#as to what the various populations think the soul marks mean

[biichama]

Me: I need to finish reading AOIAF before I actually write fanfic. I don't want to contradict anything in the books I haven't gotten to.

Also Me: *writes roughly 400 words adapting the soulmark rules @amarguerite came up with for Planetos*

[rumalumasuns]

"You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known - and even that is an understatement" (F. Scott Fitzgerald) - With Uki Violeta

Based (loosely) on The Little Mermaid by Disney (no angst and seafoam here lol)

Part of my Living in a Fairy Tale series

!- Reader is Gender neutral (if I made a mistake somewhere I apologize and I'll fix it as soon as possible!)

!- Mentions of potion-making, spearing, blood, magic, witches, bones/skulls, stalking, light cursing

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, Uki Speaking

Original work by rumalumasuns, 12,565 words (I think this is my longest one lol-), unedited but I will do so when I have time later :)

Once upon a time,...

In the beautiful Mujigae Ocean, there was a kingdom of merpeople. Young, old, in between, and in all shapes and colors - the merpeople lived happily and sustainably. Although there was some more trouble now with the increasing surface-dweller population, the merpeople handled it by taking the trash that was thrown into their domains and creating items to use and trade with, or channeling the oily parts of their waters into powerhouses for some of their newer inventions.

Like any other kingdom, the Mujigae Kingdom had a royal family: Rikusan, the king, and his many children. There was no formal queen of the kingdom, and Rikusan let his children take on the surnames of their own mothers, so a lot of them had different last names.

Rikusan's children were as unique as they were powerful: one was an octomer who could write novels as beautifully as he looked, two others (twins) were fairy-mermaid hybrids who liked to cast spells to prank others, while another was a kind tigerfish mer who used her claws only when her family was being threatened.

The majority of the citizens of Mujigae loved and appreciated the children of Rikusan: not only were they pleasing to the eye, but they also protected the kingdom using their various powers. Despite this great love for the royal family, however, not all of the individual royals of Mujigae were loved.

In particular, there was one merman prince whom the people were wary of - Uki Violeta.

Uki was a soft soul who had a hardened exterior, making him hard to approach. Additionally, he was one of the most powerful out of all of Rikusan's children, as the night he was born the gem of a star had come down from the sky, plunged into the water, and came to Uki, blessing him. A sign of this blessing was a small flower mark under his right eye, as well as heterochromia from the effects of the star's power.

Uki's blessing made him a psychic: a telekinetic combined with a mind reader. This made him admired by some. Uki's abilities were known for foiling many assassinations on the royal family and for causing multiple attacks on the kingdom to fail. For this, both his family and his people were grateful. However, his actions also made the Mujigae Kingdom's enemies bitter and waiting for revenge.

Although Uki was loved by some, in particular by three brothers in his family who always tried to protect him, others were skeptical of him. Some people in the corners of the ocean whisper doubts about Uki's intentions. What if he were to turn someday and tried to take the throne for his own? Uki certainly could have a motive: he wasn't the oldest of the Mujigae royals and was near the end of the line to become crown royal, meaning if he wanted to have the throne he would have to fight for it. These wary merpeople decided to avoid him whenever possible and only pay their respects when they absolutely needed to.

Others hated Uki - particularly the enemies of the kingdom whom he was able to defeat easily with his powers. Infiltrations into the palace were always attempted but failed because Uki would be able to detect the traitor or the spy in an instant. He also had no problem defeating their soldiers with just a flick of his hand.

This made him a target of speculation and anger, even within the palace walls. Despite what his loved ones, such as his brothers Sonny, Alban, and Yugo, tried to do for him, Uki decided to keep to himself and not cause a stir whenever possible. He didn't mind that his other siblings were more loved than him, or that he chose to stay in his room for their sakes. Uki quite liked the solace sometimes. However, it didn't stop his heart from stinging whenever the crowds became quieter as he approached, or when he saw the fear in the eyes of the children as they gazed at the flower under his right eye.

To fill this void he felt within himself, Uki chose to read - from the royal palace's cookbooks to the fantasy novels in the palace library. Uki quite liked to read the novels - imagining two souls falling in love and accepting each other for who they were after going through hardships together made his heart swell. He longed for that connection, for love that he has never had before.

He wanted it so badly, that one night Uki decided to venture out of his room, and swim to the surface. One of the tales he had read was about how one of his kind, a merperson, chased after royalty from the surface world. Despite all the hardships they went through, the two ended up falling in love and the story concluded with a happy ending. Uki figured that if one of his own kind wouldn't accept him, perhaps someone else - some other being could.

While thinking about this, Uki swam even faster to the surface, until his eyes were able to peek out from the ocean. He had tried to go to a location that was near what humans like to call a shore. To his luck, there was a being on the sand - Uki believed that his textbooks called the creature "a human male". The man had grey hair and a red lightning scar on his left eye. His ears were different from Uki's ears - unlike the purple scales Uki had at the tips, the man had ears were entirely made of flesh! The man's hands were also different from Uki's webbed ones: while one was also flesh, the other looked red and made out of some of the metal trash that the merpeople collected. In that metal hand was a notepad.

Uki's tail began swishing excitedly in the water.

'A human!' he thought, and with care, he swam towards the shore. First, he let the man know of his presence by splashing the surface of the water from underneath. Uki saw the man become alert. Slowly, Uki popped his head out of the water, his hair soppy and covering his ears. He shyly stuck out his fingertips from the water and waved.

The man looked straight at him, before laughing.

"You scared me, man! Why are you fooling around like that? Jeez, I almost got a heart attack."

"S-sorry," Uki managed to stutter out, as his face grew warm from having to talk to someone new.

"All good. Want to come out from the water? Isn't it cold?"

Uki shook his head, little droplets scattering across the water's surface.

"I'm fine, thanks."

The man nodded, before waving at Uki with the notepad.

"I'm Fulgur, by the way. Fulgur Ovid. I'm a marine biologist. You are?"

"Uh, I'm Uki. Uki Violeta."

"Oh, I've never heard about you before. Are you new to town?"

"...Yep," said Uki. He hoped that Fulgur would take his bluff.

After the initial awkward reaction, Fulgur and Uki led a normal conversation about the moonlight - Uki asked Fulgur about the town because he didn't know much about it as he "just moved in". Fulgur was happy to oblige and offered to show Uki around the town if Uki came out of the water. Uki politely refused but asked Fulgur to meet him again around this time the next day, to which Fulgur agreed.

Many months passed, and Uki spent time talking to Fulgur at night as he told Uki about his work and how he recorded the marine wildlife that became more active at night, as well as stories of his life and his sibling, and stories of the town. Through their conversations, Uki found that he could trust Fulgur, who revealed to him that one of his ancestors, one of the town's founders, was a mermaid.

"Speaking of, how come you're always in the water whenever we meet, Uki?"

"Oh, uh... I like swimming?"

Fulgur looked at Uki with a raised eyebrow. Uki knew that Fulgur already had suspicions that he was a merperson, but he hoped that Fulgur would take his bluff just one more time. Fulgur just nodded in understanding and laughed.

"Sure, we'll go with that. Just tell me when you're ready."

And Uki did, a couple days later. One night he nervously waited for Fulgur to come out onto the shore, his hair tucked behind his scaly ear. Soon, he heard a rustle from the tall bushes on the shore. Out came Fulgur, notebook in hand as always. He then saw Uki and waved as usual, before his eyes widened upon seeing Uki's ears.

"Oh my- you really are one of them!" he exclaimed excitedly. Uki, who braced himself for the worst, was surprised, then elated. Fulgur wasn't afraid of him.

The largest smile spread over his face.

"Yep!"

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

A couple of years passed since Uki had ventured out from his castle at night.

Not many people at the palace noticed Uki's absence, except for three of his brothers, because Uki tended to keep to himself anyways. However, his brothers Sonny, Yugo, and Alban noticed his subtle changes. For instance, Uki's room in the palace was now filled with many things from the surface, from books (which Fulgur waterproofed for Uki) to what humans call a "fork". Once, Alban questioned it.

"Ya know, I tend to hoard lots of sparkly human things, but not so many of the unshiny ones. Where'd you get all this stuff anyways?"

Uki just smiled, saying he found things while wandering around at night. Although Yugo expressed his worries about his brother going around alone at night, he didn't question it much. Sonny just inspected the items to make sure they weren't threatening to Uki, as he was well-versed in things that come from the surface that is threatening. They let him be, though, seeing that the objects and just talking about the surface made Uki much happier, which they loved to see.

Just like they think, Uki is happier than he was a couple years ago, especially when humans or the surface world are mentioned. Although the merpeople around him were still wary of him, he didn't mind as much. He not only had the support of his brothers but now he also had Fulgur and time on the surface away from the ocean. Thanks to this, Uki became much more content about himself.

During these years, Uki and Fulgur became like brothers. While Uki helped Fulgur learn more about the creatures of the ocean and merpeople, Fulgur taught him how to write in various human languages and introduced Uki to the internet. Additionally, with Uki's permission, Fulgur also tested out various elixirs both on himself and on Uki - one to help with water breathing and another to help turn Uki's fin into legs.

It only took a year until Fulgur finally developed the right formula to make water breathing and Uki’s fin-into-legs elixirs. Although these only provided temporary changes, it was a milestone for Fulgur who wanted to explore more of the ocean and Uki who longed to go on the surface rather than stay in the water.

The first time Uki was able to have full legs (not just conjoined legs with fins for feet), he cried after being able to take his first step. The potion lasted for a couple minutes before Uki's legs turned into tail once more.

Now, Uki had a couple months of walking experience, while Fulgur's underwater breathing elixir allowed the user to create a bubble of air around the face and breathe underwater for 20 minutes.

For the sake of keeping things a secret, Fulgur kept the formulas for the elixirs in a safe that he only knew of. He didn’t want to sell the formula or reveal it to the public because he didn’t want the ocean to become something that humankind conquered, and he didn’t want Uki’s secret to be discovered.

Uki didn’t know about what Fulgur did with the formulas, just happy about the fact that they worked. Now, he could stay on the surface for much longer and actually go into the places that Fulgur talked about in his stories.

Their lives were pretty normal, and no one really threatened Uki's existence.

...Yet.

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

Once, while Uki was chilling in his mermaid form in a large tank in Fulgur's lab that was overlooking the shore, someone burst through the front door. Like a deer in headlights, Uki froze, staring wide-eyed at the person who came in.

"𝐅𝐔𝐔-𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍~! 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆, 𝐁𝐑𝐎! 𝐈 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐃~!" shouted the person excitedly. They then noticed Uki, just as Fulgur came into the room with a tired face.

"Y/N, how many times have I told you not to slam open the door like that-"

"𝐎𝐡! 𝐀 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞! 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮! 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝- 𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋-"

"Y/N! Enough!" said Fulgur before slapping his hand lightly over Y/N's mouth, to which Y/N responded by licking the hand.

Fulgur's face scrunched up in disgust before wiping his hand and going over to Uki, who looked at Fulgur.

"Uki, meet my sibling, Y/N Ovid. Y/N, this is Uki. He's the friend I was talking about. Yes, he's a merperson, get over it."

Y/N gasped, but not in horror like Uki expected, but in delight. Their eyes were sparkling.

Uki's breath hitched when looking at their excited expression.

'How can someone look so gorgeous?'

As a royal mermaid prince, Uki had to go to several balls in order to fulfill his royal duties. Merpeople attended these balls decked out to the nines in fine pearls, sea glass, and surface metals, not only trying to show off their wealth but also appealing to the royals of the kingdom. However beautiful they may have been, none of them could hold a candle to the person standing in front of him.

Y/N held their hand out to Uki, smiling brightly. Uki slowly took it, although unsure of what he was supposed to do. Y/N shook it up and down.

"𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐔𝐤𝐢!"

Uki smiled shyly, while Fulgur eyed his face with suspicion before pulling the two apart.

"Alright, break it up you two. We have work to do. Give me that food," he said as he took the wrapped-up lunch boxes that Y/N cooked for him.

"𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐔𝐤𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞…," said Y/N sheepishly, but Fulgur paid no mind to it.

"He can just have some of mine," he said, unwrapping the boxes on a table meant for eating.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨!" said Y/N, offering a rice ball up to Uki. Uki reached down and took it, examining the curious food item.

Although Fulgur showed Uki a lot about the surface, the cuisine was not one of them. Fulgur barely ate himself unless he got a call from his sibling to eat. So, Uki was excited to eat something new. He took one big chomp, then froze.

"...𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝?" asked Y/N, who watched Uki's reaction, hoping it wasn't terrible. Y/N took a liking to Uki and hoped that he would enjoy their food. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach, after all.

Uki then looked at Y/N with shining eyes.

"It's- It's AMAZING! More please!" he said, making grabby hands. He didn't care if he seemed like an infant, Uki wanted more.

Y/N laughed before handing over more rice balls to him.

Fulgur watched the whole interaction while sipping on tea that Y/N put in a thermos bottle for him. He had a feeling about what was going to happen but decided not to comment on it. If it happened, it happened.

And it did.

From that day onwards, Y/N came daily to the lab, always bringing delicious smelling and tasting food for the three of them to eat. Y/N got to know more about Uki, as well as tried out Fulgur's underwater breathing elixir, even swimming with Uki in his tank.

Uki was thrilled to meet someone new from the surface. From Y/N, Uki learned about the concept of "university" and found out that Y/N wanted to specialize in genetic research. He also got to know more about their family (including Fulgur, or Fuu-chan, as Y/N calls him) and why Y/N liked cooking. Y/N got to learn about Uki's past, including how he was often left alone by his peers because of his powers (though he forgot to tell Y/N about the fact that he was a prince). As the two got to know more about each other, Y/N eventually felt more than just initial attractiveness towards Uki. They found out that he was not only humorous and cute but also that he was stronger than he knows, as well as humble and kind.

Because they held Uki in such high regard, Y/N felt like helping Fulgur improve the formula for turning Uki's fin into legs. Because of their help, Fulgur and Y/N were able to improve the elixir enough to extend the time that Uki could walk on land from 30 minutes to three hours.

These changes led Y/N to beg Fulgur to allow them to take Uki out to the rest of the town. They promised wholeheartedly that they would keep Uki safe and make sure that he would never be found out by having a timer to warn them before he would have his fin turn back into legs.

Fulgur was extremely reluctant: he never brought Uki too far from his lab, and he was always there to make sure nothing was to happen to Uki. Sure, the elixir they used for turning Uki's fin into legs was much more improved, and Uki was able to walk very well. Fulgur was able to teach Uki enough human customs to not stand out too much, but still, Fulgur couldn't help but worry. And if Uki was ever found out, then what would ever happen to Y/N? Fulgur made a promise to their late parents that he would protect them no matter what.

Despite these many questions, one look into Y/N's eyes showed that Y/N would not give up on bringing Uki more into the human world, with or without Fulgur's approval. Fulgur sighed, knowing he'd much prefer it if Y/N could do it with his approval than without. So, he begrudgingly let them go.

Before Y/N could run off, Fulgur hurriedly set a timer watch and placed it around Y/N's wrist, while Y/N just rolled their eyes and nodded.

"Watch out for numbness in the legs, it's a sign that he's turning back."

They gave him a thumbs up in understanding, saying they'll be careful, before squealing in delight and turning around to drag Uki away to their car (after giving him an elixir for five hours).

"Be careful!" shouted Fulgur after the car. Luckily, the lab was far from other parts of the town, so no one would hear him.

Fulgur hefted another long sigh, hoping that no incident would happen.

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

"𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲?" asked Y/N tentatively, looking over at Uki. They were standing in the lobby area of a club. While Y/N wore a white crop top (note: anyone can wear a crop top!) with deep purple wide-leg suit trousers, Uki was decked out with black wide-leg suit trousers, a white belt with a silver buckle, a deep purple shirt, and a black leather jacket. Around his neck were a matching black leather choker and silver chains. Though his hair was unstyled, Uki was, to Y/N at least, making the room seem much hotter than it already was.

Uki nodded, his heart thumping wildly. He was nervous but excited. He was about to be surrounded by a bunch of humans when the most he had been around was two at once.

Despite all these new things, Uki knew he would be alright. After all, Y/N would be with him the entire night, something he absolutely loved, and he was going to learn more about human culture.

Y/N nodded before they beckoned him to follow them to a door. As they got closer, Uki heard the sounds of booming, music, and laughter getting louder. Once Y/N pulled back the door, the full blast of music hit Uki's ears, and his eyes were occupied by the neon lights blaring in the darkness and the crowds of humans dancing in the strobe lights.

Uki was still, taking it all in. He was really here, like a real human. Y/N laughed at his dumbstruck expression, before taking his arm and pulling him into the dark area.

Through Y/N, Uki experienced club dancing, socializing, and, most importantly, alcohol.

Y/N actually knew the club's two bartenders: Luca and Nina. After drinking something Y/N thought Uki would like, Uki got a little tipsy and called Nina's hair "old hair" because it was the color grey.

Panicked, Y/N tried to explain to Nina that "old hair" was just what his culture called grey hair. Before Nina could get offended, however, Uki commented on how pretty Nina was, too pretty for "old hair", which flattered her and made her anger disappear in a moment. Instead, she gave Uki more to drink, which made him giggle and thank her while offering her his glass with two hands.

Y/N smacked their forehead in exhaustion before ordering a drink from Luca, who laughed at Y/N's reaction and pogged his way into making Y/N a drink while making them laugh.

Uki and Y/N had so much fun, and they were so tipsy, that they forgot something very important. The time.

At some point, Uki started tapping Y/N on the shoulder.

"Hey Y/N, my legs feel weird, haha," slurred out Uki. Y/N laughed with him before Fulgur's words vaguely came into their mind.

"Watch out for numbness in the legs, it's a sign that he's turning back."

Y/N's eyes widened, and they looked down at Uki's legs. Sure enough, the pants were starting to stretch out to accommodate for the fusing of legs. In a panic, Y/N hoisted Uki to his feet while he still had them, and excused themselves from Luca and Nina, who waved their goodbyes.

Although Y/N had some trouble dealing with Uki's floppy legs when they felt just as drunk, their adrenaline enabled them to keep going.

Luckily, Y/N and Uki made it to the club's mixed restroom in time before Uki's legs were completely molded together. Once inside the mixed restroom, which was blessedly empty, Y/N opened one of the big stalls and placed Uki in there before taking out a water bottle of seawater from their bag.

Uki's legs were now completely gone, and all that was left was the shredded remains of the pants he wore and his purple tail, dull from the lack of seawater. Y/N opened the bottle and poured its contents all over Uki's tail, which immediately soaked the water up and became shimmery.

Before Y/N could sigh in relief, however, a gasp and a small scream came from behind them, and Y/N whipped around in a panic only to make eye contact with two people standing at the entrance of the mixed restroom. One was trying to frantically pull their phone out from their purse and another was on the verge of screaming even louder.

Y/N swiftly ran up to them and knocked them out, before taking the phone that came out from the purse and checking it to make sure no footage of Uki was taken. Luckily, there wasn't, and Y/N hoped that by the time the people woke up, they would think that they had a crazy dream. Just in case, Y/N phoned Luca and Nina to "take care of them" by giving them a drink at the bar strong enough to give them short-term memory loss. They explained it was because one of them was hitting on Uki, and Y/N wanted them to forget Uki's face. Nina chuckled knowingly before agreeing, while Luca just laughed at Y/N in the background.

After getting their confirmation, Y/N, now having a blushy face, gave Uki a spare elixir they had in their bag and called a taxi to take them home. They also took out a pair of pants for Uki to wear on the way out. The elixir was one of Fulgur's earlier creations, so they would only maintain Uki's legs for 30 minutes. So, Y/N decided to go back to their penthouse, which was much closer to the club than Fulgur's lab.

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

Y/N sighed in relief as they put down Uki's body into the large bathtub of their penthouse (Y/N's got muscles!). They then turned on the faucet and poured a chloride-sodium mix into the water to make an environment similar to the ocean for Uki's tail to be healthy.

Neither of them spoke, the room silent save for the sound of running water as the volume in the tub increased.

"𝐔𝐤𝐢… 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧," said Y/N tentatively.

Uki's attention snapped to Y/N, a face of disbelief.

"What are you saying? I want to be here with you...," he said in a tone of disappointment and hurt.

But Uki and Y/N both knew that Y/N was right. If Uki were to be discovered, not only would people forcibly want to take him away, but they would also go after the rest of Uki's home.

Still, Uki was stubborn: he had just been able to live the life that he wanted to, where he was accepted and had someone who looked past his powers. Heck, looked past the fact that he was an entirely different species!

"But- But Y/N? What if I wanted to stay?"

"𝐔𝐤𝐢-"

"WHAT IF I WANTED TO STAY! I- THEY- THEY CAN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING TO ME! I- I WANT TO BE WITH YOU! I- I JUST!- I just-... Y/N. Please," said Uki desperately, as he reached out to them from his place in Y/N's large bathtub.

"𝐔𝐤𝐢…," said Y/N, walking over to where Uki was before taking his hand with a sad smile. "If you stay here, you might die. Today was a really close call."

Uki was about to protest before Y/N placed a finger over his mouth.

"𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐔𝐤𝐢. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐇𝐞𝐜𝐤, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞. 𝐔𝐤𝐢…"

They trailed off before taking a deep breath and both of Uki's hands in their hands and looking into his eyes.

"𝐔𝐤𝐢, 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞."

Uki's heart thumped loudly and blood rushed to his ears. Y/N... loves him?? But still wants him to be away, for his safety?...

He peered at Y/N through his lashes, trying to pout and show them how much he hated their suggestion, while also trying to hide his blush. But, he also knew that they were very close to being exposed, and they could've both been in danger. There was no way the surface dwellers would accept him. A miracle would have to happen if he wanted to stay. If only he was human...

A lightbulb went off in Uki's head, but he wanted to surprise Y/N. He acted reluctantly as he let go of Y/N's hands and crossed his arms.

"...Fine, I'll go back. But you absolutely have to wait for me on shore tomorrow night."

"𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐨," said Y/N with a sigh of relief. Uki then shyly took one of the hands of Y/N's to his lips and gave it a cautious and light kiss. Y/N flushed before laughing and giving his hand a kiss back as if to seal the promise.

Uki and Y/N then spent the rest of the evening together in the bathroom, just talking about things, with the occasional forehead and hand kisses. Eventually, Y/N brought their waterproof tablet to the bathroom so that they could watch KDramas together while holding hands.

All the while, Uki's plan was forming in his head.

When Fulgur came to the penthouse later on, he drove Uki back to the ocean, making sure that Uki was doing okay after finding out what happened in the club. Uki then waved to Fulgur as he swam into the sea, then dived down, swimming towards the capital to get to his room in the palace.

Once in his room, he gathered some valuables he owned, including several golden doubloons and rare commodities made from the surface's trash. These items were stashed away in a bag and hidden in his closet.

With this bag, Uki resolved to go to the place he was forbidden from going to - the Sea Witch's cave.

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

"Welcome," said a voice echoing through the cave as Uki entered it.

Uki was at the witch's cave, hoping to gain a way to become a human. If the change had to be permanent, Uki didn't think it was so bad. After all, the majority of the Mujigae kingdom didn't care about him, so his becoming a human shouldn't be that much of a deal.

Uki clutched his bag of trading items close to his chest as he was surrounded by skeletons - likely the army for the witch, and also the damned souls that weren't able to fulfill their deals with her. He gulped - as powerful as he was, Uki was not able to get out of deals that were written the way that the witch wrote them, as the witch used magic for her contracts.

Finally, Uki got to the innermost part of the cave, where he saw whom he presumed was the witch, hunched over a black pot filled with various ingredients. Noticing his presence, the witch turned around, arms spread in welcome.

"Hello! I've been expecting you," said the Sea Witch, with a sharp grin. Uki heard rumors of the Sea Witch, though seeing the real being was quite different from legend. He never saw anything like her.

The witch was not quite an octomer, though she had tentacles, not quite a lanternfish mer, though a large light source protuded from her forehead, and not quite a shark mer, although she was the color and had the teeth of one.

Though her smile was welcoming, her eyes were cold, black voids. Uki got chills from the sight of her, but steeled himself when remembering Y/N's face, and thinking about the surprised and happy face that they'll have once they see Uki.

"*Ahem* How can I become human?"

