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1d1195 · 2 months

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Dolcezza Extra I

Read Dolcezza here | ~4.7k words

From me: this is something I’ve never done before: an alternate idea to something I've already written. I will be copying and pasting parts to keep the continuity but I hope you like it. It was pretty fun. The first couple paragraphs are from the original part. I’m sure you can all follow without me telling you all this. Have fun!

Warnings: stalking, scary (?) Also, no clue what kinds of protocols are supposed to be in place for this sort of thing. I don't think it makes a lot of sense logistically or law-wise. But that's not what we're here for, right?! I wanted it to kind of go right in the middle of Part 8, like starts in the beginning-ish part of it and end essentially in the same way.

It was one of those nights where everything was going wrong, and everything was too busy. Antonio was caring for Leo, the baby, and the missus—all sick with something Leo brought home from preschool, so Harry and Niall were left in charge. Normally, the sweet girl found her way down and situate herself at a station doing the takeout orders but given the little... spat (what else could he call it?) she seemed to be avoiding him.

His phone began vibrating in his pocket without pause for three full minutes, but he literally hadn’t a second to look at it. All he wanted was for the pretty girl to appear. He wanted to apologize profusely for overstepping. He just cared for her so much. Even if she wasn’t comfortable with how he handled things, he wanted to make it better. He cared so deeply for her it hurt to be apart from her without so much as a text message between them over the last two days. He managed to see her exit a car that wasn’t hers parked in her spot. At least her car was getting fixed. But he imagined she had another busy Friday and Saturday. He wished he could have helped more. Wished he didn’t mess up and revealed that he messed it up in a way he couldn’t fix it.

The moment the orders slowed, Harry was planning to race up her steps and beg for forgiveness.

Harry dropped a knife for the third time on the same onion he had been trying to dice for the last five minutes. He growled to himself, snagged it off the floor (nearly slicing his hand from his anger overtaking rational thought to pick it up by the handle), and all but tossed it in the sink.

“Why not just talk to her?” Niall muttered across the way.

“Shut up,” he snapped, bitterness coating his voice. Niall raised his eyebrows at him and shook his head. He turned the other way, turned his attention to the soup he was pouring into bowls. “M’going to,” he mumbled grabbing a clean knife as he started chopping again. “Sorry.”

He nodded. “It’s alright. Just thinking we could really use her help,” Niall smirked.

Harry snorted. “Y’could probably ask her,” he mumbled. “She’d come running t’help m’sure.”

“Yeah, but it defeats your whole she’s spreading herself too thin. And then I’m no different than rest, huh?”

Harry sighed, grateful for his understanding. “You’re a really good friend, Niall.”

“Don’t I know it,” he laughed. It was infectious. Hard to keep Harry in a bad mood and he prayed to God the orders slowed soon so he could run up and beg her to come help Niall and him because as much as he didn’t want to ask her for another thing, working with her on busy nights were some of his favorite moments.

Harry’s phone was still vibrating. He wondered if he set a timer for something and it was just going off continuously. “M’phone’s been ringing nonstop.”

“Mum?” Niall asked.

“No... she knows m’at work. Plus, she’d call the restaurant if it was an emergency. I gave her the number.”

“S’probably an alarm, yeah?”

“Yeah... probably.”

“Oh, she’s here,” Niall mumbled his gaze narrowing at the slip of paper in his hand. “Eggplant and two times the extra garlic bread…” Niall waved the ticket out like he always did when they realized the arrival of Harry’s Principessa.

Well, at least Harry wouldn’t have to sprint upstairs to apologize. Still, it was odd she didn’t make herself known when she got there even if they weren’t exactly on speaking terms. Harry glanced toward the window for a peek to see if she was there, but he was too far away. “Niall did you see her?” He asked.

“No…” his voice was low, over the bustle of the few staff that were in the kitchen, Harry hardly heard him. Like he was piecing a puzzle together. He was studying the slip. Like it would give him the hint.

“See who?” The hostess asked. She was grabbing a take-out order off the counter that Niall had just finished packaging. Niall slid the ticket into the holder still examining it.

“Principessa,” Niall mumbled. “She always orders extra garlic bread with her eggplant.”

“Oh yeah she’s here with her brother or something,” Antonio’s nephew, Matteo, jumped right into the conversation as he brought back empty plates from the dining room.

Harry’s head snapped up from the veggies he was cutting and tossing into a pot to make a sauce. “Brother...?” Harry didn’t think that made sense at all. He remembered seeing “James groceries” on her calendar while he cleaned earlier in the week. It was always done on a day when James had to work in the evening so there was no way he would have come all the way out here for dinner. Still, he thought Harry would have known if James was here—between his protective brother streak or even just saying hello and thank you for the food. Harry thought she would bring him right back here to the kitchen and make herself at home.

But maybe Harry misread it. Or maybe James finally suspected she was tired and strung out and was taking a step to help with his kind older sister.

“Well, it’s not dinner with you; so, who else would it be?” Matteo reminded them with a shrug.

Niall gasped dropping the plate he was holding, and it shattered to the ground. Everyone stopped to look at him and he grabbed the ticket once more. Like it finally revealed the missing clue. At the same time Harry dropped the fourth knife he was using because if Matteo hadn’t said “who else would it be” they might not have put it together right then.

Harry hurried to the window and searched. “Where’s she sitting?” His voice was hurried. There was a one second pause. “Matteo, now!”

“Corner, near the door. What’s—”

“Niall...” Harry’s body felt weak and shaky. His blood was hot and boiling immediately. His vision was getting blurry at the edges, and he had never felt so close to throwing up in his whole life. Not even when he had the flu in university.

Why was his phone vibrating still?

“Oh no,” he murmured reaching for the phone in his pocket.

“Shit!” Niall hissed looking at the direction of the man sitting across from the pretty girl all the way across the restaurant.

Harry slid his thumb across his phone without taking his eyes off the table across the main room. The weakness he felt ached through every inch in his body. “Eleanor, I—”

He yanked the phone away from his ear as she responded, loudly, shouting. “Harry! For the love of GOD! Do you never look at your phone!? Why do you even have one!?”

Harry felt sicker at the accusation. How could he not look at his phone? “El—”

“Harry it’s bad,” Eleanor sobbed, barely getting the words out. Harry could hear Louis shushing her as best he could. “It’s really bad.”

It was every one of Harry’s worst nightmares.

She was trying to process why the door was open. She quietly stepped back from her own door, but she wasn’t in control of her own body. Her heart was beating a little faster than normal. Her brain tried to reason with her muscles that there had to be a reasonable explanation. Instead, her muscles continued moving; she pressed the volume button on her phone to turn Eleanor’s voice down even though she continued rambling about how Harry adored her, and she was pretty sure he was in love with her too.

Not even the idea of Harry loving her could shake the nerves away.

“El... Eleanor,” she whispered listening intently to Antonio’s office door distinctly closing and three foreboding footsteps reaching her door. The clinking metallic sound of someone fiddling with the lock on her door came next. She had the phone pressed to her lips trying to soundlessly alert Eleanor as best she could as she scurried backwards as if the door was on fire. “El! STOP!” She hissed listening for more sound.

“What?” She could hear the eye roll in her friend’s voice. “You have to confront these emotions Harry is—” There was a low voice cursing outside her door as the lock was fiddled with more and she stepped back as the door opened. Her jaw dropped along with her phone smacking to the ground. She could faintly hear Eleanor calling at the sound of the noise.

The man before her smiled excitedly, relieved. “You’re home. I knew I’d find you,” he sighed with relief reaching for her. Instinctively she took a step back, it took every ounce of her self-control to keep from throwing up all over herself or the not-so-stranger. “I’m so glad I’ve found you; I missed you so much.”

Her heart was pounding erratically. Her only saving grace was knowing Eleanor heard. She reached for her phone. Autopilot. Grab the phone that clattered to the floor.

He kicked it out of the way. “You don’t need that,” he assured her with an easy smile. She straightened; cleared her throat.

“I…don’t?” She whispered. She should have spoken louder so Eleanor could hear. Of course, she loved her apartment, and she loved Antonio and the little family he invited her to be part of that was Dolcezza. Right then, however, she wanted to cry that her apartment was soundproofed beyond auditorial recognition. Her eyes dropped to the fabric in his hand. She swallowed the bile that continued rising in her throat while he looked at her as if he had known her his whole life.

“No,” he shook his head.

Her mind wasn’t working. She was exhausted and terrified and poor Eleanor was screaming from the other end of the line. He grabbed the phone. “Hi Eleanor,” he said simply. “She’s okay. We’re going on a trip, she’ll be safe with me,” he assured her.

Then he left her phone on the side table. Hanging up and leaving it there. It started to vibrate immediately; Eleanor desperate to hear her answer again. Instead, he ignored it, held his hand out for her to take. “I need my stuff—” she stepped toward her bedroom, but he grabbed her arm. She yanked it away, like he burned her. She gasped at the touch, and he frowned.

“Sorry—”

Her fight or flight kicked in and she bolted for the bathroom. It would lock and she would drop from the second story if necessary or scream until Harry heard her.

Oh. Harry.

Right as she tried to slam the door shut behind her his foot got in the way. She yelped as he grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the room. “Honey, stop fighting me,” he grumbled bitterly. She felt so sick. So scared. She wanted to scream and cry but it would be useless. No one would hear her. She needed to make someone hear her.

Slowly, painfully slowly, her brain started to work. It wasn’t much. But she prayed silently to herself that it would be. She took a shaky inhaled breath. “I’m…sorry,” her voice cracked, and tears welled in her eyes. She couldn’t look at him. She was too scared. It was a nightmare, but she could feel the way her teeth bit into her cheek. It wasn’t something she would be waking up from. “I’ve had a really long week and a really long day. I haven’t eaten yet,” she whispered. “I was going to go downstairs and eat at the restaurant,” she sniffled. “Can we do that? A date?” It tasted sour in her mouth to say it. Her fingernails dug into her palms reminding her further it was a nightmare. It had to work. Please let it work.

“A date?” He mused. He stuffed the fabric in his hands into the pocket of his pants.

“Please,” she whispered. “I’m starving.”

“And then we can go to my place?”

The idea was so nauseating, so terrifying, she worried that it wouldn’t work. If the food got to her table, she was so incredibly scared she wouldn’t be able to eat it. Her whole body felt shaky and clammy. Like when she had the flu. One bite and she would be puking all over her table.

But hopefully that would get Harry’s attention.

“Okay,” he agreed and held his hand out for her to take. It felt like cheating on Harry to hold someone else’s hand. She forced the tears behind her eyes and willed the nausea to stay in the pit of her stomach.

She placed her hand in his.

Harry was pacing trying to figure out how to tell her he knew. Niall was on the phone with the police begging for no sirens and no lights. Eleanor was, in the smallest of possible ways, relieved to hear she was in the restaurant and not halfway to somewhere they didn’t know.

Harry couldn’t see her face. It killed him. Why didn’t he go up sooner? Why didn’t he beg for her to come down and help so they could make up? Why didn’t he insist and help her stubborn self the way he wanted to?!

“Goddamnit!” He shouted and shoved a bin of clean cutlery on the floor. It was so loud the restaurant ceased to make noise for a prolonged moment.

“Harry,” Niall was off the phone with the police Eleanor sobbing in his other ear no doubt. “You need to be smart. They cannot leave before the police get here or we’re fucked. Eleanor already sent the detective on her case to his old place of residence and there is no sign of him there. So, if they leave…” he trailed off and Harry released a strangled noise from his throat. Not quite a cry, not quite a yell. The pain was so intense from the thought he thought he could feel it in the atoms of his body. “If you cannot have a controlled response...,” Niall warned without finishing the sentence.

Harry swallowed the feeling of being sick down. He knew what Niall meant. “Okay,” he croaked.

Everyone was still trying to work. But the whispers ensued. Within moments, everyone knew. Everyone was trying to piece together a plan and Harry felt so confused, so lost, so scared because the only one he could ever imagine getting out of this situation was his sweet Principessa herself.

“Alright,” he cleared his throat. He needed to be brave. She needed him. She never needed anyone. The weight of that made him terrified. Shaking his head he pressed the heels of his palms in his eyes to stop the stressed tears from escaping. He swallowed and shook his head again. She did the hard part. She got herself in the restaurant and Harry’s attention without even talking to him. “Niall, bring out the garlic bread in three minutes,” he ordered while untying his apron and heading for the door to the alleyway. “Tell Eleanor to tell the detective to hurry.”

The restaurant was easily one of her top five favorite places in the world. But right now, she wanted to scream and run from it. Where was Harry or Niall?! God, she wanted to kill Matteo. How did he not know? Wasn’t everyone under a silent direction to tell Harry when she arrived?

The worry began to take over. Harry wasn’t coming to her rescue because he didn’t want to. She pushed him away and he was going to let—

No.

Harry, despite how mad he might have been, would never let anything happen to her. She was certain.

Wasn’t she?

Perhaps Harry really just didn’t know. It was unfortunate, but there was nothing she could do about it. Especially without any indication that anyone knew she was there. Her back was to the restaurant, and she was still in her gym clothes. With her back turned, hair in a ponytail, she was probably less recognizable than normal. That had to be it. He had no idea she was there.

It was a miracle she could keep her breathing as even as she did. The thoughts started to spiral further. Maybe he wouldn’t know. It was really busy in the restaurant—Matteo might not have noticed she was there with a stranger when he seated them since the hostess wasn’t there. Maybe he didn’t tell Harry yet.

Her heart was beating so loudly in her ears it was hard to hold a conversation with him almost because she couldn’t hear him; more so than the fact that she didn’t want to talk to him. But she didn’t have a choice. He asked her about work, her family, and if she had been reading anything good. She wasn’t into it—it was obvious and she wished she was because the only thing that was going to save her was being able to play it off that she didn’t want to crawl out of her skin at the sight or sound of him. Her stomach was churning, and her voice was so quiet she wished she could do a better job acting but she was terrified. Pain started behind her eyes, and she wanted to scream.

“Good evening.”

Her head snapped up to Harry briefly, who seemingly appeared out of thin air. Her jaw dropped silently. She was really beginning to believe that he wasn’t coming to her rescue. But now he was there. He knew she was there. He was going to help. She was sure of it.

He knew she was there.

Her heart started to pound in a new way, still scared but for the first time in twenty minutes she took a deep cleansing breath; relieved. She looked at her lap afraid to give it away that she knew him. “We are very short staffed this evening. We’re extremely sorry for the delay,” Harry sounded so formal, and she couldn’t look at him. If she did, she would cry. “Your food will be out as soon as we can. Please be patient with us. We’re very sorry.”

If she looked up, she knew his eyes would be looking at her. She knew his apologies weren’t about the food. The gravity in his voice said he was sorry because he didn’t know she was there sooner. He was sorry he didn’t come upstairs or to her rescue faster. A tear slipped across her cheek. “It’s okay,” she murmured. “Do you have a bathroom?” She asked.

“I don’t think—”

“Of course,” Harry interrupted hurriedly; she could practically hear the excitement in his voice. Like he was grateful she had a plan because he was a little stuck, a little lost. It made her feel weak immediately. The worry Harry must have felt because of her made her feel guilty and sad. She wanted to fix it and it was hard she felt like she was balancing on a tightrope. She hoped Harry wouldn’t hate her for running the second she had the opportunity. “I’ll lead you,” he offered.

“You just used the bathroom upstairs, honey,” the man reminded her. His voice was tight.

He was going to be mad if she left; that much was evident. “Well, I just—” She started.

“She’s all set, actually. Thank you.”

Harry stared at him. Weighing his options. She could see it. She cleared her throat. “Um...it’s okay,” she whispered quietly. Refusing to look at Harry again. If she did, she was going to blow what little cover she had. Poor Harry. “M’just a little tired,” she assured him, trying to sound braver than she felt.

“S’back and to the left,” Harry murmured and then headed to the next table and explained the short-staffed shift again. She wondered what he was thinking and what he was saying to the table. They looked like regulars, but she wasn’t completely sure because her mind was frazzled. Harry leaving her to fend for herself, even though he was only four feet away at most had her aching for him more than she ever wanted to hold his hand in her whole life.

Harry was losing his mind. He knew she understood his apology for taking so long. He knew that she understood between the lines that he was apologizing for Matteo’s mistake in not telling him sooner. Harry would have been out in the dining room so much faster. As much as it pained him to see her seated across from another man, regardless of the circumstances. It would have been better if she was with another guy in general. At least he wouldn’t be worried sick about her safety.

It took every bit of his strength to keep blowing their cover. To keep from shaking while he told the next table that they were short-staffed. They quietly inquired about the strange man sitting with the sweet girl they all had grown to know as their sometimes-waitress and Harry’s lovely Principessa. He quietly murmured something and then casually bumped into the table dropping the knife near the edge to the floor. As he bent to grab it, he murmured to the guy, pleaded with his eyes as he tried to whisper devoid of emotion. “Do not let her leave with him.”

Harry moved to the next table—strategically he chose the tables that allowed him to keep her in his peripheral. It was killing him. The shaking was becoming uncontrollable, and the whisper beg to the couples, imploring for help from the people he had gotten to know over the years, was getting strangled in his throat as he moved to the third and fourth table.

He was at a loss. The bathroom was a great idea, but he hadn’t a clue as to how to get her from point A to point B. Maybe he could pour hot soup on her, insist she come to the kitchen for help. But he wasn’t sure he wanted to spill their hot soup in her lap either. He supposed he could throw ice cubes in it and make it less horrible on her delicate skin, but he had to do something! His mind was spiraling. He wouldn’t see her in his peripheral in just two more tables and he was already about triple the distance of what he wanted to be from her—granted even an inch of space given the scenario seemed more horrific than he could bear.

He was feeling nauseous. Maybe he should just grab her by the hand and pull her away. But they had a chance to get rid of him. To keep him away from her once and for all. He violated the restraining order. That had to be something. He would have to go away.

Despite the fact she was so close but felt like an entire galaxy away. Harry was crumbling internally. This poor older woman who had been coming in every Saturday for years looked at him with pity in his eyes as he repeated his spiel once more. The agony he felt was in every inch of his bones, every pore of his skin. His eye was twitching.

When he got her safe and out of harm’s way, he planned on never letting go of her. At least not for a few days. He was going to kiss her and hold her. Apologize to her and cook for her. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight. Harry was going to tell her he loved her and didn’t care if she was stubborn or felt like she was hard to care for because she didn’t like to be needy. He was needy. He needed her. It was killing him to be so close and so far away. So helpless and terrified that he couldn’t help her the way he wanted to right then. Even scared shitless, he thought she was beautiful and brave. So brave. She got here. She got his attention. That had to mean something. She believed in Harry and that he would find her or know she was there despite the frustration and anxiety she felt.

It was hard to believe it was only three minutes since he actually talked to her and apologized for taking so long. Niall came from the back with a plate of garlic bread as promised. Niall was going to come up with the next part of the plan, Harry hoped. Hell, he would go back to the table, feigning exhaustion for apologizing twice. God, he needed to get a bowl of soup, he was going to have to spill it in her lap! It was the only way.

Harry listened intently as Niall arrived at their table. He could almost see the glitter of her tears in her eyes. Nearly crying again at the sight of Niall. He wanted to make a joke more than anything that it had nothing to do with Niall but everything to do with her favorite bread in his hands. But he was mortified. Speechless in front of a table waiting with waited breath as they heard the murmurs and the wisps of what Harry managed to mumble before Niall’s arrival.

“Garlic bread,” he announced, as if she didn’t know. “Buon appetite,” he winked casually. He was far better at lying and acting than Harry or herself combined. She was itching to run. Niall and Harry, both could stop him. Someone would tackle him, right? She was fluttery. Ready to leave as soon as she saw an opening because she didn’t know what else to do. “Can I get you two anything else?” Niall asked kindly.

