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resonating-kitty · 3 years

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Dreambur - Pirate AU fic requested by @peppsta

Using the sentence “You’re too distracting with your handsome face and… your… everything!” (Took a bit of creative liberty to make it work)

I am happy with how this turned out. I've been a bit too critical of my writing lately but I generally like this one. Peppsta I hope this fits what you had in mind with the prompt! :)

I hope you all enjoy!

Wilbur laughed, joyous, as the wind hit his face. The open sea was such a wonderful place! His love of its wonders and mysteries and melodies was endless. He was a traveling musician, a quite successful one at that. His music was known all across the world and many lords and kings requested his presence to perform at their castles. That’s what he was doing now, headed back to England, summoned by his Majesty’s request to perform at the annual ball.

“Mr. Soot please get down from there!” The Captain’s orders barked hastily at him had him turning with a grin. He was standing up on the bowspirit of the ship and the Captain of the vessel was standing just behind him, hands on his hip and a growing annoyance in his eyes.

Wilbur relented, his boots hitting the bed with a thud as he hopped down to stand beside the Captain. He fixed the older man with an innocent look and a charming smile, “I do apologize Captain. I love the sea so much that I sometimes cannot help myself.”

The Captain regarded him with a knowing look and sighed, “Just please refrain from doing it in the future. It makes the crew nervous. None of us want to report to his Majesty that his requested musician fell overboard.”

“Of course Captain!” Wilbur saluted, mockingly.

The Captain opened his mouth, no doubt to reprimand the action, but was stopped by a frantic call from above.

“Captain! Captain! Skull and crossbones on the horizon!”

The Captain whirled into action, turning full circle to run to the helm. Curious, Wilbur followed closely.

“Pirates?” He asked, excitedly but none around him seemed to share his enthusiasm.

The Captain shot him a sharp look, wordlessly taking the spyglass that was handed to him. He looked through it, curses falling from his lips.

“It’s the bloody Speedrunner!” The Captain announced, turning for the wheel. He started to bark orders. Raise the sails, all hands on deck. “Mr. Soot below deck!” was the Captain’s last order.

Wilbur protested but the Captain cut him off. “Sir, whether you like it or not, you are under my command until you reach shore and you will do as I say and I’m telling you to go below deck.”

Wilbur was escorted below deck, not before he got a peak at the fastly approaching vessel. The light vibrant green sails of the ship stood in stark contrast to the jolly roger waving above them. ‘Tacky’ Wilbur thought as he was ushered below deck.

Try as she might, the merchant vessel was no match for the speed of the pirate ship. The Captain gritted his teeth as soon, his crew and his ship was completely taken over by the ragtag group of pirates.

“Dream,” The Captain gritted out with annoyance, heedless of the gun and cutlasses that were pointed at him and his crew. Dream usually never spilt blood during his raids and the Captain had been at sea long enough, had met with the pirate in these exact situations enough times, to know that the show of aggression was all bluff.

The Pirate Captain wasn’t much. He was tall and slim and didn’t even look or dress like a Captain. He wore dirty ragged clothes, a lime green bandana tied around his head to keep his dirty blond hair pulled back. He also wore a mask over the lover portion of his face, hiding all but his emerald green eyes from view. No one had ever seen his face and if they had, rumors had it they never lived to tell about it.

The Captain had no intention of doing that. He just watched the cocky pirate as he sauntered up to him.

“Sparklez!” Dream greeted happily, throwing his hands out, “what a surprise that we ran into each other again while you were transporting goods!”

Captain Sparklez pinched the bridge of his nose, insisting tiredly, “Just get what you came to get and leave”

Dream was grinning under his mask as he laughed, “Glad we have an understanding Captain,” he turned to a couple of his crew, “Alright boys, you heard the Captain, go see what’s below deck for the taking!”

A couple of the crew, a slightly shorter man with dark hair and a white headband tied around his head, a thin man with glasses and wearing a black, red trimmed, cloak, and another pirate that appeared to be in a full reindeer costume, headed below deck.

Captain Sparklez hoped they didn’t discover Wilbur but his hopes were dashed when muffled shouting sounded from below.

“What the hell?” Dream demanded, going to the stairs to call down, “Everything okay!”

“Look what we found!” Came the replying yell moments before the pirates were reappearing and dragging Wilbur with them. “He was trying to hide behind the salmon.”

Wilbur was pushed before the pirate captain. Wilbur looked up with wide eyes. Dark brown met emerald green. Both seem to freeze.

“Got something you wanna tell us Captain Sparklez?” The pirate in the black cloak asked, suspiciously. He glanced at Wilbur then his own Captain, who was still frozen.

“The boy is headed to Britian. He’s but a musician who hired me to ferry him.” Captain Sparklez answered hastily. He also was looking at Wilbur and Dream. “He is an innocent bystander in all of this.”

The pirate opened his mouth, possibly to ask more questions but he was cut off by his Captain.

‘Who are you?” Dream asked Wilbur, his voice soft and held none of the cockiness it had before.

Both crews, pirate and merchant, looked at the two with raised eyebrows and some with shocked expressions.

“Wilbur. Wilbur Soot.” Wilbur answered earnestly and Captain Sparklez facepalmed and muttered, “Boy, don’t engage with the pirate.”

“Why?” Wilbur asked, glancing at Sparklez, “He’s interesting.”

Laughter erupted from Dream. “Yeah Sparklez,” He said, his voice playful and teasing as he looked at the merchant ship’s Captain, “I’m interesting.”

“Please don’t feed his ego.” One of the pirates, a man dressed in light blue with a pair of goggles covering his eyes, warned in exasperation and Dream whirled around to face him.

“Oh shut up George, he can feed my ego as much as he wants to.” Dream demanded though the grin was evident in his voice. George just rolled his eyes at his Captain. Dream turned back, winking at Wilbur, who’s cheeks colored pink.

“So Mr. Soot, you do music?” Dream asked, conversationally as he leant against the mast of the ship.

“Dream, what about the cargo?” The pirate with the white headband asked and Dream waved him off with an order, “Start loading it on the Speedrunner obviously.”

“Dumbass,” the pirate muttered before motioning to a few of the crew and they disappeared below deck.

“I… I uh… yeah.” Wilbur muttered, “I’m actually on my way right now to perform for his Majestic at the castle.”

Dream whistled, impressed, “You’re Mr. Popular then aren’t you?”

