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angelofthepage · 19 days

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What can we expect from Boris: Lone Wolf?

I have some questions about Boris: Lone Wolf.

For those unaware, in Bendy: Secrets of the Machine, one of the secrets is a poster that seems to indicate that Boris and the Dark Survival is getting a rebrand to Boris: Lone Wolf. We had some inkling that this might be the case. A couple months ago, a trademark for Lone Wolf was found, the trademark for BATDS was left to expire, and to top it all off, the devs were cryptically referring to BATDS as "the Boris game" in a number of tweets, but there wasn't anything 100% factual we could garner from that. Just speculation. But now that we have a poster with Dark Survival crossed out and Lone Wolf written on it, it feels like this is the direction things are going in. And I'm not opposed to a rebrand, that's certainly not a bad thing. There's a lot of fun to be had here! But I have some questions about how it's going to be implemented and what to expect from it.

One of those questions is pretty expected coming from me: what do we tag this new thing as? I'd rather no one be spoiled unless they consent to being spoiled, and given we have no idea when this thing is releasing, it'd be nice to have that ironed out sooner rather than later. Like do we tag it as Lone Wolf, do we still tag it as BATDS, is it LW, like, what will the fandom agree upon for its tag? I think I'm gonna go with just Lone Wolf, but I'd love to hear some thoughts on this.

The rest is a bit more complex. How significant of a change is Lone Wolf going to be from what we've come to expect of BATDS? Like, when you go as far as to change the name of your product, I'm expecting something pretty substantial. I'm hearing through the grapevine that the naming convention of the games is changing so that titles with "and the" are easily distinguishable as mainline entries while the rest are side content? And maybe that's all that this is, maybe it's just to make this game fit with that naming scheme. But I get the sense it's more than that.

With this week's SOTM update including a new image with Boris holding a frying pan while wearing a hard hat, and a recent tweet from theMeatly showing that the box is planned to open, those are two things we can reasonably assume will be in Lone Wolf. But what will the frying pan do? Is there some sort of combat element where we smack enemies with it? I mean if Sammy could knock out Henry with a dustpan, why couldn't Boris have a turn? Maybe it's some sort of cooking element, like a minigame, or health restoration on-the-go as like an emergency reserve?

As I was writing this, we got another tweet from theMeatly that talked about this game having "rogue like" elements and a story conclusion? I'm a little surprised, I thought BATDS had a story that came to a conclusion already. It set us up to foreshadow BATDR, that's all it really needed to do. What else could they possibly tell us here? Not sure what to make of "rogue like" gameplay, but that potential combat thing seems a little more likely? Also, once again, as I was writing this we got something new about permadeath on higher difficulties? What is the deal with that? Are we going to be able to select the difficulty we want to play on? That would be a nice quality of life update, not gonna lie, I'm down for more choices in gameplay.

Here's what I wanna know in the present: how are they going to implement this change? When Lone Wolf comes out, are they going to change the Steam page for BATDS to be updated into Lone Wolf, or is it going to be an entirely new Steam page for Lone Wolf that requires us to purchase it as a new product? I have a feeling it's going to be the first one, and if it is, I have a follow-up question: is Steam going to require that I update to the new game? With SOTM, it did not let me open the game unless I had the most updated version. If I own BATDS already, am I going to have a choice about whether or not I update to Lone Wolf? I paid for BATDS, that is the product I knowingly gave my money to, not Lone Wolf, so I want to have a choice to keep the product I chose to spend money on. If I make the choice to update and try it, on the chance don't like it, will I be able to downgrade to a previous version, or is that off the table? I would like to have some management of expectations on this matter, it would give me some peace of mind. I don't need to know anything else about this game until it comes out, I would gladly forgo any other news or information if that was confirmed for me. And that's saying a lot, you know I love keeping up with this series. Those are the things I want to know: what can we expect to happen when this update rolls out?

Given this tweet about how we likely won't get to keep our save files, I'm guessing this is a complete overhaul, or pretty close to it, on the back end. And admittedly...I'm kind of sad about that. Not about the not keeping of save files, no, I expected that given what happened with all of BATIM's updates. What I'm sad about is that it feels like Lone Wolf is going to feel significantly different from the game that came before it, despite being a rebrand of it. And I think, hearing that from me is likely going to surprise a number of you. If you've ever talked to me about Bendy, you'll know that I'm fascinated by how these games have changed over time. I delight in telling people who weren't there from the beginning how parts of BATIM moved around, the Sammy Lawrence getting shoes story is amongst my favorites just because it's so funny. And the thing is, most of the changes made to these games have been for the better, not just from a quality standpoint, but from the perspective of getting closer to the devs' vision for this story. And as someone who wants all creatives to achieve their visions and make things that make them happy, of course I'd want to celebrate that. So shouldn't I be happy that this game is supposed to be getting a number of improvements?

That being said...I'm also sentimental. Boris and the Dark Survival was released four years ago at the start of the pandemic. This game was one of the few things I had to look forward to at that point in time. It was how I ended up meeting a number of people that are still extremely good friends, people I cherish having in my life. I still think back to the note that used to be in it when the Butcher Gang was added in.

That's one of the most human things in this series. It's not in the game anymore, it went away when Sammy and the bathrooms were added in. But I've held onto it.

I'm...not ready for BATDS to change. I expect a game to change when it's getting a remaster decades after the fact, or if it's an online/multiplayer experience that's in need of patches to balance it better. I expect games to stop being playable when their hardware or software can't be run anymore, or the tech they're on physically breaks. But this game? I didn't expect this, and that makes the change feel big and scary. It feels like this came out of nowhere, like it's too young. I think...I'm not ready to let go of BATDS or BATIM, I don't want to see changes to either one, even if they're the best changes in the world, because they're so near and dear to my heart. I spent so much time with them, they got me through some of the most difficult moments in my life. I mean I just got done with a whole video essay on it. I don't want to come back and see that they've become something drastically different from the old friend I knew. I want them to stay the way they are and then have whatever comes next be the new stuff that's different.

I want to see Bendy grow and change, I want to see this series try new things. I want the team behind it to create something that they're proud of. But I also don't want the old to be adjusted for the new anymore. I'd rather we just move on, make the new things to be the best they can be, let the old exist as it is, and let everyone keep the parts that they loved all throughout. BATIM and BATDS are not perfect by any means, but they don't need to be perfect. They did what they needed to do, they did what they could with what they had at the time, and sometimes, that has to be enough. Sometimes you have to let the old be there so you can look back at it and see how far you've come. If I went back to every old art project I'd made to remake it, I would never have time to be innovative and play with new ideas in the present. Bendy should be allowed to change without getting stuck on the past. I may not love every single change that comes along, but let's be real, who does when it comes to stuff like this? I don't have to love all of it in order for it to be valid and enjoyed by the fandom as a whole. There's a lot to be excited for with Bendy in the near future. There's so many cool things to play with, so much potential for these stories, and there's several parts I am looking forward to. Silent City is probably the biggest source of excitement for me personally, but there's a lot to be curious about with the other recently announced projects too. That's what I want: to be able to be excited for the new and still cherish the old as it is at the same time.

I think, give me time, and I might be able to warm up to Lone Wolf. I might be ready for that change if I know I have the option to go back to the old. Or if I don't have that option, tell me in advance so I can mentally prepare for it and make peace with it first. I'd really appreciate some time to process on my own before the update comes out (especially since we have no idea when it's coming out), that way maybe I can work my way up to celebrating the good of the new with my fellow fans. Our fandom gets really loud and caught up in the rush, and I know myself. I need a heads up to be able to self curate and step away, that way when the fun begins, I can be there cheering everyone on. That's all I ask, my good puppet sir. Meatly, I don't get the sense you browse Tumblr, but on the chance you are, please, we really need more management of expectations when it comes to the future of Bendy. I get it, your whole thing is doing the unexpected, and I respect that. I love so many of the twists and turns you've put in here. I just feel the unexpected works best when it's mostly in the games/media and not in the stuff surrounding it. I want to be pleasantly surprised by what comes next. Please, I could really use some hope right now that things are gonna be okay.

#bendy secrets of the machine #bendy secrets of the machine spoilers #sotm #sotm spoilers #bendy sotm #sammy lawrence #bendy sotm spoilers #boris lone wolf #boris lone wolf teasers #boris and the dark survival #batds #long post

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valeffelees · 1 month

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An Ask Game for Writers to Procrastinate Working on Your WIP(s)

thank you kindly for tagging me @shrekgogurt @youarenevertooold, and @monbons i've been seeing this game make its rounds on my dash and was really hoping someone would pull me in!

🦈 Tell us the name of one of your WIP(s)

my main three wips at the moment are without sun, ballad of the final sparrow, which is more commonly known as bitverse, and fragile things (and how to break them), but i've also been fucking around a bit the last two or three weeks with a new (terrible, evil, very self-indulgent) wip called god-forbid.

🍄 Describe one of your WIPs in the format of “___ + ___ =___”

i think i might be dumb bc i don't understand this question at all.

🌍 What tags or warnings will your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it?

bitverse: heavy angst, psychological horror elements, alcohol abuse, allusions to suicide, unhealthy coping mechanisms, dead dove: do not eat.

🧭 An alternative title to one of your WIP(s)?

ballad of the final sparrow -> baz is typing fragile things (and how to break them) -> there's a werewolf in london god-forbid -> the gap between a tragedy and comedy

⚠️ Which WIP you’re most likely to finish or update next?

i have no idea. i mean, you'd think the answer would be without sun since it's the only fic i actually have posted at the moment, but unfortunately i am an untrustworthy villain.

💾 What is the document of your WIP called? (Not the story title, but what you’ve saved it as.)

same as the fic title. if i start a new wip and don't know what to call it, i'll pick something at random and add (working title) at the end.

🖍 Post any sentence from your WIP

from without sun:

“You don’t like peppermint,” he says. But maybe she does. Maybe that’s one more thing he can add to his growing list of things he got wrong about Agatha Wellbelove. No. 1 — Dislikes peppermint; actually, she is quite fond of it. No. 2 — Likes Simon Snow; him, not so much.

♻️ A scrapped idea for your current WIP

one of the biggest changes i made to the plot of without sun really early on was penelope's role in the story. i had a clear idea of the story i wanted to tell as soon as i saw the prompt for the fic. without sun was always supposed to be about more than simon and baz. the story is about grief and love, and the space we take up in the lives of the people around us. but n e way, in my orig draft, penny was actually supposed to be able to communicate with simon a bit, and there was gonna be a whole sect of scenes in the middle of the fic where they sat around together trying to break simon's curse what we know and what we don't know style via passing notes. i ended up tossing this idea really quickly tho, and i'm glad i did bc one of my favourite moments i've ever written in any fic happens in chapter two of without sun and it belongs to simon and penny.

🤔 What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

so many. or, well—what counts as "haven't even started"? i hate to let ideas sit around in my head bc it feels like leaving raspberries in the fridge for too long, like that shit is gonna get mould on it, so usually the first thing i do is rough out a few scenes and/or script out a very rough outline of the plot (like this / this / this style) so that i have something to come back to later. i have dozens of zero drafts just lying tf around. but otherwise, yeah, so many. one big idea i have is called heart on fire and it's based on fanart, but i haven't started it yet bc obvs i wanna get permission from the artist first but i've been holding off reaching out to them about it until i've knocked a few of my less intimidating longfics off my wip list bc heart on fire is gonna fucking hefty so i don't wanna give'r until i'm sure i can manage it.

🤡 How many WIPs are you actively working on?

LMFAO

🛠 Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

i'm having a real bitch of a time with agatha's main scene in chapter two of without sun, i've been fighting with it on and off for months, but i can't get it to do what i want it to do.

❤️ Not a question, just a second kudos to send.

cheers!

sorry for any doubles but, tagging: @drowninginships @cosmicalart @that-disabled-princess @fatalfangirl @cutestkilla @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @artsyunderstudy @thewholelemon @roomwithanopenfire @hushed-chorus @blackberrysummerblog @imagineacoolusername @nightimedreamersworld @prettygoododds @confused-bi-queer @mooncello and an open tag for anybody else who wants to procrastinate their wips!

#tag game

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wiz-writes · 11 months

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Progress Update #3

Hello!

I’m back with another progress update before the actual demo update, mainly because of two reasons.

Firstly, I don’t think I’ve ever struggled with writing as much as I’m struggling now with finishing chapter one. I swear that thing just refuses to be written. Hence the update’s going to come out a bit later than I had originally planned. I would love to have it done by next week, so fingers crossed.

And secondly, the more important thing:

AS OF THE NEXT UPDATE, I will be changing the name of this WIP. It will no longer be called “A Rhapsody in Blue”, but rather “Aesemyr: The Withering” - I’ll be changing the tags and everything to reflect that (and I’ll probably make a new pinned post too). If you’re wondering why I’m doing this, I’ll explain below the cut.

Otherwise, thank you for reading and enjoy the rest of your day/night. :)

Why am I changing the name?

Well, there are a few reasons for that. As you might have noticed, I am very bad at naming things and when I started writing this, A Rhapsody in Blue was just a working title. I thought that the name was quite fitting at the time, so when I first released the demo and I tried and failed to think of another name, I felt that it was fine and that I would just leave the name as is. After all, why couldn’t it be called A Rhapsody in Blue?

But as time went on, I started liking the name less and less. I don’t think it has much to do with what is going on in the story, besides the colour blue. Moreover, does it tell you what the story might be about? I don’t think so; if anything, the first thing I think of is music. And that’s not a prominent theme in the game at all. Thus, my doubts just piled up until I decided that a name change was in order.

I know that this is something I should have done sooner, that changing the name now might not be the best of ideas. I also understand that some of you might dislike the new name, but both the words are there for a reason and I believe that’s the most important thing.

I hope you don’t mind the change too much.

