#anyway...i am impressed with his char development

[arsuf]

"You might have made me what I am, but I can be so much more than what you created me to be." 🧛

#bg3edit #astarion #gamingedit #astarion bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #video games #games #this was a pain to color lmao #anyway...i am impressed with his char development

[tanoraqui]

this stunning art says it’s time for my long-awaited (to me) extended headcanon breakdown of the kings of the Noldor

Finwe

Finwë was a good king, he really was. He was responsible, inspiring; he dared to trust and to explore; he was probably even pretty good at administration and politics

He led his people through dark lands to light and they loved him for it

He just could NOT apply these skills to family. Perhaps because he loved them all too dearly to put his foot down properly, perhaps because he kept hoping that in the promised land of bliss it would all somehow work out...but his family WAS politics...

And Feanor kinda WAS the favorite, but also the child most obviously in need of care so he got the attention for that too...

Finwe was a good king but a merely alright father, overall

Though he did try

Fëanor

Fêanor would've been, was, a terrible king and Fingolfin was SO right to say so. Fëanáro 'constantly traveling' Curufinwë. Fëanáro 'okay, buckling d- ooh what’s THAT academic/crafting/parental discipline? I bet I can revolutionize it!' Curufinwë (and then he does, of course). Fëanáro “if I sublimate all grief and guilt into victimized rage, I never even have to think about the process” Curufinwë.

This elf had 20 char, 20 int, and 10 wis at best, and alas the char+int made people THINK he'd be a good king when he insisted loudly and eloquently

But they and he were WRONG! 

Fëanor has only ever read and/or signed paperwork out of spite

Fëanor would do much better as that Miles Vorkosigan kind of character, where he’s close to the throne, loved dearly and trusted utterly, but not given any sort of desk job, and instead just kind of aimed at problems sometimes while everyone else sits back and waits for the inevitable, hopefully beneficial explosions

Fingolfin

Fingolfin was a good king. He had a natural knack for responsibility, practicality, foresight, complex problems and politics, and if he wasn't as naturally charismatic as Fëanor (no one was) he was still damn compelling, and he worked at building alliances

Fingolfin studied debate like a craft. Fëanor's speeches could rile a crown but Fingolfin's rhetoric could make you forget you'd walked into this room with a different position. The only one who could out-argue him was Anairë

(Fingolfin may or may not have developed entire rhetorical strategies, ie, honed the ability to be antagonizingly calm and logical, for the primary purpose of pissing off Fëanor. It worked.)

The Noldor would do entirely well with Fingolfin as king forever. He wants the job and he wants to do it well, with intelligence and care, so he would. Whatever natural talents he lacks, he appends himself to acquiring. He would even check and balance himself so as to not lose control like either his father or his...Fëanor

(the Ice was a very good time for asking oneself things like “why am I doing this” and “what could I have done better”, and he carefully maintained the habit in Beleriand, and afterward)

Fingolfin thinks he has the capacity to be calm about things but actually it’s a lie that he tells so well he convinces even himself, until he does something like completely snap, personally challenge Morgoth to a duel, and permanently injure him with his dying blow.

Finarfin

Left out of this art but i'm including him anyway! Finarfin never wanted this goddamn job. 

Finarfin wanted to live on the beach with his beautiful wife and children, and go home to his family for working holidays (working bc extended birth family). Finarfin is the ONLY child of Finwë born with a natural capacity to be Chill and not need to impress everyone he meets. (Possible other exception: Lalwen.)

Nonetheless, Finarfin rose to the challenge when he needed to, and after centuries of experience he's very good at it. He has a knack for finding the best people to delegate to, which is an UNDERVALUED skill especially in his overachieving family

Finarfin is also the only member of his immediate family who unironically enjoys reading reports and signing paperwork. It’s peaceful. Does nobody else appreciate peaceful things? (They do not.)

Also he's secretly simmering with resentment, rage and vengeance and one day i WILL write about him kicking Morgoth's ass personally, with the help of all his few remaining relatives at the end of the First Age (which wins him a few points with the still-hardline Fëanorians when they get out of Mandos)

(That said, most of Finarfin’s reputation for skilled peace-making in tumultuous early Second Age Valinor was based on him sending his eldest son to talk to the most fiercely squabbling factions, because almost every variation of Elven kindred came out of the First age liking or at least grudgingly respecting Finrod)

skipping the obvious next in line for a moment to talk about Fingon

In an ideal world, Fingon would never have been king

Yes, he was swayed by the idea of exploring new lands and ruling them in his own right - but he was also in his elf!mid-20s and still living with his parents or at least firmly under their dominion, and that of his grandfather and the Valar. Of course so many of these people wanted to get away to somewhere more independent, royalty and not! And it’s inescapably noticeable that when he got to Middle Earth, all his notable acts were as his father’s field general, not as Lord of Dor-lomin - a fief later given to Men anyway - and the great alliance formed during his brief tenure as High King was the Union of Maedhros…

Fingon could be a decent king, if he had to be, but only in the unexplored post-story way that often happens to protagonists after they save the kingdom and get the girl, where in your practical heart you know that they wouldn’t really be able to enact all the reforms one might dream of...

Because Fingon’s proper role in a story isn’t kingship - it’s to be a Hero. He climbs the dark mountain and rescues the missing prince, with a song, a knife and a prayer. He leads the defeat of the orc army and he figures out how to fend off the dragon. He is valiant and a loyal friend; all who meet him know it immediately and cannot help but love him for it.

And for both of these features he challenges the Enemy at his door and so dies, and the High Kingship of the Noldor in Beleriand dies with him

Turgon

...because I love Turgon, I do. Turgon’s natural state is to be an upper-middle-class dad, mayor of a medium-sized town whose re-election is never challenged, who often takes afternoons off to take his daughter to doctor appointments or soccer games. Turgon should get to wear the most expensive jackets in the Land’s End catalogue. Turgon, I think, was a much happier, open person before Elenwë died on the Ice, and he never forgave the Fëanorians for her death, not unto the end of Arda itself. Turgon is a cat person but he’s best friends with a dog person (despite...hiccups) (to Finrod being a dog person; not to their best-friendship)

And Turgon was a great ruler of Gondolin! 

But the only reason the Quenta Silmarillion acknowledges him as a High King is that the Quenta Silmarillion was told mostly by a Gondolindrim

Gil-galad

Like Finarfin, Gil-galad spent much of the Second Age trying to pull endlessly fractal factions of elves into a coherently, or at least non-violently, co-habitating community. Finarfin, however, gets to deal with this mostly in continuous drips and drabbles as people re-embody; Gil-galad had this problem ALL AT ONCE from Day One. One day when Gil-galad re-embodies, they’ll amicably debate who had it rougher

Gil-galad also, like Finarfin with Finrod, 100% cheated by sending Elrond to deal with the most fractious factions, because almost every elf left in Middle Earth at the start of the Second Age was vulnerable to Elrond looking authoritatively Disappointed in them. (Gil-galad was vulnerable to Elrond looking Disappointed in him, albeit not so much the ‘authoritative part. Disappointing Elrond was emotionally tantamount to a capital crime.)

Gil-galad was also very good at managing this chaos in his own right, without alienating anyone and even with generally endearing himself to everyone

Despite [checks wordcount] 21k and counting of AU to the contrary, my preferred Gil-galad headcanon is that he was Just Some Guy from Nargothrond who stepped the fuck up after the city fell. He unofficially led and represented the Noldor in Balar and then more officially during the War of Wrath, possibly while deliberately misleading a wide variety of people with a wide variety of implications about his parentage...and afterwards there was a whole public ceremony where Celebrimbor, Elrond, and Galadriel all declared him “king” and “cousin” and the question never really arose again during his reign.

HOWEVER my TRUE Gil-galad belief is expressed in @herenortherenearnorfar’s excellent fic “Five Gil-Galads Walk Into A Bar”, which proposes that no matter what his parentage, Gil-galad would always turn out roughly the same, because the Noldor (and etc. Second Age elves) needed a king and so he became one.

And he was good at it

But when he re-embodies, he content to leave the High Kinging to someone else, and simply take over managing the sub-kingdom of Tol Eressëa (where they welcome him gladly)

(Potential honorable mention: Lalwen

Lalwen, whose characterization is of course based entirely on headcanon, might be Queen of Tol Eressëa for a few thousand years, unless Finrod gets stuck with the job - but I think he more likely centers his life around Tirion, while ofc traveling a great deal? 

Lalwen doesn’t want to be queen of anything, but she’s the only member of the House of Finwë who survived Beleriand while remaining in good standing with the Valar—good enough to come home, at least. She can do admin, or at least, she can competently delegate admin. She can do politics, second only to Fingolfin in the family for it - she’s no rhetorician nor speechifier, but she has very good people skills. She wants to help make her people’s, all people’s, lives better wherever she can, and she gets along alright with most varieties of Beleriand veterans, and she’ll do her duty if her little brother asks it... But she just does not want to be the one In Charge. She’s so happy when Gil-galas re-embodies.)

And at last, the poor little orange meow-meow of the First Age…Maedhros

Maedhros is ideal High King of the Noldor, or at least, he would’ve been. First let me tropily ramble a bit:

Just as Fingon should never have been King, Maedhros should never have been forced into such a protagonist-y role. It broke them both. In a story that wasn’t a tragedy, Maedhros would’ve been the tier-1 supporting character whom the hero rescues in Act 1 and who then has a compelling but not central character arc, and at the end we know we’ve won because we’ve put him on the throne while the hero retires to the country and/or runs off to have more lighthearted adventures with their new spouse (and/or stays and marries him, @Fingon if you must.) He’s the Jonathan of Conte. The Roy Mustang. The Rhy Maresh (Shades of Magic trilogy, V.E. Schwab, strong rec.) And then in the next-generation series, he’s a Reasonable Authority Figure who’s secretly badass.

Unfortunately, of course, The Silmarillion is not that story.

But there is, I swear, a Better Timeline out there somewhere wherein they just had more time before Morgoth Ungoliant struck. A timeline where Fëanor and Fingolfin had the opportunity to test a tentative truce without the worst circumstances in the world forcing it into overdrive and then breaking. A timeline where that went about as well as expected (ie, poorly), and Finwë soon put up his hands and said, “Alright, you know what, oh my beloved sons you are both demoted; I’m going on extended vacation and Maitimo is ruling Tirion in my absence” - and it would’ve worked because Fëanor would’ve been pleased that it was at least his son (Nelyafinwë indeed, ha!) and Fingolfin would’ve been satisfied that a) it wasn’t Fëanor, who is infuriating AND objectively bad at the job, and b) at least Finwë was treating them equaly for once

And moreover it would’ve worked because canonically Maedhros is the chief inheritor of Fëanor’s crowd-rousing fire, and he also shows Fingolfin’s practicality and responsibility (and tendency to suicide in extremis), and Finarfin’s ability to humble himself in the name of peace for his collective people...an ability to build eclectic but solid alliances best otherwise demonstrated by Finrod and maybe Finwë himself...let’s mine the raw headcanon and say Lalwen’s stubborn loyalty and determination to make everyone get along, and Findis’s possession of a firm moral compass...

It’s just that, of course, the loyalty and responsibility got twisted somewhere along the way, until the moral compass was first shoved to the bottom of a bag and then tossed out entirely, while his blazing spirit carried others along with him, and the losses from that meant that when push really came to shove on humbling himself for a greater cause, he couldn’t see a glimmer of hope that it would work, and...

Maedhros vibe as a king IS “beloved, must-respected, distinctly older brother who won’t start fights but will end them”

The difference between Maedhros as king and Fingolfin as king is mostly that Maedhros has a slightly greater natural affinity for it, especially the crowd-rousing - he’s got that Fëanorian 20 Charisma while Fingolfin is rocking a mere 19. Practically, there’s very little difference - way less difference than, say, Fëanor is happy with, in terms of how his eldest son and eldest half-brother do politics and project management. But Fingolfin is just slightly more studied at it; Maedhros has had to practice, of course, but he more does (older brothery) kingly things as an unthinking default

As mentioned in another post, I like to think that being a naturally skilled healer has always gone hand in hand with leadership in Arda, and Maitimo was no exception, but Angband and Thangodrim just Broke something in him and he never used Song nor any particular craft to heal anyone ever again...until, perhaps, after much healing in Mandos.

I think Maedhros’s surrender of the crown was clever politics, but also pure practicality in that he was well enough to snark about Thingol, practice clever politics, etc, but he wasn’t well enough yet in body or spirit to handle the job of High King of the Noldor as all their fractious fractions settled into a new life of siege warfare in a strange land. But he got better, and in the wake of Dagor Agraleb, there was a conversation like,  Fingolfin: You seem very well again, nephew. Maedhros: I am, thank you for noticing, Uncle. Fingolfin: Are we going to have a problem about that? Maedhros:  Fingolfin:  Maedhros:  Maedhros: No.  Maedhros: But, weirdly thank you for asking.

...But if everyone gets re-embodied eventually, changed forever but newly healthy in it, and has until the end of Arda to gravitate toward the personal ideal forms of their lives...well, for entertainment’s sake, I like to think that Maedhros come out of Mandos very determined to be nothing but a responsible older brother, publicly deferential vassal, and world’s best one-handed house-husband...but these people over here could also use some Responsible Older Brothering...and these people over here...and Fingon doesn’t want to sit in this committee but someone sensible ought to...if no one steps up and manages this new bridge project, it’s never going to get done...Uncle, have you tried this to make the bronzesmiths and the pewtersmiths stop fighting...

One day late(?) Fourth Age, Maedhros is trying to pick the perfect jewelry to match today’s court outfit and Arafinwë pokes his head in to be like, “here, try this” and hands him the High King crown. Maedhros says, “Oh, perfect– wait–” Arafinwë is already sprinting away shouting, “No takebacks! Eärwen and I will be on the beach!”

BUT I also think that sometime in the late Second Age, the semi-meritocratic, ever-insquabbling (like infighting but pettier) artisan guilds of the Noldor, + some political philosophers, give rise to the idea of general democratic elections for high office. So it’s probably a little more complicated than that.

#the silmarillion #finwe #feanor #fingolfin #finarfin #fingon #turgon #gil-galad #maedhros #lalwen #feanor and feanor's kin #eldar #headcanon accepted #ficlet #i DID start bullet-pointing more info about noldorin election politics but i think that'll be separate

[arminsumi]

No i feel you😭😭

Gege can literally suck my left nut cause that is so foul of them to do😭😭

noo b/c ik its to move the story forward and whatnot but i can’t believe that actually happened!!! But ig it’ll make for character development or wtv but they can do that with him

Hope we can get past this🤟🏽😔

i get it, i get it!! 🥹👍 but gosh i'm still so upset over it. it's beena while since a fav char of mine was subject to an awful fate.

the last time i felt this heartbroken was over aot season 3, if u know u know (flaming hot bbq lol)

tbh i have nooo idea what's happening in the story because i am not up to date with the manga at all, i've just seen so many spoilers because of tumblr. so i know major events but not finer details like who else is fighting or what's being said.

ok very spoilerz down here beware!!

tbh if anything is gonna give character development, it's gojo's death. i know if i would be in that world and he died, yo i'd go feral (and die stupidly 👍 let's be real i'd be the background char)

i tell u when i woke up this morning to that panel!! like what the fuck my daddy got halved damn!!

my heart felt some kinda way, literally pain spread through my chest like i got bad news irl 😭

it made me spark a debate with my mom about "why are we able to attach to fictional characters" and she even talked to my grandmother about it lol. idk i think they came to the conclusion that it's because reality is an illusion or something lol but anyways

i think about that often though. it's very fascinating that we can feel so deeply about stories and i'm impressed by authors like gege who can induce such deep emotion in us.

it's rlly nice i've seen snips of his convo with geto and that (fucking destroyed me) that was a very beautiful touch. i think gojo's end is probs final, considering the fact we have this kinda afterlife scene or smth (again idek i just be here gettin spoiled and that's how i know anything)

ok seriousness aside GEGE THIS IS THE WRONG TYPE OF TOPLESS, PUT MY DADDY HALVES BACK TOGETHER !!

#im jk #why did this turn into such a lengthy ramble sorry lol #thank u for saying hi tho !! 💗💗💗💗🫂 hope we get thru this #jjk spoilers

[pricechecktranslations]

Well, I’m sorry if this may upset you (and possibly other fans), but I wish Riliane’s char dev could have been more perfect. Don’t get me wrong, I think her dev is, for the most part, really great. She becomes from a tyrannic princess to a kind-hearted lady, and most importantly, she deeply regrets her crimes. But, in Heavenly novel, though it’s true that she acts more mature than she did in the past, some of her behaviors quite...childish sometimes. I know it’s a part of her personality, but those quite contradicts to how mature she’s described in Blink and RFTS somehow, not to mention how many years and lives she’s lived.

This is just my personal thoughts though. I still like her, and I still greatly enjoy EC. I’m probably too harsh (idk whether I use the right word or not, sorry) about this, but she and Allen brought me to EC, so I really care about them although they’re not my most favorite chars in the series. I’m content about Allen’s dev, but as for Riliane’s, I’m a little bit disappointed.

I mean, people merely expressing opinions doesn't upset me, you're welcome to do that. And Riliane isn't exactly my favorite character, so I'm not all that invested in other people's opinions of her.

I am, however, a debate-minded personality, so I will still make a small rebuttal anyway.

We know pretty much nothing about how Riliane actually was in Blink and RFTS. Like, these aren't written scenes with dialogue, these are songs. They're meant to give you a vague impression of a character, not a full picture. Allen, for example, is far more arrogant and sarcastic in the novels than he comes across in his song. So to say that Riliane is inconsistent with her presentation there--yes, she is, but that doesn't mean her character development got reversed or invalidated. We don't really know what kind of person she was at that time in her life, if she had outbursts or immature moments. Not to mention, while she did lead two other lives, neither of them reached the level of maturity that Riliane did, with Rin dying as a teen and Lilith becoming Waiter. I think from a casual reading perspective, it might have been jarring to have Riliane as a character show up and have her suddenly be an older, mature, level-headed nun when that character development was largely offscreen or only briefly referenced, which may have been why mothy kept her as princess classic.

There's nothing wrong with being dissatisfied with it, not everyone's going to come away with the same thing. I was okay with the character development focusing on her becoming more take-charge, but I might not see her the same as someone else.

[ampleappleamble]

—

It was a day's hike to the cliffs, and a day's hike back. Pallegina went anyway, of course.

It was a good opportunity to assess the members of this ragtag band she was joining up with, as combatants and as people. Overall, she was fairly impressed with their martial skills– their tactics and group cohesion were sound, but she was sure to make note of their evident lack of formal training and quality equipment. She'd found herself pleasantly surprised at their generosity and inclusiveness, sharing food and drink and smoke and stories as freely with their feathered newcomer as they did with one another. No one had even brought up her "divine heritage" until they'd been sitting around the campfire that first night, and the aumaua who'd broached the subject had actually managed to look appropriately bashful as he'd done so. Although in retrospect, an Avian Godlike woman in a brotherhood of paladins probably wasn't too outlandish a concept for these kith, considering that their squad leader was apparently an Awakened Watcher.

