#A one hand battle kitty is a great show but it doesn’t really match the vibe of the video game sky

[fanlovedlt]

Battle Kitty x Sky children of the light.

I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but the outfits would be so cute.

[funtimebunnyblog]

Always remember Pillarmen-lovers and followers alike, no matter what you like to wear or what you like to put on your body; you are absolutely stunning! 😍😍😍 You rock those tattoos, piercings, whatever you wear; wear them with your head held high! 😇🥰😘 Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

The Pillarmen with a Female s/o with tattoos (who also gets unwanted comments about them)...

(Under the cut for length!)

Kars:

• At first, Kars doesn't quite understand the exact appeal of tattoos.

• Sure, some of them admittedly looked nice and they were art in their own respect, but they were also known to be quite painful for Humans not to mention they were something very permanent to put on the body...

• He doesn't really understand why someone would go out of their way to get something so gaudy imprinted on their skin.

• You'll have to forgive him because when you're first getting to know him as he openly looks down on you for having some of your own; especially since you're a Woman.

• He states that you should treat your body like a temple and not "graffiti" it with something so "manish" and "distasteful" which you of course simply shrug off.

• You've heard this enough times to not care.

• However, after you give him some time and he's heard any stories you happen to have behind your tats or perhaps once he sees how truly harmless it all is, he comes around.

• Kars comes to realize that they're just another piece of what made you "you" and he supposed that you could be into far worse things than just simple pictures drawn on your skin...

• Besides... he has to admit you look very beautiful with them.

• From that moment on, if anyone happens to say anything negative about your ink, he puts haters and nay-sayers alike in their place.

• "You know, it's not very ladylike to have tattoos." You could feel the sneer of the Woman behind you as she let her poisonous words drip off her tongue but you didn't turn around.

• This wasn't the first time this happened and it was better to pretend you didn't hear.

• Kars, on the other hand, didn't miss a beat. "It's also not very ladylike to make bitchy comments but it appears that would just be your whole personality." He commented, cocking an eyebrow at the now gawking Woman from over his shoulder.

• You couldn't contain the snort of laughter that burst forth, Kars smiled softly as you clung to his arm with a wheeze. The offending Woman didn't make anymore comments.

• Kars was sure that if he could open his mind to see the beauty of tattoos and learn to accept them, others should do the same.

Esidisi:

• Hands down, Esidisi absolutely ADORES your tattoos!

• He thinks they're a beautiful form of art to display on the body and that they are something definitely to be admired.

• Most especially since they're on you!

• Even from the first time you two met, he wanted to see every single one you had and hear any stories you happened to have behind them.

• Even if the stories happened to go along the lines of "I got really drunk with some friends and--"

• For quite a while he's wanted to get tattoos of his own but never really found the time, not to mention something worthwhile to get.

• Millennium ago, tattoos were in fact quite time consuming to get done (they required not only a steady hand but the patience of a Saint as well) and he couldn't waste much time when on the hunt for the Aja afterall.

• However, once introduced to the modern tattooing art and with lots of time to spare, you were what inspired him to step up and finally get a few of his own done!

• What he really wants is to get his arms covered in intricate patterns and pictures.

• In fact, Esidisi is the kind of person to want to get a matching tattoo with you or at least one with your name somewhere on his body.

• Of course, he does not stand for anyone saying anything hurtful or negative about your own tats.

• "Hey!" The yelling of the guy calling out to you from his truck as you walked down the street instinctively made you freeze for only half-a-second. "I'd fuck you if you didn't have so many tattoos, bitch!"

• His words made an ickyness swirl up from your gut to your throat. Though disgusted, you kept your face carefully neutral and tried to keep walking.

• Those kinds of deragatory comments just weren't worth the effort of fighting back.

• Esidisi, however, wasn't one to stand back and let someone disrespect you like that.

• "Yeah? And maybe somebody would actually fuck you if you had some, dickhead!" He called back, grinning as the guys mouth immediately snapped shut.

• The Pillarman's quick clap-back was enough to make a huge smile stretch across your face; only fueled by the massive hand wrapping around yours as you both kept walking.

• With Esidisi around, you would never have to waste time or energy on derogatory comments ever again.

Wamuu:

• Wamuu had only seen these "tattoos" a handful of times in his life.

• He was well aware of the art and the practice took to create them but never had them done on himself or seen the action up close.

• The very few times he had seen tattoos on someone, it was for battle purposes.

• Most often worn by great Warriors who had fought many fights and had them done to commemorate victories won or even lives lost.

• Upon meeting you and spotting your ink, Wamuu was immediately under the impression that you were a Female Warrior (a rarity) and wanted to know everything about the tapestry of "victories" on your skin.

• "This tattoo, what is its symbolism? Was this to commemorate a fight? Battle, perhaps?" He questioned, a calloused finger poking you softly in your flesh as he spoke.

• You could only blink stupidly, not quite sure what he was going on about. "Wamuu... that's Hello Kitty."

• When you explain to him that your tattoos hold no great "symbolism" or "battle tributes" it takes a while for him to wrap his head around it.

• People nowadays did this... for fun? Simply "because"? Sometimes they did it to show love or appreciation to something?

• It was a strange phenomenon but he eventually finds himself nodding his head in understanding.

• If anything, even if it isn't for a Warriors devices, he finds all tattoos unique and something to behold.

• He even starts thinking about getting one of his own simply "for fun".

• What he still doesn't understand is why there are so many people who were so closed minded concerning these things, especially towards Women like yourself.

• He doesn't appreciate it when people are rude or disrespectful to the things you like; this being no exception.

• "Ugh! You should really cover those up!" You turned your head to find another Woman pointing accusingly at one of your tattoos, an ugly scowl etched into her face. "I shouldn't have to see something so distasteful!"

• You opened your mouth, prepared to tell her to mind her business and keep going about your own when suddenly Wamuu appeared right behind her. The massive man sternly pulled a bag right over her head, completely covering her face.

• "If you do not like the look of them, then perhaps you should simply cover your eyes, Human!" He growled, leaving the rude lady to try and pull the bag off her head as he took your hand and proudly walked off with you.

• Now if only everyone could live that philosophy, life would truly be peaceful for you. Until then, you were just happy you had Wamuu to spread those words of wisdom for you.

Santana:

• Upon first meeting you, your tattoos intrigued Santana more than anything.

• He had never really seen anything of the like before encountering you.

• At first, he thought that they were simply a born pigmentation to your skin. Perhaps you were a different kind of Human alltogether? Did this hold some sort of direct link to your kind attracting a Mate?

• If the latter by chance, he had to say it was working.

• You couldn't help but laugh, watching as he traced his fingers along the shapes and pictures of your ink; he was absolutely mesmerized by the artwork stretching across the canvas of your skin.

• This was definitely MUCH more preferable than someone looking down their nose at you for having them.

• However, once you explained to him that you had them physically drawn onto your skin with ink and needles it only intrigued him more.

• He wanted to know everything about these "tattoos" including just how they were done and why exactly some people took time to get them.

• This resulted you dragging him along to a tattoo parlor so he could watch and learn first hand; which then lead to Santana getting his first tattoo shortly after on his thigh.

• "Aww, now what's a pretty girl like you doing with something so ugly like that on her skin?" The lady behind the counter who was ringing up your items smiled almost sickeningly sweet as she spoke, making you only want to roll your eyes even more.

• Oh boy, here it comes. You just couldn't walk to the store to get a bag of chips and a drink without someone making a comment, could you?

• "You know, not a lot of men like those on a pretty girl, sweetie." She continued, as if unable to see you had no interest in what she had to say what-so-ever. "Maybe you should think about that if you ever want to find someone decent, hmm?"

• Santana's wild head of hair appeared out from behind the chip rack as she spoke, lips twisting as his eyebrows narrowed. He approached the counter with a huff, snatching the bag from it as he full on glared at the cashier.

• His eyes fell onto your bare skin, to the lovely shapes and colours that sparked all these unwanted comments. "Her skin is beautiful." He said, before his eyes fell onto the cashiers bare skin, his lips only pushing further downwards. "Your skin is boring, primitive."

• The look on the cashiers face after he said that only made your snacks taste even sweeter as you sat cuddled into the Pillarmans side back at Home.

[spooky-z]

Dodgeball

Maribat by @ozmav

This is part of my PACK AU. I decided that I would post one shots about this au and then, when I have more time, I will do a whole fanfic.

You can find parts of this AU here, here, here and here.

This is 1.6K!

They were at lunch. No one wanted to go to the bakery that day for lunch, as Sabine and Tom were busy with a huge order from André Bourgeois for a political event at the hotel.

So, they had arranged to bring food/sweets to lunch together in a forgotten room at school.

Marinette had brought a strawberry charlotte russe (the whole cake); Adrien had made chocolate chip cookies; Kagami arrived with various sweets and drinks that had been sent to her from Japan; Luka came with calissons; Damian set a box of mahmoul on the table; Chloe had baked a salted caramel pie; Max had brought croissants and Kim macarons.

The Kwamis were too happy to see the variety. (Plagg grumbled a little for not having Camembert, but Tikki managed to control him.)

It was a feast. Both for the food and for each other's presence. All eight were resting after eating everything.

Adrien lying on Luka and Chloe's legs; Chloe resting her head on the musician's shoulder while her hands hugged Kagami sideways; Kagami had Kim sitting on the floor between her legs and with his back to her; Damian's legs stretched over Kim's, Marinette in his arms; Max was lying fully on the floor with only his head resting on Marinette's thigh while playing a game on the phone.

It was calm and quiet. Or rather calm and quiet minus Kim. He kept twitching.

Chloe snorts irritably.

"I'll kick you out of the room if you don't keep quiet."

“Let's do something!” He moans. "I ate too much sugar and now I can’t calm down."

Marinette makes a murmur understanding the boy. She also felt energy rush under her skin from too much sugar.

"I think we're all in the same boat." Damian mutters against Marinette's neck.

“How about we play dodgeball?” Adrien says suddenly and sits down to look at everyone. “It will drain the excess energy and we can have fun too.”

"Hmm, I don't know…" Max replies. "Do you have clothes in the locker room?"

"No." Kagami nods negatively. “But that would be no problem. We can get some from Mari-hime's house.”

"Okay." Luka smiles, breaking away from Chloe and standing up. "I think we'll play dodgeball."

xxxx

Francois Dupont was not prepared for a dodgeball match between eight heroes.

Not even Ms. Bustier's class.

All the students had gone to the second floor, the floor that gave access to the classrooms, to give more space for the fierce battle that was taking place in the school yard.

It was easy to recognize the shock, disbelief, and envy on the students' faces each time Marinette Dupain-Cheng deftly deflected a ball that would probably be fatal (and painful) if it hit her.

When Kagami Tsurugi violently kicked a ball coming toward her back to Max, who just used another ball to escape the attack and the school choked on watching it.

They saw Kim Le Chien jump into the basketball hoop to catch a wandering ball and then, hanging upside down, throw the ball with unbelievable force toward Adrien Agreste.

Adrien, who exhibited abnormal flexibility in deflecting the most absurd attacks. Like when he fell to the floor with his legs spread like a ballerina without showing any discomfort with it.

Damian Al-Ghul was vicious. He seemed to be playing to draw blood, no matter if they were his friends in a friendly game. Each time he made his move, the ball bounced off the floor or walls in a loud, dry noise. Students shuddered every time this happened.

The biggest surprise of the audience was to see Chloe Bourgeois and Luka Couffaine in the midst of the carnage. Chloe for being the untouchable princess of Mayor Bourgeois and Luka for being known as a calm and very sweet guy.

But they were very different at the time.

Luka had a manic smile on his face, sliding on the floor like a pro and retaliating with power. Chloe giving no opportunity for the other team to retaliate before falling down by killing with multiple balls in various directions. She was flushed and sweating, but didn't seem to be bothered by it.

Nino shudders when Adrien is the first to be hit. The sound of the ball hitting the model's chest makes the DJ panic and he almost runs to his friend but is prevented by the blonde's amused laugh.

“That was great, Ure!” He makes a move, a kip-up and soon stands, not looking hurt.

"I know." Damian shouts back. “You're getting slow, kitty. I think we're feeding you too much.”

Ms. Bustier's class reacts with surprise upon hearing the nickname.

"Kitty?" Alya mutters.

“Is he getting slow?” Nathaniel chokes.

"Dude, they're feral!" A boy of Ms. Mendeleev's class says excitedly.

“Adrien is so beautiful!” Adrien's fan club sighs.

They watch Marinette eliminate Chloe in a skilled and powerful counterattack. The sound of the ball against Bourgeois's thigh made it clear that Marinette was sparing no effort to eliminate her opponents.

Even if it was her friends.

Someone (a boy) whistles in appreciation.

"This girl is good."

"She's hot." Another (boy) person responds.

Before Lila could say anything disparaging about Marinette, Kagami Tsurugi's blazing gaze stopped in her direction. In their direction.

Kagami was still in the middle of the game when she stopped to look at them. And even being distracted by them, she was still fully capable of deflecting Kim's shots.

“Is it my imagination or is she looking at us?” Boy #1 asks.

“Do you think she could hear what I said?” Boy #2 asks back.

“Impossible, she doesn't—” Kagami raises an eyebrow and they squeak in surprise.

She smiles sarcastically and then turns her attention back to the game as if nothing has happened.

“Holy shit. I think I pissed on my pants.” Boy #2 whispers.

Not just him. Lila could still feel the coldness of that look digging into her skin.

That group was scary.

Alya, on the other hand, was feeling in the twilight zone.

That could not be real. Marinette, who could barely walk on the paved ground without injury, was there, running and jumping, displaying a skill Alya had never seen before.

At least not from Marinette.

"I didn't know Max was so skilled." Ivan says beside her and she was forced to look away from the girl who used to be her best friend.

And- Oh! Another surprise.

She really couldn't understand anything else. She was lost.

xxxx

The game ended with a draw.

On one side left Marinette and Kagami, on the other, Damian and Kim.

They had come to a halt, no one being able to hit anyone and the game was dragging on. Even if it didn't let it be fun, the sugar effect was crumbling and they were already getting tired.

But even so, the game would continue if it wasn't for Luka (God bless such a good person) warning about the time.

Kim sighed hopelessly, but agrees. They needed to shower and change to sit in the classroom for the rest of the day.

The four soon emerged from attack positions and began picking up the balls thrown across the yard to store. Kim still upset that he didn't go on playing.

"Come on, we'll finish this game later and we'll know who's the best." Damian pats the boy comfortingly on the back and he cheers again with the promise of a rematch.

"Of course, it's me." He heaves his chest proudly.

Chloe laughs at that. "In your dreams, Capuchin."

Kim pouts at her and Max stands on tiptoe so he can rub his hair.

“We're done with the balls. Now let's go home to change clothes.”

Luka appears (he had gone out to fetch their bags and lunch’s trash), his hands busy. He was still sweaty despite being the second to be eliminated.

“I already cleaned and closed the room. Let's go because we'll be late otherwise.”

"Ok mom!" The seven respond and he rolls his eyes.

Marinette was going to take the bag from Luka, but Adrien stops her.

"Mariiiii." He calls, the bright eyes of a mischievous kitten.

She already knew what he wanted.

"Oh God. I can never resist those eyes.” She pretends to be angry and he laughs. "Okay, let's go. Just this once.”

Marinette turns her back to Adrien and stretches her arms back. Adrien doesn't think twice before wrapping his arms around her neck and wrapping his legs around her waist.

She holds his legs to give more security and starts walking, trying to reach the rest of the pack.

"I love you, Mari." Adrien whispers against her ear. "I love you all."

Marinette smiles.

"I-We love you too, kitten."

"And we will protect you." Kagami says, patting his back.

"Thanks. I'm so lucky.” Adrien hides his face in the back of Marinette's neck and sniffs.

They were lucky. Having each other. A family.

EXTRA:

“… Did she just carry him like he weighed nothing?” Mylene blinks once more to make sure she was seeing right.

“Chloe was laughing. Really laughing.” Sabrina says. She looked stunned.

"Kitty…" Alya mutters. She still couldn't get it out of her mind.

"Did Damian have a septum ring or was I imagining that?" Rose asks.

"Mom?" Juleka whispers.

"Kitty." Alya again.

“Capuchin.” Nathaniel puts his hands against his head and squeezes.

"Kim gave up on a competition..." Alix says in surprise.

“They looked very close.” Lila points out.

“KITTY!” Alya shouts.

Nino and Ivan just watch the class catch fire... and Alya lose her mind.

[tag list]

@northernbluetongue @gimme-more-caffeine @kris-pines04 @drarryismylife101 @puzzlelover431 @18-fandoms-unite-08 @krispydefendorpolice @asheanomhominem  @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @cutechip @just-an-avarage-nerds-blog​ @lirulua @j-a-n-e--d-o-e @naclychilli

[mottephobia-imagines]

BNHA as Hetalia Characters (Axis + Allies only)

Hahahahaaaa.. I’m still Hetalia trash 😇

—

Mirio Togata as America

I first put Denki as America but then I saw a post and now I can’t stop thinking about BTT SeroKiriKami so yeah-

Mirio and America have more things in common other than being blond, blue-eyed precious beans that need to be protected

First of- s t r o n g. They’re both canonically some of the strongest characters in their respective series despite their relatively young ages (Mirio being above some pro-hero levels despite still being in high school and America being well America lmao)

Additionally, they both have drive; they have a determination to become as strong as they possibly could, and stop at nothing to get there

Also, they love helping people! Mirio wants to save a million smiles, and America is a self-proclaimed hero (who admittedly isn’t the best but he’s trying okay)

Both of them kinda also have a hidden intelligence? Like, as in one would never think of them to be highly intelligent people because they’re so goofy and energetic

Since it’s implied that both Tamaki and Mirio game in their free time, him and America are also avid gamers (imagine them playing smash together lmao I feel like they’d break all the controllers)

Both v v competitive too (not as much as the next duo tho)- they’ll never back down from a challenge and face it head on with all their might!

Also, they’re basically the blond boy of the month but it’s every month lmao

(In my eyes they’re both cute little golden retrievers shshsjdjskal)

In conclusion, they’re sunshines who deserve the world and more

Katsuki Bakugo as England

Okay fr hear me the fuck out-

I know it’s an unlikely pair

But they have their similarities just bear with me here

Yes, I was initially going to put in Romano for Bakugo (anger issues gang)

But then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that unlike Romano, he wouldn’t back away from a challenge or run at the slightest scare- Bakugo would take that shit and smother it into the ground

And while England may sometimes be portrayed as a prude gentleman type, we can’t forget his history- this man is probably one of, if not the most, ballsy countries to exist (at least back in his prime)

England is smart, calculated and cunning- how could you not be when you’ve conquered nearly the whole damn world?

He’s proud and maybe a bit too egotistical, and while lacking the anger issues and probably dead vocal cords of Bakugo, he sure as hell matches him in the pride and power aspect

Bakugo, on the other hand, is literally top of his class; boy is a nerd and has a perfect record

So he’s by no means any less smart than England, maybe a little more reckless, but he’s 16- you can’t exactly compare his mindset to a country’s

Even so he does act quickly on the battlefield, much like England assessed situations very precariously (most of the time)

Both of them would probably look an opponent dead in the eye and tell them to do it, bet you won’t pussy ass

On a lighter note tho, they’re two blond, spiky-haired tsunderes who are way to proud and smart for their own good

They also both listen to rock/punk so there’s that too

foreverfurrowedbrowclubTM

Aoyama Yuuga as France

I know I just said SeroKamiKiri is the BTT but once again hear me out

I couldn’t not put Aoyama in as France

It’s literally a match made in Heaven guys cmon

They’re both sparkling, flamboyant and fabulous blondies

Although sometimes their attitude can be interpreted as holier-than-thou, really they just know that they’re amazing and don’t care what people think (we stan confident kings 😤)

They also know that they deserve the best luxuries in life, and definitely won’t settle for anything else

In terms of courage, they’re pretty much on the same level; they get scared easily and will more than likely either back out of the challenge or give up the moment they feel tired

The difference is, France will never regain whatever bravery he had before the French Revolution, but Aoyama is slowly building his courage up in his journey to become a hero

They also take things in stride, willingly or unwillingly (whether it be an ugly outfit or a defeat, they won’t be a sore loser lmao)

While not necessarily flirty like France, Aoyama can still charm people with his whims. Also, their relationship towards people that they can’t charm kind of mirrors one another? (Might be reaching here lmao)

I do think though sometimes that Aoyama shows some similarities with Poland/2P!Romano, but he has the most similarities with France so 🤷🏻‍♀️

Toga Himiko as Russia

You may say she’s more like Belarus but nay nay I say

Belarus is the more kind of ‘stoic’ cruel in my mind; she doesn’t show much emotion besides annoyance and getting angry

Russia however

He’s ‘childishly’ cruel- looks innocent but is capable of some horrible, monstrous things.

Even though his face says otherwise, he does take some glee in torturing harming others (like, a lot)

Toga also does this, but in a much more obvious way lmao. She’s a villain, who drinks blood, there’s no doubt she hasn’t killed anyone. She also takes a lot more pleasure from hurting people than Russia does

They not that close with people, but the ones they are close to they are immensely protective of (Toga and the LOV, Russia and his sisters)

They also are capable of being highly intelligent, knowing more than what people think they know (Toga helping Twice our, and I high key headcanon Russia as a manipulative and cunning bastard who’s done many horrible things to people to get his way)

(I still love you Ivan)

I think this goes without saying but they’re really really violent

Russia just likes using his magic metal pipe of pain, and Toga likes her knives

They also have some really shitty pasts that have lead them to be who they are today

They may look cute on the outside, but they are oh so very cruel on the inside

Shota Aizawa as China

Haha, old man syndrome-

These two have more in common than you’d think

First off, they have that wisdom that comes with age, and are trying to get the younger ones to learn it (Aizawa does this better lmao)

I can totally see them complaining about ‘kids these days’ even tho they’ve done the same shit back then-

Along with wisdom comes cunning and craft. I headcanon China as a low key genius, so he’s probably on par with Aizawa, if not better (in terms of battle strategy and such)

Even though they come off as strict, all they really want is the best for their students/siblings

They’re both physically strong (China was probably once hella jacked, and Aizawa speaks for himself)

They do tire out quite easily tho so there’s that

Both have a penchant for cute animals like cats (Hello Kitty’s a cat don’t @ me)

On a darker note, they’ve both suffered losses of close friends. While China has definitely lost a lot more, Shirakumo’s ‘death’ still took a huge toll on him. Likewise, China has lost all his ancient friends over the years, making him the last one left (except turkey and Mongolia they don’t matter rn)

Tenya Iida as Germany

You cannot tell me this isn’t also a match made in heaven

They’re literally, at their very core, almost the exact same person

Iida is a stickler for rules- he follows every single one of them. Any and every. Pretty organized too, if I do say so myself

Likewise, Germany is also very strict with rules and regimens. He’s also canonically OCD so mans cannot stand messes (people or things)

It may make them seem like pains in the neck but really it’s the only way they know how to interact

Also have some angsty connections with their brothers

Although not as easily provoked as Germany, Iida can still be just as terrifying (mans tried to kill Stain I mean come on-)

As with nearly all of these characters, they’re both strong as hecc

Also, I feel like both of them are somewhat pressured by what their other family members have accomplished and want to achieve the same thing (Iida coming from a family of superheroes, and Germany really looking up to his father and brother and wanting to be like them but less yknow)

They don’t really know how to communicate well?? Like, of course they can talk and hold conversation but they have difficulty with most social interactions (it’s adorable)

More often than not the louder voice of reason within their friend group (Everyone in the Dekusquad besides Deku himself is the voice of reason lmao, and Germany is a no-nonsense kind of guy)

Smart bois (In Gakuen Hetalia, Germany is said to be one of the smartest students and tutors Italy, and Iida tries his best)

All in all very awkward and loud losers beans that need to learn how to not be so stiff lmao

Shoto Todoroki as Japan

Y’all already know I had to pair the introverts together

Calm, collected and reserved- these two mind their own business like it’s a sports championship lmao

Even though they may come off as intimidating sometimes, in reality they’re just shy and don’t really know the basics of social interaction (more than Germany and Iida lmao)

They’re both fairly strong, too (Todoroki with his icy hot quirk makes him one of the most OP characters in MHA imo, and Japan definitely doesn’t carry around a katana just for show)

Very very convoluted and not so great childhood (Think the sengoku period was Japan’s childhood so he was basically torn up as a kid while Todoroki had to deal with Endebitch)

Also both pretty smart??? Like, high key they’re both very intelligent and skilled

Both their friends are slowly helping them get out of that super duper introverted mindset, but the poor bbs are still trying to learn how to be a lot less stiffe

They’re also really into architecture esp traditional Japanese architecture (canon in both)

I honestly think they’d get along pretty well if they met, tbh

(Japan would get him into anime and manga and the bookworm in Todoroki can’t resist)

The strange circumstance of Italy

Honestly, I could not find anyone in MHA that was remotely similar to Italy

I was very close to putting in Mina or Nejire, since those two come to mind whenever I think of bright and bubbly (Maybe Kirishima too, but it just doesn’t fit)

So while those two are pretty much the most fitting I feel, they don’t completely encompass his character enough yonow?

