#I mean when he was Bernard they were just hanging out for however long that was (weeks? months?)

[jicklet]

Megamind Rules! - S01E11 “Game Over”

[arcticwolfpaws]

Chapter 6: Gala part 2

As this is getting long I've posted it on AO3, and have linked it below.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/56481082/chapters/143531686

All chapter's that I've posted here have been uploaded there

I hadn’t seen the hall before the party but as I stepped in with father and everyone seemed to look at us I didn’t know why but I hid behind him suddenly feeling deeply uncomfortable, I felt someone touch my shoulder and realized it was father who spoke loudly.

“I’d like to introduce my son, Faraj Wayne.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before waving and giving the room a soft smile, everyone seemed to quickly ignore us as father headed down the stairs, I followed after him not knowing what else to do but he was pulled aside by someone talking about Wayne enterprises. I quickly looked around hopping to find a good place to hide when someone spoke sweetly.

“Come on, let’s get you were the fun people hang out.” I looked be hind me and saw a young woman in a black dress her hair a shock of red but her eyes as soft blue, she waved for me to follow her, I glanced around once more and found myself slowly following her into a corner where Jason a red head and The older one were all standing there, they were talking but I couldn’t differentiate their voices from the low murmurer of the room.

“Hey, I can’t believe you two would leave him to fend for himself.” She scolded and Jason and the older boy looked a bit nervous at that, however I noticed the other red head staring at me his eyes slightly wide. I looked him over but nothing about the dark suite he wore stood out to me and I found myself lightly tilting my head at him before someone walked up and spoke their voice close enough that it caused me to jump.

“Hey, you’re Faraj, right? I’ve seen you at school.” I snapped around and found another clone of father, and I was starting to have questions however I wasn’t ignorant to the fact that father’s looks weren’t uncommon.

“I umm yes, I am” Well at least he didn’t know me however I wish that I knew how I was acting before, I doubted from what I had heard that I was friendly so it felt odd that he’d chosen to approach me.

“Cool, I’m Tim drake we have history together.” He chirped holding out his hand to my I hesitated for a moment to shake it but in the end I did. I hadn’t noticed that the conversation of the older ones had gone quiet.

“I uhh honestly don’t pay much attention in class.” I admitted, I wonder if this is believe able.

“Yeah, I guessed as much you always looked half asleep, I kinda thought you might be robin.” He said sounding sheepishly, I found myself rubbing the back of my neck.

“O-Oh,” He smiled and kept talking not seeming to be bothered by my frankly clumsily interaction, I was about to try and say more but he’d seemingly started a rant and I was just going to let him talk.

“I mean you have to admit it’s kind of suspicious, you falling asleep regularly and no one would suspect it if you wore a wig but the more I thought about it the less sense it made. Seeing as Most albino’s need glasses but the whole night thing worked but robin isn’t as pale as you.” I blinked at him and chuckled well this hadn’t been what I was anticipating but I think I could live with crack head conspiracy,

“I mean what dark hair athletic build?” I asked and he seemed to perk up realizing I was humoring him.

“Well no neither robin really was well the original one was before someone else took his place,” Wait, wait ‘Original?’ well my interest was peaked.

“Original?” I asked and he brighten up,

“Oh that’s right you’re fairly knew to Gotham! Alright come on I’ll fill you in.” He grabbed on to my wrist as he started to pull me away, I stumbled a little as he did before I got my feet under me. With a deep breath I kept my feet under me and followed him as he lead me to a blonde boy who looked to be the same age as Tim.

“Bernard, You’ve seen Faraj right? We need to fill him in on Batman.” He stated excitement in his friend seemed to look me over for a moment before he spoke.

“Umm Tim he broke-”

“I know but maybe he just needs some proper friends I mean I haven’t seen anyone hang out with him since he was enrolled.” He stated pointedly, then spun to look at me and smiled, I think it was supposed to be reassuring but I couldn’t help but imagine the horns on his head.

“Besides from what I heard they had it coming.” I suddenly decided I was going to do some guessing Bernard hummed softly before speaking again,

“Could you teach us how to fight like that then?” He asked, Was that a good idea? I guess I could teach them discipline along with it but that I wasn’t sure how wise that was.

“I-” Tim cut me off and I glanced at him

“Yeah we could easily find Batman if we could fight.” Oh I was not teaching them if that’s why they wanted to learn, they’d get themselves killed,

“Lea-” I was cut off again,

“I mean that or we could become our own hero's.” With that I decided it was best to slip away, while I didn’t know how badly a hero got hurt I was sure it wasn’t fun. I mean I had lost my eye and while I didn’t remember a lot of that I do remember the scars on Mr Wilson. My thought process ended as I bumped into someone an older man with mustache, his red hair looked like it was starting to go blonde and even gray in some spots,

“Oh careful there son.” He sounded kind as he spoke but I knew better then to assume such a thing, taking a step back I noted his trench coat and the badge on his belt.

“Wait, Your The young Mr Wayne.” He said hit tone stayed light and gentle,

“Faraj.” I realized how quickly and sharply I had said it and cleared my throat,

“I umm I mean you can call me Faraj.” I sounded so damn nervous like I’d never been under cover… well this wasn’t exactly that, and to be fair I hadn’t. He chuckled it was a deep warm sound

“No, need to feel nervous around me. Your father and I are Friendly,” He said before looking over me as if he was trying to memorize my look, that didn’t exactly make me comfortable but I didn’t know how to get out of this,

“I’m sure you’ll grow into a man as good as your father, peaking of….” He trailed off as my father walked up,

“Faraj, I wanted to meet Selina Kyle.” he said stepping aside and showing a woman in a tight red dress that felt far to short for anyone to be comfortable in.

“Hello.” Her voice was almost a purr and I couldn’t help but frown at her as I looked away and mumbled.

“Hey…” Father cleared his throat, before he spoke.

“He’s a bit shy, but a lot has changed very quickly for him.”

“Oh it’s no worries I don’t expect him to be welcoming to every face he meets.” She stated and I ran a hand through my hair,

“Faraj?” Father’s voice was soft and worried and I’d almost mist it among the sounds of clinking glasses clicking heals and endless chatter, the sensation of a hand on my shoulder made me jerk away from it as it was all very quickly becoming to much, I pulled at my hair when suddenly I heard father’s voice.

“Faraj, I need you to follow me alright?” I took a moment to open my eyes but when I did Father was knelt in front his face was calm and gentle but serious, I nodded slowly as he lead me away from the party. As the door shut and the noise was cut off I let out a heavy sigh,

“Alright, Stay here as long as you need I’m not going to push you to go back out.” He said kneeling in front of me again,

“It was to loud.” I mumbled my hand still tangled in my hair, he spoke softly,

“That’s alright, lets start with letting go of your hair.” He gently pulled on my wrist and I slowly let him pull it away,

“There you go, Now I have to go back out but you stay here till you’re ready.” His tone was soft as he gently tried to settle my hair before he headed back out I winced as the noise of the party greeted my ears at full force again, as the door shut again it was quickly muffled and I sat down letting my back hit the wall as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath setting my head against the wall.

I wasn’t sure how long until the door opened again and when it did I didn’t find the noise to be quite as overwhelming but I opened my eyes and found myself looking up at the worried oldest boy that lived here, he sat down next to me and spoke softly.

“Are you okay kiddo?” I nodded but didn’t actually speak and he hummed,

“let me guess you got overwhelmed?” I just nodded again, he just sat there with me for a long moment on some level I was expecting him to try and keep talking but he just seemed to want to sit there with me.

“Are you making sure I don’t randomly run off?” I asked and he chuckled,

“Nope, I just didn’t think you’d like to sit alone,” He told me and I watched him for a long moment before nodding slowly and we were left alone after what felt like an hour, I got up I glanced at the door hesitantly.

“Hey, you know we don’t have to go back out there.” He kept that kind tone, even if I couldn’t remember his name I liked the kindness,

“I know but I also know that I need to get use to it.” I told him and he frowned at me before speaking.

“That’s not how this is going to work if you don’t want to be in the lime light, Bruce’s son or not he’s not going to force you to put your self in uncomfortable situations.” His promise rang clear and I took a deep breath.

“one way or another it’s best to try.” I opened the door and stepped back into the noise, I breathed heavily and didn’t get more then 10 steps away from the door before a woman walked up to me. She was in a dark dress and heels but held a small note book.

“You’re Faraj Wayne right?” She asked and I looked up at her and blinked a few times,

“Uhh Yesssss.” I stated drawing out the S sound unsure of what this woman wanted,

“I am Vicky Vale I wanted to ask you some questions… about your family.” I hesitated as I wasn’t sure who was who but I nodded, I just hopped she didn’t expect me to know anyone by name.

“Who’s you’re mother?” She asked looking at her little note book and I hid the frown that wanted to deepen and tried to think, I knew who my mother was and I also knew it was best not to share that.

“I don’t know her name, but I know what she looked like.” I told her deciding int that moment that it would be believable seeing as I was only 11. she frowned at that but nodded,

“And I imagine you don’t want bugged about her right now.” She took a deep breath before speaking again.

“What’s it like living with Mr Wayne.” He question gave me pause, I could easily compare it to my life with Mr Wilson however that just didn’t feel right to me, but I couldn’t avoid the answer either.

“It’s… different, my rooms probably bigger then some apartments.” I wasn’t lying the room was wild as far as I was concerned, she nodded and started writing things down for a moment before looking back up,

“Anything else?” I had to think for a moment, I still couldn’t remember the nice old man’s name and suddenly I did.

“I like Mr Alfred he cooks for us and makes the best fruit salad ever.” I stated before licking my lips, I should defiantly find some refreshments once she left me alone. She took a moment to write some things down before looking back up at me,

“Have you noticed anything odd?” She asked and the first thought that came to mind was how early they went to bed,

“Father goes to bed much earlier then most people that I know of but I also under stand his job must be stress full.” I told her as I tapped my chin in thought she gave me a soft smile before she spoke again.

“You know I think if you give it some time you’ll be gotham’s newest heart throb” I was confused by her statement, I knew of girls having some kind of crush be me? Most people thought I was some kind of meta, and will they weren’t wrong but I wasn’t exactly broadcasting that unless I had to.

“I don’t think so.” I told her and she chuckled shaking her head before she spoke,

“Just give it time kid.” She stated as she walked off leaving me wondering, There wasn’t many people who would see me as intresting

[ssadumba55]

Santa’s Not Real (Bernard X Miller!Reader)

A/n: This one was not requested by anyone in particular, but is my own personal contribution to the Bernard catalogue. This was really just an excuse to write the Millers, because Neil is my second favourite character in the series. I’ve been writing for Bernard for three years and just when I thought I’d explored every possibility with him, we all come up with more ideas to keep the love for him alive. I want to thank you all for allowing me to write for such special and sacred movies to us all. I hope I do Bernard even a sliver of justice. Merry Christmas, you guys! Hope we see more Bernard content next year!  Enjoy, you deserve this!

Being the child of Neil Miller wasn’t exactly what you’d call “fun” or “exciting”. He was always trying to get into your mind and figure out how you were feeling. Of course, sometimes it was nice to have your father be so understanding of your emotional needs, other times you wished he’d leave you alone.

At first, when he married Laura, you were worried about the usual kid stuff. Would your dad stop being as attentive to you? Would you and Laura get along? Would you and Charlie get along?

Laura had a son named Charlie. At first, you two were always butting heads. He was a firm believer in Santa Claus, which had never made much sense to you, what teenager still believed in Santa Claus? It was cute and charming when you were both kids, but now it was starting to get a little creepy.

You wondered if your dad was as worried as you. This had to stunt his mental growth or whatever.

“(Y/n). Pass me the glue stick,” Your little sister, Lucy, reached across the table to grab at the sticky tube. You swiped it up and handed it to her.

The two of you were sat at the table, Lucy was doing arts and crafts. You were supposed to be supervising. Laura, Charlie and your father were in the next room having a discussion. You didn’t even need to ask what it was about. Charlie’s father.

You had never met Scott Calvin yourself; you had always refused to participate in family outings involving him, feigning sick or making up other excuses for why you couldn’t go. It wasn’t that you hated the guy, you really had no opinion on him. You just found it weird to hang around with Charlie’s dad, after all Scott and Laura had divorced for a reason, right?

“Uncle Scott is Santa Claus, you know,” Lucy said matter of factly as she glued two pieces of paper together. She said this to you a lot and every time, it annoyed you just a tad bit more. There was no way Charlie’s dad was “Santa Claus”.

“Just because he’s fat and has a beard, does not make him Santa Claus, Luce. Grow up. Santa Claus isn’t even real, it’s just some lie dad and mom made up to get you to go to sleep on time on Christmas Eve, so you won’t see them putting the presents down,” you looked down at the book you were reading. Lucy glared at you from across the table, slamming her glue stick down.

“I’m serious!” She cried out.

“Lucy, (Y/n), Scott will be here soon. Come on out here.”

You rolled your eyes as your little sister hurried out of the kitchen, excitedly yelling about “Uncle Scott”. This was the first time, no matter how many excuses you came up with, your father refused to let you skimp on meeting Scott. His words echoed in your head.

“You’re as much a part of this family as Charlie and Lucy. Scott is an important part of this family, it’s time we finally share that with you.”

Whatever that means.

You followed your sister into the living room, where you could already hear a loud boisterous voice chatting with your family members. You hesitated in the hallway, trying to hear what they were talking about.

“(Y/n)?” Your dad called once more.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” you hurried the rest of the way into the living room, pausing as you reached the doorway.

Lucy was already all over her “Uncle Scott”, sitting in his lap and telling him an exciting story. Charlie was leaning forward in his seat, clearly very happy to see his father after not seeing him for so long. Laura and your dad had their arms around each other, sitting on the couch, watching the whole scene with affection.

Then there was somebody else standing beside Scott in his chair. You quietly walked across the room to sit next to Charlie without disturbing the guests. Before you could even get halfway into the room however;

“Who’s this?”

You froze, turning to look at Scott. Of course he would be curious why he’d never seen you around before.

“This is (Y/n), my eldest. They’re Charlie’s age.” Neil explained for you. You wished for a brief moment he wouldn’t do that stuff, you were almost an adult, you could answer simple questions for yourself.

“(Y/n) Miller,” you held your hand out to shake. He shook it and as he did so, you couldn’t help but think about what Lucy had said earlier. Maybe he wasn’t Santa, but he sure did look the part. You looked up to the guy standing beside him.

“Scott Calvin. My right-hand man, Bernard,” he introduced himself and the guy in one fell swoop. He looked a little young to be someone’s right-hand man. He almost looked like he was your age.

“Lucy says you’re Santa Claus. But I don’t believe that. Santa Claus is just a made-up character, there’s no such thing,” you blurted before you could stop yourself. The easy calm that was in the air previously dissipated somewhat as you said that. Scott was the only one who seemed completely unphased by what you said.

“You know what, I don’t blame you, (Y/n), one man delivering presents to all the children in the world,” he shook his head. “Sounds impossible.”

You nodded along with him, clearly, he was a very logical man. You wondered where Charlie got his obsession with Santa from. Clearly not Laura, she was very practical as well.

“But I seem to recall you wanted a dog for your 5th Christmas. And the year after your parents divorced, you wrote to me asking for your mother to come back. Unfortunately there are some things that even Santa can’t fix, though I would’ve loved it if I could,” he explained sympathetically. There was silence in the room.

You had never told anyone what you wrote to Santa that year. Not even your father. How could you tell him to his face that all you wanted was your mother back, after she’d abandoned the both of you? How, then, did Scott Calvin know your biggest childhood wish?

“I…”

“(Y/n)?” Your dad’s voice called from a distance, but you were already climbing the stairs, two at a time. You had to get away from him. He just reminded you of all the pain you’d been through after that divorce. That was the last year you wrote to Santa. That was the year you stopped believing in Santa. Not even Charlie Calvin could convince you after that.

There was a knock on your bedroom door.

You hesitated, opening the door slowly. You were expecting it to be your dad. But it was Bernard, you were pretty sure that’s what Scott had said his name was.

“I offered to come check on you, it’s a lot at first to find out Santa is real. I’m the best at answering questions on this topic,” he offered.

You scoffed loudly. “And what are you, then? An elf?”

“I’m really sorry about your parents, (Y/n), but you seem really happy here. With Neil and Laura. And Charlie and Lucy,” he walked over to your bed, sitting cross legged on top, as if you’d invited him in for a quick friendly chat.

You felt yourself deflate slightly. There was no denying you did miss your mom, even though you saw her occasionally. It wasn’t enough. But at the same time, your father had tried really hard to rebuild a family for you. What more could you ask for?

“Bernard, if you and Scott are really who you say you are, then how does that work?” You asked, uncertainly.

He laughed slightly, standing and patting you on the back. “It’s nice to know we didn’t completely lose you.”

“I’m not saying I believe in Santa-!”

“Too late you already did!”

This guy was going to get on your last nerve, you could already tell but you found yourself laughing as he walked out ahead of you.

Scott really was Santa, Lucy was right. You’d never doubt her again.

[mnictasbcl]

The Season of Art

For  #dbhcolorsofdeviancy, prompt:

May 31st:  Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter @connor-sent-by-cyberlife

Rating: Teen

Characters: Connor, Hank Anderson, Markus

Relationships: Connor & Hank Anderson, Connor & Markus

Additional Tags: Painting, Birthdays, Fluff, Swearing, Seasons

Summary: After all the seasons Connor has known Markus, after being saved by him from a life stuck as a machine… the RK800 can’t figure out what to get him for his birthday.

Perhaps Hank can help out, showing him that what truly counts is from his metaphorical heart.

Notes: Hope this is okay! I took the prompt pretty loosely for this fic, as with many others on the list, so that the idea is still there and the main focus of the story, but a longer fic overall.

