#also i based jackie's design off him too

[chaseisglitched]

jackie (or at least my version of him in this case) is very similar to vash the stampede.

people think he's the most terrifying thing ever (kinda true, but most of it is anti) and he's wanted for various crimes, but he's actually the silliest kindest little guy you've met

[lubdubu]

Team Gai Modern AU Ethnicity Headcanons

Hai guys no one gaf but here r my gaihan ethnicity hcs... 😻

Maito Gai - Han Chinese

- This is both the most statistically probable and rational choice 🤓☝️I think he and lee are supposed to be based off of bruce lee and jackie chan respectively (and to diff degrees), and im p sure jackie chan is han.

- Chinese fans always talk about how they have the same big nose too aebfvjcdbv but thats where the resemblance stops because Gai is a great father to his gay daughter !

Rock Lee - Half Han, half Manchu

- Disclaimer: China doesn't officially recognize more than one ethnicity in its citizens but 1) im talking about genetics and 2) this is my fake naruto world🥸🤫

- I know i just said that he's based off of Bruce Lee who is Han Chinese & subsequently used that same line of reasoning to say Gai is also han... but . anyway... My reasoning for Manchu Lee is based on his childhood design which is very traditionally Manchu, specifically his hair which is braided like a queue (i'll put a pic below !). The queue hairstyle also has an interesting history in regard to han independence during the qing dynasty, in that han men were forced to wear the style, so cutting it was seen as a sign of rebellion/freedom. I think that could be an interesting thing to consider when thinking about Lee's character arc....But i know kishimoto wasn't thinking ab all that + Lee wasn't forced to wear the hairstyle 🙇‍♀️ the queue just became another stereotypical "chinese" trait that many ppl, like Kishimoto, associate w China. For me though, I think it's a nice way to show lee's potential cultural heritage ! 😻

Tenten - Han Chinese

- This is also just the most statistically probable for her asjdncvajks

- I hc she's from Sichuan cuz of her naruto mobile kung fu collab.. and i think she'll like the spicy food (not as much as lee though)

- sometimes... on certain days.... she is half Uyghur bc of a conversation i had with my sister. We believe 💭 she has Dilraba eyelids🤔

Neji Hyuuga - Japanese

- Omg i know a lot of ppl lump him into the chinese thing cuz of his team but the Hyuuga are soo japanese coded like plz guys...their clothes (off duty), their clan's hierarchical structure (main/branch families), their family naming conventions, etc... Hyuuga literally means "place in the sun" or "turning toward the sun" and what's japan called..oh ya THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN. Like plz guys they are nippon af 😭😭😭🙏🙏🧎‍♀️

- Yes their techniques are based off of a lot of chinese martial arts, esp baguazhang, but that can just be explained by the Sinosphere, like a lot of traditional Japanese cultural elements 🙂‍↕️ China has had a lot of influence on surrounding countries

Anyway if u read all that thank u...i hope i didn't waste ur time🙇‍♀️ Also im chinese btw if u couldnt tell🐼🥮🥠🥡🧧🥮🥢

[sashkapi]

What are your headcanons regarding Kyle and Jackie? I think it’s great that they were shown as friends in that particular episode.

Furthermore, why did you decide to alter your Kick Buttowski design? I don’t mind it, in fact, I think it looks really great, but I thought the previous one was fantastic.

To anwser latter first: Mostly because I missed his giant stupid collar (affectionate). Additionally, I felt like I kinda failed to make him look older in the previous design (he is supposed to be 15-ish) and I didn't like the silhouette that much so yeah.

My previous design is still "canon" in my interpretation, tho. It's his emo phase jgjkskfkd

OH YEAH, FERAL GREMLINS HEADCANONS LES GO

(Combining the two)

1. After some time Kyle's family moved in in the Mellowbrook, much to Kick's disdain. He lives on the other side of the city and goes to a different school but his visits are much more frequent now.

2. Jackie’s parrot name is "Captain SKKBRM". The last part is composed of first letters of her idols. And yes, there is a reason S comes before K. 

3. Jackie is low-key Kyle's translator. If Kyle has to say something important he goes so far off-topic with a verbal version of "wall of text" so the important part kinda gets lost. Jackie, however, can listen to him about the time he tried to tame a raccoon and say "Oh, so tomorrow's event is gonna start an hour early! Got it!"

4. Kick did talk to them about his boundaries and they more or less respected them, which allowed both Jackie and Kyle to hang out with him more often without Kick trying to escape. They're still wacky weirdos, but at least Kick tolerates them, so there's progress. 

5. While Kick tolerates them, Gunther is actually their friend. Gunther also still thinks they're wack, but to him, they're more of a "funny kind of wack". Also, they are just as casually dramatic as Gunther, so you know they would get along.

6. They have a private weekly game of "Who got more trivia about Kick". They're neck in neck in it most of the time.

7. Kyle and Ronaldo met only once and Ronaldo’s take away from that encounter is "Buttowskis must be studied in a lab. What is wrong with this family?"

8. They are besties your honor. That's it.

9. Kyle has ADHD. He was diagnosed pretty recently, and it changed the way he is treated by his close and extended family. Whenever Kyle isn't with Jackie - Kick is just way more chill and mellow with him and would hang out with him if Kyle asks. While Brad and Brianna still don't like Kyle that much, they will give you a side eye if you try to insult him by pointing out how annoying and talkative he is. 

10. On that topic - Jackie is neurotypical. She IS just a weirdo. Her reaction to learning that Kyle has ADHD was "Who is Aydee and why are they HD? Is that a camera? DID YOU GET A CAMERA THAT CAN FINALLY CAPTURE HOW AWESOME KICK IS?!" 

After learning what ADHD is - literally nothing changed with Jackie and Kyle's friendship.

11. After a while Kyle got into sewing and knitting. It wasn't surprising for anyone. The boy loves puppets, and it was only a matter of time before he started making clothes for them. 

12. Jackie on the other hand enjoys carpentry when she's... Y'know... Not stalking Kick. She carves little puppets for Kyle sometimes too.

Yes, she did carve a wooden statue of Kick, why do you ask?

13. After Kick and Kendall started dating and Jackie started to consistently obsess over Kendall as well, Kyle was a bit worried. He really values Jackie as a friend and was afraid that their friendship is based on their obsession with his cousin, so Jackie getting a new idol made him worry.(Kyle knows Kendall and is neutral about her unlike Jackie) When it came to light, Jackie’s response to that "Dude, Kick's fan or not, you're my best friend! That's like, even better than being my idol!" 

They are weirdos and they will stick together your honor :)

14. Jackie’s dad is an absent dad. Jackie thinks that she doesn't have a dad, but it never bothers her that much. 

That is to say: her dad is a celebrity, and there's a reason Jackie’s mom really doesn't like Kick.

I love them ur honor

[gr1evance]

making a post about some of my miscellaneous pool toy and plane ocs/designs, since i mentioned doing so over on my main! i imagine all these guys living in a world where living planes and pool toys (maybe other objects?) are common, but i don't actually have any real worldbuilding for that or anything, it's kind of just a placeholder for me to do whatever with. i don't really have a set thing for these guys!

rest will be under a cut, because i suspect this will be a long post lol

starting with my sonas! this is sugarsqueaks- he can't talk, but he WILL drag you into the pool with him. i think he's pretty laid back, he just likes floating around the pool, but i imagine when he's frustrated or excited he'll bap his paws against something or stomp on the ground. (cute!) and i'm always torn on if i think he should be scented like sugar/candy or if he should just have the classic vinyl pool toy smell

my plane sona's name is cloud nine!! i love him, he kind of sucks at flying and doesn't do it very often, but he's super excitable and has a personality that definitely makes up for it. he gets himself into a lot of injuries while trying to fly, he's very much a klutz, but he REALLY wants to be good at doing plane things. he's younger and a bit smaller than most of his group, and he'll.. probably grow less clumsy with time.

my boyfriend!! or, well, i almost exclusively call him my boyfriend out of habit but he DOES have a name. it's razzle dazzle :) he's based off the pool candy unicorn and he lives in my room! in my self indulgent thoughts, he's pretty softspoken, but very affectionate. i go between him being drawn as anthro and as just a pool ring, those are both very true in my mind. he's kind of just whatever i want him to be! i most often imagine him paired with and hanging out with captain starburst (me!) but that's not canon to starb's stuff at all.

wanderlust is a pool toy AND a plane, and loves exploring (hence the name)! i'm not actually sure if he can fly or not, he probably can't? i doubt that would stop him from getting his plane friends to carry him around, though

this is snail mail!! he's kind of another design i have that's on boyfriend tier to me, lol.. he's a mail carrier! he's definitely big, but i'm unsure if he's actually big enough for the houses and trees on his back to be people-sized. most likely not, but that may change. i think he's dating (or at least romantically talking to) cloud nine, i think they're a pair of cuties :3

i like collecting holiday themed designs and characters, so here's my halloween and christmas themed pool toys! the cat's name is jackie lantern, he's another one that im romantically inclined towards LOL. but i've been trying to think of what he's like more.. i think he spends most of his time "sleeping" (can pool toys even sleep?) or just generally relaxing. the other one i don't have a name for yet or any real ideas, but i REALLY like the design (thank u theooo)! definitely lives in a colder environment and enjoys that, despite pool toys.. y'know, being in the pool and stuff.

here's a few more pool toys, some less developed ones but ones i really like nonetheless! their names are finny, cherry pit, and candy zone in that order. finny is polite and reserved, just very kind and cute. cherry pit is my newest addition to all these guys and i don't have too many ideas about him yet, but i LOVE him. definitely feels like a pool party kind of guy to me. candy zone is very chill but VERY much a worrywart. they also have a partner that's a cute plushie dragon that i've yet to draw!

and here's three more planes! aerodyne, chocolate delight, and powder. aerodyne is the biggest plane in the group, and their job is to be the big kind of airliner that carries people or cargo you most often see! a real gentle giant. chocolate delight is kind of aloof, but pretty nice once you get to know them. and powder is the smallest of the group, he's a little fighter jet. he can be kind of abrasive and has a lot of energy.

if you read all of this, uhhhh... thanks lol! i hope you like my silly object guys. i mostly post about my stories and stuff like that on here, but sometimes i really do just like having characters just to hoard them or have silly thoughts about them or whatever. maybe i'll post about them more after i revamp the tags and stuff on this blog!

a majority of these designs were done by my friends @apotheoseity and @pbjpuppy. some extra designs are by @citripede, shrillard, and jamsbunnies. other art is by @lame-4-u and feraljayce!

[vixthefantheorist]

Rough Draft Head Canons of the Egos (Battlewise)

You know, I haven't actually done this at all before. But... You know what? Why not? I'm weird so why not have some basic information about how I think of the Egos in my own head.

Yes, be aware that these are my personal headcanons of the egos. What I see and how I see them... at least battle wise because I spent too much time playing JRPGs, reading fanfics of fantasy battles. I mostly blame Tales of Symphonia for this. (I do not blame it at all, I love that game and I will die on this hill for it) SO~ Here's my version of the Egos! Enjoy their weird rough idea, I've had since they were first all established as Egos.

Anti - His knife and his own body as a weapon since he can manipulate parts of his body to be bladed or blunt based weapons. Blades are just his favorite. He prefers mid-range/close range combat. He'll even change parts of his body to be a bear trap for crunching, uses shadows and light based abilities to give him more movement and control of an area, definitely has the fastest reflex time.

His knife, has a built in accessory that allows him to deal 'psychic' damage in linking him to their fears and darkest thoughts to empower himself as well drain them to heal himself. He also has the ability to shift forms to be any other Ego temporarily.

Chase - Long range/mid-range combat style based, very little in close combat but will punch and kick a fool if he needs to, though not his strongest suit. He uses guns, preferring smaller, fast-fire types for better accuracy. He's the bullet hell, uses a special accessory created by JJ to use to change his shoes into skates at any time on any surface, incredible balance to pull this off.

JJ : close range only. Canesword. His pocketwatch can only affect an area of 30 feet with JJ in the center and only for a short duration but he can send blasts of time energy at his enemy to attack and even pull at his enemy's timestream and slice at it… both can only deal damage in the future. Think of it as the effects of Future Sight from Pokemon. It works like that.

He prefers to not fight at all as he cannot control who's timestream he damages if there's too many combatants on the field. Instead, he tinkers and creates devices to help the other egos in their fight… even Anti when he's puppeted to do so. Henrik - Mid-range combat only; bo staff. His staff was built by JJ to allow him to channel his own energy into healing light to heal the Egos when needed as well as use hard light to stab a bitch. He's very adept in using it, combined with his medical knowledge, will strike at pressure points to cause as much pain without damage to incapacitate opponents as well as add toxins to further enhance his ability to bring down enemies.

Marvin - All range. The magic man, has sigils all over his clothing, hidden in plain sight to add to his defenses and uses cards to attack physically and block attacks, uses magic for the big hurts and definitely one to not be taken lightly. This is why Anti uses both light as a counter point to Marvin. But even so, Marvin can capture with enchantments to contain and seal. But they do take time to wind up

Jackie - Close range. Anti's biggest threat in physical terms with super powers. A lot of his gadgets are of his own design and built by him and JJ. Most of them are traps or anything to even the odds against Anti's faster speed and evasive abilities but he and Marvin are powerful combo for Anti to contend with but they can be overcome when Anti uses their own abilities against them.

