#First Specter / Saved. = Spirit.

[captainkurosolaire]

Dreamer of Dreams

 How important are dreams? Chasing things beyond us sometimes grant us strength to surpass limits, to courageously endure for our vision. Over time a Pirate’s own became misconstrued, failures, losses piled up and his grandeur became murky. Losing a partial, vital piece of essence. Children call them dreams, but upon nurture, it was called Ambition! Without having a strong-self interest, he couldn’t relate or jump the hurdle for others, initially sought.  Now rectification came to retrieve what was lost. The First-Stage to Healing.

By plucking his lost spirit within obscurity, a reversion of his zenith came. That horrendous fog vaporized to magnificent sunlight. Matured figure of the boy-to-be, extended his arm’s out, it was time to go home. In their embrace, unbridled warmth quaked from a reunion of resolve. A wide-spread grin surfaced externally Captain’s injuries stung, ached, nevertheless something swelled within himself, the belief to achieve, in absolution. He sprung a bounce to his soles, kip-up. With finesse, began reassembling his own mind-games against his Skull Brethren, since started off this way, donning his original attire, fetching dual-blade’s of Hingan that were sworn off to prevent incidental death. Black-blood face paint ran across his eyelids, not only repulsing the dead itself; used to aid him in becoming brave that required adversity, now just meant to trigger Sol's distress. Sol took aim to shoot-down Captain’s butterfly who came from the cabin’s keyhole to cause misdirection, the spirit-guide, named Perish, fluttered between his limbs, barely evading swatting and squishing attempts. Soon found himself pulverized by a door that flew off the hinges suddenly as the Seeker sprinted with full on collision from a drop-kick, then surfboarding it, trampling his rib-cage. “Always told ye t’ fix that blimey door!” Giving a befitting punishment to the Shipwright, squished with the cabin’s door on him, Kuro kicked Sol’s silver-wind pistol into the waters, then blitzed towards climbing to the top-mast where their sail-flag awaited. Mistbeard’s mask still onlooking their pirate-battle. The ex-Garlean conscript, struggled temporarily, wind knocked out of him, before angrily following pursuit, spare pistol <Live Free> brought out taking shots at the climbing cat-folk, who intelligibly utilized line-of-sight climbing alongside the mast’s with his heritage-expertise, forcing the gun-wielder to pursue, climbing up to the top with sheer agitation, this would be done in a duel-fashion now.

Atop the mast, where they’d wage their last-sequence as blood-brothers turned enemies. Sol finally arrives behind in his pursuit, seeing Captain more closely. He was unnerved, a deplorable golden-crest smile was on him, the markings of jolly, complete fulfillment, it always brought him anger. As if a Sun was looking beneath him, nothing he could do would discourage the heat, his traditional means to kill, erase, all left meaningless in pursuit. His brow twitched into a frown. That deviant-rogue staring across him spoke, “Thanks t’ ye mate. I found irreplaceable value in me. I’m afraid… I’ll b’ stealing n’ cucking ye, again of something. Could race to see who reaches ascension firstly or lastly there! Like ol’ times… But I’ve got t’ slay your dark-cloud, it’s cramping my vibes.” Candidly bringing back a memento, it’s like time-flowed back, to not-long-ago, they used to rock-paper-scissors for who rigged, or climbing up on the masts, doing contests to one-up another in brotherly competition. “Also – I’ve decided. I’ll become a King.” Calmness and overwhelming peace said with a matter-of-fact from the Scoundrel’s following words, after the storm-breeze howled.

Sol, overtaken by envy, frustratingly growled, “...Y-You can’t just decide that!” Where did this abundance of confidence come from? Teeth grinding and grating together blood rushing into his temple. His concentration was caught lacking and those winds nearly took him off balance, but Miqo'te remained perfectly still…

Energy shifted in an instantaneous, an explosiveness out-cried from Captain with a thunderous shout of his declaration. A Challenge against ALL of Destiny, Fate, anything in-between was committed, throughout the rumbling tides and passed air. “I’ll become King ov’ th’ LIVING!” A dream so far-above, outlandish, impossible echoed. Jolly laughter tantalizingly followed, against Sol’s ire, a splitting image of their own Founder was reminded. To know, Living is to understand the existence of infinity! There was no-one way to live. This particular Pirate knew this and had connection to everything that resided between the spectrum's, life to death, and was born from a Mother’s Light and Father’s Shadow. Be that as it may, he ambitiously stared at the path of transcendence. Unwavering determination highlighting his visage. Upon his crew and varied people across in adventuring, to most-natural or supernatural, soul’s encountered.  All uplifting and inspiring him to heights leaving their imprints, scars, traces upon his singular vessel, these were the stupendous keepsakes, to preserve! Wanting this stead. Survival was instinctual because this was his perceived ultimate treasure. A challenge traversed the realm, shaking with a bewilderment of unyielding certainty. An individual-cloaked frozen-between-time peered over to the skies and gave halt from galloping.

They who stood at the highest summit, a GIANT, woke from disruption. Hinted with Captain’s Presence, awakening. Enraged Sol, lashed out in foul spite, fear, quivering and whining jealousy, “Nonsense. Die, Die, Die!” Pulling his trigger, reloading with rapid-fire, pupils went bloodshot from crazed-fury. The amber-eye, determined Seeker, predicted the trajectory of every fired-shot just by familiarizing Sol’s aim, countering by sliding against bullets with his dual-blades shield, deflecting and parrying him, to having them shred against his flesh in minor grazes, fearlessness, continued forth closing distance. Where Sol was useless in. They battled akin to this when pint-sized deckhands, back then using bb-guns or slingshots versus wooden kendo, this entire scene felt like reversed-time. Captain with a blade-rising upwardly in the air, spun his blade with realignment allowing glaring-rays, letting what all others were seeing. Sunlight had broken throughout the canopies of those undesirable clouds, vanquishing them. His steel-reflecting light, brought a blindness causing the Raen to misfire, his last shot in the chamber, the Seeker predicting this response, taking advantage of his discombobulated state, gave a devastating cross-slash against the Raen’s bare-chest, secondary dual-strike following-through with momentum to strike his gun-slinging wrist, forcing a disarming in one flawless-swoop.

♫Undefeatable♫ - Reference - Last Chapter

[book--brackets]

Summaries under the cut

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

Taran wanted to be a hero, and looking after a pig wasn't exactly heroic, even though Hen Wen was an oracular pig. But the day that Hen Wen vanished, Taran was led into an enchanting and perilous world. With his band of followers, he confronted the Horned King and his terrible Cauldron-Born. These were the forces of evil, and only Hen Wen knew the secret of keeping the kingdom of Prydain safe from them. But who would find her first?

The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White

Louie is very popular. Who wouldn't love a swan who can read, write, and play the trumpet? When Louie goes to camp, he meets a boy named A.G. who doesn't like birds, and since Louie is a bird, that means he doesn't like Louie. When A.G. pulls a dangerous stunt out on the lake, he realizes that Louie is a hero, after all.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

Every kid thinks about running away at one point or another; few get farther than the end of the block. Young Sam Gribley gets to the end of the block and keeps going--all the way to the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. There he sets up house in a huge hollowed-out tree, with a falcon and a weasel for companions and his wits as his tool for survival. In a spellbinding, touching, funny account, Sam learns to live off the land, and grows up a little in the process. Blizzards, hunters, loneliness, and fear all battle to drive Sam back to city life. But his desire for freedom, independence, and adventure is stronger. No reader will be immune to the compulsion to go right out and start whittling fishhooks and befriending raccoons.

The Black Stallion by Walter Farley

Alec Ramsay is the sole human survivor of a devastating shipwreck. Trapped on a deserted island, Alec finds his only companion is a horse, beautiful, unbroken, and savage . . . a horse whose beauty matches his wild spirit.

The Magisterium by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. To succeed at the Iron Trial and be admitted into the vaunted Magisterium school would bring bad things. But he fails at failing. Only hard work, loyal friends, danger, and a puppy await.

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

Twelve-year-old Addie admires her older sister Meryl, who aspires to rid the kingdom of Bamarre of gryphons, specters, and ogres. Addie, on the other hand, is fearful even of spiders and depends on Meryl for courage and protection. Waving her sword Bloodbiter, the older girl declaims in the garden from the heroic epic of Drualt to a thrilled audience of Addie, their governess, and the young sorcerer Rhys.

But when Meryl falls ill with the dreaded Gray Death, Addie must gather her courage and set off alone on a quest to find the cure and save her beloved sister. Addie takes the seven-league boots and magic spyglass left to her by her mother and the enchanted tablecloth and cloak given to her by Rhys - along with a shy declaration of his love. She prevails in encounters with tricky specters (spiders too) and outwits a wickedly personable dragon in adventures touched with romance and a bittersweet ending.

Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe

Before it's too late, Harold the dog and Chester the cat must find out the truth about the newest pet in the Monroe household -- a suspicious-looking bunny with unusual habits... and fangs!

Beka Cooper by Tamora Pierce

Beka Cooper is a rookie with the law-enforcing Provost's Guard, commonly known as "the Provost's Dogs," in Corus, the capital city of Tortall. To the surprise of both the veteran "Dogs" and her fellow "puppies," Beka requests duty in the Lower City. The Lower City is a tough beat. But it's also where Beka was born, and she's comfortable there.

Beka gets her wish. She's assigned to work with Mattes and Clary, famed veterans among the Provost's Dogs. They're tough, they're capable, and they're none too happy about the indignity of being saddled with a puppy for the first time in years. What they don't know is that Beka has something unique to offer. Never much of a talker, Beka is a good listener. So good, in fact, that she hears things that Mattes and Clary never could - information that is passed in murmurs when flocks of pigeons gather ... murmurs that are the words of the dead.

In this way, Beka learns of someone in the Lower City who has overturned the power structure of the underworld and is terrorizing its citizens into submission and silence. Beka's magical listening talent is the only way for the Provost's Dogs to find out the identity of this brutal new underlord, for the dead are beyond fear. And the ranks of the dead will be growing if the Dogs can't stop a crime wave the likes of which has never been seen. Luckily for the people of the Lower City, the new puppy is a true terrier!

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

In the kingdom of Ayortha, who is the fairest of them all? Certainly not Aza. She is thoroughly convinced that she is ugly. What she may lack in looks, though, she makes up for with a kind heart, and with something no one else has-a magical voice. Her vocal talents captivate all who hear them, and in Ontio Castle they attract the attention of a handsome prince - and a dangerous new queen.

Trickster's Duology by Tamora Pierce

Alianne is the teenage daughter of the famed Alanna, the first lady knight in Tortall. Young Aly follows in the quieter footsteps of her father, however, delighting in the art of spying. When she is captured and sold as a slave to an exiled royal family in the faraway Copper Islands, it is this skill that makes a difference in a world filled with political intrigue, murderous conspiracy, and warring gods.