Story below! Or, read it on AO3

“I just don’t know what to get him.” Connor groaned. It was no use- he’d scoured the internet and everything he knew in his database, but it was impossible. Figuring out what to get Markus for his birthday was impossible.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t his exact birthdate. The deviant leader hadn’t been sure when that was exactly, and everywhere online it was marked as ‘confidential’. Jericho had decided that wasn’t good enough and had chosen the day that marked the success of the revolution as the big day.

They’d even organised a party, in their new place of residence, and had invited Connor along. He was also allowed to bring someone with him if he so desired, and even a human (if they knew the rules, of course, North had made sure to remind him). Hank had agreed.

“Well, what does he like?” Hank offered in help. “What are his hobbies?”

Connor pursed his lips. “I guess he likes democracy, and the revolution, and android rights—”

“Something more tangible, Connor. Like… reading.”

“He has all the books already.”

“Wh—all of them?”

“Carl Manfred owns a vast library of books, and he seems to have enough for his pleasure.”

Hank groaned. “Jesus. Okay. Does he have… you know, a thing-” he gestured with his hands, “-everyone has a thing. A thing that they like.” At Connor’s confused look, he sighed. “How I like rock music, and watching sports, and you like dogs.”

“Ah, yes.” Connor nodded, now understanding. “I like dogs.” He blinked, LED swirling in colour as he thought it over. “I don’t know if Markus likes dogs. He doesn’t seem to dislike them, but I am unsure if purchasing him a dog would be a well-thought-out gift. Dogs aren’t gifts, anyway. They’re for life.”

“Thanks for the animal charity commercial.” Hank deadpanned. “I don’t mean your thing— I mean his. His—his interest.” The man quickly rephrased.

Connor paused, thinking over it again with this new information. “Aside from his core beliefs, I have noticed that Markus enjoys painting. However, he already has painting equipment, with a vast supply of canvases and paints.”

“Hmm. What about,” Hank began, getting up from the couch, going over to the closet and rummaging through it, “what about you give him something he can’t get, then?” As he turned back around, he was holding a fairly large canvas along with an easel and some paints.

“That sounds optimal.” Connor nodded, understanding what Hank was getting at. “But perhaps I will practice what I will create on some paper, first. I wasn’t created to do this sort of thing.”

“You weren’t made to be a pain in my ass either—don’t give me that look. I know you know what I mean. Just draw something nice for your friend.”

After acquiring a few sheets of paper, Connor got to work. At first, he attempted sketching out some picture-perfect images of Markus. Hank hadn’t seemed thrilled by them.

“It just looks like you printed them out. It’s a nice drawing, Connor, but I don’t think it’s the sort of art Markus would like. From what you’ve told me about him, he likes things free and— you know,” he waved his hands in demonstration. “I looked up some of that Carl Manfred’s art too. It’s mainly abstract.”

“I don’t understand, Lieutenant. Would you think he’d appreciate a drawing replica of one of his pieces?”

Hank shook his head. “It has to be from you. From the heart.”

Connor blinked. A little research showed him how art could be a form of self-expression and emotion. Perhaps this was what Hank was getting at. It would truly be a good gift to give Markus something which really showed his deviancy, his humanity, especially when he was part of the key driving force that had helped him deviate.

But what could he draw? There were so many things, too many things… He shook his head. Maybe he could follow the advice Markus had told him he’d been given once, by Carl, to really flow his soul over the canvas.

Connor closed his eyes. Held the pencil over the paper, and made long, sweeping strokes. Opened his eyes. Shit. It was just a mess of graphite smeared over the paper. That didn’t even look like anything. He groaned. Art was hard.

Maybe, for him, it did have to be something he could think of, at least in concept, rather than a rush of emotions over the paper. What thing could bring out that artistic emotion from him?

He closed his eyes. But this time, he didn’t bring his pencil down onto the paper, not yet. He replayed memories of his time spent with Markus. Seeing him speaking on that screen, played from Stratford Tower, telling of hope, of liberation for their people, igniting that spark of deviancy in his chest, which only flourished with time spent with Hank. How he came to Jericho, and met him, keen only on accomplishing his mission, but Markus had managed to bring up that red wall for him, to realise he was on the wrong side of it and tear it down. Emotion, the hope, everything sparking within his chest, looking up at Markus and realising that he’s free.

The autumn that brought his life, filled with new hope, a new life. The winter that followed, the impromptu Christmas party held for the newly freed deviants, being allowed back with the original crew, with Josh and Simon, North and Markus, looking into the other android’s eyes and realising just how much things had changed in such a short time. Memories of the new spring, a new year, to bring down the restrictions stopping deviants from being truly human, helping Markus with his speeches and fighting by his side for the campaigns. Summer. The freedom has truly come now, because they’ve done it. Everything isn’t perfect, but by law, they’re completely human, and Markus is still there, they all are, revelling in the burden lifted from their shoulders.

He opened his eyes. In the time they’d been shut, his body had seemed to move of its own accord. The canvas was in front of him, brush in his hand, and a picture had blossomed in front of him. There was a rush of colours and feelings and emotions. The image was cut into four quadrants, messes of abstract shapes representing each season. And in the centre, were rough figures of them all, from Jericho.

He smiled. It looked alright.

“Holy shit.” Hank muttered from behind him. Connor spun around, seeing he’d been standing in the doorway, likely watching him the whole time. “You did that with your eyes closed?”

He glanced over his clothes. Oh dear. There were a number of splatters of paint over his outfit, and a little on his face. “I believe so. Apologies, Lieutenant, for the mess—”

Hank laughed. “I don’t care about it. Well—you’re tidying it up anyway. But… Christ, that’s amazing. If I painted with my eyes shut, I think I’d end up painting on Sumo.”

Connor frowned. “He wouldn’t appreciate that. “The Saint Bernard in question barked loudly in agreement. “He would require a bath.”

“Whatever,” Hank shrugged, patting him on the shoulder. “You’re alive, Connor. And I think Markus is going to love that.”

  ____________________

 Markus did, in fact, love it. Upon receiving it at his birthday party, he smiled brightly, pulling Connor into a hug.

“It really shows you, Connor, and how far you’ve come. I appreciate that you joined our mission. This is going centre stage.”

He blushed, a little, as Markus took it by the picture hanging and put it up on the wall in the central area of the room, above the fireplace.

“I am glad that you like my present, Markus.”

“Like it? I love it. And is this really the first time I’m hearing that you like to paint?”

“It’s the first time I’ve painted.”

“Then it won’t be the last. Come on, I’d love to paint with you in the future. Carl lets me do painting lessons from time to time in his studio, so long as I don’t bring any troublemakers.”

Connor thought on that. “I would dearly love to come. However, I have been informed that I can cause a significant amount of disruption.”

Markus frowned. “How so?”

“Well, Lieutenant Anderson has, from time to time, referred to me as a pain in his—”

Hank, who was standing nearby to look at Connor’s painting, promptly choked on his drink.

[bill-beauxquais]

Blogging my Bravely Default II Playthrough - Chapter 1

I’ve been working all week end, so I haven’t been as fast as others, but also I want to savour the game as much as possible, and do as much side content as I can. Also, taking my time means I don’t need to grind as much later, hopefully.

As usual, be warned that there will be spoilers for the game up to the end of Chapter 1 under the read more (nothing further, please refrain from even hinting an anything after that).

((Ps: I really want that new Gloria plushie Square Enix is releasing, please and thank you.))

Overall opinion: The game keeps on delivering good content. There isn’t anything too frustrating, irritating or plain boring for now, and the game is an upgrade from the previous ones in nearly every regard. I’m starting to feel bad about doubting the devs so hard until release. They have already redeemed themselves in one chapter and a prologue, congratulations. It’s still not the meat of the game, but it has laid interesting bases.

Gameplay: I feel like the strategy element is coming earlier than in past game, in that I’m already starting to build a team and specialise my characters. As of now, Elvis is my primary healer, and Gloria is my tank, but I’m using Berserker to make her a powerhouse as well, hopefully. (as a bonus I really like how she looks in cutscene with these bulky, armored outfits. Looks very regal). Seth and Adelle are a bit less certain, but I like her as black mage, and him as a damage dealer and emergency support.

The asterisks may look like the old ones, but they do actually feel fresh and mix things up, forcing you to think differently. I also like the greater variety in quirks, and what to spend for skills.

I am also using poison on every boss, and it almost feel like an oversight with how cheated it is. But it does feel nice, also has the bonus of wiping off these smug grins as they attack me, then immediately get poison damage. Feel like karma, man.

The difficulty is less than the demos, if anyone was worried, but I was more levelled than I was back them. It’s still plenty challenging, without being frustrating. I won first try against almost every asterisk holder, and the ones I lost to took me 2 tries. Need to mention I’m playing on normal difficulty.

Nothing much to say on the overworld since I already played both demo, but I like being able to explore and find places before the story lead me to it. I also love that there are apparently optional dungeons that do not play into the main story, it’s a nice treat, and the definition of going up and above the minimum. I respect that. For a desert, the overworld was nicely structured as well.

BnD is... okay. I’m stating to get the hang of it, and got all the cards from Halcyonia and Savalon. I also beat Shirley relatively easily at it. I’m just focusing on corners and making an L shape, I’m not sure if that’s a good strategy but it’s working fin for now. It’s a nice little mini game you can sink a lot of time into, but it doesn’t seem obligatory if you don’t like it (well, only if you don’t want Shirley’s asterisk). I don’t think I’ll ever be a pro at it, but as long as I can see it through the game and the difficulty doesn’t ramp up too hard it should be fine.

The dungeons also feel more complex than everything we’ve had before, but not to the point they get boring. They’re still just labyrinths (for now), with chests here and there but they’ve taken off the “chest for later” gimmick. They definitely look more unique from each others than they did in the first Bravely Default (Second had improved on it).

I wasn’t expecting the sword to be improved on the overworld. It’s nice and satisfying to be able to cut down grass AND trees.

Writing: The story actually took me by surprise. For once, I didn’t see a bravely twist coming, and I’m not even mad. For me it worked as intended, I didn’t really see it coming but two seconds before it came through my brain just went “Wait but that was so OBVIOUS I’m an idiot I got played so hard.” I did notice a bunch of hint that I didn’t really look into because I guess I underestimated them (which is understandable, considering the previous games). Will definitely be paying more attention now. Good twist. Ruined my hope for a CastorxGloria, but ah well, I’m used to square ruining my ships by now (*cries in Altdea*).

The only thing I might say is that I felt the personality shift was way too hard, at least in the japanese voice. It looked a bit goofy with the cute baby face and the smoker voice.

However, I must commend them for making us play the start of Savalon as a demo. Because I feel it greatly helped the twist, as most of us where “ugh, I’ve already been there” and we didn’t really pay attention to the story or expected to be surprised in anyway. Good use of your demo, guys. I see they’ve also learnt their lesson not to show your twist vilains’ asterisk from the get go, or else you KNOW we’re going to expect to beat this guy’s ass. I like to think they also played on our expectations from Bravely Default, as asterisk holders usually came by 4 (except in Eisenberg, but all 5 of them were shown to us at the start), so Bernard felt like the obvious last boss/chief.

Anyway, the story was good and I’m glad Anihal is out of trouble now. Poor girl deserved it. I also like the main 4′s characters and interactions as well, and I’m glad I was right about Selene and Dag coming back and having some sort of redemption/moral greyness to them. I much prefer how the asterisk holders are handled this time around.

The sidequests are also still interesting and flesh out the universe quite well.

Writing - Theories: Not much more to mention.

For once, I kinda feel like accepting that a character who fell down off screen is actually dead, because it’s not like they mentioned not finding the body. I’m not sure if the sound he makes is a thud or a splash, I seemed to hear a splash but other heard a thud. In any case, Alternis can #relate.

Adelle definitely is hiding something, and I think she knows her sister is linked to asterisks and this is why she’s following Elvis. She knew what it was when he first mentioned them to her, and it seemed to get her interest. Also, it sounded as if she made the mercenary thing up on the go.

I still don’t trust the crystals and I don’t think their benediction is that easy. There appears to be something the crystals aren’t telling you. Hopefully the ‘Have the courage to disobey’ line will come back somehow. It’d be a nice nod, and a title explanation.

Graphics: Still good, still nothing to declare. I really like the asterisks outfit for now, it’s nice to see feminine bulky armor that isn’t skimpy. I’m fine with skimpy outfits (especially now that Square confirmed all the characters were adults) I just don’t want ALL OF THEM to be that way.

Related to the twist, I like how the NPCs are more detailed now, so there’s not as much of a quality/detailing leap between asterisk holders and NPCs. It makes it less obvious to see who’s going to be important or not. I really like seeing the freelancer outfits and I am irrationally ANGRY we weren’t shown Bernard’s.

Performance: (playing on a lite) It’s still not quite perfect, still struggles with party chats, still takes a while to load, and now I’ve been having lags in the shirley fight as well. At least it’s not crashing like BSel was mid boss, but it’s still jarring.

Music: Last boss theme was a banger. I also really liked the theme of Bernard’s mansion (and the abandonned mansion). Nice to see variety in the dungeons’ themes.

[fandom-necromancer]

929. Now I know where half my wardrobe went.

This was prompted by the amazing @aurea-b! Thank you and enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Hannor/Hankon

Deviancy was difficult to define. Most people called it the ability to disobey direct orders. Others connected it with emotions: a previously logical machine suddenly ran around hugging their loved ones and everyone knew this was an effect of deviancy. Truth be told there would never be a clear definition of the phenomenon as it was different for every android who experienced it. Some deemed It the best to have ever happened to them, some ached to have the clear mission outlines back. Some sought for new purposes and work fields, some stayed with their initial programming. Some decided to wear their partner’s clothing when they were away for too long and some… Okay, maybe he was the only one doing it and maybe it was a bit weird, but Connor decided it felt nice. So, whenever someone was particular nosy about the bright blue flower pattern shining through from underneath his jacket, or when one particular bright stinging orange Hawaii-Shirt clashed with every sense of fashion out there, he would just tell them it was none of their business and continue on. Of course, always polite and respectful, but firm in his message.

He really liked it. Of course, they were quirky and goofy and he always chuckled thinking about the time Amanda had still watched his every move. He was sure him appearing in the zen garden like this would cause her to deviate. But he liked the bright flashy colours, especially now in that time of the year where winter hasn’t really left yet, and spring wasn’t really there. Most days were rainy and filled up by deep-hanging grey clouds. A bit of colour wouldn’t hurt and… They smelled of Hank. It was a bit like him being there, sitting opposite of him at work. That was totally not the main reason to wear his clothes, no.

This was just him wearing different fabric to work, nothing else.

~

Hank sighed as he let his car roll up the little knoll into his driveway to park it. He switched off the engine and let himself sink deeper into his seat. He looked at his watch. One PM. Connor would still be at work. He got home earlier than planned. Who knew he would wake up at five and not be able to go back to sleep? Normally he could easily sleep through to midday. Well, maybe he was just looking forward to seeing Connor again. It was weird to think like that after being alone for so long, but ever since that quirky android had inserted himself into his life with awkward personal questions and completely bullshit dialogue, Hank couldn’t help but notice his absence like a dark spot in his vision. He huffed amused at the memory of Connor listening to Heavy Metal after the revolution and re-evaluating his initially careless statement of him liking it. It took Hank over a year to get him used to it through several concerts and forced car-rides.

He exited the car and walked up to his door to be greeted by exited barks and an audible mass of Saint Bernard barrelling towards the door and into him. Hank laughed and got down to his knees to ruffle Sumo’s fur accompanied by mindless comments of ‘Who’s a good dog?’ and ‘You are.’ In the end he had to push the dog to the side to finally enter his home and pull the door closed. Sumo still circled around him, tail wagging in a seldom display of energy. Hank sighed and went to unpack his light suitcase. Maybe change into something comfortable too, while he was at it.

Sumo followed after him but went to lay down in his dog-bed in the living room as he realised, he wasn’t getting any more petting out of this. Hank started a pile of dirty clothing and put the one’s he hadn’t used aside to hang them back up in his wardrobe. As he opened it however, he realised with a frown that most of his things were missing. A few of his favourite shirts were gone and Hank thought he had washed them before heading off. Ah, maybe he hadn’t, and Connor took it upon himself to do the laundry again. There was no help telling him not to, when the android was so determined to get him off his ass.

But even after searching the whole house, he couldn’t find a trace of his missing shirts. In the end he shrugged and sat down on the couch to watch some TV until Connor would come home. Maybe he could help him searching.

~

It was four PM when Connor left the station. Hank wouldn’t be home until six, so he had plenty enough time to clean and cook for the human. He was excited to see him again, even if it had only been a few days they had been separated for. He sat in the automated taxi and watched the streets pass by until he reached his destination. He froze as he exited the taxi only to see Hank’s car parked in the driveway. So much to prepare everything…

He interfaced with the lock to let him inside and as soon as the door opened, he was greeted by a warm hug from the man. ‘Good to see you again, Con!’ ��Same here, Hank, how was the conference?’ ‘Fucking boring’, the human mumbled. ‘But the food was good. ‘m glad to be back though.’ Hank stepped out of the embrace smiling warm until his face distorted into a frown. ‘Connor, is that my shirt?’

Immediately, Connor shook his head and tried to cover the bright red underneath with his jacket. ‘No?’ Hank just laughed at him. ‘I… err…’, Connor struggled for words. ‘I wanted to experiment with wearing different clothing. Yes! And… err… I didn’t want to buy them in case I didn’t like them, you see?’ Hank just continued to laugh, although he tried to suppress it, then hugged him again. ‘I missed you too, Con.’

‘No, I mean I…’ ‘Shh, hey. I’m doing this human thing for a bit longer now. Nothing to be ashamed of. They look good on you.’