“I know you,” he said. It lacked suspicion but was no less terrifying.

She could see Harry’s back straightened in her peripheral and his speech silenced. Matteo and the hostess were working from the other end of the room at the same time. Probably explaining the situation to every table as quietly as they could just like Harry was.

Without any tell in sight, Niall merely tilted his head and looked at him. “Hmm...sorry. M’not sure I recognize you,” he shrugged. Niall stepped closer, getting a better look at the man across from her. His acting skills deserved an award.

But in moving closer, Niall also blocked her a good margin from his view. It was her chance. She bolted. Running from the main room and toward the kitchen so fast it took a minute for anyone to realize she was gone. She zipped out the kitchen door, back through the alley, and up to her apartment. She heard a shout coming quickly behind her, so she had to be faster. She hurried back into her apartment unable to do anything but grab her phone off the table and run into the bedroom and hide in the closet, closing the door quietly behind her. She dialed Eleanor. Her heart pounding as she heard the sound of steps. She left the door open to make it look like she ran back out, but it was impossible.

He was already in the apartment. Already tearing through her belongings, shouting, upending her furniture, and rifling through everything.

“Babe?” Eleanor nearly screeched with relief.

“I can’t talk,” she whispered barely an audible octave.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stay on the phone,” she promised. “The police are on their way.”

general taglist: @justlemmeadoreyou @daydreamingofmatilda @sunshinemoonsposts @tiredinwinter @loving-hazz

@likeapplejuicenpeach @straightontilmornin @freedomfireflies @littlenatilda @kathb59

@babegoals @angel-upon @lilfreakjez @mleestiles @ameliaalvarez06

@canyonmoondreams @summertime-pills @daphnesutton @l4rrysh0use @perfectywrong

@foreverxholland @lovrave @st-ev-ie @pandeebearstyles @toosarcastic03

@luvonstyles @tenaciousperfectionunknown @classychalamet @love-letters-to-uranus @emmaawbr

@crossyourpeter @kissitnhekitchen @kittenhere @stylesfever @harryscherri

@indierockgirrl @michellekstyles @hermionelove @somethingabout1d19

Dolcezza: @matildasatellite @lovingfurypanda @sideboobrry11 @theresnooneheretosave @12yeahiminluvwu

@cohnfusedarling

I'm sorry if I missed anyone in the taglist. Please let me know if you'd like to join, if I put you on the wrong list, if it didn't work, if you no longer want to be included, etc. :)

If you like this, check out my masterlist for more of my writing.

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thenukacolachallenge · 7 months

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some fun facts about Luis and André Peña(his VA)

(from the Nick Apostolides(Leon Kennedy VA) livestreams, because i think Luis is neato and i liked André's performance, especially for a first-time big VA gig!)

UPDATE: NOW WITH TIMESTAMPS bc someone on the part two of this post asked about them lmfao

-André actually auditioned for the Spanish cops that escort Leon to Valdelobos originally, and went through several more auditions before landing the role of Luis Serra. for his first role on a big project like Resident Evil, that's incredibly impressive! (timestamp)

-Both Nick and André did motion capture for multiple enemies, including André calling his "best role" playing a dead body lmao. He and Nick also did mocap for the Verdugos, Salazar's bodyguards! (timestamp)

-Being that it was such a big role, he was very anxious about the game dropping, from the moment he got cast to the day it dropped. He even apparently asked Nick constantly if he had somehow been recast. (poor dude, as someone with anxiety issues and huge imposter syndrome, i feel for him!!!) Nick gives him a very sweet but stern pep talk about how he earned and deserved his role on stream too, it was a cute moment! (timestamp 1: André first mentioning his nerves) (timestamp 2: second mention of anxiety/Nick's pep talk to André)

-André is a big enough fan of the original to remember where all the treasure used to be! i love when people who are fans of a series get to work on it, dude. in addition, he was also very happy with the direction he was given, and felt that he was allowed to explore Luis as a more fleshed out character. (which he absolutely is, and i love it! Luis in the original was so strange and honestly off-putting imo. fucking ballistics lmao) (timestamp 1: first mention of André knowing a lot about RE4) (timestamp 2: more of André knowing the game) (timestamp 3: MORE of André knowing the game lmao) (there are a lot more than just these. dude is a FAN) (timestamp 4: André talking about direction and Luis)

-He refers to the bag Luis is stuffed into as a "Luis burrito", which is hilarious and adorable. (timestamp)

-(Also, not related to Luis, but Nick yells "YEET" when Leon gets tossed into the wall by Mendez, which is fucking hysterical) (timestamp)

-UPDATE: thank you to tumblr user @hamartia-grander for this detail that i completely missed originally! (timestamp)

(transcript: I hope this okay for me to add, but he also said that in the first scene with Leon and Luis, Luis looks away as Mendéz injects Leon with la plaga because he couldn't watch another person be infected by something horrible he had a hand in creating. Which is easy to infer from that scene, but it was nice that it was a conscious decision on André's part, rather than aimless direction.)

-the first scene André and Nick filmed together was Luis and Leon chained up together! and the first line of Luis's that got revealed was when he said to Leon, "I guess you, me... picked the wrong spot to vacation, eh?" Apparently the mocap for this scene was also very awkward for André, which is totally understandable, considering Luis spends 90% of it getting jerked around by Leon or trying to dodge a Ganado without the use of his hands lol. (timestamp)

-André worked very hard to make sure that Luis's accent was as accurate to Spain's Spanish as it could be, which is awesome, especially for someone who doesn't naturally speak that particular dialect. GOOD ACTING, BABEY (timestamp)

-André owns a legitimate Red 9 gun, the weapon that Luis uses in the game. this is a unique gun bc it was manufactured during the first World War, and it's VERY expensive(they can go up to $10k, but André apparently got his for a great deal!). he also has MADE a copy of the RE4 tactical knife Leon uses, and there's a video up on his youtube channel! (timestamp)

-(not related to Luis, but André also mentioned he has adhd! same buddy!!!) (timestamp)

-OKAY NEW STREAM TIME! This begins part four of Nick's playthrough, and André is a guest once more. All the previous facts are from part one, which is the first one André guested on. According to Nick, André learned how to flip a lighter around his fingers just for Luis, which is awesome. (and he shows off by doing so in stream!!!) (timestamp)

-Ashley's VA, Genevieve Buechner, got asked about her reaction to Luis' infamous "ballistics" line and both her and André aren't sad to see it missing from the remake. André himself makes a comment about how this version of Luis is still flirty without coming across as "creepy" about it. (i find the ballistics line from the original annoying, and it was a huge part of why i didn't care for Luis in og re4, so i too am VERY glad it's gone) (timestamp)

-André jokes about Luis breaking the brake on the minecart: "I react so depressed, like.... 'Guess that's it, bro.' 'Hey man, I tried.'" He really does! it feels like a mix of sheepishness at breaking it in the first place, and just very, resigned and depressed lol. (timestamp)

-Sadly, because he hadn't played up to that point yet, he didn't watch Luis' death scene, and therefore didn't have much to say on it :c

-when the cast was asked what kind of pet each of their characters would have, André said Luis would be a cat person, and he'd probably specifically adopt a stray cat, probably one that "adopted" him first. I definitely agree! (timestamp)

i havent watched Nick's last vid in the series yet but this is long enough as it is! im planning on watching some of André's streams up on his personal channel, and some others where he's a guest in, and i may make a part 2 of this :D (update: i did, link at the top of the post lol)

#luis serra #luis serra navarro

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lunarw0rks · 11 months

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Through The Ashes | Alternate Ending

Summary: You've been given an offer to join the 141 Task Force. Upon taking it, you find yourself ensnared with the mysterious masked man who won't take his eyes off you.

Warning(s): canon-typical violence, mild injuries/gore, gun mention, suggestive content (18+), fluff

A/N: for those of you who desired a sunnier ending, here you go! This was requested by @redhoodsupergirl. the bold text is a passage from the original. I apologize if this is Bestie!Soap erasure h/j (I didn't know how to fit him in)

❥ y'all should comment where you think y/n went during leave, and if you think she ever came back | Word Count: 2.4k

꒦꒷ MAIN MASTERLIST ꒷꒦ GHOST MASTERLIST ORIGINAL ENDING // requests | ao3 ver. | playlist

Alternate Ending

“Good to see you boys again.” The glitched voice emitting through your wire stops you dead in your tracks. You place a hand on Ghost’s shoulder, yanking him to a stop so you can hear it further.

When he does, he sprints to the other side of the large room, checking the entrance and windows for any sign of hostiles.

You look at him wide-eyed, as the line goes dead again. Graves had patched into your frequency and clogged it so you couldn’t reach your team. Whatever he was planning before, it’s here now and there’s no time to stop.

Your earpiece unexpectedly picks up the frequency again when you reach the middle of the dining hall. It gargles out a few words that you can’t understand, and then it emits a high-pitched shriek so boosted it makes you keel over and rip it out.

Ghost moves quicker than before, as your hurried steps try to catch up with him, your boots echoing with each careful stride—as if to not get your foot caught in any of the uneven patches of flooring.

The glass on the chandeliers began to rattle, as did the glassware packed away in boxes. You felt the floor vibrate, and the tarps over the exposed drywall began to whoosh. The electricity flickered as a loud whoosh of a jet passed overhead. The lights exploded into sparks, making you cover your ears for cover.

You had no time to get any closer to the door before the force of a nearby explosion knocked you to the hard ground. The world around feels like it’s been tilted on its axis, and your vision is doubled. You see Ghost already scrambled to his feet, and he’s outstretching his hand to help you up.

You reach for it and just barely brush against his fingertips. When you’re too sluggish, he clasps your upper arm and jerks you toward him, just barely getting you upright.

Another jet passes overhead, and the sound of the engine fills your ears once more. When another bomb drops, it’s closer than the last. You knock into one of the pillars, losing your balance again. A clamorous groan of the building causes him to lose his grip on you, and you’re knocked down again, fading in and out of consciousness.

Ghost comes to, and looks around at the rubble before him. The section you ended up on was completely blocked by walls and exposed cables that shot sparks every few seconds. Besides those, the night sky was his only guide, casting a blue tint on the hotel now in pieces.

“7-1, this is Ghost, how copy?” He spoke into his radio, hoping to hear yours going off in the distance.

“Frequency’s shot…” He growled under his breath, tightening his lip in concentration. Not only was he down his comms, you were on the other side of the rubble, or God forbid, already gone.

Wherever you were, he was going to find you. You weren’t going to fight this alone, no matter what ambush Graves had planned.

He raised his rifle, sweeping the remains for any signs of Graves’ men. His ears were trained on any sound of life, enemy or not.

The place was quiet—too quiet, for his liking. Either his entire team was dead, or another fiery pass was coming.

The only way to the other side of the dining hall was climbing through one of the vents he spotted by the stairs if there was one remaining after the blast. He crept through the doorway, keeping his strides near silent as he made it to the stairwell, which was missing its bottom half now, nearly disconnecting the entire upper level of the building.

He spotted the vent and hoisted himself up on it using the front desk. He felt around inside, making sure it was stable enough to let him crawl through. His rifle went in first, then his upper half.

He inched his way through the tight squeeze, grunting at the strain it was putting on his ribs. He knew that pinching pain, he’d cracked a rib when the second pass sent you both astray. There was no time to whine, he kept army crawling through the vent, finally seeing the literal light at the end of the tunnel.

He made it to the other side, finally around the large lumps of rubble. He slung his rifle back to its previous position as he crept through the dark space, dodging the broken furniture and turning to ash before his eyes.

Finally, he heard the faint gurgling of a radio in the distance, meaning you had to be nearby, or at least your radio was.

His rifle lowered when he saw an arm sticking through one of the chunks of concrete, your full frame covered by a china cabinet that luckily was being held up by one of the remaining pillars. He’d never moved faster, shoving the cabinet aside like it was nothing to him.

His sore ribs screamed as he tore through the decay, finally revealing you to him.

He let out an audible sigh, seeing that you didn’t end up in the gruesome state he was imagining you in when your hand left his. Besides being banged up, it seemed only your foot had been nailed by the wreckage.

He knelt beside you, pressing his two fingers to find a pulse. Faint, but there nonetheless.

“Ghost, what’s your status?” His radio chimed, forcing him to take his attention off you for a few moments. “Ghost, do you copy?” The voice repeated.

“This is 7-1 Ghost responding, solid copy. One injured, working towards an exit strategy now.”

He engaged back, only keeping himself composed because he knew he had a job to do. You. It was his job to get you out of here, and he’d be dead before he failed that job.

Your eyes opened only a small amount at the sound of his rough voice. You were too out of it to be of any assistance, or to figure out what the hell happened for that matter.

When you tried to move yourself out of the odd position you were in, he pinned you by the shoulders. “Don’t move your legs.” He muttered, scanning the situation around him for a way to jack the rubble up and free the foot.

You had no choice but to lay there, coming in and out of prudence. The only pain you felt besides a small headache, was a persistent compressing sensation in your right foot.

He managed to use one of the boards as a jack, hiking the block up enough to shove your foot out from under it.

You groaned at the sudden release of its pressure, which only unleashed the pain the lack of blood flow was preventing. At least you knew your foot still had some nerves left, if you were in a position to think of the silver lining.

“Lean on me, Sergeant.” He wrapped his arms around you, using all his strength to get you upright. There was no way you’d be putting weight on your leg, so he not only had to guide you out of here, but now he had to find an exit.

Your head fell forward as he practically dragged you along, unable to hold any part of yourself together.

“I got you…” He kept repeating it as if he was also comforting himself. He pulled out his sidearm, keeping it at the side with his free hand.

He squinted into the void, finding a patch of wall that had a hole big enough for the both of you. That was his best bet.

There was no guarantee this “convoy” would be out there waiting for you two, in position to neutralize the two of you the second he crawled through. That was the risk he was willing to take.

Worst case; you looked mangled enough, that if he needed to shield you while being pumped with bullets, there might be a chance of you passing for a dead body.

“7-1, approaching the South side. Is it clear?”

“All clear. No sign of hostiles since the blast.”

He threaded himself through first, scanning the hillside to be sure of its safety first just in case. He leaned through wrapping your arms around him first, then lifting you so you would have to put pressure on the leg.

When you’re both through, he slithers down the tattered village, looking for any sign of the team.

He spotted the emergency lights in the distance, finally finding the triage center Price set up. When the superior turns his head, seeing Ghost’s outline carrying your unconscious self, he runs over, helping to distribute some of your dead weight.

“Leg injury, concussion too,” Ghost spoke in a pressurized tone as you were passed along to the medics. Price watched Simon with concern, privy to his attempts at hiding his own injuries—he’d done it many a time before.

Captain Price replied sternly, making sure the entire Task Force was at his attention.

“I want us all out of here before Graves gets a hold of another bloody missile. We’re going to recover, and then come at him hard.”

—

The four hours it took for your surgery to finish, he spent pacing in his dorm, despite the nurse’s orders to stay off his feet. He did indeed have a rib fracture, and he was lucky that’s all had, according to the medics.

A soft knock at his door halted his anxious pacing, making him hastily open the door. He was greeted by Price, whose professional poker face wasn’t doing Simon’s unnerve any favors.

“Hospital called me. The surgery went just fine, but they’re keeping her for observation.”

If he wasn’t so experienced in keeping his composure, he would’ve jumped into his car and driven there that second. Price kept the announcement short, and continued on his way back to his office.

Despite whatever came of all of this, you were out. He’d gotten you out, and you were now free to get out of this hellhole before it swallowed you.

That look on your face when you asked him about the violence, and how everyone else carried on like it wasn’t making them sick to their stomach.

That look was the reason you needed out of this life. He wouldn’t deny your skills as an operator for a minute, but you weren’t broken like he was. Not yet. If you were to have second thoughts about stress leave, he’d push you out the door himself. Nearly losing you today was enough convincing.

—

Simon stared blankly out the window of the bar he’d picked out.

Every vehicle that pulled into the lot made him straighten his posture, hoping it would be you each time. Finally, a taxi pulled in, and he saw your familiar figure step out. The dim lights on the entrance didn’t do much to reveal your state to him as you passed the windows, making your way towards the entrance.

The ding of the bell above the door makes him set his bottle down and lift the scowl off his face.

“Thought you wouldn’t show.” He said as you approached the booth, a large cast on your right leg, and a few scrapes in the process of healing.

“Why not? You pulled me out of a burning building, L.T.” You carefully tucked your leg into the booth, shifting in the cushion to get comfortable. The limited movements were something you still needed to get used to, but you were glad to even have a leg.

“Simon.” He says, making you lift your eyes from the menu. “You’re not under me anymore.” The last sentence sounded like a justification as if that wasn’t his real reason for letting you use his name.

If you had told your past self, the newbie with a fresh hatred for him, that you’d be sitting in a bar having a civil conversation—you’d have thrown a fit.

The drink he ordered for you arrived; a stout, of course.

“How’s the pain?” He asked, attempting to mask his concern as he finished off his pint.

“Burns sometimes… but other than that, no nerve damage.” You responded, resting your chin on your fist.

“Shouldn’t put a damper on your vacation then, right?”

You chuckled at his attempt at humor. “Not on my watch. I’ll be relaxing with one leg up the entire time if I can help it.”

His eyes scanned you in an up-and-down fashion as you sneered—like you’d noticed him doing many times before. At least this time it wasn’t lustful or hateful, it was civility.

You both enjoyed a few drinks, keeping up the friendly banter through the entire evening. As the bartenders began wiping down tables and flipping chairs, he placed a bill on the table and walked you to the door.

You turned on your phone, checking the time. “I should get going. My flight was pushed to to tomorrow morning.”

“I can drive you, in the morning?” He proposed, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

You smirked and stepped a little closer. “I think we’re past sharing car rides with one another, Simon.” You had flashbacks to the last time he drove you somewhere, which only ended in a very risky hookup.

You could picture the reddened cheeks he had, even through the mask. His mouth said nothing in response, but his eyes had a way of uttering the words ‘Touché’ at your brazen remark.

He’d die at the chance of touching you again, but you weren’t in any position physically; emotionally, you were right about one thing—the impure mistakes you two made on your journey to this point.

You opened the taxi app you’d used previously and arranged your ride back to the hotel, exchanging glances with him as he watched you. You slid your phone into the pocket of your wallet, waiting patiently for your ride.

Like many times before, the silence between you two was more than enough conversation. Though there were thoughts racing through his head the entire time, he wasn’t sure where to start.

The crunch of the gravel under the taxi’s tires woke you both up, making you turn to one another for your farewell. A hug too innocent, a handshake too professional, and words unjust.

As you approached the car door, he cleared his throat to get your attention. He’d be damned if he didn’t get this out of his system before you leave the Task Force and possibly never see him again.

“Did you bring your files with you?” He asked, making you contort your brows in confusion. Files?

“The number listed on mine,” he began, shifting in his stance as he gathered the courage for his brave finish.

“You should call it.”

TAGLIST: @neoarchipelago @ghostlythots @gothgirl6-6-6 @cloudyyjanee @ladyelissarose @almightywdm @glitterypirateduck @brokenghostgirl1 @cheyenne-with-a-c @a-jupiter-n-mars-blog @liliumbosniacum (if you're not tagged it's not letting me)

#simon riley x reader #mw2 fanfic #mw2 #call of duty #ghost mw2 #task force 141 #simon riley #simon riley fluff #simon riley angst #task force 141 x reader

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avocado-writing · 7 months

Note

Request if I may:

Aziraphale is getting excited about getting his hands on a rare original copy of a book, but for the first time ever, your angel is being oh so very secretive about what it is.

Aziraphale is busy when the delivery arrives and being curious you open the packaging.

Your angel has gotten a copy of the karma sutra. Well, you need to try it out to make sure it's an authentic copy of the book.

notes: nothing too graphic in this one but still…

rating: M

pairing: aziraphale x reader

Aziraphale has a secret.

