#accidentally makes chapter 2 twice as long as chapter 1 whoops

[boyswillbeboxes-archive]

My Way Back to You chapter 2

Rating: T (for now)

Pairing: Maxvid

Words: 5120

“Where are we even going?” Max asked, his hands shoved deep into his hoodie pocket as he ambled along next to David in the dark woods. Lights out had been almost an hour ago, but David had asked him to meet out here. There was a time he wouldn’t have done anything the older man asked of him, certainly without kicking up a fuss. Things were different now. This…thing between them was still new, still exciting, and even though they had to be secretive, had to sneak around for any hope of being together, it had become something Max cherished.

“You’ll see soon enough.” The trees blocked the light of the moon, so they only had David’s shitty flashlight to ensure they didn’t step into any of the Quartermaster’s traps. It was with some relief that Max realized David had intentionally slowed his gait to keep pace with Max since, even after hitting his growth spurt last year, he was nowhere near the older man’s height.

Max could only barely make out David’s expression in the dark, so he wasn’t quite sure what to expect. They’d snuck out before, stole moments together while the others were busy elsewhere. But they usually stuck around camp for the most part. Hiking up, up, up into the hills surrounding the area seemed a bit risky.

But Max trusted David. So he continued to follow.

A rustling in the bushes had Max freezing, grabbing for David instinctually. The older man’s fingers laced through his as he swung the light around to face the rustling. A fox shot out from the bushes and scampered along down the path, disappearing in seconds in the inky black underbrush. David breathed a sigh of relief.

“Boy, that was scary!” Max could hear the grin in his voice, even if he couldn’t see it. “Come on, let’s go.” They began to walk again, Max noting that David hadn’t disentangled their fingers. He was glad for the darkness hiding the heat in his cheeks when the older man’s thumb brushed against his.

Eventually they reached a sort of plateau, an outcropping that gave a fantastic view of the valley below. David helped Max onto it, steadying him so he didn’t fall, then hopped up next to him to sit on the little shelf of rock.

“I come out here sometimes when I can’t sleep,” he explained. “It’s peaceful. Quiet. And you can see the stars really well too!” David clicked off the flashlight and slipped it into his pocket.

Max kicked his feet a little, definitely not sulking that David had dropped his hand. “We can see the stars at camp. There’s stars everywhere.”

David chuckled. “Well, yes, but…” He smiled over at Max, the moonlight making his face glow. “Before I came to Camp Campbell, I’d never known how many stars there were. I lived in a city with a lot of light pollution, and I just figured that’s what everywhere looked like.” He settled back on the rock, then opened his arm in silent invitation. He looked…nervous. It was gratifying to know David was as affected by this as Max was. He carefully scooted over, feeling the warmth of David’s arm over him as he pulled him close. Where his head rested on his chest, Max felt the older man’s heart beat just a bit faster.

Max closed his eyes and listened for a moment, a sense of peace washing over him. It was broken when David gasped and shook him. “Max, look! A shooting star!” He opened his eyes just in time to see it streak across the sky, then vanish just as quickly. “Make a wish!”

Max snorted. “You believe in that shit?”

“Well, sure.” Max didn’t need to look at his face to know David was sporting that cute pout he always wore whenever he was teased. “Don’t tell me you’ve never wished on a shooting star before.”

“Alright, I won’t tell you.” He chuckled at the little whine in David’s voice, and snuggled closer, letting his eyes slide shut again. He could feel sleepiness creeping in, David’s heartbeat the sweetest lullaby he’d ever heard. He’d even started to doze when David’s voice startled him awake, the rumbling through his chest seeming to seep into Max’s bones.

“Just look at all of them.” David’s voice was low and awed, his smile unusually serene and peaceful. “Isn’t it beautiful, Max?”

Max’s gaze fell on David’s jaw, the sloping curve of it leading up to cheeks dusted with the barest hint of freckles, up to his eyes which were so wide and reflecting the stars as well as Lake Lilac on a still night. He was in awe, then, for just a moment, before he tore his eyes away, his cheeks flushed. “Yeah,” he said, his voice cracking just a bit on the single syllable. “Most…beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

--

“Hey, buddy, you can’t sleep here. Come on, wake up.” Max growled low in his throat as he cracked one eyelid open. Tyler the barista stood over him, looking vaguely annoyed that he’d actually had to speak to someone. Max could relate.

“Just fuckin…shut my eyes for two minutes,” he grumbled, dragging a hand down his face and straightening up. His back popped as he stretched.

“Dude, you’ve been over here for like four hours.” To his credit, Tyler didn’t look like he cared much, but the place had started to fill up with more people, and an older woman with a steely gaze was staring him down from behind the counter. “You gotta go.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” Max stumbled a bit as he got out of the booth, still groggy. “’M goin’…” He strapped on his backpack and duffle, and took a moment to flip the woman behind the counter the bird before he stepped out into the bright light of early morning.

“Ugh.” He brought up a hand to shield his eyes. “Fucking sun…I’ll destroy you one day, you bright piece of shit.” He glanced down at his phone’s clock and sighed. 8:42. Still a while yet before he had to meet that weirdo. Well, that was fine, since his mournfully growling stomach was reminding him painfully how he hadn’t eaten since early yesterday. He walked aimlessly until he spotted the golden arches of a McDonald’s. Their coffee wasn’t as good, but he still ordered one, along with half a dozen hashbrowns and a biscuit.

He sat down in a windowed booth with his meal and pulled out his phone. Nothing on socials. Definitely nothing from his parents. That was fine as far as he was concerned. If he never heard from either of them again he’d consider it a life well lived.

With nothing better to do, he opened his image folder and scrolled to the private one down near the bottom. He tapped out the password and opened it, smiling faintly at the dozen or so photos inside. He’d almost lost these, had backed them up to a million different places online to make sure his parents couldn’t get rid of them, and had carried them on every device he’d ever owned for the last five years.

They were all of him and David, most of them from camp. David had taken them and sent them to Max over the time they’d been together but had to be apart. Some of them were from before, just quick candid shots where Max did his best to act like he didn’t even want to be in the same room as David. The last few, though…those were the special ones. David holding him close. David kissing him on the cheek. Max sitting in David’s lap.

It was hard to look at these ones. They were the ones that had ruined everything. But…he couldn’t make himself delete them. He gritted his teeth as he stared down at one with David kissing his temple. He should have been more careful. He knew he should have been. But his parents had never cared what he did before. He’d gotten sloppy, left his messenger open and…

They saw.

And suddenly Max was back there, with all the yelling, the questions, finding out David had been arrested while he begged and pleaded with his parents not to do this. He’d refused, every step of the way, to participate in the trial. He hadn’t given a statement, refused to testify against David on the stand, made the whole process as difficult for them as possible, to the frustration of his parents’ lawyer.

It had all paid off when the lawyer got sloppy, tried to forge his statement himself, and Max made sure he got caught. Not guilty on a technicality was still not guilty. It kept David out of jail, at least. The last time Max had seen him, he was being led out of a courtroom, his face haggard and drawn. He’d still managed a smile for Max, though. The last smile he’d ever seen.

After that, his parents wouldn’t let him return to Camp Campbell. They checked everything: his phone, his socials, even his room in case he was hiding some secret correspondence or something. Of course there was nothing. When they backed off a little he tried to look David up, tried to contact him. But of course they’d deleted his number in Max’s phone, and either David didn’t have social media or he had done a damn good job of hiding his identity.

So that was that. Only, it wasn’t, because Max hadn’t given up. He knew so long as he was a kid, he wouldn’t be able to do anything. Emancipation was a bitch and a half, and even if he managed it, David would just end up in trouble again. So his only option was to wait, for five very long years, biding his time until they could finally reunite.