Like, I genuinely cannot find anyone who is similar enough to compare him to

So for now, until I can find a suitable pick, Italy won’t have a MHA character to be paired up with 😔 sorry guys

—

What do you guys think? Do you agree or do you think different characters should be put in place?

If this gets enough notes, I might make a part 2 including female nations and the others (or whatever characters you guys request)

Requests are still open! You can ask for edits or character imagines/headcanons!

[fly-pow-bye]

What’s Airing On Cartoon Network? (July 2021)

While we’re in a rather empty spot for the network, Cartoon Network decided to add another show that was made for HBO Max to its television lineup: Looney Tunes Cartoons! Also, The Fungies continue their airing on television, and there’s new episodes of Total Dramarama and DC Super Hero Girls. More after the break.

Craig of the Creek

For completion’s sake, I’ll list the Craig of the Creek episodes here too.

June 28th:

Capture the Flag Part 1: The Candy - When mysterious circumstances cause issues at the Trading Tree, Craig tries to save the day! (10:00 AM)

June 29th:

Capture the Flag Part 2: The King - The Creek gets help from an unlikely friend. (10:00 AM)

June 30th:

Capture the Flag Part 3: The Legend - Craig goes in search of answers, and finds a legend. (10:00 AM)

July 1st:

Capture the Flag Part 4: The Plan - Craig puts a plan into motion to save the Creek. (10:00 AM)

July 2nd:

Capture the Flag Part 5: The Game - It all comes down to this, the fate of the Creek is at stake! (10:00 AM)

DC Super Hero Girls

July 4th:

#AngerManagement - When Jess coerces Kara into addressing her anger management issues, Supergirl's superhero abilities become seriously compromised! (8:00 AM)

#HappyBirthdayZee - Zatanna makes a birthday wish that forces her to confront the dark side of her magic. (8:15 AM)

July 11th:

#TheGreenRoom - When Jessica is faced with a Green Lantern Corps disciplinary hearing, Hal appoints himself to be her Peer Advocate. (8:00 AM)

#EnterNightSting - Karen is given a mission to prevent the apocalypse by DeathSting, a super-cool future version of herself. (8:15 AM)

July 18th:

#WorldsFinest - When PR whiz Max Lord tells Batgirl and Supergirl he can improve their image by doing publicity stunts, the two friends forget what being a hero is really about. (8:00 AM)

#WorkingStiff - After Babs hooks Karen up with a job at the Burrito Bucket, the two heroes encounter a new villain, the scourge of the fast-food underworld, the Condiment King! (8:15 AM)

July 25th:

#MultipliciZee - Zee magically duplicates herself so she can shirk work and watch TV. Things get out of hand when her copies start to make copies of themselves! (8:00 AM)

#TheMinus - Diana receives her first ever A-minus and becomes convinced that she needs to work harder, however, in order to do so, she resorts to rather drastic measures. (8:15 AM)

The Fungies

July 9th:

Sir Tree's Boy - Seth agrees to take care of Sir Tree's wooden boy, Boy Joy, but quickly pawns him off on Mertha. When Seth discovers that Sir Tree needs his boy back in order to survive, he must stage a heist to steal Boy Joy back before it's too late! (8:00 AM)

Commander Beefy - Seth, eager to explore the stars and find a fellow explorer, sends a signal to space. But the explorer who receives the message, Commander Beefy, has his own shady plans for Earth... (8:15 AM)

July 16th:

The Fanciest Fungie - Seth, frustrated that the Fancies are too caught up in the Fanciest Fancy pageant to listen to his warning about a fungus-eating bacteria, enters the pageant to get his message out. But when he gets sucked into the pageant, he'll have to face the consequences of getting distracted. (8:00 AM)

Snake It to the Limit - When Seth agrees to let an athletic snake replace his arm so he can finally be good at volleyball, he learns he doesn't need a fancy snake arm to make his teammates happy; he just needs to try. (8:15 AM)

July 23th:

Nevin's Cocoon - After a beautiful statue makes Nevin self-conscious about his own looks, Seth helps seal Nevin in a cocoon so that he may turn into a beautiful butterfly. (8:00 AM)

Cool Kids - When Pascal becomes obsessed with a group of cool kids, Seth promises to use his science skills to help Pascal become cool. But is coolness as cool as it seems? (8:15 AM)

July 30th:

Mermove Out - Seth is having a hard time sharing a room with messy Pascal and needs a change. But instead of being honest about the situation, Seth makes Pascal a mermaid tail so that his brother can finally move out-into the ocean! (8:00 AM)

Happy Birthday Nancy - Seth wants his mom to have the best birthday ever, so he creates his own currency in order to buy her an expensive gift. But he learns a little too late that counterfeiting is a crime, putting Nancy's birthday at risk of being ruined. (8:15 AM)

Looney Tunes Cartoons

July 5th:

Curse of the Monkeybird/Marvin Flag Gag: Deflating Planet/Harm Wrestling - Daffy Duck and Porky Pig search for hidden treasure. No one messes with arm-wrestling champ Yosemite Sam - until Bugs Bunny comes along. (9:00 AM)

Big League Beast/Hole Gag: Mini Elmer/Firehouse Frenzy -When Bugs overstays his welcome, an evil scientist unleashes Gossamer to get rid of him. Daffy Duck and Porky Pig make lousy firefighters. (9:15 AM)

July 6th:

Boo! Appetweet/Hole Gag: Plunger/Bubble Dum - Sweet victory turns into a nightmare when Sylvester fears he's haunted by Tweety's ghost. Daffy Duck faces off with a pesky piece of gum. (9:00 AM)

Pain in the Ice/Tunnel Vision/Pool Bunny - A hungry Sylvester sets his sights on Tweety, the ice skater. On a scorching hot day, Bugs Bunny makes himself at home in Elmer Fudd's pool. (9:15 AM)

July 7th:

Pest Coaster/Rhino Ya Don't - Bugs tries to ride a roller coaster, but Yosemite Sam is determined to stop him. At the zoo, Sylvester's lunch plans are foiled by a rhino. (9:00 AM)

Buzzard School/Marvin Flag Gag: Giant Alien Mouth/Wet Cement - Bugs Bunny enrolls Beaky Buzzard in Rabbit Hunting 101. Daffy wreaks havoc on Porky's wet cement. (9:15 AM)

July 8th:

Siberian Sam/Hole Gag: Fishing Pole/Fleece and Desist/Marvin Flag Gag: Mirror/Split Screen Marvin - In need of a new hat, Siberian Sam feasts his eyes on Bugs Bunny. Sam Sheepdog protects his herd from a hungry Ralph Wolf. (9:00 AM)

Grilled Rabbit/Cactus if You Can/Shower Shuffle - Elmer Fudd interrogates Bugs about a theft. Wile E. Coyote's plan to catch the Road Runner gets prickly. Daffy and Porky have shower troubles. (9:15 AM)

July 9th:

Overdue Duck/Hole Gag: Bees/Vincent Van Fudd - At the library, Porky Pig tries to silence a troublemaking Daffy Duck. Bugs Bunny interrupts Elmer Fudd's attempt to be a great artist. (9:00 AM)

Hare Restoration/TNT Trouble/Plumbers Quack - A self-interested Bugs gives Elmer Fudd dating advice. Wile E. Coyote runs into some dynamite problems. Elmer's leaky sink is no match for Daffy. (9:15 AM)

July 12th:

Daffuccino/Hole Gag: Moving Hole/Kitty Livin - Before his new coffee shop goes from grand opening to grand closing, Porky must impress an influential customer. Sylvester may have swallowed more than he can chew when he manages to trap Tweety... inside his stomach! (9:00 AM)

Chain Gangster/Telephone Pole Gag: Sylvester Car Jack Lift/Falling for It - Two bank robbers need Bugs' help to break out of jail. Daffy convinces Porky to go skydiving but forgets one important little thing... (9:15 AM)

July 13th:

Taziator/Marvin Flag Gag: Little Martian/Climate Control - Bugs faces off against Taz in a Roman coliseum. Wile E. Coyote orders a weather control kit, but his chances of catching the Road Runner remain cloudy. (9:00 AM)

Lepre-conned/Flag Won't Stay Straight/Brave New Home - Bugs is looking for Hawaii but finds Ireland and an angry leprechaun instead. Porky's new home has all the modern amenities anyone could hope for, including a computerized assistant - but the voice recognition software could use an update. (9:15 AM)

July 14th:

The Case of Porky's Pants/Fully Vetted - Detective Daffy takes on the case of Porky's missing pants. Tweety's trip to the veterinarian's office gives Sylvester the perfect opportunity for a lunchtime treat. (9:00 AM)

E-Rabbitcator/ Planet Split in 2/The Sales Duck - Bugs must outsmart a new technological foe. Elmer is ready for bed, but persistent salesman Daffy stands in the way of a good night's rest. (9:15 AM)

July 15th:

Pitcher Porky/Cherry Picker/Duck Duck Boom - Benchwarmer Porky finally gets his chance to shine on the pitching mound. With the game on the line, he needs all the help he can get - even if it's from Daffy. Elmer sets his sights on Daffy, but who's hunting whom? (9:00 AM)

Postal Geist/Anvil/Fudds Bunny - Porky and Daffy deliver packages to a haunted manor. Elmer's plan to disguise himself as a bunny to lure Bugs out of his hole doesn't quite go as planned. (9:15 AM)

July 16th:

Shoe Shine-nanigans/Multiply and Conquer/Parky Pig - Elmer visits Daffy for a quick shoeshine. Porky is running late for movie night but finding a parking spot is easier said than done. (9:00 AM)

Shell Shocked/Daffy Dentist - Bugs races against Cecil Turtle for the "fastest thing in New York City" title. The only thing more painful than Porky's sore tooth is a visit to dentist Daffy. (9:15 AM)

Total Dramarama

July 5th:

Breaking Bite - Beth becomes the big dog on campus after she bites Duncan, but being the big dog is a dangerous thing, especially when you didn't actually bite anybody! (5:00 PM)

July 6th:

I Dream of Meanie - When Cody keeps screaming in his sleep Gwen and Duncan take a trip into Cody's dreams to see what is scaring him. (5:00 PM)

July 7th:

Squirrels Squirrels Squirrels - Courtney's attempt to make Chef a better teacher fails when a squirrel gets his hands on her mind-control device. (5:00 PM)

July 8th:

Say Hello to my Little Friends - After telling the kids he will not miss them over the long weekend Chef locks himself into the school and finds out he was very, very wrong. (5:00 PM)

July 12th:

WaterHose-Five - The hottest day of the year and a broke air conditioner leads to a water battle of epic proportions to determine who controls the garden hose. (5:00 PM)

July 13th:

Cody the Barbarian - Cody is set to inherit a video game empire from his long-lost uncle, but only if he and his friends have what it takes to conquer a fantastical live-action video game. (5:00 PM)

July 14th:

TP2: Judgement Bidet - When the city experiences a toilet paper shortage Beth and Harold investigate and discover it's their old rival Sewer Mike who is the mastermind behind it all. (5:00 PM)

July 15th:

Dial B for Birder - Harold uncovers a secret plot that Chef's new parrot is hatching and tries to save his teacher only to discover that Sugar figured it out before him. Or did she? (5:00 PM)

July 19th:

A Hole Lot of Trouble - When rain derails an outside game of catch someone suggests they play it inside. This prompts Izzy to lead the group through her wildly imaginative worst-case scenario. It's an adventure so scary that the kids many never play again. (5:00 PM)

July 20th:

A Tell Tale - After Owen's BBF, Noah, goes through a growth spurt, Owen fears losing his friend and takes drastic action. (5:00 PM)

July 21st:

Chews Wisely - When the floor ends up covered in gum on the day of a big bubble blowing contest, Sugar decides she might help herself win by helping her friends get stuck to the floor. (5:00 PM)

July 22nd:

A Dingo Ate My Duncan - When all their classmates are replaced with well-behaved Australian doppelgangers in a school exchange program, Lightning and Cody start getting suspicious. (5:00 PM)

[dakotacrisis]

That’s My Fencer!

Marinette loves to cheer on her sword lesbian girlfriend.

---

Since Marinette and Kagami had started dating they had set a few rules to live by. For one whenever they went out to eat whoever asked the other out is the one to pay, no arguing. Marinette’s house was for movie nights and Kagami’s was for study dates. If Kagami needed time out of the house then she was allowed to use Marinette as an excuse to leave. When Marinette had a new design but no model then she was allowed to recruit Kagami for pictures. Just to name a few of their rules.

It really did help in keeping things simple and orderly in their chaotic lives.

Today though Kagami was thinking of adding a new rule to their little list. Today Kagami had a fencing tournament and Marinette was attending to cheer her on.

Other fighters went on including Adrien for which Marinette cheered and clapped like any normal spectator. Then there was when Kagami came forward to fight.

“GO KAGAMI!” Marinette shouted drawing many eyes towards her. “Kick some butt!”

“Oh Marinette…” Kagami muttered to herself as she took position.

The duel began and Kagami moved quickly landing a point with ease. Really, if it wasn’t Adrien it didn’t even feel like a challenge. Kagami went through her opponents easily. Some proved to be tricky but in the end she prevailed victorious. She had one more person to duel before she was in the final bout of the tournament.

“Next up, Kagami Tsurugi versus Darcy Greene.” The commentator said.

“WOO!” Kagami’s attention was drawn back to the stands where Marinette sat, “Poke her good!”

“Friend of yours?” Kagami’s challenger said, clearly annoyed.

“My girlfriend.” Kagami answered.

The match began but her opponent was still talking as they dueled.

“Is your girlfriend always this disruptive at your matches?”

“This is the first one she’s come to since we started dating.”

“Well maybe you should tell her to--”

“Shut up!” Kagami lunged backing the girl up further as her actions became faster. “You don’t get to talk about her.”

Kagami landed the final hit with ease. The girl she was facing lost her balance and fell back on her butt.

“Winner Tsurugi,” the referee said. “Five minute break and then we shall have the final duel between Kagami Tsurugi and Adrien Agreste.”

“Kagami!” Marinette flitted down the stands and crossed over to Kagami. “You are killing it today! You barely gave that last girl room to breathe you were on her so hard.”

“She was being disrespectful,” Kagami grimaced. “Showing any mercy would have been ridiculous.”

“How was she disrespectful?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Kagami took a drink of water, “You wanna get juice after the tournament?”

“I’d love to!” Marinette smiled, “Hey, wait! I should be treating you! Take it back.”

“Nope. No arguing, you know the rules.” Kagami chuckled at Marinette’s pouty expression. “Stop pouting. You treated last time.”

“I guess…”

“Can I have a kiss for luck?”

“Of course,” Marinette perked up as she leaned over and gave Kagami a quick kiss. “If you win you’ll get a better one.”

“I’d call you a tease but I know I’m gonna win this.” Kagami pulled her mask down. “I’ll be waiting for my victory kiss.”

“Go get him, firecracker.” Marinette rushed back to the stands as the break started to end.

Kagami and Adrien took their places at either side of the piste. Finally Kagami was gonna have a challenge. She couldn’t afford to lose either. Victory make-outs were at stake!

“En garde!” The referee announced and the battle began.

It was fast going in the beginning. Adrien was not holding anything back today but neither was Kagami. Their hits when they landed seemed to end in a tie. The machine was proving to be useless so they went without it, leaving the referee to judge when a point was given.

She hated to do it to Adrien since he was a great friend and fencer but Kagami would be victorious. With Marinette’s cheers in her ear Kagami grasped onto her last shreds of stamina and landed the winning blow.

“YEAH! THAT’S MY GIRLFRIEND!” Marinette shouted as she ran down from the stands again and hugged Kagami. “You won! I knew you would!”

“Good match, Kagami,” Adrien joined them. “I thought I was gonna have you there for sure.”

“You too. But there was no chance for you. I had a good luck kiss. Your defeat was inevitable.” Kagami looped an arm around Marinette’s waist.

“I could have good luck kisses too but Kitty Section had a gig at the same time as the tournament. Luka did promise to take me out for ice cream after he was done though. Did you girls want to join? Double date?”

“That sounds nice but Marinette and I are already grabbing juice. Thanks though.”

“Say hi to Luka for us.” Marinette waved as the girls departed for the locker room.

“I will. See you later!” Adrien went towards the boy’s locker room.

After Kagami got changed they took a short walk to their usual cafe and ordered their drinks.

“Marinette, I want to add another rule to our list.” Kagami said.

“Let me guess,” Marinette chuckled, “Don’t be so loud at your tournaments?”

“On the contrary,” Kagami reached for her hand, “I want to make sure you come to every single one in the future to cheer me on just like you did today.”

“I’d do that already. You don’t need to make it a rule.” Marinette scooted herself closer. “I thought maybe you had been embarrassed by me.”

“I could never. I love you, button.” Kagami poked her nose. “Also, I think someone still owes me a victory kiss.”

“That I do.” Marinette kissed her deeply, completely uncaring of the onlookers in the cafe. “I love you too, firecracker.”

[aion-rsa]

From Bridgerton to Hamilton: A History of Color-Conscious Casting in Period Drama

https://ift.tt/2IQI6Ak

Note: This Bridgerton article contains no book or series plot spoilers.

Bridgerton is a unique mix of Shonda Rhimes’ dedication to Black representation on American television and the British period drama tradition. White critics may dismiss this trend as unnecessary “pandering” to Black and POC viewers, but the number of productions designed around reforming all white-casting has increased over the past 10 years—and has only added to the success of the genre. The number one reason driving demand for diverse period dramas is from Black and POC fans of the genre. The impact of seeing an actor that looks like you can’t be measured in ratings or clicks online. Despite facing years of content and fandom overtly or covertly claiming that the universal themes in period dramas are not “for us”; the tide is starting to turn as fans use social media and the power of ratings to ask for more representation. 

A quick overview of recent Regency England-set productions leaves much to be desired. Although the 2018 Amazon Prime/ITV miniseries and the 2005 movie adaptations of Vanity Fair left in West Indian and Jewish heiress Miss Schwarz, she is one of many supporting characters. PBS/ITV’s Sanditon, on the one hand, improved representation by prominently featuring Georgiana Lambe. However, her story was a huge disappointment to Black and POC fans who expected her plotline to end happily or at least have her conflicts resolved. 

There have been three paths traditionally towards increasing diversity in period dramas: 1) blind casting (also called racebending), where Black and POC actors play traditionally white characters adding original Black characters to existing fictional works, and 2) Own Voices, where Black and POC writers share their own stories. These two are not mutually exclusive, but, in the world of British period drama, the former is more frequently used, as the bedrock of the genre is adapting existing novels and plays by white authors.

The theoretical framework for inclusive casting begins in the world of staging period drama at the theater. In Shakespeare’s day, men played women’s roles as women were not allowed to appear on stage. The genre evolved in later centuries to allow women to appear on stage, but the tradition of having actors who didn’t match the original descriptions remained. This is even true of his history plays where real women royalty were characters. Ira Aldridge in the 1840s was the first Black actor in Britain to play traditionally white roles on stage. Later on, in the 19th century, several stage adaptations of Jane Austen’s works had all-women casts. 

Fast forward to 2015, when Lin-Manuel Miranda in Hamilton redefined what it meant to cast inclusively in modern period dramas by using actors descended from slavery and colonialism to play the Founding Fathers. Every aspect of the musical was designed to reframe the existing narrative of early American history. The costume design also reflected the identities of the actor by featuring braids, locs, and textured hairstyles over 18th century white hairstyles. Rap lyrics conveyed to the audience the names, dates, and other descriptions of the Revolutionary War. The old adage that someone must “look the part” to play a biographical role was thrown out the window.

Hamilton proved that many of the old excuses used to sideline diverse period dramas no longer held to be true. Millions of white people listened to the cast album, brought tickets, or streamed the movie on Disney+. UK theater patrons flocked to the West End cast of Hamilton, as well, before the pandemic. Memes, parodies, and more on social media proved that white audiences can conceptualize historical figures as fictional characters while also knowing the real figures looked and acted quite differently. Fans of the show pushed Ron Chernow’s biography back onto the bestseller lists as they wanted to read what really happened. 

The first clear impact the show had on the genre of British period drama comes from a mystery. Daisy Coulam, Grantchester’s head screenwriter, cited reading an interview with Miranda as the inspiration behind the exit plotline for James Norton’s character Sidney Chambers. UK crime dramas  For those unfamiliar with the series, Grantchester is a mystery procedural based on a series of books about a 1950s crime-solving Anglican vicar by James Runcie. Norton’s exit plotline in Season 4 generated an original to the show character named Violet who was the daughter of a visiting African-American preacher. Violet was an original character who forced the audience to consider that the US civil rights movement indeed reached their treasured vision of the lily-white British countryside. Coulam already laid the groundwork for Violet in earlier seasons by abandoning large sections of the original novel timeline and but keeping the case of the week focused on addressing 1950’s social issues. Fans heavily criticized Coulam’s writing for style and pacing, but her imagination clearly indicates that Hamilton’s proven formula for disrupting established historical aesthetics can just as easily be applied to fictional depictions of the UK’s past as blind casting a biography-based series or depicting real figures of Black British history. 

Other period dramas released in recent years share traces of Hamilton’s impact but in a more thematic and less direct different way. Some shows turned real Black British figures into fictional characters. Lina (Stephanie Levi-John) and Oviedo (Aaron Cobham) on The Spanish Princess are composites of Catherine of Aragon’s servants and several famous Black Tudors. Catherine “Kitty” Despard (Kerri McClean) in Poldark Season 5 was a forgotten Black British figure added in to expand the world outlined in the novels. Victoria featured Ira Aldridge (Ashley Zhangazha) mentioned earlier, plus spotlighted the Queen’s adopted daughter Sarah-Forbes Bonetta and Cuffay (C.J. Beckford) as the leader of the proto-socialist Chartists. Lucille Anderson (Leonie Elliott) on Call the Midwife was not mentioned in the original memoirs, but she was added to represent the Caribbean nurses from the Windrush Generation of UK immigrants.  

Racebent casting also increased. Dev Patel’s role as the title character in the movie The Personal History of David Copperfield proved that Dickens adaptations could indeed include POC casts without changing the fundamental plot and message. PBS/BBC’s Les Miserables miniseries also extended the Broadway tradition of casting Black actors in traditionally white coded classic literature characters. Hulu’s The Great featured Sacha Dhawan and several Black actors as Russian nobility, politicians, and courtiers. 

All of these series, however, carefully attempted to stay grounded in recreating the original source material or invested in faithfully replicating the era they were set in. Bridgerton radically expands upon Hamilton’s formula by divorcing inclusive casting from any desire to accurately recreate historical events, eras, or figures. Romance, fantasy, and social/familial drama are universal themes that don’t depend on having a white-dominant vision of society. Quinn’s original novel series sparingly referred to historical events during the Regency Era. Her focus was on creating a world where the most important events were balls and weddings. More Dukes and other holders of inherited titles exist in her vision of the Ton (the most elite members of Regency society) than in reality. Historians would likely dispute her characterization of the elite social season as well. Characters’ internal dialogue is in modern English peppered with regional accents and slang. They rarely lampshade or criticize the way of society beyond their romantic desires and family obligations. Readers see the physical intimacy on the page Austen never mentioned. This literary environment is ripe for inclusive casting on screen. 

The most critical flip in characterization is Simon, Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page). His character is the romantic hero of the first book in the series The Duke and I and is the character that set fan expectations high for future novels. Simon having visibly African features and yet being an object of desire is incredibly subversive in a genre where white beauty standards dominate hetero and homosexual fiction.

Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh), Simon’s godmother, is an elder stateswoman and a twist on the battle-ax aunt trope popular in period dramas. She isn’t as caustic and insulting as some other famous widows and spinsters but she commands authority and a mansion filled with people to perform all the hard labor. Lady Danbury is even implied to be slightly higher in status than her white counterparts with children of marrying age Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) and Lady Portia Featherington (Polly Walker).

Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuve) being played by a biracial woman is actually a subtle Easter Egg to existing history debates. Many have debated if her portraits were airbrushed to disguise African features. A few years ago, a documentary established her African ancestry is via the Portuguese royals. All of her scenes involve petting her Pomeranian, demanding to know the latest gossip, and manipulating the gentry into doing her bidding. 

The miniseries doesn’t end the racial diversity with those at the highest social rank or even at the lower orders of domestic servants. Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker) is a cousin of the Featheringtons and represents the “poor relation” character popular in stories based on the British gentry. A Black modiste (dressmaker) trained in French fashion makes all of the dresses the characters wear. Will Mondrich (Martins Imhangbe) is a boxer, likely a reference to former slave turned bare-knuckle boxer Bill Richmond. Alongside the characters with plot lines viewers follow, there is a conscious effort to hire Black and POC extras to fill in crowd scenes at balls, park scenes, and other public events. The viewer sees people who look like themselves in every class level of society and can feel like they too can become part of their world. 

Read more

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How Bridgerton Can Avoid Outlander’s Mistakes

By Amanda-Rae Prescott

Books

Bridgerton: Cast Announced for Shonda Rhimes Netflix Series

By Alec Bojalad

Attire is a critical part of upholding the fantasy and cultural diversity Bridgerton and also in communicating to the audience the series isn’t your aunt’s neutral tone Austen adaptation. Marina and Lady Danbury would never be caught dead in a plain white muslin frock. All of the popular Regency hairstyles for women have been modified and reworked for natural textured hair, braids, and locs. Some of the Black male extras even have modern African hairstyles left in tact. The only Black characters who wear the traditional white wigs are older men or servants in full formal uniform. Queen Charlotte’s Black courtiers and servants wear a mixture of extravagant 1770s and 1780s attire and Regency court wear to create a physical separation between them and the rest of the ensemble cast. These style decisions are right out of the playbook of Still Star-Crossed, Shondaland’s first foray into period drama. Although that series took place in 1300’s Italy, the priority was on blending fantasy and Black fashion aesthetics over catering to white costume enthusiasts and reenactors.

In the world of Bridgerton, slavery and colonialism are directly or indirectly referenced exceedingly sparingly. One reference is to Lord Dunmore’s army of emancipated and runaway slaves during the Revolutionary War proclamation. (Hercules Mulligan’s Black troops referenced in “Stay Alive” is the Patriot equivalent of Dunmore’s forces). These sparing hints make it clear to the viewers that class, family, and personal family drama is the root cause of joy and pain in this series.  

Since Bridgerton is completely ignoring the physical descriptions of the characters in many cases, the set design carries the bulk of the attention to historical detail. The series hired Dr. Hannah Greig as a historical advisor to ensure these details were as close to 1813 as possible. Greig has previously acted as a consultant to the Sanditon, Poldark, and The Duchess cast and crew is likely where the Easter Eggs in character references come from. Lavish mansions and castles and the more humble spaces ground the fantastical plot details in historical reality. Several previous period dramas have recreated the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, but these scenes in the miniseries are elevated to the next level thanks to Netflix’s budget.

Read more

TV

Noughts + Crosses: Why You Should Watch This Afrofuturist Alternate History Romance

By Amanda-Rae Prescott

TV

World on Fire Returns People of Color to the Dunkirk Narrative

By Amanda-Rae Prescott

The success of Bridgerton applying color-conscious casting to a fantasy/romance series has implications far beyond potential future seasons. Studios especially those in the UK have been hesitant to utilize recent historical romance books for screen adaptations. Modern historical fiction by Black and POC authors (called Own Voices fiction)  which is crucial in the fight for increased representation. Novelists such as Beverly Jenkins, Courtney Milan, and Alyssa Cole have written romances set in the Regency and other eras of American and British History that can easily be transformed into movies and miniseries. Some of these novels recreate existing history while others lean into escapist fantasy. The ultimate goal in period drama representation is for Black and POC creatives to tell their own stories covering all the ranges of emotion, not just historical trauma.

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Critics can keep attacking period dramas for being “too woke” (a term that was stolen from anti-racism activists) for remembering that white people aren’t the only inhabitants of the British Isles and America, but series like Bridgerton are here to stay. Black and POC viewers and readers of period drama and romance fiction always existed, and viewership will only grow if more inclusive period romance projects are greenlit in the future.  

The post From Bridgerton to Hamilton: A History of Color-Conscious Casting in Period Drama appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3mjLv8v

[miraculous-rewrite]

Miraculous Rewrite- Frozer

This is when things really start hitting spiteful, so like... bear with us, we’re getting to the REAL character development shit now.

So, we open as we did with a show that not everything our duo does is against akumas, they are heroes in general, too. Chat still snags a rose in an attempt to confess to Ladybug, but unlike in canon where he has a weird daydream of revealing himself to her, Ladybug just cuts him off with the big reveal: 

“I have a boyfriend in civilian life, Chat. Even if I WANTED to be with you, I couldn’t now.”

Chat doesn’t take this very well and asks what this guy has that made him so irresistible. Ladybug sighs and looks off into the distance, saying that well.. He’s sweet. He’s creative and kind and he… makes her happy. He makes her feel good about life, about herself. She looks out on the balcony and instead of the insane amalgamation of Adrien posters, instead she’s gazing at a poster advertisement for Kitty Section’s first live concert.

Chat asks if he’s not sweet, or creative or kind. Does he not make her happy? Why wasn’t he good enough? Ladybug doesn’t seem too happy at this train of thought and looks exhausted, leaning against the railing and saying that Chat is a good friend and a great partner, but she never owed him anything in way of romance. And she hopes he respects her enough to take that as it is.

To which she swings away, and Adrien looks down sadly at the rose. 

We cut to the school and the fencing club, where we see, not Kagami waiting for Adrien to sulkily come to fence against her, but the girl talking Marinette through some positions and setting her up for a training match of her own. Because remember, Marinette did get one of the TWO spots for the team in Riposte. 

The montage still happens, but this time with Marinette as the one dueling Adrien, and, because he’s off his game JUST enough, Marinette is able to beat him each time with Kagami on the sidelines pointing out things as the two are essentially teaching her, even if Adrien’s not in the right state of mind to do so. 

Eventually, we see the locker room, with Adrien looking dejectedly at the flower in his hand, and both girls approach him. Marinette makes a lighthearted remark about how while she knew that he would go easy on her while they taught her things, she didn’t expect to actually beat him, before Kagami cuts in, as gently as she can, that it was because Adrien’s heart and mind weren’t in the battle, but Mari is improving. 

Marinette gratefully nods. And Kagami mentions that she had definitely been more focused. Marinette offering that you know, she’d been working through some stuff recently, but she’s come to terms with some parts of her social life and it’s really helping. 

Adrien, still out of it, but was there to witness it last episode, asks if she’s talking about her and Luka getting together. Kagami raises a brow before giving a short if polite ‘good for you’ to Marinette. 

Adrien stands up, and, while still twirling the rose in his hands, begins to stare into space and says that he’s glad SOMEONE’S had some luck. The two ladies are still p. Worried, But an alarm starts to go off on Marinette’s phone and she squeaks that she’s got a meetup with Alya. Wishing the two of them a goodbye and shooting a particular glance at Kagami, she runs off.

Kagami looks at the rose, and looks up at Adrien. She asks who turned him down. He shrugs and says Kagami doesn’t know her. He’d been in love with her for… god what feels like forever, but she’s turned him down a bunch, and you know, maybe it’s just starting to sink in. 

Kagami humms, and gently takes the rose from him. He watches as she goes up to the wall and proceeds to throw the rose out the window. “Then she’s not worth your heartache. Any girl would be lucky to have you.”

He smiles, and she grins back at him, in a surprising display of affection she reaches out and takes his shoulder in hand. “I respect myself too much to offer to be rebound, but know that you still have someone in your corner, Agreste.”

As they part ways Adrien sits on the steps of the school, Plagg asking if he’s gonna try for her anyway. Adrien shrugs and says he’s not sure. He still loves Ladybug, it would be unfair to Kagami to approach her after she overtly said she wasn’t interested in rebound. Plagg mentions that there was this one time, maybe, two-three hundred years ago, when a bunch of cheese fungi was making Camembert entirely inedible. And he tried to switch to parmesan, and you know, while it wasn’t for him, he can still appreciate a good slice of parm when the mood strikes him. 

“Oh, that’s good, I can get you that tomorrow.” 

“I said when the mood strikes!” 

We then continue to follow Adrien, trying and failing to get some advice on all of this. Gorilla not being one to talk much, not even trying with his father, but we see Nathalie last, she in fact asks him if he’s feeling alright. But Adrien ends up chickening out last second and saying he’s just got a bit of a headache. To which she responds that he should have a full stock of headache medication in his bathroom. 

When Adrien arrives at school the next day he glances around at his friends to see most of them wrapped up in their own pairs. Before he sighs and ends up running into Marinette. 

Marinette is far more casual with him than she usually is, her stutter all but gone. Feeds into Adrien’s running theory that Marinette’s stutter is based on her stress levels, since now that she has Luka to balance her out, she’s feeling more calm.

Adrien more or less begs Marinette for help getting over his feelings for the crush he’s had since the start of the school year. She’s surprised, but sits him down at one of the benches. Adrien describes the girl he loves (Ladybug) before admitting he may have a crush on Kagami. He also tells her he’s afraid that he’d end up only using Kagami to get over “the girl,” so he wants to try and find some way to get over her first. 

Marinette suggests that, as a group rather than a date, he goes somewhere with her to get to know her outside of fencing. She tells him how she planned to go ice skating with Luka for a date, and, as long as he makes sure to tell Kagami their side ISN’T a date, he’s more than welcome to join them. Adrien is over the moon, hugging Marinette before sprinting off. We see Marinette’s cheeks light up faintly pink before shaking herself out of it, getting a determined look on her face. 

“For Kagami, and for Adrien.” 

We cut to the Liberty and the girl squad minus Kagami as Marinette fishes her pals for ideas on how to both help Adrien get over his former crush, and how to hopefully get their mutual friend and him on the path to a healthy romance with time. 

Of course the lot of them start throwing out ideas that work with who they are as people, Rose mentions that there’s this great romance movie that’s playing if they all get tired after skating around. Juleka has a mixtape of Kitty Section’s attempted love songs, Alya suggests just shoving the two of them into compromising positions, winking at Marinette to know she’s in fact referencing Animan. Mylene just telling her there’s nothing to be done and to let what happens happen, and finally Alix saying this is kind of none of their business anyway. 

Obviously nobody agrees and it becomes a bit of a lively argument, at some point Rose throws flower petals into the air, Alix looks maybe one inch away from hitting someone with a throw pillow. Marinette just sighs and walks out onto the deck, leaning onto the side and looking into the distance. 

“Your chord’s a bit discordanant.” Luka makes himself known. Marinette darts around in surprise and sure enough Luka plays a cord, his pinky finger sticking out to make it sound uneven. Marinette laughs and says she feels a bit discordanant. Luka stands up and walks over, leaning down to kiss Marinette’s cheek. Marinette blushes and the two of them lean against the edge of the Liberty together, shoulders brushing. 

“Let me see if I got all of that from the shouting…” he gestures before slinging his guitar back on. He plays a melancholic tune. “Adrien, our beloved Keyboardist, got denied by the girl he’s been holding a candle for.” The tune changes to something kind of sharp, like the soundtrack for an action movie. “His friend from fencing, and your mutual friend Kagami has a thing for HIM but won’t be rebound for someone she legitimately likes.”  The tune then changes to something bouncy, almost silly. “So you guys are gonna help him see if he truly likes Kagami or if he’s just desperate for companionship.” 

Marinette laughs and reaches over to pluck one string, making the chord go sour. “You missed one important detail.” Luka shoots her a ‘you lil punk’ look before putting down his guitar and putting his arm around her. “The Ice rink wasn’t it? You wanna turn it into a double date?” Marinette jumps in place, cheeks red and she holds up her hands and, in true Marinette fashion, starts to ramble.

“If you don’t mind! I mean I know we haven’t been going out for very long, and it might be kinda weird to make one of our first dates a double date! I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, I mean, not that our friends would MAKE you uncomfortable, I just want everyone to have a nice time and maybe let things go as they-”

“Marinette.” Luka squeezes her shoulder to get her to stop. “No worries, I’d be happy to help out a bandmate and friend. And So long as we’re still going together it’s not like it’s not a date.” 

(( I LOVE THEM - Aims) (That’s all we needed, episode over-Vega))

We cut to the NEXT day now, Adrien again trying to sneak out first, before this time admitting to his father the truth of the matter. He’s trying to make friends with Kagami, his fencing partner, and Gabriel, aware that this is the daughter of the woman he’s making deals with, doesn’t roadblock him but encourages, in his own way, that he does so. It’s still a bit underhanded because the reasons are completely different for the two men, but it’s a brief moment where Adrien DOES get something he desires from his father. 

The group meets up at the ice rink, after an establishing conversation from Andre and the manager of the place that if he doesn’t get paying members soon, he’s shutting down the place to make something more profitable, rather than a gym for his daughter because that was silly lbr. So for us it’s just... Money, man, money. (So how’s late stage capitalism doing for everyone? -Vega)

Adrien scoots over next to Marinette, thanking her once again for her willingness to help him, and she smiles brightly at him. She still makes a small boo-boo of tying her skates together, and Luka catches and helps her the rest of the way, before exiting onto the rink itself. 

Kagami approaches Adrien, asking if he remembers their conversation. “I appreciate the invite, but if this is--” 

“It’s not. I just… wanted to get to know you out of fencing class. I’m prepared to wait however long it takes to get over her, so long as you’re willing to give me a chance.”

Kagami narrows her eyes at Adrien, seemingly untrusting, but takes his offered hand. 

The four of them are having some fun, Marinette and Luka are being absolutely ADORABLE as it turns out Luka had had some lessons when he was a kid and he can apply his other skills onto the basics he already has. Marinette of course caught between wanting to just have some fun and do some cute things, and also wanting the half-scheme with her friends to work out. So they travel just a bit faster than Adrien and Kagami so they can pass them in the rink every so often as a gentle compromise. 

After a little time of just having some fun Philippe cuts in, skate-approaching Kagami and Adrien and asking if either of them would like to develop their innate balance more with his lessons. Adrien looks interested, but Kagami shrugs and says her mother barely lets her out of the house enough to fence. Adrien ends up thinking about his Time as Chat Noir and his already busy schedule, and admits he can’t spare the time. Philippe then asks if he could possibly Endorse the rink, since his family has a bit of clout behind them. But Kagami takes offense at the idea of either of them using their connections for a complete stranger, and takes Adrien’s hand, leading the two of them to the other side of the rink. 

Philippe then approached Marinette and Luka, Luka saying that the Band he’s in takes up a lot of freetime already, and also he’s a lycee student and like… have you SEEN the amount of homework they give us? Marinette starts to say that she doesn’t have the time either, but she’s distracted to the point where trying to talk to Philippe meant that she lost her balance. Accidentally getting ripped away from Luka she slams into the wall of the rink and drops to her knees.

Marinette sits there then, huffing for breath as the fall knocked it out of her. Luka sharply turns around, and Adrien, more on Chat Noir instinct than anything else, darts over, the two of them arriving to help. The two reach out their hands, and Marinette hesitates for only a moment before reaching for Luka’s hand. But before they can make contact the lot of them are distracted by Philippe’s failure to gain even a single student. Andre shouting at him that today is the last day this rink will be open, and to enjoy it while he still can. The two boys look away to watch the situation unfold, which would have been a bit rude but Marinette’s attention was taken by the scene as well so no harm no foul. Of course the only one to have not cared was Kagami. Whom approaches Marinette herself.

She’s quick to help her up, startling the boys out of watching the drama, and rather than give cold and harsh words, she has a small, faint smile on her face, whispering a small “thank you for trying,” before skating off, leaving Adrien to follow her. 

Luka re-approaches Marinette, asking if she’s alright. Marinette’s breath is still a little heavy, and she says she’ll be fine, she just needs to freshen up a moment, get the cold out of her bones. So she takes off for the bathroom, Luka looking on in worry and eventually going to wait by the side of the rink for her. 

As it turns out Marinette is doing exactly that, hunched over the sink in the bathroom, dipping her hands in some warm water in the sink basin, before wetting down a towel and applying it to the back of her neck. 

Tikki zipps out of her purse and asks how she thinks things are going. Marinette smiles a bit, she says she was having fun, but it looks like Operation:Adrigami is a bit of a bust. At the very least, Kagami doesn’t think they’re forcing her hand, which is a big part of the whole thing.

But just as the two of them are discussing what to do Philippe is akumatized into Frozer, a layer of ice spreading wherever his skates touch. Paris gets quickly encapsulated in ice, the only safe places being places already icy, so Luka, Adrien, and Kagami are all safe where they are in the ice rink. But just as the frost starts to encroach into the girl’s bathroom, Marinette is only barely able to transform before it touches her. She slips for a moment on the ice, but as she exits out the window she grabs the ice skates she’d taken off just on the inside of the door.

Meanwhile the three still in the ice rink are… not necessarily trapped, but very concerned. Luka checks the ice out outside of the rink and says that they might be able to skate on it, but it’s not a sure thing. He looks up and says he’s got to go check on Marinette, but just as he’s about to leave, Adrien jets past him, saying he’ll do it, and for he and Kagami to stay warm and stay safe. 

“He’s lucky this wasn’t a date to me because I would dump his sorry rear.”

We next join Ladybug on a rooftop of paris, now almost entirely covered in ice. She’s wearing the skating rink skates over her costume, and soon to join her is Chat Noir. His interpretation is a little different, since his shoes are a little bigger. He’s instead cut up and stripped the skates so he’s wearing them like slippers over his shoes. 

Unfortunately for all parties involved, Chat acts like he does in canon, Crabby for little reason and treating Ladybug like he’s been personally insulted by her, stating that they should be able to do what they want. After all, it’s not like they’re a COUPLE OR ANYTHING.

(( Salty Vega is salty - Aims ))

So we carry on with the fight that would’ve been over in little to no time flat had Chat been a whiny butt about being rejected for the nth time ((Yes I’m also salty, shut up - Aims)) and Ladybug nearly gets smashed by Frozer and saved by Chat. Unlike in canon, it’s not treated like a “I was wrong to be mean to you Chat, oh will you ever forgive me?” moment, but just a “glad to see you’ve got your priorities straight,” and Chat humms, saying for the moment the city is pretty important, possibly with a “where else would we go on dates at,” and Ladybug simply rolls her eyes with a small scowl because she has more pressing matters to deal with than actually open that conversation again. 

They make quick work of the Akuma, as they do in canon, it’s not a very tough akuma, emphasizes the drama. But today there’s a bit of hesitation in Ladybug. Chat lifts his fist for a ‘Bien Joiue!’ but for a moment it honestly didn’t feel like a ‘bien joiue’ moment. All the same Ladybug does indeed bump that fist.

We cut then to the episode’s end. Adrien taking a selfie with Philippe and using his insta fame to maybe get some interested students to his rink. He can’t promise anything, but maybe. Philippe thanks him for trying. Kagami then says that he didn’t have to help the man, he doesn’t owe him anything. 

Adrien responds that, well, it was the right thing to do. He asks Kagami if they wanted to ‘hang out’ another time. Despite the Akuma, he had had fun. Kagami accepts the offer, but she doesn’t look too happy. He asks if she’s alright. And Kagami says again, firmer this time, that she respects herself too much to be his rebound. If he wants to be friends with her then that’s fine, but if that’s the end goal, at least have the decency to not try to make things a double date. She doesn’t appreciate being strung along. Adrien immediately backs off, saying that’s not what he was intending at all, and he’s really sorry it came off that way.

Only THEN does Kagami smile. 

Marinette and Luka are about to head off as well. But before the two of them do so, Kagami grabs her arm. “Marinette?”

“Kagami?”

“...I am happy for you and Luka. I truly am. But please. DON’T take us on double dates any more.”

Marinette stumbles back dramatically, waving her hands frantically as she rambles about how it wasn’t intended to be a double date it was a “get to know each other outside of fencing” for Adrien and Kagami, and a date for herself and Luka and she was just trying to make sure they didn’t feel awkward by hanging out in a group setting, and and and…. 

We end on laughter from the other three, a gentle arm around the shoulder by Luka for Marinette, who eventually clamps her mouth shut and grins along to the laughs. 

[miguel-manbemel]

Aspects & Fanfics Ep. 29: A Side is Born Part 4: The Labyrinth

New part of this weekly-serialized story from this fanfic inspired on Sanders Sides, by Thomas Sanders, Joan S. and the Foster Dawg Team. The Sides get moving to rescue Roman and Virgil’s son from the Dark Master. The story is slowly approaching the end, but we have still something to go through before we get there. I just realized the story has become really romantic in the last few episodes, but there’s no epic story with some romance here and there, I guess. I hope you enjoy this part and see you next week in the finale of this serialized story. Until next week.

SYNOPSIS: The gang gets moving to rescue Chris from the Dark Master. They need to get to the Mind Palace Center before it’s too late, or they’ll lose him for good. But before they can get there, they’re gonna need special help, from the original Light Master that lies within Thomas, who will lead them to their final task, the labyrinth that surrounds the Mind Palace Center, full of dangers they’ll have to defeat, in less than one hour.

WARNINGS: Romantic prinxiety, romantic logicality, romantic anxceit. Some implied innuendo. Off-screen violence not directly featured, but implied.

EPISODE INDEX

[The gang is in the royal carriage. For some reason, it goes fast, but not as fast as other times]

THOMAS: This is the Dark Master’s doing, I’m sure. He’s been messing with the car.

VIRGIL: If he thinks this is gonna stop us…

REMUS: Well, you can use the extra time to bring me up to date, Roman. What happened after I left Thomas’ living room?

ROMAN: Oh, yes, of course. You see, after you left, Chris started growing at great speed. As I wanted Roland and Ira to see him before he was an adult, we went to the castle, where he completed his growth.

REMUS: So now Chris is an adult? But the last time I saw him he was still a baby! Wow, I know they say they grow fast, but this is ridiculous, even for me!

ROMAN: Just when he became an adult, the Dark Master appeared, locked him in a black bubble and took him away. Before he did that, he did something to Patton.

REMUS: To Patton?

ROMAN: It seems he was holding captive some of Patton’s memories of the past, specifically… that the Dark Master is Virgil’s other father.

REMUS: What? And Patton looked so naive and innocent! I thought I was the one with a taste for wild relationships, but this kitty-boy has defeated me in my own ground with this!

ROMAN: It all started long ago when Thomas was still in the womb. That’s when the Mind Palace started forming, and the first three entities that appeared there were the Light Master, the Dark Master and the Master Side, Patton. Patton took care of classifying everything that came from the outside as good or bad and sent it to the Masters so that they could process it, thus making the Realms and the Mind Palace bigger. When Patton started feeling lonely, the Dark Master, who was already longing for power, took advantage of that, seduced him and made him fall for him, and as a result Patton got pregnant with the Dark Master’s son, Virgil.

REMUS: This telenovela is more interesting than a greatest moments special episode of “Jackass”! Keep going.

ROMAN: After Virgil was born, the Dark Master tried to convince Patton to join him in his plans of overthrowing the Light Master and conquering the whole Mind Palace for himself, but he refused. As such, he stole Patton’s son, turned him into a Dark Side and sent him to the Dark Realm to use him in his plans when he was old and strong enough. Then, he started wiping Patton’s memories, but the Light Master arrived on time and banished the Dark Master to the Dark Realm, never allowing him to come back again.

REMUS: So that’s why the Dark Master was stuck in the Dark Realm at first.

ROMAN: He had already stolen a portion of Patton’s memories, so he woke up with the personality we’ve known of him for so long, with no recollection of Virgil’s existence other than his obsession with being a dad for anyone he ever met and befriended. The Light Master, knowing that a battle against the Dark Master and Virgil together could be fatal for Thomas, fused with the Mind Palace itself to be a match for them. As such, he ceased to exist as an independent entity and became a part of Thomas. And that’s all he told us. You arrived just as he finished this story.

REMUS: Okay, gotcha. Well, the Dark Master will regret taking my nephew, I can tell you that. Now, what is the plan?

ROMAN: Plan? Um…

REMUS: [serious] Because you’ve devised a plan against the Dark Master, right? Not even I would dare to attack him thoughtlessly, he’s too dangerous.

ROMAN: Yes… a plan… well…

REMUS: You are jumping right into the lion’s dent and you don’t have a plan of action!? [sighs] Why am I not surprised?