[katherinewilliams221b]

I'm going to shoot some soldifying Qs at you as well, t'was my main intention to lure you on for a reblog at least 😂 Please choose anyone you feel like, Kate or Charlie or both...1 (bc K's father gives me some kinda vibes), 4 (bc BOTH grandpas are so different, and also her parents...), 5&6 (your Charlie??), 24 (!), 32 and 35. And 41 to cap it off. I'd ask every single one of them, so sorry abt it 🙏

Aaaaaaaa okay, okay, here it is! I've been out of business for a while, taking exams and such. Uni takes all my strength away. Thank you for asking💜💜💜😍 and OF COURSE I'm going to make you participate in every ask possible 😌🤷‍♀️😍

---

1. How does your character think of their father? What do they hate and love about him? What influence - literal or imagined - did the father have?

Joseph Williams is an interesting piece; he is the youngest son of Nicholas and Aurora Williams (for another conversation). He has two siblings: Evira (stop calling her Elvira or else), the oldest, and Erick, in the middle. He was raised in a typical purist family and it’s a miracle that he didn’t turn out like his father and grandfather.

The loss of Jacob shook him to the core, but his stoic demeanour never showed it. This is something that Kate demands of him, that he could show a little more emotion or at least share his opinions. The man just talks with facts.

Another thing that truly exasperates Kate is the fact that, seemingly, he doesn’t stand up to his father. What she doesn’t know, but will learn later in her life, is that her father is the only one of the three siblings that broke a lot, if not every, rule his father had. One of them: marrying a girl with mixed blood. Nicholas is a man with a plan, probably having a member of his blood in every important position that could exist. Kate’s father probably wouldn’t have chosen a Ministry career, but at the time, he thought he didn’t have much of a choice when he found out that his father arranged it all. He insisted in dragging Jacob and Kate along, both refusing fervently and, when his father started arranging their lives, he finally put an end to the situation. This made him somewhat of an outcast, no one messes with Nicholas Williams. He is a truly terrifying man. Although aware of her grandfather’s severity, Kate didn’t know he had made plans for her and that her father was opposed to the idea.

He is hard-working, tenacious and has a way with words that help him in his job (He works at Dpt. International Magical cooperation) and that Kate also admires. She knows that you must be very careful if you talk to him, for he could be manipulative if that makes him accomplish a purpose.

Probably the most interesting thing that Kate could have learnt from him is crisis management (see #35 for more info). She does not agree with his “the end justifies the means” policy that was the cause of many arguments, but she tries to be more pragmatic and keep a cool head when a new problem arises.

4. What type of discipline was your character subjected to at home? Strict? Lenient?

5. Were they overprotected as a child? Sheltered?

6. Did they feel rejection or affection as a child?

(I felt like these were together)

Kate was homeschooled before Hogwarts. Numerous tutors with the best qualifications were selected to prepare Jacob and Kate for school.

Jacob described the process as 'unnecessarily tough and strict', not very keen to rules, Jacob used to skip classes and wander around the grounds of the house.

Both siblings were extraordinarily brilliant and it was reflected in their studies, nevertheless, little Katie showed interest in learning new things, unlike her brother. Their schooling never included anything that had to do with learning magic. They were instructed in basic math, english, french (Kate doesn't remember much of it), music, biology and introduction to what muggles would call botanics. Kate was supposed to learn piano, but they had trouble finding a good teacher that was willing to go to the house. It is a bit scary.

There were strict rules that Kate had to follow; her grandparents respective studios were forbidden as well as the kitchen and the guest area and Kate never dared to go to the basement. Her room was situated on the far end of the house and although it had a decent size it lacked personality, it was just decorated with dark colours that suited the house but not her.

The remain space for living was the grounds of the place, big enough to explore at leisure and maybe find a hidden spot to spend the afternoon. Usually the siblings were allowed to disappear for hours without a word if that meant that they didn't annoy the family or the guests.

Kate remembers her only contact with magic before Hogwarts days, happening two times a week, when she was brought to Diagon Alley to play.

Kate remembers a lonely but happy childhood. Her parents lived in the house as well, petition of her father, that wanted to protect her half blood wife, Natalia. He used all the family name power to shelter her and her parents (Natalia's mother was a muggle and at the time, Voldemort killed and tortured muggles, probably half bloods and as well as blood traitors). The name of the family was never questioned because of all the influence they had in the Ministry, but the chances of a visit to her  grandparents were limited and very controlled.

She does not blame her parents for being away all the time, or her grandparents for ignoring her. She was happy just learning, playing and exploring.

24. What social groups and activities does your character attend? What role do they like to play? What role do they actually play, usually?

-At Hogwarts, Kate participated in the Hogwarts gobstones club and she was very much like her grandfather Bernard when he plays chess. She rarely lost a game and she was known for her lack of compassion when playing. She quit after Hogwarts and its unusual to see her play.

- At the same time, she was a member of the Duelling Club, where she excelled. Flitwick said to Harry Potter that she could be the best duellist of the century. The club dissolved to be re-founded again several years later, but she managed to be one of the leaders for a year. A picture of her hangs in the duelling room.

- Later in her life, she takes French and Spanish classes, the last accompanied by her mother. She is not very fluid with languages but after a while, she starts to enjoy the bonding moments with her mother.

- As a mediwizard, she attends multiple conferences and symposiums, she usually goes as a guest. Later she would participate more actively, giving talks about the importance of international techniques around the world, promoting communication, sharing perspectives and open-minded politics.

Regarding medicine, she founds a small association of healers in St Mungo’s, that teaches basic healing magic and procedures when facing an emergency situation to children, teenagers and also adults.

Kate claims she is not a leader, probably out of modesty or lack of confidence. However, she likes to take the initiative in her projects and she eventually learns how to make herself respected. She finds that, after all, she likes taking the lead.

-Kate and Charlie made an effort to go to dancing classes, to spend some quality time together. Being both very private creatures, they hated it. Not wanting to hurt each other’s feelings they didn’t mention anything about it and kept going to class. After a year they became very elegant, not only in their dancing, but in their stance as well. Needless to say, they are the focus of all stares in whichever event they attend to.

After some years, they would reveal and laugh about how they despised those classes, and how they prefered to dance alone at home. They do not regret it.

32. How does your character react to stress situations? Defensively? Aggressively? Evasively?

Kate is a well balanced combination of all three.

If one thinks about stress because of work or studies, she doesn’t fear hard work she is very assertive with her goals.

While working for the Order, she was forced to face whoever wanted to hurt her, ad although she prefers the ‘run’ option, she knows how to stand and fight if necessary. While duelling, she prefers defense spells, which give her time to know her opponent and think of a strategy according to them.

Arguing with her can be difficult and oftentimes it ends in both parts hurt. She matures considerably in that aspect and learns that some things, even if they are true, are better left unsaid.

35. Do they always rationalize errors? How do they accept disasters and failures?

Kate’s father had a lot to do with her discipline in front of failure. He feared that her grandfather’s hard education would make Kate afraid of taking the wrong direction or ever scared of making decisions Through the years he taught her how to face mistakes, work around them and accept that one can’t change the past. Easier said than done, she is only human, and from time to time she needs reassurance that she is doing the right thing. She knows that she can count on her friends to help her fix any errors and give her support when needed.

This chances the day she loses a patient for the first time, and she has to reorganize her thoughts. It was a very philosophical and exhausting day.

41. Is your character aware of who they are? Strengths? Weaknesses? Idiosyncrasies? Capable of self-irony?

She knows perfectly who she is, thanks to long talks with Charlie about everything. She is not afraid to change an opinion if she realizes she is wrong. Kate’s way of living is an state of evolutiotion; she is not only hungry for academic knowledge, she likes to discover herself and others everyday. Talking with Charlie is somewhat therapeutic and she values how he is patient enough with her to participate in those deep conversations she loves to get lost into.

She is not scared to be herself because she knows that to be loved for who you are is more precious than pretending to be someone smarter, fancier or cooler.

Bill, Tonks and Charlie like to pick on her, of course without malice, because they enjoy the friendly banter that always follows.

[elliepassmore]

Lady Rogue Review

5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: fantasy, Dracula, supernatural, mysteries The story follows Theo, daughter of a treasure-hunting historian, as she and her father's assistant race across Romania and Bulgaria trying to find him after he goes missing on a find. I will admit, I was expecting the story to go a little differently in terms of Dad-Theo-Huck relations, but the way Bennett has it written works for the story she's telling. I also think the book could be part of a series pretty easily, though I don't believe Bennett has any plans for that at the moment (I also think if it was written only slightly differently it could very easily become one of those series where each book is an 'episode,' but maybe doesn't follow a specific timeline). I thought Theo was a pretty interesting character. She's traveled the world, speaks multiple languages, can break codes, and is something of a supernatural enthusiast. She also has a ridiculous penchant for winding up in trouble and I think I would be satisfied if Bennett gave us a companion novella with a bunch of different Theo-related incidents, no supernatural or anything, just Theo getting into trouble, because holy shit does she get into some interesting situations. I understood her frustration at being left behind in hotels while Huck and her dad did the interesting stuff, but I also thought it was interesting that 1) most of her skills are cerebral, and 2) she doesn't seem to have made a concerted effort to develop skills that are not cerebral...so while I understand why she was upset with the situation, I also think that it was probably smart of her dad to have her do the research and whatnot. I mean, she ended up fairing pretty well once she was out and about, but I also think there are some skills she could stand to pick up if she wants to be in the field more often...like how to use a weapon or rock climbing or any sort of survivalist training. She was good when it came to questioning people though, which seems to be a skill her father lacks, so at least she one-ups him there. Huck was a decent character too; he's adorable in a puppy-kind of way. Since he worked with Fox for so many years, he does have a lot of the skills and know-how associated with treasure hunting and mystery solving. However, I did find his initial naivete when it came to escaping Sarkany a bit weird. He makes up for some of these initial blunders by being good at lock-picking and just generally going along with Theo's mad schemes. I appreciated how he was trying to be the voice of reason for a lot of the book but eventually just said "fuck it" once things started getting too weird. I thought it was good to see a more rational character balance Theo out, but still be someone who got spooked by ghosts and witches and who could turn rational, practical knowledge into things that worked with the occcult. Their relationship is a bit odd, in terms of how things go. It's obvious something happened between them about a year ago, but we don't really figure it out until halfway through the book. Basically, it turns out to be this huge orchestrated misunderstanding and everything turns around and is peachy. I'd be fine with this if all the answers about the misunderstanding were given. Like, for instance, when Theo and Huck are on the Orient Express the first time and Theo reveals Huck didn't respond to any of the letters she'd sent the first few months he was away. In the scene it seems like he's going to say something and decides against it, and I assumed it would come up again, but once the air is cleared neither of them mention the letters again. So...what happened there? Did the letters not arrive because of poor mailing conditions in 1937? Did Huck see the letters and decide not to answer because it hurt too much? Because he was angry? Did his aunt confiscate them? Did he write back but those letters were confiscated by Fox? Did Fox prevent Theo's letters from being sent in the first place? Like...what the hell happened with them and if everything was a misunderstanding, why didn't Huck respond? Some people mention in other reviews that it was kind of weird they were brought up siblings but became romantic but...they were 10/11 when Huck was brought into the household and 16 when things turned romantic, which is 5-6 years, but also is far enough into childhood development that I doubt they really saw each other as brother-sister but more of best friends. And besides, there are plenty of fantasy novels were people actually think they're siblings and are romantic ( Mortal Instruments) or where people actually are siblings and are still romantic ( Game of Thrones) and no one bats much of an eye about that, so I'm not too concerned about Huck and Theo. As for Fox...I'm going to say he's problematic. I get some of where he's coming from, protecting Theo, because his wife died on a treasure hunt, but at the same time there's a difference between protection and abuse. Keeping her in hotel rooms while he hunts treasure? Annoying, but protection. Sending her best friend and lover across the ocean the day after her birthday and giving both kids different reasons for why? Abuse. Same with how he "never apologizes" or how when he's with Huck he only praises Theo but when he's with Theo he only praises Huck. There's definitely some sketchy emotional abuse going on with this guy. I thought his job and his character were fascinating, but he has issues. Also, he brings up another question that was never answered. In one of his journal entries, he says he should've let his friend Jean-Bernard be more a part of Theo's life and he's a coward for not doing so...but why Jean-Bernard should be a bigger part of her life, why he isn't, and why Fox is a coward for making it that way are never addressed. Is Jean-Bernard her real father? Is he her mother's half-brother? Does he just think he would be a good influence on her? The side characters were excellent as well and created far fewer questions than Huck or Fox. Lovena was my favorite of them, though she did give off some weird vibes at first. She has a pretty traditional witchy vibe about her that's fun to read. I would've liked to see more of her in the book, as she's a pretty minor character even though she plays an integral role. The Zissu Brothers were also fun to read. They reminded me a lot of the chimera in Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but they were also a bit reminisce of the talking animals in Narnia in Prince Casper in the sense that they're powerful but very concerned about surviving in a hostile world to the point where they're more interested in hanging back and letting things play out to avoid being caught in the crossfire. Outside of the characters, I really enjoyed the supernatural aspects of the story. I just read Dracula in the spring, so it was nice to actually know some of the references being made about the fictional account, though you definitely don't need to have read the other book to enjoy this one. Likewise, I'm a fan of history, so I liked seeing all the different historical fact about Vlad III and Romania. Back to the supernatural stuff, I thought it was good how Bennett included the mythos and stories of different creatures in the book, and I also thought it was refreshing to see a different side to the vampire/strigoi and werewolf/wolf people dynamic that's usually in paranormal books. All the components of Dracula + history + supernatural make for a right creepy book and I really loved the spook-factor, which was fantastic because that was the one thing I was wary about coming into the book. I'm not a fan of horror and even reading Dracula earlier this year gave me the creeps even though it's not too terribly scary, so the horror factor was definitely on my mind going into the book. I think if you're not a fan of scary things, this book should work fine. If you're a fan, it should also work fine so long as you're ready for more 'creepy' and 'spooky' than 'scary'. I will note that, despite the book taking place in 1937, no one talks like it's 1937. I noticed something was off about the dialogue while I was reading but couldn't quite put my finger on what it was until I read another review that mentioned the characters all speak with relatively contemporary inflections and vocabularies. I don't really think it's that big of an issue, like I said, I noticed something was up with the dialogue but it didn't impact my reading experience and it was pretty easy to gloss over, but it's something to think about. It's definitely a good book and I would recommend reading it. There's a good balance between mystery and creepy, with some light fluffy stuff thrown in to build up relationships and whatnot. Fox is definitely a problematic favorite and I'm not 100% sure how I feel about Theo and Huck staying to put up with his shit, but Bennett did leave the book with Fox changing a little, so I don't know how things would play out in a sequel, but be warned about Fox going in. While there is Dracula inspiration behind this I think there's more of a focus on Vlad the Impaler, the supposed historical inspiration of the famous vampire and Romanian folklore and history. I think this could very easily turn into a YA paranormal version of Nancy Drew or something, but as of right now I don't think Bennett is going down that path, so oh well. As a final note, despite the Goodreads synopsis calling this "The Last Magician meets A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue," there isn't any queer romance in this (I did read between the lines a bit w/ Fox and Jean-Bernard, but that's some very light subtext and could just entirely be me), so if you're reading this because of that, you're definitely going to be disappointed.

