#at least tie up an individual arc please

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "The Antilles Extraction"

WEDGE WEDGE WEDGE WEDGE!

Hey, they had the budget to give at least one of these Rebel commanders a face!

This opening scene with the unfortunate redshirts serves two major purposes:

Establishes that the Rebellion needs pilots, and not just pilots but good pilots. (Recall the hilarity that in Legends canon they tested Wedge repeatedly for Force Sensitivity because they refused to believe he was just that good, lol.)

And it sets a baseline of the cruelty we can expect from the Empire. They wipe out this whole flotilla, even though the transport surrendered and is unarmed. Call Forward to Saw's Modus Operandi perhaps? At the very least hinting at the kind of blind dogmatic fanaticism the Empire encourages in its ranks.

Important to note: When the tips of a TIE are painted like that... that's an ace. That is someone you do not want to mess with in aerial combat.

Once again, the A-wings get a really raw deal in this show.

Hngh, Ezra's hopeful expression when Sato mentions "Fulcrum", he was so ready to believe that Ahsoka had somehow survived. *cries*

I think everyone in fandom and their dog guessed that the new Fulcrum was Kallus, lol. Once again, really should have gotten to see some of that arc onscreen. Didn't have to be much, just a scene or two here and there showing him researching into the Geonosian massacre or something and then attempting to get in touch with the Rebellion.

Ezra's objections to Sabine going in undercover play a little bit back into his overactive Hero Complex, that the holocron took advantage of to tempt him. Even though he's sworn off the Dark Side at this point, the underlying causes for why he was flirting with it in the first place--to prevent anything else bad from happening to the people he cares about--are still in effect. So having to wait in the wings and surrender control of an uncertain situation that could prove dangerous to his family is still going to be a source of distress for him.

Unfortunately, as Hera points out, Ezra's face has acquired lots more notoriety (at least in Imperial school circles), so Sabine's the one who's gotta do it this time. And she does not sound too eager about it lol.

This show is so good at lovely environments.

Sabine is the tiniest one there lol.

Kanan putting a supportive hand on Ezra's shoulder 'cause he knows Ezra's worrying. <333

"I'm just not a fan of these solo missions." "Unless it's you." That is kind of how his Hero Complex works, he doesn't want anyone else putting themselves in harm's way, would rather take on the dangers himself so that nothing bad happens to anyone else.

("Tari did the fandom have uncharitable interpretations of this moment too?" Ohhhhh yes you betcha. Fandom, please let the boys care about and worry for their women without turning it into some kind of chauvinism PLEASE.)

Oh wow, that was a snippet of Luke's theme transposed to minor key, that was a brilliant musical move.

HI WEDGE!

Officer Prissypants immediately shutting down any attempt for the cadets to maintain their individual personhood, insisting on callsigns only. See fandom, this what actual cult-like indoctrination looks like.

(Probably one of the reasons Wedge was bristling under their control, he's got too big a force of personality to keep under wraps.)

So another reason why I think the hints of Force Sensitive!Sabine in the Ahsoka trailers have to be a big red herring or else a giant-ass dumb retcon? Recall if you will the Empire has methods of testing for Force Sensitivity, if anything about Sabine's skills as a pilot here had pinged them as a little too good they would have flagged her and called for an Inquisitor to come investigate. (Even given that we lost three at Malachor.)

Or you know... just shot her.

Oh look, basically the same in-field situation they just showed us in the opening! Designed as a test of pilot loyalty: Unquestioningly follow these orders to blow up this ship or you're a filthy traitor to the Emperor.

We can see now a glimpse of how the Empire suppresses all individual thinking, personality, creativity, and humanity in its members, turns them into mindless drones to be pointed as weapons towards the Empire's enemy. Also that the Empire nominally has standards that purport to offer a sense of fair play and moral rule, but that it will immediately ignore its own rules when it suits them, again, in order to go after and obliterate its enemies.

Rebels said watch out for anyone who tells you not to ask questions or express doubts or concerns and who operates on Rules For Thee.

Love that they put the Ghost in the simulation lol.

You gotta know Sabine is chafing under this reprimand from Vult Skerris (the ace in our opener), this is her cadet days all over again, being told to sit down and shut up like a good girl and not worry her pretty little head off.

Wedge already admiring Sabine for her guts and dropping narrative hints that he's one of the defectors. We knew this already, of course, because it's Wedge, but still.

HI HI PRYCE! HI KALLUS. :D

Kallus must be so frustrated that ISB sent him personally to root out the sympathizers they learned about lol.

(Unless he volunteered for it himself, to try and cover their escape and help them if he could?)

Lol the stink eye he gives Pryce.

Sabine lucks out and stumbles across the very self-same sympathizers conversing in the hallway and of course no one is surprised to see Wedge.

Really can't praise the environment and lighting work on this show enough.

Sabine carefully feels Wedge out and confirms he's a defector and reveals herself.

Welcome to the Rebellion, hope you're good at Indy Ploys lolol.

Ezra's agitated pacing as he worries about Sabine. <3

And Kanan speaking directly to the insecurities and anxieties and fears that drove Ezra to consult the Sith holocron.

(Once again the parallels to Anakin "I need to be powerful enough to stop people from dying" Skywalker are great. The heart of Jedi philosophy is realizing you are not in control, and letting go of your fear of loss. Per Lucas, it doesn't mean you don't fight to preserve life if you can, but that if it is their time, you accept it. You don't go down into Hades to get them back, you don't break the laws of the universe to spare yourself that pain. You love them, and let them pass away. You let go.)

Ezra's immediate, "Of course I trust her." awwwwww.

Ahhh Kallus went along to be all, "We have investigated ourselves thoroughly and have found we have done nothing wrong." re. the defectors.

Hi Hobbie! Hi redshirt that absolutely bites it because we don't know him from the OT!

Still loving how Sabine is tinier than everyone there.

"These Rebels you say are waiting for us, do you trust them?" "With my life." UNQUESTIONING FAITH IN EZRA TO SWOOP IN AND SAVE HER AWWWW.

Yeah yeah Kanan is there too but Ezra's the one in the command seat LET ME HAVE THIS IT'S CUTE.

"Come on Ezra... where are you?" See, Sabine specifies him too.

The Rebel Alliance fanfare as the CR90 jumps in, yay!

"Sabine? Hope we're not too late." "Right on time." Sue me, I love cute banter.

And I hear the "Shenanigans" cue in heroic horns there.

Pryce reveals herself to be Actually Pretty Clever, having rigged the TIEs with kill switches beforehand.

HA HA HA HA NOT THE LAST TIME SABINE WOULD PLEAD WITH EZRA TO ESCAPE A PERILOUS SITUATION. *weeps in finale feelings*

And he still hates leaving people behind. But Kanan's right, they have to apply some Jedi non-attachment in this case or risk being unable to help her later. On account of, you know, being dead themselves.

:(

Pryce waltzes in being fabulously nasty and effortlessly reveals Sabine. Kinda wonder if the Imps just had this interrogation table on hand or if Pryce brought it with her.

Ooof Sabine's comment to Kallus here about "they found someone to do your job" had to hurt.

Have I mentioned I love Pryce yet? I love her, she's so casually patronizing and cruel and I adore that she's also a pretty effective brawler.

Love this little fight, it's not pretty or civilized at all, all grappling and dirty tricks.

Wedge is not quite skilled enough in the Indy Plot to pull off escapes like Ezra and Sabine yet lololol.

"Tell Garazeb Orrelios we're even." <333333 I love him.

Shades of Poe Dameron in Wedge's "I can fly anything." boast.

We sacrificed speed for durability, a smart decision when up against an ace like Skerris, actually. The bomber takes three direct hits without shattering like a normal TIE would. And Wedge handles it with much more maneuverability that it'd normally be flown.

Ho ho man this hero shot of the CR90 emerging from the clouds. :)

More adorable Sabezra banter. <333

Lol Hobbie not giving Sabine his real name (Derek Klivian btw) so she has to awkwardly give his nickname to Sato.

And congrats, we have successfully completed another Friendship Fetch Quest!

I remember being kind of bored with this episode the first time around (Sabine was kind of the least interesting member of the main cast for me, up until Season Three) but I think I appreciate it a lot more now. The look into the workings of the Imperial propaganda and indoctrination machine is illuminating, Wedge is pretty cute and it's nice to see him before he was a noted Rebel hero, and Ezra's concern over Sabine makes my shipper heart warm.

Amazingly, however, we managed to completely avoid getting any kind of backstory for Sabine out of an episode where she literally goes back to an Imperial Academy. So I guess if I had to nitpick this episode it might have been kind of nice to see her have to struggle a little bit more with being there, besides the one regretful look in the beginning and the bristling at her reprimand in the middle.

But aside from that, this episode was actually a pretty nice one.

[demonprodigy-kingofsheep]

I don’t mean to be ungrateful towards asagiri or anything but the constant pov switches and death ‘scares’ are getting a bit annoying rn

also begging crying sobbing on my knees for longer chapters pLEASE FOR ONCE-

[ackermanshoe]

"Mikasa?!"

"get your shit together"

"we are the only ones who can stop Eren"

Well smart ppl, this is the first time in the entirety of attack on titan Levi "snapped" towards Mikasa. The look on his eyes it's so full concern, did he know what was happening to her? Did he realise it was her headache or did he think it was Eren doing something?

Maybe he snapped bc he was absolutely tired of Erens shit and mikasa's hesitation towards him. Maybe he was so worried that he couldn't get his words to come out? "Get your shit together" is such a Levi think to say if he said "are you okay?" It would be so out of character.

I know I don't need to explain this as we are all aware that Levi's way with Mikasa is like none other, right? Eg when he snapped at historia for not being able to give a straight answer to the biggest decision of her life - more: he often snaps at hanji despite them being friends for years etc.

It also makes me wonder how Levi is so in touch with reality, he's right next to her, could it be that his presence helped Mikasa come back to hers and finally decide to end Eren?

"a theory isn't a fantasy, it's a coherent set of ideas intend to explain something.." and this is me theorising so stay with me. The Ackerman's who had their inhumane power activated are Levi Mikasa and Kenny. Kenny met his tragic end with Yuri, Levi met his tragic end with Erwin and now it is clearly Mikasa's turn. Ik it wasn't obvious but when Kenny Ackerman lost his liege he was completely alone then eventually he had died off. Isn't it funny how the only two Ackerman's to have had years side by side were Mikasa and Levi? It's just my belief that Erwin's death would have caused more harm on Levi if he hadn't had Mikasa by his side and Mikasa would have been more lost in her delusion or dreams without Levi's consent attempt to bring her back to reality. Eg female titan arc.

Even after killing Zeke Levi never found true happiness, was it really the purpose of his life? Definitely not. It almost feels like there's a loose end to tie, possibly with another Ackerman. This is where my theory ( or more questions ) about the shine in his eyes comes in which I will explain later.

I have always seen Mikasa as a doer, who is not indecisive and always goes for the kill. Levi knows that too. This one moment where got her headache and she hesitated to move forward it was a conflict that clearly irretated Levi.

But man if it were anyone else with all their love and care for Mikasa they would have snapped at her ages ago. The patience this man has for Mikasa is unmatched.

Furthermore

"got it"

"Mikasa"

He said this to himself, TO HIMSELF I repeat not to Mikasa or anyone. What does this tell me? It tells me he trusts Mikasa to make the right decision. He knows it's time and he knows that she won't hesitate this time. Remember the gleam in his eyes when Mikasa asked him to help her kill Eren?

It's a gleam of trust and recognition.

To me this is the purest form of support Levi has given not only to Mikasa but anyone at all. It kinda makes me feel soft if I'm being honest but I can't explain that with facts.

Might I mention how how Levi said mikasa's name more in this one chapter than he has said in the entire manga?

( if someone know why he never calls Mikasa by her name please let me know I'm so hung up on that and still wondering what could be the meaning behind it )

It can be said the same with Mikasa calling Levi "captain" several times in the last chapter and possibly this one.

It may be a personal view of mine but the I think there's a lot of significance in calling ones name. But in rivamika's relationship the lack there of name calling makes it much more interesting to theorise. I have always been someone who would hesitate to say my crush's name because I feel like it would be awkward and make the conversation much more intimate. Yeah it's just a theory but most people would avoid using their crushes name because it makes them nervous and the fact their crush exist near them much more realistic. ( Input scene from there first caridge scene where Levi called Mikasa by her name to tell her to protect Eren with all her skills and Mikasa had a drop sweat on her, she was caught off guard by his voice calling her name )

If I was to assume this is what happened with Levi not mentioning mikasa's name ( all that often ) then it kinda makes sense. And now that we have Levi finally calling out her name in the middle of a life or death battle it makes me wonder if he is finally breaking out of a invisible shell and confronting his feelings (?)

Note: "feelings" can be interpreted as romantic AND non romantic. I don't mean to say that I think he is in love with her that's realistically thinking.

Idk how to word this properly but it's like he is becoming more aware of mikasa's importance in his life and vice versa (?)

Ones name is the biggest connection they have with their individuality and the fact that Levi calls her name several times in this particular chapter makes me think it's somehow connected to Mikasa letting go off Eren and choosing herself + Levi and whoever is left to save. I believe Levi already knew this since the moment the gleam came into his eyes, like I mentioned many many many times Levi knows things about Mikasa before she does. For Levi it's like looking into a mirror that goes backwards in time.

If I'm going to talk more about the gleam in Levi's eyes I might as well put it all down on the table and you can view it however you want.

Remember this

"is it from hope or despair that this strength comes from?"

Well the gleam to me represents hope, not only for the survival of them two by killing Eren, but for Mikasa herself, finding herself MIGHT just be the gleam of hope Levi's strength came from. Individuality. This is more like forshadowing the future than the present.

It also reminds me of S1 when Levi's eyes gleamed when Eren expressed his hatred towards the titans. The look of obsession, to kill the titans and now mikasa's determination to kill Eren ( her obsession).

If I'm being a delulu then yes I do think he is in love with her and nothing less 🤩 and this look^^ above is so sexy can they just idk send me the wedding invitation already I'm 🕯️😔🕯️ tired of waiting.

Anyways I'm going to end this here I feel like I write so much and if anyone asked me what this was all about in real life I would prolly run away rather than speaking. Thank you guys for being here and supporting me and everyone else! I hope the last chapter is at least 100 pages long because we need it 😭🕯️😭.

Edit: I apologize for making this so long I was going to post it like tomorrow but I think it will makes sense if I do it now rather than later.

Also regarding the snapping bit I honestly think it's just because the way he speaks it comes out as harsh which is natural for his character we already know he cares so much about her, he was panicking guys.

[yukipri]

Bad Batch end of season thoughts/ramble, bc it's been a week and I just wanna get it all off my chest...

(end of season spoilers and very disorganized rambling)

First off, I do want to say that I enjoyed watching the show. It fulfilled its primary purpose: entertainment. It was nice having something to look forward to every week, and even though it wasn't quite what I was expecting, it was fun. The animation was gorgeous, I liked all the references and tie ins. I will likely watch it again, and will watch season 2. This is by no means meant to be a hate post.

That being said, it is critical so please just skip if you're not into that!

The thing is...it takes very, Very little for me to love a clone. He doesn't need lines, or a face, or even a name, and the default is that I will love him. He can even be a little bastard, like Slick, and it's fine. I always want to know more about them, and wish they had more screen time and time in general to develop their characters. So given that we were getting 16 (20 eps total if we count TCW S7 pilot arc) centered around these guys, I was expecting to absolutely adore them by the end.

And I wanted to love the Bad Batch, I wanted to love them so damn much, and I tried. But I think one of the reasons why they never fully clicked for me was that their thing seems to be "we're unique, we never fit in, we're outsiders in our own home, among the people who are supposed to be our own family, and so we've found our home with each other."

Which! That's usually a wonderful message, and not a particularly rare or unique one either for stories! I usually dig these kinds of stories!

The problem here is the extremely unique situation of the clones. They are literally created to be identical, brain washed to be uniform. They must conform, or are killed off by their creators, and their conformity isn't a choice in the slightest, but one of fear and necessity.

Their uniformity is something that they are also entirely aware of--it's unavoidable, they're clones. Once out in the real galaxy, they all strive to find and establish unique identities for themselves, struggling against a galaxy that just wants them to be faceless products. It's a shared struggle, and all they have are each other, and their brotherhood is sacred as a result. Shunning unique identity is the opposite of who a clone is--it's what they all want.

So on one hand, it's understandable that the Batch stuck out (when all others who would have also stuck out were culled, when individuality isn't allowed). It's understandable that they would have yearned for the brotherhood shared by the other clones, and when they couldn't have it, they stuck closer to each other. It's even understandable that they would feel bitter, having experienced bullying at the hands of the other clones (but isn't it also understandable that the other clones would feel bitter that the Batch gets special treatment, when their own brothers with less-than-beneficial mutations were taken by the Kaminoans to never return?).

And so we have this batch of clones, who the Kaminoans call "mutated," but also specify that their mutations are "desirable" (implying what happens to mutations that are undesirable...). They have their own unique unit, in which they're able to improvise and act freely with seemingly little to no oversight, so long as they complete their mission. No Jedi to obey, no nat-born officers who look down on them. In fact, they look so different from standard clone troopers that most of the galaxy probably don't even know they are clones. They have their own ship (personalized), they have their own possessions (which we don't really see any other clones have), they have their own barracks (probably also very unique), and they even have access to superior weapons and armor (most of the Batch, minus Echo, seem to be wearing modified Katarn-class armor which is supposed to be for Commandos. we KNOW it holds up better than standard trooper armor).

So I'm sure they had some unpleasant experiences growing up, and I do get it. But at least at "present" end of clone wars, they honestly seem to be living infinitely better than all other clones? They still need to follow orders but they have more freedom, and perhaps most importantly, they have clear uniqueness that is denied almost all other clones. And yes, some of the clones on Kamino bully them, but we've seen NONE of the "regular" clones that we know to be particularly nasty to them, and in fact it's Crosshair who starts it by calling them "Regs."

And how does the Batch respond to this situation? By acting superior. It's Crosshair who says and it believes this firmly, and I do feel that the others are likely mostly influenced by this, but it's also true that Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech don't really deny this either. They don't like the "regs," they do act like they're "better." Poor Echo, who they repeatedly seem to forget is in the room, and who they call "machine" and such...yikes yo

So I guess the point is, I just really struggled to feel sympathetic towards them, and was already on a kinda eh about their premise. They're marketed as "the special clone squad"--and yet they're not nice to the clones I love. I thought that wasn't great, but also hoped that the series would work towards them understanding the other clones better, and I love character development so that woulda been fine--but, nothing. A glance from Hunter at Howzer. Extended camaraderie from Gregor, who I feel they mostly just tolerate for the mission, other than Echo who genuinely cares.

And on top of feeling not feeling particularly sympathetic towards what I saw as a pretty privileged group of clones, the Batch seems to place primary blame of their woes on the "regs" themselves, who again, honestly seem far worse off! There isn't blame directed at the people who demanded the conformity from the other clones in the first place, that made it so the Batch couldn't fit in. The Batch was modified due to the Kaminoans (and implied specifically Nala Se). She's the reason why they don't fit in. And the Kaminoans are also why the other clones have to be so uniform, why they must fight to be people and not products.

Bitterness and pettiness can be fine in characters. But it's frustrating to see in a group supposed to be competent and elite, especially when those feelings have consequences. Sure, it sucks when someone throws a food tray at you. You can throw food back. It's not an equal reaction to feel no remorse when you shoot that guy dead in a blaster fight, when for all other clones, having to kill another clone is one of the most horrible, tragic things that one can do (thanks, Umbara).

Fives was the only clone to actually point a blaster at Nala Se.

We know Omega has deeply personal history with Nala Se. She was Nala Se's personal medical assistant. We see her cry when she takes off her head ornament that matches Nala Se. We know that being back in the lab gives Omega complicated, and probably not entirely positive feelings. But we barely learn more about this relationship, other than these glimpses.

And I get the feeling that to Omega at least, Nala Se wasn't all terrible. If Omega grew up with mostly only Nala Se for company, she had to have gotten her sheltered outlook on life, and her willingness to help others from somewhere. Nala Se intentionally let Omega go, to be "safe."

I think Omega's adorable, and I do like her. But I wasn't able to fully love her to the extent I wanted to, because there was always the fear that she was involved in the creation and implantation of the chips. She knows about them, she would have been positioned to do so. I want to think she would never, and I was hoping the show would reassure us of that, but it never did. We don't actually know how Omega feels about Nala Se, or even the chips and their presence in other clones. Instead, all we know is that Omega doesn't like "regs."

And again, "they call me lab scrubber," and "I helped put (or am complicit in putting) mind control devices in their heads," are kinda, unequal. Again I hope it's not the case. But it definitely kept me feeling uneasy throughout the show.

It really boils down to I don't trust or forgive Nala Se, and the Batch's lack of stance against her and the other Kaminoans, and clear distaste for their other clone brothers, really puts them in a situation that makes it difficult for me to take their side entirely.

And then gosh, Hunter. During Crosshair's whole "you never came back for me," spiel, I couldn't help but think he's kinda right. He had 15 episodes. Sure, it's difficult to get Crosshair back. But they could have done something. They could have done research. We could have had scenes of them wondering where Crosshair is, discussions on how best to find him, even if that discussion ended in, "but we can't risk it right now." They could have grilled Omega for information on the chips, which they really shoulda done either way, but especially since that knowledge is important to understanding what (they thought had) happened to Crosshair. Instead, they just ran every time Crosshair showed up. The show could have done better to show that they cared, and were trying, instead of just, y'know, doing chores for Cid. One, "I kinda miss him," doesn't really count as working on getting him back, at least in my books.