Thank you for reading this far! :)

#progress update #aesemyr: the withering #a rhapsody in blue #interactive fiction #if wip

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tacticalhimbo · 11 months

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WIP (WEDNES)DAY!

and i actually have stuff for it! kinda! many thanks to @sstewyhosseini who tagged me 💕

idk who all's workin on stuff rn, so i'll throw some random tags out! @vendettapandav , @detectivelokis , @cybilbennettgf (i just noticed the name change KDJDKDJ) , @kourumi , and anyone else who's a creative/sitting on a wip!

i've begun the plotting process for my latest fic(tm), so here's the official summary and prologue's notes 😌

SYNOPSIS: Hope County, Montana, has been overrun by an extremist religious sect known as the Project at Eden’s Gate. Their leader, Joseph Seed, has effectively cut off the county’s communication with the outside world, and the sudden quiet after the storm has raised the eyes of the federal government. U.S. Marshal Cameron Burke is assigned to accompany a skeleton crew of deputies from the local sheriff’s department to his compound, and serve the warrant necessary to put Joseph behind bars. Accompanying him is Senior Deputy Earl Whitehorse, Deputy Staci Pratt, Deputy Joey Hudson, and Junior Deputy Marion Scott Mitchell.

However, things are quick to go wrong, and the group is separated. All are captured and imprisoned by the cult’s heralds, except for Marion, who now finds himself in the crosshairs of the cult. It is up to him, and those he has befriended within the community, to rise up and put a stop to the cult’s doomsday plot. Will he be able to take down the heralds, or will the chains of their power drag him down beneath the waves?

TITLE INSPIRATION: I wanted to pull from Biblical passages because of the thematic elements, and the fact Eden's Gate as a sect. is very similar to the Seventh Day Adventists (at least in my analysis of them)...

Of course, I had to phone a friend... But I melded our ideas together.

The initial iteration was The Angel's Chain, referencing Revelations 20:1 -> And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

But then I dug deeper, and read the entire chapter. And I liked the overarching theme of angels and false prophets... so... That's how the title ended up growing in size ^^; It can be short-handed though (e.g., Revelations 20 OR Angels and False Prophets).

I mayyy change my mind about making the title so long but that's what we're running aith for now.

And, as promised, the treat of the prologue's notes (please forgive that this section is in all caps, it helps my eyes when I'm writing on my document):

DETAIL THE DAY OF THE RAID. MARION IS IN THE COMMUNITY. HE VISITS ELLIE AND THOMAS, WHO HAVE MOVED INTO THE COUNTY JUST A FEW MONTHS PRIOR TO THIS CLIMAX. HE TELLS ELLIE THAT HE’S GOING TO THE COMPOUND LATER THAT EVENING, EVEN THOUGH HE KNOWS HE SHOULDN’T. THEY CAN’T TRUST ANYBODY. THEY HAVE A BIT OF A MOMENT, BUT THEIR FEELINGS ARE BURIED. THEY’RE CLOSE FRIENDS, NOTHING MORE. EXCEPT IT FEELS LIKE THAT. THOMAS SEES THEM GET SAD AND ASKS WHAT’S GOING ON, TO WHICH MARION EXPLAINS THAT HE’S GOING TO BE DOING A REALLY BIG JOB AND THAT HE MIGHT NOT SEE THEM AGAIN FOR A LITTLE WHILE. THOMAS IS SAD. THEY HUG IT OUT; ELLIE JOINS. HE BIDS THEM GOODBYE. CUT TO THE CHOPPER. HE’S THINKING OF THEM. BURKE NOTICES HE LOOKS OUT OF THE GAME. HE WAVES IT OFF AND SAYS IT’S NOTHING, JUST NERVES. INTRO SEQUENCE. CRASH.

SEPARATION. SURVIVAL INSTINCT KICKING IN. THE COUNTY HAS GONE TO SHIT AND MARION IS BARELY ALIVE ON THE SHORE. A MAN (DUTCH) GRABS HIM AND DRAGS HIM OFF. END.

We're on the angst train already!

#txt #my writing #revelations 20: angels and false prophets #my ocs

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jimothystu · 1 year

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Top Ten Fic Game! share your top [10*] fics by Kudos! drop the links so people can read them! bonus: do you agree or disagree with the readers on these being in your top 10? tag some homies who might want to do it too!

thank you @milf-arteta!!

10 better than in my dreams [cole caufield/nick suzuki]

agree/disagree?

this is one of my personal favourites, so i'd say i agree that it's one of my better ones. though i feel like more of my recent ones are better in general re the writing style, the plot, etc.

9 later [juraj slafkovsky/arber xhekaj]

agree/disagree?

oh yes. this was my first xhekovsky fic and i fucking love it lmao. it was so much fun to write and also @donttelltheelff helped me with it so that made it extra fun. idk i also just enjoyed the like, not quite edging but the teasing of them almost getting time to be alone together but things keep coming up. but they do, eventually, get their alone time in the second chapter lmao.

8 you're my instinct [auston matthews/mitch marner]

agree/disagree?

meh. this was one of my first hockey rpfs i think, and maybe the first one i wrote for 1634 so i don't feel like it's my best work.

7 they're not glass slippers but they're close enough [tim stutzle/brady tkachuk]

agree/disagree?

i love me some crack mixed with more serious stuff, and this has pretty much everything - crack/fun, smut, and fluff. i also just find the idea (shoutout to @may-the-puck-be-with-you) to be hilarious - timmy seducing brady with crocs lmfao.

6 the bitterness upon your lips [juraj slafkovsky/arber xhekaj]

agree/disagree?

i am a sucker for angst. writing and reading, and i also like how i was able to have various hab players in it, not just slaf and arber. and it was fun to play with the jordy/arber roommate thing a bit!!

5 paper thin walls [auston matthews/mitch marner]

agree/disagree? neutral

i liked the idea i had for it (4 times auston heard mitch through the walls + 1 time he joined him) and it was fun to write for the most part, but idk reading it now i'm not super proud of the way it was written ig, or i feel like i should've added more maybe

4 the secret truth off your numb lips [tim stutzle/brady tkachuk] ignore the title similarity to number 6 i named it without remembering and then just couldn't think of anything better

agree/disagree? neutral

this originally went down a different path and was going to be pretty angsty, but i changed the second half of it and while i do like how it turned out and i liked writing it etc etc part of me still wishes i had finished the angst part. but i did save the angst i'd written so i'll probably write a different fic around it

3 don't break the dam or you might drown in the current [tim stutzle/brady tkachuk]

agree/disagree

this fic. this 12k fic. this is one of my favourite fics i've written. it was very self indulgent and i 1000% projected onto brady so that in and of itself was therapeutic lol. but i'm also just really proud of how i wrote the emotions and how i conveyed everything. and how i was able to write so much!! it's the longest fic i've written to date

2 intoxicated [tim stutzle/brady tkachuk]

agree/disagree

hell yeah i love this fic. writing it was so much fun and i do go back and read it (bc if i don't want to read my own work then why bother writing it). it was just some dumb idea i had one night while trying to get to sleep and it turned into a crack/fluff piece that i enjoy a lot

1 je t'aime [thomas chabot/josh norris]

agree/disagree

okay this is also one of my favourite fics i've written. chabby and josh grabbed me by the throat and i just had to write something about them. i'm actually shocked and really happy that this is my top fic because i didn't think there'd be that many people who'd want to read about this rare pair! but i love it, and i am tempted to make a part 2 at some point!

tagging @saintknightcowboys and any other writers who'd like to do this!!

#tag game #fic talk

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mannatea · 1 year

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Break Open the Sky, a Tales of Symphonia ‘fic

Words: 4,570 words (Chapter 1) Summary: What kind of “Hero” of Regeneration would she be to leave an infant to fend for itself? Someone had to have left it here for a reason. The question was, of course, why? But as she lifted the little thing carefully into her arms, the motion reminding her of nights so far in the past, now, the why seemed almost tragically clear: this baby was of mixed blood. Pairing/Characters: Raine, Original Characters, will also feature Genis, Regal, and Sheena. Endgame is Regal/Raine. Extra Info: This is technically an Accidental Baby Acquisition story, but I liken it more to “Doorstep Baby” literature because it sure ain’t cute. Rating: Mature, for themes. More about this in the notes. Genre: It’s hard to squeeze this into a genre or two. Eventual romance, gen, family, character study.

The title is the link to Ao3! If you read it please feed me a little comment. I love you. ♥

Notes below the cut:

This story takes place 5 years post-game. Raine is traveling alone. Genis is in Palmacosta. Regal is in Altamira. Kate and Presea are in Ozette. Sheena is in Mizuho, Zelos is mostly in Meltokio, and Lloyd and Colette are still exsphere hunting together with occasional help and tips from their friends.

This 100% ignores DotNW except tiny tidbits I might want to steal from it.

I think we all know how much I like Raine as a character and love exploring it. This is another story like that, but with 11 planned chapters and even a potential sequel on the horizon. What can I say? I dream big.

This story relies quite heavily on a theme brought up in the game: “How can we regenerate the world when we can’t even save the people suffering right in front of us?” This theme is brought up over and over by both Lloyd and Colette. I’ve thought before of Raine’s sacrifice in-game to ensure Lloyd lives. There is something so incredibly poignant about the fact that for the first time in her life she puts her trust in someone else, and she doesn’t just do this in words, but actions as well. She thinks she will die but believes fully that her death is aiding a cause she also believes in. Raine does not trust people; this is established time after time in the game, but she lets herself believe in Lloyd & Colette’s earnest way of living, which refuses to accept that they have to choose between saving the world and saving people that live in the world: they can do both.

Later, after the hallucination scene, she admits she needs to change—that she wants to change. This is a story showcasing that attempt to change.

I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that Raine is a character who has had a lot of trauma dumped into her lap over her lifetime, and who has been given absolutely no time in the canon to process any of it in a healthy way. Even post-game she has to continue to raise her brother and canonically puts both of them on a journey that can only result in more trauma (even if they themselves also do a lot of good for the world).

I don’t want to mislead anyone with this story: the very concept of Raine acquiring a baby is grounds for the reemergence of trauma from her childhood that has never been properly dealt with.

She does not want a baby, but she also can’t bring herself to be unfeeling or uncaring; she’s stuck in a bad position but still by nature a very responsible person.

Let’s talk themes.

The biggest theme this story will be exploring is the idea that love (feeling it for others, for yourself, and letting others love you) can break bad, tragic, or harmful cycles.

Also, saving the people right in front of you. Of course. ;) (But sometimes that person is actually yourself, and that’s okay.)

This story will definitely be exploring a lot of other themes and ideas, many of which are unpleasant or may be triggering. I’ve tagged the story with a few of them, but here is a more complete list:

adoption

abandonment/child abandonment

childhood trauma

healing (from trauma)

found family/chosen family

fantasy racism (there will be a lot of subtle hints of this too)

discussion/mention of infanticide

change/growth

trust

guilt

identity outside one’s relationship to others

poverty

mentions of assault/violence/sexual violence

threats of sexual violence/rape

the cost of the art/magic of healing

THERE WILL BE A LOT OF ORIGINAL CHARACTERS FOR THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS. I cannot stress this enough. I’m sorry; I would avoid it if I could, but this is the sort of story that requires them. I’ll try to keep a list per chapter in my notes here in case it gets confusing.

Baby (infant left with Raine; not named yet)

Ruth (old woman in Luin visiting her daughter, Lora)

Dr. Newbury (schoolmaster of the East Side Luin School; acquaintance of Raine. She calls him “Mr.” Newbury since he refuses to accept she is a professor)

Mrs. Browning (heavily pregnant woman in town, someone Dr. Newbury said was about to give birth)

Tommy (Mrs. Browning’s son)

Miss Tanner (Tommy’s teacher)

The Talbots (farmers who bring milk to town to sell it most mornings)

Ms. Leybourn (the second person Dr. Newbury said was about to give birth)

Miss Taff (schoolmistress of the West Side Luin School)

That’s all for now, but of course...if anyone has any questions or concerns please feel free to message me (anon is on as always if you’re more comfortable) or comment here.

Feedback/Comments/Criticism over at Ao3 would be incredible, even if it’s just a few words.

Thanks so much!

