#(i also may have challenged him to figure out how to get me to outwardly panic at some point :eyes:)

[sesshy380]

Heya! If you're still looking for prompts - I'd love some Euroshipping (Ryou x Seto), and for any kinda holiday type prompt... blizzard/trapped because of blizzard? Ooooor... anything hot chocolate related. Or skiing! Ooooh or the Nutcracker?

From, IAmAllYetNotAtAll (I hate not being able to send an ask from a side blog!)

@iamallyetnotatall, I am so sorry it took me so long to get this finished! Around the time I came up with a basic idea on how to do this particular pairing (because I was all 'Rarepair? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED'), I got hit hard with the dreaded combo of brain fog and writer's block. About the time it all lifted and I remembered the basic idea I was going to go with, I had no time/energy to write 😭

Well here it is! I went for the simple idea of Hot Chocolate, because who doesn't love cocoa this time of year?

I will warn you: Since this is a rarepair, there is no established relationship. Instead, we have a scene were it's obvious a relationship can develop from. I hope it meets your expectations! (also, I only gave this a quick one-over, so apologies for any SPAG)

‘You're the most important person in all of Domino! You have to go!’

Well…Mokuba was right about one thing: He was definitely the most important person in Domino. Having to be present at the Holiday Extravaganza, however…Seto was certain he wouldn't have been missed. The only people who cared about his presence were people wanting him to invest in their crappy startups and single women who wanted to fix his bachelor status…both of which were testing his patience at the moment.

He scoured the room, looking for any excuse to walk away. Normally he'd tell people to just get lost, but Mokuba had made it a point to remind him multiple times that he needed to be ‘nice’ if he wanted to help secure extra funding for the local orphanages. Holding his tongue was proving to be an extreme challenge.

His gaze came to an abrupt halt as he spotted a head of familiar white hair.

He didn't know much about Bakura Ryou, aside from the fact that his father was the curator of the local museum and that his mother and sister had died when he was younger. He knew little else about his former highschool classmate.

Based on Ryou's expression, he was enduring the same agony of having to put on a smile despite not wanting to be there.

A couple of older gentlemen approached him, accompanied by a younger woman. One of the gentlemen seemed to be on very familiar grounds with Ryou, leading Seto to believe it may have been Ryou's father…and based on the series of formal bows, it looked to be that he was trying to set Ryou up with a female relative of an acquaintance.

He vaguely recalled overhearing once that Ryou’s father was fairly absent from his life except for when it was convenient for the man. This event must be one of those ‘convenient’ times.

He could practically sense Ryou's discomfort from across the room, despite his outwardly polite facade. He was certain Ryou was begging for an escape just as much as he was.

He internally groaned. Coming to someone else’s rescue wasn’t exactly something he was in the habit of doing, but it made his blood boil seeing someone else stuck in the predicament of having to be polite and do things against their wishes for the sake of a paternal figure that didn’t give a damn any other time.

Seto excused himself from the small group of people that were easily carrying on a conversation without him and began to cross the room, trying to recall any other pieces of useful information about his former classmate.

He knew Ryou was into games and sometimes hung out with those ‘other nerds’ back in highschool. What else? Hadn’t one of them mentioned in passing that Ryou now worked at his father’s museum? Something about being in charge of creating the dioramas? That meant he had to be pretty good at it. A father that paid little interest to his offspring wouldn’t hire him otherwise, because one bad display would look bad on said father.

That was something Seto could work with.

He approached Ryou, folding his arms across his chest and narrowing his eyes as though he had been inconvenienced.

“Was I not clear in my instructions on where to meet, or have you decided to turn down my offer? Let me know now, because I’d rather not waste time if I should be finding someone else to create a to-scale model of Kaiba Land.”

He was met with three shocked faces…and one mildly confused one. The mildly confused face quickly caught on and smiled in relief.

Ryou gave a respectful bow before speaking.

“Apologies, Kaiba-sama. I thought I still had some time before we met up. I am still very much interested in your offer. Would it be alright if we changed our meeting venue to the coffee shop down the street? I don’t know about you, but I could go for a nice cup of hot chocolate right about now.”

Seto turned while waving a dismissive hand. “Whatever. So long as it’s better than the instant junk they’re serving here.”

He heard Ryou offer a humble apology for having to leave in such an abrupt manner (as well as some subtle disapproval from his father), before his former classmate joined him in walking towards the exit.

Ryou was silent as he fell in-stride beside him, both making their way towards the coffee shop as they had ‘agreed’ upon. Now that they were away from the eyes and ears of the event, Seto could have easily told him to get lost. He was certain his former classmate knew there was no job offer…though now that he’d thought of it, the idea of having a to-scale replica of his theme park was very tempting.

“I’ll just tell him that you changed your mind. If he doesn’t believe me, I’ll just have to remind him that CEO’s change their mind on a whim all the time,” Ryou said with a small smile on his face, breaking the silence between them as they entered the coffee shop.

Seto hid the fact that he was a bit surprised. Ryou was already thinking several steps ahead on how to handle the fact that he wasn’t going to be employed by a very well-known CEO. Beneath that fluffy head of white, he was probably also working out how to handle the backlash that would inevitably come at ‘not being good enough to work for Kaiba Seto’.

“You make the diorama displays at the museum, right?” Seto asked as they took a seat while their drinks were being prepared.

Ryou’s eyes widened a bit, looking a bit surprised. “Yes, I do.”

“Good. That means I’ve chosen the right person to make a miniature Kaiba Land that I can display inside the Welcome Center. It will make a great visual aid for idiots that are too stupid to follow a map.”

Ryou continued to look at him in surprise, along with some confusion thrown in.

“I don’t half-ass things,” Seto explained. “And I’m not known for changing my mind on things of this nature. We’ll stop by my office later and get the details of our contract drawn up.”

He gave a small, subtle smile. “I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t go all-out.”

Ryou continued to stare for a moment longer before a small, genuine smile graced his face, his eyes becoming soft and warm.

Eyes that matched the rich chocolate of the drinks they now held in their hands peered through him, making Seto wonder if Ryou could truly see him.

“Would it be odd to ask for this to be added to our future contract?” Ryou asked.

“And by ‘this’ you mean…?” Seto questioned.

“A trip to this particular coffee shop once a week until the project is finished. Just the two of us being ourselves…and not who everyone expects us to be.”

Seto didn’t know why, but he found himself relaxing enough around his former classmate that he dared to expose a smile that he usually kept hidden to all except Mokuba.

“Compared to some of the things I’ll be requesting, not at all.”

Ryou’s face immediately fell. “Please don’t tell me you want it to be one-tenth scale. That’s essentially just a mini-Kaiba Land for toddlers.”

Seto pretended to think.

“That’s actually not a bad idea…”

“You asked for a model, not a toddler daycare.”

“That idea isn’t too bad either…”

Ryou buried his face in his hands and groaned.

Seto quietly chuckled.

“We’ll talk numbers in my office. Right now, per our future agreement, let's just relax and enjoy our drinks.”

Ryou lowered his hands, wrapping them around his cup…that small smile once again gracing his face.

“Now that sounds like a great idea.”

[asfdhgsdkjhgb]

top 10 friendship moments number one

me n pretty boy: *literally talking abt and threatening to make out with each other*

other friend: *clone high jfk voice* whip and nae nae. shawty bae.

[weasleyswizardpleases]

Funny Girl (Fred x reader, George x reader)

Summary: Being serious has never been your thing, but when you find yourself at the center of a conflict that tears Fred and George apart in the midst of the second wizarding war, it’s hard to find something to laugh about.

Warnings/Notes: Language, kissing, violence mentions, love triangle?, angst, arguing. Vaguely conceptually inspired by the musical of the same name. Written for @acosmis-t​ ‘s 2.2k writing challenge! 

You’re sitting with George outside of Lee Jordan’s flat, waiting for Fred to finish recording Potterwatch so you can all three grab dinner. You listen absentmindedly on a small radio George produces from his coat pocket, fiddling with your wand. 

“Rapier,” you laugh, “I know it’s called ‘pirate’ radio but it is a bit swashbuckling, don’t you think?” you say, poking fun at the moniker Fred’s chosen for the program.

“I suppose Lee thinks so too, this makes it the third program in a row where he’s called Freddie ‘Rodent’ instead. I’d laugh if we didn’t have the same last name!”

“Well, it suits you both. You’re devious as a couple of weasels and fuzzy, too,” you say, prodding at George’s springy ginger hair playfully. He grins and brushes you off, but your touch seems to stir something in him.

“What is it, did I hit your factory reset button or something?” George smiles halfheartedly, but his brooding becomes more apparent as he tries to cover it up. “C’mon, what’re you pouting about Georgie?”

“Y/n, I have to tell you something,” he says. Your heart sinks at the words. It sounds oddly serious.

“Oh, this can’t be good news,” you mutter, looking at him expectantly. He takes a deep breath.

“Well, I suppose it’s up to you whether it’s good or bad. But hey, look, you have to promise not to tell Fred if it winds up being bad.”

“Deal.”

“Y/N,” he says, turning down the radio, “I like you,”

“Well gee, I like you too. We’ve been friends for about nine years and you’re just now figuring out that you like my company? Some people, I swear.”

“No, I like you. I mean, I, uh, I have feelings for you! But it’s complicated.” Your jaw drops and your hand flies to your mouth.

“Oh! What? You mean-”

As you’re searching for the right words, the door swings open and Fred spills out into the hallway, tugging his long winter coat over his slim shoulders. You try to cover your blush, glancing between them. Fred and George. George and Fred. Your two best friends since first year, your greatest confidants, and now, the two people you trust most amidst the terror of the war. You know instinctively that to be with George would be to close a door to Fred, not just in terms of romance but also friendship. 

“Later,” you hiss excitedly in George’s ear. Fred eyes the two of you suspiciously, but before he can say anything, you’re mocking him boisterously. 

“Good show, Rodent!” you say, clapping him roughly on the back. George composes himself nervously and follows as you and Fred turn to leave. “How about a hunk of cheese? I’ll take you out for something real nice, maybe a wheel of gruyere,” you add. Fred chuckles and throws his arm around you. You’ve always had a more physical friendship with Fred, whether it’s snuggling on the couch or shoving each other about over who gets the better seat on the train. You hope that he can’t feel how tense George’s proposition has made you, and you wriggle out of his arms and jog ahead playfully. 

Because of the affectionate nature of your relationship, you’ve always suspected that Fred may have feelings for you, but never George. You’re blindsided by his confession, and you know it’ll only come between you. Your train of thought is interrupted when the boys ask if you want to come back to theirs for dinner instead of going out. You agree absentmindedly, and Fred steps away to call for takeaway. You willfully ignore George’s pointed glances and look around airily. 

“Y/N,” George says quietly, but forcefully. You sigh.

“Is there something wrong, George?” you say at a normal volume.

“Hush, would you? Well, have I made you uncomfortable or something? You’re being odd, Fred will wonder what’s the matter.”

“You haven’t told Fred?” you sing loudly, hoping to pull the other twin into the conversation. George smacks his forehead and groans, but Fred isn’t paying any attention.

“Y/N, can’t you be serious for one second?”

“Bloody hell, can’t you let me alone for one second?” you snap, surprised at the bite in your voice. George cowers and frowns, but Fred returns before the conversation can continue.

The next few weeks are relatively normal, and you begin to think that your strategy of avoiding any acknowledgement whatever of George’s advances is working. You avoid spending any time alone with George. Most people wouldn’t think it, but you know the twins keep secrets from each other sometimes, like any siblings do, and he obviously hasn’t told Fred about his feelings.

While you’re evading intimate moments with George, you take time to think: do you have feelings for him? The answer is, of course, yes. You’ve always thought he was more classically handsome than his brother, even though a lot of your classmates still couldn’t tell one from the other after years living with them. George’s face is slightly longer and more defined, and the severity of his features can be quite striking, in the right lighting. He’s also always struck you as more outwardly sensitive and caring, in that he notices your feelings more readily. If you’re having a bad day, George is the one to lend a listening ear. He’s seen you at your worst and apparently likes you quite a lot in spite of it.

Fred, on the other hand, is more like you in every way: he’s the louder one of the twins, more boisterous, a bit rougher looking. Like you, it takes a lot to ruffle his feathers, but once something gets to him, he’s quick to anger. Your tempers have rarely led you to fight, but when it’s happened George has always been there to smooth things out between the two of you. You’d even say that you’re slightly closer to Fred, although your relationship with him is more intuitive than your friendship with George- with George, you explain yourself, but with Fred, there’s no need. 

You’re pondering the situation on the boys’ sofa when Fred bursts through the door, looking quite cheeky. His shifty eyes belie some sort of mischief.

“Alright! Out with it, or I’m leaving before you get me with the bucket over the door trick again! I haven’t got any dry clothes,” you pout.

“Who’s to say there’s anything to tell?”

“I’ll believe that when you wipe the smirk off your face,” you counter. 

“What smirk?” he says, blushing. You raise your wand defensively. 

“Hey! I pinky promise, I’m not planning on pranking you,” he says. You wiggle your wand, raising an eyebrow.

“What are you planning, then? Tell me or I’m tying your shoelaces together with this thing.” 

“Fine, but would you put the wand down? It’s not a prank, I promise.” he moves to sit on the couch and you cower, giggling, sure that he’s at least going to go in for a tickle. 

“I’m not gonna tickle you!” he exclaims, but wiggles his fingers in your direction. The mere idea of it makes you shake desperately with laughter. 

“Stop! Ah! Liar!! Oh! Fred!!!” He lowers his hand. You eye him suspiciously. He sighs. You nod at his hands, as if telling him to put them away. He sighs again and sits on them. You regain your composure cautiously, but as soon as you look away he’s tickling your relentlessly, his hands at your ribcage. You howl with laughter, kicking and rolling away from him, but it’s no use. He pins you under his body on the couch and shoves one hand in your armpit. You’re nearly crying with laughter now.

“Mercy! Uncle! Ah!” you cry, and he pauses. His hips are situated between your thighs, which you’ve been trying to use to push him away, and his face is close to yours. 

“You want me to stop?” he asks teasingly, ghosting a hand over your ribcage, causing you to burst with laughter again. 

“Please! Fred!” He looks around, as if to an imaginary audience.

“What can I say, I know how to make a girl beg,” he says smugly. You swat him, bringing on another round of tickles, this time one hand at the nape of your neck and the other on your waist. You feel a bulge in Fred’s pants that makes you feel warm inside. The excitement of your scuffle has made you feel a bit happy go lucky. In another pause, you look up at Fred invitingly, even tilting your body into his just slightly. It’s not something you think about- you just do it.

He takes your invitation and suddenly his lips are on yours and it’s not a joke anymore, it’s just a really great kiss, rough and wet and full. His hips press into yours and you can feel his cock hardening. You keep going for a long time, too long, before you pull away. 

“Fred,” you say, panting with shock and excitement.

“Y/n,” he says, the same emotions playing across his face.

“We can’t.”

“Why not?” he says, running a hand over your thigh.

“George…”

“No love, I’m Fred, good guess though!” he kisses your neck softly and you push him away.

“Freddie! I’m serious, I don’t want to.” He looks at you, confused and resigned, and pulls away. You stand up and straighten your clothes.

“Well, I’ll be off then. Say, be a doll and don’t mention this to anyone?” You say in a droll transatlantic accent. You groan internally. Why are you being so weird right now? You slip into your shoes and shut the door behind you, your heart pounding.

You’ve never been much on dating. 18, still a virgin, only kissed one boy, your date to the Yule Ball. Most men view you as a friend, nothing more. You’re a bit funny looking, and you’ve never gotten anything on looks alone; it’s your personality that wins you friends. That’s how you became friends with Fred and George- you were a class clown, just like them, and the three of you have always been well liked for it. Fred and George, though, were tall and handsome, and unlike you, had a lot of luck where romance was concerned. Their girlfriends were always jealous of you, but you thought nothing of it, since you were practically one of the boys. You see now that they were right. How odd.

You’re so wrapped up in your thoughts that you don’t hear George coming up the stairwell as you’re descending, and nearly bump into him on the landing. 

“Oopsie!” you squeal. Oof, you think. I sound like a babbling idiot. “Oopsie poopsie!” you add, thinking that if you make it clear that it’s a little joke it’ll be less of a weird thing to say. George completely ignores your muttering and advances toward you, backing you into the corner.

“Y/n,” he says softly.

“George.”

“You’re blushing.”

“You’re standing on my foot.” He jumps back and looks down. He is not standing on your foot. “Gotcha!” you say, flicking him on the nose.

“You smell like cologne,” he says, inhaling.

“So do you.” He laughs softly and you scoot backwards, hoping to resist a second romantic encounter. He looks very handsome in the dim lighting of the stairwell, his eyes glimmering. You’re so close now that you’re nearly touching. You draw a deep breath, and before you can speak his lips are on yours. He’s softer and slower than Fred, but his kiss is deep and erotic. His hands move to the small of your back and caress you gently. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up as his lips move from your lips to your chin to your neck to your breast. You sigh with delight, but you hear the door at the top of the stairs open and push him away. You look up to see Fred, his face dark and crestfallen. You could crack the tension in the air with a spoon. You wrack your brain for a way to diffuse the tension, landing on jazz hands and a wry smile.

The boys frown, ignoring you, seemingly beginning to realize the situation. They look at each other in silence for a moment. “Tough crowd,” you mutter. 

“Oh, I see,” Fred says stormily. “Fine, you’re all his then.”

“What?” George asks, confused.

“You see the way I look at her. You had to know how I feel.”

“How could I know if you didn’t tell me? Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“I thought if I told you, you might tell her! With your little late night conversations and all,” Fred says accusingly.

“How can you be jealous of me talking to our friend when you’re practically feeling her up at every opportunity?”

“It was never like that!” you protest.

“Not until today,” Fred counters. “Or did you forget about that when you ran into my brother?”

“Wait a second, did you two…?” George glances between the two of you suspiciously. 

“No!” you and Fred say in unison.

“We just kissed,” Fred says sheepishly. “Don’t worry though, I only beat you to her by a few seconds! You know what, come on up to the flat, we can take turns if that’s how it’s going to be!” He’s drunk with anger, his jaw clenched tightly.

“Oh my god! I just realized something!” you exclaim loudly, silencing both of them. You pause and drink in the quiet. “You two blokes look just alike!” you say in a thick cockney accent. George shrugs at you tiredly as if to say what the fuck. Fred spits as he turns to retreat to the flat.

“Go home, Y/n,” he says, shutting the door loudly. George just sighs as he stalks back downstairs, and you hear the bell ring as he exits through the front door of the shop. You slump to the ground, embarrassed and somehow feeling guilty in spite of the fact that you aren’t sure what you could have done to fix things between the three of you.

“I wonder if they’re related,” you mumble innocently, looking around at your audience of none. Why is it, you wonder, that you’re always funniest when nobody is around to hear it?

[skylinesnsunshines]

got7 reading: hyung line ideal type + as a boyfriend

hi friends! today i’m doing a reading for got7 hyung line’s ideal type and what they’d be like as boyfriends. no one requested this but i wanted to do it cause i love them and miss them <3 as usual feel free to send me requests (but read the guidelines first) let’s gooooo! 

DISCLAIMER: this is all speculative and for entertainment purposes only, so take it with a grain of salt :)

decks used: light seers tarot for jjp and ethereal visions tarot for markson, archetype cards by caroline myss, heavenly bodies astrology, the wild unknown animal by kim krans

(italicised is the card on the bottom of the tarot deck which is meant to represent the subconscious/blind spot of the situation + rx means reversed)

JAEBEOM 🌴

IDEAL TYPE

7 of swords, 3 of wands, ace of cups rx, the star | monk/nun, judge, camel, saturn: feel restricted, experience struggle, learn hard work and patience

7 of swords immediately tell me jaebeom’s into someone who has a mysterious/secretive aura, could possibly be into someone who is more of a lone wolf type and doesn’t like being in the centre of attention since he’s into someone he can’t figure out. the 3 of wands talks about a well-respected leader who’s unafraid to be innovative and bold in addition to being curious with new environments/cultures, again very strong lone wolf energy. with the two cards together i definitely get someone who’s more reserved and often let their actions do the talking cause their aura often intimidates people and that’s why people respect them, i get the feeling that jaebeom finds intrigue in mystery (cause of his scorpio moon) and would love to be seen with someone who seems “unachievable” since his venus in capricorn and they’re known to be drawn to those with status. with the ace of cups rx it definitely reiterates the points i made earlier, but it also says that beom wants someone who’s “unreadable” and doesn’t wear their heart on their sleeve since beom is definitely the type to like if his person gives him a hard time since he likes it when he’s being “made to work” as this person could also have a lot of their walls up and rarely let people in, capricorn venus’ love the push and pull dynamic since they’re notorious for taking their time when pursuing their love interest and are likely to be dissatisfied if they’re partner is too “predictable”. the star on the bottom card though tells me that under all that secretive demeanor he wants someone who’s willing to be emotionally vulnerable with him and understand his sensitivity, although beom has a capricorn stellium his scorpio moon causes him to be someone who’s very emotional but he hides it since his capricorn placements cause him to be more stern, he wants someone to be vulnerable with and won’t judge him and his emotions. overall, he wants someone who comes off very reserved but has a level of vulnerability that they show to those they trust.  

the monk/nun card definitely reinforce someone who’s more reserved and very wise, could possibly someone who’s very selfless too and isn’t too flashy when it comes to their style. the judge card talks about someone who balances justice and compassion, i also get the vibe someone who’s able to make decisive decisions and is able to face consequences if there are any is very attractive to beom. the camel card talks about someone who’s able to stay level headed in difficult situations and are very patient when it comes to themselves and other people. the saturn card definitely reiterates the points i made earlier and is very funny since beom has a capricorn stellium and saturn’s ruler is capricorn, he definitely wants someone who’s very practical/rational and is willing to put in the hard work and have patience when it comes to themselves and dealing with others, i also get the feeling jaebeom is really drawn to people who are very humble and able to ground themselves and him. 

AS A BOYFRIEND

knight of cups, queen of pentacles rx, 8 of wands, 4 of cups | storyteller, messiah, beaver, jupiter: grow and expand

as a boyfriend jaebeom will definitely show more of his romantic side, his capricorn venus definitely causes him to be more action-oriented with love languages and his scorpio moon could make him be more into physical touch but i did get the image that he possibly expresses his love through music so it’s unsurprising to me if he ends up making songs for his s.o as there’s a possibility he struggles with verbalising it so he’d rather show it. queen of pentacles rx indicates someone who’s very independent with regards to their finances so i think the reason why he wants an s.o who’s very individualistic as well is so he doesn’t have to explain much of what he’s doing since his s.o is doing the same, when talking about this card with the 8 of wands though this can indicate someone who struggles to balance their work/home life as the 8 of wands talks about constant movement so i feel that’s why jaebeom wants someone who is able to ground themselves and him so that he always has his person to rely on. 8 of wands talks about someone who’s very restless and always keen on moving on to the next challenge, this can relates to beom cause he’s very work-driven and probably struggles when he feels he’s not doing anything productive so that’s why i think he may struggle when it comes to relationships if he doesn’t feel like he’s able to commit to his work, but the 8 of wands can also mean someone who loves travelling and is always keen on exploring so beom might be the type to take his s.o out to travel whenever the opportunity arises. the 4 of cups talks about someone who is contemplative and at times can be withdrawn as they often think very deeply before acting on a situation, i think due to his scorpio moon he occasionally needs time alone to “recharge” and he wouldn’t like it when his s.o takes it personally as it’s nothing against his partner cause that’s just how he is, this can also mean that jaebeom could be oblivious whenever his partner shows him love which is why him and his partner need to either be open to communication or have similar love languages to minimise the chance of miscommunication. i feel beom’s romantic side will definitely show in more non-verbal ways so his partner needs to be very understanding in that aspect as he’s very stubborn so it’s hard to compromise whenever an argument happens.

storyteller tells me beom is very enthusiastic when it comes to talking with his s.o, i definitely can see him writing a song for his s.o as a love language as he’s very skilled with words and i can totally see him rambling the whole night when he’s comfortable with someone. the messiah card describes someone who serves humanity with humility but the downside is that they believe they’re the only cause for it can succeed, i think as a boyfriend beom has very genuine intentions and he doesn’t hide behind a facade when he cares about someone due to his scorpio moon but his capricorn stellium can be a tad controlling and dominating as they are ruled by saturn after all and saturn is the planet of restriction. jaebeom is definitely very loyal and hard-working when it comes to providing for his family, he’s extremely dependable and puts others first before himself, you can bet his effort will never fluctuate and in the long-term if he’s with someone he will prioritise them. the jupiter card is interesting as it’s the planet of luck, abundance and expansion, jaebeom is definitely a forward-thinker and plans his actions which tells me that when he’s in a committed relationship with someone he’ll be the type that wants to provide for his s.o financially and build something tangible wether that’d be moving in together, travelling together or even starting a family, jaebeom is definitely husband material (jupiter can represent the husband) and always wants to provides the best for his loved ones. 

MARK 🐰

IDEAL TYPE

9 of cups, the emperor, 6 of pentacles, 5 of pentacles rx | addict, father, owl, the moon: satisfy emotional needs, nurture self and others

9 of cups immediately tell me mark wants someone who’s very emotionally intelligent and mature but are also very positive and optimistic, i feel pessimism isn’t a trait mark is attracted to since his leo venus + aries moon has a tendency to be more optimistic. with the emperor card, mark wants someone independent and unafraid to take the lead as the emperor card is represented by aries (which is his moon) so mark wants someone who is able to understand and match his intensity regardless if they’d express that outwardly or inwardly, mark wants someone well-respected and abundant as i did get the vibe that he wants other people to see him and his partner as a “power couple”. the 6 of pentacles talks about someone who’s selfless cause i feel mark wants someone who’s as family oriented as he is and is sometimes able to put the need of others before themselves, with the 9 of cups and this card together this can describe someone who’s unafraid to splurge on luxurious items but also gives back to others whenever they can. with the combination of these 3 cards, it definitely describes someone who’s very abundant financially, spiritually, emotionally and is well-respected by others but can also be very selfless and giving to those they love. with the 5 of pentacles rx, this can indicate someone who’s not necessarily attached to their financial possessions and wants to help others as they know what it feels like to struggle, i kept hearing the word underdog when i was thinking of this card so mark could possibly be attracted to the “underdogs” who eventually gain success thanks to their hard work, but i also did get the feeling that mark would want to be with someone who has gone through difficult situations as i think he can relate to them in a way. 

addict card can talk about someone who overexerts themselves and in this case i feel his ideal type could be someone who has ended up with the short-end of the stick in a multitude of different situations but has made a name for themselves thanks to their determination and natural leadership abilities, i did get the feeling that his person should be careful of entering codependent relationships as people like this often want to feel “needed”. the father card appearing is unsurprising as we did get the emperor card earlier, both these cards essentially mean the same thing where this person is often looked up to as they’re a very stable force and a leader, as i feel mark wants someone he can rely and depend on in the relationship, also i feel like he would also want his person to "ground” him in relationships as there’s a chance his fire placements make him a tad individualistic at times. the owl card talks about someone who’s abundant, generous and secure which reiterates my points about the 9 of cups card earlier, the owl card also describes someone who’s very wise and their success could be because of their ability to be able to see pathways that other people can’t see, this card also illustrates someone who’s very wealthy, beautiful and has a lot of good fortune because of their intentions/actions. could not have picked a better card for mark’s final card as this card talks about nurturing energy as it’s the moon card, i feel his ideal person is someone who has an equal amount of feminine & masculine energy and is very protective of their loved ones and on top of being the leader they’re also a very good nurturer, from the cards it tells me that mark really wants someone who resembles a parental figure with equal amounts of nurturing and leadership. 

AS A BOYFRIEND

ace of swords rx, the sun, 8 of wands, judgement rx | rescuer, king, horse, house eleven: friends, like-minded groups and humanitarian beliefs

with the ace of swords rx mark is more action-oriented and could possibly keep a lot of his thoughts to himself, this means that his love language is geared more towards non-verbal forms (physical touch, quality time, acts of service,etc.) in mark’s case i do feel he tends to feel a lot when he’s committed to someone so that’s why he finds it difficult to verbalise emotions, this card also tells me that mark is a tad impulsive in relationships and very stubborn so independence and freedom of expression is very important to mark. unsurprising as we got the sun card for him as he is a leo venus after all (leo rules the sun), this tells me mark is like a big kid in relationships which means he’s very into lighthearted fun, making jokes and overall a very positive and fun boyfriend which makes me think that’s why he wants someone who’s more emotionally mature than him as he wants to learn from his partner, i also get the feeling that mark often isn’t able to assert himself the way he wants to as he tends to get too wrapped up in his own positivity and tries to always see the “best” in other people even if that person’s intentions aren’t genuine, so i feel his partner will be able to help with that too. with the 8 of wands, it reiterates the points i made about impulsivity, independence and wanting someone who will be able to “ground him” as this card is the definition of fast paced actions, mark could also be the type to fall in love really quickly which makes sense since he has a fire venus and moon and i feel whenever he enters a relationship it’s really easy for him to be swept off his feet and be infatuated with them, he could also love travelling with his partner as this card talks about this too. the judgement reversed i feel whenever mark enters a relationship he kind of dives in headfirst without warning, i feel his virgo sun and libra mars will still try to remain calm and rational but eventually his emotions get the better of him which is why he’s a bit rash when it comes to relationships, this can also mean mark can be hypercritical of himself in relationships and he spends a lot of time analysing his and his partner’s actions. 

rescuer means that mark provides strength and support to others in crisis and acts out of love without any expectation of reward, as a boyfriend i definitely see his love language being acts of service and he’ll genuinely be willing to do anything his partner needs him to do wether they ask him or not. the king card tells me mark is someone who thinks of others’ needs before himself, he’s very selfless and tries his best to accomodate others and this also tells me mark  could potentially love being pampered and having the attention on him as this card reminds me of his leo venus. the horse card describes someone who is persistent and determined with their goals, this is unsurprising thanks to his aries moon as mark’s someone who’s not only physically strong but he’s also mentally resilient. house eleven is represented by aquarius and this talks about the energy of the collective, i feel as a boyfriend mark treats his partner as his best friend and will possibly want to achieve goals together and plan about what greater good they can accomplish for themselves and others’ future as easy communication is crucial for mark. 

