#no real plot in this chapter

[hyperfixationstation128]

Ooohhoohoo~!! I don't think y'all are ready for the next chapter of my Baldur's Gate fanfic.

All I'll say is, if you like pirates and rough sex, you're in for a damn treat!

[salarymanwaka]

[guccigarantine]

I’m 100% supportive of people becoming obsessed with a background character in something but when people start saying something is bad because those background characters don’t get any character development we gotta slow down a little

[blueskittlesart]

is detcon actually good

no <3 hope this helps

[abybweisse]

Ch215; The "smoking room"

Even in the manga, it's in quotes, and that's something that makes me read deeper into it.

Our earl might assume the cigars are regular tobacco, but there could be opium smokers, too. Either way, he's been around it and probably figures he can tolerate it for a while.

But let's not forget how something wafting in the air at Sphere Music Hall on a "Sirius" day made him fall asleep/pass out, so blood could be taken without his knowledge or consent.

Since Sebastian is also being treated as a mere guest, and not as a servant of a guest, he might also accompany his master to this "smoking room", and I hope so... because Sebastian could shake off any effects of the drugs, unlike our earl. This would be a great parallel to Lucas and friends on Tanetane Island (Mother3), where Lucas and the other humans eat mushrooms 🍄 that make them hallucinate, while his loyal dog, Boney, doesn't partake, so Boney is the only one not affected by the drug.

Keeping with the Tanetane mushrooms idea, if our earl gets drugged and starts to hallucinate, this could be a really wild -- and scary!! -- ride for him. In the game, Lucas hallucinates all sorts of horrors...

...including one of his dead older twin saying the wrong twin died and that Lucas should switch places with him (Claus).

It might be a bit like the dream sequences during the green witch arc but much more twisted. In that dream, real Ciel says revenge wasn't necessary or expected. If our earl now takes a bad drug trip, it could be more like real Ciel telling him he's a failure, maybe even also suggesting the younger twin should have died instead. It could include Vincent telling him he was never meant to become his heir... or maybe Rachel saying she's going to spank his bottom black and blue. Soma and/or Agni blaming him for their suffering and Agni's death....

Whoever and whatever it is, it would be a twisted and particularly angry version of them or it. Lucas et al don't recover until some sense is literally knocked back into them... with a wooden plank or something... by a Magypsy.

In the manga, it's usually a reaper who steps in to provide the Magypsy parallel, though during the witch arc, it's Sebastian who fills the role by being 90% serious about eating his young master right then and there.

It is possible that they just gain some info and leave unscathed. But I'll honestly be surprised if nothing trippy happens in the "smoking room" or soon after.

And if it does get trippy... it should be very dark.

[luvo27]

because they got me thinking about it, here's a fics I probably won't write: the idea behind my silly (by which i mean horrifying hopefully) wayne family adventures fic!!

premise: told through a weird and funky novelization of chapters of wayne family adventures. there is something something magic plague something something. the batfam (at as dysfunctional as you can get stage) is getting brainwashed/forced to play happy families in a shared dream (the dream being wfa)

there are little glitches as people fall asleep and characters join the hallucination one by one and sometimes people are like whattt the hell am i doing here and then they get zapped into happy family time. and it works because there's a part of them that wants happy family.

at some point things break a little too hard (a character references a really bad argument that never got resolved outside the dream or some such) and there's a glitchy blow up argument between a couple of characters, and then it cuts off. the next chapter resumes and those characters are still there, but Different. Happier and Smiley-er Family. from there it goes from shared hallucination to bruce's individual hallucination as the other characters are yoinked out one by one as the dream keeps breaking. and then bruce is left with these kind of like. happy smiling mannequin people. and he's alone in the dream.

this is when outside magic intervention comes in as the jla or some such have been doing actual work in the real world and the batfam start waking up slowly in a superhero hospital ward and none of them can look at each other because they all remember their happy family moments and they all go their separate ways as fast as they can

eventually they get all the information about the magic disease thing and they all find out that their shared dream/hallucination only worked (for however long it did) because there was a part of them that wanted it. and they have to face the fact that they wanted it, and they have to face the fact that even though the dream/hallucination magic was created to keep them in the dream together, they still managed to be so dysfunctional that they broke it. and then they have to deal with the fact that everyone else knows that they wanted happy families.