He’d only taken a few bites of the rock-hard biscuit and eaten maybe two hashbrowns, but he found himself pushing his food away at the flip of anxiety in his stomach. Of course he wanted to see David again. It’s all he’d been thinking about for years. While his peers had dated people their own age, he’d been so singularly focused on that goal that even if anyone had been interested he wouldn’t have cared.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous, though.

Finding the little shop turned out to be way more annoying than he’d thought. It was shoved between two other shops, set back a ways into the wall, with a peeling sign that was practically unreadable. Max passed it twice before he finally found it. He pushed open the grimy door and wrinkled his nose at the absolute mess inside. Yeah, this was definitely a front for some shady business, and not a very good front at that.

“Welcome, young man!” the man from this morning greeted him, his grin wide and showing off several missing teeth. He was addressing him as if they’d never met anymore, so Max responded in kind.

“Looking for a souvenir to take home to my mom,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets casually. “Got anything she might like?”

The man made a thoughtful face, then clapped Max on the shoulder. He fought the urge to either shove him off or bite him, feeling his whole body twitch with the effort. This man was being way too familiar, and ride or no ride, if he kept touching him, Max was going to end him.

“I have a few items a discerning gentleman like yourself would be happy to give to a loved one,” the man said, beaming. He didn’t know how close he was to certain doom, then. “Please, follow me.”

Max trailed behind him around the shop, thankfully without the presence of that hand on his shoulder, as the older man picked out items seemingly at random. If this was meant to put on a show, it was a lousy one, but he took the four items offered to him and followed the owner up to the counter.

When the man told him the total, Max shot him a murderous gaze. He had to pay for this shit? For a moment, he considered protesting, throwing the items to the ground and storming out. But only for a moment. He reached into his pocket and carefully withdrew the amount he needed, trying to hide just how much he actually had from the man’s beady eyes.

“I better get this back later,” Max growled through gritted teeth. The man didn’t respond, but his smile widened ever so slightly. When he handed back the change, there was a slip of paper tucked in between the bills. Max slipped the whole bundle into his pocket, gathered up his bag of absolute junk, and left to fulfill this weirdo’s task.

The slip of paper contained instructions on where to take each item, whose hands to put it in. He didn’t need to collect any money, since they’d paid in advance, just get the item to them, then get out of there. Under no circumstances should he linger in one place for too long.

Glancing over his shoulder, Max could see why. He was being tailed. Plainclothes cop, but sloppy. From the corner of his eye, he could see the bulge just under his shirt from where his gun was holstered. And his eyes were fixed on Max. He took a deep breath and kept walking, keeping his gait slow and relaxed. No big deal. He’d just have to ditch him.

Max ducked into a clothing store as he passed, casually wandering among the racks. He could see the cop near the entrance, acting interested in the collared shirts, but glancing up toward Max every few seconds. Amateur. Watch how a real pro does it, he thought.

He pulled the slip of paper out of his pocket and studied it, making sure the cop saw him. Then he grabbed a random article of clothing (some denim shorts, it turned out. Gross) and made his way into the fitting room.

Now the clock was ticking. Max took the duffle and the backpack off and began switching out the items in the shopping bag for random items from his own bags. It was risky, but that creepy dude had been right about one thing: Max was willing to do whatever it took to get where he had to go. Even if he lost everything to do it.

The items he’d purchased from the knick-knack shop were small, easily slipped into a pocket or hidden in his waistband under his hoodie. Once he had them secure, he left the changing room, leaving his backpack and duffle behind, with the shopping bag peeking out enticingly.

Max breezed toward the exit, watching the cop out of the corner of his eye. Come on, he thought, You know you want to. The cop hesitated, shifting his gaze between Max and the bags left behind in the changing room. Just when Max was about to mourn the futile loss of all his clothes and try to make a run for it, the cop began moving toward the changing room, taking his eyes off Max entirely.

Internally, he cheered, the brilliance of his own mind astounding him as he slipped out the door and to freedom. He ran a few blocks, taking random turns and using back alleys to make sure nobody else was tailing him. It seemed like he was in the clear, so he slowed down and took a deep breath, trying to get his bearings.

So, bad news: he no longer had any clothes, or any of the meager possessions he’d brought from home. Good news: he still had his money, his phone and charger, and the clothes on his back, all while giving some meathead pig the slip. So, all things considered…could have been worse.

He remembered the creepy dude’s advice about lingering in one place too long. Giving one cop the runaround didn’t mean he was in the clear yet. So he began to walk, keeping his eyes sharp for any signs of being followed, sticking close to walls and alleyways when he could manage it.

When all was said and done, Max had thought pushing drugs would be a much more exciting time. As it was, he didn’t encounter a single other cop who looked at him twice, and somehow managed to find four people in a huge city based on some vague directions. It took him the better part of the afternoon, of course, but by the time he was done, there was still plenty of daylight left, and a promise to deliver on.

The shutters on the front of the store were down when Max returned, so he went around the back alley and banged on the door there. After a few minutes, the creepy owner opened the door a crack and peeked out. “Oh, kid! You’re back!”

“Sure am.” Max yanked the door open all the way and stalked inside. “And thanks to you, I lost all my shit. Had to drop it to throw off some cop who was tailing me.”

“Sorry, kid. That’s business.” The man gave a shrug which did not feel like an apology at all, and grinned toothily down at Max. “But ya did it, huh? I’m impressed. You got some real potential.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Max said flatly. “Now it’s your turn. Take me up to Sleepy Peak.”

“Aw, and here we were just getting acquainted.” The man spread his hands. “You and me, kid, we could make a good team. Ol’ Nestor and, uh…” He squinted. “What’s your name again?”

“I don’t give a shit, old man. We made a deal!” Max advanced on the older man, taking some satisfaction in the way he scrambled back. “Are you gonna deliver, or are we going to have a problem?”

“Hey, hey, I always keep my word,” Nestor said placatingly. “I just got a few things to take care of here, kid. Shouldn’t be…more than a few weeks.”

“What?!” Max reached out and grabbed the collar of the other man’s shirt, yanking him down so they were face to face. “Are you fucking with me, you pathetic waste of skin? I am not waiting here with you for weeks!”

Suddenly the man burst out laughing, seemingly unaffected by Max’s threatening hold. “Oh, kid…your face.” He wiped a tear from his eye and straightened up. “Yeah, I’m fucking with you. We can go now.” He grinned down at Max, a look on his face that seemed to resemble pride. “Pathetic waste of skin…that’s a good one. You got some real guts, kid.”

Max could feel his insides vibrating, every instinct insisting that he throw this man to the floor and kick him until he stopped moving. As Nestor moved to walk past him, he reached out to grab his arm with an iron grip.

“My money,” he growled through gritted teeth. “I want it. Now.”

“Your what? Oh!” The old man tapped himself on the forehead with the heel of his hand. “’Course, ‘course…here, that should be it.” He handed Max a wad of bills. It was a testament to how far he’d been pushed that Max didn’t even bother counting it, instead just stuffing it in his pocket and walking straight out the door.

Nestor’s shitty little blue car looked like it barely ran at all, held together only by the grace of whatever deity happened to be paying attention at the time. But, it was better than walking, so Max slipped into the passenger seat without too much complaint. The dude did have way too many fast food bags on the floor, though. When he scowled down at them, Nestor reached over and started shoveling them into the backseat.

“Sorry, sorry…don’t usually have company.” The older man grinned apologetically. Max just ignored him, turning his head toward the window in a pointed gesture. He just wanted to get through the next hour and a half without opening the car door and throwing himself out. For about fifteen minutes, he held onto that dream, really truly believing it might happen. Then Nestor had to open his big mouth and ruin everything.