JACKSON 👑

IDEAL TYPE

queen of swords, the lovers, 9 of wands, death rx | lover, visionary, hummingbird, pluto: transform

jackson wants someone who’s intelligent, independent and outspoken as the queen of wands describes an individual who is assertive and well-respected due to their ability in communicating, i feel his type would also be quite witty and have a good sense of humour as well, this can also mean that he wants someone who’s very upfront with him regarding their feelings cause his aries sun + venus can make him impatient if someone continuously plays games with him. with the lovers card jackson wants someone who’s genuine and is authentic with themselves and others since this card describes someone who has a high moral compass and is in tune with their own emotions, this card also tells me that jackson wants someone to be able to love him for him and has no ill will when they encounter the sides of him he’s not proud of and someone with unwavering loyalty, since jackson’s venus is in his 3rd house (using whole signs) communication is extremely important for him and this is emphasised due to this card representing gemini and the element of swords representing communication. the 9 of wands talks about someone who’s resilient, self-assured and courageous, when combined with the queen of swords independence is a huge turn on for jackson and it’s unsurprising since his aries venus definitely is attracted to the boss types but this could also be that jackson wants to be with someone who in his eyes is as successful as him as that can motivate him to be his best self (aries’ love some healthy competition). from the queen of swords + 9 of wands i get the vibe that he definitely wants someone who can hold it down for themselves but also a romantic when it comes to him as described by the lovers, he basically wants to be the only person that his s.o is romantic to. with the death rx card on the bottom, i feel jacks wants someone who understands the deepest, darkest parts of themselves and isn’t afraid to share that with him, his person could appear very unassuming but have a very intense side to them that they keep behind closed doors. i definitely believe he wants someone to be vulnerable with and fully show all parts of themselves to him since he’s the type of person to love someone fully regardless of “flaws” once committed (thanks to his libra moon).

again jackson wants a hopeless romantic who he can be cheesy with as the lover card describes someone with great passion and devotion alongside an unbridled appreciation of someone or something. the visionary card definitely emphasises the points i made regarding the queen of swords + 9 of wands as it illustrates someone who’s willing to proclaim a vision without thinking of personal gain, there’s also a large emphasis on intelligence with his ideal type. the hummingbird talks about someone who’s always curious to learn and a bit of an optimist, i think this is due to jackson having a pisces stellium (mercury, mars, saturn) and sometimes pisces placements tend to be pessimistic and he wants someone who’s able to help him see the positivity and even teach him certain things as the hummingbird energy is also associated with nature, creativity and exploring spirituality. the pluto card is unsurprising as we got the death card earlier as they are both represented by scorpio and in this context i definitely think jackson wants someone who can “merge” with him due to his pisces stellium again, jacks really wants a “transformative” relationship and is incredibly committed once he falls for them so i think his ideal type is someone who can match his level of intensity (makes sense since scorpio + aries rule mars).

AS A BOYFRIEND

3 of wands, the devil, king of wands, 5 of pentacles rx | victim, trickster, firefly, libra: consideration, fairness, harmony

3 of wands talks about a highly respected leader who loves to travel and often brings other people along on their journey (which describes jackson perfectly) so as a boyfriend it’s unsurprising to me if he’ll be the type to spoil his s.o or take his s.o on trips if their schedules align, this can also talk about someone who’s constantly thinking about the future. the devil tells me that jackson could have codependency tendencies in relationships as this card deals with excess, jackson could easily feel dependent in relationships as he can struggle with a push and pull in relationships due to his sun + venus being in the opposite sign of his moon (aries sun + venus with a libra moon), as independent as he is there’s still a part of jackson that likes to depend on people cause it gives him a sense of comfort however, this can also mean that jackson is often easily taken advantage of since he always sees the best in people and is willing to sacrifice himself for others, jackson’s a really sensitive soul and as a boyfriend it’s really easy for him to be infatuated with the person he’s with and put them on a pedestal (due to his pisces stellium again). the king of wands is possibly the best card to describe jackson as this card talks about someone who is a natural -born leader and entrepreneur due to his charisma and positivity, people naturally are drawn to him as he’s well-respected and has good relationships with those around him. i feel he naturally takes the lead in relationships due to his leo descendant and aries placements so you can expect him to be quite dominant in the relationship but not overly so cause his libra moon loves being equals. with the 5 of pentacles rx, i feel jackson is a perfectionist and is very hypercritical of himself since he has his chiron in virgo and it deals with issues like unrelenting standards, this tells me that jackson needs a lot of reassurance and comforting in the relationship as he is prone to finding his own faults and being down because of them but, this can also mean jackson wants to be the source of strength for his s.o and will always try his best to be there for his partner, he naturally has a very giving personality so it’s unsurprising he wants to nurture others. 

i briefly touched on codepedency with the devil card and this victim card basically reiterates my point but this can go two ways, either jackson refusing to open up about his problems because he doesn’t wanna burden others or if he struggles with boundaries he can act like the victim whenever disagreements occur. on a more positive note, this trickster card talks about someone who is quite humorous and loves to playfully tease his partner as a form of affection which definitely sounds like the jackson we know and love. in my opinion the firefly card really represents jackson as he reminds me of a light of a thousand stars in a dark night as his positivity really lights up a room and this card describes someone who’s light illuminates wherever they go and are very creative and inspiring. the libra card for my favourite libra moon <3 jackson strives for equality in relationships, he doesn’t really believe in one being the breadwinner over the other and sees his partner as his equal, he definitely is a romantic at heart and strives for a harmonious relationship. 

JINYOUNG 🍑

IDEAL TYPE

6 of wands, page of wands, temperance, 10 of pentacles | child: divine, poet, bee, water: spirituality, emotion, intuition and compassion

jinyoung wants someone with lots of fire energy cause 3 of his cards all represent the fire element. firstly, he wants someone who’s successful/well respected in their field as the 6 of wands describes someone who’s very successful and praised for their work, could also be a public figure. page of wands tells me jinyoung potentially wants someone younger as he wants to “guide” them, this can also mean someone who’s unafraid to go the more unorthodox route to pursue their passions as their determination is their greatest driving force, this can also describe someone who is incredibly loyal to their partner. with these two cards, jinyoung possibly looks for someone who is very dedicated to their work and he wants someone who has a lot of passion and enthusiasm when it comes to the work they do and always thinks of new ways to improve themselves/their work, i also pick up on someone with highly creative energy. the temperance card however, brings a sense of balance as it deals with moderation, although jinyoung wants someone who’s very passionate i think someone who’s very patient is also very important to him as i don’t think he wants someone to overpower him, i think outwardly he wants someone who seems very calm but is a bit chaotic behind closed doors (like himself). 10 of pentacles tells me he’s always looking to build a future with his s.o and is likely that he’s the type to already think about marriage and children, i feel whenever he enters a relationship he always thinks about the long-term since short-term flings don’t interest him and he’s only interested in relationships that will last. 

the child divine card describes someone who exudes innocence and purity, could also be someone who’s very intuitive and have a special connection with the divine. the poet card talks about someone who’s very smart with their words and is very influential due to it, i have a feeling jinyoung likes someone who expresses their love through words of affirmations cause even though his water placements make him very intuitive he likes when he’s told how much his partner loves him. the bee card talks about someone who’s very hardworking with a vibrant personality, i think he likes when his partner is creative like him. lastly, this card doesn’t surprise me as jinyoung’s a scorpio venus with a cancer mars, jinyoung really wants to bond with someone emotionally and spiritually and he wants a love that goes deep beneath the surface level, he definitely feels very deeply in relationships and he wants someone who feels the same way. 

AS A BOYFRIEND

ace of swords rx, 7 of wands, queen of pentacles rx, 9 of pentacles | gambler, avenger, black egg, chiron: hurt and heal

the two virgo suns with an aries moon AND fixed venuses got the ace of swords rx lmao how fitting

the first two cards tell me jinyoung rarely express or verbalise his love for his s.o but acts on it more often (whatever i wrote for mark’s first card apply it for jinyoung too). jinyoung’s aries moon and libra mercury is perfectly embodied by this 7 of wands card cause this card describes someone who doesn’t let anyone push them around (aries moon) and someone who’s very good with words and a great debater (libra mercury), with this card i can see jinyoung being the type to keep his problems to himself and might keep his walls up but i can also see jinyoung being the type to be ultra protective to those he loves as this card does talk about someone who stands up for themselves and others need be, could totally see jinyoung putting a lot of effort in his relationships as well even though he may not verbalise it. queen of pentacles rx tells me that jinyoung can sometimes be overly giving in relationships in the sense that he always likes to feel “needed” and is willing to sacrifice himself for those he loves, when this card is with the 7 of wands card it definitely tells me that jinyoung is extremely loyal and dependable in relationships, could also be a tad controlling at times but he really does have the purest intentions. the 9 of pentacles on the bottom describes someone who will love sharing their resources wealth with his loved ones, so gift-giving or acts of service will probably be one of his go-to love languages, as i said jinyoung is definitely more action-oriented (he’s said it himself) so as a boyfriend i could totally see him buying gifts or experiences for his s.o.

with the gambler card jinyoung could be the type to rely on intuition more than anything, so if he’s involved with someone he loves very deeply and he won’t care if others around him don’t agree to it, i think he could also be the type of person to put blind faith in his partner as in relationships i feel he navigates with his heart rather than his head. the avenger card describes someone’s desire to balance the scales of justice and righteousness on behalf of society or oneself, jinyoung’s a very fair boyfriend and will definitely do all he can to ease the burden of those he loves, if someone takes advantage of his partner he definitely will be the type to confront the person and will be unafraid to stand up for them no matter the circumstance. the black egg card talks about someone who has a strong throat chakra and will speak their truth no matter the circumstance, although jinyoung is known to not say much people will always feel a certain gravitas with his words as he’s very upfront with his feelings and wouldn’t be the type to beat around the bush if he wants to say something, he’s also very good with his words and will always know what to say to charm someone. the chiron card tells me that there’s a possibility jinyoung has been hurt before in relationships, instead of ruminating with this hurt though jinyoung’s turned it into a strength as he’s able to use his experience of hurt to heal others, jinyoung’s a very genuine soul and has a very healing presence to those he loves. 

that is all! if you have any feedback, comments, queries or requests please don’t hesitate to reach out to me my ask box is always open. sending you all love, light, positivity and abundance <3 much love

[doreamu-san]

An analysis of SolKy

Hello! Thank you so much for clicking on this. A while ago, I was asked to do an essay explaining why people ship SolKy other than the whole rivals/opposites attract reason, and I got a lot of feedback stating it was useful for newcomers to the ship! As a result I’ve decided to post this on tumblr, but just on the ship’s tag as to not bother uninterested people.

A couple of disclaimers before I begin. This is firstly just my own opinion, so whilst it makes sense for me, other shippers may disagree with my points. I’m also not claiming they are canon because they are not. But I do hope it’ll give some insight into why some people like me enjoy them together.

Even once you’ve read this essay, you can still dislike SolKy. This isn’t an essay stating you have to ship them.

This will be extremely long as I basically cover every single interaction they’ve ever had with each other since I know some people sort of gloss over their dialogue, so grab yourself a drink, get comfy, and I hope you enjoy reading!

(Last edited: 09/05/2021. This will be updated again when Strive releases!)

How this all began

If we’re starting right at the beginning, it’s common knowledge that Ky and Sol weren’t exactly on great terms and often clashed most of the time due to their conflicting beliefs. Ky saw the world in terms of black and white, and had very strict rules on what constituted as right and wrong. Sol seemed to think differently and went against that, which was a stark contrast compared to the other Order members at the time.

Considering that they were in fact, in the middle of a war, you would think that generally people would be willing to put their differences aside and work together.

But Sol wasn’t like everyone else, going off and doing his own thing instead of actually listening to orders, so it’s understandable why Ky found him rather irritating.

However, Ky did grow curious of Sol. Obviously curiosity does not equate to love, but it is the basis of Ky wanting to become more friendly with and know more about Sol. There seemed to be something that Sol knew but Ky didn’t, but how was that possible..? As a result, despite how infuriating he could be, Ky sought to seek out the truth and so fought him for answers.

In regards to why exactly they fight (aside from the fact that this is a fighting game), Ishiwatari wrote something called ‘Hostility is Akin to Love’ right above a picture of them fighting:

Hostility is akin to love Thinking of your opponent’s actions to fight, Reading your opponent’s inner thoughts to fight, Planning attacks that will hit your opponent to fight, And then transmitting your thoughts with those attacks, The more you think of your own advantage, at the same time you think of your opponent, In the instant you mix with your opponent, a passionate feeling arises, and blood boils, Reality is hurt, and you wound your opponent, Hostility is akin to love. — Guilty Gear Isuka Mook

It states how fighting someone can be close to feelings of love because you have to think about what your opponent is doing, as well as how you’re going to respond to your opponent. Overtime, you start to memorise how your opponent thinks, and as a result you’ll know them on a deeper level.

So considering the above, this explains how even though they weren’t on friendly terms, they still formed a bond with one another.

Now we’ve established how exactly their relationship started, and why Ky was curious about Sol in the first place, let’s look at things from Sol’s perspective.

Sol’s attitude towards Ky

We know that Sol was also pretty annoyed by Ky, which was totally justifiable given the extreme way in which Ky thought the world worked. But Sol didn’t exactly dislike Ky.

In order to provide some evidence that Sol cares about Ky, let’s cover that infamous scene everyone likes to reference which shows Sol crying over Ky’s dead body:

Sol:     "I came to pick you up." Ky:      "Always coming late... you never could fix that..." Sol:     "You..." Ky:      "As to be expected... until the very end... I could never beat you..." Sol:     "Don't say anything!" Ky:      "I have... a request..." Sol:     "I said shut up!" Ky:      "After Commander Kliff... carry on... the Holy Order..." Sol:     "Stop it... that's your job!" Ky:      "Please... promise me..." Sol:     "Dammit..." Ky:      "If it's you... you can do..." Sol:     "Hey.... what's wrong. Hey! KYYYYYY!" — Guilty Gear XX Drama CD Side Red, Battle of Rome — Deathmatch

A lot of people bring this quote up when discussing SolKy and yes, it does show Sol cares about Ky considering how Sol never really cares about anyone in general, but the fact that Ky’s death managed to make him emotional shows what an impact Ky had on him. There are however more quotes that show Sol’s feelings.

There’s this scene in the GG Xtra manga, Ky and Sol get attacked by a mountain-sized gear. In order to save them, Sol rips off his limiter and Dragon Installs. This scene is very poignant when you take into consideration what Sol said in After Story A:

Sol:     "Back during the Crusades, before we met... Kliff told me this rumour about a prodigy swordsman." Sol:     "If you couldn't guess, that was you. I didn't give a shit at the time..." Sol:     "But then I saw you on the battlefield." Sol:     "I saw someone out there who surpassed all of my expectations. Or perhaps I should say 'something.'" Sol:     "No openings, no wasted movements, no carelessness, no hesitation, no embarrassment, not even any honor. No chivalry or mercy. A being unaffected by emotion." Sol:     "You were a killing machine. Taking down gears with brutal efficiency." Ky:      "...That was a long time ago." Sol:     "I'm not done talking. I've seen the face of the 'serious' Ky." Sol:     "Then one day, you challenged me." Sol:     "You wanna know what I thought right then?" Ky:      "..." Sol:     "I was afraid. Hell, I was scared shitless." Sol:     "'He figured out that I'm a Gear, and he's come to kill me.' That's what I thought." — Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, After Story A

Sol admits that he knows just how scary Ky can be. Since Ky was extremely against Gears, if Ky found out that Sol was a Gear, then Ky would have most likely attempted to kill him. But Sol knew this and was willing to die for Ky’s sake, and transformed anyway:

Ky:      "Sol..." Ky:      (Really... that's really..) Ky:      (That's really you!?) Ky:      "SOL!" Sol:     "Shut it..." Sol:     "I didn't do it..." Sol:     "To help you out—...." — Guilty Gear Xtra, Chapter 5: Unspeakable Thoughts

Going off on a bit of a tangent from Sol’s feelings, but I just want to point out Ky’s state of mind at this point. Ky in this time period was still very anti-Gear, as it was only through this moment and his encounters with Solaria and Dizzy later that made him change his way of thinking. It took a long time for Ky to accept Gears, and he still had the remains of that mindset in him when he had Sin, as he refused to make eye contact with him because Ky was ashamed of having a Gear child. So the fact that Ky knew Sol was a Gear, believed all Gears were evil, but still decided to accept Sol into his life and wanted to support him regardless of that, is interesting.

Back to Sol, another small quote that manages to show Sol’s feelings towards Ky is this:

Sol:     (Maybe I'll finish them off while I'm at it...) Sol:     (But that would mean breaking my promise to Ky...) — Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R, Sol Badguy Path 2

Now, Sol doesn’t care about 99% of what other people do as long as they don’t get in his way. The fact that he intends to keep his promise with Ky suggests that he holds Ky in somewhat ‘high’ regards compared to others.

There’s also this quote that shows Sol is thinking about Ky in Overture:

The frustrations of the man wielding a giant sword were piling day by day, and a familiar face appeared in his head. What’s he up to right now? “Hmph, whatever…” With a feeling of self-contempt, Sol Badguy shook his head. What am I getting sentimental for? — Guilty Gear 2: Overture, #0 “Noise”

And when Sol encounters Raven later on after seeing Ky incapacitated, Raven points out how he can tell Sol is upset, meaning Sol’s not really doing a good job of pretending he’s still indifferent to Ky.

Raven: "You're as ruthless as ever, huh, monster?" Sol:      "Look who's talking." Raven: "Can you not put down your sword and talk? I understand you're upset with Ky Kiske defeated." Sol:      "I'll ask your corpse for answers." — Guilty Gear 2: Overture, #5 "Gaze of the Chronicle"

Sol’s thoughts about Ky become even clearer during his confrontation with Sin when he’s under the influence of Valentine, where Sol defends Ky’s actions and tries to make Sin understand Ky is not 100% at fault:

Sin:     "Can you see it? Can you feel it? This is my real power. This is my mother's strength." Sol:     "But it's light. It must be from your father." Sin:     "Shut up! Don't ever mention him!" Sin:     "He abandoned my mother and me using justice as an excuse!" Sin:     "Who cares about the King!? Who cares about the people!? That man, and that Kingdom, not one of them can protect a damn thing!" Sol:     "I don't give a damn about your family." Sol:     "But you know what, Ky may be a stubborn idiot, but at least he's true to his beliefs." Sol:     "A punk like you is still alive thanks to his justice." — Guilty Gear 2: Overture, #15 "Roaring Compass"

Okay, that’s the pre-Xrd era for Sol done, now to focus on Ky’s pre-Xrd’s emotions.

Ky’s attitude towards Sol

We’ve established earlier that Ky was annoyed by Sol and disliked him in the Crusades. However, afterwards it seems as if Ky saw himself as friends with Sol:

Ofc1:   "All of them seem to have been destroyed by... fire?" Ofc2:  "Yeah... why could that be?" Ky:      "........" Ky:      "Change our course!" Ky:      "Head towards the Eastern United States!" Ofc1:   "May I ask why, Chief Ky?" Ky:      "To meet an old friend." — Guilty Gear Xtra, Chapter 4: Former Friends

We know that Ky outwardly expressed his first signs of liking Sol when Sol stole the Fuuenken and Ky chased after him, only for Sol to win in their duel, and Ky says this:

Ky:      "Promise me one thing..." Sol:     "..What?" Ky:      "We'll meet again." Sol:     "Hmph... Well, if fate brings us together..." Ky:      "..That's fine." — Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R, Sol Badguy Path 1

It’s pretty interesting that Ky wanted to see Sol again despite how Sol never used to listen to his orders, and how Sol never even tried to act like what the Order expected their men to act like (chivalrous, putting the people first, etc). It at least shows us that Ky saw possibly the potential of becoming friends with Sol. And Sol didn’t even say straight up ‘no’ or ‘in your dreams’ or whatever Badguy-esque notion he usually would’ve done, so we can assume he doesn’t mind seeing Ky again either.

Then they don’t speak to each other properly for 5 years until the tournament that Testament holds, though they have probably ran into each other a few times within those years.

A common misconception people have is that during those 5 years, Ky was obsessed with Sol and would constantly try to find him. Obviously, this is not true. Ky was busy with IPF stuff and Sol was hunting Gears down.

However, it’s not as if Ky completely forgot about Sol — he was just probably at the back of his mind, and Ky does admit that he has been chasing after Sol the most more than anyone else:

Ky:      (Waiting outside for me when I left the ship... burning red flames. Soon, they seem to take the shape of a man... and he appears before me. Yes... it's him. The one I've been after the most... it's him.) — Guilty Gear X Drama CD, Vol. 1: Track Seven — Crater

There’s also these two other quotes:

Ky:      (Sol...) Ky:      (Why are you so stubborn about doing things alone?) — Guilty Gear Xtra, Chapter 5: Unspeakable Thoughts

You can interpret this in two ways: either Ky wants to help Sol out and/or he’s curious as to why Sol always does stuff alone.

And then there’s this:

Ky:      "Maintaining peace, law, and order. That is my duty." Sol:     "Whatever..." Ky:      "You and I, we are cut from the same cloth." Ky:      "How long are you going to keep that facade?" Sol:     "..." Ky:      "Answer me Sol!" — Guilty Gear Judgment, Sol and Ky Ending

Being ‘cut from the same cloth’ is quite a strong statement. The phrase means that Ky thought he and Sol were similar somehow, and that he shared something with Sol. Regardless, the ‘how long are you going to keep that facade’ at least shows that Ky knows Sol is intentionally acting distant/rough/etc. and that its not actually who he is.

Jumping to pre-Overture, just before Ky gives Sin to Sol, Ky is in a really depressive state due to all of the stress he’s been going through. This leads Dizzy to contact Sol. The fact that Sol is called means that Dizzy knows that Sol is possibly the only person who can help Ky at that point, which puts some emphasis on just how much Sol means to Ky or at least affects him.

Before I move onto Xrd, there’s this part where Ky gives his son to Sol. This proves he trusts Sol so much considering he was asking him to take care of Sin for a long period of time.

Ky:      “Sol....I want to request something...” Sol:     “...hnn?” Ky:      “My son....Sin..can you take care of him for a while?” Sol:     “...what did you say?” Ky:      “I know it’s unreasonable but...I still want to ask...” — GG2: Overture Story, Sol's Story

The Xrd era (because it is so long, it needs its own section)

The Xrd era is extremely interesting to me, because Sol and Ky have some more in-depth conversations, and boy, do they have a lot of conversations.

Focusing on Sol first, theres a scene in REV where Sol asks Ky why he isn’t interested in his past:

Sol:     "Why don't you ask me already?" Ky:      "Ask you what?" Sol:     "About my past." Ky:      "I can ask you?" Sol:     "I guarantee, it won't be interesting." Sol:     "Every other word that came out of your mouth was 'Duel me,' or 'I challenge you!' You were so eager to fight and..." Ky:      "........" — Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, Story Mode: Chapter 03, Sense A

Given that Ky was constantly pestering Sol about his background in the past, it makes sense why Sol is suddenly a bit confused about Ky’s sudden change in behaviour. But it also shows that Sol wants Ky to know about his past. After ~170+ years of being alive, Sol wants to finally open up to someone again, and he specifically chose Ky for this. It shows in the very least Sol trusts Ky and knows him well enough to decide to let him know about who he used to be.

And then Ky says this, which is basically him just showing Sol how much he cares and understands him:

Ky:      "Sol. Of course I have an interest in your past." Ky:      "But wanting to understand someone and trying to understand everything is completely different." Ky:      "Right now, Sol Badguy's future matters much more to me, than Frederick's past." — Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, Story Mode: Chapter 03, Sense A

There’s also this scene in SIGN:

Ky:      "I don't know your history." Ky:      "I don't know if you had friends once, or if you fell in love, or why you burn with such hatred for That Man and the Gears..." Ky:      "I don't even know your real name." Sol:     "..." Ky:      "But I do know a great deal about a man named Sol Badguy." Ky:      "Blinded by vengeance, he lost sight of himself, and now he runs from the truth that frightens him." Sol:     "...Say that again." Ky:      "Tomorrow always comes, Sol." Sol:     "..!" Ky:      "If tomorrow promises to be cold and dark, I cannot stand idly by... even if I know my efforts will come to nothing." Sol:     "... The self-righteous apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Ky:      "I don't expect the world to change tomorrow, but I do hope that, today, perhaps my words will reach you." Ky:      "Sol..." Ky:      "I'll be waiting for you. We'll all be waiting for you. Sin, Dizzy..." Ky:      "Once all this is over... come home." — Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, Story Mode: Chapter 04, Kaleidoscope B

Three things to take away from this:

Ky admits that he doesn’t know anything about Sol’s background, but that he knows a lot about the current Sol, and then goes on to explain how Sol acts. Which to expand on, means that although Ky used to care about Sol’s past, he doesn’t really mind about it anymore because Sol’s past won’t really change much who Sol is to Ky now. Also, the part where Ky explains how Sol was ‘blinded by vengeance,’etc. shows that Ky knows Sol’s current personality well enough in order to be able to distinguish his behaviours. Which is interesting because nobody has been around Sol long enough to be able to know him really well unlike Ky (Aria and Asuka count too, but they were around Sol when he was Frederick, and Sol seems pretty adamant on the idea that he’s a separate person from Frederick.)

‘Come home’ is pretty significant, as it implies that it’s almost like Ky is saying home is with Sin, Dizzy and the Valentines, and so when Sol is done getting revenge on That Man, instead of letting Sol just wander off alone, Ky wants Sol to be a family with them.

The fact that says Ky says ‘I’ll be waiting for you’ separate from ‘we’ll all be waiting for you’ implies that either Ky’s want to wait for Sol is somehow different from everyone else’s or it’s just for the sake of being dramatic. I interpreted this in both ways, as it seems like Ky knows that Sol treats him differently compared to others. So in a sense, by Ky emphasising that he’ll be waiting for Sol, it might make Sol more likely to ‘come home’.

There’s also a scene that shows Ky knows Sol’s personality well:

Ky:      "When I look at you, Sol, I see a man who is afraid." Sol:     "... What?" Ky:      "It became clear when I watched you caring for Sin." Ky:      "You work very hard to keep everyone at arm's length." Sol:     "..." Sol:     "I got Gear blood in my veins, and it ain't friendly. It's always there in the back of my head, whispering that I oughta just destroy all of this." Sol:     "The only way I'm gonna get some closure is tracking down That Man and beating some answers out of him." Sol:     "And if he doesn't have 'em..." Sol:     "Then maybe there really isn't a good way to live." Ky:      "That's why you close your heart off." — Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, Story Mode: Chapter 08, Hope A

There’s also this:

Ky:      "Not all people have the strength to stand on their own." Sol:     "..." Ky:      "If only life were simple, and the right path was laid out before each of us..." Ky:      "But even then some would leave it, and some would struggle with walking it. Such is human nature..." Ky:      "The truth is that no path will ever be 'right' for all people. Each of us must find the one we are meant to walk--and sometimes that is where none exists." Ky:      "That is what I learned from you." — Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, Story Mode: Chapter 08, Hope A

This just shows that Ky actually learnt something from Sol. Which I think is important because Ky is someone who always used to be very strict to his ideals. The fact that he learnt something from Sol that had an impact on his mindset means that Sol actually managed to have a great impact on Ky.

There’s this scene where Sol finds out that Aria isn’t dead when he confronts That Man, and he has somewhat of a mini mental breakdown. So Ky excuses them from the room, and goes outside to talk with Sol:

Ky:      "Sol. The grudge you hold is certainly not something that can be taken lightly. And, whatever answer you think you've found, I doubt any of us will be able to stop you from seeing it through..." Ky:      "But we have very little time left. Right now, we need the Gear Maker's help." Ky:      "So, I'm begging you... Just for now. Why don't you stay outside with me." — Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, Story Mode: Chapter 06, Cause A

The last line that Ky says is interesting because it’s obvious that he’s just trying to calm Sol down, and Ky thinks that if he stays with Sol outside for a bit, he’ll be able to help him calm down. Furthermore, Ky thought it was more necessary to pause everything and help Sol out rather than keep listening to the plans of what their next course of action would be.

Ky does have the habit of comforting Sol. One of the more significant moments is whenever Sol refers to himself as a monster:

Ky:      "Yes, he took away some of what makes you human, but that doesn't mean he altered your mind or your soul." Sol:     "So what?" Ky:      "I want to believe that you'll fight for the people of this world." Sol:     "Are we seriously having this conversation?" Sol:     "Look, kid. I'm a monster. I'm here to do two things: Destroy That Man, and kill all the other Gears." — Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, Story Mode: Chapter 04, Kaleidoscope B

To expand a little on Sol’s mindset, it’s common knowledge that Gears were generally in the past regarded as akin to monsters. Now we don’t have any solid proof Sol is referring to himself as a monster because he’s a Gear, or because he feels guilt about the whole Gear Project, etc. But we do know it’s something he’s affected by given that he constantly refers to himself as one.

So the fact that Ky constantly reassures him that he’s not one, and that Ky didn’t treat him differently after finding out he was a Gear, must be comforting to know.

Then at the end of REV, there’s the scene where Daryl is about to shoot Sol, because he (quite rightly) doesn’t trust the fate of the world to be left to Sol. And so, the kids get beamed up, but Ky asks to be left behind:

Ky:      "But, if you plan on targeting Sol, then you must leave me behind, as well." Daryl: "What!?" Zappa:"60 seconds until impact..!" Sol:     "What the hell are you doing?! Stay with Sin!" Ky:      "I am well aware that this is a one in a million chance..." Ky:      "But, if I survive at the expense of my dear friend, then there is little reason left for my ruling this world as king." — Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, Story Mode: Final Chapter, Fireworks

This was a really odd moment because Ky’s life was never in danger at that moment. If he had been sent on board Daryl’s ship as originally planned, he would have been safe. But Ky intentionally chose to risk his life, and its kind of startling because Ky has always put his people above everything. There were times when he put the people above his own family, like when he kept his family a secret instead of coming out with the truth about them in order to remain as King to protect his people.

So Ky suddenly going ‘I would rather die with Sol than take care of my people’ is really extreme. Also Ky was willing to leave his family behind, which is even more extreme. So this just really proves how highly Ky regards Sol considering how he would rather die with him than live without him.

Some concluding notes

I think Sol and Ky’s personalities do work really well. Perhaps not in the Crusade era, but if we take a look at the Xrd era, they have shown to get along and have deep conversations with one another that they both enjoy. They know each other extremely well; they know how to support one another when life gets a bit too much and they’re also capable of telling one another when the other is wrong.

Sol teaches Ky that life isn’t as simple as it seems, and that (figuratively speaking) he shouldn’t stick exactly to the textbook. He’s able to see under that perfect image Ky puts up about him being able to cope with everything, acting as a source of stability when you consider how Sol has been the only person who’s been around Ky since the very beginning.

Throughout all of Ky’s life, he’s been under so much pressure. From being Commander in the Crusades, to becoming the Head of the International Police Force, to becoming King. In every situation, people are constantly relying on him, and his environment is changing rapidly. But despite everything, Sol has always remained the same. He looks the same, acts the same, etc. Ky can rely on Sol and trust Sol. He’s like a source of stability for Ky in those hectic times.

And Ky provides something similar to Sol too, given how often he ran into Sol time and time again. When you’ve been alive for so long, it’d feel reassuring in the very least to see a familiar face. And Sol does seem to get less annoyed each time they meet each other again, considering like how in Overture he voluntarily went to go see Ky after seeing himself on a wanted poster.

Ky also gives Sol the chance to open up to people again and form connections with them, something that Sol has been reluctant to do. Sol needs someone to care about him, and Ky proves that by constantly reassuring him and never giving up on trying to help Sol, even though he kept getting pushed away.

