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ellecdc · 2 months

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Love, i just had a heartbreaking thought; James' first solo excursion with Vix. He'd be so anxious and stressed because all he can think is " i wont leave without her this time" 😭

Could i request paranoid james and vix going shopping alone for the first time?? I feel that hed want one of those stretchy child hand cuff things so he wouldnt lose her

Poor Jamie. I wanna give this sod the biggest hug in the whole wide world

James was losing it - he was well aware of this. Every movement, every car horn, every bell ringing above a shop door, every person laughing or yelling brought him closer to you until you were basically wearing him like a backpack.

"Doing alright, Jamie?" You asked kindly, politely, concernedly. James wanted to shove you under his arm and take cover.

"Yeah, yup. Never better." He said distractedly as he continued to scan your surroundings.

The two of you had volunteered to pick up the cake from the magical bakery on Diagon Alley for Remus' birthday, which quickly turned into shopping for presents in Muggle London, which turned into a full on shopping spree at a large mall.

James hated it.

Being in a building felt claustrophobic and he was panicky watching you even reach for door handles - sure as all get out that the place was quickly becoming consumed by fiendfyre. He didn't fair much better outside, however, feeling as though you were both too vulnerable in the open; desperate to find coverage.

Really, he just wanted to take you home.

"How much longer do you think we'll be?" He asked you as he glared menacingly at a male shopper who had the audacity to wear all black until he left your vicinity.

"Not long, James. I just want to hit the grocery before we head back; it might be nice to have a charcuterie, no?"

James wanted to say "actually, I'm pretty sure shopping for charcuterie might be what kills us, Vix." But since that was crazy, he opted to hum in agreement as you led the way.

The two of you passed by a toy store where he saw a parent walking a child on a lead like a dog. His first thought was 'good lord, muggle parents are something else'. His second though was 'I should buy one for me and Vix'.

He turned back to the direction you two had been heading when he realized he couldn't see you anymore.

"Vix?" He said quietly as he spun in place. "Y/N?!" He shouted louder, garnering attention from the other shoppers near by.

What was he going to do? He couldn't very well pull his wand out right now. He would pull his wand out if he needed to - Azkaban be damned for breaking the statute of secrecy - but he was not going home to Sirius without you again.

"Y/N!" He shouted as he started shoving his head against the glass windows of various shops on the street, trying to catch a glimpse of you.

He felt tears prick his eyes as his breathing became faster. How could he have done this? How could he have lost you again!?

Unawares of the panic you just caused, you exited the shop with a bouquet of lilies for James - knowing he liked having fresh flowers around his home that reminded him of his 'beautiful flower' to find him spinning around frantically with tears streaming down his face like a toddler who lost their parent at the zoo.

"James!" You called as you raised your hand. He spotted you instantly and made for you - crushing your bouquet between the two of you as he enveloped you in a bone crushing hug.

"Where were you!? I couldn't find you anywhere!" He cried as he held on fast to your form. You patted his back consolingly.

"Awe, Jamie. I'm sorry. I thought you were following me - I just wanted to get you some flowers!" You explained as you pulled the slightly flattened bouquet away from your body.

All anxiety and any pretence of anger slipped away as James beamed at the bouquet. "You got me flowers!?" He shrilled as he took them from you.

You beamed right back at him and gave him another hug. "I'm sorry for frightening you, Prongs. Why don't we go to the grocery and then head home?"

James took a steadying breath and nodded at you.

"Can we hold hands?" He asked somewhat sheepishly.

You immediately held out your hand which he quickly enveloped with the one not holding his bouquet as you set off for the shops.

He didn't let your hand go until you made it into Grimmauld Place and Sirius hollered at him for making moves on his girl.

#marauders come back be here #marauders au #marauders fanfiction #marauders x reader #marauders #ask elle #self insert #reader insert #sirius black #james potter

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ladykailitha · 6 months

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Grief (A Friend Indeed) Part 6

And we're back on this story. I didn't get as much Halloween stories in as I wanted, but there is still a week and half left in the month so I might get a couple of one-shots out before the big day. I have one with the older teens dressing up as RHPS characters for a midnight showing I'm part of the way through that might get done in time. We'll see.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

***

Eddie hadn’t seen Steve in close to an hour and it was starting to worry him.

He been bombarded with commiseration after commiseration from friends of his grandma and their families. All the Munson family was already here.

Almost.

As far as Eddie knew, Al Munson was still in some jail in Texas for grand theft auto. His third strike in the state of Texas. Who knows how many strikes he had in other states. Wayne wasn’t telling, and Eddie wasn’t asking.

He was standing there in his best jeans and nice black button up. It wasn’t what he was going to wear to the funeral, Wayne had raised him better than that. But he thought it was nice for a wake.

And it wasn’t as though Steve was dressed up either. He was wearing khakis and a grey Henley.

But all around him Eddie could feel the eyes of the other mourners, looking at him, judging him, and absolutely finding him wanting.

He stood in the corner, sinking further and further from view as he felt assaulted by their glares.

Suddenly there was a warm hand on his back and voice in his ear telling him to take a walk outside with him.

He let Steve lead him out of the house and onto the porch.

Steve pulled out a cigarette and lit it, handing it to Eddie and then lighting one of his own.

“You grandma must have been one hell of a lady to have that many mourners at her wake,” Steve said after a moment or two of smoking in silence.

Eddie snorted. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, pretty boy. This is just close friends and family. Tomorrow’s gonna be the real shindig. It’s going to be standing room only in the church.” He paused. “Ah, shit. That’s going to be okay, right? Going to a Catholic church?”

Steve scoffed. “Yeah, that’s fine. Not religious myself. Kinda hard to be when you’ve seen the worst of humanity and actual fucking monsters.”

Eddie look a long drag of his cigarette. “I feel that. Stopped believing in God when I heard that AIDS was one of God’s modern plagues against the unrighteous.”

Steve shook his head. “That fucking blows. I figure if there was a Jesus, he was like El, you know? Just extra human, no God required.”

Eddie laughed. “Yeah. I bet that’s what it was. Thanks for that.” He raised his cigarette. “And this.”

Steve bumped their shoulders together. “No trouble, Eds. I could hear what they were saying about you behind your back and I thought you could use the break.”

“You thought right, Stevie,” he agreed. “Not a Christian heart in a single one of those church goers.”

Steve hummed. “This is what I’m here for on this trip, okay? I will put myself between you and those hateful people.”

Eddie laid his head on Steve’s shoulder. “God, it’s on top of everything else, you know. The six hour drive yesterday. My aunt being a bitch to you even though you didn’t deserve it. Putting on my second best clothes and still not being good enough for them.”

“They look at you and see your dad, huh?”

Eddie froze bringing the cigarette to his mouth and turned to Steve in shock. “How the hell did you know that?”

Steve shrugged. “My parents used to throw these big parties for Christmas and their anniversary. Like BIG parties. Blow your uncle’s yearly wages on a fucking party, big. The last was when I was sixteen, right? And I could hear all the whispers about how much I looked like him and how I must be just like him. Booze, women, and lavish parties full of people that wanted to kiss my ass.”

The cigarette fell out of Eddie’s mouth and landed on his lap. He brushed it off quickly, cursing and patting at his crouch so that he wouldn’t get burned.

Steve laughed.

“Fuck you.”

Eddie stomped out the cigarette to ease his bruised ego. He huffed out a sigh. “Is that part of the reason for the attitude change? Because everyone credits Nancy and Jonathan for the cognitive readjustment, but it started before that.”

Steve frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Before you started dating Nancy, you stopped the big parties at your house,” Eddie said. “Hagan told me it was because your dad caught you, but that wasn’t it, was it?”

Steve’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. “Holy shit. I didn’t even realize.”

“You started to clean up your act for Nancy, sure,” he continued. “But you started down that path before you started dating.”

Steve stubbed out his cigarette. “I saw you listening to Depeche Mode earlier when we had finished cleaning up the house...”

Eddie straightened up. He had listened to the tape. The song Lauren had queued up for him, especially. That one over and over.

“You into BDSM there, Stevie boy?” he said with a teasing grin.

Steve laughed. “Oh god, that one. Yeah, no, man. You know the song I mean.”

“You want to tell me what went down there?” Eddie asked. “Don’t spare Nancy for the sake of my feelings, okay? You’re more important to me then some chick.”

“She had a thing for Jonathan,” he explained. “Broke up with me for a month and then came running back. I didn’t think too much of it, you know? I was just happy that she was back. I tried to be the best boyfriend I could. I don’t think I succeeded. Then I made the mistake of using the words ‘normal teenagers’ because I wanted to go to some Halloween party.”

Steve let out a shuddering breath. “She started drinking heavily that night. Like more than someone her stature should. I tried to get her stop and I spilled the drink all down her white dress. So we went to the bathroom to clean it up. She called me bullshit. Said our relationship was bullshit.”

“Holy fucking hell, dude,” Eddie whispered.

Steve shook his head. “I thought it was just a bad fight. Even though everyone at school was calling it a breakup. I didn’t believe it. I bought her flowers to apologize. Fucking roses.” He was on his feet and pacing back and forth, running his fingers through his hair. “But she wasn’t home. Oh no. Her and Jonathan were on a fact-finding mission. And a fuck finding mission, apparently.”

Eddie leaned forward in shock. “She slept with Jonathan?”

Steve stopped, frozen still. He took a deep breath and let it out slow. “I still thought we were dating. She didn’t. It’s why I don’t tell people. Because she thinks she didn’t cheat on me and I think she did.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” he said, looking down at his stark white tennis shoes in utter despair.

Eddie was on his feet and giving Steve a huge hug. “Thank you for telling me. I get why the music spoke to you and I won’t begrudge anyone loving music that helped them through rough times, okay?”

Steve nodded into Eddie neck, trying to not to sob.

When Aunt Penny came out a while later she found both boys just crying into each other’s arms.

“Boys,” she said gently. “It’s time for the toast to Gina.”

They reluctantly let go of each other and wiped their faces with their hands.

Wayne handed them glasses when they entered the front room. Penny picked up her glass.

“To Gina Munson!”

“Salut!” they all cheered.

Eddie and Steve knocked back their drinks with the rest of them.

There was more socializing after the toast, but this time Eddie had Steve at his side and every time they glared at Eddie, Steve would wink at them causing them to flush in embarrassment and turn away.

Finally everyone had gone, the food had been cleared away and the mess cleaned up.

Eddie and Steve silently made their way to the room they shared.

“I wanted to thank you for earlier,” Eddie said as they slowly got ready for bed.

Steve straightened up from where he had been pulling on his pajama bottoms. “For what?”

“For everything, I guess,” Eddie murmured. “For fending off bullshit...not even relatives, but friends of the family, I guess. For telling me about Nancy even though it was clear you didn’t want to. For coming on this trip in the first place. I probably would have thrown hands already if it wasn’t for you.”

Steve pulled up his pants and padded over to him to pull him into a hug. “I do it for any of our friends, Eds. But I’m glad I’m helping. I’m glad that you told me you needed me for this.”

“Single best decision of my life so far,” Eddie mumbled into Steve’s neck. “Wayne thinks so too.”

Steve laughed. “Well if Wayne says so it must be true.”

Eddie chuckled. “He is pretty smart.”

They crawled into bed and faced each other under the blanket.

“What’s really bothering you, Eds?” Steve whispered. “I can tell there’s something bothering you, but I can’t figure it out.”

Eddie pursed his lips. “It’s the stares and snide remarks, I guess. I know that like back home they all think I did it. That I killed Chrissy and Patrick and Fred. That I’m just like my dad. Maybe even worse.”

Steve pulled him close. “We know the truth. Wayne knows the truth. The people that love you know the truth. You’re a bona fide hero, Eddie Munson. They can all burn in hell if there is one.”

Eddie shook his head. “It’s more than that, I think. It’s that despite seeing me for a month every summer, that they would even think me capable of such violence. I had grown up with these people. How could they think that of me?”

“Small-minded people will always think the worst of you,” Steve murmured. “I know, it sucks. But here’s the best part about being an adult. If you wanted to, you never have to see them again in your life. You can cut them out and that’s all the say they have in the matter.”

Eddie sighed. “Thanks.”

Steve just held on until they both fell asleep.

The day of the funeral dawned cloudy and grey as if nature, too, grieved the loss of Gina Munson. Cherished wife, beloved mother, and devoted grandmother.

Eddie and Steve dressed in solemn silence. Eddie pulled on a pair of black high-waisted trousers that he had found at a thrift store before they left. He put on the black button up from the night before and rolled up the sleeves. Over the top went a nice dark grey vest. He wore his nice, white sneakers. He strapped on bracelets and bangles on his wrists and chains and necklaces around his scar on his neck.