"Oh," said the witch in surprise. "I haven't heard that request in a while. Well, you need to give up your most prized possession."

"I see- well, here's my signed copy of a book I have cherished since childhood-"

"I'll stop you right there, honey," said the witch, her face growing into a twisted grin as she seemed to grow in size in front of Uki.

"I require nonmaterial things, such as your voice, among other things."

"...What other things?"

"Hmm, memories of that person you like in their head," said the witch, as she brought out a looking crystal made of sea glass, and an image of Y/N buying groceries showed up.

Uki's eyes widened in panic.

"How do you have that?" he asked as he reached for the orb in a panic.

The witch put her hand in front of him, stopping him from getting the crystal.

"You can give me your voice or your powers, and I will also be taking the memories of you from this person. There is a hefty price to pay for wanting to become human. It's a hard spell to perform, you know."

With her words, the witch conjured a contract out of thin air, and a pen to sign it with, dipped in gold ink. The contract stated that if Uki wanted to have what he lost come back to him, he had to make his special person remember him and love him back within a week. If he failed, then Uki would become a servant to the Sea Witch for eternity.

Uki hesitated as he held the pen. Y/N, forgetting about him? He would have to befriend them again, make them love him again... And what if he failed?

But, if he were to surpass all the odds, it meant being able to be with them for the rest of his life. Uki made a decision: he would do it. He knew he could. So, his grip on the pen became tighter.

"I'll give you my voice. Please, make me a human," he said, his hand decisively signing the contract.

The witch's smile turned wicked and her eyes twinkled maliciously for a moment before she composed herself and waved her hand, making the contract disappear. She then beckoned Uki toward the center of the cave. He set down his things, before swimming to the center. He eyed the witch warily but remembered that what he was doing was all for Y/N's sake, and began to prepare for the worst.

"No funny business," he warned, his eyes glowing with psychic energy. The witch flinched before nodding hastily, then began to chant around Uki. Golden and green swirls of energy surrounded Uki, particularly his legs, and he began to change.

While she was chanting, the Sea Witch reflected on the deal she just made. She knew of Uki's power and was one of the few who coveted it. She wouldn't dare harm the vessel that held it before she could use it as her own. The Sea Witch was sure that Uki would fail, so she wasn't too worried that she wouldn't get her power. She would just wait until the time was up. And of course, she wouldn't let Uki alone either - she'd do her best to make the spell so strong that she was sure his precious person would never remember him ever again.

Though she thought that Uki would never notice her thoughts through her chanting, Uki heard them loud and clear. He began to make a plan on his own - he had to get back to Y/N safely and had to help them remember who he was.

And he wouldn't be alone in getting help. Luckily, Uki had an advantage that the Sea With did not think of.

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

Fulgur was on the beach, getting ready to go underwater to record more observations on the wildlife in the coral forests near the shore, before hearing a series of splashes coming from the ocean. He turned around, only to witness Uki coming out from the water, half-naked and with a happy smile, waving to Fulgur. Uki had a bag slung over his shoulder, and a skirt made of seaweed was clumsily around his waist.

Fulgur laughed at Uki's appearance and was about to wave back with glee before his eyes widened in realization.

"Wait, Uki- how do you have legs?? I didn't give you an elixir... WAIT YOU NEED PANTS-"

Uki opened his mouth, trying to speak to explain before remembering that he had given his voice away. He then had an idea, grabbing a notebook from his bag (kept dry using magic) and scribbling hurriedly on it with charcoal.

He came close to Fulgur, holding out the notebook to him so he could read it out loud.

"I may have traded my tail and possibly sold my souldtothedevilIneed yourhelptohaveY/Nrememberme- WAIT WHAT-"

Fulgur grabbed Uki's shoulders, panic in his eyes.

"YOU MADE A DEAL WITH A WITCH?? AND Y/N NEEDS TO REMEMBER YOU TO BREAK THE SPELL?? UKI- WHY??"

Uki explained through writing that he wanted to be on land with Y/N like other humans, without the help of potions and such. Fulgur groaned at Uki's stupidity, head in his hands.

"Wait, why can't we just tell Y/N about you?"

Uki shook his head, explaining that Y/N had to remember him on their own, and also love him back. Fulgur sighed again, before grabbing his phone to call Y/N over. Uki was about to smack Fulgur's phone out of his hands, before he was calmed down.

"Chill - I'm only inviting them over. Then, I'll check to verify that they really forgot you. If they did, then I'll re-introduce you as a friend who's helping me with my research. Got it?"

Excitedly, Uki nodded, his eyes shining and his hands making lots of hearts and thank you signs to Fulgur, who just sighed at his antics and gripped his forehead.

"It's going to be a long week. You think you can really do it? Beat the witch's conditions, I mean," asked Fulgur. Uki nodded.

"Alright then. Well, first order of business, you need some pants," said Fulgur pointedly as he gestured to the flimsy seaweed skirt that was slipping apart. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around Uki's waist. While tying it, he continued speaking.

"Let's try to get my sibling to remember you by recreating similar moments. For instance, why don't we try making some rice balls to give them when they get here? They told me they'll be here in an hour, so let's go."

Uki nodded, fists balling up in determination. Rice balls were the first thing he tasted on the surface, and they were from the hands of Y/N. This time, he would make some for them, hopefully just as good.

Though he was saddened by the fact that Y/N wasn't waiting for him on the shore, just like they promised the night before, he was ready to try and gain their love back again. He will get through this, and hopefully, get Y/N to remember him.

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

After lots of struggling with forming proper rice balls, putting in the correct ratio of black sesame seeds, nori, and rice, as well as other seasonings and fillings, and plating them, Uki finally finished making rice balls that looked similar to the ones he ate when he first met Y/N.

He stood anxiously in the lab's kitchen, waiting for Y/N's arrival, when someone burst through the door.

"𝐅𝐔𝐔-𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍! 𝐈'𝐌 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄! 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝?" said the musical voice that Uki had been waiting for for hours. His heart clenched and he longed to go out right away and just embrace Y/N, but that would just be weird. Y/N doesn't remember him. Just in case they did happen to remember, though, Uki cautiously peeked around the corner. His breath hitched in his throat again. They looked even more gorgeous than last night, and even the first time they met.

Their hair was tousled, likely because they drove here with the windows down. On their face was a large smile as they glomped Fulgur, who just patted them awkwardly on the back, as he thought about how Uki must be hiding somewhere and watching this with a sad face. After they parted, Fulgur rubbed his hands on his neck.

"Hey Y/N, I wanted to ask you if you remember Uki? You know, my friend I met in uni?" asked Fulgur, lying about Uki being a university friend. Unfortunately for Uki, Y/N looked confused.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐢? 𝐍𝐨, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐔𝐤𝐢. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫."

Uki's eyes widened at their words. That means that Y/N didn't completely forget about him.

'Maybe...' he thought, and he cautiously stepped out, rice balls on a tray in his hand. It only took Y/N a couple seconds until they noticed them.

"𝐎𝐡, 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨! 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐔𝐤𝐢? 𝐈'𝐦 𝐘/𝐍, 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮! 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐧!" they exclaimed with excitement, eyes sparkling just as brightly as when they first met. Uki smiled and nodded. Y/N tilted their head, confused as to why Uki wasn't speaking.

"Ah, right. I forgot to mention that he lost his voicebox in an accident recently," said Fulgur, trying to come up with a semi-reasonable explanation as to what happened.

"𝐎𝐡 𝐧𝐨! 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐔𝐤𝐢!" said Y/N. "𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧. 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐯𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐂𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡…," they pondered.

Fulgur gave Uki a look. They were at least able to confirm something: Y/N hadn't completely forgotten about Uki. At least he seemed somewhat familiar to them. It means that they would be more comfortable when hanging around Uki.

Putting that revelation aside, Uki went up to Y/N and offered them some rice balls.

"𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞? 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮!" they said with a large grin, swiping one of the rice balls before chomping down on it.

"𝐌𝐦𝐦!! 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝! 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫! 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞?" Uki beamed, and shook his head, holding the tray out to Y/N, who took another two balls.

Witnessing the entire exchange, Fulgur sighed in relief.

'They'll be fine,' he thought. "Alright, Y/N. I'll leave him to you," said Fulgur, before going back to his research. Y/N looked at Uki before blushing a little and taking out a notepad from their bag.

"𝐔-𝐮𝐡𝐦, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞?" they said tentatively as they held out the notepad to Uki. Uki set down the rice ball tray on a nearby table (FAR AWAY from all the lab equipment, by the way) before delicately taking Y/N's notepad and taking out a pen from his pocket.

"Thank you," wrote Uki in cursive. Y/N nodded, as they looked away and began to fan themselves.

'𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐦 𝐈 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝?? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞?? 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲- 𝐀𝐆𝐇 𝐏𝐀𝐘 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐇𝐄'𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔, 𝐈𝐃𝐈𝐎𝐓!'

Chaotic thoughts ran through Y/N's head, and Uki couldn't help but listen to them. Normally, he would never invade Y/N's privacy, but he did have to check on his progress to see how they were feeling about him. He was pleased after listening for a little while and was even proud of himself for being able to make them flustered again, even though they lost their memory.

'Good, I just need to keep this up,' he thought, as he looked out the window behind Y/N's head. The sun was setting, and a day had gone by.

Only six days remained.

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

The rest continued much like the first time Y/N and Uki met, except Uki didn't tell much about his powers or his mermaid self to Y/N, just about how he grew up pretty alone. Uki got to learn the same things that Y/N told him before, including something they didn't tell him before: two creeps.

Two creeps showed up at Y/N's university a couple months ago, and they were constantly following Y/N around and trying to isolate and talk with them about random things for no reason. Y/N confessed to Uki that they were getting really sick of their nonsense, and considered calling the police on them many times.

"Why didn't you?" wrote Uki, frowning at Y/N out of concern. Y/N shrugged and shook their head.

"𝐈'𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧."

They then started to flex their arm muscles jokingly, to which Uki silently chuckled at.

"𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞."

Uki and Y/N were able to grow closer throughout the week, easily because Y/N felt comfortable with Uki. They really liked him - his manners, how he always tried to take care of them, and how he was always concerned for them, but still kept his boundaries. Y/N appreciated that a lot, especially when they didn't meet many people like Uki.

So, on the last day that Uki had to get Y/N to remember him, Y/N miraculously decided to invite Uki over to their place. Uki, surprised but excited, agreed after confirming that it was alright for him to go.

They drove from Fulgur's lab to Y/N's penthouse. As Uki stepped into the place, he remembered the last time he was there. It was the last time Y/N knew of his true self as a merman. It was the last time he felt their embrace and kisses and listened to their words of love. It was the last time he saw them before he gained permanent legs. Y/N was fidgeting as they saw Uki scan their home.

"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭?"

Uki turned to them before smiling brightly and giving two thumbs-ups. Y/N smiled in relief at his response, before offering Uki something to eat. Eagerly, he nodded and sat in the dining room while Y/N went to the kitchen to whip up something - they called it spaghetti alla carbonara. As they cooked, they heard Uki sniff the air which was now filling with the smell of garlic and fried eggs.

When Y/N finally finished up with the dish and placed it on the table, Uki looked at Y/N with wide eyes. The dish looked so delicious and smelled amazing, that Uki could not wait to dig in. Y/N chuckled and handed Uki a fork. He stared at the utensil. Long ago, during some of his first weeks here, he thought that the silverware was meant for hair care. Fulgur was quick to teach him otherwise, but Uki still had embarrassing memories of that time. Uki sucked in a deep breath before positioning the fork like Fulgur instructed him to. He then took a large portion of the spaghetti and shoved it in his mouth before any noodle or egg piece could fall off. His face became one of awe at the taste, and he smiled widely at Y/N. The spaghetti was delicious. Y/N grinned fondly at Uki's content face before eating some spaghetti too.

Before Uki could revel in the flavors of the food any longer, he was startled by loud banging noises on Y/N's door. He turned to Y/N questioningly, motioning at the door, before noticing that Y/N's eyes were widened in shock.

"𝐈… 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐮-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞…"

Uki's eyes widened, before turning to the door. The door got pounded on again before the lock on the door started jingling. Wariness heightening, Uki stood up and positioned himself in front of Y/N protectively. They heard muffled talking on the other side.

"...open!...damn door..."

"..hurry... stupid-"

Uki and Y/N then heard the door make a *click* before swinging wide open, revealing two tall figures.

"Y/N!~ WE'RE HERE!~ IT'S ME, FLORA!" said the tall female, who tried to swoop and hug Y/N, not even registering Uki's presence until she bumped into him.

"AND JETT!" yelled the tall male, likely Flora's sibling, who tried to tackle Y/N and shove Uki aside, but Uki refused to budge, only holding onto Y/N's hand, which was now balled into a fist.

"𝐖-𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊! 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐰𝐨?? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞? 𝐍𝐨, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞?!"

"Well, sweetie, we found out that you don't dorm in the uni, and so we wanted to hang out, but couldn't!" whined Jett with a pout.

"So, we took some time to look through some security cameras and also we looked after you as you went on your way home! Now, we can hang out whenever!" said Flora ecstatically, her face showing a smile that was off-putting to Uki.

Uki glared at the two silently. Not only did they ruin the atmosphere, but they dare to stalk Y/N?! He was pissed. Clearly, his negative energy was apparent, because Jett then turned to Uki with a glare.

"And who are ya, huh?" he asked pointedly, going up close to Uki and poking at his face. Uki wanted to badly slap his hand away, but thought about Y/N's safety and instead decided to wait it out and see what happens. He gave no reaction.

"Huh... huh.... huh...," repeated Jett as he continued to poke Uki. Flora was snickering in the background.

Just as Y/N, who was really ticked off by the entire situation, was about to tell them to get out, Jett froze, and silence filled the room. He then raised his hand threateningly.

"𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭, 𝐉𝐞𝐭𝐭-!"

"Why won't you talk?!" exclaimed Jett, harshly smacking Uki's face and knocking him off balance. Uki fell to the floor, and the wind knocked out of his lungs by how strongly he was struck.

"Seriously, brother. His face pisses me off!" screeched Flora, her face wrinkled in disgust.

The siblings then turned to Y/N, sickeningly sweet smiles on their faces. Y/N just turned away from them, instead going to Uki's side and helping him up from the floor.

"Y/N, babe - why would you want to stick to that mute son of a gun?" asked Jett, annoyed at Y/N for ignoring them.

"Yeah, aren't we more charming to you? I thought you liked us," whined Flora.

Y/N rolled their eyes.

"𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 - 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬!! 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐢 - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐔𝐤𝐢 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧! 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭, 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞. 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐬," Y/N said as they held up their phone, "911" brightly lit on the screen.

Jett huffed before kicking one of Y/N's potted plants near the front door. Flora glared at Uki on the way out, sticking up a birdie with her hands before leaving.

When it was clear that the two were gone, Y/N sighed in relief before turning around and touching Uki's cheek tenderly, bruised by Jett's punch.

"𝐎𝐡, 𝐧𝐨, 𝐔𝐤𝐢. 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭?"

Uki shook his head, but Y/N didn't care.

"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐥𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐮𝐮-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭. 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐭𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟."

They sat Uki down in the living room before heading to their medicine cabinet in the kitchen to grab some ointment, band-aids, and ice. The spaghetti was long forgotten on the dining table.

Y/N swiftly came back and gingerly put the ice pack on Uki's face, instructing him to hold onto it while getting into the car and driving to Fulgur's laboratory.

While in the car, Uki took out his mini notebook from his jacket pocket before scribbling something down quickly as Y/N pulled into Fulgur's lab's garage. Just as they finished parking and started to take out the band-aids and ointment for Uki's bruise, Uki finished with his inquiry and held it up to their face.

"Why did you help me? Those people looked dangerous... Are you sure you won't regret it later?" said the note, as Uki looked down and took Y/N's hand that was free from holding anything. His eyes were trained on the floor of the car in worry.

"𝐔𝐤𝐢 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮… 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞?" asked Y/N, making a face showing how in disbelief they were at Uki. Uki just nodded slightly, his eyes boring into the ground while fiddling with the zipper on Y/N's jacket with one hand and keeping an iron grip on Y/N's free hand with his other one. Y/N laughed.

"𝐍𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐔𝐤𝐢. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬! 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮… 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐔𝐤𝐢, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝." said Y/N.

Uki's heart fluttered, and his face flushed as he looked up from the ground to stare at Y/N. Tears started to form in his eyes. Y/N said this to him before - he couldn't believe that Y/N would say those words to him again. It showed how much Y/N really loved him.

He smiled, causing the tears to roll down his cheeks, and let out a laugh. Only, this laugh wasn't silent - it was audible, and a musical, low-pitched laugh came out heartily.

Y/N smiled before their eyes widened in realization along with Uki's.

"𝐔𝐤𝐢?… 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡? 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲??" said Y/N with wonder as they reached out to touch Uki's face and wiped away a tear. Uki grasped at his throat.

"Ah, ah, oh my- oh my gosh. I- I HAVE MY VOICE BACK! Y/N, THIS IS WHAT I SOUND LIKE! IT'S ME, UKI!" exclaimed Uki with elation. He then quickly got out of the car, Y/N following after him. Once facing Y/N, Uki eagerly took their hands and started dancing around with them. They laughed with him as they spun around.

The joy was cut short when Y/N suddenly screamed from pain. They clutched their head, as memories of Uki and Y/N together came into their mind. Tears began to roll down Y/N's face, as they looked up at him.

"𝐖𝐞- 𝐔𝐬- 𝐈- 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭- 𝐔𝐤𝐢, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲-"

Uki immediately pulled Y/N into a hug.

"Don't be, because you remembered me in the end anyways."

Y/N clutched onto Uki's shirt, sobbing into it as they remembered everything - their first meeting, their club experience, and everything Y/N said to Uki the night before they lost their memory, including their confession. They settled into a quiet embrace, and then Y/N looked at the ocean, where Uki was from.

Behind him, the sun set on the horizon. Uki gripped Y/N as the sun dipped below the water. Y/N broke the curse that the Sea Witch put on Uki just in time, and they were now standing together.

"NOOOOOOO!" bellowed a noise from the ocean.

Y/N and Uki looked at the ocean tensely as a giant whirlpool formed. From it, a gigantic tentacle emerged from the water. Sensing danger, Uki's eyes glowed as he began to gather psychic energy in his hands to fight whatever threat was coming at them. He also created a barrier near the beach's shore, isolating the sight and sound of the beach, ensuring that innocent and nosy passersby wouldn't come and become nuisances in the likely battle.

Y/N took out the small laser pistol from their car's glovebox that Fulgur made for them for their birthday. Behind them, Fulgur came out from his lab with a large gun that had red energy charged at the tip, ready to fire.

"YOU- YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO FAIL! YOUR POWERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE MINE! HOW DARE YOU!" bellowed the Sea Witch, as she emerged from the whirlpool. Her enormous form towered over them.

The witch was pissed off, to say the least. She was planning on taking Uki's powers and taking over the Mujigae kingdom with it, taking her time because she thought that the power extraction would be a breeze with her contract, but now that Uki was no longer bound by it, all the waiting she did was for naught. The powers were not hers.

The Sea Witch looked in Uki's direction, before making eye contact with Y/N. The black orbs of her eyes seethed with rage, and she unleashed human skeleton soldiers onto the beach.

"GIVE HIM TO ME!" she screeched.

Fulgur immediately started to fire at the skeleton soldiers, while tossing a water-breathing elixir to Y/N. Y/N, who knew what this meant, caught it and chugged it down before running in the direction of the Sea Witch. Uki ran with them, suspending Y/N in midair while they ran as his legs turned into a tail the moment his feet touched the water. On the way to the Sea Witch, Y/N and Uki fought off skeleton soldiers - Y/N in the air and Uki in the water - that surrounded them, trying to prevent them from reaching the Sea Witch.

No matter how close they got to the witch, however, they still tried to maintain their distance. There was a whirlpool surrounding her, and Y/N, as a human, could definitely not handle the strong currents that would pull them into the whirlpool and to the ocean floor.

"UUUUUKIIIII!!!!" shouted a slightly high-pitched male voice. Uki turned to see below him, only to find that his three brothers, Sonny, Alban, and Yugo were swimming up to him. His eyes shined in happiness, and he waved at them.

"WHAT'S GOING ON, BROTHER?? WHO THE HELL IS THIS WITCH??" asked Sonny as he crushed a skeleton soldier's head with his fists. Y/N gaped at him from behind Uki.

'𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞!' they thought excitedly, looking between them all. Alban noticed them first.

"Ehhh?? Who's this? Is this the person you left us for??" asked Alban, raising his eyebrows while scanning Y/N. Uki, seeing that his eyes were wandering, went quickly into the water and covered Alban's eyes, slightly irritated.

"Everyone, meet Y/N. Y/N, these are three of my brothers. Sonny, Alban, and Yugo."

"Yo, how you doin?" asked Yugo, a cheeky smirk on his face as he winked at Y/N. Y/N laughed.

"𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥," said Y/N more seriously, turning to the Sea Witch. Sonny's eyes darkened.

"Alright, we're ready to fight. Our kingdom is in danger, after all," said Yugo, getting out black pearls from his crossbody bag and charging them with blue sparks. Y/N's eyes widened.

"𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦?...," they said in shock.

"Uh.. we'll talk about that later," said Uki. "For now, let's get them!"

Sonny crushed multiple skeletons with his bare hands surrounded by yellow energy, while Alban had daggers charged with orange energy in his hands, causing skeletons to disintegrate upon contact.

Meanwhile, Y/N was above the water, shooting at floating skeletons and the Sea Witch whenever they got the chance. Uki used his psychic powers to compress the skeletons into balls before volleying them at the Sea Witch. Yugo shot charged black pearls using a slingshot, which went out of the water and gave strong electric shocks to the Sea Witch's large form upon contact. She cried out in rage, before using one of her tentacles to swipe at all of them. Coming off from her tentacle were shards of bone, likely her skeleton soldiers that she crushed up in order to make missiles to aim at the group.

Some of them were heading straight toward Uki and Yugo, but before they could get any closer to them, Y/N was in front of them with their jacket in their hands like a shield. While most shards of bone got stuck in the jacket's thick material, some smaller shards skid over the tops of Y/N's arms, making small and long scrapes on them. Eventually, a skeleton soldier's skull made its way to Y/N, knocking into them hard enough to break Uki's concentration in levitating them.

Y/N fell into the water, knocked unconscious by the force of the waves as they began to get closer to the whirlpool, which would drown them eventually and bring them to the bottom of the ocean.

"Y/N!" yelled Uki, as he reached out for Y/N's hand. But Y/N was too far from him.

Luckily, Yugo was nearby and he grabbed Y/N before they could get sucked into the whirlpool.

"I'll bring them to the shore!" shouted Yugo as he started speed-skimming the water to the beach. The Sea Witch, thinking that Uki was now preoccupied with Y/N, shrank to go after the now-defenseless kingdom. She left the whirlpool behind, hoping that Uki and the others would get caught in it.

Uki nodded, before glaring at the whirlpool.

"You're going to pay for that, binch."

He headed straight in, Sonny and Alban following suit. Unlike what the Sea Witch thought, the whirlpool was almost a shortcut to the Mujigae kingdom. Uki, using his foresight, knew this, and he took it in order to get to the palace before the Sea Witch could.

On his way to the palace, Uki, Sonny, and Alban dealt with the Sea Witch's various skeleton soldiers.

Some time later, Yugo swam up to them, joining them as they fought bones and bones.

"Is Y/N okay?" asked Uki worriedly while crushing a skull with purple energy. Yugo nodded, telling Uki about how Fulgur was waiting on the surface and that Y/N was getting treated now by "these two people - one blonde and one with old hair".

Uki sighed in relief. Y/N would be safe with Luca and Nina.

"Alright then," he said, as he turned to the direction of the palace. His brothers looked at the same direction, their faces grim and serious. "Let's go."

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

After a couple minutes of speed-swimming, Uki's face became one of shock as he saw the state the capital of the Mujigae Kingdom was in.

His home, the palace, was now scattered as debris around town, tearing into other merpeople's homes. Around him, people were wailing, trying to find their loved ones in the debris. The throne room, with the shining pearl throne, was exposed, with the king sitting on top.

"Yugo, Alban, you guys get to father first. Sonny and I are going to help these people."