from here, depending on the characters involved in whichever different relationship, there are multiple ways it can go. they can realize that the other person wants to repair their relationship, reach out and make amends, as awkward as it might be. They can be haunted by the knowledge of how the other person wants to repair the relationship, and how they managed to break it in the dream even with the dream pushing the happy family reality upon them, and decide for good that they're better off without each other and learn how to grieve what could have never been. they can continue to hover awkwardly around each other and ignore everything that happened and fall back into the status quo, except for how sometimes they'll accidentally reference something that only happened in the Happy Families dream.

this is a story about the difference between the dream you can never have because there is too much history and hurt, and the horrible difficult reality of people who might truly want to repair a relationship and do better, and don't know how to get there and the different ways that reality can turn out.

[902186]

"In the time we have traveled together, I have come to see how you are with one another. Closer than brothers. [...]" Minstrels, perhaps, see too clearly.

[ask-possessed-player]

[ASKS ARE BACK OPEN]

[jeeliebeeliegoomiebear]

On Isolde and Many Doors (and One Key)

Thinking about Isolde and how she feels like she is constantly trapped in a small cramped room full of 1 million doors. Each door represents a presence that haunts her, an identity that lives inside her that calls to her from beyond the grave, a new mask to dawn.

If every person in the world were to have a room, most would have just one door, their own. But not Isolde.

Isolde feels like an empty vessel who is only there to serve as a point of entry for other people and their spirits. She has been forced to become so repressed by her environment, upbringing, and her nature as a medium that she finds it easy to forget herself. Her “self” is not someone she has ever been allowed to know.

The room grows increasingly smaller, claustrophobic and strangling her with pressure as the amount of doorways in it only increase, every new person she meets a new doorway she is plagued with, a new voyeur who has granted themselves full access to her life and her body. Something she is now willing to let them do. It is easier that way. Easier to let someone else command her vessel, something that never solely belonged to her to begin with. An escape from all the pressure, the expectations, the perfection demanded from her. It is something she should do. The duty of someone like her. Something to hide her wretched face from view, to give the people what they want, to uphold her family’s legacy. A performance that was never allowed to end. Each new door lead right back to that.

The only exception is Kakania. The only person Isolde believes has ever really seen her as more than a host for other identities or something to mold into shape, prop up as a set piece. A perfect lady. The star of Vienna. A tragic heroine. A dangerous hysteric witch. A curse manifested. The only one who was ever interested in finding Isolde’s door and that door alone. When she is with Kakania, a new door does not appear in that ever shrinking empty room, although at first she expects it to. For the first time she meets someone and is not greeted with a new ghost to haunt her. Not a door. But a key. A key that Isolde knows can unlock her own door, even when she herself cannot find it.

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 81 Mistrust Posting

Hello, dear void! LET'S! GO! ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

Big spoiler this week in the editor's notes so the post is continued under the cut!

Editor's notes: First Page: 神奈備職員が"松"の妖術で爆散！！[Kamunabi shokuin ga "matsu" no youjutsu de bakusan!!] "Kamunabi employees are exploding due to the 'pine tree' sorcery!!" Last Page: 死んだハズの漆羽！一体ナゼ？！[shinda hazu no Uruha! ittai naze?!] "Uruha was supposed to be dead! What the heck?!"

Hakuri, Alone

Poor guy...

He hypes himself up but he's so shaky. My poor little guy who's been through so much but keeps trying his best. Hakuri, I love you. He's not in a great mental state but he keeps going.

It's really obvious now how out of his element he is- he's not used to any of this except the beat-downs and not being able to trust people. How to fight, how to keep himself stable when everything's riding on him, having people sacrifice themselves for him... he can keep going, and he will, but man he really could use an ally right now. Especially since his sorcery is seriously limited after he overexerted himself. Only two Isou blasts and he's out.

I'm glad we have his PoV and that he's the fourth thing the Kamunabi needs to protect at all costs. He's important! Hopefully he'll start to learn to see himself that way without more people needing to die for him.