“So…what’s a kid like you doing going up to Sleepy Peak anyway? Not exactly a tourist destination.”

Max gritted his teeth. “I’m not a kid,” he said. “I’m 18.”

“Really?” The older man whistled low. “Listen, no offense, you’re just…ah, a little vertically challenged.”

“Oh, really? Wow, you’re the first person to ever tell me, thanks.” Max kept his tone frosty, pointedly refusing to engage, but he’d underestimated his opponent’s curiosity and lack of social boundaries.

“Okay, so you’re 18. Doesn’t explain why you’d wanna go to a dump like that.” He paused. “Unless you’re heading to that summer camp, but…I don’t think anyone’s there during the off season.”

“There’ll be someone there. There usually is.” Max pinned his hands between his knees, suddenly unsure. He always assumed David stayed at the camp during the off seasons to keep an eye on things, but maybe he was wrong. “Anyway, it’s none of your business why I want to go there, I just do.”

“’Course, if you’re going there, you know what kind of reputation that place has, yeah?” Nestor was completely ignoring him and barreling ahead. Max chose to just stay silent this time, let the old man talk himself out. “There was a big scandal some years back. Counselor got caught molesting kids.”

Max’s shoulders tensed, but he remained stubbornly silent. Of course other people would know about the trial. It was all over the news when it happened. It figured that the details would be all muddled and media speculation would turn into declaration of fact once people got their hands on it. There had never been any evidence of David touching any other kids. Because he never had. Hell, he’d barely touched Max, to his great 13-year-old frustration. The guy loved to play at chivalry, said they should wait to do anything sexual until Max was older. Max had disagreed, but once David made his mind up, there was no changing it.

“’Course, the guy got off with no charges,” Nestor continued. “Technicality. That shit prosecutor didn’t know what he was doing, fucked with the evidence…but everyone knows he was guilty. Sick fuck.”

Max could feel that rage coiling in his gut again. Nobody should be allowed to talk about David like that. Not a single person. It didn’t matter that they didn’t know the whole story, or that the media had sensationalized it. They shouldn’t be allowed to even think about him.

“Buncha parents got all up in arms about him still being at that camp, though. Think they ran him off. Or killed him.” Nestor laughed. “Maybe he killed himself, who knows. Nobody’s seen him since.”

A door opened up, and Max’s stomach fell clean through, leaving him feeling faint and light-headed. “How…” Max’s voice came out croaky. He swallowed and tried again. “How do you know he didn’t just move?”

“Oh, plenty of people kept their eye on him after the trial,” Nestor said. “If he’d moved towns, someone would have tracked him down. Nah, he just up and vanished. Weirdest thing.” The older man shrugged. “Good riddance either way, I say.”

Max couldn’t catch his breath. He pulled his hood up to cover his face and went back to staring at the window, trying to process all of that. He hadn’t considered the possibility that David might be… he couldn’t even think it. Wouldn’t believe it. He had to find out what had happened for himself.

Nestor made a few more token efforts at conversation, but when it became clear Max wasn’t listening at all, he just turned on the radio instead. Song after song blended together as Max stared outside, watching buildings become farmland become dense forest, with the teasing shine of a river just visible through the trees. It felt almost painfully nostalgic, like he’d been longing for this place, and had finally come home.

The sun was just starting to set when they pulled into town. It hadn’t changed even a little. Still the same old shops, the same old streets. Hell, even the same old dudes sitting on their porch in rocking chairs. It was like being 10 again. Like something out of a time machine. He half expected to pop into the electronics store and see Neil behind the counter.

“Hey, kid.” Max turned with a scowl. “You know, I meant what I said. About us being a team. If things don’t work out with what you’ve gotta do around here.” Nestor pulled a napkin out of his pocket and scribbled down a phone number, then handed it to Max. “If you ever need anything, let me know, okay?” The older man smiled, and it was the first truly genuine smile Max had seen on his face. “Hope you find what you’re looking for.”

Max didn’t know what to say to that. He stared down at the napkin, at the awful chicken scratch he could barely read. After a moment’s hesitation, he stuffed it in his pocket.

“I’ll find it,” Max said. Then he turned on his heel and began to walk.

There was no need for Max to go anywhere else tonight. As much as he desperately just wanted to get there, it would be too dark to walk soon. He’d have to find a place in town to stay until tomorrow, and then start the long trek toward the camp.

His stomach growled mournfully. But first, food.

When he saw the lights of the pizza joint in the distance, Max couldn’t help the smile that lit his face. After David brought him here when he was 10, after that awful parent’s day, it had become a regular place for them. The pizza wasn’t exactly good, but it was edible, and the atmosphere was cozy compared to the rest of the town. He made a beeline for it, already looking forward to eating his body weight in hot grease.

Like the town, it was exactly as he remembered it. The peeling booths along the walls, framed pictures of Italy at regular intervals, fine layer of grease and grime covering every surface…oh, yeah, he’d really missed this place. He sat himself down in a booth with a grin, then froze when his eyes caught on the only other patron.

She wasn’t paying attention to him, scrolling on her phone with one hand as the other hand shoveled pizza into her mouth. She looked bored. Tired. Her hair was pixie cut and ears pierced all the way up the sides. Since it was cool outside, she wore jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt, much plainer than he would expect from her.

Despite the differences, he’d recognize those violet eyes anywhere.

Max stood and slowly approached the table, watching her become aware of his presence and glance up in annoyance. “You got a problem, buddy?” she asked, eyes flashing. “If you’re here to tell me how you saw my beauty from across the room and just had to come and talk to me, save it. Not interested.”

“No?” Max couldn’t help the amused grin. “That’s too bad. I really thought there was a spark between us at camp, Gwen. Don’t tell me it was just me.”

The girl froze, squinting at him for just a moment before her eyes went wide.

“Max?” she whispered.

Max grinned and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “In the flesh.” He was nearly bowled over when Gwen threw herself out of the booth and into a tight bear hug. He gasped for air. “Gwen. Please. Need to breathe…”

“You can breathe when I say you can breathe!” If anything, she squeezed him tighter. “I haven’t seen you in forever! Since…” She paused.

“Since…the trial,” Max finished with a sigh. “Yeah.” She pulled back to look at him and he scratched the back of his head. “I wanted to come back. But, uh…”

Gwen nodded. “Yeah. I get it.” She pushed him down into the booth, then sat across from him with a wide smile. “So, what are you doing here? You know the camp’s not open right now, right?”

“Yeah, I know. What are you doing here, then?” Max helped himself to a slice of her pizza, raising a curious eyebrow. “You still working up at that shitshow? I thought you’d have moved on by now.”

“Well, sort of.” Gwen shrugged. “I’m not a counselor anymore. I legally still own the place, so I’m just doing all the admin stuff I did as a counselor, but I’m paying myself way more.” She grinned. “I’m just here to oversee some maintenance. The cabins need some repairs before next summer.”

“Oh, yeah?” Max chewed on his pizza slowly, thoughtfully, then swallowed. “Is it…just you up there?”

“Yeah. My counselors are all home, so it’s just me.” She sighed in exasperation. “It’s a drag to be up here again, but what can ya do? I’m used to working from home, so I guess I can’t complain too much.”

“Yeah…” Max felt his stomach twist as he stared down at the table. “What about…other people? There’s nobody?”

Gwen raised an eyebrow. “What, you mean like Campbell? Dude’s long gone. Once he passed off the ownership and got off parole, he disappeared. I don’t know where he is, and I don’t care.”

Max sighed. She was really going to make him ask, wasn’t she? “Gwen. Where’s David?”

