. He goes like: hey, here's Crocodile again, kind of an interesting guy, I've got a lot of lore on him, maybe he's not all bad, in fact he's going to help Luffy now for a bit, oh but he still has his ambitious goals and schemes of course. What will you do? Do you like him now, despite what he did to Vivi and her people? Does this mean that you forgive him?

Oda does that a lot with former villains, in general. Hachi, Bellamy, Bon Clay, Buggy, Caesar Clown (?), etc... they all did horrible things to people. Katakuri killed his servants in cold blood as they begged for their life, just because they saw him eating, and he's one of the most beloved characters ever.

It seems that I'm straying from the topic, but here I circle back: Oda goes as far as offering a possibility for redemption to the most f*cked up character ever, a Celestial Dragon. I'm talking about Mjosgard, of course.

And Mjosgard only has a chance because of Queen Otohime. Through Otohime, Oda shows us a different ideology, a different path to change a broken society (incrementalism maybe?).

Does it work? Was it worth it? Does Mjosgard even deserve it? Will it serve to anything?

Again, you're free to choose your answer. And if that answer is no, then what about Hody Jones killing Otohime? Does the mean justify the ends?

I won't delve into Fishmen Island here because there is waaay too much to unpack, one could write a doctoral dissertation on all the layers, the different personalities, the background, how the past of individuals and societies shapes futures and ideologies. SO many aspects!

Also, also, the possibility for redemption that was given to Mjosgard was given to Orochi too, through Oden, with diametrically opposite results. Why? Was it the trauma? Did Orochi's past break him beyond redemption?

It's horribly sad if you think about it. This would suggest that it's the environment that shapes you. Mjosgard had a chance because he was privileged since birth, whereas Orochi had to live through extreme trauma in his childhood, so he had no chance.

But then Oda goes ahead and flips the cards again! Is it really just the environment? Does the individual account for nothing? Look at Doflamingo and Corazon then. Born nobles all the same, endured trauma all the same, turned out completely different. They were completely different since birth, Corazon even says Doflamingo was born evil (and yet he may be capable of love as it's suggested he truly cares about the closest members of his adopted family).

On another note, what about the Marines? They're the dogs of the WG, the antagonists of the story, many of them are depicted as horrible. But do you hate them all? Koby, Smoker, Tsuru, Garp? Can you hate the category and spare the individuals? Do you condemn all of their ideals?

I could go on and on, there's SO much more to this story. I didn't even mention slavery and human trafficking, another theme very much present in OP. I barely hinted at the fact that racism is also treated. But this post is already long so I'll stop for now.

I am really not suggesting any answer to the questions above here, you pick your own. After all, Luffy overthrows kings and protects princesses. He beats bullies up and then he forgives them. If Oda lets you free to choose, who am I to sway you?

#one piece #eichiro oda #one piece meta

[micklio]

rambling about the BG3 ending (spoilers ahead), just getting some thoughts out

I finished BG3 yesterday and overall i loved the game but my god that ending was rushed and didn't really give any closure. I didn't free orpheus despite wanting to because my tav Crowe thought that staying with the emperor would be the most consistent choice to guarantee getting rid of the Netherbrain -- and that after Crowe would help Lae'zael and Voss with getting rid of Vlaakith cause if they're all mindflayers or dominated by the Netherbrain they wouldn't be able to do anything (i looked up what the Orpheus ending looked like after though and it's kind of a shame it doesn't seem to have much of an impact the Emperor is just like bye. Which i guess is in line with his character but it didn't have any oomf to it)

The epilogue helped a little bit with closure but this didn't exist until a month ago and definitely didn't make it a super satisfying ending it felt like a bandaid. W/o the epilogue the ending was

-Lae'zael says a couple quick lines to you and fucks off which is my bad for not taking the Orpheus ending, but it feels out of character that you can't offer to help or or at least talk to her so she can understand where you were coming from, that it felt like the bond you guys built up over the adventure meant nothing. She trusts the group to use her Silver sword?? Why won't she stay for a few words I feel like this isn't in character for her idk

-I was unable to finish Shadowheart's quest because the Shar Temple fight in Act 3 was insanely buggy for me and was crashing constantly. Shadowheart was not mentioned at all at the docks which is likely because I couldn't finish the quest but that's still weird they didn't account for people not doing companion quests. Like not even just one line about what Shart is going to do next. Ok.