Wilbur laughed softly, shaking his head. His brown curls bouncing on top of his head, “Something like that”

“What are some of your songs? Perhaps I’ve heard some of them?” Dream questioned. A crash was heard and his attention snapped to his crew and the box of produce that was now spilling out over the deck, hollering, “Hey be careful with the goods. We need those!”

“Sorry Captain.”

Dream turned back to Wilbur, “Sorry. Go ahead.”

“Let’s see there’s Jubilee Line, Since I Saw Vienna, Soft Boy, Saline Solution, Maybe I was Boring.”

“I’ve heard that one!” Dream exclaimed, eyes shining, “Maybe I was Boring. It was being sung in one of the pirate owned taverns. The guy singing it was trying to pass it off as one of his own but he didn’t look smart enough to come up with something so beautiful.”

“Yes well, as I’m sure you are well aware, there are thieves in every trade I’m afraid,” Wilbur sighed before he seemed to catch the last part of the sentence, “Wait you think my song is beautiful?”

“That’s not the only thing I think is beautiful,” Dream’s voice dropped as he reached up and closed the space between them. They were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Callahan was standing to the side, he looked apologetic.

“I do not mean to alarm anyone and I certainly hate to break up whatever is transpiring between the two of you, Captain but there is a ship on the horizon. Looks like the Navy.”

Wilbur was left at the mast as Dream stepped quickly to the side of the ship and took the spyglass from George. He looked through it, muttering out a curse before barking, “Everyone back to the ship!”

His crew reached instantly.

“What about this ship?” the pirate in the white headband asked almost eagerly as he headed for the ropes that connected the two ships together, “You said we could start sinking them.”

“What?!” Sparklez’s outraged voice rose up as panicked murmurs rose up from the crew. Wilbur’s breath caught in his throat.

“Not this one,” Dream said, his voice steeled with finality. Emerald eyes met dark brown once more, “Today this ship was saved by a distracting handsome face and everything else. So long for now and Mr. Soot? I’m sure you and I will meet again in the future”

Dream gave a little salute before joining his crew and soon the Speedrunner was just a speck in the distance as the Naval ship approached.

Wilbur stood at the bow of the ship, watching as the pirate ship disappeared in the distance. A soft smile on his lips and his whole body was warmed. The pirate captain certainly was charming wasn’t he.

“Charming?” Sparklez repeated with alarm as the Naval ship pulled up alongside them and Wilbur realized that he must’ve uttered the sentence out loud. A hand fell on his shoulder and the Captain leaned down to speak quietly, a warning, “Son let me tell you something, no matter how ‘charming’ he may be, at the end of the day he’s a pirate and you need to stay well away from him. He’s dangerous, not only in general, but also to your career.”

Wilbur tried to heed Captain Sparklez warning but he couldn’t get his mind off the oddly charming pirate. He hoped that Dream was being sincere when he said they would meet each other again because he was looking forward to it.

#dreambur #pirate au #writing prompt request #dream #wilbur soot #mcyt fanfiction #kitty writes

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kpoplilpotato · 2 years

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Lost Soul (xxii) ☯︎︎ (ATEEZ)

PAIRING: ??? x Ji Ah

WORD COUNT: 1.4k

GENRE: fantasy+pirate au; romance; mystery; adventure; action; angst; gore; mythology

<- 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 // 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 \\ 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 ->

“Ji Ah, let's get going!” You heard a loud knock on your door. You shot up before you looked at your door. It was still barricaded. You looked out your window and realised it was the day after. You furrowed your brows before you got out of your hammock and walked to the door and lifted the wooden plank.

Once you opened your door you saw the younger battlemaster. “Jongho?” You questioned. He crossed his arms. “Jongho-hyung.” He corrected you sternly. You formed a thin line with your lips as you nodded your head slowly. He sighed.

“We need to get going if we want to get supplies and get out of here by tomorrow come.” Jongho coldly said before you heard metals hit against each other. “Take this.” He said as you saw a cutlass in front of you as he held it up.

You looked up at him before grabbing it as you placed it in your holster that you got from Changbin. “Thanks,” you said. He made a noise to acknowledge your thank you. “Make sure you bring those fabrics and armour so we can trade with the merchants there.” The boy said before he walked away, not wanting to hear what else you have to say.

You huffed out as you glared at his figure leaving the sickbay. “Understand he doesn't like new people, but what’s his deal…” You mumbled before turning around back into your cabin to get the bag with the items. You put on your cuffed boots before walking out to the main deck to see Jongho standing next to San waiting at the gangplank.

You began to make your way over to them as they both heard your steps and looked towards you. “You ready?” San asked. You nodded your head not saying much. He smiled before you three headed into the village of Roserun.

“Why didn’t you wake me up for dinner yesterday, hyung?” You asked as you looked up at the male that was busy buying some herbs from one of the little stations in the centre of town. Jongho was standing on his other side as he was looking out as he had his arms crossed, making sure nothing bad happened.

San turned to you. “Because your room was barricaded, and also, I knew you were really tired so me and Seonghwa agreed to let you sleep in and wake you up when we head out.” He answered before the merchant handed him a bag. San gladly took it with a smile as he thanked him and you three began to walk to the next station.

He swung his arm around your shoulder. “How did you sleep anyways?” He asked with such happiness in his voice that you didn’t want to ruin the mood. You forced a smile even if it pained you to lie to him. “Slept good, had the best dream I’ve had in awhile.” You said making San smile brighter. “Glad to hear that, Ji Ah.”

San walked towards the next station that had items he needed. Some things were meant for you and your nosebleeds, while others were for your memories and to try and help you get them back. You wanted to tell him it was useless, but even if you did, he would still buy them and try.

You sighed as you watched him walk up to the merchantmen. He motioned for you to hand him the bag filled with cloth and a few pieces of metal left. You sighed as you looked around until you felt a gaze on you. You turned in that direction and met eyes with Jongho. You furrowed your eyebrows.

He motioned for you to go to him. “When we’re done shopping, I’ll teach you how to properly handle a sword, as long as you can handle it.” He said. You smiled at him. “Really?!” You asked, still in disbelief a little. He nodded his head. “Thank you hyung!” You exclaimed. He looked at you with disgust before looking away. “Don’t get all blithe with me now...I’m only doing this so you don’t get killed in a close combat battle.” He said. You shied away, still having a smile plastered on your face before turning around. Jongho looked at you again before a small smile crept up on his face.