Both Marvin and Jackie are weak to each other's powers.

Yeah, I spent too much time on it. It's a lot more refined than this but I haven't written it down before so... this is just the rough idea of them on text! I might write some bios for them... not entirely sure since there's not a whole lot of info on many to really make them pop in my head. But yeah, my version of the egos are all battle capable to fight Anti with some decent success on their own, solo against him. But better off working together... even then Anti is still powerhouse and dangerous.

[ravenadottir]

what do you think the characters would be doing after the show/how would they be using their platform? for example, i think lottie would be using hers to give people astrology readings and stuff and i think the season 3 mc would be sooo problematic online

ok but you know what? definitely! s3 mc would be causing the stir she wanted to in the villa and couldn't. i'm almost certain she would be raging and saying absurd things to get attention, something like gabby hana you know? BIG YIKES.

one thing is certain... all of them (purposely or not) would be making thirst traps... and definitely supporting masks and registering to vote. so that's a certainty for almost all of them.

lottie. witchtok constantly. not necessarily giving readings but she would be an apologist and majority on that tag. her instagram would be split into two accounts: one for her personal endeavours like thirst traps and *looks of the day*, and a second for her brand as a makeup artist/personal stylist. cause i think that would be so fucking cool! lottie knows how to perpetuate her personal brand and would use social media for that as well. here's some edits i did in the past to explain it better. i headcanon a collab with elisa for wigs that they would both wear on social media, so that's something i really like! plus, advocating for women's rights, especially when a male politician says something dumb, so you know, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

bobby. in the middle of the pandemic? can't help thinking he would be doing some humorous videos, but in my head they're not the funny type. just some cringey ones... don't get me wrong, but bobby is only funny when he's not trying to, and in social media he strikes me as the type that not only makes videos but also puts the towel over his head to play a girl, so that's probably the majority of his content. some food of course, and DEFINITELY some *cute* selfies that he knows it works as thirst traps. i think he talks about registering to vote and blm, but doesn't give his opinion on anything else, politics wise. here's bobby's feed for the rest.

gary. i'm not thrilled to inform that gary would be thirst trapping all the time. now that he's relatively famous there's no reason why not posting those pics and videos. between tik tok trends to show off his muscles, and instagram to... well, do that exact same thing, he might take some time to show nan and the soup kitchen, but overall... thirst traps. possibly being blunt about masks and registering but his content is very closed off. also, he will get a dog and encourage people to adopt. there's a lot of pranks on dicky and vice versa, so that's something i thought for his social media, just couldn't find a good faceclaim that has a variety of pics.

lucas. mostly bringing awareness about covid and the use of masks, probably pointing it out a couple of political disputes, and definitely advising people to be careful about their votes all around the world. i like to think he's a huge advocate for legalization of a certain practice that women have to beg to have (you know the one), and i think he knows exactly how to make a thirst trap without making one. stop asian hate and blm carrds present, and often giving his followers the incentive to donate. DEFINITELY 'look of the day' for at least the weekend, and lots and lots of landscape from the places he's been visiting or wishing to.

henrik. he's everywhere and he takes his phone to talk about it. no doubt henrik is having the time of his life by travelling alone, or with his wife, and doing lives at all times. i think you would see him doing lives in the middle of the night, or watching the sunset/sunrise with his followers, besides making his *questionable* forest foraging and recipes. survival videos? MOST LIKELY THAN YOU THINK. here's his social media, where i covered mostly of what his relationship would like on instagram. (heavily based off "beyond the hill").

carl. the amount of rpg on his stories? immaculate. chess? you bet! lots and lots of carl's launchings for his company, which does have a separate account but he can't quite separate himself from it and it shows on his feed. his relationship would be discreetly displayed with cryptic captions since he's not so sentimental. here's his feed with some personal things he would be encouraged to post and boost that confidence of his.

anon that asked for more hannah stuff, this is for you:

hannah. i have one for her because i do like her aesthetic. don't mind the faceclaim, it was the only one i could find in so many situations. horses, books, some *cute* selfies, travelling pics and more. on tiktok definitely booktok, no doubt about it. she might do a lot of the "telling the story of my book as a story time" trend to promote it and say "technically it's real life."

elisa. it's all about branding and she knows how to do it well! some influencers might not get political because of how they can be perceived but i think elisa doesn't give a flying fuck about that. she talks often about blm and vaccines on her stories. i get a jackie aina vibe from her when talking about brands that support/encourage dark skin models and influencers, so that's a plus. she will give shit to a makeup brand that doesn't care for shade range and won't hide her feelings about it. here's her usual feed, with looks and tours (that i'm certain she would do a lot). i also think she'll eventually cave and have a brand of wigs, clothes and makeup, AS SHE SHOULD.

hope. there's no question about her activism on social media and i like to imagine she would be speaking up against anti-vaxxers and racism, mostly. just like yewande, she would probably talk about every time she felt the show might've favoured people that don't look like her. we would be getting the hot tea on everything since she's so honest. there's also lots of looks and promoting her friends' products because she supports them so much. priya's clothing line, elisa x lottie collab, etc. here's the feed i made for her a while ago.

chelsea. she might not be that deep into politics but she'll talk about covid and how people should be more careful about it, "wearing all these cute masks my babes lozza made for us!". LOTS of *look of the day* and tours on the spaces she decorates, besides the behind the scenes of parties and weddings (of ex-islanders) that i know she would throw. her feed also includes her closet, supporting her friends' endeavours and promoting them, besides some random mug collection shots and FOR SURE a pug selfie with mc.

priya. there's not much to say except for the occasional thirst trap (with those amazing thigh, ffs she should), lots of vaccine warnings, definitely political anecdotes and her clothing brand. i love to think she would have an actual boutique once things get settled after covid, and she would use social media to promote every line. her feed consists mostly of her travelling, designs, supporting the girls and her photoshoots.

kassam. lots and lots of backstage photos and that *prickly* way of demanding people to use their brains and wear a mask, besides getting the vaccine. in studio or just before the stage, selfies with a clothing line with his logo and definitely pics with islanders he didn't get to meet but is now friends with. during covid he would be using his lives to play for his followers, like lots of dj's and musicians i've seen doing on reddit and tiktok, probably called "late night music" or something like that. encouraging followers to donate for causes as well.

noah. not so huge on social media, might be the most discrete of them all. there would be lots and lots of pictures of the mornings before he opens the library, because i sincerely think he would keep his job. not the most outspoken about certain matters but carrds like the blm's and 'stop asian hate''s are on all of his bio's. i do like to imagine him taking selfies with the boys from the show, like ibrahim. he would be so present in noah's feed it's not even funny. the casual "cute unintentional" thirst trap too. family photos from ages ago and lots of his siblings as well. he does love to write long captions for whenever he posts his girlfriend. one thing though, during the first few months on the outside, he wouldn't be so present, afraid of facing the bashing on him if he got with mc in the show. that could be a reason for him to stay away until people "forget" about it.

marisol. SO - MANY - SUITS - SELFIES it makes me cry happy tears. between advocating for women's rights in a more technical way, she would definitely be using her platform to also talk about lgbtq+, especially after the realization she had during her journey. lots and lots of activism about those things, and i think she would be doing a fine job. definitely promoting the girls' products/services and an occasional thirst trap with a braless suit look.

rocco. covidiot. (i just wanted to use this nickname one more time). he might get a hard time from followers and villa buddies because of his stance on vaccines. i just hope he reads some articles instead of sharing bibity-bobity-bullshit on facebook and instagram. there's lots of vaccine memes on his comment sections no matter what he posts though. it's gonna take a while for the public to move on.

[stewblog]

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings more or less immediately became one of my favorite movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Some of this is due to it being one of the best American-made martial arts movies I’ve ever seen. Some of this is due to it delivering some incredibly cool moments and imagery, the likes of which we haven’t really seen much of in the MCU, much less in American filmmaking in general these days. But it’s due also in large part to the fact that the movie is consistently fun, funny, brimming with exhilarating action scenes and moves like a rocket. It’s just a genuinely great time at the movies and I found myself grinning from ear to ear for most of its (just over) two hour runtime. There are more than 20 MCU movies, and while I highly enjoy most of them, it definitely felt like it was time for Marvel to deliver something different than yet another costumed superhero outing. And that’s precisely what’s been done here with Shang-Chi giving audiences a straight-up kung fu adventure film.

In a way, the excellence of Shang-Chi as an action movie is bittersweet. The action scenes were designed and shot by Brad Allan, a brilliant martial artist who spent years as a member of Jackie Chan’s personal stunt team. He had truly come into his own as an action designer and choreographer but met an untimely death about a month before this film’s release. What he delivered here alongside director Destin Daniel Cretton is some of the most impressive hand-to-hand action I’ve seen in an American action film.

Marvel movies have had plenty of exciting and fun action scenes but, as is the case with so many Western films, the performers simply lack the training and capability to convincingly pull off what is shown off with aplomb in many Asian films. That is absolutely not the case here thanks to the exceptional skill shown off by the likes of Simu Liu, Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh and nearly every other actor who throws hands (and feet). Allan may be gone, but he left a heck of a legacy on-screen here and it is absolutely exhilarating to watch. Capable, highly trained actors being filmed in wide shots without an excess of editing to cover up their inadequacies makes for exciting cinema. Who knew?!

Though it is brimming with excellent action, the heart of Shang-Chi is actually found in the familial drama driving the plot. Shaun (Liu) is a fairly typical 20-something in San Francisco. He’s mostly content to work his day job as a parking valet with his best friend, Katy (Awkwafina) before spending their nights carousing and doing karaoke. But after Shaun kicks the living tar out of a group of henchmen, including a guy with a literal sword for an arm, on a bus, Katy demands to know who her lifelong friend actually is. Turns out his real name is Shang-Chi and he’s actually the son of a history-defining warlord who’s been alive for thousands of years thanks to ten powerful, magical (possibly alien) rings who trained Shaun since childhood to be an assassin. Ya know, normal stuff.

Shang-Chi’s dad, Wenwu (Leung), thinks he’s found a way to enter the mystical, ancient city his wife hailed from. Though she died more than a decade ago, Wenwu is certain he’s heard her voice calling to him to set her free from captivity. Though he’s willing to fight and kill to do so, Wenwu mostly just wants to reunite his family, and he especially wants his son to take up the mantle of leading the Ten Rings, his millennia-old crime organization.

Shang-Chi is, as expected, not too hip to his abusive father’s plans, but there still clearly resides in him a desire to be loved and accepted by Wenwu. It’s that push and pull between the light and dark within him that drives Shang-Chi’s emotional journey as he slowly comes to realize he can’t ever fully run from or hide his lineage, try as he might.

Liu has been acting for the better part of a decade (I really need to check out Kim’s Convenience) but this is without question his breakout performance and he handles leading man duties well. He’s handsome and funny, and though his charisma is somewhat low-key, he’s able to project enough stoic gravitas that you can always get a sense of what he’s feeling. If nothing else, he’s primed for a string of action roles based on how superbly he pulls off each fight scene. It’s always thrilling to watch a performer pull off their own stunts and fight moves, but Liu brings a very visible energy to his combat.

The real treat here, though, is watching Tony Leung make his Big Hollywood Debut. Leung is one of China’s biggest movie stars and he’s given more than enough incredible performances in truly amazing films to cement his status as one of the all-time great actors. But there’s something uniquely fun seeing him not just let loose in a big budget blockbuster, but to do so and not water down his trademark intensity. Leung’s greatest skill has always been his ability to communicate so much with just his eyes, and that intensity and passion is on full display here. Whatever shortcomings the script might have barely matter because Leung tells you everything you need to know about Wenwu with just a look.

If there’s a major shortcoming here it’s that there are elements of the script that feel notably undercooked. In particular there’s a moment before the big finale where Shang-Chi is brooding over his father’s treatment of him as a child, questioning whether or not he’s still just the assassin he was raised to be. It feels like something from a different version of the script where that self-doubt played a much larger part than what made it to screen.

And, as seems contractually obligated in these movies, the climax culminates with a lot of Typical CGI Nonsense. Though at least here that Typical CGI Nonsense is delivering a look at some mythical beasties and imagery that we don’t often get in these sorts of movies.

None of those frustrating elements (not even the often horribly glaring use of green screen composite shots) detracts enough from the experience to make this anything less than a total blast to watch. I’ve come to accept that most Marvel movies are simply going to have frustrating or undercooked elements to them in one way or another. But even grading on that curve, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings still manages to feel like a complete, thrilling package, one that I can’t wait to watch again.

Author’s Note: If you walk out of Shang-Chi jonesing for some more Tony Leung, check out The Grandmaster if you want more of him doing kung fu. Watch In the Mood for Love if you want one of his best, most internalized acting performances. And watch Hard Boiled if you want to see him co-star in one of the greatest, most over-the-top action movies ever made.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Story of the Past

Fantasy Masks AU: Chapter Five

A JSE Fanfic

It’s the backstory chapter! Whoo! djaskfh Anyway, I thought we should hear more about Henrik and Jackie, start to get the details of who they were before the Masked Phantoms. And also, it’s about time we address the missing element that Chase has been noticing...and in the process introduce a new boy! :D Hope you enjoy reading!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

It was snowing for the first time that year. Chase stood in the shadow of the dragon’s bones, hat pressed to his head, and watched it fall from the sky. The snowfall wasn’t particularly thick, but the flakes were fat and clumped together. It would probably leave a respectable layer by the time it was over.