They may not be canon but I really do love how they work together. Yes it’s true some people may like them because they are ‘rivals’and seeing rivals get together and bicker is great, but actually I think when people focus more on how much they support and rely on each other, as well as the fact that they do get along, them being in a relationship is more convincing.

Whilst this essay focused on their canon interactions, there’s plenty of other great material out there. For instance, the Guilty Gear 4KomaKINGS manga provides plenty of great SolKy interactions (like the time Ky wanted to have a friendship diary with Sol, only to get rejected and start crying about it. Of course, take these interactions with a pinch of skepticism considering the frivolity of the source material.)

And that, was my very long SolKy essay. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading! Though you may not have agreed with everything I have said, you still continued reading, and I am grateful for that. Thank you for showing such enthusiasm and loving this franchise.

[wornoutmouse]

Day: 12 power play

Bruh I don't smoke or drink so I'm not sure if this will be exaggerated or not. I may not be using the right terminology like I know the small piece left from a blunt has a name (dad and his siblings smoke weed) I just can't remember it.

"And then I told his ass, say on god and Deku was like,"...on god?!" You cackle as you retold a funny story that if you asked anyone else, was not really a funny story. You and Sero had snuck away to your room to smoke so now after 4 drags here you two were, giggling like high school girls.

You look at Sero realizing that you had yet to receive a puff puff pass as Sero lifts the small end of the blunt to his lips. You smack him on his chest, "Hey it's my tuuurn!" you whine making Sero look at you and back down at the blunt not really wanting to give it up. So instead, he takes the last drag much to your annoyance. "Your so greedy..." you trail off as Sero grips your chin and shotguns the smoke back to you, lips barely touching.

You were so taken aback you barely had time to hold the smoke in as it left your mouth. Sero returned to his resting position and you looked away gazing at the wall in front of you. "That was hot." Sero laughed before breaking into a coughing fit as he fanned the smoke that had accumulated in the room. You look around the room, basking in the silence as you danced in your own thought.

You always had a crush on Sero but as far as you were concerned, you two had a good thing going and you didn't want to ruin it by scaring him off with feelings. The fact that you barely talked outside of smoke sessions lead you to be unsure if he would be ready for commitment, hell you didn't even know if he was already committed. So like any good 'crusher', you outwardly giggled at the word making Sero look at you.

Like any good crusher, you were easily sated by being in the simple vicinity of the object of your affections. "Hey Serrrro." you slurred trying to get your thoughts together so you could form a coherent sentence. "You think I'm stronger than you?" Sero held his chin in his hand dramatically as if pondering your question with seriousness.

"Hmmm, I would have to say no." Sero finally decided. You pouted not exactly pleased with the result crossing your arms. You lazily smirked as an idea came over you. "Let's find out then by wrestling, whoever pins the other down for 20 seconds, is the strongest!" you declare shifting on your knees to face your opponent.

Sero looked at you with a small smirk. He knew you liked him, it became blatantly obvious whenever you got high. Giggling at things he said no matter how mundane they were, and the fact that you would go out of your way to touch him at least once a day was an obvious pointer so yeah he knew. To him, it was fun to watch you flail about your feelings whenever he was around. He could never figure out why you never confessed, Mina pinned it up to you having a fear of change without knowing the outcome so he left it alone.

But now as you sat across from him challenging him to a wrestling match looking so cute and innocent looking up at him, he could hardly resist. Could you blame him, everything about you was perfect in his eyes. Being voted the blandest student in 1-A, you were a close comfort for also having normal features. These features no matter how common they were, took his breath away each time he saw you

Your beautiful brown eyes that held small flecks of orange would shine copper whenever in direct sunlight. The way your skin glowed in the sun during the evening making you appear almost unreal as you soaked the rays through your brown skin. And your lips, god your fucking lips. Sero loved his fellow Japanese women and considered them beautiful in their own right but, none of them had such plump lips that made him want to bite and suck on to his heart's content.

"Sure I'll wrestle you, but don't get mad when I win-" Sero was caught off guard as he had the wind knocked out of him as you lunged landing on top of his stomach pinning his arms above his head. "1 Mississippi. 2 Mississippi." You started counting with a wide smile on your face. Sero smirked wrapping his hands on your naked thighs not missing how you tensed at the skin contact. Using his bulky elbows as an anchor he lifts you up in the air balancing you in a perfect sitting position on top of his hands before sliding down below you, forcing you two throw your hands up to stop your fall.

You quickly flip around to try and find him but he was already above you, caging you in. You look up at him wide-eyed as he brings his face closer. His mouth moved softly but you could not hear it over the sound of your own heart beating in your ears. You snap out of your daze as Sero loudly reminds you of the situation with "10 Mississippi."

You wrap your legs around his waist and roll you both over. You try to grab his hands again but he evades you by grabbing your own wrists and pulling them behind your back making you arch in a way that made his dick jump. Using one hand to restrain your arms, Sero quickly slides you face down on the floor as he straddles your back. "This is a game, you won't be winning Y/N." He warms as you do your best to try and escape, but the way Sero's powerful thighs held you down in a vice grip it was almost impossible.

A hand delicately travels through your goddess braids bunching them together and gently pulling them back lifting your head with it. You moan softly unable to stop the noise due to your hands being confined. "You knew you weren't going to win this from the beginning didn't you?" Sero's raspy voice shook you to your core and as a pathetic attempt as saving face, you shook your head whimpering at his tightened grip. Above you, you could hear the soft tutting of Sero's disapproval. "It's not good to lie Y/N" he whispers in your ear before bitting down harshly on your shoulder making you softly yelp.

"Sero?" you try to look up at him but the grip in your hair was relentlessly immobilizing you. A chill travels down your spin as Sero soothes the bite with soft kisses as he travels along your shoulder, taking your tank top strap in between his teeth before releasing it, causing it to snap back into your skin. You hiss at the sharp sting, your mind clouding with lust as Sero leaves dark bruises on your neck as he travels back up to your ear. "You are a sneaky little girl aren't you? If you wanted me to touch you, all you had to do was ask."

Sero's weight leaves your body as you are easily flipped over on your back and he immediately takes place over you once again. Looking at your surprised face sent something primal throughout him but due to him not wanting to scare you off, he had to take it slow. "You look too pretty under me Y/N." Sero lifts his arms to take off his shirt and you couldn't help but swallow shallowly at the way his biceps flexed under your dim led lights. You're flipped once again to straddle Sero as he gazed up at you with adoring eyes. "But you look so much better above me."

A hand comes to cradle your face as a thumb lightly caresses your cheek bringing you both towards each other before ending in a kiss. Sero's lips moved slowly against yours giving you enough time to breathe every time he pulled away. Even so, your breath hitches every time you pull apart, not quite sure if this was truly happening or if the weed you smoked was laced. "It's now or never' you thought to yourself as you serged forward smashing your mouth against his. It was less sexy as his was and was really just the gnashing of teeth but your determination only spurred him on more so as he griped your hips tightly, rolling his crotch into your ass somehow making you feel him through your jean shorts.

You passionately kissed as Sero guided you on how to roll your hips against him. You toss your head back as he kisses down your collar bone and nibbled the top of your breast leaving more dark bruises behind making your skin feel like it was on fire. The pain itself was welcomed as you could feel yourself come close to meeting your end. With a finger, Sero pops open your shorts and slides his hands into your underwear moaning at how absolutely wreaked your pussy felt just from his small touches. He circled your swollen clit watching as you bucked your hips into his hand muttering silent thank "you's" as you got closer. Sero once again pulled your head down into a kiss as you crashed into a blinding orgasm, noises muffled from the passion you exuded.

You two sit there for a moment, Sero taking in your features marveling that even through your brown skin, he could somehow see a small tint of red dust your warm cheeks. You open your eyes after a while and squeak in embarrassment when you make eye contact with Sero, opting to bury your head in his shoulders to hide your shame.

Sero chuckled as he held the back of your head close as he slowly laid back on the floor. "How long have you known?" you mumble into his shoulder. Sero smiled, "Since our 4th smoke sesh." You groan putting all your weight on top of him thoroughly embarrassed.

[faerynova]

KAITO HAS OCD

Okay, a breakdown of OCD behaviors let’s go:

COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR

He immediately fixates on finding pandora+getting vengeance, cannot be convinced to do anything else to get to this goal except be Kaitou Kid as soon as he decides that’s the path he’ll take. He’s already got his plan, he’s NOT gonna deviate from it.

And he goes after gems that he already knows aren’t Pandora because he’s compelled to complete Kaitou Kid’s MO/rise to challenges.

(from DC ch.965, I pasted the panels together for the relevant bits)

He also goes after targets when OTHER people send notices. (see: chapters 11 and 14 of Magic Kaito.) Yeah he wasn’t the one who started it, but he WILL finish it.

There’s absolutely no rule that says he has to go through with every single heist notice that he or someone else sends! It’s just his own compulsion.

OVER-PLANNING: BACKUP PLANS OF BACKUP PLANS

OCD makes you doubt yourself: what you do, your surroundings, so you have to over-plan to make sure everything goes Just Right, or else there will be consequences. And with heists, there really will be! But assuming he’s got OCD then he feels like *everything* he does has consequences if it doesn’t go the way he planned.

So he’s over-prepared always!

Even when going to school, have you seen all the tricks he keeps up his sleeves just for casual pranks with his classmates? He’s always *always* ready to toss confetti everywhere! To disappear with a smoke bomb! To put a mask of his own face on a classmate to get away! He just carries these things around In Case he needs it!

He just has an entire magic arsenal with him at all times for no good reason, school and other mundane situations.

WAY MORE EXAMPLES AND ANALYSIS UNDER THE CUT:

So here’s some over-preparedness on heists:

(DC ch.1019)

He’s got calling cards made ahead of time to go along with whatever plan he ends up using-- and even though they say he “spontaneously” decided to act, having all those cards there means he DID have every single plan laid out for whichever he decided to do. He figured out which plan he needed to do, and acted accordingly.

(DC ch.963)

This is the one that really gets me. He brought enough disguises to be able to pick someone AT RANDOM to disguise as, and then he has an entire heist planned around the person he picked on a whim.

You could say he just improvises, but a lot of what Kaito does *has* to be planned out in advance. Yes he can knock someone out and steal their clothes for an impromptu disguise, but he still needs masks prepared-- and for disguising as Agasa which he does in this chapter, that’s a whole costume to get the body shape right! He just HAD THAT PREPARED. JUST IN CASE.

(MK ch.23)

Kaito for the love of God what on earth would you ever need to memorize this man’s driver’s license number for. This is a new level of over-prepared. Kaito how did you even memorize that number along with all the other nonsense you need to remember for heists and disguises.

And in the manga we see several times that when his plans go awry, his first reaction isn’t usually to improvise a new plan, but rather to yeet as fast as possible because his brain can’t deal with a plan being ruined. (like above)

AND OKAY MEMORIZING ALL THOSE NUMBERS ACTUALLY BRINGS ME TO MY NEXT POINT:

COUNTING

The above example isn’t technically counting, but it does lend to an obsession with numbers and being hardwired to just have them in the back of his mind without thinking about it.

Alternately, he may have just glanced at the drivers license while handing it over and memorized it on the spot! Counting it without even thinking about it! (Either way, holy shit.)

He can also quickly and accurately count how many people and objects are in a room-- or you know an entire building-- in a matter of seconds. And he remembers all of it!

(MK ch.28)

Okay I think that’s all of the canon examples I’ve got on hand?

So with all that, some OCD headcanons about the boy:

-He over-plans even in mundane situations like deciding what kind of ice cream to get at the store. He’s gotta think about what if his favorite and second favorite and third favorite flavors are out of stock, and how much each brand costs, and if he’s willing to go to another store to get his favorite flavor if they don’t have it, and how long it will take to go to another store and the different prices there-- he over-plans for everything *just in case*.

-He obsessively re-checks and over-checks plans. Gotta make sure everything is right for heists.

-Counts things repeatedly/on a loop when left alone with his thoughts, and often taps along with his counting which outwardly looks like fidgeting or boredom. (I also headcanon that he has ADHD as well, so the tapping looks like a stimmy adhd thing)

-Pretty bad anxiety about messing up/consequences/break in routine, but hey live and die by the poker face, so no one knows it.

-He’s got rituals/routines to calm himself down that he doesn’t even realize are rituals: mindlessly shuffling or counting cards; tracing the scars/creases/etc on his hands, tapping/counting. (more things that just look like stimming basically)

-He also has a rewriting/redrawing habit. Mostly with his Kaitou Kid doodle, but he’ll do it with words too. His school notes have a lot of repetition because sometimes a word feels wrong so he’ll just rewrite it (sometimes several times) before he moves on with the rest of his notes.

-He plans his entire days ahead of time with a list in his head down to really stupid details.

-Yes this includes branching possibilities for different things that might happen that day. Backup plans of backup plans!

-On days where he’s feeling bad or can’t get his thoughts in order, he’ll take the list to paper so he can double check it as the day goes on. He always feels better if he has a plan he can check back on, mental or physical.

-Most importantly, he has absolutely no idea he’s got OCD. He assumes all of this is just normal behavior for an entertainer and a thief. Of course he pays attention to how many people are in a room and how it’s laid out, he’s in the habit of casing places. Of course he’s got 143 plans laid out for the day, it’s only practical that he knows what he’s gonna do. Of course he checks his heist plans two dozen times in the same night, he can’t afford to mess this up!

Anyway that’s all I’ve got for now love y’all byyye.

[shinygoku]

RSE vs ORAS - The Rivalry of the Rivals

Pokémon Emerald might actually be my favourite game in the franchise. Not the Best, that’s most likely Platinum, and not the most Iconic or Revolutionary, but it is such a warm game, such an Experience that even with an unfortunate absence of the Physical/Special Split, it still manages to stand out as Remarkable.

Relatedly, I think ORAS fails in several ways to be a proper remake or definitive version, the reverting of the plot to the weird nonsense of RS having to support Aqua/Magma over the other when they’re both intensely flawed, and the absence of the Battle Frontier being the biggest examples of changes for the worse. But those aren’t the focus of my discussion today.

In this essay I’m gonna be examining both sets of the Rival Characters in Hoenn. The non-Player Character Brendan/May, and Wally. How they were in RSE, how they were in ORAS, and why I think ORAS is actually a net downgrade at the end of the day. Which may seem a controversial statement, cause I will admit, the Advance games do have a bit of a focus issue. Let’s delve in a bit…

RSE - TWO HALVES

Unfortunately for RSE, it does feel like they lost track – there’s two Rivals now, but neither of them get full narrative focus. The appearances put in are few and far between, and neither seem to have a proper conclusion. It’s rather half baked, and it seems telling that the previous two generations and the following in Sinnoh would have a single Rival figure to motivate you, and each are clearly defined. Green/Blue is an obnoxious ego driven jerk, who frequently stops by to rub his success in your face. Silver is jerkier still, pushing people around, stealing pokémon and constantly calling everyone weak even when you’ve done nothing but trounce him in battles. Finally, Barry is so impatient and hyperactive he’s a bit annoying, but thankfully lacks any malice and matures in the midst of the story.

RSE’s “Main” Rival, the Brendan/May character you didn’t choose for yourself, is the first of many Friendly Rivals, though interestingly, they’re presented slightly differently. They each have a unique encounter theme [same melody, different arrangement if my poor music skill can gather that right] and share the single Vs Rival track in battle. While their dialogue both leads to the same point, there’s subtle differences in how they say things. 

Brendan comes across as a little bit aloof and while not unfriendly, he does make a few comments that ruffle feathers or can be too easy to misinterpret, the crowning jewel probably being that he presumed a Gym Leader’s Child would be a Boy. Brendan doesn’t hide his competitive streak very well if at all, outright trying to see which of you is stronger. In contrast, May is a lot more outwardly friendly and modest about her own abilities, and when she does issue challenges, there’s often the cover of her “checking you’re raising your Pokémon right” rather than just coming out and saying she wants to battle.

In the end though, they really are quite alike, and both options seem to be harbouring a discrete crush on the Player character. Also, unfortunately, both give up on their roles as Rival when they only have 4 pokémon in their team, and the starter isn’t even in its final stage! If not for their appearance right after you beat the champion, you’d think they just disappeared from the story! It’s a very odd choice, which may be in part to…

There’s another Rival figure! Wally!! This time you don’t choose him by omission, he’s instead the catching tutorial and a character who really fascinates me, which I’ll go into later. But it’s so strange that we only come across him right at the beginning, in the early middle section, then one final time right as you’re about to face the Elite Four. 

This presentation has confused many players who plain forgot he was in the story, and has lead to the conclusion among many that Wally is purely there to provide the exciting climax battle that Brendan/May failed to offer. I don’t fully agree, but I suspect the Game Devs were struggling to balance two rivals, resulting in the uneven focus on both. Sadly, it seems that if they picked one Rival instead, we’d have got a more complete experience, compared to the two separate halves we have, even in Emerald version.

While what I’ve written sounds on the negative side, I would like to make clear that I think it was a fab idea to try, the Rivals not only contrasting with the Jerkbags of the prior gens, but also with the other character given focus in the same games. The missing story presence offers an intriguing series of What If questions and blanks to fill in, but I really enjoy the power of suggestion that we still get.

So! Wouldn’t this be the perfect opportunity for the remakes to swoop in and tie up the loose ends?!

You’d think so, and there is some kinda effort there….. However……..

I think they took the wrong decisions on just how to go about fleshing the kids out. They’re more detailed, yes, but they seem to have lost something in the process. In particular, my main gripes are with the ORAS version of Wally, where he is indeed a small cute fella you help out and watch grow…. But he’s not the same. They missed the mark and it turns out I have a lot to say about just how that goes down, below the Cut.

ORAS - EERIE DOPPELGANGERS

First though, a quick note back on Brendan and May! It seems that they decided to amp up the Love Interest angle over the [Brendan] haughty to chill-er guy pipeline and with May it’s a less overt change in character, basically the added content that ORAS provides without retooling. ORAS absolutely made the right move in giving these guys a proper final battle together, where the starter is fully evolved (At last!!) and also Mega Evolves (it was Gen 6 and the style at the time lmao). Other little moments are added for the other gendered Rival to bashfully ask if you’re going this way [also a convenient fast travel back to Plot areas] and the post game Delta Episode even has them essentially going on a date to watch a meteor shower. It’s both very cute but ….ehh, a little much if y’ain’t playing for a diet Dating Sim. 

Their personalities don’t feel properly recreated, let Brendan be a bit haughty and May maybe too modest. Them blushing and blurting out to each other about having Feelings is suspiciously close to a whole rewrite, coupled with design changes that further reduce a certain Edge the OGs had (look how much more Feminine May is with the frills and bow). Why were they simplified?? 

Can’t they still have a Doomed Rivalry that still has them be close friends? That maybe the Brendan/May character gave up but then appears after the credits for that final battle, having been inspired by your various feats to try again? And Mega Evolving I guess lol.

…Now. I’ve gonna devide this section cause I have so much to say, even though this is still the Doppelganger issue. It’s time for

POKÉMON TRAINER WALLY

I skated over him earlier as I wanted this section to be uninterrupted, and as I was thinking about this essay and doing various forms of research, I realise I’m probably gonna hafta make a separate post about my own interpretation, my fanon for him. It’s a surprisingly long and winding road, this!

So, he only appears at 3 parts of the RSE story; right at the beginning, serving as the Catching Tutorial while there and planting seeds for later lore. He moves out of this first ‘City’ of the region and into somewhere we’re yet to see called Verdanturf Town. We eventually bump into him again at Mauville City (just one route away from Verdanturf) and we have to battle him and his single Pokémon of the Ralts he caught with you… but who is only level 16 and easy to beat. Wally returns to Verdanturf, but later is revealed to have run away to go on his own adventure, and no matter where you go, you only see him again when you’re on the way to the Elite Four via the gruelling Victory Road cave system. Here, he has close to a full party of mixed mons, his ace being Gardevour from the same Ralts again. This fight is certainly much more of a challenge, but it’s more notable as a testament to Wally’s own growth, that he went out to gather an eclectic mixture of Pokémon and get them to such high levels, and that he could go through the cave with only these guys by his side. After this, he can be rematched in the same place via the Match Call in Emerald.

Three major appearances but an absence of anything in between…… some folks honestly forget about him from this, for others he strikes a chord and accomplishes what the Brendan/May figures miss out on, with a noticeable arc and a true challenge. I’m in the latter category, naturally.

So, when he was finally shown in his ORAS incarnation, I was thrilled! And yet… after a while, something seemed a little off, but not in a way I really knew how to define. He redesign, his association with Gallade over Gardevoir, the team switch-ups he’d have in the postgame…. These things ain’t much on their own but combined with that and some other ORAS-isms finally got the Image across. 

It’s very subtle and I don’t think the majority of players pay enough attention to notice, but it feels like the focus of his character pivoted away from his arc of having been unable to do Trainer Things due to his chronic sickness, to now be a more generic Getting Stronger and Badass with the illness lore a means to an end, instead of the main factor.

Look again at the physical differences between RSE Wally and ORAS - for the most part I think most of the Advance designs getting a revamp is for the better, with the Gym Leaders in particular. But Wally’s very simplistic look from the OG games is nice, both distinctive and yet non flashy, he’s a normal guy [with what seems to be asthma] who’s around the protagonist’s age.

ORAS Wally is, to be frank, a very Moe character. That doesn’t hafta be a bad thing, but I find myself disagreeing with the idea. He was already shy and awkward, but the new 3D Models [which are also chibi in this game] really pile it on. He’s visibly blushing a lot, his dialogue has much more stutters and stammers, he’s tiny compared to everyone else, he’s wearing a thick cardigan (in the somewhat Tropical Kyushu-region?!) and also for some reason his colour palette got really desaturated and instead of wearing white and green, his attire is very pale with only his bonce having that bright grassy hue. It feels like they’ve grown a “Perfect Cinnamon Roll” character in a lab, laser focused to endear to players (and it succeeded!). But now I’ve seen behind the curtain and feel rather irritated, because even when only half involved in the story as he was in the Advance era, he still was a perfectly good character to build on, not to start over!

There’s again the point about his sickness - I’m going to assume it’s asthma based on the things other characters say, but it’s also a point that he’s been frail his whole life. I’ve made another post about it already, but it seems he stands alone as a Disabled Character in the franchise, and that’s a point in his favour and against The Pokémon Company’s, because ONE CHARACTER?! Out of HUNDREDS of NPCs?!?

Wally’s sickness doesn’t define him, but it does inform a lot about his character. As does the reaction of his family when he runs away. This is a fascinating little dash of realism in a franchise that indulges in the Free Range Children trope, where preteens are allowed unsupervised extended camping trips and battles with creatures that can crush a car easily. I think the plot thread of an overprotective parent is only used otherwise in Black and White? Though in this case it’s both more understandable, with Wally’s chronic illness, but his running away is something that ultimately needed to happen for Wally himself. 

And the Family Reaction is a surprisingly large difference between the Advance and the Remake games. ORAS adds a second floor to his house, in which we find his bedroom, which is packed with books, notes, and a globe with other regions pinned in. This is good storytelling, clearly there to show us how much research Wally’s already been doing in anticipation of having a Pokémon of his own, and/or trying to fill his void of not having one yet by learning everything he can about it. That’s all cool detail and relatable! But whether or not it was planned, it also gives a bit of an insight into his parents, who implicitly support this, what with the notebooks and all being numerous and right there in the open; it ain’t something he feels that he has to hide.

Maybe that’s also why his ORAS design has a satchel and multiple Pokéballs in the Catching Tutorial? He’s already a bit prepared for the chance, whereas back in RSE he has no idea and no resources…. He even seems to be going behind his parent’s back to an extent, as his mother was out looking for him, giving no indication that he had a little detour planned before being moved away. 

I suspect, while RSE Wally’s family had good intentions, they ultimately suppressed him from being able to do what kids normally do in this universe – go out into the wild and catch Pokémon. He hasn’t been allowed to because of health concerns, but as early as right after he leaves Petalburg Gym, you can talk to his mother, who observes that she hadn’t seen Wally so happy in a long time… having Ralts was such a boost to his morale, which had been flagging from the limitations put on him. Significantly later, after the Mauville encounter, he’s resolute in his new life goal where he wasn’t before, and that aim is to become a proper trainer and surpass you.

He runs away offscreen, and when you go to talk to his family, most of the adults are distraught, though his cousin Wanda has confidence in him. Visiting the parent’s house, it turns out that his mother is in fact keeping this little significant detail from her husband, who is blissfully ignorant of the whole affair. He has a light “Don’t be so silly!” type moment to the Player, at the notion that Wally could do something so risky………

CONTRAST THIS WITH ORAS

In ORAS a new scene is created where his dad and Norman [remember, he’s your dad in this game lol] converse about how proud they are of their Adventuring Kids. Wally’s Dad in this verse is fully aware that Wally is travelling alone and endorses it.

What?! Where’s the Drama?!?

Again, the implicit storytelling, even the broader idea that he’s supported by his family, isn’t bad, but it feels a lot more impactful if poor Wally not only has to fight his illness, but how that illness affects how even those closest to him treat him and arrange their expectations around it!

I don’t wanna say that heavier themes is superior writing, but in this case it’s both much more unique to the Pokémon storytelling patterns, and is an unfortunate reality for many people – that the people closest to them may be blind to their potential and even actively make it harder for them to chase their dreams or find their place in life. Even good intentions can pave a road you don’t want to go down. Wally has to fight this, on top of his condition, while you play as the local prodigy that he also tries to surpass. And that he seems to have minimal support in RSE other than his Pokémon makes him a stronger character and furthers the “Pokémon Good” message that the games are naturally interested in presenting, haha.

So compared to that, ORAS Wally doesn’t really have as much to fight against, it seems he has a whole support network and help from his loved ones, which again is nice and all, but it’s also a lot more generic. It makes him feel less deep to me, less compelling. He’s a scrawny little dude but he’s otherwise comparatively paint by numbers “Shrimpy dude is actually a final boss” character.

GARDEVOIR VS GALLADE

Another change I don’t like is in the Ace Pokémon - ORAS makes it so the Ralts that Wally catches (which is always male, in both games) eventually evolves into the Male-Only evolution of Gallade, who was introduced in Gen 4. Gallade’s main interests are french poetry, long walks on the beach and defending the weak like a knight in shining armour [or a naked white body. Whichever.], so I do wonder just why they decided to add on a new branch to the Ralts line the gen after introducing them? Was it to showcase the Physical/Special split more starkly, the contrast between Gardevoir being more Special and Gallade more Physical? To plump up the numbers in the somewhat lean Sinnoh dex and give more use to the Dawn Stone item? Because they wanted to make a Pokémon that’s the most “Link Homage”-ish of them all? I can’t tell, it may even be something else entirely.

But whatever the reason, I doubt it’s because they already knew that when they would get around to the Gen 3 Remakes, they were going to retcon Wally’s signature mon. It’d be a very strange progression from the cool concept of a guardian angel type of mon which is gender neutral, to “oh shit Wally needs a MANLY bodyguard who is ONLY EVER MALE because he is also and it must look MASCULIN AAAAAA”

I would sooooo love to know whenabouts the Ralts line was actually developed being Gen 3 took shape, and whether or not it was always earmarked to be associated with Wally (or vice versa?). The colour schemes matching so neatly can’t just be a coincidence, surely (I would also kill for Wally Concept art, for that matter. Behind the scenes of old games artbook when???). iirc the Dex numbers of the Ralts fam is pretty low down, which would imply it’s a pseudo legendary [not with the paper defence it ain’t] or …was added in a fair bit later. Was that before or after the Wally plans?

Someone said on tumblr that Wally’s mon being retconned is a microaggression, and I agree. Give him back his gnc humanoid ghost ballroom dancer looking dude! Embrace the unconventional pick for this unconventional character!

The other maybe reason why is because ORAS is cursed with Gen 6-itis. And in XY, the Champion hogs the Gardevoir association even though Wally got there first, damn it! But that leads into…

MAYBE MEGAS WERE A MISTAKE

For the most part, I think Megas were a dope idea and that GF are fools for backpedalling so hard on the idea, cause they realised they Peaked with them so in the gen after they were introduced, you could still have them but the Dex Entries were written to basically villianise the concepts (E.g. Absol causes people to DIE, Houndoom is so hot he starts MELTING, Lucario is SO BLOODLUST CONSUMED, and so on.) and then completely dropping it for Gen 8’s incredibly stupid Dynamaxing.

If they continued making Megaevolutions, it could have been a force of immense Good, offering new techniques and viability for mons who are beloved but have unfair limitations. ….In practice though, Megas were mostly used for ones that were already very popular and/or strong, with Increased Viability Underdogs being a minority compared to the slew of Gen 1 Megas and again, popular species like Lucario, Absol (who actually badly needed the stats lol), Garchomp and the Lati Twins, and finally for my discussion, Gardevoir and Gallade both, albeit Games apart. … Flygon apparently got passed over purely based on Art Block which I find unconvincing, Flygon’s design may already be Perfection, but it’s easy enough to add new twists, even if it doesn’t look as good in the end (again: see Mega Absol with the silly hair and Wings cluttering the sleek look of before). Which unfortunately makes me suspect the priorities were elsewhere at this time.

Anyway, Gardevour gets their Big Exciting Mega Debut in XY as the Champion’s trump card. This design leans into the femininity much more, with a Ballroom type grown shape with opera gloves and the chest-horn thing opening into a heart shape. The Shiny’s twist of making the frock black does look pretty dope, at least.

But having blown their load on Gardevoir already, they either didn’t want to reuse the same concept in ORAS, or even as far back as XY development, they decided to twist things up and give Wally a Gallade and saving his megalution for ORAS. There’s no way in hell they were gonna have foregone the chance to showcase another Mega, ORAS is so heavy on them (and tbh, I’m glad they didn’t skate over Wally having the Hot New Trend while that was indeed in favour).

DISCLAIMER: I STILL LIKE ORAS

I’m negative but I still think they’re damn good games. 

The main advantage of them is the Physical/Special split. I legit think that one factor [or lack thereof] is what stops Emerald from being seriously considered among the GOAT games, and being able to travel through Hoenn with the sense made from that is really nice.

Other quality of life features like the Dexnav, the online, little touches like being able to fly to landmarks and routes, or straight up Soaring to free fly around. As I said before too, the Mega Evolutions were almost too good an idea, just misused in their time and tragically killed before they could do more good.

AGAIN with the Final Rival Battles. The setting of Victory Road for the Wally fight is legit one of the franchises’ most beautiful ideas, and there’s interesting symbolism with the choice of Red Spider Lilies. Honestly I wanna hold off from delving into that until my Wally Only Post (this essay is already getting on in length!), but I will say here that the pizzaz is a great touch.

But ultimately, what makes me write on and on about this whole characterization thing is…

THE HEART OF THE ISSUE (or the tl;dr part)

Ultimately, the Remakes improved on the Advance games in plenty of ways, and the Advance games missed out on a lot of fleshing out to the new characters.