The sole exception to all of this, of course, is Echo. Who really, he works with the Batch fine, he's a former ARC and can more than keep up. Skillset-wise, he fits in well enough. But this season really made me wonder why he's with them at all. Crosshair's revelation and true feelings at the end of the season were no surprise to me, as they're consistent with what we've seen of him from TCW S7. But for Echo, a former "reg" to have to work with someone like Crosshair...even if Crosshair thought Echo was "different" enough to accept him, those are his brothers that Crosshair thinks he's so superior to, and has no issue speaking disdainfully about.

The increasing tension between Echo and Hunter, Echo's interest in helping Rex, in helping other clones, in doing something...I do hope they reach a point where Echo demands they go help, or he's leaving.

They gave Crosshair a chance, despite the fact that his choices were willing. I really hope Echo can convince the Batch to help save the other clones who don't have a choice. Because even if the Batch doesn't consider them their brothers, they're certainly Echo's. They matter just as much as Crosshair, and I really hope season 2 shows it narratively.

To conclude, again I'm interested in seeing what happens next, and I want answers about Omega and Nala Se. I find it interesting that they tied the facility where they took Nala Se in with the scientist dude collecting data on Grogu in the Mandalorian and those cloning labs. All of this is interesting, but at the same time I feel like it's trying to build up to Snoke/Palpatine stuff in the sequels which...I don't care nearly as much about, but who knows, could be neat ^ ^;

I'm okay with, and have made peace with the fact that the Bad Batch probably isn't the "clones-centric" show I wanted, and that they'll continue their own story, and probably continue to not care much about other clones in upcoming seasons. That's unfortunate, but alright. I'm interested enough in their story too.

But at the same time...I can't help but think man, if they have the time and budget to do a season 2, after seeing what was (or wasn't) accomplished in season 1...I wish they'd also make a Rex/Cody/Wolffe/"regular clones" show, because in the end, if you're going to do a "clones show"....that's who I want to see most.

If you got to the end, thank you for reading, and being an ear to my ranting ^ ^; Again this is literally just getting this off my chest. If this take isn't one you agree with, please just ignore. For people who did fall in love with the Batch, I'm happy for you, and regret that it just couldn't happen for me. But, I'm hoping that S2 will change my mind, but we'll just have to see! ^ ^;

[chaos-burst]

Hey! :) I’ve wanted to play d&d for a while now, and after getting into critical role i finally decided to convince my friends to play with me. None of us have played before, so im both exited and a bit nervous since i’ll be the dm. We don’t know anyone who plays, and i’m not very comfortable with palying with strangers, so we’ll be diving right in together! Do you or your followers have any tips or good resources to recommend for new players and/or dms? Any tips would be greatly appreciated! :D

Hey there!

I’m very flattered that you would ask me for DMing tips, but I just have to preface this saying that I am a first time DM myself and I am currently on session 13 of my campaign. But I can see if I can list some things that I found useful building my first campaign :) And I totally feel you not being comfortable with strangers, I play with a group of friends and we were all first time players when we started!

Let’s start with resources! (I will put the links in a reblog bc tumblr is a dick about posts with external links in them. Sry for the hassle!)

Probably a bit redundant, but nevertheless very helpful: The core rulebooks for D&D. Which is to say The Dungeon Master Guide, The Monster Manual and The Players Handbook. Bc those are expensive as fuck, check out this lovely thing (1).

Then, depending on whether you play online or live: Roll20.net (2) You can invite your players to your campaign and make maps for encounters with minis on them, you can insert music that plays in the background and it also rolls dice for you if you have to roll a big amount of dice and don’t want to do math ;)

There is an encounter builder on kobold-fightclub (3) that can help you balance encounters according to your party’s level! I have found it quite helpful and it’s also an easy way to filter monsters for a specific terrain when you know that you’ll be running through a swamp/desert/cave etc.!

I also found this this cheat sheet very helpful, esp regarding the different conditions that I can never seem to remember.

Then, ofc, one of CR’s sponsors: dndbeyond (4). Me and my friends bought a subscription bc damn is it useful to be able to click on anything on your character sheet and see what the hell it means. It also helps you track your spellslots/HP etc. during combat. 

Something I also did was watch Matt’s videos (5) on how he DMs. Altho it bears to say: Don’t compare yourself to Matt Mercer. It will only stress you out. 

You like maps? So do I! Check these out (6/7). 

You want to keep track of your npcs and important lore and places and everything? You could try worldanvil (8)! It’s like building a wiki for your own world!

And then about tips. It is probably easier to give tips when you have specific questions than it is to give general tips, but I’ll do my best! I’m sure many experienced DMs want to chime in and add to it :)

Communication is (as with most things in life) key to everything. Get together with your players for a Session 0 and just talk about what kind of game you want to run and what kind of game they want to play. There are people who like combat more than roleplay or vice versa. There are people who want to play an evil campaign or they want a lot of political intrigue or they are soft marshmallows like I am and don’t want permanent character deaths and so on and so on. Just get together and talk about what you guys want to create. Also talk about the characters with each individual player.Ask them about triggers they have, so you can avoid topics. Ask them how they feel about an NPC flirting with their character. It goes the other way around as well! Tell them about your boundaries and your expectations. One of my friends wanted to make a character with a neutral evil alignment. I told that it’s fine, as long as there’s the prospect for the character to evolve towards a neutral or good alignment, bc I have no interest in dm-ing an “evil” campaign. 

Something that might make running a campaign easier for you is if your players’ characters already know each other before the game starts. If you’re like me you will sweat bullets thinking about how to get them to work towards a common goal. If they’re already friends/rivals/lovers/colleagues/members of the same adventuring guild you will not have that problem. And they can give you some notes on how they envision the relationships to be/how they met.

You can start your adventure with one of the official adventures that are out there if you want to! You don’t have to do a whole ton of worldbuilding like I did bc I’m a crazy person and have my whole setting homebrewed. If not, you can always make life as easy as possible for yourself and start small! Build a small town with a few key NPCs, put a small assortment of possible quests there and then only roughly sketch out what you want the “outside world” to look like. I as a player love some context when I build characters, so if you want to give your players a small introduction into the campaign setting, I think that would be helpful and also helps creating characters who fit into your setting! If you want to run a campaign that has tons of dragons and poisoned oceans that cannot be crossed by mortals it would be sad if a player came to you and gave you the character sheet for a sailor.

If you do a whole campaign, I found it helpful to have a rough idea about different factions and two or three major events that shape your world. Ideas for later quests will eventually tie into big world events when the players get higher level!

Draw yourself a map. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or anything, but at some point there will be a question about “where is the next big city, we need to buy healing potions” and you will feel much safer if you just have a piece of paper (analogue or virtual) with like... a rough outline, some landmarks and some cities on it. At least that’s how it was for me!

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Don’t beat yourself up if your first quests are “standard” stuff like “Take care of this giant rat infestation in the cellar of the tavern.” or “My purple dragoncat has been abducted, please get him back for me.”. I started my campaign with small quests before getting to a small arc and then I want to work towards bigger arcs eventually. But for new players and a new DM I found it very helpful to keep things low stakes to not stress anyone out too much. If you fuck up the giant rat infestation, the world will not end, you know? That is nice. Also works well as a tutorial for everyone! Combat is intimidating! So many rules! Take your time to figure out how stuff works with some nice, small quests and some not-too-complex-combat encounters!

You don’t have to follow every rule. There are so many rules for everything and that can be helpful but it can also be stressful. You don’t have to do everything by the book and if you notice that some rules annoy you and your players, you can always change them as you go along! (Cats have nightvision. Sometimes the rulebooks are dumb.)

Don’t get hung up on too many details. I love worldbuilding, but I get obsessive easily. Sometimes I think my world isn’t ready enough bc I tend to think like a writer who has to have everything figured out. That is not the case with d&d! Sure, It’s good if you know stuff. But d&d is not only about planning, it’s also about improvising. And the world will grow while you play in it! Before you know it you’ll go like “I want to have an encounter with this cool ice monster. I need an icy landscape.” and then you will make one. And maybe it wasn’t there before, but who cares. Your players will be excited and you can make up the lore as you move along! 

Did I mention communication? 

If you have specific questions about certain aspects of DMing or how to start, feel free to message me anytime :) I hope this helps a little bit! I’ll reblog in a second with the links!

[thissugarcane]

qaf season 4 structural analysis

I am studying the structure of season 4 (all as part of my intention to rip it the HELL apart and stitch it back together in a quilt more pleasing to me, if not more happy), and you know what? it feels very much to be a three-act thing, at least where brian and justin's arcs are concerned. posibly where they're all concerned?

act one: 4x01 to 4x05

brian's arc: he's building kinnetik and learning (and willingly) accepting help for his business -- and also, he's building himself back up again brick by brick, redefining his position and place in his career.

justin's arc: he's actually the one NOT willing to accept help or support in Act 1, because he's dealing with PTSD from Darren's bashing and the pink posse

michael and ben: dealing with being foster parents mostly (and partly ben's book / jealousy over hollywood)

Deb: ? pretending she's actually ok with not being needed, when obvs she isn't? (aka vic and rodney)

lindsay: ?

mel: that case and letting go of being "everything"

emmett: sort of, thru 4x01 and such: learning to live without Ted and "on his own"? (by 4x05 he's moved into his new apartment)

ted: rehab, pt one, learning to accept he is an addict? and learning to accept help / that he has friends / that he can live post-addiction?

[I think Emmett and Ted's arc together, and maybe their individual ones, don't strictly follow the episode structure, because I think they go more 4x03 to 4x08 ish, like, they have two arcs mid and late season, rather than the whole thing. but emmett and ted's storyline together is ted's amends.]

act two: 4x06 to 4x10

brian's arc: in a nutshell? the cancer arc

Brian begins at the peak of his career success (4x06 starts with the kinnetik launch) but then finds out his health is failing and has to face his own mortality

brian is struggling through cancer (being physically imperfect, facing up to the fact that he's not 21 anymore and that he's lost something else that was fundamental to his identity (his dick)

by the end, he's let justin in and once more is accepting justin's help, and also by the end, he's able to be hard and has come out of it

justin: the hollywood arc, sort of not really

Justin sort of doesn't have a full arc in act two of season 4... the hollywood stuff is percolating, but it's a narrative plot for Ben and Michael and Ben's jealousy, not Justin

He's mostly supporting Brian

He's also being woo'ed by Hollywood and Brett, when no one else in his life is paying attention

NOTE TO SELF: Give justin this insecurity about his career arc in your fic, here, while Brian is RECOVERING from cancer. Tie it into him going back to school and to Kinnetik?

Arguably Justin is lost in Act 2, not sure of his place (brian lies to him, then brian throws him out, then brett calls, then then then)

michael and ben: the hollywood arc and ben's jealousy over michael's success (and then Anthony) - while Ben doesn't cheat and is honest, he isn't honest about how he's struggling with his own failure as Michael experiences success

debbie: vic's death, as well as everbody dealing with this obvs (her fight with vic is in 4x06 and his death is at the end of it)

ted: his feelings for blake coming to a head, basically? maybe? 4x06, then 07 is where blake says "we can't do this"

lindsay (and Mel): sam and that betrayal

Emmett: mostly a supporting character. until 4x09 when he meets Drew.

as Lindsay and Mel are falling apart, Ted and Emmett are reconciling

act three: 4x11 to 4x14 (maybe 5x01) - the liberty ride

Brian's arc: accepting what you can't change

Brian is once again struggling to accept he won't be able to "get better" or "go back", which culminates with him doing the liberty ride, lost, physically broken (literally) and feeling very much alone because Michael just got MARRIED and justin is in LA.

BUT. Brian, with the determination to do it FOR HIMSELF and also to GET BACK TO JUSTIN keeps going and is happy about it. michael supports him on that ride but his GOAL is to get back to justin, FOR HIS OWN SAKE

He also throws Pendergrast out (figuratively) and then fixes the ride himself, because he knows who he is in his career? and he can't go back to being who he was pre-3x14

the thing he has trouble accepting is that people move on -- michael did, does, and Brian by 4x13 has realized that he's lost him. by the end of 4x14 he's realized he's lost Justin, too.

justin's arc: hollywood. sort of

Justin is finding his feet and being excited about new career opportunities in LA and genuinely wanting to "spread his wings" so to speak, building a new self

after having a full act feeling "lost", arguably, he's onto "change the things you can" instead of "accept the things you can't".

he's pulling away from Brian as Brian's fighting to stand and survive (alone, because he has to do it alone)

emmett: has the drew thing, and deciding not to lie even if he loves drew, thing

ted: reconciles his friendship with emmett and realizes he's gotten the pieces of his life back that he wanted

ben and michael: choose to get married, support hunter, and be a family.

lindsay and mel: realise and choose to split up

deb: mostly a supporting character for the others now that she's forgiven herself over the fight with vic. supports brian while brian is depressed. supports michael and ben. has carl. etc.

[ghostbustermelanieking]

tma finale predictions/wishlist

this is probably a horrible idea, but oh well -- i want to be hyped for this finale. so i'm gonna type up some things i genuinely hope/think might happen in the next two episodes. (this is meant to be mostly realistic, and based on what happened in the last few episodes... like there's a lot of stuff i want to see but i don't realistically think we have time.) anyways!! call this my new finale bingo i guess

1. i'd love for 199 and/or 200 to be a little longer than usual, like closer to 35-40 minutes or even longer. (this isn't entirely unprecedented... according to spotify mag 111 is 37 minutes, and i think that's minus ads)

2. a final jm solo interaction that is satisfying, somewhat ties up any loose ends, and adds to whatever tragedy we've got waiting. (i won't specify like exactly what i want from this because it could go a number of ways... like i actually would've been ok (circa 194) if jm had died without seeing each other again after 194, to give you a look into my head space. i'd love a resolution to everything of this last arc but in case we don't get it... i'll take knowing that they're in a good place with each other before the end)

3. some kind of interaction with the whole gang (more individual ones would be great but who knows if we have the time) that leaves them all in relative peace with each other. i think we've already relatively gotten to this place, but i'd still love one final scene before everything goes down tying it all together

4. jonah magnus dies. i'm fairly sure this one will happen, and i would be fine with whoever does it, even. (my top contenders would be jon, martin, or melanie... i'd say georgie is probably my least favorite candidate but she isn't really even that. i could see being into her killing jonah, especially if it harkens back to her end mark)

5. the jon and martin kill bill arc gets resolved. (however this comes about... i really would want their individual roles in this arc discussed but who knows how it'd play out? i just hope it ends satisfyingly)

6. jon and martin both die. (please????)

7. something cool with the tapes (please!!)

8. there is some kind of twist in these next couple episodes. i don't necessarily mean on par with 160 (altho i'd be more than down for that) -- i more mean like, i hope it isn't as straightforward as "they do exactly as annabelle told them and it happens exactly like she said it would." theres a whole mountain of possibilities there. that's probably my most wish fulfilly point on here... i don't know how likely it is, especially considering how little time we've got left. but i'd love one last unexpected thing to tie it all together

this is a genuine attempt to personally build hype for the finale -- like i said, there's a lot more i'd love to see but i don't think it's all that realistic (and thats what fic is for). i really hope some or all of these things do happen!! i really love this show, i'm sad to see it end, and despite my sour feelings towards 197, i still have some hope it'll end satisfyingly. the next week and a half should be pretty interesting imo -- bring on the pain

[hashtagartistlife]

Do you have a license for all these hot takes? ▲ Unleash the other meta conversation. Please give use Ichigo.

Or not, apparently I don't know how to read and missed that you already did one for him. Oh well.

Even though I’ve already given my Hot Take about Ichigo (see here), I figured I can take this chance to write that meta I promised re: ichiruki’s double protag status, the meaning of ichigo’s name, and what it means to be a shounen hero. This will also sort of addresses the debacle a few months ago in regard to the Only well-worded, moderately coherent and somewhat valid IH meta I have read, which is also primarily about the meaning of ichigo’s name and how that ties in with the overall theme of protection throughout the manga. (I think the basis for the IH meta – that Ichigo only ever uses the serious form of the word ‘to protect’ for ORIHIME as an individual, and that the other times he uses them are for broader swathes of things—has been debunked in the comments, but since I don’t speak Japanese I really can’t figure out the validity of either side of the argument so I’ll take it as it is. Also, when I say ‘somewhat valid meta’, what I mean is in the context of the narrative I don’t think it’s valid at all, but at least there aren’t major glaring logical fallacies in the meta itself. The bar is so, so low for IH meta. I’m not even sure we can call most of their…. text-vomit… meta at all. 

Anyway. Petty and off-topic.) 

So, here goes: the meta about ichigo’s name and how it correlates to the theme of protection throughout the manga, what it means to be a shounen hero, and why and how those two things tie in with ichiruki’s double protag status! 

Ichigo’s name is comprised of two kanji – one obviously the kanji for the number one, the other a kanji that means ‘to protect’. We all know this. This leads to Ichigo’s name potentially having two interpretations: ‘one protector’ (or as the official eng translation put it, the one who protects), or ‘to protect one thing’ (the translation used in the scanlator’s versions + official kr translation). Both would make sense given the context of the entire story, but I tend to think the latter version is slightly more relevant (not necessarily more accurate— just more relevant), mostly because in chapter 19, straight after hearing the meaning of his name, Ichigo goes on to single out one thing (one person) that he wants to protect—his mom. 

(And why does he single out his mom for this honour? Because his mom always protected him. This is relevant a little later.)

He then does go on to say that as his sisters were born and he went to the dojo and got stronger, the list of things he wanted to protect grew, so it’s absolutely valid to read his name as just meaning ‘protector’. But, despite that, it’s very clear in the text that Ichigo always has one thing (person) that he wants to protect above all no matter what. This is the ‘one’ thing that he associates his identity of ‘protector’ to. Initially, it’s his mom—because when she dies, despite the ‘growing list of people he wants to protect’ still existing, Ichigo loses his sense of identity as ‘the protector’. Sure, he still protects his sisters, but it’s duty driving him— he no longer thinks of himself as a protector. How can he, when, in his view, he’s the one who practically killed his mother? His ‘growing list of people to protect’ halts to a stop, and years later, we see him telling Rukia that he’s ‘not a good enough guy to stick his neck out for other people’. This is a lie, as we all know, but it’s important that Ichigo is espousing this rhetoric. He has stopped actively wanting to protect. 

So, despite Ichigo having an innate desire to protect, I would argue it’s conditional – 1) dependent on the one person he wants to protect the most (e.g. his mom, and, as I will argue in a moment, Rukia) being alive and well, because otherwise he just falls into despair and rejects his identity as protector, and 2) initially dependent on the subject of protection being someone close to him. Ichigo, despite having progressed to ‘I will definitely protect everybody’ by the tybw arc, did not start there—it was a progression! He starts off very small and quite selfish – first, the person most important to him, his mom. Then his family. Then his friends. Then friends of friends, then acquaintances, then—and so on. This is why I said Ichigo is self-centred: everything he does is dependent first and foremost on the things and people that are most important to him. (Which is fine for a normal person! Maybe not so fine as a shounen protagonist, though that part comes later.) Ichigo doesn’t start off with some lofty ideal to protect the whole world – compare that to Rukia, who lands in the story and immediately demands him to protect everybody, regardless of distance or convenience. As dux put it in his excellent meta, this is an instinct towards protection versus a philosophy of protection. Ichigo has an instinct to protect, like most people do! But Rukia has a philosophy of protection, which most people can’t even begin to fathom or try to emulate. (This will, again, be important for a later point in this post, but for now, back to ichigo’s name.) 

So basically, we have established so far that: Ichigo’s name means one who protects or protector of one thing. But whichever interpretation we go by, it’s evident in the text that Ichigo has a… tether person, of sorts, that he ties the meaning of his name and his identity of ‘protector’ to—a person he wants to protect above all. Initially it’s his mom. But after his mom dies? 

It’s Rukia. 

It’s blatant. Ichigo being unable to save Rukia in ch56 broken coda is DIRECTLY paralleled with him being unable to save Masaki. At the end of the arc, in having saved Rukia, Ichigo regains his identity as protector finally gets some closure re: the Masaki era of his life: ‘the rain’s finally stopped’. It’s very clear that Rukia’s importance to his identity as protector is equivalent to the importance that Masaki had on it. Rukia has now become his ‘tether’; Rukia is now the person he wants to protect above all; Rukia is the one, who, should he fail to protect her, he would fall into despair and reject his protector identity again. He WAS a little down about being unable to protect Tatsuki, Chad, and Orihime in the HM arc, but it was nothing like the abject despair he experienced at Masaki’s death + Rukia being taken away for execution, and as soon as RUKIA comes back and affirms his identity, despite the fact of his failure still existing, Ichigo perks straight back up. Basically, failures to protect people other than Rukia get Ichigo down, but it’s not enough to keep him down as long as Rukia’s still standing. 

Ichigo also consistently goes apeshit over Rukia’s safety in particular. He’s not spurred into action re: going to find the Vaizards until Rukia becomes hurt. He thinks of Yammy and Ulquiorra, but his eyes don’t glaze over black until he thinks of Grimmjow, who has hurt Rukia. He refuses to split up and Rukia specifically calls him out  that it’s out of concern for HER safety. As soon as he feels Rukia being cut down, he immediately throws away the mission to go save her instead. And most importantly – what’s the main criteria for Ichigo deciding on the one he wants to protect the most? It’s the person who protects HIM. Rukia is one of the only people in the text who consistently protects Ichigo, physically, mentally, and emotionally. (She is also the only person that the text refers to as having ‘saved’ Ichigo. Nobody else gets this distinction.) 

Alright! So Ichigo’s instinct towards protection has a self-centred bent to it, and the person at the centre of this instinct has gone from being Masaki to Rukia. So what now from here? 