His wasn’t as noticeable as Steve’s but he had had enough of his grandmother and aunt’s friends eyes flicking toward it and sneering last night to last a life time thank you.

Steve was dressed similarly. The nice black slacks, the black button up (buttoned neatly at his wrists), a dark grey sweater vest. He wore a suit coat over the top and nice silver tie. His shoes were shined mirror bright and his hair artfully done.

Wayne, Steve and Eddie decided to all go in Steve’s car to the funeral. They pulled into the spots reserved for family and made their way into the church. As Eddie predicted it was standing room only. They walked all the way up the aisle to where the first row had been designated for the family, too.

They sat down and the service began.

Eddie sat there, tears streaming down his face, tucked into Wayne’s arm. Steve took his hand and held on as the Father droned on and on about the life of a good woman.

The pallbearers stood up. Wayne, Oliver, Eddie, Danny, and two good friends of Gina’s lifted her coffin onto their shoulders and marched down the aisle to “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” played on the organ.

They carried the casket out into the cemetery and slid her gently onto the straps that would be used to lower her into grave.

Eddie moved back to stand next to Steve and looked out into the crowd.

He stiffened as he spotted someone near the front of the throng of people paying their respects.

Steve followed his eyes to the man standing next to a portly fellow in a black suit.

He had dark curly hair shaved on the sides. He had a neatly trimmed beard that highlighted the sharpness of his jawline. His cheekbones were as hard as his jaw and eyes. It was the eyes that really struck Steve. They were the same color as Eddie’s but so, so cold.

He bowed his head and Steve could see that his hands were clasped in front of him.

Or so he thought.

The cold man shifted from one foot to the other and Steve could see the glint of the handcuffs.

There was no doubt on who this was now.

Allen “Al” Munson had been allowed to come to his mother’s funeral.

***

Pt 7|Pt 8|Pt 9|Pt 10|Pt 11|Pt 12

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk @a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @chaoticlovingdreamer @messrs-weasley @goodolefashionedloverboi @maya-custodios-dionach @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @emly03 @wonderland-girl143-blog @justforthedead89 @bookworm0690 @itsall-taken @bookbinderbitch @redfreckledwolf @vecnuthy @littlewildflowerkitten @scheodingers-muppet @mira-jadeamethyst @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @gutterflower77 @genderless-spoon @hel-spawn @ellietheasexylibrarian @anne-bennett-cosplayer @mamafaithful @yikes-a-bee @dragonmama76

#my writing #stranger things #steddie #minor character death #dealing with grief

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ageingfangirl2 · 7 months

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You Drive Me Crazy! Buggy (OPLA)

You might be able to fight, but you have a knack for injuring yourself on stupid things around the ship much to the frustration of your captain who's had enough and decides to take you up on your offer...even if you were joking. Buggy x Reader Fluff

BUGGY

There had to be something wrong in y/n's head. They were the most skilled on the ship next to me and cut down many people without so much as getting a cut or scrape. However, interacting with everyday objects was a challenge for them because they kept hurting themselves. At first, it was endearing, thinking they would do anything to get my attention, but years had passed and it was no longer endearing but annoying.

As the captain, I had a responsibility to the crew, but some days I considered pushing y/n overboard and watching them either sink or swim.

'Where's y/n, I haven't seen them all day?' I ask Cabaji as we walk across the deck.

He shrugs his shoulders, 'Err the kitchen I think captain. The cook is ill and y/n promised to help out.'

My eyes widen at the thought of y/n alone in the kitchen with enough things to injure themselves, 'I'll check on them, they shouldn't be left unsupervised.'

Cabaji laughs, 'at least it's not dull with y/n around.'

I glare at him before stomping across the deck towards the kitchen which is below us, '...yeah fun for everyone but me,' I grumble.

When I entered the kitchen y/n was sat on a barrel peeling vegetables and humming to themselves. I approached cautiously since they looked okay, maybe I did need to stop overreacting.

y/n locks eyes with me and smiles, before waving with bandages on their fingers, 'Hey captain, what brings you down here?'

My eye twitches, they didn't have bandages on this morning, and the cuts must be fresh because blood seeped through the fabric, 'I can't leave you alone for a second without you hurting yourself, can I?'

I close the space between us and take their hand in mine which makes them flinch, 'I mean, I'm fine so it's okay--'

'No, it's not okay. Not when I feel like I'm going to go crazy thinking you've hurt yourself. You're more than just another crew member and I need you in tip-top shape y/n,' I growl, cutting them off, and keeping their hand firmly in mine.

y/n's eyes widen, 'since when did you care about me like that captain?'

y/n might be loyal and a good fighter but sometimes they could be a little slow. I inhale sharply and bring their bandaged fingers up to my lips and kiss them one by one, 'since forever you idiot.'

A faint blush creeps onto y/n's cheeks but they quickly compose themselves and smirk, 'What are you going to do about it, captain? Going to keep me locked in a cage and never out of your sight?'

'That's a brilliant idea y/n,' I mutter, feeling a smile stretch from ear to ear, 'I should have done something like this earlier.'

y/n goes to jump off the barrel but I catch them and throw them over my shoulder with ease, and walk out of the kitchen grinning to myself as y/n struggles against me. I ignore y/n's protests as I carry them towards my quarters, sending one of my hands ahead to get a cage ready. Normal people would find it odd to have so many human-size cages, but pirates liked to kidnap so it was always handy to have some around.

'We'll make it super comfortable y/n and safe so your pretty head can't injure yourselves,' I say, kind of giddy at the thought of having y/n locked in a cage and at my mercy.

y/n continues to kick and protest, 'It was a joke captain...please put me down...I'll be good...' y/n pleads.

Entering my quarters I cackle seeing the cage, 'Here we go y/n, welcome to your new home.'

I throw y/n in the cage and lock the door before they can actually comprehend I followed through, and wave the key at them while they glare and shoot me a rather colourful hand gesture. I tap the top of the cage, I'd start by padding the sides, this was going to be a fun time.

EXTRA

Y/N

Two weeks had passed since Buggy put you in the cage for your own good, only letting you out a couple of times a week to walk around and bathe under his strict supervision. He'd kept his word about making you comfy giving you whatever you needed, knowing full well that when he eventually freed you you were going to find a way to kill the smug clown.

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iluvmrvel · 1 year

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peter gets a phone call in the middle of your alone time.

sub!peter parker, dom!male!reader, penetration, bottom peter, crying during sex, begging, public (?) sex, slight hints of humiliation, use of a title (sir).

[ not proofread. all mistakes are mine.]

peter is on his back, legs wrapped loosely around your torso. a small grin is plastered onto your face as you watch peter grip the sheets so tight that they might rip.

the both of you were taking advantage of the only alone time you’d gotten in two weeks, and to say you missed each other would be an understatement.

the slow grind of your hips into his has him moaning out, breathing harshly and closing his eyes tight. he’s begging softly, underneath the incoherent mumbles of his hoarse moaning.

the pleads fall onto deaf ears, you want to hear peter say it. “c’mon parker, tell me what you want,” you urge, pressing into him deeply. “i-“ he begins, although his words are cut off by his phone ringing.

you pause, and peter’s eyes go wide. he groans softly and reaches for his phone, eyes going even wider once he sees the contact. he chews on his bottom lip, hesitating on making a decision.

“go on, peter, answer the phone.” you tell him, using a hand to reach down and tease his neglected cock. he whimpers, mischievousness twinkling within his eyes.

“h-hello?” he calls, pressing the phone to his ear and eyeing you. smiling coyly, you continue your teasing and drag a calloused fingertip up his length. he shivers, still trying to listen to whatever it was tony was telling him.

“yes mr. stark, the documents should be with-“ peter gasps, caught off guard by the abrupt snap of your hips. “i-i’m fine… just- swinging around!” he remedies, glaring at you with no actual intent as you continue fucking into him.

a hand comes up to cup his mouth, and he prays that tony couldn’t hear the squelching sounds of the obscene amount of lube. you speed up, completely ignoring your plan to tease him. you grab hold of his hips, pressing him down into the bed.

he presses mute on his phone, looking up at you as tears wet his eyes. “sir please, i-i can’t,” he pants, thighs quivering around your waist. his pleads fall onto deaf ears, though.

he unmutes himself, “s-sorry, mr. stark,” you hear him apologize and speed up the pace of your hips. he inhales sharply, fighting the moans that want to escape his lips.

he's practically shaking, cock twitching underneath your palm. "i-i'm sorry-!" he apologizes once again, breathing heavily. "we- we'll continue this later, mr. s-stark!" he rushes out, hanging up and tossing his phone to the side.

"what's the matter parker? don't want your boss to hear how slutty you can be after hours?" you mutter, pumping his cock quickly. he sputters, eyes shutting tight.

“only yours,” he drags, “‘m only ‘ur slut,” he whines, body tensing up as he reaches his limit. you groan, head falling forward and dropping. you’re reaching your peak too, and the way peter is clenching round you isn’t helping at all.

he’s pleading by now, begging for permission to cum. “go on pretty boy, let me see you make a mess for me,” you mutter, and he says thank you immediately, strings of the phrase falling from his lips like a prayer.

“sir!” he gasps as his mouth parts in a silent scream, breathing heavily as he cums in quick spurts that cover his lower abdomen and your hand. you’re not far behind him at all. muttering curse after curse, your still inside of him and the tight knot of pleasure erupts within your stomach.

peter sighs at the feeling and whines softly when you pull out. he fades in and out as you tend to cleaning him up, and the next time he comes to completely, he’s laying on you, within fresh sheets.

“you’re evil,” he mutters, groaning softly as he stretches. “oh whatever have i done to deserve that title?” you question, smiling teasingly at the growing pout on his face.

you kiss him softly, hands going to rub his back slowly. “get some rest, spiderboy,” you murmur against him, kissing his forehead.

#dom male reader #marvel x male reader #sub!peter parker #top male reader #peter parker x male reader #peter parker x reader #spiderman x male reader #spiderman x reader #marvel x reader #marvel x top male reader #sub!peter #sub!spiderman

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mi-dori · 4 months

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❦𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕❦

Game: Honkai Star Rail

Prompt: In which reader gets in trouble just to see the pretty student council president.

Warnings: jealous reader!

High School Au

Belobog high has a reputation for being one of the most prestigious institutions in the world; aside from that, its also known as the school hosts students that causes alot of trouble which wasn't a lie.

Sitting in the Student Council room, Bronya looked through the tons of report that the students wrote about a particular someone who she didn't expect that from. "Everything alright, Bronya?" Himeko, the assisting teacher of the student council, noticed the subtle frown upon her face.

"Miss Himeko, what are your thoughts on Y/n?"

Himeko looker puzzled but nonetheless answered. "I think y/n is a great student. She always gets her work done on time, never disrespects a teacher and she's very kind."

"... I see."

Bronya held her head in her hands and sighed. Suddenly, a commotion was heard in the hall and both Bronya and Himeko rushed towards it. Many students flocked around an area where the sound of grunts and groans came from. As they pushed through, they saw you on top of Stelle, punching and kicking as she groaned. "Y/n! Stop this!"Bronya shouted and made an attempt to pull you off which was successful.

Himeko quickly rushed Stelle to the nurse while stared at you with the meanest glare ever. "Come with me," she said through gritted teeth. She grabbed your shirt collar and dragged you away; the other students looking at you with a grin that said, 'go get some!' While you smirked back knowing full well you ain't getting anything.

Upon arriving at the Student council's office, you were greeted by Seele waiting in the office. "Seele, could you give us a minute?" Seele nodded and left. That was the source of your problem.

Lately, Bronya has been hanging out with Seele and you know full well of the crush Seele has on her. You've hardly talked to Bronya and you felt like the only way for her to notice you was getting in trouble, which you never did. So your good friend Stelle helped you with your plan which had led to the prior event. "Why did you beat Stelle up? What were you thinking?!" Bronya started shouting. "This isn't like you to get in trouble."

When she saw how you turned away and didn't want to look her in the eyes, she then knew that something was wrong. "Y/n, talk to me. What's going on?" She knelt down infront of you and turned your head to look at her.

"... I'm sorry..."

"Go on. This isn't like you so I'm sure there's some reason behind this, right?"

"Yeah. Stelle and I didn't actually fight. We're good friends... it's just...," you sighed. You didn't know how to explain it as it was eating you on the inside. "I see you've been hanging out with Seele lately and we haven't been talking... I know Seele likes you and it kinda got to my head. So the only way you'd notice me was if I got into trouble."