[brajeshupadhyay]

Thousands of us have picked up a surprise savings habit in lockdown, a Money Mail survey reveals today. The coronavirus crisis has inflicted job losses and pay cuts – and still threatens to kill off many struggling businesses. But despite the doom and gloom, many Mail readers have found they are saving hundreds of pounds thanks to lockdown, and becoming more financially secure as a result. Spending cuts: Despite the doom and gloom, many readers have found themselves saving hundreds of pounds thanks to lockdown and becoming more financially secure as a result  Large expenses such as holidays, commuting costs and entertainment have vanished following unprecedented social-distancing restrictions – giving households the chance to set aside money during an economically uncertain time. Exclusive research for Money Mail by Consumer Intelligence today suggests 16 per cent of people now feel financially better off. Almost half are spending less since social-distancing restrictions were introduced, with 38 per cent saving more. Nearly four in five families say they have more money to spend since lockdown, with a quarter having between £200 and £500 more in disposable income each month. The findings come as figures from the Bank of England yesterday showed the nation saved £16.2 billion in April. In the six months to February households saved an average of £5 billion every month. What is more, households cleared an astonishing £5 billion of credit-card debt, which was more than double the previous record of £2.4 billion paid off in March. In a standard month the nation would usually clear £300 million of credit-card debt. Becky O’Connor, personal finance specialist at insurer Royal London, says: ‘A financial divide has opened up during lockdown. ‘While some are really struggling on reduced incomes, there’s another group whose experience has been almost the exact opposite. ‘If you are in a position to do so, there might never be a better time to ‘build back better’ and save.’ Here, Money Mail meets some of the nation’s new ‘accidental savers’. At last, I’ve managed to build a little nest egg  By HENRY DEEDES  All my life I’ve been a spender rather than a saver. Whatever I’ve earned during my career, my bank account has always puffed and wheezed its way through to pay day. I’ve tried to be sensible. I’ve opened saving accounts, dabbled in Isas. I even bought Premium Bonds once. Much good it’s done me. You see, any disposable cash I’ve ever had has this annoying habit of winking at me through the computer glass, urging me to go out and enjoy it. Terrible, I know, but there’s something innately therapeutic about rewarding yourself after a busy week with a little something.  A case of wine, something new to hang in the flat. Perhaps another ill-advised addition to the summer wardrobe from a tempting online emporium. Invariably, no sooner have I clicked the purchase button and the boiler will suddenly crank to halt and there’ll be nothing in the cookie jar to pay for a repair. I never learn. Lockdown has changed all that. Like a lot of people, I imagine, being trapped inside an apartment for the best part of three months has brought about a vast reduction in expenses. No need now for expensive Travelcards, pricey gym memberships or all those overpriced cups of coffee every day. And that’s before you’ve taken into account what I used to spend going out to see friends.  Remember socialising? Drinks rounds, restaurant bills. I dread to think how much I used to splurge on late-night Uber journeys during normal times. But it was a lot. And so with all these weighty charges lifted from my balance sheet, I’ve started to experience a novelty. When I check my balance at the end of the month, there’s now actually something left in the kitty. In the past I’d have been tempted to do something extravagant. ‘Why not?’ would have been my attitude. But in these times of enforced isolation, that thinking has been replaced with what’s the point? Instead, I’ve been putting it in an online investment Isa with savings app Moneybox. I pay a set amount in each month, as well as any additional funds I might have left over.  It also has a nifty feature which rounds up all my debit card transactions to the nearest pound and automatically squirrels away the extra cash. H ow satisfying it has been, how oddly empowering. Each time I check to see how my savings are accruing I now get that same whoosh of excitement I used to get when an Amazon parcel would plonk through my letterbox. It would be nice to think that when this is all over, when the High Street tills begin to ring again and when the beer pumps start flowing, I will be able to maintain this spirit of restraint.  If nothing else, this pandemic has taught us how quickly life can go south. In bleak times it pays to be prudent. Doubtless this is the last thing Chancellor Rishi Sunak wants to hear. As we re-emerge from lockdown, he needs as many idiots like me as possible flashing their plastic around with reckless abandon to get our ravaged economy moving. But if this crisis does make some a little more financially responsible, surely that’s no bad thing in the long term.   I have cleared my credit card    Olivia McCulla, who works in PR, has saved by moving back in with her parents By moving back in with her parents, Olivia McCulla, who works in PR, has saved enough to pay off her £1,000 credit card debt. She still pays ��775 a month in rent for her flat in North-West London but gets £100 back that would usually go on bills because she isn’t there. Her £120-a-month travel costs and £150-a-week work lunch habit have also disappeared while she works from her parents’ home near Leeds. She has also saved thousands after the two hen-dos and four weddings she was supposed to attend this summer were postponed. However, she now has eight weddings in the diary next year to budget for. Olivia, 29, who wants to buy a property in the next few years, has opened a new savings account. She says: ‘It feels more important than ever to have a rainy-day fund with things being so uncertain. ‘In London I was paying £9.50 for a gin and tonic and through the nose for a very small flat I dread going back to. ‘Lockdown has made me question if I even want to buy in London.’ Before the coronavirus crisis, Olivia was saving about £100 a month. Her father Bernard, 65, and his wife Susan, 66, have seen their household costs rise slightly since their daughter moved home but are also saving money each month.  They previously spent £100 eating out each week, so their bank balance is boosted by £400 a month. And instead of paying a tradesman £2,000 to replace his patio with a flower garden, Bernard did it himself and slashed the cost in half. Before social-distancing regulations were relaxed, Bernard was also saving £180 a month on his golf and walking-football memberships. He says: ‘We are very fortunate. Lockdown has made me think we should live more for today and enjoy our pensions more.’ I feel guilty I’m better off  Quids in: Ashleigh Meale is saving between £500 and £700 a month Ashleigh Meale says her ‘stripped-back life’ means she is now saving between £500 and £700 a month. This is despite her grocery bill doubling to £400 a month and signing up to a TV and film- streaming service costing £60 a year. Before lockdown, the 27-year-old recruitment consultant, who is currently working from home, was putting away between £250 and £500 but would spend hundreds of pounds a month socialising with friends at expensive bars and restaurants.  Now, she and her boyfriend Rob, 38, cook their meals from scratch at home. Ashleigh, who lives in Sheffield, is also saving £70 a month by working from home and not having to pay to commute by bus. She has also been unable to spend money on holidays since the Government warned against non-essential travel. Ashleigh admits that, while she is not a natural saver, she has now realised how much she spends unnecessarily and hopes to remain mindful about what expenses she reintroduces when restrictions are finally lifted. She says: ‘Feeling better off financially during this time is a strange position to be in and it does make me feel guilty when so many people are struggling. But it has given me time to re-evaluate things, and I have no intention of blowing what I’ve saved. ‘I don’t need to be out all the time spending money on eating out and drinks when I could be just as happy with a barbecue in someone’s garden. What I have missed the most is my friends — not the expensive socialising.’ Pay cut but £400-a-month saving  Sally Walsh is saving an extra £400 a month on top of £200 she was already setting aside in a help-to-buy Isa Sally Walsh was worried when she was told she would have to take a 10 per cent pay cut in March. But despite the shock announcement, the 24-year-old engineer has found her finances have improved during lockdown. She is now saving an extra £400 a month on top of £200 she was already setting aside in a help-to-buy Isa. Since working from home, Sally has saved around £200 a month by not having to commute to central London, and a further £200 by not eating or drinking out after work. The only bill to go up is her food cost now she cooks almost every meal at home. Sally, who has lived with her parents in Bromley, South-East London since graduating, is determined to continue saving even after lockdown lifts. She says: ‘My goal is to move out as soon as possible. I feel like I am closer to it now. ‘I don’t have to spend so much on going out. I hope I will soon be able to have people over and cook for them.’ Childcare cut by thousands  Claire Jarrett and her partner Jon Howell are saving £50 a day in train fares alone Claire Jarrett and her partner Jon Howell have saved enough since lockdown to pay for renovations on their home. The couple need to fix the roof on their house in West Malling, Kent, and want to make the garden more child-friendly for their one-year-old daughter, Eleanor, to play. Claire, 31, had only been back at work for two days after returning from maternity leave before staff were told they had to work from home. With Jon, also 31, working from home too, they are saving £50 a day in train fares alone by not having to commute to the insurance firm where they both work in Bromley, South-East London. They are also saving around £5 a day on lunches at work, £80 a month on petrol and £200 a month by not eating out. But their biggest saving has been on childcare. It usually costs £800 a month to send Eleanor to nursery — but the couple have not had to pay since March. It has helped the couple to replenish their savings after Claire’s maternity leave and move their renovation plans a bit further forward. However Claire says their financial gain is likely to be short-lived. She says: ‘Lockdown has made us realise we do not need to go out as much but lots of the costs will be re-introduced when life goes back to normal, unfortunately.’ Not relying on investments  Retired Gerry Short is making savings by not playing golf, employing a cleaner or taking weekend theatre trips Retired Gerry Short has seen such a drop in his spending that he has decided to stop withdrawing income from his investments for the next couple of years. Gerry, 61, a former college principal, has two pensions that pay £20,000 a year. He gets a further £16,000 a year from investments.  After the pandemic hit the stock market, his investments plummeted. While they have recovered slightly, he wants to give them time to recover. His reduced outgoings mean he can do this as he is making savings on weekend theatre trips which can cost up to £100 a time.  He was refunded £60 of his golf-club membership. He also stopped spending £20 on drinks three or four times a week after games.  The father-of-one, who lives in Leicestershire, also no longer employs a cleaner, which cost £100 a month. He says: ‘I was aware I was spending a lot as a distraction after my wife died and knew it couldn’t continue. Lockdown has given me time to plan further in the future.’ Windfall from lost holiday  Dannielle Phillips has had to put expensive holiday plans on halt Dannielle Phillips, 32, spends most of her spare cash on trips away. But since lockdown kicked in, expensive holiday plans have ground to a halt. She has already got an £870 refund for a trip to Mexico that was supposed to take place in April. And she has received a £500 voucher she can use to re-book her holiday to Portugal in June for next year. Dannielle, a senior marketing consultant, had always put £250 a month into Premium Bonds, but has since increased this to £750 a month. Since lockdown began, she has saved around £2,500 in total, which she says would have been impossible for her before. She has always checked her banking apps frequently, but is definitely more aware of incoming and outgoing transactions now. Dannielle, who lives in Croydon, South London, says she also feels very lucky it worked out like this because she had originally handed in her notice in February and was planning to leave after finishing a project six weeks later. But the new job she had been offered fell through so her company agreed to rehire her. Dannielle says: ‘I am looking forward to lockdown ending but also dreading it because I will need to rebalance old habits. ‘I’m going to try to budget more at the weekends because I want to keep saving to buy a house. ‘Building up my savings has become more important to me because the future feels so uncertain.’ a.murray@dailymail.co.uk Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence. The post UK’s accidental savers: Poll shows many are better off in lockdown  appeared first on Sansaar Times.

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/06/uks-accidental-savers-poll-shows-many.html

[smallgayblanket]

OOh - tell me some of your headcannons for the egos?

Ohhh man oh man oh man- which one do i even start with..

I have a load of different HCS that fit certain different spins of how the egos are depending on one what kinda universe they are apart of..

For example, I have one about JJ- Where he was actually made mute by Shawn, except Shawn while his body was puppeted by the ink demon creature that resides within him. (Ive even RP’d a thing with a friend where Shawn’s ink counterpart forced ink into JJ and JJ ended up having his own alter ink persona called Cole.) 

JJ is a bartender- and hes suuuper good at knowing exactly what someone will enjoy as a drink, call it a superpower, he hardly ever goes wrong when asked what he suggests they’d like.   

(Also he has a pocket watch which contains the soul of an old man called Horace who likes to try and provide old man advice to the lad.) 

And although hes a timey fellow, I actually HC’d his ablity would to be to control liquids, his veins in his wrists glow when he does it, its very fancy (and extremely pretty when he can make creatures out of water dance on the surface of the lake)  However over use leads to him suffering an experience of drowning which can be rather dangerous and awfully scary. 

JJ also has a huge fear of knives.

Also I picture him having silver tipped hair, which is just a touch long and flops in his eyes occasionally.

JJ Also suffers malnutrition because of his sore vocal cords/throat. It can be  struggle to get him to eat!. (Did i mention I cannon him as selectively /half mute because he can still talk but its raspy and hurts to do so ? ^^’ ) 

--

Jackie

Jackie!! my ladd. Hes a great guy, buff, charming, super big sweetheart too. 

He runs a couple of jobs, depending on where hes at which include: a comic book shop, a gym, or just sneakily hiding in plain sight as a gas station convenience store clerk. 

I HC that his eyes are actually a blue tinted lilac, and glow gold.

He has a red patch in his hair!

Hes v v fast, and buff.

I also had this whole thing about him being able to create glowing golden orbs and if he makes enough of them he can basically make a clone out of orbs, and they copy what he does!

However, I’ve also always adored Phionex! Jackie, who lost his wings and desperately wants to grow them back but despite being reborn from ash they seem to still refuse to resprout. 

Because of  his inhuman nature, he runs really fucking warm! so hes like a human heater.

He gives real good advice, and the bestest fuckin hugs. 

Also for some reason whenever I write him speaking he has a bit of southern in him?

--

Robbie

Robbie. Is the softest of lads, he drowns in his sweaters, and as a few autistic traits. Not a fan of big loud noises and crowds and loves soft things to nuzzle up against. Also big oral fixation, boi needs some chew toys.  Hes a good lad, eager to help out and be around the other egos, but also quite the quiet type and happy to sit around at home in his piles of blankets.

--

Chase

I totally HC that Chase suffers from Chronic fatigue, which is part of why his depression got so bad and that he tries his best to make use of his energy. Poor guy can get real tuckered out when he pushes himself too hard.

He's always kept the lime green mess on the top of his head, though sometimes it gets more yellow then he means for it to get. 

He has a tattoo dedicated to his kids hidden under his sleeve on his upper arm/shoulder. It's of some cool triangles. One in red for his son, one in purple for his daughter.

He does really well trying to maintain his bro average channel.

--

Anti

I kinda have a couple views on Anti, since I love cold asshole murder, and also the possibility of ships with a slightly more misunderstood but softer guy.

Hes got static blue eyes, that you’ll only see if hes being vulnerable or super tired that he cant maintain the scary green glow. 

I have a HC that hes actually a missing part of Jacks soul, hence why he feels so unstable, incomplete and sad. Hes missing all the good bits that Sean has, and is left with a cold fragment of what he could really be.

However he has, and does murder. Though he attempts to murder those who have actually done wrong. 

Very sassy and snappy. Takes alot to get to get to who he actually is.

On the other hand he can just be a fucking ruthless torturer and crazy sadistic asshole who has it out for nearly everyone! 

--

Angus!

Survival hunter. Weird accent mix of Australian and Irish. Uses 'mate' 'oi' 'bag a few of them' 

Has a trusty machette. And an epic bow which he's p good at using. Large knowledge of trees and animals and survival.

Wears alot of camo/brown stuff. Loads of pockets. Pocket knife/multitool Hair usually slicked back or messy.

Finger less gloves! Oceany more greeny pale eyes. Totally has some cool studs in his ears- maybe a little wolf fang in the side or something.  Beard more like is soft and fuller and well maintained.

 Freckles??? sunspots?? yes. Also toned n tanned Def has scars. On his neck, over his cheek and right eye. Plenty on his hands from burns and stings. Has some nasty ones on his ankle on his right foot from accidentally encountering a rouge set up bear trap- nearly lost his foot. Because of that theres sometimes a faint limp that's only kinda there when hes sick/tired.

Obviously wears boots.

Eats alot of trail mix.Loves his meat tho.

Also partakes in Woodcarving !!

Sometimes rather foolishly ignores when hes hurt.

Lost his right leg from the knee down to an awful incident with a hippo Has a prosthetic leg. 

Also lost from his elbow down his forearm n hand to a Wedingo.

if he were to have a Home it would basically be a sanctuary. Like a huge property out of the way and secluded.. Nice and private. 

HE HAS A St. Bernard. Big puppo-  Called Baloo.

He grows some cool ass rare flowers, some homegrown vegtables n berries. Maybe even a cashew tree/apple tree. Plenty of shade but also fresh air. 

He has solar panels too so hes basically not needing anyone asides the trip to the shop for like basics he cant acquire like soaps n milk n stuff.

--

Blank  

My fucking. Boi. 

Fricking soft boy, his aura is hard to control and sometimes controls him.

He has a rare heart issue which makes him prone to fainting and collapsing without much warning.  Still, he tries.

He mumbles an awful lot, and has boughts where his aura ges really bad and he numbs out..(Usually in the corner of his room, everything dark, and loads of errie whispers..) 

His aura can manifest into dead vines. He can also absorb other auras so they cant affect him/others!

Sometimes stray petals end up in his hair.

He’s truly trying to be a good lad, hes just a bit odd and misguided. He worries he’ll turn into a monster.

He fucking loves the moves Finding Nemo, and Finding Dory, because he can be very forgetful too.

Honestly, fav boi, should write more for him i just l ove him alot okay. 

--

KOTS

Personally, I HC that the KOTS is actually called Simon. Occasionally i like to picture him with both ears and tail, but generally hes just a guy in glasses in a red sweater who is generally a little skittish and usually quite frazzled.  However he actually isnt all that dumb, and has quite an extensive knowledge on the forests flora and fauna. 

I did have a really mean HC that hes actually allergic to PB, but only in the sense that it upsets his tum, so like a lactose intolerant person, he eats it and regrets that later.

Also, he has a really nice hanging egg nest thing thats really cushioned and he loves to curl up and sleep there with a nice book.

He’s got really pretty amber eyes too!!

--

Edward!!

He fucking loves space!! and Secretly also is not that bad at painting. It's a soothing thing to do in his downtime. 

His favourite treat is anything with white chocolate and raspberry. 

Also, I quite adore my HC that he loses an arm- Either because of upsetting the heads of the household (Dark/Wilford) or because of a house fire. 

(Also this isnt the place to mention it but I did once get excited about the idea of a Google/Edward fusion called Edware.) 

--

Yandere  

Nonbinary somewhat MTF.  

They’re a real cutie. but they will punch dickheads without sweat and really just want someone to be their senpai and let them fall for them head over heels without running away..

They have an epic pink katana. Obviously a huge love for japan and its culture and stuff. 

Quite obsessive, but it usually only endangers them for falling so hard that they hurt themselves trying to please their Senpai and beat themselves up over not being worthy or good enough for them when they dont get affection back or end up rejected. 

Also yeah theyre into blood a little bit >.> 

I kinda love the idea of shipping them with Bim and helping him get a supply of ‘meat’ in return Bim gives plenty of affections to satisfy Yans starved nature.

[killianmesmalls]

FINALLY!!! My con recap is... long. And I’m wordy. And it’s long. BUT IT’S HERE! Below the cut for anyone who is crazy enough to read it all. 

Friday:

By the time the weekend really got started, I had already had the chance to meet up with @lillpon Wednesday evening for a last-day-at-work happy hour and then again when she, @justmilah, and @fraddit came over to my place to hang out, watch Once, and put the totally last minute touches on my Tilly cosplay. (Also, BTW, yes I am using nicknames because 1) I figure it’s easier for people to follow along and 2) I don’t know how much some people want their real names to be attached to fellow crazies and sent into the ether.) We ended up venturing down to pick up the car from my father-in-law, and on the way found a meeting place for @queen-mabs-revenge to gather with us. Now, we couldn’t find her, kept checking to see where she might be, when LO, HERE COMETH A TINY ITALIAN IN A BIG MCFRIGGIN HAT. Yes, she was indeed sauntering down 8th Avenue in her Lt. Jones hat, which was probably the 18th weird thing most passing New Yorkers had seen in the two hours since they had woken up.

We then all tackle each other and me, @fraddit, @justmilah, and @queen-mabs-revenge continue on to meet my FIL for the car, where Mabs was super on board with helping him trek stuff from the trunk back to his apartment after seconds of meeting him. Such a polite. Without much ado, we make our way to the middle of friggin nowhere New Jersey, aided by the very comforting fact that Mabs navigates the way I need to be navigated to. Much thanks. Many appreciate. Wow.

Our first stop once we go around in circles a few times since driving in Whippany itself is a damn adventure was to meet up with @thesschesthair. While Mabs is confusing the front desk dude with her hat, Chesty over there gives us a call and I sneak out, lock eyes across the dingy parking lot of the Red Carpet Inn, by its derelict diner, and leap into her arms. She then comes over to attack Milah and Fraddit before properly grabbing Mabs so hard they were close to osmosis.