Why is he the fourth thing? Well, because of the framing.

Note the Sword Master being chained to a spike like a dangerous wild animal...

Izaru (a name at last!) here's listing off the most critical things the Kamunabi needs to protect. The first three are expected: you need security to protect the other two, which we know by now are absolutely essential to keep out of the Hishaku's hands. The fourth? Well, it's the guy sprinting in the next panel whose sorcery is essential to thwarting the Hishaku by isolating the second critical item.

Speaking of names, though...

ManBearPig and Mr. Many Islands

He's Mutton Chops no more. Hello, Izaru (亥猿)! 亥 [i] is the kanji for the Boar from the Chinese Zodiac, and 猿 [zaru] is... the character for monkey. Or an insult for a sly person/hick. Hmm. He's definitely not a traitor still in my mind, since he's the guy with the most obvious faith in the institution. He's like an old bureaucrat who believes in the mission and the power it gives him. I'll leave the interpretation of his name up to anyone who happens to read this.

Izaru's kind of an asshole but he's an asshole who knows his shit and gets stuff done. I feel like he's going to be a thorn in Team Goldfish's side but not because he's evil, he's just got his own ideals. Looking forward to seeing more of him.

Right through the heart, damn.

As for Kashima (加島), his name's pretty generic. 加 [ka]: add, augment, increase and 島 [shima]: island. I sincerely doubt this links him to the small island country that got nuked by the Sword Master; it's just a common last name. He was a good guy though so rest in peace. Another person to add to Hakuri's trauma pile of decent folks who have died via a slash to the neck (at least this time it wasn't a suicide). Can we stop killing people in front of Hakuri? Please?

I do wonder how he's going to make it out of this. He really needs a strong friend to help protect and reassure him, but he's alone. Anyone could be an enemy- willingly or not. Chihiro's busy in Kyoto and can't be summoned right now, Azami's busy, Kudou's dead, Izaru's commanding things from the barrier room, the rest of the leaders are MIA. Who can help him reach the Shinuchi safely?

Well.

It's been teased for months over dozens of chapters since he was killed. His status was in doubt: Shiba couldn't find information, Chihiro outright refused to believe it, even the Masumi were unsure. Samura was revealed to have the power to heal on top of being a tortured soul that just wants to save people. The mysteries of how the bond to an Enchanted Blade affects the bearer over a long period of time are still unknown. And so, at long last:

HE'S BACK, Y'ALL

Cry for both of us, Hakuri!

WELCOME BACK, URUHA! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU! Seriously, the platonic duo of Hakuri and Uruha was one of my favourites and I hope we get to see a ton of them from here on.

The theory of Samura wanting to break the other Bearer's bonds to their blades through death then killing the Sword Master has increased validity now, in my opinion. It was stated that Suzaku can't actually reverse death -and Chihiro and Uruha were both confirmed dead- but it was also noted that Samura has gotten insanely strong since the war ended 18 years ago. He might be able to do it now. Kill his former comrades-in-arms to spare them from all going down when he kills the Master, except himself. He's got all that damn guilt... Chihiro, I hope you can snap Samura out of his grief before Iori becomes the newest orphan in the series.

Check out Uruha's outfit though! It's got elements reminiscent of the Steam Squad's uniforms- especially Fushimi's- added to it!

It's him, it's really him!

The new buckles on the collar are like Fushimi's (which he left undone), plus the pants and footwear are more similar to the squad's now. Congratulations, FushiUru shippers. Not only did Uruha come back but he got a wardrobe update that plausibly calls back to his dead (boy)friend.

It's a bit obvious after all the emphasis this chapter on how alone Hakuri is, but it's still nice to see the callbacks so we know this Uruha is the real deal. Even if someone else was able to replicate that bonkers sword style, only the real Uruha would know about the "centipede" moment on the train. So there's zero doubts and Hakuri has a strong ally to help him get to the Shinuchi! I'm not worrying about why Hakuri's being used as bait to lure out the core forces, nor what will happen to him if he successfully puts the Shinuchi into his storehouse, or what his deep desire to be useful will lead him to do. I'm just elated that he's got Uruha at his side. I will take a week of joy before we start to slide back down into anxiety.