#tales of symphonia #raine sage #mannafics

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tumble4rpdr · 2 years

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I was tagged by the always wonderful @glittertrail to do this💕

relationship status: single but will soon start actively looking (I just have to get my confidence and dating profile up)

favourite colour: any shade of blue and purple, black, deep/blood red

favourite food: I have an affinity for junk food (I love all the foods that are terrible for me) but especially pizza, fries, Cheetos puffs, pumpkin donuts, and Entenmann’s powdered donuts and chocolate frosted Pop’ems (I think I might have the least refined palate ever😁)

song stuck in your head: The Game Is Over by Evanescence and Walking in the Snow by Run The Jewels (I saw them both in concert recently and I haven’t been able to get these songs out of my head)

time: 5:53PM (though it’ll probably be later once I actually finish this)

dream trip: For some reason I’ve always wanted to go to France though my brother keeps wanting me to go to Tokyo with him (he went a few years ago and thinks I would love it) and I’m slowly coming around to the idea. If I were to stay in my own country I think that Las Vegas sounds fun and there’s just so much there to do and try (though not all of it’s good🙈)

last book I read: Children of the New World by Alexander Weinstein (I keep meaning to move on to his second book but I just never get to it)

last book I enjoyed reading: I definitely enjoyed reading Children of the New World and while I liked some of the short stories more then others, overall the theme of the book was so relevant and well portrayed and every story had at least one line or section that made me go “wow” and just fall in love

last book I hated reading: Adolf in Wonderland by Carlton Mellick III. I read this years ago but this is (unfortunately) always my go to choice for a book I hated reading. It was my first foray into bizarro fiction and between the title and the plot summary I had such high expectations and really thought that this book would be different and interesting. Ultimately there was no plot and it was weird just for the sake of being weird and I was so let down and don’t even think I finished it

bonus questions:

favourite thing to cook/bake: I used to bake a lot more when I had more free time but I’ll still occasionally make these macadamia nut macaroons (with coconut and Saltine crackers drizzled in chocolate) that I love (I’ll sometimes end up eating the batter as I’m spooning it into the baking trays🙈) and that seem to be a favorite of my friends and family

favourite craft to do in my free time: Unfortunately I don’t participate in any kind of crafting

most niche dislike: I spent so long trying to come up with a good answer for this question and the best I answer I could come up with (and it’s still awful and not really niche) is fruit snacks (Welch’s if I had to narrow it down but honestly I despise any and all brands). I’m thinking it’s because I’ve had to eat them so much throughout my life (whenever my blood sugar got low) so now they just taste so cloyingly sweet and gross to me that I can hardly eat them (I still keep them around but found other things to help deal with my lows)

opinion(s) on circuses: Yes for a Cirque du Soleil type situation with stunts and acrobatics (though even then I worry that the performers will get hurt even though it’s so cool to see) but a very strong no to typical circuses since I know the animals get treated horribly

do you have a sense of direction: In terms of my career surprisingly yes (though it’s recent and it might very well change), in terms of my personal life not so much, and in terms of a legitimate sense of direction 1000% no (I’ll be in a car and start confusing left and right if I’m driving to a place I’ve never been before🙈)

I’m never sure who to tag so I’ll just offer this up to anyone who hasn’t done it yet and wants to💜

#as always thank you for the ask💗

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karlssonbuus30 · 5 months

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Confused About SEO? These Tips Can Help!

Visitors are a measure of a site's success. Sites focused on selling inventory are particularly reliant on visitor traffic. Sites that rank highly in the search engine results have more visitors. SEO can help you boost these kinds of rankings. To start taking healthcare digital marketing services of search engine optimization yourself, keep on reading. To really get ahead in the web business game and earn a high ranking for your business, it is imperative that you learn about HTML title and Meta tags. You need to learn how to use them for your own site and also which tags your competitors are using. With a little bit of research, you will quickly learn about how to use quality tags and ultimately earn higher placement. Learn about search engine optimization or hire a company that specializes in it. The work you put into your site will be wasted if the site can't be found during a web search. A good SEO plan will have you ranking higher in the results of the major search engines for keyword searches that relate to your company. With SEO, don't be afraid to make mistakes. If you try something and it doesn't work, you can always come back later and make changes. One of the most important things is to keep putting out new content and keep your pages fresh, so even mistakes will have a positive impact on your search engine rankings, as long as you take care of errors as soon as you notice them. Make your website URL more SEO-friendly. Incorporate some or all of your keywords in your site address, like "www.mysite.com/antique-book-store". This will help search engines find your site. Also, use hyphens rather than underscores because hyphens count as spaces but underscores do not. But don't do it too much; having multiple dashes make your link look like spam and people might not click on them. If you are trying to search engine optimize a blog, consider enabling comments. Some people turn off comments for fear of spam, but by allowing visitors to comment on articles within your blog, you can get free, unique content for your blog. Search engines love unique content, so comments can help your blog rank higher in search engine results pages. Provide high quality photographs of products, and include an easy to use magnification system so customers can get a good idea of the details. Be sure that colors are accurate and that no parts are obscured by reflections. Try photographing the items from several angles and either choose the most attractive result or allow customers to view each version in turn. Avoid using a bunch of keywords. Choose around 12 keywords that focus on what the bulk of your website is all about. You can decide which keywords and phrases will be most relevant by using analytical tools. When you are about to hire a search engine optimization company, it is important that you research into the company and all of the different tactics the company uses. You should always ask questions. healthcare ad agency to ask include things that have to do with the risks of using their company's service. If you want your site to be on the top of the search results when someone searches for your topic, you are going to have to create a site that is truly great. If you do not have a great site, no tactic is going to bring you to the top. There are many tools you can use online to check keyword density. Keep in mind that search engines may change their own format and algorithms so keep your keyword checkers up-to-date and research which way the current search engine trend is going. You do not want to make the mistake of choosing keyword tools that are not current. When you build your web site make sure that you do not use Flash for that. This is because many search engine crawlers do not understand Flash. Using HTML is the most popular option and it is the easiest to keep up with. Also remember to keep all of the flashy graphics to a minimum. As mentioned earlier, the key to a successful website is lots of visitors. Sites featuring merchandise can't thrive without visitors. If you have a site that does well in search engine results, it will get a lot of visitors. Using SEO is something that you can do for your rankings to increase. SEO can work for you when you use this advice.

#healthcare ad agency #healthcare digita

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nevenabadr · 3 years

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50 Shades of You! Tom Hiddleston X Female! Reader

Note: This is my first ever fanfiction for Tom Hiddleston. I have not written fiction for ages. English is not my first language.

Inspiration: this is inspired by:

“I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes.”

–Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

Word count: 2660

Warnings: Romance, sweet words, and smut–this is +21 and not for everyone.

Enjoy reading and please comment with your feedback. 💚

-------------------------------------------------------

During the summer Cambridge University was having a conference "Gothic Elements In John Milton's Paradise Lost." As you the young professor of literature, the coordinate manager suggested that the University alumnus could join for not just attending, but acting a piece of the tragedy. Amongst the candidates was the Classic department graduate and famous actor, Tom Hiddleston.

You know that he might have scheduled issues or time conflicts, but you suggested the committee email him. To your surprise, he accepted the offer.

The scene of choice was casting the devil out of hell.

On the stage during the conference eve, you did not have the perfect time to watch him, but you took a glimpse of acting from far.

He even caught your show and face attending the rehearsals.

The conference day was pressuring. You were trying to get everything right, in the middle of your so-close meltdown. A voice brought you to reality, "Hello, is this professor Y/N)?"

You turned to find the British handsome alumni smiling peacefully at you. "Yes, how can I help you?"

"Indeed, I am the one offering help." As he adjusted his glasses, I asked the committee manager to take upon some errant backstage. Maybe I can assist with the front ceremony?"

"Of course," you paused for a moment, "can you help me with the dinner's seats arrangement? My assistant is absent and I have to print and arrange them myself."

"Just show me a computer and all will be done."

Both of you took your time arranging an evening missing up some seats.

"Here comes my name. You will be seated with the professors, of course!" He was busy putting name tags over the table.

"Oh! Don't remind me." You replied as if it is a conversation with an old friend and continued "the Classic department and Literature."

"They might start a war." Both of you started laughing

"I have an idea." He took a tag from his table and moved yours next to his. "Now you will be with a friend"

The presentations finished, you had to go for the gym showers to change and wear your conference and dinner dress.

By the time you arrived, the scene from the tardy was about to be played. You took your place in the front seat.

Tom was playing Satan. He noticed that you were reciting the lines with him. He even almost smiles at you. Could not hold himself from looking at you in the front row while playing the scene of...

"All is not lost; the unconquerable Will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield; (And what is else not to be overcome?) That glory never shall his wrath or might Extort from me to bow and sue for grace With suppliant knee and deify his power, Who from the terror of his arm so late Doubted his empire[.] (I, 106–114)"

Your facial expressions captured his eyes, the movement of your lips and then the flame of your applause.

At the dinner, he was interested to hear all about your work and writings. His eyes could not able to leave you.

By the end of the dinner, he walked you to your car, "this was lovely, thank you for tonight"

You smiled at him, "thank you for accepting our invitation."

You shake hands and opened your car door like the gentleman he is.

"Would you like to go out with me, for a coffee? Books and coffee, maybe." He did not hesitate to ask.

"I would love to. You already have my number within the conference contact information." You raised an eyebrow and smirked.

As your car drove away, he knew he was up for an adventure.

Three months later, you are happily dating and sharing sweet kisses. He suggested a film marathon. Each week one of you chose a topic.

That Saturday's topic was Russian Literature and you had to add: "or inspired by it"

"Excuse me, but Tolstoy has no comparison!" He grimaced

"Shadow and Bones, love!" You teased him, "it the Netflix adaption of the era"

"After Anna Karenina, please," he sounded like an old professor.

"Alright then, deal." You tickled him and kissed his lips softly

Both of you enjoyed Anna Karenina, however, you were crying in his arms.

"That dreadful ending."

He hugged you "Hey, Shadow and Bones will make it up to you, let me make extra popcorn." Once again, he kissed you.

He came back with popcorn that will at least survive three episodes. You snuggled between his arms.

"Look at Alexie, how he said 'Make me your villain.'"

You were swooning as a fangirl.

"I beg your pardon, I am literally a villain," he complained

Oh! I would literally," stressing upon the last word, "let him have me"

His face was irritated and you not coming close to making love made him anxious, that you might not be ready. He never inquired about you.

You caressed his tummy, "hey, a penny for your thoughts, sir." It sounded like one of the Jack the Ripper prostitutes, about which you have constantly been talking.

His voice evolved deeper and his eyes did not leave yours "your deepest sexual desire. What do you crave?"

Comparing to your age, you were nervous and inexperienced. "My life was spent between books. I..."

He did not let you continue speaking and took your lips between his drawing your body closer to him, uttering between his hot kisses "I am not just a villain" his lips made the earth move "I am a God" whispering against the sport skin of your nick " a king" his hands were moving down the same tomes his lips reached the line of your bosom whilst his hand slides prevailed touching down pussy and dug his fingers driving you till the edge.

"I want you," you whispered between your soft moans.

He neglected your cravings and maintained his rhythm, watching your complexion and closed eyes till you arched your back in awe.

You collapsed between his arms heavily breathing "that was extremely wonderful, but I need you"

He kissed your lips playfully. "you are a delicious girl, Y/N, but..."

You hashed him with a kiss that he pulled from "if your life was between books, I want you to write me your deepest desire."

"Darling, it was a series, Alexie is fictional." You wrapped your arms around his neck.

"Fictional or not, he is a man, you are paying for this."

He was deadly serious "write me your longing."

You laugh "What? Like the 50 Shades of Y/N?"

He gazed into your eyes "aiming to please and punish you, darling, avenging my honour"

The next morning when you were with your family on Sunday's lunch, he opened an email titled "50 Shades of Y/A"

The content was as follows:

"You!"

He grinned to himself and determined to show her how fiction can become real.

Your week was busy. He had signed a new contract for a mini-series and was supposed to film soon.

Not replying to your email made you nervous, even went meeting for dinner. He was quiet about it.

You checked your sent box millions of times to make sure it arrived. Still, you knew he was busy working, and you were busy with the finals coming soon.

Thursday’s dinner, nothing yet, nothing but gaggling and discussing your days and current reads.

"Darling, we did not decide this week's marathon"

He did not take his eyes off the menu "Are not you having a big family week, you should go" he was confident and calm.

Deep inside you wanted to grab his neck and jiggle him, but for the lady you are and the restaurant, you were calm.

"Wonderful!"

The dinner was over; he drove you home, kissed you goodnight.

Saturday morning, a ringing at your door. Apparently, you received a package, a big one.

You kept thinking that some books might have come early from your publisher. Unwrapping it to a surprise satin 1950 coat with Ruby red entourage and black heels.

There was also a note, she recognised the handwriting:

"Wear nothing but this for your punishment. If other pieces were found upon your body, then fear my fury and vengeance.

Love,

So, it was her version of Mr Grey. But have you ever been ready to comply with anyone?"

Suddenly, a message arrived on your phone

"Reminder, a black will pick you tonight at 8, don't disobey me, Princess."

Your heel clicked on the floor as a man dressed in an old fashion suit opened the car for you. The windows were blacked out, so you did not see where it was heading.

"Welcome, Princess," he greeted you as if you were royalty, "My master is awaiting your presence."

You took his hands. The place was carved out of one of your favourite dark fantasies, a mansion with gargoyles, dark lighting, and a vast garden.

You could not believe your eyes. Tom knew your deepest desires indeed.

But that is not the end.

The inside was as of a dark enchantment with deep red flowers and candles. The servant showed you the way to a dining room fit for a feast. Tom was not there.

"My master requires you to await his arrival." The servant bowed and left.

You were like a child been left inside her favourite toyshop. The ornaments, the lighting, and even the shapes of the food. That aesthetic you only could dream of but never reach.

"Enjoying yourself already?" You turned to find your man dressed in a black Victorian suit. His face was shaved, shorter hair, no glasses. Just all of the handsome glory.

You took a step forward "no princess, I shall come for you"

He kissed your hand and then sat on the table's head, while it sat on the opposite side and faced you away indeed.

"Are you pleased, princess?" He raised his glass of red wine.

"Yes, my Prince." You smile.

"In here, you shall address me as your king." His eyes lit with fire, and his voice was harsh.

You played along and raised an eyebrow "my king."

"This is not a game, princess, you are my prisoner"

You dined quietly, as he did not drop his eyes from you.

"Enjoying yourself?"

You flirted "deeply, my king"

He left his chair and came closer to you, his fingers left your chain so you can gaze into your eyes.

He asked, "care for a dance?"

You smiled "I would love to."

You stepped forward and took his hand to a ballroom, just for you and him, the dark king.

The following piece of music was sensual and moving.

"The coat, princess, I want to see nothing but heels on your body,"

You obeyed the king, but for a tick. When you took it off, underneath it a short emerald green strapless corset dress tight upon the curves of your body and pushed your bosoms to their glory.

He grinned and his eyes darken "looking for further punishment, I suppose?"

"Anything to please the king." You took his hand and kissed it. He did not expect it.

He turned furiously and the next song was romantic. He wrapped his arms around you once again, waltz, you sneaky woman, deserved joy before being punished.

Twirling you on the dance floor like the earth has no one but the two of you.