Pallegina had been fielding annoying, invasive questions posed by strangers about her body and her soul for her entire life, but Axa was a newly-minted freak, it seemed, and so was not quite sick of talking about it just yet. And her friends weren't either: with minimal prompting, Aloth had recounted her nightmares and her past life memories, Edér had remembered her staring at the tree in Gilded Vale for nearly half an hour, Kana had practically rhapsodized about her conversations with ghosts in caves and in dungeons. And the next morning, as the group stood on the bluff overlooking the sea, Sagani had handed Axa a misshapen little lump of adra, and Pallegina had watched as the orlan peered through it and into the In-Between.

She'd been told the woman was a Watcher, and she'd more or less accepted it as truth, but the paladin hadn't exactly been expecting a demonstration just yet. After a few minutes of watching the little woman sway to and fro in the wind, apparently mesmerized by the adra carving the dwarf had given her, concern for her wellbeing had compelled Pallegina to approach and take her by the shoulders, attempting to shake her out of it before she wobbled her way over the cliff's edge.

"Everything... all right in there?" she'd muttered, lightly slapping the little woman's cheek.

"Adra arch," Axa had rasped in reply, violet eyes wild and unfixed. Sagani had gently pried the carving from her fuzzy hands then, smiled compassionately at the other two women before asking Edér where in the Dyrwood an adra arch might stand.

That was... very strange. But stranger things have happened, Pallegina had reminded herself. She'd kept reminding herself of that as they'd made their way back to the city, as she listened to the others' stories of reincarnated souls and mysterious cults, dead brothers and ancient tablets and a haunted castle this eccentric little woman called home.

Ambassador Agosti had been less than pleased to receive his agent nearly three days after Verzano had been cut loose, and accompanied by a pack of disheveled strangers no less. But Axa was nothing if not a fierce defender of her troops, it seemed, and although she'd made a valiant effort to keep her comments civil, eventually Agosti had frayed the little woman's last nerve with his dismissive arrogance and insinuated threats, finally ending up on the receiving end of a tongue-lashing himself for once. Pallegina had known then that she'd chosen her new companions wisely, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning at Agosti as he stammered and sweated under the orlan's indignant outburst.

Her amusement at Axa's antics had been soundly quashed, however, by the new assignment laid upon her shoulders, one that she had dreaded might be in the works but had hoped would never actually be implemented– the negotiation of a new trade agreement between the Vailian Republics and Eir Glanfath, one that took blatant, vicious advantage of the Dyrwood's badly weakened state due to the Hollowborn crisis. It made sense in the short term, financially and practically, for the merchants of the Republics to step in and take the reins where the Dyrwoodans would not. But what gave Pallegina pause were the long term political implications of essentially kicking the Dyrwood while it was down, especially now at such a crucial juncture in the deciding of the country's legislation regarding animancy. If the Ducs Bels willfully chose to make an enemy of the Dyrwood now, it could have long-reaching consequences that could do untold damage to the Republics in the years to come, particularly for the animancy community. Animancers were already under attack in this country, superstitious types blaming them for causing this soul plague by somehow invoking the wrath of the gods, as well as for their ill-fated attempts at curing the nation's blighted children. Would the people of the Dyrwood, fiery and reactionist as they were, still tolerate animancy at all should the Republics, animancy's shining champion, stab them in the back while they were at their weakest and least reasonable? What would become of Vailian animancy without competition to keep them sharp, or collaborative efforts to keep them abreast of the latest developments? Even if animancy was permitted to continue in the Dyrwood, its practitioners would be loathe to share their discoveries with their Vailian counterparts, leading to an inevitable stagnation in the soul sciences– or even worse, the Republics could potentially fall behind the Dyrwood, languishing in the past while the Dyrwood moved ahead, forging the future without them...

No. This was not permissible, not after all the Republics and its animancers had done for her. But still, she had her orders. Now all she had to do was carry them out, one way or another.

"Twin Elms is a good long way from here," Sagani reassured her afterwards at their table at the Charred Barrel, swirling her ale around in her tankard and feeding her fox under her chair. "And Axa'll find more than enough distractions along the way, I'm sure. Plenty of time to come up with some sort of... creative interpretation of your orders."

Pallegina tried to smile, but only produced a weak grimace. "Then I hope our Watcher friend is more 'creative' than I am. I have many strengths, but subterfuge has never been one of them. And one can only openly defy the powers that be so many times before their patience runs out." She stared pensively into her wine as she spoke, couldn't help but think of Verzano's fate, Agosti's warnings.

"I'll drink to that," Edér mumbled around his mouthful of roast pork and potato, raising his cup in a commiserative gesture before knocking it back. "Axa ain't much for bullshittin' folks– not as far as I've seen, anyway– but she's got a knack for solvin' problems, and for pushin' her luck 'n' gettin' away with it. If anyone can finagle some kinda deal that'll keep your ducs happy without totally screwin' over the Dyrwood, I'd wager it'd be her."

"Elegantly stated, Edér," Aloth deadpanned, rolling his eyes and pushing his food around on his plate. "Speaking of Axa, she's been away from the table for quite a while now..." The elf lifted his head, anxiously scanning the throng of diners, drunks, and debutantes. "If I recall, she only said she wanted to catch up with Ingroed and Nonton, but I don't see her at the bar anymore."

"Ingroed and Nonton?" Pallegina glanced around idly and spotted the little woman almost immediately– that bold red hair was unmistakable, even when mostly obscured behind the fat asses and round bellies of the taller kith surrounding her. "More friends, I assume?"

"Couple of folks from my hometown, Gilded Vale. She helped 'em outta a rough spot." The blond man glanced over at the bar, smiling at his former neighbors.

Kana looked up from his dinner, face flushed with drink. "Ah! Are those the ones who set a trap for the dead man in the bear's den?" He beamed at Pallegina, practically glowing with enthusiasm. "You must have her tell you the tale, my lady. A truly inspiring account of our Watcher's unique insight at work. She learned of their betrayal from the spirit of the victim, you see! But there's a tragic twist–"

"Hey, now, don't spoil the ending, big fella, you wasn't even there. Let her tell it." Edér had caught sight of Axa too, just as she'd turned away from the well-dressed elf she'd been speaking with, and he beckoned the redhead back to their table with a wave of his hand. The stranger watched her go, nervously fiddling with his ostentatious jewelry as she sauntered back to her friends, while Pallegina tried to remember where she'd seen him before, his eyes widening in alarm as he caught her staring at him.

"Talking about me behind my back again?" Axa sighed, grinning and shaking her head as she clambered back into her seat. "Gods, I can't leave you scoundrels alone for a second. They didn't tell you a bunch of ghost stories, did they?" She winked at Pallegina, and the paladin noticed just how tired the orlan looked.

"Only the true ones!" Kana laughed a bit too loudly– not atypical of him, but the alcohol certainly amplified his natural exuberance. Aloth delicately scooted his chair away from the overly jolly giant, vexation plain on his face.

If Axa noticed anything unusual, she didn't mention it, only chuckled and took a long drag from her pipe. "Found out where your adra arch might be, Sagani. Turns out it's somewhere over by Twin Elms, believe it or not." She glanced up at Pallegina, a cautious little smile on her tawny face. "Unfortunately, I've also heard tell that the road leading there is badly flooded right now due to inclement weather. So it looks like we'll have some time to kill before we can head over that way."

"Belfetto," Pallegina sighed. She appreciated the attempt to cheer her up, letting her know she had time to decide how to handle the Ducs' request, but she had a feeling that the longer she dwelled on her predicament, the more it would weigh on her mind.

Aloth leaned close to the little woman. "I take it this means we're to head for the catacombs on the morrow, then?" He looked simultaneously anxious and eager, as though preparing to take on a task he knew to be important but especially onerous. A familiar burden, Pallegina mused.

"Ah... perhaps," Axa replied, looking away quickly. "There are a few other things I'd like to tend to first, though, if you're all amenable. I was just talking to that elf over there, the one in the fancy robes with all the gaudy jewelry, and he's asked me to do him a favor. See, he has this friend who's a courtesan at the, uh, at the Salty Mast..."

She winced as everyone at the table put down their forks and goblets and gave her their undivided attention.

Pallegina downed the rest of her wine.

—

#pillars of eternity #fic wip #poe anthem infinitum #writing pallegina really takes it outta me #so serious and dutiful #gotta get back to my strengths: dick and fart jokes #and making everyone else react to axa's wacky antics

[chcrlcttes]

☆ . · . halsey, twenty-five, she/her . · . ☆ ( charlotte lipscomb ) lives in that huge mansion over there! no, not that one. look for ( marbled exterior ) and that’ll be it. the ( singer ) has offered occasional glimpses of ( white ) walls and an impressive collection of ( hand painted leather jackets ) in the background of social media posts, but all of that is nothing compared to seeing the opulence in person. they’ve remained ( pragmatic ) as ever since moving to tercet court ( two years ) ago, but it seems like they might’ve gotten a little more ( cynical ) too. maybe that’s why they’re rumored to have such a/n ( genuine ) relationship with everyone else who lives on this street. ☆ . · . ooc info: kayla, she/her, 23, cdt . · . ☆

hi everyone! i’m kayla, im 23, and i live in the central us timezone. it’s been a whole ass minute since ive been in a rp so pls dont judge me if i am behind on the trends, i am just an old woman pls be gentle

anyway enuff about me, on to charlotte. she’s a semi new muse who im hoping to really develop here so pls bare with me and my bullet points which will likely be messy lmao

☆  aesthetic  ☆

hand painted leather jackets. chain belts. glossy red lips. color-stained fingernails. a switchblade tucked into the waistband of a pleather skirt.

https://www.pinterest.com/kaylaofrp/charlotte-ft-musings/

https://www.pinterest.com/kaylaofrp/charlotte-ft-wardrobe/

- her name is charlotte, but nicknames include char, charlie, and cherry. - she’s from tallahassee, FL. lived there until her band was signed to a record label, then she moved to la. obvs she hasnt been living in a big ass mansion her whole career, especially since for the first part of it she was a minor lol but she has been living in la since about age 15. i havent figured out how she was living out her tho, or who she was lviing with, i do know that the family didnt move as a unit, and they still live in florida. - speaking of the band, she’s the lead singer of a rock band with the discography of paramore. she has released solo projects/collaborations (think hayley williams on b.o.b’s airplanes or stay the night and her new album) but fronting the band and writing songs are where her heart is at. - deadass she kinda looks like an e-girl but she will be mad if u say she’s an e-girl because she’s been alt her whole life, before e-girls and e-boys were a thing. very Mad Millennial when it comes to gen-z and what they consider alt/emo lmao. - she’s a very grounded person, or tries to keep herself that way. y’all remember that video of taylor momsen parkouring away from paparazzi a few years ago?? that’s something char would do tbh. that, or flip them off. - art and expression are very important to her, she likes to paint outside of making music. she’ll paint on different clothing items more than she does on canvas or paper. 

thats kind of all i have at the moment lol, but as for plotting, i’m down for anything. i love pain, so hit me with your best worst ideas. you can reach me through either tumblr IM or on discord.

#linksintro #☆ ━ out of character.

[drbtinglecannon]

Ok so @bad-luck-qrow made this post about an exchange they had with their cousin, who Galaxy brained suggested a far better solution than what v7e12 did. I really wanted to expand and ramble off on it and all the ways this rewrite idea was better than what canon did, but I didn’t want to bog down their original post so here’s a new one!

Their cousin had suggested that instead of Clover dying in ep12, that Qrow was the one who Tyrian stabbed, but he survived. It would’ve avoided any character death and given Clover the chance to reconcile with the fact his partner almost died because he refused to disobey Ironwood’s orders for even a moment.

I love that! Avoids BYG, allows more development for Clover, avoids unnecessary character death angst, and frankly CRWBY wouldn’t have gotten nearly the amount of backlash it did over that ep. The only addition I’d make to this rewrite idea is that Qrow purposely threw himself in the way to save Clover, and the reasons for that is because it would have…

Followed Qrow’s canon tendency for self-sacrifice, and allowed this unhealthy habit to be later addressed and worked on like his alcoholism currently is. Frankly I’m surprised it hasn’t been mentioned at all thus far in canon (that I can think of anyway), because it’s come up in a few fights I can think of off the top of my head where it incapacitated him at least briefly when he did this, the most notable one being in his first fight with Tyrian. So addresses a bad habit and comes full circle.

Shown Qrow AND Clover both following the theme song’s message of ‘trusting love’. The theme songs are supposed to be super relevant to the volume right, but I can’t think of a single case of someone trusting love over duty or orders or what have you in the volume ending, except Penny who was like…already mostly on their team anyway? Winter went against her own sister, the Ace Ops fought the kids, Ironwood turned against Oz and almost killed Oscar to do so, and Clover decided orders to arrest Qrow were more important than dealing with the serial killer who works for Salem (Which were already orders he was following. Why do new ones cancel out the old one?). If the fight ended with this rewrite idea it would’ve followed that theme, but especially it would’ve portrayed Qrow and Clover following that theme, two chars who arguably should do so the most. Qrow with his history of being betrayed and fear of getting close and self-hatred from his semblance, and Clover the professional military man who keeps everyone including his own team at arms length and expressed (in a throwaway line) that he trusted James with his life. The growing relationship between these two despite the long laundry list of reasons they could’ve hated each other was a reoccurring subplot in this volume, and it should’ve had some kind of fucking pay out. Imagine if Clover saying “I wanted to trust you too” was the last verbal exchange they had before Qrow threw himself in the way of the attack? That despite their disagreement and the bs of that situation Qrow trusted in love, and then with Clover having to rush to get him help and reevaluate that if he just listened to his heart Qrow wouldn’t have gotten hurt in the first place.

Been adequate angst without BYG! Imagine! Getting angst without a graphic death of a queercoded char!

Been far more interesting than killing Clover ever was. People are more attached to Qrow, unlike Clover he’s been around for a while, has been given the chance to grow, and is directly related to the protags. He has a lot more involvement and at stake with the plot so people would’ve been more invested in him getting better than with Clover doing so. We just met Clover, give us more time to get to know him and fall in love; what better way than to have him save a char everyone already loves!

Allowed some great symbolism with their semblances (that somehow ended up being a completely wasted opportunity the entire volume). The unlucky one survived again, the lucky one survived only because of the unlucky one’s involvement and not by his own luck, Clover cursing his luck he let Qrow get hurt, etc. It’d also maybe get some more use of Clover’s pin (that got its own focus in the opening) and how Clover can more or less control good fortune whereas Qrow can’t control misfortune, like idk he flicks it calling for help even though they’re out of range but help answers and shows up soon enough it can save Qrow.

Allowed Clover more character development!!! What’s the point of introducing new chars and killing them before we can really get attached? Drama? Get out of here. Personally, watching an already beaten down broken man that was trying to recover and finally made a friend scream out in agony against the bi flag sunrise was not at all enjoyable!! However, watching the Mr. Perfect new guy panic while his meticulously crafted military persona crumbles as he does everything he can to save his new friend (lover) and ignore orders he knew were bad all the while? That I’d be interested in, provided it had the payout of everyone living which in this scenario it does. It’d expand so much more on the many hints that Clover was more than a blindly loyal bootlicker too. Plus from a writing standpoint, watching someone panic as they go against all odds to save their loved ones and the visceral relief when they succeed will always be infinitely more interesting and worthwhile to watch than violently killing chars off for the dramatics imo. (BYG trope or not it’s just not good writing!)

Caused the tension between Qrow and Tyrian to reach new heights in a satisfying way. (@theonceoverthinker wrote a post on this that I was specifically thinking of writing this bullet point.) Like, from Tyrian’s POV in this rewrite he tried to get revenge and STILL failed, this bitch survived a stab from him twice! TWICE! For a serial killer with a personal beef with this guy that’s gotta drive him insane! There’d be great potential for an all-hell-breaks-loose fight now. Instead the way Tyrian said his final words before running off in ep12, it gave the impression he knew Qrow was just gonna rot away in guilt and anguish, that he won, he got his revenge and that’s the end of that conflict, that the combined efforts of 3 seasoned Huntsmen/Huntresses was wasted. I know it probably won’t go that way and Tyrian will probably die by Qrow or Ruby’s hand, but watching that scene it felt like both Tyrian and Qrow accepted that Tyrian won and it was over. Idk maybe that’s just me.

Would’ve expanded upon Qrow and Clover’s relationship, which was am important subplot this volume, in a way that’s like, feasible to fix. I love the Staff of Creation theory, but honestly the trauma and broken trust those two are gonna have to work through feels overwhelming as hell, and that’s ignoring how long the feelings of guilt and bitterness are gonna be festering before Clover gets res’d (if it even happens). Instead, if Clover saved Qrow after Qrow saved him, yeah there would still be that conflict to work through (and Qrow’s self-sacrificing I mentioned earlier), but neither one died, they both immediately showed great care for the other by their actions in that situation, and would’ve been able to apologize and start mending their relationship pretty much instantly from there. Plus, it’d be so easy to finally drive home their dynamic was in fact romantic in this situation, something a lot of fans (homophobes) kept arguing against despite all the flirting, and winking, and call back to canon het flirting volumes ago, and complimenting semblances/colors, and parallels to bumbleby and a few to nuts and dolts too. Think of the romantic tropes this could’ve done, the tenderness the dialogue the reunion scene!! Wasted!!

Ok I think I’m done and y'all get the point. I’m not gonna say OP’s cousin was the first to suggest this rewrite idea, but when I read it I started frantically thinking of all the ways it would’ve easily fixed the shitstorm that ep12 ended up being.

#fair game #clover deserved better #qrow deserved better #rwde kind of #discourse kind of #long post #meta #i think ill write a fic on this. in the original post someone commented that there's a fic following this rewrite and i wanna read it #but like im just gonna beat to death clover panicking and losing composure and being so in love with this self-sacrificing goth bird uncle #also im sorry this is so disorganized. i typed it all up and Tumblr deleted it and im hungry and tired and queer so i cant be expected to b #super articulate rn. or even really ever lmao

[comicteaparty]

March 9th-March 15th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from March 9th, 2020 to March 15th, 2020.  The chat focused on HoverGirls by Geneva Bowers.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on HoverGirls by Geneva Bowers~! (https://hovergirls.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until March 15th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

It's so eye catching!

The bold color scheme immediately creates a strong identity for the comic

The contrast between the two MCs is

I'll comment more when I've read past literally just the first page lol

eli [a winged tale]

Wow I love the art! Very beautiful palette and interesting characters right off the bat (pun intended!). Great dynamics between our two mains and love the magic so far!

mcapriglione (Falconhyrste)

yall I heard you were talking about hover girls and I came running

I just caught up like yesterday because I'm sick so I've spent the whole day reading comics, also I picked up a physical copy from geneva at c2e2 and that's what got me started on the series!