Yugo and Alban took off in the direction of the king, as Uki's eyes glowed and Sonny's hands were enveloped in yellow energy. As Uki moved the debris around, Sonny helped to pull out anyone who was stuck under it and provided healing using the yellow energy from his hands.

When they were done with the large chunks and most of the civilians were fine, the two swam in the direction of the palace.

Uki quickly swam in front of the throne, where his father was sitting, awaiting the witch.

"Father, what are you doing?? You need to get out of here-"

The king held up his hand, silencing Uki.

"I am staying, son. This is my throne, my home, and I intend to defend it. I intend to protect us."

Uki sighed in exasperation. He knew that the old man had lost most of his power a long time ago - the king was practically defenseless and harmless. Wordlessly, Uki looked at Yugo and Sonny above him, who nodded, then they and Alban grabbed hold of the king.

"You- you rascals! Let me go-"

"No, father. We're getting you to safety," said Sonny, his arm pulling from under the king's right arm. Yugo nodded as he took the king's left arm, and Alban took away the king's trident to hold onto as Sonny and Yugo took the king out of the vicinity. Uki waved to them gratefully, before turning to the entrance to the throne room.

From the Sea Witch's destruction earlier, the throne room, like the rest of the palace and city, was filled with debris and wrecked. Uki got a slight headache thinking about all the damage that he would probably have to help fix using his psychic powers, but then he turned to the task at hand.

Soon, the Sea Witch would be coming to the throne room, but Uki won't let her win. Especially not after what she did to Y/N. His hands balled into fists thinking about how much harm Y/N must be in.

'I need to get back to them quickly,' he thought.

Just as Uki thought that, he heard the sounds of water splashing and the clattering of bones approaching him. He looked up, only to make eye contact with his current object of hate: the Sea Witch.

"OUT OF THE WAY, MEASLY CHILD. DO NOT STAND IN THE WAY OF GREATNESS!"

Uki's eyes glowed bright purple at her words, his rage at her empowering him as his hands got surrounded by purple energy.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE, BINCH!" shouted Uki.

The witch pointed towards him and ordered her army to charge. Uki didn't care. He started to move his glowing hands around, and the water started to swirl around him and the Sea Witch, who started to grow apprehensive.

Her skeleton soldiers couldn't hold against the current that Uki generated, and their bone structure started coming apart as they clattered around them. Uki then started shooting waves upon waves of purple energy blades from his arms, fully disintegrating the skeletons. Though Uki knew that these skeletons were the remains of the merpeople who made contracts with the Sea Witch, he also knew that the latest merperson besides himself who made a contract with her would've been dead by now. Thus, he was just returning the souls back to where they belonged: not in the Sea Witch's possession.

The purple blades of energy were also leaving long gashes on the Sea Witch's body, dark blue blood oozing out of the wounds. The witch cried in rage and pain and began to throw more shards of bone at Uki, which he easily deflected.

In truth, the Sea Witch, without her enhanced size, skeleton army, and potions, was just an outcasted weird lady. She had no real power, unlike Uki. That's why she coveted his power so much: it would make people fear her, possibly respect her.

Uki knew these feelings of wanting to be seen and empowered, but he also knew that this way was definitely not the right way to gain these things. Additionally, the Sea Witch, with her shenanigans, lead a lot of merpeople to their doom, while she took from them what she could. Extortion and murder. Uki could not forgive that.

So, not much mercy was shown when Uki reduced the Sea Witch's skeleton army to sand and brought her to her knees. She was weeping, as her dark blue blood stained the floor of the wrecked throne room.

He used his powers to summon a chain and tie it firmly around the Sea Witch. Sonny returned from taking the king away to a safe place, only to find this scene of Uki in front of the throne, and the Sea Witch bowing before him on the floor, in chains. Sonny swam up to Uki.

"What should we do with her, brother?"

"You're our Moon Guard captain. What do you think?"

"Definitely permanent imprisonment and exile in our volcanic prisons."

"You're the boss."

"I'll get some of my soldiers to escort the witch."

"Thanks, bro."

"Of course."

Sonny then summoned some of his Moon Guard soldiers, who had been going around the kingdom with the Sun Battalion, led by Uki's brother Luca, making sure the citizens were safe. Together with Sonny, they escorted the powerless Sea Witch to the volcanic prison, where she would be placed in a Hell-fire cell, facing the heat of her sins for the rest of her eternity.

When Sonny got back to the throne room, he found his father, the king, sitting on the throne again, talking to Uki. Unlike other times when he saw Uki and the king together, Uki was smiling slightly as the king clapped him on the back for a job well done. Sonny smiled at the sight. It seemed like his brother would finally be okay. He then swam up to them, bowing to the king before turning to Uki.

"So, brother. What will you do now?"

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

"𝐎𝐰- 𝐔𝐤𝐢! 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐬!"

"Serves you right, what were you thinking back there trying to block me from those shards of bone. I could've handled myself," said Uki as he tightened the bandage on Y/N's arm. The cuts on them, though not bleeding much anymore, were surrounded by pink welts from the seawater combined with the open wounds.

Y/N winced before laughing through the pain.

"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰?" they said jokingly as they placed a hand over Uki's that had rested on their shoulder. Uki pouted.

"You- you're so stupid sometimes," he said, his face getting red from the little skin contact that Y/N initiated.

At the moment, Uki and Y/N were in Fulgur's lab that was overlooking the shore of the beach. Uki was able to be on land in his human form because the magic from his father's trident allowed him legs. Y/N and Uki shared a quiet moment, laughing at each other as they treated each other's wounds.

When they were finished, they made eye contact before resting their foreheads against each other. Uki relished this moment when he could be connected with the person he loved after such a hectic battle. He was relieved that Y/N was okay and grateful that they were both alive in order to experience this moment.

Suddenly, they heard a shout come from outside.

"uuuuUUUUUKIIIIIIIIIII!"

Uki backed up from Y/N and looked out the nearby window, only for his eyes to widen as he saw his brothers Sonny, Alban, and Yugo pop their heads out from the ocean, waving at him. Uki laughed and waved back, but his eyes opened in surprise as more heads popped out from the ocean - the rest of his siblings, some of the townspeople, and even his father, who beckoned him to the ocean. Uki and Y/N shared a look before they got up and rushed outside to the shore.

They were lucky that Fulgur had a private part of the beach, otherwise, paparazzi would be all over the fact that a lot of merpeople were appearing all of a sudden.

Y/N got in front of the king and bowed, while the king just raised his hand.

"You don't need to do that, you're practically family," the king said, teasingly winking at Uki, who flushed.

"𝐓-𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲."

The king smiled, before turning to Uki. Behind the king, the merpeople who popped to the surface bowed to Uki, some thanking him, others praising him. Uki smiled at the sight, slightly flustered as he never though such a thing would happen to him. After saying their greetings, the merpeople disappeared, save for the king, Yugo, Alban, and Sonny. The king opened his mouth.

"Uki, do you like living on land?"

Uki pondered, before nodding.

"But, I also love our home, father."

The king nodded, his smile growing even bigger, prouder, even.

"Alright, then I will give you this," he said, taking a necklace with a small silver charm from his neck.

"But that's your necklace, isn't it?"

"It's fine, it's better for you to have it anyways. This will let you gain legs whenever you are out of the water."

Uki gasped, before gratefully taking the necklace and turning to Y/N excitedly. They hugged, while the others looked on with smiles (except Yugo, who gagged), and slowly started to retreat back into the ocean.

"See you later, brother," said Sonny as he waved at Uki, who smiled at him and waved back.

Once they were under the water, Uki handed the necklace to Y/N, who helped him put on the necklace.

They made eye contact, before clasping each other's hands. The sun was setting, and Uki could not tear his eyes off of Y/N's lips. Having the same thoughts, Y/N leaned closer to Uki, who followed along.

They shared a gentle kiss in the sunset's glow, and they lived happily ever after~

The End.

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

Epilogue:

"𝐔𝐤𝐢! 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞!" shouted Y/N with glee as they swam through the ocean in front of their lover.

They were testing out the new and improved elixir that Fulgur came up with in order to breathe underwater like a merperson for a certain amount of time. Instead of allowing the user to create a bubble of air around the face (much more unstable and dangerous), the elixir temporarily gave the user scaly gills around the neck area that allowed the user to gather oxygen particles from the water around them, like most marine wildlife. On Y/N's wrist was a timer that would give a 5-minute warning that the elixir's effects were going to run out.

Although Uki disliked the fact that the gills made it more difficult for him and Y/N to snuggle, he was happy to have the opportunity to show them around the place he grew up in.

Many things changed since Uki and Y/N defeated the Sea Witch and her army. One thing was the fact that the townspeople didn't doubt Uki anymore. They saw how he was kind to help the people when the town was in shambles and how he had no hesitation in facing off against the Sea Witch as she approached the king's throne. They knew that he was a protector, not a threat respected him for it. Some even apologized to him and thanked him for what he did.

Uki, slightly uncomfortable with the people's new attitude but also happy that he could now go around the town with an easier heart and mind, led Y/N through the streets of the capital. He showed them his favorite bookstores, cafes, and places to buy inventions using the trash from the surface.

Y/N marveled at everything - they had never gotten this deep into the ocean, nor did they ever imagine that there was a whole community under the sea to explore. They pointed at all the bits of coral that surrounded them, exclaiming about how beautiful the construction of all the homes was underwater, and thought that the inventions of the merpeople were amazing. They also picked up some trash that was lingering on the ocean floor, angrily muttering about how humans are so careless sometimes with their trash.

Seeing how genuinely concerned they were for his home made Uki's heart clench. Whenever they found bits of sea glass or a shiny shell, Y/N would show it to Uki proudly, and Uki never hesitated to take what they brought to him into his shoulder bag. They would be looking at these spoils later at the surface in Fulgur's lab.

As Y/N continued to go around, greeting some merpeople who curiously looked on at the pair, Uki thought about his life thus far.

A couple years ago, Uki never would've thought that he'd journey to the surface, find a partner from there, or have to fight a Sea Witch to keep them. A couple years ago, he would've been stuck in his room, poring over books that depicted love that he thought he would never have. Yet, there he was, in the ocean with his lover, and he now had the ability to be with them on both land and sea.

He thought of his desk in his room in the palace, which was now bigger because it was remodeled after the Sea Witch destroyed a lot of it. On his desk was a half-completed bracelet made of the highest quality white shells, purple sea glass, and gold wire he could find. The middle of the bracelet had a smooth, shining, light pink Akoya pearl.

Uki wanted to propose to Y/N with it once he was ready.

But for now, he was content to collect the rest of their things before returning to the surface and enjoying some riceballs in their new shared apartment.

He couldn't wait.

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

Thank you for reading!! I had lots of midterms these past weeks so unfortunately this was delayed a lot sorry - I meant to post for the noctyx anniversary ahhhhhh :( hope yall liked it tho!

sonny and yugo may come out later this week after my midterms :))

[grigori77]

2020 in Movies - My Top 30 Fave Movies (Part 2)

20.  ONWARD – Disney and Pixar’s best digitally animated family feature of 2020 (beating the admittedly impressive Soul to the punch) clearly has a love of fantasy roleplay games like Dungeons & Dragons, its quirky modern-day AU take populated by fantastical races and creatures seemingly tailor-made for the geek crowd … needless to say, me and many of my friends absolutely loved it.  That doesn’t mean that the classic Disney ideals of love, family and believing in yourself have been side-lined in favour of fan-service – this is as heartfelt, affecting and tearful as their previous standouts, albeit with plenty of literal magic added to the metaphorical kind.  The central premise is a clever one – once upon a time, magic was commonplace, but over the years technology came along to make life easier, so that in the present day the various races (elves, centaurs, fauns, pixies, goblins and trolls among others) get along fine without it. Then timid elf Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland) receives a wizard’s staff for his sixteenth birthday, a bequeathed gift from his father, who died before he was born, with instructions for a spell that could bring him back to life for one whole day.  Encouraged by his brash, over-confident wannabe adventurer elder brother Barley (Chris Pratt), Ian tries it out, only for the spell to backfire, leaving them with the animated bottom half of their father and just 24 hours to find a means to restore the rest of him before time runs out.  Cue an “epic quest” … needless to say, this is another top-notch offering from the original masters of the craft, a fun, affecting and thoroughly infectious family-friendly romp with a winning sense of humour and inspired, flawless world-building.  Holland and Pratt are both fantastic, their instantly believable, ill-at-ease little/big brother chemistry effortlessly driving the story through its ingenious paces, and the ensuing emotional fireworks are hilarious and heart-breaking in equal measure, while there’s typically excellent support from Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine from Seinfeld) as Ian and Barley’s put-upon but supportive mum, Laurel, Octavia Spencer as once-mighty adventurer-turned-restaurateur “Corey” the Manticore and Mel Rodriguez (Getting On, The Last Man On Earth) as overbearing centaur cop (and Laurel’s new boyfriend) Colt Bronco.  The film marks the sophomore feature gig for Dan Scanlon, who debuted with 2013’s sequel Monsters University, and while that was enjoyable enough I ultimately found it non-essential – no such verdict can be levelled against THIS film, the writer-director delivering magnificently in all categories, while the animation team have outdone themselves in every scene, from the exquisite environments and character/creature designs to some fantastic (and frequently delightfully bonkers) set-pieces, while there’s a veritable riot of brilliant RPG in-jokes to delight geekier viewers (gelatinous cube! XD).  Massive, unadulterated fun, frequently hilarious and absolutely BURSTING with Disney’s trademark heart, this was ALMOST my animated feature of the year.  More on that later …

19.  THE GENTLEMEN – Guy Ritchie’s been having a rough time with his last few movies (The Man From UNCLE didn’t do too bad but it wasn’t exactly a hit and was largely overlooked or simply ignored, while intended franchise-starter King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was largely derided and suffered badly on release, dying a quick death financially – it’s a shame on both counts, because I really liked them), so it’s nice to see him having some proper success with his latest, even if he has basically reverted to type to do it.  Still, when his newest London gangster flick is THIS GOOD it seems churlish to quibble – this really is what he does best, bringing together a collection of colourful geezers and shaking up their status quo, then standing back and letting us enjoy the bloody, expletive-riddled results. This particularly motley crew is another winning selection, led by Matthew McConaughey as ruthlessly successful cannabis baron Mickey Pearson, who’s looking to retire from the game by selling off his massive and highly lucrative enterprise for a most tidy sum (some $400,000,000 to be precise) to up-and-coming fellow American ex-pat Matthew Berger (Succession’s Jeremy Strong, oozing sleazy charm), only for local Chinese triad Dry Eye (Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding, chewing the scenery with enthusiasm) to start throwing spanners into the works with the intention of nabbing the deal for himself for a significant discount.  Needless to say Mickey’s not about to let that happen … McConaughey is ON FIRE here, the best he’s been since Dallas Buyers Club in my opinion, clearly having great fun sinking his teeth into this rich character and Ritchie’s typically sparkling, razor-witted dialogue, and he’s ably supported by a quality ensemble cast, particularly co-star Charlie Hunnam as Mickey’s ice-cold, steel-nerved right-hand-man Raymond Smith, Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery as his classy, strong-willed wife Rosalind, Colin Farrell as a wise-cracking, quietly exasperated MMA trainer and small-time hood simply known as the Coach (who gets many of the film’s best lines), and, most notably, Hugh Grant as the film’s nominal narrator, thoroughly morally bankrupt private investigator Fletcher, who consistently steals the film.  This is Guy Ritchie at his very best – a twisty rug-puller of a plot that constantly leaves you guessing, brilliantly observed and richly drawn characters you can’t help loving in spite of the fact there’s not a single hero among them, a deliciously unapologetic, politically incorrect sense of humour and a killer soundtrack.  Getting the cinematic year off to a phenomenal start, it’s EASILY Ritchie’s best film since Sherlock Holmes, and a strong call-back to the heady days of Snatch (STILL my favourite) and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.  Here’s hoping he’s on a roll again, eh?

18.  SPONTANEOUS – one of the year’s biggest under-the-radar surprise hits for me was one which I actually might not have caught if things had been a little more normal and ordered.  Thankfully with all the lockdown and cinematic shutdown bollocks going on, this fantastically subversive and deeply satirical indie teen comedy horror came along at the perfect time, and I completely flipped out over it.  Now those who know me know I don’t tend to gravitate towards teen cinema, but like all those other exceptions I’ve loved over the years, this one had a brilliantly compulsive hook I just couldn’t turn down – small-town high-schooler Mara (Knives Out and Netflix’ Cursed’s Katherine Langford) is your typical cool outsider kid, smart, snarky and just putting up with the scene until she can graduate and get as far away as possible … until one day in her senior year one of her classmates just inexplicably explodes. Like her peers, she’s shocked and she mourns, then starts to move on … until it happens again.  As the death toll among the senior class begins to mount, it becomes clear something weird is going on, but Mara has other things on her mind because the crisis has, for her, had an unexpected benefit – without it she wouldn’t have fallen in love with like-minded oddball new kid Dylan (Lean On Pete and Words On Bathroom Walls’ Charlie Plummer). The future’s looking bright, but only if they can both live to see it … this is a wickedly intelligent film, powered by a skilfully executed script and a wonderfully likeable young cast who consistently steer their characters around the potential cliched pitfalls of this kind of cinema, while debuting writer-director Brian Duffield (already a rising star thanks to scripts for Underwater, The Babysitter and blacklist darling Jane Got a Gun among others) show he’s got as much talent and flair for crafting truly inspired cinema as he has for thinking it up in the first place, delivering some impressively offbeat set-pieces and several neat twists you frequently don’t see coming ahead of time.  Langford and Plummer as a sassy, spicy pair who are easy to root for without ever getting cloying or sweet, while there’s glowing support from the likes of Hayley Law (Rioverdale, Altered Carbon, The New Romantic) as Mara’s best friend Tess, Piper Perabo and Transparent’s Rob Huebel as her increasingly concerned parents, and Insecure’s Yvonne Orji as Agent Rosetti, the beleaguered government employee sent to spearhead the investigation into exactly what’s happening to these kids.  Quirky, offbeat and endlessly inventive, this is one of those interesting instances where I’m glad they pushed the horror elements into the background so we could concentrate on the comedy, but more importantly these wonderfully well-realised and vital characters – there are some skilfully executed shocks, but far more deep belly laughs, and there’s bucketloads of heart to eclipse the gore.  Another winning debut from a talent I intend to watch with great interest in the future.

17.  HAMILTON – arriving just as Black Lives Matter reached fever-pitch levels, this feature presentation of the runaway Broadway musical smash-hit could not have been better timed. Shot over three nights during the show’s 2016 run with the original cast and cut together with specially created “setup shots”, it’s an immersive experience that at once puts you right in amongst the audience (at times almost a character themselves, never seen but DEFINITELY heard) but also lets you experience the action up close.  And what action – it’s an incredible show, a thoroughly fascinating piece of work that reads like something very staid and proper on paper (an all-encompassing biographical account of the life and times of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton) but, in execution, becomes something very different and EXTREMELY vital.  The execution certainly couldn’t be further from the usual period biopic fare this kind of historical subject matter usually gets (although in the face of recent high quality revisionist takes like Marie Antoinette, The Great and Tesla it’s not SO surprising), while the cast is not at all what you’d expect – with very few notable exceptions the cast is almost entirely people of colour, despite the fact that the real life individuals they’re playing were all very white indeed.  Every single one of them is also an absolute revelation – the show’s writer-composer Lin-Manuel Miranda (already riding high on the success of In the Heights) carries the central role of Hamilton with effortless charm and raw star power, Leslie Odom Jr. (Smash, Murder On the Orient Express) is duplicitously complex as his constant nemesis Aaron Burr, Christopher Jackson (In the Heights, Moana, Bull) oozes integrity and nobility as his mentor and friend George Washington, Phillipa Soo is sweet and classy as his wife Eliza while Renée Elise Goldsberry (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Jacks, Altered Carbon) is fiery and statuesque as her sister Angelica Schuyler (the one who got away), and Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter) consistently steals every scene he’s in as fiendish yet childish fan favourite King George III, but the show (and the film) ultimately belongs to veritable powerhouse Daveed Diggs (Blindspotting, The Good Lord Bird) in a spectacular duel role, starting subtly but gaining scene-stealing momentum as French Revolutionary Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, before EXPLODING onto the stage in the second half as indomitable third American President Thomas Jefferson.  Not having seen the stage show, I was taken completely by surprise by this, revelling in its revisionist genius and offbeat, quirky hip-hop charm, spellbound by the skilful ease with which is takes the sometimes quite dull historical fact and skews it into something consistently entertaining and absorbing, transported by the catchy earworm musical numbers and thoroughly tickled by the delightfully cheeky sense of humour strung throughout (at least when I wasn’t having my heart broken by moments of raw dramatic power). Altogether it’s a pretty unique cinematic experience I wish I could have actually gotten to see on the big screen, and one I’ve consistently recommended to all my friends, even the ones who don’t usually like musicals.  As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t need a proper Les Misérables style screen adaptation – this is about as perfect a presentation as the show could possibly hope for.

16.  SPUTNIK – summer’s horror highlight (despite SERIOUSLY tough competition) was a guaranteed sleeper hit that I almost missed entirely, stumbling across the trailer one day on YouTube and getting bowled over by its potential, prompting me to hunt it down by any means necessary.  The feature debut of Russian director Egor Abramenko, this first contact sci-fi chiller is about as far from E.T. as it’s possible to get, sharing some of the same DNA as Carpenter’s The Thing but proudly carving its own path with consummate skill and definitely signalling great things to come from its brand new helmer and relative unknown screenwriters Oleg Malovichko and Andrei Zolotarev.  Oksana Akinshina (probably best known in the West for her powerful climactic cameo in The Bourne Supremacy) is the beating heart of the film as neurophysiologist Tatyana Yuryevna Klimova, brought in to aid in the investigation in the Russian wilderness circa 1983 after an orbital research mission goes horribly wrong.  One of the cosmonauts dies horribly, while the other, Konstantin (The Duelist’s Pyotr Fyodorov) seems unharmed, but it quickly becomes clear that he’s now the host for something decidedly extraterrestrial and potentially terrifying, and as Tatyana becomes more deeply embroiled in her assignment she comes to realise that her superiors, particularly mysterious Red Army project leader Colonel Semiradov (The PyraMMMid’s Fyodor Bondarchuk), have far more insidious plans for Konstantin and his new “friend” than she could ever imagine. This is about as dark, intense and nightmarish as this particular sub-genre gets, a magnificently icky body horror that slowly builds its tension as we’re gradually exposed to the various truths and the awful gravity of the situation slowly reveals itself, punctuated by skilfully executed shocks and some particularly horrifying moments when the evils inflicted by the humans in charge prove far worse than anything the alien can do, while the ridiculously talented writers have a field day pulling the rug out from under us again and again, never going for the obvious twist and keeping us guessing right to the devastating ending, while the beautifully crafted digital creature effects are nothing short of astonishing and thoroughly creepy.  Akinshina dominates the film with her unbridled grace, vulnerability and integrity, the relationship that develops between Tatyana and Konstantin (Fyodorov delivering a beautifully understated turn belying deep inner turmoil) feeling realistically earned as it goes from tentatively wary to tragically bittersweet, while Bondarchuk invests the Colonel with a nuanced air of tarnished authority and restrained brutality that made him one of my top screen villains for the year.  One of 2020’s great sleeper hits, I can’t speak of this film highly enough – it’s a genuine revelation, an instant classic for whom I’ll sing its praises for years to come, and I wish enormous future success to all the creative talents involved.