You three were making your final trades at the last station. You looked around as you listened to San talk with the merchantmen as they laughed while making a purchase. It was so close to sunset and you needed to hurry before they rang the bell.

You looked around as you felt an unwelcoming aura close by. You tried to look for it beyond the crowd before you locked eyes with him. Your body froze with fear as his gaze kept you looking at him even though your body told you to turn away. Once you saw his hand move down to the hilt of his cutlass as he started to move towards you.

You finally shook yourself free from his cold gaze before you turned around and yanked San’s shirt. He turned to you. “What is it?” He asked before taking the bags from the person running the station. “We have to go, now!” You almost yelled as you pushed him to start walking. “What, why?” He asked. Jongho peeped around him as he looked at you with a puzzled look.

“What’s going on?” Jongho questioned as he looked at your scared face. “Slymore guard! He’s coming for us!” You said, still trying to keep your voice down. The boys looked behind you before their eyes widened with shock and fear. San grabbed your wrist before you three dashed away from him.

“Stop right there!” You heard the guard yell. He too knew those were pointless words because you three wouldn’t stop. You three ran behind the building so you wouldn’t get cut up with pushing the crowd out of the way and slow you all down.

San was dragging you as you tried to keep up with his and Jongho’s fast steps. As hard as you tried it was no use as you stumbled over as San’s grip loosened from your wrist and you fell. San stopped in his tracks, along with Jongho as they went to get you.

You turned around and saw the guard looking at you three as he called out for you all. “Go!” You yelled. Their bodies tensed up. “What!? No! We’re not leav—“ You cut him off. “Just go! I’ll be fine, okay!?” You screamed as you heard the guard steps growing closer. “Promise you’ll come back fine!” San begged. You nodded your head.

“Jongho, go. I’ll be there before the bell for sunset.” You said. He nodded his head before he grabbed San by the arm as they looked at you once more before leaving you, feeling like the last time this happened.

You quickly stood up as you saw the guard only a few feet away from you before you dashed into the busy streets of townspeople. You heard the guard yell for you to stop, but you didn’t. You continued to run as fast as you could to get away from him.

You looked around for somewhere to run and hide. After some thought you ran towards the forests, knowing you’ll manage to hide from the guard as he’ll most likely run past you.

You dodged roots that were sticking out of the ground and branches that hung low. You then hid behind a tall tree as you covered your mouth to muffle your heavy breathing as you stood against the base of the tree. You heard the sound of quick steps and sticks and leaves getting crunched.

You watched the figure run right past you and waited for him to completely disappear from your sight. Once he did you let out a sigh of relief. You looked around to see where exactly you came from. This was a bad idea… You thought as you closed your eyes as a scoff escaped your mouth. You began to walk around in the woods as you looked around for some sign of making it back to a village.

You need a break. Who knows how long you’ve been out here, and honestly, how much further you went into the woods. You heard the bell ring meaning it’s sunset and everyone should be inside. But if you think you could go after the noise, it was no use. It was too far away and only rang a few times so you lost direction.

You saw a few huge rocks as you made your way to them before sitting down. You looked up at the leaves that covered the roof of the forest. You leaned back so you could lay down but you felt something hard hit the back of your head. You sat back up quickly as you looked at what it was.

A….sword?

<- 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 // 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 \\ 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 ->

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skvaderarts · 4 years

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Epilogue:

You can check out the Masterlist Here for more links to places to read!

Epilogue:

Note: All notes will be at the end of this chapter besides this note because that’s just how I feel today. Thank you all for tolerating my eccentricities and for reading this story. The end notes will be very important though, so please read them. You guys are the best!

-~-

The next morning around 7 am…

The storm’s intensity had seemingly faded during the night. Though rain still fell in an unending torrent, the barbaric winds that had once rattled the windows of the streets of Fortuna had subsided and the lightning had ceiced. While thunder was still an occasional occurrence, it was much less disruptive and nowhere near as powerful as it had once been. The roads remained flooded for the time being, but people could once again be seen taking to the streets to perform basic tasks such as shopping and maintenance. All in all, things were starting to look up slightly, the metaphorical and literal dark cloud that had been lowered over the region finally letting up a little.

V was awakened by the unfamiliar sensation of sunlight making contact with his body. When they had returned home the night before, he had been utterly exhausted and remembering to close the curtains had been very low on his list of priorities. A low rumbling purr pulled at the edges of his consciousness, inviting him to fully regain his senses. The young summoner turned his head away from the sunlight slightly, fully aware that Shadow was taking a snooze on the floor beside him.

He sat up and stretched his arms over his head, cursing himself silently as a dull throb crawled through his lower abdomen. He hadn’t been awake enough at that moment in time to remember his injuries from the night before. V winced slightly and clambered to his feet, keying into the sound of several voices coming from the other side of the door. Things had been relatively quiet a moment ago. What had changed that so suddenly? V carefully tiptoed over Shadow, not wanting to awaken his feline companion. She and Griffon both deserved their rest. They had done admirably the night before. He glanced down at arms, noting that Griffon had chosen to stay in his tattoo form for now. That was probably a plus for V, considering his beloved bird’s mouthy nature.

Upon opening the door, he was greeted with the sight of none other than Magnolia. The middle aged woman was leaned against the doorway, engaged in a conversation with Kyrie that he had only caught the end of. The young brunette looked thrilled and worried to see her new companion all at once.

“It’s wonderful to see you, Magnolia but… shouldn’t you be…” Kyrie didn’t seem to know the polite way to ask her about her medical status. She had been horrified to find out that the kindly Alchemist she had just met had ended up in the emergency room an hour or so afterwards.

Magnolia patted her on the shoulder gently, clearly happy to see her, but also quite worn out. Much to her dismay, she wasn’t as young as she once was. “Oh, don’t trouble yourself, dear,” She said with a kind smile,” I won’t be here long. I’m off to the docks. If I’m going to have to languish away in a bed for a couple of days, it’s going to be in my own flat, yea?”

Kyrie nodded, seemingly still concerned but aware that there was nothing she could do about this. The young woman had come to the conclusion that Nero’s friends were all slightly insane and it was best to let them do as they pleased in most cases. Magnolia turned her attention to V, noticing for the first time that he was standing there. She gave him a mischievous smirk, clearly as glad to see that he was alright as he was to see her. He had no idea where to begin trying to thank her for her selfless actions the night before. In saving his life, she had nearly lost hers, and they didn’t even know one another.