However, when presented with this golden, gift wrapped, hand delivered chance to take the characters and their partial stories, they didn’t actually finish writing them. Instead, they tossed out the old versions and started again with Similar, but Different versions. Brendan had all his Edge removed. May becomes more stereotypically girly and is obsessed with being Brendan’s Friend. They both went from the prototype Friendly Rivals to just another template pattern. It’s like a photocopy of a photocopy of the original image, and the loss of quality with each scan.

And Wally. Wally! It’s subtle enough that most people get the opposite reaction to me, but they did my boy dirty. They made him such an “uwu smol bean” “precious cinnamon roll” moe widdle guy that the subtext about how difficult everything is for him ends up getting lost. They took “invisible disability” too literally and forgot about it entirely. His illness is only mentioned a couple of times before it’s shifted into him becoming obsessed with the rather generic “getting stronger with my Pokémon”, his family is behind him the whole way, his team goes from a hodgepodge to a dedicated Smogon player, losing the simplicity, the charm, the heart!!

Also in Sun and Moon he apparently didn’t age for a decade or take his boring cardigan off and that’s stupid too. At least in the Gatcha Mobile Game he gets an alt that palette swaps him back into vivid colour. Honestly, that game may treat him better than ORAS did :P

[daretosnoop]

Chapter 4: Bad Girlfriend

Chapter 3

The chapter some of y’all have been wanting since this game came out. I hope the story is interesting so far. 

Henry told Renee their plans, then brought Nancy upstairs to the guest room. It was a simple room, if a little bland for colour. Henry supposed his uncle had some notion of social etiquette given that many people would probably not take to his interior design choices. Renee entered soon with a bundle of clothes.

“Not sure what would fit you dear or what your preference is so I brought some of my clothes, Dr. Bruno’s clothes, and some random pieces stored over time”.

Nancy thanked her and both Renee and Henry went downstairs.

“I’ll make a little night snack for your sleepover,” Renee said as she headed for the kitchen. Henry followed her.

“Don’t trouble yourself. And it’s not a sleepover. We don’t have a choice given the weather”.

“You could have always dropped her home”.

“I, I can’t do that on rainy nights”.

Renee paused in powdering the beignets. She looked at Henry and nodded.

“Could have asked me. I don’t mind”.

Henry shrugged and Renee just smiled and returned to her beignets. She placed two on two plates and poured out a glass of cold milk.

“In the morning, y’all can have them with coffee”.

She then wished Henry good night and went out the kitchen towards the stairs. On the landing, she suddenly felt a chill run across her back and turned to see Nancy peering over the model cemetery.

“I’ve seen it too,” she suddenly called out.

Nancy whirled around, startled by the voice.

“Seen who?”

“The skeleton man”.

Nancy’s face became serious as she headed towards Renee.

“What have you seen?”

“I don’t even want to talk about it. All I know is that I saw it, that thing. Soon after seeing it, strange sounds came from my room”

“What did you do?”

Renee looked up proudly. “I found a solution in my book. Used my powers in hoodoo to put up a spell,” Renee placed a hand around her little pouch necklace. “It worked too. Those sounds stopped”.

“Did the skeleton man stop? Was it just the one time you saw him or did you see him repeatedly? Do you think there is a connection between the sound and the man? Did you tell Dr. Bolet? What did he say? Did he believe you?”

“Goodness child,” Renee laughed though it did not reach her eyes. “You sure are inquisitive”.

Nancy shrugged.

“Well, I admire your tenacity child, just be careful. There are powers far beyond mere mortals. The best we can, and should, do is protect ourselves and not dare challenge the powers”.

Renee said nothing to Nancy’s perplexed face. There really was nothing to tell the girl. She would either play it safe, or learn the hard way. She told Nancy of the food she placed out and bid her goodnight.

 Nancy was surprised to see Henry in the kitchen. He had started on one of the beignets but his attention was clearly on his phone.

“Bad news?” Nancy asked, reading his face.

Henry started, blinked at her while he processed her question, then hummed and took another bite of the beignet.

I wonder if it’s that Summer person?

She started on a beignet and thought over her case. She’d called Bess soon after changing her clothes. Half-asleep Bess barely registered everything Nancy told her but somehow understood that Nancy was not coming home tonight. Nancy didn’t know when Henry was going to sleep, but she hopped it was soon. He was still a suspect and nighttime was always optimal for snooping.

“Find everything okay?” Henry asked.

Mouth still stuffed with food, Nancy nodded.

“Put my clothes to dry so I can wear them tomorrow. I plan on calling professor Hotchkiss and then going from there”.

With a beignet half in his mouth, Henry looked at her, eyes wide.

“You mean, you intend on continuing?”

“Duh”.

“What if I say no?”

“Then I guess I’ll have to go. I’ll go and forever lament this unsolved case to my friends,” Nancy waved her hands about, exaggerating the tragedy Henry’s refusal would cause her.

Henry’s lips twitched.

“You’re stubborn”.

Nancy gave him a cheeky smile.

“Good friends are”.

They chatted amicably on Nancy’s previous cases until the beignets finished. Henry immediately took the dishes and washed them. He then nodded at Nancy before heading towards the study.

“How long do you stay up?” Nancy asked.

Henry shrugged. “Depends on the work”.

Darn. Hate those answers.

With nothing better to do, Nancy bid Henry good night and went to her room. She fiddled with the number she had for professor Hotchkiss and thought over the night’s events. Not able to think of anything new, she searched up hoodoo, the Bolets, and New Orleans on her phone. Something sinister was afoot in this house.

At around 10:45 p.m. Nancy heard footsteps climb up the stairs and a door open. She waited a while longer, and when she was sure Henry was not planning on leaving his room, she quietly opened her door and walked down the stairs with her torch. Thankfully, the stairs did not creak. Nancy opened the door to the study and crept towards the desk. Looking around quickly and finding no one, Nancy sat on the chair and grinned.

 She meticulously searched through all of Henry’s papers, but could find nothing relevant. She then looked through the desk drawers but only found a keychain with an eyeball. Strange, but again, not relevant. Henry had left his computer on the desk and of course, it was locked. Nancy thought over any possible passwords. Bolet didn’t work. Henry’s name didn’t work. Don’t tell me. She typed out Summer and logged in. There was nothing relevant on Henry’s laptop though Nancy did see an email from Dr. Buford’s medical clinic. It was an invoice for a paid bill. Myocardial Infraction. Dr. Bolet’s cause of death.

Nancy looked through the rest of Henry’s emails but found nothing of relevance their either. Not even in the junk and deleted folders. She fell back onto the chair and sighed. Then her eyes caught the rubbish bin beneath the desk and she reached out for it. She read each memo, card, and invite but found nothing of interest. She then picked up an envelope. It was from Milo Research and Technology, and addressed to Bruno Bolet. There was an address but no number. She put the envelope aside and continued to dig. There were some pieces of paper in intelligible handwriting, but Nancy did catch the word skull repeated so she put them with the envelope.

Finding nothing else, Nancy stood up and carried her clues back up the stairs. As she climbed she happened to look up and felt her heart freeze. There, by the flower vase, she could almost swear she was seeing Renee’s eyes watching her. But that was ridiculous. Renee was not there. Nancy took a deep breath and slowly let it out as she went back to her room.

 After breakfast, Nancy went back to her French quarter hotel and was greeted by a frantic Bess.

“Nancy! Where were you?”

“Bess, I called and told you that I would be staying the night at Henry’s place”.

“You know I can’t remember anything told to me when I’m half asleep!”

Bess sighed loudly before looking behind Nancy at the man who was standing awkwardly at the front door. Following her gaze, Nancy introduced Bess to Henry and soon Bess had ushered him in for tea. As the trio sat around the table, Nancy filled Bess in with what had happened to her and what her plans were. Bess’s face fell when she learned that her friend was, again, bailing on her to pursue a case. She knew Nancy meant well, and to be honest, helping Nancy with a case was more fun than a traditional vacation, but Nancy had just gotten back from Alberta from another case. It would have been nice to have some time in the warmth before she whisked off again.

“Will you help me Bess?”

Nancy’s words broke Bess out of her thoughts. She wasn’t paying attention.

“Uh, help you with what?”

“Finding out some information. Just background research. Nothing dangerous”.

“Nancy,”

“Please?”

“Okay, okay. I’ll be on standby. The sooner you solve this, the sooner we can get back to our vacation”.

Bess turned to glare at Henry.

“You could have just told her no, you know”.

The man shrugged and Bess could tell from his face that he had tried, Nancy just didn’t listen. She never could catch hidden tones very well, but it was probably a good thing. She wouldn’t be a good detective if she was constantly hampered by emotional cues.

Nancy got up to pack her bags. Alone with Henry, Bess found herself not knowing what to say. The man was a complete stranger, even if he was dressed smartly, and even if he did carry himself with a certain grace. It was interesting to see that despite his outwardly appearance, Henry exhibited a lot of manners. He hardly made his presence known and it was only after Nancy left that Bess took a good look at Henry.

“So, how do you know Ned?”

“We’re classmates”.

Bess nodded and silence overfell both of them again.

“Do you like tea?” Bess asked.

“Yes. It’s nice”.

That’s it? Just nice? C’mon, give me more to work with! Henry was a walking enigma and it infuriated Bess.

“I’m sorry about Nancy. She can be,” Bess moved her hands to emphasize, “much”.

Henry snorted into his tea.

“But her intuition is always right, or close to it. Whatever it is your uncle’s hiding, she’ll figure it out. Don’t worry”.

“I’m not worried. I just don’t think there is anything worth finding out”.

“So you’re okay with letting possible treasure, a priceless artifact, go undetected?”

“Doesn’t really mean much to me?”

“What if it meant something to your family?”

“I’m the only living relative of my family, and since I know nothing about my family, the treasure or whatever uncle Bruno may be hiding might as well not exist”.

Bess didn’t know what to say to that, and they finished their tea in silence. Nancy came in and plopped in front of Bess.

“Bess. I need you to look into someone. His name is Gilbert Buford. Dr. Buford was Dr. Bolet’s heart doctor. Apparently they were also friends”.

“What do you want me to ask him?”

“Ask him what he knew about Dr. Bolet. If Dr. Bolet ever confided anything to anyone, his friend would probably know—right?”

“I suppose”.

Bess glanced towards Henry.

“Is it okay if I do this? Or am I breaking some law here?”

“Don’t think so. If you are, I guess you can just say that I’m asking you to do this”.

“Great!” Nancy beamed and all but dragged Henry outside.

Bess sighed and pulled out her phone to look up medical clinics, but stopped when she heard Nancy come back in. She wore a serious expression.

“Bess. I need you to do something else”.

Nancy handed her a piece of paper that said ‘Zeke’s’ on it.

“I need you to see if there is some store called Zeke. Then I need you to go in and ask if Henry Bolet or Renee Amande ever sold anything recently”.

Bess slowly lowered her phone.

“You, you suspect Henry and Renee?”

“You know the drill Bess, everyone’s a suspect”.

“But, for what?”

“For being the skeleton man. I’m following up on every lead I have. Couldn’t tell you earlier because,” Nancy nudged her head towards the door.

“How does this place relate to a skeleton man?”

“Don’t know yet, but I know it was burned recently. Renee mentioned she keeps the place spotless. She couldn’t possible have overlooked the fire place if it was burnt a while ago”.

“Alright”.

Nancy thanked Bess then headed out the door.

 Henry drove them back to the Bolet manor and went towards his desk. Nancy pulled out her phone and dialed professor Hotchkiss. No one picked up, but Nancy was not surprised. Professor Hotchkiss was probably off doing research or some other wacky project. She left a message asking professor Hotchkiss to call back to discuss a book she recently wrote.

She had no other lead to follow and so went out to the gardens. Renee was not there and Nancy took her chance to snoop. There was a shovel on one wall and some other gardening tools hanging about. For the most part, it looked like a garden. Even the plants seemed common place. Finding nothing suspicious, Nancy turned to leave the garden and came face-to-face with Renee.

“Can I help you dear?”

“Oh, I was actually looking for you,” Nancy spoke placidly. She was a little startled by Renee’s sudden appearance, but quickly recovered when she saw the pouch necklace Renee always wore.

“I was going to ask you, what’s in that necklace”.

Renee closed her hand around the pouch and Nancy could have sworn she saw anger flash through her eyes.

“This is my connection to the forces of the universe. Their elemental powers course through me when I wear this”.

Nancy stared at her and Renee scoffed.

“Well, least you didn’t laugh. How else can I help you?”

“Well, what can you tell me about Dr. Bolet?”

“Recluse. Obsessive. Neither jolly nor morose, but there was always a soberness that clung to him. It’s as if he refused to let himself be happy. Not very picky either. So long as I left him alone and kept the house, he didn’t care about what I did in my free time”.

Renee gave a soft smile. “We had a great working relationship. It’s rare to have in the housekeeping business”.

“How did you come to work for Dr. Bolet?”

“Answered a paper advertisement,” Renee answered quickly.

“Did he ever talk about his family?”

“Very little”.

“What did he say?”

“That his parents died when he was in his thirties. He had a younger brother whom he adored. Loved his sister-in-law, and had no desire to get married”.

There was barely anything to work with, still, Nancy persisted.

“Dr. Bolet was alone his whole life? Even after his brother’s death”.

Renee pressed her lips into a thin line.

“From what I’ve come to understand, Dr. Bolet loved his brother and when he died, he essentially lost a part of himself. Whatever was left came out only through his eccentricities”.

There was nothing of use in anything Renee mentioned. She tried a different angle.

“Do you know how Dr. Bolet died?”

“Oh yes,” Renee’s eyes took on a far-away look. “I was. I was there when he died. I saw him fall, on the threshold”. Renee placed a hand on her shoulder and looked down. “I thought, maybe, he just stumbled. Maybe got knocked unconscious, but Dr. Buford was there and he said it was a heart attack”.

Nancy looked sharply at Renee.

“Dr. Buford was there on the night Dr. Bolet died?”

“Yes. I suppose he came to visit Dr. Bolet”.

“Does he regularly visit Dr. Bolet?”

“No. Usually Dr. Bolet visits, but I suppose given his age. It must have been easier for Dr. Buford to come. Or maybe he wanted something. Either way, he was there”.

“What was Dr. Bolet doing on the threshold?”

Renee scrunched her face and held a finger to her lips. She still did not look at Nancy.

“I don’t remember quite well, but I think he was reading something. A letter perhaps?”

Excitement rose through Nancy.

“Do you still have the letter? Can I see it?”

“Sorry dear. I don’t know where it’s gotten to”.

Renee gave Nancy a tight smile and pointed towards the plants. Nancy took her cue to leave Renee and head back into the manor. She went back to her room and searched up Gilbert Buford, New Orleans. There were three Gilbert Bufords, but only one had a medical clinic. Nancy dialed the number and waited for the receptionist. The receptionist told her that Dr. Buford was not working full-time anymore.

“He only comes in for urgent situations and requests”.

“Where can I find him outside of the clinic?”

“I’m not authorized to give you that information”.

Nancy was fed up of facing blockades that interrupted her investigation. It was as if the whole of New Orleans didn’t want the mystery that was Bruno Bolet to come apart. She decided to take a risk.

“I really need to talk to him,” she said, softening her voice to add grief. “You see, we had a mutual friend who recently died, and I-I just need to talk to him”.

“Need some consoling?” The nurse empathized.

“Yes! Exactly! I need, that”.

“Well, alright. I guess it’s okay given the circumstance. Dr. Buford generally spends his time in the French quarters. He lives nearby and frequents a Cajun truck stop at Rampart and Dumaine. Claims it’s the best gumbo New Orleans has. I’d contest him on that though. Nothing beats a fine gumbo than my own Bluefoot’s Gumbo”.

Rampart and Dumaine? Jackpot!

“Thank you so much”.

“No problem,” the receptionist replied. “And I hope you get the help you need for your friend”.

“Oh, yes. I will. Thanks. I feel better already.” Saying so, Nancy quickly hung up and called Bess.

“Bess, he’s in Rampart and Dumaine!”

“Who?” Bess asked, her voice laced with sleep.

“Gilbert Buford. I called his clinic. They said he spends his time nearby a Cajun food truck”.

“Hang on”. Bess muttered and Nancy could hear her wrestling out of the bed and walking around.

“I’m in the balcony now”.

“What do you see?”

“I see a food truck called ‘Granny’s Cajun Cooking’”

“And?”

“And no one else. It’s pretty busy right now, but no one is sitting around the food truck”.

Nancy sighed. “Must be too early in the day”.

“Or hot, it’s the middle of the afternoon. But I’ll keep any eye out, okay?”

Another dead end. It seemed that for every inch of progress Nancy made, there was a foot of backlash.

“Hey Nancy,” Bess’s voice called urgently. “You won’t believe what’s in front of our hotel. It’s the name, ‘Zeke’. It’s a curio shop!”

“Bess, you gotta get right down there and ask those questions!”

“I’m on it,” Bess replied with determination and hung up.

 Nancy wandered around the gardens, looking for a clue that would help her understand the spider lock. Neither Renee nor Henry understood the lock, nor did they know if Bruno kept a pet spider. Renee eventually mentioned that she’d often see Dr. Bolet standing in certain spots around the garden. Sometimes he looked up to the sky, and other times, he was peering down. At times, he’d even bend over and inspect the base of the fountain that rested in the centre of the garden.

Carefully, Nancy crept around the fountain. The rain had made the soil muddy so she could not walk within the base. Thankfully, she did not need to. There was a hole surrounded by overlapping wires nestled into the soil ground. Nancy pulled out her phone to confirm her suspicion. The wire web before her matched the lock image on her phone. They’re keys, she realized. Musical keys. Each wire twanged a musical note. Looking at the image on her phone, she realized that the dashes extending out of each wire varied in number. So each dash must corroborate to a number—an order perhaps? But what would it release? She assumed it must be another key given that she was trying to open another locked door. Peering down into the hole, she saw a bronze key and the legs of a giant tarantula. Nancy could face anything, had faced everything, even certain death. She’d grown quite resilient in nature— but spiders, spiders were the one thing she just could not understand. I’d better get this right.

Carefully she pulled each wire in the order the lock indicated, and listened carefully to the note it played. She heard the mechanical sound of a platform being raised, and saw that the spider had backed off because the key was sitting upon a stand that was now rising to greet her. She nabbed the key and stuffed it into her front pocket. She turned around and saw Henry.

“What are you doing?” Henry asked.

“Oh you know,” Nancy shrugged then grinned. “Just testing theories out”.

Henry’s eyebrows quirked. “Discover anything, scientist?”

Nancy laughed. “Maybe,” she coyly answered.

Henry nodded but when he saw Nancy was not going to offer any more information, he let it go.

“Just going to take walk”.

“I’ll join you,” Nancy spoke suddenly.

“You will?”

It was a sudden decision, but Nancy did want to learn more about Henry. He might know more about his family, and Nancy wanted to know more about this Summer person. She might also be connected to this mystery—though, probably, very weakly connected.

They walked into the cemetery, Henry being a gentleman and opening the gate for Nancy.

“Thanks, but don’t bother. I’m your friend”.

“So I shouldn’t be nice to friends?” Henry countered.

“No, I meant. No need to be formal. Chill out a bit”.

“Yes, I suppose I could learn a bit about chilling out”. He gestured around the cemetery. “Think this is a good place to learn how?”

“Can’t be more chill than dead, can you?” Nancy teased and Henry laughed.

When they got to the Bolet mausoleum Nancy could sense Henry’s tension. One pain for another, I guess.

“So,” she started. “Tell me about Summer”.

Henry’s eyes snapped towards her, and without needing to look back, Nancy admitted that she overheard his conversation.

“Overheard?” Henry asked and Nancy knew what he was really asking.

“Well, you were loud enough. What was I to do? Cover my ears?”

Henry just sighed but didn’t say anything. Nancy tried a different angle.

“Friends help each other”.

“Why do you keep insisting we’re friends?”

“Because we are”

“People don’t just become friends in a day or because someone says so”.

“Then how do they become friends?”

Henry shrugged. “I dunno. Hang out a lot. Talk a lot. Eventually they come to rely on each other and feel safe and wanted around each other. They enjoy each other’s company”.

“Is that what you have with Summer?” Nancy asked softly.

Henry stopped walking and looked down. Nancy waited. She thought Henry would refuse to answer, or tell her to stop walking with him, or even cry, but slowly, Henry lifted his head and stared right at her.

“No”.

“So Summer’s not your friend?”

“No. She’s my girlfriend”.

“Your girlfriend can’t be your friend? Little ironic. It’s in the name”.

“It’s,” Henry scratched his ear. “It’s complicated. I like her, and I think she likes me back, but she can be so unpredictable it drives me nuts”.

“How so?”

“I never know what’s going to make her happy. Like just recently I— “Henry stopped and hesitated. “I always have to buy her things”.

Nancy’s mind began to whir.

“Have you tried talking to her about it?”

Henry nodded. “I did but she always gets very mad, and I’d rather not deal with her anger. Besides,” Henry pressed down hard on his lips. “I’m afraid if I don’t give her what she wants she’ll,” he pressed down harder and his lips disappeared into a thin line. “I’m afraid she’ll dump me”.

“What’s wrong with being dumped?”

Henry looked at her incredulously. “I couldn’t take it. She’s the only girlfriend I’ve ever had, and probably ever will have”.

Nancy did not understand Henry’s argument. “So you’d rather be unhappy with someone, then happy but alone”.

“I’m not unhappy when I’m with Summer,” Henry snapped.

“You just said you don’t consider her your friend,” Nancy argued, “and that you’re only staying with her out of fear”.

“What’s it to you?” Henry argued.

Shoot. Her inquisitive side had gotten her involved in emotional affairs again. Whoever said detective work required cold calculated minds was a god-damn liar. Henry must of have noticed the change in the air and quickly apologized for his behaviour.

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Look. I know I’m nosy. I probably shouldn’t have said anything. But I’m not that type of person. If something’s wrong, I usually try to figure it out, and seeing your behaviour, I feel you’re in the wrong relationship. I’m not going to tell you what to do, but if you don’t consider me as a friend, then consider this as advice from a stranger who’s sensing something’s wrong—you’re in a bad relationship. This Summer, she seems like someone who likes being provided for and taken care of”.

Henry crossed his arms against his chest. “And what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, if you’re okay with having such a relationship. But if you’re not, then what are you doing?” Nancy hesitated and carefully said her next words. “You’re going to make both of you unhappy, and eventually, one person is going to leave”.

“Oh, you’re a relationship detective now?” Henry spat.

“No,” Nancy said softly. She laced her fingers together in front of her. She could see the gates dividing the cemetery and garden. She walked ahead of Henry and opened the gate. Standing on the threshold, she looked back at Henry and smiled.

“I’m the bad girlfriend”.

[ineloqueent]

Starstruck: Part 13

 Brian May x Fem!Reader

This is Part 13 of a multi-part fic. Click the links below to read the Masterpost, the previous part, or the next part of the fic :)

Masterpost / Part 12 / Part 14

Summary: When studying at Imperial College in the 1970s, your path is crossed by a beautiful boy as much in love with the stars as you.  

Warnings: swearing, angst (no, this is not what i was on about a couple of weeks ago)

Historical Inaccuracies: 

Brian paused his Ph.D. in 1974, not 1975

I have no idea under what circumstances Queen met John Reid, or when exactly it was decided for him to manage them :)

Word Count: 4.9k

⁺˚*·༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺

“For god’s sake, Freddie,” Roger hissed, “don’t wake them!”

“You’re the one who’s going to wake them, if you don’t shut up with that shrilly voice of yours.”

Roger gave an indignant cry, but I pressed a finger to his lips. “Shush, darling.”

He pushed my hand away, walking off, before I pulled him back, forcing him to look at the scene before us.

The dappled morning sunlight flooded through the unclosed curtains of the studio windows, washed over the two people who lay in each other’s arms at the foot of the sofa. Whether they slept there because they hadn’t made it to the sofa, or because they hadn’t meant to sleep at all was not outwardly obvious. Considering they were both still dressed, and considering the fact that Brian— the insomniac!— was asleep, the last was probably true.

“Should we not just leave them..?” But I tugged on his sleeve. He sighed, “What.”

“When was the last time you saw Brian sleeping?” I said.

Roger made a noise of amusement. “I try not to make a habit of watching my bandmates while they sleep, Fred.”

I rolled my eyes. “Roger, really. He sleeps less than three hours every night, and even then, we couldn’t have had a conversation in front of him without him waking up. But look at him now.” I gestured to Brian’s sleeping form.

He lay on the floor with his arms drawn around Y/N, his embrace protective, and his breaths deep and slow, while she was curled into his chest, her legs tangled with his. His chin rested on the top of her head, and as he shifted in his slumber, she nestled closer to him, her fingers clutching the material of his shirt.

Roger shook his head slowly. “He doesn’t sleep, he never sleeps. But he’s sleeping now.”

I smiled. “He is.” I threw an arm around Roger’s shoulders and pulled him from the room, leaving the two lovers to their much needed rest. “Oh, Rog,” I hugged him to my side in excitement. “I knew she’d be good for him!”

Roger laughed. “You always know, Freddie.”

⁺˚*·༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺

You awoke to an assault of sunlight on your eyes, and groaned at the thought of it being morning already.

You had the feeling that you hadn’t slept for many hours, but all the same, you knew you’d dreamt something. You couldn’t remember what it was you’d dreamt, only that it had been strange. And beautiful. Something about walking in starlight, across clouds, holding the hand of somebody tall. Someone as beautiful as the stars.

With a wince, you realised that you must have dreamt of Brian. It was just what you needed, for him to invade your dreams as well as your waking thoughts. If you told him of your dream, though, you thought with a little laugh, he’d probably apologise for trespassing.

You sighed and pressed your face into your bedsheets, breathing in the familiar comforts of soap and fresh air and brewed coffee and books and… and…

What..? Lilies?

You flexed your fingers, only to give a start when the surface beneath them moved.

You opened your eyes. Just as Brian opened his.

You inhaled sharply.

You’d been asleep against Brian’s chest.

Granted, his skin was not bare, and neither was yours, so in the very least it was a forgivable offence. But it was an offence all the same, wasn’t it?

His arms were around you, and you didn’t want him to let go of you, so, selfishly, you did not move.

He reached up to rub his eyes, and you remained motionless against his chest, at once both reluctant to move and yet trying desperately to figure out how it was you were going to talk your way out of this situation.

His hands left his eyes, and without anywhere else to put them, he returned them tentatively to where they had rested on the small of your back.

A shiver ran through you.

“Good morning,” he murmured, his voice low in his throat, and achingly gentle to your ears. You dared to imagine that this was what he would sound like every early morning, sleepy and unaware of the world around him, direly lovely in all his softened beauty— half-lidded eyes, rosy lips chapped with disuse, his curly hair falling about his face in an unruly, untamed manner.

“Good morning,” you whispered back, unable to take your eyes off of his, hyper-aware of the rise and fall of his chest and the hum of his pulse beneath your fingers.

“I’m sorry,” said Brian, blinking in the brightness of the morning sun. “I can’t imagine you’ve slept well, atop this pile of skin and bones,” he chuckled. “I must have just fallen asleep.”

He still wasn’t quite awake, and nor were you, which was likely why the significance of this event didn’t occur to either of you for a moment.

Then your heart gave a little leap. Brian the insomniac…

“Bri, you fell asleep!”

“Yes? I fell asleep…” He frowned. Then his eyes widened. “I fell asleep?!”

He sat up at once, and you went with him as he laughed happily, hugging you to him.

“I can’t—” he stuttered into your hair, “I can’t believe it— I must have slept for hours!”

“Insomniac my arse,” you said with a scoff. “I woke up before you did!”

You snapped your mouth closed, realising how that must have sounded; you’d realised where you were and had continued to lie in his arms, as though you had a right to. Your cheeks flushed, but Brian didn’t notice.

He shook his head. “I am, I really am. I didn’t lie to you.” He glanced at his watch, and he was still holding you close, but this he didn’t seem to notice either. Or, if he did notice, it didn’t bother him. “And I’m not lying to you when I tell you, that was the most I’ve slept in weeks.” He smiled down at you, and you could do naught but gaze back up in response. “Guess you’ll just never have to leave me, Y/N.”

You snorted. “Is that a challenge? Because I’m not sure it can be done.”

“Oh sod off,” he pouted.

But you grinned. “Never.”

“Never?” he asked, the word made tender by the slope of his lips.

“I’ll never leave you.”

Something changed in his features, some subtle thing, you fancied. Perhaps the light in his eyes grew a little brighter, or his cheeks grew a little rosier, or his face moved a little closer to yours.

“Y/N,” Brian began slowly, “there’s something I have to tell you, and I hope you won’t think any less of me for it, but I… I’m—”

“Oh good, you’re awake.” Deacy.

Brian leapt away from you as though your skin were on fire.

It was, a little. But only where he’d been touching you.

“John!” Brian said in surprise. He hastily pulled his legs to him and stood up, swaying slightly, so that he rather resembled Bambi on ice.

“Shh,” Deacy hummed, and you realised that he was carrying a bundle in his arms. A very small, human-sized bundle. “Can’t afford to wake him, now that Veronica’s finally asleep, you know.”

“Oh, Deacy,” you said. You made your way over to where he and Brian were now standing by the piano, absently folding Brian’s jacket over your arm.

“So this is him… her?” Brian whispered, peering at the tiny face that was snuggled between the blanket.

“Him. Veronica gave birth late last night.” John’s voice had taken on a warm, soft quality, similar to how Brian spoke when he was around animals. You supposed it was a voice of affection, reserved only for moments of awe, of unconditional and overflowing love. It made sense; you used the same voice when you spoke of the stars.

“Which reminds me,” Deacy rocked the child in his arms, “happy birthday, Brian.”

Brian smiled. “Thanks. Shame the little one wasn’t born just a few hours later. We could have shared birthdays.”

Deacy lifted his shoulders in a light shrug. “Oh well. Now you get to keep your special day for being even bossier than usual.”

You laughed while Brian muttered, “You have to be nice to me. It’s my birthday.”

“See what I mean?” Deacy said. “Anyway. You should go to the garden. Freddie and Roger have something for you, from the three of us.”

“Y/N, you didn’t chip in?” Brian teased.

“For the last time, how was I supposed to know?!”

“It’s also from Y/N, now,” John said, “seeing as somebody neglected to tell her that you were turning twenty-seven today.”

“Why does everyone keep repeating that number?” Brian grumbled, running a hand through his hair. “I know I’m getting older, there’s no need to remind me.”

“Shush,” you gave him his jacket and a push toward the door, and Brian gave a little yelp of outrage. “The garden awaits, my liege.”

“You’re not coming?”

“Later,” Deacy responded for you. “Y/N and I are just going to take a walk to the kitchen.”

“We are?” you asked. You’d have liked to stay with Brian, to have his gaze rush across you every now and then, to see a small smile lingering on his lips when he looked at you. It was one of the best feelings in the world, to be looked at by Brian. Despite his tendency to daydream and just generally be far away, when he talked with you, he always surrendered his attention completely to you. He bled sincerity like a lifeblood, and you had never before met anyone like that.