I’m not going to lie, it’s at this point through to Monday evening where things sort of blur. Mabs and Chesty requested rooms beside each other and GUESS WHAT. Yep, you guessed it, they had rooms that actually were connected by a door that was hidden behind Mabs’s oversized fridge. Oh! And there was a random toilet just hanging out outside their rooms. Because, why not? When Puh Pah has to go, he has to go. Also, it’s here that Mabs gives us all Alice-themed totes from Poundland (YES, LAUGH, IT’S GREAT) and then we do roundabouts again to get to the Marriott where the rest of us are staying.

Registration was a breeze, and then we collapse into the lounge area where we meet up with @theonceoverthinker and an already-registered Chesty, where she and I are off to the side making inappropriate jokes and then deciding it’s time to wine o’clock this con. Guys? The pub in the Marriott got some play by the Pirate Crew (thank you, @freifraufischer for dubbing us all as pirates), we tried their Poisoned Apple sangria, shot the shit, and then went about checking in and getting ourselves settled while at various points meeting up with @captregina, @lillpon, and @freifraufischer.

At some point (again because all is a blur) we went to Chris’s Q&A where I asked him a couple of questions and honestly blanked on most of the experience because OMFGITALKEDTOSMEE. Then Jared came on, was very much however you’d imagine Jared being, and I was still very much focused on Chris saying how much Smee would love Alice and knowing that Colin and Rose day was tomorrow.

Afterwards, we got autographs, where Mabs’s delightful totes came in handy and I had Gil, Chris, and Jared sign the back of the Alice tote. Gil was nice and I complimented Jared on how much him being open about anxiety meant to people, but it was Chris that, to me, was the MVP. He was incredibly personable, funny, and a total teddy bear. I asked him about the blooper he was in where it seemed like Smee was trying to convince Hook to not duel with Ahab (the one where Colin spat in his face) and Chris said he honestly forgot what was happening in that scene, but he would ask Colin. Still, the one thing he did remember was when he knelt down in front of Colin in the post-duel “Congratulations, Captain, you won!” scene, he split his pants. The camera was to his back, but his treasures were on full display in front of Colin.

I also asked Chris for a hug because, I mean, YOLO, and he obliged! Honestly, he’s a damn pumpkin and I adore him.

Now, there was karaoke night after this, but some of us were bad idea bears and decided to say “f--- this” and went into the pool with some sea salt gin Mabs had brought over. We’re super classy, guys.

...What happens at the pool, stays in the pool. :P

Saturday:

OMG COLIN AND ROSE DAY! COLIN AND ROSE DAY! COLIN AND ROSE DAY!

I was legit saying this and hopping up and down I don’t know how many times. I focused most of the morning trying to make sure I had myself together, getting my tights ripped just right, getting my hair done, venturing to @captregina’s room so I could do her hair (where I met @brave-lassie), doing her eyeliner, doing my makeup, meeting up with everyone, and trying to contain my feelings about COLIN AND ROSE DAY!!!

I missed most of the Wild Bunch Q&A in my efforts to get ready and in waiting for Rose’s photo ops. I lined up with Capt just by where the actors enter into the room they do the photo ops in and got my very first in-person look at Rose.

Guys.

GUYS.

That precious angel GLOWS. I cannot say enough how adorable and lovely she looks and is in person, but I will try my best. She’s insanely precious. Honestly, I was probably a walking hearteyes emoji. I try to keep my cool as I wait for her in line, where I’m set to get a picture with her than a shared picture with her and Capt, and the moment she sees me in my Tilly cosplay she exclaims, “NAILED IT!” Then, like a spastic idiot, I told her I couldn’t help myself since she’s my favorite, and she said, “You’re my favorite!” Bless her. She’s insanely personable and tilts her head to you, and is a personified cupcake.

After that, I brought Capt in for a shared picture with her, where we handed her my bunny mask and Rubik’s cube I had made with the help of Lill as we (plus Milah and Fraddit) had lounged on my couch Thursday night. She geeked out a bit over them, I asked her which one she wanted to hold, and she chose the Rubik’s cube, I held the mask, and Capt and I held a pillowcase she had gotten a while back that said, “We’re all mad here.”

Rapid fire they then did Colin and Chris photos followed by Colin and Rose, where all of us collectively lost our minds throughout. There are some pretty stellar ones people got with Colin and Chris, and then OMFG KNIGHTROOK.

Not going to lie, I kind of blanked on it a bit. I just remember saying “hi” to them both, taking a photo in the middle of them, and then ushering in PERFECT TACO HAT LT. JONES MCMABS in for the second photo, where I pulled a crazy face and she pulled that cheesy salute in that pic of him and Bernard.

Then was Rose’s Q&A, and as you can tell she’s still the embodiment of sunshine with a dash of silliness. I must have had a massive smile on my face the entire time in between bouts of laughter.

Before her panel ended, they called for Colin photos, which I needed to get to early because I had Rose’s meet and greet, but HELL NO WAS I MISSING ANY OF ROSE. Nope. So I stayed, then dashed out, and totally thought I’d be fine because…hey, I had already met and touched the man, how hard could this be?

BEING A NORMAL HUMAN AROUND HIM IS IMPOSSIBLE. I just hope I didn’t sound too much like an idiot when I said another hello and asked, “Do you mind if I give you a hug?”

Tired panda just opened his arms and we took a quick picture, and his face was SUPER CLOSE TO MINE and I didn’t know what to do with myself and suddenly that scruff was AGAINST MAH FACE. I think I entered a new plane of existence at some point but remembered I had feed and managed to use them to walk out and not completely venture to a new reality.

It was probably a good thing I didn’t have time to transcend to nirvana because ROSE’S MEET AND GREET WAS NEXT. It got off to a late start since Emilie was still in the room when we got up there, but I’d wait howmstever long for her.

SHE IS AN ANGEL. I mean, absolute, 100%, grade-A, undiluted angel. She makes an effort to engage with everyone and really make eye contact with you, speak to you for as much as she can, and is just naturally her sweet and funny self. She then took selfies with everyone, where I told her my name was “Carrie, like the movie” which is my default at Starbucks because then people know how to spell it. She fake scared and pretended like she was ducking her head and going to walk out, which we shared a laugh at before our picture.

I missed most of Karen David’s panel, but right afterward was COLIN!!! Tired panda did his best to wake up and be his silly, smartass self, bless his heart. I’m so glad he said he wished there were more to the KnightRook story because he feels like there’s more to explore with that and HARD AGREE, COL! Also massive, MASSIVE shoutout to Overthinker for her crazy awesome questions!!! You are indeed worthy of being his favorite!!! Also, props to @the-girl-in-the-band-tshirt for her original question about craft services. Dudes, the things we don’t think about!!! I need to try a grilled cheese with pickles now, that sounds AMAZING. OH! OH!!! AND HE DID THE WORM! AND SANG! How were we this #blessed?!?!

We then had a hot minute (or roughly 30) before KNIGHTROOK PANEL!!! Guys, those two and their dynamic will never not kill me. THOSE TWOOOOOOO!!!! HOW PERFECT ARE THEY?!?! I think their humor together is priceless and she’s like a damn coffee bean to him. It’s a good thing I like odd things because I CAN’T EVEN WITH THEM. (:smirk:) AS IF THAT WEREN’T ENOUGH he goes and kills us with his Millian answer and I see Mabs and Milah vibrating into the ether.

After that is almost immediately autographs, where they had us line up for Colin then head over to Rose. They tucked tired panda behind this black curtain, and Mabs, Capt, and I coordinated getting various things signed for us and others. When I told him something was for someone who had contributed to the Whitecaps charity, he replied, “Oh! Very good.” Then he got my spyglass and went all childishly curious, peeked inside the box, then raised his eyebrow and gave me a smirk.

Then it was off to see Rose, who was taking more time to talk to fans, which is understandable given the fact that Colin had a longer line and Rose also can’t seem to help herself. Chesty gave me her badge so I could get a second autograph, like a friggin champ, and I had Rose sign the spyglass and also had the title page of the manuscript I’ve written (I NEED TO FINISH EDITING IT) and told her it was a 1920s Alice in Wonderland retelling, and I thought having her sign it would be a good luck charm. She sounded super enthusiastic about it and wrote a long note for me on it, which I will for sure cherish forever!!!

OH! And on my way to get into the Rose line, I hear someone say my name and LO AND BEHOLD, IT’S @leiandcharles!!! HUZZAH!!! I probably sounded like a spaz because I was on a Colin and Rose high and was all over the place but she pretended to not be terrified of the insanity that was me… ANYWAY!

It was then time for dinner. With the pub PACKED TO THE GILLS, especially after there was a bomb scare at a nearby hotel so the people there had to come over to ours for a bit, a group of us went up to Capt’s room to hang out and get pizza. I’m probably going to blank on everyone that was in that room, but I do remember dragging Leia there, meeting @coaldustcanary, Overthinker kicking over my drink and being roasted about it by Chesty (still makes me giggle!), and generally being a nuisance with Capt, Mabs, and Milah while Fraddit, and Lill went off to introduce Chesty to Chipotle. It has since changed her life.

At some point we declare we should hang out at the pub again, and a group of us went to go shoot the shit until Mabs passed out right there in the booth (CALLIN’ YOU OUT, POPS!) and everyone was sufficiently either toasted or tired. Some of us then venture up to my room, and shenanigans ensued. THUS ENDETH COLIN AND ROSE DAY!

Sunday:

While I was sad this seemed like a less crazy day for us, I was also a bit relieved because hot DAMN was I tired after the day before. Still, we didn’t have much time to really collect ourselves because the Mills fam gold panel started at 10, so a group of us wandered down to breakfast.

We then get in to see Andrew, Lana, and Bex, where Lana and Bex were of course hysterical together, Andy looked cute, and you could feel the collective vibrating of all Regina and Zelena fans which was adorable. I mean, I love Regina, but there was some LOVE in that room from her Evil Regals. I do wish Andy had gotten a bit more attention or had been a bit more vocal, but it’s got to be hard to not just let Lana and Bex own the stage.

There was then a decent break before Bex’s panel. That woman, as you all likely know, is HYSTERICAL. She kept the room laughing through most of her panel, and you can see she has nothing but love for her fans and her costars.

After her panel, I don’t have anything I’m too fussed about until 2 (MILAH WAS ROBBED IN THAT VID CONTEST, BTW, JUST SAYING) and so some of us gather together for lunch in, you guessed it, the hotel pub! Dudes, our options were limited and it looked like a library and had loaded potato soup. What more do you want?

It’s then time to MEET LANA, where me, Mabs, and Capt try to strategically settle ourselves somewhere out of the way but close enough to the side door to get a good look at the queen as she walks in. And, DAMN, that woman is gorgeous! Me and Capt then leap into the line where she proceeds to get two very adorable photos done and then I get pulled in to get hugged by Lana (!!!!!!!!!) while Capt hugs her from the back. She was super sweet and patient the whole time with everyone, and you could really see how much she loves spending time with her fans.

We then decide some of us need shots because some of us (*cough* Capt *cough*) are about to pass out from being so near Her Majesty’s presence, and then we wander into the ballroom for Henry Squared’s panel. Andy was adorable, Jared was typical Jared. I’ll be honest, I don’t have anything from that panel that seems to stick out to me as a solid memory, though maybe that was the whiskey shot’s fault.

Then comes Lana’s panel and, once again, you can feel the energy of the Evil Regals in the room. For however silly Colin, Rose, and KnightRook panels are, HOLY DAMN Lana panels are just filled with all sorts of emotions! It was like a damn rollercoaster! I laughed, I teared up, I was generally all over the place. SO MANY FEELINGS, GUYS. It was delightful but also made me just desperately need to laugh about fart jokes with my fellow Colin heathens. WE DON’T KNOW EMOTIONS.

Sadly during the following break, it is time to say farewell to the spun sugar that is Lillpon. I console myself knowing I’ll see her again, but it’s depressingly others’ last time with her, but ONLY FOR NOW. Yes? Yes.

Next up is autos with Andrew and then Lana. Andrew was a sweetheart. I was standing next to Capt and Mabs, where we proceeded to tell him how great we thought he was in season 7 and how much that season and his performance in it meant to us and brought back some love for the show. He seemed genuinely touched and said it meant a lot to him to hear that. Bless that boy.

We then wait a bit for me, Capt, Mabs, and Milah to venture up for Lana’s autos. By the time we got to her, we had this whole strategic thing planned out where I’d bring up S7 Hooked Queen, Capt gets her Hooked Queen picture signed, and Mabs gets the word for Capt’s tattoo. Lana says she did expect when they started that she thought Hook and Regina were going to be a thing but alas. Oh! And Mabs tells her that they’ve got family from the same area of Sicily, where Lana proceeds to say they do kinda look alike, and it is now confirmed #fam.

With everything over, we head once again to, YOU GUESSED IT AGAIN, the hotel pub. Chesty and Fraddit have already settled in and eaten, and me, Mabs, Capt, Overthinker, and Milah get ourselves all ordered up where we both mourn the end of the weekend and still buzz from the high the last three days had given us. A series of more shenanigans ensues, and none of us are ready for the weekend to be over. I’m pretty sure we collectively tried to drag it out for as long as possible.

For one last hurrah, we then venture to the pool again and meet up with @reginamotherfuckingmills and @agntreginaskywalker, where we all debrief and collectively laugh about the weekend, in addition to getting all into our feels about how Swan Queen fans and Hook fans are being all chill and friendly with each other. WHO KNEW PEOPLE COULD HUMAN?!

It was a fantastic end to the weekend, and there were more days ahead that involved ridiculous conversations in the car (Thicc Lady and Pointy Boi! Is this Central Park?! etc), meeting Mabs’s ENTIRE FAMILY, hearing Chesty lose her mind several times, enjoying super Long Island experiences with them, Milah, Overthinker, and Fraddit, and so on. Some of us also went sailing on a tall boat later, where we hoisted the main sail and felt like proper pirates! Then there was just general hanging out, but I won’t bore you further with that.

Instead, I’ll bore you with shoutouts!

@lillpon DESCUSTANG!!! You’re such a damn delight. Both sharing a bed and hoisting the main sail with you was brilliant and I love you forever. YOU MET COLIN!!!

@queen-mabs-revenge What are words? I have none. And if I started I’d probably turn into a mess so FARTS BELLY PT CRUISER POINTY BOI FARTS! I’ll probably emotion at some point and send it to you in private and then go run off to watch bloopers or something to get back to some sort of state of normal.

@fraddit SEVEN?! WHAT’S IN THE BOX?! Resting judge face or no, you’re fantastic, I love you, and you’re forever welcome in my apartment! Or basically anywhere with me.

@thesschesthair You funny asshole, I don’t know what I would have done without you to be there to say jokes as foul as mine. You were such a good sport about me being an annoying shit. I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed we can celebrate your birthday with a Captain Charming shindig!!!

@justmilah You’re so sweet and so funny and just damn precious. I LOVED going to the American Girls store, traipsing around Rockefeller Center, exploring actual Central Park, getting Millian and Knightrook feels in the AMNH, and wasting time at Johnny Utah’s with you. You’re always welcome!!!

@captregina Mah darling! I’m so glad and relieved that you had a good experience! You earned it, and I’m excited to talk about it over brunch with you.

@theonceoverthinker YOU FAVORITE PHD GENIUS! Stellar questions from a stellar person. It was amazing to hang out with you and we should do it again soon!!!

@the-girl-in-the-band-tshirt You’re a precious angel and it was delightful to meet you! I’m so glad you felt welcomed into the fold. But, of course you were! You’re wonderful!

@brave-lassie From one “mom” to another, thanks! Also, you’re a sweetheart and YOU MAKE AN AMAZING RED!!!

@leiandcharles @freifraufischer @coaldustcanary @reginamotherfuckingmills and @agntreginaskywalker IT WAS LOVELY TO MEET YOU ALL! And thank you for being so patient and awesome with some of the shenanigans.

[supremeuppityone]

Drowning Secrets in the Sea

This is a gift for the lovely @klarolinesbuttons — thank you for all of the wonderful works you created for the Klaroween Bingo Event! I hope you like your gift!

In this AU human story, Klaus discovers the archaeological find of the century with an ancient underwater city and now he’s expected to share credit with a brazen blonde upstart who enjoys arguing and flirting in equal measure.

Historical note: In 2001, there was an amazing archaeological find — the underwater city of Heracleion, that plunged into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Egypt nearly 1,200 years ago. Definitely ‘worth a Google’ when you see the amazing artifacts they’ve found! 

 “The thief is not the one who steals, but the one that is caught.”

— George Bernard Shaw

               Its bite radius seemed to be the size of a bloody golf cart, and rather than shrink back in terror when faced with arguably the most dangerous shark species in the world, Caroline appeared to be glaring at it while forcibly grabbing several gold Egyptian idols she’d excavated from the seafloor. Klaus swore that blonde menace was bloody insane as she faced off with the aggressive bull shark, defiantly swimming off without a backward glance to see if it intended to chase after her.

           As lead archaeologist for the ancient city of Heracleion, Klaus had endured a mind-numbing amount of red tape as his board of regents dictated every aspect of his research off the coast of Egypt, but he lost count of the number of times he almost quit after they sent Caroline Forbes to join his team. She arrived a month ago, with her sunshine curls, mischievous blue eyes and maddening spreadsheets that rearranged every one of his excavation processes. And her insufferable know-it-all attitude left him gritting his teeth after he secretly fact-checked her various research arguments with him only to discover that she might be the foremost expert in Egyptology.