[didherodown]

Didherodown's Official Danny Phantom episode recommendations

(for the fan who has never seen the series but is in the phandom)

Ordered in sequence of release (taken from imdb, so take that as you will)

Very Important episodes will be noted like this Episodes I think are fun and kinda important like this

enjoy!

Season 1: Has a lot of groundwork for the show, lots of introductions to our cast of Ghosts

Mystery Meat - E1

Where it all started, establishes Sam and Tuckers rivalry over food, our first encounter with the Lunch Lady, and Danny’s first outing as a hero in general

Episodes 2-6 : feature introductions to Dora, Skulker, Technus, Point Dexter, and Desiree 

Bitter Reunions - E7

Our introduction to Vlad! Establishes Vlad vs Danny dynamic, Vlad's hate of Jack and his obsession with Maddie

Prisoners of Love - E8 is our intro to Walker

My Brothers Keeper - E9

Spectra makes her appearance! Shows a lot of Danny’s insecurities he has about being different, an outsider, ect.  And Jazz finds out Danny's identity!

Shades of Gray - E10 

Our first meeting of Valerie, and where her life gets ruined by Cujo!

Fanning the Flames - E11 is our intro to Ember

Maternal Instincts - E17 

Vlad is up to his scheming and tries to get both Danny and Maddie to join him and abandon Jack. (Introduces the Specter Deflector gadget, as well the the Plasmius Maximus)

The Million Dollar Ghost - E19

Vlad puts a bounty on Danny Phantom, making lots and lots of ghost hunters show up- including the GIW

Control Freaks - E20

Circus Gothica! The ringmaster- Freakshow- has a staff that he uses to control ghosts and Danny of course falls victim 

Season 2: Has a lot of bangers- and is very heavy in the Danny Lore AND where a lot of fannon comes from (ghost king, trans danny, pharaoh tuck, ect)

Reign Storm - E4

In which Pariah Dark is awoken and goes on a rampage, sucking Amity Park into the Ghost zone. With the other ghosts also terrified of the Ghost King, Danny might be the only who has a chance to stop him (ghost king danny anyone????)

The Ultimate Enemy - E6

Danny cheats on a test, which we find out actually will end the world. Our introduction to Clockwork and the Eyeball Guys(™). And of course, Danny’s future evil self- Dan !!

King Tuck - E7

Where Tucker gets influenced by Hotep-Ra (origin of the Pharaoh Tucker fannon)

Identity Crisis - E8

Where we learn that simply splitting Danny from his ghost half is not an option, his ghost half is indeed half of him

Flirting with Disaster - E11

Where Danny and Valerie are dating. In this episode her original ghost fighting suit is destroyed and Technus makes her a new version- leading to lots of fannon about Valerie being a little more ghost than she thought

Kindred Spirits - E14

Cloning! Danielle! AHHHHHHH!!!! (trans Danny? All but confirmed /hj)

Reality Trip - E17

Where Freakshow is searching for the stones of the Reality Gauntlet (very reminiscent of the Infinity Gauntlet from Marvel)

Season 3: Often the most criticized of the three seasons, the show was canceled in this season. BUT THERE IS SO MUCH IMPORTANT LORE IN THIS ONE LETS GO

Infinite Realms - E2

Our first meeting with Frostbite! Also tells us a lot about how natural portals work AND the introduction of blood blossoms

Torrent of Terror - E4

Introduces Vortex, also Danny's mood affects the weather for a good part of this episode

Urban Jungle - E6

Undergrowth has taken over amity, making Sam his “Queen” because of her love and care of plants. THIS IS WHERE WE FIRST SEE DANNY’S ICE POWERS! AND WE LEARN ABOUT CORES! YES REALLY ONLY 6 EPISODES FROM THE END

Boxed Up Fury - E8

The Box ghost, upset at not being taken seriously- steals Pandora's Box, and well, that goes about as good as you imagine it going

D-Stablized - E11

Dani is literally dissolving into ectoplasm, and Danny has to find a way to save her before she destabilizes all the way. (Introduces Ecto Dejecto- a fanfic staple)

Now this is just my personal list- based on 20 years of being in this fandom (holy shit how can it be that long????)

Thanks for reading :)

[docgold13]

Heroes & Villains The DC Animated Universe - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Bruce Wayne (Beyond)

A lifetime of crimefighting took its tole on Bruce Wayne, both in body and spirit.  By his sixties, Bruce continued to operate as Batman protecting the streets of Gotham.  He utilized a bionically enhanced suit to compensate for his advanced age and waning physicality.  Many of his colleagues had passed away or retired and those who had not were long since alienated by Bruce’s myopic obsession to his never ending mission.  

He experienced a heart attack while saving a hostage and, in a moment of desperation, he nearly used a discarded gun to shoot an attacker.  Taking a life was antithetical to all that he stood for and the shock of almost having done so was enough to convince Bruce that it was finally time to retire.  As such, he hung up his suit, shut down the Batcave and all but disappeared from the world.  The specter of Batman faded into a myth.

He lived in seclusion for many years, holed up in Wayne Manner with no one but his dog for company.  And it would have remained that way had fate not intervened.  Young Terry McGinnis happened upon Wayne Manner while investigating the murder of his father.  Headstrong and persistent, Terry discovered Bruce’s secret, that he had once been the legendary Batman.  The youth ended up stealing the enhanced batsuit and using it in his effort to avenge his father.  Bruce tried to stop him, yet something had been set in motion that was not going to stop.  Gotham still needed a Batman and the world was not done with Bruce Wayne.  

Working together, Bruce and Terry became the new Batman, a ‘Tomorrow Knight’ who brought justice back to Gotham; with Terry in the field and Bruce providing support and guidance from the reactivated Batcave.  And while Bruce aided Terry in learning to become a superhero, so too did Terry aid Bruce, helping him in healing old wounds and reconnecting with the world.  Bruce reconciled with his former colleagues, Barbara Gordon and Tim Drake, as also seized back control of his company from the corporate vultures who had taken it from him.  

Bruce had been a surrogate father to many individuals: Barbara, Tim and Dick Grayson; and was doing so again with Terry.  Ironically, it would later be revealed that Terry was actually his biological son as well.  A furtive plan arranged by Amanda Waller resulted in Terry’s mother being secretly impregnated with Bruce’s genetic material.  

This revelation was a shock to them both and it acted to motivate Bruce to encourage Terry to seek out the happiness that had always eluded him.  The mission was important, but not all that was important and a life of singular focus ultimately leads to regret.  

Ultimately Terry chose to marry his longtime love, Dana Tan.  He would never be as great a Batman as his father, but he would be a happier man with a more fulfilling life.  And what more could a father want for his son?

The immortal Kevin Conroy provided the voice for Bruce Wayne with this older iteration of the hero first appearing int he premier episode of Batman Beyond.     

[girlwithhat]

I must be truly in the fandom now after I surprised myself by writing a Granada fic over the course of the weekend!

TITLE: Beloved's Ghost

SUMMARY: After Holmes' death at the Falls, Watson falls gravely ill while working nonstop through his grief. He’s visited in his feverish state by Mrs. Hudson, Lestrade, Mycroft, and…Sherlock Holmes?

NOTES: I think either Watson works for this - depends on when during the hiatus you place it. When writing, my mind started off with David Burke at the beginning but then ended with Edward Hardwicke.

In the weeks following Holmes’ untimely death, once I moved out of our Baker Street rooms, I threw myself into work against my better judgement, giving all my care to my patients and saving none for myself. Expectedly, one can only survive on tea, toast, and willpower for a short time before the weight of grief and exhaustion comes calling. The weather as of late had aggravated my old wounds compounded with exposure to patients plagued by fever and respiratory distress day in and day out. Falling ill swiftly, I was in such a terrible way that I was found slumped over my desk in my consulting room, mumbling whether I should have gone over the falls as well.

Though I slipped in and out of consciousness much during this prolonged illness, I was comforted by the fact that I was not as alone as I believed. I could count on seeing Lestrade; he read the newspaper and commented on cases that he wished Holmes and I could have assisted on. Sometimes Mycroft Holmes deviated from his routine to sit in silence that ranged from awkward to companionable for I knew his love for his deceased brother made his presence at my bedside a duty. Though I was no longer her tenant, Mrs. Hudson still insisted on fussing over me, bringing fortifying broth and extra blankets to my room above my surgery. Dr. Moore Agar made sure I was a compliant patient and administered sleeping draughts to ensure I received sufficient rest.

In between these familiar visits, I saw him. It was always the same: someone I did not recognize would stand by my bedside, blow the candles out, then become him with a worried look, a gentle touch, maybe a sigh before disappearing yet again. I must have been close to death to have my dear Holmes in my presence at those times.

“My dear Watson, do not leave me.” He said. This was the first time the spirit chose to speak to me in the darkness. A small candle illuminated half his face as he drew near.

“But you left me,” I murmured. Just his visage was enough to bring tears unbidden to my eyes tonight. Brave face discarded in my illness, the wounds of grief, tender still, threatened to open again at these appearances. I did not foresee them healing for a long time as his presence ever lingered.

A brush of cool fingers wiped away my tears. “Your current condition surprises me. There were hopes you were on the mend.”

“Still gripped by lethargy and despondency. Admittedly, my heart is more sick than my head,” said I, the truth coming to the surface in my delirium, “Your specter is both a comfort and a torture, Holmes.”

“A selfish act on my part. My continued weakness brings me here, to indulge the compulsion in the darkness. I fear I’ve caused you more pain, my devoted friend.”

“I fear the day when my mind ceases to conjure you up.”

“Truly? I would imagine it would be an improvement.”

“No no, but even then, my heart would keep you close.”

“Why?” He asked in a whisper. It was as if the ghost was having trouble understanding the depth of my attachment to the man he was.

“You know why. Forever my nearest and dearest…my Holmes."

“Nearest and dearest,” He repeated, reaching out to stroke my cheek tenderly, “I must go.”

“Must you?” 

“I…you will see me again. In time.”

As the emotion of this conversation took a toll on my depleted energy, I could feel the pull of slumber on my consciousness as my eyelids grew heavy. “Holmes..."

“Shhh…” I then felt the lightest touch of lips upon mine. “That is a promise.” 

I awoke sometime later feeling much better, my latest fever broken after having voiced my deepest feelings to the universe in the form of my beloved’s ghost. I knew Holmes would have been pleased he helped me regain my health in some capacity after all the times I looked after him. Once recovered, I resolved to take better care of myself. While his spirit brought me comfort, I did not desire to join Holmes so soon. I would see him again, in time. Till then, every night after my last patient, I would reverently read Holmes’ last letter framed in my consulting room, thinking back to his ghost’s kiss which felt so real.

[infinite-riches]

I Was Good Until I Turned Thirteen

Summary: At twenty-five I found god. And guilt. He was tall, broad, well-built. Blonde hair and blonde lashes that framed whiskey-colored eyes so perfectly. He was my dream. And my nightmare. Crushing guilt crashed over me. Unnatural. Unholy. Disgusting. Despicable.