What stands out to me so much is the characters, jalissa and kim are total opposites, and it's really interesting to see them interact with each other. also the little things in the background that tell more about the characters, like jalissa's love for soap operas and kim's references ahaha

RebelVampire

So time for me to jump into the chat. What I like about the beginning is that it starts you off with this sort of beautiful artwork and magical feel, only to drop the mundane on you with the coffee shop and the obsession with ranking on social media. Something about how this starts really gives me this sort of more modern day magical girl feel that usually isn't quite there. Like it's a bit gritty feeling cause life is gritty, and I like that. As for favorite moment in the comic so far, I'm partial to when the girls discovered their powers. I like how it just sort of happened, and the different reactions they had to it. It was both magical and funny. Also for the reasons below. My favorite character is Jalissa, no content. Jalissa is basically my spirit animal. Doesn't want fame, just wants to catch up on the soaps, but somehow winds up with more energetic people. All of Jalissa's reactions to everything are great and I love it. For characters interacting, really it has to go to Jalissa and Kim. They're such polar opposites I think you'd have to try to NOT enjoy it. But either way, that opposites thing really just makes their interactions endearing and interesting since going in you know they'll disagree and yet somehow wind up doing the same thing together anyway. So I really enjoy that about their relationship.

As for the art, I really just love the color design combined with the style. It has a very whimsical feel that works for the abundant blue schemes and I really just adore every bit of the atmosphere it creates. For themes, I like that the comic explores ego. Like that moment where Kim asked if she was getting too full of herself really hit home. And I like that the comic kind of explores that even if you know that you might get egotistical and all high and mighty, its not the easiest thing in the world to stop either. For the story's overall content, I'm just gonna point to what I liked about the beginning. I like that its a bit more mature, modernized magical girl story where the magical girls are adults. That's probably just bias in that I'm an adult so I relate more to adults.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. What do you think Jalissa’s backstory and relationship with her family is? How do you think Jalissa will continue to change as the story progresses, and what will Kim’s role be in it? Further, how will Kim change?

10. Why do you think Kim was suddenly possessed, and how dangerous are they? Can Kim be saved from it? Additionally, why was the person who possessed Kim surprised Jalissa also had powers?

11. Do you think Jalissa and Kim will succeed as magical girls and become popular? Why or why not? Additionally, how might this change the future plans each has decided upon for their career?

12. What do you think this comic teaches us about pursuing our dreams and responsibility? What has been your favorite moment in the comic so far that deals with these themes? Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

gee

Hello CTP! This is the creator of HoverGirls c: I want to thank you all for taking the time to read and discuss this comic! I bet you're all pros at what makes a good story, so it's really humbling to know that it's liked so far. I'll be happy to answer any q's about story, chars, etc. And it was super nice to finally meet you @mcapriglione (Falconhyrste) and hope you feel better!

mcapriglione (Falconhyrste)

Aaaaa hey welcome to the chat @gee !

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Ok I just finished reading the entire comic start to finish. I have to say I'm not only impressed by the wonderful art and refreshing color scheme that makes me think of wild summer, but amazed that I find myself invested in this story! Usually it's not my cup of tea at all, but Hover Girls are going to clearly be the exception. I'm adding this to my comic bookmarks The first thing I have to give my kudos for is the sheer character design and characterization. I had sincere, and in Kim's case, almost visceral reactions to both girls, and the Korean guy (his name sounds Korean). While Jalissa intrigued me from the start, Kim got under my skin to the point I found her insufferable! It is only in the last few pages with her backstory flashback that I somewhat feel sympathy for her. I love the interaction between these two, and also how the story is paced so that we get to gradually become aware of more layers and nuance in the relationship they have. Jalissa's love and concern for Kim was clear to me from the start, while Kim's not so much. She (Kim) came across to me as immature, self-centered and inconsiderate. Later, when we see more of their history, I got to see the concern and love from Kim's side too. That's excellent writing to go with the excellent art. I also really like the premise with the alien creatures! I am intrigued and want to know more. Finally, I want to talk about the humour in the dialogue and the art in general. I love how there's a streak of black humour throughout the comic. My favourite character is (in case you didn't infer it yet) Jalissa, but I like the entire cast. They need each other to organically bounce off each other and develop. And lastly, I have to mention the really fun brand names and soap titles. Always makes me grin. Wonderful work @gee !(edited)

RebelVampire

I get the impression that Jalissa was a typical delinquent and that her parents werent around much - hence the delinquency. And so I imagine it's a bit strained at the best of it. I think Jalissa moving is her attempt to turn things around, and I think that is what will happen. Jalissa will become more responsible, take more of a sense of duty, etc. Which is what I think will happen with Kim, along with a healthy dose of gaining some humility. As for why Kim was suddenly possessed, maybe the weather? Regardless, 100% I'm sure Kim can be saved. Only bad villains monologue so Kim got taken over by a bad villain. As for why Jalissa's powers are a surprise, probably a lack of communication due to alien bureaucracy. Jalissa and Kim will definitely succeed as magical girls if you tone down expectations to be heroes who fight crime as opposed to what we see in every anime where they fight and just are completely fine and sparkly. As for becoming popular, maybe for a bit, but honestly, probably not. The internet is fickle so sure they might get a viral video....but then everyone will move on. I think it will mostly only change Jalissa's plans as she's finds there are more important things in the world than soaps. As for what the comic teaches about pursuing our dreams is that it's hard. My favorite moment is actually Kim checking if anyone liked the pic and it was just Jalissa. The world is saturated with talent, and even if you have the drive, the skills, etc., getting noticed is kind of a slog. But I think Kim shows us at least might as well keep trying.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I had the opposite reaction as @Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight) ! Jalissa irritated me at first, while I liked Kim. But then, when I saw Jalissa's genuine kindness, I liked her more, and when Kim started showing her flaws- how she's kind of self-centered and naive, I started to like her less. That's not to say I think this comic has bad writing, though! I like how the author has given everyone such realistic flaws. I went through a lot of cycles of liking and disliking the characters, and I think that reflects how it feels as you get to know some people irl. These characters are complex!

Seeing stoic Jalissa get truly angry at Kim was powerful.

I like the detail of Jalissa keeping her bat in her backpack's water bottle holder

"Only bad villains monologue so Kim got taken over by a bad villain. "

Rebel, that made me laugh

I think it's true too(edited)

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

+ü´´´´´´b n#ä+ß

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) it's exactly that we get different and real reactions to these characters that is the proof of excellent writing. We react differently, but we react as if they were real people and that's an absolute win!

mathtans

Woo, my schedule's eased a bit and this looked interesting. For the discussion prompts...

1. The beginning set things up well in terms of a quickie fight and then the characters and city situation. There was humour in that too. Good tone.

2. Fave moment, as far as plot was probably Jalissa interacting with blonde boy (sorry, forget the name) in particular because it seemed to be foreshadowing. Fave moment for relatability was the phone message with "Get to the point" because I SO relate to that.

3. Tough call on character. Both mains have good qualities and I don't feel I know the others well enough yet. I suppose Jalissa for her straightforward nature and sticking to her guns (like about dresses).

4. I liked Jalissa and Blonde Boy interacting, funny enough, as I said earlier. The cousin banter is good but the former stood out somehow.

5. The art's a neat blend of emphasis in some places and less in others; also interesting how the hair is done. Not sure why that sticks out.

6. I'm very bad at noticing themes. It's neat showing what "magical girls" do in their off hours. Also the troubles with getting noticed.

7. Story's clever, and I felt suspicious of Blonde Boy from him being around during the powers acquisition, which seems to be paying off. Nice to see ladies of colour too.

mathtans

8. Comic's got a bit of everything. Magic, mystery, slice-of-life... a reader can probably gravitate to something.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic? Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

mathtans

9. Jalissa seems to be someone who grew up in a difficult situation and needs to blow off steam sometimes. I'm reminded of the time she punched the wall - but then within a day went to get the materials needed to fix it. I feel like she had an unhappy home life with no real outlet or people to talk to about it. Maybe the fighting evil will help, or at least give her a sense of accomplishment. Kim needs to be a bit more grounded in reality, and I suspect will, although at the same time you kind of hate to see it happen, like the death of innocence or something.

10. I wondered if possession was always part of the plan against Kim (once it happened), and that's why the water beings were around, like they're trying to get access to the powers... though it's seeming like it was always something inside her, she was simply able to suppress the feeling for a time. Until she was at a low point emotionally.

Actually, I always thought BlondeBoy had something to do with the attacks, and in the scene between him and Jalissa (the earlier one in the alley) you saw hint of blue in the art, and one wonders whether he was acting normally. I wasn't sure if it was a subconscious thing or a conscious thing. Now I wonder if Kim wasn't manifesting the items herself on some subconscious level, wanting something to defeat. Though maybe he still had a hand in it too.

Of course, maybe the weather has something to do with it too, as Rebel remarked on.

mathtans

11. I feel like their power as magical girls is possibly tied to the presence (or at least strength) of the enemy, otherwise why wouldn't it make the news more? (Granted, could be obliviousness by the populace, but this seems to be reinforced by the current plot elements.) As such, their magical days seem numbered... unless they could fight against regular mundane foes? I dunno. The world doesn't seem to care much about supernatural either.

mathtans

Maybe they should change their name? Hovering doesn't sound too aggressive, and I don't think they do it that much anyway. Granted, DampGirls isn't catchy, and H2OGirls is a bit clinical. ^.^

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I love this comic! The two main characters play incredibly off each other, and there's lots of great comedic moments. My fav is Jalissa.

I wonder if it is the weather that's causing these possessions? Because, like, the flying fish attacks in general are tied to the rain. Maybe particularly rough rainstorms cause possessions? I feel like the thing that possessed Kim and the boy was what brought about the powers in the first place - the energy that came down from the sky on the beach. It's odd how the blonde dude didn't seem to use powers but got possessed first, while Kim uses her powers the most and got possessed second... maybe Jalissa has an easier time resisting because she has the strongest will?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

@snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights) I don't think Jalissa can get possessed- Bob said that his soul was split in two, and Jalissa got the powers while Korean guy got the mind

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

ah yes, that's true

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

@mathtans I like "Hovergirls"! It's cute and catchy

gee

The title I still don't 100% like, TBH. I legitimately thought on it for a week before starting on this comic and still couldn't think of anything better XD

RebelVampire

What I'm most looking forward to in the comic is probably just more Jalissa in general and finding out why Jalissa is the way Jalissa is. Overall though, this is a beautiful comic with a great combination between modernization and magical girls with just the right hint of maturity that makes it more appealing for an adult. Definitely would recommend to adult fans of magical girl stories!

mathtans

To be clear, I had no issue with the title of the comic... with some comics there's only an offhand reference too. I guess I was more picturing the ladies arguing, were Jalissa to get more into it.

As to the rest of the questions, I think the comic can show that reality is somewhere between the two of them (though they do play off each other very well) as far as dreams and responsibility go. I'm vaguely curious to know whether the alien might be having a positive (or negative?) influence on BlondeBoy, who seemed a bit of a jerk from the lens of the others.

The world building is well done too, like I could even see spinoffs... these aliens apparently just sent a couple emissaries to Earth, maybe there's some sort of space force out there fighting too. Maybe they see Kim's videos and want to recruit her. Or hire her for public relations. idk.

Anyway, looks great, definitely an interesting read and nice showcasing of things you don't see other places, best with it!

gee

Huge thank you all CTP group for giving HoverGirls a read! I cannot thank you enough for giving your time and thoughts on this story and it’s been incredibly helpful and encouraging!!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

It was a great read, gee!

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about HoverGirls this week! Please also give a special thank you to Geneva Bowers for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked HoverGirls, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://hovergirls.com/

Geneva’s Store: https://gdbee.store/

Geneva’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/gdbeeart

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #hovergirls #geneva bowers

[jinjojess]

DR Kirigiri Vol. 5 Summary Part III

I’ve had most of this done for over a week now, but god am I so tired these days.

< LAST PART | NEXT PART >

Chapter 1 The Mania of Existence: The Museum of Medieval European Torture Devices - Mizuiyama Sachi

Like Yaki, Mizuiyama was introduced in DRK3 during the Takeda Haunted House case and was given a specific Duel Noir to handle last book. Mizuiyama was the one who was framed at the Haunted Mansion case, the tiny woman in kimono with glasses. She also seemed to be developing a crush on Yadorigi last book. 

Anyway, this part opens with Mizuiyama arriving at the museum a few hours after leaving the others, musing about how the building was originally for storing things for a nearby university, but about twenty years ago was turned into a museum, only to then more recently wane in popularity thanks to its creepy vibe and the surrounding home owners not being crazy about being so close to torture devices. It’s this bizarre, unnerving building up on a hill overlooking a peaceful residential area.

In the past, Mizuiyama had actually been called out to inspect the property because there was interest in refurbishing the building, but ultimately the university decided it wasn’t worth the cost, so they just closed the museum down. What’s happened there since then is known only to those in the neighborhood.

The reason Mizuiyama had come by before had nothing to do with what the museum housed, but rather to see the building. It was one of those famous places that she’d wanted to visit as a young scholar. 

Arriving this time, she notes that the vibe of the place hasn’t changed--it’s still got the glass facade and the imposing square structure. She does notice that the sharp edges of the building have been angled off, maybe to try and off-set how creepy the building looks.

Also, to her surprise, the grounds are crawling with people. 

Not patrons, of course, but the police and the fire department. Looks like she’s too late.

Pretending she’s supposed to be there, Mizuiyama heads inside the building, drawing some eyes but not being stopped by anyone. There’s a chill in the air inside the building, and it isn’t long before a man, wearing a university staff badge around his neck and standing by the entrance counter, approaches her to ask why she’s there. They aren’t accepting any visitors today because there’s been a...problem. About to ask further, Mizuiyama trips on her zouri sandals and her glasses go flying, which unnerves the staff member a bit as he picks them up and asks if she’s okay. She tells him it’s fine, the glasses are made to be particularly hardy (ignoring his confused clarification that he meant is she okay), instead asking for more details into the problem.

He reluctantly tells her that there’s been a fire on the premises, which is a surprise to Mizuiyama. A fire? Didn’t the challenge card distinctly say the murder weapon would be an iron maiden? (This is the Virgo case, P.S.) This prompts a short dip into what an iron maiden is, and about its supposed use as a torture/execution device for the likes of Elizabeth Bathory and such in the Middle Ages, but its actual role in history is disputed today. Mizuiyama remembers the museum has a replica of the iron maiden from Nuremberg (the original having been destroyed by bombing during WWII), and she had been assuming that the victim of the case would be killed by locking them into the iron maiden replica.

So what’s the deal with this fire? Is it related to the Duel Noir and the Committee for the Salvation of Victims of Crime at all?

She asks the staff member if anyone died in the fire, to which he replies yes, someone affiliated with the university perished. When Mizuiyama asks for the person’s name, the man gets suspicious and says that if she’s from the media, he’s not going to talk to her.

It’s at this point that Mizuiyama starts to impress me. 

So yeah, she could just tell him that she’s a detective investigating what is now a possible homicide, but instead she takes a completely different approach, since she doesn’t know who this guy is or if he’s part of the Duel Noir or not. Remember, Mizuiyama is cautious to a fault--she didn’t even want to meet with Kirigiri and Samidare until the other detectives showed up.

“Do I look like someone from the media?” Mizuiyama showed off her Japanese outfit. “My husband works for the university. I came worried that something may have happened to him...”

“O-oh? My apologies, may I have your name?”

“Mizuiyama.”

“In that case, there is no need to worry, ma’am. The deceased is a professor named Idogaki. ...Um, Mizuiyama-san, which department does your husband work in...?”

“Idogaki-san is dead?” Mizuiyama asked, ignoring the question. “My husband has been indebeted to him many times during conferences.”

“I see... My condolences, then.”

“Would you mind sharing the specifics of what happened?”

“Um, my apologies, but as you can see, things are a bit of a mess right now...”

“I owe Idogaki-san so much. At the very least, please tell me what happened.”

She doesn’t even miss a beat here with the lie, it’s kind of incredible.

Thanks to her pushing, the guy breaks down and give her an overview of what happened. The fire broke out in a small cottage built of prefab in the courtyard around four hours ago, 1 p.m. on January 11th, which was the time that Mizuiyama was with all the other detectives divvying up cases. The fire department was called and rushed out, putting out the fire quickly, only for them to find the charred remains of fifty-year-old university professor Idogaki Fukuju inside the burned hut. His cause of death has yet to be determined.

Mizuiyama asks if the building has been closed all this time, and the staff member reveals that usually it is, as a few years prior it was purchased by some organization. The only people who come are those to take a look at the records and items stored there. Mizuiyama’s next question is who the person is that is responsible for those things, but the staff guy doesn’t know--he’s only worked for the university since last year and has been mostly doing office work. Her final question is if all of the torture devices inside are still where they’re supposed to be, to which the man answers probably, but starts to look suspicious. Noticing that, Mizuiyama thanks him and leaves.

Though her usual detective work is with wood and concrete, Mizuiyama actually has a really good talent for reading people (GET IT? CAUSE SHE’S THE MEGA JAPANESE ONE?). She’s so good at picking up on facial expressions and tones of voice that if she’d become a therapist, she’d surely be running a famous clinic by now. In fact, she has experience being a school counselor. However, she believes that buildings are much more complex and difficult to read than humans, and she has an academic interest in studying and understanding the souls of buildings. (It’s a Shinto thing.)

What sort of soul dwelt in a building full of torture devices?

That’s the whole reason Mizuiyama took this case--in order to find out. Since the goal was just to gather information, nobody should complain if she wants to exercise her academic curiosity. 

There’s still too many holes here in the case though--why is the victim burned to death if the listed weapon was an iron maiden? Why choose this place as the site for the Duel Noir at all? Mizuiyama decides she needs to know more, and heads outside into the courtyard to get a look at the remains of the burned-down hut.

When she heads into the back garden, it’s as she remembered it, save for one thing sitting on top of the large hill in the center.

An iron maiden.

It’s just chilling there on top of this snowy hill, the highest thing in the entire garden. Mizuiyama realizes at this point that the Committee is definitely involved. She knows their calling cards well. Strange cases. Strange motives. Strange methods. 

There’s a bunch of footprints in the snow leading up to the iron maiden, which Mizuiyama assumes are from the police. Making sure to mix her footsteps in with theirs, she makes her way up to the device, and realizes something’s off about it. It’s certainly in the shape of a woman, and you could shove someone in there, but it’s missing its head.

Thinking for a second that a headless corpse might be inside, Mizuiyama peeks into the iron maiden, but sees nothing in there. Which makes sense, since if there’d been a body, the police probably wouldn’t be leaving the device on its own like this, and there’d be blood on the snow around it. Upon further investigation, Mizuiyama notices that the iron maiden is...really small. Like, even with the head, it would only be big enough for non-fully-grown girl to fit inside. Both halves are closed, but she can still see countless spikes within. Given this is a replica, for safety reasons they’ve been rubbed down into a non-threatening crayon shape.

It hardly strikes fear into one’s heart.

Two guys then show up asking what she’s up to there. They’re in suits, so Mizuiyama assumes they’re cops, and shows both her inspector’s license and her detective ID card. She wasn’t intending to give away her real identity while here, but trying to keep track of a bunch of lies wouldn’t really help much with investigating. 