This much you know. He’s trying to hide something and it’s not fooling you for a second: the constant pacing in front of the windows, peeking out of the shop’s front door. You’ve asked him what’s got him so antsy but he swears up and down he’s fine.

You know better. He’s about as subtle as a brick to the face when he’s trying to keep something under wraps. So you watch him from behind your novel, keeping him under your surveillance without his knowledge.

Ahh, he is so easy to find out.

You see the way his eyes widen when he spots the postman coming towards the shop, the quick exchange of a parcel for a signature. The way he tried to hurriedly hide it in his storeroom - the old one with the wonky latch which never shuts properly. Honestly, you’d be a fool not to look. So, when he’s busying himself making a cup of tea for five minutes, you take the chance.

The packaging has been ripped open — most unlike your angel, he’s usually careful when unboxing his mail. He likely wanted to confirm the contents and then squirrel it away; as you peel back some of the cardboard you see why.

Oh. Oh.

It’s old. Far too old to be delivered by such usual means of postage you’re sure; but it seems to have been secured quite thoroughly. You know the Karma Sutra is widely read but you don’t think you’ve ever seen a copy in real life. But here it is. In your hands.

Hmm, you can see why Aziraphale was hiding it.

“Where are you, my dear? I have your cup of —oh.”

Aziraphale catches you. Of course he does. Damn that storeroom door, always swinging open. You’re caught red-handed, book in your grasp and eyes wide. His eyes go wider and his cheeks a bright pink.

“Oh, erm, right. It’s not mine! Well it is, I was just… I was ordering it for a customer, and I…”

“Aziraphale,” you say, trying to hide your smirk, “you’ve never ordered anything for a customer in your life.”

“I… well… no. I suppose not,” he confesses, dropping his gaze to the floor. He begins to fiddle with the bottom of his waistcoat, a sure sign of his nervousness. You tread over towards him carefully, holding the book so gingerly someone might mistake it for an explosive.

“Aziraphale, it’s alright. There’s nothing wrong with having it, you know. I suppose I’m just a little surprised. Did you want to… study?”

He clears his throat and nods, still unable to meet your eyes.

“Yes. A little. It’s the book for it, you know.”

“Well that’s true. I just don’t quite understand why.”

When his cheeks go even pinker, and he looks like he’d rather discorporate than continue standing in front of you for a moment longer, you realise.

“Oh my god, it’s for me, isn’t it? It’s because of me,” you blurt out, totally unable to keep the idea inside. Of course it is; you’re so obtuse. You’ve been seeing Aziraphale for a couple of months with nothing more than a couple of hot and heavy kisses to show for it - which you were fine with! Being an angel, you weren’t sure he was a sexual being at all. But now to find out he’s not just interested in it but he’s actually doing research to make sure it’s good…

Oh. It’s delicious. It’s all so delicious.

Seeing as he appears to be rooted to the spot you finally close the gap and press a kiss to his lips. He seems surprised by it but welcome, gently pressing himself against you as you take him in your arms.

“You know, I’d be more than willing to be your study partner. Right now if you want…”

In answer to that the shop is closed immediately and the two of you retire to the bedroom. Learning to fuck from a book is perfect for your angel and, by god, is he a thorough student.

taglist: @angiestopit@dazed-soul @@foolishprincipalitee@smile-eywa@staygoldsquatchling02@underratedboogeyman@cool-ontherun-world@emilynissangtr@cool-iguana@this--is--music @ilyatan @lxsm2@clarina04@wtfhasmy-lifecometo@mrgatotortuga@wereallbrokenangels @night-affiliate @silcosmoke@kimqueenofhell@chewbrry @bajablast23 @h3k3t@am-i-obsessed---maybe@bakerstreethound@darktealrat @chaospossum

#aziraphale x reader #request #Good omens x reader #michael sheen x reader

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pixelated-pogues · 1 year

Text

Gucci Induced Heartbreak (r.c)

Pairing(s): Rafe Cameron x Reader; JJ Maybank x best friend!reader

Summary: The girl from the Gucci store captivated Rafe's attention, and you never got it back. JJ helps gather the remnants of your broken pieces.

Warnings: Cursing, cheating, angst, asshole Rafe :)

Word Count: 5.7k

A/n: MY WORK IS ORIGINAL AND IS NOT TO BE COPIED OR REPOSTED ELSEWHERE. Be kind. DON'T steal other people's writing, thank you.

Gif Creds: @seredelgi

I wish I was that girl from that Gucci store She never wore any makeup and she owns couture I got pimples where my beauty marks should be I got dry skin on my elbows and knees

I never liked her, wanted to be like her Hate how you look at her, 'cause you never saw me Like I was an arm piece, like I was an ordinary girl

“Rafe, why do we even have to go to Gucci? We’ve had a hundred conversations about how ugly all of their products are. How many times have you insisted that their stuff looks like it’s modeled after the tackiest pieces you’d find in your grandmothers house?” You groan, not understanding why he’s suddenly so interested in a store that he’s always hated. Rafe rolls his eyes at your displeasure, continuing to guide you down the busy street toward Gucci. “Why waste time ogling over things that cost more than your bike?”

“Because, Y/n, there’s a pair of sunglasses that Ward absolutely despises, and I want to buy them for our trip to Boca next week, to piss him off,” he explains, making a point to hold the gaudy door open so that you can walk in. You shoot him a displeased glare, begrudgingly walking past him into the overly air conditioned building, immediately crinkling your nose at the strong scent that wafts into your nose upon entering. The Pogue side of you immediately switches into overdrive at the proper atmosphere of the building. There are countless couples and shoppers ogling over various overpriced products, each of them looking straight out of a vogue magazine with their perfectly pressed clothing and expensive accessories. You can’t help but feel out of place in the vast room, the only sense of normalcy you feel comes from Rafe’s arm slithering around your waist to guide you through various display cases.

“Rafe Cameron, it’s good to see you again,” a sickly sweet voice muses, making the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Your eyes follow the voice, confusion clouding your features due to the unexpected greeting. Your eyes fall on a woman that can’t be much older than you. She’s naturally gorgeous, no sign of makeup adorning her face as she shoots your boyfriend a, much too, friendly smile. Bile rises in your throat at the sight of her inadvertently scanning over Rafe with a hungry expression, completely oblivious to your presence.

"Ah, Marissa, the pleasure is all mine," Rafe's flirtatious tone only adds fuel to your inner fire, confusion coursing through your veins at their being on first name basis. Unsolicited insecurity embeds itself into your chest the longer you witness them staring at each other. The woman's beautiful attributes and unwavering confidence makes the crisp air in the room feel like it's choking you out. You're convinced that if you walked away right now, neither of them would notice, and that fact makes you wish it was possible to combust in the thin air. You suddenly feel very aware of the weight of Rafe's hand on the small of your back, the normally comforting touch feels fiery and tainted against the fabric of your shirt.

"Who's your friend?" Marissa questions, not tearing her eyes away from Rafe's as she nods in your direction. The boldness in her lack of even sparing you a glance only makes you feel smaller and more out of place.

"Girlfriend," you speak before you're able to catch yourself, noticing the way Rafe's hand dropped to his side the second Marissa addressed you. You look in his direction, expecting an introduction, but opt to speak for yourself when he doesn't. "I'm Y/n."

She shoots you an overly cheery grin, reaching to shake your hand. "Y/n, that's a pretty name." You can tell she's being inauthentic by the way her voice grows slightly more shrill as the complement rolls from her tongue. Her focus doesn’t stay on you for too long, her eyes dancing to Rafe again, the insincere complement she’d uttered seemingly wasting away with the passing moments. “Can I help you find anything?” The flirtatious tone comes back the second he’d focus returns to Rafe, making your blood run cold at the way he clearly appears to be eating up her attention.

You willingly become a shadow in the conversation, opting to watching their interaction unfold as though you’re nothing more than an irrelevant fly on the wall. While the flirtatious demeanor and seductive heart eyes she’s pointing at Rafe emit a sour taste in your mouth, all you can focus on are the stars in Rafe’s eyes as he drinks her in. The sudden suspicion that Gucci sunglasses weren’t Rafe's actual intention behind stopping at this god forsaken store hits you like a ton of bricks, making you feel embarrassed by the fact that he dragged you into this interaction with zero regard of how it'd make you feel to see him so engrossed in another girl.

You decide right then and there that you don't like this girl. This apparent goddess, in Rafe's eyes. Yet, the reason for the dislike can't fully be attributed to the way she's shamelessly undressing him with her eyes. While that fact is a valid reason for your dislike in her, a bigger part of you dislikes her because you envy her. You envy the way that Rafe's soaking in her presence, latching onto her every word. You envy the way that he looks at her like she formed the stars in the sky, because he's never looked at you like that. Not even the first time he he'd admitted to being in love with you.

Being in the the presence of another woman that Rafe seemingly idolizes makes him feel like a stranger next to you. Rather than being Y/n Y/l/n, the girl who tamed Rafe Cameron by teaching him what it's like to be loved, in this moment, you feel like a nameless bystander. Nothing more than an ordinary girl. And it leaves you spiraling, standing invisible as they carry on in fruitless conversation.

I wish I was special I'd give all my special Away to a loser Now I'm just a loser

Standing in the Gucci store, silenced by insecurity and frustration, all you can do is feel envious of Marissa while harboring a major resentment for your boyfriend. The entire situation makes you feel ridiculously small, a wave of sadness settling into your chest the longer you remain unaddressed. Everything in you screams at you to move, to at least excuse yourself and pretend to scale the items in the store while the two catch up, but your feet feel glued to the tile floor below them.

Your sadness only grows when self deprecating thoughts begin trickling to the forefront of your mind.

Maybe if I wasn’t entangled in friendships with the Pogues. Maybe if I learned to bite my tongue and smile pretty during business events. Maybe if I let Rafe do whatever he wanted, be it coke, be it dealing, be it getting handsy with other girls at parties. Maybe, just maybe, I’d be deemed as special in his eyes. Maybe I’d have even an inkling of what this girl has that makes her so special. Maybe I wouldn’t be and feel like such a loser. Your brain relents, causing your hands to tremble and your breath to catch in your throat. Your eyes sting with tears of humiliation, but you quickly blink away all evidence of them. The last thing you need is for either of them to catch you getting emotional.

God, Y/n, you’re so pathetic. You scold yourself, forcing a tight-lipped smile when their conversation ends and their focus returns back to you. You notice them that, in the midst of their conversation, Rafe secured the sunglasses he came for. They’re now perched on the edge of his nose as his arm moves to snake around your waist again, the comforting touch feels insincere now that you’ve witnessed the way he looks at her.

“Ready to go,” Rafe asks, glancing down at you the second Marissa walks away to assist another customer.

“Yeah,” you hummed, your voice feeling poisonous on your tongue.

I used to be special But you made me hate me Regret that I changed me I hate that you made Just like you

You gon' hear mouth, you could kick me out You say I'm too wild, you gon' hate me now

"You're too wild, Y/n," Rafe's voice was condescending and low when he addressed you. His hand ripped through his previously styled hair after slamming the driver's side door, locking you both into the confined space. His eyes pierced through you, clear disapproval etched onto his expression as he glared deep into your eyes. The pressed suit he wore to the business event was wrinkled, no longer pristine due to being jostled in his manhandling you while dragging you out of the club to save himself further embarrassment.

You couldn't contain the bitter laugh that bubbled from your chest after he uttered those words, disbelief replacing the anger you were feeling when he shamelessly allowed that woman to throw herself all over him in front of everyone, knowing you were standing right there. "Of course that's all you have to say to me right now," you snorted, breaking eye contact to slide the uncomfortable heels from your feet. You needed something else to focus on outside of his insufferable gaze.

"What the hell else am I supposed to say? You know how important this event was for my family, and you just had to make a scene and ruin our chances of a normal night of business," he seethed, ripping at his tie. "Jesus Christ, you're a fucking child."

"I'm the child," you released an incredulous scoff, the insincere smirk on your painted lips growing. "That's right, I'm the immature one in this relationship. Have you stopped to realize that I wouldn't have caused a scene if you had enough respect for me to keep other women's paws off you? Hm? You didn't seem too concerned with your reputation when she was trying to rip your jacket off."

"That's enough," he barked, slamming his fist against the steering wheel, earning a startled jump from you. Your reaction gave him enough reason to compose himself. He sucked in a sharp breath and blinked his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose before straightening in his seat with a clenched jaw, finding you with his eyes again. "That's enough, Y/n. Your insecurity in yourself isn't enough reason for an unprofessional outburst in public. I get that you're half pogue, but that doesn't mean I need you flaunting it during business dinners like it's some special prize. Reputation may not be a big deal to you, but it matters a whole lot to Ward. If you want to keep him from forcefully extracting you from this equation, you'll hold your tongue next time your pride feels threatened by another woman."

Your jaw dropped at the audacity he had to utter those words to you. Of course he couldn't, or wouldn't, see your side. Of course he wouldn't admit that he should've had enough respect to politely deter the woman's advances. In Rafe's eyes, he's never wrong. Conflict and disappointment always fell on everyone else when it comes to him.

"Your insecurity isn't enough reason for an unprofessional outburst in public." "..hold your tongue next time your pride feels threatened by another woman." Rafe's words echoed through your mind the entire way home that night, your heart heavy with their hurtful connotations which you couldn't help but accept over yourself during the drive. It was one of the many times you were left to accept false realities over yourself after a situation that could’ve been shut down had he spoken up for your relationship.

You’ve always felt that having your feet on both sides of the island, being half pogue & half kook, made you special with your ability to understand both sides. Yet, Rafe always makes a point to remind you that your Pogue side makes you a liability, it hinders you from being extraordinary. At first, you told him off about it, throwing his antics right back at him whenever he declared that being half pogue was a major flaw. As the months dragged on though, the constant reminders, warnings, and arguments were tiring. You love Rafe and every arrogant, infuriating, slightly manipulative aspect about him. So, you stopped letting him hear your mouth. You stopped talking back and instead took everything that he had to say about your inescapable flaws, internalizing them. Eventually letting them silence you completely as you became the cookie cutter girlfriend he appeared to want.

That’s what you do when you’re in love. You compromise, no matter what it costs you. Right?

Boy, you got me fucked up, now I'm gettin' fucked up Thinkin' 'bout us fuckin', why you'd have to fuck her?

"Rafe, what the-" you stop in your tracks, jaw falling slack, at the sight of him in bed with another girl. "Rafe, what the fuck." Your voice comes out low and bitter, eyes trying to make sense of the scene in front of you as they scramble to separate from each other, clearly surprised by your presence. Rafe clamors out of his bed, swiftly pulling his boxers back on while you stand unmoving, in complete shock. Your fight or flight reflexes appear nonexistent as you freeze completely, the room spinning as Rafe approaches you.

"Y/n," he begins, eyes lacking any trace of sympathy as he grasps your face in his hands. "You weren't supposed to see this."

"You told me to come over an hour ago," you spit, shocked that any words rolled from your tongue in your seemingly vegetative state. "How am I supposed to believe that you didn't want me to see you fucking another girl?"

"It's nothing personal, baby. This is on me," he continues, resisting the urge to turn around at the sound of his guest shuffling out of his bed in nothing but his t-shirt.

"Obviously this is on you," you agree, words dripping with malice. "You're a piece of shit, and in case it isn't obvious, we're done."

With that, you shove him away from you, feeling accomplished when he stumbles backwards, managing to catch himself before he crashes to the floor. "I hope she was worth it." Your breath catches in your throat when the girls identity registers in your mind. The girl from the Gucci store. Marissa. The realization hits you like a freight train, carrying you out of Tannyhill hastily. Your brain solely focused on exiting the house as fast as possible.

****

"Y/n," JJ calls after noticing you approaching them on the beach. He rushes to embrace you once you’re close enough, the water droplets on his tan skin dampening your clothes. "We didn't think you were coming." A light smile forms on your lips when he blots at a wet spot on your shirt with an apologetic grimace.

"I wasn't," you hum, keeping your voice and stature light. "Last minute change of plans but I'm here and I brought snacks for everyone. Maybe a bit of alcohol for me." JJ's eyebrows furrow, his eyes subtly doing a once over on you, knowing fully well that you only willingly provide alcohol when shit hits the fan or there's something worth celebrating. Kie runs to greet you before he can question it, immediately dragging you towards the rest of the Pogues. You refrain from meeting the concerned look JJ's been sending your way since you walked onto the beach.

"You're drunk at five o'clock on a Tuesday, Y/n. What gives?" JJ asks, knowing full well that your filter disappears after a few drinks. Everyone’s seated in a circle on the sand playing a game of truth or dare, letting the afternoon sun dry your wet clothes.

“You’re supposed to say, Y/n, truth or dare. You can't just assume I'm picking truth,” you state matter of factly, taking another swig of the drink in your hand. Silently testing JJ with the sarcasm lacing your slurred words.

“Okay, you got me, Y/n, truth or dare?” His eyes are expectant, clear anticipation showing in his raised eyebrows.

“Dare,” you wink, a shit-eating grin on my face at the sight of his shoulders deflating in defeat.

“I dare you to jump off the dock, alone,” he huffs, obviously displeased by the obvious deflection.

“That’s too easy. You’re too kind to me, J,” you giggle, kicking your shoes off. You shrug your flannel off and take a big breath. “Rafe cheated on me.” You’re bolting toward the dock, enjoying the feeling of the wind whipping against your face at the break of dawn before you can catch any of their reactions. You miss the looks of shock plastered on all of their faces, and the way JJ immediately rushes after your retreating figure, calling your name as you sprint to the furthest dock without a second glance. Your speed and coordination shocks you due to the sheer amount of alcohol coursing through your veins, but you don’t falter, allowing your feet to carry you over the aged boards as you anticipate the fall.

“Y/n,” JJ shouts from behind as you near the edge of the dock, the sound of the waves crashing below only adding to your adrenaline high, which started the second you dropped the bombshell of your ended relationship on them without second thought. You reach the last of the dock before he can stop you. Your foot beats against the wood one last time before you shoot into the air, arms out as though you’re taking flight. Time slows as you stare at the horizon before the view is torn away when you collide with the water.

The sheer momentum from running, partnered with the crashing of the waves, drags you further and further into the waters depths. Rather than fighting against the current, your body freezes, instinctively letting the breath inside your lungs escape in a mass of bubbles, slipping away for several moments. Peace floods your chest as the water tears the weight of the last several hours away. You let yourself go with the waves, body unmoving while the water takes its course.

The next thing I know, I’m being dragging out of the ocean and onto the beach. There’s a series of yelling as my body falls limp against the sand. The weight of someone’s body comes over me, their hand softly, yet firmly, smacking against my cheek in an attempt to pull me back to a conscious state. In a matter of seconds I’m sputtering and coughing up the water I’d sucked in moments before, my lungs screaming for a breath of fresh air as my eyes fly open, immediately falling on my friends who are gathered around me in a panic.

“What the hell was that Y/n?! What were you thinking, you could’ve gotten yourself killed,” JJ exclaims, his hands falling on my shoulders now that I’m awake.

“JJ, let her breathe,” John B instructs, carefully dragging JJ from his position on top of me while Kie and Pope help me sit up. JJ follows John B, his hands flying everywhere while he rambles incoherent words while John B does his best at consoling him.

“Here,” Kie breathes, draping a towel across my shoulders which I gladly accept. I tap her hand gently as a silent ‘thank you’ my eyes instinctively drifting back to the horizon where the sun has fully began setting. Heaviness welcomes itself back on my chest with the reality crashing back onto me like the waves did moments ago. My body constricts on itself, my arms tangling themselves around my legs when they fold against my chest. There's a heavy ringing in my ears, drowning out Kie and Pope's voices asking if I'm okay.