It was ten days since Chase went out on his first mission with the Phantoms, and nothing much had happened in the meantime. Jackie and the two others on the mission were alright, Elin recovering from the magical burns she’d gotten from that wizard. Apparently no other missions had gone out since then, though there were a lot of messages coming in from other locations and Phantoms who were already out. Probably the most notable thing was the approach of the winter holy days. The winter solstice was only a few weeks away, and everyone was talking about preparing the celebrations.

There was the faint sound of footsteps in the snow, and soon Henrik appeared by his side. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Chase,” he said, adjusting his scarf. “I was delayed. Many people have come down with sudden cold sicknesses and I was handing out medicine.”

“It’s alright, Henrik,” Chase said understandably. “I think you should set up more fires, not just the ones for cooking. I’ve never been in a mountain house that doesn’t have a fireplace for winter.”

“Perhaps, perhaps.” Henrik nodded. “We could cut open holes in the canvas covering the storage and the skull, so that the smoke will not fill it up.”

Chase laughed a bit. “If you did that, the smoke would come out of the skull’s eyes and nostrils. Then it would really look like a dragon.”

Henrik laughed as well. “So, now then. Onto other matters. I will keep our reading lesson short today so that we can get out of the snowfall. Can I see the board you were using?”

Most of the lesson was spent refreshing and reviewing what Chase had already learned. Even though both of them had winter coats now, it was still cold standing out in the snow, and Chase’s fingers were quickly losing heat. Still, he felt like it was actually warmer than it should have been. Especially when it was snowing. Just as they were wrapping up, he decided to point this out. “You know, even though we’re high in the mountains, I feel like it’s warmer here than it would be back home. Isn’t that strange?”

“Oh, that is probably because of the skeleton.” Henrik knocked on the nearest bone. “Dragons were very magical creatures, you know. And most of their magic was fire and heat, in some form or another. Even after this dragon is long gone, its magic is still attached to its bones, and that is probably making it a bit warmer.”

“Huh. Fascinating.” Chase pressed a hand to the bone. It was cold as stone, but magic worked in strange ways, so he wasn’t going to doubt Henrik’s explanation. “For a doctor, you know a lot about how magic works.”

“Well, you have to be prepared,” Henrik said. “You could encounter injuries that were caused by any sort of magic. And witchcraft’s potions are excellent medicine.”

“Yea, but these are some intricate details. I understand Tripp and the other sorcerers here knowing about that, but you’re not a magic-wielder.” Chase shrugged.

“I keep my ear out for new things to learn. And I learned a lot from—” Henrik stopped. “From...my studies. Anyway, I think we can stop for now. You will just need to practice more, as always. It seems you’re having trouble with—”

“Why does everyone do that?” Chase blurted out.

“...do what?” Henrik asked, visibly confused.

“Practically everyone I’ve talked to has avoided speaking about something at some point or another,” Chase said. “A person, I’m guessing. I’m not one to pry, so I’ve just let it happen, but honestly it’s pretty frustrating.” His voice slowly grew in volume. “I’ve been here for half a season now. I have my own mask, I helped out last time, I’ve even done the dishes and other chores. Isn’t that enough? Am I not considered part of the group yet?! Does no one trust me?! I—” He sighed, and continued in a softer voice. “Sorry. I...It’s...frustrating, to have this happen over and over. And it...it feels...discouraging. Like I’m not really a part of everything, and nothing I do will...be good enough.”

Henrik didn’t respond for a while. Chase started to worry that he pushed too far, but then Henrik leaned in close and put a hand on his shoulder. “Chase. It is nothing to do with you, I can promise you that.” His voice was gentle, but firm underneath. “I am sorry for making you feel that way. It is just...well, it is still a sore subject for Jackie and me. But we never told anyone that they cannot talk about him. I suppose they just didn’t want to tell you in case we did not want you to know.”

“...oh.” Chase said softly. “Is it...sensitive? No, wait, you don’t have to tell me, it’s not my business—”

“No, I want to,” Henrik insisted. “Everyone else here already knows. Because they have all been here since it happened a year ago. You are the first new person we have found, so it makes sense that you are the only one who does not know.” He paused. “But I should talk with Jackie about how to tell you. It is about him, too.”

“I see.” Honestly, Chase felt relieved that it wasn’t the big secret he’d been building it up to be in his mind. It wasn’t a lack of trust, it was just personal. “I’m...sorry about all that. I guess Lukas has just been getting to me.”

Henrik scowled. “Ignore that ass. His mistrust is to a ridiculous degree.”

Chase laughed. “Hard to do that when he’s in charge of the crosses.”

“I am issuing an official decree to ignore him. Next time he does something based on suspicion, tell him I told you to ignore him.”

“Alright, I get it.” Chase laughed some more.

Henrik cracked a grin, too. “I will talk to Jackie about the matter you were worried about. We’ll tell you about it so people can stop being ridiculous about avoiding it.” He rubbed his hands together. “Whoo. Now I say we wrap this up and go somewhere warmer.”

“Great idea.” Chase brushed the snow off his hat. “We’ll be snow-covered statues if we stand out here any longer.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

A couple days passed without anything extraordinary happening. Lukas tried to put him through more bow and arrow ‘training,’ to which Chase told him that he wasn’t supposed to listen to him. Naturally, Lukas looked upset about that, but he let off. Chase thought that was strange. Why was that what got him to ease up on his suspicions? But he was quickly distracted when Holly stepped in to give him some pointers on using his hunting knife in self-defense. Today, this involved her emphasizing that a knife of this design was used for cutting, not stabbing, and helping him to practice slashing a dummy with it. Chase felt he had the technique down, but it would probably be much more difficult when faced with a moving person.

Talk of winter celebrations continued. Evidently, every faith had a holy day on the winter solstice. Chase was most familiar with the Longest Night, which celebrated winter and paid tribute to the Elder of Dark, but that wasn’t the only one. There was also the Moonlight Festival, which Henrik told him was the Celestial Sisters’ winter holy day, and the Freezing, which Nemet said was part of the Temple of the Forge. So, naturally, practically everyone at Wyvernlair was excited to celebrate. Even those that weren’t faithful were looking forward to feasts and parties.

Then one night, about three days after his last reading lesson with Henrik, Chase was passing by the skull on his way to his tent, and he heard someone call his name. “Huh?” He stopped and turned towards the call. “Oh, hello, Jackie. How’re you doing?”

“I’m okay,” Jackie said. He had his mask off and the hood of his cloak—he still wore his waist-length red one, even though the cold might call for a longer one—pulled down. “Can you...come here for a few moments? We need to talk.”

Immediately, Chase’s nerves shot through the metaphorical roof. “Yea, of course.” He followed Jackie into the skull.

The whole place was empty, which was unusual. He hadn’t been in here that often, but there was always at least a small group of people inside. Mostly sitting at the desks or the map table. Now, there was no one. Except for Henrik. He was sitting on a chair by a small fire, enclosed by a ring of stones. The fire was placed underneath one of the skull’s eye sockets, so it wasn’t exactly in the center of the room, but it was close enough. When Jackie and Chase walked in, Henrik looked up and gestured them over. There were two more chairs by the fire.

Chase slowly sat down, trying not to appear anxious. Jackie didn’t sit, and instead merely bounced on his feet, running his fingers along the edge of his chain mail shirt. For a moment Chase was distracted by the fact that Jackie almost always wore that mail armor—they had some in storage and he’d tried a shirt on, just out of curiosity, and it was surprisingly heavy. But then he got over being impressed and returned to being nervous. “So...what did you want to talk about? Did I do something?”

“No no no, it is not that,” Henrik hurried to say. “It is just—we have decided to tell you about the subject everyone was avoiding. Do you remember that?”

“Oh. Oh!” Chase’s eyes widened a bit. “I wasn’t expecting you to actually tell me.”

“Well, of course we would.” Henrik sounded a bit surprised. “It would not be fair otherwise.”

Jackie let out a breath. “Yea.” Now that Chase wasn’t worrying about what the conversation would be, he could tell that Jackie was also nervous. Or...that wasn’t exactly the right word. Agitated, maybe.

“So, you have noticed that people are talking around something,” Henrik continued. “And you have picked up that this is a person, yes?” He waited for Chase to nod. “Yes. Well, that person...was a friend of ours.” He indicated Jackie and himself. “His name was Marvin.”

“Marvin,” Chase repeated. That wasn’t a name heard often in the mountains. It sounded coastal.

Henrik nodded. “He was the other founder. It was the three of us.”

“The other...what?” Chase asked, confused.

“The...other founder?” Henrik repeated, equally confused.

“Founder of what?”

“Of the Masked Phantoms, Chase.”

“...wait.” Things started to click into place. Why Jackie and Henrik wore masks with more colorful designs. Why they always seemed so busy. Why Henrik had been able to get Lukas to back off with such authority. Chase shot to his feet. “You two are in charge of everything?!”

“Elders, did you not know that?!” Jackie said, absolutely shocked.

“No! I didn’t! Nobody told me!” Chase shook his head in disbelief. “I thought some things were strange, but I never realized—oh elders, no wonder Lukas is so suspicious of me. I walked right up into your main camp and immediately got friendly with the leaders of the whole secret resistance.” He might have reacted the same, honestly.

Jackie threw his hands up in the air, walking away for a few paces before coming back. “Elders and Sisters, Chase.”

“What?! I’m new to this!” Chase protested. “I’ve never joined a group like this before, not a guild or a hunting band or anything. I don’t know how leadership works! And you’re all flatlanders, for all I know, this was just a regional difference.”

“So who did you think was in charge?” Henrik asked.

“I don’t know. Some far-off figure who led from the shadows. You two are just...here. Interacting with everyone regularly. Jackie went on a mission with me, what if something happened?”

“We’re not kings, Chase,” Jackie said. “We like people to know we’re working with them. And trust me, nothing would have happened to me in Skytown. It would’ve been close if you hadn’t shown up, though. We might have lost Elin. And even if something did happen to me, Schneep stayed here, so we wouldn’t have lost leadership.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t realize it,” Chase muttered. “So this Marvin was also a leader? What...happened to him?”

Henrik started to say something, but Jackie interrupted. “He turned into an ass.”

“Jackie, it has been a year,” Henrik sighed.

“That doesn’t mean he wasn’t a bastard about it,” Jackie muttered. “Prick.”

Henrik rubbed his temples as if a headache was starting to come on. “I am still upset, too, but you are holding this grudge for too long.”

“What happened?” Chase repeated.

Henrik and Jackie glanced at each other, and Chase got the distinct feeling they were having a silent conversation. “Actually...do you mind if we tell you the story from the beginning?” Henrik asked after a long period of silence.

“Um...is this something that would make me seem even more suspicious for getting you two to open up to me?” Chase asked.

Jackie laughed. “Only in Lukas’s eyes. A few people around know this story, but I will admit, not most of them. Nemet, Tripp, Ana. The ones who’ve been around for a while. But it’s no secret. I hear there are some exaggerated versions of the story traveling around other camps.”

Chase grinned a bit. “But...why tell me? What if I’m actually a spy, or what if I switch sides—”

“I do not believe you would do that, Chase,” Henrik said quietly. “I met you once before. You are a kind, open man, and you care for your family and others. You would not side with the King.”

Chase’s chest swelled with emotion—the sadness and worry he was used to feeling when his family was mentioned, but combined with a warm feeling, knowing that others had faith in him. He nodded, and said nothing, blinking back sudden wetness in his eyes.

“So.” Henrik took a deep breath. “Let us start from the beginning.” He paused once more, then started to talk. “To understand why the subject matter is still bothering us—or, well, bothering Jackie—so much, I think the beginning is essential. Everything started fifteen years ago. I arrived in Glasúil off a ship, and headed down the coast and a bit inland. My parents had paid for me to study under a doctor named Slaine, who lived in the town of Fíornear.”

“Wait.” Chase didn’t want to interrupt so soon, but he had to hear that again. “Fíornear? As in...Fíornear Field?”

“Ah, yes. See, you would know that place.” Henrik smiled a bit, amused. “I have no doubt you grew up hearing stories of the warriors trained on the Field. But I did not. All I knew about it was the town name, and that it was a big, important area of the kingdom. Luckily, it was very easy to get directions to the town. I was glad that I had already studied your language before coming here. But it was...difficult, still. At that point, I could understand everything when it was in writing, but many people talked too fast for me to keep up.

“Because of this, when I actually arrived in the town of Fíornear, I was very confused. I was expecting something fancier, if I must say. The whole town was—and still is—very, ah...utilitarian. The only place that fit my expectations was the small castle where the area’s noble family lived, and even that was fortified with thick walls. I could tell that this was a place where warriors lived and worked, and I was very confused. And sort of afraid, if I must say so, thinking I had accidentally wandered onto a restricted area in a foreign land.

“So I thought I would get more directions. If this was Fíornear, I would ask where Slaine lived. If it was not, I would ask how to get there. I entered the first building I saw on the edge of town. It was a tavern with a name I could not understand, but that I would later learn was the Flint and Dagger Tavern. I would also later learn that this was known as a place where troublemakers gathered. Warriors who were learning the trade at the Field, but who were too ill-tempered to mingle with the others. They had taken this tavern as their own.