“... I’d like to thank you for saving me last night… I-”

The alchemist held up her hand, gently shushing him with a waive of her finger and a shake of her head. “Hush now, Love. This isn’t my first fight. I didn’t go through the trouble of bringing you back from Purgatorio just to let a Faust send you right back,” She reached into her pocket, pulling a small piece of cardstock paper from within and handing it to him,” Once we all get settled in, give me a call. I’d like to see if I can help you. I hear you're a summoner. Perhaps I can show you a trick or two.”

V nodded, looking the small piece of paper over. He would consider her offer. After all, he was in her debt. She’d saved his life. It was a small favor to ask, and it could prove to be beneficial down the road. After a moment he nodded quietly, moreso to himself than to her but she got the message regardless.

Before they could finish their conversation, Vergil and Dante rounded the corner from the living room, seemingly embroiled in some other topic of conversation. Nero shadowed them, though he seemed to be uninvolved in whstervet they were talking about. Upon seeing Magnolia, Vergil craned his neck to the side, clearly inquiring in silence as to what the hell she was doing out of the hospital. “I see they were unable to keep you.”

Magnolia schoffed, folding her arms gently around her torso so as to not aggravate her wounds. “If I didn’t know better, Vergil Sparda, I’d say you were worried about me,” The smug smile on her face spoke volumes,” Is that why you're still in town?”

Vergil blanched, horrified by the statement. “Absolutely not. In fact, I was just leaving.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” She said with a small giggle,” Now that I’m here.”

The subtle yet totally flabbergasted look on Vergil’s face was enough to nearly send Dante into a laughing fit. It wasn’t every day that he found someone so adept to getting under his twin brother’s skin. The youngest Son of Sparda clapped his brother on the shoulder, gesturing towards her. “You’ve gotta tell me how you two met sometime. There has to be some history between you two.”

Magnolia smirked, waving goodbye to the group as she turned and carefully headed down the stairs. “You're quite right, Dante. Since we're all going in the same direction, we might as well travel together. I can regale you with tales from your brother’s youth on the way.”

No one present could tell if the face Vergil made at the prospect was anguish, anger, or pure unadulterated terror, but he followed her out of the door, more than likely eager to ask her to reconsider. Dante followed her as well, more than curious as to what dirt she had on his frigid twin. Nero joined V at his side, shaking his head as they all hurried out of the door.

“Yea, next time we run into each other, you’ve gotta fill me on on some of that, too,” Nero said, not even trying to hide his amusement at the concept of being able to relentlessly torment his father with all of his embarrassing secret,” I bet it’s pretty funny.”

Both Nero and V could practically feel their father screaming on the inside as the front door closed. V smirked, suppressing a snicker. Yes, it looked like he did need to pay her a visit. Anyone that good at driving their father insane was worth his time. He turned to Nero, feeling the need to say something but not entirely sure what. Nero seemed to share that sensation, contributing to the awkward silence that settled over them. Thankfully Kyrie, who had gone into the kitchen during all of this to give them space, seemed to feel their discomfort and called to them from the next room, informing them that breakfast would be ready in a few minutes. Nero thanked her and headed towards the stairs, seemingly planning to wake the children.

“... Wait…” V called after him, now more sure of what he wanted to say. A lot had happened between them in the last few days.”... Thank you… for everything…”

Nero stopped and gave him a surprised look before scratching the back of his neck, unsure of how to take the comment. On the rare occasion that V tried to open up to him, he was never sure what to say. Every genuine moment between them seemed to come without notice, but he didn’t really loathe that. In fact, it almost made him happy. Maybe.

“... You too, I guess,” Nero said quietly, glancing towards the stairs,”... I’m gonna go wake up the kids. See you at breakfast?”

V nodded in agreement. They shared a moment of silence (one that was significantly less uncomfortable than the last) and then Nero made good on his word, heading upstairs to go wake up the boys. V turned and went back into his room, opting to take a moment to reflect. Upon entering the room and closing the door, he decided that it would be best to change his clothes before heading to breakfast. Upon sitting down on the bed and pulling the comfortably loose shirt over his head, it occurred to him that what he had just done should have hurt considerably more than it had. He placed the shirt down on the bed and turned his attention to the bandage that covered the laceration he’d received from the Cutlass the night before, carefully peeling it back to check on the injury.

And to his utter disbelief, he was met with nothing more than a bloody bandage. There was no wound to speak of, only the slight soreness that it had left in its wake. V traced the spot where the wound had been, unsure of how to take this sudden revelation. He had never recovered from an injury that quickly in his entire life. What was going on? Had his recent resurrection awakened something within him? Was this some sort of biological fluke? Whatever it was, he was grateful for it for the time being. V wasn’t the type to look a gift horse in the mouth.

As he grabbed a spare shirt and laid it down on the bed, he decided to take a quick shower. So many things had happened to him in the last three days. So many things were still left unanswered. And as soon as he felt up to it, he was going to pay Magnolia a visit. Perhaps she and his father could help him locate the answers he so longed for. But all of that would have to come at a later date. For now, he was going to take a hot shower and relax. And then he was going to fight his young nephews for the waffles he could smell from the kitchen. They had lost already, they just didn’t know it yet.

-~-

I finally did it. I finished a fic. For once, my ADD didn’t get the better of me. I don’t think I quite believe it yet. Wow. And on my mother’s birthday, too! Thank you so dang much for reading this entire story. You're the reason I kept writing it. Part two is coming shortly! I just have to work out the plot. If you’d like to help me out with that, you can go to the link I’ve left below and answer a couple of quick questions. It will take less than five minutes, and it would be very helpful since I’ll be using the feedback to shape some of the events of the next book. But regardless, thank you again for taking the time out of your life for two months to humor me and my writing. I look forward to seeing you all again on Friday July 17th, 2020 for the start of the second book, Apocrypha. And again, you're all amazing. I couldn’t have done this without your support. If you haven’t already, check out my Tumblr (Skvader’s Epos) since I update there very often. Now time to buy a new chromebook and get to work on part two! But first, a little DMC5 and Animal Crossing.

If you’d like to help me out with the next book, go to this link. I’m not collecting any personal info or anything like that, I just want to pitch some nonsense ideas and get a feel for what you’d like to have answered in the next book. It will only take like five minutes, and it would be massively helpful. Thank you all again for your time. You're incredible.

Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dUCZ-SoJTw8NRxVz0-eM3vMcOu9bAGsVxGEgw8nDrYU/edit?usp=drivesdk

This fic is dedicated to:

BeansWithBones, Random Reader, Nothing Special, SkylarMorgan1899, Rarbox, HunterJamie, RubixaSeraph, Aureux, Likethecatiam, That_Random_Kid, He Who Wanders, Mallovarwen, Nephilim-Girl and everyone else on Ao3, FF.N, Tumblr, and Wattpad who read this fic all the way through to completion and left kudos. You're astounding! Sorry if I forgot to name anyone. I was going off of comments!

Part two “Apocrypha” starts on July 17th, 2020!

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lifeofmarvvel · 6 years

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The Song Sirens Sing Part 5

Word Count: 3162

Warnings: Violence, Injuries, angst (I guess?? Does this count??), literally it’s mostly pirates fighting

A/N: I’m sorry it’s been so long since the last update! I got caught up in writing other stuff (Cliche Costume Contest + a few blurbs for those who haven’t read them yet). To make up for it here is an entirely Peter focused chapter. It took me sooo long to write the action scene, so I hope you guys like it!

Series Masterlist

Part 4

Peter’s heart was ripped out. Simultaneously, he felt refreshed and new. They were finally out on the ocean again. Back to regular pirate duties. But his heart was stranded on the shoreline of Wakanda. He left it in the spot he officially met (Y/N). And he knew- oh, man, he knew- that it would probably stay there for the rest of this life.

He sat up in the crows nest, supposedly watching for any other ships or danger. In reality, he got lost in his thoughts. After Shuri deemed him okay, he was sent to bed like a misbehaving toddler and the next day they took off. He wasn’t the happiest around the rest of the crew, but he sure was glad he could get away from everything for the moment. They would be on the water for the next few months, as they crossed the Marvel Ocean again; this time towards Sokovia for a deal with some other pirate ship. Or so he was told. Peter was sure it was going to be a while before Tony trusted him not to run off into harm’s way for a while.

Even the Falcon’s teasing couldn’t bring him out of his thoughts, and the man eventually gave up. No use in talking to a non-responsive sponge. They sat in silence, though Sam paid much more attention than Peter.

Eventually, Sam broke the silence. “Hey kid, you’re kinda scaring me. Usually, you take after Tony and never shut up but I haven’t heard you talk once since breakfast.” He looked over at him. He had curled his legs into his body and wrapped his arms around them, head on top, looking out into the vast blue.

At Sam’s words, he glanced over before looking back. “I don’t feel like talking right now,” he replied.

Sam shrugged. “If it suits you.” Peter was glad when Sam turned back to the ocean. When Bucky walked below deck, he heard Sam start to shout various passive-aggressive comments. It never was a dull moment with those two. But he wasn’t interested this time. Not much was going to get him out of his head.

Little did Peter know, they were not crossing the Marvel Ocean to make a deal. They were crossing to take down a pirate ship: the SS Kaufmann. It was part of a bigger fleet called HYDRA that was up to no good- at least where the SS Avengers were concerned. The fleet was led by a pirate known as Strucker. Originally from Sokovia, he worked on human experimentation, which led to them releasing whatever chemicals “didn’t work” into the ocean.

Over time, the correct combination emerged for what he wanted. But he never knew about it; it was in the ocean, giving all the mers off the coast powers. Thus, the Maximoff twins. There were naturally occurring powers amongst the mers, but the spill brought in scores of them- well, the ones that survived the chemicals, that is.

Strucker had made his getaway on a ship once the government discovered his actions, vowing to become a pirate to not get caught, and it gave him more range over what he could do. Not only could he continue what he was doing, but he could also take down other pirate ships. He particularly chose the SS Avengers. They were after him so they could regain deals that had been stolen by HYDRA. They didn’t know about the other stuff Strucker had done- not yet, at least- and it didn’t matter all that much. There were other groups dealing with that. Currently, both groups were headed right for Strucker, not that they knew. But Strucker had a clue they were, and they were in for quite the treat when they arrived.

Eventually, Tony called Peter and Sam down to the deck. “We’re going to have a crew meeting,” he announced loudly. He turned to Peter menacingly. “And you,” he pointed an accusing finger at him, “are going to swab the deck while we do so.”

Peter’s jaw dropped, even though he expected it. It was hard to build Tony’s trust, and you were screwed if you betrayed that trust. Peter’s case was small in comparison to Stark’s past experiences, but they wouldn’t be on good terms for a long while.

“Fine,” he mumbled, grabbing the nearest mop. The hands filed away, leaving Peter to sulk while he spread the dirt around the bow. The fresh air felt nice and all, but this just rubbed salt into a wound.

A while later, the crew came back out and set back to their regular duties. Conditions stayed same through the next day and a half. Spider-Man and Falcon once again sat in the crow’s nest when a ship came into view. “Sail ho!” Sam called out, swooping out of the nest and down to the deck. Peter, unsure of what happened, quickly crawled his way down.

“Avengers Assemble! All hands to stations!” Captain America called out. The whole crew, knowing what to do, raced around, gathering weapons and cannons, and getting into position. Peter whipped around, vexed and perplexed about the situation.

“Will somebody please explain to me what’s going on?” he called out. The hands ignored him, going about their assignments. Someone shoved a small dagger into his hands when they sped by, but that was it.

Thankfully, Bruce came to the rescue. He gave him a quick rundown about why they were attacking Strucker at the moment (securing a deal) and nothing about the past. He got whisked away, and Peter was sent back to the crow’s nest “for his safety.” Nobody wanted the responsibility if the teenager’s status changed to KIA.

Peter sat down, the noise on the deck and below it shrinking from a roar to an ominous grumble. He knew for a fact Rhodey would be preparing cannons right now with a few other crew members. Falcon, on a fighting top. The co-captains stood on the stern of the ship, looking fierce. Peter could easily see how the names Captain America and Iron Man struck fear into the hearts of other pirates, much like the iron weapon that once struck Tony’s chest.

The SS Kaufmann loomed closer. Their crew ran about, just as busy as the Avenger’s deck. The water churned eerily like it was expecting to feed on one of the two ships in a moment’s notice. The ships drew near each other, expecting a fight to commence any second.

Once the ship’s starboard faced their port, a call of “fire in the hole,” could be heard and cannons opened fire; the SS Kaufmann crew swung over onto the deck of the SS Avengers. A few had cutlasses, some belaying pins, and more.