"Y/n," Kie's voice sounds distant, but you feel her collapse next to you, promptly throwing her arms around your trembling frame. She pulls your head into her chest, her hand running up and down your back in a comforting manner while your eyes remain fixed in front of you in a daze.

"I didn't mean to scare everyone," you whisper, voice trembling with the tears stinging the back of your eyes. "I just needed it to stop for a second. I can't believe I thought he changed."

"Oh Y/n," she pouts, pulling you closer to her. The tone in her voice is what sends the tears pouring down your cheeks partnered with strangled sobs. More bodies surround the pair of you as you unfold, becoming a blubbering mess of heartbroken cries.

"That was stupid," JJ scolds, dropping on his knees in front of you, cupping your face in his hands to give himself a little extra assurance that you're okay. His thumbs swipes at the ongoing mass of tears pouring down your cheeks, the frown on his lips creasing his brows together as he studies you. "Being the idiot in the group is my job. I don't need you trying to take my spot." His words successfully lighten the dim mood, earning a watery laugh from you as he pulls you against his chest. Shooting John B a sad look as your body molds against him, his heart still hammering in his chest due to the fact that he'd nearly lost you to the high tide of the sea.

I don't wanna see you, why'd you have to treat me Like I was an ordinary girl?

A few weeks later, you're at the boneyard with the Pogues, and a good half of the island, enjoying a kegger to take advantage of the crispy summer breeze.

"Do a shot with me," you command to no one in particular, unconvinced that any of the random people around you by the fire actually heard the request. Your eyes blearily search the group to see if any of them make even the slightest move to humor you through shots.

"Come on kid," JJ interrupts your haze, his hand on the small of your back as he helps you off the stump you're seated on. "I'll do one with you."

"This is why you're my favorite," you gush, shamelessly leaning against him as he guides you toward the booze table.

"If taking a few shots with you is what it takes to be your favorite, I should've been your favorite person a long time ago," he jokes, slipping a disposable shot glass in your hand, humoring you. You graciously tip the cup in his direction as a wordless "thank you," your blushed cheeks beaming with the smile you're directing at him. He notices that it doesn't quite reach your eyes, but chooses not to comment on it. Knowing that your hurt from Rafe's betrayal is still so fresh and that you're utilizing alcohol to cope tonight, he doesn't want to be the one to distract you from the attempted progress.

"You've always been my favorite person," you admit. Though there's still a lighthearted aura around the two of you, your words drip with a sincerity that doesn't go unnoticed by him, humbling the heavy heart in his chest as he studies you.

"Good," he hums, knocking his cup against your gently. "You've always been my favorite person too, and it'd be really awkward for both of us if you didn't reciprocate the feelings. Now, what do you say? Can we drink to that?"

"Hell yeah, we can drink to that," you giggle, knocking your cups together one more time before welcoming the stale liquid into your mouth, letting it coat the walls of your dry throat. JJ smiles fondly at you, watching as you immediately turn to find another drink, mumbling incoherent words in his direction. Once you find the beer you were looking for, you slide one into JJ's hand, accepting the arm he throws over your shoulder to lead you back to where the rest of the Pogues are seated.

The rest of the night carries on for several hours until your alcohol driven carefree energy depletes, welcoming your sleepy drunk side with open arms. Your eyes droop as you fully lean into JJ's side, who's got his arm draped across your shoulder as he carries on with a few tourons who'd seen him surfing several days prior.

"Yeah, man, I'm going back out tomorrow if you want to join," he tells them, catching the exhaustion oozing from your position against his side. "Listen, we've got to get out of here, but I'll be at that same spot around noon. Meet me there if you guys are free." Each of them nod, a few of them dabbing him up before the two of you retreat.

You grumble into his shoulder at the movement, having been enjoying the opportunity to get comfortable where you two were standing.

"Tired sweetheart?" he asks, scanning the plethora of people in hopes to find John B and the rest of the group. He tuts his tongue at the sight of Pope, practically dragging you to where he's seated next to Kiara. You simply nod against his chest, shivering due to the temperature that's dropped drastically since the sun disappeared over the horizon. "Yo, Pope, round the troops. Princess needs sleep." Pope glances in your direction, nodding in understanding before ending the conversation he'd been in. JJ follows his friends retreating figure for a second before turning the two of you around to make the short trek to the Twinkie. You'll be able to get comfortable while Pope gathers the rest of the Pogues, and that's JJ's sole focus due to the fact that you're fighting to keep your eyes open.

Several minutes later, the rest of the group is filing into the Twinke, sliding into random spots around the van as John B starts the ignition.

"We good? Everyone's here?" he asks, shifting the van in reverse. After being assured that everyone is accounted for, he pulls off of the beach, making the short drive back to the Chatteau.

"Alright, sleepyhead, let's get you inside," JJ instructs, shaking your sleeping figure awake one the van pulls into the driveway. Everyone files out before JJ moves to help you up.

"Too much moving," you grumble, folding against the seat you've been napping in. "Just let me sleep in here."

JJ rolls his eyes at your antics, not releasing your arm from the gentle hold he has on it to help you out of the vehicle. "No can do, sweetheart. You'll be complaining for the next week about how your neck hurts from sleeping like that, and I refuse to endure that. If you sit up long enough, I'll let you ride my back into the house." He smiles when you straighten up at his words, immediately climbing onto his back which he promptly offered you. His arms hook around the bottom of your thighs to steady you against him, making sure that you're situated before he guides you into the house, passing all of the Pogues to get to the guest room.

"Home sweet home," he breathes, carefully setting you on the bed to find more comfortable clothes for you to sleep in. "Here you go, tiny."

You smile at the nickname he'd given you back when you were in elementary school, gladly accepting the small pile of clothes he hands you. "I'm gonna change in here," you inform him, your smile growing when he immediately nods, spinning to face the wall so that you have privacy to do so.

The second you're both changed, JJ switches the light off and meets you by the bed. He tucks you into the covers, combing his fingers through your hair as he sits in the space next to you. You hum at the feeling, unable to keep your eyes from drooping further.

"You're lucky you're my favorite. I don't just give my bed to anyone," he teases after a few seconds of favorable silence, his heart swelling at the way his presence seems to ease the emotions swirling behind your tired eyes.

You scoff at him, thinking back to the amount of times he's shared this bed with other people. "Actually," you begin, but pause, unsure of what you're even thinking about saying before the question rolls from your tongue. "Can you stay with me? I don't really want to be alone."

He blinks at you from his spot, barely making out your features before he nods. His voice is steady as he murmurs, "Of course." He accepts the spot next to you as his own, unsure why he feels so shy about sharing the bed with you. Having grown up together, you've fallen asleep together countless times. You've even crashed in his bed here, and vice versa, but that doesn't stop a humble feeling from spreading through his chest as you cuddle into him.

I wish I was special I'd give all my special Away to a loser Now I'm just a loser I used to be special But you made me hate me Regret that I changed me I hate that you made just like you Just like you

"I hate myself," you breathe after several moments of silence. The utterance of your inner truth brings a fresh round of bitter tears to your eyes, which you hurriedly wipe away, hating the bile rising up your throat at the brief moment of vulnerability.

"Don't say that," JJ hums, reaching to brush your hair away from your face. His voice is stern, but there's an undertone of sadness to match the look in his eyes.

"It's true," a forced laugh bubbles from your chest, furthering the anguish threatening to burst out of you. "I hate myself so much." There's a heavy silence after the words roll from your tongue, JJ's hand lingers on your cheek for a moment before falling dormant against the mattress, along with all of the words he clearly wants to say. "Why couldn't I have just been enough?" The words were whispered more to yourself than to JJ, it was meant to be an unspoken thought but your mouth opted to spew it regardless. Normally you'd feel embarrassed for unintentionally allowing yourself to be vulnerable, but the heaviness in your entire being is consuming all of the excess energy you have left, so you can't force yourself to care.

"Woah, woah, woah," JJ's voice intercepts you from your inner turmoil again, your eyes tearfully meeting his. The look on his face makes your heart clench further, the sadness in the pit of your stomach churning into guilt prompted by over sharing. “I can’t, in good conscience, be your best friend and let you bash yourself on that assho-on Rafe’s account. Y/n, I’m going to say something, and I really need you to hear me.” He pauses, eyes scanning your face to ensure that he’s got your full attention.

He opens his mouth to speak, but closes it, instead moving to cup your face in his hands so that your eyes lock solely on him rather than insecurely bouncing all over the dark room. “He has you convinced that you’re a million things, but everything he’s forced into your head is wrong.” He takes a deep breath, wiping a stray tear away with his thumb. “You are more than enough, you understand? I get that you might not be able to accept that right now, but that’s the full truth. And I’ll be right here proving it to you until you believe me, you got that? No pogue left behind, ever. Especially not you. Especially not on some lowlife kook, who didn’t know how great he had it’s, account. I need to know you’re hearing me.” He finally pauses in the middle of his short rant, hands and eyes remained delicately locked in their original position, acting as glue holding your pieces together. He stares deeply into your eyes, silently searching for his answer before speaking again. “Are you hearing me?”

Your lips wobble at the interaction, eyes unable to bat away the reservoir of tears threatening to spill over your eyelids. Unable to trust your words, you nod, your hands gripping the front of his t-shirt for support.

“I need to hear you say it,” he murmurs, his expression soft yet stern.

“I’m hearing you,” you choke out, before erupting into a full on sobbing fit. He quickly shifts to wrap his arms around your shoulders to pull you flush against his chest. Your back twinges at the awkward position you're in, but the emotions bubbling from your chest keep you from having the energy to care as you fully break down against him, your hands balling themselves in the back of his shirt.

Weeks worth of a broken heart, self deprecation, anger, replaying scenarios over and over in your head, and various other emotions unapologetically pour from your chest while he steadies you against him, his comforting antics not faltering for a moment.

“I’ve got you,” he breathes into your hair, kissing the crown of your head. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

"He's such an asshole," you tearfully groan, feeling ridiculous for wasting your time on the king of the kooks. "God, I feel like I molded myself into exactly what he wanted me to be, and for what?"

"Rafe's blind, Y/n," he responds, pulling back s he can rest his chin on top of your head. "And you're far too kind for a guy that didn't accept all of the qualities that make you so special."

You can't help but physically cringe at the word. You stopped feeling special the second Rafe convinced you that your Pogues side was a hindrance to your personality, a flaw in your relationship. The moment you realized he viewed that side of you as an eyesore, you did everything in your power to shield it from him, and seemingly lost yourself in the process.

"I don't feel special," you state with a sigh, wiping the leftover remnants of tears from your cheeks. You're over crying over the man who climbed in bed with another woman.

"Just because you don't feel special doesn't mean you are," JJ hums, snaking his arm around your waist. "I'll spend the rest of my life proving it to you if that's what it takes to make you believe it."

A sad laugh sounds from your chest at his promise, knowing that JJ means everything he's said. "I don't know what I did to deserve you, Maybank."

*************************************

A/N: Here's another draft that I finally dusted the spiderwebs off of and finished up. I hope y'all enjoy it!

Tags: @thelocalpogue @maaybanks @drewstarkey @ssjiara @bluebirdsbluebells @maebanks @poguemackin @tomfreakinghollandneedsaoscar @outerbongs @ilovejjmaybank @marvel-writer @astrydis @hijohnd @pogueslandia @scenesofobx @maybankslover @fallingwallsh

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mask131 · 10 months

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Alright, after all this time, here is my opinion (kind of review?) of Netflix's The Monkey King, aka The Monkey King 2023 (at least one of the Monkey King movies of this year). I haven't done movie talk in a long time, but here we go. Also, spoiler-free!

Let's begin with the question everybody wants to know about. Is this movie bad? Definitively not. You cannot say in good faith and honesty that it is a bad movie. If you really disliked the movie, the most you can say is that it is "average" and not average as in a "mediocre, okay, decent, basic" kind of way - average as in "the bad elements are balanced by great ones". But if you ask me, the movie is good. Or more precisely it is "Good, but not without its flaws". It does have some little flaws here and there that prevent it from being an excellent or perfect movie, but it is a good/great movie.

Let's talk already of the little flaws first. Many people have already pointed them out before, so I won't expand on them much. I will say that I watched all of the movie in one go, without stopping, without even realizing how time went by, I truly watched the movie with ease and in one go - I originally just wanted to watch the first part and then stop and take it back later, I ended up binging the whole thing, so you know, classic Netflix type of product where you just do it all in one go (which is a good sign!). There was just one moment I cringed a bit, and that forms the weakest segment of the movie for me, and it is the second part of the "fake orchard of immortality" scene. But this is tied to the way the Dragon King and his minions are handled.

The Dragon King is a very cool-looking character based on an excellent idea, but I have to admit that it is one of the most... surprising elements of the movie because while in some scenes he is written as a great character that works, in other scenes he dangerously borders the overdone cliche. Overall he is an enjoyable villain and a good character that fits in the whole created world, but I admit some of his jokes fall a bit dull for me (though the finale made hm even greater than before - in all the senses of the term). It is a bit in the image of his villain song, "Take the world by storm": when I first heard it I cringed at some lyrics and jokes in the beginning and wondered why this song was here, but then I re-listened to it, loved it and it can't get out of my head. It perfectly translates the Dragon King character as a cool concept and great idea that sometimes is pushed a little bit too much when things should have been a bit more subtle or shortened. Another thing that I would call ambiguous is the heavy influence and references to Disney movies, of which the Dragon King participates as he is the most Disney-villain villain a Netflix product ever created. I think all this Disney influence will split people in two - on one hand some people will dislike it because they will see as just copying what has already been done before, and perceive there a lack of true imagination ; on the other hand some people will love it because they will get back the feeling of the Disney renaissance movies and will appreciate the homage and having back traditional Disney villains and characters "as they used to make".

For me the biggest "flaw" if you can call it a flaw - which isn't really a flaw because it doesn't "hurt" the movie, it would be rather... the biggest "blend" of the movie is the way the new plot is handled. Because the writers of the movie took no real risk, took no chance when devising a new plot to convey the movie. I am not talking about the adapting part - because they did a wonderful job at adaptating in a simple and concise way the entire whole first part of Journey to the West, into a simple, easy to understand, one hour and a half movie mostly aimed at a young audience. And that is definitively one of the good points of this movie, because it isn't an easy feat at all! But as a result, to make sure they reached this state, they went with a plot that is absolutely "classic" in all the senses of the term. Everything was expected, nothing in terms of plot-twist or plot-advancement felt new, I could already guess what could happen and where things were going. Mind you, I am an adult who watched numerous Disney and Pixar movies and who knows Journey to the West and several of its adaptations, so of course I wasn't going to be surprised. Again, this movie clearly is aimed at a young audience - one without an extensive cinematographic knowledge, and one probably unaware of Journey to the West, so I guess for this target audience the "generic-ess" or "bland-ness" of the plot won't be much of a problem. Plus, I am forced to concede that the new plot to convey the events HAD to be as simple and classic as that, because this was the best way to again, simplify the original material to create an easily accessable, reachable and understandable movie for an audience unaware of the source material or not familiar with the culture it came from.

Some people have also pointed out that "the cultural mix sometimes work, sometimes doesn't". I agree with this too. Because one of the specificity of this movie is that it tries to truly be a modern piece (and thus goes with the Percy Jackson, Asterix and co treatment of having more modern elements in Ancient China), and it tries to truly be a Chinese-American movie, by mixing purely Chinese landscapes, material and characters with American references and influences (such as the Disney one). Sometimes it works in funny way (I can't stress ow hilarous it is to have Sun Wukong live in a Disney-like universe), other times it makes you wonder if this was a wise decision.

So anyway, that was the little flaws that prevented the movie from being perfect. As some reviewers said "It is great, fun, fast, hilarious and cool-looking, but a bit odd from time to time."

But what about the GREATNESS of the movie? Oh, the things I saw, the things to say!

If the creators of the movie did not take any risk plot-wise, on the contrary they took all the risks with the visuals. Can I just say first that the animation is absolutely gorgeous and wonderful? And I want to stress something that many cynical or worn-down reviewers tend to forget: today's technology, and today's animation, is something wonderful and majestic and a prowess of technology and technique. I remember when everybody bashed on "Elemental" for the plot or the characters, and nobody took the time to point out how GREAT and FRIGGIN AWESOME the visuals and the animations were. Hopefully I have a bit of an "anchor" here in the form of... my mother. Because my mother stopped watching animated movies around the 80s or so, and only started back looking at some from the late 2000s onward (and mostly because I watched them as a youth), and every time I share with her a new animated piece, she keeps pointing out how amazed and shocked she is at animation style or animation processes that, for me, as a kid who grew up with the wonders of the early 21st century, were just "normal". It really puts into perspective how far we got into the animation world and how exceptional these movies are today - even if the content is bland, the creation, the material and the effort put in them is wonderful.

And Netflix's The Monkey King is definitively one of those movies that benefitted from the recent boom in unusual and daring animation experiences these late years (Elemental, the last Puss in Boots movie, the recent Spiderverse animated pieces, this Disney movie which featured the first openly gay character and that was completely ignored by the press and whose name I forgot about...). They truly played all the cards, with fast-pace action combat, unusual designs, vibrant color palettes, a true work on camera angles, daring to shift animation from 3d to 2D for some sequences, gigantic landscape works, etc etc... Now, I noticed that some people were put-off by some design choices in this movie. It is true that due to their choice of more cartoony designs for the supernatural beings (to contrast them with the human beings), some of the Immortals in particular can come of as better-versions, but still a bit off putting, of some of the 3D animated Addams Family designs. I admit this might not win over everyone - but at least that is a risk and a dare the anmators chose to still go into the unusual and bizarre. Again, the uniqueness and work and daring risks with the visuals truly complete and "excuse" the "genericness" and "expectedness" of the plot.

The other great thing about this movie is the characters. It has been a long time since any children movie characters grew on me, but their handling of the Monkey King was a perfectly simplified and child-suited interpretation of the original Monkey King - not sweetened up, but without playing too much into the horror aspect either, and using perfect metaphors to convey in a simply way what the character is about (the metaphor of the teenager more irresponsible and unwise than an actual child, the concept of the wild child that was never raised or loved by anyone and so got on his own all throughout his life). There is no real subtlety in the characters, just like in the motifs (the HAND! THE HAND IS EVERYWHERE!), but at least they don't try to do overtly subtle or complicated stuff - they know they are doing a simple, down-to-the-point, let's-go-and-have-fun-and-not-think-too-much, type of cast and story, and they do ther best to do something simple but efficient, unbsubtle but fun without being overtly blunt or hitting you too much on the head either. And the character of Lin actually grew onto me a LOT, much more than I would have expected. I actually liked the character - and the fact that she is a child depicted as intelligent, mature and reasonable might be part of this.

People also heavily praised the music, which I agree, the soundtrack is really cool. The movie is very fast-paced - which did bother some reviewers who said they couldn't just pause and breathe - but personally I enjoyed it, because again it works with their simplification and heavy reliance on visuals and characters more than plot, the fastness of the action and the quickness of it all allows you to just take the whole movie whole, without anything dragging on too much. Again, simplicity is key - and for example the whole "end of the fake orchard sequence" felt somehow cringe, precisely because there they slowed down the action and took a bit too much time on something that truly wasn't worth as much.

When I talked about the risks they took with this movie, I shall include one risk that I had doubts about but actually kind of paid off - the stick. It is not a big spoiler, but Sun Wukong's magical staff is here a full character, a sentient being, and acts as the "make some weird noise mechanical companion" to the hero, which has been a character archetype ever since Star Wars, the original Clash of Titans, and other American movies of this era. I had BIG doubts at first, but ultimately it didn't felt very cringe or badly handled, and it worked quite fine. Ultimately, I also have to admire the team for going this route because I do not think this iea had been ever brought up in any adaptation or retelling of Journey to the West - I think this is the first time the magical staff is treated as a character rather than a prop, and this participates in the uniqueness of this movie.