15.  THE INVISIBLE MAN – looks like third time’s a charm for Leigh Whannell, writer-director of my ALMOST horror movie of the year (more on that later) – while he’s had immense success as a horror writer over the years (co-creator of both the Saw and Insidious franchises), as a director his first two features haven’t exactly set the world alight, with debut Insidious: Chapter III garnering similar takes to the rest of the series but ultimately turning out to be a bit of a damp squib quality-wise, while his second feature Upgrade was a stone-cold masterpiece that was (rightly) EXTREMELY well received critically, but ultimately snuck in under the radar and has remained a stubbornly hidden gem since. No such problems with his third feature, though – his latest collaboration with producer Jason Blum and the insanely lucrative Blumhouse Pictures has proven a massive hit both financially AND with reviewers, and deservedly so.  Having given up on trying to create a shared cinematic universe inhabited by their classic monsters, Universal resolved to concentrate on standalones to showcase their elite properties, and their first try is a rousing success, Whannell bringing HG Wells’ dark and devious human monster smack into the 21st Century as only he can.  The result is a surprisingly subtle piece of work, much more a lethally precise exercise in cinematic sleight of hand and extraordinary acting than flashy visual effects, strictly adhering to the Blumhouse credo of maximum returns for minimum bucks as the story is stripped down to its bare essentials and allowed to play out without any unnecessary weight.  The Handmaid’s Tale’s Elizabeth Moss once again confirms what a masterful actress she is as she brings all her performing weapons to bear in the role of Cecelia “Cee” Kass, the cloistered wife of affluent but monstrously abusive optics pioneer Aidan Griffin (Netflix’ The Haunting of Hill House’s Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who escapes his clutches in the furiously tense opening sequence and goes to ground with the help of her closest childhood friend, San Francisco cop James Lanier (Leverage’s Aldis Hodge) and his teenage daughter Sydney (A Wrinkle in Time’s Storm Reid).  Two weeks later, Aidan commits suicide, leaving Cee with a fortune to start her life over (with the proviso that she’s never ruled mentally incompetent), but as she tries to find her way in the world again little things start going wrong for her, and she begins to question if there might be something insidious going on.  As her nerves start to unravel, she begins to suspect that Aidan is still alive, still very much in her life, fiendishly toying with her and her friends, but no-one can see him.  Whannell plays her paranoia up for all it’s worth, skilfully teasing out the scares so that, just like her friends, we begin to wonder if it might all be in her head after all, before a spectacular mid-movie reveal throws the switch into high gear and the true threat becomes clear.  The lion’s share of the film’s immense success must of course go to Moss – her performance is BEYOND a revelation, a blistering career best that totally powers the whole enterprise, and it goes without saying that she’s the best thing in this.  Even so, she has sterling support from Hodge and Reid, as well as Love Child’s Harriet Dyer as Cee’s estranged big sister Emily and Wonderland’s Michael Dorman as Adrian’s slimy, spineless lawyer brother Tom, and, while he doesn’t have much actual (ahem) “screen time”, Jackson-Cohen delivers a fantastically icy, subtly malevolent turn which casts a large “shadow” over the film.  This is one of my very favourite Blumhouse films, a pitch-perfect psychological chiller that keeps the tension cranked up unbearably tight and never lets go, Whannell once again displaying uncanny skill with expert jump-scares, knuckle-whitening chills and a truly astounding standout set-piece that easily goes down as one of the top action sequences of 2020. Undoubtedly the best version of Wells’ story to date, this goes a long way in repairing the damage of Universal’s abortive “Dark Universe” efforts, as well as showcasing a filmmaking master at the very height of his talents.

14.  EXTRACTION – the Coronavirus certainly has threw a massive spanner in the works of the year’s cinematic calendar – among many other casualties to the blockbuster shunt, the latest (and most long-awaited) MCU movie, Black Widow, should have opened to further record-breaking box office success at the end of spring, but instead the theatres were all closed and virtually all the heavyweights were pushed back or shelved indefinitely.  Thank God, then, for the streaming services, particularly Hulu, Amazon and Netflix, the latter of which provided a perfect movie for us to see through the key transition into the summer blockbuster season, an explosively flashy big budget action thriller ushered in by MCU alumni the Russo Brothers (who produced and co-wrote this adaptation of Ciudad, a graphic novel that Joe Russo co-created with Ande Parks and Fernando Leon Gonzalez) and barely able to contain the sheer star-power wattage of its lead, Thor himself.  Chris Hemsworth plays Tyler Rake, a former Australian SAS operative who hires out his services to an extraction operation under the command of mercenary Nik Khan (The Patience Stone’s Golshifteh Farahani), brought in to liberate Ovi Mahajan (Rudhraksh Jaiswal in his first major role), the pre-teen son of incarcerated Indian crime lord Ovi Sr. (Pankaj Tripathi), who has been abducted by Bangladeshi rival Amir Asif (Priyanshu Painyuli).  The rescue itself goes perfectly, but when the time comes for the hand-off the team is double-crossed and Tyler is left stranded in the middle of Dhaka with no choice but to keep Ovi alive as every corrupt cop and street gang in the city closes in around them.  This is the feature debut of Sam Hargrave, the latest stuntman to try his hand at directing, so he certainly knows his way around an action set-piece, and the result is a thoroughly breathless adrenaline rush of a film, bursting at the seams with spectacular fights, gun battles and car chases, dominated by a stunning sustained sequence that plays out in one long shot, guaranteed to leave jaws lying on the floor.  Not that there should be any surprise – Hargrave cut his teeth as a stunt coordinator for the Russos on Captain America: Civil War and their Avengers films.  That said, he displays strong talent for the quieter disciplines of filmmaking too, delivering quality character development and drawing out consistently noteworthy performances from his cast.  Of course, Hemsworth can do the action stuff in his sleep, but there’s a lot more to Tyler than just his muscle, the MCU veteran investing him with real wounded vulnerability and a tragic fatalism which colours every scene, while Jaiswal is exceptional throughout, showing plenty of promise for the future, and there’s strong support from Farahani and Painyuli, as well as Stranger Things’ David Harbour as world-weary retired merc Gaspard, and a particularly impressive, muscular turn from Randeep Hooda (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai) as Saju, a former Para and Ovi’s bodyguard, who’s determined to take possession of the boy himself, even if he has to go through Tyler to get him.  This is action cinema that really deserves to be seen on the big screen – I watched it twice in a week and would happily have paid for two trips to the cinema for it if I could have.  As we looked down the barrel of a summer season largely devoid of blockbuster fare, I couldn’t recommend this enough.  Thank the gods for Netflix …

13.  THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – although it’s definitely a film that really benefitted enormously from releasing on Netflix during the various lockdowns, this was one of the blessed few I actually got to see during one of the UK’s frustratingly rare lulls when cinemas were actually OPEN.  Rather perversely it therefore became one of my favourite cinematic experiences of 2020, but then I’m just as much a fan of well-made cerebral films as I am of the big, immersive blockbuster EXPERIENCES, so this probably still would have been a standout in a normal year. Certainly if this was a purely CRITICAL list for the year this probably would have placed high in the Top Ten … Aaron Sorkin is a writer whose work I have ardently admired ever since he went from esteemed playwright to in-demand talent for both the big screen AND the small with A Few Good Men, and TTOTC7 is just another in a long line of consistently impressive, flawlessly written works rife with addictive quickfire dialogue, beautifully observed characters and rewardingly propulsive narrative storytelling (therefore resting comfortably amongst the well-respected likes of The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War, Moneyball and The Social Network).  It also marks his second feature as a director (after fascinating and incendiary debut Molly’s Game), and once again he’s gone for true story over fiction, tackling the still controversial subject of the infamous 1968 trial of the “ringleaders” of the infamous riots which marred Chicago’s Diplomatic National Convention five months earlier, in which thousands of hippies and college students protesting the Vietnam War clashed with police.  Spurred on by the newly-instated Presidential Administration of Richard Nixon to make some examples, hungry up-and-coming prosecutor Richard Schultz (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is confident in his case, while the Seven – who include respected and astute student activist Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) and confrontational counterculture firebrands Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Jerry Rubin (Succession’s Jeremy Strong) – are the clear underdogs.  They’re a divided bunch (particularly Hayden and Hoffman, who never mince their words about what little regard they hold for each other), and they’re up against the combined might of the U.S. Government, while all they have on their side is pro-bono lawyer and civil rights activist William Kunstler (Mark Rylance), who’s sharp, driven and thoroughly committed to the cause but clearly massively outmatched … not to mention the fact that the judge presiding over the case is Julius Hoffman (Frank Langella), a fierce and uncompromising conservative who’s clearly 100% on the Administration’s side, and who might in fact be stark raving mad (he also frequently goes to great lengths to make it clear to all concerned that he is NOT related to Abbie).  Much as we’ve come to expect from Sorkin, this is cinema of grand ideals and strong characters, not big spectacle and hard action, and all the better for it – he’s proved time and again that he’s one of the very best creative minds in Hollywood when it comes to intelligent, thought-provoking and engrossing thinking-man’s entertainment, and this is pure par for the course, keeping us glued to the screen from the skilfully-executed whirlwind introductory montage to the powerfully cathartic climax, and every varied and brilliant scene in-between.  This is heady stuff, focusing on what’s still an extremely thorny issue made all the more urgently relevant and timely given what was (and still is) going on in American politics at the time, and everyone involved here was clearly fully committed to making the film as palpable, powerful and resonant as possible for the viewer, no matter their nationality or political inclination.  Also typical for a Sorkin film, the cast are exceptional, everyone clearly having the wildest time getting their teeth into their finely-drawn characters and that magnificent dialogue – Redmayne and Baron Cohen are compellingly complimentary intellectual antagonists given their radically different approaches and their roles’ polar opposite energies, while Rylance delivers another pitch-perfect, simply ASTOUNDING performance that once again marks him as one of the very best actors of his generation, and there are particularly meaty turns from Strong, Langella, Aquaman’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (as besieged Black Panther Bobby Seale) and a potent late appearance from Michael Keaton that sear themselves into the memory long after viewing. Altogether then, this is a phenomenal film which deserves to be seen no matter the format, a thought-provoking and undeniably IMPORTANT masterwork from a master cinematic storyteller that says as much about the world we live in now as the decidedly turbulent times it portrays …

12.  GREYHOUND – when the cinemas closed back in March, the fate of many of the major summer blockbusters we’d been looking forward to was thrown into terrible doubt. Some were pushed back to more amenable dates in the autumn or winter (which even then ultimately proved frustratingly ambitious), others knocked back a whole year to fill summer slots for 2021, but more than a few simply dropped off the radar entirely with the terrible words “postponed until further notice” stamped on them, and I lamented them all, this one in particular.  It hung in there longer than some, stubbornly holding onto its June release slot for as long as possible, but eventually it gave up the ghost too … but thanks to Apple TV+, not for long, ultimately releasing less than a month later than intended.  Thankfully the film itself was worth the fuss, a taut World War II suspense thriller that’s all killer, no filler – set during the infamous Battle of the Atlantic, it portrays the constant life-or-death struggle faced by the Allied warships assigned to escort the transport convoys as they crossed the ocean, defending their charges from German U-boats.  Adapted from C.S. Forester’s famous 1955 novel The Good Shepherd by Tom Hanks and directed by Aaron Schneider (Get Low), the narrative focuses on the crew of the escort leader, American destroyer USS Fletcher, codenamed “Greyhound”, and in particular its captain, Commander Ernest Krause (Hanks), a career sailor serving his first command.  As they cross “the Pit”, the most dangerous middle stretch of the journey where they spend days without air-cover, they find themselves shadowed by “the Wolf Pack”, a particularly cunning group of German submarines that begin to pick away at the convoy’s stragglers.  Faced with daunting odds, a dwindling supply of vital depth-charges and a ruthless, persistent enemy, Krause must make hard choices to bring his ships home safe … jumping into the thick of the action within the first ten minutes and maintaining its tension for the remainder of the trim 90-minute run, this is screen suspense par excellence, a sleek textbook example of how to craft a compelling big screen knuckle-whitener with zero fat and maximum reward, delivering a series of desperate naval scraps packed with hide-and-seek intensity, heart-in-mouth near-misses and fist-in-air cathartic payoffs by the bucket-load.  Hanks is subtly magnificent, the calm centre of the narrative storm as a supposed newcomer to this battle arena who could have been BORN for it, bringing to mind his similarly unflappable in Captain Phillips and certainly not suffering by comparison; by and large he’s the focus point, but other crew members make strong (if sometimes quite brief) impressions, particularly Stephen Graham as Krause’s reliably seasoned XO, Lt. Commander Charlie Cole, The Magnificent Seven’s Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Just Mercy’s Rob Morgan, while Elisabeth Shue does a lot with a very small part in brief flashbacks as Krause’s fiancée Evelyn. Relentless, exhilarating and thoroughly unforgettable, this was one of the true action highlights of the summer, and one hell of a war flick.  I’m so glad it made the cut for the summer …

11.  PROJECT POWER – with Marvel and DC pushing their tent-pole titles back in the face of COVID, the usual superhero antics we’ve come to expect for the summer were pretty thin on the ground in 2020, leading us to find our geeky fan thrills elsewhere. Unfortunately, pickings were frustratingly slim – Korean comic book actioner Gundala was entertaining but workmanlike, while Thor AU Mortal was underwhelming despite strong direction from Troll Hunter’s André Øvredal, and The New Mutants just got shat on by the studio and its distributors and no mistake – thank the Gods, then, for Netflix, once again riding to the rescue with this enjoyably offbeat super-thriller, which takes an intriguing central premise and really runs with it.  New designer drug Power has hit the streets of New Orleans, able to give anyone who takes it a superpower for five minutes … the only problem is, until you try it, you don’t know what your own unique talent is – for some, it could mean five minutes of invisibility, or insane levels of super-strength, but other powers can be potentially lethal, the really unlucky buggers just blowing up on the spot.  Robin (The Hate U Give’s Dominique Fishback) is a teenage Power-pusher with dreams of becoming a rap star, dealing the pills so she can help her diabetic mum; Frank Shaver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one of her customers, a police detective who uses his power of near invulnerability to even the playing field when supercharged crims cause a disturbance.  Their lives are turned upside down when Art (Jamie Foxx) arrives in town – he’s a seriously badass ex-soldier determined to hunt down the source of Power by any means necessary, and he’s not above tearing the Big Easy apart to do it. This is a fun, gleefully infectious rollercoaster that doesn’t take itself too seriously, revelling in the anarchic potential of its premise and crafting some suitably OTT effects-driven chaos brought to pleasingly visceral fruition by its skilfully inventive director, Ariel Schulman (Catfish, Nerve, Viral), while Mattson Tomlin (the screenwriter of the DCEU’s oft-delayed, incendiary headline act The Batman) takes the story in some very interesting directions and poses fascinating questions about what Power’s TRULY capable of.  Gordon-Levitt and Fishback are both brilliant, the latter particularly impressing in what’s sure to be a major breakthrough role for her, and the friendship their characters share is pretty adorable, while Foxx really is a force to be reckoned with, pretty chill even when he’s in deep shit but fully capable of turning into a bona fide killing machine at the flip of a switch, and there’s strong support from Westworld’s Rodrigo Santoro as Biggie, Power’s delightfully oily kingpin, Courtney B. Vance as Frank’s by-the-book superior, Captain Crane, Amy Landecker as Gardner, the morally bankrupt CIA spook responsible for the drug’s production, and Machine Gun Kelly as Newt, a Power dealer whose pyrotechnic “gift” really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  Exciting, inventive, frequently amusing and infectiously likeable, this was some of the most uncomplicated cinematic fun I had all summer.  Not bad for something which I’m sure was originally destined to become one of the season’s B-list features …

[virtueangel]

limitless.

chapter seven.

wc: 2,313. original publish date: october 12, 2020. 

Four-thirty-five looks like every other freeway exit in all of America. JFK pushes firmly down on the brake as the car rolls up to the white line of the intersection. There is a green sign next to the road, and oddly enough, Marshtown is marked in metallic white lettering at the bottom. Printed next to the town name is a right-turn arrow, and even smaller next to that is the number five.

"Five miles," John F. Kennedy says, grinning.

Vincent can't help smiling either. He can still feel JFK's arms wrapped around his torso and the way his chin rested on the taller boy's shoulder. "We're getting close."

"Think it'll be worth it?" John asks, glancing at his passenger.

Van Gogh shrugs. "I sure hope so."

"We've spent all this time romanticising it..." Kennedy starts.

Both boys turn to each other, giddy smiles still plastered across their faces. "Wanna do it some more?" They say in unison, breaking out into boyish giggles afterward.

"God..." Vincent mutters.

"Hm?" John hums as the light turns green. He accelerates.

"I feel like we're little kids again," he says in a sad voice, but the smile is still taught across his lips and Kennedy doesn't know which look to meet his gaze with.

"We were pretty fucking awesome as kids," he tries.

This earns him a grin from Van Gogh. Score. "Yeah. I was cool back then."

John knocks his best friend's arm playfully. "You're still cool, Minivan."

Van Gogh covers his eyes with his hand, mock repulsion surfing the waves of his voice. "God, don't remind me of that nickname!"

"Hey! I might've meant to antagonise you back then, but I promise you: I've changed."

Vincent shakes his head, but he can't help smiling. His cheeks are starting to ache, but his happiness is genuine. "Oh, I know you have. That little five-year-old didn't know how to -- how do you put it? -- 'bang the sweeties'."

Kennedy laughs. "Oh, believe me -- he did."

The car goes silent as the sky fills with fog. It's thick and grey and the windows of the shiny red convertible are already starting to precipitate. Vincent zips his letterman jacket all the way up and tucks his chin into the collar, the cold already starting to set in. Even John has to admit that his knuckles clamp up and go a little white against the steering wheel.

"We must be getting close," Vincent says. The sky hadn't been blue for the earlier part of their drive by any means, but even the clouds that hung in the sky let the faintest bit of sunlight filter through. Now there is a dense blanket of moisture blocking the rays from view.

John goes quiet, suddenly wishing they'd planned the trip. He worries that he'll get in another fight with Van Gogh over where to sleep or how they'll keep themselves entertained in this town that they know next to nothing about. They aren't even sure if it has a marsh or not. But most of all, he fears that Vincent will get cold in the fog or the air will be too wet for him to draw. Part of the reason Kennedy had even vouched for this trip was so that the boy would have a lot of inspiration to paint or sketch or read or write, because above all, John loves his best friend's poetry. But he doesn't know how to tell the boy any of that.

Van Gogh looks across the car as Kennedy starts to drive more defensively, and his brow furrows; not in disgust, but in worry. He notices the boy's white knuckles and the way he grips the steering wheel like he's trying to strangle it. He reaches out and places a hand on his best friend's forearm, rubbing him through the sleeve of his jacket slowly and comfortingly.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

John swallows. "Sorry. Nothing, sorry. Don't worry. I'm okay."

Van Gogh's worried gaze lingers. "Are you sure?"

Kennedy gives his best friend a smile and a nod, but the motion is only half convincing. Vincent sighs and turns away anyway, not sure if he's allowed to push.

A couple seconds of silence pass before Kennedy requests timidly, "Can you, uh, keep doing that? With your hand, on my arm? It feels kinda nice." He laughs at himself sheepishly.

Van Gogh smiles to himself and obliges, happy to keep touching the boy. Er, uh, that came out wrong! He thinks. I'm just doing a good thing for him. Just trying to calm him down. He banishes the first thought, convincing himself that this is an uncomplicated act of kindness that he's doing for his best friend. He'd do anything for Kennedy, right?

Vincent stops rubbing the boy's arm and squeezes instead. With a gasp, he points out the windshield. "John, look!"

In front of them is the Marshtown sign, a yellowish-beige rectangle with dark green trim and text. It's an ugly sign, Van Gogh has to admit; especially from an artist's perspective. It's dilapidated and sinking into the ground, parts of some of the letters missing and splintering. The population number has been knocked off but the word "population" itself is still intact. There is no "welcome" or cheesy slogan. The boys can barely see the road beyond the sign, because the fog seems to have thickened since entering the town.

"Vincent, it's-"

Both boys stare into the fog, jaws dropped and pupils dilated. They are at a loss for words and almost a loss for breath. The road turns into a bridge, and on either side is a marsh, wet and gooey with coarse grass shooting out of it in various locations. The cement is covered in puddles and John slows down the car to ten miles per hour, squinting to see through the fog.

Beyond the marsh is a town. Not much of one, but it's there nonetheless. Every building and house is falling apart -- some are burned down to the foundation, others are missing doors and windows and from what Van Gogh can see, some of them are without floors as well. There is a dense ring of pine trees around the houses and they seem to stretch forever, but then again, John and Vincent have limited vision due to the intrusive fog. Each house looks different, and not just the way they're destroyed; the floor plans are unique, with different finishes and dimensions.

To their left is a general store. It's more intact than most of the houses, but its door is hanging off the hinges and there's a gaping hole in the middle of the wooden stoop. There's a sign on the door, flipped to the "open" side. Van Gogh wonders if some teenager had come by to flip it in their day of mischief or if there's someone in this ghost town to manage the shop.

With all of its lichened and weathered wood, Marshtown looks like a summer camp location. Neither John nor Vincent had spent their summers shipped off into the arms of overenthusiastic counsellors to go swimming and hiking, but they've seen enough cliché coming-of-age movies to know what a good old fashioned American summer camp experience should look like.

"I love it," Van Gogh blurts, eyes fixed out the window.

Kennedy grins. "It's incredible."

Vincent turns away from the limited outside view to look at his best friend's side profile. "I want to live here."

John's smile widens. "Okay."

"No, I mean it."

"I know you do," he meets Vincent's glare. "I do too."

Both boys seem to realise at the same time that Van Gogh is still gripping the taller boy's arm, and he lowers his hand sheepishly without a word.

"Do you think anyone still lives here?"

JFK squints at the houses, looking for cars or intact doors. "No," he concludes.

Van Gogh smiles to himself. "So we've got the whole place to ourselves, huh?"

Kennedy's stomach somersaults and his breath catches in his throat, his jaw suddenly going slack. "It would appear so," he swallows.

Vincent doesn't seem to register the boy's off-kilter tone. "Ooh, you know what?"

"Hm?"

"We should locate the creepiest house and stay in it."

Kennedy chuckles. "Vincent, some of the houses don't even have roofs."

"Perfect for stargazing."

JFK laughs even harder. "We can barely see six feet ahead of us!"

"So we'll pretend. Make up our own constellations."

Kennedy and Van Gogh make eye contact, and the shorter boy's deep brown gaze burrows itself into JFK's soul. He feels it snaking around his heart and making its home in his stomach. His cheeks seem to smile themselves.

"Okay. I'll play along."

Van Gogh leans back in his seat, satisfied. His hands shake, and he can't tell if it's due to nervousness or excitement. They are, after all, the same emotion -- the only difference is how they're interpreted by the subconscious.

"Try that one," he says after a couple minutes, pointing to a two-story Spanish style house finished in yellow stucco. It stands out from all the other developments, and not just because of the material it's made out of. It's almost perfectly intact, complete with a bay window and a second-floor balcony. It has a few imperfections, probably due to lack of maintenance. There are deep cracks carved into the outer walls and the paint on the door is chipping. Some of the upstairs windows have shatters blossoming in them, fanning out across the glass like spiderwebs. Van Gogh knows this is the right place to stay.

Kennedy redirects the car off the road and into the driveway of the house. The lawn is splotchy and has more mud and puddles than grass. The plants that actually grow there are clearly invasive: coarse wheat-like sprouts and greying succulents. The succulents are definitely artificial -- Van Gogh knows nothing of the sort could prosper on marshland.

"Why this one?" Kennedy asks, just for the sake of conversation. He parks the car in the driveway and slides the keys out of the ignition. He unbuckles his seatbelt, but makes no move to exit the car. He sits back in his seat, moving his feet away from the pedals and turning his knees toward Van Gogh. The shorter boy unbuckles his seatbelt and turns his own knees toward the driver, his letterman jacket still zipped snugly up to his neck.

"Because it looks special."

"You can do better than that."

Vincent sighs and looks away from Kennedy, thinking about his answer and choosing words from his lexicon wisely. "It looks like a home and not just a house."

"But you don't know anything about it," JFK challenges, and he wonders if he's crossed the line into the asshole realm.

Van Gogh smiles, thankfully amused by the comment instead of annoyed. "Let me tell you something, John: when you're an artist, you start to look at everything like a piece of art. It kind of sucks sometimes. I can't read books without thinking about the edits I'd give to the author. It ruins the fun a little bit."

JFK reaches out, not quite sure what he's intending to do with his outstretched arm. He lays a palm on Vincent's shoulder awkwardly, guessing he's in too deep to retreat his arm without any contact at all. "But I like the way your artist brain works," he says, and it feels like an admission instead of a conversation volley.

Vincent smiles down at his lap, flattered. When he looks back up at Kennedy, he can see that his best friend's cheeks are pink. "I want to know this house's story," he adds.