Bronya was left astonished by your explanation. "So all of that was to just get my attention?" You embarrassingly nodded. Bronya couldn't help but start to giggle. She never imagined the lengths you would go to just to get her attention. "Oh my. I'm truly sorry I've been neglecting you y/n, it's just that I've been busy and Seele needed tutoring so the teachers recommended," she held you hand in hers, "I do know of the crush she has but that doesn't mean I'll leave you for her okay?"

"Promise?"

"I promise. Now... I think you might be suspended for getting into a fight." Fear took over your face. You didn't think through the suspension part and it was written clearly on your face. "But... since this is your first time...I'll pull some strings and let you off," she winked before pressing a kiss to your forehead. "Just promise me you won't do it again?"

"I promise."

"Good, tonight I'm coming over and we'll have pizza and movie night." Your eyes lit up like a little kid seeing candy.

Despite making Stelle bleed, you still had what you wanted at the cost of Stelle's blood.

#bronya #bronya rand #bronya x reader #hsr bronya #honkai star rail bronya #bronya hsr #hsr #honkai star rail

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quills-of-freedom · 1 year

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Headcanons ~

Modern AU - How they'd react to seeing you working in a strip club (And they have feelings for you)

Inspired by... well me being an ex-stripper :')

Written as if reader is working there just for some extra cash, not as a living - it'll make sense why I noted this as it goes on.

Reiner - Porco - Eren - Levi

Some music to set the mood 🔥

Reiner

Reiner would never wander into a strip club on his own accord, either being dragged in during a bachelor party or doesn't realise what the establishment actually is. As much as he appreciates the female form, Reiner is too respectful and too much of a softy and a blushing mess.

Get this man some water please, for pity's sake. His face is flushed the entire time he's in there, his eye-line erratic as he avoids sights of thighs, asses, boobs and bare stomachs.

When the dancers come to talk to him for a private dance, he'll politely turn them down, his eyes glueing to theirs, his mouth dry and - oh gosh is he shaking?

He doesn't know it's you being called on stage because well, they use your stage name. But when the lights brighten slightly and he sees you - legit thinks he's been spiked for a moment and is seeing things.

His movements all stop, his lips part and his eyes enlarge when he realises this is actually happening.

"Oh, you like her?" The other girls will say. "She's great, you should get a dance from her."

Excuses himself and heads into the bathroom while you're on stage, splashing his face with cold water. Other patrons in the toilets laugh at him. "Yeah, it's tough out there, huh buddy?"

Once he hears applause he knows you're done and swiftly leaves. This is what gives him the incentive to confess his feelings for you and try to convince you to leave.

I know if Reiner Braun told me he loved me, I'd leave and never look back.

Porco

Porco loves to talk big and will laugh and "banter" with the "lads" but under the surface, he's a lot like Reiner and is pretty shy (at first) when it comes to intimacy.

He's respectful and will enjoy the attention of the dancers but I can't see him ever getting a private dance, if I'm honest.

He avoids his gaze like Reiner but isn't having mini panic attacks about it like his blonde friend.

When he sees you, he freezes and his nose burns pink but quickly regains his composure. He'll walk up to you and tell you to get changed, he's taking you home.

He hasn't drunk too much so he's okay to drive as he takes you towards his house.

"Porco, where are we -" "You should have just told me if you wanted some money." "It's not like that, I can make my own mon-" "We'll talk about it later."

You'll go to his where you have a long conversation into the night, where he admits his feelings for you and fucks you into his bed.

Oh god, I might turn this one into a fic...

Eren

I can't see Eren actively seeking out a "gentleman's" club, but he's not fussed about being in one either.

He turns down private dances politely. He'll have friendly conversations with the dancers but if they keep pushing for money he will turn mean.

He will get a dance if he is totalled though, but he'll sit with a blank face the entire time - unless he was my boyfriend, I don't think I would wanna dance for Eren tbh :')

Has no problem approaching you with a smirk when he sees you. "Woah, I didn't know you worked here. I'd be in every night."

Pays you to talk with him all night (he insists) to keep other men away from you and to warm you up for his confessions of feelings later. If any man stares, he'll shoot a warning look. If anyone is disrespectful, he will throw hands.

He stops drinking so he can take you home after your shift. He takes you to his, confesses his feelings, convinces you to stop and gives you the best sex of your life until you can no longer walk.

Levi

There's no way Levi would knowingly go into a club. Let alone a nude one. He's either been tricked or he wasn't aware. "Little black book...? I thought this was a fuckin' Library." "Levi... what library is open at 2am with thumping music?!"

Is not amused. DO NOT try to get a private dance. Oh god, he will make you cry if you try to.

Once he sees you, he'll snarl and straight up grab you and tell you to get changed, he's taking you home.

You have to beg the bouncers not to all leap onto him.

Scolds you, so bad. But explains it's only because he cares. It's not the profession it's the people it attracts.

Again, best sex of your life.

#reiner brainrot #reiner x you #snk x reader #reiner x reader #porco x reader #levi ackerman #levi smut #levi x you #eren jeager x reader #attack on titan eren #eren smut #eren jaeger

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short-black-diamond · 8 months

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"Yo, she's a pro." ...part three

part one, part two, ... , part four, part five

Again, that friend of mine suggested the idea of the reader having to suffer, and what better way would there be for wearing something sweet for the fanservice?

Your name: Yena Hideyo

warnings/summary: You tell hiori to spread his legs, you become a snake-nerd, the fans want to see you in a cutecore-dress, you threaten Chris Prince, you flip off your fans, you electrocute Otoya, Oliver and Karasu, Kunigami stares at your tits but can you blame him??, he also tells you to take off your dress btw

---

'How could you even fall for such a trick! Ugh, stupid Yena, stupid, stupid, stupid!'

As you were frowning deeply, sullying over Karasu's, Otoya's and Oliver's antics, you couldn't help but think back to Kunigami's great body.

if only you stayed a moment longer...he seemed to know Naruhaya as well, after all! No way you'd think about you and him being together in a sauna, no way! And not him sitting next to you, and you being able to steal glances at him, no no no! Especially when it seemed that he wasn't wearing anything underneath that tiny towel-

'Enough pervy thoughts, Yena! Get a hold of yourself!!', you scolded yourself as you scratched your head furiously.

Oh yeah, you were alone in your room, and Hiori wanted to speak to you. You quickly changed into a dark tank top and jeans, and just as Hiori knocked on the door were you done making a high ponytail out of your hair.

"Come in.", the blue haired boy heard, and he gulped before stepping inside. There you were, standing in the room, looking at him with a neutral face. He'd never admit it out loud, but he found you really pretty. Your eyes, so determined and knowing exactly what you like and don't like, your body, an elegant but also athletic figure, and your wonderful hair.

Hiori blushed as he averted his eyes. "Wanna take a seat? I also have some chocolate milk.", and at that, Hiori thanked you as he also sat himself into the beanbag, where Barou sat, but instead of meanspreading like the king, he sucked his legs in, hugging them close to his chest.

'Is he...making place? Why does he do that? His knees might hurt later from doing that too long...'

"You know what you don't have to collect your legs. Spread them out, sweetie.", and even though your request sounded sincere and innocent, the blue haired boy couldn't help but blush furiously.

He took a moment to realize that you didn't mean it like that, and so, he made his legs long, his feet touching the ground again. "Thanks," he muttered.

"No problem, and here's your chocolate milk!", you cheered, handing him over the small carton box. He took a sip and savored the cool, milky and chocolate-y taste on his tongue as he closed his eyes in bliss.

"Did you actually want to talk to me about us two switching places?"

"Yes-"

"Yena! I want to train with- oh, you have a guest?", Ness' voice interrupted, as the german caught sight of Hiori's parted lips.

You frowned. "What are you doing here? And knock before you step into a girl's room. Pervert.", you grumbled, folding your arms over your chest.

Ness chuckled nervously, but instead of leaving, he sat himself down. He then looked at Hiori with what seemed like a genuine smile. "You were actually pretty good out there. Hiori, right?"

The bluenette nodded. "And you're Ness."

Ness smiled. "Yep!"

Melody came in, along with Bachira who was holding her, and you chuckled. "Seems like you became Melody's favourite, Bachira."

Bachira blushed at the thought. "I'm happy to hear that. Do you really love me, Melody?- Oh, yeah, I had to give her back to you. I'm not allowed to train with her...here, you take her. We'll see each other later, Melody! Bye Yena!", and gone was the boy, leaving you alone with Melody in your arms, Ness sitting beside you on the bed, and Hiori sitting in your beanbag.

"You...had a snake?", Hiori asked, realizing that Melody's skin was blue just like his hair, but much more...vibrant and glowing. His eyes and mouth drooped when he thought about his boring baby pink hair.

"Yes, isn't she cute?", you cooed, raking two fingers over her scaled head, to which she drove out her split tongue in a happy slither.

Ness only looked at the snake with an uneasy smile. Hiori stood up and walked towards you and the snake. "May I hold her?", the boy asked, feeling some sort of familiarity. You nodded, holding Melody towards the blue haired boy and she crawled over to the boy.

"Say, aren't snakes poisonous?", the german asked as Hiori stared the Melody in wonder.

"Yes, they are. And if you wonder if Melody is too, then yes, she is also a poisonous snake."

Hiori froze as the snake in his hand slowly opened her mouth.

"However, Melody has lost her fangs during a horrifying accident, and in a few hours, she will undergo surgery to get these cool silver ones.", you stated as you fished out your phone and showed them the fangs which would be amoutated in your precious friend soon.

"Whoah...so..she can't poison us now?"

"She can. but it would only hurt her because she doesn't have fangs. That's why I'd rather have her calm than panic. I'm glad she didn't use her poison at all for the wime we were here.", you said fondly as you looked at your blue snake.

Ness nodded in understanding. 'So I'll just have to keep my distance from that snake. Got it!'

But then, something else dawned him. "Ah, you're going to Lavinho tomorrow?", he asked as he looked at you sadly.

You frowned. "What, you gonna miss me? Or are you some kind of masochist...?", you asked, taking a small step back.

Ness remembered you kicking his dick painfully as he shook his head. "No! Gosh...it's just...I wanted to thank you again for making me score that goal...if it weren't for you, I'd still be Kaiser's shadow...", the german mumbled.

you nodded. "You're welcome."

"But you didn't have to kick me though."

"Jeez, for the last time, I'm sorry!", you huffed before looking at Hiori. "Say, are you going to train today?"

"No." "Could you then look after Melody? There's something I need to discuss with Chris. Something he promised me wouldn't happen...!", you growled, as you walked out, leaving Ness and Hiori in your room.

Hiori thought about meeting your later today to talk about the player switch, and then he looked at Ness. Ness looked at him. Hiori opened his mouth to ask a question.

"So uh...are you a masochist-"

"No I'm not!"

...

"I can't believe you let me wear this...I thought we were friends!", you yelled after you stepped out of the dressing room in a pastel pink dress, your hair being styled according to the photos your fans sent you.

The english soccer player couldn't help but let a few snickers out here and there as he took in your attire.

You had high twin tails, your forehead hair being splitted to side bangs, sweet golden jewellery, with heart earrings and a heart-chain pink lipgloss, your nails were pink, your dress -as I said before- was baby pink, and you also wore pink high heels, adored with hearts.

"Don't. You. Dare. Laugh.", you seethed, and you contemplated for a moment if you should take one of your platform shoes you were wearing and hit him with hit.

'God this is embarrassing.', you thought as you sighed defeatedly. And just to your horror, Reo and Nagi stepped inside.

"Yena!-ah.", Reo called before he caught sight of you.

"Oh.", he and Nagi made, and both boys blushed. You gritted your teeth.

"What's there to look at, hah?! Turn around! I don't want to suffer more than neccecary!", you yelled, and they slowly turned around, not facing away from your form before their backs faced you.

"You look pretty cu-" "Shut it, Reo!"

"Like I said, she is beau-" "You too, Nagi!"

You whined, asking Chris for how long you'd have to wear something like this, which was obviously not your style. You were a goth at heart, and wearing something pink? Pastel? It was like betraying what you were living your whole life for.

"Oh, just five more hours-"

"HOURS?! FIVE?! You guys want to kill me...", you muttered as you felt your soul leave your body.

The english man only laughed heartily. "Come on, it's not that bad. Besides, you look so cute with your little ribbons and-"

"Beware for your next words, for I will rip out your throat if it's another comment about what I'm wearing.", you threatened with a blank expression.

He stared at you for a moment before gulping and facing the new teammates that arrived, which were also ogling at you. You only 'tch'ed. 'This is much worse than being pranked by Otoya, Karasu and Oliver!'