Of course, let's also conclude by the big effort made by this movie to have a majority of Chinese-descending participants for this piece. In fact, I will conclude my review on this final thought: I am quite certain that there are lots of Chinese cultural references I, and others, missed in this movie, due to not being familiar with Chinese culture. Everybody saw the Disney influence ; but I had to dig up and research to find out the influence on this movie of other animated pieces of China. For example, I discovered that this depiction and incarnation of the Dragon King seems to have been heavily influenced by the famous Chinese animated movie of the 70s, "Nezha conquers the Dragon King", a movie I have to shamely admit I had no knowledge of the existence prior to a few days. So I am fairly certain there must be other easter eggs and references to Chinese movies, animated pieces or mythological adaptations out there.

#the monkey king #monkey king #sun wukong #netflix's the monkey king #netflix's monkey king #monkey king 2023 #the monkey kign 2023 #journey to the west #journey to the west adaptations #jttw #animated movie #review #movie review #my opinion #netflix movie #chinese culture

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spockandawe · 9 months

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You know what, I'm not happy about this either :T

Unless I'm t-boned by another reblog from someone huge, this likely won't reach as wide of an audience. And I regret that! Because either I presented myself badly or people are taking the wrong thing away from my words.

So, I strongly, STRONGLY believe in supporting writers. I also strongly believe in archival work and preservation of online media. I mentioned my own binding of the raksura patreon short stories earlier this year, hoping to manifest an official printing to buy, which.... folks, the implicit logical endpoint is that I went and expanded them all and saved them locally too.

It wasn't scraping, since I've seen that description being tossed around in the notes. My copy was manual copy and paste, because I don't respect my own time, and so was the other recent version. If you're going to rail against that, I guess you've successfully transported nft rage about right click + save as to a new medium.

Frankly, the patreon interface is a pain for this. Infinite scroll is part of the enshittification of the internet, this is a lot of text and posts, patreon isn't a powerful archival site, and it started choking horribly by the time I was halfway through. Now that I know people can still sign up (which i didn't, for years, that closed label is misleading), I still emphatically encourage them to do so and fight through the lag to read the stories.

I also quoted the thing where I said I owned all the books in three formats - physical, ebook, audiobook. Guess what copy I use for most rereads - that's right, none of them, because I was a dumb youth who didn't understand how awful kindle drm is and I can't word search in a paper book, so the secret fourth format is pirated ebooks, which I know amazon will never be able to yoink out of my grip. If I ever git gud at illumination and make a hand-illustrated compendium of the series, that's going to be my starting base, because there arent digital rights to lock me down to owning ACCESS to a copy of the book and not the copy of the book itself.

Now, the existence of pirated ebooks isn't all sunshine and roses. I've seen the talks about how new books IMMEDIATELY get pirated and shared and start cutting into an author's livelihood and future publishing prospects. I think it's incredibly important to support authors directly and in ways corporate marketing teams are able to observe. But especially in light of the Hollywood strikes, I'm sure many of us have seen posts about corporate entities playing shitty games with what they'll make available and withhold, and what they'll CHARGE versus what the customer has PURCHASED.

The only thing in the original post I take issue with is the reposting of something that was still available directly through the author. That has already been addressed. The originator is remorseful. I still understand if the patreon vanishes, to be clear. But i quietly made my own copy years ago BECAUSE i understand how easy it is for something like that to vanish, for much more arbitrary reasons. It could have been vanished because of site policy, patreon abruptly archiving all posts more than X years old. Online media is dangerously ephemeral.

I bind a lot of cnovel fan translations. So many amazing stories are getting licensed for translation - great! But it's also a massive extinction event for all the backbreaking translation work other fans have been sharing for years for free. And from that perspective it's a fucking TRAGEDY. I have... a Lot of files that I'm not sharing publicly. My goal is never to preempt or undermine the translators who did the actual work. But that hoard of files is still precious to me, because it takes about five seconds to delete a gdoc of translation, and there's not always warning to save a copy first.

Again, emphasis, my only issue here was the reposting. I'm not happy that it happened. I'm glad the files were quickly taken down, whether or not the patreon itself goes away. I'm glad op is remorseful for overstepping, and I can... mostly see how they didn't realize the problem, and mainly wanted to help more people experience a story they loved.

So it's also worth saying that I'm also not too stoked about the direction tags on that post were starting to go. 'Piracy is inexcusable, piracy is the death of--' STOP. I recognize that begging for nuance while tossing thoughts out onto social media is a losing game. But actually, I'm out of patience for black and white thinking happening on my post. Piracy is a valuable tool for archivists and a hazard to creators, which is why it should be practiced quietly and with deliberate care. It should be practiced in a way that attempts not to damage the creator's livelihood or take away control of their creations. That's where the misstep was here. OP understood they had misstepped and they were expressing remorse even before I got on my high horse, and it sure doesn't seem like the notes care about that, so! I'm done letting the outrage machine feed on it.

That's probably enough. I'm not saying anything I haven't said on here before. If you've ever grieved for a beloved fic missing from your ao3 bookmarks because it was deleted, you understand the basic archival urge. If you lost access to a favorite artist's extensive archives because the images were flagged in the 2018 boob ban, you should be able to understand. I manually saved 36,000 pictures in that brief grace period before I completely burned out. The fundamental impulse shouldn't be that hard to grasp. The rest is just responsible practices, and people fuck up sometimes. It sucks, but sometimes you don't recognize a boundary is there before you blunder right over it with the best of intentions. I think a lot of us have been there too.

Anyways, this is too much text, how boring to look at. Here's my remaining pictures of my own little anthology copy. Still manifesting an official release someday, or any books of the raksura material at all. Money will literally fly from my pocket to purchase it in every available format.

#long post #I don't have a drama tag gdi #the books of the raksura /#god i hope that still keeps things out of tags but searchable on my blog #good news my own convictions about 'i dont understand why anyone would turn off reblogs when they can just mute'#lasted less than two hours under testing #archiving

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granulesofsand · 4 months

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I’m seeing a lot of people making blanket statements about scripts, and I’m wondering if we’re thinking of different variations of scripting?

I can understand how it would be uncommon for a whole metasystem to have character-based identities, plot-based torture, and imagery-based cues of multiple media. But uncommon is not impossible and not seeing it first hand does not make it unheard of.

A lot of scripting as I’ve seen it applies to sidesystems, where the isolation and smaller numbers of the subgroup reinforces the programming of each member.

The script itself is basically forced introjection, which can be used as much or as little as abusers see fit. It can be the entire metasystem in the body or it could be one or two alters. It could be that full plot line memorized under force or it could be one dynamic copy-pasted on.

Some of the most common scripts in other systems are Disney, usually one story and max 10 programmed alters upholding it. Snow White is a pretty prominent sleep program, and having a witch or a poison apple tree give a Snow White alter an alluring fruit requires only — if even — two alters.

The current community definition of a script is still moderately vague, and I would say that those little programmed projections are still scripted if they follow their media.

Abusers can be creative. The programming bit is more advanced than what most come up with, but not every programmer is as calculating as the rest. Other times they are thinking hard about it and that’s why they diverge.

Of the scripted sidesystems we have, these biggest one might actually be relatively new. The stories told in the media are far older, but I couldn’t tell you when this particular tape came out. That one was used generationally — if not that exact film, then those exact stories — and the other was just something programmed alters latched onto before receiving an assigned identity, so they ran with it.

The second one wasn’t a full decade old when they used it, but they did it out of necessity and fleshed it out to be a proper script; one I don’t doubt they still use, because it worked. We have a basement where that subgroup exists in our innerworld, names and numbers assigned to them based on their characters, relationships and roles that correspond with their media. And they were originally intended to fulfill the purpose they ended up serving.

I agree to an extent that the themes have to be considered useful, but what an abuser sees in a media is not what I imagine your average Joe is thinking when he consumes it.

I don’t see a benefit to the community in deciding an experience is impossible or too rare, because that is a reenactment. If you are remembering insecurity — from not being believed, from abusers telling you the abuse wasn’t believable — flipping that outward is but a temporary relief that comes at the cost of retraumatizing someone else.

It doesn’t really matter if another uses a word differently unless you are proposing a purpose and an alternative. There is a difference between refusing to shelter others and to lash out yourself, and the lack of tolerance towards other survivors of extreme abuse doesn’t do either of you good.

#ramcoa programming #ramcoa #tw ramcoa #ec did #hc did #osddid #did osdd

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rosethreeart · 1 month

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Rendering tips that hopefully don't sound nonsensical or vague <3

Gonna skip my "study the fundamentals" soapbox but Color Theory, contrast, and understanding how light works (especially bounce light) are your best friends!

Try not to over blend, especially with a soft brush/blur tool. This usually removes all the detail and little color variations present in the piece and essentially can set you back several stages in the rendering process. Figuring out how "blended" or "smooth" certain surfaces are compared to others is essential.

Frequently zooming in and out like a millennial trying to stay relevant on tiktok by making ads helps prevent you getting tunnel-visioned and helps with the tip mentioned above.

I'm a little freak and do almost all of my rendering on one layer immediately after sketching and laying down really quick flats. I didn't start that way tho! Doing your lighting in various different layers and layer styles first, and then merging them all to a new layer (do this with a "copy canvas" type of tool or even import the png of it to preserve the previous layers!!) and going in and blending on that, can help give a good sense on how the rendering process works.

traditional painting rules can and should apply! I had an after school art class in hs with some very wonderful teachers and one of the things that they taught me was to "only blend the outer edges of the colors". This helps with keeping color variation and detail., as well as preventing your colors from getting too "muddy".

if you're painting a person, knowing where the color variation in undertones is a huge help! Places like the rims of eyes, the nose, ears, neck, and joints tend to have a more reddish hue due to blood flow and whatnot! There are also "blues", yellows, and oranges, especially in the face!

I put "blue" because, once again, color theory kinda lowkey fucked up and does what it wants LMAO. Essentially if you have something "blue toned" on the body (save for veins) its typically a de-saturated, darker, and more "yellow"-ish tone then the original skin tone used, however even a dark, and muted magenta or even purple can give a similar effect! It really depends on the skin tone, and the colors that are surrounding it. Also different skin tones reflect light differently so that's important to be aware of as well!

Typically what I do is I use 3-5 "main" colors for a section that I'm doing. So lets look at this hand for a second

Since hands are very warm toned, I stuck in the red range and did very little variation in hue, to preserve that. So I have his natural skin tone as the "base", did a deeper and more saturated color as the "outline" to help me stay aware of my form. I have two shadows, a cool tone (where the twig would reflect light) and a warm tone (where the red of the hands would reflect). But I also used almost a neon red! You can see it a little bit on that thumb right there near the shadow. Sometimes having a (slightly-extremely) more saturated color can help act as a "transition" color. These also help with maintaining your contrast, preventing the colors from getting too muddy, be a function of bounce light, and help show the more "internal" hues of the body.

References can be a HUGE help (I used one for the tree <3) but keep in mind that they're there to give you an IDEA of what you're trying to make, not just be a 1:1 recreation (art studies are a different thing that I wont get into here)!

This shit aint easy and there WILL be an ugly phase or multiple but you gotta push through it! This also takes a long time to do so there's no shame in doing it in multiple sessions, in fact I recommend it, as fresh-eyes can be a savior to a drawing.

thats all I can think of at the moment <3

#art tips

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monstersinthecosmos · 9 months

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September 12, 1973

He carries his tapes with him as he heads out to find food. It’s a solid plan, he thinks, once he picks a room for the night. Find food, bring it back, start copying the tapes. And once he has copies he’ll feel a little better.

Not hungry, though.

He walks up and down the main street. Little town in the middle of the forest full of Rt. 66 kitsch bullshit. Williams, Arizona; he keeps seeing it on storefronts like they’re all proud of themselves. Trying to sell postcards or something.

None of the food looks good. None of the restaurants strike him as the one. It’s hard to remember what he used to eat, what he’s supposed to do. He can’t remember if he has a favorite food.

There’s some intellectual part of him–he visualizes it like a little knot inside his brain–telling him to eat, telling him he has to, that it will help him drive. It’s trying to remind him what he likes but the message doesn’t quite connect. He can picture his mother in the kitchen and knows there’s a whole menu of stuff he likes (stuff he even misses) but everything is blank. It’s like her hands are motioning in empty air, preparing nothing.

He wonders what she’s going to make for Thanksgiving.

The sun is setting as he pushes through a heavy door. And, not a restaurant, he realizes, but a bar. It’s humid and warm immediately, blasting the Rolling Stones, and he hugs his bag to his chest.

Dim in here, and nice. A few people glance over at him but it seems relaxed. There’s a pinball machine in the corner. Some pool tables. Sci-fi and horror posters on the walls. He stands in the middle of the room, looking around to take stock of them.

The Black Cat. House of Wax. Les Diaboliques. Fucking Dracula. Daniel’s stomach churns and he heads to the bar.

Double whiskey neat, and he doesn’t care what kind. Bottom shelf is fine, thank you, because his axle had to be replaced and it burned through half his wad of cash.

He sets his bag down on the floor, between his feet, feeling like he’s still…

Well, not home. San Francisco wasn’t home. It was for a little while. Not anymore. Nowhere is home.

It’s more that he feels like his old self, like his old life. It’s only been a few days but he can’t remember who he was. Some boy that used to troll bars with a bag of tapes.

Different now.

The bartender slides a bowl of pretzels over. He stares at it. Downs half his drink. Rubs at his arms. His thumb presses hard into his vaccination scar. He digs his heel into his bag to make sure it’s there.

It only takes the drink a few minutes to hit him. Empty stomach and all. He winces as he slams the rest of it and asks for another. One more, and then he swears he’ll go find food. And he’ll go back to his room and copy the tapes. And he’ll listen to them again, and try to understand.

And once he has copies he can start transcribing. Too risky to keep stopping and starting the tapes right now. Not the originals. He’ll do it with the copies. Maybe he can start tomorrow. And then…

Well, he’ll figure out the next steps when it’s time. Right now he has to just stay safe. He imagines it as a list in his mind, tells himself to get organized.

stay safe

make copies

get to new orleans

find lestat

He tries to picture it. Maybe a week from now, what might happen.

Thinking back on the interview feels like a fever dream, like he was immersed in it. The mental image too vivid, and he wonders if it’s some of Louis’s magic leaching through. He can see the house, somehow, in his mind. He can imagine what Lestat looks like, even picture the smooth timbre of his voice.

Hard to know what to expect. What condition he’ll be in, if he’ll lash out the way Louis did. But Daniel has to know. He has to know.

The whiskey pools in his stomach, gives him heartburn already. Lips numb and hands shaking as he reaches for the second glass. Sipping it slower this time, trying to breathe in between. The bar waves in his vision, and he sees spots, and his heart skips but he keeps drinking, convinced it will be a balm.

Just makes everything spin, though.

He leaves cash on the bar when he’s done. The barstool skids as he stumbles to his feet, as he hugs the bag to his chest again, as he pushes back out into the street.

Chilly mountain air and it’s so, so fresh, but just makes him feel cold. And people are talking on the corner and the stars are too bright in the sky and there’s little halos around the streetlights as his vision bounces. He sways there, trying to catch his breath, trying to remember where his motel was.

Sweating, suddenly, even in the cool air. Left his jacket in the car, too, and his bare arms break out into goosebumps.

Food, he reminds himself. Get food.

But he doesn’t think he knows how.

[previous day] | [next day]

#vamptember #vamptember 1973 #stuff i wrote #daniel molloy #vampire chronicles

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raphianna · 4 months

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OC Infodump Tag, R.A., Dragonborn; ft. 5 Other OCs

@skyrim-forever I wasn’t tagged, but your questions intrigued me :] I hope you don’t mind me doing this. I also hope you and/or anyone else who reads this enjoys :]

What is your OC’s name? Why did you choose it? Were there any other names you considered?

How was your OC raised? What kind of background?

What values do they have? How were they instilled in them?

What does your OC look like? Have they had other designs? How has their look changed?

Does your OC have a family? What do they define as family?

Does your OC have a mentor or someone they look up to? Why do they look up to them?

What has been the most significant event in your OC’s life? How has this affected them?

Who does your OC care about? Is it reciprocal?

What are your OC’s hobbies? How do they relax?

What should we understand most about your OC?

This is pretty long, so it’s going under a Read More ^^’

Her name

‘R.A.’ Originally, it was the shortened version of my online name, ‘Raphianna’, but as I fleshed her out more, I gave her her own name, ‘Raelyn Ava’. I don’t usually put too much thought into names, I admit. I chose Raelyn Ava because it could still be an abbreviated version of R.A., but I genuinely love it now.

Her full name is Raelyn Ava Waterlily, and I chose the name Waterlily simply because it sounded pretty lol.

When she was younger, everyone called her Raelyn Ava, Raelyn, or Rae. But as of now, she’s shortened her name to R.A. and dropped her last name entirely, because she wanted as few ties to her childhood as possible.

How she was raised, background

She had a loving, albeit distant relationship with her parents.

Keyword: had.

They were killed in front of her when she was 9, when their village was attacked by a branch of Volkihar vampires. They’d tried to trade her for their own lives. She lived as a captive for 7 years afterwards, until she was 16, when she escaped. She wasn’t really ‘raised’ past the age of 9 per se, more so fought to survive.

Before, she lived a simple life, and was eager to learn archery, and was skilled in parkour. (I bring up parkour, cause my mama calls me a goat in the game since I can scale almost anything :P)

Her values

R.A. relies heavily on self-discipline. Those 7 years were hell, and she was never willing to talk about it after she escaped. There wasn’t anyone to talk to anyways. It made her emotional to think back on what she went through. Strangers didn’t need to worry about the weight of her wounds. And later on, her loved ones shouldn’t even have to imagine what she experienced. Her view of self discipline was a bit warped at first, but she learns how to understand it in a healthier way after she opens up to people.

She also has a tight grip on loyalty. When she learned that she could trust people, whether it be from the promise of money, deals, or genuine admiration, it was life changing. And when that loyalty started coming from real relationships more often, she was that much more determined to protect it. She has very negative feelings towards Mercer and Astrid because of this. (Though she believes Astrid deserved a second chance in the Void.)

Her looks & design

R.A. is a Wood Elf. She has shoulder length black hair, completely black eyes, and tan skin. She’s thin and 5’6”. She has a scar in the shape of a handprint across her mouth. (It’s the handprint from the warpaint option, but I made it into a scar.) There’s scarring across her throat also.

My first design for her was a Redguard, cause when I first started playing Skyrim, I literally just copied my mama as she played. (Redguard, heavy armour, two handed weapons.) My character had the same hair, but with silver eyes. She also still had the handprint across her mouth, but that was only because I thought it was cool at the time :P

I changed her to a Wood Elf when I learned that they were inspired by Native Americans. It was strange when I learned the races’ inspirations. I remember talking to my dad about it, and how I wanted to switch to a Wood Elf, since I’m also Native American, and he encouraged me to. Thus, the creation of R.A. really began.

But I still loved the silver eyes. I was bummed that wasn’t an option for the Wood Elves, so that’s why I chose the completely black option for her eyes. But R.A. did have silver eyes when she was younger, but they changed over the course of her life. Her hair also used to go down to her hips, but she cut it after she escaped.

Who’s her family

Right off the bat, yes, she has two adopted children, Lucia and Blaise.

But she also has two older siblings: a brother named Taon, who’s 35, and a sister named Erissa, who’s 31. Both Taon and Erissa left for Skyrim when their mother was pregnant with their sister; Taon was 16 and Erissa was 12. R.A. never knew either of them growing up, but her parents often talked about them.

Taon has green eyes, upper back length black hair in a high ponytail, and pale skin. Erissa has white hair that goes down to her mid back in a low ponytail, green eyes, and tan skin.

It took R.A. a long time to warm up to them, especially when she found out that they knew their mother was pregnant when they left.