The cops ask what she’s doing there again, and she turns the question back on them. One looks offended while the other snorts as if she’s joking, and they both show their IDs, proving they’re actually the police. Mizuiyama is one of the many detectives out there who isn’t good with dealing with law enforcement, especially after her horrible encounter the day before (yes, DRK3 was one day ago in DRK time) at the Takeda Haunted House. Though she’s itching to get back at the police for all the questioning and indignity of being treated as the prime suspect, she decides to tamp it down for now and be good.

Instead, she shows a copy of the Duel Noir challenge card, explaining that she received it and thought it was a joke, but decided to come check things out just in case it wasn’t. One of the cops takes a look at the copy, commenting that he has no idea what it says, thanks to an effect applied to it that makes it difficult to read. She points out that you can just make out where it talks about the museum, and says that she received it from an unknown fax number (faxes are still a thing in Japan to this day). Mizuiyama reports that some other detectives she knows also received it, and asks if something has actually happened.

The policemen share a look and one of them comments that he’s heard a rumor about a black challenge card before, and wonders if this could be it. Mizuiyama plays dumb, asking what he means by a black challenge card, thinking to herself that it would make sense if the higher ups in law enforcement know that the Committee exists and were trying to find a way to combat them.

The cops ask Mizuiyama if she can spare some time to talk to them about the Duel Noir challenge card, and suggest heading back into the museum, but she wants to know what the iron maiden is doing outside and how long it’s been there. Though they have no clue why the device is in the garden, they finally relent after Mizuiyama refuses to budge in telling her that it wasn’t there as of the day before. 

“So it was placed here right before the fire?”

“We don’t actually know if that’s the case.”

“So then the fire and the sudden appearance of this strange thing in the garden are unrelated?”

“We have no idea.”

“So they aren’t related.”

“Er...Mizuiyama-san?”

“Is this the only thing you found left here in the garden?” Mizuiyama continued.

The two police detectives exasperatedly shrugged.

Despite that the plan was for the two policemen to question Mizuiyama, in the end she’s the one asking questions and they’re the ones answering. She considers this to be appropriate payback.

According to the intel she receives from the cops, the cottage was a fairly large one (like, larger than my 2DK apartment) that’s situated at the bottom of the hill behind the museum. Mizuiyama was only able to catch glimpses of it, since the two cops were standing in the way. It was mostly used for storage.

Though the inside was completely charred, the hut managed to keep standing. The windows were broken by the time the firemen arrived, which was judged to be a result of the fire itself. The windows and doors were locked from the inside, with keys being discovered in the pants pocket of the victim. However, there’s a possibility that the key discovered does not actually go to the locks on the cottage entrance and windows. 

Still, when the fire broke out, there’s no doubt it was a locked room situation.

The fire started after noon, and if anyone were to approach the cottage then, their footprints should have still been in the snow. The victim was found face up on a futon in the center of the room, with no outer wounds nor signs of struggle. For the time being, his cause of death is considered to be burning.

Apparently, the origin of the fire was his pillow, and there were matches and cigarettes found in the general area, so the current assumption is that the blaze was started by a lit cigarette.

While this is all well and good for a news story, there’s still several things that don’t add up. For one, why was Prof. Idogaki smoking himself to sleep in a locked storage shed on the property of a closed-down museum? 

Apparently he’d quit smoking several months prior, and perhaps was getting his fix in private. Maybe since most of the campus was becoming non-smoking, he decided to hide away in an abandoned spot that belonged to his place of work?

This is the police’s explanation, and most people would consider the case closed at this point.

However, the cops have ignored one huge, glaring piece of evidence.

That lonely, headless maiden that suddenly appeared in the garden.

She’s the one who holds the key to this locked room murder, Mizuiyama thought.

< LAST PART | NEXT PART >

#DR Kirigiri #translation #DRK5 summary #DRK5 #long post

[dcarevu]

Batman TAS: Mad as a Hatter

“Why don’t you go do something useful like… Oh, go jump in the river.”

Episode: 27 Robin: No Writer: Paul Dini Director: Frank Paur Animator: Akom Airdate: October 12, 1992 Grade: B

I was in high school when Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland showed up in theaters, and like almost everyone I knew, I could not have been more excited. I really loved the Disney version, and considering that the man involved with Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman, and more would be giving us his take on it right as I was starting to move toward my emo-scene phase, it was a dream come true. Even now, on paper, this seems like the perfect recipe, doesn’t it? But I think most of us can agree that it just didn’t meet expectations. The first time I watched it, I wouldn’t admit to myself that I wasn’t a fan. It was dark, and strange, and Tim Burton + Alice in Wonderland. Everything I wanted! As a developing emo kid, I was supposed to like it! The reason I bring this up is because Batman the Animated Series being fused with Alice in Wonderland seems like another fantasy-combination that would have no way to turn out subpar. Mad as a Hatter is an episode that, for the most part, actually gets a lot of praise. Alas (or, for the sake of the pun, Alice), maybe the idea seemed a little bit too easy, making it easier to over-shoot, missing the mark. This is another episode featuring a crazy set-piece at the end, but it is also another episode that was handed to Akom. Christ, why. Of all the episodes. All the episodes. Why is it some of the ones with the highest reliance on visuals? This episode involved not just complicated, creative visuals, but incredibly weird ones as well that needed to be animated just right to not look like subjects from one’s fever dreams. You wanna know how that turned out? Well, I heard an, “Oh my god!” from Char as the walrus and the carpenter made their appearances. While that did make me laugh quite hard, and Akom definitely got the weirdness down, it should have looked like intentional weirdness. Beyond the animation, the story is actually decent. It is Paul Dini, so what can you really expect. But even here, I would not call it A-level material. Some strange dialogue/delivery choices, and other leaps of logic/strains on the suspension of disbelief take away from it and leave me feeling extremely neutral.

Okay, so after that paragraph above was written, I went and took the screenshots from my DVD. I was surprised. The DVD looks so much better than the Blu Ray here. This was the case with The Clock King too, and I fear it is starting to seem like a pattern. I think it all comes down to the Blu Ray release looking too clean, and way too bright at times. Because of course, the DVD is in lower definition. Shadows are lightened so that we can see all of the imperfections of Akom’s drawings. Smudges and dirt are removed, giving the people a plastic look at times. It’s not the way the show was meant to be watched (as I said, probably VHS would be my preferred way of viewing if that were feasible). This puts me in an interesting spot, because I paid near $100 for the set, and also, some episodes look absolutely phenomenal. But is it worth it when some look like absolute crap? The great-looking shows look godly. The mediocre-looking ones look horrible. I was ready to tear into how Mad as a Hatter looked and rip it a new one, but now I do not think that would be fair. No, the animation here isn’t perfect. But it’s passable. And I think that’s worth something given the frequency at which I complain about Akom. At this point, I have watched up to Robin’s Reckoning. From here, I honestly might start using the ol’ dvd’s again. It’s unfortunate, but if I go back to specific episodes that I love later on, then I’ll use the Blu Ray. Remember, I am watching these with Char who has never seen the DCAU before. I want the series to make the best possible impression, and even with the best plot ever, a bad-looking episode can make a disappointing episode. Merely getting the episodes at a higher definition, but leaving them dirty and dark would have been my preferred solution. Anyway, back to talking about the episode itself (and yes, this does slightly affect how I see the episode. At first I was giving it a C. But I think I’ll have to bump it up to B territory).

We start with episode with some cute-ass mice, only to then be introduced to a face that a mother would have a hard time loving. Jervis Tetch, aka The Mad Hatter, is a character-design, alright. I think I know what they were going for, though. He has this kooky look that makes him stand out from every other character. He certainly looks like he could play someone from Wonderland. But the problem I think comes from Akom (ironic given that last paragraph, huh?). This design could probably work, but he has such an odd model, so I think they had a tough time animating him. Or maybe he simply does not translate to movement very well in general, and there was a problem the moment his model sheet was created. Regardless, he can be pretty tough to look at sometimes. Other times, though, he does have that level of whacky which I would hope would be in an episode based on Alice in Wonderland. But we see that Jervis is working on some mind-control technology while also being smitten for a girl that works in his office named Alice. Unfortunately, Alice has a boyfriend, and like many sociopaths in real life, Jervis is not okay with this, taking matters into his own hands. First of all, her name being Alice is kinda stupid, and Char agrees. It takes parallels a little bit too far, and Char noted that it would have been more subtle if her name were something like Alycia. Alice is one of the only people that Jervis feels is nice to him, so if we follow the most sound of incel-logic, she owes him her heart, mind, and body. Not only is she nice to him, but, again, her name is Alice. And it would not surprise me if this were a main factor of why Jervis is into her. He has an Alice in Wonderland poster in his office, he takes her to a theme park of sorts that has a section which is themed after the book, he owns a Mad Hatter costume (or perhaps he obtained this from the park), he quotes the book regularly, etc. He is clearly obsessed. When we reach the point where he mentions that it is one of his favorite stories, it’s like, “Wow! No kidding!” He is not quite wired into reality, likely developing this obsession at an early age to escape from life’s burdens. But Wonderland has burdens of its own.

Jervis ends up using these mind-control cards that he created (another Alice in Wonderland-related thing) to make people basically do his bidding. He first uses them on two thugs attempting to rob him and Alice, forcing them to climb up on top of a bridge and jump into the river. Batman catches notice of this through a police broadcast, and to my surprise, the show mentions a possible suicide in progress. How often do you hear a family cartoon like this use the word “suicide”? I think this is the only time I have ever heard it, despite references occasionally popping up in shows like Spongebob. He then uses more cards on his coworkers, Alice’s fiancé, and Alice herself, creating an army of Alice in Wonderland-themed warriors to defend him from Batman when Batman finds out what’s going on and sets after him. He wants Alice all to himself, and is willing to do whatever possible to obtain her. The final battle takes place in the theme park, the big set-piece of the episode. It’s got some great looking background paintings that 100% capture the tone of the book. It is a shame that the animation done by Akom couldn’t hold up to Radomski’s work. We have moments such as Batman balancing on top of the walls of a playing card maze that I wish stressed me out a little bit more. But because of how stilted the movement is, Batman never really seems like he is having a tough time keeping balance, even though we clearly see him struggling. The fight scenes could also be much better, with more impact felt. The odd costumes that most everyone is wearing makes for some really distorted-looking characters, and it’s clear that not a lot of time was spent making them look quite right. At the same time, though, between the subject material, the gimmicks, the overall surreal nature, and the background art, it is still a lot of fun to watch, even if it is in a more campy way. It is not an episode to be taken extremely seriously. This can be a problem with Batman. The tone can fluctuate greatly from episode to episode. At the beginning, it did not matter as much. Right away we had varying quality and seriousness. I mean, we went from On Leather Wings to Christmas With the Joker. But now we are getting gothic masterpieces like Two-Face, so episodes like Mad as a Hatter feel jarring as hell. It is an episode I enjoyed more on second watch as I gathered screenshots. I loosened up and let myself have fun with it.

The Mad Hatter fails to be a sympathetic villain like I feel they might have been going for, but I do enjoy him being so delusional and sociopathic. When Alice mentions her boyfriend, he gets this scary scowl, and you know at that moment that this is no character you want to root for. When Alice’s boyfriend temporarily breaks up with her, rather than attempting to comfort her and being upset over her sorrow, he jumps for joy because he has a chance to finally swoop in (the epitome of an Internet “nice guy”). When she gets back together with her boyfriend, turned fiancé, he squeezes a bouquet of roses in frustration so hard that he bleeds. I think they were able to get away with this portion because maybe the blood could have passed off as liquid from the flowers? Which doesn’t really make a lot of sense, but for the sake of the blood being included, um, sure. It was definitely rose-goo, guys. Not blood at all… And he also blames Batman for why things ended up the way they did, even though Batman had virtually nothing to do with anything until the very end. He decided to mind-control everyone because he was being a spoiled little piss-baby who could not let the girl he supposedly loves be happy. Char did not care for the character, and jokingly mentioned that he was appropriating the Mad Hatter, doing things that he would never do. Like some batshit crazy super-fan who feels sooo connected with a character, but actually doesn’t understand them at all.

Not a perfect episode, but a grower.

See? Cute-ass mice!

Wow, I didn’t realize that we were watching Attack on Titan. (Joke inspired by Char).

The poster on the wall matches the title card/an actual illustration from the book. It’s actually a pretty dope poster.

A variety of shots showing Jervis’ face. See how inconsistent it is? It is a little similar to the Pokémon Drilbur, where it only works 2D. Adding an element of 3D illusion (such as movement) causes it to fall apart.

Oh, sure, go and rob them right after you see Batman drive by. That’s always smart.

“Please, Mr. Hat. Go easy on us.” The delivery here was wicked funny. It was so monotone, and sounded like he was faking.

I quite like this facial expression. His smile reminds me of the Cheshire Cat.

Batman + Taco Bell

I love the panic in Batman’s voice as he tries to stop them from jumping off of the bridge. It shows how concerned he is with keeping them safe.

They were able to animate this shimmer pretty damn well. Then again, how hard could it be?

A very subtle recreation of the illustration/title card.

I don’t think the background here quite comes together, the composition is off. Still neat to look at.

A close-up of the illustration.

Now this is an ugly facial expression. Gross! And it’s not like this was a quick frame. It was there long enough to notice.

This shot has a lovely glow to it. It looks quite nice. 

One of the only times they were able to get away with blood. Um. Oops. I meant flower-goo! It’s flower-goo, guys! The blood drips right onto Billy’s face. As if a hit were put on him. Awesome detail.

“Oh, do be quiet!”

Bruce whispers “Congratulations.” in such a goobery way. I love it. 

The shadow of the plants shifted in some wonky-looking ways. Also, when the Mad Hatter and Batman both arrive on the scene, she says, “This is getting too weird.” But she says it so nonchalantly. Not the best delivery.

Very sloppy-looking drawings of their faces. These costumes, though. 

Cool impact here. He just decimates that wood. I’m not sure if Storybook Land has the safest costumes. 

This is some enjoyable stuff right here. I had a lot of fun with this portion.

“Off with his head!” I should have counted how many times this line was said.

Perfect example if how cool the painted visuals are paired with some mediocre animation. Hell, I’m pretty sure Batman’s run was recycled for two of these stills.

Gee, I wonder which cards are going to move. Great Mad Hatter, pose, though. This is what I wish he looked like all the time!

The looming Jabberwock ends up falling on him, ending the adventure through Wonderland. 

There’s no reversing the damage, Jervis. You’ll never talk with her again. Was it worth it? Also, his hair totally changed color at one point. Um... Maybe he dyed it?

Char’s grade: D Next time: Dreams in Darkness

Full episode list here!

#dcau #dc animated universe #mad as a hatter #batman #batman tas #batman the animated series #btas #mad hatter #alice #alice in wonderland

[kiederen]

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE review

I said I would give my impressions on #FE and I neglected to do so till now, but better late than never.

I’ll be talking about:

Story

Setting/Theme

Characters

Gameplay

1. Story

The story is nothing special - I enjoyed it, but it's a fairly typical jrpg "power of friendship and bonds" deal that is only made unique in any capacity by the idol culture that frames it. It's not bad, but it's not groundbreaking either. I wish the story were a bit longer to give more of a build up into the final confrontation. The earlier stages slowly start to set things up but even just one more dedicated chapter to ease into the final arc would have probably made the ending feel less rushed. That and I just enjoyed playing it overall and would liked more content.

The distinct chapters format to the flow may have been meant to simulate FE chapters while still also representing how persona stories often have noticeable breaks between dungeon arcs. In TMS though, it felt a bit more artificial, not damningly so, but I think the plot momentum was a bit worse for it. 

The set up for each chapter break also revolves around Itsuki himself improving as an entertainer, even though he doesn’t know what direction he wants to focus on, and while it’s most emphasized early on, this aspect of Itsuki’s development himself feels almost abandoned or ignored through the mid and late game until the very end. The solution does make some sense, but some of the details that enable it to happen are a bit questionably contrived, and like the overall story, it felt a bit rushed in the final hour, based on what I remember.

Otherwise, the story did a good job of setting itself up, providing the characters with adequate motivation and means to seek the goals they set and each dungeon gave reasonable purpose for the main characters to tackle it.

The final chapter seemed to be trying to make up for the lack of build up by twisting and turning a bit more than usual, but most of its attempted twists were fairly standard fair for trying to draw out suspense and unfortunately were somewhat predictable for it. I was a little surprised at the host for the big bad, but mostly because I hadn’t been paying close enough attention so that was on me.

2. Setting/Theme

The Tokyo idol scene setting is the most interesting aspect of the story and while I can see it being polarizing, I found it novel myself. Mechanically, it does a good job of unifying the dungeons under a common theme of "things idols do" - such as posing for photo shoots or acting on TV.

Beyond dungeon design, the idol theme also naturally informed character designs and the multitude of costumes that appear throughout.

You can even see this thematic flair in the way that spell casting involves a character signing their autograph as a glyph!

If there’s one oddity that stands out to me about the aesthetics of the game, it’s that the monster designs seem to be unable to decide whether they should be FE inspired or SMT inspired or neither, but even in the latter case most don’t seem to fit in with the idol theme in any capacity.

Even when enemies are FE inspired, they seem to have gone through a similar (if not more extreme) filter that the Mirage characters went through - becoming dramatically stylized and the only real purpose I can conceive for it is to make enemy classes that were definitely human in FE appear non-human here. For instance, the middle and right monsters above are myrmidon class enemies - unpromoted swordmasters from the FE universe.

Not to mention: Why do their out-of-combat sprites look like Organization XIII members!?

3. Characters

Like the story, the characters are good if nothing particularly revolutionary. Most seem built around one or two tropes but then are fleshed out beyond that which is fine. You learn more about them as you do their individual side quests (social links) and these do a good job of giving the feeling of evolving your bond with that character. The pacing of the side stories is mostly okay, though the gameplay reward for those that are plot locked to be very late doesn't always feel equal to how long you had to wait to do them. There's a bit of persona syndrome wherein all the chars get plenty of opportunities to interact with the MC, but would benefit from more time interacting with each other as well.

I liked all the characters in the end. There's a good variety between both the girls and boys, though because of join times some chars got more focused screen time than others. Again, I think a longer late game with more story side quests (instead of fetch quests) would have helped balance things out. 

If I had to be as base as to rank the girls in terms of waifu ratings: 1. Eleonora 2. Tsubasa 3. Kiria 4. Maiko 5. Mamori = Tiki Though it's worth noting that top four are all really close, and each slot only wins out over their competition by a small margin. I don’t dislike Mamori or Tiki, I just am not into the little sister appeal.

I suppose Barry Goodman is worth mentioning as well. Barry is a foreigner who settled in Japan and behaviorally embodies the most cringe-worthy aspects of otaku culture. He’s heavy-set, roughly groomed, and somewhat aggressive/abrasive about his passions. I’m not one to judge him for the subject of his passions, but the way he interacts with them would make me uncomfortable around him had he been a real person. Ultimately he is a good person at heart, but his poor people skills are unlikely to endear him to anyone on first impressions, and the fact that he doesn’t care only exacerbates his problems.

Finally, and predictably most disappointingly, the FE chars (heroes and villains) are barely developed and could be replaced with persona or persona like motifs without changing the overall plot. The FE aspect is little more than a coat of paint that gives secondary theme to the invading 'otherworld,' and it's a real shame and waste of potential.