Three cameras were directed to you and you growled. "FUCK YOU, YOU TRAITORS!!!", you yelled as you flipped of the cameras, and your fans.

Heh, mind you that your fanbase only grew with that.

...

"I have to do a Q&A now? What's that??", you mumbled as the female manager, Anri Teieri gushed at your look before answering. "You basically just answer the questions your fans ask you."

You frowned up at the pretty woman. "What if I don't want to?"

"Your budget will get cut off.", and this got followed by an uneasy smile of hers.

You sighed in defeat. "Let's get this over with."

"Oh and...they want you to smile your prettiest smile and behave like a girly girl. Not like the "bruh"...? Do you guys say it like that..?? or tomboy-girl you normally are."

"So I also have to act out of character for them?! What the hell..."

"Well, it's for a special occasion!"

'Special occasion my ass.'

And now, you are sitting on a pink stool, as you have a deck of many cards -lots of cards, too many cards- on that pink table. Your expression was solemn, as if somebody dear to you had died recently, which was your pride.

But, you had to swallow it all up in order to help the people precious to you. You thought about Naruhaya, and your friends out there. Your teammates would for sure be laughing at you.

The video started, and you put on your best sweet smile you could muster. "Hello everyone. My name is Yena Hideyo. I am the first Japanese soccer protégé and today, I will answer you guys some questions, as you can see on the table."

you took a deep breath before giggling and pointing towards yourself, your voice rising in an annoying pitch and you'd beat yourself up for that. "I was also asked to wear all this in order to satisfy my dear fans, and also, sorry about showing your my fingers earlier...I was in a lot of stress for a moment and I let it all out on you. I hope you guys can forgive me.", you pouted cutely and sadly as you read the text the camera staff held behind the camera.

'I wanna die I wanna die I wanna die I wanna die I wanna die.'

"Now, let's begin with the first question, shall we?", you cheered sweetly as you struggled with picking up the cards with your pink and long ass nails, but you managed after a few seconds.

"Eheh, sorry, I'm just not used to those long nails...w-which are very pretty!", you exclaimed as you turned around the first card.

"Yenyen_forever asked: "How old are you? And when is your birthday?" ...I am eightteen. And my birthday is on XX.XX.XXXX.", you answered before smiling at the camera. you then took the second card.

"Hideyo's_fan asked: "Will you write another book?" ...Uh, yeah, I already started writing a new one, but I won't tell you what it's about until I'm done."

You smiled to the camera, saying "sorry, love. But I must keep my secrets."

the third card is also picked up with a bit of a struggle. you turn it around, and you see a familiar name.

"Oh, if this isn't yena's_lover! Please change your name!", you cheered into the camera.

there was a short moment of silence before you looked at the card again.

"The person asked: "Yena, do you already have a crush on any body from blue lock?" ...Uh, I literally arrived here three days ago. I can't say anything else but that every boy in here is very cute!", you exclaimed with a blush as you giggled again.

'what have I gotten myself into..?!', you thought after you took out the fourth card. "yenHide_fan asked: "Which blue locker is your favourite?" ...Oh come on!", you yelled, letting your character break for a moment before you coughed.

"Ahem, what I meant to say was that I do not have a favourite.", you quickly added, and the interview ended in forty minutes.

You had to wear the dress for four more hours.

...

You were approaching Otoya, Karasu and Oliver, who all gave you interested looks. "Did ya dress up for us, doll?", Oliver mused, and Otoya and Karasu stepped closer to you.

You smiled before asking them to hold something. Karasu was the first to smile at you in a flirtatious manner. "and what should we hold, sweetheart?"

"My hand.", you answered softly, as you fondly looked up at Karasu. He smirked. "you want me to hold your hand?"

"Yes." "Alrigh-ARGH!", he yelled as soon as his hand made contact with yours.

Oliver and Otoya took a step back, completely in shock (pun intended) when they came to the conclusion that you had these electric thingies on your hand.

What they didn't think of was running away, because in the next moment, Otoya's left cheek got grazed, and he fell unconscious. Oliver fell also unconscious when your other hand made contact with the electric device which you put on both your hands.

Karasu held his hand which got numb, as he stared at you with fear written in his eyes. "p-please..I'm sorry..!", he whispered, slowly stepping back, because if he ran, then he'd never hear the end of it form Otoya and Oliver.

"Say, Karasu. Who's idea was it to make me spend time with you three in the sauna?", you asked sweetly as you stepped forward. arasu gulped, looking to Oliver.

"I-it was Oliver." "Really? Well-", you started, your voice innocent before your hand collided with the wall Karasu found himself trapped in. He was shaking, your face mere inches away from his, and he could smell your sweet perfume.

Despite the fear Karasu felt at the moment, he couldn't help but be a little turned on by you. I mean, who wouldn't, with a hot girl like you trapping him against the wall?

"Please tell Oliver to stop the pranks. Okay, handsome?", you whispered against his ear, and he gulped. You stepped back and turned around to leave. Karasu slowly slided down the wall as he looked to the place where you punched it.

there was a crater in the form of your small fist, with cracks around it like a spider's den. karasu felt like he might've died for a moment.

...

"Yeah, Naruhaya is a good person.", Kunigami confirmed, trying to not stare any further down your body other than your pretty face. He didn't look at you that often, but when he did, you wore more casual clothes than...this.

The orange-haired male blinked in surprise a few times when he caught sight of you from afar in that pink dress, but you truly looked adorable up close.

If only your cleavage wouldn't be so damn wide open...!

He could see your neck, collarbone, and all the way to where your boobs parted, and even though he was a closet pervert, he tried to be respectful and not to stare too much.

Key word: tried.

"I think so too. I actually cried a little after we bid each other farewell, because he had such a great reason to be here...I hope that the money I sent him would be enough for the time being...!", you murmured, and Kunigami kept stealing glances at your round mounds.

'STOP STARING, DAMMIT!!! You should be respectful, you damn pervert!', the boy scolded himself as he looked away subtly.

As you were babbling away your worries, Kunigami looked at your face. That lipgloss was a strawberry pink and highlighted your plump lips perfectly, your hairstyle doing you every justice in the world. The earrings were also pretty sweet, with hearts and all that stuff..

The only problem was truly the dress, but the shoes also looked rather undomfortable. (you told him that it was fine when he asked you about it while dying inside from the pain.)

Yeah, the dress truly bothered him. All because he could sneak glances at your boobies. You looked at him. "Kunigami? You alright?", you asked, not thinking about where his gaze was lingering.

Hell, you were happy he even looked at you, let alone sitting down next to you and talking to you. The male next to you nodded with hesitance. "How much longer do you have to wear that?", he opted to ask instead of answering to your question, to which he paid no attention to (as he was busy ogling at your tits.).

"Just five more minutes.", you said, and he could hear relief in your tone. "I'm glad to hear that. It looks rather uncomfortable, doesn't it?"

You huff. "It's just not my style, that's all.", you said as you stood up, wanting him to show what you didn't like about the dress you received per fanpost. (which was basically everything.)

And it was in this moment, that you knew, you fucked up.

You yelped as you ungraciously twisted your ankle. You were ready to die of embarrassment, thinking: 'Gosh, how can I fall now of all times?! And in front of Kunigami no less!', but before you could fall any further, one large hand put itself on your stomach while another hand took your wrist, pulling you back, and your back hit a sturdy chest.

You two stood there for a moment, with you getting your balance back, and as you stood there, you felt Kunigami's forehead on the back of your shoulder. You blushed, your cheeks warmed up and your eyes widened at his statement.

"You smell good. And please take off that dress.", he murmured as he let go of you slowly. You just stood there, trying to process his words as you turned around to see his from retreating quickly.

Meanwhile, Kunigami held his breath as he quickly left, and he felt your stare on him. He wanted to hang himself. 'Why do I have to act like such a pervert!?!?!'

---

okay and that's it for the third part! Let me know if you guys want a fourth, I also take requests!

Read you in the next post!

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veliseraptor · 2 months

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Fic Writer Interview

I was tagged by @anghraine - thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

under my main pseudonym that I actually use these days, 610. total, across pseuds, we're looking at 1,013.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

4,930,564, which is so close to 5 million!!! we'll see if I hit that threshold this year, I might if all goes well with big bang fic

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I thought I could do this from memory and I was so close, only missed two.

Life in Reverse (13,990)

With Absolute Splendor (10,436)

some good mistakes (6,551)

The Villain Wrangler (4,445)

half a league onward (4,437)

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do not, because I don't know what to say, get overwhelmed, fall behind, get more overwhelmed, and ultimately end up with a backlog I don't feel capable of dealing with so I just don't. I feel bad about this periodically (often) but I don't do anything with that feeling. Just kinda feel bad.

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I've written a lot of fics with angsty endings but I might have to give this one to Mercy, because that was a very mean fic on the whole. arguably even meaner than my other murder/suicide fic.

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

I have a hard time with this question because I feel like most times my happy endings are at least touched with some kind of bitterness or loss or at least underlying open door that could be a problem down the line, or, like, lingering trauma.

but on the other hand I'm sure I have written generally happy endings in my backlog of fics, there's just a lot of fic in there so it's hard for me to pull them out, because they're probably also the ones that I find less memorable.

in some ways I think With Absolute Splendor might get this one, because it feels like it has ones of the strongest sense of earned catharsis, even if everything isn't all the way fixed. there's probably happier endings in terms of world state, but that's one where the ending feels happier because it doesn't start that way. but how this grace thing works is also one of the fics where I feel like it's on the whole softer/tenderer than my usual work.

7. Do you write crossovers?

not really! I wrote a few once upon a time, and a couple pastiches (one fandom in the style of another fandom), but those are years behind me and I'm not generally a crossover person as a rule.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

oh yes. most of it more entertaining than truly upsetting, but there are a few exceptions. my favorite remains the person who was really bothered by the fact that my Black Jewels Trilogy fic wasn't High School Musical fic. still no idea what was going on there.

9. Do you write smut?

sure do. I haven't been writing as much these days (but then, I haven't been writing as much these days, full stop) and I've never been all that much of a pwp writer but it's still very much a part of my writing.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

once, some time ago - I think it was Life in Reverse got posted on Wattpad. oh, though there was also another MCU fic that got reposted on AO3, but the person deleted it pretty quickly when I commented to inform them I didn't appreciate their doing so.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have! into a few languages and it's always super cool and flattering to me.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have the one in progress but never anything I've finished/posted. I've done a lot of RP over the years but I always kept it pretty squarely separate from my fic writing.

13. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I've had a lot of all-time favorite ships, and there are plenty for fandoms I'm no longer really in that stick around in my head for longer than I'm really participating in the fandom (Celegorm/Aredhel is notable for this), but I think I will say that Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen occupies a very particular kind of sort of insane place in my brain that feels relatively unique. so I'll give this one to them.

14. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

oh lord, so many of them. mostly various MCU wips I'll probably never finish but where I'm like "this was a good idea and I like what I have of it so far, too bad the MCU killed my caring about the MCU." outside of those...I'm so loathe to accept that things will or might remain unfinished, so I'll go with one of those and say the "Hela is around when Thor and Loki are growing up" one, which would've been so good and I still sometimes toy with the idea of returning to, only, you know. aforementioned "caring about the original canon" issue making it hard to actually do the writing thing.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I've been slowly filling out this meme for a while and I left this question conspicuously blank almost to the last. I think my strongest area is probably dialogue, though I worry that I'm giving myself too much credit there. I think I'm pretty good at writing it, though. it certainly is one of the pieces of writing that comes most easily to me.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

description and action, for sure. I tend to skimp on description in a way that probably weakens much of my writing (I have so much respect for writers with good descriptive language), and I loathe writing action scenes the way that I loathe writing few things - it always feels like wrestling a bear. I usually know what I want to have happen as a result but getting there is just. very hard.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

something you gotta be very careful with. I was going to say I almost never do it, but the one exception to that is Lymond Chronicles where I do it a lot, but that's because it's a fairly important part of the style of canon and I'm just. following that lead. otherwise, I tend to shy away from it personally, partly because I write from pretty deep in a character's head and if they don't understand what's being said in another language then that's what I want to convey in the story, rather than giving the reader privileged access to what's being said that the character doesn't have.

does that sound really pretentious? probably.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

technically I wrote a cracky Harry Potter fic first, but I consider my first actual fandom to be Wheel of Time.