Kennedy smiles affectionately, staring down at the boy with soft eyes. "So what are you waiting for?"

Vincent opens his car door, and immediately the thick fog wets his tongue. He opens his mouth, half expecting a snowflake to dance down from the sky and land in his mouth. But while it's dark and gloomy here in Marshtown, it isn't April winter like it is in Exclamation!. For a fraction of a second, he misses the city's name on his mind. He shoves the thought away, hoping it will dissolve on its own.

JFK and Van Gogh walk up the driveway to the house side by side. They climb the three brick steps to the porch in unison, John slowing down for Vincent the way he always does. He sneaks a glance at his best friend, still staring at him with the same cloudy eyes.

"Oh, shit, moment of truth," Van Gogh says, taking the door handle in his hand. He looks back at his best friend, who is standing with his hands shoved into the pockets of his khakis.

"What do we do if it's locked?" Kennedy asks, which he knows is a stupid question.

Vincent shrugs, but there's no disappointment or angst frozen behind his features. "We'll find out." He squeezes down on the handle and the mechanism clicks. He slowly pushes the door open, suddenly worried there will be someone inside.

The first room in the house is the kitchen, a beige tiled floor meeting his shoes as Vincent steps inside. To his pleasant surprise, there's no grime crusted into the tiling, no spider nests burrowed into the corners of the room. Grey, foggy light spills in from the bay window, washing the room a drowsy white. Everything seems to shine, even in the permanent dreariness of Marshtown.

"You were right, Vincent," Kennedy says, and he doesn't need  to see the rest of the house to know it's true.

Vincent turns around to face the boy, a genuine smile sitting lazily across his lips. "Haven't you learned not to doubt me?"

John steps forward and wraps his best friend in a hug, resting his chin on Vincent's head without a second thought. "I'm still learning, Minivan."

Into his chest, Van Gogh mumbles, "I hate it when you call me that."

[chaoskirin]

Freddie and I share something in common - we both went to school for fine art. I earned my bachelor's degree in 2005. At times, I wonder if he ever got tired of the formal education, too. I wonder if he also laughed when his film teacher told him that "after this class, you'll never watch a movie the same way again" and then realized later with horror that it was actually true. How color theory takes over your life even when you don't mean it to. How everything you see makes you wonder if you could draw that, and what technique you would have to employ.

I don't know. I was ten when he died and I'll never get to ask. Somehow he doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would want to talk about his own art, anyway. I mean, there's not much we know about Freddie's private life, but everyone says he was shy.

So when I sat down and thought about what to do for Freddie's birthday, I thought analyzing one of his greatest works of art would be a good place to start. I had to pick apart and appraise so much art in school, whether it be my own classmates' paintings or pieces in a museum, or even poetry. And what are all Freddie Mercury's songs but poetry? In any case, it felt like a good tribute to him to analyze "It's a Hard Life."

British "Promo videos" were the prototype for today's visual extravaganzas, and were really meant to provide a simple visual aid to the music. Michael Nesmith says in his book, Infinite Tuesday, that they weren't meant to have much thought or money poured into them. The name of the game was getting a band on stage and recording them, which would then, theoretically, promote more sales. But they evolved, as things tend to do.

Music videos seem absolutely mundane today. A hit single has a music video, and people watch it, and it kind of gets swept under the proverbial carpet and filed away in our collective mind. Sometimes, the really good ones stand out, but more often than not, it's just some thing that's expected. It almost feels ludicrous to think that music accompanied by video wasn't the industry norm.

But in the 1980s, music videos were just becoming valid as a means of expression, and many artists had no idea how to exploit them as an art form. Even Queen did a song supporting the idea that video was killing radio. There were a few who believed that music videos were the way of the future (See again: Michael Nesmith who started down a path that would one day lead to MTV) but to others, they were just a fad, or even something to be resisted.

But in reality, music and video accompanied each other in various forms for years. The first motion pictures themselves were set to music - usually live - because watching a film in silence would have been utterly boring! (Note - artist opinion. I can't cite that, but I stand by my assumption.) Then in the 1960s, the Monkees performed "romps" on their TV show that became the precursor for modern music video. Later, just before MTV came into existence, came "Video Killed the Radio Star."

Since that short foray into music video history is out of the way, it's time to discuss Freddie Mercury.

Of course, Queen did other music videos before "It's a Hard Life." Some were quite artistic, and even Bohemian Rhapsody - which was one of those aforementioned "Promo Videos" - had quite a lot of skill that went into its production. The point is, Freddie seemed to detest the mundane. He wanted something that would make a mark and stand out among everything around him.

In the audio commentary for "It's a Hard Life," Brian May said that the video was a "Freddie indulgence, and we indulged him." He wasn't seeing the endeavor as Freddie did, however. This project was more than an indulgence -- it was a beautiful song, with beautiful lyrics, and there was a real chance to make the video speak just as much as the lyrics themselves. Freddie could recognize the music video medium as a canvas upon which he could paint his ideas. With formal training in fine arts, he knew the importance of symbolism and color in both still art and film, and couldn't fathom why the same principles couldn't be applied to his songs.

The lyrics don't just outright tell the story, though. The song says one thing that the video interprets, but both aren't completely in sync. The visuals are up to interpretation just like any work of art. Freddie had two stories to tell here... Not only the story outlined by the words of the song, but also how he felt about those words. And that's where he managed to unite music and video into a wonderful little four-minute movie.

At the center is the main character. Freddie. His entire life is this room in two parts - an opulent staircase that contains all his life's desires. As the scene expands, his court and other revelers dance around him, enjoying life, while the other players - Brian, Roger, and John - stand off to one side in shadow, interacting with no one.

The room itself is interesting. One side is extremely busy, while there is almost nothing on the other side. The balance is striking and obvious; the stairs and everything within - revelers, a throne, gold banisters, lace curtains, balconies and columns, is meant to represent man's desire. This side of the room is warm and comfortable, populated and eye-catching. It could be heaven, or the Garden of Eden or Valhalla. The other side of the room has nothing except shadow, tile, a few stray revelers, and Death and his angels.

And there's Freddie. The commentary on the video does shed some light onto its meaning. A man who appears to have everything is devastated by the lack of love in his life, which would have made him whole. Ultimately, though, the video is about a man who is so crushed by the lack of love that he makes the decision to kill himself.

Red is used carefully but liberally to highlight passion and desire. Interestingly and importantly, red is also the color of blood - remember that for later - although at the beginning, it is very representative of desire. A red "carpet" leads up the stairs, for example, where brightness waits for anyone who enters. Freddie, as the subject of this metaphor, is also wearing red, and is also covered with eyes that are open and forever searching for what he craves. Passion, romance, deep love, and trust. One one arm, this red costume is starting to unravel as he realizes that what he wants is difficult to obtain. He's begun to believe that it's even impossible for him.

And so we reach our second important color. Blue. Often, the lighting abruptly shifts from red to blue, which is a color of sadness and longing, made even more obvious with the use of heavy shadow. It is weighty and unbearable. Crushing. It destroys everything except Freddie, who is alone when the blue light casts shadows upon everything in the room. There is no more red. No more passion. And only one way out.

He tries to make it work. A red, warm glow flashes onto the party again. But he's getting farther away from the party. He's delving into the emptiness.

Brian - as Death - brazenly walks past him on the stairs, but no one seems to notice save for a passing glance. People wearing slight hints of red rush past Freddie, engrossed in each other but ignoring their host.

Freddie is trying to save himself, but as the screen goes blue again, he knows it's over.

Roger - an angel of hell, and John - an angel of heaven, wander into frame behind Freddie. They are also important in this blue landscape of melancholy and loss. "I try and mend the broken pieces/I try to fight back the tears," Freddie says. "They say it's just a state of mind," he goes on to the sound of a discordant guitar sting, as the angels discuss him, perhaps arguing over his soul after the end has come.

This is the point where the video takes a gloriously subtle shift into darkness. It is a scene of cut time - a view of the past where Freddie was long-haired and in his prime, surrounded by the rich, extravagant life that so many people want. Even back then, his expression is devoid of what one would expect from someone with such a bountiful lifestyle, and the real tragedy is that no one seems to notice or care. They ignore his pain, but are suddenly amused and appreciative when he makes a show of himself. And these scenes are intercut with "present" Freddie, framed in blue and heavily shadowed, at his end.

The angels follow Freddie around as if deciding his fate. Though they are dressed as revelers, they always face away from the other people and interact with no one except each other. They go completely unnoticed by everyone, much like Death, although they have an important role to play. They know what's coming and when - they are even the first to climb the stairs as Death makes himself known.

And while the Garden - or Heaven - or Valhalla - is the goal of nearly everyone at this party, Freddie knows he can't find what he's looking for there. He has the ability to get there, but love is constantly eluding him, and he's come to the conclusion that it always will.

And then Death arrives for Freddie, who has finally given up and ended his own life. Suddenly, the red that appears before him isn't passion, but blood and death. Even so, the decision to commit suicide seems to be a cause for celebration - there is dancing, and the pages are throwing rice as if the day of a royal wedding has arrived. Freddie begins to climb the stairs to take a woman by the hand, only to be stung when she steps on his foot and leaves him in pain. It's not what he wanted. It's not what he hoped for.

And then he notices the angels.

The hall is empty, save for them and Freddie, and the looming visage of Death, who leads Freddie out of the Garden and into the empty hall. The angels take their place at the gates, their stare making it absolutely clear that Freddie has been denied any form of afterlife, and that they are in agreement that he will be alone. He can never go back.

But Freddie has no regrets.

"I'll look back on myself and say 'I did it for love,'" he says, as he offers the first and only smile in the entire video.

He did it for love.

[arcanawildcard]

How about shuann soulmate marks au? First meeting and no powers?

taking requests here! (be prepared for a wait tho orz)

read on ao3

By the time ‘来栖 暁’ appeared on Ann’s wrist at the age of 16, she had her type nailed down to a T. Her reasoning was that if she was going to live her life without a soulmate (like 95% of the world’s population) she was doing to make perfectly sure that the guy she did fall for was as close to a soulmate as he could get.

He had to be about her age or a little younger. Good-looking and strong and smart and brave. A romantic. He had to be able to make her laugh and always cheer her up when she was feeling down. Taller than her, but only a little, with broad shoulders. Kind, gentle, reserved, but a bit of a rogue too. The perfect gentleman with a hint of mischief and a sliver of danger.

(”You might as well start on hair and eye colors with a list like this,” Shiho told her when she found Ann’s notepad.

“Oh! That’s a good idea.” Ann retrieved her notepad and tapped her lip with her pen. “What do you think about grey eyes?”

“Don’t ask me.”)

He couldn’t be fair-haired because there was only room for one dumb blonde in their relationship, she didn’t have the best impression of redheads for various reasons, and brown was just so... normal, you know?

(Shiho had been muffling snickers at that point, but she helped Ann come to the conclusions of dark grey eyes, curly black hair, preferably Japanese without further commentary.)

It was kind of silly, she knew, but it felt like a talisman. She’d have a soulmate, or she’d have a guy who was perfect for her anyway. Her standards didn’t have room for the likes of Mr. Kamoshida or that one Photography Club member who kept trying to get creepshots of her when she passed by. The girls could call her a bimbo and the boys could call her a frigid bitch and it would all be fine because she was just waiting for Mr. Right.

So her perfect guy had to be good with kids and kind to animals. He had to be a little bit noble and a little bit sly. He had to hold her hand in public. He had to want her—not her looks, not her body, not her connections or status, but her—more than anyone else.

He had to listen to her. He had to hold her but couldn’t coddle her. He had to support her in her dreams. He had to want marriage and children one day. He had to—

And then, one sunny afternoon in April, three kanji hastily inked themselves across her wrist, and no amount of scrubbing washed it away.

‘来栖 暁’

After so much time spent wanting to know who her soulmate was, it was kind of a shock to find out that he’d actually gotten close enough for their souls to, well, brush.

Maybe he’d moved to Tokyo, or maybe he’d just come to visit, or maybe-maybe-maybe...

Well, it wasn’t like she had any idea how to find him—at least not yet. The name would probably pop up online, if nowhere else, and he might even come looking for her first, but right now, at this moment, he could be just another face in the crowd shuffling through Shibuya Square and she’d never know.

It was an odd feeling, but she didn’t have the time to dwell on it. Her agency had her weekend packed and she barely even had the time to make an attempt at her homework before it was Monday again.

Monday was misleadingly clear until it started pouring down right in the middle of her walk to school, and she found herself ducking under an awning with another unlucky student who’s forgotten his umbrella.

She was just contemplating making a run for it (she’d look totally lame, but it would probably be even lamer to turn up soaked through) when she felt a stare burning into the side of her face.

The other student was the culprit, eyes wide and lips parted in that kind of open awe she got sometimes, that kind that didn’t feel hungry or creepy the way some did, just... admiring.

It was a warm feeling, one that bubbled giggly in her throat—and then she registered the actual look of him

And blinked.

Dark grey eyes, curly black hair, definitely Japanese, a little bit taller than her, handsome and broad-shouldered and somewhat reserved—

Ahahaha, no way.

It was ironic that she’d meet a guy that looked like a perfect 10 on her (slightly joking) list of requirements only a few days after finding out her soulmate was nearby, but that just had to mean things were looking her way, right?

She smiled at him, then resettled herself and went back to contemplating the rain. Inconvenient as it was, it was also really pretty.

Mr. Kamoshida was... nice enough to give her a ride to school and save her from looking flustered and lame or soaked and lame, and she made it to class without further incident.

And then, just slightly late, the boy from under the awning walked in after Ms. Kawakami.

He was a transfer student, Ms. Kawakami said, and he’d be studying with their for the rest of the year.

He wrote his name on the blackboard and murmured his greetings in a low, velvety voice that she could really get used to hearing, but she couldn’t fully appreciate it.

‘来栖 暁’ he’d written. Pronounced as Akira Kurusu, he’d said.

That was her soulmate.

Akira’s soulmate was in Tokyo. He was pretty sure, anyway.

Somewhere, somehow, ‘高巻 杏’ was or had been close enough to ink their name on his wrist in the space of a nap on the train.

It was one more new thing in the whole slew of new he was walking into, and it should have been a shock, but he was traveling out of his hometown for the first time, he was alone in a big city, he had narrowly escaped a prison sentence for a crime he hadn’t committed, and he was barely acquainted with a picture of his new guardian, much less the man himself—

Well. Tokyo was the biggest city in Japan. There were over 9 million people here and more passing through on the daily. His soulmate could be... anyone, really.

Well, no. They were Japanese, he knew that much, and 杏 was generally a female name—an Azu, or Anri, or Kyou, or Suume...

That was about it, though. He should probably start looking for her while he was in Tokyo; much more convenient and accessible than his hometown, if nothing else.

Just... maybe not right now. Right now, he needed to sleep for a week.

Forgetting an umbrella on his first day at his new school felt like just par the course for his current string of luck.

The girl who joined him under the awning he’d taken shelter under did not.

Pale gold hair like starlight, eyes blue enough to make up for the muddied sky tenfold, quiet melancholy on a face so beautiful it was almost ethereal. She stood with casual confidence and enviable ease, like this was just another day to her, like she’d been like this so long she didn’t even notice that the world was hers anymore.

Which she didn’t, he guessed, but meanwhile his breath was caught in his throat, pulse throbbing in his fingertips, because oh, wow...

He’d known people looked like that in magazines, but seeing the real thing—seeing someone who was about as flesh and blood as divinity could get with his own two eyes—now this was something else.

She met his eye with a much milder surprise than his own, her confusion unfurling into a warm smile (oh) and quiet giggle (oh), and then looked away while he gaped like an idiot.

Just proof that there were all sorts of people in Tokyo, he supposed once he’d shut his mouth and scrambled his wits back together. It was a crazy city to put people like the two of them side-by-side.

Not that it really mattered.

He’d probably never see her again, and he was one of those lucky few with a soulmate he had to find besides.

Tokyo was a crazy city, but maybe... maybe it wasn’t all bad.

He saw her again.

And, for all intents and purposes, he’d be seeing her six days a week for as long as he was in the city.

Since, you know, he sat in the seat behind hers in homeroom.

Their homeroom.

The homeroom that they shared, being in the same class and the same year and the same school and all.

The school that was now buzzing with rumors about his probation and what kind of cruel, evil, morally bankrupt deeds he’d done to earn it.

Not that it... really... mattered...

It wasn’t like he’d ever had a chance in the first place, but he’d give just about anything to be entirely invisible in her eyes (and the rest of the school’s, if he was being honest) if that would mean she didn’t look at him with quite so much... alarm.

Ugh.

Oddly, it was her best friend who was the first person after Ryuji that didn’t look at him askance.

“Hey,” she said after he’d bumped into her just inside the door to the courtyard. “Don’t let them get to you. This school loves rumors.”

“What rumors?” he deadpanned, though the words were very, very welcome, he couldn’t lie.

She smiled, genuinely relieved. “I’m glad you’re doing okay.” Then the smile dropped as she looked behind him. “Ann? What’s wrong—”

The girl—Ann Takamaki, professional model at the age of 16—gave him a contorted attempt at a smile of her own and unceremoniously hauled Suzui-san away.

...Juuuuust his luck.

He was really going to go get his lunch and try to eat away his sorrows, but on his way to getting a drink from the vending machines, he heard Suzui-san’s voice from the rest area within and paused to eavesdrop.

“What do you mean, ‘don’t know how to talk to him’?”

Huh?

Apparently it was Takamaki-san she was talking to, because it was her voice that answered, “What if I mess it up?”

“Don’t you just go up and say hello? Ask how he’s settling in? This is small talk, not rocket science.”

Were they talking about... him? No way, right?

“I can’t do that!” Takamaki-san squeaked. “It’s gotta be, like, special! D-Doesn’t it...?”

“I don’t think so. He seems lonely. I bet he’d be happy even if it wasn’t special.”

“Mm...”

Right, so, it definitely wasn’t him they were talking about because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to take the disappointment if he thought they were talking about him and they weren’t. Maybe they were talking about one of Takamaki-san’s coworkers or something.

Maybe. Probably.

Definitely not him.

“Well, if you really want it to be special, you could always start off by shoving your wrist in his face,” said Suzui-san. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

“Sorry... It never seemed to be the right time.”

“It’s fine. I’m going ahead, okay? And talk to him the next time you see him.”

Takamaki-san groaned with a shluff of fabric that suggested she’d slumped in her seat, and then Suzui-san was rounding the corner and Akira had nowhere to hide.

She slowed to a stop when she saw him, pursing her lips and blinking big puppy-brown eyes.

The look faded into wry acceptance after about two seconds. Walking closer (out of Takamaki-san’s earshot?), she murmured, “You heard all that, huh.”

He nodded cautiously. No sense in denying the obvious.

She studied him for a moment, then decided, “That makes things easier... I think. Follow me for a second?”

He nodded again, still mentally trying to catch up with this new turn of events.

Suzui-san led him... in a circle. Back into the school building and out another door, then back to the vending machines, where Takamaki-san was still sitting at the table.

“Look who I found,” Suzui-san announced, and then looked at Akira expectantly until he entered the rest area.

Takamaki-san, for her part, was just as gorgeous and just as alarmed as ever. Akira was of the private opinion that the way the light played over her face and throat belonged on the silver screen... preferably aiming that look at someone who was not him.

“Ann wanted to talk to you,” said Suzui-san, the blatant liar. “I’m going back to class now. See you later!”

And with that, she left Akira alone with Takamaki-san’s steadily growing horror.

The seconds stretched out like eons as the blood drained from her face and tried to rise in his, his mind pinwheeling as he tried to grasp why Suzui-san thought Takamaki-san wanted to talk to him when she was so blatantly terrified of him.

“Um!” she finally squeaked. “Hi!”

“...You feeling okay?”

“M-me? O-oh! yeah, I’m- I’m fine!”

She was a terrible liar. That would have been adorable in any circumstances but these.

When he didn’t immediately reply, she flushed, gaze darting away as she blurted, “So! Um, how are you liking Tokyo?”

“It’s alright,” he said slowly, the eavesdropped conversation dancing through his brain. “Kind of hectic. I never knew trains could be that packed.”

That was about three times what he’d normally say, but Takamaki-san looked borderline desperate.

Seriously, what was going on here?

“Oh yeah, that shocked me too when I first moved here, y’know? I grew up in Finland and it was way quieter than here.” She was gaining her composure back piecemeal, and she managed to look him in the eye with a shy, unsteady, but real smile. “Speaking of trains, have you had the chance to check out the Underground Mall at Shibuya Station?”

“No, not yet.” Suzui-san hadn’t honestly led him here for small talk, had she?

“Oh man, you totally should,” she said, still pink-cheeked and breathless but blossoming into a vivid expressiveness that had butterflies sparkling to life in the pit of his stomach. “They have, like, everything there—you have to see it to believe it.” She scratched the back of her head, suddenly bashful. “I could, um, show you around sometime... if you want.”

His heart lodged itself in his throat, and he had to clear it to speak. “I’d like that.”

Takamaki-san actually glowed, which was putting a whole lot of holes in his theory that she was scared of him. “Great!”

(It was also putting a fair number of holes in his heart and his cool, because there was only so much a guy could do with a smile like that aimed at him and Cupid wasn’t blind.)

“Was there something you wanted me for?” he asked then, because this was good but he probably needed to leave to go cool his head down soon.

Takamaki-san sat bolt upright and flushed again. “No, well, just- just this, I mean—I really did just want to talk to you, and see how you were doing because transferring is hard, I should know, and I know I’m a little late with the welcoming committee but you should definitely check out the city, and... ugh...” She buried her face in her hands. “I’m babbling, aren’t I?”

“It’s cute,” he offered.

She shrunk in her seat and blushed right down to her collarbones. “I... don’t think this qualifies as cute.”

“You’re right; it’s adorable.”

Her head jerked up, and even her mortification was beautiful.

“That... not fair,” she said weakly.

He tilted his head with a half-smile, entirely unrepentant. Making her blush was a way bigger ego boost than he ever would have guessed.

(...If this maybe-definitely crush didn’t die a quiet death soon, meeting his soulmate was going to be a mess.)

Almost as if echoing his thoughts, Takamaki-san wrapped her hand around her wrist and squeezed. There was an enigmatic little grin on her face, her eyes bright and distant. “Guess Shiho was right after all.”

“About what?” he said, wrong-footed by the non-sequitur.

She didn’t seem to hear him. “Hey, so, um...” She dropped her head, shoes scuffing against the ground in a fidget. “There... there was something else that I... wanted to ask you about.”

He waited.

She took a deep breath, then jumped to search her pockets, muttering ah, shoot, and eventually pulling out a crumpled receipt and a pen.

He had a brief moment to think that maybe she would suggest trading numbers, but then she started sketching out a kanji.

“Y-your name...” she said, and his stomach flipped clean over. “It’s, um. It’s spelled like this, right?”

She’d written out ‘来栖 暁’ with astonishingly neat penmanship.

“Good memory,” he said, and his voice came out rough. Especially good considering that she’d only seen it once.

(Unless she hadn’t only seen it once...? whispered something in the back of his mind.)

“Y-yeah,” she said, and exhaled slowly. “And... my name is written like this.”

‘高巻 杏’

...Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

(Maybe this rapidly growing crush wouldn’t be that much of a mess after all.)

He wasn’t sure what his face looked like at that moment, but it was enough to make her chest shift in a gasp in his peripheral vision. He was still kind of stuck on the 高巻 杏 part.

Then she started shifting her sleeves, and the glimpse of skin under them had his full attention.

And, there, like a dream, was his name.

“April ninth, around two P.M.,” she said, this actual goddess with a shy smile and his name on her wrist.

“I... was asleep on the train,” he croaked dumbly, then belatedly thought to offer his own wrist to confirm.

The look on her face made him wish that he’d done it ages ago. Timid trepidation met honest joy and unfiltered relief, stained-glass hues of emotion painting her face like art.

The sleeve slipped to cover his name when she went to push her bangs to the side, then rub the back of her head, then, mind apparently made up, she stood and walked over to face him.

“Nice to meet you,” she said, offering a hand—for him to shake, for him to leave his heart in—and meeting his eye, endless wells of sky blue and just as open, just as enticing. “I’m Ann Takamaki, and I’m your soulmate.”