-Halsin is not mentioned AT ALL and Crowe was partnered with him in addition to Astarion. In the epilogue you learn he's trying to help rebuild the Shadowlands area -- if Tav gets a scene at the end with Astarion why can't he have a quick scene with Halsin discussing he wants to go back to the Shadowlands

-You talk with Gale about what to do with the crown but you don't learn the consequences of that at all he just goes okay and walks away from the doc

-Astarion just runs away. He was Crowe's partner so they got a follow up scene but if this wasn't the case I imagine there isn't anything else. Even with a follow up scene wish there was more about what Astarion wanted to do with his life now that it's his.

-Wyll and Karlach insta leave to Avernus. I'm devastated by Karlach's ending and really wish there was a "better" ending for her in line with other companions BUT!!! This was oddly one of the endings I felt like had some closure/was in line with the story. Karlach got to have her moment at the docks that was heart wrenching and sad and didn't ignore the journey she went on and her friendship with Crowe

-Wyll deserved more than two lines before him and Karlach ran off to Avernus, like with the Ansurr quest/following up with him after we knew he was going to end up with Avernus, how he felt about that and why he was going to become the Blade of Avernus is great BUT LET HIM SAY GOODBYE TO HIS FRIENDS AND HIS CITY!!! >:(

I love that Wyll and Karlach get to be a devil slaying team in Avernus and just how much they've changed from the beginning of the game, you meet because Wyll is trying to find Karlach. And im here for a happy ending for Karlach but the epilogue feels like such whiplash LOL like she has this heart wrenching scene at the docks then the writers went "um oopsie. Actually her and Wyll found a way to fix her engine. Yay!" writers you need to COMMIT

The epilogue did help a little bit. It's nice to know what the companions are up to but it didn't fix the ending at all lol. BG3's characters are the strongest points in a game, it's such a whiplash to see the ending just tacked on. I still don't know what Astarion wants to do post game. Crowe wanted to help him find a way to walk in the sun and but what does Astarion want to do with his life now that he doesn't have Cazador or a tadpole in his head!!!!!

To me the game is obviously not finished and that's a shame because it's still such a good game but it could be BETTER. Act 3 lacks a lot of polish that Act 1 pulls you in with. Characters at camp don't have much to say in Act 3, you barely talk to them about anything, Halsin basically doesn't exist. The constant crashing after a certain point in Act 2 is just unacceptable, at one point i had to stop playing for a couple months because I literally couldn't progress through the crashing, and these technical issues dampened my enjoyment of the game a lot.

I also wish they made Tav's character choices matter more, like even stuff popping up in your dialogue more, or actually getting to meet your patron -- the "we're just leaving it up to your imagination" doesn't really work when all the Origins characters in your party have a huge backstory that matters throughout the game and Tav just doesn't. There wasn't a lot of moments where I was like YES Crowe feels so cool right now!! I know Durge apparently addresses some of this but that doesn't fix that Tav just feels like they're There. They def could've done more. Why doesn't Crowe ever get to talk to his patron as a Warlock. Why can't the game explore what kind of relationship they have. Crowe is a soldier from Baldur's Gate. Why can't he have connections to the Flaming Fists? Why can't he see his family? Why can't Crowe have religious connections and have that affect the story without being a cleric? He worships Illmater and returning home to the murder at the temple devastated him. Why can't there be a few dialogue options with him being familiar with someone at the temple. Like there's ways to improve on making Tav feel like they matter more even with just smaller stuff.