There was a long pause while Gwen stared down at the table, her arms tight across her chest. “He’s…well, that’s complicated, Max.”

“Complicated how?” Max leaned forward. “Just tell me. Is he at the camp? Is he…okay?” He had to know. Even if it hurt, he had to know what had happened.

Gwen sighed. “He’s not at camp,” she said. “After everything that happened, he…stepped down. Relinquished full ownership to me. He didn’t want his reputation to cause the camp to suffer.” She glanced away. “As for where he is now…I’m sorry, Max. I can’t tell you that.”

“Why not?” Max snapped. “Come on, Gwen, just…a phone number? An address? Something.” He swallowed. “He’s not…he’s still alive, isn’t he?”

“What? Of course he is.” Gwen gave him an incredulous look. “No, I’m sorry, but the reason I can’t tell you is…he asked me not to.”

There it was again, the door through which his stomach made a swift and sudden exit. Max’s mouth was suddenly dry. He swallowed. “What…what does that mean?”

“It means…” She sighed. “I’m sorry, Max. He doesn’t want to see you.”

[paganinpurple]

A Feline’s Family - MariChat May 2019

Buy Me A Coffee?

AO3

Chapters (If there’s no link, it’s not written yet)

1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10

11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20

21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  29  30  31

Day 9 – Ice Skating

Marinette dashed up the stairs to the attic room, flinging the trapdoor open and thanking Tikki and her natural luck that it hadn’t been locked this time.

Now that Chat was settled in and had been living with her family for about a month, they were both increasingly comfortable with giving each other some much needed space, and Marinette had returned to her usual routine of seeing her friends after school and during the weekends. She was especially pleased to find that Adrien had been given a lot more freedom lately and she had taken many opportunities to let him catch up on the experiences he had missed out on before. Sleepovers with Alya had resumed (though entirely at her best friend’s house now; Marinette was starting to run out of excuses to keep her from coming over) and overall, Marinette was ecstatic to go hang out with friends.

Likewise, Chat often disappeared to spend time with his own friends – sometimes at the same time as her, sometimes leaving their room in her solitary care for several hours. There were times since she had returned to her usual social circle that she had come home to discover the trapdoor locked and had to knock for him to let her in. He had confessed that first time, that he was using the solitude to detransform and have a breather from the mask. He had also –surprisingly– explained to the whole family about his kwami, gaining permission to let Plagg explore the house a little while Chat waited upstairs.

Marinette had loved having the opportunity to grill Plagg on how her partner was really doing and, as long as her parents weren’t around, she could let Tikki and him chat and spend time together too.

The downside, of course, was working out ways to call Chat as Ladybug to arrange patrols. She didn’t like this unfamiliar radio silence from Hawkmoth, and she was starting to think she should ask Chat what he really thought of it all, since all he’d done so far was to make off-hand comments about them being lucky.

So, into their room she dashed, determined to grab a coat to protect from the sudden chill, before heading back out to transform and call him. Instead, her foot slipped out from under her and she fell to the floor hard, staring up at the ceiling fixtures.

Sitting up, she spotted a sheepish looking Chat. He was wearing his sleep socks and holding a polishing rag against the laminate flooring in the strangest combination she’d expect. Looking around the room quickly informed her that Chat had been busy; all the furniture had been pushed back to the edges of the room and even the rug was rolled up and standing in the corner.

“Are you okay?” Chat asked in concern.

She gave a one-shouldered shrug in response. “I’ve had worse,” she told him, “What are you doing though? You’ve made the floor so slippery.”

He grinned widely and, not for the first time, she was reminded of the famous Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. She’d much rather this cat stuck around though; she was starting to get used to having his face around.

“Yeah,” he said, “It’s gonna be excellent.”

Throwing the polishing cloth over to his bed where he had pushed it up against the large round window, he lowered himself to a sitting position and scooted himself over until he was beside her. Pushing himself to his socked feet, he took a deep breath.

Before Marinette could ask again what he was doing, he took a couple of fast steps before shifting his body weight into a slide. His sleep socks slid against the polished floor perfectly, allowing him to control much of his movement by simply shifting his weight and she watched as he twirled and whooped in joy once he started to get the hang of it.

Marinette gave off a huge snort of laughter. “You turned our floor into an ice rink,” she giggled from where she sat crossed legged in front of the door, watching him skid and slide his way around the room in glee.

“Heck yeah, I did,” he cried, “You should try this, it’s great!”

He ‘skated’ over to her to offer his hand and, smiling, she took it. Soon enough, she found herself slipping around in her own stocking feet, giggling and shrieking like a happy little kid. She didn’t have nearly as much grace as Chat did at this, but every time she wobbled, he was there instantly, offering her his hands until she managed to steady herself again.

She accidentally pushed him over once or twice, losing her balance and automatically whipping her arms in circles so erratic that he was knocked to the ground when they made contact with him. “I’m sorry!” she said after the third time Chat had made a harsh landing with the laminate involuntarily.

“It’s fine,” he chuckled, eyes flashing with mischief, “As long as I can still dance at the fundraiser for the sanctuary next Friday, I’ll be okay.” He made an exaggerated show of tapping at his arms and legs to test for injuries and when he came up empty, finally stretched out his hand to her.

That damned smirk on his face should have told her that he was up to no good, but if Marinette had realised, she had done so too late. She reached out to take his hand and help him back to his feet, but instead of pushing up from where he was, Chat tugged her down towards him with that smirk on his face the whole time. Her feet lost traction on the slippery floor, tipping her forward towards him and she squealed in brief panic as she began to fall. She landed in a heap on top of him and he dropped back to the ground beneath her, body trembling in laughter at the indignant glare she sent his way.

As she was pushing herself up a little, Marinette accidentally pressed her fingers against the side of his ribs, giving a slow predatory smile when he flinched beneath her with a squeak. Instantly she was moving to tickle every inch of him she could reach as Chat squirmed beneath her, giggles spilling over between exhales of “Stop!” and “No!”

He attempted his own offence, but he was too afraid of his claws hurting her and he failed to apply the correct pressure to make her laugh. Instead he was forced to try restraining her hands to stop her terrible onslaught, finally succeeding in grabbing her wrists and holding tight as he caught his breath.

Both teens calmed their laughter together, quickly coming to the same awkward realisation that they were pressed close together on the floor. Marinette was horrified to realise she had absolutely no way of propping her self up to pull away from Chat whilst he still held her wrists hostage and that she was trapped until he came to the same realisation.

Yelping suddenly as if burned, Chat let go of her and she hastily crawled away from him, sitting back on her heels and simply staring for a moment. To her surprise, Chat remained where he was lying, a blush adorning his face as he focused on the ceiling instead of her.

She was even more surprised by the large snort of laughter that escaped him next, a fit of giggles following in its wake, so infectious she couldn’t resist laughing along with him.

Finally, both teenagers laughed themselves out, sprawled against the flooring and sides aching pleasantly, all traces of awkwardness completely dissipated.

“Next time,” she snickered, “let’s go to an actual ice rink instead.”

Buy Me A Coffee?

[kclenhartnovels]

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻-(obvi u don't have to do em all)-🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

119 flowers, Lisa. 119. You think I won’t answer all of these? You’re a fool. I’m a fool. I’m going to answer all of them, and they’re all going to be Wolf at the Gates related so I can break your heart again. Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. I’m putting it all beneath the cut so that not everyone has to suffer through this. Just you, Lisa. Suffer with me.

🌻 Here we go. Let’s go. First of all, WatG is about 18 years old. It’s older than most of tumblr. That being said, I found a fun game someone else did that has first and last lines of characters, so I’m gonna do that with the major players:

🌻 T’ke: “T’ke” and “I haven't lost it yet.”