A little bit of a tangent: when I first read the chapter regarding the meaning of Ichigo’s name, I was a little taken aback, because – what a selfish name for a shounen protag, for someone who’s supposed to go on to become a hero of the world. Heroes don’t get to protect just one thing, they have to protect everybody! How is Ichigo going to be a shounen protag saving the whole world, if he’s only going to protect one thing? 

To answer this question, we need to have a look at what makes a typical shounen protag. Look at Naruto, whose ‘ninja way’ has rehabilitated countless people, who eventually became Hokage, so that ‘his ninja way’ officially became adopted as the whole Leaf Village’s ‘ninja way’. Look at Luffy and his crew, whose carefree attitudes and ride-or-die comradeship between their crew members is widely admired and emulated. Look at Fairy Tail, where Natsu’s guild is the ideal for what a guild should be, and many guilds have reformed in their image with their values. What makes a typical shounen protagonist, I would argue, are two main things: an indisputable, unshakeable, almost inhumanly good ideal widely recognized within the canon as the way that things should be, and the faith, power, and drive necessary to rehabilitate people to this ideal and change the world so that it becomes closer to this ideal. 

Naruto is the ideal of a ninja. Luffy and his crew are the ideal of a pirate crew. Natsu’s Fairy Tail guild is the ideal of a mage guild. 

Is Ichigo the ideal of what a Shinigami should be? 

Not initially! Initially, he’s just a prickly little kid with a shitload of trauma and depression to boot! Initially, his instinct to protect has a self-centred bent to it! Initially, he’s not even a Shinigami at all! 

This is where Rukia comes in. Rukia and her philosophy of protection is the ideal of this series – she is what all Shinigami should be. The text isn’t even subtle about this—Rukia canonically has the most beautiful sword (soul) in all of Soul Society. Realistic or not, Rukia is the ‘absolute good’ of this universe—her ideal is, theoretically, the universal ideal. 

But idealism alone doesn’t make Rukia the protagonist-- Rukia lacks the faith, power and drive necessary to turn people to her way of thinking and enact change, which is the other key component of a shounen protag. This is the part that Ichigo supplies—his complete and utterly unshakeable faith in Rukia and her values, the power necessary to back those values, and the ability to spread these values far and wide so that other people start to take up these values as well. I said above that Rukia’s philosophy of protection is so far-fetched that most people can’t even begin to fathom or emulate it—but Ichigo is not ‘most people’. He’s a shounen protag, goddammit! He has the ability to take up an ‘ideal’ that for most people would be impossible, and actually enact change towards that ideal. 

This is why Ichigo and Rukia are double protagonists. Not because they were designed to be matchy-matchy or because of their avalanche of matching titles or whatever else. This is why. They are literally two halves of one shounen protagonist. Kubo called them sand and rotator in the side A and B poems, and he could NOT have picked a better analogy for them. Think of a watermill (or a sand mill, as the analogy is given), which is used to grind grain. The mill by itself cannot perform its purpose any more than the water by itself can magically grind the grain. The water needs to be driven by the wheel through the right mechanisms, and the wheel needs the water to actually function. Rukia drives Ichigo, points him in the right direction with her values, and Ichigo supplies the force necessary to enact change. Rotator, and sand. One protagonist, split into two. 

(As a completely unrelated aside, I don’t know what it’s like in Japan, but in Korea ‘grinding the grain’ is a euphemism for sex, and watermills are inextricably associated with illicit liaisons. They’re the eastern world’s equivalent to the western world’s stables- any raunchy business conducted outside is usually conducted in a watermill.) 

This is also why Ichigo’s name wasn’t something more all-encompassing. He can ‘protect one thing’ and still be a hero – as long as the ‘one thing’ he protects is Rukia. He wants to protect Rukia above all else, to the detriment of others, even (as evidenced by him turning away from rescuing Orihime to rescue Rukia)—but Rukia tells him no, no, I refuse to be protected by you, you have to protect the whole world. This is why it HAS to be Rukia for Ichigo – anyone with less than the absolute selfless ideal that Rukia has could never make Ichigo into the hero. Rukia turns Ichigo’s head to the whole world, opens his eyes to the possibility of protecting more than those in his immediate circle, makes him selfless enough to go through with it. Rukia makes Ichigo the hero. (Big aside: I’m not using ‘hero’ and ‘protag’ interchangeably here. Ichigo is the ‘hero’ of the narrative, but BOTH ichigo and rukia are the ‘protagonists’ of the story.) 

But that isn’t the end of it. I have mentioned, in the past, that Bleach is not typical shounen, that it is structured more like YA lit and should be analysed as such. ‘But Sera! You just spent like 2 A4 pages talking about why Ichigo and Rukia are Standard Shounen Protags together!’ Ah but you see, that’s only initially. INITIALLY, Ichigo and Rukia need each other to become One Whole Stock Standard Shounen Protag. Rukia lacks faith and drive, Ichigo lacks ideal. They need the other to support their flaws, initially. To be completely honest, this is an excellent way to start an unhealthy codependent relationship. The most beautiful part about Ichiruki is that they don’t go down this path at all. They start becoming a whole shounen protag individually, by adopting the other person’s strength as their own. Rukia’s ideals inspire Ichigo, and by tybw, he is as avid about protecting everybody as Rukia is. Rukia sees Ichigo’s unrelenting faith in the fact that she is a good person worth saving, and starts believing in it herself and reciprocates in kind in HM and FB arcs. This is where the YA component comes in—YA protags, unlike typical Shounen Protags, don’t start off with an unapproachable ideal and the power+faith+drive necessary to change the world with it. They GROW into it. That is what Ichigo and Rukia are doing—they are both growing throughout the whole story to fit their protagonist roles, so that eventually, they can become One Whole Independent protagonist on their own. 

It’s a beautiful, perfectly balanced, ironic jigsaw puzzle: Rukia had the ideal, but didn’t have the ability to turn others to this ideal. The only person she turned to it was Ichigo, but that was enough—Ichigo turns everyone else to it as well, overcoming centuries of tradition. Ichigo had the faith and drive, but no-one to put it behind. The only person he put it behind was Rukia, and that was enough—she and her values guide his choices and actions, and he becomes heroic. Ichigo and Rukia each failed one criteria for being a shounen protag, except with each other, BUT THAT WAS ENOUGH. Affecting and changing just one person—each other—was enough to set everything in motion.

A couple other points that I couldn’t find a place to fit into the essay cohesively, but think they’re still worth a mention:

Rukia says ‘all souls should be protected’, and she enacts this by protecting Ichigo, who is a hybrid of all the different soul types present in the narrative: human, quincy, hollow, reaper. Ichigo, despite being such a mixed entity, identifies firmly as shinigami, not because the shinigami convinced him with their ironclad, lofty morals but because Rukia did. 

If Ichigo’s main flaw is being self-centred and tunnel visioned + a weird sort of superiority/hero complex, then Rukia’s main flaw is probably the exact opposite - despite having this incredible ideal, her lack of faith in herself + her tendency to obey the system in all but the most dire, life-threatening situations. Even their flaws are a perfect balancing act, mitigating each other out. (Rukia’s main flaws I probably want to go into in a bit more detail some other time, since it’s not something the fandom in general has much discussion on.)

So! In summary, the tl,dr version: 

Ichigo’s name means ‘protector’ or ‘to protect one thing’ (both versions have been used in official translations). The latter is more relevant, as I have explained above. This ‘one thing’ initially is his mom, but by the end of the SS arc, it has very firmly become Rukia, again evidence listed above. 

This had the potential to be problematic, as it’s not very heroic of someone to want to protect just one person, to hell with everyone else. BUT the narrative sidesteps that by making Ichigo and Rukia two halves of one shounen protagonist, and making them work best when they are together.

Shounen protags require two components: an ideal, and the ability+desire to enact that ideal. Rukia had the former, Ichigo had the latter. That’s why it’s not problematic for Ichigo to want to protect just one person most— because that one person is actually the ‘ideal moral standard’ of their entire universe, and she keeps telling him to use his powers for good and not just her. 

But that’s not even all. Initially, they need the other to become ‘whole’, so to speak— but they don’t stay that way. Ichigo and Rukia have an immensely positive impact on each other, and help each other grow to adopt the best traits of the other and become a hero in their own right. Again, this is why they are both protagonists— because both of them kept growing and changing, right up to the final arc. 

So, even though it’s been said a million times before, it bears repeating: Bleach genuinely is a story about Ichigo and Rukia, both of whom felt a little displaced in their own worlds and had trouble making connections. They connected with each other, and only then could their immense capacity for good could start changing the world. That’s really the crux of it— that it had to be each other for these two, not anybody else. Nobody else could bring out the best in them except for the other. They would never have become this extraordinary had it not been for the other person recognising their inherent value. It absolutely had to be Rukia for Ichigo, and vice versa. It’s always going to be the Ichigo and Rukia show.

[thornfield13713]

75 94 Widomauk

...okay, I am very pleased that people share my enthusiasm for my newest OTP, but guys, you do realise I am doing these for other ships/fandoms too, right?

So, I’m going to be setting this one during that pirate arc, which I have not yet reached due to being home for a visit, which has disrupted my usual viewing habits. So, presume this is during that arc, but Molly is alive and Caduceus is still there for some reason.

The reason for this is simple - sailors are traditionally long-haired, for very practical reasons. Namely, aboard ship regular haircuts weren’t an option, and as anyone who has had short hair grow out shaggy over lockdown can tell you, having hair long enough to get in the way but not long enough to tie back is a real pain in the neck. Thus, both Caleb and Molly end up growing their hair out a fair bit during this period, just for convenience’s sake.

Added to which, conditions aboard ship aren’t exactly roomy. Like- I do not know what the exact dimensions of the crew’s ship are, but I have read and watched a lot of age-of-sail stuff. And unless you’re the captain, an individual cabin is out of the question. Generally speaking, it’s just long rows of hammocks. And, unfortunately, there aren’t quite enough of them for everyone, once someone has got around to making a large enough hammock for Caduceus to be able to sleep semi-comfortably. Nott is up for sharing with Caleb, broadly, but they soon find that Caleb’s nightmares make sharing a hammock impractical, for reasons of...he thrashes around in his sleep and without a counterweight usually ends up dumping them both out on the floor. Thus, Caleb and Molly end up in the same hammock.

Now, if the bedsharing trope lends itself to accidental sleep-cuddling naturally, that is nothing to bedsharing in a hammock, where there is basically no excess space and the very structure of the thing sort of forces you to cuddle up together. Added to which, they both have nightmares. Caleb’s are more obvious, involving thashing and screaming and muttering in his sleep, but Molly’s are there too, leaving him a light sleeper and prone to sleep paralysis on particularly bad nights. They find this out about each other early on - it’s why they swapped to share a bed - but while Molly was up for giving Caleb a hand with his nightmares, he wasn’t expecting Caleb to try and do the same when Molly wakes up unable to move and still half-thinking he’s there, under the earth and unable to breathe, with the weight of so much soil above him, clawing his way out on instinct and feeling so damned empty.

It’s a comfort, to have someone there, is all. And if it doesn’t make the nightmares go away, at least it makes them easier to handle.

And, okay, they end up getting a lot more comfortable with one another physically, because when you are obliged to engage in proximity-cuddling every night and have held each other through the aftermath of nightmares and horrors you cannot picture, boundaries...have a way of slipping. So when both of them find that their hair is getting long enough that they can tie it back to get it out of the way, they sort of fall into helping each other. It’s not uncommon - Molly has helped Yasha with her hair since they were both in the circus, and got good at it, and Caleb would sometimes play with Astrid’s, back in their schooldays, and can put in a fairly basic plait. And their hair is still short enough that doing it themselves is a bit of a faff, at least in the beginning, so...hair-braiding it is.

Things sort of balloon from there - an easy confidence in touching one another, or knowing how/when not to touch. A quiet admission about just what they’re having nightmares about in the dark, not meant for any other ears. They sort of slowly slip and fall into intimacy, long before either of them admits that’s what they’re doing.

[bleached-d-soul]

Bitter Chocolate: Thief of Heart

Commission for my good friend @the-wayward-arc

Emerald entered the room, her world still a blur. As she flopped on her bed, the former thief quickly exchanged a couple of messages with her teammates. Cinder was out restocking their supplies. Mercury was off doing some dumb shit as always. And Neo was busy doing whatever she always did.

Which left her alone for the rest of the day here.

She took an opportunity to get as much out of this as possible.

"Aaah!"

Emerald cried into her pillow, as the sensation of orgasm washed over her and her juices squirted all over her sheets. How many times has she brought herself to climax by now? Five? Seven? Whatever the number, it was not nearly enough.

The momentary absence of thought brought by orgasm was gone and now her head was again filled with the visions of him.

When Cinder told her to spy on their future rivals, Emerald didn't think much of that. Like any other team, they came here to win and earn some prestige for their academy. The cash prize also was great. And it's not like anyone would give them much grief over it. Studying your competition was a given when the whole Remnant would be watching.

And just like any job, Emerald did hers with the best of her ability. Mercury was studying the fighting styles of various individuals. Rough data, as was fit for his mindset. He would point out strengths, weaknesses and the way their rivals telegraphed thier movements. But Emerald? She studied something far more crucial. The minds and hearts of their competition.

From Beacon, their biggest challenge would come from teams RWBY and JNPR. The former had a solid lineup. Ruby Rose who specialized in long-range attacks and could get a decent distance with his Semblance. Her sister, a straight-up brawler, with the power to turn damage into even more brute force and fire. The Schnee heiress whose Semblance allowed her to manipulate the fighting circumstances just as effectively. And, of course, the sneaky Belladonna who was fast and slippery enough to give them some trouble.

It would take some effort and extra preparation, but they could be hanlded provided Cinder adjusted their plans according to the matches.

The other team - JNPR - would be less of a problem if taken out early. Many of students from Haven were looking out for the team. Not because of any accomplishments or rumors. But rather, simply because it was the team the Invincible Girl of Mistral was on. Half of the students were looking to make the team pay for stealing their Champion. Emerald and her team were in the other half.

The ones wanting to crush the Invincible Girl and her precious Beacon brats.

And how easy the redhead made it for Emerald.

Seriously, she might as well have worn a shirt that said, "I am crushing hard on my leader". Honestly, it was kind of pathetic. Unlike Cinder, who knew how embraced power and prestige, Nikos hid away from it. And unlike her leader, Emerald noted, Nikos had absolutely zero idea on how to get what she desired in something besides the brutal fighting tournaments.

Jaune Arc, the oblivious blonde that stole the redhead's heart, was the chink in the Invincible Girl's armor. A dumb, awkward and honestly naive chink that Emerald was not above exploiting. She needed some dirt on him and then, boom, the whole team would go down like a house of cards. But what kind of dirt could she dig up on him? It had to be something serious enough to keep him scared. But small enough to avoid any trouble with the authorities.

In the end, it all came down to the same thing that caused the downfall of any man she ever knew,

Their pride.

The boy had no reputation as a fighter or a student. So that left her with the bright idea of sneaking into the showers. Getting pics of his tiny little wiener and dangling it in front of him until he agreed to stomp all over the Nikos heart. Easy, peasy, lemon sq- Shit.

And shit it was, Emerald thought, as she stared. And stared and kept staring as both her lower and upper mouths drooled over the sight of the boy in the shower. The long and thick rod of white meat almost reaching the boy's - the man's - knees was too big to be called anything less than a fucking bitchbreaker. Her plan went poof and Emerald rushed to her room. Before she even knew, she was fingering herself to the pictures she took.

They were no good as blackmail material. Oh Gods, if Cinder found out about her failure-

Forget about Cinder, the voice of her libido hissed. How do we get ourselves a piece of that fuckmeat?

Now was not the time. She wouldn't abandon all her plans to chase after a piece of that cock.

How about a whole thing then? her lust bargained. With a soft and hungry chuckle, it added, We could easily make Cinder come around too. Just tie her up and withhold that bitchbreaker until the bitch breaks.

That was actually a good idea. Not taunting her leader but the idea of stealing Jaune away from the girl. Nikos was strong as a fighter. But as a girl? She was nothing. Yes, she was shy and quiet. Always bottling it all up and keeping it in. She would have to watch her beloved blonde get taken away and slip up. And thus the Invincible Girl would fall. And Emerald would secure herself a nice and hung boytoy for the rest of the festival.

She licked her lips and then pushed a finger inside her mouth. As she closed her eyes, Emerald allowed herself to dream. Of a wild and rough fucking. Of sucking and choking on something much thicker and harder than her finger. Of the poor little Nikos sitting by and crying as she watched the love of her life give all the passion and attention to someone like Emerald.

And with that thought, Emerald drifted away into the sweet lustful night.

BC

When Jaune came to Beacon, he had clear plans on what he wanted to do. He wanted to learn how to fight. How to become a real hero like his ancestors. Maybe get a girlfriend while he was at it, too. The first part of his dream was coming along smoothly. He was getting better at handling his weapon, at least. And, for just a brief moment, he dared hope the part of finding a girlfriend would also be a success.

"Nghh, w-wait! Pull out, please pull out, Jaune!"

Only to run into a wall on that one.

Jaune swallowed a groan and proceeded to do just that. He knew a whole army of guys who would willingly give up their arms, legs and left testicle to be in his position. One on one with someone as hot and cool as Pyrrha, her legs spread wide and open for him. And like a boy in a candy shop, he went in to dig in and indulge in his gluttonous lust.

And just like that night, three weeks ago, they didn't go further than a tip.

Seriously, he saw Pyrrha tank Nora's bombshots. How was the Invincible Girl unable to handle some softcore sex? Jaune shook his head, refusing to let his sexual frustration get better of him. Even if they kept it secret for now, Pyrrha was a wonderful girlfriend. Kind and loving. What kind of jackass would give it up just because they couldn't have sex right now?

"Sorry, Jaune," she rested her head on his shoulder. "I thought I had it this time."

"No problem , Pyr," he smiled gently and gave her a kiss on the lips. Chaste, as everything with them for now. "Just like fighting, it is just a matter of time and effort. We'll get there soon."

Pyrrha snorted, a small cute quirk of hers that she showed only to him.

"You are right. Before we know, we will make each other stronger. I will make you into a big strong huntsman," she traced her hands against his erect shaft. "And you will make me into an insatiable size queen."

Jaune blushed slightly. Even when she tried talking dirty, Pyrrha was too adorable. A small - ugly and venomous part of him - rolled its eyes at that. Cute and adorable was good for her Mistralian fanbase but it wanted more. It wanted dirty and rough fucking. No handholding bullshit or whispering diabetes-inducing nothings. That lustful and angry part of him hungered for the pussy that he could reshape after his cock. The ass that would take it all and cry for more. The mouth that could gobble his cock up and drown in his semen. He wanted-

"Sorry, Pyrrha," he said, brushing her hand away and speaking just a tiny bit colder than he intended. "I think I need to take a quick shower."

The girl blushed, fully aware what he meant. Yes, she was a good girlfriend. And she knew how much discomfort she caused her lover with her... insufficiency for now. She smiled and told him to come back soon. She might not have been able to pleasure him properly but she took small comfort in keeping the bed warm for him and cuddling with his progressively stronger body.

As the door closer behind, Pyrrha laid down and rubbed her sore pussy gently. She would get it all soon. She was sure of it.

Jaune entered the showers, barely able to restrain himself. He was lucky enough to have found this place when hiding from Cardin. A small abandoned part of Beacon that used to function as showering rooms in its earlier days. Luckily enough, still operational. And lonely enough for him to rub it all out. If you thought attending the school with hot girls in tight clothes was a godsend, you clearly were not Jaune Arc.

The water cascading down his flesh washed away the unrest and frustration. As he closed his eyes, he let his mind drift off. The weeks of having the hottest girlfriend yet being unable to be intimate with her drove Jaune back to the pornsites that he had thought he would no longer need. In the worlds of digital porn, he found the way to relieve his pent-up lust.

In, particular, he hungered for the girls with thick thighs, wide hips and bubble butts. Did he sound like a complete pervert? Yes, so what? In all those videos, watching the girls just take foot-long cocks down their wanting tight asses drove him over the edge. Alas, Pyrrha was slow to take to the traditional missionary three weeks into their relationship. How was she ever going to agree to or endure anal?

With a guttural grunt, he released his load, the thick white cream hitting the cold wall. This was good. Better, at least. He was content to stand under the shower for just a while longer though. Just enough to relax enough so that when he came back to their room, he could fall alseep as soon as possible.

"Oh."

The single sound sent shivers down his spine.

"Sorry, I didn't know someone else was here."

Jaune looked at the girl and instinctively turned away. She was not hideous or unpleasant to look at. The opposite, in fact. The exotic dark skin. The delicious white hips. And the thick thighs that begged to be worshipped. Fuck, why did someone like her have to come here?

"Hey, don't be shy," the girl chuckled and brushed her light green hair. "Nothing that I have never seen before."

She gave him an appreciative look.

"Although, yours is much bigger than the ones I saw."

He refused to speak. As the mystery girl began showering herself, Jaune went through the steps of his quick escape plan. Stream away the soaps. Run out. Never look back. Sounded easy. In fact, it was easy. But sometimes, some things that were easy and good for you were not what you wanted. Apples and other fruits were sweet and good for you.

And yet, sometimes you just wanted the chocolate. Sweet and dark, melting in your mouth. And it seemed, as his eyes refused to leave the girl's juicy glistening ass, the girl had enough chocolate for him to last a lifetime.

"Hey, blondie, can you help me wash my back, please? It's kind of hard to reach by myself."