“Now imagine a fourteen-year-old boy walking into this tavern. A bookish-looking boy who is carrying all his possessions in a bag with him, including all his money, and who is rather skinny and likely to blow over in a strong wind.”

“I think your past self would be insulted to hear that, Schneep,” Jackie laughed.

Henrik grinned. “No, no, trust me, I was very aware of this fact. Even more so as everyone else in the tavern was strong enough to pick me up with one hand. They were all giving me looks, and I immediately felt I was not welcome. But I thought I could hurry through. So I walk up to the tavern keeper, and before I could even say anything, he says something along the lines of ‘Get out of here, kid.’ The exact details escape me.

“Of course, as I said, I do not understand the spoken language as well, so I think I misheard him. And I say, very clumsily, ‘Excuse me, is this Fíornear?’ And I mispronounced it, too, calling it ‘fee-OHR-neer’ instead of ‘FEE-or-narr.’ And from there, a few of the patrons in the tavern started grumbling at each other, sitting at a table in the middle of the room so they are not even hidden.

“The tavern keeper says, ‘Why? Are you looking for it? Hoping to become a warrior?’ and he gives me a very mocking smile at that last part. And I say, ‘No, I am looking for a doctor named Slaine.’

“And before I can say anything else, the group who are sitting and grumbling stand up and walk over to me. All of them, older than me, taller, and quite a bit stronger. One of them said something that was like, ‘So you’re a fancy foreign boy, then?’ And I am very confused. I know he is insulting me, but I am not sure how, so I just try to ask if this is the right town once more. They all laugh, and say things that are too fast for me to understand, but I know they are still insulting me. The one who spoke before leans down, very close to me, and grabs the front of my shirt. ‘You’d better get out of this place before we throw you out,’ he says. ‘You don’t belong here.’

“At that moment, I understand that this is a mistake, and I apologize, trying to leave. But this taller, older boy is not letting go of my shirt, even though he wants me to get out. I try apologizing again, and I look around for help, but everybody is looking away. Until, all of a sudden, there is a shout of ‘Hey!’ and next thing I know, the older boy is hit in the head with a shoe. I turn in the direction it came from, and there is a tiny girl standing on top of one of the tables, holding the other shoe in the pair.”

“I was not tiny!” Jackie protested.

Henrik laughed. “You were a small twelve-year-old child, all your height came from the table.”

“Okay, alright, but I hadn’t hit my growth spurt yet! And I was full of righteous anger so that makes up for it!”

“Wait, Jackie, you were the girl?” Chase clarified.

“I was,” Jackie said, turning to look at Chase. “I didn’t realize it at the time this story takes place, but I was born in a different name.”

“Oh!” Chase nodded. “You’re a man?”

“Mostly, yea.”

“I see. You look good.”

“Thank you,” Jackie grinned. “But I thought you were married.”

“Hey, don’t take it that way, I mean it as a friend.” Chase chuckled a bit. “What were you doing in this tavern?”

“Oh, I was training on the Field,” Jackie said proudly.

“Really?! At twelve?!” Chase didn’t hide his surprise. Though Fíornear Field technically trained anyone over the age of twelve to be a royal warrior, there usually weren’t students that young. “How did you convince your parents?”

“Well...I didn’t,” Jackie admitted. He finally sat down in the third chair. “See, I grew up on a farm, smack dab in the middle of the kingdom. It was boring. I had siblings, two older and three younger, and I could play with them, but I just wasn’t interested in farmwork. Mam and Dad said that I could start warrior training when I turned fifteen, but I didn’t want to wait! I’d be practically an adult by then, and it seemed so far. So I...ran away.”

“Oh, elders,” Chase gasped.

“Once I was actually receiving training, I asked the armsmaster to write a letter back to them,” Jackie said. “Because I couldn’t write yet. I didn’t want them to worry, but I wanted to be sure I had a place at the Field before that happened, so it’d be harder for them to drag me home.”

“Elders, I can’t imagine being that old and going out on my own,” Chase shook his head in disbelief.

Jackie grinned. “Well, I was a tiny fireball as a kid, fierce and stubborn. I wanted to fight villains and protect people. And as you can probably tell, one of the first times I did that was by throwing a shoe at Samuel when he was harassing Henrik.” He briefly shook his head in disgust. “That boy wasn’t worthy of that name, he was a bully in every way.”

“Let me guess...things rolled downhill quickly after the bully got hit with the shoe,” Chase said.

“Well...eventually. He certainly let go of Schneep right away. I remember shouting at him to ‘Leave him alone!’ and of course, he immediately got angry. He picked up the shoe again—which was mine, by the way, off my feet—and said, ‘I won’t be taking orders from a pipsqueak mouse like you!’ and threw it back at me. I managed to catch it, which was pretty impressive if I say so, and shouted back, ‘If I’m a mouse, you’re a brute, picking on someone half your size! Fight like a warrior!’”

“And then what happened?” Henrik prompted.

Jackie sighed. “He and all his lads charged at me.”

“Ancient elders,” Chase groaned.

“It could have gone worse!” Jackie insisted. “Apparently picking on someone so young was too much for some of the other patrons, and they all jumped in to stop them. Oh, and I leapt right off the table before any of them could get there! I...didn’t exactly land on my feet, but it didn’t hurt that much, compared to being rammed by about eight or nine sixteen-year-old warriors-in-training. You know, Samuel and half his lads got denied training before the winter. Ha! Served them right.

“Anyway, then I stood up and ran over to Schneep while the other patrons were trying to hold back those lads. I asked him if he was alright, and he said he was fine. Then I said, ‘Good, now let’s get out of here!’

“Before we could ‘get out of there,’ though, Samuel shouted, ‘Get those brats!’ and about three of his lads went to block the front entrance. So I grabbed Schneep’s hand and ran the other way, into the back halls of the tavern that connects the kitchen, and the storage, and the lavatory, and whatever else was back there, I forget. By that point, a brawl was starting, so we had a head start. I knew there’d be a back entrance to the building, but I wasn’t sure where. It was my first time going there, you know, and I’d only gone out of curiosity, not any desire to visit regularly.

“So it wasn’t long before we were lost. We took a few wrong turns, and Henrik asked me, ‘Do you know where we are going?’ and I lied and said, ‘Of course!’ But he didn’t believe me. And I could hear footsteps and shouting following us, and I knew either Samuel or one of his lads would find us soon.

“But before that can happen, I hear someone say, very quietly, ‘Excuse me?’ I jump a bit, spin around, and almost punch this tall kid who’d suddenly come out of one of the rooms. Luckily, Schneep stopped me. And the tall kid says, ‘You’re the people that got attacked back there?’ And I don’t answer right away, because I’m a bit suspicious. But this boy isn’t one of Samuel’s lads. He wasn’t built enough, if you know what I mean. Instead, he was this really tall, sort of willowy boy around Schneep’s age, wearing this fancy ring that looked like real silver with a real emerald in it. So I say ‘yea, that’s us.’ And he says, ‘Alright. I’ll help you get out.’

“This boy turns to the nearest wall and stares at it for a while, like he’s trying to read invisible words. Then he pokes his ring, and all of a sudden, the emerald in it starts glowing. I remember staring in shock as he pressed the emerald to the wall near the floor, then raised it up, around, and down. As he did, the glowing light rubbed off on the wall like chalk on a board, drawing this doorway that was round at the top. Once the doorway was done, he pressed on the wall in the middle, and it just disappeared. Instead, there was suddenly the outside, even though we should have still been in the middle of the building.

“‘You have to go through first,’ this kid says. I’m a bit suspicious, but then Schneep nods and walks right through this doorway. And now I feel responsible for him, so I follow him, and next thing I know, I’m outside the tavern, on its side. The tall kid walks through the doorway, and then it disappears. And we all just stare at each other for a while. It’s a bit awkward, but I felt like we were all connected somehow, you know? So I say, ‘I’m Jackie. Daughter of Fiona,’ because, again, I hadn’t realized my name was wrong yet. Schneep introduces himself as ‘Henrik von Schneeplestein,’ and this new kid just says, ‘I’m Marvin.’”

Chase physically started. “Marvin was a wizard?!”

“And a very talented one, too,” Henrik added. “The spell he used there was a Doorway Through Walls, and I understand it’s not usually taught to fourteen-year-olds.”

“But...” Chase shook his head a bit. “You said that wizards usually side with the King. A-and Tripp told me that was because the royal family provides their magic focuses, so how—?”

“Most focuses are temporary,” Jackie said. “They get worn out from channeling magic for so long. You might get one or two years out of them before they need to be fixed up or replaced. But there are ones that can last decades. They just...cost a hefty fee.”

“Marvin stole his,” Henrik added.

Jackie laughed a bit. “Yea. He did.” But his smile was more sad than anything. And short-lived too, as he realized he was smiling and quickly dropped it into a frown.

“So that’s how you three met,” Chase said, putting together the pieces. “So...you stayed in contact?”

“It was easy to do so,” Henrik said. “Jackie was training at the Field, I was studying with Slaine, and Marvin lived in town. We would meet up as often as possible. There were difficulties, of course, mine and Jackie’s schedules were full, and Marvin’s parents did not approve of him leaving home, so he had to sneak out.”

“We had a lot of little adventures,” Jackie said, leaning back and linking his hands behind his head. “Schneep was the brain, I was the brawn, and Marvin was the—well, he said he was the beauty, but really, he was the power, with his magic. And, uh, money, actually. You don’t get a lot of coin as a warrior-in-training or a doctor’s apprentice.”

“But I think we should skip over those,” Henrik said. “I think we may have taken too long explaining our first meeting.”

“Alright, skip to the part where you decide to form a group to rebel against the King,” Chase suggested. “When did that start? The moment he was crowned?”

“No, not at all,” Henrik said. “In fact, I was quite happy for him. Though a little shocked, to be honest. I had just finished my studies, and I felt barely ready to step out into my own. Yet he was being crowned King of an entire kingdom, and he was a year younger than me!”

“Couldn’t be helped,” Jackie sighed. “Not with the last King and Queen gone, be at peace. At least he got a year to prepare?”

“Twenty is hardly better than nineteen,” Henrik huffed. “But either way, we could not have known what was to happen.”

“What started it all?” Chase asked.

Jackie and Henrik glanced at each other. “It was about three years later, or so,” Jackie said. “At that point, I was one of the royal warriors, so I was able to notice some things. Our commands were...questionable. My captain told all of us that we ‘weren’t to hold back’ against troublemakers. There was talk of shutting down dissidence, and testing the people’s loyalty. Now, keep in mind, there hadn’t even been a whisper of rebellion before this, but this sort of talk seemed to appear overnight. And a lot of my fellows, people I had considered friends, were eating this up.”

“And then the King cut the funding for medicine and doctors,” Henrik added. “You know how most of us doctors receive supplies and salaries from the royal funds, yes?”

“Except for the travelling doctors,” Chase agreed. “They’re a separate thing. You were a town doctor once?”

“Yes, so I knew we were receiving less,” Henrik grumbled. “And now, years later, it is even less. The royal fund is not paying for supplies anymore, meaning doctors have to ask for donations so they can afford what they need.”

“And Marvin was hearing rumors about the noble houses,” Jackie said. “How they were turning on other families that weren’t loyal enough to the crown.”

“All of this was so different from what the King had been doing when first crowned.” Henrik shook his head. “And the three of us talked, and we realized that he must have been hiding his true intentions. Waiting until his position was secure, and then enforcing his rule, making sure every last person in this kingdom followed him.”

“And we had to do something about it!” Jackie shouted, standing up. “Something more! Something drastic!”

“Something that we could not do as ourselves,” Henrik said. “So, we decided to use masks, to hide who we were.”

“Little things first. But you would not believe how quickly things got out of hand.” Jackie whistled. “Something about the masks inspired something, I guess. People started following us after we went out to stop injustice, asking to join. And well, more people meant we could do more to help, so we expanded. Now here we are, five years later.”

Chase didn’t say anything for a moment. It just all seemed...so much. The Masked Phantoms was created by just three people. Two of which he was starting to consider friends. But that begged the question...why were only two of them left? “What happened to Marvin?”

Jackie took a deep breath, as if holding back a rant of words. “I know I just said our plan was to do something drastic. I just said that. But...there are...limits.” The last word came out as a growl.

“Jackie, please. Sit down,” Henrik said softly. Jackie stayed standing, so he sighed, and continued. “Our goal has always been to protect people. And so, we encourage fighting to be a last resort.”

“I’ve picked up on that, yes,” Chase said. “Holly always says you should never strike first.”

“Marvin thought we weren’t doing enough. He started to say that we should strike first. And strike...fatally.”

“How could he?!” Jackie shouted. “How could he?! The King’s warriors are just people, same as us! They have families to support, friends that would miss them! They’re following orders, and shouldn’t be blamed! Even the noble houses are under the crown! Doing what they need to! Nobody should die unless there’s no avoiding it!”

“Jackie, calm down!” Henrik snapped.

Jackie fell silent. He looked over at Chase. “One day, the three of us were talking about our plans. The long-term ones, our goals. And Marvin—he—just—so casually—like it was nothing, he said we should kill the King.”