By the end, he carried you "to my chambers, little one"

You were nervous and anxious. What if he did not like what was underneath the dress?

He entered a candlelight room with a four-poster bed in the centre. The curtains of the bed were black and emerald.

He laid you in bed, kissing your lips and playing with your hair.

His breathing was heating against your skin.

"You won't miss that dress, will you, princess?"

He did not wait for your reply as he lifted a dagger amongst the layers of his suit and cut the corset down to the last piece of the dress.

You wore nothing else. You were lying exposed as he stood to look upon your naked curves for the first time.

You spontaneously tried to cover your bosom and private parts.

"No, do not you dare" he was angry and you could not distinguish reality from fantasy.

You throw the rest of the dress away. Hands laying by your head and he stood there for a juncture, gazing at every inch of your body.

"Turn," he ordered angrily as if the soul of Loki took over him, "I said, turn"

You nearly dropped tears "here my king"

You felt the softness of his lips upon your delicate shoulders.

Kissing the line of your spine. He knows this will work like magic. You tickle from your back, now trying to lick you, taste you, slap you.

He flipped you to face him. You were sobbing. He could hear it under your moans.

"You are not a princess, you are not a queen."

He wipes her tears from her cheek "you are a goddess and I am your slave."

You giggled between your tears, wrapping your arms around his neck "my king"

"Your, slave" As his voice became softer, he hushed you with a finger.

He kissed every inch of your body. You were playing with his short blonde locks.

"Let me worship your bosom, my goddess" he kissed, licked and played with your nipples and cupped your bosoms gently.

Kissing down till he reached your pussy, "Let me worship your temple" as he licked your clitoris.

You were moaning loader now

“Not this time, my king I want you inside me."

"Alright, as the pleasure of my goddess, I shall obey."

He adjusted his weight on you and asked, "wider for me, my goddess of beauty"

You opened for him as he enters you for the first time. You let out a loud breath "are you alright" he took your hands between his.

"Continue, my king."

He is just thrusting himself gently inside you. Your moans filling the room

"I am a villain, a king, a god, and a man"

Your hands were free to run along his back as he continued, "a man, no, a slave for my goddess"

You were moving with him and moaning louder, "my king, what else?"

Thursinting himself harder and moving with a faster pace.

"My goddess, the sculptures of beauty," between his breathing and moaning "Da Vinci would not be able to capture your grace"

You were kissing as your nail dug inside his shoulders.

His last whispers as moving himself inside your pussy which was clutching around his manhood. He moved with pace, as you rocked your lap against him

"I will live in thy heart," kissing your lips as you bite his lower lip between your steamy breath. "Die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes.”

He was going faster now and you were in tremendous awe and your skin was heating up with your pleasure.

"Look at me goddess" you were closing your eyes as you become close to you your orgasm "look at me," he ordered

"I love thee, Tom," you said as your pussy was clutching around his manhood and trembling underneath him. His enormous climax followed your orgasm.

You were shaking. He used his hands to keep himself from crushing you with his weight.

He rested his forehead on yours till both of you caught your breath. Gently took you between his arms as resting on his side "and I love thee, Y/N"

kissed you and as you were falling asleep, yet muttered, "I made you my villain, did not I?"

He giggles, "I beg your pardon, your God, King, and lover"

You kissed for the last time of that night and snuggle between peacefully each other's arms.

----------------------------------------------------

Tag list:

@shafverani

@imsebastiansta-n

@brokenwitty

@221bshrlocked (awaiting your feedback)

@sinner-as-saint

@zemosimp05

@buckys-fairy

#marvel #fan fiction #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston x you #Loki #loki fic #Loki Smut #tom hiddleston × reader #Crimson Peak #Thor #loki laufeyson #Disney Loki #tom hiddelston x reader #tom hiddelston imagine #tom hiddleston fanfiction #tom hiddleston fandom #tom hiddleston one shot #Tom Hiddleston OneShot #Tom Hiddleston x you

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cat-fire · 3 years

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How is Saezuru Tori Wa Habatakanai a game changer for content aimed at mature audience – Notes on Yashiro #1

I took some time to write in the middle of a gloomy afternoon. I started from my thought that Saezuru Tori Wa Habatakanai (both manga and anime) is an unique piece that forever has changed the quality of content aimed at mature audiences, but I ended up writing about Yashiro and why he is one of the best written characters that I’ve ever seen.

It will be a long text and you already know that I am not a native English speaker, but I am trying my best, so bare with me. I have so much to say, that I could not fit everything in one post. Expect more to come, but due to my busy work schedule I can only write once a week. Thank you!

Disclaimer: There will be talks about abuse, rape, explicit sexual content, and I won’t refrain from using words like f and d. So it might be a lot of fucks and dicks. Also, a lot of personal side notes ahead.

[keep reading ♡♡♡]🖤🚬

I will analyze from a personal view the most important perceived elements of Yoneda Kou’s work, altogether with their perceived impact on content aimed at mature audience. In order to avoid any confusion that might occur due to my, at times, ambiguous manner of writing, I’ve decided to split my ideas into sections/headers which will highlight the main points. If anything gets foggy, I will gladly fragment it and explain it the best I can, later.

We’re living in an era where content is stored and shared everywhere. Content looks like a deep and wide ocean. Right before I watched Saezuru Tori Wa Habatakanai for the first time, I was looking to consume something romantic-but-controversial, dramatic, slow-paced and engaging, but with a tint of action, a need of mine that shows on Netflix, HBO or any other largely consumed broadcasting platform could not fulfill anymore.

I know for sure that too much existing content can be overwhelming. But is it really “this much content” quality content? The question is food for thought. With the illusion of endless choices in mind and at a click distance, it’s surprising to find out that there is so little content on topics like mature-romance-drama-action. This being said, I do not aim to compare Saezuru with anything else, as I know there are maybe other titles within the same tag (however, they are different!), and I don’t want any sort of bias to perpetuate and create divided opinions. Instead of comparing to other titles, I’d rather focus on why Saezuru is unique.

Even though Saezuru gives us the impression that it is niched on a certain audience, you have to hear me out how unique and amazing it is, that even while included within a huge scope of media entertainment, it still ticks the box for appeal on a larger audience. Larger than manga lovers. Larger than BL and romance lovers. I deliberately chose this term “content for mature audience” because I think that Saezuru perfectly fits it, more than it fits BL manga/ yaoi tag.

Saezuru has endless potential and I am writing this because I want to see and hear more of it in the future. I wouldn’t mind a visual novel with Yashiro and Doumeki, more movies, or a long anime series. I see it as a game changer because it creates, through a series of elements well thought and put together, a genre on its own whose complexity makes it so difficult to put a label on, which ultimately is the source of its power over conventional content.

There are certain elements that make Saezuru what it is: art. We’re going to follow in-depth and with examples 2 important elements: development of characters and immersion. These two elements are interconnected, but I will attempt to discuss them divided. Looking from a far, it does not seem like much, but they are major game changers.

1. Development of characters

Overview

There is no doubt that Yoneda Sensei’s characters feel alive. They breathe, take each step, weather and suffer more than you’d think it’s possible, in a manner that looks beyond convincing to the audience. Each of their fights will leave them with scars, and scars as physical features are an important symbol in the chosen appeal for realism. Needless to say, scars, under the emotional and mental umbrella, are present, bold, and they hurt. Sensei just knows how to depict everything with intensity and accuracy.

If you are watching the movie, or reading the manga for the first time, it’s going to literally sting how relatable Yashiro is, how real and raw Doumeki is, and how the other supporting and secondary characters are not just there by coincidence, but have a sustaining role in the atmosphere and story.

In the following section and further posts, emphasis is placed on Yashiro, but I’ve included key moments that capture the charm of all the other characters involved in the story, though I will treat Yashiro and Doumeki separately, putting each in light.

Yashiro and his past self

Following the proposed logic with Yashiro, from the start, we can easily see that he is bound to be a pellicular main character, but relatable, without taking over the role of a “prince charming”, although objectively handsome looking. He does not have a linear evolution, his upsides and downsides happening at random times.

Yashiro has a turbulent life as a teenager, after suffering trauma from rape in his childhood, then gradually encountering hope after meeting Kageyama, just to be let down by his ignorance, and to ultimately follow the masochistic path that sculpted him into the person we see when he first meets Doumeki. The psychological tools used in shaping Yashiro are not unusual, but he, as a whole character, stands out. I always wanted to deep dive into what makes Yashiro so damn charming. There are several instances that stand out about him and scenes where his evolution/transformation curve is visible.

At the very start, Yashiro himself tells us that he is "twisted beyond repair" and enjoys pain because this is everything that he’s ever known, ever since his stepfather raped him at the age of 10.

Kageyama was an important turn in his life as a young adult, as meeting him gave him the hope for a romantic relationship. Kageyama touches Yashiro’s scars in the doctor’s office and in the audiovisual room, but this stops as soon as he finds out that Yashiro was raped. Kageyama seems like the light at the end of the tunnel at first, but it turns out to be just the entrance for a pitch black pathway. He isn’t the salvation Yashiro hoped for. In fact, Yashiro does not even know what to hope for and what true salvation means, which mixed with his dark background, results in a depressing and hopeless spiral type of outcome. He also has no parents by his side. He's never had someone to guide him and warm his freezing heart during childhood. We might as well assume that Yashiro is broken from the beginning. But how broken, is it really beyond repair? I think that is not the case.

I found interesting how Yashiro’s idea of love is contoured around the time shown with Kageyama. Yashiro, after all the trauma, creates a liaison between sex and hatred, as they coexist in his mind and actions (= the famous defense mechanism). It is best shown when in love with Kageyama, he will imagine, and get turned on by a version of Kageyama that is vulnerable and helpless. Not by a dominant version that could, for instance, fuck him.

“The Kageyama in my fantasy wasn’t on top or on bottom. He just cried.”

His true love interest is perceived as complete opposite of how he sees his dominator. But even more, Yashiro does not know how the opposite of pain feels like, so he is too afraid to find out as his defense kicks in. His love interest is never going to touch him the way that everyone who abuses him does. That’s why I don’t think he ever fantasized or had dreams about being penetrated by Kageyama, which, proves that violent sex is his main coping mechanism for his trauma. As a consequence, he is unable to romanticize sex or to make love with someone he has feelings for, as “making love” has no known meaning to him. Also, his basic emotional needs from childhood could not be fulfilled, because of the mistreatment that he received from his family, so he could not fully develop that side. This is why Yashiro can only look, sink into his thoughts, disconnect from the world and be an onlooker to his beloved Kageyama.

Here I would see fit to also point one thing: the scenes where Yashiro is lusting over Kageyama are so well made. They are absolutely flawless, and they show in a few panels the whole anguish, confusion and arousal of a troubled and lost kid, especially the moments when he runs and masturbates in the heat of the moment, thinking of Kage, away from everyone.

When Yashiro chokes on his regrets as he jerks off over and over... I could literally feel dark butterflies in my stomach and a metallic taste on my tongue. So expressive and graphic, I loved it.

Soon enough we find out that Kageyama doesn’t really care, and this realization of him not caring, gradually contributes to Yashiro’s mental state degradation. I cannot stop wondering what would have happened if Kageyama would have cared enough to protect Yashiro from further twisting the knife in his own wounds. Yashiro breaking down and crying because of Kageyama's ignorance is one heartbreaking thing, but knowing that Yashiro is biased and blind to the fact that Kageyama is one guy that half asses things in life, is another. A receipt of how Kageyama fucks it:

He gave wrong signals to Yashiro all along. You’re telling me that for two weeks, he touches his wounds because he has a fetish for marks, then he stops and never touches him again, and calls Yashiro just “a friend”. What if Yashiro isn’t simply twisted to fall for the first thing that appears as rescue, but instead, he gets those signals and understands them right to a point, just to be let down and have Kageyama take it all back, just because Kageyama is a coward himself who wouldn’t take things further. Might sound harsh, but Kageyama has always been a closeted gay and together with Yashiro’s zero self esteem, nothing good could come out of this relationship, not in the way that Yashiro wanted it. If we look at how things turned out with Kuga, and we compare Yashiro with Kuga, we can so easily see that Kuga pushed for the old man’s feelings, while Yashiro stood silent and chose to keep these feelings in himself. What if Yashiro pushed harder in high school for Kageyama’s reactions? What if Yashiro demanded and was a bit more pushy, just like Kuga did? But then again, seems at peace with his past, while Yashiro lives everyday with the consequences of his past, gets lost in these consequences and he constantly swallows them like cigarette smoke.

Kageyama does only half the things. He isn’t even paying attention to Yashiro and never really got to “know” the real him. That’s why he seems so ignorant and a dick. Even Kuga can figure out more about Yashiro at a glance, than Kageyama could in 20 years. It’s no doubt, I can see why Yashiro fell for this type that our doc is, but he is not even a good doctor to begin with. In “Don’t Stay Gold” his trembling hand and lack of accuracy while performing medical tasks proves this point. When he pulls the bullet out of that guy, it looks like he does not even know what he is doing. And even without pointing that out, he could not care less if something happens to Yashiro. He will be there to help, of course, but he will never leave the comfort zone. On top of that, Kageyama later claimed to have shown a lot of compassion towards Yashiro. I am struggling to see it and it hurts me, both as a reader and observer.

Bitterness aside, Kageyama just wanted to be normal, not associated with someone weird like Yashiro. It's fair in a way, but twisted and unfair in another way, because someone already damaged as Yashiro is, did not really deserve it. No human being deserves that. And... Being looked down on and feeling sorry for... Two things that happened before to Yashiro. Two things that he desp adores. Kageyama does them both. But guess what? After all Kageyama isn’t a bad guy, he is just human. And humans are not all black and white, they’re so many colors and shades, and they have good and bad in them. Kage is just human, whether we keep a grudge on him or not. One more point scored by Sensei’s realism, as it’s impossible to hate side characters.