19. What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

either bingjiu or beefleaf are two pairings that I love and have a lot of strong feelings about but haven't actually managed to write anything for, and both are on my list as like...just #waiting for the right idea.

also hua cheng/mu qing, which is a tiny pairing of my heart that Needs Me (or whatever) and I know the kind of fic I want to write for it but actually executing it is, as usual, proving harder.

20. What's your favorite fic you've written?

it fluctuates wildly depending on mood, but I'll give this one for now to the backyard is full of bones - it was the first project I bound into a book, which I feel like says something for it.

tagging @gloriousmonsters, @curiosity-killed, @mikkeneko, @brawlite, and @feralkwe; not actually sure how many people I'm "supposed" to tag on this one so if you want to do it consider yourself tagged as well.

#lise memes #confessions of a frustrated writer #memeing instead of dealing with my bad feelings

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the-sky-queen · 21 days

Note

You have my full attention

KAY BUCKLE UP. INFO DUMP TIME LET'S GOOOOOO!!!

We'll go in the order that I listed the spinoffs, even if that isn't the order we came up with them. (Spectrophobia was probably the first one I think.)

Dementophobia is the fear of going insane and it's the Psychonauts one. I hadn't heard of Psychonauts before this, so I'm still working my way towards watching the game cutscenes. I think I'm in the middle of Psychonauts 2 right now and then I'll be all caught up. If you're unaware, Psychonauts is a videogame where this kid named Raz has psychic powers and wants to become a Psychonaut, who are basically spies I think and also use their mind powers to help people get therapy.

So during Dementophobia, Niko accidentally comes into contact with the Warp Topaz (a common theme you'll see in a lot of these) and gets sent to the world of Psychonauts. He comes into contact with Raz who figures out something's up and decides to help him out. Raz goes into Niko's mind and very quickly realizes something is VERY WRONG HERE. (Also, Lily and I along with Lily's more Psychonauts knowledgeable friends have done a TON of worldbuilding around Niko's mind world and what happens there. It's so in depth and interesting and I LOVE IT SO MUCH) Anyway, Raz realizes that he's gonna need some backup here because Niko's mind is unlike pretty much anything he's ever seen before. It's that messed up. He takes Niko to his Psychonauts friends for help and that's when things really get going. Also Maple shows up at some point.

I could go on and on about what we have planned for Niko's mind world, but that might be a bit too spoiler-y. BUT TRUST ME WHEN I SAY IT'S SUPER COOL. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Alright, next up is Phobophobia which in all honesty is a silly joke AU that is really just here to have fun with. Here's what's up: Starline and Maple are married. Niko is their actual child. (Also Surge and Kit show up at some point, also being Starline's kids)

It sounds CRAZY (and it is) but it's really fun!! Niko's like 7 I think and there's not really a set plot to this one. It's just a collection of scenarios that this wacky family gets into. Also, there's like a subplot where Starline learns to be more caring and gets closer to Niko and it's kinda cute. This one got started before the Trauma Siblings became a thing, so they're not included, and I'm still wondering if I should put them in. That would put Starline and Maple at SIX kids though and I don't know if their marriage can handle that. XD

(ALSO EGGMAN AND STARLINE ARE CO-WORKERS AND EGGMAN'S DAUGHTERS ARE 6 YEAR OLD SAGE AND BELLE.)

Next up is Decidiophobia, Fear of Decision making. This is the Stanley Parable crossover, another game that I hadn't heard of before this, but I'm now OBSESSED WITH. Quick rundown of The Stanley Parable: You play as Stanley, an ordinary guy with a job pressing buttons on a keyboard all day. Then one day, his co-workers all go missing and he sets out to try to find them and figure out what's up. The entire game is narrated by the Narrator, who even narrates your actions! However, what he says you're going to do isn't set in stone and you can go against what he says whenever you want. All this leads to different paths and storylines you can take, causing multiple different endings. After each one, the game resets and you start all over again.

SO HERE'S THE THING ABOUT THIS ONE. Instead of doing another dimensional yeet via the warp topaz, we decided that The Stanley Parable exists within the regular Sonic universe. How? Uhhh, I probably can't explain that because of spoilers, but let's just say . . .

The Narrator is vaguely connected to the Time Eater and also the Phantom Ruby is here. And GUN got involved too.

So Niko shows up in side The Parable™ and confuses the Narrator, because he's not Stanley. The Narrator tries to continue on as normal, but after a particularly disastrous ending, he realizes that Niko is AN ACTUAL CHILD and resolves to help him escape The Parable™. :D

Next: Autophobia, Fear of being Alone, otherwise known as the Miraculous Ladybug one. You know the drill by now. Warp Topaz, dimensional yeet, and it's all fun and games until Hawkmoth gets to Niko literally IMMEDIATELY. (Not gonna explain Miraculous because it's a lot. If you don't know about it already, just go watch the show.) So Niko gets akumatized into THE MOST TERRIFYING AND OVERPOWERED AKUMA IN EXISTENCE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS LITTLE ANGEL. He can make people fall (platonically) in love with him just by looking at him and it even works across BROADCAST. So like. Anyone who comes into contact with him is instantly obsessed with him. There's a bit more too it, but that's probably spoilers. :P

Anyway, Ladybug is compromised pretty much INSTANTLY. And shortly afterwards, the entire school falls to Little Angel's spell. Due to spoiler reasons, Chat Noir, Chloe, and Kagami, manage to escape his influence and start trying to find a way to fight back. (Oh also Little Angel is not a hedgehog, but he was turned into a small human child with animal ears, a halo, and wings. Yeah, he's called Angel for a reason.)

This is the only crossover we have where Niko very much does NOT get therapy. He's usually better off by the end of one of the crossovers but NOT THIS ONE. In fact, he actually gets WORSE because of this one. :D

AND FINALLY WE HAVE SPECTROPHOBIA, Fear of mirrors/your reflection. AKA THE ONE I ACTUALLY CAME UP WITH BY MYSELF. XD This one is interesting because SONIC shows up. Like, regular Sonic, untainted by Starline's influence, shows up in the facility. How? Let's just say that the 900th Adventure special didn't quite go as planned. >:) So he's able to find Starline and Niko in the facility right in the middle of a session. Sonic's like 'nah this is stopping right now,' rescues Niko, and escapes the facility! It's not as easy as it seems though because Niko freaks out as soon as he realizes Sonic's here and he took him away from Starline. I REALLY WANNA START POSTING THIS ONE. I PROBABLY COULD BUT I'VE BEEN PUTTING IT OFF. Also the Warp Topaz shenanigans are fun in this one and I've got an art I need to finish for it that no one but Lily will understand but will come up later on in the story. >:)

Kay, that's all the ones I mentioned in that post, but there's a few more. I won't talk about them though, because most of them are more Lily's expertise.

But aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa can you tell why I'm going insane now?

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mistresseast · 4 months

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I know I've been pretty quiet lately (the last two surprise fics aside) and that this year has been generally sparse on content, but I just wanted to rap with y'all for a sec.

First, I'm super grateful for all the kindness and support I've received, despite not being super active. Having nearly 1k followers here as a fic writer, especially with the way things are on this particular website rn, is wild to me. Even if only a few of you are still online, I'm really thankful.

Second, my new year’s resolution is to write more (shocking, I know), but that includes my original work as well, so I can't predict what the fic output might be. Regardless, I've got multiple things in the works rn and my interest in my current fandoms has not waned a bit. There might even be a curveball here and there, we'll see.

Third, in case you were worried about Liminality bc it hasn't been updated in well over a year, never fear! Part 3 is DONE and I'm just trying to decide on a posting schedule. Liminality is going to be a big big big project, and I'll be real with you, it's going to be a WIP for a very long time, so I understand why people might be hesitant to read it rn and that interest (and patience) will fade as fans naturally drift away from p5, and that does make me a bit nervous; however, I'm still very committed to and excited about this story, and I sincerely appreciate all the love it's gotten so far as well as everyone who sticks with it or takes a chance on it in the future. Y'all rock so hard.

I simply cannot stress enough how much it means to me that people read and enjoy my work. Finishing and posting fic still feels new to me, as I've always thought of myself as someone who burns out quickly and can't follow through on anything, so becoming a writer with a distinct style and works that people remember and recognize over the past few years has challenged this sort of low opinion I had of myself and actually affected how I approach things outside of fanfiction as well. It's a learning process that I'm still experiencing and I owe a lot of it to you guys, random people on the internet who took the time to read and like my stuff.

Seriously, thank you all so much. I hope I can continue writing and taking fictional characters way too seriously in 2024 and beyond. ❤️ Happy New Year!!

#my writing #copied pretty much directly from tw*tter #and i was gonna change the thing about the state of the website but tbh it's rough here too

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eviebane · 5 months

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hi! can i ask what software you use to make gifs and how you make them? thank u!

Hello! Oooh it's tutorial time!~~ Disclaimer: I am fairly new to GIF making so it might not be perfect, and there might be easier ways out there, but this works for me and I enjoy DaVinci more than other softwares, and is actually easy once you practise a bit :)

I use DaVinci Resolve which is 100% free.

Here's my post about obtaining clips for Amazon & Netflix shows. For this example let's make a nice Aziracrow gif :)

Make a new project and go to File > Project Settings.

2. Under Master Settings we're going to change our resolution to 720P Square then Save. (Once you get more confidence with it, play around with different ones, I just think square gifs looks nice)

3. Drag your clips into DaVinci (don't judge my clip labelling system)

4. Drag the clip you want into the timeline. You can use your arrow keys (<- ->) on the keyboard or just drag/click along the timeline to move it, then to cut your clip up, use the little scissors. I'm going to make a gif of the little smile Azi gives Crowley when he sees him because it's so cute

I'm going to cut the clip right when Azi looks at Crowley and then delete the first bit I don't want, then delete the grey empty block it leaves behind. Now the section I just created boops to the front of my video.

5. I'm going to right click my clip, then Change Clip Duration > then under Frames change it Duration box to '60' > click Change to save it

I usually make my GIFs anywhere from 50 frames to 70 frames (depending on the quality I want, more on that later). For this GIF I'm going with 60 frames, feel free to experiment with it once you get the hang of it.

7. Most GIFs are slowed down a bit. I like it slow my GIFs to 0.5 speed. To do that, I go to the little mixer icon > the speed dial icon > then type 0.50 in the box (3rd image)

8. Now we gotta make the image actually fit the square nicely. We're going to the 3rd tab.

Then we're going to click on our clip and under Transform, adjust the Zoom. We're going to change Zoom to from 1.000 to 2.400 as that fits nicely in this square.

9. Let's make them a bit more centre by adjusting the Position, just play with it until you're happy.

10. I'm pretty happy I'm done. Obviously once you get more confidence, play around on the tabs with the different effects and adding text and such, but for now we're going basic.

Let's go to the rocket ship icon.

We're just going to double check our settings look good. It's a GIF and it's 720 square.

11. Then we'll Add to Render Queue > Render All

12. Now we have our GIF saved to our computer, we need to check the file size to make sure it's under 10MG. If it's over 10MG, Tumblr and most other sites will say it's too big.

Find your GIF > right click it > Properties

Darn my file is too big...

13. We have two choices to make it smaller. Either we:

a) make the GIF shorter (see step 5). b) make the quality lower. I usually do this by lowering my colours - at the minute it's at 128 so I'm changing it to 64.

When you're happy, Add to Render Queue again (if it asks about replacing the file just select Replace), then Render All

Let's check my GIF size again. Yay - it's under 10MB!

It might take some playing around - it's ok, take your time, ask other GIF makers for advice, watch youtube tutorials. You'll get the hang of it really quickly :)

#ask #tutorials #gifs #azi smile #good omens gifs #video editing

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thehomelybrewster · 7 months

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Ability Scores in 5e & Other RPGs

This little rant is inspired by a post by a blog named The Angry GM, titled "Your Ability Scores Suck" as well as a post titled "8 Abilities - 6, 3, or 4 Ability scores?" by DIY & dragons, because those two articles and my past few months of looking at various TTPRGs have led me to some insights into my own philosophy in how I like TTRPGs and how I feel about 5e's Ability Scores.

So let's look at how a couple of RPGs handle ability scores or their equivalents. Namely I'll look at D&D 5e, Pathfinder 2e, The Dark Eye (4th Edition Revised), CAIRN, and Pokémon. Yes, Pokémon is relevant to this. And it'll actually be the second game we'll discuss, but the first obviously has to be...

D&D 5th Edition

D&D famously has six ability scores: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. In most situations the exact ability score no longer is that important, however, since from 3e onwards d20-based checks have become the near-universal input you play D&D with. This means that instead the ability score modifier is key, which ranges from -4 to +5 for most player characters.