[intro sequence]

THOMAS: Well, Remus usually has crazy, unhelpful ideas…

REMUS: Thanks, I love you too, Thomas.

THOMAS: …but this one is actually sound. Once we get to the Dark Master what can we do to force him to release Chris?

REMUS: I say off with his head!

LOGAN: Impossible. If the Dark Master dies, Thomas will die too, and with him, all of us. Besides, he’s so low he’d try to use Chris as a shield or hostage.

ROMAN: And besides, we already tried and failed twice. He always comes back, like mosquitoes in the summer, and each bite of his is itchier than the previous one.

THOMAS: What I don’t understand is… I thought the Dark Master was trapped in Sandersia after our repeated attacks. How is he going to get out of here, back to the Mind Palace?

PATTON: He’s gonna use Chris, of course. It’s his grandson and therefore they share some dark energy. He can very well take some energy off of Chris to regenerate himself. If he does that, he’ll be free to go wherever he wants, no longer affected by the restrictions imposed by the original Light Master.

VIRGIL: Oh, great, so now he’s gonna be as dangerous as he was in the Dark Realm, but now there’s nowhere we can escape from him. Sweet, just what we needed.

PATTON: It wouldn’t be a permanent solution for him, though. Eventually, the restrictions imposed on him would return into effect and he would be trapped again in the Dark Realm. But I’m sure he has a plan to avoid that. He wouldn’t have taken your son just to escape Sandersia and then be trapped again somewhere else.

VIRGIL: What could it be? I bet Chris will be involved in that plan, but how?

LOGAN: Applying logic, if the Dark Master can absorb the memories from a victim, like he almost did to Patton, he would try to do the same with Chris. Wiping his memories out of him, he could manipulate him like a puppet to follow his plans. I guess that’s what he planned to do with you, Virgil, but you ran away before you got to be useful for him. It’s just a guess, though, and I could be wrong. Who knows what happens in the Dark Master’s mind, after all.

VIRGIL: Yeah… I don’t understand why he didn’t take me instead. I’m much stronger than Chris and would have been of more use for him. He’s only a one-day-old child, despite having the shape of a 30-something adult.

LOGAN: That’s exactly the reason why he didn’t get you, Virgil. Now, you are too strong for him to be easily manipulated, and I guess he doesn’t trust you to give yourself up on your own free will. Chris, on the other hand, is, figuratively, like a white canvas, too young and inexperienced to resist him.

VIRGIL: [angry and distressed] Logan, would you like to stop being right for a change?

LOGAN: [confused] What? I…

VIRGIL: [groans in frustration, then with a voice of remorse] It’s okay, I’m sorry, Logan. It’s just that it’s too distressing to hear that so directly. But avoiding the truth is not only dangerous, but also stupid and useless. I apologize.

LOGAN: That’s okay. I’m sorry if I hurt you in any way.

ROMAN: Guys, we’re reaching the door to my room.

VIRGIL: It was time!

[the carriage stops and the gang rushes to the door to Roman’s room. Roman puts a face of huge shock upon seeing his room]

ROMAN: What… in the world… has happened to my room!?

[there’s a huge mess in the room. All the furniture is scattered everywhere, the paintings on the wall are broken and there are burnt holes on the walls as if a huge battle had happened there]

PATTON: What could have possibly happened here?

VIRGIL: [pointing at something on the floor, with a face of horror] Guys, look!

[Virgil kneels down to grab something, then shows it to the others. Its a sword, broken in half, a piece of a shield and a shred of magenta fabric]

VIRGIL: This is Chris’ sword, and this seems to be a fragment of his shield and a piece of his cape! [yelling, distressed] What has that son of a b… [bleep] done to my son!

PATTON: Relax, kiddo. He needs him, he would never destroy him.

VIRGIL: Then how do you explain this, dad?

PATTON: Perhaps the bubble that held him got weaker or the Dark Master had to lift it for some reason. Maybe he had to remove the bubble to recharge himself out of Chris’ energy, and Chris took this chance to attack the Dark Master. He was still carrying his sword and shield when he was imprisoned, remember? [noticing something on the floor as well, he shows a smirk] He was probably not strong enough, but I guess he let him have it. Look at this.

[Patton kneels down and picks something up. It’s a huge singed thread of fabric from the black cloak the Dark Master was wearing, from the upper part, it seems, as it has a piece of the hood and the shoulder]

PATTON: Roman, Virgil, you both should be proud of your son. He’s a valiant prince, and he’s not gonna let himself get carried away like a lamb. If he sees a chance to fight, he’s gonna take it.

VIRGIL: But now Chris is wounded, who knows how serious!

PATTON: So is the Dark Master, and that could give us a chance. Virgil, I know, as Vigilance you always expect the worse, but try to see things my way. If you grab to the positive things we find, you could grab more strength to fight. And this is something really positive, you don’t know how much.

VIRGIL: I try, but it’s not easy.

ROMAN: What do you mean it could give us a chance, Patton?

PATTON: Well, there’s one thing I was too ashamed to confess earlier, not only because some details are better kept private, but also because I didn’t want to hurt Logan’s feelings disclosing intimate details from a past relationship. But there’s one tiny detail that is important that I disclose to you. When the Dark Master and I were… together, I had a chance to examine his body, and I noticed a dark spot on his skin, right here…

[Patton points at his own chest, between the neck and the left shoulder, but a little lower]

LOGAN: That’s where the pectoralis minor muscle lies, approximately.

PATTON: I don’t know, but there it was, an irregular purple spot, the size of an apricot. When I touched that spot, he groaned in pain and asked me not touch that spot ever again. It’s certainly a weak point for him, something we can use against him. If a gentle, sweet caress in that spot like mine caused him that pain, imagine what would happen if we punched, hit or even stabbed him there.

ROMAN: It’s a good thing that he returned your memories back to you. I bet he didn’t remember you had that piece of information in them.

PATTON: And see this piece of fabric. See that silver garment. It’s from that part of the cloak that covered exactly that part of the chest. Something has guided Chris’ hand to hit him right in his weakest spot. I don’t know if it was a coincidence or someone we don’t know helped him but that’s our chance for victory. I’m sure the Dark Master will not be 100% powerful if he has to endure the pain he’s surely going through.

ROMAN: Okay, so we hit him with something there, but do you think he won’t be protecting that spot with his life? Especially if he’s already been wounded?

PATTON: Perhaps. We’ll know when we get here.

LOGAN: Patton, can I speak to you for a second in private? There’s something I need to tell you that doesn’t stop distracting me, and I want to let it go before it can be a cause for trouble.

PATTON: Sure.

[Patton and Logan move a few steps away. They try to speak in a low voice, but Thomas and the others can’t help hearing them still]

LOGAN: Were you serious about… about not wanting to hurt my feelings?

PATTON: Of course I was, I would never want to hurt you. You mean too much for me. Why do you ask?

LOGAN: It’s just that… I thought…

PATTON: What?

LOGAN: I thought after you recovered your memories, you had stopped loving me.

PATTON: [horrified] Why on Earth would you think that!?

LOGAN: Well, you said it yourself, that I had fallen in love with a lie. I thought you were implying that your love was a lie and you didn’t love me anymore.

PATTON: No, Logan. I said that I thought that I wasn’t worthy of any love. I never said I didn’t love you. Listen, I’m still the same, only that with some extra information on my mind that makes me slightly more mature than before. But my feelings for you haven’t changed a bit. That has always been and forever will be real. And it’s very real that I have loved you from the very first moment I put my eyes on you, and I also knew you always loved me to some extent, but you were so in denial of having feelings at all that you didn’t even notice. I’m the one that was afraid that you wouldn’t love me anymore when you knew the truth, and that’s what I meant when I said that.

LOGAN: [letting go a nervous faint smile of relief and joy] So you still love me… for real?

[Patton kisses Logan]

PATTON: Does that answer your question, you fool?

[Logan hugs Patton with a wide smile of joy and happiness, the first time he ever smiled like that. The others look from a distance. They’ve heard everything, of course, but they don’t want to spoil the moment for them]

VIRGIL: [sighs] I can’t wait to hug my son like that when we rescue him.

ROMAN: That moment will come sooner than we think, you’ll see.

THOMAS: [to Logan and Patton] Okay, guys. I’m happy that you have resolved your misunderstandings, but time is short.

PATTON: You’re right. Let’s get moving.

THOMAS: But Patton, where exactly do we need to go and how do we get there?

PATTON: It’s not gonna be an easy path, Thomas. I haven’t been there since the Light Master sent me to my room 30 years ago. To be honest, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get us there. From the moment Virgil was born, I lost part of my energy to bring him to life, and as a result I turned into a normal Side.

VIRGIL: I’m so sorry, dad.

PATTON: It’s okay, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I gave up to that life, but look all that you’ve given me in return, kiddo. My life is blessed by your presence everyday… But as I was saying, I don’t know if I have the capacity to enter the Mind Palace Center anymore… [face of realization] Wait a minute.

THOMAS: What?

PATTON: I may not be able to get us there, but you are, Thomas!

THOMAS: Me?

PATTON: Of course! The Light Master is within you, so you can get us there!

THOMAS: But how?

PATTON: First enter in Light Master mode, and I’ll do the rest.

THOMAS: Wow… You know what? I like seeing you leading the team for a change. Okay, here we go. Now that I’m not hindered by exhaustion, it’s gonna be a lot easier than yesterday.

[Thomas closes his eyes. It only takes him a few seconds till he opens them again and they’ve turned light-blue]

PATTON: Good, now take my hand.

[Thomas holds Patton’s hand]

THOMAS: I’m feeling a strange tingling sensation all over my body…

PATTON: Don’t speak, please. Concentrate. And if you feel something weird inside, just get carried away. It won’t harm you, I promise. Trust me.

THOMAS: [a little unsettled] Okay…

[Patton closes his eyes while holding Thomas’ hand. Thomas has a little spasm as if he had felt a shiver. After some time, his expression changes and his eyes start glowing in blue]

HONESTY: What… what is happening here?

DECEIT: This is new.

THOMAS: [with a warm gesture and a strange voice that sounds strong but gentle at the same time] Patton… I’m so happy to speak to you again.

PATTON: And I’m glad to speak to you again, Light Master. It’s been so long.

LIGHT MASTER: Too long, indeed. I’m sorry I had to leave you all alone in the Mind Palace, but I didn’t have a choice.

PATTON: I know, Light Master. Now that I’ve got my memories back, I fully understand.

LIGHT MASTER: [noticing the other Sides] And look at how much company you’ve gathered over the years. So many Sides with so many different purposes. Nice to meet you all.

LOGAN: Nice… to meet you, Light Master? I’m confused…

PATTON: It’s okay, Logan. You see, with my memories fully restored, I remembered that I can allow the Light Master to take control of Thomas’ body for short amounts of time. [to the Light Master] I’m sorry I can’t make it permanent, but this is Thomas’ body after all.

LIGHT MASTER: It’s okay. As a part of Thomas, I have always been sentient of everything he’s seen, heard or felt in his lifetime and I’ll always be. I may not be in control but it doesn’t matter. What really matters is that Thomas is doing fine and that, with his rights and wrongs, he’s a good human being.

PATTON: So, if you’ve seen everything, you know what’s just happened, right?

LIGHT MASTER: Yes, I’m aware. Your mission is really dangerous, but it’s mandatory for you to succeed or the equilibrium would be broken and Thomas as you know him would cease to exist. There’s something you must know, though, and it will not be pleasant to hear. Virgil?

VIRGIL: Yes?

LIGHT MASTER: There was one reason for the Dark Master to take your son. It wasn’t only to regenerate himself. He wants to take control of your son’s whole body, to form an entity strong enough to defeat me, just as he had originally planned to do with you. And he has already started the process. If you don’t stop it before it’s too late, your son will be lost forever.

VIRGIL: Oh, no!

PATTON: How can we do this? I know we must go the Mind Palace Center, and that you can get us there, but afterwards, it’s gonna be a hell, I can feel it.

LIGHT MASTER: Don’t despair. As I told you, I’ll always be with you as part of Thomas. I trust that he’ll be able to handle the situation with my help, and so should you. There are many tasks in this journey. Some of you, like Virgil when he overcame his grief, have already faced them. Others have their tasks ahead of them. Don’t lose your hope and you’ll be triumphant. And Virgil…

VIRGIL: Yes?

LIGHT MASTER: It was an honor for me to be present at your birth, as a godfather of sorts. You are the only good thing that came out of that mess 30 years ago and I want you to make it count, starting today. You’re gonna rescue your son and you’re gonna make a happy family of Sides. Just stay strong and you’ll do it.

VIRGIL: I’ll try. No, I will.

LIGHT MASTER: That’s the spirit. Well, I think it’s time for me to take you there. One final warning, the Dark Master has placed a labyrinth around the Mind Palace Center, to try and slow you down, and it will try by sending some of you, the ones with pending accounts of some kind, to bubble dream scenarios to face them, scenarios from which you won’t be able to get out until you face and move on from these pending accounts. I know that it’s a mission that will delay you a lot, but I can’t send you beyond that labyrinth. You’ll have to cross it by foot and conquer your demons.

ROMAN: We will conquer anything if need be. How much time do we have before the point of no return for Chris.

LIGHT MASTER: You have one hour before it’s too late… What are you doing?

ROMAN: [tapping on his phone] I’m setting a countdown on my phone to know how much time we have left. I’m tired of sand clocks and other obsolete stuff, you know?

LIGHT MASTER: Okay… Now, this is important: when you’re in the labyrinth and get on a crossroad, don’t spread out, no matter how tempting that option gets to be. If someone gets lost and away from the others, he’ll never get out of the labyrinth. And you need to reach the Mind Palace Center all together to be a match for the Dark Master. Thomas. I know you can’t speak right now but you can hear me. I trust that you’ll have the courage and the will to guide them through this ordeal. You can do it, if you work with them as a team. Because all of you are the foundation itself of this Mind Palace and nothing here is stronger than all of your strengths combined. If you work together, nothing, not even the Dark Master, can stop you. Good luck. Now, everybody, come closer to me and hold my hand, like Patton is doing. I’ll lead the way. Goodbye. Until we meet again.

PATTON: Goodbye, my dearest friend…

[all the Sides grab Thomas’ hand. He looks up and they all start rising up, disappearing from the higher edge of the screen instead of sinking down as usual. Then they rise up in front of a gate on a huge wall. Thomas’ eyes stop glowing and turn back to brown]

THOMAS: Wow…

DECEIT: Thomas, are you okay?

THOMAS: I’m better than ever. It was such a pleasant sensation, even when I couldn’t control my body.

VIRGIL: I think I know what you mean. The Light Master’s presence was so invigorating, so inspiring. It filled me with hope when I thought I had lost it for good.

PATTON: Yes, that’s the effect he has on people. Maybe that’s why you’re so inspiring for so many people, Thomas. He’s part of you after all. But only a part, most of your charm is provided by yourself.

THOMAS: You play a good part if not all the part of that charm too, you all are me, remember? But let’s get cracking. We’ve got a labyrinth to cross and only one hour left.

[the gang crosses the gate and enters the labyrinth. Then they start walking and walking. Every corridor looks exactly the same as the previous one. It’s five minutes later when they start getting confused]

DECEIT: Guys, don’t you have the feeling we’re walking in circles?

VIRGIL: I’m starting to have that feeling too.

PATTON: But how could we be sure of that?

ROMAN: I’ve got the solution.

[Roman invokes a briefcase]

DECEIT: What is that?

ROMAN: It’s my theatrical makeup briefcase. I never get out of my room without it.

DECEIT: And what are you planning to do, making an extreme makeover to the bricks around us?

ROMAN: Very funny… but actually you’re not too far off.

DECEIT: What?

ROMAN: [opens the briefcase] I’ve got all this selection of lipsticks with all the colors you could ever imagine, and some that don’t even exist in the real world.

THOMAS: Yeah, wow…

ROMAN: Each of you, grab one and draw some kind of mark on each wall we’re going through. If after some walking we see the mark again, we can confirm we’re going in circles.

VIRGIL: Brilliant.

ROMAN: I know.

[everyone grabs one lipstick. Roman then summons away the briefcase and they keep on walking. Every few steps, some of them draws a symbol on a brick around them. After a couple of minutes, they start finding the same drawings]

THOMAS: So, it was true! We’ve lost ten minutes by walking on circles!

PATTON: But how could that be? If we’re walking on circles, we should have seen the front gate at some point and we didn’t!

VIRGIL: Deceit? Are you okay?

[everyone looks at Deceit, he’s looking right at a wall, apparently not hearing Virgil]

THOMAS: Dee, whats wrong with you?

[Deceit doesn’t answer. Remus waves his hand over Deceit’s face and he doesn’t react. Then he slaps him in the face. Not even that works. He’s about to hit him with his mace when Thomas starts yelling]

THOMAS: Whoa, whoa, whoa! We want to wake him up, not to send him into a coma!

REMUS: [putting the mace away, with a face of disappointment] Okay, if you say so…

THOMAS: Logan, you’re our Side doctor, can you check him out?

LOGAN: Okay. Let me see…

[as usual, Logan puts his hand on Deceit’s chest and starts shaking for a while, then takes his hand off]

LOGAN: He’s living in a dream-scenario. Just as the Light Master said, something here has disconnected him from reality, if we can call the Mind Palace reality. It’s as if he was somewhere else in spirit.

ROMAN: Like an out of body experience?

LOGAN: Kind of. Roman, can you summon one of your orbs but connect it to another Side instead of yourself?

ROMAN: Sure, that’s easy.

[Roman grabs Deceit’s hand]

ROMAN: Wow, his hand is cold as ice.

[Roman rises the other hand and a yellow orb appears]

ROMAN: There we go. Now we can see what is going on with Deceit through this orb.

[the orb turns on and they see Deceit in the same place where they are. He’s looking at a door that isn’t there in reality]

DECEIT: Guys, where are you? I think I found a door. Where have you gone, don’t leave me behind! The Light Master said we couldn’t spread out!

[the door opens. Virgil crosses it]

DECEIT: Oh, there you are Virgil. I was beginning to worry.

ORB-VIRGIL: Don’t be afraid. I’m here for you, and I always will be.

DECEIT: Are you… okay? You sound strange.

VIRGIL: [yelling at the orb on the verge of hysteria] Of course he sounds strange! That’s not me, Deceit!

ROMAN: Look out, it’s a crystal ball, you’re gonna crack it!

REMUS: The other time he did the same with my crystal ball. Why does Virgil always get overexcited when he looks at our balls? Wow, that didn’t come out as intended… [smirks] and I love it.

ORB-VIRGIL: What do you mean, my dear Dee? I’m totally fine. Don’t you agree? You always thought I was… fine.

DECEIT: Well… it’s not the time for that now, we have a rescue to do, remember?

ORB-VIRGIL: I know, but since we’re running on circles, I figured we should try to… relax. That’s what you’ve always wanted, right?

DECEIT: You… you’re confusing me.

[the Virgil from the orb approaches Deceit and tries to kiss him. Deceit steps back]

DECEIT: Whoa, what the f…! What are you doing!?

ORB-VIRGIL: Just what you’ve always wanted. Because you still want it, right? I know you want it.

DECEIT: No, I don’t!

ORB-VIRGIL: [provocative smirk] Once a liar… always a liar. You can’t fool me, my little snake. I can see in your eyes that you want this as much as I do.

[the Virgil from the orb approaches Deceit again. This time he manages to kiss him. For a brief second, Deceit gets carried away and kisses him back, but then he opens his eyes and pushes the fake Virgil away]

DECEIT: Step back! This has to be an illusion! It has to be! You’re not the real Virgil! I know him! He would never betray Roman like this, and certainly he wouldn’t waste time making out with me when his son is endangered!

[Virgil changes his gesture to a mocking evil giggle]

ORB-VIRGIL: You’re very observant, little snake. However there’s one thing I said that was true. You really wanted to do this, didn’t you? [mocking voice] Did you like it?

DECEIT: [makes a pause, then with a face of regret] Maybe so. A part of me would have wished for this to be real. Virgil still is and forever will be the only one I’ll ever love. [Remus shows a face of hurt when he hears this] But before anything else, I’m his friend. That’s the only way he sees me and if he sees me like that I’m gonna do my best to be the best friend he could ever ask for. And even if it took me time to think so, Roman is my friend too, I would never do that to him. Also, with Chris’ arrival, now he has a family that I’m not willing to disturb. I could never look at the others in the face if I was the cause of breaking this family apart! So go away, whoever you are! You can’t fool me anymore!

[the Virgil from the orb disappears with a high-pitch demonic giggle. Then the orb turns off and Deceit turns back to life. The door that until then was only visible in the orb appears before them for real]

DECEIT: Oof… my head… Why is my face so itchy?

REMUS: My bad…

VIRGIL: Are you okay, Dee?

DECEIT: I think so… [Virgil hugs Deceit] What is this for?

VIRGIL: Thank you so much, dear friend. Now I know I can always count on you.

ROMAN: Thank you. You are a good friend.

DECEIT: Wait, did you see…?

VIRGIL: Yes.

PATTON: And we’re so proud of you.

DECEIT: [blushing] Stop it, please, you know I always know how to respond to compliments. Drat, here I am, telling the truth again out of nervousness… shoot!

THOMAS: Well, thanks to Deceit completing his task, a new door has opened for us.

LOGAN: It seems some of us will have to go through these tasks to advance through the labyrinth. Roman, how many orbs can you create at the same time?

DECEIT: So that’s how you saw it all…

ROMAN: I can create one for each of us.

LOGAN: Then do it. We don’t know who’s already faced his task and who hasn’t. We’re gonna need these orbs and you may not be available at some point to make them.

ROMAN: Okay…

[Roman creates one orb for each of the others except Thomas]

THOMAS: Why not me?

ROMAN: You’re a human being, Thomas, I can’t create an orb for you. The whole Mind Palace is your orb, in fact, and it’s too much to condense in one tiny crystal ball.

THOMAS: Okay…

ROMAN: Well, now that we’re all ready… the rest of the labyrinth awaits us. Let’s go.

[Roman opens the door. They all cross it. When the last one crosses it, it closes and disappears. A sign reading “To be concluded, guys, gals and non binary pals” appears]

[end card]

[The Dark Master and Chris are in the Mind Palace Center. Chris is tied to some pedestal and the Dark Master is watching from a screen what the gang has just accomplished in the labyrinth]

DARK MASTER: Well, these fools surely have some guts, I must admit it. But it won’t do them any good, anyway. This has already started and by the time they get here, if they ever get here, it will be too late for them to save you.

CHRIS: That’s what you think. [mocking voice] How is that wound under your shoulder? Did you like it? Release me now and I’ll make you another one on the other shoulder to match!

DARK MASTER: When I’m done with you, you won’t be so insolent. You are lucky that this wound is buying you some time. The process would have been much faster if I wasn’t wounded. But it will be worse for you anyway. You’ll have one full hour, 45 minutes now, to suffer, while your senses slowly get more and more numb, until you’re ready to be my vessel. Then they won’t have anything to save and I’ll be too powerful to be stopped.

CHRIS: Dream on. My parents and their friends will ruin your plans. I know I can trust them my life and they will oblige.

DARK MASTER: We’ll see. It’s only 45 minutes left, boy. Start counting…

[the Dark Master giggles evilly. Chris looks at the screen]

CHRIS: Dad, father, guys… I know you’ll get here on time… but please, hurry up. I don’t know how much I can resist…

[helpinghanikan]

Pet or guilt trip, your choice

Avengers (and Matt Murdock) x reader

Sum: no home is complete without a pet, or second best

Steve Rogers:

           After the first attack on New York gifts and presents started pilling in the lobby. For every member of the team at that point, even the ones who the public didn’t know the name of. Flowers, candy, clothes, jewelry, and sometimes straight up cash. Most were donated (save for the drawings, and that one necklace Nat was not going to let go of), and among those gifts were Lady.

           She was a little golden retriever puppy, pink bow around her neck. Security guard (a wall of a man) was cooing over her when you had walked in.

           Accepting her on Steve’s behalf she fit snuggly in the crook of one arm. The other holding the files. Help from fellow employees pressed elevator buttons and open doors kept Lady from touching the floor.

           You sat Lady down after seeing him in your office. Opening the door and nudging her inside with the toe of your pump. She goes right for the next available source of attention in the room, Steve kneeling to her level. She whines and goes for his face, tiny paws trying to get traction on his shirt collar and get to more of his face.

           “Careful of Cujo there,” You say, papers on the desk.

           “I don’t- okay, later.” Another movie added to the list. “Who is this?”