It took three weeks for Ann to dig her old list back up.

She went through the whole thing, checking off almost all of them, then adding amendments to the rest and then checking them off.

Shiho, who was hanging out to borrow Ann’s 3DS, button-mashed what sounded like a combo and said, “I still can’t believe you managed to get the hair and eyes right.”

Ann flushed, pen hovering over the page. Her most recent memory of ‘the hair’ was the way it felt tangled in her fingers and the low groan that had rumbled in his chest when she tightened her grip just so, and her most recent memory of ‘the eyes’ was how the looked when they were glazed and dark and a little bit wild.

“Oh, well, y’know. I have a type.”

“Or psychic powers,” said Shiho, teasing.

Ann sat up. “Oh man, you think?”

“Better start picking out your title now,” Shiho agreed, then muttered, “Ah! Darn...”

Ann flopped back on the bed and held the list high above her. “Ann Takamaki, finder-of-the-Perfect-10-who-is-also-her-soulmate!”

“Rejected. It’s too long.”

“Guess I’ll have to think on it.” She let out that sigh sitting high in her throat.

Then she rolled over and grabbed her phone, because Akira might have some good ideas (or some funny ones, or some intended to make her blush down to her toes), and she really wanted to see if she could make him smile again (coaxing them out was becoming her new favorite pastime), and she had a really funny story to tell him about looking out for the perfect guy and finding out that she'd been unknowingly looking for her soulmate all along.

She was pretty sure he’d be able to appreciate the humor.

fun fact for those who don’t know already: kanji generally have a few readings, but that number goes through the roof when it comes to names. you could name all your kids the same kanji with different readings and they’d hate you for life, but like,,,,, you could do it. both ann and akira’s names have 11 common readings each, at least according to jisho.

[siliquasquama]

I say Black Lives Matter because there’s a lot of people whose money rides on denying that idea

In comparing the history of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in North America versus the English, I notice a marked difference in rates of racial intermarriage. The Spanish colonies had a lot of it whereas the English ones didn't.

I've always attributed this effect to a greater desire for Blood Purity among English settlers, but the Spanish nobles were the ones who pushed the concept first, and the behavior of Criollos within the colonies does not indicate any loss of race-based thinking among them. So on the part of the Spanish colonists, I usually attribute the rates of intermarriage to the fact that the Encomienda system contained a legal loophole that created an intermarriage custom early enough to render any prohibition futile.

But what about the English, then? They didn't seem to go in for that quite as much, what with the general attitude towards stealing Indian land on an individual basis rather than making Indians into serfs for the Crown. They didn't seem to go in for intermarriage with black slaves and freedmen, either.

And yet -- I have heard tell that the Black Codes of the 1690s were set up specifically to prevent any unity between black and white folk, and people don't make laws prohibiting something unless there is something happening that they do not want to happen. And there was something to prohibit. Bacon's Rebellion had seen an uprising that combined runaway servants and slaves with middle-class revolutionaries, and though they were not the whole population they demonstrated the danger of letting commoners unite; the Virginia Slave Codes of 1705 were a specific attempt to socially segregate white and black people, such that the two peoples would grow apart and estranged. If unity was impossible nobody would ever have had to break it.

Which raises the question of what purpose the anti-black codes of the early 1800s had. In many places such as Connecticut, they were enacted right on the heels of abolishing slavery. Was it a top-down effort to keep the contemporary social and economic structure in place, or an outgrowth of deep-seated prejudice among the general population? Or both? Some states prohibited the settlement of black people altogether, which sounds more like plain prejudice, or, in the case of Oregon, an effort to make sure that white folks got all the good land there was to get first -- is that prejudice or greed? Maybe in that case it's impossible to separate the two.

A proper examination of that particular question would require a thorough look at the arguments made in favor of enacting those laws, if such records remain, or, failing that, a thorough look at the public rhetoric in a given area and year where such codes were enacted. In a country that prides itself on legislators enacting the Will of the People, it would be hard to argue that any law creating great social change did not reflect the will of those people.

The widespread existence of anti-miscegenation laws, the enactment of the One Drop Rule forcing mixed-race people into the lower classes, and the legal enforcement of physical segregation indicates this sort of specific prejudice among the population -- and yet these laws also indicate the existence of what they were prohibiting. Which makes them look like they are propping up something which would otherwise collapse.

Federal policy from the first half of the 20th century indicates that this system was already showing cracks. WASPs in the federal government forced the re-segregation of working-class city districts when granting them federal funding for housing. Apparently there was a quiet de-segregation happening all along, simply as a matter of working-class people living close to their work places.

And even the post-1865 efforts among white midwesterners to drive black people out of their towns indicates the presence of such black people to begin with, and the fear that having them around would slowly change a specific way of life unless something was done about it --

As if even widespread prejudice was not simply a matter of individualized fear and hatred, but a way of propping up something specific whose existence was otherwise threatened. The sudden prohibition of black people from being jockies was presented in my high-school history book as specific reaction against the possibility that it would provide black people a way out of their economic oppression. The part of "The Souls of Black Folk" where the white landowner warns the aspiring black teacher about teaching black folks has the landowner frame the matter a defense of the current system. The white mob in Tulsa that burned Black Wall Street was targeting something they saw as a threat to their own ambitions. The white folks in Chicago who went nuts to see a black man move into their neighborhood had been led for decades to believe such a thing would lower their property values, and the continuing efforts to slyly enforce segregation within suburbs are conducted on the same basis.

For a most contemporary example, see 2008 and the reactions of white republican voters and legislators; so many of them are from states where the economic system still depends upon keeping people poor, and a Black Democrat looked like he would be a Progressive and threaten all that, where a Black Republican would not.

The fact that these people are perfectly happy to let a black man into the party so long as he obeys the whims of the party resembles the old slaveholders who professed to love every one of their slaves as long as they were faithful, which is to say quiet and obedient. Likewise, southern white folks have long held that they are much friendlier and closer to southern black folks than white people are up North. To which I say, sure enough and that's not the problem. Northern whites got mad when black folks got too close; Southern whites got mad when black folks got too big; either way it's about reacting in defense of the current system. Y'all can be as cheerful as you want but when someone threatens the system and your response is murder, I don't give a damn how nice you were before because all that friendliness looks like it really is an inch deep.

As I often say, racism is an economic system that does not arise from prejudice, any more than an engine is built out of lubricant. Hatred and prejudice grease the wheels, but the point is to make lots of money for someone by keeping specific people as a low-paid underclass to minimize labor costs. The reactionary prejudice appears when that kind of economy is threatened by the possibility that these people can escape the underclass, because such an underclass only works to the purposes of high profits when people are held there.

So, when Chris Rock says that "white people were crazy", he is correct to a certain extent, but he fails to make it clear when and where that insanity arose -- it was always the insanity of a reaction, the desperate defense of one's Way Of Life, which is to say one's Money, because this is all built in support of mercantile and industrial Capitalism. it is not some rootless, generalized thing that exists in all societies through the ages. Fear of The Other is enough to organize reactionary movements but the necessity of those reactionary movements indicates that such fear doesn't hold the system together on its own.

Although, if the habits of American racism are seen in most places where colonies are established among a subjugated and resentful native population, one can argue that it is all a matter of supporting Imperialism rather than capitalism specifically. This would be easier to test if one could find such a settler colony whose money depended on something besides Capitalism, and while Rome might be the best source of examples, their empire depended on assimilating conquered peoples without imposing strict segregation. Even the Hebrews, those inveterate foes of Rome, were cast OUT of Judea rather than being confined within it.

Then again, empires of ancient times were not averse to slaughtering peoples who dared resist; one might say that the rise of Mercantile Capitalism created an imperialism where the imperial center wanted to subjugate people without threatening their existence as a source of revenue, and so built various forms of Apartheid as a compromise, using the concept of Blood Purity to steer individuals of the dominant class away from threatening the system. In that sense, the difference between English, French, and Spanish patterns of imperial subjugation occurred because the Spanish and French colonists were able to make big money out of the natives and the English colonists could not. The geography of this middle part of North America was inhospitable to the kind of fur-trading or plantation serfdom that the rest of the continent took advantage of, until the settlers decided to import slaves who could be replaced faster than they died. By this means the native peoples of middle North America were displaced instead of assimilated because it made more economic sense. But it was still a system that didn't really work for the geography without specific and continuing legal efforts to keep it going, which needed to foster a specific prejudice among the commoners so they would blame their system's injustice on the wrong people.

Which is to say, what we have isn't natural. It is built, and it is not even built very well for its environment. All the reactionary movements you see in its support are people trying to patch the machine. Without those patches the damn thing would have broken down three hundred miles ago.

And such reactions are collective, not singular. What distinguishes a lynching from a murder is the fact that the whole town comes out to register their approval. A lynching is a political act that it meant to unify one group of people at the same time it terrifies another into submission. It depends upon community approval, whether in active support or quiet acceptance. Those who would maintain racism have always wielded prejudice as a tool for gathering public support behind reactionary movements. For example, Jesse Helms secured his political career by running a campaign of that stoked anti-black prejudice against his progressive opponent, not to insult the opponent personally but to link his ideas to the idea of Race Mixing, oh horrors, protect your children, your neighborhoods, your property values.

In that light — if you would have a world where racism finally fell apart, you will have to impede the reactionary movements that maintain it. So keep watch for how reaction to economic justice is being organized around you. What rumors are circulating about the progressive efforts of the day? What distortions are you seeing? Most importantly, how are you being convinced to quietly approve of efforts against justice? In our own day we see news reports bringing up the criminal record of someone killed by the police, or focusing on the small gestures of niceness police forces make while omitting the tear gas that follows, or spreading wild rumors about the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone or about Antifascist groups, peddling the lie that police work is comparatively dangerous or that the U.S. is still full of violent crime that you could run into and the police are there to protect you — anything and everything to foster your apathy and your approval for upholding the Status Quo.

Meanwhile, the online rhetoric surrounding the current protest efforts includes posts that assume black and white people will be there together, borne out by the racial makeup of the crowds. It is almost as if we are in another period where sectarian prejudice among the underclass is decaying to the point it threatens the system.

Keep a sharp eye out for anyone trying to revive prejudicial separatism between peoples of the underclass. Keep an eye out for anyone trying to push sharp distinctions between black and white people. Those distinctions wouldn't be there if people hadn't put effort into maintaining them over the centuries. It was always about keeping up the strategy of Divide and Rule so the system wouldn't fall apart. Make sure it falls apart now.

[isolaradiale]

THE FANTASIA WAR: WORLD INFO

Before reading this makes sure you read the event post!

FIBONACCI: THE KINGDOM OF YELA ALORA

GENERAL The towers of Fibonacci have been torn down and rebuilt as The Kingdom of Yela Alora, featuring grand cobblestone structures, shaped like rook chess pieces, with intricately designed walkways connecting them at many levels, and the spires extend far beyond cloud level; dragons circling around them are not an uncommon sight. This section of the kingdom is kept impeccably clean. The exterior and interior design of the structures get more lavish and expensive as you go higher, with the upper-most layers being the most royal looking of all. That is where the highest ranking nobles live, and access is extremely limited. The Kingdom of Yela Alora is ruled by Queen Deyana, whose care for her citizens decreases the further they are from her level—speaking both societally and literally.

The castle-like structures are surrounded by wide moats of bog, with various reeds, twiggy bushes, and other swamp flora sprouting from the murky waters. That expanse of the mire is what separates the inner kingdom from the surrounding town, Sterlow. Much shorter in design but no less complex, the people who live there do so in sturdy buildings made largely of stone, wood, and brass. Miles of metal piping and more gears than you can count are used for both infrastructure and aesthetic enhancement. Steam power is the main source of energy here, with only basic magic filling in where steam is not enough.

PLAYER RACES

ELVES: the primary humanoid race that fills both the streets of Sterlow and the inner portion of Yela Alora. Most elves are quite tall, with 6 feet being the average height, and all of them have ears that come to a rounded point. Ear length varies more than height, but don't feel self-conscious if you draw the short end of the stick in that regard. Elves also have better night vision than normal, and if you ask an elf, better taste in interior decoration, too.

UNHOLY: Though elves may rank nobility too high sometimes, they are not necessarily evil. The same cannot be said for most of the unholy folk who stay in the kingdom of Yela Alora. Demons, vampires, dhampirs, ghouls...all find it relatively easy to live either on the fringes of Sterlow or hidden in the swamps. You may find a kind vampire, or perhaps a devil who is more interested in playing tricks than bartering souls, but always keep your wits about you.

COTES: THE KINGDOM OF AIRAISAL

GENERAL The Cotes ward has been completely transformed into the Kingdom of Airaisal, a nation led by Queen Aleida. A bustling land of forests and magic, the other kingdoms have a tendency to look down upon Airaisal as land without development. But that’s hardly the case. In the depths of the forest rests the city of Diapool, a bustling fantasy town constructed predominantly from the oak of the surrounding brush. Much of the city is powered by magic supplied by its high mage population, from magic torches to rail cars that allow you to quickly traverse the area. 

The surrounding forests themselves are thick and varied, and short of the few paths leading to and from Diapool it’s very possible to get lost. Because these paths are few it’s common for bandits to set up ambushes along the way. Regarding the species of flora: there seems to be no real trend to what appears. Tropical, temperate, boreal; depending on the area you’re in the atmosphere might vary. Be wary of the various man eating plants that lurk within as well.

PLAYER RACES

BEASTKIN: a humanoid race that predominantly occupies Airaisal and calls Diapool their home. Beastkin appear predominantly human in appearance but are liable to show physical traits of animals - specifically mammals. Ears, teeth, tails, paws; the variations are vast and span many different animal species. Beastkin generally have enhanced senses for navigating the forests and double the strength of a regular human. Attuned to nature, many possess a strong affinity for magic.

ALRAUNE: a monster race that, while having the shape of a human, is actually a plant at its core. These monsters come in many shapes and sizes, often decorated with different flowers with skin of green and hair of vines. Those that live wildly on the forest may prey upon passersby, but those that pursue a domesticated life in the cities are exceptionally intelligent and adept at utilizing magic. While they aren’t physically stronger than a regular human, they are capable of extending strong vines from their bodies.

GOLDEN: THE  OPALARIAN EMPIRE

GENERAL The bustling streets and ritzy architecture of Golden have been amplified tenfold in this coastal city. The cobblestone roads have been replaced with smooth, sturdy sandstone, peppered with colorful shells and sea glass to represent the kingdom’s long and fruitful relationship with the ocean. Government buildings and important political landmarks are clearly marked by ornate mosaics, featuring precious materials like gold, ivory, and shimmering opals--the signature gemstone of Opalaria. Merchants in particular are fond of this kingdom, as its residents and visitors are too happy to spend their coin on the finer things in life.

Alongside the roads, one would find clear, deep channels of water carved through the city. These serve as paths for the aquatic residents of Opalaria, and like the buildings on land, several sunken wells and chasms feature those same beautiful sandstone structures. Opalaria is the very picture of opulence, made not with magic, but with ingenuity and hard work... ...Or so most people think. While the city is pristine, its politics are less so. There is no set ruler of Opalaria; instead it’s governed by a council of big family houses, all strangling each other for power. Bribes, assassinations and corruption run rampant and unseen in these few factions, with the families all-too-happy to hire hands that don’t mind getting bloodied. This is especially true of House Karliah, who is both one of the great families and the backbone of the Thieves’ Guild, which has more members in it than one would be even remotely comfortable with.

PLAYER RACES

HUMAN: Due to their relatively short lifespans, humans are capable of incredible potential, determination and arrogance. They slightly outnumber the other populations in the Opalarian Empire. Many of them have migrated here from other kingdoms to live out their dreams--others come regularly to trade their wares. The individual cultures of these human colonies are represented all around the kingdom.

MERFOLK: The second biggest population of Opalaria are the people of the sea, and are the native species of the kingdom. They can travel both by the flooded roads and the streets above by growing legs when needed. Their naturally curious minds welcomed the humans as a social experiment and a business opportunity, and live (mostly) at peace with them. You can tell a merperson apart from a human by their skin, which is slightly translucent and iridescent due to their scales. Though they breathe with lungs on land, one can easily see a merperson’s gills if they’re exposed.

SIRENS: Not everyone you meet in the waters are friendly. Bearing a grudge on both races for casting them out as ugly and inferior, the sirens embraced their monstrous nature and found work in espionage and dirty tactics. Though the colony lives in the shoddier outskirts of the kingdom, they venture into Opalaria for work... or draw budding criminals and justice-seekers to them instead for an easy meal. Though they can disguise themselves for a short while, there will always be something unnervingly off about a siren posing as another race. In their true form, they resemble the strange and terrifying creatures of the deep (anglerfish, vampire squid, gulper eels), and their bio-luminescent freckles betray their true form when the sun sets.

ARCHIMEDES: THE KINGDOM OF XALPHINA

GENERAL Entering Archimedes Ward will reveal that it, too, is no longer how it once was, transformed into what is now known as the Kingdom of Xalphina. Rather than pure white and light blues, the grounds of the ward, now known as the city of Eriol, have become a smooth, silvery gray, pulsating with white and faintly golden lines which appear more like laid stone that are imbued with grandeur magic, some leading to pools of a concentrated energy of magic that people can either draw from by resting beside or dipping themselves into to replenish themselves, all free for access to the citizens. While many other kingdoms are not lacking in these arts, many regard this kingdom as the one most adept in fueling the “technology” of their time through magical means and creatures alike. Even if there are those who will take up arms when necessary, it is easy to tell that this is where many come to study upon the arcane arts and hone their latent magical abilities than physical force. Though many offer themselves to study, there are also many places one can find a good pub or two to let themselves relax after a long day of work and education.

Streams, albeit fewer and more thinner than those now within Golden, flow through to channel magic throughout the city, thus empowering it upon a magical level, while the natural veins in the pathways are considered high powered leylines which have become conduits for mages and other means. Homes are also powered this way, casting magical barriers around public places and private estates and caverns, so long as the flow of the essence is reinforced daily and does not run out. Rustic creations known as Artifactus are magically created and imbued while being fueled by potions, serving as familiars, companions, and workers with various forms that keep the kingdom pristine and proper. Following any of these lines will lead you toward the outer edges where a large fortress resides upon the steep ledge, safeguarding the very castle from a frontal assault while also maintaining a general sense of protection from the climb behind where the twins Princess Aalis and Prince Aaren both preside in lieu of their  mother and father, who have gone beyond the age of rule as dictated in their political practices.

When night falls, the white and faint gold leylines and pools illuminate the entirety of the kingdom, the residents needing no form of light to see when travelling, usually requiring special curtains for their homes in order to block off the overwhelming glow of the magic particles that ooze from the magical sources.

PLAYER RACES

DRAKEN: latent with inherent magical abilities, many people born of this race are likened to dragons which have a lifespan roughly twice as long as humans, if not longer. Their appearances vary by far, some looking more humanesque with only scales to discern their heritage, while others look as if they are dragons in human form, covered completely in natural scaled armor and possessing fangs and claws, even those with a more human like complexion having wings or tails. There is no wrong combination in looks as a Draken, all of them regarding each other as the same. Being considered as dragon reincarnate, some are able to breathe fire while others can spit frost and ice instead.

FAEKIN: contrasting Draken, the Faekin are ethereal beings which exude an otherworldly beauty and deep sense of arcane heritage. There are many types, such as Dryads, Nymphs, Xana, and even the malevolent Erlkings. Seeing antennae on one or even butterfly wings on another is not uncommon, while others might have branches as horns or fissures of magic that crackle along their skin every so often. Though some may be scholarly and composed, it is not foreign to find that you have been pranked by one of this kind, many using their magics for harmless jests and good times. It’s always good to keep an eye out, just in case you might have a Reeking Potion dumped on you as you innocently pass through an area...

FAEKEN: differing from Faekin, Faeken are a combination of Drakens and Faekin heritage through parents of each coming together, creating an almost enchanting creature of magical aptitude and draconic means that seems beyond this realm. While some feel as if they have no place to belong being born of both races, there are those who are well regarded and accepted. There have been rumors that the royal family are amongst those considered Faeken, though they have never been confirmed nor denied.

[the-magnus-archives-archiver]

Taken Ill

Case: 0121911

Name: Nicole Baxter Subject: Visits culminating in the fire that consumed Ivy Meadows Care Home in Woodley, Greater Manchester Date: November 19th, 2012 Recorded by: Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London

Fear is a strange thing, isn’t it? What you’re afraid of. For most people, a corpse is at the least unnerving and, for some, outright terrifying. Or maybe it’s disgust. They are two very different feelings, aren’t they? Though they often bleed into each other, if you’ll pardon the pun. I work as a funeral director, so as you can imagine, how I feel about death and the body is a bit more... complicated and more immediately relevant than it is for most people. Dealing with cadavers day in, day out forces you to confront all manner of things about yourself.

Simply put, I have found that I do not believe in any sort of afterlife. I have seen people cold and lifeless upon the mortician’s table who I knew, who I remembered as vibrant and lively. There was no soul that had departed, no special spark that passed on to something else. Simply a body that no longer moved or spoke or thought. It feels odd to consider the fact that you will no longer exist some day, but you didn’t exist for billions of years before your birth, so, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to conclude that you will not exist afterwards in much the same way. I try to see life as a pleasant holiday from non-existence. It provides some comfort when the truth of my own mortality stares me in the face every day.

There is one thing about dead bodies that does bother me, though. One thing that... eats at me, as it were, and does give me that sick tightness of fear deep in my gut. It is rot. I don’t know why it gets to me so; perhaps it’s precisely because I don’t think there is anything beyond the body, and even dead and unaware, seeing a person’s form begin to putrefy and fester – becoming just a home for the crawling, feasting things – is too much for me. Perhaps it’s just an unaccountable phobia. Regardless of the reason, the fact is that to see the corpses decaying, to see their flesh corrupted, it is... the one part of this job that I find uncomfortable. So much so that I would describe reconstruction and preservation as my favourite part of the process. Making sure the cadaver looks as peaceful and lifelike as possible. Make them the person they were, or as close as they can be while cold and senseless. Fighting off the rot. The insects. The disease. 

I don’t know why I wrote disease just then. They’re dead, so they can’t be diseased in the normal sense, can they? I suppose it’s just thinking about what happened at the Ivy Meadows Care Home links them in my head. But it’s not just that, is it? That... the fear, the feeling. That tingling, squirming fear at the back of my mind – it feels the same when thinking of the germs that corrupt and twist our bodies, lurking invisibly on any table or surface, or when I saw those swarming flies. How many more moved and buzzed just out of sight? I’ve never had any mental health issues before, but perhaps after my experience I should consult someone. I read once that OCD can come on later in life, if a severe experience sets it off.

I’m rambling. Disregard this first page, I’ll start again.

I work as a mortician at Baxter and Gordon Funeral Directors in Woodley. By rights it should now just be Baxter Funeral Directors, as William Gordon passed away himself about 5 years ago, leaving my uncle George running the place on his own. He kept the name though, as he always said it was one of the most respected in all of Manchester. God knows there was no sentimental reason to keep it. From the way he talked, he and William Gordon hated each other by the end, to the point where the will expressly stated that the body of William Gordon was to be handled and prepared by Fenchurch and Sons, one of my uncle’s great rivals. Maybe that’s why Uncle George is so keen to keep it in the family. He hired me and my cousin Josh to help, and now Baxter and Gordon Funeral Directors is entirely run by Baxters.

I’ve been there for almost four years now and have taken over most of the client-side arrangements of the business. My uncle has gotten somewhat brusque in his old age and is now more suited to organising things with churches and crematoria, rather than handling the recently bereaved. As such, I’ve gotten to know the various nursing and care homes around Woodley rather well. We generally get a few removals from any given one each year. Maybe as many as a half dozen if the winter is bad. It’s certainly our most reliable source of business. 

Of them all, Ivy Meadows was my favourite. For a funeral director to say she has a favourite nursing home probably sounds a bit like the Grim Reaper talking about his favourite hospital, but it’s true. Ivy Meadows Care Home was on the outskirts of Woodley, where the suburbs gave way to pockets of green countryside. It wasn’t remote, exactly, but it was removed enough from main road that it stood alone, surrounded by rather lovely gardens on three sides, and a long, open field behind it. It had been a country house once, I believe, but not much of the original structure remains, having been modified and expanded to provide accessible accommodation for about thirty residents. It was an odd building, with modern glass and concrete sections sprouting from old turreted brickwork, like blocky stone tumours.