Immediately, fighting broke out across the deck. Metal against metal, clinging ringing through the air. The crew spread out, defending themselves, all representing their reputations clearly. Sam darted around quickly, using some ropes to swing himself between opponents, looking like a falcon flying through the air. Oftentimes quiet Bruce had made his way onto the SS Kaufmann, turning it into a hulk by slowly destructing it. Who knew he had it in him? And that was just the start of it all. Other Avengers followed him to the SS Kaufmann.

The crew of the SS Kaufmann proved themselves a mighty foe. They kept up with the Avengers easily, strike for strike. Peter peered over the edge. The fingers connected to his non-dagger hand twitched, eager, but no clear opening into the fight presented itself. He waited, eyes sharp and awareness heightened.

The total-cloud coverage cast odd shadows, making the fight look more like something out of a tall tale than a live event. But still, Peter watched. Individual shouts which rose above the grumble made it hard to concentrate on one specific thing. A shout from the stern caught his attention. Stark and Rogers engaged in a two-on-one fist fight with Strucker. Cannonballs sailed through the air, most missing and instead hitting the water. The resulting splashes doused the decks, drawing the fight amidship. Blunderbuss shots rang through the air, running out quickly.

Another shout and he turned towards the bow. A Kaufmann keeled over in pain. Hope slashed her cutlass with precision, taking pirates down as she went. “Remember dead men tell no tales!” someone roared above the noise. “Plow the men down!”

Yet another shout and Peter started to turn. But then a voice called out- far too close for his liking. “Now what do we have here?” it crooned. “Why, it must be the young lad, hidin’ for his life.” A quick glance showed Peter a Kaufmann, climbing up to the crow’s nest.

He was stuck. Dead end.

Thinking quickly, he remembered the dagger in his hand. He placed it between his teeth and swung over the edge onto the ropes. Channeling his inner spider, he raced down, trying to stay opposite of where the Kaufmann headed. “Oh no, ye don’t!” the pirate hollered. His teeth, bright yellow, gleamed despite the low light.

Before he could help it, they were even.

They reached for weapons at the same time. Peter: his dagger. Yellow Teeth: a dirk. The fight looked in favor of Peter. He was younger, more agile and his blade was double-sided, not just single-sided. But then again, the pirate had experience, was stronger, and most definitely knew what was going on. So maybe not.

Yellow Teeth lunged. Peter leaned back. He swayed, and grasped onto the rope tighter. It might give him rope burn later, but what mattered was staying alive. Aim for the fingers, he thought.

Peter lunged. The pirate blocked with his arm. Peter moved downward. The closer to the ground, the less likely to get killed. He slashed at the legs. Yellow Teeth lifted his feet; he moved even with Peter.

Yellow Teeth jabbed at Peter’s thigh. He barely stopped the blade with his own blade. Using all his strength, he pressed against the resistance and lifted both their arms slowly. The pirate’s side now open, Peter lifted his legs and kicked him. He bounced right back. “Now, listen here, laddie. Yer not gettin’ away easy.”

Again, Peter scrambled down. He hung about halfway down now. Still too high. He’d heard the stories of sailor slipping down the crow’s nest and dying. He didn’t want to join those stories.

Yellow Teeth kept just on his tail. They continued to spar, blade on blade. Bit by bit, they made their way down the rope. A lunge, a duck, a block, a swing. It kept on coming and wouldn’t stop. Closer to the bottom; closer to the edge of the rope ladder.

Yellow Teeth pushed. Peter tumbled. One second, both hands grasped the rope. The next, he slipped down. Peter’s heart dropped as he struggled to hold on. No, he thought. No no no no no. He watched the pirate smile, rotten teeth on display. “G’bye, little laddie.”

He raised his foot. Peter- realizing he still had his dagger- raised his hand. When the foot crushed his hand, he jabbed his dagger into it. His fingers, forced off the rope, let go.

Yellow Teeth howled, loud and strong. He lifted his foot, forcing Peter to abandon his dagger. His fingers slipped off it, one by one. Unable to get a steady grip on anything, he fell.

Air rushed through his ears and clouded his senses, dimming the continuous clangs from cutlasses. It enveloped him like a blanket, but instead of warming him, it stung. Peter’s feet slipped from underneath him, turning him onto his back. His stomach turned while he dropped. Farther, faster, out of control. The rope was too far, then all too close. He hit its side and flipped, beginning to turn in circles. Nothing could stop it now.

Somersaulting through the air involuntarily, Peter caught glimpses of the fight. Not much- simply flashes of sunlight on blades or glimpses of the ocean churning. Soon, it blurred together. He didn't know how long he had until impact. Peter braced himself, waiting, waiting, waiting. He must have fallen higher than he thought if he was still falling. Or maybe he was falling in slow motion. (But that seemed preposterous.)

THUD!

Peter hit the deck, pain shocking his senses. He couldn't hear anything but a sharp ringing. Everything was black. Was he dead or were his eyes closed? Did he pass out? He couldn't tell. It was hard to breathe. Peter didn’t even realize he had the wind knocked out of him until he gasped. Did the pain come from the impact or did something break? Again, hard to tell.

It all blurred together. He hoped nobody had their fight make their way towards him- that would guarantee injuries. He laid there, gasping like a fish out of water. Well, a grounded pirate isn’t much different, is it? If the fight ended yet, he couldn’t tell. Nothing stood out.

In the midst of the ringing, a faint cheering arose. His hearing started to come back. Cheering? Who was cheering? Why? Peter had no chance of getting up anytime soon. He had no way of figuring out. How long had he been lying there by now?

“Kid?” he heard, somewhere in the distance. “Hey, Pete, are you alright?” They sounded concerned. They sounded familiar. It almost sounded like…..

“Tony?” Peter gasped, struggling to talk. He still hadn’t caught his breath. Tony continued to ask questions, not that Peter heard any of them. All he could make out was mumbling. Something else broke through, louder than before. “Can you open your eyes? Is that doable?”

Oh. So he wasn’t dead. That was a good sign. Then, Peter realized his eyelids felt heavy. It took most of his remaining energy, but he managed.

The light, which previously had looked dim, now blinded Peter momentarily. He squinted while his vision came into focus. Tony knelt in front of him, and he laid on his side, arm underneath him. Tony’s face was riddled with small cuts and bruises. A frown graced his face, and his eyebrows furrowed.

“You took quite the fall there, lad. I glanced up right when you slipped. Had to have been at least fifteen feet.” Peter grunted in response. “I’m going to try to pick you up now. Is that okay?” Tony scooped him up when Peter repeated his actions.