           “Our child,” You said, an arsenal of guilt ready to be used.

         Tony Stark:

         You’d need more hands to count how many times you’ve tried to get a pet. Tony has dodged every attempt with legit reason; cats knock things over, dogs are a lot of work and messy, birds? No, just no.

           This helped create the “Stark adoption day”, your personal project. Part passion project, part proof that you are more than just some trophy on Tony’s arm. Working with any shelter that will have you (which was a good majority) and setting up the meet and greet with dogs, cats and everything else in the park. Unsurprisingly it was maybe an hour before people started asking about Tony.

           It was a little deflating that people were more concerned about Tony than the animals. This was why you had gotten to Tony before he made his entrance. Making sure he’s not wearing anything that he wouldn’t want ruined.

           Adoption rates went through the roof. Hand picking the oldest, least desirable pets and putting them on the for-front. Tony holding a single eyed orange cat was still being cycled around, another where you had stolen his sunglasses for a brief moment and placed them on the bridge of an old saint-bernard. Both of them were adopted within the hour on that day.   

         Thor:

         Thor had a horse, Thor had a big fucking horse.

           “What’cha got there?” A lame question with an obvious answer.

           He had this confidence that everyone should envy. Even when he doesn’t know where or what’s going on, he is still so sure. Just like now, holding black reins of this dun horse, tail black, mane matching.

           “Gail,” A simple name that he probably didn’t pick out. “She’s from the neighbors,” Neighbors who were over two miles away. “Come, come here.”

           His hand lays over yours, guiding you to stroke her neck.

           Whether you had experience with horses or not it didn’t matter. Gail was Thor’s girl. A free ranged horse that wondered your property, coming into her little barn when the weather is less than pleasant.

           Thor gets this look on his face when brushing Gail. Every bit of stress, every forced laugh and smile is gone when he mounts her up. How could you say no to that?

         Bucky Barnes:

           He hadn’t noticed you yet, sitting on the patio steps. The rented cottage was angled so the sun caught whatever rested on the porch. Usually it were local cats, this time they were joined by your man. Scratching his head at just the right angle, gleam of metal sending magic over the stone.

           He’s a tuxedo with white on only his back-left paw. Following the little white dots along the stone and up the wall. Both paws reaching out to slap at the light swishing side to side, following it left to right and back down to the porch. He was one of those outdoor cats, born in the wild. Scratched up ears and skinny body to match.

           Bucky raises his arms up and down for the sun to catch it. Kitty not having a care in the world no matter how close he got to the large man. Eventually attacking Bucky’s leg, pressing against it and bouncing back. Turning around and attacking again, maybe trying to confuse his prey.

           “Oh God, I love it.” Wanda had texted when you sent the video.

           Kitty was your host for the duration of the small vacation. Probably hanging around because of the food you had left out, letting out a jagged meow while trotting up whenever Bucky leaves the cabin.

           By the last day Kitty sat next to the bags stacked by the door. Staring, daring like he was daring you to try and leave without him.

         Natasha Romanoff:

         His name is Clint and he’s a bastard.

           Just like the man he was named after, the large African gray parrot hung out in the highest points of the apartment when alone.  Sometimes flying down to chill on the counter or couch when Nat was home, bouncing around the apartment while she would watch amused.

           He was adopted when Natasha officially moved in. Someone for you to be with while she was away. She really loved him, cooing at him when perched on her shoulder. Speaking in any language she knew as a greeting.

           Nat was Clint’s obvious favorite. The moment she was gone he would go into his corner. Waiting for you to be in sight before throwing an actual tantrum. There was a real chance that Clint was a cat reincarnated; going into your kitchen and knocking down the hung-up mugs, opening the cabinets and marching on the plates when he locks himself in. He’ll scream into the void between the couch and wall, grab at chips or snacks as your bringing them to your mouth. In those few minutes that he’s calm he’ll stay in front of you and just stare;

           “Bring mom back, or I’ll tear this house apart.”

           The worst? He can speak, but only in Russian. You hadn’t learned what he was saying, but he was likely cursing you out.

         Bruce Banner:

         She’s a street beggar that had a love for fried chicken. With a meow too high for a cat her age, not caring about dangers and stretching deep. Her front paws against your leg, as though she just happens to be leaning against you.

           She does this every day when you pass. Accepting whatever sort of meaty substance you have at the moment. Seeming to glare when you had the audacity to offer a vegetable. At one point she followed after eating the treat, it was a spur of the moment decision to scoop from the old cat, her nails barely pressing into the cloth of your sleeves.

           It honestly took a few days before Bruce noticed Peppermint. She was an older cat, her all black coat had some shimmer of gray from age. Long haired and only showed her bratty side at the vet, or when she was being brushed.

           You really, really should have told him about her when you first got home. He wasn’t home very often, a little house outside of a city. Even the mildest mannered of the Avengers was almost never home. This was among the excuses you had used for randomly adopting a cat.

           “She was alone, like me.” You are a real asshole sometimes.

           Of course, you never blamed Bruce for having to be gone. You’ve spent years separated until the Avengers brought you back together, another few more when he disappeared into the sky. Using all that for a cat? She better be one amazing cat.     

         T’Challa:

         The man has battle rhinos, you’d think he could handle a French bulldog.

           Cosmo was a spoiled coworker’s birthday present. She lost interest in him after he passed his puppy phase. Her comments about taking him to the shelter had perked your ears, swooping in to save the little boy right behind her.

           He’s a real brat, you love him, but he’s the worst.

           You’ve just never realized how bad he was until T’challa insisted you visit for a longer period then expected. This was the journey of many firsts for Cosmo; first time on a plane, first time leaving country and the first time in Wakanda. First time meeting Okoye, who just watched this little black ball raise on his paws and stare at her on the plane seat. He growled deep in his throat, whining up at her and she just stared back. Eventually he just started barking, sitting on his butt and barking to the sky. Demanding she pick him up.

           She just smiles down at him, head on her hand. Seeing how long this boy was going to whine until he gave up. Cosmo was going the entire flight, Okoye would make a great mother.

           Shuri’s face lighting up was worth bringing the little booger along. It wasn’t that there were no small dogs in Wakanda, or that she didn’t know what a French bull dog was, it was just a breed that wasn’t necessary to adopt from the outside world. With both hands she holds him up to her face, more than willing to watch him while you met up with T’challa.

           His face looking at Cosmo was one of “What did you bring into my home?”

           And he kept that face every time Cosmo stared up at him with that old man wheezing. Or when Cosmo would take a sock from those placed out, running from the room with it like he had just robbed a bank. His worst offense is to have the audacity to squeeze his firry butt between you and T’chall at night. Too deep in sleep to hear the names your man was calling your second favorite boy.

Pietro Maximoff

Nothing can cement a person to one place like a sleeping pet.

           They’ve been stuck to the same spot for the past hour. The black and white husky resting her head on his lap, one paw over the knee as a way to say “please, don’t move.”

           Pietro’s face was annoyed, but his dominate hand kept a good rhythm of petting Savannah’s head. The other flicked through channels, occasionally looking your way. Maybe to see what you were doing (still on the laptop), maybe to look for help. Not that you’d ever mess with your copper and white colored princess.

           She would nip at your legs, howl and scream when the food would take too long. Keeping Pietro wrapped around her paw whenever he left the house. Growling low in her throat when he’d tell her no. She would do this until he grabbed her leash, muttering in his mother language as she wiggled with excitement.

   Peter Parker:

           Peter held the little guy way too close to his face. Looking at the white and fawn spotted bunny in his hands, inspecting him as though he might not have been an actual rabbit. In his defense Happy was cute little guy.

           It was like a divorce from a marriage that never happened. Happy was a plan that took weeks in the making. Infecting each other with the Bun disease after watching one too many “how to care for your rabbit” videos in the wee hours of the morning. He spent most his life at your place, taking him Peter’s a few times a week during “Dates”.

           It wasn’t that Aunt May had explicably said no, she just gestured around the apartment. “We barely fit in here.” The woman was immune to the bunny charms, still more than willing to hold him, though. Making kissy noises and cooing.

           This was Happy’s life now. Seeing his Daddy every “date” night. The two of your sitting across from each other on the floor, legs stretching out for your feet to be flat against each other. Creating a tiny carrel for Happy to choose which parent he will be cuddled by.

         Stephen Strange:

         It wasn’t so much Stephen had said no that Wong did. He had the look of a man who had seen the effects of cats on old books and birds in wide open areas. Dogs don’t seem to be on the list of preferred pets for those working in mystic arts. They’re too good for them, anyway.

           “It’s good karma,” You had said, door chiming when opened.

           “Karma’s not real, Sweetie,” The nickname of condescension.

           “You’re fucking attitude is. Hi, Marisa.”

           There is probably a reason dogs aren’t chosen for mystic arts. They’re too much of a distraction, spending hours with these girls and boys. Filling bowls, washing cages and scrubbing puppies cleaned the soul.

           Stephen had stood off to the side at first. One of those poor kids whose parents had never let him have a real pet (maybe a fish, but you can’t pet a fish). Slowly getting more accommodated with the dogs getting too excited around him. Then he met Beorn, the adult male Newfoundland who was getting on in age.

           Because of his age he wasn’t the first option for adoption, a mass of black hair laying in his cage. Beorn nudged against his hand, a deep noise at the back of his throat that said, “I’m old and deserve pets. Get to it, youngster.”

           Stephen’s hands disappeared into the black mass. Reaching for miles before he found the body and Beorn groaned at the attention. Stephen fell in love with him at that moment. Going with you to the shelter and just so happen to wander towards Beorn. Taking credit for volunteering while he only stays with this old bear.

           “I want him,” He one day admitted on the way home.

           “Talk to your work-husband.”

         Matt Murdock:

         “I don’t need a service dog,” He says.

           “I’ll pay for it.” You says.

           “Sweetie, Angel, no.” The double pet name. It’s on now.

           “Come, how’d you get that busted lip?”

           Thug two was quieter than thug one

           “Walked into a door.” He says.

           “And your ribs?”

           Big crow-bar, bigger guy

           “Went hard into a table.”

           “You know what can keep you from doing that? A service animal.” Beers clink between your fingers while walking into the room.

           “I have you for that.” He says.

           “Wow,” You keep the bottle from his hands. Setting it on the coffee table instead.

           “I didn’t mean that,” He reaches for the bottle. Missing by a few inches, leaning forward and pushing it gently into his hands. “I think the cane says I’m blind enough. I don’t have time for it either.”

           “Dogs are suffering you know,” a drink of beer. You’re planning something. “And their shelter is underfunded.”

           There it is; his little, bleeding heart, angel. “What do they need?”

           “Lawyer on retainer, paperwork and stuff. “Another drink, a louder gulp. You hardly ever asked for anything, let alone a legal favor. “All your clients with them will be innocent. Ya know?”

           Matt nods, “Foggy’ll love it.”

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

Carol Danvers:

         “This is just a favor to a friend,” Mr. Fury says walking with you through the house.

           Middle of nowhere was an understatement, surrounded by fields owned by no one and woods belonging to the deer. You should probably ask if there was wifi in the place. That the phone line is connected out here is a serious long shot.

           “In exchange for that favor,” You’ve only known this man for a few hours. Long enough for car ride and brief introduction that told you nothing but his name. In that time, you have learned he seemed to like being dramatic. Grabbing the carrier on the kitchen table and setting it on the floor with a clunk for dramatics. “He’s your problem now.”

           The orange kitty inside obviously didn’t share Mr. Fury’s love for dramatics. Just sitting in the loaf position inside of his crate, barely acknowledging that he now had a way to roam around.

           “Carol has a cat?” You ask.

           The floor creaks as you squat down to see inside the crate better. Cat now acting like you meant nothing to him while he stretches out. Walking out and sniffing your outstretched fingers. A purr deep in his throat gets louder when he rubs against them, spinning to trail his tail between your fingers.

           “He’s more then that. Just make sure he’s in front of your if they break in here.” Mr. Fury says, holding out a card to you. “When that happens give me a call.”

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

Shang-Chi:

It takes a minute to realize that a turtle had made it’s home in Shang’s apartments. It’s enclosure blending a little too well with the shelves, lamps and junk that decorated Shang’s living space.

“That’s Sheldon-.” Shang begins.

“LAME!” Yells Katy from the couch.

“-Xialing gave him to me a bit ago. She said he ‘matched the décor and my attitude.’ Whatever that means.”

Seeing Sheldon making his way around the room. You had to agree. Especially as it was a pancake tortoise that moved around faster than you’d assume it to be.

Now that you knew Sheldon was there he was hard to miss. He walked through the tiles of the kitchen when let out of his enclosure and chilled on the carpet when Shang would get ready in the morning.

“I thought I was your pushup cheerleader.” You said one morning from your shared bed.

It was a blessing and a curse that Shang used pushups to wake up in the morning. A blessing because who doesn’t like to wake up to a beautiful view? And a curse because of the constant suggestion that you join him.

This morning he was doing the set as usual. With Sheldon choosing to hang out right under his owner. Completely confident in his dad’s ability to not just slam to the ground.

[ellnaturae]

Strength is Compulsory

Who: Kitty Wilde ( @wildevvitch ), Tina Cohen-Chang ( @cohentoplaywithmagic ), Blaine ( @happilyeveranders ) Anderson and Elliott Gilbert. Location: Undique Stadium. Time: 24th May 2019. Summary: Kittina vs Blelliott. Triggers/Notes: violence, stabbing, homophobia, slurs.

Blaine usually doesn't come to Undique Stadium with a furrowed brow, one manufactured from anger. Its usual place are doubt, self-pity, and disappointment from how one-sided he's been in active duels, from how pointless his presence even feels. The last fight alongside Kurt only shows how different their caliber. Blaine feels alienated from his own body, his own magic, and try as he might to say things will change for the better, and he'll progress, he has an abject reminder he's stagnating. From the result of the battles, all he has received is hundreds of notes on his fellow students and how great they are with their magic and how Blaine just... isn't. But he can't allow himself to get inside his head when he's facing off with one of the most challenging people he's ever dealt with. Kitty Wilde. Blaine paces in the training room, wondering if Elliott's on his way or if Blaine should use their pendant, and he lets go of that cool piece of metal affixed around his neck when he thinks he hears someone approaching. Elliott enters the room, his expression matches his friend's frown but he hasn't seen him yet. He usually fights Kitty only verbally, partially because he told himself fighting her solved nothing, but mostly because he has to admit to himself she is a little... scary. Holy magic, potentially knowing the kneeling spell, it would be that crazy fight he told Santana to stop him from doing, but here he was, ready to fight her with all he got, influenced by the limit of his patience and anger. However, even in times like these, when an uncomfortable knot is starting to form on his stomatch wondering if this would end up anything but well, when he sees Blaine waiting there a small smile appears on his face and he feels a little better. Last time they fought it didn't go great at all, but his trust on Blaine was unwavering, and he believed firmly on them as a team. They could do this, right? "Hey, partner" he winks at Blaine as he stand next to him. Kitty was scowling when she entered the stadium and saw the brat Anderson and his Shedim. 'What an eyesore. Doesn't matter. God will give me His favor and I will WIN.' Kitty thought and raised her cross necklace to irritate Blaine and Elliott. "You two are going to witness God's love today. Repent now or I'll show you God's hatred." She threatened them. She stuck her nose up at the offending sights. Kitty was slightly nervous about Alena but she'd come when Kitty was fighting a demon. She had to. Tina was speeding her way to the stadium not wanting to leave Blainey Days, Elliott-Senpai and Wilde all in the same room together without her to defuse the tension or Kitty being Kitty. Rushing in, she grimaces as everyone was already there. Hopefully, bitter words had not been traded but as she walks in she was too late with Wilde threatening her best friends. "Don't underestimate them, Wilde," Tina calls out,"Pretty sure that these two can show you the most love than any god could." Blaine can't hide his dislike of Kitty Wilde when she strolls in. She's literally threatening us, Blaine thinks and stands closer to Elliott for support -- his or Ell's, that's debatable -- and fires back, "You'd be surprised today." Blaine gives Elliott a look, an encouraging one, when Tina enters in and doesn't know how to add to it. His relationship with Tina feels tenuous too, and Blaine's mind softly nudges him to remember what transpired with Rachel not long ago too. Does he know what Tina's thinking about too? What's going on with Tina and Kitty to make Tina stay with a legitimately vile person? Elliott looks at Kitty showing her cross and he touches his ear where he is wearing his inverted cross earring as a response. He gives a little squeeze to Blaine's shoulder and then places himself a couple of steps before him. He then takes a look at Tina wondering why she isn't on their side of this fight "Let's just start this" he says annoyed as Ziggy appears around his arm surrounded by smoke. He has never wanted to get into a fight more than he wanted today. Kitty rolled her eyes at the garish earring. "Queers just love ruining everything." She muttered. She doesn't listen to Tina because she doesn't need to. However, Kitty was eyeing the three of them to see what would happen. 'Who knows, this could be a trap. People aren't as loyal as they say they are.' Kitty was looking straight at Tina and ignored the anger brimming inside her. 'Those stupid anonymous messages from that raccoon bitch. Who's the liar here? Trashy? Or her?' Kitty tossed her pretty ponytail behind her and threw the salt across the ground to scare Elliott. She walked past them with a mean smirk. "Whatevvs, Trashy. Get on the stage and let's get this done. I have an appointment for nails later." She ordered Tina to stand in front of her. Tina was starting to become slightly anxious for this fight as her hands felt clammy taking out her phone in preparation.  Everything on the room felt on the edge, as she takes a look at Blaine who steps closer to Elliott who seems rather annoyed and boomed. Tina thinks back to the first time she physical met Kitty along with the brutal battle with Blaine. Even though it was training she didn't want that to happen again. Looking at the two boys, Tina never wants to find herself face to face like this with them. This was her doing what she thought was best.  She takes her place in front of Kitty, not because she was taking orders, it has just always been apart of their strategy to be like this. Standing with Kitty behind her and her best friends in front of her, the unease flurries more. If Kitty does hold back at least Tina would be in front to try and defuse it all.  "Wilde," she barks back at the order, facing Bee and Ell to ask them,"Same rules that we had at the SP torment sound good?" Blaine pulled a face at the slur Kitty threw at them and also at Tina's passiveness. "Not as much as hypocritical homophobes love to blame gay people for every instance." He said evenly but it was clear he was not humoring Kitty Wilde or even Tina when she looked at him as they took their places on stage. Unlike other duels, Blaine was seething when he bowed out of politeness of dueling courtesy. Blaine couldn't believe Tina taking her place like this. What exactly was happening at Zephyrus? "Ell, let me know if you need any backup." Blaine whispered. "Who attacks first?" He asked the two women in a polite if tight tone. Elliott frowns "Fuck you, fascists like you ruin people's lives" he looks at Kitty then back at Tina when she is a few steps away from him "Sure" he looks at her confused, he really didn't want to fight Tina, but he was starting to wonder if she did want to fight them. He never had doubted Tina before, but her behavior lately... He sighs and before he gets more serious and on position he turns to Blaine "let me know as well, you can count on Ziggy too" when he faces Tina again his face turns more serious. Kitty smiled at Blaine and Elliott's comments and laughed them off. clicked her tongue at Tina's suggestion and smiled behind her at the two weaklings in front of her. "Yeah, let's show them. This time we won't have St. Pierre or Boulder holding me back." Kitty boasted and pointed at the two of them with prejudice. "With God as my witness, I'll make you two see the light." Kitty couldn't see Tina's face and wondered if the three of them were plotting something against her. 'I can't trust anyone.' Kitty thought. 'I always get betrayed. The club. My parents. That bitch Alena. I need to strike first instead of being hurt first!' Kitty decided to take the initiative.

Kitty pressed her palms together to pray. "Heavenly Father, I’m but your humble servant, lend me your power. Fill your holy vessel with your magnificence! Soul Armament!" Kitty pulled something out of thin air. It was her glaive but it still had a cracked end. When Kitty grabbed it, she didn't feel any body there behind the weapon. 'Still being such a brat!' Kitty grimaced at Alena's absence. When that fish came back, Kitty was going to give her a talking to. "Heavenly Father! I’m but your humble servant, lend me your power. Fill your holy vessel with your magnificence! Shield your Chosen One!" Instead of protecting Tina, Kitty shielded herself. Kitty: (1d7 + 1d10)*2 Shield Kitty = ((5) + (10))*2 = 30 Over her shoulder, Tina with gritted teeth,"You are not going to be like that with them. Don't you even dare." All of this was already hard enough standing on the in between, Tina swears that it was getting hotter here the more anxious she was becoming. Kitty was in no mood to hold back evident from not even to wait to hear how she wanted to battle as she attempts to summon her Soul Armament but something, something was off about it, she tries to work out what it was but she only bared witness to her Soul Arment a handful of times.  Something pauses as the Bloodline Witch protects herself first, not Tina. "What the..." Tina is thrown off muttering under her breath. This was not how they did things. What was going on in Kitty's head? Tina snaps out of it as she looks at her best friends, both sporting a more serious look. A flat line upon her face as she summons one of her queens to the right of her.🔮⚔👑 ⚔️ 🔮  taking full form, in all its data glory.

Tina: 1d7+2+1-1:  1d7 Queen HP = (1) = 1 Blaine tries as he might to understand Tina's logic, he cannot. "Why are you over there?" He asks from behind his position, trying to get Tina's attention. "Why are you fighting us? Does Kitty have something on you? I just... I don't get you, Tina!" Blaine finally lets that last bit out. It's a bitter truth and Blaine's been skirting around it but now it's out there. Blaine sees another data creature summoned next to her and Blaine bites behind his lip and sees that he needs to take down the enemies.

Blaine: 2d6kl1 Attack Queen = (2+2) = 2 Blaine fans both hands out and casts, Esteemed one of wind, please help me clear my path! Blaine doesn't have a lot of emotional control and his mind is teeming with questions. The loss of focus makes his spell waver but it's enough to slice toward Tina's digital creature.

Tina: 2d7kl1-1 Queen Counter Blaine = (4+3)-1 = 2

Elliott hears what Blaine asks Tina, maybe what he was also wanting to ask but hadn't been brave to all this time either "I'm interested to know to..." he says as Blaine attacks. He takes that moment to concentrate if Blaine goes for the Queen, he will go for Kitty. He shakes his arm a little as if telling Ziggy, this is your turn. The snake slowly moves to his hand and starts disappearing into smoke, when the smoke disperses a rusted chain appears around the place where the snake used to be. He lets one of the ends of the chains hang and he starts swinging it in the air. 

Elliott: 1d6 + 1d5  + 2= (6) + (4) + 2 = 12

Elliott he throws the chain against Kitty's shield.

Kitty whispered back to Tina with a bitchy glare. "I'm going to be whatever I want with anyone, you're not my boss. You're supposed to be my battle partner. So battle. Or I'll fight by myself. That's what you want, isn't it, for me to be alone!" Kitty wouldn't let that happen. She wouldn't lose. Everyone would hate her if she did. She shook her glaive to throw one more attack when the light inside fizzled out. "Cheese and rice, what in Big Daddy God's holy name?" Kitty swore. The glaive didn't feel powerful. It felt like there was no magic inside. "Alena? Hello? Is this you?" Kitty yelled at her weapon. She wasn't paying attention to the chain thrown at her. It clanged loud against her shield and Kitty looked up to see that heathen demon had a Soul Armament too. 'That can't be right. God would never give...' Kitty was frightened.

Tina watches as her Queen is obliterated by Blaine's wind fading away into binary ones and zeros. Remnants of his cause her hair to flicker behind as she stun by his words. Despite being behind Elliott, his words were loud and clear. "You, don't get me?" Tina repeats in disbelief. "You seriously don't get me?" She repeats out loud trying to understand what her distant best friend was asking of her. "It was meant to be just us but then, then Kitty came in and I don't want you fight just her. I don't want to have Kitty fighting alone," she looks back at her Socium Partner. "That's all this is Bee! You too Senpai. This is all that it is." Rather clearly, it wasn't there was something more than just fighting face value.  Not attacking, she sticks with her plan to just to keep on summoning, this time to her left  🔮 ⚡ 🐉️⚡️ 🔮 her magic circle glows as she digitally constructs her usual partner.

Tina: 1d7 Dragon HP = (4) = 4

Blaine 's face gets hot from the disarming tone Tina takes up with him. What is he missing here? That's what he is asking from Tina, to fill him in. "Why? You could have told her no! I said no! But she's threatening people, and are we kidding ourselves when I say no one seems to respond to that? That we all think if we ignore that she'll go away? Why are you fighting with her, then? If you're so against her beliefs?! Why don't you want to have her fighting alone? She's the only one who thinks I should go to conversion therapy, and that Elliott deserved to be a slave! That's not all this is! This is more than just a simple duel, this is our lives here! How are we supposed to feel when you're on her side, and then say 'this is all that it is' without understanding why we'd be upset?!" Blaine moves forward. "If you don't want to fight me, that's fine! But don't stop me from fighting Kitty."