The look of the place wasn’t why I liked it, though. No, that was the residents. Ivy Meadows was almost entirely populated by those elderly who were entirely supported by the state. Most pensioners have some savings or property or family to support them, which means if they’re unable to live alone they can at least afford to pay for their own care or some of it. It’s rare for a person to reach that age and have literally nothing to pay for their care, but it does happen. In these cases, the state pays for them, but they have little choice in where they end up. Ivy Meadows was almost entirely populated by these. Old people without money or family, sent to be looked after by strangers. You’d have expected the atmosphere to be unpleasant, some morbid combination of prison and hospice, but it was quite the opposite. Something about the mutual loneliness seemed to lead them to create a real sense of community. It was the only place I ever went where the residents still gave me a smile. Hannah Ramirez, who ran the place, would always tell me a bit about the deceased and their time there, and I was inevitably shocked by tales of drugs, sexual escapades and other gossip that sounded more like a high school than a nursing home. I think Hannah enjoyed trying to get a reaction out of me when I was trying to be solemn. It was just a happy place, even if I was only there to do a sad duty.

It all started to change about three months ago, after Hannah left. I don’t know exactly when she left her post or why; we hadn’t had a call from Ivy Meadows for a couple of months, so it must have happened during that period. I don’t know where she moved to, either. It certainly wasn’t any of the other care homes around Woodley, and it wasn’t like I knew her personally. I’d gotten a call from one of the nurses, Alenka Kozel, who said that one of their residents had taken ill and passed away, a man by the name of Bertrand Miller. I asked her for a few more details; she started to say something else, but the call was cut off almost abruptly. I didn’t really think too much about it, most of the details could be worked out when we arrived, so I called Josh and loaded up the car for a removal.

It was a hot mid-August day, and the air was thick and humid, making everything feel sticky, like the whole world was running a fever. The sky was overcast, though, an orangey-grey that cast muted shadows and seemed to muffle the world. It was about a ten minute drive to Ivy Meadows, and neither of us said a word. I don’t know why, at that point we had no idea that there was anything wrong, but looking back it seems like we both felt there was something off about it. Or maybe we were just too hot for conversation and hindsight is colouring my memories.

When we arrived the place was silent. There were no cars in the parking area, which was not unusual, but I couldn’t see a soul anywhere on the grounds. Maybe they were simply staying out of the heat. Josh and I got out of the car and approached the door. I pressed the buzzer, as I had done so many times before, expecting the cheery voice of one of the receptionists. Instead there was just dead air, followed by the clunk of the door being remotely unlocked. I looked at Josh, who shrugged, and we went inside.

Ivy Meadows Care Home was usually much as you would find any other – air conditioned, and smelling faintly of cleaning products and cheap potpourri. This time it was different. The smell now was just as faint, but seemed... rancid, while the air itself was close and damp. The beige walls seemed dirtier than before, with dark marks at roughly hand-height. There was a faint buzzing, like a fly, but I couldn’t see any source for it.

None of it was so bad as to make us turn back, however, and we headed towards the reception desk. There was nobody behind it, and I rang the bell. I always wore gloves when on a removal, and was glad of that fact now, as I noticed a greasy residue on top of the small brass bell. The door to the reception opened, and a tall man stepped out. He was rail thin and wore a faded brown suit that seemed to have been cut for a much fatter man. His eyes were a watery blue and his dark hair stood on top of his head in an unruly mess. He must have been around forty, but had a nervous sort of energy to him. He was quite a surprise, to say the least.

Josh recovered faster than I did and asked the man, a bit rudely, who he was, where we could find Hannah. The man shook his head at this and said that Ms. Ramirez had left the position, and he was now Director of Ivy Meadows. He introduced himself as John Amherst, and held a hand out for Josh to shake. My cousin stood there for some time, staring at the thick, sweaty hand of this strange man, clearly not wanting to shake it. Mr Amherst just stood there, arm outstretched, apparently unconcerned. A fly landed on his face, and if he noticed, he didn’t give any sign of it, not even when it walked across his eye. Eventually, the now clearly shaken Josh stuttered out some semi-polite excuse and backed away.

At this John Amherst lowered his hand and turned to me. He asked why we were here. This took me rather by surprise, as there’s generally only one reason undertakers show up in such a place. We told him we had received a call and been told Mr. Miller had passed away. Amherst asked who had called us, but with such a sharpness in his voice that I lied and said the caller hadn’t given their name. He paused, clearly considering what to say next very carefully. Finally, he nodded, and said that yes, Bertrand Miller was dead. And we could have him. Then he gestured for us to follow and began to walk back into the main building.

As we walked, he began listing the details for Mr. Miller’s funeral, such as they were. No family or friends, no savings or insurance, simple cremation, as soon as possible. No service to be held at the crematorium. Ashes to be returned to Ivy Meadows in whatever the cheapest option was for an urn made of brass. At this I asked what he wanted the ashes for, and he simply waved his hand in a vague dismissal and said they’d be wanting to have a “private remembrance service”.

By now, we’d been walking for a few minutes, and I hadn’t seen another soul in the corridors. I thought I spotted one of the nurses at one point, but they had turned and walked away as soon as they saw us. We arrived at a room bearing a small plaque. It read ‘Bertrand Miller’. John Amherst opened it without hesitation and went inside. 

The smell was what hit me first. I’ve smelled plenty of corpses in my time. I’d almost say I’m used to the smell. This was different, there was some deeper taint there than simply putrefying flesh, and it made me gag. By the look on his face, Josh smelled it as well. Then I got a good look at the body on the bed, and almost turned and ran.

Based on the colour of those sections of skin still whole and unblemished, Mr. Miller couldn’t have been dead for more than a few hours, half a day at most. You wouldn’t have known, though. Large sections of his body were covered in a wet, creamy yellow rash, which... I’m not a doctor, so describing exactly what it did to the flesh it touched would serve no purpose except to start me having the nightmares again. Let us just say that it gave a plentiful home for the flies that swarmed around his body.

We looked at John Amherst, utterly appalled. He said not to worry, that the disease that had claimed poor Mr. Miller wasn’t contagious. Even produced the recently signed death certificate, though it was stained with some dark grey fluid, so I did not examine it too closely. He then apologised that their air conditioning had broken. “I’m sure you know all about what heat does to cadavers,” he said. I just wanted to get out of there, and have never been more grateful to whoever designed care home beds so that we could remove the body with as little contact as possible. Even then, on the way out I felt a sudden tickling pain on the back of my left hand, and looked down to see the thick leather glove in contact with one of the patches of yellow. I nearly screamed and dropped the body, but did neither. Ivy Meadows did not feel then like a safe place to do either of those things. In fact, I kept my composure through the whole of the drive home. 

As soon as we arrived, I ran into the bathroom, throwing my gloves into the medical waste bin. I scrubbed the patch of skin that still felt like it was crawling. I could see nothing wrong with it, but I kept scrubbing until it was bloody, then poured disinfectant over it until it went numb.

When I finally left the bathroom, I found Josh arguing loudly with his father. Apparently Uncle George was not satisfied with the explanation given for the state of Mr. Miller’s body. He turned to me, and asked what had happened. I told him the same thing Josh had, the same thing I’ve told you. We went over it slowly, point by point until finally he stood there silently, looking worried, but determined. He had us tell it to him one more time, before he nodded, told us to stay away from the corpse of Bertrand Miller, and left, telling us he had to make a few calls. I have never seen a cremation done with such a quick turnaround, and he was burned before the end of the day. I asked Uncle George about returning the ashes in a brass urn, but he shook his head, and said he’d already had them disposed of.

I knew my uncle wasn’t one to share his thoughts when he didn’t want to, and that seemed to be the end of it, save for those times throughout the day I would feel that tickling in my hand and run to scrub it away. I went on a couple of other jobs, and it seemed like we were expected to forget it. Josh didn’t talk about what happened, and I got the impression he was trying to ignore what he had seen. He always was a practical soul.

I... couldn’t let it go, though. It just kept playing in my mind. So when the phone rang two weeks later and I heard Alenka’s voice on the other end, my heart skipped several beats. What she said did nothing to allay my fears. The line was bad, very bad, but I could have sworn she said, “Come quickly. We’ve taken ill. We’ve passed away.” The words repeated, as though on a recorded loop, though they were no easier to make out than the first time. Finally, I put the phone down. I was technically off duty at that point, having just finished my shift, so I could have ignored it. I could have walked away. Instead, I put on my normal clothes, grabbed three pairs of gloves and got in my car.

The drive there was dreadful. Still hot, I kept looking at turnings and junctions, and imagining where I would go if I turned away from Ivy Meadows and just drove off. But I didn’t. I kept taking those old familiar turnings, moving inevitably towards that sick, old building.

When I arrived, it was quiet. The whole building looked filthy now, even from the outside, and the plants that bordered it had started to take on an unhealthy whitish colour. There was one other car in the parking area, a faded white Transit van I didn’t recognise. I got out and started to walk towards the front door. The smell was noticeable even from out here, and by the time I got close enough to reach the buzzer, it had become so strong as to be unbearable. I tried to bring myself to press the button. But instead I turned and half-sprinted back to my car, desperate to breath clean air again.

I stood there, torn between wanting to flee and needing to know. Then in the silence, I heard it. Tap, tap, tap. Someone banging rhythmically on a window. I scanned all the ones I could see, but they were dark.

Tap, tap, tap.

It showed no sign of stopping. I began to make a wide circuit of the building. It was on the other side that I saw it. A large, ground floor window showed what I think would once have been the lounge. The walls were dark, stained and smeared to almost black, but the windows were clear. Stood the other side of the glass, weakly banging her fist against it, was Alenka Kozel. Her skin was mottled, covered with that leaking yellow rash. She saw me, and as her eyes locked with mine she opened her mouth, and the buzzing of the flies that spewed out was almost as loud as her scream.

I turned and began to sprint back towards my car. I had to get away, to get out. Then, without warning, I felt something heavy hit me in the side and I lost my footing, falling to the ground. I looked up to see an old man pinning me to the ground, his long, white beard matted and filthy. I screamed and tried to escape, but his age seemed to have done nothing to diminish his strength, and he kept his grip easily. 

Then he spoke in a thick Mancunian accent and told me to keep my voice down. I noticed that his skin was unblemished pink, and behind him stood a young woman, tall and lean with close-cropped hair and a deep scar over her right eye. She carried a large canvas bag, and was shaking her head, telling the old man to leave me alone. After a few suspicious glances, he got up. I could swear I recognised him from somewhere, but when I asked the two of them who they were, they just shook their heads and told me to leave. I asked them what was going on, and the old man looked at his companion, as if asking permission, said something about knowledge being a good defence here. She shook her head and said that leaving quickly was a better one. I didn’t need to be told a third time.

I got in my car, and I left them to their work. I didn’t turn around even when I saw the smoke start to rise behind me. And that was the last time I went there. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go wash my hands.

Archivist Notes:

The Ivy Meadows Care Home in Woodley was officially decommissioned in July 2011, a month before the first of these alleged calls came in. It burned down on the 4th of September that same year after a leaking gas main caught fire. If the gas was already leaking, this might have resulted in hallucinations or other problems during their initial visit. There is no record of the body of Bertrand Miller being processed, or cremated, by Baxter and Gordon Funeral Directors, but based on this statement that’s not necessarily a point of incredulity. Bertrand Miller was a resident at Ivy Meadows, but according to his death certificate he passed away on 19th July, a week before the home was decommissioned. There’s no record of any funeral arrangements or disposal of the body.

In fact, it seems the records from the closure of Ivy Meadows are... well, according to Sasha, calling them ‘patchy’ would be very generous. There are only transfer records for seven residents, whereas at last official count the home held twenty-nine. The others seem to have been lost in the system somewhere. The majority of the workforce also appears to be undocumented, and I can find no record of any ‘Alenka Kozel’ on the system. Martin’s research would seem to indicate the place employed a reasonable number of international staff they preferred to keep off the books, but it doesn’t explain why none of the officially-listed staff can be located for follow- up, except for Hannah Ramirez, whose brief interview simply established she moved to Brighton shortly before the closure of Ivy Meadows and hadn’t heard anything about it since. John Amherst, as best we can tell, doesn’t exist. We’re unable to locate anyone fitting that description anywhere within the care or medical sector, and he certainly never ran any nursing homes.

Another tale full of dead ends. We did contact the Baxters. Joshua Baxter repeated the first part of the above statement. George Baxter told us not to listen to tall tales. Nicole Baxter said she stands by her account, but aside from losing her left hand in what she calls “a workplace accident”, there have been no further developments.

Still, there’s a lot here the puts me in mind of other statements. Something in the way Ms. Baxter talks about fear. I can’t help but be reminded of statement 0142302, how Jane Prentiss talks about her own fears. And the old man and his companion... who does that remind me of? If he wasn’t dead I’d think it might have been Trevor—

[ [DOOR OPENS] Oh, er, yes?

Tim: Are you free?

Archivist: Yes... Yes, I’m just about finished here, what is it?

Tim: Oh, ah, nothing urgent, um, it’s just Elias was asking a couple questions about the delivery.

Archivist: Delivery? What delivery?

Tim: Ah well, that’s actually what he was asking, huh! Um, apparently Martin, uh, took delivery of a couple of items last week addressed to you. Did he not mention it?

Archivist: No, he... Oh, yes, actually. I completely forgot. He said he put it in my desk draw, hold on.

[SOUND OF PACKAGE BEING RETRIEVED AND OPENED]

Tim: Er, what is it?

Archivist: A lighter. An old Zippo.

Tim: You smoke?

Archivist: No. And I don’t allow ignition sources in my archive! Tim: Okay. Is there anything unusual about it?

Archivist: Not really. Just a sort of spider web design on the front. Doesn’t mean anything to me. You?

Tim: Ah no. No.

Archivist: Well... show it to the others, see what they think. You said there was something else as well?

Tim: Oh, ah yes, yeah, it was sent straight to the Artefact Storage, a table of some sort. Ah, looks old. Quite pretty, though. Fascinating design on it.

Archivist: Tim... Tim, it doesn’t have a hole in it, does it? About six inches square?

Tim: Ah... I don’t know. Maybe? Um, I’ll be honest I didn’t really notice. It was quite—

Archivist: Hypnotic, yes. Do you know who made the delivery? Did they sign in?

Tim: Um... ah no, ah sorry no I don’t know.

Archivist: I need to talk to Martin. Uh, end recording.]

[zerolympiustrife]

ZOS’ SPECIAL!!! Short stories 5

Title: Smoke Week Everyday! (Actually, don’t.) (Various)

Since I’ve hit EXACTLY 420 followers, I’ve decided to make something silly in celebration.

————————————————————

*In a test lab*

Cloud (shaking his head): I can’t believe this. Some a-hole decided to take multiple extractions of Mako from my world and Dust from Ruby’s world and convert them into... *Holds up a Mako cigarette* this?

Ren: I wonder what’s the repercussions.

Cloud: Oh, you know...since Mako comes from the livestream, smoking this would probably not only cause massive amounts of Mako poisoning, but you could also be inhaling the spirit of your dead great-grandfather and multiple other souls from the planet of Gaia traveling into your head, possibly rotting your brain.

Some employee (running by, holding his head in pain): THE VOICES!!! THEY WON’T STOP!!! MAKE IT END!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!! *Runs face-first into a wall and loses consciousness*

Ruby (holding up a red cigar): What do you think this could be?

Ren: Perhaps this is fire Dust converted into a cigar?

Cloud (sarcastically): Oh, brilliant! A faster way to kill your lungs than a normal cigarette would!

Ruby (putting the cigar down): Ugh! Hey, what do you think would happen if these employees were to take a Restore Materia and convert it into a cigar? Would doing so HEAL your lungs instead of killing them?

Cloud: Sounds like a more “healthy” way of smoking cigars. However, that doesn’t mean that I’m not against this sort of action.

Ruby: What do you think if would happen if these employees were to take Persona cards and do the same with Mako, Materia, and Dust?

Ren (pondering): Sheesh...would you temporarily be using that Persona for as long as you keep inhaling the cigar? Or would your own Persona be controlling you while you’re really, really high?

Employee (walking by): Ooh! Now you’re giving us ideas! Thanks, visitor! *Walks off*

*Ruby gives Ren a weird look while Cloud shakes his head disapprovingly*

Ren: Whoops.

*Flash cut! to a “Sonic Sez Says” PSA*

Sonic: Kids, there’s nothing more cool than chillin’ out maxin’ relaxin’ all cool on the weekends, relieving stress from a tough week, but if you think smokin’ weed’s the perfect the way to lay off, that’s no good. *Shaking head* It stains your teeth! It rots your lungs! It scrambles your brain! Don’t be that fool... *Points at Qrow*

Qrow (currently high): I CAN TASTE THE COSMOOOOOOOOOOOOOS!!! I’M KING OF THE F*Ring collected sound effect* WORLD!!!

Sonic (waggles his finger): Smokin’ ain’t cool! *Runs off*

*Flash cut! back to the test lab, Cloud, Ruby, and Ren packed up and stole all the cigars into a sack and ran off while no one was around*

Cloud (holding the sack): Good to know the we - the debate team - were there to know all the important details. *Looks over to Ren and Ruby* Mark my words: We are NOT selling these.

Ren: >“Agreed.” >“I’ll sell ‘em if you don’t want to.” >“Why not sell these to our enemies?”

Ruby (eyes widened): Are you serious?!

Cloud (smirking): Hm...sell ‘em to our enemies, you ask?

Ren: Yeah. Say we spread this around a population of world-threatening, human/faunus-devouring monsters and watch them either get really high or hallucinate like crazy by seeing each other as enemies.

Ruby: Let them fight, you say?

Ren (grinning): Let them fight...

Cloud: Also, since said monsters are highly unintelligent and feral, we won’t have to write some warning on these such as-

Ren: “Do not consume if pregnant”.

Cloud: “May have unpredictable side effects”.

*Flash cut! to a monster under the effects of the drugs and eating its own kin*

Hunter 1: Why is that monster eating his own friend?

Hunter 2 (drugged himself with the cigars due to stupidity): Why’s that giant chicken eating that hippopotamus?

*Flash cut! back to the trio*

Cloud: “May have unpredictable side effects”. “This is for thrill-seeking villains only”.

*Ren and Ruby burst out laughing*

Ruby: “Highly advisable towards those fighting monsters or have children accompanying you: Do not take”.

Cloud: “Or any villain who’s just a dirty coward”.

Ren: “Not recommended for those who aren’t at the dentist getting their wisdom teeth removed”.

Ruby: “Not recommended for evil-doers who aren’t cool”.

[raymondrroberts]

A Brief Defense of Liberal Democracy

This essay is pieced together from excerpts of a paper I delivered in Bangkok in November 2019.  Observers note that the quality and quantity of liberal democracies is in decline[1]  Globally, authoritarianism and ethno-nationalism are on the rise. It seems like a good time to consider why Christians ought to support liberal democracy.

This map indicates the state of democracies worldwide, for an explanation click this link.

I have a general target in mind when I talk about liberal democracy. By liberal I mean provisions that require states to protect the rights of individuals and groups, particularly minorities, through its laws. By democracy I mean forms of government that empower citizens to regularly elect their political leaders in free, fair, and meaningful elections.[2] While some scholars distinguish liberalism and democracy, identifying “illiberal democracies,” I note that liberalism and democracy are mutually dependent. When liberalism declines, a tyranny of the majority emerges.[3]  

Reinhold Niebuhr

Reinhold Niebuhr famously rooted his defense of democracy in Christian anthropology, saying,

"[The human] capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but [the human] inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary."[4]

Image of God

A Christian anthropology begins with the conviction that all people are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). This belief supports the dignity of every person and authorizes a special concern for the poor, weak, and vulnerable. It undercuts elitist ideologies and ethnic prejudices, providing a point of solidarity across what can sometimes appear to be unbridgeable tribal, racial, national, linguistic, historical and cultural differences. In the face of humankind’s incredible diversity, gifts, status and conditions, it provides a metaphysical-moral reason for equality before the law. People who view others as bearing the image of God have good reason to oppose illiberal populisms and ethno-nationalism.

Natural Law

A Christian anthropology also holds that God has endowed every human being with a natural law, or a moral sense.[5] This idea was developed from the Apostle Paul’s observation that gentiles who lack the revealed law of God nevertheless possess the capacity for moral reasoning. The Apostle Paul said that God had written the law on their hearts, giving them a conscience (Romans 2:14-15). This is why people of other religions or no religion so often manifest good will.

In the 11th Century the conviction that every person was capable of discerning right and wrong became the foundation on which natural law thinking developed and European law was reconstructed. Since Hugo Grotius in the 17th Century, natural law and the Protestant (and, later, enlightenment) elevations of the individual conscience provided a foundation for international law, secular government, and inter-religious dialogue.[6] The belief that human beings can discern right and wrong undermines exclusionary claims that moral insight and practice is limited to religious texts, the interpreters of these texts, or the members of communities formed around these texts.

As it relates to democracy, the belief in natural law funds a hope that societies can find thin ethical agreement across the diversities of religion and culture. [7] Natural law provides a foundation for social solidarity among dissimilar peoples, grounding confidence that individuals can transcend personal and tribal interests to imagine common public goods. Similarly, it mandates that every citizen participate in democratic conversation and decision-making. It also undercuts defenses employed by oppressive states that claim their violations of human rights reflect distinctive cultural values that deserve respect. Together, the doctrines of the image of God and natural law provide a theological rationale for the human capacity for justice.

Sin

While everyone has a moral sense, we everywhere see how this sense can be muted and twisted to evil ends. Christians attribute this failure to sin, a doctrine built on the Apostle Paul’s statement that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3.23). As a description of human nature, the doctrine of sin accords with observations that human beings are inclined to estrangement and destruction. Whether from finitude, anxiety or trauma, human interests, moral reasoning, laws, and institutions tend to “curve in on themselves” (Augustine). That is, human beings pursue constricted visions of the good that fail to honor the Creator and Redeemer’s expansive purpose for “all things” (Colossians 1:15-20).

Sin is inventive.[8] Calvin described human beings as “idol factories” constantly finding ways to turn from God. Sin is not necessary, but it is universal. Its corrupting distortions infect every aspect of human being. In the Reformed Tradition this aspect of sin is conveyed in the term, “total depravity.” Sin is embedded in and passed down in culture, deforming every individual and institution in society. It even corrupts individuals and movements engaged in redemptive efforts to heal souls, ameliorate sins affects, and reform social evils. The cross of Christ specifically arouses suspicion of political and religious power.

The doctrine of sin prompts us to recognize the countless ways human beings and their institutions pursue evil purposes. It leads us to anticipate the inventive ways that social, economic and political systems fall short of their life-giving promise. It amplifies sensitivity to corporate and structural evil and triggers apprehension whenever we face concentrations of power. People equipped with a strong doctrine of sin are not dismayed when they confront xenophobia, racism, imperfect democratic institutions, or desires for a strong authoritarian leader.

The doctrine of sin makes the church skeptical that moral and religious appeals can, by themselves, correct injustice or protect the common good. It underwrites efforts to surmount problems inherent in concentrations of power through mechanisms of transparency (reporting requirements, whistleblower protections, freedom of information laws, and a free press). It seeks to diffuse the problems of concentrated power by setting power against power with checks, balances, and limits.

Sin’s realism about the human capacity for evil points to the necessity of vertical democratic systems of transparency and accountability (voting) and horizontal checks on power across the various branches of government. It predicts that, over time, governments that are not required to protect the rights of individuals and groups, particularly minority groups, can be counted on to violate those rights. Indeed, it predicts that even governments that are required to protect the rights of individuals and groups will fail at their responsibilities. Again, while authoritarian governments may efficiently pursue public goods, over time they can be counted on to abuse their power in ways that are destructive to individuals and society.[9] Just as the human capacity for justice makes democracy possible, human sin makes democracy necessary. NOTES [1] For example see Larry Diamond, “Facing Up to the Democratic Recession,” Journal of Democracy 26 (1) (2015): 141-155. https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Diamond-26-1_0.pdf.