Aside from the Mirage characters and Tiki themselves, there are however a few unmarked references that are at least self aware enough to be welcome Easter eggs for fire emblem fans:

Anna is your convenience store shopkeeper, and there’s even a ‘shadow anna’ who will sell you more dubious dungeon consumables that a normal convenience store wouldn’t stock.

Ilyana works at the cafe, keeping close to her beloved food.

Aimee runs the jewelry store as she was the item store merchant in FE9 and 10

And Cath runs the costume shop. She’s a thief in FE6 with a distinct affinity for money, not unlike Anna, though not as extreme either. Admittedly, it’s been a while since I’ve read over her supports though.

I saw an npc employee at one of the random background shops in Shibuya central street that could also be Brady from FE Awakening, but the camera never got close enough to see him clearly enough to make a positive ID.

Finally, I found it amusing that all the playable chars' names are class puns/references 

蒼井樹 = Aoi Itsuki > Aoi means blue in reference to FE lords typically having blue hair

織部つばさ = Oribe Tsubasa > Tsubasa in reference to her peg knight class

赤城斗馬 = Akagi Touma >  赤 (Aka) gives us “red” while  馬(uma) is “horse.” Red cavalier (partnered with a green cavalier) is a reoccurring archetype in FE. The Red cav tends to be the hot-headed one.

I can break down the others if desired, but these will do for examples.

4. Gameplay

Going to break this into a few parts:

General

Combat

Dungeons

1. General

The real reason this game is compared to Persona; gameplay mirrors a lot of persona's elements and it's almost easier to describe how it deviates from the Persona format than spend time detailing how they're the same. That said, if you like the persona formula (as I do), you'd probably enjoy TMS's gameplay flow as well.

While the lack of daily life and day limits for dungeons removes a lot of the tension of time management for them, I think it's fine since a lot of persona players rush dungeons in 1-2 days anyway and in TMS, once the dungeon is done, you don't have to worry about doing busy work to tick off the days until the plot is allowed to move forward again. The lack of social stats is an element of depth removed, but without a time cost element to activities, it makes sense and is probably a good thing for it to be absent from TMS (even if story wise it could have actually be viable as Aoi and the others grow their skills as performers).

Using the WiiU game pad as a smartphone screen to facilitate off-screen character interactions as well as display more detailed enemy information was clever if perhaps unnecessary (as persona 5 showed). Having the only map on the game pad actually made it a little disorienting to reference for me since my eyes had to leave my tv entirely, leading to me either holding my game pad up or bobbing my head up and down to compare my map with my surroundings. On the DS, the two screens are at least close by. I’d like to say there may have been a better use for the game pad, I’m not thinking of anything off the top of my head, so it may have been wise to minimize its use as a gimmick anyway.

This is already in your phone history when you start the game, but it’s still probably my favorite moment from the text message logs:

#relatable.

Replacing persona fusion is a more straightforward crafting system that is the source for your weapons and passive skills, and in turn, much like Tales of Vesperia, your weapons are the source of your skills, both active and passive. The system sounds more grindy than it is in practice though. Simply advancing through the dungeons and fighting 70-80% of the monsters you encounter naturally will provide you with enough materials to forge most weapons as they become available. In fact there were a number of times when I ran out of new weapons to forge and had to push on with already mastered weapons equipped. I liked that bosses and some savage encounters would drop mats of a higher tier than what was readily available from current monsters, and you had to spend them wisely before advancing the plot to the point where those mats became common. It let you preview the next tier of weapons and abilities for select characters but who you gave those weapons to was never overly stressful since you could get the other weapons you passed on later anyway.

Rare monsters drop unique mats that can make weapons that give unusual or otherwise off-type skills to characters and it makes catching rare monsters that flee rather than engage the player rewarding. IIRC, I encountered fewer than ten rare monsters in my entire play through though, so I did not feel it worth the time to actively hunt them unless there was some trick to make them appear more reliably (and catching them was also a bit dependent on the surroundings). Like treasure monsters in P5, they usually had some kind of gimmick where they were only weak to one thing if they had any weakness and the latter ones also came with dodge [weakness] passive and had a chance of just up and running from battle.

2. Combat

The one-more mechanic is replaced by "Sessions" which are not unlike self contained one-more combos anyway. The tag in attacking animations were pretty fun and though late game sessions can get quite long, there’s no way to speed up or skip session animations, possibly in part because of the existence of duo arts which use the session animations as a timer. They could have prohibited skipping prior to deciding on a duo art and then allow skipping or speed up after, though. Long session animations didn’t bother me, personally though, as session attack animations were varied and interesting enough that I never got tired of even the early basic ones (most of which were replaced by late game).

Openly displayed turn order, plus some late game skills that can actually influence turn order were both welcome features as well. 

Beyond sessions, specials, duo arts, and ad-lib performances were great at providing extra variety and changing the pace of what might otherwise be rote combat. While duo arts and ad-lib performances were rng bonuses that you mostly just take whatever you can get and be grateful, specials were more deliberate, needing a resource that builds slowly at first. Later on, with longer sessions and meter boosting passives, the sp gauge builds up much faster, but even then specials usually should be selected carefully, especially within boss battles where recovering lost sp is a bit trickier. 

That said, special skills were not created equal. Even though buffs and debuffs are powerful, some of the later buffing and debuffing specials came late, at a point where I already had normal skills that could buff or debuff at almost if not the same potency without spending SP. Similarly, as my repertoire of skills grew, my ability to hit weaknesses improved and using specials to break through resistances became less necessary, even as monsters began appearing with more resistances. 

Finally, Itsuki’s second special - “Strike A Pose,” was absurdly good and only got better as my session combos grew longer late game. The ability to give everyone twice the actions in a turn opens up so many other combos that often times, there was little reason to use offensive specials in favor of either two individual sessions or a concentrate/charge boosted session. 

Inversely, I found myself using healing specials a lot less, and perhaps it was because I used Tsubasa a lot less late game - I made Chrom a great lord which gave Itsuki healing and support which was kinda Tsubasa’s niche previously, so with Touma able to out damage Tsubasa and Elly covering flying enemies, Tsubasa just wasn’t out in combat all that often, which meant Mamori was the only one with healing specials (which were helpful on occasion) but in the end using Strike A Pose allowed me to get normal heals out in extra abundance while still enabling attackers to make a play to help clear troublesome enemies.

The FE weapon triangle’s representation in strengths and weaknesses among weapon types (not extending to magic though) gave a welcome way to predict weaknesses for enemies I had not encountered yet. One of the frustrating things about persona had always been that weakness/strength attributes for new monsters were difficult to predict and late game could cause you to walk into a bad situation that was never really your fault. Not only did the weapon triangle help mitigate some of the arbitrary mystery, but weaknesses were frequently consistent across similar enemy types at different levels even outside of the sword/lance/axe trinity. For example mage type enemies were, with few exceptions, all weak to swords and fire. Skills that deal effective damage (i.e. horseslayer/armorslayer) were also a great addition that gave characters tools to start session combos on enemies that they might otherwise be powerless against. The player also gets other ways to work around pesky resistances, features that are both welcome and necessary because...

If I have one glaring critic of the battle system it’s that Itsuki, like persona protags is mandatory. However, unlike persona protags, Itsuki has static combat tools and extremely limited ability to influence his own strength and weakness attributes. He’s always weak to fire and lances and since you can’t remove him from the front line, you always have someone in combat weak to those elements. Fortunately this is less deal breaking for the fact that Itsuki dying in combat doesn’t immediately game over (hallelujah!). In addition, later in the game most chars get passive skills that greatly increase their avoid against elements they’re weak to, Itsuki included. Still, being able to remove Itsuki from the front line would greatly increase your party diversity and flexibility. For a while after recruiting a second sword character, I had difficulty justifying putting him in the active party because Itsuki already filled the sword role. Eventually, I promoted Itsuki to a more support role and let the other char handle offensive sword plays. 

One more minor complaint I have is the inability to swap out fallen allies. Having only three party members means that even one of them dying can be crippling, especially later on and on harder difficulties. I’ve wasted turns reviving downed allies and trying to heal back only for enemies to just repeat what killed someone in the first place and put me exactly where I was last turn with less healing items or sometimes in an even worse situation. While the boss dichotomy of easy/impossible with little in between that some persona bosses suffer from is present here, the existence of specials, ad-lib performances and duo performances that heal or revive greatly alleviate some of the comeback struggle that has a tendency to snowball in this combat system. As the only active non-rng option, specials in particular are important to the system. The severity of boss gimmicks isn’t quite as punishing in TMS compared to persona, but TMS’s smaller party size, can still cause a bad situation to cascade into unsalvageable territory.

3. Dungeons

The dungeon design of TMS is interesting in that it departs from persona 3/4′s formula of randomly generated floors in favor of deliberately organized floor plans with usually only one correct path to the end. The linearity is sometimes broken up by treasures that you’ll have to backtrack for, but aside from that, there’s little mandatory backtracking within a dungeon. Dungeons stick around even after you clear them, allowing side stories to ask you to venture back over familiar ground for one task or another.

That said, the linear nature isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In TMS’s case, it allows the developers to give the player a learning curve for the dungeon’s mechanics and then challenge how well the player understood the earlier lessons, because the devs can guarantee that the player experienced the earlier sections before the later ones. It may sound obvious on paper, but it means that the developers can have a better awareness of the player’s competency at any given point in any dungeon, which is something that can’t be tracked when the player can go multiple routes at any given time. But I digress.

Another mechanical difference of note is how the player, Itsuki interacts with enemies pre-battle. In persona 3 and later, you could swing your weapon to hit an enemy in the field and that would start combat (at an advantage if they didn’t notice you), but in TMS, striking an opponent on the field knocks them back and stuns them, giving you the choice to then get closer and touch them to begin combat at an advantage or to avoid combat entirely. I like this greater degree of choice and it fits within the philosophy that TMS dungeons are made to be less stressful - less about meticulous resource management - than persona games. There’s still an incentive to engage in combat: you need to keep up a certain amount of level growth just to have the raw stats to beat bosses, but if you’re low on health and/or healing items or just plain short on available play time and you think or know there’s a checkpoint up ahead so you just want to make a push to reach it, you aren’t forced into battles you don’t want to engage in... with the exception of “Savage Encounters,” which are challenge monsters that seem to just exist to screw with you anyway. I think there was only one area prior to the last or second to last dungeons that had savage enemies I could actually beat albeit with great effort.

Playing TMS after Persona 5, it was also apparent that TMS’s idolaspheres were prototype palaces, from the set floor layouts and linear progression to the overarching themes of the dungeon informing its aesthetic and unique mechanics. In fact there are a number of things that TMS pinoeered for Atlus that then went on to feature in P5. You can read about some others here.

Puzzles were almost entirely navigation in nature - that is, how to use the dungeon mechanics and infrastructure to get from your start to your goal. It may be because it’s been a little over a month now, but none particularly stand out in my memory as being exceptionally good, while one or two I remember for being somewhat arduous or tiring. I’m still of the opinion that areas that the player is trying to solve puzzles in should have lower if not 0 encounter rate with random enemies, as battles, especially turn based ones that don’t tend to resolve in a single turn, can disrupt problem solving trains of thought.

Overall the dungeons are good though, and that’s important as they’re the meat of the gameplay. They are generally well paced with plenty to do and some minor stuff to find on your way to your target goal. Each dungeon’s unique mechanics fit with the dungeon theme and aside from a few exceptions the enemies are fairly distributed.

5. Conclusion

It has its flaws but I think, in the end, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE gets more right than it gets wrong. Even though the story was standard fair for this genre, I thoroughly enjoyed it and wished it had more content to its core for me to experience. I know there’s dlc, but the nature of dlc means that it’s nothing integral to the story and I’m not sure it would scratch the itch the way I want.

The setting is unique and the game fully embraces the themes it sets up and the themes in turn inform and affect almost every aspect of the game, giving it a unified appeal.

The combat is arguably more interesting than persona. It takes the same core formula of targeting weak points for massive damage but allows players more tools and freedom to circumvent bad matchups, make carefully planned strategic plays, or simply style on enemies with flashy satisfying attacks.

#TMS #Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE #Sharpfe

[storyunrelated]

Buying plants

I want to develop these things but I don’t think this is the right way to do it.

-

Gravel crunched as the car parked.

"Here we are, kids," Rose said.

"Thanks Rose," Tulip and Kipper chorused. Bef just grunted, which was as close to a thanks she could muster at that moment. The four then dismounted from Rose's rather battered Ford Focus.

The place they'd gone to wad a reasonably sized, reasonably old cottage just off of an A road with a fair whack of garden space, almost all of it taken up with plants in pots, sheds, and other customers all of whom were obviously witches.

Kipper, in fact, looked to be the only human there. Hell, the only boy there at all. Not that he appeared to mind or even notice.

"So what's the deal here? What are we doing?" He asked.

"Ingredients for things, getting some. Rose says this place is great and I've been meaning to come and it's a nice day so yeah, here we are. I have some ideas for things and they should have some of the stuff here," said Tulip, consulting the list she'd made. She'd done this all of the way there, too, checking it over and over, unsure if she'd missed anything off of it.

"Nice!" Kipper said.

"You're just standing there and following us around, that's what you're doing" Bef said.

"Cool. I can handle that that," said Kipper, giving a thumbs up.

He was there in the first place because they - Bef and Tulip - had told him they were going somewhere, and he'd followed. That he'd been told Rose would be coming too helped, but he had hardly been going to say no anyway. Generally this was how Kipper ended up anywhere.

So far it was a lifestyle that had worked out for him. Being friends with witches helped. They tended to go to nicer places than most. And they had the pointiest hats.

Kipper then frowned and turned to Bef.

"Wait, why are you here then?" He asked.

Unlike Tulip and Rose, Bef had very little need for ingredients as that sort of thing wasn't her particular wheelhouse. Bef did not make things, she deconstructed things, often forcefully and sometimes violently, excepting those times she was sculpting raw materials through sheer force of will alone. But those times didn't need herbs or dried roots.

She shrugged.

"I just wanted out of the house," She said, kicking a stone and sending it skittering across the gravel of the car park where it travelled in a line for a moment before curving around into a tight circle and then just continuing to do that at an ever-increasing speed. Bef grinned.

By then Rose had already gone off to look for her own items with Tulip following close behind, and while Kipper was trying to work out where they'd gone to Bef wandered away to go and buy cake from the attached coffee stall. When Kipper noticed this it was too late and she was gone, and he was adrift.

Not that he minded. They'd find him eventually, he figured, and before then he could see look at some magic plants, which could only be fun.

Or not.

Magically useful plants, much to Kipper's consternation, appeared much like regular plants. Indeed, many of them were just regular plants, kept on sale here as they also had some fairly useful magical properties as well and a witch going to a garden centre was a bit embarrassing.

Nothing bounced, whizzed, leapt or danced, which was kind of what Kipper had been hoping for. Instead, it was basically like every other place selling plants he'd ever been to in his life, only with more pointy hats.

At least the weather was nice.

It was while he was meandering and being disappointed with the plants that he spotted the girl behind the till. The girl looked bored, but that wasn't what caught Kipper's eye.

She had a pointy hat, which marked her out as a witch, but that was hardly a surprise given the nature of the place. She also looked to be around Rose's ages, likely one of the reasons she'd got Kipper's attention in the first place. But there was something else about her that Kipper just couldn't quite put his finger on.

"You want to come a little closer so you can stare a little better?" The girl said, jerking Kipper out of his reverie. He blushed and shuffled in close, specifically to apologise and not to stare better.

"Sorry," he said.

"That's okay, I get it a lot. Most humans don't apologise so you're already ahead. What are you doing here anyway? Did you wander in here by accident?" She asked.

Given that the place was situated by a major A road with no easy foot access this seemed highly unlikely.

"Oh, I'm here with my friends. They're witches. I'm just, uh, here with them, yeah, like I said.  They're around somewhere. You're a witch, aren't you?" Bef asked.

The girl gave a lopsided grin.

"Did the hat give it away?"

This was a witch joke, but Kipper got it and gave a polite laugh.

"You're a lot shinier than what I'm used to," he said, again trying for politeness, unsure of how to broach the subject but burning with an intense curiosity he could not ignore.

He wasn't wrong. She had shiny bits all over, rather like circuitry in fact, and some parts of her just appeared to be straight-up cast from metal. Even her eyes were a little shiny. It was distracting.

"That'd be the cyberparts," she said.

"Ooh! What are cyberparts?" Kipper asked, his curiosity inflamed further.

"The bits that make a cyberwitch," she said. Kipper was ensnared now, without a hope of escape. He had to know more!

"Ooh! What's a cyberwitch?"

"A witch with cyberparts," she said, taking the wind out of Kipper's sails. She waited just long enough to watch him sag before laughing and carrying on: "It's not that complicated. Just, you know, you get a witch - me - and you decide to get some special parts put in. They help with the magic. Not exactly cheap but I know a guy."

"Help with the magic?"

"Yeah. Control, focus, that sort of thing. And I think they look pretty cool, don't you?"

Kipper nodded enthusiastically. The girl leaned in over the till, motioning for Kipper to do likewise. He did so.

"Also I got laser-eyes," she whispered, conspiratorially.

"Laser-eyes?"

"Yep. Magic ones. Pick up that stone there. No, the bigger one," she said, pointing. Kipper did as he was told and stooped momentarily before standing up again holding a stone.

"Hold it really, really still. And look up," she said, leaning further across the counter and squinting. A moment later there was a flash and a snap and the air heated up. Kipper held very, very still, looking up at the sky.

"There you go," the girl said, straightening and rubbing her face. Kipper looked back down again.

The stone now said 'Erin' on it in charred, smoking letters. Kipper assumed - correctly - that this was the girl's name. His face was a picture of awe.

"That's so cool," He gasped, his own eyes wide with wonder as he held the stone as though he'd been handed a sacred artefact.

“Humans are just so cute sometimes!” Erin said, reaching out and giving Kipper the lightest of boops on the nose. Kipper being Kipper and Kipper being softness given boy-shaped form, loved this and giggled appreciatively.

“These your friends?” Erin said, looking over and past Kipper and causing him to turn.

It was indeed. Rose, Tulip and Bef had come sauntering up behind Kipper while he'd been talking, laden with products. Rose had wisely chosen to get a trolley to put hers in, while Tulip was gamely and precariously balancing her own across her person. Bef, who had picked up a single cactus, was holding it in both hands.

"Making friends, Kipper?" Rose asked, smiling politely. This polite smile - combined with Erin's coolness - was enough to push Kipper even higher up the scale of happiness. He practically beamed.

"Guys guys guys this is Erin! She's a cyberwitch! She told me. Look! Look how shiny these bits are! Look at this stone! Uh, sorry for pointing at you like you're a cool thing, Erin," he said, apologetically. Erin shrugged.

"Well, I am pretty cool," she said.

"Yeah you are!" Kipper said.

They fist-bumped. It was unrehearsed and clumsy, but that they managed it at all was impressive.

"Can we pay for this?" Bef said, plonking down her cactus.

"Oh. Yeah. Sure," Erin said.