That's it for now but I might return with more thought dumping later

#mids text #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 spoilers

[lunarreverb]

I just finished the new epilogue! I enjoyed it a lot! Long thoughts about videogame storytelling mechanics generally but also the epilogue too:

Honestly, what a treat. It is so difficult not to be charmed by this game over and over, and the love Larian keeps pouring into it. And while we could 'well actually' about how the original ending was rushed and how all of this stuff should have been in there from the jump or that we should actually also be getting all of the cut content and all of that - I mean, I wouldn't be UNHAPPY if they restored more cut stuff and kept giving us more and more and more - but I can't find it in me to be too upsetti spaghetti with anything we're 'missing' now, as of getting the epilogue, the way that something like the ending of Mass Effect 3 made me...upsetti spaghetti with meatballs. And maybe it's because BG3 landed on me in a different time in my life, or maybe it's because even though it's technically a sequel in a series, it didn't wind me up with anticipation the way the finale of a firmly stated trilogy did. In any case I guess right now I just feel content. BG3 has been a precious and joyful journey, little bugs, snags and all.

(Except with the way spawn Astarion gets treated when the sun lands on him at the docks, that's still so fucking rude, but being able to see him thriving in the epilogue soothes that hurt.)

But! the epilogue being set after a time skip also has me thinking about one of the other minor hangups I had about the main story of BG3, that I have largely been happy to forgive since I imagine the challenges of balancing storytelling and videogame mechanics are just, a LOT - but I sometimes felt pacing of things in BG3 was a bit unintuitive? Or unnatural? All of the adventures the party had and the amount of character growth I witnessed seemed miles out of sync with the number of days that I was manually toggling with long rests. This was especially true in my first, doomed playthrough, when I made the rookie mistake of rationing my Long Rests really hard, and I missed out on so so sooo many scenes and completely bungled starting the Astarion romance. It had literally just been a few ‘days’ that my party had known each other when I got to the tiefling party, after all, surely I wouldn’t need to lock in my romance with someone by this 'early game' event? Nevermind how may in-game hours it had been?

(That first playthrough attempt was a disaster for so many reasons, not least of all because I didn’t even find Astarion right away on my first attempt searching the beach. Complete dumpster fire. While I think I am grateful that I skipped EA so the whole story could be fresh to me, I still wonder if having a quick jog through the Act 1 map before committing to a 'real' playthrough would have spared my directionally-challenged ass a lot of grief.)

And I don't know how one would go about fixing this 'mismatch' necessarily, or even if it's even altogether important to get hung up on that. It's less of an issue in other games that invent little, blind gaps between events - non-open worlds, where your marker moves along a map between locations of interest and you may imagine to your liking the amount of time that has passed off-stage. Or, games where the day-night cycle occurs independently of your actions. I don't think the latter necessarily suits a game like BG3 where choice is king, but I wonder if there could have been more places to imply time passing 'between' regions, after events... I don't know! Maybe that's not right either. I'm just saying there's no way the owlbear cub should've grown all the way up in what must've been a few actual weeks? Maybe?

ANYWAY, tangent aside - the epilogue is precious, and my major point is that I appreciate that there's a timeskip in there. It really felt like the characters had some realistic space to grow and make personal progress and I'm so happy for all of them. Halsin's duck almost made me cry, guys, for real.

...um. Happy for everyone, except Gale. I really fucked up with Gale in my Tav run. Honestly, he is so fascinating because I simultaneously feel multiple ways about him, and he's been an entertaining challenge to figure out roleplaying around. I like him as a character on paper, and I want wholesome things for him, but this face is how my Tav feels about him even as a god:

"Fucking wizards, man."

Anyway, I still have to finish my run with my Gale-mancing Durge, so I can look forward to this interaction going better with a regular-flavor Gale when I get there. I was in honesty kinda running out of steam to finish my Durge run, but this new patch is kind of giving me a boost for it.

I'm ALMOST tempted even to do another run just with my old Tav again, maybe on a harder difficultly, for shits and giggles. Or an Origin character run. Or something else! Faerûn is my oyster!