“Yes.”

“Um, okay. See you later, Bri?” you wondered aloud.

There again was that little twinkle betwixt the hazel and green of his eyes, and your heart fluttered. If only he could see just what he did to you.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

He disappeared out into the sunlit morning.

His jacket was still in your arms, and took a step to go after him, but Deacy touched your hand.

“Later.”

⁺˚*·༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺

“Why are we here, Deacy?”

“To have a civil conversation,” he answered simply. “And for you to get me a cup of tea because I got absolutely no sleep last night.”

You narrowed your eyes before remembering that he’d spent the last many hours at a hospital. “Fair enough.”

Deacy sat down in a kitchen chair with a little sigh. He had purple shadows beneath his eyes that curled like smoke, and his shoulders sagged and his hair deserved the care of a brush, but he still had that look of permanent sunshine about his features, as if his body was tired, but his soul could have danced about the room.

He was cooing softly to the baby, and he was truly the picture of a doting parent; he had never looked more at home than he did with a child held gently in his arms.

“What’s his name?” you said as you set to making a cup of tea for John, and one for yourself.

John smiled down at the bundle, parting the swath of material to brush his fingers against the baby’s cheek. “Robert. Robert Deacon.”

You smiled as well, regarding John and Robert in their little bubble of father-and-son.

You allowed your thoughts to wander as you bustled about the kitchen, feeling unusually awake and generally quite happy.

The kettle had boiled and you’d begun steeping tea infusers in the two cups you’d taken from the kitchen cupboard. Now, you found yourself humming as you stirred Deacy’s tea with one sugar, and your own sugarless brew.

“What’s that you’re singing?” Deacy asked. “‘White Queen’?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Quite a sad song, for the mood you’re in.”

You shrugged, “Good song.” You continued stirring the two cups of tea as the corner of Deacy’s mouth quirked up.

“You’re biased, Y/N, and you’ve been stirring that tea for the past three minutes.”

“What?” you said. “Oh!” He was right. Some of your tea had even sloshed onto the kitchen counter. Hurriedly, you wiped away the offending tea with a cloth, then brought Deacy his cup, taking a seat next to him. You sipped your tea quietly until John interrupted politely,

“Sorry, Y/N, would you mind holding Robert a bit? I don’t want to go put him down and risk waking Ronnie.”

“Oh, of course,” you held out your arms and Deacy showed you how to properly hold a baby, in case you didn’t know.

You peered down at the little being in your hold, and you’d never seen anyone so small. A little life, who knew yet nothing about being alive, and still had everything to learn and everything to discover. The whole world awaited him.

You touched a gentle fingertip to Robert’s little nose, and when the boy’s eyelashes fluttered you could see why John was entirely sappy over his son.

“We need to talk about Brian.”

Your shoulders tensed.

“Why?” you mustered nonchalantly.

“Because, to use your own words, you’re quite starstruck these days.”

“Haven’t I always been,” you murmured.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing.”

“Luckily for me, I heard you the first time. I just wanted to confirm my suspicions,” John sniffed, drinking his tea.

“Let’s talk about how you can’t seem to write a song for the album,” you countered, perhaps a little harshly. But you were desperate to get off the topic of Brian, before it began. Else it would drive you mad.

It seemed to work.

Deacy leaned his elbows on the dining table and put his head in his hands, successfully distracted. “I don’t know, I just, I have no ideas, and Freddie’s off writing these musical masterpieces, and Brian’s got his… three-and-a-half, and Roger’s got that silly car song of his, and I’ve just… I’ve got nothing.”

“Write what you know,” you said.

“We can’t all be Mark Twain,” Deacy mumbled into his hands. “And how do I know what I know?”

You shifted Robert in your grasp, pleasantly surprised that he had yet to take up crying, despite the stream of conversation around him. “Well, what’s constant in your life?”

Deacy straightened up, shaking his head. He reached out a hand to hold Robert’s tiny fingers in his grasp. “I don’t know. Nothing, right now. It’s never been like this before,” he breathed. “I joined Queen to have a bit of a hobby, really, but then we wrote albums and went touring, and people started to know us, and now we’re writing a fourth album, and Freddie says we’ve already got the audience for it in the bag. And now there’s this— there’s Robert— and I’ve never…” He trailed off, shaking his head again. He sighed. Then, a new energy burst forth in him as he said, “Veronica. For as long as I can remember, for as long as it’s mattered, I’ve had Veronica. She’s my best friend.”

You smiled. “Then write about her, Deacy.”

John seemed almost taken aback that he hadn’t thought about this in detail before. “You know, I’ve just had an idea.”

“Brilliant!” you said.

“Hang on to Robert a second, will you? I’ve just got to fetch something—”  Deacy was up and out of the room before you could object.

“I— okay then.”

You frowned, remembering the responsibility in your arms. You hoped he wouldn’t wake up, because then you would have no idea what to do.

You resolved to sit utterly still and silent until John returned, which would hopefully be sooner rather than later.

But the next person to enter the room wasn’t Deacy; it was Brian and Freddie and Roger.

“Oh, good morning, sleepyhead,” said Freddie, to which Roger smirked and Brian looked embarrassed.

“I thought you had to wait nine months for one of those,” Roger inclined his head in the direction of baby Robert.

Your mouth fell open.

“Roger darling, they only fell asleep together, they did not sleep together,” Freddie said. “Do you not know anything about the human body?”

Brian stared at his feet throughout this exchange, red as a strawberry and undoubtedly wishing he was far, far away from this place.

“Uh, how… how do you know about, um, that?” you asked timidly, thinking you were probably about as red in the face as Bri.

Freddie waved a hand. “Oh, Brian didn’t kiss and tell—”

“There’s nothing to tell!” Brian exclaimed.

“Look at them,” said Roger, gesturing to you and then Brian. “They’re like ten years old, there’s no way they’ve kissed.”

“Twenty-seven, now,” Brian muttered, “as you lovely people keep so faithfully reminding me.”

You, on the other hand, were too flustered to speak. Were your harboured affections for Brian so painfully obvious? And was he really so embarrassed at the prospect of kissing you that he was moved to shouting in denial?

That was when you knew for certain that there was nothing here, there. Brian did not want from you what you wanted from him, and though that was perfectly fair, you still felt like you’d been kicked in the abdomen, whilst already wounded by a heavy sword.

“I’m sorry,” you murmured, “I’ve just got to go out— could— could somebody take the baby for me, please…”

“Where are the parents of that poor child, anyway?” tutted Freddie, looking like his greatest fear in the world was presently to hold Robert.

“Rog?” you asked despairingly.

“Ah, no, sweetheart,” he winced. “John might kill me.”

“Here, I’ll take him,” said Brian, ever the hero. “It’s okay, you go get some air.”

How he knew you needed air and not to be somewhere in particular was beyond you, but you said nothing as he slipped his arms beneath your own and took Robert from you.

Roger was staring at Brian peculiarly, but Freddie turned to you.

“Everything okay, darling?” he asked you with a frown.

“Peachy,” you replied, and left before anyone could question you further.

⁺˚*·༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺

You’d been sitting on the steps that led from the patio to the garden for an hour when Brian joined you.

“Hello,” he said.

“Hi.” You tried to smile, but it was more of a grimace.

“May I sit down?”

You looked up at him, the willowy young man with the glittering eyes.

His lips were pressed together and it was obvious that he wouldn’t sit down if you made any sign of being bothered by his presence. But how could Brian’s presence ever bother you when he seemed to you the only kindred spirit you’d ever met?

“Be my guest.”

He sat down beside you, perhaps a little closer than you would have braved if the roles had been reversed. Then again, this morning, you’d awoken in his arms, so a little proximity should not matter to him, even if the air, to you, prickled when he was near.

You stared off across the rolling hills that were saturated in the green of summer, wishing you could think about anybody but the person who sat next to you.

“Do you want to see what you got me for my birthday?” he asked.

You smirked. “Go on, then.”

He placed a hefty book, bound in some sort of reddish-brown material, in his lap.

“What’s that?”

“Scrapbook. Of all my polaroids from this year, apparently.”

“Apparently?” you said.

Brian ran a finger along the spine of the book. “Yeah, well, I’ve got some pictures John and Roger and Freddie don’t know about.”

You blushed. “Oh.” Those kinds of pictures.

Brian barked a laugh. “No, no, not like that, no, just, y’know, like the one… The one I took of you? The one you gave me back?” He winced at his stammering, but you nodded in acknowledgement. “Yeah, no, they… They didn’t know about that one. I didn’t, uh, keep it with the others.” His fingertips tapped the side of his nose as he hung his head, his hair falling down to hide his face.

“Oh?” you said, for lack of other words.

Brian shook his head. “Actually, I have it here,” and to your bafflement, he pulled the photograph, the one of you, from his breast pocket. Then he opened the scrapbook across his knees, to a page toward the back that was only half-filled with pictures. It appeared that the last third or so of the book had been left empty. He tucked the photograph of you beside one of Fredddie and Roger and John grinning in the sunshine of the swimming pool. “They said that I should expect a scrapbook for each of my birthdays, from now on,” Brian explained, smoothing a palm across the page of photos. “This is the book for 1975.”

“And it’s not full?” you said. “I mean, I know the year isn’t over yet, but…”

Brian smiled understandingly. “Yeah, I know what you mean, what adventures could we possibly have this year still that will at all compare to Ridge Farm with you, hey?”

You laughed uneasily at your own slip of arrogance, but Brian shook his head again, his curls rustling. “No,” he said softly. “I know. I can’t think of how anything could compare to this.”

His words touched your heart, and you felt oddly as though he were saying goodbye.

Maybe he was.

“What was it you were going to tell me, this morning?” you whispered, fearing the answer you might receive. “You’ve been trying to tell me something for a while now, haven’t you?”

Brian nodded somberly, fiddling with the bookmark that ran down the centre of the scrapbook.

“What is it?” you prompted gently.

“Well, I…” He paused and gave a sigh. Then he closed the cover of the scrapbook in a decisive manner and turned to you as if he could only make himself say whatever it was if he was forced to look you in the eye. “I’ve made a decision that’s going to quite change the course of my life, I think, and I won’t know if it is a good decision or a bad one until I’ve seen it through.”

A sinking sensation stirred in you.

Brian took a deep breath. “I’ve made the decision to pull out of uni.”

And the air was knocked from your lungs. “What?”

“Reid’s booked us a tour following the release of this next album. There’s no way I can keep this up, this— this running back and forth between work and school.”

“But you’re brilliant, Brian. You’re top of our class.”

“Not quite brilliant, thank you, but yes, I know.”

You couldn’t contain your disbelief. Mostly, it was selfish, knowing that Brian— and not only Brian, but Freddie and Roger and Deacy too— would leave you for a very long time as soon as the summer was over. And if Heather’s staying at Ridge Farm with the lot of you was any indication, she’d be leaving with them, with Queen. You’d be alone in London, once more. Everything would go back to being what it had once been, cold and dreary and lonely and uncertain, and you didn’t know if you could handle that.

“But— but— I don’t—” You stopped because the words weren’t coming out the way you wanted them to. Then you tried again. “What about astrophysics? That could be your career too.”

Brian just about flinched, and you knew as soon as you’d said it that it was the worst thing you could have said.

You’d said what his father has said.

“No, I mean, what about the stars?” you said. “You’re in love with them, you wouldn’t— you can’t—” You were avoiding saying what it was you knew deep down you wanted to say. That you wanted him to stay. You needed him to stay.

But Brian took your hands in his grasp, and your breath faltered completely.

He was so close to you, and you were afraid he should hear the raucous beating of your heart.

His gentle exhale fanned across your face, and you wondered how it was that he could breathe so deeply when you could only manage a few strangled gasps, shuddering breaths that rattled your heart and your hands where they rested in his.

Your hands.

Your skin tingled where he touched you, it always did. But what of him? Did he feel anything when you touched him? A burst of emotions that left him gasping for breath and tingling? Or was this to remain one-sided, a fire that burned above the ice but never truly melted it..?

Brian didn’t blink, and you didn’t breathe. The only part of you that had not ceased to function, it seemed, was your heart; your pulse drummed in overtime.

“Look, Y/N, I know I can’t ask this of you, and god knows I don’t want to, because I know you’ll be asking yourself the same questions you’ve just asked me, but,” he squeezed your hands, “I have to ask… Because we’re not the same without you. Not me, not Freddie, not Roger— hell, just this morning, you’ve inspired even Deacy to come out of his shell and write us a song.”

You closed your eyes. “Brian…”

“No, shush,” he said gently. “Let me be the one to talk, for once. For once, don’t give me the perfect excuse to shut up and listen to you talk instead, because I’d do that forever if I could.”

His eyes searched yours with a gaze so sharp your heart skittered.

“I want you to come with us,” he said, and the sinking feeling in your stomach hurtled to a stop, having reached the bottom of a terrible pit. “I want you to come with us on tour.”

You couldn’t.

You couldn’t go with them, however much you wanted to.

And oh, how you wanted to.

You pulled your hands from his, knowing that the touch of his skin might very well be enough to change your resolute mind.

But you couldn’t let it. You owed as much to your own father. Your parents had always wanted better for you than a housewife running a pub, and a middle-aged man still trying to build a business from the ground up in a hopeless market. You couldn’t let them down. Your first loyalty lay to them.

“I’m sorry, Bri,” you breathed. “I can’t. I can’t, I’m sorry.”

Brian’s exhale was unsteady. “I know,” he said. “I knew. I knew before I asked you, but damn it,” he kicked his heel against the step in a spark of that legendary temper, “I had to ask.”

“Brian, I’m so sorry, I really am…” The promise of tears stung your eyes as your chest tightened.

Brian got up, the book under his arm, and you let out something like a sob as he turned to go. He was tearing you apart.

He clenched his fist at his side. “I just want you to know,” he said, and his jaw tensed, “that if it wasn’t for you, Reid never would have made the decision to manage us.”

“What?” you mustered, though your vision was blurry and you couldn’t keep your hands from shaking.

“No one told you, did they?” At your blank expression, he went on. “About playing at the Union Pub, that night back in February… You were the messenger to Freddie. Roger never left the house until thirty minutes before the gig, and Freddie told Deacy and me about the show. We wouldn’t have played there if it wasn’t for you, and that was the night that Reid happened to be in town, visiting some nephew at Imperial. If we hadn’t played that night, we’d never have got into contact with him. That bastard Norman Sheffield would have bled us dry, and we would’ve had no new manager to take us on. If it wasn’t for you, we’d not have been writing an album right now, let alone have had a place to do so.”

You were speechless. Such a small thing, to drop by Kensington Market and pass on Roger’s message to Freddie— and yet.

“So,” Brian loosed a breath, “I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“No, but I do,” he said fiercely. “And so I have even less right to ask you to come with us. But I wanted you to know. And I wanted to ask.” He sighed, and his eyes seemed older than time; he was farther from you than the deepest reaches of the unending universe. He let out a mirthless laugh, and not even the echoes of humour existed in the sound. “That’s the last time I ever do anything for myself.”

He smiled sadly, and you found that you couldn’t breathe.

“Brian—”

“Please don’t,” he said. “Please don’t say anything. I owe you, and the very last thing you owe me is an apology.”

“You and I don’t want the same thing,” you murmured, in place of the apology you so desperately wanted to utter again.

Brian looked as though he was falling apart, and nearly as much as you were.

“No, I suppose not,” he said. “But I thought we did.”

⁺˚*·༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺

A/N: okay but the picture is me imagining what sleepy bri would look like mmm

taglist: @melting-obelisks​ @sgt-stardust-killerqueen​ @hgmercury39​ @topsecretdeacon @joemazzmatazz​ @perriwiinkle​ @iamsuperconfusedallthetime @im-an-adult-ish​ @ilikebigstucks​ @doing-albri​ @killer-queen-87​ @n0-self-c0ntro1​ @archaicmusings​ @cloudyyspace​ @annina-96​ @themarchoftherainbowqueen​ @onlyyoudarling @annajolras​

crossed out tags would not take; i’m sorry!

Masterpost / Part 12 / Part 14

[dahniwitchoflight]

Struggle and Growth Patterns of the Classes in Homestuck

This came from person asking me what I considered to be the personal struggle of growth for Mages and Seers, since compared to the other classes, their function, Understanding, is non physical in nature compared to the other classes

And the struggles I have for them right now are more environmental rather than internal like the others. That’s very true, and also I haven't really re-looked at those classes in quite a while, more than a few years in fact.

It’s also not incorrect to say Seer/Mage are kind of a blindspot for me, being a Change class, it would be the thing I inherently understand the least, so I should put a bit more thought into it than the others and really hash it out

So! I decided to see if I could find an overall pattern between the supposed struggles of each class (Just the Main 12 tho, not Lord/Muse, didn't wanna over muddle differing factors yet) and I'm actually pretty pleased with what I got:

SO:

Actives in general, don’t struggle with using the flashy powers themselves, they struggle with situations where their power isn't the solution to their current problem OR finding out where their power is actually meant to be used.

Princes aren’t bad at destruction, they’re bad at not getting caught up in their own destruction/bad at reeling it in/directing its flow exactly where its needed, bad at being too destructive even or too heavy handed/scorched earth policy

Witches aren’t bad at change, they struggle with knowing when and where and why something should change at all, it's a very on the nose direct moral struggle

Knights aren’t bad at applying their powers, they’re very skilled, they’re just bad at recognizing when their skill isn’t the solution for their current problem (so they frantically keep trying the same thing over n over again and question why they haven’t found the solution yet)

Thieves arent bad at stealing, but they do struggle with situations where they need to give instead of take, sharing is caring

Maids arent bad at creating, but they do struggle with the internal decision of what they want to create/what kind of person to shape themselves into and perhaps struggle to take that first step at all

So in general, Actives have all the skills and tools at their disposal, their direct struggles in the exact things they want to do with their chosen skillsets and why and when and where etc

All of the Talent, none of the Motivation.

THEN:

Passives in general, DO struggle with the powers themselves at first and the ability to use them, and their growth is about perfecting that chosen skillset and about finding confidence in that skillset to use it to the greatest ability.

Bards struggle in avoidance of their power, their aspect overwhelms them at first, until they’ve ridden the wave, got a handle on things, and now they can destroy with a skilled and subtle confident finesse

Heirs struggle with change, they're comfortable, complacent, they like things to stay where they are, and they need to learn how to move on and not get stuck in a rut, to deal with change, and again, learn to ride the wave and be comfortable and use it, and then their skill with it grows.

Pages I don’t think i even need to say it, do I? They start out at point 0 completely inept in their powers, but through stubborn determination and constant practice they become masters of their craft

Rogues aren’t confident in their powers, or their ability to BE confident and take something by the horns, so they end up passing the buck over to someone they believe is more capable, (even if they’re not) So their journey is about becoming confident, that they are capable enough to handle what lemons life gives them

Sylphs also can struggle with their skills of creation, even though they tend to be very scrutinous of their chosen aspects. They're outwardly confident in their chosen aspects, will talk at length about their ideas as if it were gospel, and do have a tinge of thinking they’re clearly the person for the job when it comes to creative endeavors, but that confidence can blind them to where their skills actually fail or aren’t up to par. Aranea is the great example there. But also Kanaya wasn’t immune to overlooking concerns and failing in areas as well. But once they have been proven wrong, or, if they make sure to keep an eye out for their own failings and work on them, thats when their skills are truly honed.

So in general, Passives know exactly what they want to do with their chosen skills, and might even firmly believe they’re already at the necessary skill level to achieve their goals, but lack the actual level of skill necessary to achieve those goals

All of the Motivation, None of the Talent.

FINALLY:

What does the above imply for Mage and Seer?

Well, going by the pattern:

Active Knowledge Classes aren’t bad at knowing things, in fact, they’re really frigging good at it. So their challenge is figuring out where their knowledge... isn’t actually useful. So instead they struggle with recognizing when they DON’T actually have the answer. When an unknown catches them off guard or when their idea doesn’t work how they think it should. Their struggle is to admit when they might be wrong, when they’re not an expert on everything, and then to pass the buck to someone who DOES actually know.

case in point, Sollux was great and seemed to have all of the answers... up into the point where they finally reached their Doomed point that he predicted, after that, he struggled with knowing whats to come next and kinda gave up on trying to know at all. Since the answer just wasn’t immediately obvious to him. 

Meulin would similarly be at a loss if someone were have a different personality than the one she assumes that they have. And this explains why she is so trusting of Kurloz, despite what he does to her, because she completely cant imagine him being like that, that info is something entirely off her radar. she isn’t wary of who Kurloz is because she KNOWS who Kurloz is, she’s so intimate and close to him, also, she knows who everyone is, duh (in her own mind)

Mages: Good at being Correct, Bad at being Incorrect.

Passive Knowledge Classes then struggle to understand, to learn, to know, but they are motivated by an endless curiosity. They WANT to know, or.. at least come off as if they DO know. A point 0 Seer might actually not be all that knowledgeable about something (!), but they struggle hard with admitting that they’re actually ignorant. So, they bluff. They use Pseudo-Knowledge like objects of divination, or secretly ask questions of authority figures for the answer, or even just straight up bluff and lie their way through things they don’t know to supplement this lack of real solid knowledge, like crutches, and may be at a loss if those crutches are taken away. So their struggle is to become knowledgeable in their own right, which involves removing those crutches, to stop bluffing, stop secretly relying on something else and admit when they need to really learn it instead.

case in point: Rose and Terezi are EXTREMELY good bluffers. Kankri is also that (and just straight up an idiot about a lot of stuff). And all three are way too proud to admit when they don’t actually know something (at least in the beginning). They have the poker faces of a champ. And were extremely good at using what they knew of their aspect powers, to supplement knowledge that they didn’t know themselves. This has actually become much clearer now that we see Rose kinda removed from her main crutches, no more authority like doc scratch or skaia or horrorterrors to ask she is the adult now, no more light aspect seeing the most fortunate path for her. Now shes gotta know stuff on her own by herself, and figure things out on her own and shes doing really good! Terezi’s also struggled immensely with really knowing if she made the right choices at times, and you could consider her coin flip habit both a bluff and a crutch that she was very good at using

Because, if you split the timeline so that every possible answer to your question occurs, one of them has to be the right one, doesn’t it? And shes also doing much better nowadays too. Kankri did not unfortunately lol

Seers: Good at being Incorrect, Bad at being Correct.

TL;DR The thing with Mages and Seers is that your actually just a bunch of dumbdumbs and you don’t know it

(I kid, you guys are smart at smart things, but your dumb at dumb things too lol)

[toarmsrw]

How I feel a Ronin Warriors Remake could go

Ronin Warriors AKA Yoroiden Samurai Troopers was one of my favorite anime back in the day. I first heard of this series when it was airing on UPN TV 44, the same channel that had aired Sailor Moon when it was being produced by DIC entertainment. Unfortunately, this series aired during times when it’s target range viewers were in school so it didn’t have a particularly long run on US TV. It was only years later that this series would air on the Toonami lineup and gained a greater interest from American anime fans than it had during its first airing.

Currently Samurai Troopers is celebrating its 30th anniversary and it made me wonder, what this series would be like if remade for the more current age. After all, the main TV series was set in 1988 and a lot of things reflected that time period. Now in 2020 things can be updated to match current settings and technology.

I’m familiar with both the Japanese Names and the English Dub names. But I’m going to use English Dub names here as it was the version that introduced me to this series.

As much as I love the original series, I do feel that it is certainly deserving of an updated reboot. The original series did have a number of moments where they were constrained by budget and it showed. Budget cuts, and repeating animation is a common way of cuting corners in animation in varius series, but it is rather obvious when you see the animation cheepen.

There are some things in the anime itself that did bug me because they felt rushed or they came off as unrealistic. I’m not an expert in Japanese culture so please understand if I am approaching these things with a bit of a bias.

One of the things that bothered me is having the five warriors are just open to working together from the start.

For example in the first episode Mia is surprised that all five Ronin have appeared at the same time and then is dismayed that they aren’t united. So she tells the five Ronin they need to work together if they hope to beat the Dynasty, and they all look at one another as though saying “Um…what?”.

The English dub does give the impression that there is at least some familiarity between the five boys. However, in the original version all five of the Ronin are from different parts of Japan and this is the first time any of them have met.

The one thing I’ve always liked in anime is when the main cast is free to grow and understand each other at their own pace.

While having the main warriors joining forces is ideal and an inevitably, having them all partner up from the start is unrealistic. Particularly since the five Ronin do develop an almost familial unity with one another over the course of the series.

An anime with a similar concept to this would be Sailor Moon. Please note I’m not comparing Sailor Moon to this series for bias reasons. Sailor Moon certainly had a larger production budget and more of a story to adapt to as it started out as a manga before it became an anime series. Ronin Warriors is it’s own story and it also has some things it is better at conveying then Sailor Moon did.

I am using Sailor Moon as an example, because these two series do center on the plot of five teenagers drawn together to save the world from an otherworldly evil force.  

Sailor Moon as a series was able to introduce the characters gradually.

The series begins with introducing the titular character, Sailor Moon herself. The first handful of episodes follow her, then Sailor Mercury is introduced and she assists in battles for a couple episodes. Then Sailor Mars is brought in and a sizable chunk of the series centers on these three warriors stopping the forces of the Dark Kingdom. Then around half way through the first season Sailor Jupiter is brought in as another member of the group and then finally Sailor Venus.

Other Sailor Soldiers such as the Outer Sailors and the Sailor Star Lights are introduced in the continuing seasons. These groups don’t really involve themselves with Sailor Moon and her companions right away.  They do assist in battles at times, but they would also make it clear that they don’t want Sailor Moon and her allies interfering with their goals. Eventually the groups do choose to join forces, but that is only when they have come to the realization that the only way to take on the main foe was to merge groups.

The way this story is set up all five warriors needed to be introduced right away. However, I find having them join forces from the start is a little rushed.  Now, granted they had some idea they all knew the fate of the world rested on their backs and they were given the mystical armor to help them save their world, their homes, the people they love.

Each of them also have a story passed through the years about an armor that their family has watched over. Like many things these stories have faded from memory with some of the families or they don’t have anyone to tell them about the amor legend. So they discover their armors through other sources.

For example, Whiteblaze, Ryo’s tiger companion, is is the familiar of the Ancient One and chose Ryo as the one who will bear the Armor of Wildfire. Whiteblaze led the Ancient One to Ryo, so he could be trained in its use.

While each of the Ronin would have unconsciously or unknowingly been trained since childhood to become ready for their armors. It is the armors themselves that do draw them together initially.  That wouldn’t stop at least some of them from be reluctant in working together and then have at least a couple episodes where they warm up to if not become downright convinced working together is the only way

Cye and Kento are chummy and open hearted so I can see these two being more open to the idea of working together as a team from the start.  

Sage, Ryo, and Rowen on the other hand might be less open to working as a group.

Ryo is not absolutely against working as a team, but he is a loaner, he is also fiercely protective of those around him. He doesn’t want anyone to be hurt for him or because of him, so he has a tendency to place burdens upon himself such as going off to face enemies on his own without his friends. So I feel he would just tell the other Ronin to go home and protect their families, while he would deal with the Dynasty on his own.

Sage is more likely to be the lone wolf. He does have a guarded personality and doesn’t warm up to people all that easily. He wants to rely on himself and his own power rather than depending on others, but has his own doubts and fears that he unconsciously deals with. So when Sage leaves the group he would tell everyone else they would only slow him down and get in his way.

Rowen would be more on the fence regarding allegiances. His guiding virtue is wisdom so he would know or at least see how working together would be beneficial going forward. But much like Ryo he is used to being alone. However, due to his intelligence,  Rowen does have problems with socialization. So he wouldn’t say anything in regards to why he doesn’t want to work together with anyone else…he just leaves.

As the series progresses the battles will force the Ronin together. It would start with them merging into groups of two, so Cye and Kento would become one group. Rowen and Sage would also grow to work together and leads to the four of them joining forces before reuniting with Ryo. These encounters will enable them to gradually get to know each other and understand who they are in the battle to save the mortal world and their reasons for fighting in the battles against the Dynasty.

Another thing that bugged me was how the Dynasty depended on divide and conquer as a strategy. Granted the Ronin can be a challenging force when they are together. Still each of the Ronin are also dangerous on their own, particularly since their armors do gain strength and power as they fight.

Three of the Warriors have families with siblings, and both Ryo and Rowen have parental figures who may not be present in their lives but still matter.  Heck, Kento alone would have had family affected when the Dynasty captured everybody in the Tokyo area.

One of the Warlords has power over illusion. Have the Ronin given illusions of their loved ones in the Dynasty’s possession. This would be even more poignant when the Ronin have entered the Dynasty’s strong hold. Have the Ronin ready to deal with whatever the Dynasty would throw at them, then suddenly a scream is heard which Sage, Cye, or Kento could recognize as one of their loved ones.

Or Kento’s family for instance, show them among the humans imprisoned in the Dynasty. Kento has a fierce temper, particularly when someone he cares about is being harmed so that could trigger him to act rashly.

I’ve never really liked how the families of the Ronin are only limited to the supplemental materials such as the Audio dramas, Light Novels and such.

Another thing Sailor Moon did well is how it balanced out the home lives of the main cast along with their lives as Sailor Soldiers. We don’t need to see the families of all the characters, but even a simple mention can be used to add to how the main characters relate to each other and feel more well rounded over the course of the series. But they still had to maintain secrecy about their lives as Sailor Soldiers from their loved ones.

What Ronin Warriors was able to achieve is to suggest the families of the five warriors do have some knowledge about the armors. Or at the very least have some familiarity with the story of a legendary armor that has passed down through their line for the past thousand years.

Such as Cye’s mother saying “At last it has come” when he informed her of finding his armor.

Each of the Ronin also have attributes that mark them as chosen or destined to wear the armors since birth. In most cases these attributes aren’t outwardly visible

Ryo-Encountered Whiteblaze at a young age and holds a companionship with the white tiger and was personally trained by the Ancient One himself.  It’s not emphasized, but it is possible he has a sensitivity to cold temperatures as he has a strong dislike for flavored ice and lukewarm baths.

Cye: Able to swim to vast depths of water without needing an air tank.

He also has an affinity for sea based creatures. He isn’t able to talk to them or anything like that, but there is an orca and a number of other sea creatures that do recognize him as a friend.

Kento: No displayed or attributed traits aside from being strong and hard headed. Possibly has more physical endurance then his companions.

Rowen: He is physically marked by his armor because of his blue hair. And also he has an IQ of 250.

Sage: Physically marked by his armor because he physically represents his armor element of light.

While each of the Ronin are chosen by their armors or from a force associated with the armors. There is still a test they need to undergo to prove they understand the guiding virtue associated with the armor.

With Sailor Moon there were moments where the family members of the Sailor Soldiers or people they know are affected by the evil forces at play. With the Ronin however, having people know about their armor or their identities as Ronin Warriors does lead to tragic results.