Exchange of money for goods followed, Kipper standing to one side as he had no part in any of it.

Rose and Erin seemed passingly familiar with one another, which was unsurprising given that Rose had apparently been to this place before. They shot the breeze while Rose passed the car keys to Tulip so that she, Bef and Kipper could start wrangling everything back to the car.

At this point Kipper started actually being useful, just about, as Tulip went off to use the facilities leaving it as just him and Bef to do the wrangling.

“Erin was nice, wasn't she?” Kipper asked as he wheeled the trolley across the gravel back towards the Focus.

“Hmm,” said Bef with an armful of plants.

“So cool, too. I didn't even know you could get cyberwitches! Did you know about that?"

"Yeah," said Bef. Kipper frowned. He could smell something fishy.

“I get the impression you don't like cyberwitches," he said.

Bef snorted and stopped, turning around, glaring.

“Fucking stupid name,” she grumbled to herself, casting dark glances back in Erin's direction before straightening up to actually answer Kipper. “No, no I don't like them. Their techniques are all wrong. I mean sure, they seem cool and they look flashy with all their shiny bits and their sparkles and whatever but they take away from your true sorcerous potential. It's cheapening! It's a shortcut. It's just avoiding hard work, and that hard work is usually a reward in itself. I don't like it.”

In actuality, this was something that Bef had been wanting to say for a while, though the suddenness of it left her words jumbled and she was dissatisfied with her delivery. A part of her felt she'd wasted chunks of a perfectly good speech on Kipper, who could not and would never be able to fully appreciate it.

“This is a witch thing, isn't it?” Kipper asked.

She gave him a withering stare.

“Yeah. Course it's a witch thing. What other kind of thing would it be?”

“No, I just mean so I probably wouldn't really get where you're coming from, would I?”

Not in a mean way, just in an unbridgeable gap sort of way. Kipper could - and did - empathise as much as possible with those friends he had who were able to tap into the mystical energies underpinning existence itself, but as he had no access to or true understanding of what these energies were like, his empathy lacked bite.

He tried, bless him, but he'd never really know.

"No, no you wouldn't. There's more to being a witch than shiny bits or being cool. It's serious, yeah? And people like Erin don't get that. Taking shortcuts, like I say. And I don't like that. You take shortcuts you miss important steps. I'm here taking every step and then you get people hopping over me and acting like they're cool. I don't like it."

Bef unlocked the car and started loading up, Kipper passing her objects from the trolley.

"She seemed nice to me..." He mumbled.

"Everyone seems nice to you, Kipper," Bef countered.

"Everyone is nice..." He mumbled.

Bef didn't see much point in replying to that one.

#What #hwitches #Amwriting #Writblr #Writeblr #Writing

[reyleaux]

because I'm totally ridiculous and this is my new platonic crackship: 18 for Ben Solo and Rose Tico as nerd teamup forced to work together and developing A Rapport.

biTCH ME TOO, THE FUCK.

special shoutout to @futurecatladies, who I know is always down for that good good roselo content. this is technically platonic with shades of background reylo, but i think with just a minor nudge and minimal squinting one could consider it roselo instead (or even ‘also’). 

--

Rose watches him work from behind, half grateful and halfincensed.

On the one hand, they’re barreling away from the Limiter, the First Order’s newestflagship, at high speed. She’s safe – relatively – and on her way home after onlya day in a holding cell that could have easily become an eternity. Things areas good as they’ve been in at least a week, and for Rose that’s saying a lot.

But on the other, the other half of this ‘they’ is Kylo Ren,the one and only Supreme Leader of that same Order from which they’re currentlyrunning.

He opened her cell an hour ago with a serious look on hisface that said he didn’t want to think about what he was doing. She nearlypissed herself in terror but put on a brave face.

“Here to kill me?” She asked him, impressing herself withher defiance.

“Shut up,” Kylo Ren said in a low and slightly nasal voice. “Shesent me. We’re going.”

“I’m not going anywhere,”Rose spat back. “Not with you. Who sent you?”

She could see the tops of his bottom teeth as he sucked in abreath. He closed his eyes. “Rey.”

She scoffed, put off by his dramatics. “Rey sent you.”

“Don’t sound so incredulous about things you don’t understand.”

If the look on his face hadn’t convinced her of the honestyof this frankly baffling admission, his sharp and perfect recitation of herlast conversation with Rey did. It was like he’d been sitting with them in herroom, taking notes on the strange and meandering argument they had aboutrepairing the new base’s laundry equipment.

It was, in a word, unnerving.

But then again, Rose muses now, watching dumbfounded as Ren’supper half disappears into an access panel on his own personal shuttle to rip out the fusebox that powers the ship’s tracker,what about him isn’t unnerving?

“Literally everything about this is illegal!” She halfyells, half hisses.

Kylo Ren grunts as he knocks against something on his wayout of the panel. He has a sparking fusebox in one hand and a hydrospanner inthe other, slightly charred from where she assumes he used it to pry off the fusebox.

“Appropriate that now would be the time I start living up tothe name.” He sounds almost wistful.

He stands and drops the fusebox onto the nearest surface, abuilt-in bench along the wall. He towers over her, but Rose hardly notices, confusedand on-guard at his cryptic admission. “What?” She asks, chin tilted high.

“What do you care about legality, anyway? You’re a Rebel.”

“What do you mean ‘living up to the name?’”

He looks taken aback. “What do you mean, ‘What do you mean?’”

Rose wrenches the spanner from his hand and brandishes it athim. “Don’t repeat my question back at me!”

“You don’t know who I am?”

“Of course I know whoyou are, Kylo Ren.” She spits the name at him, already tired of whatever gamethis is. “You’re the worst thing that’s ever happened to the galaxy.”

“No,” he says, a little quieter. “Before that.”

Rose grits her teeth. She wants to scream. “Out with it! Wedon’t have time for a dramatic reveal right now!” There’s a following pause andshe’s about to warn him not to bother if it’ll make her hate him any more thanshe already does, when—

“Ben Solo,” Kylo Ren says, voice low, eyes lower. “That wasmy name.”

She can tell he’s expecting a gasp, the gentle cracking of aworld-altering revelation. And maybe three weeks ago – before Finn and Rey andnarrowly escaping death on Crait and the First Order beginning its incomprehensibleand rapid implosion – she would have obliged him.

But Rose Tico is different now. More skeptical, yes, but alsoless afraid.

Which might be why she reaches up to grab his chin and tiltshis face down towards her. Her eyes skim the flaring bridge of his nose, thefeline tilt to his eyes, the unruly, triangular brows. She scrunches up hernose, remembering what she can of Han Solo’s face from the holos she’s seen.

He’s surprisingly calm for someone being manhandled by anenemy, if that’s still what they are.

Fair enough, shethinks, that might as well be true, too.

“Well, Solo, putit to some kriffing use.”

She can tell that the smile he cracks is supposed to becharming – that it would have been on Han’s face, all loose and careless – and shecould have expected it to be menacing, even sad.

But what it is instead is absolutely goofy.

His cheeks wing out and he has a gap between his front andeye teeth on both sides. Even worse, he has dimples. Rose can’t help herself.Her eyes roll back.

They’re flying through First Order-controlled space in aship that is (probably) technically stolen, possibly about to do irreparabledamage to the Order and definitely goingto do irreparable damage to the (probably) stolen ship in the process. Disablingthe tracker will be absolutely necessary to making their escape through hyperspace,but the entrances and exits of the lanes are now fully monitored by the Order,meaning that they’ll be apprehended almost instantly once they emerge out ofFTL.

No matter how much Rose knows they’re doing the right thing,it doesn’t change how kriffing dangerousit is, nor how stupid.

She tells him as much.

“Son of Han Solo or not, you can’t fly a ship that’s, one, ina million pieces or, two, booted by C-Dot.”

“Then let’s not get booted.”

“Uh-uh,” Rose says, actually wagging a finger in the face ofKylo Ren, menace of the galaxy. “Let’s just boot them first.”

“It’s an expensive ship, but there aren’t torpedoes.”

“No, we can be cleverer than that.”

“We?”

“What do you know about electrical interference?”

A distant, slightly horrified look crosses his face. “Some.Biologically speaking.”

“That’s fine,” Rose says. “I know enough. What weapons do we have?”

“There’s a standard short-range IR-73 blast canon mountedunder the hull and a miniature rail gun under the cockpit,” he snaps, havingwritten enough reports on this shuttle to answer Rose’s question withoutreflection.

“Wow,” Rose says, flat and sarcastic, “I’m surprised it’snot an IR-80. And here I thought you liked your guns big.”

She turns towards the cockpit and Kylo huffs something likea laugh and follows without thinking. The IR-80 is the blast generator thatsits inside the surface cannons of a star destroyer. Mount one on a ship thissize and it’d blow you back twenty-thousand clicks every time you fired.

“That’s actually—”

“What General Hux suggested in the armaments meetingyesterday,” she finishes for him, giggling as she goes to tap her handheldsplicer into the cockpit’s consol. “I know.”

Kylo Ren tilts his head, looking for all the world like acurious dog. Rose raises her brows and jiggles the splicer in her hand, a small,satisfied smile dimpling her cheeks.

“Didn’t have a lot else to do. Thought I’d get intel, listeningin on the monitors, got a laugh instead.”

Rose ducks away to focus on her task, muttering and swearingunder her breath as she fights the override protocols coded into the ship.

“Okay, almost there.” She presses a button and swivels as ahatch opens nearby. “Grab us those PPE’s.” She points and Kylo obeys, largebody crossing the cabin’s vertical and horizontal space with little more than astretch. Rose doesn’t bemoan her stature, but she kind of wishes she could dothat.

Kylo Ren tosses her a suit and begins pulling his own on. “Theoscillator, right? From the life support block.”

“Yeah,” Rose says, pleasantly surprised by his deference toher orders. “We’ll vent the ship.”

“Then move it into the charging block of the rail gun.”

“I thought you said you didn’t know much about electricalinterference.”

“I don’t,” he says, zipping up the rubberized collar of thesuit. “But she does.”

This time Rose’s brows and lips scrunch up with her nose. “Youmean Rey again. You can say her name, you know.”

His eyes sweep down. Rose’s brain momentarily short-circuitsas she recognizes the look and color on his face. He’s…bashful? Embarrassed? Maker,she really doesn’t have time for whatever thisis.

“You know what?” She flicks a hand in front of herself, asif shooing a fly. “I’m not gonna worry about it.”

He seems relieved, nodding as he pulls on his helmet.

“For now,” she adds. Butjust try to stop me later.

Once they’re suited up, Rose presses another button and thehum of the shuttle’s engine vibrates just lower than before.

After a quick test of the suits’ comm system and asuspiciously synchronized nod, Rose initiates the depressurizing sequence andthey’re plunged into the echoey silence of the vacuum.

They work with minimal banter this time, careful to avoid jostlingthe oscillator and hooking it into the rail gun’s generator system withcareful, coordinated hands.

Rose explains in a soothing, even rhythm how the oscillatorwill charge the rail gun bolts with ionic energy. At the low-power setting she’sprogrammed into it, that will make the bolts effectively nonlethal, but perfectfor their intentions. The ionic charge will ripple through the systems of thetraffic monitoring stations and reverse the current on board for a fewmicroseconds. They’ll essentially have a small power surge, but won’t gooffline. If they time it right, they won’t even notice the shuttle at all. Ifthey time it wrong, they’ll notice the shuttle but not its missing tracker.They’ll get by on looks. It’s actually…she takes a moment to be proud ofherself. It’s actually a pretty foolproof plan.

To her surprise, Kylo Ren agrees.

What’s more, they manage to pull it off. Even in two layersof gloves and a terribly restricting helmet, Kylo is a damn good pilot,managing to target the nearest waystation within microseconds of their jump outof hyperspace. Doesn’t even use the tracking systems. Is that how the Forceworks? Rose will have to ask Rey.

Or, well, she guesses she could ask Kylo. Once this is over.

Once they’re past the scanning range of the traffic stationsand have returned the oscillator to life support, they hang around in thecockpit, PPE’s half-peeled off with the arms tied at their waists. Just in casethey have to suit up again. Kylo taps on the ship’s cloaking and spools hisbody comfortably into the co-pilot’s chair.

“Shouldn’t you be—?” Rose asks, gesturing to the otherchair.

His eyes flicker to hers in confusion, then it clicks. “Iusually don’t, uh—”

“Oh,” she says. Huh.

He stiffens, “I can—”

“No, that’s fine.”

He coughs low in his throat, looking away and running a handthrough his hair. Scrunched up like this, he actually looks capable of feelingself-conscious. Scratch that, he does look self-conscious. Rose recognizes it,feels sympathetic to it, even against her better judgment.

Things have been changing fast, recently. She’s starting togive up on fighting it anymore.

“Also, uh, ‘shut up’? Seriously?”

He shoots her an indignant look.

It doesn’t frighten her at all. And from what she can tellthrough her steely and unwavering gaze, he can tell. His face softens just alittle in response.

“It’s been…” Silence stretches out as his gaze falls out offocus, swimming through the endless mid-distance of space.

“One hell of a week,” she says, “I know.”

He leans back and kicks his feet up on the console. “Ofcourse you do.”

#mine #fanfiction #rose tico #kylo ren #ben solo #roselo #??? #kyrose #laureljupiter

[gregnas-the-grouch]

Rage Incarnate Pt 1

“You will know death.”

The words rang through Yemir’s head like a gong, her consciousness ebbed and flowed like the ocean tide. Only to suddenly jolt awake as she felt a sharp pain piece her wounded chest, her ragged breathing becoming more shallow, if but for a moment. Darkness permeated every corner of this place, yet, as Yemir’s mind became more clear. Her memory came rushing back in. She was in a cave, had been for some time. And the source of the pain she felt was none other than her twisted sister, Whisper. Even with her vision distorted, Yemir could still recognize the insidious wraith’s form, let alone her malicious voice.

“Oh Yemir, I know you’re a bit thickheaded, but even you’re proving to be, how should I say, resilient. Honestly, you’re giving me a run for my money here!” Whisper chuckled, stroking Yemir’s bleeding head ever so tenderly as she gently slid a rotting hand over the Gallade’s cut cheek. Savoring the wound, if only for a second before yanking back her hand as the younger sister snapped at her, baring her sharp teeth. If but for a moment, Yemir seemed alert and aware, only to slump back into her drunken stupor. The silent echo of the cave the two found themselves seemed to only reflect the expression on Yemir’s face, dull and lifeless.

How long had it been now? How many days had passed by, enduring this silent hell as Whisper repeatedly cut into her flesh, over and over again in the oppressive veil of some unknown cavern. Her body displayed many scars from the various cut and burns inflicted upon her by Whisper, even in the dark, it wasn’t too hard for Yemir to make them out, ghost genetics be damned. A puddle of brackish purple blood and an assortment of severed fingers, nails, teeth and skin piled below her. Her regeneration was impressive, yes. But it did little to diminish the agony pulsing through her body.  Hung on these chain like meat left to bleed dry, the hooks piercing her flesh as some unknown force kept the Gallade from going too far. Not like it mattered. Her strength had diminished, her spirit, drained. Amidst all the purple blood seeping from her wounds, one could see veins protruding from the Gallade’s skin, dark and swollen. And though Yemir made no notice of it, Whisper knew all too well what this meant. The Dusknoir narrowed her eye, delicately sliding a poker between her rancid fingers before abruptly thrusting the tip into the side of Yemir’s chest.

The Gallade roared, her eyes becoming alert once more as she struggled against her chains, the cave wall shuddering a bit from her renewed vigor, only to fall limp once more. Whisper was silent for a moment before she suddenly screamed in rage, thrusting the metal rod into Yemir torso again and again with vicious fury, the Gallade coughed out blood, her weariness matched only by the dull hatred she felt for Whisper.

“WHY? WHY DO YOU RESIST ME SO, YOU MISERABLE CUNT? I’M JUST TRYING TO HELP YOU… And you so rudely resist my gracious actions.” The Dusknoir hissed slowly, taking her sweet time with this next stab as the spiked stick slowly made its way into Yemir’s chest. The Gallade hissed, her eyes narrowed at Whisper. So long as the pain was there, she could remember. The younger sibling had no idea what Whisper was talking about, let alone why she returned after so long, torturing her like this.

“Yer insane... t-that’s why.” The Gallade spat, flecks of blood spraying across Whisper’s face. Yemir, for the time being, seemed to have that familiar defiant expression. One that made Whisper’s fetid blood boil. “You kidnap me… m-me… Torture m-me… And now you expect me t-to believe the insane b-babble dripping from yer mouth… I’ll never yield to you.” Yemir snorted, only to wince as Whisper grabbed the poker and snapped off the handle, leaving the tip embedded in her chest. The Dusknoir turned her back on Yemir, pinching her forehead in annoyance. “Oh Yemir, I’m insane. Truly, I am. But if one so blind as I can see what you cannot, then you are doomed. Maybe I’m just wasting my time. Maybe I should let Fenris consume you from the inside out!” Whisper laughed, giggling deliriously at the very thought of Yemir ending up like her.

“Then we’ll truly be related! Two undying corpses sharing the same grave! Oh, what fun, what joy!” Whisper proclaimed, raising her arms in the air as she leaned next to Yemir’s face and quietly whispered “Besides, at least with me, you know what’s up. Unlike Eudai. That unfeeling prick, he’ll be the death of you. And you wouldn’t even know it,” Whisper rasped as Yemir started to become riled up at the mere mockery of her beloved brother. A response that pleased Whisper.

“Don’t you dare talk about Eudai like that, you piece of shit!” Yemir yelled, her anger slowly raising, her awareness rising. “Sure, Eudai is… Weird. But he’s been more of a family to me than you ever had! After everything dad did for you… Spit on his name.” Yemir growled, glaring at Whisper, despite the dark haze fallen over her mind. If anything, the corruption only seemed to further exaggerate Whisper’s twisted features. Her decaying form wavering, voices tugging at Yemir’s mind, only to cease or diminish when her anger rose. Something to which Whisper made note of. Stroking her nonexistent chin, the ghoul wondered if she was simply going about this the wrong way. Most people she interrogated were often weak when it came to physical pain. A simple ply of a fingernail or two or some hot coals in a wound would have them singing. But Yemir? Her body was tough, too tough. The mind, however, was more malleable.

Good. She had some choice words for her sister anyway. What better way to vent your feelings than to let it all out on someone who is half awake and on the verge of being completely corrupted?

“And why shouldn’t I talk about Eudai like that?’ Whisper replied, her words jabbing at Yemir as a crooked smile spread across her disgusting face. “You may not want to believe it. But this ‘family’ is nothing more than stone cold killers out for number one. You just had the fortune… or misfortune, depends on who you’re asking, of developing a conscious.” Whisper sneered as Yemir’s eyes narrowed at her undead sibling.

“So desperate to seek a sense of family, of kinsmanship with the one individual who has as much emotional attachment as a toaster or blender. I’d laugh if it weren’t so pathetic!” Whisper mocked, only to reel her head back as Yemir nearly bit her head off, the Gallade being whipped ever faster into a frenzy. Seems like those magic runes the ghoul had used were starting to lose their effect on the giant as well. But the fiend was only starting. She wanted to see how mad Yemir could get.