Elliott chain swings in his hands for a moment he stands there listening to Blaine, he has Tina right in front of him and he looks directly at her "Is that all that it is?" he asks echoing Blaine's sentiment "I feel like you are the one not getting it..." he sighs "You always say you are on our side, that you support what we believe in, and your words are beautiful and touching... I want to believe in you, because it's you, but... what are we left to feel when we see you standing in front of her?" he pauses " your words mean nothing if they are not backed up by your actions" he says bitterly and swings the chain up in the air ready to attack again.

Elliott: 1d6 + 1d5 +2  = (2) + (2) +2 = 6

Elliott sents the chain Kitty's way again.

Kitty: 1d6 + 1d10  = (2) + (3) = 5

Kitty didn't understand why Tina wouldn't just zap the two of them like she had done with Kitty in the past. What was her partner thinking. Was this a trap for Kitty? "Come on, move your digital summons! Hit them with your tech magic! You were so strong with them!" Kitty said to Tina hotly. She wasn't even listening to Blaine and Elliott talking. 'Who cares to listen to their dumb heroic speeches.' But she caught onto a part the Shedim had said and fired back, "Why are you guys acting like I'm not even here! Freaking notice me! I'm here!" She was getting angry. "Is this the secret plan with the three of you, to pretend I'm not here? Fine. I'll make sure you guys notice me. Get the hell out of my way, Trashy." She didn't want Tina to get caught under the beam even if Tina was thinking of betraying her. Kitty smashed the end of her glaive into the ground and it sparked with a little life. The glaive cracked more. Heavenly Father! I’m but your humble servant, lend me your power. Fill your holy vessel with your magnificence, let my spirit be yours, my body nothing, let it bear all wounds, all pain, all death, for my place is with you in Heaven, shed me of this mortal sin…  Kitty's body was sparkling with light.

Here is were the strain and voices tug in Tina's heart and in her mind. All the things that she had gone on ignoring blinded by her feelings, deniable feelings towards the toxic Bloodline. This is were all the lines seem to blur between feelings and the way that they rippled out, hurting, ruining and restricting lives.  She runs her palms pushing her away from her face to try speak without a crack in her voice,"Because I didn't wanna tell her no, I didn't want her fighting you one on one, either of you. Kitty is powerful and I think we know that." Tina looks between Blaine and Elliott,"Just because I'm fighting along side her does not mean that I believe the same thing as her. Please don't think that, that is nothing I ever want you to think of me. I'm not on her side when it comes to how she thinks we should live. But then...." she struggles and stammers,"One thing, one thing that no one else see's no one else see's is the reason why we have all be partnered up in the first place. After...after what happened that night with mom and dad..." Tina looks directly at them,"Kitty makes me feel safe. She strong, she can fight, she can heal she can protect. It's a feeling I'm trying to ignore and say that I don't need, I can't help it if that is the way that she makes me feel. Call me selfish for it but it's true." So lost in her own battling thoughts and emotions she vaguely hears Kitty until her voice is fuelled with anger and a bright light leaves from Kitty. That fear that trembles comes over her knowing the spell all too well. "Kitty, no!!!" Tina screams taking a step closer to Kitty's left.

Blaine replied, "Why didn't you want to? What's wrong with telling Kitty 'no'?! Who cares if she's powerful if she's evil. I don't care if she's strong, I'll fight her regardless because she's wrong!" Blaine saw Tina's face screw up and wished he could feel sad, but he couldn't. He couldn't when the sadness and pity and sympathy he was feeling for Tina dissipated when she moved away from Kitty, revealing what was behind her. Tina revealed she didn't feel secure with Blaine or Elliott. Only Kitty. Even if Kitty was the one threatening their lives. Blaine's blood ran cold at seeing the prone girl on the floor, glowing. He remembered the spell Kitty was doing. He remembered a year from ago. Kitty was facing Elliott. She was going to hurt Elliott and not even that -- Kitty's holy magic could kill Elliott. "No!" Blaine moved in front of Elliott, right in the line of Kitty's aim.

Elliott can't even react, everything is happening so fast. Tina runs aside, Blaine gets on the way, Kitty is... shinning? He acts by instint realizing Blaine is getting on the way to protect him, but he doesn't want his friend to get hurt either so he tries to move him aside.

Elliott: 1d6 to push blaine = (4) = 4

Blaine: 1d6  = (3) = 3

Kitty: 1d50*4  = (36)*4 = 144

Kitty didn't see anyone acknowledging her in their talk. Including her socius pactum. They were speaking around her like Kitty wasn't in the room. She couldn't respond due to the spell but she wanted to scream at them. She wanted to scream at Tina. Tina liked her because she was strong. So what about when Kitty was weak? Was she worthless? When Kitty was weak, didn't they all take advantage of it? Sister Quinn finally replied when Kitty told her about Alena's disappearance. Tina told Santana Lopez, the trickster, all about Kitty's moment of weakness in the desert. But they all pretended they didn't hurt Kitty. They pretended Kitty was the only one who hurt them. 'Nobody asks me if I feel safe. Only God protects me but sometimes I don't feel secure.' Kitty felt the power rise up in her though. She had to let it explode. And let my body burn up in your light of Justice, oh Heavenly Father!! She sent the blast in front of her. Whoever it was, they would taste Kitty's pain.

Tina was in a blind furry to by Kitty's side as she did the spell in a means to stop her with no knowledge how too. In her moment of desperation, she was not even thinking of the consequences to the people that were in front of her, Blaine and Elliott. Everything happened way too fast for her process it as Kitty unleashed her holy beam onto Elliott. Rationality hit in as her idiotic heart and foolish actions were leading to something that would be unforgettable and unforgiveable.

Blaine's readying himself, he doesn't want Elliott to feel the searing pain of holy magic, however something solid grabs him by the scruff of his neck, wraps a strong around around his shoulder and drags him to the side, near pushing him a good three feet away. Blaine lands in the ground in an uncoordinated heap as he hasn't been expecting it and the worst thing imaginable flashes in front of his eyes as the bright light overtakes everything, engulfing Elliott. Blaine shouts but he can't hear himself scream out Elliott's name. When the light is gone, Blaine scrambles up on his feet and runs to his partner's side. He skids on his knees and holds Elliott. "Elliott. Oh my--aether, no, no..." Blaine tucks his head in and can't help but tear up.

Elliott sees the strong light out of Kitty's body. Spreading. There isn't anything he can imagine, how this would feel, what would happen to him. And he is terrified but he is glad he did have time to move Blaine out of the way. This couldn't be good. His eyes are almost blinded and there isn't really time to react, the holy magic hits him. If he could think that time he felt intense physical pain when he was stabbed, it wasn't even comprable to what this was. There weren't words to describe it, it was like burning through inside out, as if his body could practically break in thousand pieces. And it drains him. There isn't strength in him, and he lets out a scream that makes his whole body tremble as he falls to the floor unconcious.

Her light was dazzling and blinding but how was it deadly and destructive. Tina watches in utter horror paralysed by Elliott's deafening scream, a scream that makes her blood turn cold. The scream echoes within her as flashes of other deadly screams play back fast: Blaine's from the number times she bares witness to him hurt, her own scream as she stands and watching as the moments unfurl. Her mother's own heart wrenching scream watching as her father falls hurt from the Pagan. Each times the moment plays the same: a scream, the one she cares about hurt and Tina Cohen-Chang only every standing there. Right now, the moment plays the same, all she does it stand there doing nothing, the only thing that tears this moment apart, Tina had made a choice. But her head becomes a furry between the logical, rationality and reason against complex emotions that dwell in her heart. How could the tech witch dare say she chose her heart when the sight of her the people she cares for most in the world, the two she would call her heart, she had broken and turn against? How could she say she thought with her heart? Elliott falls. Blaine to his side. Kitty is faint. And Tina does nothing. A choice was made with consequences that will last, unforgivable: making ties she once considered to be unbreakable cut and undone. There would be no coming back from this one.   

[douxreviews]

American Gods - ‘Muninn' Review

"Burn, baby, burn."

American Gods mostly gets its groove back after last week's misfire, Wednesday and Laura go on a literal trip down memory lane, and New Media finally makes an appearance.

Billie is not going to be OK with what happens to the library, however.

Interestingly, after my complaint last week about missing the Bryan Fuller signature soundscapes and dreamscape imagery, we open with exactly that. To be fair, that was probably largely due to avoiding the cost and logistics of actually showing a train derail after hitting a car on the tracks. Disorienting yet suggestive imagery combined with an off putting soundscape tell the story of a train v. car collision just as well and are much, much cheaper.

Whatever the reason, it was nice to have them back. It's interesting however, to note that there were several instances where the stylized camera work made it difficult to follow what was actually happening. For example, it wasn't entirely clear what was going on when Betty the Car reformed herself post accident. Were they reversing the footage of the car being crushed as a way to indicate the fractured way one of the characters present experienced that moment of the accident? Was it a visual metaphor? A dream someone involved in the crash was having? No, apparently the car was literally reforming itself, as it was sitting there good as new a few shots later. Another instance was when the scene transitioned from Shadow looking out of it in the wreckage to Shadow walking through some trees in daylight. All of the visual language of television was indicating that we'd transitioned to a dream Shadow was having, but we weren't, we'd just cut to later in the day when he'd gotten out of the wreckage and that hadn't been communicated to the viewer in a clear way.

Honestly, the whole immediate aftermath of the crash sequence just made you realize how good Fuller is at that sort of thing, because I can't think of a single occasion where he's used that same distorted imagery technique and it resulted in the action being unclear. At least, not in a way that didn't feel one hundred percent deliberate.

So, after last week's absolutely delightful pairing of Sweeney and Laura, this week we get Laura paired with Wednesday which worked much better than I was expecting it to do. It seemed odd at first that Laura would reject Sweeney and choose to go with Wednesday instead, particularly as she knows that Wednesday basically destroyed her entire life just to get her out of the way. She and Sweeney clearly were really connecting last episode, so turning on him for picking up her body parts off the road seemed like a forced way for the show to separate them. Then I thought about it for a minute and remembered that sabotaging her relationships with people that care about her is pretty much Laura's entire character description. Viewed with that in mind, the whole sequence of events makes perfect sense. It would have been nice if the show had made that point a little clearer. I hate to criticize a show for giving the viewers too much credit for figuring things out on their own, but in this case they could have stood to underline her motivations a little more.

Ah, Mad Sweeney. Pablo Schreiber continues to be the show's standout, and is more so every week. Thank god(s) that they kept both him and Laura around past their appearances in the novel and that they continue to give both of them so much to do. Hypocritically, I also feel like they probably should have cut Sweeney out of this episode after they left the funeral home, as all we really got of him were comic relief bits showing his bad luck road trip to New Orleans. But then, if they'd cut him out we'd never have seen the look on his face when he realizes that he's been 'rescued' by a Christian rock band, and nothing is worth that.

The thing that this episode felt like more than anything was a series of videogame side quests. Now, I'm not a gamer myself. I have an inherited tremor which makes trying to use a game controller kind of a pain in the ass. But my understanding of the whole side quest thing is that at various points in the game you have to stop working toward the main goal of the game, whatever that may be, and instead fulfill a little side mission, or earn some money, or solve a puzzle or something. That's what this episode felt like to me.

Taking the side quests in order, Laura and Wednesday head off to find another old god that has allowed himself to be co-opted by the new gods because Wednesday wants to kill him and somehow doing that will 'recharge' the coin in Laura's chest that's keeping her alive and making her superstrong. Again we continue this episode's theme of not explaining things properly, as it's never really made clear why killing Argus will do that, plus we're all pretty sure that Wednesday is lying to Laura the whole time anyway, which it turns out he is but the coin recharge thing still works anyway because reasons. Having accomplished that, Wednesday immediately betrays Laura and leaves her stuck in whatever Argus' realm is supposed to be. It might possibly be a TARDIS, there were some very distinctive roundels in that last hallway.

Great job with the design of Argus, by the way. This is our first god that we've seen who doesn't look like a standard human to us as his standard desktop theme and they did a great job making all of the eyes look real and disturbing. The fiber optic cable bundles that writhed like serpents were also a nice look. I don't recall ever seeing anything quite like it.

Technical Boy and New Media are also on their way to see Argus, because Mr. World wants them to... um... scold him for not updating his Norton Antivirus or something, possibly? Again, it's not entirely clear what they're there to do. You might be seeing a theme here. Similarly vague are New Media's actions with Argus. Was she actually betraying Mr. World to join an alliance with Argus? It would make sense, as he represents watching and she represents being watched, but if that's the case shouldn't Technical Boy have reacted in some way to that development? Instead he just politely stands back and doesn't stop Laura from killing Argus, then he and New Media leave without even mentioning it. And I've been remiss in mentioning it, but Bruce Langley really deserves a lot of praise for his work on this show. It's hard to play a character that irritating in a way that isn't irritating to the people watching at home, and he pulls it off.

Then we have Ifrit and Salim, who head to the corn palace to pick up a magic spear, as you do. Instead of the corn palace, they end up at a strip club called the Porn Palace, whose neon sign has a faulty first 'P,' making it appear to be a 'C' at first glance. That was a cute reveal. There they pick up the spear with no incident from a Lakota trickster god named Iktomi, who was played by the always wonderful Julian Richings, who many will remember as being the definitive Death over on Supernatural. This plotline felt the most perfunctory, and probably could have been replaced with a line of dialog later on down the line, but it's always nice to see Mr. Richings.

Lastly we have Shadow and his new friend Sam Black Crow, who gives him a lift to the storyline's next destination. Again, not a lot happens here and Sam feels very much like a mouthpiece for the writing staff to muse about things philosophically, but it works. Mostly because Devery Jacobs has an indefinable charm about her, but also because it opens up the concept of Two Spirit gender identification, which more people should know more about.

Quotes:

Wednesday: "Ah, Mrs. Moon. Did we sit on a wall?"

Mad Sweeney: "You just gonna lie there, let nature have her way with you?"

Laura: "Are you eating me?"

Sweeney: "Coward? I saved you." Laura: "I’m dead, coward." Sweeney: "Well, you’re welcome for picking up all your gory little f**king pieces up off the road."

Ibis: "The advantage of love at first sight is it doesn’t require a second look."

Technical Boy: "How the f**k is that an upgrade?" This felt like the writers pre-empting complaints about New Media. It probably was intended as such.

Wednesday: "So, you’re working on faith, huh?" Laura: "I definitely wouldn’t use that word."

Sam: "You ever hear of the Crow nation warrior named ‘Finds Them and Kills Them’?" Shadow: "No, but he sounds very efficient."

Laura: "Please. Tell me more about what I want."

Wednesday: "What’s the worst thing you can do to a book?" Laura: "Um.. Ignore it..?"

There are not words for how much I love the Hello Kitty collar on this shirt.

Bits and Pieces:

-- It's awfully convenient that Laura was literally blown to pieces in the train crash and Shadow only got a little bruised. But then, her body is actively decaying, so I supposed she'd be more explodable.

-- I know I'm fighting a losing battle here, but I have to say it again. A lit cigarette will not ignite fuel, no matter how many TV shows and movies show it happening. It will either be smothered by the liquid before it gets anywhere near generating enough heat for combustion, which doesn't happen in the liquid but happens in the off-gasses, or it will smolder until it burns out unless by some miracle the off-gassing reaches LEL (Lowest Explosive Level) before that happens. Please stop.

-- You could, however, use a lit cigarette to start a fire in a library full of parchment. It would take a little effort, but you could do it. But despite having a lit cigarette on hand at the time, Laura takes the easy route and uses a match.

-- It seems that Sweeney's bad luck only hits him when he's not around Laura, which sort of makes sense since he's also near his coin at those times.

-- It's interesting that Sweeney is still heading to New Orleans to see someone who I presume is Baron Samedi, since he was only going there to help Laura and she's not with him anymore. That's sweet. I hope he's the one who rescues her from Argus' domain.

-- Sweeney seemed genuinely hurt when Laura chose to go with Wednesday instead of him. I'm 'shipping those two so hard.

-- Argus isn't in the book, nor are any of the Greek Gods. Neil stated that he decided against featuring any of them since they get used so much more often in popular culture.

-- New Media just isn't working for me yet, although I know it's way too early to judge. I miss Gillian Anderson's celebrity impressions.

-- Laura's dad was a drunk. Now we know why he wasn't at the wedding. No word on if he's dead or alive.

-- I wonder what Wednesday is going to need the seedling for?

I know I'm sounding like I didn't enjoy much about this episode, but that's really not true. There was a lot of good stuff here, and many, many little details that show that someone was really putting their heart into it. I just wish that some of the storytelling had been a little clearer.

Three out of four creepy eyeballs.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

2018 Megaman Summer Fanart Contest Part 1.0 Results!!

Again, thank you everyone for your patience. Too many random things popping up over the last 2 weeks. ^^; Whew, just got this posted before midnight. Sorry for the late night post for those of us in the US, but it’s kinda my thing, isn’t it? 

14 total entries between the two categories, but as always, a nice mix of new participants and veterans to this contest. Are the usual players coming away with the goodies, or have the newbies snuck in to wow us with their creative styles? While tumblr will shrink down all the images, I will include the full size uploads (well, almost for all - 2 were way too big) on my imgbox account. Just click on the “(FULL VIEW)” link for each one. Hopefully this way, there won’t be people who have trouble viewing them this time around. 

My thanks to @digitallyfanged and @jaybird-c for helping me judge the entries this time around!! We were all sorta on the same page it seems for our individual results, but it’s always harder when there is a smaller total of participants, because everyone is deserving in their own way. 

Thanks once again also to all who participated! For all winners [and there are 10 of you, out of 14], I will be contacting you as soon as I can about your prizes. If you didn’t win, there’s always next time...which starts as soon as tomorrow, when I announce Contest Part 1.1 (as in Mega Man 11)!!

Without further ado, after the break, here are your top 3 winners for each category, the raffle winners, and all of the fantabulous artwork!

CATEGORY 1: Ride Armor Road Trip 

[FULL GALLERY HERE]

1.) @follyknight: (FULL VIEW MAIN IMAGE LINK) (PHOTOS 1) (PHOTOS 2)

*Tabby’s #1 - I felt like out of all of the pieces, this hit the theme the hardest. Definitely showing the back of one of the cards was a really unique touch to the piece as well. And that LaLinde postcard. The CHEEK. “Hey dad, I visited your girlfriend while on vacation.”

*Jay’s #1 - I have got to hand it to Folly Knight, above and beyond doesn't begin to cover this. Eight postcards, each with a unique theme, composition, and aesthetic, and then all presented together? That's fantastic.

Miyabi’s #1 - Even as simple, everyday objects, that book and cup of coffee are painted so well! I appreciate all the various scenes you presented in your postcards, with emotions ranging in each one of them. From the hilarious “Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy” bib to Blues’ loneliness in Fiji, your entry was varied and unique. I also felt your entry really represented the theme very, very well. 

2.) @multiple-sages: (FULL VIEW LINK PIC 1) (FULL VIEW PIC 2)

*Tabby’s #2 - This is very cute. I like that it showed summer activities from sort of a different perspective/culture. Not everything is action and traveling. Sometimes it’s small festivals and quiet cafes with friends.  Zero definitely seems like the type to sit around in a cat cafe for hours. 

*Jay’s #2 - Man, it was hard to pick -- a lot of these have great composition, but I think the #2 Spot should go to [multiple-sages for] Cinnamon and Zero. It does a great job at setting the scene for the moment and raises a lot of interesting questions as to how exactly we got here. Obon postcard is also very good, but of the two, this is a slightly less evocative piece (that is, there's less story apparent here)

*Miyabi’s #2 - Both cards look super cute, and show different ways the hunters spend their time not battling Mavericks, while experiencing tradition in Japan. The Maverick Hunter logo stamp on Axl’s was a nice touch. The little kitties are all adorable, either sleeping or pawing around with Zero’s luxurious golden teaser toy hair. Like Cinny is trying, it’s hard to hide your smile while looking at that scene!

3.) Steph O’Dell: (FULL VIEW PIC)

*Tabby’s #3 - A very cute image of the ladies at the beach. Everyone needs some sun! I do dig how you made it sort of look like a selfie. 

*Miyabi’s #3 - While the hubby is away, the girls will play. Haruka finally gets out of the house and to the beach with some friends. The selfie style was a different take compared to the other entries, while still feeling like a postcard. While the palm trees look like they’re just ‘shopped in, the rest of the background ocean and sand is deceptive enough where I couldn’t tell you had worked on that until I zoomed in closer. So kudos for making that part of your background look photorealisitic!    .

Runners up (in alphabetical order):

@bracedshark *RAFFLE WINNER ~ X7 4KOMA*: (FULL VIEW PIC)

*Jay’s #3 (tie) - Very appealing and exceedingly well-composed, but kind of suffers a little from how they handle the text. There's a sizing issue the cuts some of the text short.

*Miyabi says - I didn’t know I needed to see starfish booblight Zero, but I am amused! XD I totally liked where you were going with the curved arc format for the text to match that familiar typefont on so many postcards, but I agree that the ‘from’ getting partially chopped feels like it just needed to be resized down a little more. Otherwise, a fun pic that fit the theme well!

@chaudandfrends *RAFFLE WINNER ~ ZERO ACCESSORY SET*: (FULL VIEW PIC)

*Jay wrote - This drawing is ambitious, but I'm afraid it's more pictures with text over postcards.

*Miyabi says - I don’t care if I need to eat my calcium, I am not touching those fishbones, Captain Beefhead. Good mix of action with Yai, Dingo and Netto jumping into the water, to the rest of the crew reclining and enjoying their refreshing dip. The watercolor look to your sky and sand give a little contrast to the rest of your coloring technique for all the characters. LOL at Enzan ducky on his inner tube.

@forceway: (FULL VIEW PIC)

*Miyabi says - Much like myself, a Shadow vacation involves not really going anywhere, not really doing anything, and just enjoying the simple things outdoors near home, while sipping an ice cold beverage. XD While you won’t see many Polaroids around these days, it feels fitting for these two bots. I felt it was a wonderful composition, and very enjoyable piece. 

@seabyrocks: (FULL VIEW PIC)

*Jay wrote - I gotta say, I love Seabyrocks' sunset lighting, but I'm afraid the pose is a little simple and, I hate to break it to you, Rock, but you put your hands on backwards.

*Miyabi says - Nobody should visit Mega City without a commemorative autographed heroic Rock Light postcard! I do think you did wonderful blending those sunset colors in, on the right side of the pic. The purples and oranges are so pretty in the sky. Very cute!

@tealsalmon: (FULL VIEW PIC)

*Jay’s #3 (tie) - Very appealing and exceedingly well-composed, but kind of suffers a little from how they handle the text, as it blends in with the darker parts of the background.

*Miyabi says - This turned out very pretty, and also gave me a laugh with Zero’s pointy helmet tips poking through his straw hat. Having a butterfly land on X’s finger feels so fitting for his peace-loving ways, and I loved the E-Tank being used as a container to hold all those fresh strawberries. Even the little details like the dirt and grass on Zero’s shovel are well done. 

CATEGORY 2: Ruby-Spears Mega Man: Plasma Powered Up!!

[FULL GALLERY HERE]

1.) @irissempi: (FULL VIEW ZERO SHEET RETRO)

(FULL VIEW ZERO SHEET CLEAN)

(FULL VIEW ZERO CAP RETRO)

(FULL VIEW ZERO CAP CLEAN)

(FULL VIEW ZERO CAP 2 RETRO)

(FULL VIEW ZERO CAP 2 CLEAN)

(FULL VIEW AXL SHEET RETRO)

(FULL VIEW AXL SHEET CLEAN)

(FULL VIEW X SCREENCAP)

(FULL VIEW LUMINE CAP RETRO)

(FULL VIEW LUMINE CAP CLEAN)

*Jay’s #1 - This. This is the picture that caught my eye immediately. The composition, the lighting -- this is one of those iconic series' images that gives you everything a character stands for. Lumine is going to end the world, and every second of it's gonna rock. Goofball Axl and hardcore samurai Zero are also winners.

*Tabby’s #1 - I love this. I love everything about this. I love the extra mile on making the design sheets, and making it look like a horribly ripped off tv shot. The corny dialogue. Clearly Ruby Spears needed to continue and make us an X series.