“What?!” Chase stood up as well. “You can’t do that! The royal lineage hasn’t been broken for centuries! It goes all the way back to Samuel the Green-Eyed, it’s entwined within the land itself. You can’t end it!”

“Yes! See! This is it!” Jackie shouted. “People care about the line! They care about the legend of it! They care about our history!”

“I can see where Marvin was coming from, though,” Henrik said. “The King has abused his power for years, and people are suffering. Killing him might end it, and it would mean he would never return to try and regain his rule. But we cannot kill him right away.  Not unless the people agree with that decision. And if we assassinate him now, people will definitely not agree. Half the population will immediately revolt against whatever new rule we try to establish. We must strip the King of his powers, then plan what to do.”

Chase forced himself to take a step back from the immediate indignant anger he’d felt upon hearing someone was planning to end the Glasúil line. Really, did it matter that much? Well...yes, actually. The royal family had ruled peacefully for centuries, and people loved them. Not just because of who they were, but because of what Jackie said, the history and legend. But if this King ordered villages burned down for no reason? Yes, he could see where Marvin was coming from, too. 

But Henrik was right. People would be raging at the idea. His own reaction was proof of that. Killing the King now would just lead to chaos. “So you kicked Marvin out, then?”

Jackie laughed. “Oh noooo, we didn’t do that! The bastard said he was too good for us, and stormed out! What an ass!”

“To be fair, we did have...quite a large fight, leading up to that,” Henrik pointed out. “Personal insults were said.”

“Mostly between me and him,” Jackie admitted. “Schneep tried to mediate.”

Henrik laughed bitterly. “For the first minute, yes. I got caught up in it, too, do not pretend I didn’t. I would apologize, if I could.”

“I wouldn’t,” Jackie muttered. “Not unless he does first.”

“Not even for punching him?”

“Nope.”

Chase looked back and forth between the two of them. He wasn’t about to press, but he could tell that this fight had been bad. “So...he left.”

“A year ago, yes,” Henrik confirmed. “We hear about his...activities, occasionally. A wizard in a mask, acting on his own. Mostly destroying noble property and warrior forts.”

“With no regard for casualties,” Jackie added angrily. He grunted in frustration, then looked back at Chase. His voice softened. “...sorry to dump all this on you. It’s just been so long since we’ve talked about it, I guess we needed to.”

“No, it’s fine,” Chase assured him. “I understand, you can’t keep your feelings buried forever.”

“Well...alright then.” Jackie let out a long breath, then leaned in and gave Chase a quick one-armed hug. “Thanks for listening.”

Henrik stood up, gave Chase a similar quick hug, then stepped back. “We have been talking for a while. We told everyone not to disturb us, but...”

“More busy leader duties?” Chase asked humorously.

Henrik gave him a wry smile. “More busy leader duties.”

“Don’t worry,” Chase said. “I understand. And really, I’m just glad that you took the time to tell me all this. You didn’t have to.”

“We wanted to,” Henrik said. “And now, when others try to avoid the subject, you can say that you already know about Marvin, so it is not a problem.”

“Do you...think you’ll ever cross paths again?”

“I hope we do,” Jackie said. “So I can punch him again.” He hit his hand in demonstration. “But...on a more serious note, I think it’s inevitable. Our goals are the same, even if our methods are different. Eventually, we’re going to have to meet him again.” He paused. “And the more time goes on, the closer that moment becomes.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Southern Moors of Glasúil were not built for permanent settlements. They were wetlands, with watery soil that wasn’t fit to farm on, without gems or metals to mine, and with mud that could easily ruin books, art, and clothes. But still, people found a way to live there, using the resources native to the moors to trade for what they needed. Most of the time, people lived on boats that floated down the many rivers, migrating seasonally as certain areas got difficult to work with. But a few locations had become home to permanent towns, towns that floated in the middle of still water or had their buildings tower on stilts.

This was a town that fit into the latter category. Houses, shops, everything was on stilts that were at least twice as tall as the average man, built like that to avoid the rising waters that would come every spring.

But for now, in the winter, the waters were just thin streams that wound around the tall buildings, some of them covered in a thin layer of ice. But the biggest stream was unfrozen. And this night, under the light of the stars and the waning moon, a single rowboat was floating down this stream. A boy, probably around ten to thirteen years old, was paddling it to his destination. He kept glancing up at the stilted buildings, waiting to see someone on the wooden bridges that connected them. But it was late, and it was winter, and although the Southern Moors weren’t all frozen yet, it was still cold. So the boy paddled on.

Then, he glanced up at the wooden bridges again. And there he saw...a cat. Sitting near one of the wooden ladders leading down to the ground, its eyes reflecting the starlight as it stared at him. The boy stopped paddling, tied up the boat, and climbed out, grabbing the wooden ladder. Once on the solid wooden walkway around the building, the cat darted around him and across the bridge.

He followed the cat to the next building, a house, where it stopped and sat outside the door. Swallowing nervously, he pulled open the door.

The inside was filled with a wide array of candles, all of various colors, but mostly orange and black. They sat on every possible surface, even the floor near the walls, but only a few were lit. The layout was that of a normal one-room house, with a bed in one corner, a rocking chair in another, and a table with two chairs in the middle. And there was a man sitting in one of the chairs.

The cat darted past the boy and leapt onto the table. Its fur was mostly white, but its ears were dark gray, and its tail was striped gray and black. Its legs were similarly striped, though with brown and white, and the fur on its face had a pattern of brown stripes. It stared at the man with big blue eyes, and the man started petting it.

The man himself was...unusual. Most of his clothes were hidden by a thick black cloak, leaving just his gloved hands and his head visible. Though, that wouldn’t do much. His features were hidden by a white mask in the shape of a cat’s face. Colorful markings decorated the surface, red whiskers on the cheeks and green spirals in the ears, with the four card symbols in black in the center of the forehead. Brown chin-length hair framed the mask in waves.

“Um...” The boy hovered in the doorway.

“Close the door,” the man said, and the boy did so. “What did you find?”

The boy walked closer to the table, though he didn’t sit in the chair. “Um...well...my cousin, Ryenn, she works at Portmota Castle. Does their laundry and cleaning. And she...she says that the King has chosen them for his Longest Night celebration. H-he’s arriving soon, maybe within the week.”

“I see.” The cat hopped into the man’s lap and curled up, where he continued to pet it. “How does your cousin know this?”

“Well, they were doing preparations, cleaning things more than usual. And she asked why, and the others said that the lady was getting ready for the King’s visit. Apparently she got a letter in secret, saying that the celebration at Fíornear was a ruse and it was actually going to happen at her holding.”

“I see,” the man repeated, nodding.

The boy hesitated. “Um...can I...? The, uh...”

“Yes, of course.” The man reached into his cloak and pulled out a small leather pouch. He set it down on top of the table. It made a clinking sound as the coins inside rattled against each other. 

The boy stared at it, then slowly reached down, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, he snatched the pouch up, checked the inside, and saw it was filled with golden coins. His eyes widened. He looked at the man and quickly nodded. “Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a problem. I should be thanking you for what you told me.”

“Right.” The boy took a few steps back, suddenly uneasy. “Uh...” Then, without another word, he turned and scrambled out of the house. The man could hear him running all the way back to his boat.

“He shouldn’t be so scared,” the man said to himself. The cat in his lap purred and sat up, stretching. He winced. “Draco, your claws.” Of course, the cat didn’t say anything. In fact, it started kneading his legs. “Ah!” The man gasped, then sighed. “Silly boy.” He picked up the cat and set it on the floor, where it whined at him. “Sorry, but you can’t be up here. I need the space.”

The man then reached into his cloak and pulled out several things. A map, some parchment, a quill and bottle of ink, and finally, a necklace with an ornate pendant: a flat, palm-sized emerald in a thin silver frame, smooth on the front but with golden patterns inlaid on the back. The man ran a finger along the edge of the pendant, and it started to glow. He flicked the light off his fingers, and it scattered, flying to all the unlit candles and lighting them, providing more than enough light to see.

“Now, let’s get to work.” The man picked up the quill, dipped it, and wrote down a name: Portmota, the noble family the King would be visiting for the solstice. He’d heard rumors that the celebration wasn’t actually going to be at Fíornear, but this confirmed it. Now, he just had to come up with a plan. Something more subtle than his usual heads-on approach. This was too important to risk.

He’d make sure the King didn’t live to see the spring.

[inkribbon796]

A Look Behind Ch. 1: Long Time No See

Summary: Nestor reconnects with Mark and Séan.

A/N: Parts of different resets from the House of Cards story line, some will be longer, some will be short. Also @nyssaalghul124 work this wonderful fic for and it aligns with this fic so I’m going to share it because it was amazing.

This one in particular is form Reset 1.

Funny Feeling by nyssaalghul124

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4

They were still so new at this, they hadn’t even failed the first time. The Suits had been so excited and heartsick to keep the secret of time travel to themselves. Nestor raced all over Egoton and immediately contacted Silver and Jackie. He was only slightly slower than Spade who was able to use the electrical grid to get into his younger counterpart’s phone and talk to the Sides.

Nestor fumbled a bit trying to get their attention, so he settled for going right up to the base and the sight of a second Ethan immediately got their attention. The Police Commissioner was excited initially to see old friends but as he patiently waited to see his old friends, but while he waited, a pit formed in his stomach. His hands felt filthy and tarnished with blood and death. He was “Dark’s loyal dog” as the news liked to slander his name so often.

Normally Nestor didn’t care, if someone thought they could do his job better, he would go into early retirement and follow Brody into an early grave with drinking. He didn’t care about being Police Commissioner and hated the job more than he hated the demon hunters.

But Mark and Jack were different. They’d been his mentors and didn’t know. They’d died before they could learn exactly what type of “hero” that he’d turned into.

Eventually Mark stepped out, protective over Ethan who was stepping out behind him. Obviously nervous and confused.

Nestor wanted to laugh at the look in Ethan’s eyes. There was still light in there. No darkness from too many sleepless nights filled with things to get his mind off of how awful his life had become. Of allies he couldn’t save and other former allies he’d had to kill himself.

Nestor tossed his phone towards Mark, “I’m from the future.”

Mark lunged to catch the phone and turned it over to look at the much different design. “Huh.”

He tossed the phone back at Nestor. “Why are you here?”

Nestor hadn’t quite figured out what he was going to say, “City wide cataclysm and it starts in two months.”

“Really?” Jackie said. “What happened?”

Nestor took a deep breath, “The demon hunters are going to set fire to Brighton. Dark’s going to go crazy. But we can keep it from happening and fix everything.”

“Well, why don’t you come in and we’ll get everyone together,” Mark held the door open and Nestor stepped in and felt a heart breaking jolt of nostalgia. The base didn’t exist anymore, only a memorial block. But here it was, still standing.

Mark smiled at him, and Nestor tried to give him a real smile, they deserved it.

Obviously he didn’t do a good enough job, because Mark immediately got concerned. “You okay?”

“I am now, it’s just been a while since I’ve seen you,” Nestor admitted, not quite wanting to admit how Silver had died. How he’d had nightmares about watching the light leave Mark’s eyes as Dark tore his body apart and destroyed his soul as an afterthought. How he’d spit at Dark for forcing that badge on him and then within the span of a couple months began willingly working for him and hating every second of it for years.

Mark cut the deck as they waited for the other heroes to show up, the older Ethan finding he was enjoying this. Faces he’d missed and he gave Mark and Jack a fair bit of hugs. Things were going to go right this time. He was going to make up for everything he had done was going to be wiped into a new, clean slate for all of them.

They were prepared now, things would be better. Everything would work out. As Nestor looked at Mark and Jack as they played cards he realized that he missed this and he would do whatever it took to get this back again.

[soul-dwelling]

Did your dislike of fire force make you retroactivly lower your opinion of soul eater or atleast make you reconsider some of it? Or was it the opposite, that some flaws of soul eater seem les egegious aftet seeing how low something (fireforce) can go?

Both.

I think some of it is subjective: I prefer the more cartoony design details and visual gags in Soul Eater, as they don't clash as much when Fire Force tries to take things overly seriously. And I think Soul Eater was better visually because it could lean into more otherworldly designs just treated as normal for that world, whereas Fire Force, aside from some steampunk and when it gets to nightmare fuel, looks so typical and real-world despite being a nearly post-apocalyptic setting. Something was lost in this significant change in tone, and it affects the visuals: Soul Eater got to be so much more cartoony and vibrant, while sticking so many characters in the same uniform in Fire Force comes off as boring. All of that has made me appreciate the visual art in Soul Eater more.

I could excuse this and argue, "Well, Fire Force had to have a less interesting visual style so that, when things get weird, it is more obvious that we should see them as weird, based on how much different the artwork gets and how it reveals what may really be going on all along." But instead of coming across as a smart way to lull the audience into complacency before the dramatic reveal, it just felt like a corny twist that doesn't add much except shock value and annoying "LOL manga characters see realistically drawn stuff and think it's weird, how ironic."

An seeing where Ohkubo and staff went with Fire Force does taint stuff in his earlier works. It's not as if I was ignorant of how bad things could get: Mana in B Ichi gets some of this poor treatment, too, so a lot of this has been with Ohkubo since the beginning. I just think that, after Stein's introduction in Soul Eater, a lot of the story really picks up and largely avoids the unfortunate problems, at least until Kid goes to the showers where Kim and Jackie are all the way to Chapter 113.