🌻 Medvetis: “What has this man done?” and “Isthe, don't.”

🌻 Isthe: Is mute, has no dialogue

🌻 Constantine: “I don’t recognize him.” and “Long live the King.”

🌻 Delgos: “You’re supposed to be socializing, Con—my Prince. I’m not sure your father would be pleased about—”  and “May the stars guide his spirit.”

🌻 Alastair: “Just a few words. Can you spare the time?” and “I am sorry, but we will have to bind your wrists, in order to maintain appearance.”

🌻 Samantha: “Sir Alastair Lobane, am I right?”  and “Well, that could have gone worse.”

🌻 Valerian: “Mine ran off when I was attacked.” and “Away with you, rogue, before I lose my composure entirely.”

🌻 Kamin: [Not counting songs, because his first and last lines are actually both songs] “Any requests, my Lord?” and “If you would allow it.”

🌻 Jinx: “Pitiful crowd tonight.” and “Anger is all I have left, Delgos. Don't try to take that from me, too.” 

🌻 Ashleigh: “Oh, I can hold my own. Why do you ask?” and “Stay in here to sleep tonight, otherwise the men will raid your bags for scraps.”

🌻 Silas: “Only one word? From Valerian? I didn’t think it possible.” and “Dismissed. Both of you.”

🌻 Aashiq: and “Safe journey, little cousin. Don't lose that bright head of yours.”

🌻 Tallest character: Ash, followed by Medvetis

🌻 Shortest character: Kamin, though narrowly, and of course Constantine is next

🌻 Most popular: Valerian 

🌻 Least popular: Silas

🌻 Smartest: T’ke

🌻 Dumbest: Isthe is the least educated, but Con is the biggest dumbass

🌻 Oldest: Major characters only, Valerian. Otherwise, Silas.

🌻 Youngest: Kamin

🌻 Most talkative: V a l e r i a n

🌻 Least talkative: Not counting Isthe, Alastair

🌻 Since it’s pride month, let’s talk about orientations! Main character first! T’ke: Cis, Aro/Ace (touch-repulsed)

🌻 Medvetis: Cis, Demi-romantic, asexual

🌻 Isthe: Trans, ???romantic ??sexual, canonly has sex with a woman, probably at least bi

🌻 Constantine: Cis, super gay both romantic and sexual

🌻 Delgos: Cis, panromantic, pansexual

🌻 Alastair: cis, heteromantic and heterosexual (and so in love with Samantha)

🌻 Samantha: cis, ??? but definitely in love with Alastair

🌻 Valerian: cis (but honestly more gender-flexible if he allowed himself to be), bi but in denial about it

🌻 Kamin: cis, also extremely gay

🌻 Jinx: Cis but genderflexible, aromantic, pansexual

🌻 In the original draft, Samantha’s child from the first marriage died. But there was no real reason for it, and now she and Alastair just get to keep collecting children and they’ll all star in book 3 whenever I get around to it.

🌻 The original original draft was a short story. A short story. A short story. Save me.

🌻 This story has been around so long, the good news is I’ve been able to develop a lot of the world and backstory, such as:

🌻 Three generations of Vendave Kings and what happened during their rule: Marius, Silas, and Constantine

🌻 Two generations of Cielan Kings and their rule: Antony and Kendrick (after he takes out his brothers)

🌻 Two generations of Reckson Kings: [Ash and Xav’s father which I have not named], then Xaviastriuos and Ashleigh fighting over the throne.

🌻 Tawrivers, which was conquered by Vendave during Silas’ rule

🌻 Jinx is one of my favorite characters to write because she’s so unapologetically angry, bordering on feral. She is passionate and injured, and ready to take revenge because no one else will help her and her people.

🌻 Honestly, Jinx would have joined Medvetis and company in a heartbeat, if Valerian and Alastair hadn’t given them shelter and respect first. They are the only reason she didn’t join the rebellion.

🌻 T’ke has dysthymia, and is touch-aversive due to trauma in childhood. He is also very sensitive to sunlight due to his albinism. He wears so many layers both to protect his skin from the sun, and to hide his scarring as much as possible.

🌻 Isthe is mute thanks to a dog attack in his youth, and the attack led to a high fever for many days that nearly killed him. The infection damaged part of his memory, and as a result he has trouble learning new things. This is why T’ke is never able to teach him how to write. He prefers expressive communication anyway.

🌻 T’ke also gets seasick and it cracks me up every time because he’s so annoyed by that fact.

🌻 Valerian has severe agoraphobia, and after he was harassed by bandits in the beginning of the book, he never leaves Angaroth again. Samantha goes in his stead whenever he has to represent the area.

🌻 Alastair has lung problems thanks to his town being razed when he was a child, and severe smoke damage from the fire. It gets progressively worse as he gets older, but he tries very hard not to let it affect his work. 

🌻 Constantine is an excellent swordsman and a terrible horseman. He gets thrown from his horse at least twice over the course of the book. May have been three times. 

🌻 He also almost dies from sickness, gets strangled twice by Isthe, trips up the stairs during a swordfight, and generally gets his ass handed to him over and over again.

🌻 The beginning of each chapter has a journal entry from T’ke. If you take them all out and read it in order, it is a singular letter of sorts explaining his feelings about the whole story.

🌻 Delgos and Alastair have a very quick bromance that stays a strong friendship to the end of the book.

🌻 Alastair is the first person that Delgos comes out to. Unfortunately, Delgos confessing his love for Constantine flies way over Alastair’s head, and the response is more or less “you’re such a good guard, of course you love your king.” Whoops. He tried.

🌻 T’ke makes a binder for Isthe so he stops bruising his ribs with bandages. It then becomes a battle to make sure Isthe takes the binder off every night to sleep so he doesn’t injure himself. 

🌻 T’ke is such the mother of the dynamic trio and he would hate it if anyone points it out.

🌻 That being said, he also spends most of the book making all three of them immune to poisons by gradually introducing them all to it. 

🌻 One of the things that changed very little between initial writes and editing is Valerian’s dialogue. It remains paragraphs, rambling, warm, and ridiculous. I love him.

🌻 I need to make it more clear that Delgos is mixed race from a low-ranking family, because his change from middle child of a merchant sailor to Captain of the Guard speaks a lot about him, and about how much Constantine cares for him.

🌻 Valerian has two pet deerhounds that he adores, and are never used for hunting. They just lay all over everyone in the house instead. They were a gift from some nobility, but he never leaves the house to hunt with them.

🌻 T’ke keeps a pet hawk for a good portion of the novel. Isthe is inexplicably jealous of it.

🌻 Alastair gets incredibly attached to his horses, and names all of them after flowers from his mountain home.

🌻 Aashiq is also very attached to his donkey. 

🌻 Uh, let’s see. Book one is technically Medvetis’ story arc

🌻 Book two is Alastair’s arc

🌻 Book three is the next generation

🌻 T’ke’s story spans books 1 and 2. His journals cause book 3

🌻 Alastair’s sons are identical twins. Poor Samantha.

🌻 Seeing how Alastair was raised by a single man makes Constantine think very long and hard about adopting an heir rather than trying to make one by blood.

🌻 Most of the reason why Silas passed such terrible laws was because he was in love with Elophia, Kamin’s mother.

🌻 Kamin is the youngest of three. His two older sisters were taken to Tawrivers for sanctuary, but Kamin was too young to travel so far, so he was adopted by Jinx’s family.

🌻 Constantine and Kamin are about the same age, and should have been King and chief advisor if Silas hadn’t been a raging bag of dicks.

🌻 Constantine’s mother died from complications of childbirth. Silas blamed Elophia for not saving her.