Jaune knew what was the right thing to do. Say he was in a hurry and leave. Go back to Pyrrha and cuddle with her. But what was right and what one wanted, sadly, rarely if ever were one and the same. And Jaune, who had spent the last few weeks on edge had chpsen to do what he wanted. Plus, it was just some quick back-washing. It's not like he was cheating on Pyrrha.

"Thanks, I knew you'd help me out, Jaune."

Maybe some other day, Jaune would notice that he never gave his name to the girl. Some other day, some other scenario, he would notice that the girl's back, much like the rest of her was perfectly clean. He would notice many things were it some other day. The way her voice melted against his ears like sweet poison. The way her hand was clearly rubbing her pussy. The way she pressed herself against him. Hard.

But today, this very day, Jaune was far too busy as his hands slowly went from her back to her ass. As if he was lost in some trance, he never thought twice on that. As his hands squeezed the soft and gentle dark meat, he felt his mind going blank. Being lost to something dormant and ancient inside. The pure unadultered instinct. And Jaune, far from being the strong and commanding man he would be one day, gave in.

Turning the girl around, he paid no mind to her yelp of surprise. Or the way she smirked and her eyes burned. All he cared about was having her close and his. His fingers dug into her soft welcoming flesh. His lips crashed against hers, burning hot and wanting. Right now, Jaune was not an awkward teen who wanted to be a hero. He was a man, driven by the oldest of drives of the mankind.

Lust.

As their tongue battled for dominance, their hands wandered and explored the bodies of each other. And as Jaune was soon lost in pure lust, Emerald smirked. It was easier than she thought. She would enjoy the pride of luring the boy into her soft and beaitful trap for as long as she remained conscious enough to do so. Which was getting harder and harder as the boy quickly proved himself skilled at fanning the flames of her lust.

His strong arms showed no mercy to her ass or breasts as the blonde practically mauled them. He was lucky she was into rough play. She hated vanilla sex. Too soft. Too restrained. The real sex was the kind where you lost yourself to the animal inside you. Where such things as manners and thought were not welcome and everyone involved obeyed only their own instincts.

And Jaune was proving himself a natural at this!

She was just about to get down on her knees and inhale as much as the monster he had between his legs when suddenly he pulled away. The expression on his face was the mixture of emotions. Disbelief. Fear. Shock. Anger at himself. She turned to reach for him, only to be met with a soft apology, "I-I am sorry. This is my fauly... I- We shouldn't be doing this."

And just like that, he left. Emerald, not one to enjoy being in the dark, used her Semblance and followed him. Concealing herself from him, she eavesdropped on him calling Nikos and talking to her. From the way the two spoke, it was clear their relationship was more than a crushing girl and an oblivious boy. And it seemed the blonde wanted to make it official.

Making up for his action with me, huh? How cute.

Perhaps he thought if he made it official, she would back off. Disappear and let him and his girlfriend have a happy sweet vanilla love. And perhaps, it would work. Not because she was a secret romantic or anything of such nonsense. She simply knew when to take risks and when to fold it. And, normally, she would rather not fight someone like Nikos over a stupid boy.

But Jaune was not some stupid boy. He was a well-hung and obedient boy. And if it meant getting fucked with that monster all night long, the thief of team CRMN was more than eager to take that bet. It would take some time. It would take some effort and some planning. But she was smart. The kind of smarts you earned on the streets and carried with yourself through life.

Jaune didn't look the kind who fooled around with girls for no reason. He was no player. And when she saw him, he was busy jacking himself off to notice her watch him. Which meant that there was some trouble in paradise between the two. Clearly, not because of his size though. As gears kept turning in her head. the picture became cleaner and cleaner until there was simply no other explanation to it all.

Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl of Mistral, was a fucking pillow princess. It was quite funny, Emerald would admit. The greatest Champion of her generation and she couldn't take a dicking. The sick and twisted thought made its way into her mind. Fed by Emerald's hidden frustration and craving for power of her own, the thought grew bigger and stronger until it was a fully-formed plan.

She would not simply use Jaune to get at Pyrrha. She would make sure to break the girl and take her for herself. And obedient little Champion sounded so great. Great enough to sow the seeds of ambition and hunger within the girl's heart. Perhaps, the original plan of making Cinder kneel before her would also come to fruition given time. But for now, she had preparations to make.

And a lot of cuts to make.

BC

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" Nora smiled and sung. "Renny, i kneeeeew it!"

"Yes, Nora," Ren smiled softly. "I think everybody knows it now too."

Pyrrha blushed bright red but refused to hide her face. The smile refused to go away from her lips even if she knew she looked silly with it so wide and bright. But it was real and she refused to stop smiling no matter what. Jaune must have known she was embarrassed about not pleasuring him properly. And to show her that he loved her despite that, he told her he wanted to make things official.

It was so sweet!

"Way to go, Jaune!" Yang whistled. Her smile turned foxy and she whispered dramatically, "So when are you going to get all hot and bothered with each other, hmm? Come on, don't leave me hanging!"

Now, the smile cracked a little. A painful reminder of the reason why she wanted to keep things unofficial until she could take Jaune's cock. Before she could come up with witty and good response, Jaune came to her rescue.

"Actually, we thought about waiting until after graduation," Jaune smiled. "You know, gotta keep focus on studies and training."

"Yeah," Yang grinned. "You definitely need to focus on those, Vomit Boy."

"Hey!"

As their table returned to the kind and casual exchange of words and jokes, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel content. This was everything she wanted in her life. Friends that looked at her like at any other person. A cute boyfriend that always had her back. And, of course, the peaceful and light student life.

"Ugh, talk about having no shame."

"Gotta agree with you on this one, Weiss," Yang whistled. "Even I am not that bold."

As she caught more and more whispers, Pyrrha turned towards the source of all the confusion. Walking down the mess hall, accompanied by the hordes of lewd and hungry eyes and dirty looks, Emerald wore something that must have been a violation of the dress code. It was not the casual clothes or something particularly wild. It was a Haven Academy school uniform. White shirt. Dark jacket and skirt.

The latter two being three or four sizes too small.

Her jacket couldn't even remotely hide the tight shirt the girl choose to wrap mid-way, exposing her flat stomach. Even less could be said about her skirt, since there was so little of it she might have worn nothing at all. Hell, coming in here with just panties on would at least be ridiculous and cause confusion. But wearing the skirt so short it exposed the girl's thick ass and dark lacy panties? She was definitely showing off.

She saw the boys eat her up with their eyes. Only to get smacked or slapped by their girlfriends. Afraid of the same, she looked back up at her partner. And then sighed in relief.

"Wow, Jaune, what a gentleman you are," Yang snorted as her partner refused to look back from his breakfast. "Keep this one away from the stripper over there, Pyr. Or she might eat him up."

Pyrrha felt the anger flare inside of her. Only to instantly calm down, Jaune was not like the other boys. She knew that now. Whereas the other girls had to keep their lovers on a tight leash, Jaune had her full and absolute trust. Without another word, she brought herself clother and kissed him on the cheek. So embarrassing to do this in public. But she would bare with it because she loved Jaune so much.

So much that she missed her partner's erect cock begging to be released.

BC

"Care to tell my why you dressed like a slut?"

Cinder's icy tone bothered Emerald little. Few things bothered her at all these days. Her mind was too busy with keeping to the plan.

"Just following your instructions, Cinder." At the confused stare, the thief proceeded with the well-rehearsed lie. "Some teams are more secretive than others. They have places where they train in secret outside the school hours. Most of them, though, are getting anxious and frustrated. And horny too. I just decided to make myself look easy enough to lure them to my trap."

"Heh," Mercury chuckled and nudged Neo. "She said 'trap'."

Emerald wondered if the asshole's dad removed his brain along with his legs. That would explain a lot.

"Hmm, not a tactic I would use," Cinder thought. Then smiled. "But if that means increasing our chances at victory, then you are free to do as you wish. Though try to seduce those fools outside the school hours. I had to have a very unpleasant talk with Goodwitch on keeping my team in line and upholding the school prestige. I swear to Gods, that woman needs to get properly laid."

As Cinder began to rant on how she would run a school, Emerald couldn't help but grin at the thought of Jaune fucking Goodwitch. The woman was a real hot piece of ass for her age. And the thought of her future boytoy breaking the other girls down for her was just so hot. All those white bitches would be left to drool and fingerfuck themselves while she rode Jaune like there was no tomorrow. Those bitches, of course, included Cinder, the loyalty to which Emerald was quickly losing.

As she was soon left alone, she started her now normal routine of watching the hardcore porn. Particularly, that of white guys like Jaune finding the pleasure fucking thick ebony beauties like her. And damn, did she enjoy staining her sheets with her juices. Once she was done with the videos though, she decided to make one herself. Tha scrolls were no good, because there was always a chance of that video leaking and getting her in some hot water.

The black market burners though? Those were gold.

Positioning herself in front of the camera, Emerald made sure to go extra hard at it. Her fingers were just a start. Then went the toys. The some tasteful lingerie and finally, the costumes. And throughout it all, she imagined all the possible scenarios in which she would be taken and in which she would take. As her body went through the motions of showing off for the video, Emerald's mind drifted away into the daydreaming world.

BC

"Class, pay attention," Goodbitch stood proud and haughty, despite being dressed like a complete and utter whore. Her chastity belt shone as she turned towards the class,"You will be quizzed on today's lesson next week. So you better now slack off."

The students nodded and watched as Jaune and Emerald made out on her desk. Rough and bestial, those were the only words that came to mind as they watched the resident dork and the exchange student. Many men watched in jealousy, fully aware they would never compare to Jaune. The pale pillow princesses like Weiss and Ruby were left biting their lips and fingering themselves, all too painfully aware they would never be able to handle someone like Jaune.

Only the black queens like Emerald were worthy of getting that cock. And her fellow ebony huntresses would all hunt for a piece of that action.

"As you know, women like me don't deserve something as big and thick as Master Arc's cock," Glynda winced at that, feeling the burning hatred of the fellow white bitches at her. "Which is why we must practice the proper conduct as cuckqueans. Slave Nikos, demonstrate!"

Emerald grinned. And so did Jaune as the girl he once loved crawled onto the stage before the class. A collar and a locked belt her sole pieces of clothing, the girl wasted no time or words and got onto her knees. Emerald stepped aside and allowed the girl to show where she and others belonged.

Using her tits to wipe Jaune's precum. Lubing his cock up with her saliva. Never a proper blowjob, just some licking and drooling. And as she got both of them prepared, she received the only payment a cuckquean like her deserved. A harsh slap across her cheek and across her ass by Emerald and Jaune respectively.

"Now, Slave Nikos forgot that she should have thanked them immediately," Goodbitch admonished. And Emerald knew it was all to gain some extra points with her. Whatever, she would allow the older woman humiliate herself further. "Which is why she will now be allowed to try and cum only every five months instead of the two."

Pyrrha didn't protest. Didn't even seem against it. She had long since accepted her fate.

BC

"Faster, Nikos! Faster!" Emerald yelled as she cheered the girl on. "You do wanna cum, right?"

She did. She wanted it so much. She was screaming and begging for more time. Just five more minutes. Just five fucking more minutes and she would cum! She would cum and fry her brain just a little bit more. Get lost in the haze of the lust and idiocy as she allowed her brain go dead on her. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, she failed and the ringing of the alarm spelled her doom.

"Of, you poor little thing," Emerald grinned down at her. Without mercy, she kicked away the dildos and ripped the vibrators off her cunt. "And I even gave you another five minutes to cum. Such a waste."

She didn't. She never did. But Pyrrha knew better than argue with her. The last time she did, Emerald whipped any revolt out of her and then made her sit and watch as she indulged in everything that was once hers.

"Back into the belt, bitch. Unless we are feeling disobedient."

Emerald watched the girl whimper and pull of her belt. A true wonder of sex toy world. Strong enough to withstand huntresses. And equipped with some nice features like vibration and shocker. Not that Emerald ever allowed the girl to enjoy the former to the full. She would occasionally turn it on at the lowest setting and leave the girl like that for a week or longer.

She wouldn't turn it off until Nikos threw herself at her feet, begging to be allowed to cum.

"Jaune and I are going out to meet with Arslan and Ciel," Emerald informed. "Be sure to have our dinner ready."

And as it always went, Pyrrha would do everything perfectly. Even now, as she went from a respected and famed huntress a pathetic house slave who owned nothing to her name, she had her pride. Even as she willingly signed away everything to Jaune and Emerald, effectively becoming their property, Pyrrha did her best to satisfy her masters. Because, she believed, if she worked hard enough, one day...

One day Jaune would fuck her again.

Even as it was the tenth year he refused to give her any pleasure.

BC

"Mistress Emerald, please me! Breed me next, please!"

""No! No, no, no! Me! I am begging you, me next, please!"

"I was the first! I deserve it above you! Mistress, please, you know I have always been loyal!"

Emerald sipped her wine as she passed a row of bound girls. From Ruby to Cinder, all the girls she knew back from Beacon were here. Tied up in the Schnee Mansion, with the official owner whimpering and whining for Jaune not to leave her. One by one, she got them all under her heel. And now here she was, the former street rat in a mansion with the other girls her slaves.

And Jaune as her Husband and Master.

"Well?" Jaune asked as he hugged her from behind. "Which one gets it next, Em?"

She smiled.

"Me."

The girls cried out in despair.

Most beautiful melody to her ears.

BC

So many fantasies flooded her head, Emerald worked through each and one of them. But no matter the scenario, it all ended the same. Her at the very top of the totem pole. With other ebony huntresses sharing a very prestigious position among Jaune's harem. And the white girls doing whatever they could to earn their favor. It was a very pleasant dream. Perhaps, she would put extra effort and make it into a reality.

As she stopped the camera, she decided. She would work hard on reaching that future.

And it all began with this video.

Three hours worth of her home porn. Three hours of Emerald playing with herself. Three hours of describing all the way she would pleasure him.

Without any doubt or regret, she sent the video to the boy.

And then went back to dreaming some more.

BC

"Oh look at you, Jaune," Pyrrha cooed. "You are so hard!"

It has been three hours since Jaune got that video. The video in which the girl he met in the showers was completely naked. In which she fucked herself with dildos as big as his cock without any tears or pain. The video in which she begged to be fucked by him.

"Do you like my tits around your cock, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked softly. "They are just for you to use and fuck as much as you like. Oooh, I bet you are almost close to cumming! Don't hold back! Give it to me!"

And now all he could think of was plowing that cheeky bitch until she was nice and broken. He would fuck her pussy until no other man could ever fill her like he did. He would violate her ass until she cried and begged him to make her his. He would claim each and every one of her holes and-

"Aaaah!"

Pyrrha cried out in surprise as Jaune released his load. The thick strands of heavy white cream hit her face and her chest. But the genius girl didn't despair or even feel angry. She felt happy! So happy she barely contained a squeal. She did it! She made her boyfriend cum. Sure, with her tits only and it took her a good hour to do so but it was the results that mattered!

She was slowly getting better!

Jaune looked down at the girl, too much in love with her to tell her the truth. How he was driven to orgasm not by her lovely dirty talk or expressions. But the thoughts of fucking the ebony Emerald until she was pregnant with his child. He had no heart to tell her that he could cum just the same by jerking himself off with that video the exchange student sent him.

He didn't have the heart to do anything but lie to her.

"That was incredible, Pyrrha," he patted her head. She leaned into it. "I love you."

"Awww, I love you too!"

He watched Pyrrha go to their dorm's showers. He laid down on his bed and wondered where the hell his life was going. He loved Pyrrha. She was a great friend. Amazing girlfriend too. So why did the sex matter that much? He wasn't one of those assholes who got into relationship just to have sex, right? He wasn't. So why couldn't he be happy with what he had?

His scroll screen flared up.

A new message.

Perhaps he was too confused right now. Too busy and anxious to think the situation through. But whatever the circumstances, as soon as he read the message, he put his clothes on and left the room. As if in a haze, he found himself on the rooftop. The same place where Pyrrha trained him. Where he confessed about his admittance here. Where she confessed his love for him.

Where Emerald was sitting and waiting for him to come.

"Wow, you are fast."

"What do you want?"

The girl seemed taken aback by his cold and rude tone. But she quickly brushed it away and smiled.

"I like this angry face of yours," she said gently as she came dangerously close to him. His eyes fell towards her cleavage. She had no bra. "You should wear it more often. Gets me all wet and hot."

He couldn't push her away. No matter how much his common sense and loyalty screamed at him.

"I asked," he cleared his throat. "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want? Jaune, I think you got it wrong here," she pressed her breasts against him. His hands reached for her barely-covered ass. "It is what you want that brought you here."

She smelled of chocolate. Bitter and sweet. She smelled of dirt and sin, the heavy and addictive smell that invaded his every thought. She smelled of the broken promise and betrayal. The venomous yet sweet lie that risked it all.

"I... I don't think we should do this," he said. He was lying. But as long as he stuck to the lie, he would believe it one day too. "I don't love you. Hell, I don't even know who you are-"

"I am Emerald."

"Not my point," she chuckled. He ignored it. "The point is, I love my girlfriend. I love Pyrrha and I am not going to cheat on her, got it?"

She was smiling. Why was she smiling? Scream at him. Laugh at him. Do something so that he could forget about her and focus on his love for Pyrrha. Something that would take away the choice from him and leave him content.

"Is it cheating though?" Emerald smiled as she removed her jacket. He could have stopped her. Should've done exactly that right then. He couldn't. He didn't want to. "Tell me, Jaune, do you want Pyrrha to be happy?"

Like there was any doubt.

"I do."

"Then have sex with me."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Oh, but it does," she took off her shoes and let them drop. Her knee-high socks fit her legs tightly. Showing off the fat of the thights in all the right places. "Do you honestly believe your relationship can last as it is? That you can just keep lying about how good her tits feel when you want to fuck her ass and cunt till she is filled with your cum? Trust me, Jaune, such noble intentions will only lead to your ruin."

She stepped closer. He stepped back.

She started unbuttoning her shirt.

"Just like there are Alphas and Betas among men, there are Alphas and Betas among us girls. Those who rule. Those who are ruled."

Jaune scoffed.

"Pyrrha could kick half the school's ass with her eyes closed."

"True, but it is not the strength that determines an Alpha. Otherwise, guys like Cardin would be running the world," she smirked. "No. What makes an Alpha is the drive. The desire. And your girlfriend, sadly, lacks it. She is too passive. She allowed her fans and agents control her entire life. And the only thing she could think of doing about it was running away. Like a coward."

Jaune glared at the girl. He refused to listen to someone talk like that about Pyrrha.

"Oh, please, don't be mad at me, I am simply trying to help."

"And how me cheating on Pyrrha will help our relationship?"

"You will be free to wait for het to bloom into a perfect woman for you," Emerald reasoned. "You may not admit it now but you are growing impatient. Frustrated with her failure. It won't be long until jerking off in the shower or getting some mediocre titfuck from her will satisfy you. And do you know what happens then, Jaune?"

She was next to him, her exposed breasts pressed against him softly.

"You will cheat on her anyway. Only unlike me, that woman will brag and lord it over her and you. You will break the poor little Pyrrha's heart. And worst of all, you won't even care about it. You will become just a player who fucks girls and leaves them because you feel like it. A complete and utter asshole."

The vision was so clear now. Jaune hated what he saw in the future. A broken promise and bond. Destroyed relationship.

Loss of trust and faith in each other.

"If you agree to my offer, I will do it all for you, Jaune," Emerald smiled as she planted a kiss on his lips. "This sweet chocolate body will be yours to enjoy. Any hole. Any position, Any sexual fantasy of yours, I will give you everything. And neither Pyrrha nor your teammates and friends will ever know."

"... They won't?"

Emerald smiled.

"Not unless you want to."

Jaune frowned.

"Why me?"

Jaune was suspicious.

"Because you have a huge cock and I want to get fucked by it."

Emerald was blunt.

"So what do you say, Jaune? Deal?"

He was quiet. The good kind of quiet. Emerald smiled as she practically heard his resolve breaking apart in the night air. She was good. She learnt it on the streets. Negotiate not from the position of power. But from the position of a friend. Make them believe you are there to help. Show how much they can benefit from following your lead. And once they see things your way, it will be easy to guide them down a darker and dirtier path.

"... Deal," Jaune whispered. "But I will choose when and where it happens."

Cute, Emerald thought, he thought he had control.

"Very well," she gave a dramatic bow. "So? Wanna get a taste right now?"

He wanted to. She could see it.

"I should get back to Pyrrha."

"Go then," she waved a hand. "Be sure to kiss her for me."

As just like that, the next step of her plan was accomplished.

She couldn't wait to go even further.

BC

"Hey, Jaune, Pyrrha here," the soft voice of his partner, recorded in the message, spoke shyly. "A-Anyway, just calling to see where you went. Text me back as soon as you can."

Emerald moaned in his ear as he kept thrusting in and out of the girl. For the first time since he started the relationship with Pyrrha, he had the chance to go all out. No whimpering or crying. No biting lips or begging to stop. He was free. Free to indulge in the lust he held back all this time.

"Keep going, Jaune!" Emerald hissed, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Keep fucking me while your girlfriend is looking for you! Oh yeah, just like that, fuck me up!"

He groaned and grunted. He obeyed and fucked her. Without restraint, enjoying the feeling of her fat ass in his hands. He squeezed her cheeks and spread them further. His fingers dug into her asshole and spread it as well. The girl yelped and Jaune shut her up with a kiss. She fought against it briefly before melting into the hot embrace. No thoughts. No doubts. Just instincts.

He could feel his cock twitch and spasm.

"On your knees."

She hopped off and kneeled. Hands behind her hand, mouth spread wide open, Emerald was the picture of a perfect slut.

He never saw anything as gorgeous.