*Miyabi’s #1 - You get major kudos for using an actual Ruby Spears production sheet as your format, and adding those effects to make it look just like it was a photocopy I scanned. The grainy filter to make the ‘screencaps’ feel like they came from a VHS tape, and punny one-liners are wonderful! Thanks for putting in all the work to make your entry feel like it would fit in perfectly with the original series! (P.S. - those aren’t booblights for Zero anymore. Those are mammoth pec sunglasses, that would blind anyone who dares to stare at his super cool, manly chest!!! LOL)

2.) @kaitlinexe: (FULL VIEW PIC)

*Miyabi’s #2 - Of course this theme was right up your alley, and you certainly didn’t disappoint! I can’t believe how many characters you tried to fit into this collage. While at first glance it might feel like you focused on mostly existing RS-characters, you really did add quite a few updated designs. I just have this feeling that you planned to be even more ambitious than this, but weren’t able to finish it as you hoped. But regardless of the lack of background, the work you put in drawing all of these characters is amazing! Kalinka, Treble Boost Bass, and Time Man are probably my favorites of your redesigns.The more pronounced spikes for Bass’ helmet and claws look so, so good!!

*Jay’s #3 - I gotta love all your new designs, and is your Skull Man taking notes from Hitoshi Ariga or am I just getting my hopes up? Bonus points for all the attention to detail and going out of your way to replicate the original style.

*Tabby’s #3 - You definitely have the style down pat here. It’s super clean. This would make a great poster, with a little bit of background work. 

3.) @pstart: (FULL VIEW PIC)

*Tabby’s #2 - Dat Forte. You really changed up his and Gospel’s design quite a bit, and it definitely works within the Ruby Spears theme. Super kudos on the retro graphic design going on here. It almost looks like the back of the old DVD covers too.

*Miyabi’s #3 - Just from the look on his face, I feel like Bass would have the same wisecracks and would sound almost just like Proto Man...only with a deeper voice. And now I’m imagining Proto and Bass both harassing Mega in stereo. XD I like the "super” title twist to your ad, which would have played off the actual game well, if Ruby Spears got another season to coincide with Megaman 7′s release. It does feel like an ad I’d see in old gaming mags.

*Jay wrote - I like your poster design. Good job cleaving to the show's style, good job with the little details like the marketing schlock and copyright, great job with the classy reference to the old school instruction manuals.

Runners up (in alphabetical order):

@forceduser *RAFFLE WINNER ~ RUBY SPEARS WILY CEL*: (FULL VIEW PIC)

*Jay wrote - Block Man is a neat design; the plunging neckline is certainly evocative. This one, too, could've stood to have more personality exhibited.

*Miyabi says - From what little we’ve heard, Block Man’s dialogue in Megaman 11 is like by far the most fitting to be used in Ruby Spears. So he was a good, and relevant choice to try to tackle. Definitely can see his chiseled pecs hiding under his main shell, and feels like he’s at least been working out on leg day, doing squats while lifting his heavy body around everywhere. 

@hyperbole1729: (FULL VIEW COMIC) (FULL VIEW BURST)

*Jay wrote - Your Burst Man is something. The explosive nipples are going to haunt me. But as stand-out as your design is, I wish you would've shown off more of Burst Man's personality.

*Miyabi says - Your comic totally has the right tone with the dialogue, from Proto’s complaint not being able to deal the final blow, Wily being Wily, and the obligatory ‘sizzling circuits.’  It flows well, has some drama, and I totally read it all in their Ruby-Spears voices. Burst does seem like he’s bulked up just right, with some minor changes to his classic design. 

@3-oclock-blues *RAFFLE WINNER ~ ARCHIE COMIC INKED PAGE*: (FULL VIEW PIC) (FULL VIEW SPLASH)

*Jay’s #2 - Now THIS is promotional material. I love how well Bass is introduced by simply having him rage off into the distance. Everybody else, they're mad because they hate this moment. Bass?  Bass just hates everything. Splash Woman is also a neat design, but also shows off more design than personality.

*Miyabi says - BUT I WON’T MISS THIS TIME...With all the rage and fear from everyone around them, it’s quite amusing to see the two brothers smiling as they hold their glowing busters to each other. It’s chaotic, but also nicely almost ties in with the photo theme of the first category, too. Splashy’s side fins and more flowing waves protruding from her helmet are nice touches to her design. Would have been interested to see how she and other Light/Wily bots would have fit into that family photo. 

[eah-exchange]

It Happened One Night

To: @venomade

From: @andtheyalllived

Summary:  Briar throws a party, Cupid brings enchanted mistletoe, Darling is tired of straight people, Cerise cuts her hair, and Faybelle gets drunk.

Rating: T

Word count: 2343

“What on earth is that?” Briar Beauty stared at the pink haired goddess standing on her doorstep. More specifically, she stared at the cardboard box resting between Cupid's hands.

Cupid glanced down at her hands, as if noticing for the first time that she was carrying something. “Oh, this. It’s mistletoe.”

Briar’s eyes flicked from Cupid’s box to her face then back to her box. Something wasn't right. “Thanks for the offer,” Briar said, “but we already have mistletoe at this party. You should probably just leave the box in your car.”

“This isn't normal mistletoe,” Cupid said, strolling past Briar into the great hall. “This is something special that I got from my cousin.”

“Which cousin?” Briar asked. You could never be too careful with Cupid. She had more cousins than any sane person could count.

“The one who lives at the North Pole.”

“You're related to Santa?”

“Don't be ridiculous,” Cupid laughed, “I'm related to Mrs. Claus. Anyways, things get kind of boring up at the North Pole, so one of the elfs invented this.” Cupid threw open the top to reveal a bright green mistletoe woven between red and gold ribbons.

“That's…” Briar called to mind the endless etiquette lessons and politeness classes that she had taken over the years. “Nice, I guess.”

“It's a whole lot more than nice,” Cupid said, “This baby hones in on sexual tension. If two people with a significant amount of sexual tension happen to pass under it at the same time, then it won't let them out from underneath until they kiss.”

“Really?” Briar’s eyes widened. This was great. Absolutely and totally perfect. “The parties in the first ballroom on your left. The servants are just finishing decorating. You can ask one of them to hang it up.”

“Or I can just fly it up myself,” Cupid said with a grin.

“Or you could do that.”

Cupid trotted off towards the ballroom while Briar remained by the door. Her butler, Jefferson, had offered to answer the doorbell, but Briar had refused. Half of the fun of throwing a party was seeing everyone as they stepped through the doorway.

Ashlynn showed up first, as was expected, with a lumbering Hunter Huntsman in tow, which was also expected. The two of them were wearing matching Christmas sweaters that appeared to be homemade.

Next came the wonderlandians. All of them tumbled in together chatting about Christmas traditions that were outlandish and, frankly, wonderful. Alistair had somehow managed to wrestle Kitty into a festive pair of reindeer antlers, which she wore very begrudgingly.

Apple White, Blondie, and Humphrey Dumpty showed up at the same time as Faybelle Thorn, Duchess Swan and Sparrow Hood. Briar watched as the six of them engaged ink a silent battle of the wills to decide who stepped over the threshold first. Eventually, Humphrey gave in and dragged the others in behind him.

Holly and Poppy showed up with a bushel of the former’s namesake. They were quickly followed by Hopper and Ginger, the latter of whom carried trays of baked sweats in her hands. The Charming siblings showed up a while afterwards. Darling and Dexter had matching twin sweaters with red reindeer noses. Under his letterman, Daring wore a shirt that read ‘I'm related to Dasher and Dancer.’

A few more students trickled in before the doorbell rang for a final time that night. Briar yanked open the door, smiling as she took in a shivering Raven and Cerise. Raven had dressed for the festivities, with a tacky Christmas sweater and a pair of dark washed jeans and boots. Cerise, on the other hand, looked like she was planning on going camping. She wore a pair of jeans and waterproof leather boots with a red plaid shirt and a beanie pulled over her hair.

“Your hair,” Briar said, staring at the tall girl’s hair. “You cut it.”

“Yeah, well I figured that since the secret is out there's no reason to keep it long anymore.”

Briar noted that while the fact that Cerise Hood was a werewolf was common knowledge, she still kept the beanie pulled over her wolf ears. “No. It looks good.”

“Thanks,” Cerise said.

“Are we the last two?” Raven asked to which Briar nodded. “I'm sorry about that, by the way. I had a hard time convincing Cerise to come. Cedar flat out refused.”

“It's fine,” Briar said. She gestured for Raven and Cerise to follow her. “The party’s this way.”

~

Duchess Swan was not about to kiss Sparrow Hood. No. Nope. Not at all. If that meant that she spent all night stuck under some damned enchanted mistletoe then so be it. Her and Sparrow were never going to kiss. Ever.

“For goodness sake,” Faybelle groaned, “just kiss already and be done with it.”

“No.” Duchess crossed her arms and glared at Sparrow, who had assumed a similar stance.

“Right. Well, I’m going to go get drunk. Try to have some fun, lovebirds.”

“We’re not lovebirds!”

“Keep telling yourselves that.” Faybelle abandoned Duchess and Sparrow beneath the mistletoe.

Duchess glanced at Sparrow. “We’re not lovebirds.”

“I know that,” Sparrow snapped back.

“Good.”

“Good.”

~

Parties had never been and never would be Cerise Hood’s thing. She had been to a few over her high school career and all of them were exactly the same: loud music, sloppy dancing, and people getting drunk and doing stupid things. Like playing spin the bottle. That was a stupid thing.

“Come on,” Raven said, “It’ll be fun.” The amazing part was that Raven wasn’t even drunk yet. She just wanted to play spin the bottle because it was all part of the ‘high school experience’ or whatever.

“I’ve got a bottle of my own here.” Cerise lifted the bottle of sparkling cider that she held in her hand.

“It’s just a silly game,” Raven insisted.

“If it’s just a silly game then why do you need me to play it?”

“Because you’re my friend.”

“Thanks,” Cerise said, “but I’m good.”

“Suit yourself,” Raven said as she skipped away to join the growing group playing spin the bottle, taking a seat directly across from Dexter Charming. Subtle.

Cerise settled into the loveseat the she had taken over and allowed her eyes to roam the room. Since she’d been outed as a werewolf, several of her former friends and classmates had avoided her. She'd expected Duchess Swan to turn up her nose when she walked by, but she hadn't expected so many of the royals to reject her. The most prominent rejection had come from Holly O’Hair, who refused to even glance her way.

It was strange. Cerise had lived her whole life in the shadows, and now that she was finally in the light she had no idea what to do. So she continued on with her life. She played bookball, and went to school, and attended parties that she hated with Raven. All the while, her classmates acted like she was a different person. Some pitied her. Some avoided her. Rosebella Beauty seemed to find her parent's story beautiful and tragic, which was rather annoying.

“Hey, ‘rise.” Daring Charming plopped down on the loveseat next to her and crossed his legs. Surprisingly, Daring was one of the only people who's perception of her hadn't seemed to change. Even Cedar acted strangely around her, but Daring acted like nothing happened. Maybe to him nothing had. “I like the new do.”

Cerise raised a hand to touch her chopped locks. “Thanks.”

“You're welcome,” Darise replied, “How're the holidays going?”

“Good,” Cerise responded, “My sister got invited on the Dancer family ski trip, so it's just me at the moment.”

“That must be nice.”

“It is, I guess. It certainly gave me no excuse to avoid the party.”

“I was thinking about skipping too,” Daring said, “but then I figured that Briar would kill me if I didn't at least make an appearance.”

Cerise glanced at Daring, studying the lines of his face as she did so. It was awfully angular, with sharp cheekbones and hawk-like eyes set over a pair of full lips. She could see why so many girls liked him. She could see why she'd had a crush on him back in the day. He was all heroic and stuff. But then they'd become friends, and all thoughts of a romantic relationship had flown out of the window. Well, most of them anyways.

Lost in thought, Cerise missed Daring speaking. She tore her eyes away from his angular face to find him staring at her expectantly. “I'm sorry. What?”

“I asked if you want to blow this popsicle stand and do something more interesting.”

Cerise nodded. “That sounds like fun.”

“Great. I'm parked outside.”

~

Duchess Swan watched the precisions of the party unfold before her, unable to participate in any of it. Curse Cupid and her stupid mistletoe. Why did she have to get stuck under it with Sparrow? Why couldn't she be stuck with Daring Charming? She wouldn't have hesitated to make out with Daring.

She watched the game of spin the bottle that was taking place in the far corner of the room. Darling had just gotten into a fight with Dexter over something stupid and was ranting about straight people while the rest of the players laughed. Now that looked like fun. A whole lot more fun than being stuck under the mistletoe with Sparrow freakin’ Hood.

She turned to glare at him only to find him staring at her. The look in his eyes frightened her. It was unlike any that she'd seen before. It was soft. Her harsh words died in the threat as she stared at him.

Tentatively, she took a step forwards so that they were a mere inches away from each other. She could count the freckles on his nose.

“Just so you know,” Duchess whispered, “this doesn't mean anything.”

Before she could talk herself out of it, she leaned forward and brushed her lips against Sparrow’s. It was barely a kiss--not much more than a quick peck, really. As soon as she pulled back, she felt the magic of the mistletoe slip away.

“Right,” Sparrow whispered, “Not a thing.” Duchess nodded, but neither of them made a move to leave.

~

“I am the queen of stars!” Faybelle Thorn shouted as she floated over the party with a beer in her hand.

Briar groaned as she studied her archnemesis. This was bad. Inviting Faybelle to the party may not have been the best idea in the first place, but Briar would rather not scorn a fairy. Even if that fairy was Faybelle.

“I thought that fairies couldn’t get drunk,” Briar muttered under her breath. It was a well known fact that fairies have an extremely high tolerance to alcohol, which meant that Faybelle had to drink a lot of wine and beer to get in her current state.

“Watch me soar!”

“Wow, she’s really drunk,” Farrah commented beside her.

“Yeah,” Briar said, “She is. Can you-”

“Get her down from there? I’m already on it.” Farrah took off into the air, grabbing a more-than-tipsy Faybelle and dragging her to the floor. She stumbled as they landed. “Whew. She’s a lot heavier than she looks.”

“I am not,” Faybelle pouted, crossing her arms in defense. “I am queen of the stars,” she mumbled.

“What does that mean?” Farrah asked.

“I have no idea.” Briar grabbed Faybelle’s arm. “Come on. I think that there’s some sober up potion in the kitchen.” Leaving Farrah alone, Briar led Faybelle through multiple corridors until they arrived in the kitchen.

Thes kitchen was bustling with servant activity as Briar dragged Faybelle through the entrance. The cook, Mrs. Rose, glanced up as Briar entered and a wide grin spread across her face. “What brings you down here?” she asked, “Who’s your friend?”

“She’s not my friend,” Briar answered, “She’s my arch nemesis. Faybelle’s drunk, and she needs a sober up potion.”

Mrs. Rose’s knowing eyes studied Briar and the dazed fairy beside her. “I’ll just whip up a batch of hot chocolate for the two of you.”

“Thank you,” Briar sighed. “You have no idea how grateful I am.”

“You’re welcome, darling.”

~

Cerise had never been one for window shopping. Then again, she wasn’t one for shopping either. She wasn’t a frivolous person, and she never understood the appeal of going store to store looking at things that you can’t buy. Yet, somehow, she found herself walking with Daring through the sidewalks of downtown Book End, glancing into the brightly lit windows.

“Thanks for coming with me.” Daring’s hands were stuffed into the pockets of his dark coat.

Cerise almost chuckled at the two of them. Walking side by side, they couldn’t look more different. Daring was all refined edges and charming smiles, while Cerise was made of shadows and flannel. The only thing that they had in common was their height. Cerise was slightly over six feet, probably an inch or two shorter than Daring himself was.

“It’s no big,” Cerise said.

“Sure, it is,” Daring insisted. They came to a stop before the shining windows of a coffee shop and Daring slipped his fingers in hers. “Coffee?”

Cerise took her eyes off of their hands - they fit together so naturally - and met his steel eyes. She smiled. “That sounds good.”

Daring smiled in return. “Good.”

~

Faybelle stared at the fire, a steaming cup of hot cocoa resting in her hands. Briar sat beside her, a cup of cocoa in her hands. Neither of them said a word. She watched at the flames danced before her, flickering from one place to another before disappearing altogether. They were pretty. She glanced at Briar beside her.

Beautiful.

“Thanks,” Faybelle said, “You didn’t have to do that.”

Briar glanced at her. Their eyes held for a moment before she glanced away. “You’re welcome.”

They sat in silence for the remainder of the night, long past the end of the party until the sky started to turn a hazy blue. It was surprisingly comfortable.

[wendynerdwrites]

Recovered Jonsa Fic #16: Ya’Aburnee

Another fic repost!

The crypts seem warmer these days. In fact, they’re perhaps the warmest place in the castle now. At least, they are to Jon.

In his youngest days, he sought out cold and solitude to think and find comfort. But that changed when the two of them found one another again. It didn’t matter where they were. They could be lying naked next a roaring fire in the royal apartments. They could be huddled up in his war tent during one her surprise visits, a layer of canvas being all that lay between them and the roaring, icy winds outside. But when she was with him, things were warm, cozy, and clear. He could think better after having spent just a few precious moments with her after an absence.

Jon sighs as he descends the steps of the crypts, carrying his lantern past the various monuments of past Starks. The war. Gods. The first several times Sansa would steal away to the Wall and even beyond to see him, he’d scold her, beg her not to do it, not to risk her safety again. The third time, he even swore he’d not share her bed out of anger, hoping it would deter her. But he broke that vow of course. He’d been a fool, and desperate. Somehow, Sansa always seemed to show up when he was at the very end of his rope, at the brink of giving up. But she’d appear and things became clearer, he was reminded of what he was fighting for, and inspiration would come.

Most of his best ideas, battle plans, tactical maneuvers came to him either in the middle of the night or the morning after he lay with Sansa. Even his men picked up on this. It became a running joke among the army. The secrets to defeating the Others lay within the Queen in the North’s cunny.

The only time she didn’t come at a desperate point, she sent a letter to him, informing him that she would not be able to visit him for a long while, and bid him instead to journey back to Winterfell when he could. “I want you to meet your firstborn.”

It was all the inspiration he needed, really.

Jon gives a groan of relief as he reaches his destination in the crypts, bends his aching knees and sits upon the stone bench in front of the newest statue in the hall. Arya, bless her, had proposed the idea of installing it. It wasn’t customary, but his second-eldest had insisted. “So our Father can visit Mother for as long as he likes.”

A good thing, too. At three-and-seventy, Jon’s legs are not what they used to be. The wound in his leg that the wildlings gave him all those years ago began troubling him again around his fortieth year. His hips were good, but his knees ache easily. His left shoulder is often in agony. It’s why whenever he carries something--- at the moment, a writing board, parchment, quill, and ink--- it’s slung under his right arm.

He takes a few moments to adjust and wait for the strain on his joints to ease, then sets up his writing supplies. He looks up at the face of the marble statue. It did not depict his wife as he’d seen her last: grey-haired, with lines about her mouth, brows, and eyes. No, it showed Sansa at the height of her youth. Lyanna spared no expense in the commissioning of this monument, having the artist combined stone of different hues to match the burning auburn of her hair, the red of her lips. Even the eyes of the thing had gem studs of sapphire and onyx.

It was easily the most extravagant tomb in the crypts.

Not that she’d been particularly keen on an extravagant burial in life. The construction of her tomb began before her death, when Maester Torwyn tearfully informed her that despite the amputation, the growth which began on her breast had migrated to other parts they could not reach and she had no more than a year left.

Sansa, being Sansa, had responded by being the most composed in the room, and promptly began preparations. And, by preparations, preparations for a pseudo-abdication in Lyanna’s favor.

Lyanna had refused to let her mother abdicate fully, though she was more than ready to take on the responsibilities of queenship. “You should spend your last year without the burden of rule on your shoulders. And I am more than happy to assume that weight in full,” their brilliant, beautiful, resilient daughter informed her mother, “But if you are to die, I will not let you die as anything but a queen.”

Lyanna was Princess Regent for a year while the entire family devoted their matriarch’s final year in this world to making it the very best it could be. Jon and Sansa traveled, they hosted banquets and balls, they indulged themselves. Sansa didn’t involve herself in too many of the burial arrangements, allowing Jon and their children to take care of most of it. But when Lyanna informed Sansa of the lengths they were going to honor her, Sansa had protested about the expense.

“I don’t deserve a tomb any finer than Jon or Father,” she insisted. But this was one matter where her family did not let her have her way during that final year.

If anyone deserved a tomb like this, it was the queen who restored the North, House Stark, got it through the winter and wars, and revolutionized the structure of the kingdom. One of the best decisions Jon ever made was abdicating his rule in her favor. At the time, he’d done it out of a combination of guilt, his new knowledge regarding his origins, and the affection for her that eventually blossomed into the love they shared for fifty years. But under Sansa’s rule, House Stark and the North went from famine, poverty, and near-death to unprecedented prosperity. She is the reason her family can afford such a monument to her, and will likely be able to afford such things for generations to come.

He’d said as much. Jon can almost hear her now, replying that he’d done just as much, that he deserved just as much, if not more credit, for the North’s success as she did. “None of this would have been possible without you. As a queen, I’ve only ever been as great as my king.”

Jon wasn’t a king. He was prince consort. He’d insisted on that himself when they wed. Given Robb’s will and his title prior to abdication, he wanted no doubts placed on Sansa’s authority and position. But that didn’t stop Sansa from calling him her king in private. Though he’d certainly done his part in aiding her rule--- Jon had many accomplishments, before, during, and after the War for the Dawn, to be proud of--- Sansa overstated his contribution. She was the queen, and all he did for her, he did with her. And she did yet more. His greatest accomplishment, in his mind, was giving Sansa the support and inspiration she needed to discover her own greatness over the years. They’d done that for each other.

Not that the matter of whether he deserved just as fine a tomb as she was too great an issue. Sansa’s grave has an adjoining, half-finished chamber, specifically so that when the time comes, he shall lie beside her. She even went so far as to insist that, at the very least, when he died and his own statue was erected, that it would be constructed to hold the hand of hers.

Everyone agreed.

Jon looks at the partially-constructed tomb beside his wife’s resting place. He sighs again, dips a quill in the ink, and begins to write.

Sweetling,

I sit at the bench now, as I have now three-hundred-and-sixty-four times before. I look at the place set aside for me by your side, and there’s a selfish yearning there. The only thing that keeps me from willing myself to die is the thought of the pain it shall bring our family. I will not betray them by leaving them before I absolutely have to. But I want to, so badly. I miss you.

Robb’s son is still thriving. When he’s not draining his exhausted mother’s breasts, he’s asleep or howling like a beast. The lungs on that boy. I can already tell that a special bond is developing between Little Torrhen and his big sister. The moment Kitty gathers him into her chubby arms, he quiets. It’s adorable.

Alysanne and Brandon now come up to my waist. Alysanne wishes to leave the nursery room and get her own proper ladies’ chambers now. Not that she says so. She knows that Litsa is still too young to make it through the night without her big sister sleeping beside her. Alysanne is as considerate and thoughtful as she ever was. But I see it in her eyes. She’s growing up, and wants that acknowledged. And I expect she may finally broach the subject some time around Litsa’s fifth Name Day.

Gods, they’re all so beautiful. Litsa’s name is prophetic, since she looks just like you. She’s getting to the age, though, where she wants to be a “big girl” and is starting to rebel against her nickname. I’ve asked her to forgive me, but I cannot quite bring myself to call her “Sansa” just yet. But I appease her in other ways. If you told my young self that I’d spend many hours a day playing with dolls, I’d have laughed in your face. But I’m sure you’re laughing now, just as you laughed at me when Alysanne and Arya were young. Yes, I am once again spending many an hour sitting on a rug, dressing up and holding little wooden and porcelain people in dresses and acting out the stories of Jenny of Oldstones and Queen Rhaenyra. In fact, I’m doing it more than I did even when our daughters were girls.

Though I did resume many of my state duties after you left, I’m not performing as much as I used to. By choice, I assure you. I prefer to spend as much time as I can with the little ones. I don’t feel too guilty. We’ve trained our girl well. She doesn’t need me. I think she just pretends otherwise to humor me. She doesn’t need me to help with matters of state. I assume any need she or any of the others have for me is more emotional than political.

Not that I mind. My brain isn’t what it used to be. I mind that. Up until the very end, you gave me bursts of energy and inspiration. But with you gone, I don’t have them anymore. Coming down here, writing to you each day certainly helps, but it’s not the same.