🌻 Kamin was an unplanned child. They didn’t think that they could have any more children after the two girls. His name roughly translates to gift.

🌻 Which, incidentally, is what Nafal’s name translates to. Aashiq adores his son beyond all measure.

🌻 Jinx is not her real name, but it’s what she’s been called since she was a toddler, and she protects her real name as if she could some day go back to it.

🌻 Harper is Kamin’s title, not his last name. He is, after all, royalty.

🌻 Kendrick is Alastair’s cousin. There’s no accounting for family sometime.

🌻 I fixed Patience’s autonomy, and I can’t wait for her to pop back up later in book 2 or 3

🌻 At one point, Constantine accidentally breaks Medvetis’ nose. 

🌻 It probably wasn’t the first time Medvetis had his nose broken.

🌻 Speaking of single dads, Medvetis was raised by one, too! His mother died from the plague that rocked Vendave and its surrounding lands when he was young, and Cohen took over teaching and protecting him. Medvetis loved his father.

🌻 Oh! Apparently I have a wealth of single dads. Valerian more or less raised his daughter alone, as his wife’s schizophrenia got so bad she confined herself to her room for fear of hurting them. 

🌻 Silas theoretically raised his son alone after his wife died, but let’s be real, Silas didn’t do any raising. The servants did. 

🌻 Delgos was raised primarily by his mother and older siblings; his father was at sea most of the time.

🌻 T’ke was raised by Khalid and the rest of the merchant caravan, and they ruined him. 

🌻 Isthe was raised on the docks with the other street orphans, running with a group of kids and probably one or two pseudo-adults that kept them in line. I have no idea what happened to his parents, but it’s likely they died at sea.

🌻 Delgos really wants to have kids, and Constantine is slowly warming up to the idea. They will likely end up adopting later, and have the discussion about it in book 2

🌻 T’ke hates children. He actually just generally hates people. 

🌻 Medvetis wouldn’t mind having kids, but he would adopt and not have them naturally. As much as he would want kids, he doesn’t want to have sex.

🌻 Isthe loves kids. He loves people. Kids usually find him weird.

🌻 Isthe is also incredibly lucky at gambling, specifically dice games. I guess it balances out his poor luck when it came to the dog attack.

🌻 Isthe isn’t his birth name! He refused to let anyone know his birth name after he was attacked by a dog; he thought someone had used it to curse him. So, he made up a new one.

🌻 Delgos has a tattoo of the Runnemede lion on his chest. (Constantine thinks it’s incredibly hot)

🌻 Isthe gets a tattoo of Medvetis’ wolf on his arm at some point.

🌻 Kamin, of course, has his stars on his cheeks.

🌻 Jinx has the stars on her neck, plus another tattoo in her lower back

🌻 In the dark!AU, Delgos has a tattoo of the Cielan dragon instead :D

🌻 Speaking of defining marks, Medvetis has freckles and it is the most adorable thing

🌻 Also defining, Jinx’s red, red hair.

🌻 Ashleigh’s full name is true Reckson style: Ashleigh en Crowenne Brighton di Reckson

🌻 Originally, Wolf at the Gates and Dragon on the Mountain were one big book named Vendave because I had no idea what to title it. One big book. Thank god I had the sense to cut it in half.

🌻 Book 3 has nothing written on it yet, and only a vague idea of what the heck I’m doing with it.

🌻 Book 2 needs major rewrites but it’s not on the next “to do” list

🌻 I have no idea what any of the characters’ birthdays are, even though Medvetis turned 18 during a battle in the book.

🌻 These dumb kids are all so young in the book, it’s no wonder they suck at everything.

🌻 That’s a lie they mostly just suck at emotional stability and the ability to compromise.

🌻 Literally half the plot would fall apart if they all just sat at a table and talked it out.

🌻 All of the plot would fall apart if Silas hadn’t been a raging bag of dicks when he was alive.

🌻 Honestly I’m so mad that he just died in his sleep. He deserved a worse death and a shorter life but unfortunately the author let him get away with all of it. Damn it.

🌻 I thought a lot about cutting all the songs in WatG, but you convinced me otherwise. And no other beta readers were bothered by it. 

🌻 Have I mentioned yet that I had the best beta readers for this book? Because I had the best beta readers for this book. They were SO helpful.

🌻 I’m both tired of editing it, and very excited about editing it.

🌻 I’m debating on commissioning someone to make a map for me because I don’t want to, but the book really needs it. I have a rough sketch, but that’s it.

🌻 A part of me wants to go back and rewrite the book as pure medifant, instead of low fantasy, but I don’t want to develop a complex magic system, and it would change too many things. I just want it for the aesthetic really.

🌻 That being said, it’s heavily implied throughout the book that T’ke may really be magical, which is fun in a no-magic world. 

🌻 I was able to weave in some of the Ekanti “magic” though, including healing songs and tattoo work! 

🌻 Valerian is slightly magical too in that it seems like he doesn’t need air to keep talking. He just goes without ever pausing for breath.

🌻 When Samantha married Alastair, she takes Valerian under her wing too, and tries to keep him from getting beheaded by the crown, or at least getting his tongue removed.

🌻 Speaking of, an assassin later in the book has his tongue removed. Gross.

[s2he-gamewalkthrough]

Part 12: In the Clouds

The part of the game where Tensho has to complete some finicky and very specific game requirements to progress the story.

If you don’t know what this is about, please refer to this previous post.

[Any new comments by me will be designated by brackets.]

[Oof, this chapter’s one of the messier ones... I’ve cleaned it up a lot from the original LiveJournal post, but it still jumps around a lot in places. Apologies for that.]

Before I get on with the plot of the game, I found some upgrades!

Tensho:

Lv 2 --> 3:

Tenka:

Second listed item, Lv 1 --> 2

Youzen's:

First listed item, Lv 1 --> 2

First listed item, Lv 2 --> 3

Second item listed, Lv 1 --> 2

Second item listed, Lv 2 --> 3

[I uh. Really hope these combinations are still correct as I am unable to test them out in the old saved game I have. I highly recommend upgrading paopei/weapons whenever you can because it helps to make all future battles significantly easier.]

Oh, I forgot to mention before, but you should have gotten a few equipable items by now. Those are marked with stars (in the item description) in the inventory menu:

You can equip them to characters by selecting the third “word” in the menu screen:

Some equipment items affect certain stats, while some I guess negate status ailments. If you don't know Japanese, then finding out the effects pretty much comes down to trial and error. (I won't be listing the specific effects of all the equipable items--Sorry!)

Cavechan was nice enough to translate the character stat screen for us in part 1, so that should be a big help when you're messing around with equipment. (Thank you again to Cavechan!)

In the end, I had to equip Tenka with an item to boost his attack because it was pathetically weak.

Also, I've recently found out that you can't use HP-restoring potions on doushi/senin. I have no idea why this happens. This means that if you want to heal these characters while in a dungeon, you have to use a character that has a healing move. Man, that's going to be annoying in a pinch.

Anyway, time for more level grinding in the Houshindai!

I will only be unlocking two senins in the Houshindai today because the monsters on the lower floor are getting harder and harder to beat.

Another of the Juunisen, and In Hon's master. His name's Seki Seishi. (Also, he apparently talks A LOT.)

I also unlocked In Cho's master! (Kou Seishi)

Their bonus is:

They both sell things for something other than cash. One seems to sell potions while the other just sells combo upgrades. I suppose it’s decently useful?

While training in the Houshindai, I messed around with some of Youzen’s new moves.

After having beaten Chou Koumei (yet again), Youzen can now transform into him (4th move, second option.)