It’s generally an unstated rule among the five warriors to not to involve their loved ones or allow any knowledge of their existence as Ronin Warriors. Since that would only cause needless danger or cause their loved ones to become targeted by the evil forces they are facing.

The families of the Ronin themselves aren’t completely required, after all the five Ronin do become a family of brothers themselves. And at its core, the entire story of the Ronin Warriors is a romantic story centered on a brotherhood forged by blood, sweat,and tears in the battle to save humanity. The trueborn families of each of the Ronin, would just be an extension of that bond they share with each other.

I’ve always seen each of the five warriors as wounded in various ways. Some have known personal loss, but there are those among them who have experienced pain, loneliness, isolation, self-doubts, and other things such as that.

In the Message OVA in particular, brings a lot of this into view as the five warriors do have internal monologues about their experiences as Ronin Warriors and how that has affected them personally.

Cye in particular during his monologue talks about how he personally didn’t want to fight, but he still took up arms in the war against Dynasty anyway because he felt there was like there was little choice in the matter. He also questions whether he even deserved the power of his armor to begin with.

“In order to avoid pain, suffering, and fear human bearings aspire to collect all the power that they can, then they cling to it no matter what. I was no different, I felt exactly the same way. I never wanted to fight though, I thought my destiny followed a different course. Could I have resisted this power? Could I have denied it? Even if someone had realized the truth, we still wouldn’t have had any other options. It was fight or die, none of us had any regrets for what we did…in staying alive. But that didn’t change the fact that *I* didn’t want to fight!”

The armors they each possess were forged from evil, but were created to be a force for good. As such the armors themselves are neither good or evil, but both. It was the heart and soul of their bearers that determined what choices they made in using the armors they were given.

While they all have seen the negative side of humanity and what it can do if left unchecked. They are also able to know that there is still enough human goodness to believe it was worth saving. And while they still fought and were motivated by their own own personal desires to protect those nearest and dearest to them. The companionship they forge in the fires of war is what heals the wounds each of them carry. Even then there is resistance and pain in being healed, but it is part of becoming the people they know they are because of it. While other hidden wounds are exposed because of the battles faced.

With Ronin Warriors and their families, Ryo and Rowen are the only children of their respective family and their respective parental figures aren’t around all that often.

Ryo’s father is a photojournalist and is always away on assignment but he does send money to cover Ryo’s living expenses.

Rowen’s parents divorced when he was twelve but even before then both of them were more married to their careers then they were as a family. The times they were home their minds would still be work oriented.

However, having two Ronin with workaholic parents just feels boring. Having Ryo being an orphan could translate into why he is so protective of his companions and why they mean so much to him. Because Ryo regards the other Ronin, Mia, and Yuli as a surrogate family to him, and he would gladly fight and give his life to protect them for that reason. He nearly dies just trying to get Sage and Rowen back after the five of them are seperated. And during the war when all the Ronin with the exception of Ryo are absorbed by Talpa, he is devastated knowing each of them are gone. In the Japanese version he says “You fools, how dare you die for me.” This is later expanded upon when the four of them are able to use their Spirits to take hold of Talpa’s armor and tell him to strike the demon emperor down while they have him restrained. And Ryo refuses to do it because doing so meant killing his friends as well.

Rowen has a detached, mature demeanor that is underscored by the fact he is the youngest member of the Ronin. He’s often viewed and treated like an adult by people around him when he really is just a kid. Since he is so used to living for his own convenience, he has trouble really understanding what actually means to have friends or even what having a present family is like. So that could be something that could be explored with his character in how he relates to the other Ronin.

He generally gets along with all the Ronin, but will at times (often unintentionally) say or do something that might have annoyed or exasperated reactions. For example in the Tenkuden CD Drama, there is a part where Yuli asks Rowen for assistance on a problem in his math homework. Rowen looks at the problem and says “That’s easy, you must have skipped the day they were teaching it.” Yuli then goes and asks Cye for assistance who is able to help him figure out the answer. After Yuli runs off to continue his homework. Cye turns to Rowen and chidingly says “Just because you find something simple, doesn’t mean it’s the same for others.”  

Rowen’s father is someone who wouldn’t really be included as a character. I’ve always had the impression that he generally isn’t really all that present even on the occasions he does return home to the apartment he shares with his son.

Rowen’s mother on the other hand could work as an occasional character. However she comes across as a bit too much to handle. She’s friendly and well-meaning but has boisterous energy that is difficult to really take in all at once. The five Ronin and Mia first meet her in the Tenkuden CD Drama after Rowen receives a voice mail call from her telling him he will be arriving at Narita International on Such and Such date. And every one automatically is like “Great Idea, let’s all go meet Rowen’s mother”.  

As much as he does care about both his parental figures, I did get the impression he is embarrassed by his mother as well.

For example, the first act of Tenkuden actually does involve Rowen waiting with Sage at the airport terminal for Rowen’s mother to arrive. After they encounter her, Rowen’s mother runs off to go make a phone call.  Sage then remarks “Okay, that IS different” to which Rowen sighs and says “You got it.” Funnily enough, every time I had heard that exchange in the past I’ve always visualized Rowen holding up a sign that says “Shoot Me” afterward.

So if Rowen’s mother appears at all it would be a humorous one-shot episode where the armors aren’t really needed. There can be some dramatic moments as well though. Since TenkuDen is also the moment where Rowen learns his armor has the ability to fly. There is also a moment at the end of the CD where Rowen’s mother pulls her son aside and alludes that she saw him in his armor hovering outside of the window of the airplane she was traveling in. But she assumes the whole thing was just a dream.

When it comes to Kento, Sage, and Cye they are the eldest, middle, and youngest siblings of each of their respective families. So the familial dynamic of the Ronin will be something they can easily adapt to, but still, give them a different dynamic that can challenge and affect them.

Cye is the youngest child in his family, but he is the oldest of the five Ronin. So this puts him in a sort of older sibling role in some ways. He doesn’t need to adapt too much, particularly since Mia already plays an older sister role with the five Ronin. And his older sister Sayoko had more or less served a parental role of sorts in his late father’s absence. He’s also the only Ronin who is actually living away from his family, as he has an apartment in Tokyo where he lives alone while he is attending high school. In one of the Cassette Dramas Rowen has a habit of visiting Mia’s grandfather’s mansion so he could read the books there. Unfortunately when he does this he loses all track of time and frequently misses the last train back to Kansai. So he has to end up couch surfing over at Cye’s apartment much to the Torrent Armor bearers irritation.

Cye’s family is more likely to be included as part of a dramatic storyline.  

For instance, Cye’s mother has heart disease and is frequently in ill health, but she still runs her family and her family’s pottery business until her daughter Sayoko can take over.

Sayoko is ten years older then Cye and has also been an influential figure in Cye’s life. She helps look after their mother and their families pottery shop.

Ryuusuke Shizuka is Sayoko’s fiance and works at the Hagi Marine Research Institute. After meeting Cye he chooses to marry into Cye’s family. Sayoko and Ryuusuke are supposedly married by the final OVA of this series..

One of the cassette dramas has Cye returning to Hagi after learning his mother had fallen ill. Kento accompanies him on the trip, however the only reason he’s going is because he mistakenly thought Hagiyaki was a kind of food. It’s this Drama where Cye is introduced to his sister’s finance.  

Kento is the oldest child in his family, and so he is well used to playing the older brother role among his siblings. As the second youngest member of the Ronin he has the freedom to be a younger brother. Still when it comes to his companions, the protective brother instinct will still be a present part of his personality over all.

Kento is also the most inclusive of the Ronin and does consider his friends to be like his family.  

I can see Kento’s family being used in heart warming slice-of-life plots. Kento just feels like one of those people you meet in life who just adopts you into their family. As much as he would make disparaging comments about the number of people in his household, in all honesty he wouldn’t have it any other way.

During the Tsuki CD Drama, following their final battle with Saranbo. Kento realizes they are near Yokohama and starts inviting his friends to his family’s restaurant only to be shot down and scolded for being too carefree. After Kento storms off he has a monologue where he states about how much he loves the town of Yokohama and his family and he the reason he fights is all for them. That’s why he wanted his friends to meet his family, to show his companions they are just like family to him.  

That is something I can certainly see happening in an updated version of this series. With Ryo and Rowen, Kento would want to include them so they can at least know what a loving family was like. Knowing Cye and Sage are away from their respective homes. I can see Kento making an effort to make them feel there is something like a family there for them.

Cye might welcome the idea since he understands Kento is wanting to include them as part of his family.

Sage might not be so open about it. Not because he doesn’t understand Kento’s reasoning for it. He however would firmly point out that their family lives and their lives as Ronin should be two different things. Kento would be upset it’s only later on that he would realize Sage’s reasoning.

During the times when they are not involved with fighting the Dynasty. I can see Kento dropping by Cye’s apartment with take out now and again. This would later extend to Ryo when he starts living in the city.

Of the Ronin, I see him learning his family was affected by the Dynasty because Yokohama is in the Tokyo area. He is the only one of the five who would have had immediate loved ones in the vicinity of the Dynasty’s first attack . Which would make the battle to stop the Dynasty all the more personal for him.

Sage is the middle child of his family, but both of his siblings are his sisters. His older sister Yayoi and his younger sister Satsuki. He cares about both of them and would defend them to his last breath, though Yayoi does have a bit of a contentious past with him as she is the reason he is uncomfortable around women.  

Sage’s family is a family I can see included dramatic storylines, but wholesome ones as well.

When it comes to Sage’s family there is a lot you could work with. I will start with Sage’s sisters since I’ve seen a number of interpretations regarding them. In fanfics Yayoi often ranges between being an entitled sister up to just being an evil abusive witch. I have been guilty of this view myself.

Thinking back on it, I wonder if fans were blowing her relationship with Sage out of proportion.

Yayoi is five years older than Sage. From the basic description of her she is in essence a female version of her younger brother as she does talk in the same formal manner he does, and is also a talented kendo fighter.  She is a medical student and is attending college during the TV series.

The worst thing she’s known to have done to tease her brother is to use him as a dress up doll when they had been younger. She also still possesses a picture of him with ribbons in his hair.

This is largely just kid stuff, still some actions as innocent as they may seem can have a negative affect. In this case, Sage is uncomfortable talking to or being around girls as a result.

Women also tend to hold power in Sage’s family, meaning the female members of his family do hold sway in the decisions and actions of the Date House. Because of this they are highly respected. The only male who is an exception to this would be Sage’s Grandfather who is the current head of the family.  Yayoi was likely able to get away with tormenting her brother the way she has, because she knew if he retaliated in any way he would be the one who would be punished.  

In later years, Yayoi may have realized what she actually was doing, but by then the damage had already been done. So while the picture she still has of him with ribbons could be something she could threaten her brother with. It’s also just as possible that perhaps the reason Yayoi keeps the photo, is to remind herself of what she has done to hurt her younger brother in the past.

She seems to have some moments where she does make an attempt establishing a better relationship with him. Such as when Sage was beginning elementary the light color of his eyes made him appear cold and intimidating, because of this his schoolmates would often cry when they saw him. It was Yayoi who suggested he cover one of them with his hair so schoolmates wouldn’t be so scared of him.

Also In the Yoroi Guiden novel, the day Sage received his armor he had been forced into a match against another Kendo practitioner known as Shingo Kazamatsuri. During the match Shingo attempts to cheat by throwing sand or something into Sage’s eyes. Due to one eye being covered by his hair, only his visible eye had affected. Angered that his opponent would resort to cheating, Sage goes into a blind rage and attacks Shingo, rendering him unconscious. While her brother is being punished for his actions, Yayoi tends to Shingo’s injuries. Which made her one of the first people to learn what had taken place. She then tells Shingo that he was fortunate he didn’t lose a limb after making her brother that mad.

I can see Yayoi gaining friendship with Mia, and through that she and Sage could begin to heal the rift that exists between them.

Satsuki is younger than Sage by two years. She is the only member of Sage’s immediate family who doesn’t have any interest in the family Dojo and the only one who speaks casually. I see Sage in some ways being somewhat envious of his younger sister, because she possesses a freedom he isn’t able to have within their family. But he also values that she is able to have such freedom as well.

I’ve seen her placed with Rowen or Kento as possible romantic interests. Personally, I just see Satsuki just viewing the other Ronin as additional brothers. She knows her brother doesn’t have many friends and wouldn’t want to become a catalyst in causing him to lose his companions. Hints at romantic interest could be there, but at best she would just be a sister figure.

Sage’s family life on the other hand is where things take on a more dramatic turn. As I’ve stated before that each of the Ronin have attributes that mark them as chosen by their armors. Sage and Rowen are the only ones who have physical attributes that mark their connection to their armor.

Anyone who is familiar with anime and manga lore would know hair color has specific meaning. Blond or yellow hair often has a variety of meanings, but the most widespread meaning is a person who is special in some manner. Often in most anime the characters would have a variety of hair color tones that no one bats an eye, despite the fact it might look a little strange aesthetically.

The only time a character’s hair color is brought up as peculiar is if the story itself wants it to be  something that is meant to be seen as questionable.

Sage’s family is one of the Ronin families that is well versed in the legend of the Ronin Armor that is passed through their family. It’s never emphasized in the series, but from the sound of things in supplemental materials such as the novels, Sage is the only one in his family with his hair and eye color. This means that yes Sage was meant to physically represent the element of his armor. That would also lead to problems that Sage would have had to face growing up.

In Japanese Culture, one of the worst scarlet letters you can possess is to stand out. Sage is from a traditional family so being born representing his armors element would have raised a lot of eyebrows. I’ve seen numerous dramatic fanfictions where Sage is picked on because of his implausible hair color. I’ve also seen the word Konketsu applied to him as well in some of these fics. Konketsu means mixed-blood but it can be used as a slur that means half-breed. 

In a more modernized incarnation this traditionalist might not be used quite as often. So you can sum it up as anime logic.

While the legend of the Halo Armor is well known in the Date family, only a small fraction would believe the legend to be more than just a story.  While an even smaller fraction would recognize that Sage was born connected to the Halo Armor.  Namely Sage’s grandparents and possibly his mother.

The circumstances of Sage’s mother being chosen to provide a male heir to the Date Clan are unknown. It’s often speculated that Grandfather Date only had daughters, if there had been a boy born to their family he either died before he could prove himself as an heir. Or he was expelled from the Date Estate for some reason. Which in turn would put the burden of producing an heir on the shoulders of his sister or one of them.

Sage’s mother could be the oldest daughter, or she was deemed the one who was more likely to produce a suitable male heir.

Whatever the case may be, the Ronin are the first real friends that he’s ever had. And it’s likely that his upbringing didn’t really allow for friendships to exist in his life.

With Sage’s character bio for the original series it is stated that his grandfather was largely responsible for Sage’s upbringing. Some bios state that he was given over to his grandfather because his parents had trouble disciplining him.

Personally to me it always felt there was more to this. Grandfather Date likely would have recognized from the moment Sage was born that he was destined to bear the Halo Armor. So he would have naturally taken it upon himself to prepare Sage for when the armor would deem him worthy of it.  As well as to groom Sage for the day he would inherit their families Dojo and become the next head of the Date Clan. While he would have told Sage and also Sage’s sisters of the family legend, he would continue to let Sage believe the rigorous training he is given is all associated with being his grandfather’s successor.

While Kento is actually the wealthiest of the five Ronin, neither Kento nor Sage’s home’s are described. The best that’s given is that his family live on the outskirts of Sendai and that the Dojo is a part of it, or at least an area of the family estate that can be visited without invitation.  

Wanting to ensure his grandson was raised in a way *he* deemed fit, Grandfather Date would insist that Sage come live with him at the main house. I can imagine he was around the ages of 4-6 when this occurred. Sage’s grandfather is described as being unusually strict. Sage was also rather rambunctious at that age, so he may have believed that he must have done something bad so he was being taken away from his family as punishment.

Sage is still able to see his parents and sisters, but he would live under his grandfather’s roof at the Date Estate. Grandfather Date according to the brief description of him is said to be the walking precept of Date House, he was also a soldier in his youth he raises Sage to be the same.

The time Grandfather Date was a soldier is rather unclear, some bios he was a soldier during the Meiji Era which means he was around Sage’s age during the early 1900’s since that era ran from 1868-1912. Since this series is set in the late eighties, it is possible that he may have been in the tail end of that time period. Though I have seen bios that have said he was a soldier during the Edo Period, which would be physically impossible since that time period ended just as the Meiji era started. Logically if he was in a war at all, it would more likely be WWII.

Since Sage’s family is descended from Date Mesamune, a more logical conclusion was that Grandfather Date was trained to be like a soldier from the Edo period and raised Sage to follow those same disapplines. So this would be a bit of a reverse of what Rowen’s life is like. Where Rowen is a child who is seen and treated as an adult, Sage is a child who has his life framed with the expectation that he will act like an adult.

Perhaps Sage viewed his home life under his grandfather’s teaching as a gilded cage. Everything he needs is provided for, however there is always the sense that everything he says and does is watched and has to meet a certain expectation. If he does something that is met with disapproval it can result in a harsh punishment. The same expectations he would be expected to follow at home would also apply to his school life.

With School aside from meeting his Grandfather’s rigorous criteria, which would make it difficult for him to make friends with his schoolmates. All this of course translates into the self doubts and fears he shows at times during the war with the Dynasty.

With the Ronin Warriors, Sage would likely find himself in a bit of a conundrum. As he has actual friends for the first time in his life and not only that people he comes to see as brothers. While being raised by his grandfather and following his directive, he’s always presented himself as the persona his grandfather had expected him to have. The one thing he has never really been permitted to be is himself, and that could lead into the issues he has in events such as the Korinden CD drama.

Mia and Yuli would largely be the same, as they are in the series. Just a pair of civilians who are friends with the Ronin and understand the battles they go through. Mia would continue her grandfather’s research on the armors and assist where she can. Mostly she would be a big sister figure to the Ronin and help them figure out. In the Message OVA she does become a delegate at the United Nations. While the other Delegates are wondering about the strange things that are going on and wondering about how they were dealt with in previous events. Mia stands up and says she believes she may know what they are looking for.

To be honest, this often bugged me. I mean I like the idea of the Ronin being needed in other parts of the world aside from Japan. Still at that point, the Ronin Armors as they were originally had all been destroyed. Mia would have recognized what was going on was connected to the power of the Armors. Still telling a group of bureaucrats, a bunch of suits that believed in facts, science, and other such tangible information that everything that was going on hinged on a group of teenagers with mystical armor. I’m sorry, the only thing they will believe is that the person telling them this is insane.

All this is stuff that was demonstrated in the series and OVA so there isn’t just headcanon.

In the second episode of the series, the Japanese Self-Defence Force is deployed against Talpa’s castle in the first war, and all their efforts prove useless. The first episode also shows electronics, vehicles, and other man-made creations lose power due to the forces of Mystical energy coming from the Dynasty.  

And even if they could be convinced that the Ronin Armors were real. Talpa’s Armor was the corporeal embodiment of all human evil. Figures in places of power and authority would be anything but happy in knowing that five suits of armor are capable of wielding weapons-grade levels of mystical power even exist. And they would be even less then happy knowing these said suits of armor were given to people who are essentially children.

While the Ronin themselves know they are fighting for the good of the Mortal Realm, authority figures would argue they are just children playing with power they couldn’t possibly understand. While other people would fear hate them on the grounds that if they can use their armors for good, what was to stop them from using them for evil.

This is seen during the series where Rowen breaks Anubus’s helmet and is stunned to find that instead of a netherworld demon, Anubus was actually a human. Later on Kento is approached by Dais and told that he would become corrupted by his own armor in time. In the Dub, Kento is told that the five armors in the past had been worn by men who have used their power for their own selfish desires. In the Japanese version, Kento is told the armors were sought by people who wanted their power for themselves.  

During the Guiden OVA, Sage is believed to have become evil and is killing innocent people in New York. In the Japanese Version, Kento makes a comment about how the name of the Samurai Troopers is tarnished because one of them decided to go rogue. Which causes Rowen to look at Kento with a horrified expression.  

Later on when Rowen and Kento are confronting Sage about his actions, they find it’s not their friend but actually his armor. While the Ronin themselves don’t use their ultimate attacks because of all the civilians around them, the Police and National Guard are still brought in to try and arrest the Ronin because of the public disturbance their battle is causing.  

During Legend of the Inferno Armor, Cye is the first of the Ronin to notice the power of their Armors starting to corrupt, Each of the Ronin also eventually notice their armor becoming corrupted.

In the Message OVA Rowen does say that the armors were just as much of a curse as they were a gift. And the Ronin do comment on and fear the eventuality of losing themselves to their armors.

Worse yet, people in places of authority would use any excuse they could think of to imprison the five Ronin. They would have their armors taken to be studied and weaponized if possible.  If they can’t do that, they would force the Ronin to agree to use their armors as a superweapon against the people they want. And if they can’t do that, have them executed.

Again in the Guiden OVA, Sage is abducted and tortured for days by a Scientist working for Shikaisen so his Armor could be studied for his own personal interests. Shikaisen also used Sage’s armor to slaughter hundreds of innocent people

All of this would lead to Talpa reforming himself and starting the cycle of the Ronin armors once again.

In the Guiden OVA, after Shikaisen merges with the Scientists computer, he does become a figure that resembles Talpa.

Message OVA,The Ronin all get this sense that their battles against the Dynasty are repeating itself. Rowen comes across a play written in the Edo Period depicting their fights against the Dynasty and sends it to Ryo.  

Since the Ronin are destined to be Warriors until the day they die, The Ronin are just best off as being guardian figures who watch the humans and protect humans from afar. Mia can open her mansion to allow the Ronin to live there as permanent house guests, or just give them the house so they all can live there at their leisure.

The new armors they recieve at the end of the Message OVA aren’t tainted with Talpa’s evil since Suzunagi’s mother she placed love in the corner of them. So they don’t act as a becon that attracts beings of evil from the Netherworld Given this the Ronin themselves could spread the teachings of the Ancient One by creating a new Legend of the Ronin Armor. 

It could start with Sage talking to his grandfather about expanding their families Dojo. Or at the very least telling his Grandfather he will not inherit the Dojo as it stands, but instead will recreate it. So instead of teaching Kendo alone it will include Archery, Swordfighting, Kungfu, meditation, and other forms of martial and spiritual arts. The other Ronin would be brought in as instructors to lead these various class all the while instilling the Anicent Ones teachings about not giving into the sinister urges of man kind. And when needed the Ronin would don their armors and face the forces from the neather world who seek to destroy the peace they have created. 

Eventually the time will come where they feel they have played their role in protecting the world, and hand the Dojo over to Yuli or at least someone they know would look after things and carry on the legend of the five armors. 

Once they have their affairs in order, they could make the choice to enter the Netherworld. This will be a tragic choice as a year in the Netherworld is a hundred years in the human world. So the Ronin would be making the choice to leave their families and loved ones behind. But they do this knowing that when they are needed they will return, and in time choose worthy successors to bear their armors. 

Yuli in an updated version would be a somewhat tragic case following the first war. During the series Yuli seems to stay with the Ronin and Mia indefinitely and is able to travel to distant countries at a moments notice. He sees all the Ronin as adoptive brothers, though he idolizes Ryo the most out of all of them. A large part of the first war with the Dynasty is that Yuli’s parents were abducted by the Dynasty. However the series never shows him with his parents again.

He should be shown meeting up with his parents again after the first war just so viewers have that closure. Then somewhere in the interim episodes between the first and second war something should happen to his parents so he loses them, it can be left up for interpretation if his parents are permanently lost. Yuli would then start to live with the Ronin and Mia until arrangements can be made for him; he will eventually be taken in by the families of one of the Ronin.  

Of the three Ronin I see Kento’s family being the only one that would work. Kento has siblings roughly around Yuli’s age, and also Yuli himself would want to be near his adoptive big brothers.

In the Message OVA, Yuli is shown as a thirteen year old having won his jr. high’s Kendo tournament. Sage teaches elementary school aged kids at his families Dojo, so I can certainly see Sage privately teaching Yuli at some point.  

[tsarisfanfiction]

Hollow IV

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Angst Characters: Kyrano, Jeff Tracy, John Tracy, Scott Tracy

Part 4 of my contribution @gumnut-logic‘s SensorySunday: Sixth Sense. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Somehow I’ve managed to find another new character to use.  TAG!Kyrano is almost entirely unknown so we’ve got a mix of TOS!Kyrano and Kayo.

He had always been a light sleeper, and the frantic pounding of feet on the stairs followed by an equally panicked rapping on his bedroom door was more than enough to pull Kyrano from his sleep.  Instantly alert in the dark room, he slipped from his bed and opened the door to reveal a dishevelled Jeff Tracy.

“What is it, Mr Tracy?” he asked, forgoing the usual customary greeting of his employer.  The billionaire, despite an occasional bizarre dress sense, never let himself appear so outwardly distressed.  Add in that the visit had occurred in the witching hour, and Kyrano had no doubt that something was very wrong indeed.

“Scott and John are missing,” Mr Tracy told him.  “I’ve searched the entire villa; they must have gone out.”  The boys had yet to realise that sound travelled very well in their new home – Kyrano may have been tending to his herb garden, but John’s denied request for a stargazing trip had not been particularly quiet.  From the look in his employer’s eyes, Mr Tracy believed that the two boys had gone to do so regardless.  Kyrano didn’t disagree.

“I will be ready in one minute,” he promised, retreating back into his room to shrug on outdoor clothes and boots over his nightwear.  “Do you have everything?”  Mr Tracy hesitated, and Kyrano turned to the backpack he kept stocked for his explorations of the terrain.  “Fetch your gear, Mr Tracy.  I will meet you by the pool.”

He didn’t need to look up to know that Mr Tracy had gone; even panicked and terrified for his sons, the man had a presence that was immediately notable when it left.  The fact that his steps on the stairs weren’t at all quiet simply confirmed the fact.

Without Mr Tracy standing in front of him, looking to him to be the security, Kyrano let his mask fall for a moment, drawing in a deep breath to calm himself.  The news that the two teenage boys – Scott considered himself a man, but nineteen was still too soon for Kyrano to consider him as such – were missing and presumably wandering around the island in the middle of the night made him afraid, too.  He was fond of all of Mr Tracy’s boys.  Perhaps they were not quite so close that they were like his own sons, but honorary nephews would not be inaccurate.

He was aware of Scott’s little forays away from the villa.  The teenager might have plenty of experience sneaking out from under his father’s nose, and perhaps Kyrano should have informed Mr Tracy that his eldest son was disobeying him, but evading Kyrano was a skill Scott had yet to pick up.  He’d trailed the boy several times, watching him learn the paths and tracks in the immediate vicinity of the villa.  By this point, he was confident that Scott could handle himself as long as he remained close.

However, it was gone midnight and if they were going stargazing it was highly unlikely they’d want to ruin their night vision with something as basic as torches.  Kyrano feared that Scott might have got overconfident, no matter how much he loved and tried to protect his brothers.  It was with that fear – the fear that Scott had found himself lulled into a false sense of security in what was a very dangerous terrain for the unwary – riding in his heart that he joined the Tracy patriarch on the patio area outside the villa.

“Where would they have gone?” Mr Tracy asked.  “The boys don’t know the paths here yet, and there’s only two of us.  We can’t search them all!”

“On the contrary, Mr Tracy, Scott has been familiarising himself with the immediate vicinity,” Kyrano admitted, not facing his employer as the other man bristled.  “In particular, he appears to favour two routes, and in the dark he will have taken one he believes he knows well, especially if one of his brothers is with him.”

“Scott is grounded for life when I find him,” Mr Tracy grumbled darkly.  “I expressively told him it was too dangerous.”

“Young men often take that as a challenge,” Kyrano couldn’t help but observe, before hurriedly moving on to the task at hand before Mr Tracy addressed the fact that he’d known about the disobedient explorations.  “Scott’s preferred routes are those two-” he gestured at them.  “Which one would you like to take, Mr Tracy?”

“This one,” the other man said, heading over to the nearer of the two.  Kyrano obediently moved to the other.  “Keep in touch, Kyrano.  If you find them, tell me immediately.”

“Yes, Mr Tracy.” There was no point lingering any longer; turning on his torch – night vision was only so useful, and the stars held no appeal to him tonight – he progressed down the path, hearing Mr Tracy do the same on the other path.

No doubt Mr Tracy had already done so, but as he walked, Kyrano tried first Scott’s phone, and then John’s.  Neither boy answered, and when he switched to tracking their GPS signals he found both icons firmly in their bedrooms.  Presumably, they hadn’t wanted to be tracked and had taken precautions to prevent their father discovering their little escapade.  Clever, but infuriating from a security point of view, and Kyrano resolved to have a quiet word with the pair of them about that.  What if they got into trouble?  The island might be their home and otherwise uninhabited by humans, but it was also dangerous.

If he was attempting to track any of the other three, it would be much easier.  The youngest two would be talking, and in the midnight air the sound would travel.  Even Virgil could be drawn into a quiet conversation.  John liked absolute silence when studying the sky, and despite his capability of being just as loud as his youngest brothers, Scott could and would respect that, simply sitting in silence alongside John for hours on end.

It never failed to amaze Kyrano when he saw the brothers together.  With no full brother of his own, and a half brother he had never seen eye-to-eye with, their easy relationship with each other was breathtakingly precious.  He was beyond grateful to Mr Tracy for providing that example to Tanusha and inviting her into the family as he had.  She would never grow up with a bully son of a mistress wailing about unfair inheritance because he was older but not considered legitimate.  Instead, she would grow up with five brothers to protect her and be protected by her in turn.  It was the greatest gift Mr Tracy could ever had given him.

His thankful musings were cut off by a faint shout.  He paused in his tracks, shining the torch light in the approximate direction of the noise.  It couldn’t be Mr Tracy; it was the wrong direction for that.  Only two other people were out and about, and he cautiously advanced to find the ground falling away suddenly – a recent fall of earth, receding the lip of the track just far enough for it to be in the direct path of feet, especially if they were walking two abreast.

Filled with a sense of dread, he approached the edge as much as he dared and shined the torch down over it, leaning over tentatively to catch sight of whatever was illuminated.

Some twenty feet below was the crumpled form of a boy.  He wasn’t moving, and the torch highlighted a shock of flame-coloured hair.

John.

Where was Scott?  He moved the torch, surveying the area around John, until he found another lip barely past him – more or less passing directly beneath his head.  The figure the light found wasn’t crumpled up like John’s, but was equally unmoving. From his perch on top of the cliff, he couldn’t see what injuries they had sustained, but if they’d both fallen twenty feet, Kyrano found himself worried.

“Scott!” he called.  “John!”  At least one of them had to be conscious if they’d made a noise moments earlier.

“’rano?”  It was quiet and filled with pain, but that was John’s voice.  “-at oo?”

“I’m coming down to you now!” he confirmed.  “Is Scott conscious?”

“-t sure,” John called back. “-t awkin.”

“Keep talking to him!” Kyrano instructed.  “I’ll be with you shortly!”  He pulled out his phone and called Mr Tracy.

“Kyr-”

“I’ve found them, Mr Tracy,” he said.  “Follow the path I took.”