With a loud grunt, he came. A stream of white semen shot into her mouth. The girl didn't gag or choke. She took it all with a smile. As the last bit of his load splashed against her face, Emerald smiled at him. Opening her mouth, she gave him a show of her tongue sloshing around in the bath of semen. Winking at him, she swallowed it all down in one go.

"Does Pyrrha love your cum?"

"She says she does," Jaune said honestly. "But she never really swallows it properly."

Emerald smiled.

Ths plan was coming along greatly.

BC

"Jaune, look!" Pyrrha smiled at her boyfriend, showing off her new swimsuit. "My mom sent me this adorable little thing! Do you wanna go to the swimming pool this weekend?"

"You dirty fucking slut!"

"Oh yeah... I am a dirty fucking bitch," Emerald smiled as Jaune gave her ass another slap. "You need to punish me or I will never learn better."

He was happy to give her a rough spanking. And wasn't it just unfortunate that Pyrrha fell asleep. Nora and Ren would stay there and make sure nobody took advantage of the sleeping girl. Emerald snorted at the thought. Not that anyone would find the plain white one-piece suit she wore anywhere near sexy enough. Not some random guy. And not Jaune when he saw her.

Emerald was proud of how easily she got him to follow her. With trashy slutty leopard pattern two-piece suit that barely covered her nipples and pussy, she could practically feel Jaune fuck her with his eyes.

"S-Someone might come and find us here," she whispered.

"Do you actually care about being seen?"

She smiled. He knew her so well already.

"You know that I don't."

With her Semblance, even if someone managed to get in this private room, they would never see them. Not that Jaune cared as he plowed her ass. It felt painful. Burning and addictive, the rough assfucking he gave her more than made up for him ignoring her during classes and in the hall. She could Nikos smirk at that slightly. Pfff, the stupid bitch was so confident her boyfriend was above being influenced by her looks.

So much that she missed the way he always smelled like her.

The bitter chocolate and the lie.

As he finished inside her, Emerald swooned. She liked feeling his cum inside her. It only added to the feeling of superiority she was slowly getting addicted to. The feeling she experienced every time she saw Nikos living a happy little vanilla fantasy of hers.

Eventually, Jaune went back to his friends. And Emerald saved another video of her getting fucked by Jaune.

BC

"The Vytal Tournament is starting right after the dance, Emerald. Have you got all the information on our competition?"

"Yup, filed and organized. Just like you like it."

"Excellent. You are not very talkative today, are you?"

Emerald bit back the moan and doubled her focus. Stupid Jaune. Fucking God. She loved him.

As Cinder read through the files, she was completely unaware that she was talking to mere illusion of Emerald. While the real deal was getting fucked atop the girl's bed. As the raven-haired leader went on and on how the other teams would fall and Haven would stand supreme, Jaune chuckled. It was an ugly twisted sound that got Emerald's cunt tighter and hotter.

"This Arc boy doesn't seem like much. Why pay so much attention to him in your files?"

As the fake Emerald gave the well-rehearsed answer, the real one struggled with keeping up her Semblance as Jaune doubled the strength snd the speed with which he was fucking her. Whenever Cinder turned away. her mirage would waver and distort. She opened her mouth, ready to cry out only for Jaune shove his fingers inside.

She tasted her own pussy and ass.

She was getting drunk on the taste.

"Anyway, you should focus on your training," Cinder smiled and left. "Make sure to stay in shape."

The door closed.

Emerald came with a cry.

Jaune didn't stop.

Her plan worked well. Too well, one might say. She knew how conditioning worked. And she was betting on it. With Pyrrha and his friends, Jaune would be a perfect little knight. With her, he could be the beast she knew he was hiding. And damn did it work.

"No time to relax, bitch," Jaune slapped his still erect cock across her face. "Time to continue your training."

If this kept up... It would not be her who stayed in power. As she sucked the boy off, a new thought entered her fragile lustful mind. As he played with her breasts and ass, the thought grew, As he fucked her cunt and ass, the thought grew stronger and more persistent.

As he came inside her, her mind was made up.

BC

"Woooohooooo, let's get drunk, everyone!"

"There is no alcohol! And get down from the table, Yang!"

The Vytal Festival was the tradition to celebrate the unity of four Kingdoms. But for the students here today, it was the perfect opportunity to break away from the routine of their studies and get one last breath of fresh and free air before they would start fighting in one of the most important fights of their lives. The prestige of their schools. Their reputation as future protectors of the humanity. And their personal pride as warriors. It all would rest on the way they performed.

But that was the talk for tomorrow. The worries for the day that had yet to come.

Tonight, they were here to celebrate like the young people they were.

Some drank. Some danced. Some simply had the time of theit life. And one young Champion couldn't be happier with the way her life turned out. A year ago, the tought of being somewhere where she could just be herself seemed like a dream. And now that dream was a reality. Her dream come true. Friends. Boyfriend. And a happy life.

"You were amazing, Jaune."

"Thanks, Pyrrha, you two."

She giggled like a little girl when Jaune gave her a kiss. And to think that she thought their relationship was in trouble. Silly her. Worrying over nothing. She was so lucky to have found Jaune. And tonight, she planned to show him he was right to stay with her. She would make sure he could never forget their night together. Once the dance was over, she would bring him to a special hotel room she found and paid for and then- Oooh, the things that they would do together!

Better move 'cause we've arrived

Lookin' sexy, lookin' fly

The sudden shift from the soft and slow dancing music took the whole room by the surprise, The surprise that was quickly followed up and overwhelmed by the arrival of the the girl Pyrrha has been seeing an awful lot of lately. Dressed in tight white dress that showed off her wide hips and fat ass, the girl walked with the confidence of the lioness. She cared little for whistles or stares. For envious and angry looks thrown her way. All she cared was getting to wherever she heading.

Pyrrha didn't realize until it was too late that she was coming for them.

Jaune stepped forward, his gaze hard.

"Something I may help you with, Emerald?"

He sounded so cool, Pyrrha thought. Oblivious to the way Emerald licked her lips.

"Just stand back and watch the show, stud."

Pyrrha practically frothed at her mouth as the girl kissed her boyfriend on the lips. She wanted to do something. Say something. But instead she found herself held in place by something truly ominous. She didn't dare make a scene. And so she was forced to watch.

The crowd formed around them, the alcohol and hormones running high. The beatiful black girl shaking her hips and ass in the center of it made them cheer and cry in approval. As if they were caught in some trance, the couple of cut her and the rest of the group away and pushed Jaune inside onto the single chair. Emerald looked her in the eyes and smirked.

Shaking her hips, the girl made a show of using the movement to ride her dress up until her juicy black ass was exposed for everyone to see. Ruby and Weiss covered their eyes. Yang ran off to get the teacher. Ren and Nora were comforting her. But those were the only people who appeared to be bothered by it. Instead, all the rest were practically infected with the lust.

As they watched the girl swing her ass round and round before throwing it up and down, the boys and girls around her started making out. Like the patient zero of some mysterious plague, Emerald's shaking ass and swinging hips spread lust and madness through the crowd. From then on, the foreplay was over and the girl began twerking for real.

Emerald didn't waste any time moving slow or making any more show of what she wanted. She wanted to shake her fat black ass, and that was exactly what she was going to do. Her cheeks began to clap against one another in a hypnotic rhythm, as her hips swung from side to side heavily. It was now apparent that she was not wearing any bra since the entire room could see her full tits wobble she leaned down further.

Like a little cum-hungry bimbo, Emerald straightened up suddenly as she ran her hands along the taunting countours of her body. A show for all to see, but only one man to truly enjoy. She was showing off what it would feel like to be so near her. To touch her. to handler her body so intimately.

Her booty conitnued to clap, ass cheeks rippling against each other. Soon, her bright green thong was lost within the mounds of her ass as trhe girl continued gyrating it like it had a life of its own. As the rap music banged on through the entire dance hall, all eyes were glued to the sight of Emerald twerking her fat ass right in front of him, smacking her cheeks from side to side to the rhythm of the music.

Growing cocky, she started grinding her ass on his crotch. The vibrations sent by the two fine pieces of meat smacking against him soon got the desired result. Emerald grinned, enjoying the feeling of a hot hard cock between her cheeks.

Reaching behind, Emerald made sure to give her ass a good smack. The smack that sent ripples visible through her thin dress. The smack loud enough to shake the numb and silent redhead out of stupor. Pyrrha saw red, her very being aflame. She hated this feeling. She hated the pleasant flame in her loins even more.

"GET OFF MY BOYFRIEND, YOU BITCH!"

The crowd fell silent and the music came to an abrupt stop as Pyrrha Nikos - the model student pushed the girl off and away before pulling the blonde out of the chair. She didn't blame Jaune. Her poor boyfriend must have been scared and confused so much he couldn't move. She glared at Emerald, forgetting all about appearances and hissed, "You better hope we don't fight in the matches, Sustrai."

And with that, Pyrrha dragged Jaune away. Away from crowd of horny assholes. Away from a thieving bitch. There was still time. Still enough time to make the evening theirs. Pyrrha smiled as Jaune gave her a kiss. She was looking forward to having him all to herself.

BC

"I can't believe that bitch did all of this."

"There, there, Pyr, it's alright," Jaune said soothingly. His hand brushing her hair, he did his best to make her feel better. "Honestly though, that came out of nowhere. I hope she gets her just punishment. Maybe Goodwitch will make even smack her around with her crop."

Pyrrha giggled, "Knowing the way she is, she might actually enjoy it."

"And then twerk in front of Goodwitch?"

"I would be fine with it."

As long as the girl stayed away from her knight, Pyrrha didn't care if Emerald started a freaking brothel.

"Hey, Jaune?"

"Yes, Pyrrha?"

"I... I, uh... Oh, fuck it," she latched onto his lips. A soft and warm feeling filling her very being. "I want us to go all the way tonight. I want to claim you as mine. And hope you will do the same for me."

He smiled and returned her kiss.

"Let's do this."

Under the moonlight, the two undressed each other. As their hands worked on removing the layers of clothing, their mouths were busy exploring each other. Pyrrha knew she smelled of roses and apples. Jaune's smell surprised her. He always smelled like cotton candy and fresh morning air. But as she bit gently into his neck, she caught the smell of something else entirely.

The smell of dark and bitter chocolate.

"Pyrrha, is everything alright?"

The girl shook her head. What was she thinking about anyway? Of course, he smelled like Emerald. The nasty little whore tainted him with her smell. No problem, she thought. She would simply have sex with him until he smelled of her and only her.

"Everything is perfect, Jaune."

She pushed the boy onto the back and took the position, ready to mount his amazing cock.

"Time for you to have sex with a real woman!"

Jaune grunted underneath her as her trained cunt swallowed him whole. A far cry from the ways things used to be. A hopeful song of their future love. She rode him with all her might, gyrating her ass on the top of him. Feeling every single inch of his cock fill her up. He was so huge and hard but she would bare it all for him. As she felt him thust up and into her pussy, Pyrrha couldn't help but smile all the more.

It was finally perfect.

As the things should have been.

"I bet Emerald would never be able to take your cock, Jaune."

"She could never compare."

"You are mine, Jaune! I am so happy!

The air was filled with love and passion.

With the sounds of grunts and moans.

With the smell of bitter chocolate and sweet little lies.

BC

"Jaune, fuck me from behind!" Pyrrha cried out feverishly. "I want you take me like a filthy little bitch I am!"

Emerald rolled her eyes and stuck the automatic dildo inside the stupid little cunt. The redhead swooned and moaned and panted like a bitch in heat. Though the way she acted, Emerald doubted if it was an insult to the girl or actual mongrels. The dildo the girl lost her virginity to wasn't even half the size of Jaune's cock but Nikos was far too stupid and arrogant to figure that out.

Welp, whatever worked for her.

"You are a real bitch."

"Which is why you love me."

Emerald smirked as there was no protest from Jaune. Out in the public, he would always be the same awkward wide-eyed naive idiot. But here? With her and her alone, he was someone else. A man she molded into the ultimate specimen of her tastes. Cunning enough to follow her plays. Strong enough to handle her and her sex drive. Vicious enough to make her submit to him.

And completely and hopelessly addicted to her dark fuckmeat.

Emerald gave Pyrrha another look. The girl was under heavy illusion this time. A technique of sorts Emerald developed for some deeper hypnosis. And as long as Emerald desired it, Nikos would only see, hear, smell and feel what she wanted. She was lucky Emerald was in a good mood. Like a dumb monkey, the girl was humping a fucking pillow fully confident she was getting a dicking from her beloved blonde. All the while the real deal was playing around with her ass like his favorite toy.

"Heh, okay then. Guess I should pay you back for the shit you pulled at the dance," Jaune said unzipping his pants. His thick foot-long cock fell out of its confines in all its girthy glory. "Don't expect me to go easy on you, Emerald."

Holy shit... He's even bigger than usual...! She thought her heart race a bit. The beating of her heart was nothing compared to the throbbing of her hungry cunt as she stared at the underside of his monster cock. They had fucked so much over the past few weeks but his cock looked as big, as thick and as threatening as if it would after years of neglect. Silently, Emerald promised herself that she would do her best to drain those balls and claim that cock as hers.

"Aaaah!" Nikos cried out, to Emerald's annoyance. "I am cumming, Jaune! I am cumming!"

She watched the champion of Mistral shake her hips as her pussy started squirting all over the floor. Emerald turned her nose away in digust. With a quick application of her Semblance, she pulled out a ball-gag and stuck it in the girl's mouth. As far as Nikos knew, Jaune found it in one of the drawers and used it add some spice. Nikos, like a dumb cunt she was, eagerly accepted it all.

"Now that the pest is dealt with, are you ready for a real woman to serve you?"

Jaune didn't move or say anything. Everything the girl needed was in his eyes. The command. The order. Impress him. Earn her right to be his. She gave Nikos one last look. The pathetic girl was whimpering and getting fucked by a dildo. She looked so pitiful.

Emerald loved it.

And she would make sure Jaune kept her by his side so that she could watch even more of such pathetic side of the Invincible Girl.

Falling to her knees, the girl cralwed up to him. Her dress was long discarded and now she was free to sway her hips for his pleasure. Quickly adjusting herself before him, with her palms straight on the ground and her pussy rubbing against the floor, Emerald placed her head spread her mouth wide open with lust-filled eyes. A game, she could remember, where she had to get him hard with nothing more than a glance.

As she found his previously flaccid cock press against her cheek, Emerald scored her first victory tonight. She silently asked for permission. With ass wagging and her eyes wanting, she was whimpering like a little slut. He rolled his eyes but gave his permission. Without further play, Emerald latched onto his bulging head. Sucking the tip of his cock into her gullet, she savored the bitter and salty taste of sweat and pre-cum.

Jaune groaned softly feeling the ebony beauty's hot wet mouth swallow up the head of his cock. She was sucking him off, slurping and smacking as if she was enjoying the sweetest candy her tongue ever tasted. Eager to please and desperate to be of use, he could feel her hunger for more grow. Not that he would grant it until he wanted to. Something changed in him. Changed for the better. And whatever it was, he now wished to see how far Emerald could go before giving her anything at all.

Closing her eyes, Emerald doubled her efforts on giving her man the best blowjob she could give. Having lived on the streets, she saw her fair share of whores give the men a sloppy blowjob. The hours she had spent watching all sorts of porn would also show their results now. Done with the generic stuff, she went for her some hardcore stuff.

With a cheeky glint in her eyes, the girl squeezed her lips tight around his thick head. Having it trapped with no means for escape, Emerald started bobbing her head up and down the thick girthy shaft. A small faint gasp from the blonde was all the encouragement she needed to continue on. Pushing her throat to the limits, she was slowly working it across the length of his cock. Slurping all throughout it, she felt on shame in letting the dirty cocktail of her saliva and his precum mix and drool down her mouth.

It didn't take long for her to adjust to the feeling in her throat. Even less to quicken the pace and give her man what he definitely desired. Under Jaune's grunts, her head was now bobbing up and down the full length of his monster cock. Her lips, still as tight as before, were sucking him without mercy. Emerald felt the pride swell inside her chest as Jaune started patting her like a good little bitch she was.

"Mmm~" She slurped loudly. Shamelessly as she enjoyed pushing her face into his crotch. The feeling of his full length taking all the place inside her throat was more intoxicating than any drink she ever had. "Mmm!"

She could feel it! As she quickened her pace, her heart started beating in tune. She could feel him get closer and closer to orgasm. She didn't dare stop. Didn't even think of slowing down. She wanted his cum. She wanted it! She needed it! She craved it like nothing ever before. Emerald slurped and sucked loudly and tirelessly, her tongue hungrily dragging its way all over his cock in a desperate attempt to get as much taste of him manmeat.

It tastes so good ... More... Please, Gods, above, let me taste more ...I...I want to suck him my whole life...

Fuck Cinder and her plans. Fuck Pyrrha and his friends. Fuck whatever else life would throw at her. As long as she could service Jaune for the rest of his life, she would be perfectl content with whatever came after them.

As Nikos continued to moan and rolled her tongue around, Emerald couldn't help but enjoy the feeling more. Nikos seemed to be giving a blowjob to the phantom cock. And while she was sucking and smacking on thin air, Emerald was getting all the cockmeat and cream a bitch like her needed. The melody of sucking and moaning and grunting filled the room. She looked up at Jaune, drinking in his pleased expression. Her work. This was all her work and she couldn't have anything better than his cruel smile.

"Time for your reward, Emerald. Make sure not to waste a single drop!" Jaune hissed and she braced herself. Roughly grabbing her hair, Jaune pushed his whole length inside her throat. He eyes and throat bulged out, her cunt going out of control from all the pressure. And just as Jaune released sick loads of his potent semen down her throat, the thief came all over the floor like a complete degenerate. "Someone has to clean it all up."

Emerald smirked and changed the illusion for Nikos again. She removed her ballgag and stared at the puddle of Emerald's pussy juices, "Oh, look at the wine you spilled, Jaune," the girl giggled and crawled over to the spot with a sweet little smile. "Just let me clean this up for you."

Emerald and Jaune watched Pyrrha lap up the girl's pussy juices and comment on how much she liked this wine. Emerald thought it was hilarious, briefly wondering if she would enjoy her piss as well. Jaune found it hot, evident from his quickly returning erection. Emerald growled, feeling that even when Nikos was nothing but a dumb bitch she was somehow stealing the attention away from her.

Well, that was about to change.

Making Nikos go sit in the corner and masturbate, Emerald walked over the bed. Getting on all fours, she turned away from Jaune and shook her thick fat ass in front him. She didn't care what she looked like. How little respect or pride was in her humiliating submissive posture. All that she cared about was getting that thick cock inside her.

"Haaah... Jaune? Please, Jaune?" She whimpered, letting go of any restraints. She felt his hand rubbing up against her exposed cunt. They had fucked so many times before. But she always had some semblance of control. But not anymore. And never from now. With him, she would always be at the mercy of his temper and will. She was almost ready to cum from such thoughts. "Please, I wanna make you feel good! Let me service you with my needy tight holes!

A smack across her ass made her cry out in surprise. A second one - from climaxing all over again. He continued to rain down smacks across her sensitive chocolate ass until it was more burning bright red.

The girl whimpered and panted, not quite used to this rough treatment but no less welcoming of it. As long as it came from him, she would happily bear all of it.

"Spread your ass, Emerald," Jaune hissed into her ear. She nodded and eagerly did just that, exposing her tight hole for him to see. "I must say, you taught me a lot about myself. How much I enjoy being in control. How easy it is to like something even when you know it is wrong. Tell me, Emerald, did you imagine things would be like that between us when you approached me?"

Never in her life.

"N-No, Jaune," she whimpered, embarrassed to tell him what she thought. What she expected. He already knew why she was spying on them. But she never told him what she expected from their relationship. "I thought I would be able to keep you as my personal boytoy. Fuck you when I want. How I want. Make you into my own source of stress relief."

"And now?"

"I-I know better than that," Cinder was wrong about so many things. But she did get one thing right about Emerald. She was not cut out to be the top dog. "I know that you will handle a harem better. Y- I would be happy if you let me work as your second-in-command. I would be so happy to teach the other black girls I know how great you are."

Arslan from team ABRN, The uptight cunt Ciel from Atlas. She would be so happy to get them and more as her slut sisters for Jaune.

"And white girls?" Jaune asked as he squeezed her ass tight. "What about girls like Pyrrha?"

"T-They could never satisfy you, Jaune," Emerald spoke from the heart. Seriously, who could fuck that monster cock of his like her and other ebony beauties? Not the jailbait Ruby. Or that heiress bitch Schnee. Perhaps the fat-assed Vakyrie could do something but the rest? None of them had the hips, asses or tits to compare to girls like Emerald. "So please, let me help you see just how much better the girls like me are compared to some vanilla shit these girls would give you."

He was silent.

"P-Pleas-AaaaH!" she felt his strong hands grab at her waist. His thick tip resting against her tight little asshole. She grinned at him, "So, you finally gonna give in and give me some good time, right? Go right ahead, I know you want to, Jaune. Fuck me up! Fuck my ass until I can no longer be satisfied by anyone else!"

Eyeing up her delicious black ass, Jaune chuckled. No need for him to be told twice, he rubbed Misty's pussy and ass with two thick fingers. Slowly, he pushed them inside and got all her wet and ready. Not thatr it required much time or effort from him at this point. Emerald was really strong. But she was also sneaky and would likely try and manipualte him if he left her enough of willpower to do so. Her mind was definitely not as good or solid right now as it was when they met. The girl was on the verge of breaking apart into a bunch of instincts.

It was only natural that he pushed her towards it.

"Don't cry for mercy later than, you slut," He muttered, his cocktip invading her puckered asshole without much argument. Emerald hasn't been a virgin even when she met Jaune. But those were small one-time nights and with how big and thick Jaune was... Well, she might as well have been a complete and total virgin.