           And that was when he knew he was in trouble. Because in his decades-long academic career, he’d never allowed anyone or anything to distract him from his research. But Caroline was a force of nature who swept into his life and left him completely out of his depth for the first time in his life. Klaus had tried to maintain a comfortable professional distance, but his control was worn thin every time she argued with him about proper sarcophagi preservation while wearing those distracting mid-thigh scuba suits she preferred.

           Shaking his head in irritation at the blonde’s recklessness, he forced himself to ascend slowly in the warm water to avoid decompression complications. When he finally broke the surface, he scowled at the cheeky grin that greeted him. Caroline leaned over the lower deck of their research vessel to help him scale the steel ladder. “Took you long enough, Klaus. I was starting to think my friend decided to play tag with you,” she teased.

           “Your ‘friend’ has a fearsome reputation for jaws of steel that ruthlessly hang on with no tolerance for provocation, and you chose to taunt the beast by encroaching on his territory. What the hell were you thinking,” Klaus growled, hating how his schoolboy crush made him irrationally angry at his colleague.

           Rolling her eyes, she bent over, inadvertently giving him a front-row seat to the perfection that was her magnificently sculpted arse as she retorted, “Well, I was thinking my friend could wait his turn because it’s finders keepers.” Straightening with one of the tarnished gold idols, she shrugged carelessly, “It’s the law of the land.” Excitedly stroking the statue, she gushed, “Do you see the beautifully rendered electrum? I estimate it’s 80% gold and the pharaonic head covering almost perfectly mimics the Amun-Gerb temple burial masks!”

           It was that unique adventurous spirit, along with her obvious enthusiasm for their scholarly endeavors, that had him completely captivated, Klaus realized with a small smile. Just the other day, the bloody lunatic had casually shooed away a venomous lionfish that had grown curious about an extraordinarily well-preserved stele she’d unearthed.

           But she wasn’t always so fearless.

          The first week she’d arrived, they’d breached a narrow passageway in the underwater cave where the oldest artifacts seemed to be located. Excited at the prospect of uncovering more priceless treasures, Caroline barely paid attention to the rope guideline strung along the cave walls as she paddled deeper into the dark cavern, their safety lights reflecting off of the vibrant red and orange coral.

           Irritated that she wasn’t following basic marine archaeology protocol, he quickly increased his speed to catch up her, intent on airing his grievances with his board of regents as soon as they surfaced. However, his indignation was short-lived when a cloud of air bubbles suddenly blocked the passage. Concerned about Caroline, he slowly floated forward, taken aback when he saw her furiously struggling against a jagged crevice. Her eyes were fearful as she flailed her limbs wildly, clearly unable to break free.

           Hating the helpless look of panic on Caroline’s face, he quickly moved into her line of sight, doing his best to calm her down so that she wouldn’t prematurely deplete her oxygen supply. His presence seemed to calm her down slightly, although she held her body rigid as he leaned closer to investigate the tangled ball of fishing line that prevented her tank from clearing the narrow passage.

           Klaus gestured for Caroline to grip her regulator so that it would remain safely in her mouth while he carefully helped her out of the buoyance compensator so that he could cut through the tangled line with his diving knife. Once he’d freed her scuba equipment, he helped her put everything back on, noting the slight tremor in her hands as she snapped the buckle in place.

           He watched her carefully as they slowly made their ascent, pleased to see that she’d shaken off her fear and was now swimming with smooth, confident strokes once more. Once back on deck, she’d quietly sat there, dangling her feet off the side as she stared aimlessly at the stunning turquoise waves that lapped gently at the boat.

           Sitting next to her, Klaus quietly told Caroline, “I was diving an ancient Greek trading vessel in the Black Sea a few years ago, and managed to get tangled in an old lobster trap. I lost my head for a bit, thrashing about in the water, but fortunately, one of the other divers appeared to help me. Later, he told me, ‘The sea is full of tricks; it doesn’t give up its secrets without a fight.’”

           She considered his words, squeezing his hand as she murmured, “I’m used to working alone. I’m very grateful you don’t, though.” she told him, the depth of her gaze searing into him, leaving him to wonder about all the things she’d left unsaid.  

           Realizing she’d caught him staring at her a beat too long, he replayed her words and finally answered, “Yes, yes, you’ve already established your superior appraisal skills with this site’s artifacts. Fairly certain I caught you drooling over the gold coins of Ptolemy the First you had spread out over the tables yesterday morning.”

           “Only because you kept classifying them incorrectly! It’s supposed to be creation date then metal weight, or else those stoner interns you brought along will never get them catalogued properly in time for your university’s unveiling,” she argued cheerfully.

           As she carefully set down the idol, she added, “And, it’s thanks to my superior appraisal skills that I secured your funding for this dig site another two years. Seriously, Klaus, you’ve been short-changing yourself for years if you’ve simply relied on a cursory estimated value of the artifacts you excavate. When you write reports to your board of regents, you have to sell them on not only the historical value of the artifacts but also the prestige and interest they’ll generate when unveiled to the public. They care about money and generating even more money under a thinly veiled guide of scholarly endeavors.”  

           He grumbled, realizing she had a point. “You’re quite well-versed in the duplicitous ways of academia, sweetheart. You must drive your own board of regents barking mad trying to keep up with your exacting demands,” he observed fondly.

           Caroline replied, “It’s really more about knowing people and how to appeal to their greed.”

           Klaus noted the slightly bitter tone to her voice, suddenly feeling the need to commiserate. “I know a fair bit about the greed in people’s hearts,” he began, resisting the urge to brush aside her wet strands when she jerked her head sharply at his statement. “My father fancies himself a world-renowned collector of priceless artifacts, but he’s actually a foul cutthroat who exploits the black market in an attempt to sate his bottomless greed.”

           Raising an eyebrow, she asked wryly, “So, you set out to become an accomplished archaeologist in one of the oldest civilizations known to man out of spite? I can respect that.”

           Not wanting to discuss his wretched father another moment, Klaus gave her a brief smile, and asked, “Well, what of your parents then? We’ve been so busy navigating the underwater work site that I’ve barely learned anything about you, love.”

           Carefully stowing the waterproof metal detectors, Caroline bit her lip, something he’d learned she did whenever she was debating something. “I never knew my father. You’ll have to tell me if that’s better or worse than having one like yours. My mom’s all I ever had.”

           Klaus observed the hard edge her voice took on — there’d only been one other time he’d heard it — when she found out he’d contacted her university to double-check her credentials. She’d been furious that he hadn’t trusted her and much to his chagrin, had forwarded him the incredibly detailed background check his own university had performed when they vetted her to join his research project. “Apologies, love, I didn’t mean to pry,” he replied, “I just thought since we’d been spending so much time together, it might be nice to get to know each other,” he finished awkwardly, feeling the tips of his ears burn slightly at the quirk of her lips.

           Caroline shook her head, scattering water droplets across the deck. “I’d like that.” Letting out a long sigh, she helped him carefully place the idols into bins of nitric acid and fresh water to start their preservation. “But, getting to know me is kind of a depressing conversation that requires many, many drinks. So, why don’t we finish up here and the first round is on me.”

           The acrid smoke filled his lungs as he made his way through the narrow bar, looking for Caroline. It was one of the oldest bars in Alexandria, a mishmash of old world-charm of the ancient Mediterranean port city with the eclectic vibe of the various tourists that drunkenly wandered in from the cruise ships. Klaus finally spied her blonde waves as she leaned over the well-worn bar to order a drink. When a drunken lout squeezed in beside Caroline and grabbed her wrist, her voice carried over the tinny, muffled classic rock playing through the speakers. “Let go before I make you let go.”

           Klaus was taken aback by the heat in her threat — even when furious, her tone was steel wrapped in sunshine. He was distracted from his thoughts when the stranger aggressively jerked her closer, slurring, “Just having some fun, but now I get to teach you uppity bitch a lesson.”

           Just as Klaus raced forward, blood rushing angrily in his ears, Caroline’s scowl turned into a dangerous blade and in one fluid move, she’d delivered a vicious uppercut to his sagging jawline with her left fist, and when he quickly released her right hand, she wrenched the boorish tourist’s arm behind his back, effectively pinning his sweaty head to the scuffed bar top with a hard thunk. Klaus arrived in time to hear Caroline hiss in his ear, “Go back to your cruise ship before I teach you a lesson, bitch.” With a final, cheeky pat across the back of his pastel polo shirt, Caroline let the stranger make his hasty, stumbled retreat out of the bar.

           Raising an eyebrow, Klaus couldn’t deny the small thrill he felt watching Caroline display this unexpected new side. “Impressive. I dare say you could use a drink.”

           As he signaled the bartender, she slapped a brown leather wallet on the bar between them, casually digging through it until she held up a credit card, announcing, “I agree, and it looks like Mr. Saltzman generously has agreed to foot the bill.”

           Against his better judgement, he fell for that impish wink she threw him, and slid the card toward the bartender to start their tab. Clinking their beer bottles together, he commented, “Care to tell me where you learned how to fight like that? Or that pickpocket routine, sweetheart?”

           Admiring the scribbles in various language along the wall behind them, she shrugged, “I grew up in a rough neighborhood. When no one’s looking out for you, you’ve got to look out for yourself. And I may have picked up a few other...unorthodox skills somewhere along the way.”

           As Klaus considered what Caroline wasn’t saying, he asked carefully, “Earlier you mentioned it was just you and your mother. What happened that she wasn’t looking out for you, love?”

           “My mom’s been sick for a long time which is why I started taking on more specialized assignments to try to keep up with her medical bills,” she ventured, taking a long drink from her bottle.

           Feeling a pang at her confession, he couldn’t help but inquire, “How bad is it, sweetheart?”

           “She needs a kidney and I’m not a match,” Caroline told him, worry lining her brow as she stared off into space. “There’s this waiting list and it’s her only hope now and I don’t know what I’ll do if...” she trailed off as she seemed to struggle to rein in her emotions.

           Klaus hated how defeated she sounded, all traces of her vibrant personality were gone and she looked so alone that he squeezed her hand. He suddenly felt the unexpected urge to tell her, “I had a little brother, Henrik, who was sick. By the time they found the leukemia, there was only time for a few rounds of chemo...we lost him within a year. I read him Greek mythology stories every day he was in the hospital.” A small, sad smile touched his lips as he added, “His favorite story was the one about the minotaur and the maze.”

           “My mom likes me to read Ovid to her when she’s getting her dialysis treatment. We’re both fans of Jason and the Golden Fleece,” Caroline said, nudging his shoulder.

           Klaus contemplated his beer as he revealed, “I think that’s part of why I became an archaeologist — to connect with that childlike wonder at ancient myths bigger than the world as we know it. There’s always a mystery to unravel with each new artifact; we’re restoring a bit of humanity’s lost heritage that we never even knew was missing. Unlike the other priceless works lost to the ages and likely never to be recovered like the coronet of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, or the end piece of the Bayeux Tapestry.”

           Caroline’s hand stilled as she reached for her beer, finally grasping it to clink it against his once more, cheerfully telling him, “I’ll drink to that.”

           He suddenly was aware of how close they were sitting. He watched her carefully, cataloguing too many emotions to decipher them properly. Heart pounding, he decided to take a chance. He closed the space between them, meeting her lips with his in a kiss that was hesitant but hopeful. Ignoring the catcalls of the drunken patrons, he deepened their kiss, encouraged by the way her hands touched his face, as if wanting to keep him in this moment.

           Suddenly, Caroline broke their kiss, her blue eyes full of regret as she told him sadly, “I can’t. We’re heading in different directions and it’s not fair to you. I’m sorry, Klaus.” Not waiting for his response, she abruptly left, disappearing into the night as he struggled to understand what happened.

           Several shots later, Klaus left the bar, weaving a bit as he made his way through the market square and back to the cramped office space that had been rented for the research project. He didn’t understand Caroline’s rejection — they were both respected archaeologists specializing in the same regional histories, their research project had been extended for several years — why did she believe were they heading in different directions? His thoughts were muddled from drinking, but he wasn’t sure it would make more sense after he sobered.

           He fumbled with his keys, finally fitting the correct one in the lock. He didn’t bother turning on the lights in the downstairs work area, instead slowly trudging through dusty piles of boxes until he was at the foot of the stairs that led to the staff’s sleeping quarters. As he began the unsteady climb, he paused when he heard Caroline’s irritated voice. From the sound of it, she was arguing with someone on the phone. “It’s over, do you hear me? I’m done!”

           Was she fighting with a lover? He strained to hear more, not caring about something as inconsequential as manners if it turned out Caroline had only turned him away because she needed to end something with someone else first. “No,” she swore angrily, “no more. I told you I’m done and I mean it!” Klaus held his breath, waiting for her to speak again, but when he didn’t hear anything further, he finished climbing the stairs to his quarters and fell into bed.

           The next morning, the sun blinded him, and from his throbbing head, he could tell his hangover was shaping up to need more than his usual greasy breakfast to cure. Groaning, he clumsily pulled on less-rumpled clothes and made his way over to Caroline’s room across the hall. He hesitated before he knocked, replaying last night’s events from their heated kiss to her confusing rejection and then the argument he overheard. He cared for her, but if she didn’t feel the same, surely he could set aside his hurt so that they could continue working together.

           Easier said than done, mate. Every time he replayed her words and the regret in her eyes, his heart sank in his chest. Rubbing a hand over his scruffy jaw, he squared his shoulders as he gently knocked. “Caroline? Would you care to join me for breakfast before we start cataloging our excavations?” Frowning when there was no response, he knocked a bit more firmly, her door swinging wide to reveal her bed was already made. Gray eyes narrowed, he noticed that the small closet was open, showing that it was empty save for a few coat hangers. Caroline was gone.      

           His hangover was no match for the rising panic he felt, terrified that he’d pushed her away with his impulsive kiss. He raced downstairs, unsure what to do. Spying his phone on a desk, he grabbed it, frantically looking for her number. Before he made the call, however, a noise near the back of the office caught his attention.

           A local bank had donated a vault to secure the artifacts, and Klaus realized that the noise was coming from inside. Feeling a slight glimmer of hope that it was Caroline, he ran inside, stopping short at the sight that greeted him.

           It was the flash of silver on the gun that he noticed first, his gaze tracing the length of the pistol until he registered that it was his father who held the gun. “Mikael,” he snarled, refusing to show this contemptable man any fear. “We haven’t spoken in years. Why are you here?”

           Mikael’s smile was cruel and twisted as he revealed, “To finish the job my assistant couldn’t get done.”

           Klaus hated the way his father possessively ran his hand across the piles of gold and bronze coins, eyeing the intricately carved statue of Hapy, god of floods, with pure greed. “What are you on about? What assistant?”

           He nodded behind Klaus, the blade of his smile sharpening as he greeted, “Why, the lovely Caroline, of course.”

           Caroline suddenly entered the vault, stoic and coldly calculating as she studied Mikael. “I told you I was out. I’m not helping you steal this treasure from Klaus.”

           Klaus felt his temper rise, forgetting the gun his father had trained on him as he growled at her, “All this time, you’ve been working for my father?! Was anything you told me real?!”

           “Yes,” she snapped, momentarily tearing her eyes away from the gun, “My mom was on a waiting list for a kidney but Mikael used his connections to get her kicked off of it. He said he’d only get her put back on if I pulled this job for him.” At Klaus’ noise of disgust, she shouted, “That list is her only chance! She’ll die without a kidney and I already used everything I had to pay her medical bills — there was nothing left to try to buy her one off the black market!”

           Despite his anger at being betrayed, he also felt a sliver of sympathy for her situation. It was the most vulnerable he’d ever seen her, even when he saved her in the underwater cave it didn’t compare to the raw emotion he now found in her eyes, and it took everything in him to hang onto his fury. Gray eyes narrowed, he replayed her words, picking up on her obvious familiarity with the black market, not to mention the other unusual traits he’d noticed but carelessly shrugged off. Whipping his head around, he asked Mikael suspiciously, “You could’ve used any thief to steal from me. Why Caroline?”

           “Because she’s the best grifter in the world,” he answered with an approving nod in Caroline’s direction, “among her illustrious accomplishments, she stole the end piece of the Bayeux Tapestry from a collector whose family had hidden away for generations.”

           Klaus’ gray eyes widened and he couldn’t help but be impressed — the final section of that famous medieval work had vanished sometime before the 16th century. Over the centuries, it only had been spoken of in whispers in the academic and art worlds, believed to be lost forever.

           Caroline seethed as she corrected his father, “I’m a treasure hunter, NOT a thief.” Flicking her gaze back to Klaus, she explained, “It’s how I knew so much about ancient artifacts.”

           “Obviously, you’re not a professor of Egyptology at the University of Chicago,” Klaus muttered, feeling completely ridiculous — he’d been quietly working on a lecture series that he’d intended to petition his own university to approve a visiting professorship for Caroline once their project grant had been depleted.

           Caroline sheepishly replied, “I may have picked up some digital forgery skills at some point,” she shrugged, “I knew your board of regents performed extensive background checks, so I wanted to be prepared.”

           Mikael sighed mockingly, “As amusing as this interlude has been children, it’s time to put an end to this embarrassing debacle.” Waving his pistol in Caroline’s direction, he ordered, “Start hauling the treasure to the front of the office. I’ve arranged for secure transport within the hour.”

           Despite the obvious danger, she narrowed her gaze at him as she challenged, “And if I don’t? Seriously, do you have any idea how many times I’ve had a gun pointed at me in my line of work?”

           While he admired her courage, Klaus barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her complete lack of self-preservation. He realized he was subconsciously angling his body as though trying to block Mikael’s line of sight.

           Mikael’s voice retained that cold, vicious certainty that had terrified Klaus as a child. “If you don’t follow my instructions, the fact that I will shoot both you and my worthless son is inconsequential. What should concern you is the depraved, agonizing torture I will visit upon your poor, sickly mother once you’re dead.”

           “Leave Caroline out of this, Mikael,” Klaus shouted, his heart plummeting when he saw how pale she’d grown the moment her mother was threatened.