Or: Soap struggles with his religion

Pairing: John "Soap" MacTavish x Simon "Ghost" Riley

Word Count: 666

Warnings: Catholic guilt, implied/referenced homophobia, implied/referenced abuse, implied/referenced oral sex, internalized homophobia

A/N: This piece pulls heavily from my experience with religion and the thoughts I struggled with growing out of religion and into my queerness.

To anyone who relates please know you are seen and accepted and loved. Ancient religious texts or backward ideologies do not define you.

You can find me on twitter @Kit_Marlowe1564 if you need someone to talk to.

All my love <3

AO3 Link (if you prefer): I Was Good Until I Turned Thirteen

I was good until I turned thirteen. Then, something started to change. I am not sure exactly when. Or why. 

It must have just been the growth that comes with change. 

The good book didn’t mean as much to me anymore. I had questions I never had before. Questions I never would have dared ask before. Questions I am sure damned my thirteen-year-old self to hell. 

Fourteen showed me the depths of human cruelty. I didn’t think we were supposed to pray against our fellow man. At night I cried and tried to soothe my soul. If they could be so cruel to strangers, what would they do to me? Would they cast stones as their ancestors did? Would they cast me out?

I think at fifteen I stopped trying to save myself from hell. It's not that I didn’t care, but it seemed that an unchangeable part of me would always be damned. And who am I to fight an unstoppable event? I am not burdened as Sisyphus is. I do not have to bear punishment every day for the simple act of existing. I can choose not to suffer. 

By sixteen I was scared of the joy and freedom I felt without a faceless god breathing down my neck. This freedom terrified me. This is when I started to find people like me. We lived quietly, taking care of our own, helping each other through the pain. If people knew what I had learned of myself… I never let that thought finish. 

Seventeen faced me with a choice. I chose to run. Legal name signed on crisp white paper. A new home address assigned to me. Pulled far apart from my family. Like Velcro, pulling until I came completely untethered from those I had always known. 

Eighteen. I was on my own. No one knew me here. For the first time, I could breathe. 

At nineteen I stumbled headfirst into a mistake. Gnashing teeth and strong grips. Harsh words and desperation. I was searching for a god where I could never find one. God would not wear down my spirit so. At least… not my god. My god would accept me. Love me. 

Twenty felt like a mistake. Kneeling felt sacrilegious. Receiving them upon my tongue like communion felt like betrayal. There were not enough Hail Marys to save my soul. 

Twenty-one through twenty-four was life. Or at least what I thought life should be. There always seemed to be a shadow looming over me. Disgusted glances. Hate-filled words. Maybe I had made a mistake. Maybe god was coming back to claim what once was his. 

At twenty-five I found god. And guilt. He was tall, broad, well-built. Blonde hair and blonde lashes that framed whiskey-colored eyes so perfectly. He was my dream. And my nightmare. Crushing guilt crashed over me. Unnatural. Unholy. Disgusting. Despicable. 

Johnny.

At twenty-six I let myself be free. I turned to this faceless specter torturing me with empty threats and banished it. My god loved Kentucky bourbon and awful jokes. His touch was like fire and his words a cooling balm to my burning soul. He worshiped me. 

I gladly fell to my knees in worship of him. Took him upon my tongue as the blessing it was. I had no need for Hail Marys, he saved my soul with every breath. 

Johnny.

So beautiful.

Lover.

My dove.

Mine. 

And I worshipped him.

Simon.

So handsome. 

Darling.

My love.

Mine. 

And he knows. The little ‘RC’ still adorns my tags. The cross my mother gave me still hangs heavy around my neck- a noose I can not bear to take off.

And when the guilt threatens to overtake me? To drown me? He is there, pulling me from the waves. Telling me that there is no shame here, where it is safe, between us. 

And one day, the flames will not bother me at all. But for now, I know my god will be there to tend the burns. 

[alto-tenure]

The Specter of Misthallery, allusions, and narrative framing

Professor Layton and the Last Specter alludes to the fact that, of course, this is not the first specter to have been in Misthallery -- the specter is, in fact, a much older fairytale, the nature of which is, just as with most folklore, impossible to verify.

The nature of fairytales is such that they often get distorted by those who are telling them, and then those distortions continue to be passed onwards to generations afterwards, and new distortions evolve. The way characters tell the story of Misthallery's specter tells us things about them, too, and the parts they play in the story.

Long ago, in a lawless age, a pack of bandits invaded a small village. Amidst the chaos, a terrified young farm girl played her flute to drown out the madness. As the music spiralled high into the sky, a giant spectre appeared above her. She begged the spectre to destroy the bandits and it swiftly obeyed. The town was saved, and the spectre vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. But the farm girl knew that in times of danger she needed only to play the flute and the spectre would appear again.

This is, of course, Descole's narration from his first appearance. He is taking advantage of the legend of the specter, and seems to be reading from a book during this cutscene.

The specter is unequivocally a force for good the way Descole words the tale. The specter is the girl's savior. It's a bit of intrigue, but also...the way it's portrayed here feels like a very obvious allusion to Arianna and Loosha, for which Loosha is very much Arianna's savior, getting her to the Golden Garden so that she can live. Descole also says after this that it's time for them to "pen the next chapter". He is using the myth of the specter on purpose to smokescreen his true intentions of unearthing the Golden Garden. He means neither to help the villagers or hurt them -- he only has his own agenda. Of course, this isn't the last we hear of this tale...

There's a legend here that tells of an ancient spirit… A specter. When the town was in danger, the specter would act as Misthallery's guardian in its moment of need.

This is how Clark tells the tale. Note its brevity compared to Descole's telling (or Luke's, later on). When the town is in danger, the specter acts to protect it. It is more general than Descole's telling, but is more in line with Luke's version of the events. His portrayal of the specter of lore is fairly bare-bones, but enough to understand that Descole's version is nothing more than a false echo. Something that he understands more than the people of Misthallery, considering that he knows more about the specter due to the blackmailing.

Long ago, the villagers used a flute to call upon a spectre for protection from their enemies… So, if the spectre does the bidding of whoever plays the flute… Then someone is trying to destroy Misthallery! "If the spectre is ever used for impure motives, it shall unleash its wrath upon humanity. It will destroy all in its path, creating its own paradise."

Luke's telling of the tale centers around the idea that the world will end if the specter is used to cause harm -- his telling fuses both ideas from Descole's (the flute is used to summon the specter and control it) and Clark's (the specter was there for the town at large, not for one specific person it was bonded to). This suggests that Luke is familiar with the version that appears in the book (after all, the book is likely from the Triton library), but he's filtering what he remembers through the lens of his anxieties around the specter attacks, his mother's disappearance, and his father's behavior. He expects the world to end because of the connection to the tale.

(And, of course, the connections to Azran Legacy can't be ignored here -- everything destroyed to carve out paradise for the villain of a story.)

The truth is, as always, a complicated affair -- there is no such things as specters, only machines fighting monsters -- but it is likely that the story started out with a specter that protects the village. The version in the book has probably gone through several layers of generational filtering, but its relevance to the narrative remains.

[shokuto]

District Zero / The Boys and the Keg

“Why’d you say Spider-Man was gonna be there?!” Miles asks sharply once he and Ganke are walking through the parking lot.

He shrugs, not even looking at him. “We were losing her; we needed a hook.”

“If partying in a big ass house nobody lives in isn’t enough of a hook, why bother? It’s only one girl.”

“It’s not one girl, it’s Amala Macendale!” Ganke reasons. “It’s her, her friends, and her friends’ friends. That’s huge!”

Miles rolls his eyes. His friend’s starting to sound like a club promoter. “I don’t think she has friends.”

“Of course she does, she’s like, student body president. How’d she get voted in if she doesn’t have—“

When they finally hit the minivan, Ganke freezes; there’s a liquor store across the street, and near the front door is a scuffed up metal case bearing a steel tap at the top. He quickly taps Miles’ shoulder with the hand not holding a plastic bag before he points at it.

“Dude, that’s a keg,” he gasps in astonishment.

Miles pauses before he can enter the car, blankly looking over the hood. “Of beer?”

“I’m pretty sure.”

“…So what now?”

There’s a second where they both just stand there, gawking across the street. That’s when Ganke taps his shoulder again. “You gotta go grab it.”

Miles sighs again, already exasperated with the sudden turn of events. “Dude, no—”

“You’re the only one who can carry it!”

“That’s stealing,” he says firmly.

“So?” Ganke sets his hands on his shoulders with the urgency of a man begging a fireman to save his baby. “If we don’t have any beer at this thing, we’re gonna be losers forever! It’s one keg! They probably have a hundred more in the back and it’s only a matter of time before they bring it in!”

Miles exhales in annoyance, but considers Ganke’s warning more than he’d like. He’s split firmly between the selfish teenager his friend desperately appeals to, and the little boy inside him who’s internalized every repeated warning to not get into trouble, to follow every rule as closely as possible because there’d always be a book waiting to be thrown at him around every corner. He eyes the keg, then through the window of the store, the guy inside who presumably has to bring it in eventually.

And it is stealing.

But…

They’re throwing something big…and they’re not kids anymore. People their age going to parties don’t go to relax; they go to get fucked up. It’s all he hears and it’s all he sees in the movies.

They even got the red cups and everything now! Plastic cups Miles only now realizes were never gonna be filled with soda.

“It’s either this or we’re cooked,” Ganke pleads.

Quietly, Miles contemplates the lunch periods they’ve spent alone growing up. Every inside joke passed around set cliques that they weren’t a part of, and every classmate who ever took a shot at them or made their friendship out to be something weird ‘cause it was funny. ‘Cause guys like them were easy targets.

Some of those same people would probably be milling about the house Ganke’s mom had just closed the deal on, piss drunk on beer they brought and laughing madly beneath flashing lights they put up. There’s dozens of little jabs they’ve collected over the years, jabs that taught them it was better to keep to themselves lest they add up to even more down the line if nothing changed.

But he could practically see it all evaporate tonight, over music so loud they felt it in their bones and chants so spirited they could summon specters.

He even pictures himself sharing the tap with the pretty girl from homecoming, the one with a voice like silk and a rasp to it that reminded him of a bass string. However heartbroken he may be over Katie, he’s still embarrassingly weak for an easy smile. He’s still a guy.

A minute later, Miles is hefting a metal keg over his shoulder and bolting for the car like a fireman carrying an invalid to safety. His first ever five finger discount.

“Start it up, start it up!” He shouts.

The engine of the shabby old minivan growls to life just as Miles barrels into the backseat, immediately closing the door behind him.

Then they’re off.

“Holy shit,” Ganke gasps behind the wheel, breathing heavy like he was the one doing the running.

And despite himself, Miles feels himself joining in too. He can’t be bothered to drum up any possible theft charges, any tidbits from the stern talking to from his dad would give him if he saw. Instead, he visualizes the gated community of District Zero, lit up like Disneyland.