“Alright, we gotta get you patched up.” With that, he took off for the sick bay.

The SS Avengers had lucked out when it came to time between their visit to Wakanda and the battle. Due to the temporary aligning, the crew had stocked up on more medicine and other supplies than they usually held.

Bruce made sure to work fast and efficiently, and soon enough, all the injured had been treated. All things considered, the turnout was good. No severe injuries besides Peter’s and one crew member who had a finger chopped off by a cutlass. The ship only had a few holes that needed fixing. They had been lucky this time around.

Peter’s arm hand broken in multiple places on impact and Bruce had set it with practiced ease. He sat on a chair, examining the new cast. Pirates are typically known for not being hygienic, but thanks to Wakanda all their medical supplies were brand new. The white bandages- held together by a wooden splint- should have been in a sling. Peter ignored that for the moment, deciding to put it on later.

After the adrenaline had left, Peter got to experience the full pain of multiple fractures. Earlier, his pain had been from the impact as much as the injury- or so Bruce told him. Here he sat, about half an hour later, pain from the impact gone and pure pain from the injury rolling in, with nothing to do about it. Of course, they could just give him some rum, but that just started a debate on whether or not to give a teenager alcohol- even if he was officially a pirate.

“So,” Tony said from where he was standing next to Peter. “You’re going to be on rest until we know it heals properly.” Peter opened his mouth to protest. “No buts! You still have training to complete and it’s been postponed until you have full use of your arm again.”

He had a point. It being Peter’s dominant arm, the list of activities he could do decreased drastically. Silence filled the room, enveloping the space between mentor and mentee. Not stillness, for Bruce worked across the room on his next patient, talking in a low voice. Tony appeared deep in thought, his eyebrows once again furrowed. “Look,” he said softly, breaking the silence, “I’m only going to say this once. Listen carefully. This kind of stuff isn’t what pirates are known for saying, so I’ll give it my best shot.”

Peter, confused about where this was headed, nodded. Tony continued, “I’m sorry about leaving you out of the informational meeting. We might not be here right now if you knew what was going on. That was a bad decision on my part. You deserve to know; it concerns your safety, after all.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “Uh, thank you, Captain. Apology accepted.” Tony patted him on the shoulder. “Does- does this mean I’m allowed into the next meeting?”

Tony chuckled. “Yes, this means you’re allowed in.”

Silence rang out again, though this time it settled more comfortably. Almost like a warm blanket. “Oh- and, uh- just so you know, I don’t blame you for what happened to me,” Peter looked up at Tony hesitantly. He gave a small, shy smile, attempting to reassure his mentor.

Tony smiled back. “You’ll go far one day, kid. Don’t forget that.” He clapped his hands, then proceeded to rub them together. “I’ve got some captain stuff I need to do.” He gestured over his shoulder to the stairs. “Get some rest.” Peter rolled his eyes but nodded, and off he went. Peter watched for a moment, sighed, and stood up, headed for his quarters.

True to his promise, the following day Peter was included in the meeting. They made sure to go over who Strucker was, why they fought him, and a brief overview of the battle.

“We shrunk the Kaufmann,” Steve explained, “which is good. On the other hand-” The crew threw glances at each other. They had won, hadn’t they? What could possibly be bad news? “-Strucker somehow got away. We’re not sure how. The Kaufmann sunk and his crew is dead. Still, he got away in the chaos. We’ll continue with our plan to attack the rest of the HYDRA fleet.”

Someone said, “Great, all the celebration rum was wasted for not,” to which someone else responded, “Rum can’t be wasted unless it’s not drunk,” but Peter paid it no attention. There were bigger problems at hand.

Fleet? Got away? Oh, boy, were they in for some trouble.

Part 6

Tags: @cinnamon-roll-parker @oreo-oreo-oreo-holland @runawaybat (I’m assuming this is your new url. If it’s not, please contact me) @embrace-themagic

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animeindoblog-blog · 7 years

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UQ HOLDER! ~Mahou Sensei Negima! 2~ – An Impossible Task, Done Fine-ish

New Post has been published on https://animeindo.org/blog/2017/12/24/uq-holder-mahou-sensei-negima-2-an-impossible-task-done-fine-ish/

UQ HOLDER! ~Mahou Sensei Negima! 2~ – An Impossible Task, Done Fine-ish

A rare battle scene where no one’s naked.

Akamatsu Ken manga are notoriously difficult to adapt. Unlike, say, Arakawa Hiromu, whose manga can damn near be used as storyboards, Akamatsu-sensei takes too many diversions, adds too many characters, takes too long getting to the point, and adds in too many chapters that seem like (and occasionally are) just silly fluff. The end result as a manga is delightful—his action is stirring, his comedy is hilarious, and he can deftly switch between world-ending drama and goofy romcom hijinks in the middle of a scene—but too much of it depends on the particular eccentricities of manga, which don’t always translate comfortably to anime. (Ex: he’s a master of slipping extra side comments into a panel that are super hilarious, but which would eat up too much time in an anime.) His stories amble toward their ultimate conclusions, but the entire trip really is important. Without it, you’re getting a shell of a story. The only real way to adapt an Akamatsu Ken manga properly is to adapt every single chapter, even the ones that don’t seem important, because they are. But no one greenlights 100+ episodes for a fantasy action ecchi romcom epic battle anime. Not anymore.

So UQ HOLDER! ~Mahou Sensei Negima! 2~ was saddled with an impossible task. A task I had a feeling was impossible even before I read the manga, and now that I’ve caught up on it, I realize how right I was. How much I undersold the herculean task, if anything. With the heavy lore/characters of Negima intertwining with the new UQ Holder additions—not to mention it needing to serve not only as a sequel to Negima, but to in some ways make up for and finish Negima’s original story, which was cut short—this is a bear of a manga to adapt.

So. How’d they do?

Fine. It didn’t end up being a good anime, but given the task the anime team did a decent job. For non-manga readers, this adaptation covered (loosely) 134 chapters of manga, which—I mean, how were they going to do that well? Other than trying to do far less, which would have been my pitch, even if the stopping point they were trying to get to was a good one. Like I said, Akamatsu Ken stories tend to meander, and this one does it even more so than Negima or Love Hina. (Okay, actually less than Love Hina, but that was so much lighter on plot that you could stop almost anywhere.)