Now while these six scores might seem pretty equal, players have quickly figured out that certain ability scores are more desirable than others, unless you play specific classes.

Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom are for example the three most common saving throws. 109 out of the 361 spells in the Player's Handbook force a saving throw using one of these three ability scores, while Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma only have 24 spells. Thankfully every D&D class gives proficiency with two saving throws, one of the three major ones, and one of the lesser ones (and certain subclasses as well as the monk get more saving throw proficiencies, but that's besides the point).

Additionally, when it comes to skills, and thus out-of-combat usefulness, Strength only has one skill tied to it by default (Athletics), while Constitution has none. Charisma has four skills to its name, Dexterity three, and both Intelligence and Wisdom have five.

Now the DIY & dragons article mentions that there are effectively three axes you have to cover with your ability scores: physical vs mental, force vs grace, and attack vs defense. That leads to eight abilities total. In 5e, using what we know about the game, we can make some great deductions.

For one, Strength is almost exclusively concerned with physical force attack, while Constitution nearly exclusively covers physical force defense. Dexterity meanwhile fully covers physical grace attack, as well as physical grace defense, since it affects AC and is used for Stealth, as well covering evasion-type saving throws. Dexterity is incredibly powerful in 5e, arguably the most powerful ability score.

On the mental stat side, the lines are less clear. All three ability scores can be used for offence, though Intelligence, being the casting ability score of only wizards and the generally utility-based artificers is the least offensive of the three. Still, its association with wizards means it probably is best associated with force, because fireball. Charisma easily can be sorted into grace and is mostly offensive, and Wisdom straddles the line between force and grace, but is also both clearly offensive and defensive.

As you can see, Intelligence & Wisdom & Charisma are rather ill-defined, a point also made by the The Angry GM article, but mechanically Wisdom is universally useful, while Charisma is either super important (because you're playing either a Charisma caster or a face-type non-caster, such as a rogue), or can easily be sidelined/dumped. In fact a lot of tables seem to disregard or minimize Charisma when it comes to roleplay, my tables have definitely done that. Mostly because you don't want to have players not participating in roleplay encounters because they don't have at least a +2 in Charisma and several skill proficiencies in that area.

Speaking of proficiencies, for skills the maximum you can add is +6 or +12 if you have expertise, while with saving throws the maximum proficiency bonus is +6, so with saving throws in particular, a +5 for a saving throw from that relevant abilty score is a massive defensive boon, though it's often less relevant for skill checks.

This knowledge, as well as the known issues with Intelligence-based skill checks often being seen as gate-keeping plot relevant information, leads to the realization that Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma are the three most frequent "dump stats", with the latter two in particular often having implications in out-of-combat situations, while Strength is a "safe" choice for full spellcasters.

Now let's think about how other games handle this... Let's begin, as I threatened in the beginning, with...

Pokémon

Pokémon famously uses six so-called base stats for its collectible creatures: HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. Using the system described by DIY & dragons, Attack and Defense clearly map onto the physical, and Sp. Attack and Sp. Defense clearly onto the mental. There is no distinction made between grace and force. HP is a universally defensive stat, and Speed is both offensive and defensive.

Naturally, Pokémon doesn't involve dice rolls. These stats are used for formulas and comparisons. But you can already see that Pokémon, at least since Special got split into Sp. Attack and Sp. Defense starting in Gold & Silver, has a clear division of these stats, with it being clear what they do.

Now due to the mechanics and the goals of Pokémon, an individual character (read: the actual Pokémon) doesn't need to have balanced stats. Largely also because these stats only affect combat, the main mechanic of these games. Any out-of-combat activity present in Pokémon games in fact uses distinct stats, completely distinct from the base stats of the Pokémon. These can then be discarded/put into the background when that out-of-combat activity, such as Pokémon Contests, is removed from subsequent releases.

Now let's look at a D&D-related game that has a different approach to ability scores, because it provides a stepping stone to look at different RPGs...

Pathfinder 2nd Edition (Pre-2023 Revision)

Pathfinder, being a game spun out off the 3rd Edition of D&D, also uses the six ability scores that D&D uses: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.

Just like with 5e, Pathfinder associates certain skills with certain ability scores, and just like 5e, Strength and Constitution are connected to only one and no skills respectively.

Still, that's just part of the bigger picture. Pathfinder 2e, just like D&D 3e, doesn't use ability scores as saving throws. Rather it uses three distinct saving throws that are tied to ability scores. Those saving throws are Fortitude (Constitution), Reflex (Dexterity), and Will (Wisdom). These are, for the keen-eyed, the same ability scores that are the primary saving throws in 5e. This means that defenses are covered exclusively by these three ability scores, and of these Constitution remains purely defensive, while Dexterity and Wisdom also have offensive capabilities. Still, the offensive power of Dexterity is lowered because in general it cannot be used to increase your weapon damage, contrary to how 5e does it.

It should also be noted that both when it comes to skills and saving throws, the calculations for rolls are very different than in 5e! If you are proficient with a skill or saving throw, you add both a bonus equal to your degree of proficiency (from +2 to +8), as well as your character's level, to the roll, in addition to your ability score modifier. This leads to massive bonuses, especially since magical effects can be added to that, too. Of course Pathfinder uses a sliding scale to determine difficulty classes and has a degrees of success system, but with that knowledge, the -4 to +5 you add to your rolls will matter less than 5e's ability score modifiers do. In general, as long as the modifier is at least a +1, it's fine.

This has actually led to Wisdom being considered a dump stat for many Pathfinder players, and that especially applies when playing with one alternate rule that I want to highlight.

In the Gamemastery Guide, the Alternative Scores variant rule splits Dexterity into Dexterity and Agility, merges Strength and Constitution, and makes Charisma rather than Wisdom the relevant ability for Will saving throws. That variant rule acknowledges the power of Dexterity and the relative weaknesses of Strength and Constitution, but somehow strengthens Charisma further. I don't have any numbers or insight on how popular this alternate rule is, but given what I know about Pathfinder 2e character optimizers, I wouldn't adopt the change to Will saves if I were to run this variant rule myself.

Still, the knowledge of these three saving throws puts us nicely into the realm of indie RPGs, which have really run with this. So let's look at one as an example.

Cairn

This lovely little game written by Yochai Gal has been a well-supported indie darling and is currently in a playtest for a 2nd edition.

Cairn uses three ability scores: Strength, Dexterity, and Willpower. It also uses a d20 roll under system, contrary to 5e and Pathfinder. This means that you aim to roll below your ability score, rather than adding a number to a d20 roll and seeing if you can meet the difficulty class threshold.

They are also, in combat, mostly defensive. Strength in combat mostly concerns surviving blows. Dexterity is used to determine if you move before the enemies and for escaping combat. Both Strength and Dexterity can be used for saving throws against certain spells. In combat Willpower is necessary to cast spells without suffering penalties.

Offensively none of the three ability scores are that important. They don't add to damage, they aren't important for making attacks, or anything of the sorts. Spellcasting outside of dangerous situations usually doesn't involve die rolls either.

This makes the three ability scores very balanced, but it also gives them comparatively little meaning. They are your protection from harm. Including out of combat. But Cairn doesn't know skill checks whose failure state isn't "nothing happens". If player characters have no pressure, they succeed. Especially if they have useful equipment for it.

Using the DIY & dragons blog post as reference, Strength only represents physical force defense, Dexterity only represents physical grace defense, and Willpower represents mental grace and force defense.

So, let's look at a different roll-under system, one that might provide additional inspiration for game designers...

The Dark Eye (4th Edition, revised)

The German TTRPG The Dark Eye (Das Schwarze Auge) is old, almost as old as D&D, and in its design its often as an antithesis for D&D. It's incredibly math-y, has a generally less heroic (but also categorically "good") playstyle, and is a class-less (kinda), level-less system. To ensure I know what I'm talking about, I'll focus on the 4th edition, which has by now been superceded by its own 5th edition, because that's the one edition of it I actually played.

DSA (its German acronym which I will use for brevity's sake) uses eight attribute (!) scores:

Courage, Cleverness, Intuition, Charisma, Dexterity, Agility, Constitution, and Strength.

Each of these eight attribute scores affects the character directly. Heroes have base values (melee attack, ranged attack, parry, initiative) that are calculated by adding together set combinations of attribute scores and dividing the sum, most often by 5, to determine those base values. For brevity's sake, let's look at two of these base values: attack and parry. Attack is calculated with Courage + Agility + Strength, while parry is calculated using Intuition + Dexterity + Strength. Both use two "physical" attributes and one "mental" attribute.

Similar rules also apply to calculating how much your character can withstand, be it through their general vitality (which is equivalent to hit points), their endurance (mostly used as a resource for athletic feats), and their wound limit, all of which can be used to defeat characters. Even the amount of astral points, the spellcasting resource, is calculated using your attribute scores. Every attribute is used at least once when calculating these eight values, with only Cleverness, Charisma, and Dexterity being used only for one of these eight fundamental character traits, with Charisma being the least important, because it is only used to calculate astral energy points, which are irrelevant for characters that don't know spells.

Furthermore skill checks in DSA are made by rolling three attribute checks in a row and then using skill points to modify the results if necessary. Skills use either three distinct attribute scores (e.g. Cooking, which requires Cleverness & Intuition & Dexterity), or two attribute scores (with one being used twice, e.g. Perception requires one Cleverness check and two Intuition checks). Simple attribute checks where you use only one attribute are rare, with heavy lifting often being the key example for it. There are also loads of skills in DSA, with the character sheet per default having twenty four skills, with more being common on most characters.

As you can hopefully see, all eight ability scores are used very often and impact your character greatly. They are furthermore more clearly delineated than the D&D standard, however they also don't map onto the DIY & dragons parameters for ability scores, despite having eight of them!

Conclusion

What can we learn from this? Well, honestly, draw your own conclusions. The six ability scores of D&D and Pathfinder are not the "be-all and end-all", that's for sure. You really need to think about what your game wants to do.

Is it just combat-focused? Then all ability scores should matter in combat and to (roughly) the same degree!

Does your game consist of multiple gameplay elements? If yes, then they should all be accessible and fun for players even if their base stats are "bad" in one aspect, while still allowing for specialization of player characters.

Generally, there is no "one size fits all" solution, and this rant hasn't even gone into ambiguity between different terms, the implications of specific terms and associated thresholds, or the exact history of ability scores in D&D before 3rd Edition!

Anyway, I hope this was legible, fun and informative.

#thehomelybrewster #rant tag #ttrpg design #dnd 5e #d&d 5e #dungeons and dragons #pathfinder 2e #The Dark Eye #The Electrum Archive #game design #rpg design #long post

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aihoshiino · 7 months

Note

I saw recently you said that you dont like the current version of akane, and I honestly agree. But what are your reason you dont like post tb akane

Hello anon, sorry for the wait!!! I have actually been pecking at the response for this all week because it ended up dovetailing into some of my broader thoughts and issues with the manga using my feelings about Akane's characterization as a sort of lens/jumping off point. I hope this is still interesting to read even though it took forever to answer lol.

I also want to note that the bulk of this post was written before chapter 128! Some of my issues that are mentioned in this post did get sort of poked at and paid some lipservice in a way that makes me hopeful we'll get some improvement on this stuff as the movie arc progresses. Think of this as 'my pre-128 thoughts' if you come across it in like a post chapter 130 world in the distant future. It's also uh fucking long (it was over 2000 words long when I stopped counting.....) so enjoy this mini essay???

To get my most neutral thoughts out of the way up front, Akane is a character I really like in LoveNow! I think the arc she's given is compelling and her struggles feel super real. The gradual peeling back of her outer layers and the reveal that she's just as damaged by the industry as the people around her was really good and my only real major problem with LN is that I felt like the aftermath of her suicide attempt (at least, emotionally speaking) was glossed over a bit too quickly for my liking. On top of that, I like a lot of ideas about TB Akane on paper and I'm not inherently against any of the things that get put on the table in relation to her. My issues are more to do with the ways Akasaka executes said ideas and – imo – fails to capitalize on a lot of the interesting potential that a character like Akane presents.

I think this issue partially stems from the fact that Akane and Memcho were (iirc anyway) not actually originally intended to stick around with the main cast past the LoveNow arc. Memcho didn't really have a personal arc during LoveNow and during the rest of the manga, she sort of has a "flat" arc, so I think she makes the transition a lot more gracefully. Which is not to say Memcho herself is a flat character lol! Rather a 'flat' arc is when a character doesn't necessarily have some major change in themselves, but their intrinsic traits/beliefs/etc help to advance the arcs of characters around them; sort of like a mentor type character, if that helps.