“This shit’s gonna be crazy,” He mutters warmly.

[gamerkitten]

Reunion

He had to be dead. 

Maybe he had caught a bullet from a lucky merc and this was his brain tormenting him in his last moments.

"Shepard?" 

"Garrus, is that you?"

She looked the same. Same dark hair, piled atop her head in a bun; sweat pasting escaped tendrils to her face. Her eyes were the same shade of amber, her face marred by a few scars but still sprinkled with freckles a slightly darker shade of brown then the rest of her skin.

But she was dead.

The message reaches him at home, on Palaven, his omni-tool beeping frantically. Seeing it's from Joker, he ignores it with a mental reminder to reply later. Right now, he's in the middle of cleaning his rifle.

"Garrus!"

His sister, Solana comes rushing into his room and he knows that something is wrong.

"Sol, what is it," he rises, leaning the gun against the wall, "is it mom?"

"Garrus," her voice is steady but her sub-vocals tell him she's anything but," Garrus, I'm so sorry-"

"What is it?" He snaps

Wordlessly, she crosses the room and switches on the television. The news is on and in the corner is a photo of...

"Shepard."

He struggles to make sense of what he's seeing, what he's hearing.

"It is a dark day for the galaxy," the news anchor says mournfully, " the Normandy has been destroyed with multiple casualties, including Commander Cassia Shepard, who defeated the rogue specter Saren Arcturis on the Citadel 1 month past."

The world falls away and he nearly falls with it, legs buckling beneath him only to be caught by his sister and led to his desk where he is lowered into his chair.

"Garrus-"

"I-I'm fine Sol," he hears himself say, "I just need to be alone."

"Are you sure-"

"Out."

It comes out as a growl and she takes the warning and leaves. Once she's gone, he flings a datapad across the room, tears blurring his vision.

He had just talked to her, what, two weeks ago? 

And now she was gone. He felt cold, numb. This couldn't be happening.

Tapping at his omni-tool, he pulled up Joker's message.

"Garrus, I- fuck," Joker's voice comes through, raw and ragged with greif, " I didn't want you to find out through the news. Shepard's gone. She- she got spaced when the Normandy was attacked. She saved me and- fuck man, I'm sorry."

He couldn't say what exactly happened in the weeks following that message, most of it was blurred by the wonderful amnesiac qualities of Turian brandy. Eventually that wasn't enough. He couldn't stand it, the way Sol constantly checked up on him; seeing the face of his best friend on every tv screen, knowing that he would never see her again. Never...

He returns to the Citadel and C-sec, but it isn't the same. How could it be?

The red tape that merely annoyed him before now adds to a slowly simmering rage. 

He tries, spirits, does he try. 

He tries to push against the official line that the war is over with the defeat of the Geth and Sovereign, tries to do good, tries to do his Commander proud.

Something in him snaps.

The catalyst is a smuggler, bringing red sand and spirits knows what else onto the Citadel. Red tape, too much for him to bypass, stops him from getting to him so he quits, much to his father's immense disappointment.

A little squeezing produces a name. A little more produces a place: Omega. Garrus is on the first shuttle out.

Upon landing he immediately takes down a Vorcha mugging an elderly human with a well placed hit with his rifle butt. The woman is thankful, calling him an angel;some type of human guardian spirit.

Later he finds another Turian at the Afterlife while drowning his sorrows and the two decide to take the fight to Omega's gangs.

After that, more join up until he has a squad, 12 strong, helping to clean up the streets of the space station and earning both the adoration of the locals and a new nickname: Archangel.

Adoration isn't the only thing their war earns them; credits roll in as well. His men want to take it easy, slow down, but he won't hear it. Partly because he knows they're doing good work and partly because he doesn't know what he'll do if he doesn't have a target in his scope.

 He pushes too hard.

Sidonis's betrayal catches him completely off guard. Lured away with a lie of an operation, he returns to carnage. His crew lies dead or dying throughout their hideout and Sidonis is nowhere to be found. As he does his best to keep the survivors alive, he can feel the old rage coursing through his veins as he clears out the invading gang members one by one. 

Sidonis is going to pay.

He's exhausted. The bodies of his crew are starting to smell, and he's running low on ammo. He pulls the trigger and another merc falls, they've long since stopped sending their best and he's long since stopped feeling bad about the inexperienced cannon fodder being sent after him.

Still, it won't be long now.

Moving into cover, he opens his omni-tool and does something he hasn't done in a long time.

"Hello?"

"Hey Dad."

"Garrus? What's that sound?"

He peers through the scope and drops another merc.

"Target practice."

"Then call back later."

"I-I don't think I'll be able to do that," he sighs, "too many targets."

"...I see."

Another merc falls but there are four more coming to take his place.

"Listen, Dad, I don't have a lot of time left," he says, popping out the heat sink, "I just wanted to tell you, you were right. About everything. I'm sorry we fought so much."

"Don't worry about that now," his father replies, to an untrained ear he might have sounded calm, "these...targets? Are they moving fast?"

"Not fast enough," he's looking through his scope again and notices a group who seem to actually know how to use cover, " but they're learning."

"Thermal clips?"

"Could always use more."

The group is on the move again, and he spies something that makes his heart skip a beat. N7 armor.

" No matter how bad things are," his father continues, " so long as you have one bullet left, you can still finish the job. Understand?"

"Yes sir." He mutters, shooting a concussive round at the mystery soldier. It knocks their helmet off, revealing a pile of raven-dark hair.

"Good, and when you finish up there you come home to Palaven. We have a lot to sort out."

 His focus is now squarely on the squad making their way across the bridge; he can see her clearly in his scope, right as she fires a round into the back of a merc's head.

"Yeah, we do," he says, relief washing over him, "Dad, I've got to go, but don't worry about me. The odds just got a lot better."

"I thought you were dead."

He resisted the impulse to touch her, to make sure that she's actually real and not some pre-death hallucination, opting to sit down on a nearby crate instead.

"Garrus, what are you doing here?" She asked, her eyes bright and alive.

"Good to see you too."

She smiled up at him and he felt his stomach flip, " I'm just surprised to see you."

"Well, that makes both of us." He replied, " Still, it's good to see a friendly face. Killing mercs is hard work, especially on my own."

"You shot me."

"Concussive rounds only, didn't want the mercs getting suspicious."

She crossed her arms, rolling her eyes in that oh so familiar way, "yeah, right."

His mandibles twitched in a smirk, "If I wanted to do more than take your shields down, I would have done it. Besides, you were taking your sweet time, I had to get you moving."

She had questions, he was sure, but so did he. Not that they had time for that, not with the mercs en route. 

The decision was easy, they would hold their position and with the help of Shepard and her two companions they should be able to make a dent in the merc's resistance and haul ass out of the base.

"Alright," she said, with a grin, "let's spill a little merc blood."

"Good to see you haven't changed."

The battle was desperate, even with the help, but Garrus found himself reinvigorated; watching Shepard aim down the sights of her own rifle to his left. It was her usual spot, and he hadn't fully realized how impossible it had been to fill until she was back in it.

He took aim, and had a merc in his sights but before he could pull the trigger, their head snapped back and they dropped to the floor. 

"You stole my kill, Shepard."

"Ya snooze ya lose Vakarian," she shot back, laughing over the sound of gunfire, " besides, you've had them all to yourself, don't be greedy."

"Me? Never."

She stayed by his side for most of the fight while the other humans took out anyone that made it past their bullets,there weren't many, or made entry on the lower level. It was only when Blue Suns started streaming in that she switched to her SMG and ran off to get rid of them while he kept picking off anyone stupid enough to try and cross the bridge.

Then came the gunship.

"Damnit," he growled, reloading, "I thought I took that thing out."

A hail of bullets flew towards him as he turned to fire, taking down his shields and forcing him into cover.

"You think you can screw with the Blue Suns," taunted the pilot, "this ends now!"

Swearing, he made for cover on his left just in time to see a rocket fly in his direction. The world exploded around him and he felt himself become airborne before landing in a heap, excruciating pain radiating through his body as his vision began to darken. Somewhere above him, he heard someone screaming his name.

As he lost consciousness, he only had one thought.

I just got her back.

[the-ghost-bracket]

Mia Fey propaganda:

"So cool that even death couldn't stop her!! Regularly gets summoned back by her spirit channeling sister to kick ass in court and give advice to her protégé 👍"

"She dies immediately in the first game and spends the next three as a spirit/ghost, guiding Phoenix to success in court. She comes from a family of spirit channelers so usually when you see her it's her being channeled by her little sister or cousin, but she does sometimes just show up as a specter in still shots"

"She's gives Nick lawyer tips from beyond the grave"

"She dies in the beginning of the second case, but she still has a huge impact on the story. Her sister can channel spirits, so she is back sometimes, and regularly saves the characters asses"

"She’s a lawyer who got killed by a rich blackmailer and her little sister can channel her. It’s implied the chief prosecutor was her girlfriend in college and her boyfriend is actually a whole other Thing (bicon) and yeah she’s just cool. I like her."

[rafent]

"Rafal..." Freshly roused from sleep, Alcryst's eyes lay on the pale Fell Dragon lingering near his cot. Likely visiting someone else, his mind reasons, though that doesn't stop him from calling the dragon to his bedside. "I have a question, if you can answer it..."

Am I Corrupted? and Can you control the Corrupted? get confused with one another, resulting in an entirely new question: "Can you turn me into one of the Corrupted?"

If he's not already. Alcryst is tired, and he hurts. It's easy to think of it as his body protesting its current state: alive rather than dead, as he should be, as he experienced. That's a reasonable conclusion to draw, right? But the longer Alcryst dwells on it, the stronger his despair grows. "I should be dead," he confesses. His voice cracks and wobbles. "I should be dead, but I'm not. It's not right..."

Combing through the infirmary for his sister, the first person he recognized slowed him to a stop; most notably, with a question. Rafal drifted closer to Alcryst then, pallid and wordless as a specter, if not equally intrigued by the desires of the living. The other's weary condition spoke to trying times, absent of the vitality he once used to argue with the Fell Dragon. The spirited Alcryst briefly contended with at tea could not have been more different from the one before him now. Even so, seeing him bestowed the knowledge that those saddled with sickness had at least survived. Other discoveries were far less welcome.

In a closing of distance, the ticklish ends of his hair touched the prince's cheek as he loomed over him. An onlooker at distance might assume he was tending to the injured - the damaged and the astray. His fingers curved over Alcryst's shoulder, thumb pressing collar bone and weighing down the delicate bone, pressure followed by an ever so tactfully worded theory in the ear:

"You are delirious with pain, Alcryst. Or with the residue of sickness. For fear of worsening the condition, the sensitive period following one's awakening is undoubtedly worth rest and recovery."

Between the trenchant dismissal cloaked in these words and the soft Brodian throat his grip seemingly compromised, some short eternity fed the contact and allowed every word to sink. Everlasting, unrelenting, until at last there was an end. He released him after a moment, half a mind on the disturbed wanderings of Alcryst's chosen direction, another on the trembling voice he heard.