And with all the loneliness, and all messed up, Yashiro is still showing compassion. Why? Because he shows up to the funeral of Kageyama’s dad, being there for his only friend when he literally has no idea how to show support because he never experienced having someone care for him. Yet, there he is. Broken, but not broken enough not to empathize.

Also, later on, another moving moment which shows how big of a heart Yashiro has, is when, on his path to enter Yakuza, he hears about the discussion about the old hospital that belonged to Kageyama’s family and begs Misumi not to sell the land. That scene equally shows the interest that Misumi starts to take in Yashiro, seeing Yashiro not moved an inch after he was beaten to almost death, but gets all on fire and begs when it comes to this. Here is about how selfless and ready to endure everything is Yashiro, even if betrayed and left on the sidelines every time.

Surrounded by the disappointment of rejection, Yashiro steals the contact lenses from Kageyama, but not to make him suffer. This act of theft is nothing but a symbol for his need for closure. Yashiro wanted to own something that could comfort him and be his, if Kageyama could not be his. A lot of great people on Tumblr explained so much better than me these aspects about the symbol that is the contact lenses case, so I am not going to insist on it. I really love how such a small recurring symbol was inserted into the story. It shows the idea that Yashiro is, in fact, sensitive.

“I am a wonderful actor”.

In similar instances, he is full of contradictions, one moment he laughs, another he is dead serious around his crush. Unstable and tormented by what happens to him if he emotionally gets hurt by the soon to be doctor, he finds relief in pain from sex with older men. And later on, he is plotting on making Kuga and Kageyama meet, just to give himself a lot of pain seeing Kageyama finally falling in love with a man. Yashiro isn’t only an actor, but he is a great observer himself. He knows exactly what his type and movements will be, so he knows how to act till the end, when he can finally push himself to accept that Kageyama will never be his man.

What I really wanted to say by showing all these examples, is that Yashiro is so much more than his trauma and so much more than he is perceived by Kage. His complexity goes beyond the expectation of just a broken kid with a "fucked up past". Sadly, he is the only one blinded, not capable to see inside of himself, mostly because of what others did to him. At some point he says that it's no one's fault for his past, and that alone speaks volumes about the person that he is. He took all the blame on himself and continues to carry on as a side observer to his own life.

Fast forward the described scenes, some feelings remain dormant as Yashiro gets into the Yakuza, but I think daddy Misumi takes care of certain aspects of Yashiro, and thanks to him, they’re not lost forever. The dynamic between Yashiro and Misumi is another interesting topic.

Misumi is, well, both a daddy and a dad for Yashiro. It’s so intriguing to read everything that Yashiro went through when he first got into the Yakuza, and for sure, how Misumi saved Yashiro in all the ways that he could have been saved. He gave him a place to stay, and he gave him a bit of worth after partially convincing him not to sleep around with every single person, when they could simply sleep together. Misumi could give Yashiro the violence he was hungry for in bed, but he also could give him the affectionate care of a parent, because I’m pretty sure that Misumi loves Yashiro like his own son. He believed in Yashiro the way he was, even though he met him while he was at his lowest, being fucked by an entire gang and covered in cum. Here I think Yashiro’s recklessness, charm and not giving a fuck energy, played a major role in seducing Misumi, and by seducing I mean... More than just getting hard at the sight of Yashiro.

This just turned from a character analysis to I LOVE Misumi so much and everything he’s ever done for Yashiro. And honestly, I hold myself not to insert the image of Ryuzaki hearing how fucking good Yashiro looks after being taken under Misumi’s wing. Thinking of how in love Ryuzaki is with Yashiro, it makes me kind of excited to see his reaction.

Before meeting Doumeki, Yashiro has a few more details worth mentioning:

Self neglect habits, which can be linked to his depression. I am sure that Yashiro skips meals, especially in the days before Misumi took him under his wing, when he was fucked by Ryuzaki's gang. Maybe he doesn't get enough sleep from the way I see him at times, and he lacks overall the self care that he needs and constantly falls into the dark haul of hating himself not leaving any time for nourishment.

Yashiro is a heavy smoker, that is a detail that can equally reflect 2 things: he is trying to escape through his addiction, but smoking is also part of his interesting personality, a detail that makes him versatile. He smokes since high school, so this habit has been there for long enough to become part of him, maybe as another way to cope with trauma. Just like all the coping with trauma through sex.

Yashiro is not a monster; after all he becomes a successful man who’s got so many desirable attributes, yakuzas would kill for. I think that even while twisted beyond repair, hopeless and left behind, our Sensei left space for Yashiro to be able to empathize and feel love, even in the moment t0. He just doesn’t know it yet, because no one truly loved him. But what we do know, however, is that he always wanted to be loved.

I will conclude this post by saying that Yashiro changes a lot from high school up to entering in Doushinkai, so he was not stagnant at all before meeting Doumeki. He is not ready for love, but he refrained a bit from the gang bang and sex with just anyone. He does it smarter now. His dynamics with the other characters, his own struggles and past, and the position that he got within the group, remain all connected to his wonderful charm. It overall seems like there is no side character that is left untouched by Yashiro’s beauty, and as a result most of the people he crossed paths with, either bear feelings or admiration for him. Ok, maybe not Hirata. But the plot is so exciting, I could not even imagine that a character like Yashiro could reunite politics and affairs around such an immersive circle.

- to be continued -

#saezuru tori wa habatakanai #analysis #mine #Yashiro #Doumeki #saezurufeels #long ramble #imobsessedwiththis #long ass post #kageyama #twittering birds never fly

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wrenhyperfixates · 3 years

Text

Just Dance

Pairing: Loki x reader Summary: Loki joins you and Peter as you play some video games. Warnings: kind of just a short crack fic but also a lot of fluff A/N: If you somehow don’t know the song Rasputin, please go listen to it. Hope you enjoy :)

Permanent Tag List: @lucywrites02 @frostedgiant @lunarmoon8 @twhiddlestonsstuff @lokistan @lowkeyorlokificrecs @gaitwae @whatafuckingdumbass @castiels-majestic-wings @kozkaboi @cozy-the-overlord @birdgirl90 @myraiswack @mythicalgarlicknot @what-a-flammable-heart @marvelouslovely @laurenandloki

Disclaimer: Gif not mine

“Yes!” you cheered as you got in front of Peter at the last second, winning the cup in Mario Kart.

“Nooooo,” he lamented. “I was so close. Nice job though.”

“Thank you. It was a good game. You’ll win next time, Petey,” you said, ruffling his hair.

You began to set up for the next game, selecting your karts and bickering over which courses to do when Loki walked in. He looked between you two and the TV screen.

“Is everything alright, darling?” he asked, coming to sit next to you. “I heard shouting.”

“Better than alright, actually. I won,” you explained as he pulled you onto his lap, wrapping his arms around your waist and hugging you close.

“Well then, congratulations, my sweet. Might I ask what game you are playing.”

Excitedly, you and Peter explained the game. The conversation took a quick detour to be a debate about which courses and characters and karts were the best. You were pretty sure Loki was totally lost during that bit, but just nodded along as if he understood what you were talking about. Eventually, you agreed to disagree, and finished explaining the controls to the god.

“Most intriguing,” your boyfriend mused. “I do not suppose you would let me join you in playing?”

“Of course we would, Mr. Loki,” Peter grinned.

Honestly, you were a bit more hesitant to let him play. Of course you would love to spend some time playing video games with your boyfriend and best friend, but you knew how Loki could be with modern technology. Or, as he usually called it, “insolent machinery.” Not to mention how competitive he could get. Which would be totally fine, except that you’d be surprised if he didn’t lose. As long as he came in the top six, you were sure you’d be able to keep him happy.

That was if you even actually got to playing. It took him nearly fifteen minutes to pick a character to play as. He kept asking about the backstory of each of the ones he thought looked interesting. Finally, he settled on King Boo. Mischievous and a king? It was like he was made with Loki in mind. After you and Peter also selected your favorite characters, you began to set the cc of the vs race. Unfortunately, Loki noticed you made it a lower difficulty for him and demanded you play on the hardest one there was.

“Are you sure, Mr. Loki?” Peter asked. “There’s no shame in lowering it since you’re a beginner.”

“I am quite certain, spiderling,” he reaffirmed. “Darling, make it as difficult as possible.”

“If you insist,” you sighed, knowing this wouldn’t end well.

Roughly twenty minutes later, you were proven right. Loki sputtered indignantly after he came in dead last in every race, ranking at the very bottom overall in twelfth place. He angrily tossed the remote down onto the couch beside him. You rubbed calming circles on the back of his hands as his arms came to encircle you again, still sitting on his lap. He rested his chin on your shoulder, utterly annoyed.

“That is ridiculous!” he finally exclaimed. “It required absolutely no real skill. It is a horrible measure of who is a winner and a loser, if you ask me.”

“Maybe we could play again on the easier setting a few times,” Peter suggested. “Then you could get the hang of it, and you’ll win for sure.”

“No thank you,” Loki answered, unwilling to risk losing again.

“How about a different game then?” you asked, hoping to pacify the adorably pouting god.

“I would not want to disrupt you anymore. It is fine. Besides, I am certain any other of these video games would also have no skill involved beyond pressing some buttons.”

He tried to get up, but you kept him where he was, getting an idea. You looked at Peter, who’d had the same thought as you. You both sprang up and began pushing furniture aside, creating a wide open space.

“What in the Nine are you doing?” Loki asked, bewildered.

“You want a game with your so-called real, physical skill? Well, get ready because we’re playing Just Dance,” you smiled at him, putting the controller back into his hand.

Uncertain about what exactly was happening, Loki stood in front of the screen with you and the teen superhero. As it loaded, you explained the logistics of the game; just follow the moves the avatar on the screen was doing. He eyed the two of you suspiciously, but went along with it. By the time you finished the first song, which you and Peter picked, knowing Loki would’ve taken forever to decide, the god had a wide smile on his face. He kept the two of you dancing for the next hour and a half until you were sweaty and out of breath.

“Ok, I think that’s enough of that for one day,” you panted, out of breath.

“Just one more,” he pleaded with puppy dog eyes. He was looking extra cute, you thought, with his hair pulled into a messy bun. “And then we can stop. But I am on a roll, I can feel it.”

You looked to Peter, who gave a small nod, agreeing to Loki’s request. Resting for a minute, you waited for the trickster god to pick the final song. After listening to the sample, he decided on Rasputin. You let out a tiny groan, knowing this one was a lot of leg work, but still took your position in front of the TV. In the end, you were happy Loki had picked the one he did. He just looked so happy. Not to mention you quite liked the view you got seeing him do the dance and having to wiggle his butt a little. You were sure your boyfriend would be quite embarrassed if he heard those thoughts, you thought with a laugh. Even though you and Peter were collapsing to the ground at the end of it, Loki was jumping up and down, happy that he had performed well enough to earn the megastar title.

“Congratulations, Loki,” you told him from the floor. “Good job.”

He sat on the ground next to you and, bending over, gave you a kiss on the lips. “Thank you, darling. And thank you, both of you, for including me in your games.

“No problem, Mr. Loki,” Peter said. “It was a lot of fun.”

“Indeed it was. Now, do you think I could try Mario Kart again? On a lower level this time, of course.”

Happy he wanted to give it another go, Peter went to change the game cartridge. Sitting up, you squeezed Loki’s hand, glad your boyfriend wasn’t being so stubborn anymore.

“I love you,” you said, kissing him.

“And I, you,” he replied against your lips as you parted ever so slightly.

As you met in another kiss, Loki realized something important; he didn’t care what he was playing, so long as he got to spend time with you.

269 notes · View notes

rosiehunterwolf · 3 years

Text

There's Sand Everywhere!

(quick shoutout to @fires-of-ninjago for the title idea and inspiration for this- you remember that ask game where people suggested titles for fics and you had to come up with a story to go along with it? Well, he sent in this title, and I came up with this, and liked it so much that I screenshotted it and- here we are!)

Prompts: Summer and Heist

Word Count: 7,922

Characters: The whole gang (including Pixal) :)

Timeline: Between seasons 12 and 13

Trigger Warnings: none (holy shit that's never happened before-)

Summary: It was just supposed to be a day off. A simple beach day. But when your family consists of six ninja and a samurai, including a nindroid convinced he’s a detective, his reluctant sidekick, an aquaphobe, a girl who can command the sea, an unassuming teen who seems to attract every animal he crosses paths with, and a bunch of argumentative idiots, nothing is ever that easy.

Read on FFN.net

Read on Ao3

Tumblr work under the cut

“We,” Kai proclaimed, surveying the room, “Need a day off.”

Lloyd shrieked at the fire ninja’s sudden outburst, falling out of his chair. Jay broke into snickers, and Lloyd shot him a glare.

“Kai,” Zane sighed, “get off the table.”

Kai stuck his tongue out at the nindroid, but hopped down, anyway. “Look at you guys!” Kai waved his hands at the group for emphasis. Papers fluttered to the ground where Lloyd had knocked them in his fall, Jay and Nya were sitting on the ground, surrounded by stacks of books tall enough to be mistaken for some kind of fort, Pixal was gathering some of the papers that had gone everywhere, while Cole and Zane had only just paused in their task of boxing up and carrying crates to the far side of the room. “Filing documents and organizing? Boooring.”

“Tasks which you’ve been a big help with, by the way,” Lloyd grumbled, as Cole offered him a hand and pulled him to his feet. He turned back to the desk, shuffling papers off of the keyboard of his laptop, the screen filled with lines of script and dozens of files that made Kai's brain hurt just to look at.

Nya pushed her reading glasses up her nose. “Jay and I technically aren’t working. We chose to do this of our own free will.”

Kai rolled his eyes at her. “What kind of psychopaths read for fun?”