Akane, by contrast, had a pretty dynamic character arc that felt as though it was intended to be relatively self contained and conclusive but with Akasaka's plans changing behind the scenes, Akane has ended up sort of outlasting the arc she was originally set up to have. That's not to say a character can't still be relevant after their arc is done or that a character needs an active ongoing arc to work within a story but there's a lot of things about the way that arc is simply not resolved that bug me – for example, the arc wrap makes a big point of saying that Akane will probably have to deal with ongoing online negativity for the rest of her career but this never comes up again even in places where it really should be relevant. I also just personally am not a big fan of how quickly and completely Akane's suicide attempt gets swept under the rug and is literally never addressed again once LoveNow wraps but that's more of an issue with OnK's bad habit of dropping loose threads a whole than it is something specific to Akane.

As for the rest of it… uh, this might be a bummer to see in the main tag if Akane is your Oshi no Girlie so I'll put the rest of my thoughts behind a cut. Akane enjoyers, please feel free to pretend I'm just talking about my favourite ice cream flavours or something. Or even go get some ice cream yourself and say it's on me. I don't care if it's October, ice cream is a forever food!!!

SO… To get the most immediate and shallow points off the table first, I just find the character design change between LoveNow and TB Akane really jarring lol. Like, I guess it's not necessarily impossible for her hair to have grown down to her chest in the time between LoveNow and when she pops back up but that combined with the changes in how she starts being characterized really just widen that gulf. The only time she ever really feels like LoveNow Akane to me again is when she takes Aqua to see a 2.5D play and is just so happy afterwards that he enjoyed it – that's cute! That's charming! That's the Akane I liked a lot in LoveNow and I feel like we don't really see her again after that but it's hard to put my finger on what feels so off. It's kind of just Vibes.

Getting into more serious, structural stuff a big part of why I feel post-TB Akane falls flat for me is simply that a lot of the interesting things Aka put on the table for her during LoveNow have been swept away and ignored. There are so many things that could be done with Akane as a character that are absolutely screaming out with incredible thematic potential but Akasaka hasn't really taken advantage of any of them. At the worst points of the manga, it feels like she's being used as a blunt force tool to make the plot go at the speed Akasaka wants it to progress and this has resulted in Akane spending a good chunk of the story doing literally nothing on-panel that doesn't revolve around Aqua in some way. Everything else – her rivalry with Kana, her passion for acting, her relationship with her family and her manager – is paid the barest bits of lipservice if it's even acknowledged at all but when you really get down to the nitty gritty of what Akane meaningfully engages with and achieves in most arcs now exclusively has to do with Aqua.

It's not inherently a bad thing for a character to be motivated by outside factors or for their actions to be driven by devotion or even hatred for somebody else – Aqua himself is a good example of a character whose arc is driven by both of these things, as his devotion to Ai and hatred for the man who hurt her are the main external things driving him through pretty much the entire story so far. But Aqua also has things going on outside of this – other important connections and relationships, feelings and conflicts and motivations that make him feel, imo, more well realized. Not only that, but his arc has a very well conveyed and easy to understand "want vs need" conflict, of his continued pursuit of revenge having clear and tangible friction with his emotional need to let go of his past trauma and move on.

Akane has, since Tokyo Blade, been sorely lacking in a lot of these areas. Her acting career progresses entirely offscreen with no apparent conflict or effort on her part and she has absolutely no strong or meaningful connections to the cast outside of Aqua and arguably Kana, but they haven't really had any sort of meaningful or meaty interactions since way back around, what, the mid-70s, in chapter terms? Not only that but her existing relationships have largely been completely put to the wayside, too. LoveNow establishes her as a person who cares deeply for the people who care for her – her mom, her manager, her friends on the show. Akane felt so bad about people saying bad things about her mom and her manager online – not even harassment actually directed at them, or that we have any reason to believe they saw or received! – that it contributed to her suicide attempt. Contrast this to when she is literally about to walk off and attempt a literal actual fucking murder and all she's thinking is "aqua… let's have crepes together… let's be together forever…". No consideration for her parents, who are about to go through unimaginable pain, or the promising acting career she's about to destroy? Nope! Akane revolves entirely around Aqua now. It feels insulting!

I don't even necessarily hate or even disagree with taking Akane in the direction of her fixating on Aqua in response to him saving her and feeling like she has to cling to him and throw away her life to 'save' him in return. I do think the story is purposely portraying this as an unhealthy fixation and does not want us to uncritically celebrate this aspect of their relationship but I also just think the story kind of fails to really examine Akane to the logical conclusion of that flaw.

In general, Akane is one of those characters who like… I don't quite know how to express this feeling so forgive me if I go in circles on this topic a bit, but there are occasions where Akane will do or say something genuinely shitty or deranged or display a pattern of behaviour that speaks clearly to a flaw of hers in ways I want to be on board and engaged with but as time passes, it becomes clear that the narrative does not actually see anything wrong with what just happened and so it never gets addressed or meaningfully engaged with. There's a lot of little bits like this (can we talk about how Akane leveraged her suicide attempt against Aqua as a manipulation technique in TB and this never comes up again?? lol???) but the thing that really truly sticks in my craw is the way Akane is repeatedly depicted as continuing to use her fake 'Aikane' persona (as conveyed by the star eyes) during her acting career and starts getting famous at least partially because of it.

This is going to sound really dramatic but as someone who deeply, deeply cares about Ai and is so, so compelled by the tragedy that was her exploitation in life and death – this is so horrifying! This is Akane directly profiting off her exploitation of Ai's image. This is Akane digging up Ai's corpse so she can rip out her guts and parade around wearing them. It is absolutely baffling to me that the story at no point pauses to at least acknowledge that this is another way in which Ai is being exploited even in death – that even now, almost twenty years later, she cannot ever escape or be left to rest in peace as a human being.

Honestly Akane's relationship to Ai is SUCH a mountain of missed opportunities it makes me kind of crazy. Like, we get some wishy-washy stuff about ~Ai's emotions that were revived in her~ but seemingly the only thing done with that is to give Akane a cheat code to magically know things about the mystery she should have no reasonable way of deducting. But like - if Akane really does understand Ai so completely and it's so empathetic that she can Sherlock scan the emotions of a dead woman she had never met then why does she never, you know… express any kind of opinion on her? What does Akane think of Ai? What does she think about the way Ai was exploited and abused by the very industry Akane is trying to break into? Holy shit! It should be SO obvious to draw a parallel between Ai's death at the hands of a ex-fan and Akane's suicide attempt driven by fan harassment. But Akane just… never talks about Ai or even really treats her like a person even though she apparently downloaded Ai into her brain by reading Wikipedia really hard.

It's frustrating because there SHOULD be a really great thematic idea here - other characters often treat Ai as this inscrutable enigma but with Akane, there was the opportunity to make a point that Ai was just a lonely, messed up person and that if Akane can come to understand and connect with her post mortem then the people in her life absolutely could have put in the effort to understand and connect with her while she was still alive. The story failing to have Akane treat Ai even the slightest bit like a person ends up making her feel really callous in a way that was clearly not intentional and is, as a result, frustrating to read. This also comes into play in the ways she's so tunnel visioned on Aqua. Like, there's just something really darkly funny about Akane acknowledging how insanely unimaginably tragic the horror of Ai's death is and the way the people closest to her were robbed of the opportunity to publicly heal and grieve and then she just... totally fails to acknowledge Ruby also experienced this life altering trauma? LIKE

"your little sister is on her own, though"

To be clear, Akane being callous and kind of tunnel-visioned is not in of itself something I have a problem with. As a Category 5 Women's Wrongs Enjoyer (my list of favourite fictional women includes Monika DDLC, Akane Shinjo and Junko Enoshima lol) so I actually think Akane having those sorts of nastier flaws or at least having blinders up that make her behave in such a way that contrasts her actually heart would be so good and juicy! It would be a really good opportunity to dig into ideas of like... someone can go through something horrible that negatively impacts them and maybe even makes them behave in poor and destructive ways, but just because someone isn't a 100% pure and sympathetic 'perfect' victim doesn't at all take away from the fact that they were victimized and they still deserve to be helped and protected. But because the story seems to be largely unaware that Akane comes off like this, it fails to be meaningfully engaged with which, again, makes it frustrating to read.

I do have hope that a lot of these issues will be resolved, though! The AquAkane breakup finally forcefully ripped her out of the role of 'Aqua's Perfect Girlfriend' and while she's still orbiting him a bit more than I necessarily would like, chapter 128 has already done a lot to address some of these issues. Even stuff as small as Akane talking to Memcho and Kana and not really having any page time with Aqua and her acknowledging that both Aqua and Ruby (with particular emphasis on Ruby, it seems!) are both still suffering in the aftermath of their childhood trauma. It's small, but a lot of my issues with Akane were of the 'death by a thousand cuts' variety so even having them addressed in these passing ways does a lot to help.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I eventually come around on Akane and end up liking her a lot more. I've sort of had similar feelings about characters in works I like before – off the top of my head, I remember really disliking Naoto from Persona 4 when I first played the game because the section of the story she's associated with has some really bullshit pacing and Naoto is used in some really awkward ways by the narrative that made me associate those feelings of frustration with her. I felt similarly about Megumi from 13 Sentinels where I felt like some of the beats in her story dragged down both her arc and the arcs of the characters associated with her and really disliked her as a result. Upon revisiting both games though, I was able to properly separate my feelings of frustration with the narrative from the characters themselves and ended up coming around on both of them in a huge way.

Once Oshi no Ko wraps and we can see what Akane's arc looks like in its entirety, I fully expect to have a similar turnaround on her. I don't expect that she'll ever be one of my favourite characters but once we can see the totality of her character arc and the full scope of her role in the story, I expect to find more appreciation for her. Right now, though, while I'm still sort of stewing in disappointment, hope, expectation and frustrations it's hard to fully come around on her.

#oshi no ko #oshi no posting #onk spoilers #suicide mention

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bluespring864 · 6 months

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Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you @yoellglia, @kingfisherprince and @shambolicchaos for tagging me even though I haven't done one of these in months, I appreciate it <3 And look at this, I am actually doing a tag game.

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 57. How did that happen.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

418,066. Some of those 57 are pretty long ;-)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Well I won't list them all, we'll be here tomorrow. The published ones are mainly: Tatort, Good Omens, Potter, Tennis RPF, Skating RPF and a few Music RPFs. There's an awful lot of WiPs from Sherlock Holmes to Poirot to Star Trek to Oasis to Austen to various Panel Shows to Les Miz to The Hobbit and back again though. Plus WiPs for all the published fandoms. Sigh.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Alright this is going to be a trip down memory lane, seeing as I'm mostly active in very niche fandoms these days. Also, this statistic is perhaps skewed by the fact that lots of my fics are in German (a few nearly made it onto the list though!) and my RPF is locked (for registered users only).

Days in the Sun: Tops the list by a very long way. Harry Potter. A Snape/Hermione post war fic published in 2018. I'm a different writer these days but I still like lots of things about it.

To Trust in One Another: Good Omens. Aziraphale/Crowley post Season 1. I remember the response to this overwhelming me at the time, I had never gotten so many comments so quickly after posting and haven't since. This fandom is so lovely (and filled with writers!).

To those who wait, eventually: Harry Potter. Snape/McGonagall. I love this pairing and this story. And while I am very surprised that both the Potter Fics I actually published are het, I am not surprised they both feature Severus Snape.

Almost Too Kind, or: Prometo: Figure Skating RPF. Yuzu/Javi. I still like the Yuzu POV, although I think I've perhaps written more interesting skating stories, but this was obviously the most popular parinig at the time. Hence the amount of kudos I guess.