As I've been writing here, it makes some moments in Soul Eater come across differently, recognizing that maybe how well Maka and Crona turned out was more by accident or how fortunate we were given which audience he wanted to target and who his publisher and editors were, whereas Fire Force has set up circumstances that just don't pay off.

I almost wish he had made the lead of Fire Force a girl or a woman. I appreciate so much that Fire Force has done with Shinra, regarding how he does and does not match a shonen protagonist, how a smile is weaponized against him, how he cries--all of that is valuable to me when I see how boys and men are written in fiction. But I think it also sets up an expectation that we should look at a lot of this series from a "boy's" perspective, and that doesn't work on multiple fronts, not the least of which is that "boy" in this scenario is assumed to be cishet, hence a lot of male gaze on the girls and women characters, and ignores the reality of an audience that includes boys and men of various sexualities.

[lux-has-too-many-fos]

💜 for.. *all* of your Brawl Stars F/Os!! Or at least, as many of them as you want to talk about here!! You have a lot of really cool-sounding tags for your F/Os and it'd be super cool to hear more about them - I hope this is okay!

*Cracks nuckles*

Lets get started (:

Tara: I dont understand this but I love you🃏

Well, in game, Tara's "Voicelines" arent actually words (Or at least not comprensible ones) She makes a weird "Mmmmmmmphhhhh" sound instead. So while there are a few voicelines where you can get what shes says (Like when shes laughing, makes fun of the enemy, or says "Oh no!") Most of the time I do not know what the Hell shes saying

That and I love her a lot :D

Nita: Little bear paws🐾

Easy, Nita is pretty much confirmed to be around 10-12 in game, so shes still a lil kid, and her whole design is based around bears

So, yeah

And also, in the skin where she has a schoolgirl outfit and her bear turns into a Shiba, when you summon her bear it leaves a paw mark!

Bibi: Bubblegum bitch🍬

Bibi is always chewing bubblegum, and her super is literally her throwing a bubble at the enemy. That + Bubblegum bitch being one of my favourite songs = Her tag :D

Bo: Whats another kid going to do?🦅

At this point its almost canon that Bo is Nita's and León's (Nita's lil bro in game) dad, and both of his actual kids are really chaotic, so at the time that he kind of adopted Martin thats what he thought

He regreted it like 10 mins later but oh well

Emz: Hashtag best friends🧠

Emz is supposed to be a Vsco girl mixed with a zombie, and she has a lot of voicelines where she says "#*Insert thing here*, and I just feel like she would say something along those lines :D

Jacky: Drilled in my head🦺

She has a drill

And im always thinking about her

Yeah

Thats kinda it :P

Bull: BULLetproof friendship🐂

Bull has some voicelines where he makes puns with his name, so I though "Why not?" and made the tag a pun too

Crow: Never getting rid of me🗡️

My headcanon for Crow's relationship with Martin (And Bull and Bibi) its pretty much: "I act like I dont care about them at all but if anything where to actually happen to them I would go ballistic"

So a tsundere the aro version basically

And Martin never really lets him act like he doesnt care. In fact hes super affectionate with him even when Crow tells him to fuck off.

Also "I love you means youre never ever ever getting rid of me" its one of my favourite lyrics is "Waitress: The musical" and it fits perfectly

Tick: The tick tock of my heart🕛:

He's a bomb

And bombs go "Tick tock"

And his name is Tick

Im super original guys

8bit: Be my player 2🕹️

He's an arcade machine, and some games have a player 2 option, so being someones player 2 would symbolise friendship in this case.

Im super cheesy

Brock: Turning up the boombox!🎚️

Thats just my favourite voiceline of his lol

Rosa: Y esta rosa?🌹

Strap in, this is a looooong one

So, in Latinoamerica, theres this Mexican telenovela called "La rosa de Guadalupe". And im every episode, La Virgen de Guadalupe (A religious figure in México) sends a rose to earth to anounce shes going to bring a miracle. And each time one of the characters sees the rose for the first time they say "¿Y está rosa? (Wich roughly translates que to" "And this Rose?")

That phrase soon became (And still is) a meme in the Latinoamerican side of the Internet. And most people know the series beacause of all the memes they make with it

And Rosa's name is... Well... Rosa

Wich means Rose...

Yeah :D

Belle: Partners in crime🔕

Well, Belle is an outlaw from the wild west, and I made an entire Au based on that. Plus I love that trope so why not

Byron: I wont call you dad🐍

Yknow tsunderes? That, but instead of refusing to admit their love for their crush, I refuse to let him adopt me :D

[artificialqueens]

Taste of a Poison Paradise, Chapter 1 (Multi) - Joley

a/n: there were too many ships to fit into the title but the ones in this fic are crygi, lemyanka, sportsdoll, jaidie, and branjie/kamjie

Lemon let out a whiny groan as her alarm went off. Unlike the average alarm, hers was set to 6:30 at night, leaving her just enough time to get up and ready for her shift. She sat up and looked over, then gave Priyanka’s shoulder a light shove. “Rise and shine,” she mumbled as she got out of bed and grabbed the lingerie she’d laid out that morning and covered it with sweats and Priyanka’s flannel shirt.

“Every day I have to wake up and participate in society,” Priyanka lamented as she got out of bed. Her uniform consisted of a simple black t-shirt and jeans, making her routine much shorter than Lemon’s, who had to get all dolled up. “Gonna make coffee,” she decided, shuffling into the kitchen.

While Priyanka was making coffee, Jan came out of the other bedroom. “We carpooling tonight, Pri?” she asked, propping her elbows up on the counter and resting her chin on her hands.

“Yeah, if y’all aren’t planning on hanging out once the shift ends,” she answered, a slight stiffness in her tone. “Can’t stick around.”

Jan knew she needn’t say anything else. “Gotcha,” she nodded before grabbing her sweatshirt off the couch.

The three of them arrived at the club and clocked in on time, much like they always did. Priyanka went to get her station set up while Jan and Lemon joined the other girls in the dressing room to finish their makeup.

“Brooke Lynn told me she’s bringing in a friend of hers tonight,” Vanessa remarked as she swiped highlighter along her cheek. “Met at a convention or some shit in France and this is her welcoming celebration ‘cause she just moved out here.”

“Rich and French?” Jan’s brow quirked with interest and she strummed her fingers together, acting as if she were ‘scheming’. “Damn, I’m glad I just got my hair done.”

“But what if she tips you in euros?” Gigi chuckled.

“Actually,” Jaida chimed in, “the euro is worth like, twenty percent more than the dollar. So, it’d be a better gig if she did.” She tilted her head when the rest of the girls looked at her with either surprised or perplexed expressions. “What? I can know shit too.”

Jackie poked her head into the dressing room, then leaned against the doorframe. “I come in and you guys are talking about economics? I never cease to be amazed at this place. Anyway, just letting all of you know that the new security guard is starting tonight. I expect you all to be nice to her.”

“We’re always nice,” Jan cooed and batted her lashes. “Aren’t we, girls?”

“Speak for yourself, I’ve got an image to maintain,” Lemon retorted.

Just as Jackie was about to turn and leave, she heard footsteps and turned around. “Oh good, Kameron, you’re here. Come say hi to the girls,” she said, excitedly gesturing her over.

A muscled, tattooed blonde made her way over, stopping just a step into the dressing room. She seemed very aware of all the eyes on her, and perhaps a bit shy because of it. “Hey,” she greeted with an awkward wave.

Jackie went down the line introducing the girls. “This is Lemon, Jan, Gigi, Jaida, and Vanessa. Don’t worry, they don’t bite.”

“I make no promises,” Vanessa chimed in, twirling her hair around her finger as she looked Kameron over.

Jaida chuckled and tapped Vanessa’s thigh. “Down, girl. Sit. Stay.” Then she looked back up and warned Kameron, “Vanjie likes blondes.”

“Behave,” Jackie jokingly chastised, though she knew it would fall on deaf ears. “I’m gonna go get Kameron set up out front,” she said before the two of them left.

Once they’d left, Gigi leaned over to talk to Vanessa. “How’s your girlfriend gonna feel about you giving bedroom eyes to the new recruit, huh?”

“Relax, I just looked at her, not like I tried to eat her pussy or somethin’,” she retorted. “And you can’t say shit about girlfriends when your ass can’t even ask Crystal out on a date.” She got a chorus of ‘ooooh’ from the other girls at that and made Gigi turn red.

——

“Gigi, Jaida, and I are gonna hit up that new diner two blocks over after work, you in?” Crystal asked during a slow point in their shift.

Priyanka sighed and looked down at the empty glasses she was clearing off from the bar. “Can’t,” she mumbled, then reluctantly added, “I told Mark I’d pick him up from the airport.”

“I should’ve recognized that pain face,” she mused with a sympathetic nod. “Does your girlfriend know your boyfriend’s back in town?” she asked, cocking her head to the stage Lemon was dancing on.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Priyanka caught the defensiveness in her tone, so she tried to playfully follow it up with “she’s my mistress.”

Crystal chuckled, dividing her attention between her coworker and the customers that came up to the bar. “Whatever you gotta call it. At least he’s out of town like, what, forty weeks out of the year?”

“And yet it never feels like enough.”

The other bartender shook her head. “Remind me again why you’re still with him.”

“He’s… my safety blanket. No one asks me too many questions if they know I’m still with him. I can be normal and not have to worry about my family disowning me,” she explained.

“Oh, right, I forgot how far in the closet you are. Which is easy to do when you consider… every other aspect of your personality.” Crystal looked over and spotted Brooke Lynn approaching with a dark-haired woman at her side. “Who’s your friend, Brooke?”

“This is Nicky, she just moved here from Paris. Had to give her the proper welcome, you know?” Brooke explained. “I ran it by Jackie, gonna have her set up in the VIP room once she picks who she wants to-”

“Her.” Nicky had only turned away for a moment when her eyes locked on one of the dancers. “I have decided. I want that one.”

Brooke looked over, amused at the promptness in her decision. “Jan? Good choice. Crystal, set Nicky up with a cognac while I go let Jackie know to get her set up,” she explained as she got up. “If I don’t come back, assume Vanjie’s got me captive and don’t send for help.”

Priyanka watched as Brooke left. “God, that bitch has her whole life together and then some. Like, actual life goals, you know?”

“Priyanka also aspires to be a rich businesswoman that gets to rail a stripper on the regular,” Crystal explained to Nicky as she handed her the drink.

Nicky lifted her glass to her in approval. “Aim high, love,” she said and took a sip. “So, tell me about this girl I’ve picked, Jan, yes?”

“Oh, Jan’s great,” Crystal told her. “She’s a real sweetheart, you know? Like, the type to accidentally make customers fall in love with her because she just radiates that warm energy. Even had to ruin the illusion by outing herself a couple of times.”

“Yeah, but that was when that guy proposed to her, remember?” Priyanka chimed in. “Nice guy, stupid as all fuck.”

Nicky listened with amusement to the anecdotes the bartenders went on about until she spotted Jan coming her way, instantly tuning out everything around her to focus on the scantily clad woman.

Jan smiled and held her hand out. “Follow me, I’ll take you to the VIP room.”

“Then, by all means, lead the way,” she purred and followed her as they weaved through the club, to a room behind velvet ropes.

The room itself was designed to look even more expensive than it was with its red and gold color scheme and velvety fabrics. There was a plush couch, a table with champagne in an ice bucket, and a basket containing various sexual accessories – fuzzy handcuffs, lube, things of that nature. It was also perfectly spotless, which was easy to maintain with how rarely it was used. For the most part, it was up to the dancers to decide if they even wanted to confirm the existence of VIP rooms, let alone bring anyone into that space.

But Jan seemed thrilled to have Nicky in there with her. Especially since she knew she wouldn’t have to keep up her professional pretenses – Nicky came in with Brooke, after all. “So, I’m sure Brooke probably told you, but we make up whatever rules we want based on the client. But since this is your big American welcome present, I’m cool with following your lead.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Nicky cupped Jan’s face. “I don’t know if you want to give me that much power. There’s just far too much I’d like to do to you.”

Jan felt a chill go up her spine. The intensity of Nicky’s gaze paired with the coolness in her voice had her entranced on the spot. “Even better. Nothing’s sexier than a powerful woman.”

“As if I had any doubt on what a bottom you are,” she lightly teased as she sat down on the couch. She leaned back, admiring the beautiful woman she had all to herself. “Purple is your color,” she observed, admiring the way the violet lingerie fit her body, how it framed her perfectly while still begging to be ripped off.

“Why thank you, it’s my favorite,” Jan hummed, making her way over and straddling Nicky’s lap. She wasn’t used to having any sort of banter on the clock. Normally, a customer’s brain would short circuit as soon as they saw her tits, and that was how she liked it – the best man was a silent man as far as she was concerned.

But even Nicky seemed to have had enough with the talking, having moved on to kissing along Jan’s neck while her hands wandered her body. Eventually, she let them rest on Jan’s ass, which she groped and slapped while the two of them made out.

Jan let out a pleased sigh against Nicky’s lips. She rolled her hips slowly at first, arching towards Nicky’s touch and threading her fingers through her hair. “God, you’re fucking gorgeous,” she murmured as she undid her new client’s top.