Emerald slapped the bed, letting out a low loud moan. As if she was being ripped apart in the most pleasant of ways, she bit into the sheets and cried, "FuuuUUUcucking shiiiiiiit! Yes, yes, yes, YEEEEEEEES! You are ripping my ass apart! Please, don't stahp!"

She could feel her Aura fizzle and crack from the pain. Oh, once it was out, how much more painful and pleasurable it would get. The mere thought was enough to drive her even wilder. Jaune grinned as he continued to spread her ass open inch by inch. To his growing surprise, Emerald was taking it all with the same kind of love as before. Even when he was not nearly as big or ferocious as he was right now.

"Fuck, your cock is fucking best, Jaune!" she cried out deliriously. "Oh, Gods, I can feel your cock in my guts! You are so deep in my ass I can feel it in my guts!" Emerald was positively babbling now. Her words a barely coherent mess of expletives and curses. Her mind a wild hive of every single dirty thing a girl knew. His cock went deep and hard, pressing down on her innards to the point she was cumming from a simple act of breathing. That's how powerful he was. How much power he held over her. "Please, make me cuuuuuuuum!"

Jaune thrusted inside her one more time, the pressure from her ass and guts so strong and overwhelming it reached even further inside. Right towards her womb. And as Jaune continued to fuck her ass with his full length, Emerald felt like he was pounding her pussy at the same time. Her world was falling apart. Her loyalties and goals crushed into dust, all she cared for was getting Jaune to fuck her even harder. Even faster.

With a wet sticky sound, Jaune pulled out. Leaving her so hollow she couldn't bear a single moment of it. What was wrong? Was it something she did? She would make up for it if only he let her.

"You are a good bitch, Emerald."

Her heart swooned at the praise.

"Now I want you to do something for me. Do it and I will cum inside your pussy and make you my top bitch."

Anything. She ready to do anything.

"Just tell me what you want."

Jaune grinned.

"Help me tie Pyrrha up."

Emerald was quiet, taken aback by the odd request. But as she met Jaune's eyes, she realized instantly what he wanted. And just like the opportunistic sadist she was, Emerald jumped at the chance to get the girl she wanted to hurt for so long.

BC

Pyrrha was at the top of her world. Hours and hours of sex with Jaune were the kind of heaven she never imagined possible or wanted. But now that she had tasted the forbidden fruit of his body, she would never tire of the taste. His strong arms and gentle touch were all the Pyrrha needed to be happy. The whole world might have pushed her to be perfect, but as long as Jaune stayed by her side, she would happily fight through everything.

"Jeez, Pyrrha, go easy on that toy," the familiar - an unpleasantly so - voice spoke candidly. "Talk about going wild."

"Emerald," Pyrrha hissed as she covered herself with the sheet. How did she get in without her noticing? Little matter. "Leave before I make you. You know I can do that."

"Can you now though?" Emerald smiled. The kind of smile that you wore when you knew of yours victory. When you were sure of it. "Tied up like that?"

What was she talking about? Pyrrha had no time for this. Jaune was sound asleep and she refused to let him be woken up by the likes of Emerald. She moved to get up. her feet never touched the ground though. In panic, she looked at Emerald. The green-haired girl gasped in false shock, "Sorry, Nikos, I forgot something. Here, let me help you."

With the sweet smile and hungry eyes, Emerald pulled off some kind of seal from Pyrrha's wrist. The same place where she touched her during the dance. The effects of the seal being removed didn't wait for long. As if she was woken up from a dream, the world around her changed. She was no longer in warm and soft bed. Instead he was on the cold floor, her arms tied behind her back. Her legs spread apart and duck-taped. The hotel room was the same but the feeling about it was all wrong.

And then there was the smell.

The smell of bitter chocolate.

"Emerald, you bitch, what have you done?" Pyrrha raged. "Where is Jaune? If you hurt him, I swear to Gods, I will-"

"Why not let him speak for himself?"

It was only now that Pyrrha noticed that Jaune was in the same room. But something was off about him. There was no more of that bubbly puppy feeling about him. Instead he looked like a wolf. And he was hungry.

"Hey Pyrrha. Glad to have you back with us."

"Jaune..." she whispered, not at all liking how casual the blonde was with being naked. Or Emerald rubbing herself against his leg. "What is going on?"

"A confession," Jaune smiled softly as she walked up to her. His cock, erect and imposing, stood even bigger than she remembered. "The last night was Emerald's illusion. She made you think you were fucking me the entire time. In reality, while you were busy with this plastic toy," he picked up the dildo that absolutely reeked of her juices. "I was busy fucking Emerald into submission."

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... This couldn't be true. It must have been some nightmare. A cruel prank her imagination was playing on her. She would have shut her ears but her arms were bound. And so she listened on as Jaune spoke further.

"I have been having sex with Emerald ever since we became official. I tried to ignore her. Tried to focus on what happiness we had outside the bed, but I wasn't able to do it foreve, Pyrrha. Then Emerald came along and offered to be my stress relief until you learned how to handle my cock. Until you became strong enough for me to actually fuck."

Pyrrha was openly crying at this point. It was all wrong. All of this was so messed up.

"But that day never came. Even know, if I tried to have sex with you, I doubt you would be able to handle my full length for even a few minutes before passing out," Pyrrha sobbed as she felt how worthless she was. It hurt even more as Jaune sounded absolutely disappointed in her. "Despite all of this, I still love you more than anyone else in the whole world. I want to be with you, Pyrrha. One day, I wish to marry you too."

He was cheating on her. Making a fool out of her all this time. So why was she feeling so happy about his words? Why did she feel the damn hope he would keep his word?

Why did she feel so hot?

"I was tired of living a lie. Lying to you. To our friends. To myself," Jaune brought Emerald up from her knees. "Now is the time to be honest with myself."

He gave her a kiss. The kind of kiss even her wildest fantasies didn't see. There was nothing princely or romantic about it. It was wild and savage, full of nothing but sheer mating desire. Pyrrha could have had it for herself. Would have if only she were a better woman. But she was not and now she was watching a better woman - Emerald - take her beloved away.

Why did she feel so hot?

"He loves ebony girls like me, Nikos. With our wide hips, thick thighs and juicy asses, we are the only ones who can actually handle studs like Jaune," turning the girl around, Jaune lifted her off the ground. Emerald looked positively giddy as Jaune impaled the girl on his cock. The guttural bestial cry the thief let out sent shiver down Pyrrha's spine. Why did she feel so damn hot? As Jaune began to fuck her pussy, she looked her straight in the eye, "This is what real sex is like, Nikos! This is the kind of raw fucking you should have given him! Maybe then he would never leave you for me!"

Would she ever be able to handle it?

Pyrrha doubted it.

Emerald was screaming, crying in gibberish. Fuck her up. Impregnate her. Make her cunt his personal cum tank. The flood of obscene phrases filled the room and Pyrrha watched in awe as Emerald was actually enjoying having her pussy stuffed full of all that cockmeat. Her loins burned with want. Her mouth ran dry with need. She wanted it. She couldn't have it.

All she could do was watch.

"Oh yes! Oh, fuck! Gods above, fucking hell!" Emerald cursed as she looke down at Pyrrha. "Get used to the view, Nikos! I am not letting you have anything but his scraps!"

Jaune placed her down. On all fours, staring Pyrrha straight in the face, Emerald looked like she was some otherwordly being. Panting and grunting, Jaune's enormous cock plowing her from behind, the girl cupped Pyrrha's face and smiled at her. A cruel twisted smile.

"He still loves you. You still have his heart," she hissed. It was clear she hated to say that. "But his mind and body? They are all mine now. Nghh!"

Jaune gave her a harsh slap across her ass. So hard her Aura flared up.

"You can run, Nikos. Leave the two of us alone. Leave him for me to conquer his heart. I am sure you will find yourself a nice pencil-dick who will be happy with your being easy to please," Emerald spoke sweetly, even as venom dripped off of every word. "Or you can stay with us. Fight me for him. Try and get on my level. But I promise you, if you do that, I will not let you go easily."

Pyrrha whimpered. She was stronger than Emerald so why was she shaking so much?

And feeling so hot from the thought of losing to her?

"Aaaah!" Emerald cried out as Jaune pumped one final load inside her. Getting on her feet, Emerald proudly showed off the thick semen oozing out of her fucked-up cunt. "See this? This is what I earned. And this," she pointed at Pyrrha's throbbing swollen cunt. "is what you earned. So what shall it be, Pyrrha? Will you stand and fight for Jaune? Or would you rather give him up here and now?"

"N-Never!"

She refused to give up.

"Whatever you've got, bring it on!" Pyrrha glared. "I will make myself worthy of Jaune's cock. And then you will never get fucked by him again."

Emerald chuckled. Jaune did as well. Pyrrha's heart sank, her bravado now having a hole in it.

"Very well, Pyrrha. That's one of the reasons I love you so much," Jaune gave her a soft kiss. She leaned into it, grasping on the feeling like a life jacket. "But until you are actually able to handle me, you are going to be our cuckquean."

C-Cuckquean? What was that?

"W-What will I be?"

"Cuckquean," Emerald spelled out as if Pyrrha was an idiot. "A beta bitch. A denial slut. A no-touch no-fuck servant that I get to order around. Here, let me demonstrate t you!"

With a sick grin, Emerald pulled on Pyrrha's nipples. Giving her no time to recover from the shock, Emerald gave her a couple of slaps across her face before finally pushing her onto her back. With a laugh, the thief stepped on Pyrrha's swollen red cunt and pressed.

"Stop! Please, it hurts!"

"Exactly," Emerald smiled. "And physical pain is only a part of it. You will serve us, Nikos. Whatever I say, you will do. If I tell you walk through Beacon naked, you will do that. If I tell you to eat only whatever I give you, you will do that. No matter how humiliating and degrading it is, you will do what I say. And you will keep doing it until Jaune promotes you from a Cuckquean Cunt to his Bitch. Unless you want to back off now and stop bothering us."

The picture was grim, Pyrrha trembled. Having Emerald given so much power was terrfiying.

But she was Pyrrha Nikos. And she didn't give up.

"I will do it," she hung her head in shame. "And when Jaune and I are married, I will keep you as a dog, Emerald."

Emerald chuckled.

"Sure thing, Nikos. Give it your best shot." she pressed herself against Jaune. Wiping some of his semen from her pussy, Emerald smeared it all over Pyrrha's face. "Until then, enjoy the show. And your snack too."

Tied up and unable to move, Pyrrha was forced to watch the love of her life fuck the thief she considered a nuisance at best. And like an obedient cuck, Pyrrha ept the small bit of cum in her mouth. Enjoying whatever pleasure the small portion of it gave her.

Jaune held the two of them close as Emerald sucked him off. Pyrrha watched closely as the girl swallowed down his whole length. Jaune threw the two of them onto the bed, first her then Emerald on the top of hers. Pyrrha whimpered and sobbed as she felt Jaune fuck Emerald in her ass and pussy, She felt the pain doubly since she could tell just how intense it was. How much she wanted it to be her who was getting fucked.

Come the morning, Pyrrha paid for the room and walked beside the two. They went back to the dorm and Emerald gave Pyrrha another humiliating gift. Her own thong, drenched in Jaune's cum. The sight of it made her happy though and Pyrrha humbly accepted the gift. That night was the last night she could pleasure herself. And so she did.

With Emerald's thong held between her teeth, the leftover semen in her mouth, Pyrrrha was masturbating. Drowning in her lustful fantasies, the girl imagined where her life would go now. She imagined so many different scenarios. So many ways she would find her way back into Jaune's heart and embrace.

But no matter how much she thought of the future, it all remained the same. She would always be the pathetic whimpering cuckquean who begged and pissed herself for her betters' amusement. And Emerald would always be the harsh and cruel Mistress that Pyrrha depended on to get any semblance of pleasure.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

She came, shamelessly staining her cold sheets. Where was Jaune, she wondered briefly. Her scroll screen flared up. A picture of Emerald gorging herself on Jaune's cock. Her loins burned again. The fantasy changed in her head. Now she was kneeling beside the two. Panting and begging for a drop of Jaune's cum. She was not given any. Not directly at leasy. Like a good little doggy, she lapped up whatever fell on the carpet.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

Pyrrha came again.

The fantasy shifted. They were getting married but Pyrrha was still locked in a chastity belt after all these years. And once they came to their room, she would be allowed to hump the pillow while Jaune and Emerald enjoyed their night.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

Pyrrha came again.

The fantasy shifted once more. She was Pyrrha Arc. A wife, a mother and a slave. Her daughter never knew she was her real mother. In her eyes, Pyrrha Nikos was just the maid of daddy and mommy, Jaune and Emerald. Her being impregnated by Jaune was her anniversary gift. She wondered if she could beg herself another one this year. Maybe if she acted like a really good dog, Emerald would give it to her.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

Pyrrha came again.

And again and again and again. Thousands of fantasies. All with the same outcome.

But one that, with each orgasm, Pyrrha was slowly coming to accept as her fate.

[iatheia]

EDA reviews Part 6 - books 47-55

Previous part 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5

47) The Slow Empire - Uh, couldn't really follow this one at all. There are books when the first person narration works, but not here - too many jumps in setting, too little connective tissue, most of it told from the POV of a person who is barely connected to the protagonists? And that's even before they started repeating chunks of text wholesale between various parts - and I couldn't figure out if it was intended, or if it is the ebook was acting out on me. More than half way through the book, I still couldn't entirely tell what the story is supposed to be about, or if the plot has even started yet. Even having finished it, I find myself somewhat aghast. There are a few glimpses of something interesting, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what. 4/10

48) Dark Progeny - Also not really feeling it. It's not a bad story, but I do rather prefer a Doctor Who story to actually feature the Doctor and the companions front and center, whether they are POV characters or not. Here, though, they are barely in it - it's even more egregious than the previous one in actually giving the supposed protagonists stuff to do, and even on rare occasions we do switch back to them, it is all pretty generic. Anji developing telepathic abilities and the Doctor trying to calm her down all the while Fitz is freaking out in the background? Yes, please, more of that. Following around 20 interchangeable OCs that have nothing to do with the trio? No thank you. 6/10.

49) The City of the Dead - If you are invoking magic in a sci-fi universe, you need to be able to handwave it. It doesn't need to be awfully complex, "something something aliens, something something energy" is usually enough, but without it, you can't just throw magic about willy nilly. There are rules.

There are moments when it is a beautiful story, evoking a lot of dream-like wonder, and if it managed to remain a hazy dream, it probably would have been better for it. At the same time there is something very uncomfortably cynical about it, to the degree it left a bad taste in my mouth. There is a narrow line between not shying away from the ugliness of the world and deliberately making something ugly just for the sake of it, and often it felt like it was leaning towards the latter. Dunno, I started out wanting to like it, and feeling rather conflicted about it, but by the end became utterly indifferent. 7/10

50) Grimm Reality - Pure crack. Mind Robber wishes it could be as hilarious and off the wall as this story is. It throws every cliche fairy tale narrative device in the book at the characters and expects them to take it with the straight face, all the while realizing that the rules of the world are completely bonkers. And it manages to sustain this energy throughout, which is a no small feat. It's actually pretty exhausting by the end of it. Fairy tales stories do not belong to a lengthy literary genre, and even taking time deconstructing them, at 95K words becomes it becomes just too much - figuratively, and, on occasion, literally. Still, pretty great, I wish more books had its energy 9/10.

51) The Adventuress of Henrietta Street - *sigh*. My expectations were pretty low to begin with, and I still am somehow disappointed. Credit where credit's due - it is probably most coherent of the books from Miles. And at least it's better than Interference. That's really not saying much, though.

Honestly, if you've read any story about prostitutes, murder, satanic sex rituals bordering on blatant pornography, eastern culture and "mysticism of female sex" used for fetish fuel, written by a dude who clearly gets off on all of this - you've read all of them. There is really nothing revolutionary or compelling about it. On the list of "plots I never want to see in Doctor Who", they are definitely up there. And the Doctor is dying again, because it wouldn't be Miles's book without it. And he's, uh... living in a brothel, trying to marry someone, in order to, uh..... ritualistically tie himself to Earth, for, reasons? Did I read that right? After over 100 years of living on Earth and wanting to do nothing else than seeing the back of it, right. And writing books not quite about sex but definitely about sex. Because that's the thing the Doctor apparently does now. Self insert what self insert. And Fitz and Anji are just... there. On an occasion. All of it exposed on in a dull faux academic style without a shred of characterization, all the while absolutely nothing of note is happening, despite being a singularly longest EDA.

Just, if you hate the characters so much. If you don't understand what makes them tick to this degree. If you don't even care to learn. If you consider any established emotions they should have about the plot you are putting them through beneath you. Why are you writing in a shared universe to begin with? 2/10

(I did have an unintentional moment of hilarity with it, though. There is a character that is referred to as Lord ______, as if his name is censored. TTS would always pronounce it as Lord Underbarunderbarunderbar. Always gave me a chuckle).

52) Mad Dogs and Englishmen - A hilarious story, a very easy read, flowing from scene to scene. There are several occasions of fridge horror treated with levity that I would have rather have avoided. Plus, it is as incestuous as a book about books can get, and yet.... It is just absurd enough to work.

Plus, the whole, “His books are full of black magic, mind control...and perversion - moral and ethical and sexual. He is polluting the atmosphere of our group”, “What’s next? Rewrite War and Peace so it’s about guinea pigs?” - Oh, the shade. It is a good book in its own right, but just for this alone, 10/10

53) Hope - It's a pretty average book. Not outstanding, not horrible. Would have made a decent episode, all things considered, in a bread and butter sort of way. It does have some great ideas - the refuge of humanity, the conflict between Anji and the Doctor finally coming to light - not quite the type of conflict I was hoping for, though. If only it had a bit more nuisance, without neatly delineated black and white, if the antagonist didn't end up being a mustache twirling villain, if the Doctor didn't end up strong-arming everyone in a much more macho manner than he normally goes for (with a rather clunky dialogue). It had potential, even if it didn't end up being realized in full. 8/10

54) Anachrophobia - Very meh. The set up was fairly contrived, it never made me care about any of the characters, including whatever the hell the Doctor and co were doing, not to mention any of the secondary characters. Not terribly engaging, after a point I was mostly flipping through it. There is some big conflict brought up at 95% mark, and it is resolved in just couple of pages via a deus ex machina and a paradox. Overall, I might have said that I would have liked it better if I was in a mood for existential horror, but I took a break in the middle to listen to the Lease of Life - and it actually touches upon several similar themes, but with and outstanding character drama and much more graceful execution, which made this book look even more poor in comparison. 5/10

55) Trading Futures - I will give the author all the points for keeping an eye on the future. Perhaps, in 2002, predicting tablets being used as menus in fancy restaurants wasn’t that big of a reach, but I absolutely had a spit take when TTS has read to me something about “eye-phones”. There are some modestly clever moments throughout the book. Too bad that the rest of it is a complete rubbish. Not terribly original, either - a lot of ideas are copied directly from other books and other franchises. Reasonably entertaining, all things considered, but in a much more slapstick sort of way than was probably intended. 7/10

Overall impressions so far - This batch is, for the most part, fine. Some stories are worst than others, some better. With one exception, nothing horrendous, but nothing to write home about, either. They are, for the most part, serviceable. Individually, they have decent enough plots. But. There is very little character work. They can generally be read in any order, or dropped entirely, and you wouldn’t miss anything. The Doctor is mostly coasting from the excellent streak in the last batch, always in a spot light. I am starting to tire of the whole amnesia arc, though - it was good, but it ran its course, and at this point, with everything functionally back to norm, with barely a stray mention of it here and there, we are starting to be overdue for some semblance of resolution of all that. Henrietta Street is entirely a step in the wrong direction - not only it does nothing worthwhile for the characters, it’s just getting unnecessarily further into the weedworks, adding yet another plot thread that is forced on other writers to carry (they mention it occasionally, but it’s not like there is much to build upon) - rather viciously reminding of the previous mess of an ark “don’t you dare to think that it is over”. And I am so over it. Just, move on.

The companions fare rather worse. They are decent enough, they participate in action, in each book, they are mostly staying in character, with a handful of neat moments here and there (in a blink and you’ll miss it sort of way, though), they aren’t written off as an unnecessary burden to carry, which is an improvement. There is nothing meaty given to them though - they ask the necessary questions, do the things required of them, and generally stay out of the way when they are not needed. I guess Anji has at least some character driven moments, even though most of them are reduced to “I miss my dead boyfriend”. Which is... fine, we’ve all lost people, we all mourn them in our own way, but it has been 14 books since her introduction, and she is leaving in another 10. To have her character reduced to just that bit from her first book, with barely anything else to offer.... Plus, all the while, she rarely felt like she integrated into the team - because she is constantly eying her exit and returning to normality (even though she always decides to stay just a little while longer due to circumstances), it’s like from the very beginning she had one foot out of the door.

But while Anji is a bit of a one trick pony, at least she has that much. Poor Fitz gets absolutely nothing to do. The last meaningful book that addressed his character in any way was all the way back around book #42-43, and even that was just catching up on plot after his prolonged absence. He’s been essentially frozen since early 30s books. He is generally a fun character to have around, and does good supporting work, but can he please get something more impactful any time soon? Heck, by this point I’ll even take the recurrence of “finding a new love interest number 20 who will inevitably die by the end of the book” - it has been overdone, and it is certainly not a very exciting plot, not to mention reductive, but at least it’d be something. Though, I guess only one companion is allowed to carry that staple at the time, and right now Anji is it, two dead lovers is just an overkill.

And it is an absolute shame - especially when considering that on the other side, Big Finish was in the middle of streak of some of the best stories. Over the same time that these novels were published, we had audios such as Project Twilight, Eye of the Scorpion, Colditz, One Doctor, Chimes of Midnight, Seasons of Fear, which were full of character.