Sadly, you only have one attack Chou Koumei (a whip-like attack) and it frankly sucks because it does such a small amount of damage. I think this form is balanced out with all the supporting moves you have at your disposal, though I admittedly never utilized Chou Koumei’s form much.

And oooh, the 60 EP move (unlocked from the cutscene between Youzen and Gyokutei) allows Youzen to go into yokai form!

His ultimate attack (costing 40 EP) does A TON of damage.

(For reference, I was only doing about 1000 points of damage with Tensho and Tenka at this stage in the game.)

Anyway, time to head to the new location, finally. It looks to be someplace up in the clouds?

Hmm, that kid looks familiar...

Hey, it's kid-Tensho!

...Wait, what?

Yeah, this is actually all just an illusion. Those treasure chests scattered about are actually real, but you’ll have to find a way to get to them yourself because... Well, you’ll see why soon enough. 

After the short convo, kid-Tensho beckons you to follow him, and he’ll move a few steps along some kind of invisible path. You have to follow kid-Tensho’s steps EXACTLY. Otherwise you'll fall off the clouds (Hitou saves you from falling to your death) and have to re-do the path all over again. This “invisible path” is ridiculously long, which is why they included a guide in the form of kid-Tensho. You have to follow him about six times. You can save at any time in this area; so if you're the type that has trouble following an exact path, then you might want to save in the middle so you don’t have to keep restarting all the way at the beginning if you make a mistake.

Also, don't follow too closely behind kid-Tensho, otherwise you might accidentally walk ahead too far when he turns. This happened to me many, many times. [I’m not going to give a guide on how to grab any of the treasure chests in this area, because honestly; I haven’t been able to figure out how to grab most of the chests myself.]

After all of that trouble, Tensho finds himself in a quant little village in the clouds. (It's actually a small village on top of a very high mountain, if you've read the manga.)

I'm going to just say this now for lack of a better place to bring it up: when you exit, you'll immediately leave the place. (You won't have to go through the invisble path in reverse or anything.) But you'll have to do the walkway “puzzle” again every time you try to visit the village. Really quite annoying. The next time you arrive, you'll be given three options on how to do the puzzle--slow, medium, or fast. This refers to how quickly kid-Tensho walks along the path. If you have amazing memory and want to save time, then you can choose the medium or fast option. I always go with slow, because it's the turns that get me...

The cameos in this village include:

The Village Chief guy with a strong aura.

And surprisingly, an un-possessed Chuu Ou. I have no idea how he got here or even what he’s doing here, but I get the feeling Shinkyohyo had a hand in this somehow.

And of course, there’s Taijou Roukun (a.k.a. Roushi) sleeping amongst the sheep.

[Alright, this part... You’re supposed to talk to Taijou Roukun but he’s not an easy guy to get in contact with, as he’s almost always asleep. Even now I still don’t know the EXACT requirements on how you activate the next part of the game’s plot, but I have figured out a rough guideline... sorta.

Talk to EVERYONE in this location ONCE.

Yes, even the sheep. But ONLY once. If you talk to the same sheep twice by accident, the next cutscene won’t activate. This is an extremely specific set of requirements, I know.]

After having talked to everyone and every sheep ONCE, go up to Taikou Roukun and try talking to him. After the usual sleeping noises Roushi makes, Tensho will say something.

I "think" after doing EVERYTHING you possibly can do, Tensho figures it out and does the same thing Taikoubou did to talk to Roushi... Sleep.

No BGM plays in this mini-cutscene. That means important stuff. Too bad I can't read Japanese. You're given two different dialogue choices in a row. I don't think it really has much effect on the storyline, but I don’t have any real way of confirming that (due to my lack of Japanese language knowledge). 

[I have no idea what this says but it’s probably important.]

In case you're wondering, I just went with the first choices for both “choose your dialogue” moment in the convo with Roushi. In this game, the first choice tends to be the better one, it seems.

After that mini-cutscene...

Hey, you're--!

Nentou Doujin! (By the way, his BGM is AWESOME.) Talk to him, and you’ll get treated to a loooong conversation. After that, leave Taijou Roukun’s place. The dot over Mount Kongrong’s location should be flashing, and all your party members will be gone. Don’t worry--this is only a temporary thing.

To continue the plot of the game, you'll have to bring Soushou along to the village in the clouds. (His room is the back right one, on the first floor.) Then head back to talk to Nentou. I can’t remember if it was ever officially confirmed (or if I’ve already mentioned it in this guide), but Nentou is Soushou’s master.

After another long convo, Soushou stays behind, I guess to train under Nentou. You get the rest of your party members back here.

Like master, like disciple.

BONUS MATERIAL TIME (a.k.a. some extra stuff that I didn’t know where to put so it’s going in this post whoop whoop)

At this point in the game, some locations on the overworld have changed a bit. If you go back to the water cave area (the one with all the arrows), you'll find Sengyoku and Dokouson there now.

I have NO idea why they're even standing here. Maybe to guard the place? Maybe because Sengyoku thinks that it's a romantic spot?

Anyway, if you want to initiate a rather humorous scene; first have youzen transform into this:

Second, talk to Dokouson.

In case you're wondering who Youzen just transformed into, it's Hekiun, one of Ryuukitsu's disciples.

Dokouson starts drooling over her and his wifey gets mad.

There’s some pounding noises and the screen shakes.

You can also now find Mokutaku and Kintaku at the old battlefield area.

It took me a long time to figure this out, but Tenka’s “action button” allows him to bust through certain walls:

Apparently the one-off “Tenka as a construction worker” joke from the manga was so funny to the game creators that they included a special face portrait of Tenka in a hardhat.

Anyway, if you head back to Tensho’s hometown after finishing the Taijou Roukun cutscene, you’ll be given a lot of dialogue choices if you talk to the villagers. This doesn’t seem to do anything too important. 

But if you choose the second dialogue option on one of the old men, he begins frantically running around the whole town. It's... somewhat amusing in a morbid kind of way.

The old dude freaking runs at the speed of light. I had to block him like this to get a screenshot of him.

Going back to Genshitenson's place briefly...

A grave has been built for him. I think Hakutsuru built it?

Inside Geishitenson's hut, if you look at the right pot at the back of the room, Hitou will say something. THIS IS IMPORTANT. He doesn't do it when you look at the other pot (on the left) so you know something's up. We will return here later.

[That’s all for this post. I hope you guys enjoyed it, despite it being a bit of a mess.]

To be continued.

[isadorator]

A Fic Year in Review - 2016

It's that time again~ And I wrote so much this year, holy shit. As usual, any concrit and comments are welcome~~ (as are requests, when open lol)

January

what are THOOOOSE a superhero's holiday

Oh jeez. Both these fics got way more attention than I thought they would. But I keep underestimating the ML fandom tbh. The first was basically me goofing around and I somehow ended up promising to write a sequel since everyone wanted one (which I...still need to do.....). The second was a flag for both my descent into ladrien hell and also a return to my nsfw ways orz;;;;

February

you are gold and silver (1/2)

IT TOOK. SO. L O N G. TO WRITE THIS. Although this fic is firmly in AU territory now thanks to being beautifully jossed by canon, it helped me realize just how much I needed to grow in order to write romantic intimacy in a believable way. So, I made it my goal to work on it until it was up to my own standards.

(I...still need to finish this fic too......)