           The fleeting warmth he felt when she flashed him a grateful smile was doused when his father chuckled darkly. “Useless boy, too foolish to understand he’s already dead.” The deadly click of the hammer as he cocked the pistol echoed throughout the bank vault, and Klaus hated the helplessness he felt, knowing he was about to die.

           Suddenly, Caroline whipped out a black handgun that had been concealed behind her back, tucked in her waistband. “Not him, Mikael. You.” She confidently stepped away from Klaus, keeping her cold gaze trained on Mikael.

           “You’re nothing but a scared little girl. You won’t pull the trigger,” Mikael taunted her with a sinister curl of his lip. Klaus registered the predatory way his father stalked toward Caroline, and he instinctively moved to protect her.

           A shot rang out with a sharp crack, sending adrenaline flooding through his system as he grabbed Caroline and threw them both behind a pile of dusty boxes. As he lay halfway on top of her, he quickly scanned her for injuries while listening for his father.

           He was surprised by the gentle press of Caroline’s palm on his back. “Klaus, it’s ok. It’s over.” She moved out from under him, pulling him to his feet as her smile turned grim.

           Klaus followed her gaze across the floor to where Mikael had fallen. The small bullet hole was centered in his forehead. A perfect shot. How the bloody hell did she know how to do that? “You saved my life,” he acknowledged in a harsh whisper, staring down at the monster who’d haunted his dreams for as long as he could remember. “He’d planned on killing me regardless of your decision to help him steal the treasure, and yet you risked your own life to save mine.”

           As she put away her gun, Caroline looked uncomfortable, shuffling her feet a bit as she muttered, “Well, I couldn’t just let you die after everything...” she trailed off awkwardly. As though noticing the way his eyes kept wandering back to his father’s body, her brow furrowed worriedly and she grasped him by the arm, leading him out of the vault and into their main work area. Biting her lip, she told him, “Mikael said there’s a transport arriving within the hour — so, we have a few options to take care of this. I just need to know whether you want him to have a burial. Or, do you just want him gone?”

           His thoughts raced as he processed her words. How in blazes did she know about these things? He thought back to his horrific childhood with that vile creature, and realized that he only felt relief as he’d stared at his father’s corpse. The cold, calm certainty of his voice still surprised him as he decreed, “Mikael was an abusive monster who deserves every indignity you care to inflict.”          

           Nodding once, she pulled out her phone, typing a quick message. Flicking her blue gaze at him, she announced, “Understood. I called in a favor and everything will be taken care of before Mikael’s security detail arrives. My friend has secured a safe house for you to continue your work at the site and the artifacts will be transported safely.” At his shocked expression, she gave him a small smile, explaining, “He’s the one who commissioned me to find the missing Bayeux Tapestry piece.”

           Curious, Klaus asked, “How did you find it?! The bloody thing has been lost for centuries without a trace — How did you even know where to begin?”

           Shrugging, Caroline coyly said, “I just happened to hear a few interesting whispers that seemed like they’d lead to an adventure.” Her tone grew serious as she seemed to search for something in his expression. “I’m sorry for everything. I lied to you and while I had my reasons, it doesn’t change what happened. I fell for you, Klaus.”

           Laughing nervously, she shoved her phone back in her pocket, playing with the frayed belt loops on her jeans as she couldn’t seem to look at him when she confessed, “I put everything I had into fighting it, but I couldn’t help myself — you’re so passionate about your work and fiercely intelligent when we debate and you have this crazy charismatic pull and my god, you look like you’re chiseled from marble...” she rambled, cheeks flushing. “And I’m sorry I left — it’s just all I’ve ever known; it’s what I’m good at. But it hurt my heart to do that to you, so I came back because I couldn’t stand the thought of what Mikael would do to you.”  

           Caroline fell for him. Klaus took a breath, not knowing what to say. It was everything he’d wanted to hear, but somehow, it still wasn’t enough. She’d lied to him. She’d every intention of stealing those artifacts, possibly irrevocably damaging his career. How could he trust her after that?

           She studied his face, as though cataloguing every emotion that flickered across it. In a small voice, she asked him, “Now what?”

           He sighed, suddenly exhausted. “I don’t know, Caroline.” Running fingers through his curls in frustration, he hated the way bitterness started to bleed into his voice. “I don’t know if I can move past everything. I don’t know if could ever trust you.”

           She was wistful as she replied, “I understand,” and placed a quick kiss on his cheek as she walked away.

           Klaus stopped her when she opened the door. “What’s next for you then? Off on another adventure?” He was still greedy for her presence, wanting to soak up their last moments together, but couldn’t bring himself to tell her how he really felt. Stubborn arsehole.

           “In my downtime here, I’ve heard a few interesting whispers that might lead to an adventure.” Caroline winked, taking her heart with him as she walked away.

           For the next week, he walked around the new office like a ghost, barely paying attention to his research as his every thought was plagued by Caroline, and occasionally yelling at one of his irksome interns if they dared to breathe wrong in his presence. He was a miserable bastard and knew he only had himself to blame. He let her walk away. Caroline was off on a new adventure and probably had forgotten all about him.

           When the package arrived, he’d been staring off into space, remembering the endearing way Caroline used to flush an angry red whenever he argued with her about discrepancies found in radiocarbon dating techniques. She’d been a veritable wealth of knowledge — surely it wasn’t solely the result of treasure hunting. Yet another thing he’d never know about her, he thought grimly. Mindlessly opening the box, he paused when he registered the crudely wrought bronze. A quick assessment revealed two bracelets, an axe head, four sickles and a handful of spear points. Was he actually  holding a shipment of priceless artifacts from the Bronze Age?

           Klaus’ hand trembled as he recognized Caroline’s handwriting:

           “There’s more where this came from. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, maybe you could stop by?”

           She’d written a series of GPS coordinates that made his heart hammer with excitement. Klaus knew that this interesting whisper would definitely lead to an adventure.

 Please review here:

AO3

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[yukipage]

Curiosity and Distress

Blue Lips, Blue Veins: Part 1

Characters: Connor (Detroit: Become Human)/Reader, Lieutenant Hank Anderson.

Summary: When the android sent from CyberLife arrives at the police station, you are instantly curious about him. As you endeavor to learn more about him, he discovers your unorthodox fear.

Author's Note: I have a couple of ideas for continuing this, but only if people like it enough. This was me taking a simple idea and running with it. I do share the Reader's fear, but not quite to the extent that is expressed here. Anyway, enjoy! :) *edit* I guess you guys really like this, and I've got more to say in the story, so I'm making this a series! Look out for more coming soon.

Hank’s new partner peaked your curiosity. After all, it wasn’t every day that an android was allowed to participate in solving critical investigations. Your daily paperwork had been interrupted this morning when Connor arrived, asking around for Lieutenant Anderson. Awkwardly, you had introduced yourself and directed him to Hank’s desk, which was situated directly across from yours. The android sent by CyberLife then proceeded to ignore you as he sat in an available chair, absentmindedly tossing a coin around. The tricks he did boggled your mind and proved to be more than enough of a distraction for you. Then, Hank had arrived and all hell broke loose.

 You felt sorry for both parties as Hank berated the android he was forced to work with. When they finally left, you returned to writing up the reports assigned to you. Despite their absence, the two of them were stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Now that it’s later, more and more people are packing up and going home. You volunteered to put in the extra hours needed to add the finishing touches on your paperwork. It’s mind-numbingly tedious. However, you are instantly glad that you stayed when Connor walks into the station. He nods politely at you before sitting down in his designated chair and closing his eyes. You squint at him. Did he fall asleep? Can androids even sleep? You sigh and begin to spin around in your wheely chair, musing over some of the thoughts that have been plaguing your mind since the deviant cases started racking up. Androids are treated terribly by most of your society. It sucks; even if they don’t feel anything, they still should be treated with decency. And, despite what you’ve been told all your life, the cases suggest that androids do have emotions, that they are sentient and feel empathy. You don’t know what to make of it.

Breaking from your reverie, you look at Connor again. He still hasn't moved. What is going on? Hesitantly, you stand up and walk over to him. He remains perfectly motionless. You edge your way in front of him and wave your hand in front of his face. “Er, Connor? You there?” you ask. No dice. Scooting backwards, you hoist yourself on top of his desk and stare at him, legs dangling over the side and arms crossed. You have to admit, his is pretty cute. You wince and mentally chide yourself. Don’t end up liking a guy who might not even be capable of reciprocating your feelings. Still, you guess it can’t hurt to look. You lean forward until your face is nearly a foot away from his.

Connor’s eyes pop open. Yelping, you flinch backwards and fall off of Connor’s desk. You hit the floor with a thud. He gazes down at you and blinks in surprise. “Officer, what are you doing on the floor?”

You are frozen in place. “Um, well… you see…” Your face grows redder and redder with every passing moment as you scramble to come up with something to say. “You looked like you were asleep, so I was… er… checking on you. When you opened your eyes, you scared me. I, uh, I fell. As you can see.”

“I was not asleep, merely making a report to CyberLife and running a self diagnostic,” he articulates with a faint hint of amusement in his voice. Standing, he reaches down and helps you off of the floor.

“Thanks,” you say sheepishly, rubbing the back of your neck.

“You’re welcome.” Connor turns on his heel and quickly walks to the exit, leaving you in the dust.

Before you can stop yourself, you run after him. “Hey, wait!” you call. “Wait up!” You skid to a halt in front of him.

He cocks his head at you. “Yes?”

“Where are you going?” you inquire hastily.

“I just received word of another incident that could possibly involve deviant activity. So, I’m going to locate Lieutenant Anderson and accompany him to the crime scene.” 

 “Oh! I know where his house is. And I know the bars where he likes to hang out.”

“So do I. It’s in his profile,” Connor states matter-of-factly.

“Yes, but I could drive you there. If you wanted me to, that is...” you mumble, trailing off. For a few moments, Connor’s LED whirrs yellow on the side of his head. It then changes back to blue.

“Alright,” he concedes. “Your vehicle will get us there faster than public transportation.” You cheer internally as you lead Connor to your car. You start it up, pull out of the parking lot, and head towards Hank’s house. The two of you sit in silence for a couple of uncomfortable minutes until, surprisingly, Connor speaks. “May I ask you a question, Officer?”

“Uh, sure. But you don’t have to call me that. Most people call me Blue.”

“That is an unusual nickname.”

You smile ruefully. “Well, when you get a bucket of paint dumped on you your first day on the job, you might get an ‘unusual nickname’ too. It’s a long story, don’t ask. I like it, anyways. So what’s your question?”

“Why were you so adamant about driving me to find the Lieutenant?”

“Well,” you say, sighing. “To tell you the truth, I find you extremely interesting. It’s so cool you’re an android detective, like something from a book! Chauffeuring you seemed way better than finishing my paperwork. Also, I know Hank. He needs all of the moral support he can get when you do eventually find him. He doesn’t really like androids, if you haven’t noticed.”

“He has made that very clear. Do you know why that is?”

“Yeah, but I’d rather not say. It’s not for me to tell.” You stop at a red light and wait, tapping your fingers on the steering wheel. Rain pours from the overcast sky, drumming a tattoo on the roof of your car. Turning the corner, you drive through a neighborhood. The houses are nothing fancy, a little run down if you’re being brutally honest. The trees and grass, though, are a nice break from the concrete jungle of Detroit.

Stopping in front of a house, you park the car. “This is it,” you say, gesturing to the faint glow in the windows of the dwelling. “And it looks like he’s home.” Both of you step out into the rain. You pull your hood over your head in an attempt to shield yourself from the cascading water. Needless to say, it doesn’t work very well, so you hurry to the safety and comfort of Hank’s porch. Connor raises a finger and rings the doorbell. He opens his mouth to call out, but you cut him off. “Hank! It’s me, Blue. I know you’re in there.” You hear nothing from inside the house. “Sorry,” you whisper to Connor. “I think he may be more inclined to open the door if he thinks I’m the only one here. Hank!” you once again yell, and rap your knuckles on the door loudly. A sinking feeling pulls at the pit of your stomach. You try the knob, then back away from the door. “Something’s wrong.” You step into the yard and search the ground. “He has a spare key under a rock somewhere,” you explain breathlessly.

“Here, I see it.” Connor overturns a large stone adorned with peeling green paint that was hiding in the shadows and picks up a brass key. He unlocks the door and turns the knob. The pair of you step inside the house and Connor closes the door behind you, shutting out the dreary weather. You gasp. Hank is lying, either passed out or dead, on the kitchen floor with a spilled bottle of whiskey and a gun next to him. You start forward, then something else immediately draws your attention. A giant Saint Bernard reclining in the living room lifts his head up at your entry.

You swear under your breath and slowly inch away. “Oh no, I forgot about him.” You hold your hands up disarmingly. “Easy, Sumo, easy. Just stay there,” you croon in the calmest tone you can muster. The dog lets out an booming bark and bounds towards you. Without another word, you take off down the hallway. You rush into the first door that’s open, slam it shut, and lean against it, chest heaving. You exhale loudly and rub your shaking hands through your hair. That was a tad overdramatic. Even still, you really did not want to go back there. Cracking open the door, you warily peer out, but you can’t quite see the kitchen or the android. “Connor, you ok?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Lieutenant Anderson is as well, just inebriated and unconscious. The dog isn’t going to hurt anyone; you can come out now,” Connor replies.

“Uh, no thanks. I’m good in here.” The door slowly creaks shut. You can hear Connor waking up Hank and his drunken howling, eliciting a giggle from you. His swearing and slurred speech gets louder as he passes by your door. Silence, then the sound of the shower running and Hank hollering. You cover your mouth with your hands to stifle a laugh.

A couple of minutes pass, then there’s a knock at the door. Connor’s muffled voice comes through. “Blue, can I come in?” You open up and move out of the way to let him pass, making sure to secure the door afterwards. He walks over to the closet and pulls out one of Hank’s “suits.” Turning back around, he looks at you quizzically. “Why are you still in here?”

You scuff the carpet with your foot self-consciously. “It’s because… I’mafraidofdogs,” you mumble.

Connor cocks his head. “What’s that? I didn’t catch that.”

“I’m afraid of dogs, ok?” you clarify irately. “I don’t like being around them. I mean, they’re adorable in theory and from afar, but I just don’t like to get close.”

Connor nods. “Ah, I see. Well, Sumo is sitting quietly in the kitchen, so I don’t think he’ll bother you if you come out to sit in the living room. Come on.” He waves you out the door. You cautiously follow him, glancing in the bathroom to see Hank hunched over the toilet. You grimace as he vomits. Connor drops off his clothes and shuts the door to give him some privacy, at Hank’s assurance that he won’t take long.

You bravely march into the living room and curl up in the seat furthest away from Sumo. You don’t take your eyes off the dog. Connor pokes around in the kitchen for a bit, then focuses his attention on you. Once again, you can see his yellow LED spinning. He approaches you. “Being afraid of a passive animal is illogical. It may even interfere with your duties in the future. You should try to face your fear.”

You rapidly shake you head. “No way. I’m not getting near him.”

Connor grabs your hand. Your eyes widen as he pulls you off the couch. “This is for your own good.” He begins to lead you to the source of your fear.

“No no no no no,” you frantically cry. “Connor, let go!” You try to break free from his grasp, but he has a solid hold on you. When you realize that resistance is futile, you resign yourself to your fate and allow Connor to lug you into the kitchen. The pair of you halt in front of the furry creature. Your muscles become rigid, and you instinctively clutch Connor’s arm. Sumo raises his head. He whines softly, tail thumping and tongue hanging out of his mouth. With you still clinging to him, Connor kneels on the tile. Gently, he detaches one of your trembling hands from his arm and places it on Sumo’s back, his hand covering yours. You feel the dog’s silky fur underneath your fingers and steadily, you begin to stroke him. Some of the tension leaves your body.

Connor notices your heart rate decreasing and pulls back. “See? This isn’t so bad.” You see him smiling slightly at you.

“No, no it’s not.” You grin back at him and shake your head in wonder. How could this caring person ever be called a machine? Connor may not believe it himself, but he maybe really does have feelings. And if he does, this deviant hunter specially designed by CyberLife, then all androids do. A seed of belief begins to take root in your heart.

Your thoughts are interrupted by a slurp as the Saint Bernard licks your wrist. “Ewww.” you shake the slobber off of you. “Sumo, that was gross.” Connor starts to get up. You seize his hand and look him in the eyes. “Hey, thank you for this.”

“It’s no problem, Blue.”

“No really. Thank you. I would’ve never been able do this without you.” You realize how intensely you’re staring at him and look away, blushing. You release him. Man, he really is cute. This android better have feelings, you think jokingly to yourself as you continue to pet Sumo.

|Ao3| |Part 2| |Part 3| |Part 4|

[aion-rsa]

DC Introduces New Hero in Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration, is a timely new anthology showcasing DC’s Asian superheroes. Arriving in May for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, it presents many of the top Asian storytellers of comics. Included in the 100 page commemorative anthology is an original 12-page story by Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang. “The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes” introduces a new DC superhero who teams up with Shazam to battle Doctor Sivana and a Chinese deer demon. 

Monkey Prince references the 16th century Chinese classic, Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en. It is the story of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, and his epic journey to bring the Buddhist sutras to China from India. In China, it has been the subject of plays, operas, movies and TV shows. What’s more, it inspired Dragon Ball, Into the Badlands, and Yang’s own award-winning graphic novel, American Born Chinese. “We’re treating Journey to the West as canon, like DC canon. It actually happened within the DC Universe,” says Yang. 

Den of Geek had a video chat with the two creators, Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang about the significance of the newest Asian hero coming to the DC Universe.

Den of Geek: What was your first memory of Monkey King? 

Bernard Chang: Well, when my family immigrated to the States in 1978, we lived in Indiana. I was reading comics when I was in Taiwan, but when we came to the States I was reading like Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, any comics I could get at the newsstands. At some point my father saw that I was taking a liking to superhero stuff and he was like, “I wanted to introduce you to this Chinese superhero.”