[atlas-the-worldbuilder]

Final thoughts on Pokemon Sword/Shield

So in case you weren’t aware (which is most of you, I’m sure), a few months ago I started a Pokemon Shield blind Nuzlocke Run.  And recently, I completed the main portion of the Nuzlocke by defeating the Champion.  Having played through the game, though, I thought I’d give my final thoughts on it as a Pokemon fan, a gamer, and as a storyteller.

The Story & Characters

In all honesty, I rather enjoyed the main story of this game.  The Pokemon League has always been presented like a professional sport (at least in the anime/cartoon), so it’s fun to see the games taking that perspective and rolling with it.  It felt like an actual tournament/championship, to compete for the title in an officially organized manner, rather than just running a gauntlet of preset combatants.

In addition, I liked how they incorporated both the gym leaders and our rivals into the league story as not only combatants, but also as individuals with their own lives and aspirations.  Marnie and Team Yell are adorable, Hop is... mostly tolerable, thus far, but by far my favorite rival character has been Bede, the Psychic/Fairy trainer.  His haughty and prideful demeanor make him a delight to defeat, and his arc is a wonderful story to see unfold.  I’m really curious to see what he gets up to in the after-story! The Gym Leaders are also fun to meet and battle; the Pokemon games as a whole have been gradually attempting to give more and more character to each of the Gym Leaders you meet, beyond just trials to overcome on your journey to victory.  And while I always have a soft spot for the Hoenn & Sinnoh gyms, I like that they opted to have the Gym Leaders return in place of having more Elite Four members to fight  I only wish I could get more opportunities to get to know them better, cuz there’s some standout leaders from this batch which I truly enjoy!

My biggest complaint with Sword/Shield’s story, though, has been the “Heroic Quest” plotline which has become increasingly common these days.  I like the character of Sonia the researcher, and Oleana is satisfying to watch lose, my biggest complaint has been the pacing of the plot; the first 2/3rd’s of the story are us teaming with Sonia to gradually get the backstory revealed to us, and then in the last half hour, right as the Tournament’s getting underway, all the villains suddenly crawl from beneath the floorboards and run amok while you have to chase them down!  There didn’t feel like there was a proper buildup explaining why the villain wanted to summon the legendary Pokémon, especially one which we heard next to nothing about! This brings about an interesting idea, however... what if instead, they had completely forgone any Legendary-Summoning stories until after the league?  Honestly, I was way more invested challenging the gyms and fighting the champion than I was stopping the literal POKEMON APOCALYPSE from happening... so what if for future games, they saved those for after you became champion?  As a sort of test of your skills, to prove your worth to bear the mantle you have taken!  Maybe it wouldn’t have meshed well, maybe they needed to show of the game mascot more, I dunno...  it’s just my thoughts.

The GamePlay

THEY FINALLY LET US TURN OF THE GODS-FORSAKENED TUTORIALS!!!  PRAISE THE ALL-FATHER!!!

Ahem... In all honesty, I think I’d grown a bit too used to the 2nd screen of the DS-series games, but after a couple days of getting used to the mono-screen style again, I am pleased to say I found it very easy to settle back into.  Though there are still some features I wish would make a return (the HM moves as opposed to public transportation, poison’s effect while walking, wild double battles, etc.), there are alot of fun mechanics introduced and remedies to older problems that have been introduced!

I think one feature which hasn’t had much said about it is the introduction of the Poke-Jobs system; this system allows you to send your Pokémon out on timed “away missions” to gain both experience and items.  In the old days, if you wanted to passively level your pokemon, the only real option you had without introducing a second player was the Daycare center, and they could only raise two pokemon at once... and you had to pay for it.  With Poke-Jobs, though, I can send anywhere from 5-10 teammates out for whatever amount of time I want them to be out for, and then come back later to see them lively and with goodies to show for their work! At first, I didn’t think I’d get much use out of this system; I, like many players out there I’m sure, prefer to guide my pokemon’s training personally, honing their movesets and guiding their levelling and points the way I want from them.  But as I progressed further in my Nuzlocke, and as my daily life became busier and busier, I found myself sending my backup teammates out on jobs to keep them on par with my main team.  Given that the Move Deleter/Tutor and Name Rater are now services that have been rolled into the Pokemon Center, yet another good thing this series has done, I found it much easier to keep my reserve Pokemon prepared in case I needed a substitution. Some Nuzlocke “Purists” may call that taking the easy way out, but... frankly, I don’t have the willpower to do that much grinding.  I’m here to play a game and have fun doing it, dammit.

The Wild Area is another thing I’ve wanted to see from Pokemon for a long time - taking more steps to make the regions seem like an open world, with vast sprawling environments full of pokemon and secrets to uncover.  I’ll admit, though, the execution is... not entirely perfect.  While open expanses are fun to explore, the Wild Area did seem a bit... flat to traverse.  And while the weather mechanics translating into battle are fun to deal with, the same sets of wild pokemon appearing did start to wear me down.  I think what the Wild Area really needed, in the long run, was a system similar to how Black/White/Black2/White2 did - having seasonal progression ingame, where different pokemon would show up during different seasons, making the different places unique and novel all over again throughout the year. And for the record, many of my gripes with the Wild Area were addressed in the Isle of Armor’s expansion island.  VASTLY superior, and much more fun to navigate and traverse.

...I’ll openly admit this: I was not a fan of Mega Evolution when it was first introduced in X/Y.  I felt it was fine enough to see Pokemon battling without power boosts or “digi-volving” or whatever you wanna call it.  When Sun/Moon Introduced Z-Moves, it felt like a step in the right direction, but at the same time, I ended up not using it very often.  If I had to have a power boost to my pokemon, I would want it something that couldn’t be used as a crutch when the going gets tough - something that has a limited usability, and offers benefits specific to the time it’s being used. I say this because I initially approached Dynamax the same way: as just another power boost to level the playing field and shake up the battle meta which I don’t keep track of.  However, after barely surviving all 8 gym leaders without using a single dynamax pokemon, I decided to give it a chance: after having completed the Isle of Armor’s subplot and gaining access to the Max Soup, I fed it to my Toxtricity Spike, and started running dynamax raids.  As I started using it more and more, I started gaining a certain appreciation for it that I hadn’t before; this was something written in to being a unique cultural effect!  This literally is imagining Pokemon as Kaiju!  And for the most part, it works! While I still feel mega-lvl-power-boosts in pokemon are a huge waste, at the very least I can say Dynamax didn’t leave me with too bad a taste in my mouth.  I do hope, however, that Dynamax stays a Sword/Shield exclusive power; given it’s cultural importance in Galar, and how Mega-Evolution was in the previous generation, I think having power boosts specific to regions works better than having the same stuff used across the board for every meta onwards,

What Do I hope for the Future?

I can’t say for sure if they’ll release a sequel game for Sword/Shield, but if they do... I would want them to make these minor changes:

Hold off the Heroic plot for after the League plot; devote the main first half of the game to just the gyms and league story like was done here, and then save meeting uber-god-tier Pokémon for after you’ve claimed the title of Champion.

Having said that, fix the pacing of how the Eternatus/Darkest Day subplot feels as it’s being played out.  Offer us more insight into Rose and Oleana’s mindsets as they go about their business, and give us more coherent exposition from our field trips with Prof. Sonia. 

Fix how the Wild Area looks - give it more variations for each sub-region and offer more varieties of habitats, like in the Isle of Armor.  Or, alternatively, try to implement a seasonal mechanic to make the same areas change over the year, opening new paths and new avenues to explore!

Let Bede defeat Oleana.  Give my boy some closure.

Allow us to see and interact with the Gym Leaders outside of the gyms more.  I had, like, barely 2 lines of dialogue with Nessa, and even less for Milo.  Not asking for a whole lot, just a bit more to tie us into who they are as people.  Piers is best big brother.  <3

That’s all I had written for now.  If y’all want a biography of my champion team for my Shield Nuzlocke, let me know, and I’ll scrap a post together! <3

[flexin-rex]

Fives and Echo for the character ask

Ooooohhh boiii

Fives

•favorite thing about them

Who and what he stands for as a character. He’s the clone trooper who literally has a number for a name, and he is essentially one of the Clones who fights the hardest to be seen as a man. And not as a number, or even as a weapon. He’s the embodiment of one of the greatest themes of the Clone Wars, the individualism of the Clones and seeing them as people, as humans, and having the emotions and thoughts that makes us human. All while embodying what a soilder stands for. He fights so hard to uncover the secrets that could harm the people and ideals that he serves. And he dies trying to protect these things, the Republic, his brothers, the Jedi… HES SO WELL WRITTEN HATS OFF TO FILONI

•least favorite thing about them

His death.

And how we didn’t get to see him with the beautiful S7 animation. IMAGINE SEEING HIM IN HIGH DEFINITION. Like, seriously… we were robbed.

•favorite line (this one is a two-way tie… don’t hate me plz)

“Are your scopes… Jedi-issue, sir?” hehe.

“No Clone should have to go out this way! We’re loyal soilders! We follow orders, but we are not a bunch of unthinking droids! We are men. We must be trusted to make the right decisions! Especially when the orders we are given are wrong!”

•brOTP

Fives and Echo. Fives and Rex.

•OTP

Idk Fives and surviving through S7, and escaping with Rex and Ahsoka.

•nOTP

Fives and Canon, it’s repulsive. Also, Clonecest.

•random headcanon

Fives has a journal that he keeps under his pillow. His brothers always tease him about it, but he doesn’t care. He tries his best to write in it every night. Clones hold alot of weight on their shoulders, and it wears on you after awhile. He goes out of his way to write about his day, his thoughts, and feelings. Helps relieve some of the pressure of the War.

•unpopular opinion

The best we ever saw of Fives was during the Umbara arc.

•song i associate with them

Idk In The End (Linkin Park cover) by Tommee Profitt

•favorite picture of them

He’s a cutie lol

Echo

•favorite thing about them

So wholesome.

He just wants things to go according to plan. So please just let him do his job so he can go and read or something idk

•least favorite thing about them

Idk Echo has done nothing wrong in his life.

•favorite line

“Personally, I like that it's so quiet out here. I can catch up on the reg manuals.” HES SUCH A WHOLESOME OLD SOUL I LOVE HIM

•brOTP

Echo and Fives.

•OTP

Echo and Happiness. That man suffered so much, this is all I ask for him.

•nOTP

My answer will always be Clonecest.

•random headcanon

We all know and love Echo for who he is, doing things by the books. But have no doubt, if there was ever form of prank, Echo and Fives were most likely behind it. You would think Fives was the one to lead the whole operation, but no. It was Echo. He was the mastermind behind all the jokes that were pulled on their brothers. You know what they always say, it’s the quiet and well-behaved ones you have to look out for.

•unpopular opinion

A lot of people complain about how Echo didn’t ask Rex about Fives. I think he kinda knew all along. Like, I’m sure if Fives was around, he would’ve been right beside Rex in the search for Echo. That man would’ve done anything in his power to find his best friend.

•song i associate with them

Soilder by Fleurie

•favorite picture of them

I loved seeing him in this episode. Like, he’s still recovering. He’s been malnourished and put through such physical extremes, but he’s still stepping up to do his duty. He looks so determined and it’s amazing

[kazbrekkerrs-remade]

ekrjhak i lov eu and to further enable you: ur thoughts on blue, gansey, ronan and adam and henry? and their group dynamic????? 👀👀👀

Wow this took me ages sorry dfjfhd. Claire... u enable me too much these are my onions <3. Under a cut because I went. overboard :3. I’m probably going to have to shorten this I don’t know if tumblr will even let me post something this long dkshjfhg. (Also I wrote half of this in word so if there’s proper capitalization in places that’s why, don’t let it cloud my image as a cool, laid-back bitch that doesn’t care for grammar.)

i’m starting individually then moving onto group dynamics heh

blue i like blue but it did take a bit of growing on me djjdjhjss. i like her a lot bc i relate to her a lot, but i do think there was a lot of room for improvement. she said she wanted to see the world and make it better but how exactly.. is that a roadtrip? i mean i guess it’s a start in a way, but i think it would’ve been much better if we saw her join an activist organization.. volunteer for a non-profit or something. Also her misguided feminism ah! But I can be a bit more lenient with that bc she was still very young when the series ended so. Also she was revealed to be part tree and then like. Nothing substantial came of it? idk

Ganseyboy! I have to be honest my.. fave uwu. There is a Lot of room for improvement  but I just. Optimist!! insecurities :( also he KNEW he was gonna d*e I’m. sad. Anyway like I said a lot of room for improvement as in like.. not everything is about you king <3 also he needs more… idk I don’t wanna say empathy bc i think that’s something different but like. He needs to realise that what he thinks is best isn’t gonna be the way everyone deals with something, if that makes sense? Like basically the “how do you know what’s good for me?” “THAT’S MY OPINIOOONNNNN!!” vine. THAT SAID I love him so much.. he held up the mouse to his face! And smiled!! mon dieu.. when he made bird jokes to make adam laugh… “am I in your dreams?” AH! In a way, blue and gansey are sons of the same gun: I love them both but there could be more done with them tbh. But I have a lot of fun with Fansey, a.k.a: fatima gansey. Kind of like fanon gansey except no one’s opinion matters besides mine <3 (basically it’s  the *aggressively kicks off shoes* “yee haw”, parts of gansey, and then me giving him the arc he deserves) maybe we could sum it up to “ma’am that’s my emotional support projection character” but like. That’s my business.

ADAM! Previous endorsements include: “might fuck around and become an adam parrish stan account.” “I’ve only had adam for a day and a half but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.” “I go :D whenever I see it’s an adam chapter” (these are more or less verbatim from my previous posts.) that said, I don’t have many fully formed thoughts because I uhhh don’t remember the books that well and also I repress the adam chapters bc they hit too close oops :). tbh I don’t have many complaints at all heh. That’s not to say he doesn’t have flaws but a) I will excuse them because he’s justified, adam does anything problematique and I’m like he can have a little murder. As a treat. and b) I genuinely loved his arc so. No complaints for real!! Also.. adam realising he is capable of loving and being loved…. *kermit meme* I have nearly teared up while writing this. :( one more half baked thought: trc having being “known” as a mark of being loved but then adam being like “i am unknowable” and then there was a moment of him with ronan like “how foolish of him to think he was unknowable”.... *kermit hearts meme intensifies*

RONAN O CLOCK to be honest. I. don’t have any meta or complaints I just love him. I love him a LOT okay.. very much. Big love. Sharp edges tough guy but he names his dream animals chainsaw and gasoline and has a pooping blanket for chainsaw… I can’t remember the quote but that but in cdth where he was like the point is dreamer or not if people are going to get hurt I’m going to stop it… Much to think about. HIS GROWTH. IN THE DREAM THIEVES wow can you believe I read him in TRB and was like ‘I don’t care for him’ ddhfjdhf and then in the dream thieves I’m like.. I have rescinded all previous callouts of ronan lynch. Oops. HE LOVES HIS FRIENDS SO MUCH oh my gosh. Ronan just… he has so much range for feeling!! he feels so much!!! I love that about him so much omg

Henry. Ah. This is where we get kind of controversial jdhjdfh I’m sorry but. I’m going to be honest I like him well enough as a character but I don’t care for him much I’m sorry I just. It’s because he was introduced so late. And only became an important character towards like.. the last half of TRK? I mean, I’d have loved him if he was introduced earlier, hell at least have him come into play in BLLB. The issues I have with him isn’t because of anything about him as a character though, I think it’s all about the way he was handled. I think because he came in so late, there just wasn’t enough time to do justice to the depth that he had, or give him an arc or anything, or enough time to connect with him. Also a part of me feels like he was in there just to kind of tie up Blue and Gansey’s stories and give them something to do after the end of TRK (which sucks because like… making your only canon POC being primarily to develop/give your white characters storylines… (blue isn’t white in my mind but like she was written “colorblind” and when that happens it usually means the author viewed them as white at least in the beginning jhfhgfj. but i don’t remember it too well so if i’m wrong lmk please!)). But probably my biggest problem is: I couldn’t help get the vibe that MS was facing criticism for the lack of diversity and so decided to bring in an asian character. Like, I feel that way bc he came in so late, and because of that he was so half-baked I’m.. gah. GAH. That’s unfair maybe henry is a cool dude hdhfg but I just can’t warm up to him because of this :/

Group dynamics!! With the gangsey I have to *sobs* I love them so much I’m.. what a strange constellation they all were <3

blue and ronan!! BROnan amirite… omg. That moment when blue nearly slips and ronan immediately catches n holds on to her… she would have to remember that :( sons of the same gun. Best friends!

Blue and adam.. gah. As friends it really goes hard. Get you someone who will stab you if you fall too deep into the nether-realm <3 but uhh. As dates. YIKES. Blue really just. Kissed noah while dating him. And didn’t even think for a second “I have a bf” :( not very cool of her to tell gansey about the kiss curse but not telling adam which I mean, I know that happened to show that they weren’t a good match but. Still yikes. Blue was lowkey cheating on adam the whole time during tdt huh :( also bro I am number one stan of the “I wish you could be kissed jane” scene but it happened literally RIGHT AFTER she broke up with adam I’m. relax <3. I wish that was kind of addressed but meh, overall it doesn’t bother me too much. I think they’re great friends :)

Ronan and adam… I can’t talk about it too much. I really can’t!! I really really can’t! the fact that adam goes to gansey like what is love and gansey is like she makes me quiet… and then adam is like “he was so still inside”.. :( omg the bit during trb when ronan is going on a swearing tirade and adam is like “they didn’t start making the civic until ‘73 <3” what a JACKASS I love him. Second secret!! --okay! Wait I have to say: while this one is not really a big deal compared to all their other moments, my favourite quote is “ and he realised that while he’d been looking at ronan, ronan had been looking at him” :uwu face:

Blue and gansey: :3 :33333 maybe it’s the muslim but I really like the tragedy of not being able to kiss :( I would beg just one off you! Under all this! Maybe I’m crying because of the inherent romantic-ness of the night sky with all its stars and late night drives :( wow I love them. Also i know most people find it annoying but I personally love the “I’m never gonna fall for this person” *fast forward to getting to know each other* “ahahah. :) I have rescinded all callouts of ____. she is now my girlfriend (long story)” (not to be confused with enemies to lovers <3 (not to be confused with enemies to friends to lovers <3)) also they can kiss now thank you very much.

Okay I will just preface this with: gansey’s relationships with both ronan and adam have the “how do you know what’s good for me” element to them so I don’t have to address it later hdfgjlfj but bro they love each other so much I’m… “dream me the world… something new for ever night” you’re leaving for TWO DAYS.. gansey gave up monmouth omg what became of that I really forgot khffhk did he get it back. I don’t even need to elaborate on ronan, “ronan would do anything for gansey” :(

ADAM AND GANSEY I been WAITNG for this one! Turn it up! Bro if you saw the whole face I made when I realised it was time for this kdhfhfkhu this is so loaded despite the fact that I cant articulate it <3 the.. idk what to call them. Parallels? Foils? I didn’t take lit sorry but he RANGE we could have had there… remember when gansey was shocked in trk bc :0 you guys came with me and also “they had run for him”. bro their whole relationship had so much. Tension because of their different backgrounds and fundamentally different outlooks because of their backgrounds, and I think if we had seen them properly connect then both of them could have grown from that. I know we see adam understanding gansey a bit better I don’t remember when that happened but I know it did at some point hhdsf but gansey.. never does! Huff and puff. It’s really so FRUSTRATING to me bc that could have key development for gansey but also for adam and gansey’s relationship. And also I feel like we didn’t.. see them try either? Which is so frustrating like idk if it’s a fault on stiefvater’s part or just with YA lit in general that platonic relationships are kind of ignored. Or maybe it’s because idk I remember ms saying she had a lot of issues while writing trk.. but still. We could have really had it all but instead I have to live with “don’t break him adam” I’m (: ok but now I must lighten the mood hjsdhf so might I add: when one of them sees the principal in his crazy funky junky hat and goes “yee haw”… when gansey is like :DDD hey ADAM guess WHAT and adam is like ? and gansey is like oh it was a fully casual problem with the ALTERNATOR of my car of COURSE it was the alternator, it was really simple and I fixed it with much ease :D and adam is like :’D felt like the had hatched a baby bird.. my uwus. ADAM! give me an idea! ALSO if anyone will allow me to venture into adansey territory…. the fact that adam is cabeswater’s magician and gansey now.. is cabeswater in a way. MUCH to think about. I still spend a lot of time thinking about the dryad au the problem is I have never been to progress past the “vague concept” stage of stories and this is why I don’t write dhfjhfdhf. But yes. I think about it often :3

i also like the henry with the gang, i think it could work really well but once again it wasn’t given the time for me to really see it :( also. ronan being racist. and adam laughing along with that. why was that included, ms turn on your location i just wanna talk

okay once again thank you for enabling me claire and i’m so sorry for this monster dsjkhfjkdhg

[silverbastardgoldenfool]

Realm of the Quarantine Reread End-of-Book Questionnaire: Assassin’s Apprentice

Any differences between your first/previous reading experience and this one?

Uhhhhh yep!! I can’t even believe how different it was. Every scene has taken on an entirely different colour and flavour in my memory. I skimmed far too much the first time, yes, but also I just went into it with the wrong framework. I think I’ve mentioned this before but my mum recommended me these books on the basis of my love of A Song of Ice and Fire. She directly compared them and said how similar they were. Because of RotE’s length I had been putting it off for years, and only finally picked up Assassin’s Apprentice because I was itching to do an ASOIAF reread but was (and am) trying to wait until Winds of Winter to do it. 