“Your loved ones will abandon you.” Boomed the voice in Yemir’s head, ever louder and bolder, adding fuel to the fire.

“Oh come now, Yemir. I know you love him, misplaced as your affection may be. But, it’ll only be a matter of time before he tears you apart. Who knew hats were such devious beings?~” Whisper chuckled, only to be cut off as she heard the wall Yemir was attached to starting to crack under the immensity of her growing might. The Gallade’s eyes glowing with such intense fury. It even made the ghoul hesitate, if but for a moment. But she had to keep pushing the subject.

“Tell me, Yemir. How did you figure this would all end? You fight off the big bad Cadavers and live happily ever after with your whore of a husband, that snot nosed brat you call a daughter and our little brother?” Whisper suddenly cleared her voice before putting on her warped impression of Yemir. “‘Good ol’ Eudai. Quiet, peaceful Eudai. He’s not a bitch like Whisper, she never does anything for the family. Aside from being insane!’” Whisper laughed, her horrid voice piercing Yemir’s mind like a needle as the voice inside the Gallade’s head responded in kind.

“Your fear blinds you to the truth.” The voice proclaimed, taunting Yemir as it felt like her head was about to explode. Steam started seeping from her various wounds. Her mouth pulled back to expose her teeth, ready to tear Whisper in two. Paying no mind to the skin on her back slowly tearing off, the chains cracking. The titan’s patience was coming to an end. There were no words no, just pure anguish and anger, shooting through every molecule of her body. She could feel some kind of heat slowly surging from her very core. A familiar anger, from long ago. Yet… It felt different. So immense, so feral, it frightened Yemir as she tried to reel herself back.

Whisper frowned at her sister’s attempts to regain control. No, this wouldn’t do at all. But what else could she do? Panic began to rush through Whisper’s mind, uncertainty starting to set in as she eyed every conceivable part of Yemir.

That is… Until she laid her eyes on it.

The ‘clothes’ Yemir had been wearing, heirlooms of Gregnas, their father, the last reminder before his untimely demise. Yemir had been carrying them around ever since that fateful day. Her commitment to him, even in the afterlife, beyond compare. For most people in this situation, they might hesitate if they were connected to the family in such a way. Whisper was, no doubt. However. There is no limit to her depravity. With one swift swipe of her mangled claws, she absconded with the Reaper Cloth on Yemir’s left shoulder. The reaction on Yemir’s eyes were immediate as she went from restrained to utter desperation. Before a single word could be croaked from the titan’s mouth, Whisper let the cloth on fire, the flames illuminating her decaying face. Yemir could only watch in horror as the burning cloth slowly drifted from the elder sister’s hand to the floor. Then, ash. The charred particles started to scatter amongst the floor, Yemir’s eyes, wide, suddenly became hidden by her scraggly hair as her head lowered. Hair obscuring her expression as she drooped slightly. All was silent, too silent. The stillness unsettled Whisper as she slowly floated up to Yemir, prodding her silently with a bony finger.

“Yemir? Earth to Yemir, are you there?” The ghoul inquired. No response as Yemir just hung there limply like a piece of meat. The Dusknoir frowned, worried if she went too far. “Dammit it all to hell, I broke her! What am I going to do now if she’s dead in the head?!” Whisper growled, smacking Yemir across the face, but to no effect. The Dusknoir huffed a bit, lowering herself to get a better look at Yemir. Lifting the Gallade’s head up, Whisper made note of the dead, sullen expression on Yemir’s face. As if she was frozen in time. That is, until the air around Whisper started to heat up, drastically. Whisper hissed, feeling her rancid skin boil as she tried to pull away, but to no avail as Yemir suddenly grabbed hold of her arm. Her expression changing from frozen horror to intense fury. Her eyes alight with fire, literally. Having Whisper in her grasp, Yemir bellowed with such intensity, the cave shaking from the mere might of her voice as she broke free from her bindings. Caring little for the flesh being ripped off her back, exposing the muscle and even the spine underneath it as the Gallade, with Sister in tow, threw her wicked sister with all her might through the cave ceiling.

In one go, Whisper went flying through the cavern, having little time to react, let alone go intangible, flying through the sky like a rotten torpedo before landing unceremoniously into the snowy land underneath, face first. Whisper let out a muffled groan as she slowly shook her head, a bit disoriented from the force Yemir had just displayed. “Bleh, that’s a great start… Now if only the world would stop spinning.” Whisper moaned in discomfort, only to snap out of it as she witnessed something blue and shiny suddenly streak through the sky. The Dusknoir squinted as this object suddenly came flying at her. A literal ball of blue fire with teeth and claws attached to it, roaring for Whisper’s blood as it slammed into the ground, causing the ground to shake violently, as if it were alive.

Whisper couldn’t believe what she was seeing. For the brief time since Yemir’s sudden outburst, the Gallade was already twice her original size. Easily towering over the nearby trees as flames started to erupt from her, melting the nearby frost into slush. Yemir’s eyes narrowed in on the ghost, stomping towards Whisper with an unflinching glare. Closer, ever closer. Only to suddenly halt for a brief second as the same voice that spoke inside her mind suddenly reeled her in.

“You cannot have her, she is mine!” The voice yelled, exerting its influence over Yemir as she felt her body stall. Staring at her body, Yemir silently made note of how her blackened veins started to throb and pulse, the taint pumping through her body thrashing against the flames thrumming deep inside her.

“And soon, you shall belong to me as well.” The voice taunted, though it sounded scared as well. Fighting against the giant. Yemir would not allow this. She was done, with everything. Her eyes widened as the intensity of flames grew immensely. Yemir let out an ear splitting screech, the trees nearby splintering into pieces, the wind around her being whipped into a frenzy. Whisper could only watch in wonder as the blackened veins started to recede inside Yemir’s body. Being forced into one spot in her chest. This blackened lump moved and pulsed, undulating underneath Yemir’s flesh with vile intent. Glaring at it with disgust, Yemir held up a hand, before suddenly thrusting her hand into her chest, piercing her flesh as she felt the mass writhing underneath her grasp. With a mighty yank, the ghostly Gallade pulled out what looked like a deformed Giratina, screaming and writhing, coated in her blood and flesh. The screaming grew loud, unbearably so, until, with one final cry, Yemir snapped the creature’s head, the crack utterly deafening as the titan tossed its corpse into the ground, burning to cinders with her ghastly blue flames.

Yemir, despite having a gaping hole in her chest, paid no attention to where this blemish landed. Her attention was already on Whisper, who stared at the elder sister with an intense gaze while the ghoul had an uncertain look on her face. “Uhhh… Parlay?”

#plot #yemir #whisper

[jaeminlore]

Cuddle Hotline // Kim Kibum

-

the prompt: could I have a cuddle hotline key scenario? I was thinking that she’s like a culinary student and only cares about cooking and her friends are like “you need to get out there you’re lonely” so one of her friends orders her a cuddle buddy (key) but when he shows up she just sits him down at the table and makes him try her food and is like “give me an honest opinion so he does and he’s like “this is gross” and she actually really likes his honest opinions on her food so she asks her friend for the app and her friends are excited cause they think she’s enjoying it but actually she’s just using it to help improve her recipes but one day she’s like sad and really just wants someone to cuddle with so she calls key over and he’s like ready to eat but she says she just wants to cuddle today and he gets all cute and nervous because he actually started developing a crush on her -sunflower anon 🌻

words: 4427

category: fluff

author note: this is my first shinee request and it’s for kibum my bias!! i don’t know who you are sunflower anon, but i love you for requesting this. i immediately began thinking of dialogue and stuff bc i wanted to make it perfect.

- destinee

-

You set down your perfected pasta in front of your two friends. “Eat this. I added fresh garlic instead of simple garlic salt. See if it makes a difference.”

Your closest friend, Chaeyoung, looked up at you. “Y/n, this is spaghetti. You have literally made ten batches of spaghetti and they all taste the same.”

You rolled your eyes, “They don’t taste the same. Trust me.”

Chaeyoung took a huge bite and pursed her lips, “Hmm. You know, you’re right. I can really taste the fresh garlic as opposed to the garlic salt.”

“Really?” Your eyes brightened as both of your friends rolled their eyes.

“No!” Chaeyoung said. “It tastes exactly the same, Y/n.”

Your other friend, Minho, furrowed his eyebrows as he pushed the plate away. “Honestly, I feel like I’m going to vomit if I see any more spaghetti. Why do you always spend your free time cooking?”

“Better yet, why do you always use up our free time by making us eat your cooking?” Chaeyoung said. “I could be on a date right now.”

“I could be working out, or studying,” Minho said, giving you a pointed look.

Ever since you were a child, you had wanted to be a chef. Whether or not it was helping your parents cook, or attempting to make your own sandwiches, you were always in the kitchen. The passion had come from your grandmother, who used to teach you how to make cookies from scratch. After seeing your first batch of cookies, you realized that you really enjoyed making creations. You enjoyed the look on people’s faces when they ate your concoctions. From that moment you knew you wanted to be a chef. You would be content the rest of your life to make food for other people. Your dream was to open a restaurant with five-star food at low prices so everyone could enjoy how amazing and artistic food could really be.

You were in your third year of culinary school, and your school was offering an amazing chance to your class. Whichever student could make the best menu would be offered the chance to study their fourth year in Paris, all expenses paid for. It was a dream to you, and you were working desperately to perfect a meal that would impress the judges and leave a lasting impression.

You slumped into one of the empty chairs and covered your face with your hands, moaning. “You guys are right. I’m never gonna win this scholarship with spaghetti. Maybe I’ll try sushi.”

Chaeyoung patted your head gingerly. “I think you need to take a break. When’s the last time you just took a rest day instead of cooking?”

“I haven’t,” you said. “I can’t afford to lose a day. Each day I fail is a day closer to the deadline and I have to make something to submit.”

“You need to sleep,” Minho said.

“No,” Chaeyoung denied. “You need a cuddle buddy. Look, there’s this app where you can pay for someone to come and give you cuddles. Studies show that cuddling with another human relaxes the soul.”

You rolled your eyes. “I don’t need a cuddle buddy, I need you guys to help me find the best dish.”

“C'mon, Y/n. You can’t deny that you’re lonely. Here, let’s download the app and look for some ideal partners.”

You ignored the two of them as they browsed through people, shouting out their likes and dislikes. Instead, you cleared the dishes and put them in your dishwasher, preparing to make your next meal.

“Oh! Look at him!” Minho suddenly shouted. “User Key-underscore-freak.”

You snorted, “Anyone with the word “freak” in their username is not getting my address.“

“Too late,” Chaeyong said. “I sent him a message.”

“Why?” You darted over to look over your friends’ shoulders. You had to admit, the pictures were nice. It did state that he was only two years older than you, and he seemed to have an obsession with a certain pair of dogs. “How many pictures of his dogs is he going to post?”

Minho clicked out of his pictures and began to read out his likes and dislikes. “Likes: dogs, fashion, and theater. Dislikes: liars, ugg boots, and people who don’t like dogs. He sounds simple enough. His cuddle rate is high, too. Apparently a lot of people like to cuddle with him.”

You rolled your eyes. “I don’t want to cuddle him, no matter how high his rate is. Now, should I use salmon or tuna for my sushi?”

Chaeyoung suddenly squealed, “He wrote back! He’s open today! I’m asking him to come over!”

“Don’t!” you warned, “I have stuff to do today.”

Chaeyoung waved your concern away. “Minho and I will pay for it, okay? Just enjoy being in someone else’s presence for once instead of thinking about your next dish. Can you do that?”

You groaned and turned back to your fish, ignoring her. “Please don’t.”

“Too late. He’s coming in an hour. Minho and I will be leaving so the two of you can have some time to get to know each other.”

You grumbled the whole time you were making your sushi. You weren’t even paying much attention to what you were doing, and so you ended up making a pretty weird dish. Still, you set it out on the table. If someone was coming over to your house, you would ask them to try your dish. Cuddling could wait for another day.

The doorbell to your apartment rang, and you hesitantly made your way to the door. Finally, after a small mental pep talk, you swung the door open.

The man in front of you wasn’t too much taller than yourself, and he was rather nimble-looking, you felt. Nevertheless, his smile was open and warm as he held his hand out for you. “I’m Kim Kibum. You’re Y/n?”

He was wearing black skinny jeans and an oversized t-shirt, covered by a brown bomber jacket. His dark hair seemed styled and his skin felt moisturized and smooth as you accepted his handshake. A large duffle bag hung over his shoulder, and you felt more uncomfortable as you stared at it. “… that’s me.”

Kibum followed your gaze and let out a bark of laughter. “I just carry this around to put my pajamas, laptop, blanket, and pillow. Cuddling necessities, you know?”

You didn’t know. You had never cuddled with anyone in your life. You never really felt like you needed to. “Actually, can we not cuddle?”

Kibum furrowed his eyebrows and pouted his lips. “No cuddling?”

“Yeah. You see, I’m a chef and I really need someone to try my dishes.”

Kibum’s eyes brightened. “You’re a chef? Great, I haven’t eaten all day.”

He walked into your house and discarded his jacket and bag onto your sofa. “What’s on the menu?”

“Sushi,” you replied, running past him to grab the plate of food. You placed it on the table, along with a cup of water. “Tell me what you think about it. I want your honest opinion.”

Time seemed to stand still as Kibum put the sushi in his mouth. The more he chewed, however, the more his face turned into that of disgust. He swallowed thickly before giving you his verdict. “This is gross.”

You felt your spirit deflate. “Really? What’s wrong with it?”

Kibum have you a look of obvious disappointment, “Well, first of all, why did you stick scrambled eggs in your sushi roll? That’s nasty.”

Your nose scrunched. “I was distracted. It didn’t seem like a bad idea at the time.”

Kibum handed the plate back to you. “Who are you making a dish for anyway?”

“I’m trying to win a trip,” you explained as you dumped the bad sushi into the garbage can. “If I make a good enough dish, I’ll be allowed to study my final year of culinary school in Paris, France.”

“I love Paris,” Kibum said. “I’ve been a few times. You’re going to have to step up your game if you want to cook with the chefs of France, though. I hear they’re brutal.”

“I know,” you sighed. “I’ve just been distracted lately. I am a good cook, really.”

Kibum cocked his head to the side, “Looks like you’ll need to prove that, Honey, since your sushi was worse than the food I buy for my dogs.”

You frowned. “That bad, huh?”

Kibum nodded, “Sorry, Babe. Tell you what, why don’t I give you a dish and you make it for me? Do you think you can handle that?”

You rose your eyebrows. “Are you patronizing me, Kibum?”

“If the shoe fits.”

You crossed your arms over your chest. “I didn’t peg you as that type, Kibum.”

He smirked and looked up at you, “What type is that, Y/n?”

“Rude,” you answered.

He laughed again, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he threw his head back. “You should get used to it, since we’re friends now. So… how about it?”

“Give me a dish and I’ll make it perfect.” You pursed your lips, “Then you won’t underestimate me.”

Kibum smiled and sat back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling and humming to himself, “You know, my friend took me to this really expensive restaurant in New York last year. Maybe I can remember my favorite dish there. Let’s see… oh yeah! Arctic char, leeks, green olives and smoked potato. If it’s even close to what I had last year, I’ll believe that you’re a cook.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, “You’re on.”

“Wait. You actually have Arctic char in your fridge?” Kibum looked impressed.

“Surprisingly, yes. I bought a ton of different ingredients this week for trial and error. That includes all the fish present at the market,” you said as you turned to your stove.

Kibum stood up as you grabbed a clean saucepan from its hook. “You know how to make it?”

“I’ve been studying culinary arts since I was a child, Kibum. A few smoked potatoes aren’t going to faze me.” A sudden confidence took over your presence, and Kibum found himself smiling at the way you assertively cut and rinsed your ingredients. “In fact, I think you’ve given me the surge of energy I needed to work on my dish. Who knows? This could be the winning one.”

Kibum stood up and leaned on the counter to watch as you seasoned the fish. “You should put your hair up.”

You looked up at him, pouting as you realized your bangs were falling into your face. “You’re right. Let me wash my hands—”

“I’ll do it,” Kibum interrupted you, moving around the counter till he stood behind you. He pulled the hair tie out of your ponytail and fixed your hair into a tight bun on top of your head. “There you go. Now there’ll be no hair in your char.”

You giggled. “Thanks, Kibum. Now go sit while I finish this up.”

“Yes Ma'am.”

-

You held your clasped hands against your lips in anticipation as you watched Kibum taste the dish in front of him. You were hoping with all your heart that he would like it. For some strange reason, his opinion meant a lot to you, and you were desperate for his honest approval.

Kibum chewed slowly, perhaps to spite you. His eyes were void of emotion, erasing any guess you could have about how he liked the food. Suddenly, his lips quirked into a smile. “It’s okay.”

“How is it okay?” you asked. “Which part of it is okay? What could I change? Would it get me a trip to Paris?”

Kibum blinked. “Well, for starters, it won’t get you to Paris. It’s good though. Very similar to what I had in New York. The potatoes aren’t smoked enough, and the leeks were a but soggy, but the char is excellent. I’d keep it for your protein.”

You broke out into a smile. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Kibum nodded. “So now all you need are side dishes.”

“I also need a dessert,” you clarified.

Suddenly, a beeping came from Kibum’s pocket, causing both of you to jump. “Oh. That’s the two hours you paid for. We didn’t get to cuddle, but I had a lot of fun.”

You grinned. “Me too. Thanks, Kibum.”

“No problem, Babe. See you later.”

-

Kibum must’ve thought it was you who contacted him, since he assumed you’d do it again. Unfortunately, you had no idea what app Chaeyoung had used, nor how to contact Kibum again.

The thing was, you had been perfecting recipes for vegetable side dishes for the past week, and you were dying to have Kibum taste them. So, with no other choice, you swallowed your pride and asked Chaeyoung for the name of the app.

“You like him!” was her first assumption.

“I do not,” you retorted, “The… cuddling was nice, is all.”

Chaeyoung smirked, “The app is called Cuddle Me. You remember his username, don’t you?”

You rolled your eyes and scoffed at her as you downloaded the app. “Yes. Now leave me alone.”

-

“Couldn’t stay away, could you?” Kibum smirked as you opened the door to your apartment. “I’ll admit, I thought you wouldn’t invite me over again. I thought you might’ve found someone else to try your mediocre recipes.”

“Mediocre? Yeah, right.” You noticed he had, yet again, brought his duffel bag. However, he obviously didn’t intend on using it since he threw it onto your couch as soon as he entered.

“I’m ready to eat soggy vegetables!” he announced.

“Stop hating on food you haven’t even eaten yet!” you whined, following him into the kitchen.

Kibum laughed gingerly and sat at the counter. “Pass the plate, honey.”

“Okay, today I made mushrooms à la bordelaise, Mediterranean baked sweet potatoes, eggplant skins stuffed with veggie risotto, and caramelized balsamic cipollini onions.”

“Marry me,” Kibum said as he stared at all the dishes you placed in front of him. He licked his lips as he looked at the tantalizing food.

You blushed at his praise. “Don’t get too excited. You haven’t tried them all yet. I need you to tell me if I can use any of these as my side dishes.”