Jay kicked his leg out, aiming for Kai’s ankle, but Cole quickly stepped between them, stopping the conflict before it could escalate into anything worse.

“We’re not reading them, we’re sorting them in order from most potentially useful to least so. They’re mechanics and engineering books. You never know when they might come in handy in a pinch.”

“Oh, because that’s so much more interesting. If you guys wanna spend all your free time geeking out, fine, what do I care. But what about the rest of you? C’mon, Lloydster. You don’t really wanna spend your entire day doing this,” he gestured at the laptop and paper-strewn desk- “do you?”

“It’s not about whether or not I want to. This stuff is important, Kai.”

“Lloyd’s right,” Zane agreed. “With all the crazy missions we’ve been on lately, we’ve neglected all our paperwork, and taking care of the Monastery.”

“It’s because we’ve been gone so long that we need a break!” Kai argued. “We just got done saving the entire city from an evil video game AI! If that’s not worth celebrating, I don’t know what is.”

“Technically,” Nya remarked, not even glancing up from the book she was skimming, “That was Jay who did that.”

Kai spluttered, ignoring the smug look on Jay’s face. “Okay, yeah, but we helped! And what about Aspheera? Or the Never Realm? That was all of us. And we didn’t have time to properly recuperate from that before we got launched right into Prime Empire!”

Pixal’s brow furrowed. “Y’know, he has a point…”

A frown flitted across Zane’s face. “I suppose we have been working for a long time…”

“That’s what I’ve been saying! Come on, let’s do something fun.”

“Not video games,” Cole groaned. “Jay and I spent the last three days playing a Lava Zombies tournament, and I’m all gamed-out.”

“No, let’s actually go somewhere. Like the-”

“The library!” Jay pitched.

“Or the museum!” Zane suggested.

“No!” Kai snapped. “Man, you guys are so lame. I meant somewhere fun. We should go to-”

“The beach!” Nya cried suddenly, standing up so quickly that she sent a pile of books toppling over. “Brilliant idea, Kai!”

“Wait, no,” he yelped. “That’s not what I was going to-”

But no one heard him. They were already scrambling to their feet, murmuring excitedly to one another.

“Guys, wait!” he cried. “Why would you want to go to the beach? It’s all sandy, and wet, and-”

“Don’t worry, Kai,” Nya giggled, “we won’t let the ocean hurt you.”

“That’s not-” he felt himself turning red as the others laughed. “That’s not what I meant! I just thought… wouldn’t laser tag or something be a lot more fun?”

The others glanced at each other, uncertain. Zane stepped forward. “Let’s take a vote. All in favor of laser tag, raise your hands.”

Kai lifted his hand, but no one else did. He scowled at them.

“And all in favor of the beach?”

Six hands went up.

“Seems like we have a clear winner. Let’s get going, shall we?”

---

“Do you have the towels?”

“All here!”

“What about the sunscreen?”

“Hold on- Jay, did you grab the sunscreen?”

“What?”

Lloyd cupped his hands around his mouth, yelling louder. “Did you grab the sunscreen?”

“Oh yeah, it’s here! Wait, do you have my-”

“Your what?” Lloyd called, walking over to him, passing Pixal and Zane as they came out of the kitchen. The female nindroid sighed.

“Can’t anything get done around here without everyone making such a racket?”

“Nope,” Nya elbowed her playfully. “When you’ve been with these idiots as long as I have, you get used to it.”

Pixal’s eyes widened. “I can’t imagine ever being used to all this.”

Nya smiled. “Did I mention I’m slightly deaf?”

“We finished making the picnic,” Zane told her, holding out the basket he was carrying. “Is everyone ready to go?”

Nya eyed the guys, who were running around the Monastery, barely avoiding tripping over one another. “‘Ready’ is an overstatement.”

“Hold your horses, we’re almost done,” Cole grunted, heaving the large beach bag over to them. “Have a little faith in us, Nya.”

Nya put her hand on her hip, waiting- and a second later, there was a crashing sound followed by an angry chorus of yells from Kai, Lloyd, and Jay.

Cole grimaced, rubbing the back of his head. “Okay, maybe you’re right to not have any faith in us.”

---

After an intense, fifteen-minute argument about what mode of transportation they would take, they ended up deciding on the city bus, and finally, finally got out the door. The bus ride went off without a hitch, for once, (except for a brief panic about not having the proper change for the bus fare, but luckily Zane had a few extra dollars on him), and before Nya knew it, they were staking out an area on Ninjago City beach. She was beginning to think this could actually work out.

Maybe.

“Check out my abs, dude.”

“They’re the same as last time.”

“Are not! I’m way more shredded than last time we went swimming.”

“Okay, that’s just a straight-up lie. I saw you sneak that extra piece of pie last night.”

“You better not be disrespecting my muscles, Flat Stanley.”

“Hey! I’m way more muscly than I used to be.”

“Are you kidding? We call you ‘green bean’ for a reason, and it’s not just because you’re the green ninja. You’re a twig!”

“I’m a twig? Have you seen Jay?”

“Hey, don’t rope me into this, green machine, and, for your information, I weigh a whole fifteen pounds more than you!”

“Yeah, well, you’re also two years older than me!”

“I think the lesson we need to learn here is that neither of you have abs anywhere near as pronounced as mine-”

Zane sighed, rolling his eyes. “Here, guys,” he held out a pouch to the group, “this is a waterproof pouch, you can store all your valuables in here.”

They quickly filled the pouch with phones, watches, and wallets. However, as Lloyd pulled back, he tripped over Jay’s foot, and half the guys collapsed into a pile, groaning.

“Jay! Get your foot out of my face!”

“Right after you get your elbow out of my ribs!”

Nya turned away from them, shaking her head. Glancing at Pixal, she asked, “Wanna help me get set up?”

The nindroid nodded, and they pulled the large picnic blanket out of the bag, unfolding it to lay it across the sand.

“Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon,” Kai cried, “You get back here right this instant!”

Nya looked up from the blanket to see Kai running through the sand after Lloyd, his feet sinking into the sand with each step, making it difficult for him to retain his balance. He waved a bottle of sunscreen at the green ninja. “It’s sunny out today! And you know how easily you burn!”

“No way!” Lloyd whined. “You always make me stay out of the water for at least twenty minutes to let it set, and it’s way too hot for me to wait that long! I wanna go swimming now.”

Kai lunged for him, and Lloyd yelped, barely dodging out of the way.

“Over here, Lloyd!” Jay cried, already wading into the shallows of the ocean. “He won’t follow you into the water!”

Lloyd hurried after him, splashing up water as he went, accidentally splattering Kai and causing the red ninja to flinch back with a yelp. Sure enough, he froze at the water’s edge, glaring at Jay and Lloyd, where they stood, only about ten feet away, laughing at him.

Zane rubbed a hand over his face, sighing. “They’re both going to get skin cancer, aren’t they?”

“At the very least, they’re going to be bright red tomatoes,” Cole laughed. “Oh, it’s going to be a blast when they take showers.”

Zane stared at him, horrified. “Please don’t let Jay do that again. He had the worst blisters, last time-”

Cole held up his hands. “It was a joke, Zane! A joke!”

Zane narrowed his eyes and didn’t reply.

Nya laughed, grabbing Pixal’s hand. “Come on. Wanna go bodyboarding with me?”

Pixal glanced at her. “I don’t know how.”

“That’s fine.” Nya stepped on the board, flipping it up into her hand and handing it to Pixal, before grabbing a second one for herself. “I can teach you!”

“Thanks, Nya.”

As they walked down towards the shore, they passed Kai and Cole, who had finally managed to get Jay and Lloyd out of the water. Cole had his arms locked around Jay, preventing him from running away as Kai slathered sunscreen across his face. Lloyd was sitting in the sand beside him, pouting, his face already smeared in white.

Nya grinned at him. “Can you guys handle yourselves for twenty minutes if Pix and I go out bodyboarding?”

Lloyd stuck his tongue out at her, and Kai rolled his eyes. “We’ll be fine, Nya. I think you’re forgetting we save the city on a regular basis? We’re perfectly capable.”

Nya put a hand near Pixal’s ear, whispering loudly into it. “Betcha anything the beach will be on fire by the time we get back.”

The two ran off, giggling at the sight of Kai’s smoldering glare, before he could set them on fire.

---

To Kai’s credit, he did not set the beach on fire, or anything, for that matter, but when Nya and Pixal returned, they found him and Cole shoveling sand onto Zane, who was chest-deep by this point.

“Zane!” Pixal exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

“When Kai told me he had something fun to show me, this wasn’t quite what I had imagined.”

“Aww, come on Zane!” Kai grinned. “I’m having a great time.”

Pixal shook her head, and stepped forward, grabbing Zane’s hand and pulling him up, sending sand cascading down everywhere. Cole and Kai groaned.

“Aww, come on, Pix, that took forever!” Cole muttered.

“Yeah, we were gonna shape it into a mermaid tail. Don’t you know how funny that would’ve been?”

“Humor is subjective.” Zane rubbed at his wrists. “Augh, now I’m going to have sand in my gears for weeks.” Shooting a glare at Kai, he added, “I’ll remember this the next time you ditch your swimming lessons.”

“Hey!” Kai yelped. “That’s totally different! Sand is warm, and solid, and most importantly, not dangerous!”

“You could suffocate,” Zane pointed out.

Kai scowled. “You’re a nindroid, you wouldn’t have suffocated.”

“You’re related to an elemental master of water. You won’t drown.”

“Being related to a master of water and being a master of water are two very different things! I control fire, not water, I can’t do anything to protect myself.”

Cole rolled his eyes. “You’re so lame. Remind me again why we brought our friend with aquaphobia to the beach?”

“Technically,” Zane said, raising a finger, “the word you’re looking for is thalassophobia. Kai doesn’t fear water in general, only large bodies, such as-”

“It was his idea,” Nya interrupted. “If it weren’t for him, we’d still be at the Monastery, filing papers.”

“I never suggested the beach!” Kai snapped. “That was your idea!”

“Yeah, well, your suggestions were lame. The beach was the obvious choice.”

“Hey,” Pixal interjected, suddenly realizing they were missing a couple of people. “Where are Jay and Lloyd?”

Cole sighed, pointing up towards their stuff, where Jay and Lloyd were struggling with a large, yellow duck inflatable that was very much not inflated at the moment. Jay had his lips around the mouthpiece, his face red.

“Blow harder, Jay,” Lloyd insisted, hovering by his side. “You’re hardly doing anything!”

Jay pulled his head back, breathing out heavily as the redness faded from his cheeks. “I’d like to see you do better! You’d probably pass out after a minute.”

“Would not!” Lloyd snatched the floaty away from him, blowing hard into the mouthpiece, putting even less air into the floaty than Jay had. His face reddened as he huffed desperately, although he still wasn’t making much progress. After a few moments, Jay pulled it away from him.

“Okay, that’s enough. I don’t want you to actually pass out.”

Lloyd glared at him, panting. “I wasn’t… going to… pass out.”

Jay sighed, grabbing the inflatable and staring at what looked to be the eyes and a very flat, crumpled-looking beak. “At this rate, we’re never going to get Mr. Quackington blown up.”

Lloyd’s nose wrinkled. “Mr. Quackington?”

Jay blinked at him. “Yeah, that’s his name.”

“No, it’s not! His name is Mr. Waddles!”

“Mr. Waddles? What kind of juvenile name is that?”

“Oh, like Mr. Quackington is any better!”

“It is! It’s loads better!”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Is so!”

“It’s not!” Lloyd snapped, green energy sparking between his fingers. Jay glanced down at them thoughtfully. “Hey, what if…”

Lloyd was evidently catching on to Jay’s train of thought, his eyes lighting up. “We can use my powers to inflate Mr. Waddles!”

Jay narrowed his eyes. “Quackington.”

Lloyd bared his teeth, the small fangs glinting. “Waddles.”

Jay sighed. “Okay, whatever. We can use your powers to inflate Mr. Waddles.”

Lloyd grinned widely, whether about the promise of getting his inflated duck or having won the name debate with Jay, Pixal couldn’t tell. He held up a hand and formed a basketball-sized sphere of green energy. Jay’s eyes widened, and he held the mouthpiece up to the energy. Lloyd channeled it inside, watching with glee as the duck puffed up, the yellow plastic slowly tinging green, making the duck look like he was about to be sick.

Zane took a step forward, holding his hand out. “Lloyd, wait-”

There was a sharp snapping noise as the floaty popped, and Lloyd and Jay cried out in horror as the yellow pieces of plastic fluttered to the ground. Lloyd fell to his knees, gripping the busted plastic and wailing, and Jay landed next to him, crying, “No! Mr. Waddles, you were so young!”

“I can’t believe he’s really gone,” Lloyd sniffed. “He was my best friend in the whole world.”

Kai threw up his hands. “Great. You spend the last several years of your life looking out for him only to get replaced by his inflatable plastic duck.”

“Oookay,” Nya said, walking over to Jay and Lloyd and ushering them towards the picnic blanket. “Someone’s obviously been out in the sun too long. Go sit under the umbrella and let’s have something to eat.”

“Good idea,” Zane agreed. “I’m sure we’re all getting hungry. Jay, could you grab the picnic basket? It’s right behind you.”

The lightning ninja grabbed the basket, peering inside briefly as he carried it towards them. “I hope you brought the Pringles. I could really go for some of those right now- augh!”

Before anyone could stop him, Jay was falling to the ground, the basket flying out of his hands and landing sideways in the sand.

“Jay!” Kai cried. “Look what you’ve done to our picnic!”

“Hey! That was totally your fault! Why did you leave your shoes right in the middle of the sand, perfectly positioned for someone to trip over?”

“Why were you clumsy enough to get in the way of my shoes?”

“Guys, guys, it’s okay,” Zane assured. Walking over, he carefully lifted the basket out of the sand. “I’m sure it’s still salvageable.”