Ultimately, he understood the unseen plight and reluctance to accept reality; in the end, Rafal also thought his saved life undeserved. ". . .To live where death was expected is not wrongness but fortune. Conserve your energy and reflect instead over your blessings, not the dangerous topics beyond human understanding."

Then he stepped back in readiness to leave, to end this chapter of his own selfish accord. Even if the other should dislike his answer or possess more to say, he would not hear of it. Protests were not worth hearing to him on the topic of Corrupted; and what could Alcryst do to deny the dragon - pursue him, only just freshly awoken? Bestrew the infirmary with his clamoring shouts and attempts? He shot him an unbothered look and turned away.

[sliptohk]

Prompt# 21: Shade

The tunnel remains quiet after the catastrophe. What had felt like a lifetime unfurling in mere minutes. Oliver works carefully, massaging the sides of Ellory's neck as the healing magics tickle abysmally. It coaxes the torn flesh back into place even as the discomfort remains fresh in her mind.

"Good work, Arlette." Still hoarse, but more clear, "That swivin' tourist can cool his head for a spell."

"Language, Cheerful." River's heart was lacking, but it was easy to fall back into old habits.

His brother was in a far more foul mood, stroking the haft of his halberd along the chunk the auri man had chopped out of it. Crater gave a quick nod to the two new acquisitions they had made. It was question enough for them to take up the next topic of discussion as the bloodied seawolf lay snoring and the highlander woman curled in on herself in one corner.

"You two got her good, didn't ya?"

"I take no responsibility for the young woman's current state. I merely defended myself and Arlette. What she may have chosen to unleash in the moment is for her to clarify."

"I could've done a sight worse! Still might. Just gave her a touch of sickness."

"How big a touch was it?" Ellory squints in the gloom, slipping her goggles from her eyes to look about more clearly.

"Less than the mountain."

It elicits a laugh from the hyurgadyn. She regrets it immediately as her throat revolts. Oliver sighs in irritation, before massaging over it once more. Some said healing magics felt warm and soothing. Why did they end up with a practicioner that valued efficiency over comfort?

"At any rate, are they complicit in the designs of their leader or are they likely to redeem themselves?"

The scrape of a whetstone on steel emphasizes the importance of that discussion as River chose that moment to lovingly sharpen his hatchets. It was clear Ellory's stance, given the order to collect the two before the mountain fell on them. It would have made for a far more easily masked execution to simply leave them to be buried.

"Stick a pin in it." Crater wrapped a thick layer of cloth about the divot in an impromptu effort to mend the weapon. "We make them talk first. Find out about Silent."