There are certain decisions that I find unforgivable, chief among them the absence of Santa. For non-manga readers, I’ll only say that leaving out Santa is like leaving out Kotarou in the original Negima anime, and was likely done for similar reasons—but it can’t all be haremettes. I mean, it can be if that’s the plan, but c’mon! Santa, as Kotarou was before him, is vital to the plot! Did you notice how Albireo Imma (Ku:nel Sanders) was conspicuously absent from the final fight? That’s because Santa wasn’t there to fight him, and without Santa, Albiereo would have wrecked havoc on the others and Team Negi-Ialda would have easily won. Leaving him out is especially unforgivable because it was so easy to fix—even if you’re not doing his arc, just have him be part of UQ Holder from the beginning, like Ikku was. It wouldn’t be the same, but at least he’d be there.

Other deleted characters had huge impacts on the story, Dana chief among them. Though it really comes down to what always happens when you try to condense 134 chapters into 12 episodes: all context is lost. The connections are lost. Nothing makes sense, because all the connective tissue that makes this (admittedly convoluted) plot work in stretched-out manga form was completely absent here. Does an anime-only viewer know why Touta is so important, other than the clone thing? Because that alone isn’t the reason. It’s what that means that is important. But we never hear about it. Without that, their plan to beat Negi-Ialda doesn’t make sense, because they don’t really have one. Which makes sense, since the battle comes so quickly after other events that it’s not like they had time to grapple with the danger upon them.

Other problems are easier to fix, such as the piss-poor animation. It doesn’t look like UQ Holder got much in the way of budget, and it shows. Then there was the pacing, which is very difficult to get right. I think Akamatsu anime need a gifted comedy director at the helm, because one of Akamatsu-sensei’s greatest strengths is that he lays out scenes and uses the pacing of a hijinks-filled romcom, even if he’s writing a bunch of action—which is to say, UQ Holder needs the energy of a romcom for the story to work. This anime never had that. Which is somewhat surprising since Suzuki Youhei has some good credits to his name, but maybe it wasn’t enough to make up for the everliving rush, or the lack of budget hurt him here too.

The funny thing is that this adaptation is a classic case of hitting a lot of the memorable moments/images, but neutering them by not understanding or conveying the connections that made them so memorable originally. It’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice thinking—just get Batman in that metal suit and the fanboys will go wild, it doesn’t matter if none of it makes sense!—where as long as you hit the right scenes then it should all work out. Which is extra crazy, since Akamatsu-sensei himself did series composition for this anime! So maybe he knew too much, or more likely, there was just no way to put all the connections in. Not with twelve episodes and a shit budget. This anime was doomed as soon as they decided to adapt up to ch134 in a single cour. Everything else was just deciding on the particular flavor of failure—though prioritizing contextless action and harem hijinks probably didn’t help. Once again: RIP Santa. You were missed.

But in the end, this was probably 80% of as good of an adaptation as this anime was ever going to get, once they made that initial (fatal) decision to adapt so much. That’s not exactly praise, it’s just a hard assessment of the truth. They were screwed from that decision, so the fact that they more or less kept the wheels on—and some changes even kind of worked, as long as you don’t think too much about the gaping plotholes they left—is impressive in a way. Things threatened to fall apart in the last two episodes though, and that weird 3-A dream sequence in the middle of the last battle was pretty pointless.

I wouldn’t recommend the UQ Holder anime to anyone, but the manga is still good. Take the time to read it if you haven’t yet. It’s time well spent. I just wish the anime team had taken more time, so they could luxuriate in those early chapters, rather than speeding toward failure.

Now, I’m going to end on some comments about the manga, mostly from chapters that take place after this adaptation ends (so ch135+). If you haven’t caught up on the manga, don’t click on the tag below. Seriously, don’t do it. Go read the manga, THEN click on it. Or just read the manga. It’s good stuff.

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Holy hell, Chisame as end girl!? Who’da thunk it. I mean, it makes sense within the context of UQ Holder—Chisame winning the Negi Bowl sets up Kirie as the chief contender for Touta’s heart, along with Yukihime, who not coincidentally ends up with Nagi in the Good End world, further solidifing her as the other contender—but if I were guessing who’d end up with Negi at the end of Negima itself, I’da probably guessed Yue. Nodoka is another strong candidate too, or even Asuna—she’s always been my favorite, though in the end she never got past the big sister vibe. Or a bunch of other girls! Still, Chisame does feel right, the more I think about it. And I’ve been thinking of it a lot, as I remember that wedding picture and smile. D’aaaawwww! Also, kudos to Akamatsu-sensei for having the cojones to actually pick an end girl, even if he did it in the sequel years later.

Speaking of, I’m glad that the Good End world still exists. Originally when I started reading UQ Holder, I was assuming this was that world, and that Negi had lived his life and died peacefully, only for shit to get wonky after that—but then Negi reappeared, and we learned that he very much did not get a happy ending, and that was news I didn’t like so much. Seeing that the Good End world is still out there—where Asuna got to live out her life with her friends, where Nagi was saved, where Negi and Eva and everyone else got to be happy in the end—just makes me smile. They deserve that happy end, especially now that we finally got to see how they earned it.

As for UQ Holder, I was originally on the Kuromaru ship, but I’ve since gone over to the Kirie side, though I’d be happy with a Yukihime ending too. It’s just hard to not like Kirie, especially after the time freeze chapters—which the anime didn’t do, by the way, so Kirie falling for Touta in the anime makes zero sense. And she also doesn’t have her time freeze powers, so Cutlass is totally pointless in the anime BUT I DIGRESS!

I also have mixed feelings about how much the manga has turned into Negima: The Ending I Didn’t Get To Do Before: The Manga, especially in these latest releases, where there were multiple extra-long chapters where often ZERO UQ Holder characters actually appeared. I wanted to see those chapters, I’ve wanted to know what went down with all of that for a long time, but it was also hard to see all the actual UQ Holder characters sidelined for so long. I like mixing in the Negima mythology, but I still want UQ Holder to be its own thing. Mixed feelings.

Either way, UQ Holder manga still rocks. Glad I finally caught up on it, even if I didn’t get a whole lot out of the anime in the end. Such is life, at least where Akamatsu Ken anime adaptations are concerned.

My SECOND novel, Freelance Heroics, is available now! (Now in print!) (Also available: Firesign #1 Wage Slave Rebellion.) Sign up for my email list for updates. At stephenwgee.com, the latest post: The Last Jedi SUPER SPOILERY Review.

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