“Yeah, but now all our food is going to taste like sand,” Lloyd moaned.

“Lloyd, the food barely touched the sand,” Nya pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter. Every time you go to the beach, if the food gets even remotely close to the sand, it always gets sand in it. Every time. It’s one of the great mysteries of the universe.”

“Well, I think you’ll survive,” she said, passing Lloyd a sandwich and a bag of pretzels. Lloyd took them, but narrowed his eyes.

“Brings a whole new meaning to the word ‘sandwich.’”

“Just eat your food, mister.”

Lloyd shot her a glare, but grudgingly obliged. As Pixal bit into her own sandwich, she realized Lloyd was right, she could feel granules of sand between her teeth as she chewed.

“Hey… at least it adds a little crunch, right?” Cole grinned.

Kai grimaced. “Next time, I elect we don’t let Jay anywhere near the picnic basket.”

Jay chucked a grape at him, but Kai turned at the last second, catching it in his mouth. “Ha!” His gleeful expression faded as he caught sight of something behind Jay. “Um, Lloyd, you have someone you wanna introduce us to?”

The group turned to see a seagull had approached them, tilting its head where it stood only a couple feet away from Lloyd. The green ninja was staring at the bird with wide eyes, an awed expression on his face.

“Lloyd,” Nya sighed, “please don’t tell me you fed it.”

“He’s not an it,” Lloyd snapped. “His name is Scully.”

“Great.” Nya rubbed her hands over her face. “We’re already into name territory.”

“Scully?” Kai’s nose wrinkled. “Isn’t that the name of the seagull from The Little Mermaid?”

“No, that’s Scuttle,” Lloyd sniffed. “They’re completely different.”

“Lloyd,” Pixal scolded, reaching for Lloyd’s wrist just as he tossed another chunk of his sandwich at the seagull, “Feeding wildlife is not a good idea, it can be dangerous-”

Lloyd shrieked suddenly as the bird launched itself at Lloyd’s face. He scrambled to his feet, screaming, and Kai lunged forward, pushing the others out of the way. “Move, move!”

“Get it off me, get it off me!” Lloyd shrieked as the bird’s wings flapped in his face, sending feathers everywhere.

“Blast it with your powers!” Kai called, looking worried but keeping a respectable distance.

“I can’t! He’s on my face!”

“Well, I can’t do it, I’ll set you on fire! Nya, you do it!”

“I’m trying, I’m trying,” the water ninja spat through gritted teeth, globes of water already forming in her hands. “I just need to get a clear shot! For the love of… Lloyd, stop moving so much!”

Lloyd hardly seemed to hear her. “He’s going to claw my eyes out,” he wailed, batting weakly at the creature.

“Nya!”

Nya quickly thrust her hands forward, sending a large ball of water at Lloyd’s head, drenching him and the seagull. The bird squawked angrily, falling to the ground.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Nya and Kai darted over to him, Nya taking his face in her hands as Kai peered over her shoulder. A small red scratch stretched across his left cheek, but apart from that, he appeared unharmed, just frazzled.

“Dude!” Kai cried. “You just got attacked. By a seagull!”

“It owned you!”

Lloyd shot Jay a glare. “Did not.”

“You should have seen your face!” Jay laughed. “Oh wait, you couldn’t- there was a bird in the way!”

Lloyd crossed his arms. “I’d like to remind you how you reacted that time when my uncle set that berserk chicken on us.”

“The chicken had lightning powers. Hardly comparable to a simple seafowl, bud.”

“Ugh, I hope this doesn’t get infected,” Nya muttered, running her finger along the scratch. “We should probably get you checked for rabies when we get home.”

“Nya, I’m fine,” Lloyd groaned, pushing her off. “A seagull isn’t going to give me rabies.”

Nya shrugged. “With your luck, I can never be sure.”

“This is why you don’t give food to wild animals, Lloyd, it makes them bolder-”

“Watch out, Lloyd!” Jay shrieked suddenly, and they whipped around to see the seagull had caught its second wind, squawking as it charged at Lloyd.

Lloyd shrieked, taking off down the beach with the seagull in pursuit. Nya sighed, putting a hand on her head. Kai grinned, walking over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Do you think he’ll learn his lesson?”

“No,” Nya said without hesitation. “Absolutely not. That’s the sad part.”

“Hey,” Cole said, pointing a finger down the beach. “The volleyball court’s just opened up. You guys wanna play?”

“Sure. Tell Lloyd he can join us when he gets that seagull taken care of.”

Nya glanced towards the green ninja, who was currently lobbing balls of energy at the bird and missing by an embarrassingly wide berth. “Looks like it could be a while.”

---

“Great job, team!” Nya cheered, high-fiving Pixal and shooting a grin at Cole. “Although, if I’m being honest, the rest of you didn’t put up much of a competition.”

“Hey, don’t look at me!” Kai snapped. “I was carrying the team! Jay, Lloyd, were you planning on helping me anytime soon?”

“I was trying!” Jay insisted. “But you kept getting in my way!”

“Because every time I let you get the ball, you dropped it!”

“Hey! I never said I was good at volleyball, okay? Why are you attacking me, Lloyd sucked too!”

“It’s not like I ever had time to fit in volleyball practice between all my green ninja training! It wasn’t exactly a top priority!” “Are you telling me you’ve never played before?” Kai spluttered.

“I’ve played!” Lloyd insisted. “Uh… once or twice.”

Kai facepalmed. “Why did I let you come on my team?”

Lloyd grinned widely. “‘Cause you love me.”

Cole elbowed him. “It’s because he lost the coin toss and Nya got to pick first.”

“Hey!” Jay yelped. “Are you telling me you would have picked me last?”

“After I saw you play, yeah,” Cole snorted.

“I’m still not convinced on some of those calls, Zane,” Kai said, walking over to the nindriod. “I don’t think that one play near the third point was a foul.”

“Hey, the ref’s call is law,” Nya smirked. “Stop trying to cheat your way to victory, Kai.”

“I’m not cheating! Zane’s girlfriend is on your team! He’s obviously biased!”

“I’m a nindriod, Kai. I cannot be biased.”

“Stop being a sore loser, Kai.” Behind her, a wave swelled up. She raised her hand- then pointed it forward at Kai.

Her brother shrieked as the seawater drenched him.

“Nya! What’d you do that for?”

“You deserved it, with all the whining you were doing. Besides, you looked hot. I was just doing you a favor.”

“It’s alright,” Lloyd laughed. “You can share my towel, don’t worry.” As he handed Kai the towel, the fire ninja eyed it shrewdly.

“It’s got ducks on it. Of course it does.”

“Hey, you want the towel or not?”

“No, I’m taking the towel.” Kai wrapped the towel around himself, shivering, unfurling the ducks for all to see. Cole snickered, and Kai shot him a glare.

“Should we pack up, then?”

Zane nodded. “If we want to be back in time for dinner, probably.”

The team trudged back to their blanket, wet and sandy, but chatting amiably. They had nearly packed up all their things when Lloyd cried out suddenly.

“Where’s my wallet?”

Zane frowned. “Didn’t you put it in the valuables pouch?”

“I thought I did, but…” he paused. “Oh, wait. I tripped over Jay. I must’ve forgotten to put it in after that.”

“Well, then, it’s gotta be around here somewhere. What color is it, Lloyd?”

“What do you think? Green.”

They spent a good ten minutes searching through their entire bag and the surrounding sand, to no avail. It quickly became clear that if Lloyd’s wallet had ever fallen around here in the first place, it wasn’t here now.

Kai shrugged. “Oh well. It’s not that big of a deal. You don’t have any cards, and I don’t think you were carrying any of the cash. We can get you a new one.”

“No, but I had the things in there!”

Cole frowned. “The things?”

“You know.” Lloyd lowered his voice. “The things. That the mayor gave us?”

“What?!” Jay yelped. “Those were in there?” “You lost them?” Kai cried. “Lloyd, how could you?”

“It’s not like I did it on purpose!” Kai groaned, rubbing his face. “We should’ve never trusted you with them. Or at least split them up, so they weren’t all together.”

“I still do not understand.” Pixal frowned. “What are these things that are so important?”

“They’re a top-secret gift from the mayor,” Jay whispered. “We’re not supposed to tell anyone we have them. Not that telling anyone now would matter anyway, because we don’t have them anymore.”

“It’s not my fault!” Lloyd insisted. “It’s that stupid seagull’s, he’s the one who distracted me-” Lloyd paused, his eyes widening. “That’s it! The seagull must’ve swiped my wallet when it was chasing me!”

“Looks like we have a lead,” Kai growled.

“Wait a minute, does anyone else hear that mysterious music-”

“Oh no,” Pixal muttered, putting a hand on her forehead. “Zane, please don’t tell me you’re going to do this again.”

“It seemed that, after only a few weeks, it was time for me to crack yet another case.” The odd, deep voice rang out, and they turned to see Zane slipping on a fedora.

“Where did that even come from,” Pixal despaired. “I’m positive you didn’t bring that with you. Positive.”

“Again, I was to be accompanied by my trusty assistant, but this time, my highly trained ninja associates would also be coming along, all determined to reclaim what someone had stolen in the heist.”

Jay glanced between Pixal and Zane. “What is happening right now? Am I supposed to know what’s happening?”

Pixal shook her head. “It’s a long story. Just go with it.”

Zane tipped his hat down. “Already, we were off with a very promising lead. I suspected the culprit to be the feathered fiend that had been spotted lurking around at the scene of the crime only an hour prior.”

Kai snorted, placing a hand on Jay’s shoulder. “Oh, this is gold! Did you mess with his voice again, Jay?”

“No, I didn’t touch him! Pixal, you didn’t…”

She shook her head. “Believe me, I wouldn’t do this if you paid me. It was all him.”

Jay grinned. “What do we do next… detective Zane?” He and Kai simultaneously burst into laughter, leaning against each other for support.

Zane side-eyed them. “The primary suspect was as clear as a black bear in a snowstorm, yet the whereabouts of the creature were still unknown. It had vanished into thin air, without leaving so much as a trace in its stead.”

“Hey,” Lloyd said suddenly, leaning down to pick something up off of the sand, “What about this?”

“It appeared to be part of the plumage of a species of avian native to these shores. Could it belong to the specimen we were looking for?”

Kai plucked the feather from Lloyd’s fingers, examining it. “The feather was white with a dark tip, definitely having originated from a seagull- although the spiked, disturbed edges implied that this was from no ordinary gull- it was from one who had recently been in a fight.”

Jay grinned. “It seemed like we had hit the jackpot. Already, we were one step closer to tracking down this culprit.”

Pixal groaned. “Don’t you two start, too. It was bad enough with just Zane.”

Nya grimaced. “Yeah, this is already getting annoying.”

“How is a feather going to tell us where the seagull is now?” Cole asked.

“I could sense the wind was blowing in from the northwest,” Zane narrated. “If we wanted to find the culprit of the caper, we would have to walk upwind, hopefully leading us to the source of the feather.”

“Alright,” Pixal sighed, “let’s get this over with.”

“And so,” Zane grinned, “The Great Gull Caper began.”

The team trudged up the beach for about twenty minutes, to no avail. They passed many other beachgoers, pointing and staring as the ninja passed, but no seagulls were in sight.

“Are you sure about this, Zane?” Pixal asked.

“The feathered suspect had gained an hour’s head start in its escape from the scene, meaning we would have to hasten our pace if we ever hoped to catch up.”

“Oh, I am not walking an hour just to find this thing. Are we sure it’s that important?”

“Yes!” the guys yelped in unison.

“It’s a very important gift from the mayor! It would be rude to lose it,” Jay said. “We have to get it back!”

“Couldn’t you just ask for another… whatever they are?”

“No! They’re one of a kind!” “Well, can we at least hurry this up? Frankly, I’m getting quite tired of Zane’s shenanigans.”

Zane grinned at her. “Although she voiced her disapproval, my assistant knew the efficiency of my methods, as they had gotten us out of a pinch the last time things had been amok.”

“First of all, I was the one who successfully found Dyer last time. You just ended up getting caught.”

“Perhaps, but you used my techniques.”

Pixal huffed. “Second, I don’t appreciate that you keep calling me your assistant. If anything, we’re partners!”

Zane adjusted his fedora. “So it was a promotion she was after, eh? Well, if my assistant could prove her worth by properly complying with my techniques in this case, she may find herself with a loftier position in the future.”

Pixal sighed. “Whatever. Let’s just find the stupid bird, and go.”

The group trekked after Zane again, and Pixal wondered how long they would be here, when Zane suddenly stopped, causing half of the gang to crash into him.

“What?” Jay yelped. “What’s wrong? Why’d we stop?”

Zane pointed near his feet. “It seemed like the culprit had been careless enough to leave behind tracks in the sand.”

Pixal peered over his shoulder. Sure enough, the tracks of some avian species left a trail in the sand- and after consulting her database, it appeared to match the foot of a seagull.

“We’re getting closer!” Cole said. “It has to be around here somewhere.”

Nya’s eyes went wide, and she pointed towards something in the distance. “Look!”

Down the beach, a large group of seagulls was flocking around a half-eaten pretzel, flapping their wings and squawking as they tried to push past each other.

“It could be any of them,” Lloyd despaired. “How are we going to know which one was the one who stole my wallet?”

Jay smirked. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Lloyd eyed him nervously. “How?”

“One seagull, in particular, has come to associate you with food. One seagull has been known to chase you down.”

“Oh,” Lloyd paled, taking a step back and waving his hands. “Oh, no, I do not like where this is heading…”

“Come on, Lloyd, do it for the team,” Cole pleaded.

“You are the one who lost them in the first place,” Kai agreed. “It’s only fair.”

Lloyd groaned. “Why do I let you bully me into these things?”