I said in my chapter 47 and 48 yapfests that Uruha was the one set up to help Hakuri realise his own worth so now I can't wait to see how it happens. Uruha backstory, please? Scenes of the older silly guy teaching the younger silly guy? Honestly I just want to see them interact! Hakuri's total lack of self-awareness and both of their ridiculous behaviour tendencies are something I need a lot more of in my life.

I deeply wish to know exactly what happened with Uruha so if we cut back to Chihiro or Azami next chapter I'll be in mild distress. Not a lot since I love both of those characters and want updates on them too, but some.

Traitors

Pretty sure this is the girl and the blond guy were in the group panel shown last chapter.

Not really a surprise that there are members of the Kamunabi who are willing to betray their allies. The Hishaku are quite persuasive and I know the Kamunabi's got skeletons in their closet even if we don't know their exact shape yet. We still don't know which of the four who helped Kunishige hide leaked information yet, though. We need to know who the people in this top panel report to, I think, to get the full picture:

Which of you will become a foe?

I wonder where Hagiwara's loyalties lie now. Obliterating the Hishaku? Doing whatever it takes to stop the usage of Enchanted Blades? And hey, uh, where's Kazane in all this?

There's more than just two people out there killing their former allies, with a quota per team, per area too. So this was meticulously planned by someone with authority most likely. The traitor subplot is unfolding at just the right pace to keep me interested without feeling drug out or rushed. New details are revealed when they're needed and not too much or too little at once- the structure of this one is much, much better than the Hotel. I think we're on the up and up for the rest of this arc since the Hiruhiko sideshow is definitively over for now.

Some Accounting

Completely unrelated, Hakuri's just super cute.

Alright. Just for my own tracking:

KYOTO Chihiro vs. Samura set up at the hotel; Enten and Tobimune in use, Kumeyuri present but still bonded to Hiruhiko Iori, Ikura, all three Masumi on the hotel roof Hiruhiko, Toto, Kuguri on the retreat somewhere in Kyoto

TOKYO Azami vs. Samuraishaku set up in an arena with live music on the first floor of the Kamunabi HQ Hakuri and Uruha on the way to the Shinuchi several floors below Izaru with the barrier team Kudou dead in the elevator shaft, his team was wiped out too Unknown number of traitors eliminating other Kamunabi staff as part of a plan About 50 pine tree "bomb" carriers left Ichiki, Beard, Hairclips, Eyepatch, Earlobes, Giraffe Neck unknown Hatshaku managing hostage situation from outside Kamunabi HQ Yura, Jane, Derek, and other two core members unknown Two unnamed blades unknown

ELSEWHERE Shiba and Hiyuki guarding the two Bearers we haven't met yet

That's all I've got for now. Revel in the joy of Uruha being back until next week, kind void!

[beneathsilverstars]

i love themes. i love when i'm writing and i'm like ughhh i have to come up with some filler bullshit details to go here because it's necessary to the rest of the plot but not actually very relevant to it, and then i'm like wait. i know how to make it relevant. i just have to make the details echo the overarching themes of the piece. and suddenly it stops being filler bullshit and starts being, like, foreshadowing or allegory or some cool shit like that ^w^

[demonslayedher]

Something I love about being a KnY fangirl in Japan: I can be out running errands and then the most recent opening theme song will play on the loudspeakers and give me energy.

I today I passed by somebody else lip syncing "Mugen."

[stygiansauce]

Would yall be mad if I posted some Unnamed superhero au to Ao3 before Margin of Error chapter five?

cause I'm cooking ranchers content that might make an offical appearance as a set of oneshots.

[kidspawn]

me: ahhh I'm so excited to write them all meeting! It'll be great!

adam and ronan: (against my will??) *proceed to tear into each other for 6k words*

[lainalit]

[dairisrls]

CHAPTER EIGHT OF BREAD AND TWYRE

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64218295/chapters/171685138

In which the Haruspex organises support for the strike and the Bachelor contemplates the role he wishes to play.