March

jackady ladrien drabble prompts (1/2):

ribbons

fan merchandise

artistic muse

make-outs

stuck in a small place

rain

smiles

croissants

never have i ever

i want to touch them

jackady ladrien drabble prompts (2/2):

damsel in distress

beauty facial masks

visible marks

ice cream sandwiches

volpina ladrien drabble prompts (1/9):

the 4 times adrien pretended to shower to hide from ladybug (and the 1 time he was actually showering when she calls out his bullshit)

disney

halloween

tried to kiss your lips but i missed

magic

staring into each other’s eyes

Ah, the plan being put into action! With the release of actual ladrien eps, I had the perfect excuse to write romantic scenario after romantic scenario using submitted prompts. Which also meant I accidentally created a secret love affair AU and wrote more smut whoops. Still, they were super fun! I took a break halfway through to write some Inuyasha-inspired marichat that just would not leave me alone (also fun).

(....I promised to write a continuation of the 'never have i ever' prompt, didn't I alrjkdsflaks. AND TANGLED AU SHIT I ALMOST FORGOT)

April

volpina ladrien drabble prompts (2/9):

music

moaning

sweat

bath

they go on a date together

soulmate au

photographs

“i love you. i’m completely and utterly in love with you. please don’t get married.”

the one time ladybug actually catches adrien in the shower

ACTUALLY in the shower

“of all the people i could’ve gotten stuck in an elevator with and it just had to be you.”

mirror

More ladrien prompts/romance practice~ The music prompt is still one the most cracktastic things I've ever written lol. Managed to make two more AUs with this batch that I've already started to expand on: the soulmate AU and the auteur AU. Lastly, in a surprise twist, the fucking elevator prompt managed to gather over 1k in notes. Probably because I ripped off Sailor Moon but. Still.

May

volpina ladrien drabble prompts (3/9):

another shower scene

porn

away from home

“you have mom’s smile.” he said this to ladybug once, but he thinks it again and again and again. but ladybug is better: she is real.

calling bullshit

untitled continuation of a comic by pozolegirl

volpina ladrien drabble prompts (4/9):

under the covers

eyelashes

mega nachos

“i heard that the spots on your bodysuit corresponds to chakra points? so… what happens if i touch this?”

cute nose/forehead kisses

their first time

happiness

“i need you to pretend we’re dating…”

“is there anything you’re not good at?”

More Volpina prompts! Again, I like experimenting with them :D Also wrote a continuation of that Christmas comic because it was just way too cute~~

June

ladrien june 2016 drabble prompts (1/6):

love poem

awkwardness

games

i can show you the world

first love

everyone can see it

shower scene

jealousy

it’s a trap

insecurities

sins cannot be undone

ladrien june 2016 drabble prompts (2/6):

jealous fangirls/boys

“you have her smile”

gabriel | hawkmoth’s reaction

it’s not you, it’s my enemies

secret dating

window kisses

Oooooh boy. The triple whammy of Ladrien June, Ramadan, and starting my summer job. I was excited to have a month dedicated to just ladrien (as if I hadn't already dedicated most of my year to it lol) but fell behind pretty quickly thanks to my lack of free time. I aim to finish them this year!

And Ramadan. Man. It always sends my mental health straight into the toilet. Not because of the holiday itself, but because of the way my family treats it. Idk. I tried to flush away the bad feelings by punching out 'sins cannot be undone' in one night. And it helped, I suppose. It's definitely the rawest thing I wrote this year and I still have very strong feelings about it.

July

three sentence prompts:

ladynoir, spy au

nino and marinette, karaoke au

ladrien, bodyguard au

ladrien, superman/lois lane au

adrien and tikki, baking au

alix and kim, and the one-time-max-actually-won au

alya and marinette, vigilante au

adrienette, foreign countries

ladynoir, and the elevator game/ritual

Between work and writing various wips that I still haven't posted yet (*coughcoughconjugalvisitcough*), I only posted stuff from this meme. I had fun (the goal) and the adrien&tikki kwamiswap AU one is still my fave |D *slams fists on table* LET ADRIEN BE A BAKER!!!!

August

untitled continuation of a comic by geek-fashionista insomaniac and the chaton pile

UMMMM My summer job ended by this point, so my only excuse for not posting much is it's all tied up in unpublished wips and...I was freaking out about starting school next month for the first time in y e a r s;;; Just some drabbles for the sidekick AU (not mine) and my own, sleep-deprived ideas (that I...still find hilarious alkdjfhalksd I DID NOT EXPECT ANYONE ELSE TO???)

September

volpina ladrien drabble prompts (5/9):

embarrassing hobbies (aka: adrien is secretly a popular ladynoir fanfic writer)

water

mlnsfweek prompts (1/3):

laughter

roleplay

make 'em blush

we've got time

"i can’t believe we survived" sex

wet dreams

virginity

STILL REALLY STRESSED ABOUT SCHOOL, which translated into a lot of writing. Did a couple of Volpina prompts, including time ≠ water. Which. Got way more attention than I expected;;;; And that I...also promised to expand on......;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

And then #mlnsfweek hit and I'm actually really proud of myself for finishing the whole week, even if it was late~ /o/ Did some random scenarios, including some futurefic for the timebreaker AU. I still cackle every time I think of the wet dreams prompt tbh XDDD

October

volpina ladrien drabble prompts (6/9):

inside a video game

horror movies

“who crawls through someone’s window at 4 am to go for ice cream?!”

aching muscles from running all over the city, and then: "would a massage help?"

chocolate

discovering their sensitive spots

“so close” from enchanted

As usual, more Volpina prompts in between school and wips. Not really much to say except it was around now (or maybe September? My memory is horrible) that I realized I had developed a pretty good grasp on romance and could start working on upping my daily wordcount. I really want the mental stamina to complete a chapter fic one day...

November

mlnsfweek prompts (2/3):

marks

School REALLY started to pick up in difficulty and I signed up for a fic exchange and a fanzine. Despite really wanting to, I didn't have time or energy to do more than one prompt for the #mlnsfweek redux, but I plan to complete it~ I have Ideas.

December

oh, the things i do for you (the bubbler remix)

volpina ladrien drabble prompts (7/9):

bruises and scars

cold hands, warm hearts

I'm never, ever committing to more than one fic deadline near exam time ever again. I nearly died last month as I rushed to complete these fics, my studying, and prep for my vacation that started right after exams (I'm still recovering;;;). The remix is currently the longest fic I've written to date, including my wips! Holy shit!!!

Both were done very last minute, but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I tried to finish the last of the Volpina prompts before the end of the year, but alas, time was not on my side. Better luck next year~ :'D

Total Year’s Output: ....58,718 words;;;

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d predicted?

.......This is almost twice as much as I did last year. I actually passed the NaNoWriMo standard. Oh my god. There is no fucking way I would have predicted this last year. And that's not counting all the wips aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH—

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2016?

Uhhhh, Bustier/Mendeleiev, definitely. Also DjWifi?? I just wasn't into it at all last year, but now I'm rooting for them. Also, I did not expect to write this much smut, but here we are. ALSO MARIE/ADRIEN/MARINETTE AKA THE OT3 AKA LOVE SQUARED (the homestuck in me will never die)

What’s your favourite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest.

Happy...? Hmmmm....There's stuff that makes me laugh, that I'm proud of...

...I know it's not published yet or even done, but...probably conjugal visit. Not only is it chock full of my favourite type of ladrien, it's...sort of my thesis on emotional intimacy? It's proof of my progress. I look at it and I can feel my determination to grow and to move on from the mental rut I was stuck in for most of my life, that I won't let my past keep my from recognizing my own emotions and learning empathy, not forever.

(Maybe that's pride and contentment and hope more than happiness, but I'll damn well take it)

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?

I ALWAYS SAY THIS but...I really want to finish my wips.....and I want to start an actual chaptered fic. Not a one-shot collection or a drabble collection. Long, plotty, gen or romance (or both!!), chapter fic. I want to write something that will keep people up all night, lying to themselves when they say 'just one more chapter'. I think I actually have a shot at completing one now, at my current skill and confidence level |D