#Baldur's Gate 3 Spoilers #BG3 Spoilers #Spoilers #Lunar Plays Baldur's Gate 3 #vidyagame feelings #Tav Migadda #BG3 Patch 5

[sarahlizziewrites]

WIP Wednesday

This is an excerpt from my gothic-horror sympathetic monster vampire tale, provisionally titled 'Grey-Sky Lark'. This scene takes place in 1897, but our protagonist is well over a thousand years old, and has been apprehended by two thugs.

We ascend several steps, and they laugh when I stumble. I’m starting to rethink my policies on killing people who aren’t already destined for an early grave, and extending the invitation to these two ahead of their time. A doorbell, followed by an unlocking. 

“Good afternoon, sirs,” the voice says, then falters. “Is this -?”

“Is the lady of the house available, Harred? We’ve got him.”

“Of course, come in.”

I am poked in the small of the back as footsteps retreat from the doorway. We enter a tiled entryway, and we stand in silence for a few moments. 

“You’ll be good, won’t you? If you try any funny business with the lady we’ll take you down before you can say ‘Van Helsing’.”

“Good luck with that,” I mutter under my covering, though I’m unsure if they hear me, because Harred interrupts: “This way, please.”

We enter a room, footsteps dulled on carpet. It is warmed by a crackling fire, and the smell of black tea, lemon and sugar enters my senses. A tiny ‘tink’ of china cup on saucer confirms to me that its drinker is sitting near the fire. 

“Ma’am,” the leader of the two, or at least the one who talks the most, begins. “After many years of searching, we believe we have found your son.” He is standing on my right, and I am disappointed to note that he doesn’t smell nearly as much of excrement as I would have hoped.

I am going to be a tremendous let-down to this woman who isn’t my mother. The cup and saucer are set down, and the lady of the house rises from a chair.

“I would stay back if I were you, ma’am, he’s…he’s not himself.”

“I think I can handle my own son, inspector.”

She has a prim accent, the ‘r’ at the end of ‘inspector’ a little more rhotic than one would expect from someone rich and well-educated, belying a working class background from somewhere in the West Country. 

“You’re terribly skinny, Matthew, what have you been eating-” As she speaks, the cover is removed from my head. I blink as my eyes adjust to the sunny parlour, and before me stands a petite and elegant woman, dark hair greying at the temples. “You’re not Matthew.”

I realise too late that my fangs are visible, and I bashfully close my lips over them. She doesn’t look frightened, though, more baffled. “Inspectors, this isn’t my son,” she says, gesturing at me with a small, closed hand fan and shaking her head. “I gave you a photograph, yes?”

With a stuttered, “Yes, ma’am,” one of the inspectors - P.I. Shit-Betwixt-th’Ears to my right - pulls a photograph from the inside pocket of his frock coat. Seeing him properly now, he is jowly and damp, with a high hairline and small hands, which he now uses to mop his brow. The other inspector is more fine-boned and ratty, and in his hands he is wringing the brim of a felt bowler hat in need of repairs. I note that neither ‘inspector’ is in any kind of uniform. The lady of the household takes the photograph from him, and holds it up alongside my face, appraising both.

“Not even passing like,” she says, pursing her lips together. “Where did you get this ragamuffin, then? The fish market?” She wrinkles her nose and snaps open the fan to waft at her face. I would decry her assessment of me as unfair, but I have been living in a bin by the docks for the last few months, so she’s probably spot on. “And what on Earth possessed you to think he was my son?”

She holds the photograph against her, subject out. It depicts a young man, perhaps sixteen or seventeen, fair haired and dressed smartly in an Eton collar, his hand upon a stack of books. He looks nothing like me. Where I am skinny and bony, he is rounded and athletic, with a healthy flush to his cheeks that my own pallor will never rekindle.

#wip wednesday #horror writing #fantasy writing #grey-sky lark #writers #authors #writeblr #vampire fiction