“Get me a fork and I’m yours,” Kibum stated.

While he ate the dishes slowly, with the meticulousness of an actual food critic, you asked him about his interests. “You said you were into fashion?”

“I am,” he said. “I’m a fashion designer, and my company is just starting to get the recognition it deserves.”

“Really? What’s your company?” You were genuinely interested in his life, as he seemed so lively and sure of himself.

Kibum put down his fork and smacked his lips, thinking. “Designs by Key. It’s a newer company, since we got it up and running smoothly just this past year. I’ve tried a lot of different paths, but my newest line is getting a lot of attention. My goal is to make women’s clothes that women actually want to wear.”

“What do you mean?” Your eyebrows turned up in confusion.

Kibum chuckled, “Not that you would know, since your wardrobe seems to consist of simply jeans and t-shirts, but in the high fashion world, lots of women’s clothes are created without the woman’s best interests in mind. You’d like this: in my line, girls get usable pockets in their jeans and skirts. We’re also working on a range of clothes fit to perfection for each different female body shape. I have a lot of female friends and colleagues and they explained to me that clothes don’t always fit properly, especially when the ratio size of breast to waist is really different. So, we’re working to make a line based on nearly customizable clothing for females. My ultimate goal is to make everyone feel comfortable in their own skin, through fashion.”

“Wow,” you breathed. “That’s so cool. Call me when your designs go on sale, okay? I’ll buy one of everything.”

Kibum nodded, “Only if you call me when you open your restaurant so I can sample the entire menu. These side dishes are pretty great. I would choose the mushrooms and the eggplants, personally.”

You clapped your hands together, “That’s perfect! I’ll make stuffed eggplant skins for the appetizer, char and mushrooms for the entree, and then a dessert! Then that ticket to Paris is as good as mine.”

“You’ll invite me over to try out the dessert, right?”

“Of course,” you said with a playful roll of your eyes. “You know Kibum, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you like hanging out with me.”

Kibum laughed, but you caught the pink tint that crept onto his cheeks. “Honey, I think you’re mistaking yourself with your cooking.”

“Why do you keep calling me honey and babe?”

“Instinct, I guess. If you don’t like it, I’ll stop.”

“No,” you denied softly, “It’s fine.”

-

“Okay, so I have green tea custard, dark chocolate mousse with almonds, strawberry cheesecake, and hazelnut pie with spiced ice cream.”

Kibum hummed as he stared at all the dishes. “You’re too good to me, Y/n.”

You sat beside him, nibbling on an untoasted strawberry poptart and checking the made-up menu you had created in your phone notes. You would enter your menu tomorrow, a day before the scholarship deadline. Everything was perfect, and all you had to do was get Kibum to choose a dessert.

Kibum put a spoonful of the mousse into his mouth and clapped slowly. “This is everything. A bit bitter, so maybe add some brown sugar or something to sweeten it, but other than that it’s everything.”

He finished the mousse peacefully, enjoying the dessert freely as he scrolled through his phone. “Do you wanna see my dogs?”

“I already saw them on the app,” you answered, “but I guess I can see them again.”

Kibum scoffed, “You guess? Good grief, Y/n, at least try to act excited as I show you my pride and joys.”

“Sorry,” you giggled, leaning closer to him so you could see his phone screen.

“This one is Comme Des and this one is Garçons,” he explained. He then explained to you their favorite foods to eat, places to sleep, and clothes to wear.

“You dress your dogs? Isn’t that considered abuse?”

Kibum looked offended. “Abuse? They love being dressed up, trust me. Oh! Idea!” He suddenly perked up, turning to face you, “You should make your own gourmet dog food line!”

You deadpanned. “No. That’s an insult to my passion.”

Kibum pouted. “My babies would love it.”

“Just eat your cheesecake.”

Kibum chuckled and obeyed, complimenting your skills as he continued to stuff his face.

In the end, Kibum stayed by the mousse, and wished you luck that you would get that scholarship. “We could even meet up in Paris. You, a renowned chef and me, a famous fashion designer. Together we can conquer the world.”

You shook your head, “I don’t want to be renowned. That’s not my goal. I want to make great food for people who can’t afford it. I won’t get very renowned for that.”

Kibum furrowed his eyebrows, “Sorry? Do you think people like paying and arm and a leg for their meals? Y/n, if you succeed in a restaurant like that, you’ll be the talk of the year in the culinary world. It’s a huge financial risk, considering you have nothing to start with, but you can easily make it up with the amount of customers you’ll get. Open sponsors spots as well, and have them pay to support your restaurant as long as you name a dish after them or something. Designs by Key can be your first proud sponsor of many as long as you name the chocolate mousse after me. You could go far with this one, babe.”

You picked at the hem of your shirt, a shy smile appearing on your face. Not even your closest friends gave you the confidence Kibum did in just a few visits. You felt close to him, and you were sure he felt close to you as well. There was a natural attraction there, as if the two of you knew each other in another life or something.

Shaking your head out of those thoughts, you reached forward and wrapped your arms around Kibum’s neck. He let out a noise of surprise, but eased into your hold rather quickly. “Funnily enough, you’d think touch wouldn’t fluster me with this little side job. Your touch is different, I guess.”

You felt your face warm at his soft-spoken words. Surely he didn’t mean it in the way you thought. He was just talking about the emotional aspect of two friends hugging. That’s what you told yourself, since you couldn’t think about anything more than that with the deadline so close.

Kibum was the first to pull away, but he planted his hands on your shoulders before he left. “Go get ‘em, babe. Show them your talent.”

He tapped your nose, and grinned when a giggle spilled out of your mouth. “Keep that smile, okay? You’ll do great.”

You nodded, feeling more sure of yourself. “Thanks, Kibum.”

“I’ve got you. Oh, and when you win, invite me over so we can eat the winning meal together,” he said with a confident wink.

-

You stared at the phone in your hands, contemplating whether or not to ask Kibum over.

The thing was, you had come in second place. Although that was great, and would look fantastic on your resume, it wouldn’t get you a ticket to Paris. You were disappointed in yourself, and you kept going over the menu, wondering how you could’ve made it better. You were sure Kibum would be disappointed with you too. He had been so sure that you would win, and when you told him the truth, he might think you didn’t try hard enough. You had. You had given that food your all and had been so sure that you would get the scholarship.

Unfortunately, things don’t always go to plan.

In the end, you really wanted some kind of comfort. Kibum was the only one you wanted it from, which wasn’t too surprising considering how close the two of you had gotten ins ice a short amount of time. Before you could second guess yourself, you sent him message, asking him to come over. After that, you muted your phone, unable to see his reply, which would more than likely imply that you won and he couldn’t to wait to congratulate you in person.

You groaned and shoved your face into your couch cushions. You weren’t ready to see his face.

-

Kibum could tell something was wrong as soon as you opened the door. Your makeup was smudged at the corners and your hair was messier than usual.

“What’s wrong, babe?”

“I didn’t win, Kibum,” you said. “I did everything you said and did my best, but it wasn’t enough. I’m sorry.”

Kibum let out a breathy laugh, “Why are you apologizing? There are so many things more important than winning a scholarship.”

“Like what?” you frowned.

“Like, for instance, your skills grew as you practiced, and you stepped out of your comfort zone. Also, the most important thing is that you met me.” Kibum walked passed you, and with the usual toss of his bag he turned around, “So what do you say we cook together today? Something simple and tasty.”

You stared at Kibum’s raised eyebrows, unable to answer. You didn’t want to cook right now. In fact, all you really wanted was another one of Kibum’s hugs. “Actually… can we cuddle?”

Kibum’s ears turned red very quickly, but he covered up his flustered expression by licking his lips and turning his head towards his duffel bag. “No cooking? You just want to cuddle?”

You nodded, “You’re a good hugger so you have to be a good cuddler, right? I really need that right now.”

Kibum’s expression softened. “You got it, then. Let me change into some comfortable clothes.”

He returned quickly, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt. He opened his duffel bag and pulled out a large duvet. “I’m ready to cuddle!”

He sat down on the couch, his eyes on you as he patted his lap. “C'mere, babe.”

You accepted his invitation and curled up into his lap. He wrapped the blanket around the two of you and pushed your hair off of your face with his nimble fingers. “How’s this?”

“It’s perfect,” you mumbled, nuzzling your face into his chest. He smelt like honey and some kind of musk, and it made your heart stir with feelings that you had previously pushed down. “Kibum?”

“Yeah?”

You looked up at him, your cheek against his collarbone. He rubbed your hips gently as he waited for you to speak. “I think I like you.”

After your confession, you quickly ducked your head down, afraid to see his reaction. His fingers froze on your skin and soon you couldn’t feel the warmth of them on your skin.

You ruined it, Y/n, you told yourself. You should’ve just kept it in. Then Kibum’s fingers were under your chin as he lifted your face towards his. “Really?” he questioned, his breath fanning your face as he leaned in closer.

You searched his eyes for any teasing, but there was only affection in his glassy brown eyes. “Yeah. I like you, Kibum. You make me feel confident. You make me feel like I can do anything I put my mind to, but you also give me a sense of warmth and comfort I’ve never received before.”

Kibum chuckled, “Honey, I’ve liked you since you made me eat that disgusting sushi.”

He was still in the midst of laughing when his lips reached yours. You cupped his face with your hand to bring him closer to you. Your own lips turned into a smile as you finally felt how soft his were. Kibum pulled away, “We have to stop smiling or we can’t kiss properly.”

You shrugged, biting your lip to try and stop the giddiness from showing on your face. “Sorry.”

Kibum pressed a soft kiss to your forehead, “Don’t be. There will be plenty of times to kiss in the near future.”

He wriggled his eyebrows seductively, causing you to erupt into more giggles as you slapped his chest gently. “You’re stupid.”

“Well you’re dating stupid,” Kibum pointed out.

“Touché.”

~the end~

#kim kibum #shinee #shinee au #shinee scenarios #shinee scenario #shinee fluff #shinee imagine #shinee imagines #kibum scenarios #kibum fluff #kibum imagines #kibum imagine #kibum au #key scenarios #key scenario #key au #key fluff #key imagines #key imagine #key #shinee key #destwrites #was jiminklings

[michelleisinhell]

Work It Out

In which Eric Bittle officially comes out to his Mama. 

Read on Ao3

It was only hours into Christmas vacation and the Bittle Family’s quaint, sunshine yellow kitchen was already overflowing with every kind of pie-like confection imaginable. Apple. Cherry. Rhubarb. You name it, and it was probably perched on one of the many crowded windowsills.

This increased state of pie productivity was due in part to the fact that the elder Bittle had missed her son/best friend/partner in sugary crime something fierce while he was away at college, but it was mostly just because Eric himself was more nervous than he’d ever been in his whole life.

Today was the day. Today was the day he would tell her about Jack.

Jack, the sweet boy, had wanted to do a proper sit down dinner between the four of them to make it easier, but he was busy finishing up a four day road trip and Eric kind of wanted to test the waters first anyway; you know, edge his way up under the band-aid of heteronormativity before ripping it off completely.

Eric sighed and stuffed his hands deep into his jacket pockets to hide the shaking. His mother was bent over rummaging through the refrigerator and humming a Katy Perry song slightly offkey.

He took a moment to imagine Jack’s loving blue eyes and steady hands. He imagined how nice it would feel to bring Jack home with him for the holidays. To snuggle close on the couch watching movies while Moo Maw snored in the background. To lovingly stare at each other across the hall and lean in close at dinnertime and pick food off of each other’s plates without worrying about what anyone might think.

The only way to get to that point was to tell them.

He sucked in a deep breath.

“Mama, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

Something in his tone must have alerted Suzanne to his nerves because she retreated from the refrigerator without the milk she’d been looking for and turned to him with furrowed brows.

“What’s wrong Dicky?”

“Nothing’s wrong mama, I promise.” Eric plastered on his fakest most accommodating smile. “Just some...developments.”

Suzanne folded her arms across her chest. “You didn’t get another concussion did you? Because I swear--”

“I’m seeing someone,” Eric blurted, stopping her mid-lecture.

“Oh,” she said quietly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She followed with a tentative, “What’s her name?”

Eric’s heart gave an uncomfortable squeeze at the word ‘her’. He didn’t really know how to continue, but like always, Suzanne sensed her son’s hesitation and wrapped him up in a hug.

“Whoever it is honey, you can tell me,” she whispered in his ear. “As long as you’re happy. That’s all that matters.”

Eric breathed in deeply. She still smelled like cinnamon from the cobbler they’d made hours ago.

“I’m not dating a girl Mama.” He said, pulling away.

Suzanne was quiet for a moment, processing. Then her eyes narrowed and she was nodding. “Okay,” she said. “Okay yeah. I was wondering about that.”

Eric hid his face in his hands. “Am I really that obvious?”

Suzanne gave him a wry smile. “No. Your aunt Prudence told me you mentioned something about it on your blog, but I wasn’t sure if I should believe her or not. You know how she gets about gossip, bless her heart.”

“You’re not upset with me?”

Suzanne smoothed back his hair. “Of course not my love. I’m a little upset that you felt like you had to hide it from me, but I understand. Thank you for finally letting me know.”

Tears started falling down Eric’s cheeks. “I don’t know how to tell Coach.”

Suzanne pulled up a chair from the island and practically forced her crying son into it.

“Sweetheart,” she cooed, leaning over him. “You’re daddy loves you no matter what. You know that?”

“He’s gonna be so disappointed in me.” The words came out mangled and broken with sobs. His greatest fear, put into words for the very first time.

“He won't be.” She said it like a fact instead of a promise.

Eric nodded and leaned back in his chair until the sniffling subsided. Suzanne handed him a tissue that materialized out of nowhere via some sort of mom magic. He loudly blew his nose into it.

“So,” she said, tapping her nails on the edge of the countertop. “Who’s the lucky boy? Is it the cute goalkeeper you’re always going on about?”

Eric choked on a laugh.

“No, not Chowder. He’s got a girlfriend. It is someone from the team though. It’s uh, well you’ve actually met him.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Not Adam or Justin?”

Eric shook his head. “No, not them.”

His mother’s eyes suddenly went wild with panic. “Not…”

“No mother. I’m not dating Sh-- I mean, Mr. Crappy.” Bitty shuddered at the very thought. Not that Shitty wasn’t great or anything, but reciprocated romantic love from Mr. Knight was not something that many people (besides Lardo) were likely to survive. “It’s Jack Mom. I’m dating Jack.”

Suzanne cracked a grin. “That’s funny sweetheart, but seriously. Who is it? I’m running out of ideas.”

Eric threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Moooooom. Coming out is hard enough without you discrediting me.”

“Well I wouldn’t have to discredit you if you’d just tell me the truth!”

A flash of white hot irritation sparked  in Eric’s chest. “Wait here.” He demanded, hopping off the chair and running to retrieve his phone from it’s spot next to the powder blue kitchenaid mixer. Sitting back down, he made a huge show of opening up facetime and calling his boyfriend. Jack answered on the third ring, shirtless and flushed, likely just getting done with drills or warm ups or something. There was a wall of lockers situated behind him, but the room seemed a touch too quiet to be filled with professional athletes.

Jack smiled up at him. “Hey Bits, what’s up?”

“Who all’s there with you?” Eric demanded in lieu of a hello.

“Uh, just Marty, Randy and Tater, why?”

Eric angled the phone closer so that his mom could see the screen and said, “Jack Zimmermann will you please tell my mother that you’re dating me?”

There was a chorus of whistles and oohs from the boys, including one very enthusiastic “Hi Bee tee” from Tater. Bitty couldn’t bring himself to care about that right now.

Jack cleared his throat. He was good and flustered, “Bits, I thought we agreed that you wanted to be the one to tell her.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “I did. She doesn’t believe me.”

Jack had the nerve to chuckle. The boys in the background were downright cackling.

Eric scowled at him. “Oh you think that’s funny, do you mister Zimmermann?”

Jack smiled sheepishly. “Maybe a little bit. Put her on the phone.”

Eric turned and beckoned his mother closer, handing over the device. She took it, though it was already clear from the stunned look on her face that she believed them.

“Hi Mrs. Bittle,” Jack said brightly as if he weren’t half naked and having an embarrassing personal conversation in the middle of a locker room full of his peers. “I know it might seem hard to believe since he’s way out of my league and all, but I’ve been dating your son for almost nine months now. Sorry for not telling you sooner.”

“Oh, wow,” she said giggling. “This is really happening. Dicky, take the phone I think I might faint.”

“Don’t be so dramatic mother,” he huffed snatching back the phone.

He was once again staring at Jack’s handsome and slightly bemused face.

“Anything else, Bits?”

“Nope. That will be all. Thanks honey. And, uh, I’m sorry in advance for all the chirping.”

Jack shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Love you.”

“I love you too. Talk to you later.”

Eric hung up to the resounding sound of the word “Fiiiiiiiiiiiine” echoing throughout the locker room. He’d probably just cost Jack a good three hundred dollars. He was going to have to make that up to him next time he saw him.

He was already looking forward to it actually...

“Do you believe me now, mother?” Eric asked, pocketing his phone.

His mother was smiling with manic girlish delight. “Honey, you’re dating an actual prince. A hockey prince. This is unbelievable.” Then her eyes widened even further. “Wait, were you already dating when he visited you last summer?!”

“Yes. Just barely. Jack told me how he felt at his graduation and he didn’t want to wait a whole three months to see me again so he arranged a visit.”

“That’s so romantic! Did you boys do anything for valentine's day? Tell me everything.”

Eric had to admit, despite his initial fears and roller coaster of emotions, it felt really good to gush about Jack to someone who was just as excited about it as he was. He was about halfway through describing the roses when the smoke detectors went off.

“The tart!” They both gasped, racing for the oven. Smoke was wafting out of it and disappearing up into the high-beamed ceiling.

Eric put on oven mitts, yanked the door open and coughed his way through to the completely charred tart on the center rack.  

“Whoops,” Eric said.

Suzanne laughed. “Yeah, whoops. You picked a doozy of a time to come out Dicky.”

Eric looked up at his mother’s warm and loving eyes and smiled to himself. “No,” he said. “It was perfect.”

Suzanne patted him on the shoulder and retrieved the ruined tart from him with an old dishrag. “I’ll take care of this,” she said confidently. “You go talk to your father.”

Eric’s heart sank. “Mama…”

“Eric Richard Bittle you go down to the den and tell your father about your boyfriend right now. I know you’re scared, but he’ll be happy for you. Literally as far as serious relationships go I don’t think you could have picked anyone more impressive to your father than a professional athlete. Might wanna lead with that.”

She set the tart down on the stovetop and gave him a little shove toward the door. She was stronger than she looked.

Eric allowed his feet to carry him all the way to the den without stopping. His heart was thundering so hard in his ears that he could hardly hear anything else.

But if he didn’t do it now, he never would.

He sucked in a breath and tried to pretend that he was gearing up for a game and not a potentially disastrous conversation before rapping his knuckles once against the doorframe and poking his head inside.

“Daddy, can I talk to you for a minute?”

#zimbits #omgcp #eric bittle #suzanne bittle #coming out #fanfic #mine