By the time R.A. arrived in Skyrim, Taon lived in a cabin near the Eastmarch hot springs, and Erissa was Archmage of the College of Winterhold (canon who).

She does eventually get to know her siblings, and they become super close. Taon and Erissa feel horrible for essentially leaving R.A. behind, and they do their best to make up lost time with her.

They’re a really great aunt and uncle to R.A.’s kids.

R.A. gets Taon initiated into the Thieves Guild, and he and Erissa are among the few people who know that R.A., Karliah, and Brynjolf are Nightingales.

The Waterlily siblings also have two cousins, however.

Their names are Elision and Kyn Nightshade. Elision is 29 and Kyn is 28. (Pronounce Kyn like the beginning of Kynareth.)

Elision is a priest of Kynareth in Whiterun, and Kyn is a bard in Solitude. They learn about their cousins when Elision sees R.A. heal the Gildergreen with sap from its parent tree, and he sends a letter to Kyn.

Elision has black hair up in a ponytail much like Taon’s, golden eyes, and tan skin. Kyn has long black hair cascading down her upper back, purple eyes, and tan skin.

The Waterlilies are wary when meeting the Nightshades, since they never thought twice about their parents or any family they might’ve had.

As far as they’re concerned, their parents are dead to them.

But they become friends with Elision and Kyn, and the two cousins are just as angry at the Waterlily’s parents when they hear about what happened.

R.A. is the baby of all of them at 19.

However, blood doesn’t matter to R.A.. If she decides you’re family, you’re family.

She’s close friends with a Khajiit named Ji’zaka. He’s 26 years old, and they met as captives of Volkihar when R.A. was 10 and Ji’zaka was 17. Ji’zaka escaped with R.A. at the age of 23 when she was 16. They unfortunately were separated shortly after they escaped, and lost contact for 3 years.

Ji’zaka doesn’t know what happened for 2 out of those 3 years, but he found himself in Skyrim during the third year. Not welcome in any of the cities, and not really fitting in with any of the Khajiit caravans, he was initiated into the Dark Brotherhood and was an assassin for them when he reunited with R.A..

When she was named Listener, he was the only one besides Cicero who fully supported R.A.’s new role.

Ji’zaka has light grey fur that fades into white with black tips on every other end of his fur. He has red eyes, sharp claws, and multiple piercings in his ears.

He lives with R.A. at Lakeview Manor, and often ends up being a jungle gym and bed for her kids. They love him.

(All of them make one of the most chaotic groups to ever travel across Skyrim)

Who's her mentor

Delvin, which even she found odd, she’ll admit. They had a rocky start when they first met. R.A. was secure in her skills by the time she came into the Thieves Guild, and didn’t appreciate him assuming he knew better than her. She told him as much, rather harshly with her words; as much as her damaged vocal cords would let her, anyway. It was silent after she told him off, and R.A. did worry about making a bad impression, until Delvin laughed, and said he liked her attitude.

She was drawn to his offers of having a drink every other time she came back from a job (she never actually drank, just had some tea). He often seemed to know when something was wrong, and let her know he would listen. R.A. took Delvin up on his offers, and he was the first person she actually opened up to.

Delvin became a sort of father figure to her, someone she could safely confide in. She counts him among her family.

(I’m upset that you can’t insist you know what you’re doing with Delvin or Vex, so R.A. gets to do so from a story point. :P)

Most significant event

Talking with Serana throughout their quests with the Dawnguard. Specifically the conversation in the undercroft of Volkihar castle. R.A. never realised how much she loved family until then. And seeing Serana so resigned to her own father’s fate helped her move on from her parents’ betrayal. It wasn’t forgiveness, it likely would never be forgiveness, but she could let go of it. And seeing Serana in such vulnerable moments helped R.A. see her in a different light. She never hated or disliked Serana, but she tried not to get close to her at first. The amount of trust between them near the end nearly made R.A. weep.

Who does she care for

She cares about her kids, her siblings, her cousins, Ji’zaka, Serana, and Kharjo. Yes, the care is reciprocated, without question.

(Fun fact, I’ve played R.A., Taon, and Kyn in Skyrim :D I couldn’t play Erissa, cause I suck at mage characters, and I think the next OC I wanna play as is Elision, since he gives me paladin/healer vibes ^^ I wanna play Ji’zaka, but I’m unsure about fur colours and patterns.)

Her hobbies & relaxing

Relaxing is relatively new to R.A. and Rayya had to tell her in the gentlest terms that patrolling her house all night wasn’t typically relaxing; not if you were constantly on lookout. Rayya said it was primarily her job, and she urged R.A. to find another way to relax.

Kyn got her enrolled in the Bards College, and R.A. took to playing the lute. Her kids love to sit with her and listen while she plays. They often fall asleep like that.

Gods help you if she finds her favourite book series. You can’t get her attention for hours.

When there’s no enemies around, she loves to roam around Falkreath and the Rift. They’re her favourite Holds.

What should you understand the most

R.A. has a lot on her mind. Thane, factions, crises, the complexity of a possible chaotic afterlife-

It takes a lot to slow her mind down, and in some cases, make her see reason. She’s not reckless, but she knows when and where to target her rage. She shouldn’t have to bear these kinds of responsibilities, but she does. She’ll push through them, because she knows it will give others options she never had in the past.

Nothing can really be done when she gets like that. The best you can do is follow her and see your next quest through.

#skyrim #text post #tag game #my oc #my ocs

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purpleandstarlight · 7 months

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@hateweasel Another one!

-Me to my friend: Cameron and DaffyDuck should get together, at least then they'd stop annoying other people.

Me to my friend like 3 minutes later: ALOIS JUST READ MY MIND-

-End chapter 296: *totally wholesome cielois moment*

Dan, beginning of chapter 297: I bet they're fucking right now.

(DAN WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SO UP IN THEIR BUSINESS?? GET A LIFE 😭

It was hilarious to me back then that he just randomly thought of this while trying to sleep but it's even funnier to me now when I remember that later on in the story Alois confirms to DaffyDuck that they were, indeed, fucking. Does Dan have a radar or smth???)

-Me: Sometimes the author reminds us that all of the 7 but Alois and Ciel are mortals and they can and will die at some point and Alois and Ciel will just have to move on without them. Wich...It makes me sad every time. I don't want these reminders-

-Me, talking about that one demon girl I could never stand (the one Audrey and then a train killed): So this demon tried to get with Ciel...wich- she obviously had no chance, because she wasn't blonde...

-Speaking of, remember when she tried to get with Ciel saying crap that sums up in "[Alois] is traumatized so he's obviously not someone you could/should love"? You probably don't, but I usually do. It always makes me extremely angry lmao

-Speaking of me being angry - remember those girls saying "Oh but boys can't be [I won't say it but you get it]"? I was also about to throw hands at that.

-So a chapter was named "La storia della demone famiglia" and I was confused for a second because I thought it was a bad Italian translation of the page (Sometimes Google translates sites randomly and you gotta set it back to the original lenguage manually) but then I saw only the chapter title wasn't in english and just moved on. I guess it was a more "ancient/classy" way of saying "of the demon family" that i dont know of ? Since the most usual way of saying it would normally be "della famiglia demone"

-Me at some point about Daniel (im genuinely using copy-paste on this): Can't believe I actually thought this man was straight

-I genuinely was really scared since Bailey said he wouldn't be working in the police anymore that the person in his place would be some corrupted jerk, but then I arrived a lot of chapters later to him saying the person taking his place was his son so I calmed down. Fact is - as someone who is a lot further than that now, I actually dont really like Bailery Junior? He's not corrupted, but I wasn't too fond of him and then I disliked how he treated Alois? Sorry he lost his hand though. Hope his father's not too angry at Alois. IS Gabriel angry at Alois?? Or does he understand the situation they were in?

-Fun fact: for a long time, I only called Integra "Hellsing" because I couldn't really remember her name? Then finally i realized it would be more comfortable to call her differently than the organization to my friend. So I just started...I think around when Ciel starts calling her that as well? Lol

-DLTD: Warwick Academy; Yes, I'm sure you're more than well aware by now about this fine school by now.

Me, literally at chapter 319: You don't say?

#DLTD Thoughts

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so2collection · 11 months

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Star Ocean: Blue Sphere Beginner’s Guide

Introduction: I've been on a bit of a Star Ocean kick lately, and thought I'd take my hand at writing a Blue Sphere "Tips for Beginners!" type guide (based on the English ROM translation)... With Second Story R coming out soon, I figure that more people will be interested in Blue Sphere, too.

I hope my experience and the tips here help you on your adventure!

I played the game once before, but the save data was on an old computer... I want to add it to a list of titles I've completed!

Read more advice/tips under the cut! I’ll provide general tips on how to learn things, what characters to use, Private Actions, and other things! :)

Which characters to use? To start, you can pick your roster out of a few characters. Generally, Dias and Chisato are the best fighters. Precis excels at Item Creation. You'll want Celine if you plan to play late/post-game content.

However, for the first section I recommend taking Ashton. He is also a good fighter and I hear he's easy to combo with. If you've read interviews with the devs, they recommend Ashton and Precis as the game was originally made around them and one other character (they forgot) but eventually added everyone due to popularity. :)

Anyway, I recommend Ashton because he learns Cooking the fastest of anyone, according to seiju-info, a website I will have to reference often due to the lack of English resources. I'll also reference GameFAQs. You'll want cooking early on and you can buy a frying pan in the first town. Fol is very difficult to get in this game as you only earn SP from battles, no cash. I'll explain this more in depth later.

For a dungeon walkthrough, I found this GameFAQs guide useful

If you can, also use the maps on GameFAQs or purchase your own copy of the Star Ocean: Blue Sphere Final Guide. It has full-color maps, but is fully in Japanese. Still, I found it useful, especially in the dungeons. According to the devs, the dungeons got a lot of 'feedback' from fans... and for good reason. They're kind of long and annoying lol but if you're a Star Ocean fan, especially of 2, I think you should give this title a shot. It was made to bridge the wait for Star Ocean 3, but I'm using it as a bridge between my playthrough of Second Story I recently finished again and the remake... :)

I’m not learning new moves / spells?

If you're wondering why certain characters aren't gaining new moves, it's probably one of the following: you aren't making combos, you're levelling the wrong Skill section, for mages you aren't using a variety of spells, or you haven't created their moves through Machinery. These are specific to each character. For my party of Dias, Precis, and Celine... (Dias: combos, Precis: machinery, Celine: the right skill tree / learning the lost magic skill).

I can say at the beginning of this, I don't understand how the skill trees work at all. Just level the 2 the character is good at (Dias is Sense and Battle for example). This is important because if you leveled Dias in Knowledge, it would block off Battle if you raise Sense too high.

Technology VS Sense and Battle VS Knowledge

So, for Dias, we would level Sense (so you get Psychometry to get his ultimate skills with combos), Battle, then put any points into one of the others.

Celine needs to have certain stats met and use a spell x number of times to "spark" the next spell. For her ultimate spells, she needs to level Knowledge for Lost Magic. However, if you want her to have the highest INT and forego her final spell (which isn’t worth the increase from Boost) look at Technical instead.

Mages won't learn new magic using spells on their own, you must control them / spam specific spells, so it's good to use low level enemies to learn new spells.

Item Creation tips

That's why it's good to have some reserve characters for Item Creation, such as Ashton for Cooking. Why Ashton? Well, he learns it the quickest. There really aren't any charts availible for this, but each character unlocks different skills as you level them; it is not like the original game where you get to choose. He learns the 3 skills required the fastest by unlocking them the earliest.

Think of it this way: pick 3-4 of the characters to use in battle and use the rest for only Item Creation! Because of the teleport function, it’s easy to switch them out.

Each Item Creation skill has a mini-game involved. It only uses the directional buttons and you can master the quickest/best way to do them easily. Cooking, with the Frying Pan for example, is right (short time), left (short time), right (long time) as you “flip” the ingredients. You don’t want them to burn or spill. I’ll go more in-depth with these as I unlock them myself.

Celine is one of the best characters to learn Alchemy. We will need it towards the end to make the elusive Blue Sphere for ultimate weapons.

Private Actions - How To?

Private Actions are few in this game and require very specific character conditions! If a PA says “OUT” that character must NOT be in the active party. If it says IN, they must be in the active party.

They also can happen pretty much anywhere: in towns, dungeons, ect.

How to play? General strategy?

To switch characters in battle, use Select.

To use items in battle, press Start.

To defend in battle, press the down arrow.

Break objects (tables, chairs, some plants) to sometimes find items.

If an enemy is too tough or blocking a path (that isn't a boss) you can attempt to run by moving to the far right of the screen. If you fail, your character runs out of their hidden stamina stat for awhile. If you win, the enemy disappears and you can snag any treasure / move on with ease.

PA's don't have any indicator. It's like talking to your comrades around a town and everything, but it feels more like an NPC interaction than a traditional Star Ocean PA. Because of the character IN/OUT (of active party) requirements, they can be easy to miss.

Forest / Crash Site

Bowman is also useful until you get to the Scout Village (Herb Gathering on the candy cane striped plants). To gather some herbs and to view Bowman's PA, exit Scout village and cut down the bush to the left. There will be a path where you can see the long-leaf stripey plants that Bowman can harvest. If he's not in the party, talk to him and initiate the PA.

Private Action - Forest / Crash Site - Bowman (OUT) - Bowman gives you herbs.

Bowman references the Metox, saying it's a very powerful herb :p

Scout Village

Private Action - Scout Village - Precis (OUT) - Precis is looking for parts to repair the ship.

Sometime during the Mile Ruins (maybe before?), if you have an herb, one will randomly be selected if you talk to the boy near the entrance of Scout Village. You will get a Kitchen Knife (used for Cooking) in exchange.

Fuck this NPC in particular. Get the Hell out of the way, bro!!

Mile Ruins

Finish the Mile Ruins. Don't forget to use the bomb on the crack in the wall to turn the elevators back on, especially to visit the 6th floor for some good items like earrings for Celine. There are other areas that require the Pull Field Skill and Precis' Hover, so you'll have to come back later on for the other items.

Vending Machine 1st Floor - Give it a lighter touch to get a useless but one-of-a-kind ??? Jam you can’t get anywhere else.

Check drawers for items and fol!

When you get out, go to the shops in the back of town. The left shop should have a discount, so buy some blueberries and a Frying Pan. Also buy Meat. Level up Ashton in Knowledge, Sense, and Tech until he learns the 3 skills for Cooking (Good Eye, Recipe, and he should start with Kitchen Knife) (If you're having trouble selling items, remember to scroll right to sell from other item categories; took me a little time to figure out. For the mini-game, gently move left to right and try to aim for the flipping food, because if you drop it it takes time which lowers your overall score. Try to aim for over 100.) If you can't afford meat to make steak, I highly recommend using the vegetables (which she usually has one sale, too!) to make Twice Cooked Pork and Amazing Vegetable Stir Fry, which also sells for a lot of Fol.

The shop on the left has Bombs if you need them (you'll need at least 1 to clear the path on the lower right of town). He will also give you the Bunny Comm.

There's a PA we can do. Ashton IN, Dias OUT. Kick out Dias and grab Precis and we can use her Pull ability to get some of the items we missed.

Private Action - Mile Ruins - Ashton (IN) / Dias (OUT) - The two reflect on their swordsmanship. Particularly, that weakness comes with aging. This also opens up another PA later in the game.

If you also teach Precis Machinery, you can learn Hover by making a Nuclear Jet. I think Machinery needs to be at level 5 to learn it. Don't bother learning it now, though, as we can't buy any soldering irons...

Rupart Jungle

Before you descend into the jungle you can trigger a fight with a Baboon. He's a little difficult but he gives a whopping 20 SP per fight and is a good spot to grind up characters if you need to. Just heal for free at the ship or the old man with the kid's house and save before fighting it each time. I did this 3-4 times just to have some extra SP handy (and it should be enough to teach Precis Machinery Lv 5, but again, no soldering iron yet...) You may want to invest it in Dias Sense skills instead. I've been leveling Celine's Knowledge, since that's what she needs to max out first. In one fight Dias and Precis were dead and I used Firebolt, which sparked Celine's Starlight spell! She also has Bless and I don't think she started with it, but I'm not sure when I learned it.

Spell - Starlight - Celine - Requires: Monstrology Learned, Use Firebolt in battle

A lot of enemies in Rupart Jungle are difficult, but save often and you'll manage. Once you talk to the guys about the permit for the two ruins, continue to Ava City. We can finally buy a soldering iron here, so you can have Precis learn Machinery lv 5 and then score around 200 points and create the item (save scumming is recommended...). Make sure to restock any items you need. Do some cooking and upgrade your equipment, too.

Garp Ruins

In the Garp ruins I used Dias, Ashton *required for his Fire Breath field action, and Noel. Some of the enemies are tough. You'll also want to bring a few bombs, mostly for the room behind the boss.

After the ruins I leveled Precis' Machinery to 6... It makes the soldering iron faster in the mini-game, the higher the level... but after two hours I still can't manage to get Hover (I barely score 110 points most of the time, because the iron is so wobbly...) On the bright side I made some money and got a lot of Opera's KMs, so that will be nice when I get her.

Note: I did give it one last shot, and wouldn't you know, I got the Hover ability... I didn't even score that high of points, so I'm confused? I did learn that the farther away a node is / more diagonal it is, the more points you earn, so perhaps it's advantageous to wait for further/diagonal nodes? I wish you luck obtaining the Nuclear Jet for Hover! I'll make a short trip back to the Mile Ruins and Garp Ruins and get items I missed, then go return to Ava City and talk to the Jabba the Hut Man again lol

We finally see a little plot in this game...!

Leviabor Ruins (First Trip)

The Leviabor Ruins sucked. I think everyone knows that lol I used Dias, Precis, and Celine but I highly recommend bringing Noel instead. Celine learned Energy Arrows, though, which helped a bit! I only did the required floors for the time being and I've been focusing on maxing out each characters main skill branch for now.

I sold a bunch of Gold ingots for like 8k Fol... IDK if I'll need any later (I'm sure they can be made with Alchemy) but I didn't feel like putting athritis-hands through the riggamaroll of Cooking.

Spell - Wind Blade - Celine - Requires: INT 12, Use Firebolt in battle Spell - Energy Arrows - Celine - Requires: MP 160+ / Resistance learned, Use Starlight in battle

Speaking of, I haven't learned any new KMs for Dias. I can't combo at all. I couldn't even combo with Ashton, who is supposedly the easiest... so yeah, late game is gonna be rough.

Ava City (After free from prison)

Remember the girl you saved and got sent to Leviabor prison for? If you talk to her boyfriend, he gives you an item based o what console you are playing on (Gameboy gives a Might Chain... Gameboy Color gives a ???. I'm using Gameboy Advance emulator, so I got a Lunar Talisman)

Yay, Ernest! I guess... I probably won't use him...

I kind of forgot about PAs, so here's some I did to take a break before the Gravis Forest. I remember my last playthrough I did this forest on the Super Gameboy and yeah... you thought it was bad in color. It's ten times worse when its limited to like, 2 colors... a monotone mess. If I didn't have the strategy guides I'd never get through it.

Private Action - Ava City - Bowman (IN) / Celine (OUT) - Bowman has a daughter! And her name is Erys! :o Notes: If done before recruiting Opera, you get this PA. If after, an Opera PA occurs instead. You can't get both according to the guide I'm looking at. Apparently this PA leads to more rare items late game as it unlocks a PA later.

Private Action - Ava City - Chisato (IN) / Celine (OUT) - Chisato helps the girl on the west side of town find a job to support the girl’s brothers. Unlocks a hidden shop. The secret weapon shop (below) has decent upgrades!

Go through Gravis Forest until you find the hideout, then talk to the soldier on the west side and show him the permit you got in Ava.