So you can imagine the difficulty settling into a book like Assassin’s Apprentice when you’re expecting Game of Thrones. I remember my overall impression on my first read being that it was a pretty standard fantasy novel with the only really exceptional thing about it being the characters and their relationships. Characters are always my top priority so it was enough to keep me invested and progressing onto the next book and the rest of the series, but I did so not having absorbed nearly as much as I should have from the first book in the series.

Now, just from revisiting that first book, my understanding of Fitz and the world he operates in has exponentially increased and I know that will transform my experience of every book going forward. I really made sure to make myself slow down and read every word; absorb descriptions and just be in each moment without racing to the next one. Overall this book (and all the Fitz books) are much more concerned with the human condition and the effects of abuse and trauma and deep loneliness than being an epic fantasy. In fact it barely reads like fantasy at all; it’s incredibly grounded and focused. Of course the elements are there, but while Assassin’s Apprentice may not be as subversive as the rest of the series, it is certainly not generic fantasy. This book just feels alive to me now in a way it didn’t before against the rest of the series. I can regard it as a beautiful piece of the puzzle in its own right instead of just the setup. I wanna reiterate I always really liked Assassin’s Apprentice but it just paled in comparison to my unholy obsession with the rest of it. Idk this reread just really shifted a lot of things into perspective for me and I’m excited!!

Something you can’t believe you forgot

So so much but most ridiculous GALEN IS QUEEN DESIRE’S BASTARD am I dumb??? I didn’t even remember until it was explicitly stated lol

Favourite character introduction moments/scenes

It’s gotta be a tie between the Fool, Kettricken and Patience (realising there is a common theme here of Fitz making an idiot of himself). I genuinely was laughing so hard when Fitz is like, actively making himself smaller and so pleased with himself trying to help the Fool, and of course the Fool’s iconic “listen you idiot” ugh it’s just chef’s kiss baby, that’s what we in the biz call a meet-cute! (I know they have seen each other before, but this is the first time the Fool talks to Fitz). Then of course we have Kettricken who poisons Fitz at their first meeting, and Patience who Fitz continuously embarrasses himself in front of before even realising who she is. The fact that all three of these people end up being some of Fitz’s only genuinely loving relationships makes it even better.

Favourite character arcs

I think I’ve gotta go with Verity and Burrich. Verity goes from kind of a bloke’s bloke (he was so different in the beginning than I remembered!) to being a proper King-in-Waiting. He is self-sacrificial but not for pride; he genuinely cares deeply for his people, as a whole and as individuals, and will do anything it takes to protect them. He is far from perfect, and he could have done a lot more for Fitz when he was younger, but once Fitz is in his eyeline and he is confronted with the life the boy has led he seems suitably shamed and tries to do his best for him. He’s a good boy and I love him!

Burrich of course is just. unlucky. His health deteriorates due to injuries. He gets saddled with some kid and is burdened to bring him up to an impossible standard he has set himself (to not shame a man he has an impossibly high opinion of). He’s deprived of a job he loved and was good at, and most importantly he’s deprived of his boyfriend I mean lover I mean “master”.

His arc is not a happy one at all but it is compelling, and I can’t help but love him and feel for him despite also disagreeing with him on almost everything :)

Favourite quote/s

Unfortunately I don’t have any tabs atm so I couldn’t really keep track, but my heart exploded when Fitz said to the Fool after going into his room, “I wish I had a place that were as much me as that place is you.”

Favourite relationships

Fitz/Fool obviously. Even though they don’t have that many interactions in this book I loved every single one of them. The Fool volunteering to care for Smithy after Fitz has endured a long day of horrendous abuse is just!!!!! Kindness! What a concept! I could really see why they develop such a deep bond so quickly.

Fitz/Burrich is just so real and so compelling and it hurts me but I love it. Fitz/Chade breaks my heart bc Chade is manipulating his way into Fitz’s heart - I think without realising it a lot of the time bc he is lonely too, but the power imbalance is not okay when he is the centre of Fitz’s world for a long time and the closest thing he has to a friend. Knowing how Chade behaves not too much later just makes it even worse when he is so nice in this book because it just shows why Fitz has such a hard time being his own person and saying no to Chade ever.

Fitz/Verity for obvious reasons. Fitz/Hands!! They’re cute but it makes me sad that Hands betrays him in AQ. Weirdly I liked Fitz/Molly way more this time but more their friendship than anything. And next is Royal Assassin and their deeply toxic romance soooooo.

And Fitz and his puppies BUT WE DON’T TALK ABOUT THAT.

Favourite setting

Do yourself a favour and read the description of the Mountain Kingdom and specifically the palace. It is STUNNING and something I completely skimmed over the first time cos I’m a dumb idiot bitch I could have been picturing a city of huge colourful tulips all this time but fuck me I guess!!

Favourite chapter

As a rereader I think I’ve gotta say chapter one. There’s just so much to pick apart all crammed into one chapter. It still holds a lot of mystery even when you’ve read the entire series.

Most loved character

At this point I’ve gotta say Fitz. That’s who my heart is with during this book and he NEEDS IT

Most hated character

Okay I found Regal a much better villain on this read and hated him A LOT but whomst I despised even more w the very fibre of my being was Galen bitch disgusting!!!!!! Verity was so like, smug?? when he killed him and it was so satisfying. It’s what she deserves!!

Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimised by Robin Hobb (most heartbreaking and/or visceral moments)

Literally this whole book was so harsh and I was perpetually emo throughout but off the top of my head, Fitz’s depressive episode after Shrewd and Chade test his loyalty fricking broke me, as did the entirety of Galen’s abuse/training; since I was paying so much more attention this time it hit a lot harder that he is an absolute textbook abuser and the psychological torment he inflicts on Fitz is just. deeply upsetting to say the least. It really got under my skin.

Details, observations, spoilery notes made with the benefit of the full picture

Okay this is where I just dump all the notes I took while reading that don’t fit anywhere else. It’ll be long lol so strap in.

- It’s never not funny to me that Narrator Fitz comes across as like a hundred years old when in actuality he is like twenty. Also that he looks back on himself with such a sense of wisdom and superiority, yet we know there is dumbarsery aplenty to come. Amazing.

- I’ve never really registered that for the first six years of his life Fitz had a mother who loved him and I don’t know how to feel about that

- REVELATION THAT SEEMS REALLY OBVIOUS IN HINDSIGHT: Fitz most likely only spoke Chyurdan when he was abandoned, which would have played a huge role in why he was not only quiet but unresponsive to what was happening around him. He probably didn’t even understand that he wasn’t going to see his mother again until much later, and he didn’t know how to ask questions. When he goes to the Mountain Kingdom and Kettricken comments that he speaks Chyurdan like someone remembering the language he doesn’t comment on it, so it’s likely that future Fitz doesn’t register that he didn’t always speak Six Duchies(?). He mentions in the narration that the memory of being abandoned is incredibly stark but not necessarily reliable, and possibly shaped by the Skill, which to me opens up the possibility that his memory is essentially auto-translating for him things he didn’t understand at the time. We also know that at the time of writing this he’s given up his memories of his mother etc. up to the stone dragon, so obviously his recollections of these traumatic events are going to be warped by that. Anyway thanks to my sister for pointing this out and being much smarter than me.

- According to Fitz’s grandfather, Chivalry always knew about Fitz. Don’t know how trustworthy a man desperate to yeet his grandson out of his care is but there ya go.

- Weird and hilarious that Shrewd tries to see Fitz on the day he arrives but then just like. What? Forgets about him? For years? lol

- Chade literally tells Fitz that he is a king’s man now and that’s the most important thing about him YIKES

- Chade becomes the closest thing Fitz has to a friend for quite a long time and that is fucking depressing

- It’s interesting that Chade had to be convinced to teach Fitz. It’s hinted at that there was an ~incident~ the last time they tried to train someone, followed by a long period of Chade being left to rot in the walls.

- Not to be out here diagnosing fictional characters but like.Fitz. Literally has depression.

- Fitz having to turn down Fedwren’s offer of apprenticing for him is so sad. It’s the life Fitz should have had.

- The Fool’s non-binary gender is mentioned as early as Chapter Nine! (Published in 1995! We have no choice but to stan!)

- “So quickly we were all made accomplices in our own degradation.” OOF.

- I really realised this time that the reason Fitz seems so shit at things he trained his whole life for later is because all that training was interrupted by many months of isolation, deprivation and abuse. All at the age of like 13-14. He got out of the habit of subconsciously acting in a way that Burrich or Chade would approve of. For a long time the only person he needed approval from was Galen, and he became completely single-minded about it because that was his means of survival. And you don’t just recover from that - especially since neither Chade or Burrich would give him the time of day for an extended period *after* his training was done. When Chade did finally talk to him again it wasn’t to recommence training really; he just gave him a bunch of tasks to do. By the time Fitz got to the Mountain Kingdom he was completely out of practice, and still managed pretty bloody well in spite of it.

- Kind of related to the last point: I love that while Fitz isn’t a savant at anything he’s a pretty realistic jack of all trades. He not only has an aptitude for learning almost any skill or subject but a genuine broad curiosity too. It’s one of the few things that is just him, ya know? It’s just his personality and something he can find joy in, even if it does also factor into his being used by others.

- Imagine being Burrich and finding out that your son thought you were a dog murderer for like ten years lol ouch

- Fitz thinks about the Fool soooo often in the Mountain Kingdom, pointing out things that remind him of him, or things he would like. It’s v soft tbh I love them so much!!

- Another dumb thing I forgot is that Regal is convinced that Shrewd had Fitz poison his mother to death, which adds a rather important layer onto his motivations lol

Anyone doing a reread feel free to fill this out! You don’t have to use the tag :)

[theharellan]

101 DRAGON AGE QUESTIONS | not accepting

for the sake of reducing the number of ooc posts i’m answering these all in one and just @ing the people who asked the questions! thank you for them all!

if you sent me one of these btw and rbed this meme yourself and i didn’t send you something, please let me know! i want to send you things back and must have missed you reblogging the meme. this includes non-mutuals.

1. How did you get into Dragon Age? | asked by @kaaras-adaar & @dreamerlavellan​

Sort of by accident, actually. It was the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in university (2011) and summertime is generally a time of inactivity and depression because I cannot tolerate the weather here. My dad happened to own Origins and I picked it up because??? Fantasy? RPG?

Starting the game I saw you could play as a dwarf, who have been my favourites in fantasy since a child as The Hobbit is among my favourite books. Then after that I fell in love with the worldbuilding for dwarves and Gorim, my first actual Dragon Age love. I was more or less hooked after that. DA was actually not my first Bioware game, I was obsessed with Jade Empire as a kid so like Origins appealed to me immediately despite being far less fun to play than literally any other Bioware game I’ve ever played. The characters and world more than made up for it.

I beat it relatively quickly and my dad bought Dragon Age II which had come out earlier that day, actually against my suggestion because I’d heard it wasn’t good. And in this instance my dad forgetting something I said turned out for the best because I ended up enjoying DAII more in some respects. While it took me a while to join the fandom as a content producer I was a consumer and certified DA trash from then on.

2. Have you finished all three games? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

Kskjdfs yes. I’ve beaten each at least 4 times, but probably more like 8. The only thing I haven’t played are some of the Origins DLC because as much as I enjoy my replays I am so ready to be out by the end of the game (and I have the worst luck with Awakening bugs) and I also don’t have Sebastians DLC b/c his never goes on sale individually and I refuse to spend more than like $4 on him.

3. How long did it take you to finish the series? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

I honestly don’t know. I think it took me like a week to beat Inquisition without 100%ing it, I’d say my first playthroughs all probably took about that long. I tend not to do everything in my first playthrough. Like shard collecting didn’t happen until round two, etc.

7. Favorite DA:O backstory? | asked by @dreamerlavellan & @fatefaulted

I’ve played through all of them and I enjoy them all except Cousland, but my favourite is Aeducan. I enjoy the politics, the culture, the aesthetic of Orzammar. I love Gorim Saelac and the surprising amount of depth to this character who is designed to be thrown away after the prologue. I love how it ties you to the Darkspawn threat in a bigger way than any of the origins accomplish. I love how it ties you to the Orzammar plot later in the game, and playing Aeducan first is probably one reason why I adore that branch of the game. It’s a good origin that establishes its world really well and has great characters to boot.

11. Share a pic of your favorite OC from any DA game. | asked by @dreamerlavellan

I just want to share pics of my girl and Solas’ future husband.

Ian Lavellan, non-Inquisitor written by @theshirallen

Thora Cadash, dwarven Inquisitor and default Inquisitor for this blog written by... me lmao.

22. Favorite DA2 party combo? | asked by @fatefaulted

My main Hawke is a mage Hawke, so this party is horrendously imbalanced, but: Varric, Merrill, Isabela. They all just like each other and I think that’s neat. Although in act one my favourite is probably Carver, Merrill, Isabela / Varric. Unfortunately the game doesn’t want me to have a warrior in my party.

24. Favorite main-story quest from DA:I? | asked by @kaaras-adaar

It’s hard to pick between In Hushed Whispers and In Your Heart Shall Burn. I love seeing the red lyrium’d companions and the dark future of Thedas, and speculating on what happened in the intervening year. I love reflecting on what it must do for the Inquisitor to see that and have it be undone. I think it sets up the rest of the game really well, and in ways Champions of the Just doesn’t do quite as well.

In Your Heart Shall burn is a simpler quest but I think the power and emotions in the quest are so raw. Playing this the first time was riveting and I was on the edge of my seat. The triumph of closing the Breach, the strangeness of your first encounter with Cole (whose appearance at the gates is another reason I prefer IHW tbh, I think it’s more tension building than Dorian’s), Corypheus, crawling through the snow. Capping it off with The Dawn Will Come and the journey to Skyhold idk, it’s just such an emotional high point in the series that every time I replay I get goosebumps.

25. Favorite DA:I place? | asked by @fatefaulted

It’s a tie between the Frostback Basin and the Emerald Graves. I love the lore in both, as elf trash I prefer the lore in the graves especially if I can include the Din’an Hanin into that category. But the Avvar lore and Ameridan is also Very Good, and while I adore the giant trees of the graves the Frostback Basin clearly was able to have more resources poured into its design, and as a result the different sections of the map have so much more character.

A close runner-up is the Hinterlands, as I think the quests there are fun and it feels like home. I enjoy returning to it. Which is good, b/c I’ve played through it... a lot... I think loving it might be a coping mechanism, but also I love the vibe of the early game that’s best captured in the Hinterlands.

32. Favorite DLC mission overall? | asked by @fatefaulted

Trespasser is up there with Shivering Isles as my favourite DLC ever produced. Its hits every emotional beat I think it needed to hit, set up the next game with greater detail and intrigue than the initial epilogue, and I’m honestly dying to get to replay it again on Thora despite what it does to my nerves. The first time I played it I could feel my heart beating faster like wtf me.

37. Blood magic: yes or no? | asked by @hopewrought​

Would I use it myself? No. Morally I think it can be reprehensible but also neutral, much like any other magic in the game. In certain characters I think even if used for good it may encourage unhealthy habits, but I think it can be learned to be engaged with in better ways.

59. Who was written really poorly? | asked by @theshirallen you can’t hide behind anon I know it was you

Oghren fucking Kondrat. When I think about the reasons Origins is my least favourite game he is among them. With Oghren there was a really good chance to portray an alcoholic abuse victim, suffering from severe mental health issues, and still mourning his wife, with the respect it deserves. Instead he just... is a gross sexist dwarf and his alcoholism is mostly played for jokes. And then he comes back in Awakening and... continues to be a gross sexist dwarf whose alcoholism is mostly played for jokes.

There could have been some really interesting stuff with Oghren, the Warrior caste of dwarves I think would suffer from issues similar to qunari warriors, where when they can no longer fill the purpose society has dictated they must serve, what then? They can’t do anything but fight. There could be comradery with Sten, or perhaps Zevran or Alistair, or any of the companions who have had the path their lives took dictated to them by societal forces they had no say in (even if they are happy with that direction). There are snippets of good stuff in here, the line “let us show them our hearts, Warden, and then show them theirs” is one of the best of the good-byes the game offers us imo. It’s a shame about what came before.

Like there are other characters, such as Sera, who I think were done dirty by their writers, but Sera at least got some growth in the DLC and there were attempts to address criticism of her character. Oghren in Awakening was just kind of a take two of an already poorly-done arc.

60. Who do you wish had been given more story? | asked by @hopewrought​

I wish Briala had more, like that she had some impact on the story in universes where Gaspard isn’t crowned with her as his puppetmaster. She and the elves reappears in that but not if you reunite her with Celene or exile her, and I think it would’ve been neat. I also wish she’d had a chance to interact with Solas in some small way given how many parallels were drawn by one of his own agents during Masked Empire.

I also wish we had more about dwarves in general in 2 and Inquisition. We get some great lore in Inquisition that was set up in 2, but with our only dwarf companion being Varric, who honestly has a relationship with his race that at times is comparable to Sera’s, it pulls a few of its punches. I really think they have dwarves set up to be important players in the next game, with their architecture featuring heavily in the dev diary, buuut no dwarves to be seen. So who knows. Just give me dwarves in the next game who aren’t Varric Bioware pls. Let me kiss one maybe.

61. Favorite NPC? | asked by @kaaras-adaar​

I’m not going to count advisors even though they kinda are NPCs and I’m going to answer one for each game so uhh...

Origins - Anora

DA2 - Feynriel

DA:I - Krem

Bonus - Lord Woolsley, the only unproblematic DA character

63. Best story moment? | asked by @ghilannainguideme

It’s a tie between the journey to Skyhold and the talk with Solas at the end of Trespasser and the resulting disbanding of the Inquisition (if you so choose). I really can’t separate them because I think the reason Trespasser works so well is how it calls back to the very beginning of Inquisition and that moment with Solas in the snow. It’s triumphant and sad, something’s ending, the fellowship is breaking, but you know all of you will continue to work towards a better world apart.

In DA:O I think it’d be saying good-bye before the final battle and in DA2 I think the moment where you can tell the Arishok he was right to take in the elves who killed that guardmen is good. Probably one of the reasons why I think Hawke-Arishok work so well as a protagonist-antagonist combination.

81. Favorite fanfic? | asked by @ghilannainguideme​

I don’t read a lot of fanfic, actually. Save what I read on here, which I do count, but idk if other people do.

My favourite writers to read are @theshirallen​, obviously. Joly wants to tweakIan’s personal quest but I think the version they have written now is still very good and you can find it here. I love reading Peace’s stuff and find their smut especially spicy in the best possible way, you can find a Merrill/f!Mahariel piece here! Gaia doesn’t write on Tumblr much these days, but she wrote a wonderful Tug/Sketch (the companions from Leliana’s Song) that you can find here.

I follow so many talented writers and I can’t list them all but here are a few I can fire off real fast: @theshirallen / @ghilannainguideme / @seahaloed / @sabraelin / @valorcorrupt / @mercysought / @hopewrought / @ofrevas / @skyheld have all moved me with their words at some point, be it in fic or rp.

82. Favorite fanart/fanartist? | asked by @ghilannainguideme

Again I just can’t choose jsdfks.

The easiest way is to just link my Solas fanart tag. Obviously this favours Solas artists, however, so also here’s a link to thedaswlw where there’s a boatload of amazing fanart all of wlw.

Of people I’m mutuals with I know @abracafockyou, @kaaras-adaar, @dalathin (currently inactive but I gotta link them), and @syntharts​ are all very talented artists.  I’m also a big fan of destinyapostacy, nipuni, elbenherzart, starscollected (on twitter), and many more.

97. What’s your favorite DA mod? | asked by @ghilannainguideme​ & @hopewrought​

I’ll chose one as many as I want to apparently from each game again, b/c why not?

DA:O - I have to admit I find this game hard to mod because nothing can really salvage the gameplay or look of the game. I need Better Dwarf Model so I don’t have to look at the odd dwarf proportions in the game (the women have arms for days). Mostly I have armour mods. I like Grey Wardens of Ferelden so I can match Alistair in the final batte and have everyone in uniforms in Awakening. I do like Kirkwall Exports because I can put Zevran in the robes of the notorious pirate tho. I haven’t used this mod yet but I also love this mod I retweeted this morning.

DA2 - Again, I don’t mod 2 very much. You could probably make some kind of chart for correlating my enjoyment of a game versus my urge to mod it, with the more I love a game means I want to mod it more. With 2 I enjoy the combat and overall design of the characters more so I mostly use a couple of tweaks, my favourite is Ishs Scarf for Merrill which just adds a cute blue scarf to Merrill and hides the fact that elves in this game have weirdly long necks. Oh and a mod to fix the weird hand dirt.

DA:I - Equal Opportunity Solas mod, I bought the game again on PC just to use it. Being able to play Solas/Ian for screencaps was everything tbh. Other mods I enjoy are More Banter, which while I have better luck with banter it is nice to be able to count on it. I installed it this latest pt and I have heard location comments that have never triggered before. Black Hair for Everyone has changed my life because finally Thora doesn’t have grey hair. No Dirt Buildup is also amazing, as the dirt can cause some really weird blotting on PCs that’s especially noticeable on dark-skinned Inquisitors.

99. Where would you live (Ferelden, Orlais, Free Marches etc?) | asked by @heysales​​

Probably Ferelden. It is fantasy England and hey if I make it past Inquisition maybe nothing will ever happen there again. Somewhere in the Free Marches might also be chill. Not Kirkwall. Maybe Starkhaven? Honestly tho I just want to live in the Frostback Basin. Have a spirit friend. Shake hands with nugs.

101. If you could meet your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor, what would you say? | asked by @dreamerlavellan​

If I met Thora I’d tell her I’m proud of her. She’d be confused, but that’s ok.