Do you miss me, as I miss you? Or are you so busy, wherever you are, with Father and our brothers and your mother and Jeyne and Beth and all those we lost that you don’t have time to miss me the same way? If those Seven Southern Gods are right, you’re in one of those Heavens they speak of, and they say there is no unhappiness there. I don’t blame you for this. Especially since you can probably see and hear me in a way that I can’t see and hear you.

But I do hope you’re able to set aside a place for me beside you, wherever you are, for when we reunite, just as a place beside you has been set aside for me here.

What do you look like, wherever you are? You in your youth is how they depict you here in the crypt, of course. But I’m not sure that I hope that’s the case in the world beyond. Some aspects of your youth, I hope, are with you. That you have both of your breasts, that your ankles, back, and neck do not ail you anymore. And of course, you know how I always felt about that red hair of yours.

But I found your grey just as beautiful. Your lined faced just as lovely. I know you spent a good thirty years or so lamenting your “fading” beauty, but you were always as stunning to me, from the day we wed to our last night together.

Can you change how I shall see you when I join you? So I can see you as you were at any and all points in your life? Would you want me to do the same? Do you want me to greet you in the next life looking as I do now--- stooped, greying, balding, wrinkly--- or as I was in my prime?

What do you want me to say, when we meet each other again?

I miss you so much, Sansa. I have these letters. I have the children and grandchildren, and I see so much of you in them. But there’s no replacing you.

Sometimes I’m upset with you, Sansa, especially late at night, when I’m truly alone, and the cold envelopes me. When you made that request of me. Perhaps if you’d not done it, or not done it in the godswood, you’d be here now. I’m not a superstitious, even a pious man, but these days I wonder. You were so considerate most of your life, Sansa, but this was perhaps the most selfish thing you ever did. Did it ever occur to you that living without you would be as painful for me as it would be for you?

I don’t think about that day as often as one would expect, despite the significance of what happened that day in the godswood. Despite the joy I felt then, I think the reality of all that was said only really hit me the morning after, when I knew for sure that it wasn’t a dream, that you would really be mine. I remember that day more vividly, more often. I remember how proud I was to lead you on my arm through the Great Hall, the frightening issue of telling our siblings having been accomplished the prior evening. How excited I was for us to announce our joy to the court. The first day you were mine, officially, eternally, publicly, and I knew no one could take you from me or lay claim to you.

I didn’t consider the implications of the other thing you said. That little Valyrian request and all the things that making that promise to you meant. I wanted you so, so badly. And I never thought it would come to be, that I’d keep that promise. Or that you expected me to, that it was anything more than a passionate endearment on your part. We were fighting a war, after all. I was on the front lines. The only times I feared that it might happen back then was when you made your little visits. And you just had to whisper it to me beneath the furs. “Ya’aburnee”, “Ya’aburnee.”

With all that you did just to survive, you were ready to die if it meant not living without me.

So much love, so much beauty, but so much pain in that strange, foreign little phrase.

There were times it made me feel like I ruled the world. Gods, Sansa. No one, not one person had ever expressed such a thing to me. That I was just so needed, so wanted, so valued, so loved. Whenever I was needed, it was for whatever practical use I had for others. I was needed as a ready blade, a willing laborer, a spy, a leader for the army, sure. I was needed as countless other men were needed. I was needed as a political pawn to solidify the powers of others, as a supplier, as a defender.

At home, as much as you, Robb, Arya, Father, Bran, and Rickon loved me, I was far from needed. I was in many ways unwanted, and not just by your mother. If I were lost, surely you all would mourn, but you didn’t need me. It’s why it was so easy for me to join the Watch. As much as you loved me, none of you needed me. Not even Arya.

That I was one of many, needed thanks to a lack of options and men, but still disposable and unimportant ultimately, even as I was groomed for leadership, was impressed upon me. Even when I was Lord Commander, I was murdered and replaced.

As great a team as we were together even before we confessed our feelings to each other, I wasn’t sure then that you needed me. As often as you decried yourself as stupid and weak in those days, you were truly dazzling. It was bewildering for me to witness your own blindness in regards to all that you were. And as much as I did to try and build you up, I was sure that if I were lost, you’d find another to help you. You were the indispensable one, as far as I was concerned. Countless people needed you, to lead, to inspire, to save. Not me, despite what any prophecy might have implied.

But that day, in the godswood… “Of course I’ll marry you,” you’d said, snowflakes melting on your soft lips. “Under one condition.”

I remember expecting your condition to be of the same political precision you always conducted. You wanted me to understand that I’d be your prince consort, not a king. That I’d lost a crown for good the day I handed it to you. Or I expected that you’d ask that I not march to the front lines and stay behind, commanding the armies from the safety of Winterfell’s walls. That was the only condition I feared.

But still I asked, “What?”

“Ya’aburnee,” you replied. And, not having taken up an education in Valyrian dialects as you had, I of course had to ask for clarification.

“Bury me. Outlive me. So I never have to live without you.”

There was a part of me that wondered if this was your way of saying that you wouldn’t marry me if I returned to the battlefield, so I hesitated. And you reassured me.

And I never felt so loved, so needed, so ready to take on the world. You needed me, couldn’t fathom living without me. Me, as I was. Not as another man, who was willing to stay behind as armies fought for him, commanding from safety and comfort as other men were slaughtered on the field. You couldn’t ask me to do that, because you knew who I was, understood who I was, accepted it. Accepted me, and needed me.

Loved me as I’d never been loved before.

And somehow, whenever I was in the middle of the fray and ready to give up, sure we would all perish, wondering what the point was of continuing to try, you’d suddenly appear. It didn’t matter how many times I railed at you for endangering yourself. When I reached my lowest point, I’d return to my tent to find you there, reminding me not only of all I had to fight for, but all I had to live for. Whispering to me beneath the furs as I moved within you, “I love you. Ya’burnee. I love you. Ya’Aburnee.”

You never stopped saying it. Even the letter you sent, telling me that Alysanne was coming. “I love you. Ya’Aburnee.”

It’s not fair. You were younger, and healthier. Until that bloody, leeching canker appeared.

How could you ever be sure that you could not live without me, Sansa? I never thought I could, yet I am. And I don’t much care for it. And I’m not sure I can do it for much longer. The rest of the family is the only thing keeping me here, but it’s not complete without you. You’ve never met little Torrhen. And I fear Cat, Litsa, Neddie, and Jonny are too young to remember you when they get older. It anything, that makes me even more eager to leave. It doesn’t seem right for me to live longer enough to be remembered when you haven’t.

I need to stop with self-pity. It was a nasty habit that only you managed to completely break me of. But you’re gone now, Sansa. And as much as I want to do you proud, I need to be with you even more.

I… I need you more than they need me.

I’m glad you made sure that a tomb next to yours was started. I suppose you weren’t entirely selfish. Sure, you left me, but you started the hole, the resting place for me beside you. Ya’aburnee. Or something. I never did manage to master Valyrian, High or otherwise.

We bury each other.

This is the last letter to you, Sansa. I think I am ready to go. Everything else, I’ll say in person.

I love you, Ya’aburnee,

Jon.

Jon Stark Targaryen, Prince of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Prince Consort of the Three Realms of Winter, Hero of the Dawn, former King of the Three Realms of Winter, former Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, Lord Consort of Winterfell, Hand of the Queen, Council Advisor, Lord General of the Winter Armies, Husband and Consort to Sansa of House Stark, First of Her Name, Queen of the Three Realms of Winter, Lady of Winterfell, and Protector of the Realm, Father to Queen Alysanne I of the Three Realms of Winter, Prince Brandon of Winterfell, and Princess Arya of Winterfell and grandfather to the successive issue, died on the Day of the FIfth month, Year 356 after Aegon’s Landing, the night of the one year anniversary of his wife’s death.

Every day from her passing to his, even on the day of his death, Prince Jon wrote Queen Sansa letters, depositing them in a small hole built into the wall of tomb for that use. He was buried a week later beside his beloved wife, a statue of him at the height of his legendary military victories, erected atop his grave, joining hands with his wife’s monument per the instructions of their will. Though entry to the famous Winterfell crypts have been closed to the general public since their creation, the painting of their tomb by their great-great-great grandson, Prince Jon ‘the Dreamer’ of Winterfell, has gone down in history as one of the most romantic and well-beloved historical pieces of art in the North and all of Westeros, with prints and copies of the painting a popular, mass-produced piece. The letters which Prince Jon wrote to his wife were excavated from her grave a century later (and returned and preserved within their tomb shortly after once they were copied) and, along with the rest of the royal couple correspondence, have been published and become timelessly popular reading among each generation in the Three Realms and Beyond over the seven centuries since the royal couple’s death.

The romantic phrase of ‘Ya’Aburnee’, originally only a popular endearment in Eastern countries of native Valyrian speakers, has become a widespread expression of love within Westeros thanks to Sansa and Jon, with the phrase becoming a customary addition to wedding vows all over the world.

[endlessarchite]

Three Bedroom Makeovers For Three Deserving Kids

John and I had the chance to do the most fun and fulfilling project recently: designing new bedrooms for three amazing local kids who are currently going through cancer treatment. We’ve shared a few sneak peeks on Instagram and our podcast, but here’s our big photo-packed post with details on each of the rooms as promised for you guys! We couldn’t be more excited to share them with you.

First, some background on the project. A few weeks ago the team at Biringer Builders reached out to us for help. They’re the custom builder we teamed up with back in 2014 to design a charity showhouse for Richmond Homearama (below are some photos of that project). Homerama is an annual event where people can tour several show homes for design ideas and this year’s charity partner is ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation. They’re an awesome organization that provides support to kids and families battling cancer, so Biringer and ASK decided that rather than just decorate the bedrooms in their showhouse for fictional placeholder children, why not design the rooms for real kids going through treatment.

Which is where we came in. They asked if we could maybe help with a room or two, and we said “WE WANT TO DO ALL THREE!” Kids rooms are our favorites and we LOVE being able to help families that are going through something like this. So we basically sprang into action Spider-man style (except wearing less skintight clothing) and began sourcing things for each room according to each child’s wish list and personal info about hobbies, favorite colors, etc. Although the timing was tight, we even got some amazing decor-related donations along with donating some money to the budget ourselves to make sure these rooms are awesome for these sweet kids and their families.

Speaking of the timeline, we received those details about each kid and their likes/requests just a few weeks ago – so we definitely hustled to pull everything together before the show opened last weekend. It was a whirlwind at times (the first time we got to see the rooms in person was just five days before our deadline), but the crew at Biringer (shout out to Justin and Taylor!) was a huge help in making sure everything came together in time. We’re going to be mindful of these families’ privacy in this post (hence just using each kid’s first initial throughout – and not including a ton of personal details) but please know that many of the choices made for each room came directly from requests, interests, or wish-lists that these kids came up with for their own spaces.

Oh and you might be wondering: why put this stuff in a showhouse first? Why not just directly makeover their rooms? Well, by sharing these rooms in the showhouse first, it shines a giant spotlight on ASK, and people walking through will hopefully be inspired to donate or volunteer. And then after the show all of the furniture and decor will be moved into their real homes (beds, curtains, lights, everything!) in a couple of weeks.

A Full Video Tour

Before we dive into a room-by-room photo breakdown (with all the sources for everyone asking!), I wanted to share this quick video walk-through that I made right after we finished. John convinced me to step out of my iPhone comfort zone and use the good camera, so here it goes. You’ll get to see all three rooms as I walk through them and chat about each one – and you’ll hopefully get a better sense of how everything flows together. Plus you get to enjoy some of my classic jabs-finger-into-frame-to-point-things-out moves.

You can watch it below or here on YouTube. Note: If you’re viewing this post in a reader, you may need to click through to see the video.

A’s Bedroom

A is the youngest of the kids (she’s actually the closest in age to our own daughter) and her #1 request was for a loft bed with a desk underneath. So we found this one for her, which became our starting point for the room. From there it was all about incorporating her favorite colors and her love of things like nature and animals (especially stuffed ones) throughout the space.

  loft bed / pillows / bedding / throw / dreamcatcher / butterfly art / wicker elephant

Since A’s real room back at home isn’t as generously sized as this one in the showhouse, the desk under the loft will be a great space-saving solution for her (smart girl to request one!). That also explains why the rug above isn’t quite large enough for this big room (we erred on the side of choosing things that will fit their actual rooms perfectly, even if they’re a smidge too small for the showhouse).

We found this fun chair at HomeGoods to add to the desk area (it doesn’t appear to be sold online, but here’s a similar version). And our friends at Shades of Light donated the swirly table lamp, along with several of the other light fixtures in the spaces. Don’t mind the fake laptop. #showhousetricks

loft bed / similar chair / lamp / pillow

Speaking of the donations from Shades of Light, we were psyched to get to use this tiered capiz chandelier that we designed for them last year. It’s one of our favorite lights we’ve ever made with them (hello, capiz circles as big as my palm!) and it’s so cool that Biringer is going to send their electrician to install it in A’s room when the show is over.

The rug is one we bought from Green Front Furniture, which is a giant furniture warehouse about an hour from us in Farmville, VA. They’re the furniture partner for Homearama, so a lot of the items throughout all of the homes are loaned out for the show and available for purchase by anyone walking through… but not this rug – it’s all A’s! (Here’s a similar one, for anyone who isn’t near enough to Greenfront to shop there)

And actually a lot of the art throughout the Biringer showhouse is a similar situation. A local artist collective called Yellow Door Art lets them use their paintings to fill the walls, and then Homearama visitors can purchase them right off the walls if they’d like (they pick them up after the show). We actually bought a piece this way last year – and they have generously offered to donate some of the paintings in each of these three rooms to these awesome kids.

We were also so happy when Jenny Komenda (of Little Green Notebook & Jenny’s Print Shop) offered to donate three awesome framed prints – one for each kid.  That’s her butterfly print all framed up below. It’s just $15 for the digital download and you can print it huge and frame it yourself – her shop is such a great art resource. Thanks Jenny!

This little play nook is one of my favorite spots in A’s room. Again, she loves animals (stuffed and real) so we collected a variety of species for her throughout the room and in many forms (they’re all inanimate in this case though – ha!). I even came across this always-sold-out elephant basket from Target’s Opalhouse line. It’s never in stock anywhere so I think it must’ve been a return or something. Or elephant destiny.

Speaking of animals baskets, under the wall of windows we added an accent table that A doesn’t have space for in her actual room, but it anchored this spot in the showhouse nicely (one of the challenges was making sure first and foremost that these kids had awesome rooms when everything went into their space, but also making sure the showhouse didn’t seem weirdly sparse for the show).

Thankfully the table is one of those loaner items from Greenfront, so it was really nice to have on hand for that spot. A’s going to get all of the accessories though, like the storage suitcases in her favorite colors and – my personal favorite – the kitty basket underneath. Plus she loves riding bikes so that little bicycle painting (from YellowDoorRVA) is one they’re giving to her. How sweet is that?!

But back to the kitty basket for a minute. Would it be wrong for a 36-year-old woman to have this basket in her room? Asking for a friend.

A will also be getting this Jenny Lind dresser (it’s even more beautiful in person, and so well made) that anchors a small nook on the other side of the room. We hung our favorite circle mirror above it since the gold complements all of the wicker in the room along with the gold chandelier. And you know that little bike screamed A’s name, so we had to stick that in the room too.

So that’s A’s fresh new bedroom. All of the little details like this yarn dreamcatcher were so much fun to pull together. She was a blast to design for and our fingers are crossed that we get to meet her face to face sometime soon to tell her how much we enjoyed making this room just for her.

J’s Bedroom

J was the only boy in the group, and he’s a young man of simple requests. He likes sports (most of all basketball), as well as videos games, and the color red. Red can be an overpowering color to decorate with, so we tried to incorporate it in ways that wouldn’t be too overwhelming (we want his bedroom to feel restful and calming for him and his family). So a tip for working those stronger tones into a room without making too crazy is to neutralize it with a fair amount of grounding tones like blue, gray, and white. They cut the intensity and balance things out. J really wanted a new twin sized bed so we found these nice gray upholstered ones. I love that we were able to give him a fully upholstered bed frame and not just an upholstered headboard.

beds / nightstand / rug / mirrors / sconces / duvet / blanket / navy pillow / patterned pillow

Since J’s room is smaller than this one, he actually only has room for (and a need for) one twin bed. But Biringer suggested that we buy a second one (well, they buy a second one – ha!) to better fill out the room for the show. The look of two matching beds like this is always so charming if you have the space – but I also love picturing J’s room with this rug and a single twin bed, with both sconces flanking it. You can tell from the photos above that it’s another case of the rug being a little too small for this big room, but it’ll be perfect in his space.

The sconces are the same ones we have in our beach house’s back bedroom, just in the brass/black finish this time. They’re the ones we designed for Shades of Light a few years back, and they generously donated these too. We find ourselves working them into rooms a lot because they’re plug-in (so you don’t need an electrician to hang them – you just screw them into the wall anywhere you want them , and plug them in. That’s it!). Plus you can easily move them if needed – like when it’s time for them to be rehung in J’s real bedroom.

A lot of the bedding is from Target (like the white duvets and the blue blankets at the foot of the bed), since it was a convenient place to grab stuff as the clock ticked towards our deadline (some things we ordered online had us sweating until the very last minute – like A’s white dresser that showed up mere hours before we had to be completely finished).

Those special handmade and oh-so-beautiful blue shibori pillows are from Danielle Oakey, who very generously donated (and rush delivered!) them after seeing an Instagram sneak peek about this project. We bought some of her pillows for our own living room a while back and really love her stuff, so they were a great addition to make J’s bed feel layered and a little more special. Even if they end up in a pile on the floor most of the time like kids pillows tend to do.

Also I’m starting a new trend called “Real Basketball As Pillow.” This bright red and blue one just looked so cute up there on the bed – and we actually later got it signed by members of his favorite team (all the heart eyes). I’m sure it’ll end up in one of the baskets that we filled with toys and games for him in real life, but I just loved leaving it up there for the show.

I wanted to call out this bay window too. The curtains are just nice white ones that we rush ordered for all three rooms (we’ve never met a crisp white curtain we didn’t like) but originally the installer had hung the rods on top of the two side windows. Pardon this quick phone picture I took, but I wanted to show you how much of a difference just one single tweak can make when it comes to windows. This is the before:

And this is the after:

All we did was hang another rod to span that middle section, removed the finials, and inched the curtains over into that angled area so it gave the appearance of a continuous rod across all three windows. The entire side of the room felt a lot more seamless and cozy as soon as we connected the “curtain rod eyebrows” that were going on before (hooray for curtain rod unibrows!). You’d need to add a third set of curtains to make them able to fully close – but thanks to the white wood blinds that do the light blocking, they’re purely decorative in this case. So for anyone who has ever asked me how to add curtains to an angled window like this, there ya go.

On the opposite side of the room is this dresser that, along with the rug, adds some nice warmth to balance the cool colors in the space (gray beds, lots of blue accents, etc). Again, the rug would ideally be larger for this space, but this 5 x 7′ size is perfect for J’s actual room back at home. And you can’t beat the price!

dresser / art / lamp / rug / cornhole game

Here’s a little behind-the-scenes shot for ya. In taking the photo above, John was complaining that the glare was making the art print hard to see (it was another one that Jenny so generously framed and donated from her print shop). So I took one for the team and blocked the glare with whatever large object I could find (which ended up being a painting from another room, ha!). John photoshopped a few pictures together to get what you see above, minus me standing creepily in the middle of the shot like a toddler playing hide-n-seek. You can’t see me!

We had a ton of fun gathering toys, games, and other gifts for the kids too (since children’s joy for new furniture only goes so far). J also got some new sporting stuff, including balls and a basket full of Nerf stuff. We were particularly charmed by this tabletop version of cornhole that John may have spent more than few minutes playing in a surprisingly competitive manner. Against himself. Father’s Day gift….?

I mean, he even took a special photo of it.

So there’s J’s room. It doesn’t scream “sporty” in every last nook and cranny, but we’ve learned that kids rooms are often best when they’re just a simple backdrop so new items & interests can be layered into them as they grow and change. So if tomorrow he decides he likes baseball more than basketball, we didn’t go all in on a rug covered with basketball hoops or a dresser that’s painted like a scoreboard.

But it would be pretty simple to switch the framed print next to his bed from red basketball art to whatever else he’s into.

S’s Bedroom

S is the oldest of the kids (a young lady, really) and she described herself as laid back and chill, so we went for a casual California vibe in her room. And these rattan headboards that I found on eBay (yes, eBay!) were the perfect way to kick things off (they’re also on Wayfair but appear to cost more at the moment). These arrived with just a day or two to spare, so I had some backup headboards on hand, but I’m SO GLAD they came! They make the whole room!

headboards / nightstand / lamp / bedding / navy pillow / pink pillows / art

Like J’s room, S requested a single twin bed for her actual room, but the builder bought an extra one so the house felt more filled out for the show. I love the fact that all the stuff we got for these rooms is flexible enough to work in a giant space with the addition of a few extra pieces, but will also work in a cozier room like their actual homes. It makes them feel nice and flexible, which is a good thing when it comes to rooms for kids.

The headboards pair so nicely with the boho jute light fixture we picked out for the room, which again was donated by Shades of Light (they even expedited it so it would make it here in time – whew!). It gives off the prettiest light pattern when it’s on too!

Our original plan for over the beds was to hang round mirrors over each headboard, but we realized as soon as the headboards finally arrived that large round items over a rounded headboard essentially create an accidental snowman. Whoops! So it was on to Plan B, which ended up being so pretty. It’s this large painting from Yellow Door Art artist Stacey Reece – and it was the perfect way to pull in some of the colors we already had going on in the room. Those navy pillows are actually two more of the same ones we bought for J’s room. They’re just such a nice scale, plus the pink pillows donated by Danielle Oakey pair so nicely with them.

The little blue nightstand was a last minute find after desperately trying about 10 local places in search for the right side table (the one we ordered was later cancelled and never shipped! AHH!). Can you believe we struck out at two HomeGoods but ended up stumbling upon this perfect find with less than 24 hours before our deadline? We have never been more grateful to see a night stand in our lives!

The other side of her room features a nice big dresser, anchored by a casual spot to chill (courtesy of this cozy beanbag – another feature that John “tested out” before we left). I wish, wish, WISH I had a link to the amazing dresser for you guys, but it was a one-of-a-kind sample found at Greenfront Furniture (this one is somewhat similar in tone & dimension along the front panels). But how cool is it that S gets this one-of-a-kind furniture piece in her bedroom?!

bean bag / rug / lamp / small art / large art

This rug is also a great one – the price is awesome, it’s super durable, the pattern hides stains, and it ties in so well with the navy pillows and the art on the other side of the room. S loves navy (and blue in general) so it was another lucky find for her space.

J told us that she’s really into words of encouragement and empowerment – she wanted her space to feel confident (how awesome is she?). So I found this “Who Run The World” printable on Etsy that paired really nicely with the colors in this large heart print, which was another framed donation from Jenny’s Print Shop. And I couldn’t resist grabbing that little desktop “Like A Boss” sign for her too (found it at Target but can’t find it online).

The gradient lamp adds more of her favorite color while providing some nice light for beanbag reading/lounging. As a general kids room note, it’s nice to have a ceiling fixture and at least one table lamp or floor lamp (just for functional things like reading or even just that added glow beyond the overhead variety).

And now that I think about it, maybe every room could stand to have a little bit of Beyoncé in it too…

I think that just about wraps it up. Don’t forget to scroll back up and watch the video if you skipped over that to read the post (it gives you a much better idea of how everything flows). And if a video walk-through isn’t enough, you can come see the rooms in person along with all seven designer show homes by attending The Richmond Homearama. It runs Wednesdays through Sundays from 11am – 6pm (this week and next – ending May 20th). You can check out the link above for more info & tickets.

Thanks again to Homearama, Biringer Builders, and ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation for inviting us to help with this very special project. If you’d like to find out more, give a donation, or get involved with ASK, please check out their website for more info. Every single person we worked with on this project was amazing and we heard from so many other parents who have personally been helped by ASK when their family was going through a very rough time. They’re wonderful people doing wonderful things.

***P.S. If you’d like bonus photos, tips, project ideas, and behind-the-scenes info delivered straight to your inbox, click here to subscribe to our free newsletter. Last week we talked about making large cheap framed art for the beach house & this week we’re sharing what design idea we saw at the showhouse that we’re totally stealing for the beach house.***

*This post contains affiliate links – and the proceeds from these links will be donated to ASK*

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