“So are you, angel,” Nicky purred as she unhooked Jan’s bra and let it drop to the floor. She could tell she had caught Jan a bit off guard – normally the client would never undress the stripper. But it was clear Jan didn’t take issue, so she continued, kissing down her neck and chest, between her breasts, then teasingly swiping her tongue over both nipples. While she licked and sucked at her breasts, Nicky moved her hands back down, lightly snapping Jan’s panties against her and peeling them off once Jan lifted her hips up to let her.

It was so rare for Jan to be able to give up control at work. Her true submissive preferences were reserved exclusively for her personal life, lest anyone get the wrong idea. But Nicky had her under her thumb without even trying, and honestly, Jan found that even hotter. She wanted Nicky as badly as Nicky wanted her, and she didn’t make any attempt to hide it, going right to undressing Nicky once she was naked herself.

“So eager,” Nicky couldn’t help but call her out. “You must be so desperate to get fucked after teasing ugly men all night, hm?” She moved her hand between Jan’s thighs and traced her fingers along her slit. “You’re wet already, you little whore.” She then tapped her thigh lightly to redirect her. “On your knees,” she instructed, “you know what to do.”

Of course she did, Jan had just been eagerly awaiting her command. She got on her knees in front of Nicky, pulling her trousers and panties down to her ankles before situating herself between her thighs. She licked a stripe up her slit, then eased her tongue in, alternating between slow and fast, deep and shallow licks and thrusts.

Nicky tilted her head back and let out a deep moan. “Fuck, good girl,” she grunted. Her hand moved to the back of Jan’s head, holding her head in place with just a bit of firmness to keep her going.

Not that Jan would’ve stopped even if her life depended on it. Every time Nicky bucked her hips up or pushed down on her head, it turned her on and encouraged her all the more. Her hands gripped onto Nicky’s waist to hold her close and not let up until she was certain she had came, then pulled back with a bright, hopeful expression.

And Nicky knew exactly how to react, she could tell right away that Jan was the type that thrived on praise and positive reinforcement. “You did so well, babygirl,” she cooed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Get up and sit on my face, Mama’s gonna make you feel good.”

Jan nearly tripped over herself with how quickly she scrambled to her feet. She waited for Nicky to lay down on the couch before straddling her face and gripping the arm of the couch, then let out a breathy moan when she felt Nicky’s tongue inside her. “Fuck…”

Nicky held onto Jan’s ass as she thrust her tongue steadily. She smirked to herself when she heard how desperate and needy the younger woman’s moans were. This was not going to be their last encounter, that she was certain of, and by the time she had made Jan come, she was already thinking about the next time.

“Oh my fucking god,” Jan was still trembling when she got off of Nicky, sitting down to catch her breath. “Is that what French kissing really is?”

“I like to think so,” Nicky chuckled, sitting up and getting dressed. “Either way, that was just the welcome I had hoped for, and I will certainly be coming back for you. I’d take you home if I could.”

“Who’s to say you can’t?” Jan batted her lashes and twirled her hair around her finger.

——

“You know, with the way Nicky pounced on Jan, you might not be getting her back tonight,” Brooke warned. She was sitting in Jackie’s office with Vanessa sitting on her lap, though Vanessa had more or less checked out while Brooke and Jackie caught up.

Jackie laughed softly. “If I know Jan, and I tend to think I do, she won’t mind in the slightest,” she assured. “Though sometimes I worry you’re gonna keep bringing your friends in and pairing off all my girls.”

“What can I say? I’ve found my niche,” she hummed. “And it’s all good as long as you keep up those profit margins, right?”

“Oh god, are y’all just gonna talk business and shit all night?” Vanessa whined.

Brooke arched her brow at her girlfriend. “We’re not making you stay here, babe. You can go do a set or hang out in the dressing room,” she suggested. “You know, considering this is still your job,” she added.

“You can just get Kameron to babysit her,” Jackie remarked offhandedly, oblivious to the way Vanessa had suddenly tensed and sat upright or the way she was glaring a hole into her head.

And Brooke hadn’t picked up on it either, just coming off as confused. “Who’s Kameron? Another dancer?”

Vanessa had started to answer. “No, she ain’t nobody, she just-”

“She’s the new security guard,” Jackie explained. “I like her, she seems nice, really funny once she warms up to you, a little quiet otherwise.”

“Is she…you know…”

“Gay? Yeah, she a fitness dyke, I can tell,” Vanessa chimed in.

Jackie cleared her throat awkwardly. “I mean, I didn’t want to assume.”

Brooke arched her brow. “You, the woman who has managed to employ five lesbian strippers and two lesbian bartenders, didn’t want to assume? Like, you want us to believe that was purely coincidental and not your full intention?” While she had meant it lightheartedly, she noticed Jackie start to curl into herself. “Jackie… do you think we don’t know?”

Jackie swallowed thickly. “Vanjie, do you think you could give me a minute with Brooke?” she asked softly, then waited for Vanessa to leave before she redirected her attention to completely focus on Brooke. “I-I don’t know what you mean. What are you talking about?”

Brooke’s expression became more concerned. Her brows furrowed as she leaned closer and spoke in a hushed tone. “Do you… wait… are you not out?”

“Out of what?” she bristled, sitting upright and pointedly averting her gaze. “There’s nothing for me to be ‘out’ of. Because I’m not. I’m not.”

“Jackie…” she reached out and took her hand. She knew what a delicate subject this could be, but she also knew she would be remiss if she ignored it. “If there was ever a safe space…”

Jackie shook her head, suddenly getting up and pacing back and forth across the room. “You don’t understand. Firstly, my family, they… they just wouldn’t get it. They still think I own a restaurant.” She sighed heavily, finally stopping and leaning against her desk. “Besides, acknowledging my attraction to girls in a place like this… it’s just asking for trouble, you know? Priyanka is the only person that knows, and that’s just because she’s in the same boat.”

Brooke nodded as she listened. “But even still, Pri’s out to everyone here. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

“Pri’s out to everyone here so she can fuck Lemon in peace,” she retorted with a dry laugh. “I mean, it’s not like I haven’t thought about… like I wouldn’t…”

“You’re afraid of catching feelings for one of the girls.”

“No,” Jackie squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, everything she had spent so long burying was pushing through all at once. It made her feel dizzy and nauseous and faced with the realization that telling the truth was the only thing that could relieve that sense of unease. “I’m afraid I already have.”

[lies]

I liked “The Queen’s Gambit” a lot. It reminded me of the movie 42 (which I also liked a lot) for a particular reason: In each case I had a strong positive response to the movie/show that I subsequently came to question due to my realizing the problematic nature of things I at first glossed over.

In the end I still liked it a lot, even loved it. But it’s a love colored by questions I have about the sources of my own appreciation.

Is my personal take on this something you’re actually interested in knowing more about? Read on after the cut!

Note: spoilers.

What I liked most about “The Queen’s Gambit”:

* The treatment of chess. They obviously cared deeply about getting it right, and went to obsessive lengths to do so. Most of their audience (including me) would have no real way to tell the difference without being at least decent chess players, but as far as I can tell (from the reactions of people way more into chess than I am) they met that standard. That kind of over-the-top attention to detail is something I care about. That the chess was (mostly) anatomically correct, down to the level of being based on actual grandmaster-level games that were reflected accurately in the characters’ emotions and actions was awesome. Idiot lectures were minimal. The depiction of tournaments was mostly accurate (albeit with some story-serving anomalies like players occasionally addressing each other directly). Besides that realism, the presentation of the games was really well done, in the sense that they didn’t repeat themselves stylistically. We saw lots of different perspectives on the games. There were medium shots of players and boards. Tight close-ups of the player’s hands, or their faces. The audience watching. Tournament staff repeating the moves on a big board. It was always interesting, even absorbing, and I’d blink and realize whoa; they’re actually showing a chess game. And it’s intense.

* The way Beth’s substance abuse was portrayed. There were points in the series where I grew concerned that we were going to trope-land, where the troubled genius spirals down into pills and alcohol, and it would have been boring. Trite/easy/exploitative. And then... they didn’t do that. When young Beth pulls off the big pill heist I was concerned that’s where we were going. And then the way they resolve that, with an over-the-top bravura climax to the whole young-Beth arc, it was breathtakingly good. The same with the latter parts of the series, as she deals with her addiction issues during the tournaments in Paris and Moscow. There was a trite version of that story, and they very much did not tell that version. Instead they gave us something that felt true, as Beth deals with her issues the best she can, with help from others at key moments. It was a positive story that nevertheless didn’t minimize the problem.

* The basic narrative structure, of the young orphan, the weird kid beaten down by the world, learning and growing and eventually triumphing, worked really well for me. I related to Beth, and especially as the show goes on it was exciting to see her become more capable and self-assured. In the scene with her adoptive father when he reneges on the house arrangement you realize that oh; Beth is approaching it as a chess match. She sees the board, is way ahead of her opponent, and is ruthless about pressing her advantage. The look her lawyer gives her at the end of that scene was great.  

* The deeper theme of her found family was beautifully realized, right up to the final scene in the park. Taylor-Joy sold all the key moments in that journey so well, and it made that conclusion completely satisfying and earned.

* There was more that I loved: The period details, the clothes, the cars. Though with the cars, there was a specific thing that was bugging me until I figured out what it was. I grew up watching period pieces from times before I was actually around. But this show, set in the U.S. of the late 1960s, is showing a place and time I actually lived in. So details matter. And with the cars, there was a subtle artifact of unreality: Everyone was driving cars that weren’t actually accurate depictions of what they would have been driving. Instead they were driving cars of that era lovingly restored (and beautifully shot), but still recognizably 21st-century cars. When Beth and Benny drive to New York in Benny’s car, it was the right car (a 1966 VW bug; actually the first car I owned). But it was a ‘66 bug as it looks today when restored by a collector. It wasn’t the version of a ‘66 bug that Benny would have been driving. It should have been scruffier (just like him and his apartment). That was a cheap car at the time, and the right car for his character to have, but it didn’t look like a cheap car. I guess it would be asking too much for them to have gone to the level of not just getting the right car, but of distressing it to look appropriate. I don’t know; as with Beth’s journey toward glamour the cars (and clothes) were treated as eye candy. And on some level I’m sure that was working for me, so maybe I shouldn’t complain.

But that brings me to the thing that I realize was problematic:

* The series at times was super male-gaze-y. The depiction of Beth’s relationships was good, and realistic to who she was. But at a certain point in a series created, written, and directed by a dude, the dude-specific viewpoint was bothersome. And I get that this was part of the story being told: Beth is operating in a world dominated by men, and her reactions to that were interesting. But is that really worthy of elevating as the default frame? The exceptions to that (her relationships with her friend Jolene, and with her adoptive mother) were good, but at times felt peripheral to the main focus, which was on the men dealing with/reacting to Beth. And that’s where it reminded me of 42, with its white-savior narrative that at times seems to focus more on the white characters around Jackie Robinson like Dodgers owner Branch Rickey and shortstop Pee Wee Reese than it does on Robinson himself. And I get that that’s probably a significant part of why the movie (and “The Queen’s Gambit”) worked so well for me in particular: I’m a straight, white, heterosexual dude. So I invest in the drama of the white people around Jackie Robinson, or of a male chess nerd staring slack-jawed at Beth Harmon dancing in her underwear. It works for me because it’s designed to appeal to my perspective. And in each case it’s also a good story with transcendent performances from Chadwick Boseman and Anya Taylor-Joy. What they (and the rest of the people who made these creations) are doing is great, and rises above the limitations of the framing. But I can’t stop myself from wondering: Is it really as good as it seems to me? Or does it just seem that good to me because of who I am?

[tornrose24]

The idea of having a Phantom of the Opera AU for CU is hilarious (and my inner POTO teen fan girl is... uh, not happy), but the more I visit it, the more ideas come to mind. I do admit it would of made more sense to have Melvin and Erica be the leads when one thinks about it, but this is my version. Which takes inspiration from various adaptions, including the musical.

-No one is getting killed off (or at least no deaths happen on purpose if there is any).

-George and Harold aren’t based on anyone in particular. The boys work at the Opera to help make money for their families since having small hands behind the scenes helps. Its not their dream job, but the endless possibilities for pranks and the rumors of a ghost keeps them interested. Then things start happening and they investigate, only to find more then they are ready for.

-Also, George and Harold manage to sneak into the lair at some point and might be there during the first dramatic unmasking.

-Lisa and Billy would show up. Billy would be part of the children’s chorus and Lisa would be taking lessons there or else performing. Cue the boys being smitten by them.

-Erica and Melvin are the managers and both have had some experience with music and Erica is a former performer. Melvin still has the hots for Erica, but its a one-sided relationship and she doesn’t return the feelings.

-Some kids might be there depending on their interests. Dressy would be part of a children’s chorus, Gooch might be performing an instrument, Bo might be there to help with set design as a way to pick up new art skills, etc.

-I can see kid friendly operas like Hansel and Gretel and Cinderella being performed as well as the fist two fictional operas from the musical. Not the third one with ‘The point of no return’ because... uh... yeah that’s not exactly a kid friendly song.

-No one gets hanged, but the chandelier WILL crash at some point.

-So yeah, I had CU as Raoul, but he’s like the dumbest possible version of that character imaginable. Also he and Edith were childhood pals and he still gets along with the boys.