“Are they alright?” the other man demanded.  Kyrano held in a sigh, but shook his head despite knowing his employer couldn’t see him.

“They appear to have fallen off the path,” he reported.  “John is conscious and responding to me, but Scott is not.  I will need assistance getting them back to the villa.”

“I’m on my way.”

Neither man bothered with pleasantries, hanging up without another word.  It would take Mr Tracy several minutes to reach him, and Kyrano refused to wait.  Retrieving some sturdy rope from his pack, he secured it to a tree before fashioning a harness to abseil down the unstable cliff.  It wasn’t ideal, but it sufficed in an emergency, which this definitely qualified as.

A minute later, he was crouched next to John, torch highlighting clumps of dark red in his otherwise bright hair.  Turquoise eyes were glazed and struggling to concentrate on him, but Kyrano was simply thankful the boy hadn’t hit his head harder, even if he seemed to have broken most of the bones in his body.

Another foot or so below them, it turned out that Scott was shifting slightly in a movement Kyrano could only describe as a muted writhing.  Beyond concerned, he dropped down next to him, eyeing the pool of blood beneath him and the foliage protruding from somewhere around his hip with horror.  “Scott?”

Despite the movement his eyes were closed and there was no answer.  Kyrano reached for the first aid kit he carried, and prayed it would be enough.

“Please hurry, Mr Tracy.”

Part V

[lost-eternity]

Matchup Requests *CLOSED*

This was done as a trade instead of a standard match up, hence why I am permitting it. :)

Matchup for @stormra​

okie dokie I match you with...

I have to admit, this was a bit of a difficult one. It was really between Charles Grey and Sebastian. And it was close. But a few small details caused me to lean towards Grey instead of Sebby. I’ll explain why later on.

First of all, your love languages mesh rather perfectly

Charles Grey’s (inflated) ego causes him to thoroughly enjoy the praise and affection you lavish upon him

He enjoys being treated as a prince and has no inclination to returning these affections

It’s a selfish love but weirdly enough, it works

He also doesn’t give enough craps to care for society or propriety to be embarrassed or ashamed of your advances

He is quite inept at displaying physical affection and his attempts are half-hearted at best

It’s that blasted ego again

But he does try. In his own little way

He may (attempt to) awkwardly cook something for you, or more likely than not, force you to take fencing lessons

He always wins

And he goes really hard on you claiming that you would never learn if he went easy

It’s laborious and by the end of each session you are close to collapsing from exhaustion

Insert a lewd joke here, “Oh, my dear, if this is how easily you tire, I better condition you for my bedchamber...”

Yeah, it turns out he is a complete pervert sometimes

But fencing is one of the few ways he can actually express himself

Which seems a bit paradoxical if that expression is affection or love

But it is kind of cute.

He is determined to teach you, and although he may not be the most outwardly affectionate, the amount of time and effort he invests in you is enough to tell you how much he cares

He is a very busy man you know, running missions and odd errands for the queen

His free time is extremely precious for him 

So the mere fact that he is spending it with you is a lot more monumental than most people would assume

But you are smart enough to realise this

And that is one of the reasons I did not pair you with Sebastian. 

Sebastian is a lot more how shall we put it... salacious. His flirting is subtle in public but that bastard would do anything to make his lover blush, testing the limits of society and still managing to get by without being caught... somehow. It’s his way of exercising control and I think that would really clash with your love language. 

~

So,

Charles Grey is also a rather chipper fellow. 

Like "chipper" may be an understatement 

Excitable puppy man is more like it, at least when it comes to fencing... or maiming... the dude has weird hobbies

But he really understands your desire to travel. He is full of jittery energy that he uses releases running errands for the Queen, travelling across all of the UK. And really most of Europe running diplomacy missions and handling sensitive cases

He would probably be hesitant to allow you to accompany him

But you'd wear him down eventually 

Grey really understands your wanderlust, he has a hard time focusing on monotonous tasks or locations as well

So he may allow you to join him

With one *small* caveat 

You have to defeat him in a fencing duel first 

Which is absolute shit. But you understand where he is coming from.

That ego of his leads him to consider himself the best swordsman in Europe, if not the world

He figures that if you manage to strike him down then you could handle yourself with anyone 

And that is no small task

It seems entirely daunting and near impossible (which is probably another reason he assigned it)

And that brings me to my next point. 

Charles Grey needs some who is open minded and chill enough to out up with his shit

But also stubborn and outspoken enough to shut him down when he tries some spectacularly stupid

Which is why you would work well with him. Not only does your nonchalance perfectly foil his constant energy and inquisitive nature, but you also have set your boundaries and know when to shut down schemes and ideas

So yeah

You begin training extra hard

For maybe like a day

Then you give up

It's hard, everything hurts, you are exhausted, and all you MIGHT get out of it is one lousy trip

So you begin putting training sessions off

"I'm not feeling well."

"I'll start once I finish this book"

"Oooh, it's too late now"

To say that Grey would be discouraged and slightly hurt is an understatement 

His passion and life blood is fencing. He has worked really hard to get to this point and the fact that his significant other takes no interest in it wounds him

This could definitely be a point of discourse if your relationship 

But you have to remain open with each other and talk it out

That is the most important thing. Communication. And let's be honest. Charles isn't not going to say shit 

He is "too manly" or too egotistical to admit his feelings

You'd have to be the one to approach him on the matter

But I feel like you would. You are used to hearing problems from your friends. You know when something is wrong and better yet, you listen 

After a talk, he understands that it may not be the fencing specifically you are disinterested in

But you just struggle to maintain motivation 

And from that moment on, Charles Grey becomes your personal cheerleader 

He's the mom at a soccer game freaking s c r e e c h i n g and going "that's my girl!" whenever you win a match

He takes pride in all he does, and he is proud of his protégé

He never allows you to lose motivation and is (annoyingly) insistent about the fencing 

Which again, could lead to some arguments if you resist

But he is doing it from a place of love because he can see how miserable you are cooped up in the same place

He knows you

And finally, the day arrives that you set to duel Charles Grey himself. If you win, you get to attend some of his missions with him (others are too sensitive to risk being seen by a civilian)

You are understandably nervous, but also introspective. Honestly it is probably a tidal wave of emotions far too complex to convey with words

But ill try 

Let me just....

This morning was like most mornings.

A heavy fog blanketed the docile countryside, most animals just began to shake off the effects of the previous night's slumber. 

Commoners rose with the peeking rays of the sun, beginning to perform their routine tasks before the last of the fog had been burned away by the heat. For most people this day was completely, utterly, ordinary.

But not for you. 

This day meant everything. This day meant your freedom. 

You had risen before even the sun, shedding your skirts in exchange for ivory fencing gear, exchanging your fan for a rapier and your hats for a meshed mask. This had been your life for the past year, and would continue to be so until your final breath.

But today. Today was different. 

Today determined your future. And quite frankly, your sanity. 

And all you had to do was defeat your lover in close quarters combat. A monumental task in-of itself. Half of your acquaintances thought you mad, the other half patronized you, treating your struggle as a desperate cry for attention. They simply couldn't understand why a lady would go through such trouble as to challenge the country’s greatest swordsman. A woman's place was in the house, and in home is where she is complete. Why would she bother her pretty little head and sully herself in the wretched world around her? That was a man's job, such trifling affairs should be of no concern for a lady.

"She is odd, that one." They would say. But they didn't understand, how could they? 

Raised under the constrictive hand of the patriarchy, they were forced into complacency. A complacency so culturally ingrained that they themselves never sought to question it. Or, those that did often keeled to the whims of man's iron fist in fear of social ostracism and reputational backlash. 

But you were different. 

From childhood you felt the pangs, the longing to not only see but experience both the beauty and sorrow of the world around you. To learn and ingrain yourself with the cultures, to explore every nook and cranny of your planet. You could never understand why those around you seemed so content with living and dying inconsequentially, never experiencing the midnight sun or the sweeping winds of the steppe. Dying without ever truly living. Merely existing in their self-made reality, completely ignorant to the bright, beautiful world around them.

Why stay put when you can travel?

Why exist when you can live?

These questions, along with the persistent voice of your instructor (and fiancé), kept you focused and motivated. All of that training, all of those hours of arduous, grueling work had lead to this moment.

You stood within the fencing hall, the lack of bodies usually present caused the room to echo with each clicking foot fall on the tile floor. It was wide, empty, and entirely unwelcoming. It felt like a stranger to you, despite the year of training you had completed within its walls. 

Before you stood a similarly dressed figure, its face obscured by the dark meshing that covered the helmet. 

It was entirely impersonal.

A faceless enemy in a sea of a faceless crowd. 

But you knew better. His posture was all too familiar to you. The slight tilt of his head, the pitch of his shoulders, the strangely comforting steady hand in which he held his weapon. This was your lover, Charles Grey. And your opponent. 

It was definitely surreal. He rarely ever wore his mask in training. The absence of his characteristic gloating smile and talkative nature felt almost lacking. It was rare that he would be so quiet... so solemn. But he was just as aware of your current situation as you were. And how much it meant to you. 

Without a word, he raised his weapon and the battle commenced. 

It was an intense battle

With every blow he performed, your parried and dodged

With a feline grace, you danced up-top light heels, twirling and spinning in an almost melodic fashion 

Metal clashed against metal, each crack ringing through your ears

You had trained enough with him to know that he had a tendency to leave his left side unguarded and exposed

But he also trained with you to know that you can forget to guard your knees

And as the minutes tick by, marking one of the longest conflicts you had ever had with him, exhaustion sets into your bones 

And you falter

The blow is lightning fast, you hardly have a chance to comprehend his movements 

But his hips are besides yours, his knee hooked behind your leg. 

He pushed you backwards with his forearm, causing you to fall backwards, only to trip on his knee and slam against the ground

Something cool and metallic is pressed to the back your neck

You don't need to look to know it is the rapier and that you have lost

The sound of you two's laboured breaths echoes through the empty chambers

Several seconds tick by as the two of you gather your thoughts 

...You... lost

You finally turn yourself around, noticing that Charles had removed his fencing helmet

Damp silver hair sticks to his forehead, matted and plastered across his face

For a moment, a look of sorrow flickered across his handsome features, only to be replaced by that typical cheeky grin

"You lost, luv. Better luck next time, eh?"

You never really had much of a plan

But seeing that smug expression kicked your instincts into overdrive

With one fluid scissor sweep, you dislodged his balancing, a well-placed kick aiming where the sun don't shine toppled him over entirely 

And then he was on the floor next to you, his face contorted in an express of pain 

You were quick to discard his weapon and straddle him, keeping his wrists pinned above his head to the floor

"Lesson one: never trust your opponent"

You parroted this line to him, one he had told you many of times

He only managed a pained grunt in response

Chuckling, you apologized with a chaste kiss which he all too eagerly accepted 

He was probably just being theatrical to get more kisses

You did not have much time to ponder the situation before a polite round of applause erupted from a nearby alcove

You nearly jumped out of your skin

You did not notice the shawled figure, cloaked in all black, like a walking shadow 

The figure took a few steps forward, emerging to the light 

And that is when you realized who it was

Queen Victoria herself

By her side, astute as always was the man you practically considered a brother 

Charles Phipps

By now, you were extremely aware of the suggestive position you were in

Straddling Charles Grey, your hips against his, his wrists clasped tightly in your hands and pinned above his head

And oh, gods that insufferable smirk with which he was regarding 

"As you can see, your majesty, my darling is highly... proficient." Grey practically hummed

You quickly scrambled to your feet, unsure how to handle yourself in the presence of a queen

Turns out, Grey had invited her to witness your duel in hopes of securing you a position under her employ. Either as an emissary or housekeeper. 

According to Phipps, She was quite impressed by your performance, even though you lost

The only other person she had seen to be able to keep pace with Grey was Phipps... and a certain blonde who shall not be named

And that is the story of how you became the head maid for the Queen herself and an emissary on par with Grey himself, running missions as a husband-wife warrior squad, haha

~

You two probably met in an odd way

I’d say for a fact that you were attracted to Sphere music hall

It’s like that place was made for you

Semi-modern concert style music hall which people hailing from all backgrounds and classes intermingled together in harmony

Divinations and readings were done for free and in return, each patron was given a bracelet depicting their star sign. 

As a matter of fact, a lot had to do with the star signs. 

Meditations were conducted in between hours and food served

It was a really great place to go, somewhere you fit it because you had always been an outcast

Forced to keep your craft a secret in fear of retribution from the church, you usually made coin as a street performer and singer

It was not a lot, but it was certainly enough to keep you off the streets

Unfortunately that also meant you were constricted to the same place

Your family had consistently tried to marry you off to some rich white dude

Well, rich(er)

But you did not want to be wife and then a stay at home mother

That was somehow worse than your current situation

Also your opinionated and confident demeanour often scared off potential suitors

It was a serious problem because apparently women were supposed to be soft spoken and weak. 

But you on other other hand, never showed weakness

It was far too “masuline” apparently

So you decided to strike out on your own and try to make it as a singer

Easier said than done

In the music hall, you truly felt free to express yourself

Its charismatic leader put major emphasis on the stars and night sky, he was extremely introspective and the two of you instantly hit it off (I considered matching you with Blavat instead of Grey but I kinda feel like you two would work better as friends)

You were completely enthralled with his demeanour and exuberance

And you consistently attended the hall as it was the only place you felt you truly belonged, no one casting judgmental stares, no whispers behind your back, and most of all, you felt a sense of camaraderie that you have never felt before

And as a result, you fell victim to the cult

Initially, the Queen garnered concerns over the existence of this Music Hall and the traction it was gaining. As a result, she sent out her very own Charles and Phipps to scope out the place before sending word to Ciel Phantomhive

Infiltrating undercover as guests, the Queen’s handy butlers began an inspection of the area

There they ran into you

Literally

You were in the middle of entertaining a small portion of attendees with a song at the behest of Blavat himself (he was actually looking to hire you as a backup singer for the Starlight Four but you were not aware of this)

You were reaching the crescendo of your song when a drunken man slammed into you

You uttered an apology but he seemed rather intent on making himself a nuisance

“Watc’ yaaaa, yaaa stoopid *hic* bitccccc”

You took a few steps back in response as he staggered forward, raising a palm as if to strike you

Before you could react, a flash of white covered your vision

A man stood before you, sword drawn and dawned in a blindingly white coat

Silver tresses rolled down his back, as he glared up at your attacker from behind attractively long lashes

How he managed to sneak a rapier into the party was completely beyond you, yet here he was

“Now, didn’t your mama teach you manners?” He cooed, a slightly maniacal smile across his lips

“Yoooou wanna go?” The man sneered, “I can tak *hic* you pwetty boooy”

Of course, this scene began to attract attention

The murmurings and pleasant violin music had all but stopped as thousands of eyes turned to face you

Blavat had to step in, nervously defusing the situation

He had the drunkard escorted out and moved to confiscate the weapon from the white-clad man only to get the think pointed at his throat

“A man’s worth is in his sword. It would be cruel to take that away from him.”

You were entirely unsure if he was being literal or making a dirty innuendo with that statement

Regardless of his intentions, he was promptly thrown out as well

Much to the chagrin of a separate, similarly dressed man who seemed down right exasperated with his partner’s trigger happy (blade happy?) tendencies. 

You decided to follow this peculiar stranger out and thank him for what he did

You found him trying to crawl through a window, seeking re-entry into the part.

“Uh, excuse me...” You called to him as he fiddled with the lock on the window. You had no idea how he managed to climb up that high in such a short amount of time, but he had perched himself rather precariously on the window sill.

“Not right now, luv.” He called back, “I am busy.”

“I just wanted to thank you for what you did back there. I could have been hurt.”

He paused, not once looking back at you. “Right. Who are you?”

You were rather taken aback

He literally just saved you, how could he not remember you?

“Look, if you aren’t going to pay me the mind to even look at me, I won’t take the effort to thank you.” You huffed and turned to walk away

“I wouldn’t go back there if I were you.”

His voice caused you to halt in your tracks. You spun around to stare at him incredulously. “Excuse you?”

God, those silver eyes were breathtaking as he gazed at you, practically oozing with a feline grace

“Those people aren’t good people.” He stated in a matter-of-fact tone

“Oh? And what do you know about them?” You retorted defensively

“More than you, obviously.” He finally managed to pry the window open. “Her majesty has good instincts. She knows this place is dangerous, else-wise she wouldn’t have sent me.”

And with that weirdly convoluted and vague sentence, he slipped back inside and disappeared

You were left to ponder the meaning of his words

Her majesty?

This bloak knew the bloody Queen?!?!

What else did he know?

What could possibly be so bad about the hall?

You decided to call it quits early that night to process. You never thought you would ever see him again, or so you thought

~

You had been doing your research, sticking your nose in places you probably should not have

Blavat, someone you once considered a close and trusted friend almost seemed menacing to you

And he definitely picked up on your closed off body language

But you knew that something fishy was going on during those “private” events. Only specific people were ever invited (AKA not you)

It all just seemed really sus

And you were determined to find out

So you snuck in

Having spent many hours in the hall, you were aware of certain passages and entrances that others were not

And you were able to sneak in without much issue

But you weren’t able to see much

A heavy smoke filled the air, smelling pleasantly of posies and roses

Your eyes began to droop and heaviness set into your lids

And you fell asleep

You woke up, with the concerned and slightly perturbed face of Blavat staring down at you

Well, shit... busted

“We had a nice thing going, y/n. And you just had to ruin it.” Blavat stated callously. “You know those events are private.”

And with that, you were barred from entering the music hall... permanently

This was definitely rather devastating as it was the only place you could truly be yourself without fear of rejection of prosecution

But now you were more sure than ever that something was amiss in that hall

Why else would they be so strict?

You were probably only left alive because they knew that whatever gas they used to put out those in attendance also affected you before you could see anything incriminating

And so you began trying to locate that mysterious man in white 

He seemed to have more answers than you did

It did not take long to figure out his name and occupation. Charles Grey. Butler to the Queen herself

He must have been quite the impressive butler to be going out on scouting missions for the Queen and not just serving tea

Regardless, gaining an audience with him was nearly impossible 

So you would just have to attract his attention...

Somehow

Given his affinity towards sword fights, you were sure that a loud brawl outside the palace itself would almost certain garner his attention

The real question was, where in the world would you get people foolish enough to pull such a stunt and risk getting arrested

Sooo, maybe not that

You might have to work backwards

Ask around and find those that may be acquaintances with him

Which was a lot harder than it looked

It took days of searching, but you were eventually sent to speak with a mortician who according to your contact “knows everyone who is no one”... whatever that meant

It did not take too long to find out

This mortician was... eccentric to put it in the most polite of terms 

But he was definitely connected with Britain's underbelly 

Which you assumed is where the “everyone who is no one” comes from

You came in hoping to pay him off, to which he blatantly refused, instead asking for you to make him laugh

Which was an odd request but one which you were willing to comply if it meant breaking the case

You spent hours trying different tactics to no avail

Until you sang a very dirty and very perverted song (Most likely “God’s Loophoel”. Yeah, actually don’t look that up, it is exactly as it sounds)

He seemed to enjoy that far too much as his cackles were absolutely thunderous

In tears, he kindly revealed to you that he was familiar with this Charles Grey and could pull a few favours to get you in contact

But he never said when, nor did he ever say where

But he did ensure word of your snooping reached the ears of Charles Grey who surprised you in your own home whilst you were halfway dressed

He initially was very cross with you poking around, scolding you and chastising you saying that it was “no business for a lady”

But you shut him down pretty quick

And afterwards, the two of you hit it off and decided to make evening tea on Sundays a staple thing

Grey would inform you about the progress of the Sphere Music hall and in return, you would keep well away from it

It worked out for the two of you

But word of your sniffing around had also reached the ears of one certain earl and his own demonic butler

I would be careful about what questions you ask and where you poke your nose

We wouldn’t want it to get bitten off, now would we?

this was a lot of fun to write, I hope you enjoyed reading it, dear. Let me know what you thought

[aconitemare]

[jaydick] Before That, And Colder

Chapter Four

AO3

Previous Chapter

Dick kicks his foot in the air repeatedly, inspecting the pink flowers on his white Oxfords. He’s pretending to ignore the people around him — possibly, he is actually ignoring them, as the outlines of their bodies blur around his fancy footwear. He leans farther back on Jason’s desk, conjuring the picture of ease. To his left rests Jason’s Red Hood helmet in a gargoyle-fashion. Everyone here knows Jason Todd is the Red Hood, but Dick is just Richie Grayson, D-list celebrity. The sleeves of his pretentiously silk bomber jacket, embroidered with colorful roosters, slip slightly down his shoulder. 

“Is this really the best time to be hiring people? Specifically this person?” This question comes from James — or “Wingman,” as Jason earlier informed him of. James is up-and-coming, bat-themed, Gotham-based vigilante who believes the Red Hood is absolutely critical to public safety. Dick has not yet shared this detail with Batman, having only received it an hour before this current meeting, but he’s hoping they’ll share a good laugh over that.

“No time like the present,” Jason says without much concern. He stands beside the desk, a few feet from Dick. 

Dick catches James crossing his arms from the corner of his eyes. The defensive body language convinces him to focus more on the arrangement of people. Suzie Su still sits on the recliner, seemingly indifferent. Her sisters, one of which Dick recognizes as the waitress who intercepted him and Miguel earlier, flock around Su either on the couch or near her armrest; all except for Night, Dick’s blackjack dealer yesterday, who now occupies a distant corner of the room by herself. Miguel sits in the recliner opposite Suzie Su, playing with his tie. James stands the closest to Dick and Jason and busies himself with looking like he eats nails for breakfast. 

“The son of Bruce Wayne is hardly a sound addition to the Outlaws,” James points out. 

Suzie Su’s head swivels towards Jason. “Oh, no,” she says, suddenly invested, “Whatever ‘the outlaws’ is, count me out of it. I’m going legit, you promised!”

Jason takes a page from Dick’s book and seats himself on the corner of his desk. He grips the edge, knees spread, so that he looks like he’s riding a horse. For an unstably diverse crowd, he’s rather at ease at the head of it, Dick notes. Jason holds up a silencing finger and begins his address, “Firstly, the Outlaws are too legit for any mere mortal to handle, that includes you, Su, so stuff it. Secondly, James, you can also stuff it because no one’s inviting Richie Rich onto the team except you, it would seem.”

So, does that mean I don’t get to see the Super Secret Clubhouse and make friendship bracelets? Dick almost says. Instead, he receives a text alert and checks his phone to see Bruce left him a message. 

What is your plan of action? it reads.

Dick quickly shoots back a non-committal text, wary of Jason sensing Batman’s concern through the phone. Luckily, Jason doesn’t pay Dick’s texting any mind, preoccupied with his stand-off against Wingman. 

James persists, undeterred by Jason’s skilled dismissal. “Batman isn’t exactly in your corner, Todd. He is, however, in Wayne’s pocket. As is Richie Grayson.”

Dick frowns; his current persona is apparently no longer a good fit. He will need to adjust accordingly. Dick sits up straighter on the desk and tucks his legs. “I have my own funds, as a matter of fact,” he speaks up. Jason’s eyes slice into him — oh, right, Dick’s not supposed to talk while meeting the in-laws. Oh, well. He continues, “I work for the Bludhaven Police Department.” 

Dick touches his jacket collar and inspects the interior fabrice. “I try to dress nice when there might be cameras so I don’t make Bruce look bad, but most of it’s bought off-price at Marshalls.” This last part is a lie as he rarely buys his own photo op clothes. Bruce has a personal stylist who keeps everyone’s wardrobe at the Manor stocked. Dick hit up his old bedroom on the way to the hotel. 

“You’re a cop,” James repeats. 

Dick holds back a wince. So much for Agent 37’s kick-ass undercover portfolio. “Every cop’s a little dirty in the ‘Haven,” he says, hopefully smoothly.

Unfortunately, James does not find this comforting. “So not only are you a cop who knows about the Iceberg’s business, but you’re not even a good cop?”

Dick points at Jason. “He murders people,” he deflects. 

Jason sighs obnoxiously loud. “Richie has information and contacts,” Jason increases his volume when James looks like he wants to say something else, “neither of which are anyone’s business at the moment but mine. Believe it or not, but I’m pretty attached to my life, in both a literal and figurative sense, and so if I say the guy from that one lady-service Pantene commercial is going to keep my organs safely inside my body, rest assured, I have done my research.”

This standing ovation inspires Dick to wonder whether Jason saw that commercial on cable or some other venue. He tries and fails to imagine Jason watching Friends reruns. Maybe he caught it off some gun review video on Youtube. This is the kind of media Dick assumes Jason consumes. 

“Great to know,” says Suzie Su flatly. “So, Richie, who’s trying to whack our boss?”

“No one yet. There have been no attempts on his life thus far,” Dick responds. Then, “Also, you can just call me Dick.”

“Shouldn’t be too tough,” Suzie Su remarks.

“The situation will escalate, though,” James states,  “There is no doubt that Red Hood is the final target.”

“Correct. Which is why it’s important that we trust each other,” Dick says. He levels a gaze at everyone in the room except for James, which should indicate to him that he’s the object of criticism without presenting Dick as outwardly hostile. “If we are too busy suspecting each other without any evidence, we allow for outside threats to slip past our radar.” Dick can only hope they will take this to heart; it will be harder for him to investigate Jason’s people if they’re also investigating him.  

“Truth,” Miguel agrees as he stands to his feet and walks towards Dick. “Although it kind of worked out for us this time, right? You following me, us following you?” As he approaches, he extends a hand and Dick dismounts from the desk. “Welcome to the team, Dick,” Miguel says, clapping Dick on the shoulder as they shake. His smile is warm and sincere. Dick feels an equally genuine grin spread across his face. 

“Alright, alright,” Jason says, leaning from his spot on the desk to bat an arm at them. “What did I just say about teams, dude,” he gripes. Miguel shrugs rather blithely before he returns to his chair. Dick appreciates what he hopes will be the one easy-going personality in this tense bunch. 

Jason claps his hands together and stands. “Okay, here’s the deal: I want someone always watching my vehicle for the next, fuck, two weeks, I guess? One week?” He looks to Dick for confirmation. Dick mouths, ‘longer.’ “One week to start, cool,” Jason locks in his answer. “I don’t mean from the cameras, as I really am hoping to catch this person ASAP and get back to my regularly scheduled gangbanging.”

Dick watches the crowd: Miguel gives a whoop, Suzie Su rolls her eyes, one of the sisters not standing in the corner laughs. 

“So, that means I need you,” Jason flourishes his arm in the air and brings it dramatically down like a hammer, finger pointing sharply at Miguel, “to physically be in the parking lot.”

Miguel looks around in bafflement. “I’m the owner. That would look weird,” he says, gesturing towards himself.

Jason rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure everyone is lining up for your autograph, too, now come off it. No one here is instantly recognizable except for me, and that’s mostly to do with the helmet,” Jason pats the helmet beside him emphatically, “giving me serious red Darth Vader vibes.”

Dick suppresses a laugh. Jason hears him anyway, but that turns out to be not so bad. Jason’s eyes flicker towards him but they’re absent of reproach, which is how Dick realizes he had expected to be growled at for his humor. But Jason made the joke, didn’t he? He goes so far as to smile, not threateningly, but pleasantly. Dick wants to call it soft even. 

Jason’s eyes are back on the ragtag team within the second. He explains properly his reasoning to Miguel. “The subject’s abilities and target range are unknown to us. You’re our safest bet for handling whatever he might be capable of. And you can wear whatever you want.” Dick assumes that last bit is weighted with the implication of a supersuit, although Miguel’s secret identity may very well be known considering the lack of visible confusion on anyone’s face. Of course, that could just be indifference; no one in this room seems particularly interested in each other. 

“If you see someone snooping, wait it out. If you see someone put something on my bike, apprehend them and bring them to me where I can then proceed to shoot their brains out,” Jason instructs. Dick tries to say something, but Jason says over his attempt, “If they’re guilty.”

“Not really the problem,” Dick mutters. 

“The Su Brigade can, I don’t know, keep doing what you’re doing, I guess? Keep an eye on suspicious figures.”

Dick chimes in, “This time, however, immediately report to Jason or myself. Don’t rush in unless the threat is urgent. Don’t,” he motions to James, “text James, or whatever it is you guys did. That was sloppy and uncoordinated.”

James shifts his weight more evenly. Dick instantly recognizes the implicit challenge and straightens his back. “Text you, huh? What, you the boss now?”

Dick files through his possible responses, weighs the best tone to take, the stance to adopt. Should he pick up the gauntlet and try to assert dominance, or go for diplomacy? He doubts this will come to blows, but the direction he takes this could have later consequences, could affect Jason’s safety even in the long-run. 

Dick almost misses the change in Jason’s posture, but it’s instantaneous. “He’s close enough,” Jason has already spoken, no longer leaning against the desk but standing with his hands deceptively plunged into his jeans pockets and his searing green eyes locked on James. “More the boss than you are, at any rate, so yeah, I’d text him.” He sounds almost casual, accent set in a lazy Gotham drawl, yet there’s an angered click to how he sets his teeth. He’s intimidating, alright, the sharp cut of his cheeks complementing his strong jaw. He’s quite Hollwood-esque actually, Dick thinks — at least before he realizes Jason is looking right back at him. Jason raises his eyebrows and spins his fingers in a prompting manner. “Well? Anything else you’d like to derail the meeting with, Dick?”

And just like that, Jason manages to personally undermine the power he just gave him. Dick is bordering on impressed, restrained only by his sudden irritation. Dick simply smiles and says, “You’re the boss.”

“Fantastic. James! How do you feel about interrogating people you can’t beat up?” Jason proposes to the next member of the non-team. 

Dick thinks James could question people without beating them up just fine, especially after the practice he got in while interrogating Dick. James doesn’t comment on whether he’s up to the task, however, but replies, “Who am I interrogating?”

Jason grins and quickly bows his body. “A witness. Exciting, right? Unfortunately, no, not exciting. This will suck for you. Daniel Garcia, the second victim, should be at Gotham General Hospital — fingers crossed he has insurance, because otherwise you’ll have to find out where he lives and talk to him there.”

Dick could be projecting, but he thinks James puffs up his chest at this. “I can find anyone anywhere,” vows James.

“I’ve no doubt, buddy. I just would prefer he not have to relive everything the second he gets home because a stranger wants to hear the gory details,” Jason explains. His tone is slightly scolding. There might be some decency in him yet. Dick immediately feels guilty for being surprised. Jason is a good guy. A good guy. He’s said as much to Bruce. Did he forget to tell himself the same thing?

“Bring some flowers to soften things,” Dick suggests.

“Flowers don’t soften a crowbar, Dick,” Jason disagrees. Still, he adds for James, “But yeah, bring flowers. The family won’t like you for it, but they’ll hate you even more if you don’t.”

“Do we have to do anything?” Suzie Su asks, a little unhappily, it would seem. Dick doesn’t trust her. Then again, would she be so openly disloyal if she was double-crossing? The only person in this room Dick trusts is Miguel — and even then, if there’s one thing Batman has been trying to drill into him for half his life, it’s that trust is a liability. Anyone here could logically be a mole. Anyone here could be loyal, too. 