Gravis Forest Part 1

Follow the beetles

Look for the old man

Use a map

If you can combo, this place might be pretty easy. I can't get past 2 hits, so I focused on my mages and spamming Dias' basic attack to keep the apes in the second section from decimating my party...

Celine learned Curse during my time in the forest. Spell - Curse - Celine - Requires Fairyology - Spark with Firebolt

Spell - Bless - Celine- Start (I had her spark this, I swear... but the guide says she starts with it...)

Also, I don't really use Noel, but he learned a ton of spells including Dispel, which is very handy when you get confused by the beetles.

Spell - Dispel - Noel - Start (Oh, I didn’t notice...) Spell - Silence - Noel - Start (Really? I guess I was looking under Magic and not Technique...)

Apparently he starts with Bless, too? IDK

Hideout

In the hideout, it will be registered to your teleporter, so if you want to switch some characters around, go for it. There's an inn and a shop in the hideout as well, so restock and move on through part 2.

Gravis Forest Part 2

For the gorilla boss, Dias had HP around 450+ and I let him take hits because I can't combo to stop the arm spin. Try to use the Up+B combo to "kill" the arms first, if you can. When you're back at the hideout again, talk to the guy out front to heal and then save. The boss, Atlas, died with one shot of Celine's Thunderbolt... sure is nice to see anything do damage in this game. You'll be healed and sent to he Slave Village. Save again and prepare for another boss... Three of Celine's Thunderbolts took it out. :)

Slave Village

Private Action - Slave Village - Precis (OUT) That PA in Slave City with Precis should be open. Noel asks Precis what's the matter and offers her one of Chisato's snacks to cheer her up :) When that doesn't work, Noel starts calling a doctor (Bowman) for her. Precis finally spills her worries, about a friend named Latry (Razzly maybe?) who might forget... to record Precis' soap opera... Noel is not amused.

After the events on your second trip to Slave Village, you open a new path to Nusa Beach. On the far left you can flip some switches to make a shortcut back to the ship... for some reason, I guess.

We have some optional dungeons to do for now, so return to the ship/restock/ect.

Remember those soldiers outside Ava City blocking that dungeon? We can go now.

Ralph Ruins - Optional

Be careful where you step, it's similar to Gravis and that you can fall easily.

The wires on the lower levels seem impassable; all you need is someone with the Jump field action.

I recommend bringing Precis with Hover so you can reach some treasure and also not fall as often. This is especially useful for the conveyor belts just like in Leviabor. All I can say is just gather as many batteries as you can and on the basement level, look for a generator near a red snake in the bottom left of the overall map that says something like "activates elevator movement". Head as high as you can on the elevators and then all the way left you'll see the crab boss. You have to live long enough, but 3 Thunderbolts takes him out easily. *update note about Precis in conveyors in Leviabor.

Behind the boss is a treasure with the first of 10 Rings we need for the Cave of Trials. Although I'm not planning to do them... but we did miss one in Garvis forest. If you want, go back and get it now (look for unusual, square hole right of the entrance to the forest). If I have time, I’ll add a guide at the end for the rings and how to open the last dungeon (as well as Celine’s Telelport).

Crane Ruins - Optional

BRING A FULL STOCK OF BOMBS, you'll need them!

I highly recommend anytime you need to restock go to Scout village, because they often have sales on Blueberries and food ingredients. Plus, the bomb shop is right next to the item shop.

Crane Ruins are located south of Ava City (if you hit Slave Village you went too far, you need to go south, slightly east, south, and east again). Unfortunetly you need Precis (and a guide I saw recommended Ashton) for this dungeon, so you'll probably go with Dias, Ashton, and Precis... You could manage with Dias, Precis, and Noel, too. Celine is helpful for the machines and crabs, so if you don't need a healer, take her instead.

If you did that PA back in Mile Ruins, there's another with Ashton and Dias on the generator floor of the Crane Ruins. It's a shame you need Dias out, because you'll likely have to complete the dungeon and then return without him to see it. Luckily, it isn't too much of a feat.

Most of the enemies are easy here, except for the big rats. Try to avoid them and if you can't, use KMs if you have them or run.

The upper floors have blocks you have to move onto buttons. Make < style arrows with them in the direction of doors you want open on that floor. When you get Floor 2 and 3, you can combine them to move say, > right and ^ up, but there's just some treasure here. Your goal is B1. You'll need Swim/Dive and Hover makes it easier. Collect the treasure by hovering to all the platforms and then take it section by section and dive for treasure. If you activate the generators on the bottom floor, you can also open up stairs to a boss. I tried a few times but Dias wasn't even scratching him, so I gave up for now. I'll come back to that ugly green bastard later.

Ocean Cave (Nusa Beach) - Optional

The final optional dungeon (Ocean Cave) is in Nusa Beach (go South as far as you can, if you got to Vanis city you didn't go far enough; look for the barnacles) and you need Swim/Dive to complete that, so chances are you'll be taking Precis then. I did check and other characters can learn it, but not as easy (well, Dias at least) but I'll just drag Precis along... I'm gonna gripe about it in my review, but it really sucks how you're forced to carry around Precis as an HM slave, since she sucks so much in battle. 99% of the time she's just dead in fights because it isn't worth the 5 blueberries to heal her. I think if they ever remake this game, there should be some sort of machine to carry around the abilities instead, so you don't waste a slot. Or, even better, a way to switch characters from the ship to your active party in dungeons... It would increase your options and this game is all about not giving you any options. For example, combos being the only way to give fighters more KMs is bad design. Not that they would have MP to use them anyway, because the ideal way to level them gives no MP increases... Just... bad design.

This is how an average fight is going for me. Fun! :(

I'm ranting a lot at this point because this Ocean Cave was my third dungeon that day and I was just burnt out and exhausted of enemies that take 5 minutes to kill, keep respawning, ect. Even with a map, knowing what to do is confusing. I went and found a lever I couldn't flip and a door that needs the lever to open? But then I read in the guide you need a keycard.... So this morning, that's where I'm at. Bored, tired, and I just want the game to give me a break.

The Ocean Cave is added into the teleporter, so feel free to leave/return for supplies if you need to. I decided to go back, use some SP, and experiment with Smithing. Longsword + Meteorite (50 Point Score) should make a stronger sword, but we don't have Meteorite. *sigh* So my thought process was, well, I'm taking damage, so maybe I'll make better armor.

Enchantment Use the chart on this site to determine the Armor latent value.

How it works: Armor + Source = Better Armor. Each Armor has a set amount of points needed to make it based on the formula below. I'll use the example the guide provided me. Formula: Armor Latent Points + Score Divided by 2 = Total Score (The Total Score determines what you get) Magic Resist Armor (35 latent points) + Score of 27 or higher Divided by 2 = 31 Total Score = Resist Armor possible.

I want to make a Duel Suit, as it's one of the best armors... So I used: Resist Armor (25) + Score of 125 or more = 150 Divided by 2 = 75 Total Score in theory should get a Duel Suit... (Note: I couldn’t get the score high enough, so no... I think I need Titania Source and max level for Enchantment...)

I'm not entirely clear how Sources play into the calculation, but they seem to provide some sort of bonus when scoring points? So, save scum and use rare Sources to easily create high level armor. (High level sources: Elf, Dark Elf, Titania)

I tried for a little while, but the two just kept swapping between Resist/Magic armor. I think I need Celine's Enchantment level higher (it's only 4) to make the mini-game easier, so we may as well get back to the dungeon and get some SP for that.

Back at the Ocean Cave... The keycard we need is on the third floor. Try to hang left for most of the time and you should reach it across a tiny water section. I went to where the guide said the card was and was back at the lever, which I could magically pull now. I have no idea what's going on (perhaps you have to examine the door on the lower level first, which is bullshit) but we should be able to move forward now. At the statue room, pull all the levers except the reset, go down the stairs, hop down, pull the green blocks, and drop down. You can unlock the door for later (you have to return with Teleport to get the treasure... ughhhh) and go fight the boss who is easier than almost every enemy in the damn cave. Grab the chest behind it and leave so we can go do the story again.

I will say, it is nice we get to see an Edifian as a reward for this bonus dungeon... So there's that.

Vanis City

Don't waste money on the Elf Sources; you'll be able to buy the good ones soon.

I've been wondering where Opera is too. :( She's my favorite character, so imagine how sad I was that you can't use her for half of this game. Speaking of, this is almost the half way point. Not including resets and deaths, I've logged about fifteen hours playtime, so seems about right. The shops don't offer any better weapons, but there is some better armor for your mages. Get that when you can.

Private Action - Ashton OUT Noel IN - Ashton's feeling a little hopeless and Noel tries to cheer him up.

Private Action - Leon OR Opera IN, Ernest OUT - (I used Leon) They discuss how strange the planet feels (as if man-made) and how Edifice compares to Expel.

Private Action - Chisato OUT - Chisato has one line that just says Vanice City is kinda peaceful.Talk to the guy in the bar and we learn Opera is researching with another scientist in the City of Knott. Head South of town once you're ready.

Road to Knott

Bring a few bombs. Most of the enemies are easy.

Don’t walk forward on the beautiful screen above... you take damage lol

Ah, the infamous

Ruddle sidequest

begins. If you explore thoroughly, you'll find him on the way.

Please use CTR F to find my updated guide later (See: Scream), because I made an error here.

Spell - Noel - Cure Light - Requirements: INT 40+ stats, spark with Heal Spell - Noel - Fairy Heal - Requirements; INT 70+ stats, spark with Cure Light

Noel knows this game is gonna ramp up, huh?

Knott

The Blue Sphere, huh? I’ll be back for you, sir.

Oh my god we finally get new boots and a new weapon for Dias. There's also Rune Bucklers, if you haven't gathered enough from dungeons for your mages. You can also buy the Dark Elf Sources now, so level up someone in Enchantment (Celine is difficult because you need to max her Tech first... so you can't level it to max, but you can get it high level) and try to craft some better armor.

Speaking of, Dias and Celine have 2-3 of their skills maxed in their primary category. I have been avoiding battles on the Road to Knott, so I may go back and train. The plants are fairly easy and they give around 35 SP each.

Enchantment, attempt 2

It took me about 10 resets to get a Magic Armor and a Dark Elf Source to become a Magic Resist Armor. I had to score 50 to get it. The trick is finding the 3rd checkpoint (when the cane glows white) before the timer runs out. When I tried again with the Magic Resist and a Dark Elf Source, after only 1 checkpoint I somehow got the Nexus Armor... I don't get it, either, you guys... Ideally I want another Nexus Armor and something stronger for Celine. I created a Mithril Coat for Celine and it seems if you get checkpoints in the center, it scores higher. Part of this may just be luck. I wish I understood it better...

I’m on my way! Woosh~

Knott Secret Ruins

Once you're ready head into the laboratory of Knott (top right of city) through the 2nd room on the right, at the back. I can't help much with the dungeon, so please follow a guide.

Opera and Dias are my favorite characters... I feel re energized, even if I can’t use her in battle right now... (You CAN use her, but there isn’t any reason to over Dias, sadly.)

After you run into Opera, go down another floor, move the switch to the left in the first room (I used Noel with Pull because I wasn’t taking Precis again if I didn’t have to) and then head down a few times and you'll be at the boss. When you get to the room with the two big long-nosed blue guys (Carlas???) use Celine's Thunderbolt to take them out and save before going through the bottom right door.

In a random battle I accidentily used Bless instead of Thunderbolt. Celine got Anti.

Spell - Anti - Celine - Requires: RES 50+ stats, spark with Bless

Spell - Magnum Tornado - Noel - Requires INT 45+ - Spark with Wind Blade

I love how Rival casually is like "let's look for the LOTR stone!" and we just go with it.

I think I have trauma from the “join event” text from Star Ocean: the Second Story Ending 86 Guide I made... ;__;

The boss isn't too bad. Celine's Thunderbolt takes out a few parts. Finish him off with Dias forward stab regular attack and you should be good. I did have to heal a few times with Noel. After the fight, grab the Palantir and teleport back to the ship, restock, and then go find Rival in Knott.

Knott (again) lol Meet with Rival. She explains that she met Opera while looking for new discoveries. Rival is trying to find some ancient spaceship and asks everyone to go explore ruins. (For real, we should have just taken parts from Knott and fixed our ship and GTFO lol we have to help her because Opera helped her... oh, wait, no, we said Rival helped Opera after she crash landed... sure lol Opera only saved Rival from some rando rolly polly. Whatever. We have to go meet a guy at the bar in Vanis City.

Vanis City (return) Leave Knott and teleport to the ship and then to Vanis. Go to the bar and talk to the green guy, Simon, to learn about some ruins. The Ocean Cave, to be exact... which we already did. Upon leaving the bar someone shows up and says go to Knott! So back we go.

Knott (AGAIN) You'll be forced to fight red beetles, like the ones in Gravis. They should be cake now if you've levelled Dias a bit. They took a few forward slash basic attacks each. Same strategy with the 3 grey beetles. Once you save Rival, you find out that they unleashed some awful monsters from Gravis forest's underground. When you're ready, go to the door at the back of Rival's room that you couldn't go to before.

Gravis' Forest Path

I took Dias, Celine, Noel. Make sure you're fully stocked, this area isn't on the ship teleporter.

Bring a bomb if you're playing on a Gameboy/Super Gameboy 1 (Note: must be original, not a Color or Advance) and when you come upon a tower, you can use a hidden door on the right to enter or blow up the crack with a bomb (Mobile port only). I'm really kinda ticked because if you choose the item on the right you get a Blue Sphere just handed to you. This plus that Might Chain from earlier makes playing on a Gameboy or Super Gameboy 1 almost worth it... So, sadly I didn't get this item. I remember in my old playthrough this was around where I put the game down because the angel inside looks like Lenneth. Her sprite gets reused a lot in this game... I really thought it was Lenneth, though! :p Apparently her name is Maria--maybe an allusion to Star Ocean Til the End of Time (this title was a holdover until 3 released, so...)

Continue forward along the path until you reach the cave. Along the way are more of the red beetles. For the boss fight ahead, if you're using Celine, you may want to aquire Ray or Southern Cross. Here's how: Use Starlight (have MP 100+, INT 40+) to gain Ray and then use Ray (260 MP+, 80+ INT, know Herbology) to spark it. It's highly likely you won't have her Tech maxed out yet to learn Herbology for Southern Cross, but Ray should work in a pinch. It only took me four battles to spark Ray.

Gravis Forest II / Gravis Forest Cave

The red beetles seem to go down quicker with Starlight, but also Dias should be taking them out in 1-3 hits on average. I also had a red beetle drop a Mithril Mesh once I reached the forest, which is an upgrade to the Nexus Armor.

There are many hidden paths that lead to treasure, ect. so make sure you have a map handy. Go right and just keep going right and you'll stumble upon the Brown Card. After this, explore as thoroughly as possible to get everything. Most of the enemies are really easy, especially if you get initiative.

There is one room on the center/right side that has a large enemy called the Dragon Warrior. Luckily, you'll need Teleport so you'll have to come back later for this. If you beat him 5 times you get one of the rings for the bonus dungeon. If you have Ashton, you'll also get some cool dialogue between Gyoro and Ururun.

When you come across the room with two levers in the center, move the left one and continue exploring a bit. You'll need to get to Floor 2 to finish the puzzle. Along the way you'll probably see two chests, one in the top left and one lower/right from that. Once again, you'll need Teleport for them. I don't know what dev expects me to backtrack for this crap, because I don't plan to. Go across the bridge you lowered to Floor 2, flip the switch. Falling here does nothing, so don't worry about it. Go back across and you'll see some yellowish stairs. Use Jump to get back to the double lever room and swap the order from before, which lowers the stairs completely. Save before going to the boss room.

Apsaras (hey, I recognize you from Megaten!)... not how I expected you to look. Anyway, I tried the Japanese website guide of using Ray, but... it did fucking nothing. The Official guide only recommends raising STR as high as possible and says even specials do very little here. Basically, this battle is gonna be a slog. Use items to your advantage.

Seriously, this boss sucks. I almost put the game down.

My strategy was to control Dias and do a sort of attack a bit, back off/heal as needed, attack some more. Be careful, if you take out it's legs, it just insta-kills everyone after a few attacks... I'm seriously debating using cheats for this fight, because it's that hard. I KNOW the game wants me to combo to prevent it from attacking, but when you suck at stupid fighting game ass skills, it's useless. There really needs to be any kind of work around...

Okay, so I was reading up and the JP website says Dias just needs MP and to attack based on range for some of the lower level killer moves. Go figure, he only just now started getting an MP boost. I still can't combo for shit (got a 6 somehow in the boss fight) but I did put some points into Awakening. However, I don't think that's what helped... So I equipped this random ass ring I had because I think it gives you Strong Blow? Anyway, this boss went down in like 20 seconds once I had it on Dias! I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS GAME IS ANYMORE. For information on where I got the ring, it was on B1 Floor of the Ocean Cave! It's called the Eclipse Ring and the Official guide translates the ability added as "Strike". I don't know what this ability is exactly but it seems to have saved my ass here. I got flashback to the Protection Rings / Barker fight in Star Ocean the Second Story... Ironically, that boss fight was what kind of gave me the idea to look at accessories. Nice to see something stayed from 2 that was actually worthwhile.

Return to the ship, restock, return to Knott and go to the lab and talk to Rival. She explains that the Edifians were destroyed by a flood/tidal wave and that someone may have caused it. To learn more, she asks us to take her to Scream (and Lung). These names, bro... Anyway, we gotta go back to the road to Knott and find a new pathway.

Road to Knott 2 If you remember where we saw Ruddle, with those plant octopus guys, go back there. Rival opens the previously locked door and we're at Scream.

Scream You will need Precis' Hover if you want all the items, but they should be gemstones and armor you saw like four dungeons ago. What you really want are the Sharp Edge and Sorceress Knuckles, if SO2 taught me anything. I was pretty boggled considering those are potentially strong / really strong weapons for Claude and Rena in SO2... You just need Push for those, so Noel should be fine. (Note: I later learned Rena uses knives, so... I guess the knuckles are good for Noel.)

Star Ocean has this thing where it really ramps up it’s environments late game and I’m feeling it! Scream has great graphics and atmosphere. (I forgot to get a picture, though...)

Once you get the weapon upgrades, go through the right door in that same area where Rival is waiting. There's a teleport pad but you can set it to specific places. Going to Nusa Beach or Mile Shop don't have a way back, so don't bother. Select Scream Floor 2 and keep trudging along. Don't go through the upper door. There's a PA with Rena later and if you go now, you lose the chance to complete it.

Your goal is to get the entire tower to line up. Once you get to 4th Floor, save, because the boss is on Floor 5 and he's a bastard. First, I controlled Dias and charged the Minotaur to get some distance between it and the mages. Anything this dude uses KO's mages on impact. I mostly used Celine (with a fire boost and a ring that decreases cast time) with Ray. I wish I had Southern Cross, as it would do more damage... :( It was a big fucking struggle. I used like 4 revives, quite a few MP items, and a all party heal item. Somehow I won. If you get one part of him destroyed he should go down pretty quick after, even if it doesn't look that way. I also had to use a save state about halfway through the battle to save time. It's like 30% luck and 50% cursing, but you'll whittle him down somehow. Just don't let your mages anywhere near him whatsoever and revive immediately. If you wait too long to revive and they're behind the Minotaur, they are good as perma-dead, because he'll attack before you get to even move them out of the way. This entire boss was BS, almost as much as the last one. It's a trend in this game that needs to die.

City of Lung

Ruddle Sidequest Okay, in my last section I wasn't sure about the Ruddle quest. Unfortunetly, I chose the wrong direction and it lead to a dead end (the guide I was following was incorrect, so when I checked the Official Guide... yeah...), so this quest is over for me now that I've reached Lung. For the correct path, use the slapped together, Google translated pics I posted above. (I wanted to add the photo here, but Tumblr would NOT save it for some reason)

So much for my Fairy Ring :( I'm pretty peeved as it's so far back and I'm not doing those boss fights again. However, to make a Fairy Ring (halves MP cost, just like SO2), you can use Rune Metal and score between 270-319 with Jewelry Making (this is how the ROM translates it). I didn't have any Rune Metal, so I might try later.