“Go on,” Nya gave him a gentle shove. “We don’t have all day!”

Sticking his tongue out at her, Lloyd stepped forward, towards the seagulls. Several of them looked his way, a few flapping their wings anxiously and squawking in warning. Lloyd stopped, swallowing.

“Um. Hey. I don’t suppose any of you have seen a green wallet around here?”

Jay rolled his eyes. “They can’t understand you. Get closer!”

“Okay! I’m going, jeez-” he broke off with a yelp as a seagull darted in front of him, nearly tripping him as he stepped on its tail.

The seagull shrieked, and, in a flurry of feathers, the flock broke into a frenzied panic. Lloyd’s eyes widened, and he cried out, running away and frantically ducking swooping seagulls.

He darted behind Kai as a last nervy seagull hopped after him. Kai held up a fist, which burst into flame, scaring the bird off. Kai glanced back at Lloyd, amusement sparkling in his dark eyes. “You okay, bud?”

Lloyd glared. “Don’t look at me like that. These birds are vicious!”

“Look!” Pixal pointed at a gull that had remained behind. With the others out of the way, she could see the small, green wallet between its beak.

“That’s the one!” Cole cried. “After it!”

For ninja, the group was embarrassingly unstealthy as they clamored after the bird, shooting elemental powers at it and screaming as they narrowly avoided each other’s blasts, so that by the time the seagull reached the water, the beach was a mess of crystalized sand, crevices in the ground, and various burn marks from fire, lightning, and energy.

“It’s a seagull!” Nya cried. “We’ve faced giant snakes, lords of darkness, elemental masters, Oni, more criminals and gangsters than I can count, and an evil video game AI, yet we can’t catch one measly seagull? It shouldn’t be this hard, you guys!”

“It’s getting away,” Jay cried, pointing at the bird, who had finally taken flight and was heading out over the ocean.

“No!” Lloyd moaned. “Now we’re never going to get it back!”

“Not on my watch,” Nya growled, racing past them towards the docks. “Come on!” “Oh no,” Kai groaned. “Nya Smith, whatever you are thinking, stop it right now, because I’m not doing it.” “Come on, Kai,” Lloyd insisted, grabbing his wrist and yanking him along. “We have to hurry!”

They raced after Nya, who was running down the dock towards a man who was examining the boats. Kai followed them more slowly, taking careful steps.

“Sir, we need to use a boat, right away! We’ll pay for it, we promise!”

The man shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am, but these are all private boats. The only one we have is that one,” he pointed to a small, worn-looking fishing boat, “and the motor’s broken, so it’s of no use to anyone.”

“It doesn’t matter, I can take care of that. Everyone, get in!”

“W-wait,” the man stuttered, looking flustered.

“We’ll bring it right back, I promise! Now, come on, we don’t have much time!”

“No!” Kai insisted, as everyone else piled in. “Nuh-uh. No way. Not in a million years. You are not bringing me out into the middle of the ocean in a tiny, crowded boat with a busted engine!”

“You don’t need an engine when you’ve got me!” Nya raised her hand, and the water swirled under the boat, rocking it slightly. “Now, come on, we don’t have time for this!” “Y’know what.” Kai took a couple of steps back from the boat. “I’m good. I’ll stay here. You guys have fun finding the wallet. I’ll cheer you on from the beach. The dry, dry beach.”

“Nope.” Cole reached forward, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him in. “This is your gift we’re saving, too. If you want to get part of it, you’re coming with.”

“Finally!” Nya huffed. The water rippled beneath them, and suddenly, it was propelling their boat, and they were off.

“Where’s the bird?” Nya asked. “Does anyone see it?” “Over there!” Cole pointed slightly towards their left, where the seagull was gliding away with surprising speed. Getting into the boat had slowed them down, and it had gotten a large head start.

Nya gritted her teeth. “Hold on.”

“Don’t go faster!” Kai yelped from where he huddled near the middle of the boat, protectively sandwiched between Lloyd and Cole. “If you tip this boat, I will never forgive you.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Nya growled, although the boat slowed slightly as they continued.

“Our team continued to chase the thief, determined to put an end to the Great Gull Caper and put the culprit to justice. Even when our path took us across the raging waters of the ocean, with nothing but a rusty, broken old boat, and deep, swirling waters around us, filled with the dark abyss and the creatures that lurked there…”

“You mean like sharks?” Lloyd perked, peering over the edge. “Did you see any? I wanna see one!”

“Nope,” Kai yelped, pulling himself into a ball as he sat down on the floor of the boat. “Nopety nope nope nope. I’m done. I’m outta here.”

“The prospect of sharks was a dire one, but one we were willing to take. We would get that wallet back, no matter the cost- even if it meant competition from this fierce predator of the sea.”

Kai screamed into his hands. “Just end me now!”

“What Zane means to say,” Pixal said, elbowing Zane sharply, “is that sharks are actually very off-put by the taste of human flesh, and do not go after humans on purpose.”

Kai stared at her. “Oh joy, now a shark can devour my flesh by accident, what a relief.”

“Do not worry, Kai,” she told him. “There is only one estimated death by shark per year in the greater Ninjago City area.”

“Knowing my luck,” Kai grumbled, “I’ll be that one.”

“Did anyone bring their phone with?” Lloyd asked. “I wanna get a good picture when the sharks come for Kai.”

“I call dibs on his katana,” Jay exclaimed. “Y’know, the super flashy one with the flaming dragon carved into the handle?”

Lloyd wrinkled his nose at him. “Why would you want a fire dragon on your katana? You’re the lightning ninja!”

“Hey, just because my element is lightning, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a super dope fire design when I see one-”

“Guys,” Cole sighed, pushing his way between the two arguing boys. “No one is getting eaten. We’re perfectly safe here, on this boat.”

“Cole’s right,” Pixal agreed. “The sharks around this area are smaller, reef dwellers, and won’t come after us. They may, however, come after our seagull friend if he gets too close to the water.”

Kai made a noise in the back of his throat, and Cole scowled at her. “Thanks for the help, Pix.”

“Nya,” Jay whined, “the seagull’s getting further away! We have to go faster!”

“Don’t!” Pixal cried. “This boat has not been manufactured to withstand a lot of weight. With seven people, especially when two of them are titanium, going too fast would be sure to capsize us.”

“I told you I should’ve stayed behind on the shore,” Kai wailed.

Lloyd leaned further over the edge, raising a hand to his forehead to keep the glare off of his face as he peered intently into the water. “Is… is that a shark?”

Kai stared at him. “Shut up. You’re just baiting.”

Lloyd shook his head, his eyes lighting up in a way that was not reassuring in the slightest. “I’m not! It’s a shark! It’s a real, live shark! I’ve never seen one this close before! Except at like, an aquarium!”

Kai closed his eyes, rocking himself gently. “You’re lying. You stupid liar, I hate you.”

Cole peered over, following Lloyd’s gaze, and promptly bit his lip. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“This is a dumb prank, you guys!” Kai was half-yelling by this point.

“Stop being so loud,” Lloyd hissed. “You’ll scare it!”

Kai blinked at him. “I’ll scare it?”

Lloyd crossed his arms. “A scared shark is an aggressive shark.”

Kai’s mouth snapped shut.

“I can’t believe this,” Cole muttered. “Did we really not bring any weapons?”

“No!” Lloyd yelped. “Cole, you wouldn’t!”

“I would if it kept us from being eaten.”

“For the last time, sharks don’t eat humans!”

Cole ignored him. “Well? Did we?”

Nya snorted. “Why would we bring weapons to the beach?”

“Hey, with how often this city gets attacked, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Nya rolled her eyes. “It was supposed to be our day off.”

“It’s fine,” Pixal reported, keeping a careful eye on the shark. “It’s swimming away now. As long as we leave it alone, we’re safe.”

Kai frowned. “Looks like the gull isn’t so convinced, though.”

Pixal glanced up. Sure enough, the seagull was eyeing the shark nervously, pumping its wings as it flew higher and higher above the surface of the water.

“Do something!” Jay shrieked. “If we don’t stop it now, it’s going to get away for good!”

“Lloyd!” Nya cried. “Is your wallet waterproof?”

“What?”

“Just answer the question!” “Yes! Yes, it is!”

Nya gritted her teeth. “Hold on, everyone!”

Suddenly, a vast wave rose out of the water, looming over the seagull.

Kai’s eyes widened. “Nya, be careful, you’ll hit us too-”

But it was already too late, the wave crashing down, downing the seagull, and soaking them in saltwater. The team cried out, and Kai screamed, throwing his arms over his head in a futile attempt to protect himself. As they all tried to lurch away from the spray, the boat rocked precariously, and, for a horrifying moment, they were suspended there, on the point between balance and capsize.

And then that moment was over, and they were all falling into the ocean.

Pixal’s world immediately dimmed as she plunged into the water, quietness enveloping her like a blanket. For a moment, she was too shocked to do anything, until a foot thrashed past her face, snapping her out of her trance as she swam towards the surface.

A couple of feet before she reached it, a metal hand snatched her wrist and pulled her the rest of the way up.

“Pixal!” Zane cried, his detective voice dropped. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. What about everyone else? Are we all here?”

Zane nodded his head behind her, and she turned to see the others all within a couple of feet. Cole had his hands on the now upside-down boat, trying to use his strength to push it over, but it was hard for him to get a good grip and stay afloat at the same time. Just behind him, Jay was spitting out a mouthful of seawater, sending ripples across the surface of the ocean as he treaded water. Lloyd was doing the same a couple of feet away, only the green ninja was struggling a lot more because of the arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

“Don’t let me go, Lloyd!” Kai yelped, although the feat would’ve been impossible even if Lloyd had wanted to- the fire ninja was clinging to him like a barnacle. “I can’t swim!”

Lloyd sighed. “I know that, Kai. It’s the only reason I’m letting you hold on to me like this.”

“I can’t believe this happened,” Kai cried. “We’re going to die out here. This is the worst day off ever.”

“Hey!” Lloyd snapped. “It’s not my fault this happened!”

Nya shot them all a sharp glare from where she was drifting alongside the boat. She didn’t even bother to tread water like the rest of them, instead using her powers to keep herself afloat. “It was going to work until you guys made such a big fuss about getting a little wet and tipped the boat.”

Cole sighed. “We’re not going to die. As soon as I get this right side up again, we’ll climb up and get out of here. Can you give me a hand, Zane?”

As the nindriod moved to help him, Kai suddenly went rigid.

“Lloyd,” he whispered.

“What, Kai?”

“Something just bumped my foot.”

“It’s probably just seaweed, Kai,” Lloyd sighed, looking down- and promptly froze.

“No one. Move.”

Jay squeezed his eyes shut. “Oh no, oh gosh, don’t tell me that’s what I think it is, this is not happening-”

“Jay, shut up,” Nya whispered, her face pale as she watched the dark shape lurking below them in the water.

“Everyone, stay calm,” Pixal murmured. “Don’t make any sudden movements and try to look it in the eyes.”

“Please, the last thing I’m gonna do is look at it,” Kai breathed, burying his face in Lloyd’s hair.

After a moment, the shark slowly swam past, losing interest.

“It doesn’t care about us,” Zane realized. “It wants the seagull.”

Several yards away, the gull was floating on the water, still trying to shake off the moisture from Nya’s wave. Suddenly realizing the danger it was in, the bird raised its wings- and launched itself into the air, just as fierce jaws snapped against empty air where the seagull had been less than a second ago.

Kai’s fingers dug tighter into Lloyd’s shoulders, and Pixal caught Jay biting his lip as he swallowed back a scream, but, its prey lost, the shark was already swimming away.

“Gotcha,” Nya murmured, reaching a hand out and snatching up the wallet, which the seagull had dropped in all the commotion, before it could sink to the bottom of the ocean.

“Okay. That’s great. We got it. Now can we get out of here?” Kai pleaded.

After a minute, they finally got the boat flipped over, and Cole hauled himself aboard before helping to lift the others. Ten minutes later, they were all safely out of the water and on their way back to the dock, and Pixal had never felt more relieved by the fact.

“So,” Jay asked, as the boat glided through the water, leaning closer to Nya. “Did they survive all that?”

“Let’s see,” Nya murmured, opening up Lloyd’s wallet. Pixal leaned forward, anxious to see what all the fuss had been about.

“Yes!” Jay cried, pulling out seven slips of paper. “They’re all here!”

“Wait.” Pixal snatched one from his hand, quickly scanning it. “A summer pass for free all-you-can-eat ice cream from the Dairy Dragon?”

“Yup,” Jay smiled, passing them out to the others. “The mayor gave them to us as a gift after we saved the city from Prime Empire. That’s what we were going to do today, after the beach, actually.”

“You’re telling me,” Pixal deadpanned. “That we just risked our lives. For free ice cream.”

“Free ice cream is free ice cream, Pix.”

“You’ll understand once you’ve tried their butter pecan,” Nya told her. “It’s to die for.”

“Butter pecan?” Jay spluttered. “No way, the Ninjapolitan is best.”

“You heathen, chocolate fudge is obviously the best flavor-”

“What are you guys talking about, mint chocolate chip is superior!”

“You just like it because it’s green.”

“Do not!”

“Do so!” Nya sighed, putting her head in her hands. “Here we go again.”

“Calm down, all of you,” Pixal said. “You can get whatever flavor of ice cream you want. Just do me a favor and try not to end up capsizing us in the middle of the ocean this time.”

Jay hummed. “No promises.”

#ninjago #ninbingo #my fic #rosie writes #ninjago kai #ninjago pixal #ninjago nya #ninjago zane #ninjago lloyd #ninjago jay #ninjago cole #i cant believe i actually wrote something that is 100% fluff #that's never happened before #it feels... weird #but it was a lot of fun #and yes Lloyd loves sharks and I will die on that hill #thanks for reading!#reblogs and comments greatly appreciated!

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