-In a bit of a change, I imagine Edith as the lead Alto/Mezzo instead of Soprano. When I remember her voice or whenever I remember Kirsten Schaal singing, I can’t see her as a Soprano like Christine is. (And actually some operas have Altos and Mezzos as their leads, with the titular character of the opera version of Cinderella as an Alto.)

Ok... now for the hilarity of having Benjamin be the Phantom.

-It IS hilarious to imagine, but he has a few similar characteristics (anger issues, need for control, prone to jealousy to the point of inviting more suffering, etc.) and the idea of two kids trying to out-prank the opera ghost is chuckle-worthy. Also him being voiced by Ed Helms is a huge factor.

-Also the idea of a Phantom being a helpless dork (and occasional idiot) and NOT being an overly obsessive creep over the girl is a refreshing change for me.

-So for those who saw the artwork, I didn’t give him the half mask because its ‘attractive’ which he ISN’T supposed to be. The deformity is the same as the musical because the book version might have been a bit too much.

-Then I remembered ‘Oh wait, but what about the backstory?’ Because I could unfortunately see Bernice selling off her kid to a freak show and then someone helps him escape like in the 2004 film version. (Then suddenly I was imagining @jackie-sugarskull‘s oc Sawyer as a child breaking into the traveling show to help this kid with a bag over his head escape (like that version of Madame Giry did) because I could see that happening. Then years later she’s the head set designer and is all ‘The opera ghost? Oh yeah, he’s actually my BFF. Good thing I found him when I did, because I don’t know how he would have turned out if I hadn’t.’)

[warsofasoiaf]

Hi, Kheftiu again with the Cyberpunk questions. Just finished the game, went for the Hanako plan ending. What was your ending and your interpretation of it?

Obviously spoilers abound, so behind a cut it goes. I’ve done all the endings, so I can examine all of them. Readers beware

I ended up picking the Nomad ending. I shacked up with Panam over the course of the game so when they asked to help me out, I really couldn’t say no. I understand wanting to though, a lot of the Nomads were pretty awesome, and we already lost Scorpion over the course of the game, I really didn’t want to lose the other nomads who, despite my brief time with them, did have some colorful characterization. 

The other options though were worse. I didn’t trust Arasaka one lick, and the only reason I even bothered to hear them out (other than the game made it necessary as part of the plot) was for Takemura’s sake, since he was fairly straight with me the whole way through. My character had been a corpo in the beginning, and the way that I was dumped so unceremoniously didn’t engender a lot of trust (not that I had much to begin with since they murdered the ESA chiefs due to a failed deal). Saburo is clearly a problem, but why would I trust Hanako to run the company with any more adherence to ethics than her father? Why would I trust her to keep her word after this power struggle. Certainly not out of any sense of loyalty or obligation to me, and I doubt Takemura could motivate her to look out for me faithfully.

Trusting Johnny didn’t seem to be any better. He didn’t seem to learn anything from the first time, since I was hoping to avoid collateral damage like dropping a nuke in the center of Night City. I didn’t like Arasaka, but just as we saw with Johnny’s first go, there’s plenty of people who were just pawns in the system. Johnny seemed to like me, he was mellowing out a bit, but I couldn’t trust his rage to overcome the angels of his better nature. Plus, I didn’t want to lose control, and I didn’t earn enough Johnny points for the secret ending.

The nomads seemed like a good third option, since they were the family that adopted me out of regard for what I did for them, and they offered me the chance to back out and not take it. A nice sentiment, certainly, and welcome, to offer such a thing. In a world of double-dealing and betrayal, the nomads were refreshingly honest, warts and all. The leadership struggle between Saul and Panam was something that the nomads never felt the need to hide from me, and that speaks to great personal regard for me in a way I didn’t get from Arasaka and I only partially got from Johnny. 

The ending, for the most part, was just a big dungeon. Mitch piloting the panzer himself was something that I thought they would actually hit me with and kill him off, but they backed off on killing off one of the two nomads that players would remember and really mourn, the other being Panam. Killing off Panam though, would have been gutsy, choosing a preferable ending means losing a good friend and romantic partner. That wasn’t too impressive, the firefights were mostly ho-hum, although the level design was nice, but my 20 Intelligence character simply burned through them with System Reboot/Reboot Optics/Stealth spamming. Adam Smasher wasn’t difficult, and I was playing on hard difficulty and wasn’t a combat build (I went Intelligence, Technical Ability, and Cool), though I did end up shooting him in the face with Johnny’s Pistol as a nice touch. 

The ending was a decent enough question for cyberpunk. Can consciousness be digitized is a perfectly valid question, given the reality of AI. Neuromancer did this with Pauley, and if consciousness is just a stream of electrical input, what difference does it make whether the hardware is carbon-based or silicon? The idea of Johnny being digitized to torture him forever is a grimdark nightmare for a cyberpunk setting (and one I’ve played with myself in worldbuilding). Unfortunately, you’re given little with this, because ultimately, while Alt says that she’s ‘no longer’ Alt, what does that mean? Did Alt change, like human beings doing, was she subsumed and no longer exists? Was she ever Alt to begin with, or was it just an AI that modeled itself after Alt? Without these answers, the question about what you or Johnny do when you become these personality engrams and go beyond the Blackwall is open-ended, and ultimately, not satisfying. 

The other main theme, that the Relic is killing you, offers a poignant question: what do you do if you know you have a little time left? That’s a tough question to wrangle with in real life, but in Cyberpunk, it isn’t given a lot of thought save a few moments in the main quest with Viktor and Johnny. Some of the sidequests reinforce the theme, the Buddhist monk meditating and the crucifixion quest offer some thematic relevance, but most of the content doesn’t reinforce the message. V seems motivated to be a Night City legend, a perfectly valid concern when lifespan is limited and being remembered does matter in a world so cram-packed with everything that it’s impossible to remember. But questions of legacy aren’t really examined with the content. Does V want to do something with the hundreds of thousands of eddys that they have by the end of the game except buy cars? Do you get a drink named after you in Afterlife like Jackie Wells did? What if the game had actually taken this to heart? What if there was an ending where removing the Relic was successful, provided that you spent no more than 40 or 60 hours or whatever time cut-off you desire? That might actually reinforce the theme and serve as an interesting deconstruction of the open-world sandbox, wasting all that time dicking around and clearing the !’s off your map actually ends up being lethal in the end. That would actually be a great examination of the question Dexter DeShawn asks you in the beginning, do you want to be a Night City legend or live long and die quietly. 

But that wasn’t what we got. *shrug* What do you think, everyone? Would that have been a more interesting ending? Or am I also just a dull writer?

Thanks for the question, Khef.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[littleeyesofpallas]

Bleach - Name Games

I know I already threw together the master list for these posts, but I realized another set of characters I could still bundle together.  Although they aren’t quite as interesting and loaded as a lot of the shinigami names had been.  Here’s the Fullbringers!

Ginjou [銀城] Kuugo[空吾]

“Silver Castle” is his family name, which seems dignified, and in retrospect almost feels like an accidental point toward the Quincy.  And his personal name is written “Void/Sky/Heavens”+“My/Our” I can’t tell which of the two readings feels like it makes more sense; “Our Heaven” or “My/Our Void” either of which position him as the leader of Xcution, but “My Void” also feels like it describes some of his personal conflict.

Interestingly his name is also a kind of wordplay on Ichigo’s name.  The “Silver Castle” is a kind of opposed image to Kurosaki[黒崎] “Black Cape” and like Ichigo’s own wordplay with numbers, “Kuugo” reads similarly to [九五] “Nine + Five.”  In a lot of numerological systems, which frequently disregard zero, 1 and 9 are opposed terminals in a sequence.  It’s a little hard to tell if Kubo meant for it, but it does kind of scan as if Kuugo is just named like a sort of bizarro Ichigo.

His Fullbring Cross of Scaffold is a dumb name with no meaning, and I only bring it up now because I’ll be mentioning the others’ Fullbrings while I’m at it.

Tsukishima[月島] Shuukurou[秀九郎]

“Moon Island“ and “Excellent Nine(th) Son.“  Curiously it piggybacks off Kuugo’s subtle Nine pun, and I really can’t help but want to draw ties between the “Moon” and Ichigo’s sword, as well as the “Island” and Ichigo’s “Cape/Peninsula.”  Without taking these two characters into consideration, the name really doesn’t seem to have any implicit meaning in relation to Tsukishima himself.

Tsukishima is also an actual place in the Chuou ward of Tokyo.  It’s the product of a reclamation project centered around what was the namesake island.  But I don’t think the name is supposed to reference that, because for one you wouldn’t normally have someone’s family named after a place based on its modern state, and also because it’s not like the small district has any particular features linked to Tsukishima’s character.

Book of the End I feel like was meant to be an attempt at double meaning with Book End, but I don’t think Kubo understood that even though “of” and “the” aren’t really present in Japanese and have to be added in when translating into English, it doesn’t mean you can just take or add them into English in the same way. 

Dokugamine[毒ヶ峰] Riruka[リルカ]

The Ga[ヶ] here reads as a possessive, as part of a place name, making her surname “Poison’s Peak“ and the given name, Riruka is just in katakana, so there’s no meaning to read; It is an actual Japanese name, and so there are a few conventional readings it would normally have, but I don’t think Kubo intended for any of those meanings to apply to Riruka.  Actually, I think he wrote her name in kana specifically to make her a kind of parallel to Rukia, like Kuugo is a parallel to Ichigo.  Also the pigtails, a bit of the attitude, and the poison shtick feels like it was salvaged off Loly Aivirrne’s general design.

Her Fullbring, Dollhouse was, I believe, a reference to the Priscilla album.  It’s a little too generic a name to say for certain, but given the time frame and that fact that Kubo went all Jojo and named most of the other Fullbrings after music albums, it lines up.

Kutsuzawa[沓沢] Giriko[ギリコ]

Weirdly his surname translates as “Boots”+”Swamp” which seems almost tailor made for Jackie Tristan’s character, and has no apparent meaning in relation to Giriko... (I won’t actually be covering Jackie in this considering her name has no Kanji at all)  And the name Giriko, as you can see above, is another kana only name.  The sound girigiri[ぎりぎり] is the sound of grinding, which might actually be part of what Kubo was going for here. i.e. the grinding of gears (of a clock).

(A kind of random sidenote is that the name Giriko was used in Soul Eater for a character who is a living weapon; his weapon form of choice being a chainsaw, so the name evokes the sounds of a grinding chainsaw blade.)

Unrelated to name though, what was up with Giriko originally having what definitely appears to be a riding crop that just never showed back up??  I get this weird BDSM dom vibe from his first appearance, although they pretty quickly resolve the formal wear into his bar tender aesthetic.  That may have had its own implications related to “grinding” sounds.

His Fullbring, Time Tells No Lies, is a Praying Mantis album.  Between that and the eyepatch he almost feels like a rehash of Nnoitra Gilga’s character notes...

Also, since there’s not going to be any other place to put it: Jackie Tristan’s Fullbring, Dirty Boots is an album by Sonic Youth.  And the more I think about this, I wonder if Giriko wasn’t supposed to have Dirty Boots at first, because honestly it would kind of play into that initial BDSM vibe he had, and Jackie’s little leather biker cap feels like a leather daddy kink thing more than just a biker boots thing.  And even after her powered up form gave her the little engine and exhaust pipe pauldron thing to kind of pull it together, her boots aren’t even particularly in the American biker style.  This isn’t really going anywhere, just something to think about...

Yukio[雪绪] Hans Vorarlberna[ハンス･フォラルルベルナ]

Yukio’s given name reads as “Snow Thread,” although the kanji used for “Thread” here is a weird archaic form that isn’t really used, but it is closely related to a more modern kanji that reads as “chord” or “thread.” Hans Vorarlberna is not a real name, but Vorarlberg is a state of Austria; I have no idea what the name means though, and I just assume Kubo picked it just because it sounded cool...

It feels like there was supposed to be some kind of parallel or theme in him getting paired off to fight Hitsugaya; Both kids, both light hair and ice/cold themed names and demeanor. (I almost get the feeling Kubo wanted him to have white hair until he remembered/was reminded that he already has like 5 other white haired characters running around.)  We knew by that point that Kubo had a penchant for clever thematic fights like the Ants and Dragons fights during the Arrancar Arc.  Yet there’s not really anything it this one?

His Fullbring, Invaders Must Die, is an album by The Prodigy.

Shishigawara[獅子河原] Moe[萌笑]

Family name is “Lion River-Beach” with Shishi referring to the animal itself but also the mythical lion dogs often depicted as guardian statues outside shinto shrines.  The given name Moe[萌笑] reads like “Bud(ding) Laughter” as in the start of a laugh.  The same “Budding” phrase can refer to showing symptoms of something like an illness.

I don’t actually know what to make of this name either; his general disposition as a bit of a goofball seems pretty aptly reflected in the given name, but the surname feels oddly specifically chosen for one that doesn’t seem to impart much meaning...  I’m wondering if there’s not a more subtle or even just superficial form of wordplay that I’m missing here by not being fluent or more familiar with casual conversational phrases in Japanese.

Like Ginjou and Tsukishima, his Fullbring falls outside the album theme.  Lucky Knuckles are just an actual thing: Gold plated knuckle dusters with slot machine lucky 777s on them.