Heavy silence answers, save for the faint thumping of padded feet on stone as it echoed down the tunnels of the Ogre's Yawn.

~~~

A young boy ran shrieking down the lone street of the trading post, "Monster! Its a monster! Its a snow specter!"

Said spirit staggered along behind. Not following the caller, though with only one path to travel it was easy enough to think otherwise. Clothing thick with icicles that swung back and forth with each motion. What few glimpses of skin one caught white as fresh powder and hair caked with ice that hung low over their eyes. The only hint that the child was taken by their imagination was the puff of breath that misted in the cold with each heavy breath.

Stoically, they pressed on toward the warmth of the tavern in search of warmth and assistance.

[houseoflibra]

Saint Seiya: Dark Wing Chapter 28: The Celestial Noble Star Gryphon

Page 1

Page 2

Narrator: - The Scorpio Gold Saint Eulalia saved the female students in the music room, - and the Leo Gold Saint Vassilios battled the Clown of the False God Demiurgos, the "King of Swords" Shedim. - Meanwhile, - shortly before that…

Page 3

Narrator: - …one of the Three Judges of the Underworld, - Shoichiro, the Celestial Fierce Star Wyvern, - was at school with his younger brother Soujiro, the Gemini Gold Saint.

Soujiro: - It's been a while since you were last at school. - How is it going, Sho?

Shoichiro: - Everyone was surprised that I was still alive, but - I was relieved to get a warm welcome.

Students: - This is great!

Page 4

Shoichiro: - Everyone living their lives in peace… - That wasn't a given, was it?

Soujiro: - To be honest, - I'd prefer it - if you - and Cattleya didn't have to fight.

Shoichiro: - I think I'm glad. - How could I have been at peace, - while you and Cattleya were fighting on your own? - That would have been hard.

Soujiro: - Sho…

Page 5

Soujiro: - And you've gotten close to your beloved Yoruhime Tsukishima, huh? - Hee hee hee!

Shoichiro: - That's!… - Uhh… - I can't deny I'm a little… - ...happy, but… - Uhm…

Soujiro: - You have your own reasons to fight, Sho. - That's all I need to know.

Shoichiro: - Yeah.

Page 6

Soujiro: - So… where are the girls?

Shoichiro: - They're patrolling the school, - to make sure no other students get attacked or kidnapped.

Soujiro: - You guys really are Specters of Justice, huh? - My fellow Gold Saints, on the other hand… - They're out and about doing whatever they want!

Eulalia: - I'll have to inspect this too, of course.

(pamphlet) - Come to a tea ceremony!

Vassilios: - Bye, I'm off to the karaoke!

Eulalia and Vassilios: - Freedom!

Soujiro: - (Sigh…)

Shoichiro: - There, there…

Page 7

Seirim: - Hi there, - Gemini Soujiro, - and Wyvern Shoichiro!

Shoichiro: - Ah!

Seirim: - *clapping* - Wow! - Your reaction speed, fighting spirit and cosmo are all amazing! - You two truly are the best of both factions, aren't you?

Soujiro: - Who are you?!

Page 8

Seirim: - I am a Clown of the Lord Demiurgos, - one of the Four Horsemen, - the "King of Diamonds", Seirim.

Soujiro: - Of Demiurgos?!

Seirim: - I'd like you two handsome twins - to watch the play that's about to start.

Soujiro: - A play?

Seirim: - Mm-hm! - One of the Three Judges of the Underworld - falls in love with a Gold Saint…

Page 9

Seirim: - …and turns her into his doll. - Hehe… - It's quite the comedy, don't you think?

Twins: - Ha!!

Page 10

Twins: - What?!

Page 11

Shoichiro: - !!

Seirim: - Gemini and Wyvern, - the "Fate Breakers". - I'm going to have to lock you here.

Shoichiro: - ?!

Page 12

Seirim: - Well, - Sit tight until the play is over! - Buh-byee! ♪

Soujiro: - Ugh!

Shoichiro: - A Clown of Demiurgos…

Page 13

Shoichiro: - We're the… - …"Fate Breakers"?

Soujiro: - Sho, we'll think about that later. - Right now, we need to tear down this wall!

Shoichiro: - Right!

Both: - Haaaaah!!

Page 14

Soujiro: - It's no good…!!

Shoichiro: - Soujiro! - Let's keep on trying, as long as it takes!

Soujiro: - Yeah!

Both: - Woooooh!

Page 15

Charlotte: - Yoruhime, - I've lost contact with Zhu and Esther.

Yoruhime: - So it would seem. - The school building has been completely cut off from the outside world. - This isn't Gryphon's technique. - Clearly, there is another enemy.

Page 16

Yoruhime: - This means that these incidents were intended to lure us here, - using his power as bait.

Charlotte: - !

Yoruhime: - The sound of footsteps… - They're coming.

Page 17

Charlotte: - Yoruhime!

Yoruhime: - The Celestial Noble Star Gryphon…

Page 18

Lucas: - Ah… - Ah… - Ahhh… - I… - I have to… - I must have that golden princess… - And for that…

Yoruhime and Charlotte: - …?

Lucas: - ...for that…! - Huff… huff…

???: - Then first things first. - The two people in front of you are in the way, aren't they? - Come on, wake up… - After all, you are the Celestial Noble Star Gryphon… - …Minos!!

Page 19

Lucas: - Yes… - I'm…

Minos: - I am… - I am… Minos, - the Celestial Noble Star Gryphon!!

Page 20

Yoruhime: - The Celestial Noble Star Gryphon - "Minos"…?

Minos: - Heh. - Look who it is. - If it isn't the Lady Pandora and Necromancer?

Page 21

Yoruhime: - That's correct, Celestial Noble Star Gryphon. - Are you going to obey me quietly?

Minos: - Heh heh heh… - I wonder… - What should I do?

Charlotte: - Lady Pandora!

Page 22

Charlotte: - ?! - (I can't move…!)

Minos: - You be quiet, - Necromancer…

Charlotte: - …?

Minos: - Well, well… - What a charming young lady you are. - I think I got an idea of what's going on now. - Heh heh heh…

Page 23

Minos: - It seems you two do not belong to the Underworld Army that I know. - So… - …based on the voice that urged me to awake, - and on this vessel's memories…

Yoruhime: - …

Minos: - …I've reached a conclusion.

Pages 24 + 25

Minos: - There is no need - for me to obey Pandora in this awakening!

Charlotte: - You can't! - After him, O deceased ones! - Mort Resurrection!!

Page 26

Charlotte: - It didn't work! - He pushed back my technique with just a shockwave of cosmo?!

Minos: - I have no use for either of you.

Page 27

Minos: - However, - we are fellow Specters. - Please stay here until I have fulfilled the wishes of the owner of this vessel.

Page 28

Yoruhime: - What are you going to do?

Minos: - The Scorpio Gold Saint. - She's a beautiful maiden that this vessel desires. - I will use my threads - to make her my puppet. - After that, I'm going to kill everyone in this city, - and gift them to Lord Hades as a souvenir.

Yoruhime: - I see.

Minos: - Heh!

Page 29

Yoruhime: - Then you are my enemy. - I will defeat you.

Minos: - Hahahah! - Well said, for a captive princess who can't move herself! - All right then. After the Gold Saint, - I will make you my puppet! - Please wait for me there. - I won't be long. - Hahahahah!

Page 30

Charlotte: - Yoruhime…

Yoruhime: - I'm okay, Charlie. - What's more important… - …is the shadow that triggered Gryphon's awakening back there. - That - was Demiurgos's agent.

Page 31

Yoruhime: - That is our true enemy!

Seirim: - *giggling*

Page 32

Seirim: - *giggling*

To be continued...

[graceful-not]

OKAY SEE THE THING IS: I LIKE the premise of the diabolical box, I just think it was executed terribly.

SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING IN THE SECOND LAYTON GAME UNDER THE CUT-

THEY SHOULD HAVE FORESHADOWED THE HALLUCONENIC GAS PLOT!!! The thing about this game is that it starts MUCH too lighthearted!! Layton and Luke shouldn't have been so OKAY after the whole thing, BOTH mentally AND physically!!! Curious Village's vibe was very.. unsettling in a way that the other games weren't, Diabolical Box should have pushed that up to 10000! The townspeople should have been less... forward; the bellhop that interrupts Beluga??? was he real? and you're telling me that everyone in the room had the same hallucination of this one guy????? the person that interrupts Beluga should have been someone previously established on the train that tagged along. OR KATIA!!! IT COULDVE BEEN KATIA!!!!!!!!!! IT SHOULDVE BEEN KATIA! AND THE PERSON THAT STOPS THEM ON THEIR WAY TO THE CASTLE IN THE FOREST???? WAS HE REAL??? the villagers were so NORMAL and I think some of them should have been a little more...there should've been an NPC that, when you click on them, says nothing, and doesn't respond to either of the duos attempts to talk to them, just staring into space. and as Luke steps forward the person Walks Away and you never see them again. There should have been weird shadowy specters when you turn the corner and Luke's like "PROFESSAH did you see that?" and Laytons like "See what? Did you notice something, Luke?" and Luke just shakes it off. There should have been rumors of spirits to make the shadow hallucinations easier to fold in before the reveal. Do you get it. When they got to the castle it should increase tenfold. The professor should have stumbled. Should have lost his composure more than just "No, we need to keep moving, Luke, we're so close, we can't stop yet!" Their vision should have blurred a little. Esp during their time in the village! THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLY SICK AT THE END!!! Luke should have passed out when they opened the box (there's no way he didnt think he was gonna die) and it should have been INCREDIBLY nerve wracking and terrifying!! Do you understand me!! Also they could have Flora be there to Save Them (she managed to get in contact with people and rushed back w/ another inspector, or maybe Chelmey helps her when he gets there,) (also I want this to happen so that there's some form of narrative justification for her absense other than 'we didn't want her in the plot' shdhjsbs) only to see the professor on his last limb and Luke PASSED OUT on the rock! The last scene between Katia and Anton is still there though before Flora gets there I like it it's very sweet and sad. but EVERYONE (including Katia and Anton) is EVACUATED and the last animated scene is the Professor and Flora sitting next to Luke's hospital bed w/ the article about the miracle cure for his mentor. And everyone's fine at the end but we should be SCARED that they ARENT! They set up all of the "people were getting sick and dying etc etc etc" thing and that SHOULD HAVE AFFECTED LUKE AND LAYTON!! When they first get into the cave Luke should comment that it's a little difficult to breathe and the professor should say something like "it must be the air pressure difference in the cave" and when they read the journal it should be like "people keep saying it's hard to breathe, even in the town. Some of them are even dying from it" and make the reader go 'Oh! OH SHIT!!' y'know???? like. URGH. MAKE THEM SICK!! THEY SHOULD BE SICK!!!!!!

[ariel-seagull-wings]

TOP 13 FOES OF THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS (STRACZINSKY ERA)

@bixiebeet @spengnitzed @professorlehnsherr-almashy @themousefromfantasyland @thealmightyemprex @makingboneboy @amalthea9 @janeb984 @slimerspengler @theselfshippingwitch @inevitablemoment

They started on a shoestring. Nobody gave them a ghost of a chance to succeed. Especially since ghosts were their business…or, more accurately, chasing ghosts. Itwas like trying to trap lightning in a bottle —- nobody had ever done it. Until now. Until the arrival of the one and only...

GHOSTBUSTERS!

Who were these GHOSTBUSTERS? These four misfits who singlehandedly saved New York City from supernatural destruction? In the eyes of the world they're now frontpage celebrities, heroes who laughed (well, at least sneered) in the face of unspeakable evil and brought it tumbling down (along with half a block of Manhattan Island.) Thanks to the GHOSTBUSTERS, the public can once again go to sleep secure in the knowledge that their city is safe from demons and all is right with the world. But is it? After all, nothing is forever…and that applies to the spirit world as well as our own. Every day new calls come in to GHOSTBUSTERS H.Q., seeking their help against hauntings, possessions, curses, witchcraft, spooks, spectres, and every other off-the—wall weirdness known (and unknown) to mortal man.

This was when THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, a syndicated and ABC-TV animated series, came out in 1986 .Based on the Columbia Pictures movie of 1984 that was a major financial and critical success, THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS took up where that original movie left off, following the continuing adventures of the four GHOSTBUSTERS, their secretary Janine, and their ghost mascot Slimer, as they chased and captured rogue spooks, specters, spirits and ghosts around New York City and various other areas of the world.

All kinds of ghosts. Big ghosts. Small ghosts. New ghosts. Old ghosts. Ghosts that used to be people. Ghosts whose origins and descriptions fall between the cracks of the nether-world: combined with the humour and carisma of the main cast of heroes, the creativity to present the different classes of spooks was the main appeal that atracted audiences, critics and helped boost a great sell of merchandise.

Wheter they were deities, personifications of abstract concepts, or spirits of dead people, the ghosts and monsters would present different challenges for the REAL GHOSTBUSTERS to overcome, going trough a lot of effort in creating solutions that combined knowledge of the supernatural with technological discoveries.

They would also be very entertaining, with their colorful designs and varied personalities, from funny, to scary, to cunning, to well intentioned or to arrogance, and today, I come up with this list highligting my top 13 favorite foes of the first 78 episodes of the show, the height of the series when J. Michael Straczinsky was the story editor.

13° Killerwatt (Killerwatt)

Killerwatt was the "grand ghoul," "the ethereal master of many," and commands an army that feeds on electricity.

Killerwatt and his army of ghosts began to feed off electricity from a power plant in Brooklyn. As a result, New York City suffered a rash of power failures. When Killerwatt's army began to travel through power lines and haunt Stacy's Department Store, Mayor Lenny hired the GHOSTBUSTERS to capture them. While disposing of the captured ghosts in the Containment Unit, Killerwatt's army struck again and forced the team to rig up a peddling apparatus to keep the Unit from suffering another catastrophic failure. Egon then traced the P.K.E. surges to the Brooklyn power plant.

After stumbling into the power plant, Killerwatt appeared to the GHOSTBUSTERS and attacked. The GHOSTBUSTERS mistakingly tried to charge Ecto-1 with its electricity blasts and caused the car to become possessed. After following Killerwatt into the plant, the GHOSTBUSTERS were separated and brought before him in the control room. He then possessed equipment in the room and transmogrified it into a giant monstrosity. Shielded by the plant's power, Killerwatt was immune to the GHOSTBUSTERS' assault. Winston deduced he was drawing power from the plant's generators and they had to shut them down. Killerwatt countered and created a wide chasm between the Ghostbusters and the main switch. Luckily, Slimer found the main plug and yanked it from the outlet. Killerwatt's host body lost power and fell to the ground. Killerwatt vacated the body and was trapped by the Ghostbusters.