Language Barrier Sidestepped: Figure Skating RPF. Yuzu/Javi. This one surprised me because it's just a silly fluffy oneshot. But with some language nerdship in the title and the story (that part is less surprising, if you know me)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always, and sometimes too verbosely :D I like a good comment discussion and I have made friends that way.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Angsty endings? Me? I would if I could. Maybe some day. I guess the angstiest one is this unrequited love drabble in the Tatort Münster Fandom.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Well, most of them have pretty happy endings, I think.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not so far. Most of the comments I get are really nice. I can remember only a handful slightly weird ones over the years.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No one is more surprised than me, but yes. In my case, it's usually part of a story and has a function in the story. But it can be pretty graphic because it's weird to me to treat sex as something to gloss over. That being said, sometimes a story decides on a fade to black. On the other end of the spectrum, I've also come pretty close to writing PwP, depending on your definition of it.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Never written one, very rarely read them.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

People have asked for permission several times and I always grant it (of course I do) but I don't think I've ever gotten a link to a finished translation (which I always ask for). I get it though, some of my stories are pretty long and I know all about the difficulties of translation :-)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

It's not finished but I hope we can get back to it @kingfisherprince! I might not always be the easiest person to work with, but I thoroughly enjoyed it so far.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

I don't have one, I write whatever pairing is interesting to me. And would love to write more gen fic if inspiration strikes. The concept of an OTP used to make no senses to me either, though I guess I've come close with Novandy in the Tennis fandom. I still write lots of other stuff in that fandom though.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have trouble going back to the Potter stuff for various reasons. Would love to finish a Snarry which is already at almost 30k but doubt I will. I also have a Poirot/Hastings case fic I really want to finish but (see writing weaknesses)

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm not sure. I hope Í write realistic relationships that make sense in the story. I try to write clear prose that's not too cluttered (I don't always succeed). Sometimes with my longer fics I've managed to slightly miraculously tie things together, which is amazing to me when it happens but I can't control that at all.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I sometimes overexplain. I tend to forget about 'setting the scene' descriptions now and then. And the big one: I can't plot for the life of me, I write as I go along, which isn't always a problem but definitely is when you try to write a murder mystery (I've got an unfinished Poirot one and an unfinished Tatort Münster one which I would love to continue).

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I like it, though I tend to use it relatively sparingly and either add translations or try to make it clear in other ways in the text what was being said (a translation degree comes in handy for this).

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Well the first time I tried writing fic it was Kirk/Spock but the first thing I finished and published was Tatort Münster.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Don't do this to me. The answer will be different every day, I think, and for lots of reasons. This is not me being pretentious (I hope), because I would have just as much trouble choosing my favourite song or book etc. Let's pick Two and Two Together for today because I never would have thought I'd write a 42k poly fic, but here we are. I think we've established I sometimes surprise myself.

Tagging: I think most of the writers on my dash have been tagged... but maybe @bonos-grindcore-sideproject and @advantage-sinner and @savageandwise and @all-my-worlds-a-stage if you want to do it?

#about bluespring #it's been so long that i don't remember how i used to tag these

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amelikos · 20 days

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Some character notes and episode notes for HZ045, writing them down for future reference.

Towards the beginning, we see the Explorers going back to Spinel who asked them to withdraw since they got to see Rayquaza's power for themselves. They all follow his lead. Spinel probably knew that Rayquaza was too overwhelming, so this plan might have simply been a way to gather data or see Rayquaza's reactions etc. Spinel likes observing and act on concrete information so he can plan better in the future, so. At least, he got confirmation that Rayquaza does react to the resonance generator, has an idea of his moveset, the way he reacts and potential weaknesses.

Liko and the others proceed to challenge Rayquaza. Really shows how far they came too, since Liko introduced herself and her goal of taking Terapagos to Rakua, Roy talked about how grateful he was to Rayquaza since he got to go an adventure thanks to him.. Rayquaza actually listened to them and agreed to battle them. I liked how formal the whole thing felt and the way they communicate with Rayquaza and how Rayquaza's feelings are taken into account too. He could just refuse to battle them at all if he didn't acknowledge them but the fact he accepted means that he is willing to test them. Rayquaza being Lucius's greatest partner really shines through.

Liko and the others start battling Rayquaza. I liked how nervous Liko felt at the beginning because she was reminiscing how she couldn't do anything last time so she wanted to make a difference this time, but was unsure on how to approach Rayquaza since he is in the sky and she is on the ground. It seems like having a Flying type will potentially be important to face Rayquaza again in the future. Amethio has an Armorga, who can fly. So, maybe something will be done with it in the future.

Anyway, the group split into two teams during the battle. Roy went with Friede on Lizardon, and Dot teamed up with Liko as Cap assisted them to help their Pokemon fly. At some point, Hogator and Lizardon launched a Flamethrower at the same time. I liked it, because in HZ002, I remember Hogator trying to mimic Lizardon when he was using this move but he couldn't use it back then. And now, Hogator can battle alongside his idol, which is really cute. Something else I found significant is when Dot came up with a plan to help Nyahoja jump even higher to reach Rayquaza, which was to have Nyahoja get on Kuwassu and then having Kuwassu fire a Water Gun towards the ground and give more momentum by using Low Kick. I'm pretty sure this is a reference to HZ017, when Roy asked Dot for advice when he trained Hogator and Kaiden and he eventually came up with the plan to have Hogator use Ember towards the ground to propel himself and Kaiden upwards, etc. I like that Dot was resourceful and quickly remembered this, and it really feels like all these moments from the first year are now paying off against Rayquaza. Dot and Liko work well together, so do Roy and Friede so I wonder if we'll see them battle together more in the future. Maybe with some changes every now and then? (maybe Liko and Friede teaming up, and Roy and Dot together etc, idk)

Rayquaza started taking everyone pretty seriously after all their attacks so he used Draco Meteor (that one move that hits pretty much everything around). It quickly overwhelmed everyone, and the move almost hit Terapagos so Liko and Nyahoja quickly went to Terapagos to protect him... and that's when Amethio's Soublades showed up to repel that move and protect them. (The BGM used during that specific scene was good too, it felt kinda knight-like to me, Soublades being a knight who protects others like Liko and Amethio...) I find it quite interesting that we don't know how Amethio phrased his sentence to have Soublades protect them... I wonder what he said exactly. Either way, Amethio protected Nyahoja back in HZ002 when she was about to fall off from the ship and now, he protects Liko and her Pokemon again. I really like that and that this is how he shows up again. He also muttered and went on about Spinel (so he used his name around Liko so maybe she heard him and knows his name now ww) and how he knew he was scheming something... Spinel keeps an eye on Amethio and seems to pay attention to what he does (as seen in HZ034), and despite not acting with the others and sometimes even being "excluded" from their plan, Amethio also pays attention to what Spinel does.

Either way, Amethio used Terastal so he mastered it in the time between HZ034 and now. I talked about his Terastal pose being the same as Friede, which I like because he probably was really impacted by their battle at the castle in HZ025, so he remembers it. His "follow your own path" is also significant (for obvious reasons). Amethio seemed much more in control this time, the way he battled and used Ghost Dive seemed much more controlled. Friede joins Amethio and uses Terastal too, and he seemed really fired up. He suggested a teamup when he asked Amethio to have Soublades ride on Lizardon, and I found Amethio's reaction kind of funny because there was a silence during like, two seconds, like Amethio was considering whether he was going to follow his lead or not ww Amethio eventually does though, and their teamwork was fantastic. I have a lot to say about it, but the inherent trust between the two of them, the way they were able to work together so seamlessly, no hesitation, no miscommunication, it really shows how much they know and respect each other. I feel like their battles during chapter 1 were also important for them to have a good grasp of each other's battle styles, which is also why they can work together so efficiently now. They were both overwhelmed by Rayquaza, but it's good they could team up and I'm hoping they team up again in the future. I feel like Zir watching Gurumin's video in HZ027 about multi battles and how battling alongside friends is reassuring was leading up to this episode and Amethio battling together with Friede.

Liko and Roy end up battling again now that Friede and Amethio can't anymore. Liko and Nyahoja seemed a bit unsure, but Hogator was motivated and learned a new move (Nitro Charge). Liko reaffirms her desire to take Terapagos to Rakua and how she wants to go farther with Nyahoja and be more helpful to everyone (I really like the way she phrases her desire to get stronger), and Nyahoja responds to her feelings by evolving into Nyarote. The growths of characters and Pokemon are intertwined in Horizons, so I knew that Nyahoja would eventually evolve (it was more of a matter of "when" and I already suspected Amethio would be around too), HZ040 cemented the fact that her evolution would be soon too (because it felt logical that the next step after Nyahoja overcame her past and feelings of doubt about where she belongs would be evolution to show her growth even further, and they did just that, which I'm happy about). Nyahoja was cute as she was and I liked all her moments so I'll miss her a bit like that (especially Liko carrying her!), but I'm looking forward to her moments as Nyarote. I hope she has more opportunities to be protective of Liko, Mibrim and Terapagos since she has grown now. Maybe she'll be able to carry the Pokemon too.

Anyway, Liko and Roy managed to land some moves on Rayquaza and made him wince a bit. Nyarote caught Hogator with her yoyo (or vines?) and protected him, which was cute. Terapagos called out to Rayquaza and they talked a bit, but he eventually went away. Rayquaza looked intently at Liko though. I felt there was lots of focus on Rayquaza's eyes this episode (it shows his resolve, feelings, etc). It's still too soon for Rayquaza to join them, but this was a step in the right direction because he is testing them and properly battling them.

Amethio was about to leave with Zir and Conia (who joined him, and they were glad he was okay), but Liko caught up to him to thank him for saving her earlier. He brushes it off and tells her not to misunderstand because Rayquaza is his prey and that's all there is to it as he leaves. Boy, your excuse doesn't make sense (what does Rayquaza have to do with you going out of your way to help Liko ww), but it's okay. There was definitely a shift in Amethio's dynamics with the group (especially Liko and Friede, with him helping Liko and him teaming up with Friede), and it'll be interesting to see how it'll change in the future. The Explorers teamed up together against Rayquaza, and Amethio was not shown with them but with the main group. Also, this episode was Dot's first time meeting Amethio (she was always in the ship when he showed up).

Liko and the others go back to the ship. Everyone is okay, but Liko and Roy are sad about losing, not catching Rayquaza, and seeing the ship destroyed. Friede gives them a solemn speech about how giving up means that their adventure will end. He reminds them of everything they gained through their adventures, and reassures them that they haven't lost as long as they don't give up. Reaching Rayquaza, who once seemed so far away, is incredible by itself. (Friede was really cool in this scene, I love when he shares his wisdom like that and it feels really effective because we know everything he's been through)

Liko and Roy decide not to give up and reaffirm their goals. Dot also joins in and says that she doesn't want to sit in the sidelines, and she wants to chase the mysteries together with Liko and Roy. (Also really loved this scene because Dot has decided she wants to be together with her friends more and it works well after HZ's first year of her trying new things at her own pace and getting used to having friends and going outside) Liko and Roy want to learn Terastal (Roy mentions how amazing Lizardon was, and Liko mentions Soublades) and ask Friede for advice, so he tells them to leave everything to him because he has something in mind (which we know is a transition to the next chapter, as Liko, Roy and Dot will be going to school to learn Terastal). Liko looked at the Brave Asagi and thanked it for taking them this far (good scene, I love that Liko thanks the ship too).

The last scene of the episode is at the Explorers' base. Agate apologizes to Gibeon for not being able to handle Rayquaza. He tells them to allow the RVT to gather the Six Heroes. Sango and Onyx seemed surprised by this decision and Onyx wanted another chance. It seems like both Onyx and Sango are devoted to Gibeon. I wonder why. Spinel deduces Gibeon's plan to have the RVT work for them. Spinel is buttering his boss up ww Gibeon tells the Explorers to monitor Terapagos and Liko (he used her name), and they agree and bow to him.

Two things to note: they specifically didn't show Amethio in the scene when the others are bowing to Gibeon, probably because Amethio doesn't bow to Gibeon? Which would indicate something about their relationship. Amethio also seemed to be at the base physically, alongside Hamber. The others were there as holograms.

Spinel also seems to have his own agenda, since he was shown smiling. He probably doesn't have any loyalty to the Explorers (even though he butters up Gibeon by calling him with honorifics and everything), so something else probably drives him. I wonder what. (I will support Spinel in everything he does. I just hope we get to know why it seems like he is detached from everyone, and that his heart seems closed off to anyone who isn't Blacky. What are his motivations? He specifically referred to the Explorers as a job back in HZ016.)

We get a glimpse of Gibeon at the end. He seems bedridden? His hair looks like Amethio's (he is probably a relative?). He talks about returning to Rakua and getting the "Rakurium" and that his adventure isn't over. He also mentions Lucius. Potential old man yaoi?? Is Gibeon still pining for Lucius after a century? Were they friends? Was Gibeon part of the original Explorers? (since Diana mentioned in HZ025 that the Explorers were Lucius's friends, but I don't know if the "friends" part referred to human friends, or Pokemon friends) Did something happen that caused a rift between them? Maybe Gibeon just wants to see Lucius again to apologize to him? (I really hope Gibeon has human motivations. So far, he has the same wish as Terapagos, which is going to Rakua.)

This episode was written by Kureha Matsuzawa btw, so he is the one who handled the climax for a chapter this time (climax of chapter 1 was by Dai Sato). Both chapters ended with a scene of Gibeon talking (last scene of HZ025 was with Gibeon as well).

#hz045 #character notes #episode notes

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