“No, Suzie Su, I expect absolutely nothing from you and that’s why I dragged you to a staff meeting, so you could sit on your ass and pick at your nails,” Jason intones. Suzie Su drops her manicured nails to her lap and glares at him. Jason sticks his tongue out in response. “You and your lovely sisters of questionable bloodline are my ears to the ground.”

“So, same as before?”

Jason cocks his head, shakes it up and down as if weighing the question, and says, “K-i-i-i-i-nd of? It’s like what you were doing before, but not complete garbage. Need I remind you that you let this idiot into my office.” Jason jabs his thumb in Dick’s direction.

Miguel raises his finger. He’s properly relaxed in his cushiony recliner, legs crossed and arms spilling over the back. “Ah, but you let the idiot stay,” he reminds Jason. 

Dick twists his lips. “Thanks, Miguel. Or whatever.”

“Or whatever,” Jason decides. “Alright, everyone out of my office and onto the things I demand of you. Dick, you’re coming with me.”

The crowd is already dispersing. Dick hops off the desk and pats the wrinkles from his pants. “Why’s that? I thought you didn’t want me breathing down your neck.”

Jason’s back is to Dick as he fastens his Red Hood helmet over his head, which tips Dick off that some of his people outside the office might still not know who’s under the mask. Jason’s response is rougher than before. “You saw the tapes, didn’t you?” The energy from only a minute ago has melted from his voice. The helmet lights up then and Jason’s next words are modulated, shrouded in static. “That makes you the expert.”

Dick does not miss the irony of this statement. 

  ___________

  Dick has Jason drive him to Bludhaven. Jason has many cars and not a single one is worth less than $80,000. “How do you blend in?” Dick asked on the way to his shitty apartment across the pond, Jason looking absolutely put-upon by the half-hour drive.  His Red Hood helmet has been stowed away in a personally customized, hidden compartment. “I don’t,” Jason simply replied. Dead guys, according to Jason, don’t need to feign poverty. Especially if those dead guys are better known for their underground empires and resort casinos. However, two rich men in a luxury vehicle don’t have much business commiserating with the family of boys like Terry Weind. So, the two stop by Bludhaven to pick up Dick’s Saturn and allow him to change into less flamboyant clothes. 

Dick chooses a threadbare BPD t-shirt and jeans. Jason stays in his signature ensemble of leather jacket and combat boots. He raises his brows at Dick’s outfit, but Dick insists it’s a good choice. Even if they don’t like the police, he’s still out of uniform and unarmed, and they’ll know this isn’t his territory. He’ll seem like a commuter, which might even win him some subconscious sympathy; many people in downtown Gotham have to commute to Bludhaven, albeit usually for a fishery job and not the police department. 

Jason waits in the car for Dick to come out. Dick invites him in, but secretly he’s relieved. The place is a mess. If how he keeps his office is a hint, Jason’s habits are immaculate. They would put Dick to shame. Dick taps Jason’s window to signal they’re switching to the Saturn. Jason takes an excessively long time to part with his car, all but cooing at it, but does eventually make it over. He settles into the passenger seat, looking Dick up and down.

“What?” Dick asks, perhaps defensively. He should’ve said something like, “Like what you see?” but it’s too late for that. 

Jason shrugs casually, but his eyes flicker to Dick’s hair. “Nothing. You just look normal now.” 

Dick jams his keys into the ignition, because he has to be rough for the car to start, and rolls his eyes. “You mean my hair’s not gay?”

“Eh. Less gay.” And then Jason is reaching out and ruffling his hair, fingers curling through the still-damp waves. Dick stuck his hair under the bathroom sink’s faucet before putting his shirt on. He got water everywhere, but he needed to get the product out. He weirdly hopes Jason doesn’t feel any lingering stickiness, that his hair is soft to touch. 

Jason’s face abruptly screws up in confusion as if he isn’t sure how he got here. Slowly, he retracts his hand and sits straight in his seat. Dick didn’t notice how open Jason’s body language was just a moment ago, but he notices how it closes. His knees no longer point towards Dick but to the windshield; his arms, once extended towards him, now fold across his chest. Dick stares at him for a moment, trying to piece together the puzzle he suspects they almost had. 

Jason’s presence always has that mystifying effect on him, however, like he’s a monument to all the almosts they’ve been. When Jason was Robin, they were almost friends. When he was the Red Hood, they were almost enemies. Then they might have been brothers, could have been, maybe. There had been that night on the rooftop when Dick had managed to slip through Spyral’s many fingers — when Barbara had run away and Damian had embraced him and Tim demanded why, why — Jason had drawn blood as his voice broke because you don’t do that to your. Almost.

They are always on the verge of some new meaning. 

“Well?” asks Jason. “Are you waiting for me to set up the GPS? You know the address, let’s go.”

Dick quickly recovers and begins edging out from his spot between two other parked cars on the street. “What are we, drag racing? Jeesh.” They avoid traffic for the drive over but do swing into a corner store once they’re in Gotham again. Jason buys the most expensive bouquet available while Dick fiddles with a rack of playing cards. Pokémon? Magic? Would Terry care about either of those games? He sees Jason head to the counter and grabs a random card pack to check out. His phone buzzes in his pocket just as he finishes counting off the dollar bills. He hands the cashier $16 and unlocks his phone. It’s from Bruce.

Any progress?

Dick begins typing out an answer when he remembers the boundaries he agreed on with Jason. He said he wouldn’t share any details with Bruce unless Jason okay’d it. He could let Jason know Bruce is asking, but even mentioning Bruce tends to sour him. Dick would rather get through this meeting with Terry Weind first. He makes a mental note to inform Jason later and give Bruce a non-answer if he says no. 

Ten minutes later and they’re standing on narrow porch steps. The wooden planks are dark and splintery and covered in cigarette butts where an ash tray has been knocked down. Dick squats down and picks it up; ceramic, woodsy-green and leaf-shaped. He sets it atop the paint-chipped banister while Jason knocks on the door. The walls are thin enough that Dick can trace the sound of someone walking down the stairs. It’s summery outside today, the earth baked through by the sun, but he’s thinking of winters down here. Even with a good furnace, these walls must let the chill in. 

A woman opens the door in her nightgown, one hand on the knob and the other on the frame. Her eyes are red and the skin beneath them sags. Her skin is almost ashen. She looks tired. She is tired, she’s exhausted, Dick can feel it when he looks at her. Her exhaustion is a heavy substance that spreads out and sinks into his flesh. 

“Are you Terry’s mom?” Jason asks. He has the flowers already at his chest. His voice is stiff with emotion. Dick recalls his comment about Daniel reliving trauma and wonders if that’s what Jason is doing right now. 

The woman nods and says that, yes, she is, but little changes in her expression. Dick had been expecting confusion, but she accepts the flowers without hesitation. Evidently, they are not remotely the first ones to share condolences. “My name’s Laura,” she says, touching the waxy petal of a calla lily. Her voice is soft and deep as if it’s been anchored to the bottom of the ocean.

“I’m Jason.”

“Dick,” Dick says after him. 

Laura opens her mouth silently for a few seconds before carefully telling them, “I appreciate you boys coming here and wishing us well. It’s been hard, but we’re grateful to the community’s response, it’s been wonderful. I hope you don’t mind me not inviting you in, it’s just that I work grave and don’t get much sleep, and Terry’s resting.”

“We understand. But actually, we’re not just here to offer our sympathy — though you do have it, of course,” Dick conveys. He rushes the words of each clause so his speech comes out in quick, nervous chunks. He’s dipping head, taking up as little room as possible while moving closer to her. Jason takes a step back to accommodate him. He wants to represent himself as sincere, perhaps too sincere to the point of being clumsy. People often think inept and trustworthy are the same thing; the logic goes, you can’t be hiding any tricks up your sleeve if you’re more likely to spill them on the floor. 

“If you turn us away, we get it, don’t worry,” assures Dick, “but this is our city and our kids are getting snatched.”

Laura begins shaking her head. “Oh, no, he’s not answering any questions — ”

“We won’t ask as many questions as the police,” Dick hurries to say. “We don’t need to. We,” here, Dick breaks off his speech and looks uncertainly at Jason, feigning hesitance. Then he takes a galvanizing breath, readying for his big leap, this information he’s sharing only with Laura. “I work part-time at the Park Row Memorial. I’m a guard, similar work to what I do with the Bludhaven Police. We have it monitored 24/7 so it doesn’t become a high-crime area again.” Dick sighs in frustration and bites his lips. “Laura,” he says firmly, staring into her eyes. Her pupils have dilated along his story. Good. “I saw Terry that night. The police haven’t even asked Park staff yet, they don’t care. But I saw it happen and I think I can do something about it.”

The best cover story is always based in reality. The best lies are true. 

Laura’s eyes drop the ground as she thinks. She’s also biting her lip. Dick ponders over whether she does that often and Dick got lucky, or if she’s mirroring him. Either way, he’s won her over. She shuffles to the side and waves them in, her movements less languid than before. 

She leads them to the stairwell and says, “If he doesn’t want to answer questions, he doesn’t have to. I’m not going to force him, you got it? Get what you can and hope it’s useful.” With this, she climbs the steps to the second floor, Jason and Dick following at an appropriate distance. They pause at the top step while she enters Terry’s room and explains in hushed tones his guests. She relates Dick’s reason for being here and then there’s a long pause before Dick detects a faint, “Sure.” 

Dick and Jason share a look that confirms: they’re in. Laura places a light hand on Jason’s bicep and guides them to the door. “I’ll stand right here,” she says firmly and waves them forward. Dick looks around for a chair, sees none, and settles on the windowsill facing Terry’s bed. He’s faired better than the next two kids, all injuries considered. He was out of the hospital in a month. He lies in his twin-sized mattress beneath a crisp sheet, a blue comforter shoved to the foot of his bed. A square bandage covers his right cheek, there’s stitching over his right eyebrow, and there’s more stitches on the right side of his skull. His right arm and knee have been set in casts. Dick remembers him curling onto his side at one point in the video. 

In the wake of the other victims’ hospital records (courtesy of Oracle), Terry’s assault had been carried out with perfunctory brutality. Dick recollects the scene but recalls no hesitation in the attacker’s swings, yet their violence has clearly increased. Perhaps they are doing someone else’s dirty work and the job has just now awakened a taste for pain in them. Or maybe it’s one guy after all and they’re adjusting to the role. 

“So, you know the fucker who did this?” Terry speaks up first. His voice is a little rough and definitely fatigued. Despite his current infirmity, Dick can tell he’s a sturdy kid. He’s got the same build Jason had at that age, youthfully broad with natural muscle in the absence of training. A body with room to grow in. 

Dick shrugs. “Not personally. But we hold out hope. What did his face look like? Any defining features?” he attempts, even knowing that Terry’s report claimed to make out nothing from the night of the attack.

Terry was looking at Jason beforehand, which Dick can’t blame him for. Jason takes up most of the room as he stands by Terry’s feet, stock straight with his massive arms folded. Dick has a habit of downsizing Jason in his head. In general, Dick’s guilty of subconsciously diminishing certain people’s threat levels, letting his familiarity with them obscure the danger they still pose. He does his best to put himself in Terry’s shoes and see what he might see; he accomplishes this by summoning the first night he encountered the Red Hood before he was also Jason Todd, fallen boy wonder. Even without the vigilante get-up, the man’s intimidating. 

Now that Dick has asked a question, however, Terry’s eyes appraise him. Dick once again folds in on himself, tucking his arms closer to his sides and leaning back so he’s as out of Terry’s space as he can be. Then Terry’s eyes stray to the floor and he mumbles, “Looked like nothing. It was dark.” But he doesn’t say it like it was nothing. 

“You saw something,” Dick contests. He’s not going to wheedle or coax, he decides, because that would just leave Terry room to equivocate. “You don’t know what you saw, but you saw something, and whatever that is will help us more than pretending there weren’t streetlamps.”

Terry grimaces. The twitch of his battered face reminds Dick of his age and his heart aches. There should be a grace period for children, an exception made for those still new to this earth. He hates that pain is one of the first things they learn. “He was white, I guess,” Terry supplies. His good fingers have found a loose thread on the hem of his pushed-down sheets. He picks at it. “He never said a word the whole time. It was quiet. He — I saw his hands. I thought, I thought the police would find his thumbprints or whatever, on me, but that’s not how it works, they said. They were all fucked up.”

“The hands or the police?” Jason interjects.

Terry doesn’t look up from his loose thread, but one half of his mouth pulls up into a faint, flickering smile. It manages to be bright even so. “The hands. There were old scars all over the knuckles. Dry, too, like he never heard of lotion.”

Dick supposes the attacker could work in manual labor, but it’s unlikely if there were truly that many scars and all old. “Just the knuckles?” he asks.

“Yeah.”

Dick guesses he’s experienced with combat. The ugly, close-up kind. Still, just the knuckles, that sounds more like punishment than accident. And the dry skin? That could easily be eczema, although wouldn’t a seasoned killer think to cover up, prevent skin follicles from falling into a lab tech’s hands? It is summer, but Gotham runs more humid than dry, so perhaps they’re dealing with a foreigner. “And the face?” he prompts. 

Terry abruptly drops his hand from the nervous thread and sighs raggedly. “Nothing, man. I couldn’t see anything, okay, it was,” Terry falters, “confusing.”

“Confusing how?” Jason asks.

“I don’t know!” Terry’s voice pitches in frustration. “It was weird, all swirly and shit.”

Dick can hear the criticism leak into Jason’s tone when he curtly repeats, “Swirly.” 

Terry backpedals. “I said I don’t know,” he mutters. 

Swirly voices sound familiar to Dick. He used to have one for a time when he played James Bond for Spyral. “I think we might have a contact, Jay,” Dick muses. 

“Really?” Jason says with noticeable surprise. “Swirly’s our big break?”

“Emphasis on the might and ixnay on the big.” To Terry, he says, “Tell me, does tsuchigumo ring any bells?”

Terry’s face scrunches up. “Does what huh?”

Dick will take that as a no. “Oh, well. Still worth looking into,” he says. Dick stands and retrieves the card pack from his plastic bag. He holds it up for Terry to see before setting it down on the bed. Terry takes it immediately and brings it up to his face for inspection. “Your mom has the flowers. I wasn’t sure what to get you, but let me know if you need or want anything. Oh.” Dick swivels his head around the room. There’s not much to it aside from a bed, a dresser, and a box T.V. collecting dust. “Do you have something I can write my number on?”

Jason chooses that moment to step forward, sliding between Dick and where Terry lies. He leans across, a crisp, laminated paper balanced between his index and middle finger. “Here’s my card. Let me know if you have any more information or if either of you need help,” he explains. Terry sets Dick’s gift down and gingerly accepts the card. He flips it over: no logo, just a phone number.

“That’s it?” says Terry. “What contact? Who did this?”

“It’s too soon to tell. I wish I had more to give you two,” Dick says sympathetically to Terry and Laura, the latter of whom hasn’t left her post by the door. She rests her cheek on the frame and watches on.

Terry has more questions though and he’s edging on excited. “Are you P.I.’s? Why do you even care? I bet you fucking did this, or one of your boys — ”

“I understand your distrust,” Dick says over him. He glances nervously at Laura to gauge what she thinks of the accusation and if she’s about to step in. She’s a little straighter, body no longer depending on the wall, but her face is still impassive if alert. Dick hurries to smooth this over. “You don’t know us well enough to understand why we care. We have to prove ourselves, I get that. And we will. Until then, you’ve got nothing to lose, right? All we know is you didn’t see anything.”

Terry stares at him silently, suspicion darkening his eyes. There is risk in coming here, of course, depending on how well Terry’s attacker can trace Jason’s footsteps. But Dick has already weighed the risks and he’s betting that Terry’s part is done here insofar as the criminal is concerned. Luckily, Terry can’t identify what he’s got to lose or how much he has told them between the lines, so the charges drop like that. 

There’s a few beats of silence before Jason starts fidgeting. “Yea-a-a-h, we’re going to go now,” he announces, pointing over his shoulder towards the window. Dick could cringe, he’s so awkward. 

“Thanks to both of you,” Dick says and smiles as warmly as he can. He trails closely behind Jason who shuffles towards the door, his body too tall and too broad to fit comfortably in the modest room. Unthinking, the pads of Dick’s fingers feather over Jason’s back as if to guide him forward. As Jason moves, Dick lets his fingers linger in the air, covering up the touch with empty space. He curls his fingers in and tucks them behind his back. Laura follows them out. 

“Thank you again,” Dick says at the door. “We’ll be in touch if anything develops,” he promises. And he will be; if not as Dick then certainly as Nightwing. 

Laura thanks them half-heartedly. Dick suddenly feels self-conscious about the Pokémon cards. He may as well have given them a box with nothing inside it or a flashlight without a bulb. He heads back to the car, feeling Laura’s heavy gaze on his shoulders the whole way. 

Dick is buckling himself in when Jason opens the passenger door. “Mind sharing with the class what information was so decisive you had no further questions?” he asks as he climbs into the car. 

“No questions Terry could answer. This is the best we can do for a lead,” Dick explains. He needs to make a call, but that will have to wait until they’re on the road and not idling outside a victim’s house. Maybe he can take them to a restaurant, buy Jason a drink, a friendly gesture. Would Jason want to drink with him though?

“Yeah, about that,” Jason says as the car shoots off, “what lead?”

Scratch the drink; neither of them are lightweights, but on principle, they shouldn’t drink during an ongoing investigation. Still, he could buy them some sub sandwiches. He used to buy food for Tim all the time back in the day, as a reprieve from the typical Batman and Robin style of accidentally fasting until the case is resolved.

They reach a redlight almost immediately. Dick drums his fingers on the steering wheel. “Spyral uses this tech called ‘Hypnos 2.0.’ They slide in kind of like contacts? They’re eye implants basically, but they transmit information between your brain and the brain of whoever’s looking at you. Their most common application was hiding your identity. If someone looked at you, they’d just see a scrambled mess instead of a face.”

Jason’s face scrunches up as he stares out the windshield. He scratches his head. “Scrambled like Picasso or.”

The light turns green. “More like a spiral,” Dick says lightly, nodding conversationally. 

“Thematic,” Jason comments. 

“Very. And the uniforms weren’t too shabby either.” He adds the joke more to test the waters than anything, gauge how delicate a topic Spyral is between them. Everyone in their family has a slightly different relationship with Dick’s double life. Bruce and Damian’s have been the easiest, marked by faint curiosity about his activities and begrudging acceptance of help from associated colleagues. The others have been noticeably more dodgy and uncomfortable regarding for Spyral. Dick’s stint as as Agent 37 has made everyone evasive, even for bats. 

If Jason would normally have an emotional reaction to Spyral, he’s too preoccupied for one now. Dick can practically see the gears in his mind turning as his eyes narrow and his chin falls to rest on his hand. Dick feels simultaneously relief and shame; of course, Spyral is just a lead. Spyral may have been Dick’s life at one point, but to Jason, it’s just an organization. At best, contacting Spyral could save his life. At worst, well, Dick’s not expecting Jason to unpack whatever baggage Dick left in Gotham. 

Dick resists the urge to grimace at his own thoughts. He’s overthinking. Can one overthink a ruthless spy agency that up until a year ago controlled his every movement? 

Jason’s voice, slow and thick with the sound of a city that’s always been his, reels Dick back to shore. “Dare I ask what the uniform entailed?”

“Cargo pants,” Dick answers simply. He’s watching the road ahead, but he can hear Jason make a pleasantly surprised noise. They pass a fire hydrant painted to look like a sunflower. Dick thinks it’d be nice for Bludhaven to do that and makes a note to push the idea at city hall after the case. 

“So, you think that this guy is from Spyral?” Jason asks. 

Dick shrugs. “That, or he’s connected enough to snag some tech. We should check first with the other two victims, see if their descriptions match up with Terry’s. If they do, it’s probably Spyral and not some low-grade black market street vendor. Nine of out ten optometrists do not recommend mind control contact lenses.”

Jason slams his hand down on the middle compartment. “Mind control?” he exclaims. When Dick glances at him, Jason’s expression is mostly shock with a sliver of what might be plain rage. But that would be an overreaction considering all the other crimes Spyral is guilty of. All the crimes they’re guilty of, especially Red Hood, although making that argument would be more trouble than it’s worth. 

Dick tries not to let Jason’s sheer judgment weigh on him. Dick has far more pressing guilt elsewhere to torture himself over. Still, it’s hard not to feel righteous rage on Jason’s behalf. He often forgets this part of Jason’s character, this abrupt sense of justice that powers him, but it’s no less prominent than it is in Bruce or himself. It might actually be stronger in Jason, a little left of center, but bleeding red nonetheless. Unfortunately, car safety dictates Dick not be on the receiving end of justice, so he replies as casually as possible, “Well, that’s what Hypnos is, essentially.”

“No way.” Jason points an accusatory finger that Dick sees from his peripheral. A street corner features a hot dog stand. Dick nearly pulls over, but the finger might kill whatever buzz a chili dog can offer. “Don’t ‘that’s-what-Hypnos-is-Jason- obviously ’ me. You just said it transmits info.”

Dick did not think his tone had come off condescending in the least. But if that’s what Jason got from it, then perhaps he missed casual and landed on dismissive. Bludhaven must be eroding his tact already. “Sorry. When I said it transmits information, I meant it as a blanket statement for everything it does. Hypnos can alter memories, which is more-or-less how the identity protection works, by modifying one’s memory of a face. It can send someone a location address or really anything you have stored in your own memory, which is helpful. It can also send orders.”

“Yeah, I bet that’s helpful, too,” Jason derides. He looks like he smelled something bad. Was Dick this perturbed by Hypnos when he first joined Spyral? He doesn’t think so. He had been so quickly embroiled in so many terrible things. What was a little crowd control in the face of cold, efficient, and constant murder? 

The guns. The feel of one is his hand like death itself, how they loomed in his bedroom and among his gear, beckoning him closer to an edge everyone wanted to push him off of. The guns had overshadowed all else for him. 

“Either way,” Dick carries on, “it’s unlikely this guy has his hands on Spyral tech without Spyral knowing something about him. They keep close enough watch over people that have nothing to do with them, let alone people that have access to their technology. He could be anywhere from an engineer to a passing contact, but he’s no ghost.”

“Terrific. Exactly what I need, a mind-controlling stalker from an quasi-omniscient spy organization hellbent running around on the streets of Gotham.”

Dick shrugs. “Gotham’s had it worse.”

“Have I?”

“I don’t know. Have you?” Dick retorts. 

Jason scowls. “Wouldn’t be my first assassination attempt, I suppose,” he concedes.

Dick perks up and offers him a grin. “And it won’t be your last!” he crows. 

Jason just stares at him, utterly perplexed. His brows are furrowed and his mouth is curled above his teeth in bewilderment. 

“Because you’ll be alive,” Dick hurriedly explains. “You know, like, woohoo!” He takes one hand off the wheel to pump the air triumphantly. 

“Woohoo,” Jason repeats hollowly. “Insanity.”

“What?” asks Dick. They will be coming up on the grinder shop soon. Should he suggest lunch to Jason or just drag him in? He’s leaning towards dragging. That seems more effective.

“That we’re all just living to hopefully get killed a day that’s not tomorrow,” Jason observes. 

It’s not more cynical than funny, but something in Jason’s tone — the utter resignation, perhaps — makes Dick laugh anyway. “Everyone on earth’s on borrowed time, really,” he says, not unhappily. Death hasn’t frightened him since he was young. Exposure therapy, he called it once during some Titans mission that feels a lot farther in the past than it is. “The reckless and foolhardy like us, we’re just more aware of it.”

Jason blows air out from his nose in a mix between a snort and a laugh. “And here I thought vigilante-types were less aware of their own mortality.”

“Are you kidding? You have to know you’re walking towards death to find that exact path each night. Snatched purses, drug rings, elitist assassins dressed as owls, fear gas and escaped convicts and murderous clowns — and we run right towards them with open arms,” Dick says, irony guiding his grin as Jason smirks back at him. 

“And open chest cavities, half the the time,” Jason tacks on. 

Dick nods fervently. “Yes, let’s not forget that,” he tries to say seriously, but laughter trips him on the last word. “I don’t know. I think it’s all very sane, actually, to see what’s going on and get involved, do what you can to make everything a little bit better. But too much sanity can look like insanity, for sure.”

Jason does snort this time. “Keep moralizing like that and you’ll sound straight out of a conversation between the Joker and B.”

Dick wrinkles his nose. “Ew. I hope not.”

“‘We’re the same, you and I,’�� Jason croons in a wispy, sing-song voice. “‘Sane and in-sane.’”

Dick can make out the small, white-background-red-letters sign of Hester’s Grinders a few yards down the road. There’s just enough room before the fire hydrant — this one plain, chipped red — to safely park. “Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll keep my philosophies to myself. And so long as we’re changing the subject — hungry?”

Previous Chapter

[misscellophane-ao3]

Hammocks and apples

Story Title: Hammocks and Apples (I know, really creative of me.)

Summary - Richie and Eddie spend a quiet day in the clubhouse together, at least Eddie had wished it was a quiet day. But considering it was Richie he was hanging out with? Yeah, that was never gonna happen. (Pre Reddie, so it could technically be canon-compliant in a way I guess, Might also be a little ooc because I wrote this instead of sleeping like I really should be) This can also be found on Ao3 under the same name.

Pairing: Richie Tozier x Eddie Kaspbrak

Warnings: cursing.

Words: 1054

Story -

Crunch

Crunch

Eddie glanced over the top of his comic book to glare at Richie. The other teen didn’t seem to notice, eyes flickering over the page of his own comic book as he took a bite out of the bright red apple in his hand. Juice dripped onto Richie’s fingers and around his mouth, a tongue briefly flicked out to lick the mess away before it could also drip onto the comic below.

Crunch

Eddie’s eyebrow twitched, his lips twisting into a grimace, his hands tightened on the varnished paper of his comic book.

Crunch

Eddie took a steadying breath. It's okay, Richie only has a few more bites left.

Crunch

Eddie can so handle this.

Crunch

Definitely. He can so deal with-

Crun-

“Oh my god, Richie! Shut up!” He exclaimed, unable to handle anymore, nearly in tears.

Richie paused, blinking wide eyes at Eddie, the apple halfway to his still open mouth (which was absolutely disgusting. Eddie mentally gagged at the sight of half-chewed food and spit).

“Huh?” Richie tilted his head, his brows scrunching up in the way Eddie did not find cute. Honestly Bev, he didn’t, “I’m not talking?” Some spit jumped out as he spoke.

This time Eddie did gag outwardly “For fucks sake Richie! Don’t talk with your mouth full!”

Richie rolled his eyes but quickly chewed and swallowed the fruit in his mouth before sticking his tongue out at Eddie “That better Eds?” He asked sarcastically.

Eddie huffed, his face scrunching up again with annoyance.

Why was he alone with this idiot again? Oh yeah, because all the other losers apparently suddenly had a life (and because he may actually have a small tiny little minuscule microscopic crush on the boy lying next to him on this shitty hammock and so he couldn’t resist having a few hours alone with him even if he knew he would somehow end up getting pissed off. Richie just had this weird effect on him that made Eddie both love and hate him. It was really fucking exhausting sometimes).

“How was I even being annoying this time? I wasn’t talking! You banned me from talking like twenty minutes ago!” Richie complained loudly, “The longest and boringest twenty minutes of my life, might I add!”

Eddie rolled his eyes “Okay, first? Boringest isn’t a word. Second, Stop saying you like to fuck my mom then.”

The crude mom jokes didn’t actually bother him all that much anymore. He would never tell Richie this to his face but he actually found most of what Richie said to be funny. And to be honest, he was only slightly kidding when he said Richie was banned from talking after he made four very crude mom jokes in the span of five minutes. He wasn’t really expecting him to have taken it as a challenge, though he definitely should have considering it was Richie.

“Ah, But Eddie Spaghetti! How could I possibly deny our hot and heated affair!”

“Easily.” Eddie shot back.

Richie grinned suggestively at him “Aww, is little Eddie-Weddie jealous?”

Eddie scoffed “Why the hell would I be jealous?”

Richie opened his mouth, probably about to retort with another vulgar mom joke that he had probably been holding on to for twenty minutes, so Eddie hurriedly cut him off.

“It’s the fucking crunching!”

Richie blinked at him, “What crunching?” He asked, bringing the apple back up to his lips, Eddie flung forward, his hand grabbing Richie’s wrist, stopping him, “What the fuck Eds!?”

“That! That crunching! It’s annoying the hell out of me!” Eddie complained with a slight whine to his tone, “I can hear you chewing and crunching and it’s so fucking gross. I hate it.”

Richie stared at him bewildered before he burst out laughing “My chewing is upsetting you? Really? Who knew you were so sensitive.”

Eddie’s cheeks burned even as he glared Richie down, “Shut up asshole.”

Richie, still snickering, grabbed the mostly eaten apple into his other hand.

“What are you doing?” Eddie asked with furrowed brows, glancing between the apple and Richie warily.

Richie shrugged, “I’m not that hungry anymore anyway.” He said before pulling his arm back and tossing the apple into the trash can Eddie had forced them to keep down here (and take out every other day), it landed with a solid thud “Yes! Hole in one! Did ya see that Eds? First try!”

Eddie opened and closed his mouth in surprise, “You, uh, you didn’t have to do that.” He said.

Richie shrugged again, “Eh, it’s fine.” He replied waving his hand. Only, he had forgotten that Eddie was still holding onto him.

Eddie squeaked when he was suddenly dragged forward, falling awkwardly on top of Richie who looked just as surprised. They both turned to see Eddie was still holding Richie’s wrist.

Eddie stared, feeling his cheeks heat up “Uh.” He glanced back up at Richie to see why the usually vulgar loudmouth was so quiet all of a sudden, only for his breath to hitch. Richie was staring down (or was it up? Since Eddie was on top of him?) at Eddie. He looked far more vulnerable then Eddie had ever seen him. His eyes locked on Eddie’s from behind his massive frames. There was so much in that gaze that Eddie couldn’t possibly figure out right now. He swallowed thickly.

“Rich?” He breathed out, quiet, cautious, not wanting to raise his voice or move in case he startled Richie (also because he didn’t really want to move either).

Richie blinked a couple times, looking as if he was coming out of a trance, “Huh.” He said, voice slightly awed like he just had a big life-changing epiphany.

“Huh, What?” Eddie frowned, his head tilted.

Richie shook his head, “Nothing!” A mischievous grin quickly overtook his face and Eddie was suddenly yelping and scrambling backward as Richie reached out, trying to touch him with his sticky apple juice covered hands.

“Oh my god, you asshole! That’s so gross!”

Richie laughed even as they inevitably ended up falling out of the hammock and onto the floor below, “Aww, come on Eds! I just want to hold your hand!”

“Fuck off! You are so disgusting!” Eddie shouted as he twisted away from Richie, the grin tugging at his lips belied his words of annoyance.