Killerwatt was a leader of ghosts and as such had a major ego, laughing a lot while causing trouble for the GHOSTBUSTERS. Also, when the GHOSTBUSTERS said he'd win over their dead bodies, he responded with "Dead bodies are my specialties", indicating that he enjoyed killing mortals.

Appearing in the second episode of the series, after the more friendly looking and comedic thrio of ghosts from the first episode (Ghosts R Us), this ghost in contrast was someone who tooked himself more seriously, showing an intimidating voice and facial expression, and his powers over eletricity were a creative mixture between sci fi and supernatural horror, making number thirteenth on this list.

12° Proteus (Janine Melnitz, Ghostbuster)

A shapeshifting primal God from the pantheon of Greek Mythology, Proteus manifested in Midtown Manhattan in the 13th Floor of the Erie. It served as a nexus of spectral activity, causing a lot of ghosts to appear, much like the coming of Gozer.

After capturing over 40 of the ghosts, the GHOSTBUSTERS were on their way to bust a Class 9 Free Roaming Vapor at the Gracie Mansion when Proteus first appeared at Rockefeller Center, possessing the iconic Art Deco statue of the mythological Greek Titan, Atlas. By doing so, he charged the statue with so much ectonic force, he could resist the Proton Streams. He captured the GHOSTBUSTERS and made them his prisoners.

Janine had donned a uniform and brought some equipment with her to save the GHOSTBUSTERS. After learning that Proteus's lair was in the 13th floor of the Erie, she went there and saved her friends. She stopped the elevator between the 12th and 14th floor and found the hidden 13th floor. While Slimer distracted Proteus, Janine shot the mirrors that were holding the GHOSTBUSTERS in Limbo. This caused the nexus to overload and Proteus was clearly affected. The 13th floor of the building then exploding in much the manner that 550 Central Park West did when the GHOSTBUSTERS crossed their Proton Streams into the Temple of Gozer. The level of paranormal activity returned to normal after the explosion.

A proactive deity, vengeful and arrogant, Proteus was a powerfull antagonist who took matters into his own hands, rather than relying too much on emissaries, and was one of the first villains to be motivated by a personal grudge against the GHOSTBUSTERS, which earns him the twelfth spot on this list.

11º Necksa (The Devil In the Deep)

Necksa was a maritime primal god that attacked New York.

In the 1980s, during day 12 of one New York's nastiest heatwaves and a water shortage, Necksa awakened in the East River when men laying pipes disturbed him. Disgusted by the filth, Necksa concluded the world was in need of a change and sent the Undines to claim New York for their master. Mayor Lenny hired the GHOSTBUSTERS to deal with a haunted city water supply. According to Mayor Lenny, all five Boroughs in New York City were affected. Upon confining a few Undines, the Ghostbusters were surprised when Necksa easily recalled all of them. They realized the controlling entity was in the East River and rented a speedboat. However, the Proton Streams had no effect on Necksa. To compound matters, Necksa never cared for "landling" mortals and sucked in the team. Peter Venkman was luckily blown ashore.

Peter Venkman remembered that standard ghostbusting equipment had no effect on Necksa, so he modified his Particle Thrower to emit microwave particles and cause Necksa great pain. He set out to confront Necksa again at around 10 pm. The device turned out to be a success as Necksa agreed to reason with Peter after two blasts. Necksa then went with his children to find a new home (Peter's suggestion was Antarctica). Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore were unharmed and returned aboard the speed boat.

Motivated by a longing for cleaner and calmer waters on where to sleep, and afectionally refering to the Undines as his children, Necksa presented a discussion about the enviromental impacts of polution on the sea trough an interesting fantastical lens, which made this deity specially memorable and important to enter this list in the eleventh place.

10º Samhaim (When Halloween Was Forever)

Samhaim was the Ghost of Halloween and one of the few villains to face the Ghostbusters on more than one occasion. He was a strategic ghost with the ability to manipulate time in order to cause eternal night. Samhain also had the ability to control legions of ghosts at his command, however certain ghosts such as Slimer seemed able to resist him to a certain extent.

It was recorded that he was an unstoppable creature of the night. At some point he was trapped in stone. Samhain remained imprisoned in the ancient clock for centuries. In the 1980s, the clock was brought from Ireland to New York to be on display in a museum. As a result, P.K.E. activity spiked. Two weeks later, Samhain was released from his captivity by his two goblin minions on Halloween night. Once set free, he gathered all the ghosts he could and sent his minions all over New York. He also used his powers to halt the night as he planned to make Halloween an eternal night that will last forever all over the world. The Ghostbusters however ran all over town capturing his minions, leading Samhain to confront them out of rage. However, the Ghostbusters used his weakness against light to stun him. Egon came up with a plan to use all the lights in the city on Samhain but a blackout occurred. While Peter, Ray, and Winston distracted Samhain and his minions with a frontal assault, Egon set up spotlights around the building he perched atop. He was captured (along with his minions) just before the world fell under his evil reign forever. 

Samhain is the type of character to take direct action, led solely by his mission. Samhain believed that ghosts had been treated unfairly in this world due to people like the GHOSTBUSTERS. He was guided by a mission to give ghosts like him a world where they rule and humans are the less dominant ones. Unlike many villains the GHOSTBUSTERS had faced, he had compassion for the ghosts he commanded as he refered to them as his "little ones."

He is willing to enter a battle and protect his minions if he felt they were being harmed. However despite his compassion, he was willing to use some force if they did not cooperate with him, as he threatened to dissipate Slimer when he refused to attack the humans and took him hostage when he recognized the close relationship between him and the Ghostbusters. Samhain's interactions with Slimer showed a darker and tyrannical side to his personality, as he showed contempt for one of his "little ones" disobeying his orders and attempting to coexist peacefully with humans (though this may be because the group of humans that Slimer associated with are the GHOSTBUSTERS, who Samhain hated for hunting ghosts) and tried to convince Slimer that it was a futile endeavor and that he could only be home amongst Samhain's legions. When this fails, he was willing to destroy Slimer, although he expressed regret about having to do so.

Since his debut, Samhain has made many appearances throughout the GHOSTBUSTERS franchise, he was one of the ghosts to make a cameo appearance on the second opening theme song and even made an appearance on the Extreme Ghostbusters theme song and end song (though never appeared in any actual episodes). He also made numerous cameo appearances throughout the show. Samhain has also appeared in the Now Ghostbusters Comics in two comics, and was mentioned in three other comics. He was also the only ghosts from Extreme Ghostbusters (other than Slimer) to receive a toy. Likewise, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was the only ghost in The Real Ghostbusters to receive a toy other than Slimer.

His pumpkin head inspired design could run the risk of being too silly, but the animation of his facial expressions and his voice made him a real menace, and this subversion of expectations made him one of the first villains of the animated series to be become an icon on the same level of the villains and ghosts that originated in the original 1984 movie, and this marks his right to the tenth place on this list.

09º The Boogieman (The Boogieman Cometh)

The Boogieman was a legendary creature that scares children all over the world. 

The GHOSTBUSTERS were approached one night by two children: Megan and Kenny Carter. They claim that the Boogieman has been living in their closet, scaring them each night after they go to bed. Terrified of the monster, the children attempt to hire the Ghostbusters with the savings in their piggy banks. Initially, Peter was skeptical, but at the insistence of Egon they investigate. The GHOSTBUSTERS arrive at the Carter residence and begin to look around. Egon's P.K.E. Meter registers high levels of paranormal activity in Megan and Kenny's closet, but when the door is opened nothing is to be found but coats and clothes. Peter was convinced the children had over active imaginations... until he saw a piercing orange light blazes from the back of the closet, and a giant, goblin-like head emergeing: it was the Boogieman.

Egon confronted the creature as it stepped into the room. In its shrill, wheezy voice the monster utters "I remember you!"

The GHOSTBUSTERS attempted to capture the him, but discovered he was not a ghost. At Peter's urging, they increaseed the power of their blast streams and managed to repel the Boogieman back into his realm. They regrouped at headquarters to figure out how to defeat the Boogieman.

That night, Egon revealed that the Boogieman used to frighten him as a child, which prompted him to start investigating the paranormal.

The GHOSTBUSTERS managed to find a vacant room connected to the Boogieman's realm and set up a faux child's room to lure the Boogieman to them. Ray, after expressing affection for one of the prop stuffed animals, was chosen to sleep in the room as bait. The plan worked, and the GHOSTBUSTERS pursue the startled creature into his realm, where the Boogieman gained the upper hand. After avoiding traps and adjusting to the altered reality of the realm, the GHOSTBUSTERS chased the Boogieman through a series of portals and closets, finally losing him in the realm. At this point, Egon devised a plan to trap the Boogieman in his realm indefinitely. Attaching a prototype Ghost Bomb to the four Proton Packs, the GHOSTBUSTERS set the devices to overload. Before they could leave, the Boogieman confronted them, blocking their escape.

While threatening the heroes, the Boogieman gestured to the Carter children's door, claiming that he would exact revenge on them after finishing the GHOSTBUSTERS. However, Kenny and Megan saw the portal open and the dire situation the GHOSTBUSTERS were in. With courage, they overcame their fear of the monster and distracted the Boogieman by insulting his appearance and odor. As he advanced on the children, Kenny spilled a bag of marbles under the Boogieman's hooves which caused him to slip off the edge of the walkway.

With the Ghost Bomb circuit seconds from detonating, the GHOSTBUSTERS ran for the Carter's doorway. Egon scooped the Carter children into his arms and leaps through the portal. Startled by the commotion in their home, Kenny and Megan's parents burst into their children's room and demanded an explanation from the GHOSTBUSTERS. Egon warned them to move away just as a violent explosion leaped from the closet. No one was injured, and a quick check of the P.K.E. Meter assured that the plan worked: the Boogieman's doors were sealed, leaving him a prisoner of his own realm.

The Boogieman was a malicious, supernatural creature whose sole purpose was to terrify human children in order to feed on their fear. He appears to have a rather high opinion of himself as evidenced by the elaborate throne he keeps in the central portion of his realm. He was incapable of showing remorse or mercy and operated strictly out of malice, greed, and revenge. Despite his observed cruelness, he did not physically harmed his child victims. Instead, he opted to harvest the fear cultivated by his repeated visits-- a form of psychological torture. He chooseed his victims very carefully and does not simply terrorize every child in existence. He used physical violence only when provoked or repeatedly antagonized (usually by the GHOSTBUSTERS) and usually avoided direct confrontation with adults.

Frequently mentioned by audiences who were children in the 1980s as a character who stayed in their memory for being one of the most scary villains, and being the motivation for one of our heroes to purse the fight against the creatures of darkness, this is one of the most iconic, if not THE most iconic encarnation of the Boogieman, and the winner of the ninth place on our list.

08º The Sandman (Mr Sandman, Dream Me a Dream)

The Sandman first appeared in Chelsea, Manhattan where he was putting people to in a sleeping spell of 500 years.

He wished to do this in order to stop all wars and create peaceful world where only dreams exist. The Sandman appeared in room 413 of an apartment on 248 West 16th Street. He put many people to sleep, and their wild dreams caused much chaos throughout the streets of New York.

These actions attracted the GHOSTBUSTERS to his doorstep. He managed to put all but Winston Zeddemore to sleep. Winston finally learned that if people realized that what they saw were a dream, they could take control of what was in their dream thanks to advice Ray Stantz gave to Peter Venkman.  Winston rushed back and laid a trap for the Sandman at headquarters, which was successful when Janine Melnitz got the drop on the Sandman by dreaming she was a Ghostbuster and her dream self successfully managed to halt the Sandman. Winston then delivered another blast and Slimer successfully trapped the Sandman. After he was captured, all his victims were awakened, leaving the dreams and nightmares all dispersed.

THe Sandman seemed to be somewhat of an egotistical idealist in many ways. His ego has also led him to be paranoid at times, as he believed the GHOSTBUSTERS were laughing at him when they said nothing.

The Sandman wasn't really evil, but exceedingly misguided. His warped definition of being "humane" made him very dangerous to the very human life he wanted to protect. For example, had he put the world to sleep and a natural disaster occurred, countless innocents could be injured or killed and no one would be in a position to come to their aid. So one could say that another of The Sandman's character deficiencies was shortsightedness. He was so focused on the "enemy" that he had become the enemy. Teaching this lesson to viewers in a fun and entertaining way, and serving as a highlight to the value of Winston Zeddemore and Janine Melnitz to the GHOSTBUSTERS team, made the Sandman win the eight place in this ranking.

07º Winchester Wolf (Who're You Calling Two-Dimensional?)

The GHOSTBUSTERS were excited to get a call from Walt Fleischman Studios because many of them were fans of the studio's classic cartoons. A representative told them that strange noises were heard from Walt's private studio, where he had mysteriously disappeared forty years ago. While the guys investigated, Egon picked up a latent paranormal surge and a mysterious door appeared then sucked them all in.