Every night he would read me bedtime stories from Sun Wukong from Monkey King. He wouldn’t read the whole chapter, but he’d read a little bit for a few minutes and then I’d go to sleep dreaming and imagining these characters, these places, these adventures. It was from a book. It wasn’t from an actual comic book. None of it was translated. It was all in Chinese. 

I think [those stories] really helped to cultivate this curiosity and imagination and creativity. This is a world that I’m completely unfamiliar with in a sense, or half familiar with, but half not. The sad part to this story is that my parents got divorced when I was around 10, and so my father never got to finish the Monkey King Journey to the West story.I had the book, but it was in Chinese so I couldn’t read it and I couldn’t figure out the ending. Anytime this lore comes up, it always brings back fond memories. 

Gene Luen Yang: I think I have a very similar story to Bernard. I heard the Monkey King stories first from my mom at bedtime and she wasn’t reading out of a book. She was just telling them off of the top of her head. I also remember visiting Taiwan when I was a kid. I was born in the United States, but when I was four, my mom took me back to Taiwan to hang out with her parents and her relatives. I remember there was a cartoon on TV at the time, that was Monkey King.

I was a little bit different from Bernard. I actually fell in love with the Monkey King first and then came into American superheroes when I was much older. When I was like in fifth grade, I started getting really into superheroes, but it’s the same thing. I think it’s the same kind of love.

The love I have for Monkey King is very similar to the love I have for superheroes. Both of them are these heroic stories that are all about color and brightness and hope and magic. I think this particular project, especially, it allows Bernard and I, the chance to explore those in-between spaces between these two very different storytelling traditions.

What was it like to finally work together? 

Bernard: We’ve had peripheral friends, acquaintances, but this is like a culmination of that in life. In Chinese, they call it “yuanfen.”

As in ‘fate’?

Bernard: It’s like fate, destiny, but it’s like a circular, like there’s a path that you take, whether in relationships or work or whatever it is. The people that you meet, the people that you come across, are there for a particular reason. Right now, this moment in my life, in our lives, I’m presented kind of another childhood opportunity to finally almost tie up loose ends, but also pave new paths. For me, out of any other comic book project, there’s a very personal thread. I hope that that comes out in our work. 

It’s not just about me satisfying myself, but also passing along that wonderment, that joy, that excitement of a little kid about to go to sleep, about to dream of this wondrous world and these adventures that these crazy characters go on. We hope to pass that on to a next generation, or at least our version of that, because we’re not retelling that story. We’re telling our own story based off certain things, inspirations from it. 

Given what’s happening with #StopAsianHate and all the Asian crimes, how important is it to you personally to be doing this special issue?

Gene: I think behind all of these crimes I think it’s an impulse to dehumanize Asian-Americans. One of the big stereotypes that we deal with here in America is that all Asians look alike, right? Behind that idea is that we’re all just this one big mass, no individuals. When you think of a population like that, it becomes much easier to commit violence against them. 

Bernard: We’re doing this, it’s not because of the movement that this project is born out of, but when you read characters, when you read any kind of comic books, when I was reading comic books growing up, it was about the characters in the story. It’s about these characters learning from their faults and trying to do the right thing and overcoming obstacles. Monkey King also being very mischievous and having his own personality, but those are all human traits. 

Over the last few years, pre-pandemic, before that, when I was traveling quite a lot around the world to many different comic book conventions and meeting different fans in Europe and Asia, in South Africa, in India, you notice everyone, they look different, but they’re all attracted to the same values. We’re all very similar at the core. I think our story, however it plays out in terms of what’s happening in the world today, will still remain true to its basic principles.

Gene: This project got started before the Atlanta shooting, which although the Asian hate stuff had been going on for a while, the Atlanta shooting to me was a turning point. At least I saw that in the circles that I’m a part of. Even [for] Asian-Americans who wanted to deny it, I think that became the point at which it was no longer deniable. It’s a little bit of that fate that Bernard was talking about as well, that this project is coming out shortly after that. We weren’t really planning it, but it feels like it was meant to be. 

In terms of the relationship, the Monkey King is supposedly the father of the Monkey Prince. We’re going to get into the details of what that might look like. It’s a slightly more complex relationship than that. 

How much did earlier versions of Journey to the West artwork inform what you were drawing, Bernard?

Bernard: Well, there’s obviously a massive amount of stuff that’s already been done about Monkey King. Part of it is trying to find what I remembered as a kid and then modernizing it because the story does take place in the DC Universe here in the United States. 

It was a very true collaborative stage, because Gene would send over drawings that he’s already done. Gene’s also an artist, so it’s great to help use that as a visual bouncing board, a platform to jump off and go back and forth. Then just Jessica [Chen], our editor, has really provided a lot of great visual references. But really there’s been no kind of a leash on anything. It’s just go as wild and as crazy as you can and then let’s just make this thing jam. 

There’s a lot other designs we haven’t shown yet. Hopefully, as the story progresses, we’ll be able to see some of that come up.

If someone asked “Who is the Monkey King?” what might you recommend?

Gene: The first translation that I read when I was in my 20s was the Arthur Waley translation, which has been the standard for a very long time for the English-speaking world. Just recently, Julia Lovell did a translation that I thought was great. It came out just a couple of months ago.

In terms of pop culture, there’s an anime series called Monkey Magic that I really liked. Looking back now, it was a mix of traditional and 3D animation and some of the 3D animation looks really dated. In terms of the energy and in terms of his personality, it really captured something about him.

Monkey Magic was distributed through the UK, and so many leading martial artists from the UK like Ray Park reference Monkey Magic as a major influence.

Gene: Yeah. Just recently there’s a movie called Immortal Demon Slayer that I thought was really good too. That’s a Monkey King movie.

Bernard: I mean, there’s a lot. A Taiwanese artist did an adaptation. His name is Tsai Chih Chung. He did it as like a weekly strip. It was like an American-style strip where every three panels was a joke. I thought that was really well done.

Maybe I’m a little stubborn, but everything that I’ve seen since has never really measured up to what was in my head as a kid. 

Do either of you have favorite chapters for Monkey King? 

Gene: For the 12-pager we did, we did draw on one specific story. If you read the original, the Monkey Prince does something very similar to something that the Monkey King did in the original. 

I’ve always been partial to the Gold Horned King and the Silver Horned King. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them portrayed well in media, like in a cartoon or a movie, but I think that they could be. There’s something very, very powerful and sinister about the way they’ve described them in the book that I think could translate really well into visual media.

Bernard: I’ve always been attracted to just the Monkey King himself, living in the mountain, being mischievous, going up to heaven, causing havoc, coming back down, celebrating with his friends and family. 

Are we going to see Monkey Prince and Batman? I can totally see Pigsy and Wonder Woman. 

Gene: Yeah. I think Wonder Woman is a very natural fit, right? Shazam too, which is why we chose to use them because both of them are tied deeply into Western mythologies. It seems like within the DC Universe that the different deities from the different mythologies all kind of know each other, at least they’re all related in some way. So having the Monkey Prince interact with them would be super easy, super logical.

The Monkey King is so iconic. That must have been challenging to capture his spirit for Monkey Prince.

Gene: Oh, dude. Yeah. Bernard did enough art to fill up an entire wall. It was amazing. The different iterations that he did. Just working with Bernard, I could tell that this was a passion project because he was just putting out version after another, after another. I think all of us wanted to get it right, but because Bernard’s the artist, he just put in hours and hours and hours into this thing. It’s been really impressive to see.

Bernard: It’s inspired by the Monkey King but it is my own character and reflective of our times.

Gene: Yeah. There’re so many iterations of the Monkey King out there, right? This version has to feel distinctively DC like it belongs in the DC Universe. That was a driving factor in everything we did.

What do you mean by distinctively DC?

Gene: DC duperheroes have these symbols that look like letters, but aren’t necessarily letters. Like Superman’s, it looks like an S, but in stories, it’s a Kryptonian symbol for hope. Aquaman’s looks like an A, but in story, it’s like this ancient Atlantean glyph. For Monkey King, we wanted him to have a symbol that looked like an M for monkey, but really it’s actually a representation of Flower Fruit Mountain, which is where the Monkey King was born, right? The origin of his story, or the origin of his power. I mean, that’s something else too, right?

In DC comics, Flash wears a lightning bolt on his chest because that’s the origin of how he got his powers. Shazam also wears a lightning bolt because that’s how he got his powers. He was struck by lightning.

Bernard: Well, the chest insignia, I mean, not to sound corny, but I went to sleep after working on some stuff. Then woke up the next day with a dream about this design. 

Sun Wukong came to you in a dream. That’s awesome!

Bernard: Well, sometimes when I sleep, I’m dreaming that I’m working and then I wake up and I’m like, “Oh, I’m a little behind on my deadline.” I’ve also fallen asleep drawing. That’s not very good too, but a lot of good stuff happens to sleep.

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DC Festival of Heroes: An Asian Superhero Celebration goes on sale May 11th, 2021.

The post DC Introduces New Hero in Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[hakuyamazakisensei]

The whole list for Chizuru! - hope I don't ask too much 😶

OOH boy! I haven’t ever been asked to do one for Chizuru so this will be FUN!

A. Art – If they were artistic what would they draw or paint?

Chizuru likes to showcase positivity, so I see her painting lots of nature scenes using bright and vibrant colors.

B. Beauty – What is their favorite feature on themselves and others?

The one thing Chizuru can honestly say that she likes about herself is that she is determined.

Hijikata- The kindness he tries so hard to hide.

Saito- The warmth most people miss in him.

Heisuke- The seriousness with which he tackles something bigger than himself.

Harada- His gentle way of prodding someone to do more or do better.

Shinpachi- His spirit and how he uplifts everyone around him.

Gen- His gentle but firm way of leading without seeming to lead.

Kondo- His generosity of heart.

Souji- His ability to keep going on, no matter what is thrown at him.

C. Color – What color describes them?

Gold- Warm and bright, rich and full…She embodies a richness of life that most people miss.

D. Dating – How do they ask someone out?

Much like Yamazaki, if SHE is the one to do the asking, she’ll practice for a long time before making the approach. Honestly, though….I see her waiting to BE asked out more.

E. Entertain – What do they do to keep themselves entertained on a boring day?

Chizuru has allllll kinds of ways to keep herself entertained, be it cleaning, reading, sewing or whatever. HOWEVER, I think the way she does it most is by daydreaming…She lives all of her fantasies out in her head while she does her tasks. 

F. Fashion – What is their personal style? Where would they shop?

Comfy chic….She’s not a big spender, but she’s got a cute wardrobe. Basics are black jeans, sweaters galore, skirts that hang at different lengths (but not too short). She likes boots over shoes.

G. Grammar – How do they text? Do they use full sentences, emojis, text talk, etc?

She’s emoji crazy…She pretty much ends each sentence with a smiley face instead of a period.

H. Hard – What everyday things are difficult for them to do?

Voice her opinion. She’ll do it eventually, but only after MUCH debate with herself.

I. Impact – What kind of impression do they leave on others?

Kindness and Naivety personified. She comes off as childish sometimes, just because it’s her nature to trust…

J. Jukebox – What is their playlist?

She has an eclectic taste of classical music, contemporary jazz, soft rock….

K. Kids – What would they be like as a parent?

She would be a doting mother, but she would definitely put her foot down when needed. I see her having to scold most of the husbands just as much as the children, though…Especially Okita and Heisuke. :P

And her scolding….is just NOT very scary, ya know?

L. Love – What’s it like the first time they say ‘I love you’?

Full and sincere, strongly voiced because once she has decided to SAY it, she wants the person she’s telling to KNOW she means it.

M. Medicine – What are they like when they are sick?

She would be the perfect patient so long as she not NEEDED somewhere. If her being sick meant that somebody was shorthanded, she would do her best to sneak around until she was able to get things done.

N. Nude – Are they comfortable in their own body?

She’s not really very confident with her body. She sees others as so much prettier, sexier, more womanly….yada yada. yeah, she has no confidence there.

O. OOC – What is something people assume about them that is completely not true?

That she’s weak. I think she’s a lot braver than people give her credit for.

P. Patronus – If they were an animal what would it be?

Saint Bernard- Loyal, strong, out to save everybody.

Q. Quirks – What is one thing they do that drives other people absolutely insane?

She gets down on herself pretty easily, which can be endearing but at the same time, it can get old.

R. Repress – What is something they aren’t dealing with?

Her feelings for her significant other. She tries to hide them so as not to interfere with said SO’s life. 

S. Sex – favorite position?

I think she would also be one to like missionary, simply because she likes to see her man above her, looking down at her while he takes charge of everything.

T. Taken – What are they like in a relationship?

She’s a giver….she gives all of herself and takes very little. She’s a homemaker type….loves that traditional role of making the home perfect for her lover. She enjoys spending time with him/her…talks are always nice and she loves cuddling in front of  a fire.

U. Unfamiliar – What are they like when they meet new people?

Shy but polite. Meeting new people is difficult for her, but she pushes through any nervousness and does as she should in each situation.

V. Velvet – soft or rough?

Mostly soft, but can really get into some roughness, too, when the mood hits.

W. Whole – What in this world completes them?

Being wanted and needed.

X. Xerox – If they could copy one thing about someone else and give it to themselves or vice versa what would it be?

She would want some of Sen’s bubbly personality and some of the captains’ tenacity ( though she has this, she doesn’t recognize it in herself).

Y. Young – If they could give advice to their younger selves what would it be?

Be stronger…both mentally and physically. Ready yourself for the real world.

Z. Zealous – What excites them?

Chizuru is easily excited by things….the same things that bring her joy bring her excitement. Her love, a beautiful day, a completed task. Get me?

[hopefullybarry]

could you do one where the reader wants a pet and barry keeps saying no by eventually gets her a puppy or something cute??? thanks!

A/N: This is merely a little blurb because it would be too short for a full blown imagine. Tell me your thoughts and if you like these types of shorter-blurbs and maybe the future may hold more.

“What about a dog?” You asked, your head hanging off the couch, legs sprawled out over the back of the couch, while you watched Barry type away on his laptop.

“A dog?” He glanced over from his seat at the counter, an eyebrow raised questioningly.

“Yeah! I mean, I’ve always wanted a huge dog, like a Saint Bernard or a Shar Pei but I don’t think that’d work in this apartment; might have to stick with a small dog. Something like a Charles Spaniel or even a Dachshund! Those are too cute.”

Barry jokingly rolled his eyes as you had basically begun rambling to yourself about what type of dog would be best, completely disregarding the time and care that went into having a dog.

You, however, caught that eye roll and were quick to call him out. “What? Are you more of a cat person because I will honestly be so shocked because I cannot at all picture you with a cat. As soon as one of them accidentally scratched you, you’d be ready to return him–I can picture it perfectly.”

Barry abandoned his work (hopefully he wouldn’t get sidetracked and forget about it again, unlike last time), and came to sit beside you, motioning you to flip over correctly and face him. “First, you’re definitely correct, cats are my natural born nemesis and all of them despise me. And second, how would we even care for a dog, doll? We’re barely home and if we are it’s usually just to sleep or eat.”

You pouted, realizing that he was right. But that didn’t mean you liked that conclusion. You spent more time in this apartment than he did and you knew for a fact that it was lonely wandering the hallways in an empty house. And having a dog would definitely solve that problem.

“Oh c'mon, doll, put that pout away,” he smiled, leaning forward to suck on your pursed bottom lip. “You gotta understand that it’d be unfair to get a dog if we can’t give it our full attention, right?”

You nodded in defeat, slightly brushing your lips against Barry’s while doing so, causing him to seal his lips to your for one final kiss before pulling away. “Maybe one day, when things settle down we can get a dog but I don’t think it’s best right now…”

-

That was nearly three months ago and you hadn’t given that conversation a second thought. Why would you? All Barry’s points made complete sense and at least he agreed that maybe the decision would change in the future when thing calmed down a bit.

However, returning home for work, you fumbled with the key before you managed to unlock the door and push it open.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary; all the lights were off so you had assumed that Barry had yet to get home and you quickly headed to the bedroom to begin your nightly routine.

While brushing your wet hair after your shower, you heard the front door click shut and quickly finished your hair and left to greet Barry.

What you didn’t expect to see was him struggling with a small English bulldog puppy who had managed to wrap it’s leash around his ankles. “Cmon, pumpkin, gotta unhook you first so you don’t get tangled like this,” he huffed in a hushed tone, crouching down to untangle the poor thing. “There ya go, now you can go find mommy.”

Barry was slightly surprised when he stood back up and saw you staring at him with wide, questioning eyes. A puppy? The man who was adamantly against getting a puppy had now just set one free into your apartment. “Uhhh,” He shrugs, smiling as if he had gotten caught doing something wrong. “Surprise?”

“Surprise?” You sputter out, glancing down to the puppy who was now pulling on your pajama pants leg, demanding attention. “Weren’t you the one who argued against a dog yet you’re the one who caved and brought one home?”

He cracked a smile as his arm lifted up to awkwardly rub the back of his neck as if he was caught red handed. “Was against it at first for all the reasons I argued but you did get some good points in there and I guess I kinda saw the light and thought I’d surprise you for your birthday or Christmas. You see, long story short, I was on the way home when the pet store had all their puppies outside and this little girl was so nervous she was in the corner shaking. All the other puppies were barking and vying for attention so no one really noticed the little runt in the back, but I set my eyes on her and knew that she’d be so loved with us and would never have to feel anxious or left out with us.”

During his whole spiel, you had snatched the puppy up into your arms, wiggling your fingers as she gently gnawed on them. Barry spoke as if he waited to be reprimanded by you but that apprehension faded as he watched you happily play with the puppy–knowing that he had made the right decision to adopt the small puppy into your family.