Private Action *This PA has a small window, do it immediately - IN: Precis - Ship - Rival admires the ship and gives you a Tri-Emblem (increase all stats). I'm unsure if it breaks or something, so I'll save it for the end... This won't be availible if you talk to the Priest in Lung, so do this PA immediately.

Proceed down the path in Lung and you'll be escorted to the Priest, who is promptly killed by Rival. She also forces Claude and Rena to crash on Edifice, just like she did you.

She is the planet's "devil". She leaves and a remaining priest takes you to the top floor to meet an Edifian named Rose.

Rose explains Rival killed the Priest to get access to the Grand Knott, a weapon. Rose sacrifices a literal lung (I guess that's why the city is named that? lol) so you can breathe underwater when you go investigate the Comsat / Komsa Ruins.

Comsat Ruins - Bring a few bombs. - Equip Stone Checks

With the Aqualung, Dias can now use Swim/Dive, so we don't necessarily need to bring Precis. The dungeon is fairly straightforward. If a room doesn't loop back, look for a Microchip; this unlocks more floors on the elevator. There is also an item here we'll need to get Claude (yeah, he has a shitty sidequest; luckily this is the only item you’ll need for it), so make sure you nab the Minsidia by going 80% the way left on the continental shelf, then down to get the chest near the bottom. You'll have to backtrack, so be prepared. Once you backtrack once, teleport to the ship. This way you can just quickly return to the shelf by going to the ship/beginning of the dungeon. Anytime I got back to the starting floor, I went to heal/restock since it makes life easier. I avoided a lot of the enemies here as well, like the rhino-dino looking guys, because they just OKO'd my party all the time.

After getting the Minsidia, go back to the beginning of the continental shelf and retrace your steps across, but go all the way left and all the way down. You may want to grab Precis first because the two treasures here require Hover (a weapon for her and for Ernest--not worth trading out your healer, IMO). You'll now be in the seabed. You might be able to hover if you go left for a shortcut, IDK, but the path around is clockwise. If you want some treasure, go to the first door you see, but if you want to move onto the boss, just keep going clockwise towards the center.

I've had to do a lot of resets just because enemies KO Celine instantly :/ I've been using her Magic Shot field action to get the jump on some enemies and start battle controlling her. A Thunderbolt takes out the Saber Fins in one shot. The Nautilus' take a lot of damage from Thunderbolt too, but to preserve MP, try to finish them off with Dias. They cause poison, so have Noel w/Dispel or cure poisons handy.

If you can get Celine's MP 200+ and INT 60+, you may have a good chance of sparking Thunderstorm, which may be an option we can use going further since Southern Cross isn't obtainable yet...

The red shark is a sub-boss and if you got Thunderstorm, he goes out in 1-3 casts of that. When it attacks again, you wake up in Aqua City and are greeted by an Edifian. Is that what we're doing here? Talking to them? It's so strange we go through this dungeon instead of searching for Claude/Rena immediately... just sayin'. Go around and talk to the Edifians for the first plot in awhile. You'll learn they fought Rival 200 years ago and failed when she flooded the planet. We also learn Claude and Rena crashed near Nusa Beach.

When you go to talk to the leader, they go on some typical Tri-Ace writing about the Aqualung being able to carry Rose's thoughts and that's how they know who you are and that the Priest wanted you to fight Rival. The leader goes onto say we need two more Edifian's help and must go to Ax and Azul and pass their trials. It's pretty similar to SO2 and the Four Fields. Head right from the leader's room and there are two warps.

Return to the ship and restock as needed. It's time to finally get Rena and Claude. Go to Nusa Beach (Use the shortcut in the Crash Forest or go through Slave Village passage [I also realized the upper left exit of Aqua City is a shortcut, later on... oops]) and get Rena, because you can't get Claude without her. One thing the website guide notes is they are completely optional. There is some text where Claude laments if you fail to recruit them, but since Rena is useful and we want the team reunited... let's go get them and level Rena up!

Nusa Beach Revisisted (Rena) Go to the location shown above (near one of the cities, I think? Before the Sea Cave) and you'll find Rena!

I hope you've been saving Knife weapons... apparently Rena uses them in this one. It feels like a reference to her og PS1 art, where she had a short sword / dagger. She also uses mage armors, so you may need to go purchase some of the better stuff in Knott/Lung. We have to "level" her anyway, so use any spare SP on her and go train somewhere if need be. Go to Lung to upgrade first, then go to Knott since that's our destination. Claude has a disease that a scientist named Rush there can cure.

Also, while you're at Lung, you may want to invest in some Titania Sources and upgrade some things, especially since Rena probably won't have an Isis Tiara, we may want to make her one or something better.

Raising Rena

*Note, she will not learn Gravity Press with this method, BUT Celestial Arrow is better anyway.

Sense - Physical Sensation, Danger Sense, Radio Waves(Transmission)

Battle - Parry, Quigong (I didn't learn these, because I didn't see them come up quickly...)

The above are optional but learn one set before the other.

After learning Sense skills, learn all TECH skills through Lezard Techno.

After learning all the above, raise INT until you get Lost Magic.

I levelled her at the base of the seabed. Use Celine's Thunderbolt to take out the Balloon Fish in a few hits. Enter the cave door and go back out to respawn. He gives 60 SP a go. I just refilled MP with Blackberries until I ran out, rinse/repeat. The cost of the Blackberries can suck, but don't forget that Scout often has them on sale. Also, depending on your playstyle, you may find an easier enemy that gives high SP, just do what works for you. In one "trip" I got Rena to a 67 Skill Level. Everyone else is around 100~ so I figured, close enough. I also raised Taijitsu a little for Celine and Rena so their HP was around 100 each.

Knott Revisisted (Claude) Go to the first door on the left of the science building where all those dungeons were to find Rush. He needs the Minsidia, which we already have. He makes the medicine and so we go to Vanis City.

Vanis City Revisited (Claude) You'll see a big guy right when you teleport there. Talk to him. Claude will be waiting at the ship if you want to use him.

Now we can return to Aqua City. We'll take on Ax first, since it's a bit easier.

Ax - Right

Go the upper left door of the area and climb the shell. You'll face the Lord of the Sea who gives you hints on how to progress. These change each new playthrough, but for my own notes, here's what they were in my playthrough: Go through the door of bubbles. He also gives us something, but I have no clue what it was. (Okay, I'm dumb. Realized this on door 2... grab the item bag that appears behind the guy you fought! There's an item in it.)

Next aim for the door right, right again, and down. There's a door where you repeat steps. There's the King of the Sea who says (in my playthrough) go through the bubble door two times.

Next go up and right through the door and repeat the process a final time. Now is the Master of the Sea. His clue for my playthrough was: You have to go through the doors four times in total.

Lovely. At this point I was running low on blackberries, so I left to restock. I also wanted to see if I could get Rena and spells since we've amassed some SP. To learn Fairy Heal, we need Fairyology. I think because INT is NOT opposite TECH, it's alright to raise and we won't lose points, since we will level it after INT anyway. So I went and spammed Cure Light to learn Fairy Heal. In about 3 fights on the road to Knott, I got Fairy Heal AND Fairy Light in the same battle by spamming Cure Light and using Fairy Heal for the first time... We FINALLY have a full party cure! If we spam Fairy Heal, we have a chance to learn Raise Dead, too...

Item Creation: Jewelry Making

I really kind of want a Fairy Ring for Rena, but I can't get the points higher than 130-150, when I need 200+... I did get an extra Star Necklace (reduces cast time) using 1 of my Rune Metals, though. You'll need to buy the Magical Rasp from Lung and try to make a Circle or Cross shape for the highest points. The highest I got was 180 making circles... :( I think I need the level higher, but it conflicts with Celine's learning path...

I screwed around with Compounding, since Rena had it at level 6 after I trained her up earlier. If you mix Thyme and Rosemary, they make the basic Resurrect item if you score 150ish. Nice to get revives. I know Athelas makes resurrection items and some MP items in SO2, but I don't think they exist here. The best item, the Metox, is obtained through connect battles, so that's out.

Item Creation: Compounding

Thyme and Thyme with a low score can make Mixed or Fruit Syrup (HP/MP small and medium restore) and seem like an easy/good combo to make for the dungeon treks. To get Thyme, you can hunt Hippos in Garp. There's 3 right at the entrance and they go down super fast now that we're so late in the game. Bonus, it can be an easy but grindy way to amass some SP (19 SP each I think), so it's a win-win if you got a TV show to binge and wanna grind a bit. Just remember you can only carry 15 of an item, but doesn't hurt to have a full stack and extra so you don't have to leave dungeons as often. Another alternative is to grab Bowman and go to Scout Village, exit, go left and explore the first two screens for herbs, walk back to the village real quick, and repeat. You should have a plethora of herbs at your disposal after.

Another good herb combo:

Lavendar and Lavendar (Score: Auto / 150+) = Resurrection Mist (Revives one 100% HP.) If you score around 80, you can get a Mixed Syrup, too.

Lavendar and Rosemary (150+) make a Cure Stone.

Lavendar and Thyme (150+) can make Cure Paralysis.

Rosemary and Rosemary (170+) can make a Mental Pot (increases Symbology in fights)

Now, to get back to the game for a bit... I returned to the bottom/center door near the crab because apparently there's one more guy to fight. He is the Demon of the Abyss, just a giant crab. His hint for my file was: There's a tricky room in the center of the tower, you won't be able to leave it just walking normally. After the door of bubbles, you must go through the door of waves.

Once done, go back to the second door we went through (the one that was right, right, down, next to 2 crabs); this will lead to the central tower that just seemed to loop endlessly if you visited before. On either side there are two doors. The left is the wave door and the right is the bubble door. There are two gaps that must be hovered/jumped over. Based on our clues, we need to: Go through the door of bubbles two times. We have to go through the doors four times altogether. After the door of bubbles, we have to go through the door of waves. My first guess wasn't right, so I'm not sure I understand the riddle... You'll know if you failed because you auto-fall into one of the gaps. My solution was: Bubble, Wave, Bubble. I have no idea why. Go up the central tower, Raum, one of the Edifians, is waiting at the top right.

After speaking with Raum, we see a scene of Rival raising the Grand Knott (tower/weapon thing, kinda reminds me of Vane from Lunar). You'll be teleported back to the teleporters, where we can now take on Azul.

If there's any PA's you want to do in Ava City, do them now. I'm not sure if they become unavailible after the events of the second tower / talking to the leader after completing both towers...

Azul - Left Start by heading left and down through a hidden path. Step into the pool/teleporter. Grab the treasure and go up. This is where the official guide said to go first, but we need an orb first to open the door. Go back to the entrance, go down and right, right, down and you'll get a Devil Egg in the treasure box. Go back to the entrance and go all the way left and down to get the Devil Fruit. Go back to the entrance a third time, go right through the pool and up, up, then right. You'll see a hole. Put the Devil Fruit there. Do the same thing in the next room with the Devil Egg, then move the two blocks to the lit up areas in their rooms to unlock a pool teleport back near the red shark.

Love the Tria reference lol These guys were so immersion breaking / over the top I loved it

Go through, grab the Blue Orb, and go back. If you go down, left, up there is another block to move (it doesnt change anything yet). Return to the entrance and go all the way left and get on the teleporter. Defeat the two fish to open the doors. Make your way upward until you see another block to move. This time it changes something. Go down and right through the pool teleporter. Grab the item and go back, go up to another pool teleporter. You can skip the first one, but the second teleporter has a Star Cloak you'll really want for a mage. Go back to where you moved the block on the same floor (left, up) and go left through the hidden passage. Go back to the entrance after grabbing the Green Orb. You may want to leave/restock and come back because the boss is soon. There's one orb left. From the entrance go left, down, through the teleporter, then up through the door we can now open. Toss the cap on one of the mages and get the Red Orb. Now we can open the boss door, so prepare/save and head up to put the orbs into the door with the red hinges (similar to the Green orb door we just busted up). You gotta defeat all the enemies. A few Thunderbolts take out the crab. I just ran from the dragon guys since they waste so much MP. A few Thunderstorms took out the boss really quick!

Yeah, this is a lot like Vane’s destruction but in reverse lol

After you go back to Aqua and watch Rival and Ava City duke it out. We learn Rival powered Grand Knott with the Palantir Stone. The Edifians confirm Ava City is destroyed.

Remember those damn elevator ruins from early game? Yeah... :/ Rival has nestled Grand Knott into it and is waiting for us to stop her. They explain the Leviabor Ruins have powers of the ancient race and it's needed to power Grand Knott, which is docked and free to enter. Except for a barrier, which they can get rid of, so who cares. Anyway, I'd prep by trying to make better weapons, armor, and items. Make food, curatives, ect. Then when you're ready, go to Ava City and the Leviabor Ruins. This isn't the final dungeon, by the way. For some reason the game is gonna continue quite awhile. Luckily there is a final city soon that has a ton of good stuff, so you can probably trudge through the 10 Seals and Leviabor fairly easily. We'll see...

Let’s take a detour with...

Private Action Palooza! (aka A lot of PAs...)

There aren't many PAs in this game, but I wanted to go see any still left. There's a few more late game that get you some ultimate weapons, apparently, so I don't want to miss them and I'll include them in this guide. I'll note if there's any that were missed based on time (since some may have closed after the events at Ax/Azul)

Okay, it’s wierd controlling Claude again... :p

Opera, is this necessary??

Spaceship - Chisato OUT - Speak to Chisato to gain her ultimate weapon, the Mirage. (A SO2 reference maybe?)

Ultimate Weapons

You'll notice they have 0 stats. It's because you need a Blue Sphere (Alchemy) and to take them to the guy in... Knott, I think? I'll have to double check.

Road to Knott (Go to Vanis City south exit, down, right, right, down) - Chisato IN, Dias OUT - DiasxChisato shippers will love this PA--Chisato tells Dias it's dangerous to be out in the wild alone and that first impressons are important. She basically says his aloof and succinct words make it hard for the party to understand where he's coming from and everyone worries.)

Ava City - Opera IN, Celine OUT - After completing Ax/Azul / Before Ava is destroyed / Bowman daughter PA can't have been seen (?) - Obviously I couldn't do this one for multiple reasons...

Slave Village (upper right house) - Opera, Dias IN, Leon, Bowman OUT - Leon and Bowman are playing a card game. Bowman lectures Leon on thinking too much about the game, which is causing Leon's losing streak. Dias lectures them for being nonchalant when the world needs saving, but agrees breaks are good, so Bowman offers to play. Opera taught them the game (from Earth - Hanafuda).

Vanice City (go right twice from entrance) - Bowman IN, Opera, Ernest OUT - Bowman sees Opera buying a ton of alcohol. Opera offers Bowman some (apparently the alcohol is better than Earth) and I agreed to let Bowman live it up. They go back to the inn to drink. Eventually, Bowman passes out and Opera keeps drinking. It wouldn't be Star Ocean without someone getting shitfaced, you know? Opera leaves to buy more when she runs out and Ernest brings Bowman back to the ship, telling him not to attempt to keep up with Opera again... lol

Road to Knott (Exit Knott) - Precis IN, Opera OUT - Opera's gun is veering left, so Opera asks if Precis can fix it. Opera's good with machines, but not computer parts... I agreed for Precis to look at it. Opera declines though, scared Precis will return it over-designed. I asked Opera after the PA, too, and Precis gets all mad because Opera won't let her within 10 feet of the gun in fear Precis will make it into an automaton...

Knott (second floor item shop) - Opera IN, Precis OUT - Precis comments on Knott's dark atmosphere, compared to her school. Opera mentions El was a scholar... I think this is a mistranslation as she probably said "Ern", meaning Ernest.

Spaceship - Ashton OUT - Ashton gives you his ultimate weapon 83 Inn's Claw (ROM) / Gine's Claw (Japanese website translation--I think this might be XINE?! Did XINE hand over a talon?!). Ashton says that Gyoro and Ururun want him to use the weapon, but Ashton says it was a gift from (Rasugas)? Does he mean Lasguss (mountains)? Perhaps from his home town that was scrapped in SO2? He says it has the spirit of a djinn inside. I swear I read in an interview Ashton's hometown had something to do with a djinn...

Note before these two PAs, bring Ashton and Claude with you. Dias should be able to handle any enemies. Do NOT bring Precis or Opera.

Gravis Forest (Summit, where the boss was) - Ashton IN, Precis OUT - Ashton asks Precis if she can repair the ship soon. Precis says that means she'll go back to Earth and Ashton to Expel. Since they're supposed to be canonical in a way, I stated 'We'll be seperated again'. Precis tells Ashton he hasn't changed in two years, because he's sad about being seperated again. Precis says it's a good thing he hasn't changed, giggles, and runs off.

Ah, if I'd known about this... I'd brought Claude, too... If you do take my advice, try going down one screen and returning to see if the PA triggers, otherwise you may have to backtrack like I did. If you're lost, just keep heading up from the Hideout as best you can. It doesn't take too long as the enemies that remain go down really quick.

Gravis Forest (Summit) - Claude IN, Opera OUT - Claude snaps Opera out of reading a book. She's exploring the wreckage of her ship and gathering things she might want to keep. I was curious so I asked 'What were you reading?' The Armoured Death and the Knight of Fire are what Claude notices. He says they're very military, even noting Opera's jacket. However, Opera hates war, she just likes good stories that are fiction and finds her jacket comfortable. When Opera mentions a far off planet, Claude reminds Opera that he's part of the Pangalactic Federation (she forgot!)

Nusa Beach (use the Crash Forest entrance) - Rena IN, Chisato OUT - Chisato is worried about the universe constantly at war, saying the Nedians were a peaceful people. I told her 'There's hope in the future' basically. If you talk to Chisato after, she says because of the events two years ago, she became a Battle Reporter, specifically. :)

Road to Gravis (Had to look up where this was... It's the area with the tower where Maria was, so go to Knott and use the back door where Rival used to hang out. Travel down the ladder, through the little tunnel, and you'll see Celine when you exit.) - Rena IN, Celine OUT - Rena finds Celine looking pale. I said 'I'm more worried'. Celine says a bug fell on her (reminds me of the trope they used in the EX anime) If you talk to Celine after, Rena says bugs don't bother her much.

Scream (2F of Serpent Ruins, teleport to Serpent Ruins, leave, head right, then head for the top right of the dungeon) - Rena IN - Defeat the bird. The lady with the bento will die. Use Rena's Rebirth to revive them. This ability seems to be finicky? I guess use it in front of the "block" of floor where the lady died, and it should revive her. If you go to the back there's now a jam shop. Let me tell you, I was so mad lol I was hoping it would have the Aloe Jam that was so useful in SO2... NONE of the jams restore MP... FML. Buy the Blueberry Jam (20% HP restore) at least for dungeon crawling, otherwise this was pointless for the effort involved...

Lung (item shop) - Requires Bowman's daughter PA to have been done - Celine IN, Bowman OUT - Bowman needs help deciding what to get, a dress for Nineh or a toy for Erys. Yeah, the toy seems the better choice, but it's trash compared to the Marvel Dress you get otherwise. (Marvel from SO1? Interesting lol) Move the Star Cloak to Rena and give Celine the massive boost from the Marvel Cloak.

That's all for now! :o We've only got a few PAs left for later... Where were we? Right, Leviabor Ruins...

Due to issues with Tumblr, please be patient. I’m tired of editing/saving 3x just to make updates to this post. It is very exhausting. Fix your shit Tumblr.

FINAL PART OF GUIDE, CLICK HERE

#star ocean blue sphere #tips and tricks #strategy guide #SOBS #beginner's guide #star ocean series #fan translated #video game review

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