The Ghostbusters were transported to a dimension with cartoon-like physics where they met Ricky Roach and Conqueror Duck. They then discovered a factory where the cartoon villain  Winchester Wolf, the archenemy of Dopey Dog, had been torturing Walt Fleischman for the last forty years. Winchester had been making Walt experience all the same physical stunts that he had put his cartoon creations through. The Ghostbusters attempted to rescue Walt but they were sent through a trap door. They landed in a barren desert. Ray wondered where all the heroes were and summoned Dopey Dog. It worked and Dopey Dog apprised them of what happened.

Walt's mind had created a dimension in which all his creations were real. He photographed his creations and became world famous. He created new characters, too. However, Winchester Wolf was evil and too powerful to control. When Walt let his guard down, Winchester Wolf pulled him into the Cartoon World. Conqueror Duck was dispatched by Winchester Wolf to take care of the GHOSTBUSTERS. Egon and Dopey utilized cartoon logic to rescue the others. Dopey agreed to aid them but mused they'd have to travel to the edge of the world. Dopey Dog and the GHOSTBUSTERS marched to the edge and enlisted other cartoon heroes along the way. They rescued Walt and escaped the dimension. Dopey Dog and the others teared up the edge of film which breached the contract Fleischman made. As a result, the characters and dimension disappeared.

Winchester Wolf was incredibly knavish, cocky, cunning, fraudulent, intelligent, manipulative, and duplicitous. He was also extremely authoritative, influential, strong, powerful, and overall tyrannical in nature. He could manipulate the cartoon universe, in a way a few others could, while there he possessed near god like power, able to cause objects to appear out of thin air, teleport from place to place, and alter his form, and grow to giant sizes.

Being both a homage to classic cartoon villains while also being a fun and treatening villain on his own right, Winchester Wolf was a great example of how to combine the cartoony with the powerfull and scary, so I had to favour him with the seventh spot on this list.

06º The Unreal Shriek Squeal (Station Identification)

This character was like if Winchester Wolf and Killerwatt were put on steroids! The Unreal Shriek Squeal (also known as Big Boo) was the leading ghost of a television haunting phenomenon.

For three weeks, ghosts gathered to the The Unreal Shriek Squeal in Central Park. They formed a pirated TV station called WBOO, the Big Boo. The ghosts discovered that television was a suitable medium for ghosts to instantly travel from one point to another, no matter the distance. The Unreal Shriek Squeal led the charge to get the Big Boo network to go national. If that happened, the ghosts could terrorize the entire world at their choosing.

The GHOSTBUSTERS and Slimer tracked down WBOO and entered the phantom building in Central Park. They targeted the station's dynamo, the source that was channeling its free floating spectral energy. Once it was disabled, the station would lose its feed and would be unable to go national at midnight. The Unreal Shriek Squeal appeared to prevent their interference, first by attacking them directly, then by trying to bribe them with material goods, but was no match. He was dispersed and the building collapsed.

Energetic, clever, cunning, this agent of chaos presented a creative spin on the scary clown, and is the rightfull winner of the sixth spot of this ranking.

05º Dyb Devlin (The Devil to Pay)

Dyb Devlin ran a newspaper ad for a new game show that Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore decided they wanted to play, after months of watching other game shows and Peter dragging them to auditions. Ray and Winston won the auditions and answered every question, which all turned out to be related to the Devil and his minions. After they signed a contract, before midnight, with Dyb Devlin, Egon Spengler figured out that Dyb was a dybbuk, an evil spirit. The contract they signed made it so if they lose the game, they lose their souls as well. Dyb was a minor demon who was frustrated with wasting his potential and believed securing the souls of the GHOSTBUSTERS would gain him a promotion in the demon hierarchy.

After the GHOSTBUSTERS won, Dyb proved to be a sore loser and tried to kill them anyway. They used the giant roulette steel ball that was meant to kill them to destroy the surrounding area. Still in his plane of existence, Peter Venkman convinced Dyb to honor the contract, an all expenses paid vacation to Tahiti and three tons of deviled ham.

For a long time, there was the rumour that a third GHOSTBUSTERS movie would be set in a modern day setting version of hell. We didn't get that movie, but instead we got this great episode of the animated series, with an antagonist who showed how a demon from hell could incorporate modern day culture to harvest souls.

04º Wat (Mrs. Roger's Neighborhood)

After a week of no cases, the GHOSTBUSTERS received a call about a haunted house at 1313 13th Street in the Levittown suburbs of Long Island. Wat manifested in human form as an elderly old woman named Mrs. Rogers and was accompanied by its primary servitor, a demon bird in the form of a yellow canary named Precious. Wat created the house to trap the GHOSTBUSTERS, with Wat's ultimate goal being to rule and conquer the living world. While the GHOSTBUSTERS investigated the house, Mrs. Rogers was escorted to the Firehouse for safety reasons. This played into Wat's plans to open the Containment Unit to increase the size of his army. However, a new safety feature just happened to be added to the Containment Unit. Access to a security keypad was required to open the grid and only the four GHOSTBUSTERS were verified.

Eventually, the GHOSTBUSTERS were tipped off that Wat was behind the haunted house and escaped. They raced to the Firehouse to stop Wat. Wat later took possession of Peter Venkman in order to release the lock on the Containment Unit. Egon set Winston's Particle Thrower to Wat's exact frequency while he set his to Peter's electro-metabolic frequency. He was eventually separated from Peter and trapped by the GHOSTBUSTERS. As soon as Wat was trapped, the 1313 residence was sucked in through a chest and the chest vanished.

Whereas his appearance is of a wild beast, Wat was one the most strategic and dissimulated villains of the series, and it was scary how close he came to destroy the Firehouse and take over control of an army of ghosts by playing the role of the helpless victim that the team would usually attend.

03º Sir Bruce (Hard Knight's Day)

Sometime in the Arthurian era, circa fifth century A.D., Merlin imprisoned Sir Bruce in a painting and his minions in other works of art, as well. The curse anchored them to the tapestries forever. In the 20th century, Sir Bruce was freed when his painting was unveiled at the Cloisters in New York at 7:30 pm during a full moon. Now free of Merlin's curse, Sir Bruce kidnapped Dr. Doris Tibbs, who bore a strong resemblance to his beloved, Lady Genevieve. To compound matters, the Cloisters was transformed into Sans Pitie Castle and Dr. Tibbs was slowly changing into Genevieve in the Special Exhibits Room.

Since the curse was tied to the Moon somehow, it was deduced that Sir Bruce could only be trapped at sunrise. Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore rode Unicorns, beasts hated by Bruce, to distract and draw him into the open. However, Bruce realized the ruse and retreated, resisting the pull of the team's Proton Streams. With time running out, Peter Venkman disguised himself as Merlin and chased Bruce back outside into the sunlight. The team confined the weakened Bruce in four streams and trapped him. Sir Bruce's minions were re-imprisoned in their paintings and statues, the Cloisters was returned to normal, and Dr. Tibbs was back to normal with some minor memory loss.

What makes Sir Bruce interesting is that in his point of view, he is a romantic hero rescuing his beloved lady. But the narrative context and his actions extablish that he is actually a villain, and this nuance makes him worthy the third spot on this ranking.

02º Ghash (Slimer, Come Home)

After three nights in a row, coincidentally culminating on Winston Zeddemore's birthday, the GHOSTBUSTERS encountered Ghash, leader of a group of poltergeists. By feeding on the lesser entities, Ghash was able to increases his P.K.E. and gain the ability to roam. Due to a mishap at Winston's party, Slimer left the Firehouse and followed several entities to Ghash. He soon absorbed all of these entities to become unstoppable. The GHOSTBUSTERS adjusted their equipment to focus primarily on Slimer's unique frequency of 500,000 Mega Hertz and extract him from Ghash. They were then able to trap him and place him in the Containment Unit.

When large groups of ghosts band together for threatening haunts and chaos, there is always one that stands out and leads the pack. Ghash had the proper personality and appearance for this specific role. Even though he was an evil being that cared for nothing more than immense power, he gave lost ghosts like Slimer a false sense of security and a feeling of being wanted.

A ghost who prayed on other ghosts, who was always involved in darkness, Ghash was the precursor of many manipulative strategist ghosts to appear troughout the series, and the dark atmosphere surrounding makes him the most haunting to my mind.

And my number foe of the first 78 episodes of The Real Ghostbusters is...

01° The Master of Shadows (Slimer, Is That You?)

The Master of Shadows was an arrogant entity who believed he was superior to all mortals. He directed minion ghosts to attack several areas in New York. After a few busts, Egon detected secondary and tertiary spectral readings. He deduced an outside force was controlling and directing the ghosts.

The Master of Shadows was intrigued by Egon's intellect but upon being shot at, he threatened to plunge the city into destruction.

Back at the Firehouse, Egon used the Master's spectral frequency on a communication device. A holographic projector hooked to the device could only pick up a spectral voice mail at first. Then the Master appeared to the GHOSTBUSTERS. Egon then egged him onto a challenge at midnight, on the corner of 15th and Madison. However, Slimer hit several non insulated wires and switched bodies with Egon. Growing impatient, the Master moved up the appointment. During the match, the Master was utterly confused by Egon and Slimer's dilemma. The GHOSTBUSTERS captured him in Proton Streams and trapped him with ease.

The Master of Shadows had a fascinating sense of pride and honour: he was an antagonist less interested by reaching the goal of world domination itself, and more interested in showing off his power, searching for people to challenge him in cunning and witty just so he could proove his superiority.

Ad to that fun personality his vocal performance by none other than Prince Mamuwalde himself, William Marshall, and you get a refreshing take on the classic villain in search for a good, thrilling fight, mixing a sense of humour with dramatic dignity, making you wish he had more than one appearance in the series.

And that is why he is my favorite foe of the Straczynski Era of The Real Ghostbusters.

[rapha-reads]

Anne Rice, IWTV, Part 3, Armand to Louis:

"'It is through you that I can save myself from the despair which I've described to you as our death. It is through you that I must make my link with this nineteenth century and come to understand it in a way that will revitalize me, which I so desperately need. [...] No. I must make contact with the age. [...] And I can do this through you . . . not to learn things from you which I can see in a moment in an art gallery or read in an hour in the thickest books . . . you are the spirit, you are the heart.'

'No, no.' I threw up my hands. I was on the point of a bitter, hysterical laughter. 'Don't you see? I'm not the spirit of any age. I'm at odds with everything and always have been! I have never belonged anywhere with anyone at any time!' It was too painful, too perfectly true.

But his face only brightened with an irresistible smile. He seemed on the verge of laughing at me, and then his shoulders began to move with this laughter. 'But Louis,' he said softly. 'This is the very spirit of your age. Don't you see that? Everyone else feels as you feel. Your fall from grace and faith has been the fall of a century.'"

Alfred de Musset, Confession d'un enfant du siècle, chapitre 2 :

"Trois éléments partageaient donc la vie qui s’offrait alors aux jeunes gens : derrière eux un passé à jamais détruit*, s’agitant encore sur ses ruines, avec tous les fossiles des siècles de l’absolutisme ; devant eux l’aurore d’un immense horizon, les premières clartés de l’avenir** ; et entre ces deux mondes… quelque chose de semblable à l’Océan qui sépare le vieux continent de la jeune Amérique, je ne sais quoi de vague et de flottant, une mer houleuse et pleine de naufrages, traversée de temps en temps par quelque blanche voile lointaine ou par quelque navire soufflant une lourde vapeur ; le siècle présent, en un mot, qui sépare le passé de l’avenir, qui n’est ni l’un ni l’autre et qui ressemble à tous deux à la fois, et où l’on ne sait, à chaque pas qu’on fait, si l’on marche sur une semence ou sur un débris***.

[...] Il leur restait donc le présent, l’esprit du siècle, ange du crépuscule, qui n’est ni la nuit ni le jour ; ils le trouvèrent assis sur un sac de chaux plein d’ossements, serré dans le manteau des égoïstes, et grelottant d’un froid terrible. L’angoisse de la mort leur entra dans l’âme à la vue de ce spectre moitié momie et moitié fœtus**** [...]

Toute la maladie du siècle présent vient de deux causes ; le peuple qui a passé par 93 et par 1814 porte au cœur deux blessures. Tout ce qui était n’est plus, tout ce qui sera n’est pas encore. Ne cherchez pas ailleurs le secret de nos maux*****."

............

Anne Rice definitely read Musset. And Musset would have ADORED Armand and loathed Louis - or maybe the contrary. And depending on when exactly during the 19th century Armand and Louis met, Armand might have already read Musset, and Louis would read him at the end of the century - Confession was published in 1836.

Translations of the passages in bold (translation by me and it's 4am for me right now, so don't expect a perfect work):

*"behind them a past forever destroyed"

**"in front of them, the dawn of an immense horizon, the first lights of the future"

***"the present century, in a word, what separates the past from the future, which is neither one nor the other and which resembles both at the same time, and where one does not know, with each step one takes, if one steps on a seed or rubble"

****"The anguish of death entered their souls at the sight of this specter, half mummy and half fetus."

*****"All that was is no more, all that will be is not yet. Do not look elsewhere for the secret of our ills."

There's a whole Comparative Literature essay that could be written, mirroring Confession with Interview... I will definitely come back to that idea later. Probably. At some point.