[2] In this definition I follow John J. Mearsheimer’s definition of “liberal democracy, adding a responsibility to protect group rights.” See The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities, (New Haven:  Yale University Press, 2018), pg. 11.

[3] Mearsheimer is an example of the former scholar.  Yashca Mounk is an example of the latter scholar. See, The People Vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Dangers and How to Save It (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2018).

[4] Reinhold Niebuhr, The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1944), pg. xiii.

[5] Jean Porter claims that natural law viewed as a “universal capacity of moral discernment.” She claims the later was the foundation for the development of the natural law tradition. See Jean Porter, Natural and Divine Law: Reclaiming the Tradition for Christian Ethics (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Press, 1999). See also, Jean Porter, Nature as Reason:  A Thomistic Theory of the Natural Law Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Press, 2005). Notice that this Reformed perspective, after taking scriptural bearings, turns to some Roman Catholic resources.

[6] While Grotius is sometimes credited with providing a secular basis for international law, we ought not forget that his optimism concerning natural law grew out of his Christian faith. See Hugo Grotius, The Rights of War and Peace, Book 1 (Indianapolis:  Liberty Fund, 2005). In a similar way, Edwin Corwin has argued that American Constitutional Law rests on this higher law background. See, “The Higher Law Background of American Constitutional Law,” Harvard Law Review (XLII, No. 2, December 1928), pg. 149ff. http://www.romeroinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/CorwinHigherLaw.pdf.

[7] It also suggests that thin ethical agreements, such as the United Nation’s statement on rights, can inspire peoples to construct thick moral reasons for supporting those rights. For a discussion of the contributions of Protestant views of natural law to liberal political thought see Adam B. Seligman, The Idea of Civil Society (New York:  Free Press, 1992).

[8] This creativity may explain why the church has marshaled many metaphors to describe sin and its remedy, grace. Metaphors for sin and grace abound, they include:  sickness and salvation, bondage and liberation (redemption), non-alignment (missing the mark) and justification (alignment), estrangement and reconciliation, debt and forgiveness, disorientation (lost) and reorientation (found), constriction and expansion, disordered love and reordered love, corruption and renewal, death and life.

[9] Other doctrines have similar practical relevance. The doctrine of covenant illumines the social nature of human being and can help us understand what we owe God and one another. The doctrine of creation has ecological ramifications that can reframe the economic challenges faced by nations and the global community. The doctrine of reconciliation has horizonal dimensions that speak to estrangement between people.

[hmel78]

In conversation with Matt Page ...

DREAM THE ELECTRIC SLEEP

In my experiences of ‘new’ music, it’s particularly rare these days to come across an album that makes you stop what you’re doing and listen, just listen; and then listen, and listen again ... This year it has happened to me twice! Whilst not ‘new’ in terms of their formation, Kentucky (USA!) based 3-piece, Matt Page (vocals/guitar), Joey Waters (drums), and Chris Tackett (bass)  - collectively known as ‘DREAM THE ELECTRIC SLEEP’ - are indeed new to the European scene, and what a mark they have made on it with their latest release “BENEATH THE DARK WIDE SKY”. The proof is in the listening!

There’s not a huge amount that we can tell you about these guys that isn’t included in the conversation below, so here’s what went down when I caught up with Matt Page recently ... HR :  Is a “Prog” band from Lexington, Kentucky, something of a rarity?

MP : Yes! We are like a fish out of water in Kentucky! We never actually set out to be a “prog” band, we just wanted to write music that challenged us creatively as well as the listener. There are no doubt prog powerhouse bands like Rush, Pink Floyd and Genesis who have influenced us, but we also love things way outside the bounds of prog. Of course maybe that is why we fit in with the progressive community. It has been a welcoming space for us where we can write the way we want and have an audience that wants to consider those aesthetic decisions.

HR : Who was the founding member, or was it a unanimous decision amongst the 3 of you to form the band?

MP : Joey and I are cousins and we started to play together 20 years ago at the age of 16. We had various projects over the years but things really clicked when we started playing with Chris. He was in a band called Chum when we were younger and Joey and I loved them. We heard he was moving to Lexington and was looking for a band. We reached out and he liked what we were doing so we started playing together. After about a year of writing new material with him (which turned into our first album “Lost and Gone Forever”) we formed ‘Dream the Electric Sleep’.

HR : You’ve been together for a few years now - how difficult has the road been from 2009, to here in 2016 and the release of your 3rd album “Beneath The Dark Wide Sky”?

MP : In terms of our creative path, it has been exhilarating! We have all grown together and reached for the best of what we are capable of.   I am always excited to get in a rehearsal room with Chris and Joey to see what comes.

From a music business and music culture perspective it has been a difficult and lonely road for sure. The music business is a shell of what it used to be. There is a new, wobbly and often-predatory infrastructure that feeds on the dreams of millions of artists who are more than willing to give their time, labour, energy, heart, and soul for free, often losing a lot money in the process. The old music business was brutal for artists but at least there was a structure in place that took risks and funded and developed artists careers. Of course the artists mostly got a raw deal financially speaking. Now the music business is brutal for different reasons. There is a scarcity of resources and everyone involved; labels, agents, managers, bands, clubs, etc are scrambling to stay afloat and keep things moving. I do realize it is easier and cheaper for a band to record an album now and there are so many more ways to connect with fans. The problem is that that it is very difficult to come out on the positive side financially. We have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to walk the line between being a completely DIY band and a band looking for creative partners to work with. I think we have finally found a kind of balance and have a solid foundation to build from, but it has taken the last 7 years to make that happen!

HR : You looked for a little help outside the band for this release, and it eventually came in the form of producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, Foo Fighters ..) - did you end up with the record you envisaged when you cut the demo’s, or is it completely different?

MP : The first day we met Nick it felt like we had known him for years. There is no pretence with Nick. It is all about the work, about digging in together, solving problems, asking questions, trying new things, and really collaborating on making an album. It just didn’t feel like working with a big producer, it felt like working with a master craftsman who was also a partner and friend. He was a pleasure to work with on all fronts. We stayed pretty close to the demos on most songs but Nick did help us refine the overall vision for the album. Some songs we added parts and others we edited parts out. The final album came out better than we actually originally envisioned which was thrilling for us. I remember hearing the final cut of “Headlights” for the first time with Joey and after it was over Joey and both teared up a little. We worked for 20 years to hear our song come out like that and it was overwhelming.

HR : I listen to a lot of new music, but it’s honestly one of only two albums I’ve heard this year that have really made me sit tight and listen - would you care to tell our readers a little more about what they can expect to hear?  

MP : Wow! That is so great to hear!

Like our previous albums, it is thematic and each song fits on the album in an intentional spot so it is an album that works best as a whole in my opinion. I also hope a listener can just listen to the songs as individual works that stand on their own.

I would say that listeners can expect something cinematic sounding. I have always wanted to make films, but these albums really scratch that itch for me so I think I am trying to overlay one desire over another and that is part of the soundscape listeners might pick up on.

HR : There’s a great balance of instrumental and ‘songs’  - who is the main lyricist, and where does the inspiration come from?

MP : I write all the lyrics for the band, and on this album, I was looking at a specific photograph for each song as a starting point. Writing lyrics is a lot like creating a collage. They are small snippets stitched together and overlaid on a musical canvas. The lyrics often shape the way we feel about the sounds and the sounds shape the way the lyrics work. It is really a fascinating process!

I wrote a short synopsis for the album to help explain the overall themes:

“Beneath the Dark Wide Sky” is inspired by photographs taken of the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s by American photographer Dorothea Lange. Lange worked for the United States Works Progress Admiration and hoped her photographs could be used to educate the masses (via photo essays in major news publications and magazines) to the poverty and desperate living conditions of thousands of farming families and migratory workers who lived and worked in the drought-struck American Great Plains. Lange believed photographs had the ability to shine an objective light on issues of social justice and environmental degradation and could be used to persuade and motivate social and political change.

Much of what motivated Dorothea Lange motivates me as the lyricist of the band. How does art inform the way we understand the world we live in and can it motivate us to challenge and change our assumptions? I am not sure there is an easy correlation, but I am very interested in those who try to bridge the gap between art and life.

HR : The album is being released in the USA, and also here in Europe - are there any plans to tour? What would be your ideal schedule - anywhere in the world that you would love to play?

MP : We are really focused on doing a European tour right now and we hope we can make it over this fall. The rock/prog scene is very receptive to the work we do in Europe and we want to be a part of that movement. The US has been OK for us, but it is a huge, disparate market and it is very difficult to find or create an underground movement. We also live in a large state with a small population making it even more difficult to create that synergy.

HR : If you now get a major success for DTES, will you be happy to remain in Lexington?

MP : Yes. The world is so much closer thanks to the internet and it is so much easier to stay in touch with our supporters. Being in Kentucky isn’t ideal for live shows, but as a band we have built a process and structure that supports our creative endeavours and to move that would be very difficult. We think we can find a way to tour more and reach out in that way.

HR : One last question  - I must admit, at first glance, I read “Sleep” as “Sheep”, and my tiny brain fizzed! Who came up with the name of the band, and have you noticed whether or not you’ve coincidentally picked up an influx of Bladerunner fans?

MP : We are used to Sleep and Sheep getting mixed up! It happens more than you might think …

It is funny.

The name doesn’t mean something specific, but rather tries to paint a mood. We had long lists of words we liked and begin putting them together. We put Dream the Electric Sleep together and it sounded like what we wanted to sound like and that is a big reason we went with it. It is open, mysterious and dynamic sounding to us.

We always get asked about Blade Runner, which I think is fine because it is an iconic film that adds to the imagery of the band name, but I can’t say I have noticed a direct crossover.

[soraegeeks]

Favorite BNHA Fics

I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of fanfics and I’m starting to lose track of my faves. I’m going to make a few posts to log recommended fics. I’ll update them as I finish fics/start new ones. 

This post will be dedicated to all of my absolute favorite Boku no Hero Academia/My Hero Academia fics.

[Change log:

7/13/20: Removed “Other Pairings”, added more relationship headings, and created a menu of links]

BakuDeku | TodoKiriBakuDeku | KiriBakuDeku | TodoBakuDeku | KiriBaku | TodoDeku | TodoBaku | BakuOchaDeku | ShinBakuDeku | EndHawks | EraserMight

BakuDeku Pairing

Not Another High School AU - By MellowWrites (NSFW) - In progress Alternate universe, American high school, Quirkless kids

The New Year's Kiss - By HoneyBeeez and MellowWrites - In progress “Their second year at UA is coming to a close, and with the League of Villains MIA, Izuku and Katsuki have more time to focus on their training to become future pros - and what exactly they mean to one another.“ 

You're so Hot - By SecretKiwi (NSFW) “Two boys + One cold winter evening = something hotter than a kotatsu“

You're Still Hot - By SecretKiwi (NSFW) “Two men + One scheme = a chance to reignite a fire. (oh, and there's a kotatsu, too.)“

What's Next On My To-Do List? - By SecretKiwi (NSFW) “The house is a mess. Katsuki wants to clean but Izuku just wants to get a little dirty.“

Blood Moon - By Lalazee  (NSFW) “The Thank-Fuck-We-Aren’t-Dead Sex had started then, and had never really stopped. Then came the feelings and the fights. The ego, the pride, the jealousy. And then there was Us.“

Devil in Me - By glamour_weeb (NSFW) “Katsuki's usually the one getting into fights over Deku when they go to the club, but this time, his Omega's the one that starts a fight over him, but he doesn't stop there. Deku's determined to mark his territory.“

Paradise Circus - By glamour_weeb (NSFW) - In Progress “In the far future, Omegas have managed to establish a society of peace built on the ruins of a society torn apart by Alphas. Now the Omegas are in charge and Alphas have become little more than breeding stock and status symbols to those that can afford them. Recently elected to political office, Izuku decides to treat himself to an Alpha for his heat.“ 

Perfect Partner for You - By Seeress - In Progress “Deku is of an age to get married. But he lives in a small town where there is a distinct lack of suitable partners so he asks Katsuki to help him find the perfect partner in the big city. Great plan, right? What on earth could go wrong?“

“Just for Love” series - By Shiro_Kabocha (NSFW)

Predictive Cues - By MellowWrites (NSFW) “Predictive Cues: a sensory stimulus that accurately predicts a subsequent event.Sometimes, however, these cues may cause false predictions. Especially if you’re worried and expecting the worst.“

Crybaby by Lalazee / @atomicblonde (NSFW)  - In Progress That awkward moment when you have phone sex with your childhood best friend and neither of you realize who is on the other end. A love story.

BKDK Party AU - By L1nka (NSFW) - In Progress A fanfic comic on Twitter set at a house party at the UA dorm.

I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You series- By Seeress (NSFW) Three years into their friends-with-benefits arrangement, Izuku begins to behave oddly. And Katsuki has difficulty dealing with it.

Despacito by cosmikuri The Bakusquad and Deku go Salsa dancing. 

"Tales My Mother Never Told Me" series by Seeress.

Final Applause by Avialle. Katsuki is tired of running away and decides to truly make his presence felt in a world, he never wanted to be born into. He has nothing left to lose and one thing is for sure: When he leaves, he leaves with a boom!

Somebody's Gotta Uncle by brichibi. (NSFW) Chapter 11 in "You Can’t Spell “Kink” Without “October"." Katsumi finds her parents' toy and Uncle Kaminari's imagination runs away with him.

Once Upon an Instagram Story by capncapnk. Idiot. For fucking once, in the worst possible moment, he forgets to log into his private account, the one he shares only with his friends where he posts stupid videos like this one. In which, Deku goofs.

Give a man a mask - by Saysi (NSFW) It wasn't an easy decision, but Izuku knew it was the right one to make. Deku's time as a top hero was over, he was going to have to step aside, to leave it to the friends he trusted. It was time to live a relaxing life, an early - ridiculously early, admittedly - retirement. Like every hero always wanted, right? Of course, it's hard to hang up your mask when your feet move on their own.

Costume Party by Saysi  (NSFW) One Halloween Bakugou Katsuki put together a passable wolf costume, and ever since, he has worn the same outfit for every costume party he was dragged along to. This time, though, he finds himself face to face with a very drunk Midoriya Izuku, who has ingested more than enough liquid courage to have some fun with Bakugou's costume. Who would have guessed Bakugou was into it the whole time?

Empty Spaces by Saysi Almost a year after graduation, Class 3-A meet up for dinner and drinks. There, Katsuki is forced to face the crush he's been hiding for nearly two years. Valentine's Day 2019

Little Sh*t (Kidfic) series by Saysi A series of fics in which various members of the BNHA universe are hit by a de-aging/Age Regression quirk and the others are left to deal with the aftermath.

8 Simple Rules (for screwing my childhood friend) by Saysi (NSFW) When one is super horny and pent up, who else does one turn to but the friend who has been there your entire life? The friend who can keep a secret, who can be discreet, and most importantly, who seems to want all the things you want. What could go wrong, right? Lay down some ground rules and let's do this thing.

As Fate Would Have It World series by ScientificallySinful (VampireGaaraCheesepuffs) (NSFW)

Claim Me by ScientificallySinful (VampireGaaraCheesepuffs). (NSFW) - In Progress Being an Alpha has nothing to do with Katsuki's success as a Pro-Hero, the same way Deku's Omega status hasn't kept him from becoming Number Two. Secondary gender doesn't mean anything nowadays and “mating” is an antiquated practice. So when Izuku, his rival, asks Katsuki to Claim him in the middle of the night, there is only one logical thing to say. “What the fuck?”

Brand New Colony by ScientificallySinful (VampireGaaraCheesepuffs). (NSFW) 200 years ago the first child with animal characteristics was born. Now, over 20% of earth’s population is accounted for by “hybrids,” or humans with varying degrees of animal characteristics. Midoriya knows what life’s like for a hybrid. He’s grown up with the stares, the comments, the weight of proving everyone wrong. At least, he thinks he knows hybrids. Until he meets a mysterious Alpha wolf under less than desirable circumstances. Suddenly Izuku is drawn into Katsuki Bakugo’s gravity and he doesn’t want to leave. Unfortunately, Izuku needs to to make a choice. Does Izuku choose his human side, his animal side...or Katsuki? 

open your mouth, boy (show me what you got) by SageMasterofSass (NSFW) Izuku makes the mistake of stealing something from Katsuki for, uh, reasons. Katsuki comes to collect.

Bakudeku Secret Santa series by Unoutan 

Get on My Level series by Mikacrispy (NSFW)

Izuku's Home for Wayward Pets by glamour_weeb (NSFW) - In Progress Izuku works at the Bureau of Companion Protection as a rehabilitator for abused and abandoned Companions, animal-human hybrids. He’s seen his fair share of cruelty cases and even fostered a few Companions, but he’s never had a Companion of his own, until now. After rescuing Katsuki from a life in an illegal, underground Companion fighting ring, Izuku must take in the wolfdog that no one else can handle.Eventually, Katsuki comes to love his new home, as well as his new Master.

Eyes on Fire by glamour_weeb (NSFW)  - Hiatus The Dread King Katsuki, the savage Alpha that’s conquered most of Yuuei with the help of his dragons and his barbarian horde, has arrived at Izuku’s palace. With no way to repel the invaders, Izuku hatches a dangerous plan to seduce the Dread King and, much to his surprise, it works. Manipulating his new mate won’t be easy, though, given that Izuku can’t understand a word he’s saying, but the language barrier is the least of their problems. Izuku and Katsuki have to navigate the dangerous world of court politics and all the while, an ancient evil is stirring across the desert.

Beyond Sea and Storm by Celestialgunfireopera (NSFW) Ancient curse, destined mates, kingdoms rise and fall, and through it all, two young men learning to love.

Ink Stains by hokimri (NSFW) - In Progress Izuku Midoriya - a 17-year-old teenager from the Eastside of Kamino on the threshold to adulthood. His hobby? Drawing comic books about heroes. Katsuki Bakugou - a 21-year-old man from the Westside. A tattoo artist struggling to make the ends meet. Add ink-stained sleeves, coke, two caffeine-driven minds, skeletons hidden deep in the cupboard and get a story about changing yourself before changing the conflict-stricken town governed by drug dealers.

Forestial by MiraChaDoodles Katsuki laughs outright, a harsh and sarcastic sound. “That is what I mean. You know exactly what I’m asking, and yet you lie,” he challenges. “You’re not fae.” Izuku turns to look at him, irritated. Their faces are closer together than he expected—the blond must have leaned in—and he’s hypnotized by those piercing crimson eyes yet again. They narrow at him. “I am,” he pouts, sitting back to collect himself. Katsuki raises a brow, devil’s smirk back on his lips. “Not entirely.”

The Spell in Her Name by Merrywetherweather - In Progress Bakugou Katsuki returns home to Japan after his 3 year contract runs out with his agency in America. Unfortunately, the house he had contracted to be built by the time he got back has had a few setbacks and his closest friend, Kirishima, just shacked up with Ashido. Rather than live in a hotel for another month, he tries to crash at Deku's place. He arrives at his door uninvited. But Katsuki wasn't expecting Deku to already be living with someone. An adoptive child au where Deku took in and raised a little girl someone left on his doorstep.

Reparations by Merrywetherweather When Izuku was a child, he was told to never enter the woods. But being in possession of the shortest attention span a four year old is capable of, he ignores his mother's warnings and stumbles after a very pretty butterfly. What he finds, instead, is a friend. His first and only friend. Izuku is in his twenties now and he no longer runs to meet with the childhood friend who pushed him away so long ago. His mother and their village are on edge because he's way past his presenting years and he still hasn't had his first heat. He's defective. An omega who can't present can't find a mate or have kids, not like he's ever been inclined to find someone or have children. After leaving the confines of his small minded human village and wandering out into the woods once again, in search of a better life, that all changes when he runs into the one person he hoped to meet but never thought he'd see again.

Quiet Rapture by lalazee (NSFW) - In Progress That ABO fic where cocky Alpha Bakugou falls in mate-love at first scent, while Midoriya is just a poor bookstore-owning Omega who got his nose punched in is a kid and can't smell a damn thing. Also known as: That time an Alpha had to use his actual personality to woo his mate instead of relying on his scent.

What a damn hero by Saysi (NSFW) When Izuku comes across an account full of photos captioned "send this to guys who won't leave you alone" it seems like the perfect way to get clingy suitors off his back. What he doesn't expect is a spiral of stupid actions that leads him to asking the man to play along. Nor does he expect to find out the buff angry dude is a pro hero.

Look to the Stars by erza_mikazuki At the age of 34, the weight of the future weighs heavy on Izuku’s shoulders. Getting lost in his work, the pressure of being the number one hero leading the future is no easy task. Sometimes, he needs a reminder that he needs to keep looking to the stars.

Iridescent by dekubunny After Katsuki learned Izuku’s secret about One For All, he said that things would be different from now on. The two of them learn how to stand on equal grounds and be proper rivals, and that gradually leads them to evolve into something more – or, rather, they start to realize what was there all along. Because what’s left after all the bitterness and misunderstandings are gone? Affection. By the time they reach their third year, they can’t go a day without seeing each other. Eventually, they start pining over one another. Katsuki secretly works through his insecurities in order to accept his feelings for his childhood friend, but it goes haywire once he realizes that he doesn’t know how to apologize for the wrongs he has done.

The Shrinekeeper and the Harvest God by bkdkwritingsdump Izuku keeps the shrine of the harvest god, a minor god mostly worshiped by farmers and ignored by everyone else until the yearly harvest festival. During a spring thunderstorm one year, a mysterious man named Katsuki shows up at his shrine seeking shelter from the rain, but ends up over staying his welcome by a few months. In that time, Izuku not only begins to become suspicious of his identity, but finds himself longing for something more between them

Amateur Ghost Hunters by bkdkwritingsdump Izuku, aspiring film producer and fanatic of the paranormal, somehow convinces Katsuki, a staunch skeptic, to start an internet series with him where they investigate supposedly haunted sites. And with both boys attempting to hide their feelings for each other, one has to wonder if it's true what they say about horror and romance…

In the Eye of the Storm by CheshireButton Izuku Midoriya is a scientific prodigy seeking a cure for a rapidly spreading neurodegenerative disease. A potential clue in his research points to a fabled island, guarded by an eternal storm from which no travelers have ever returned. He navigates through the hurricane and discovers an island that is anything but uninhabited. He must adapt to survive against the natives who place intruders in three categories: warriors, mates, or meat.

Rehabilitation by InkspillsNotebook - In Progress It had only been one day off, not even the entire day if he was being honest, so how had things gone so wrong? This wasn't supposed to happen. They would get through this, he had to get better. It would take time, but Izuku wouldn't fail him, not again. A near death encounter changes the every day life of Izuku and Katsuki as injuries need to be mended and time may not be on their side.

Home. by fexillusion Katsuki and Izuku had a rough falling out four years ago when Katsuki’s band went on tour, leaving Izuku behind. With his return, he runs into the omega.... who’s been hiding something.

Chances Are by catbel - In Progress Midoriya Izuku is a popular hero journalist who has a reputation for finding up-and-coming heroes, as well as skyrocketing the popularity of any hero he interviews. When he starts to receive death threats from an unknown villain, he is re-introduced to his childhood friend Bakugou Katsuki, also known as the soon-to-be number one hero, Ground Zero.

Kacchan by KyuukaKoinu (NSFW) Sometimes it’s about winning an argument. Other times it’s about acknowledging your feelings. And in rare cases, it’s about trying to make sense about your ex-childhood friend making out with you in your mother’s kitchen when he swears that he hates your guts. But most of the time, it’s about growing up and understanding what makes the difference between a boy and a man. Both Katsuki and Izuku are finding this out, and they are figuring it out in the hardest way. ---Or: Izuku always called Bakugou "Kacchan" growing up. But when peer pressure from others and society get in the way, the two boys grow distant and the nickname is buried. While Katsuki is running away from his emotions, Izuku is stuck trying to figure out how to cope with a broken heart. Kai Chisaki steps in to show the boy a new path. Will Katsuki figure out his own feelings in enough time to save him from the mysterious man?

“witch & shifter” series by SageMasterofSass (NSFW) After eight months of being collared, Izuku is finally free. But a dark, stormy city is no place for a lonely shapeshifter on the run.

In A Sky Of A Million Stars (Who Cares If One More Light Goes Out?) by Stringlish (NSFW) - In Progress He could never forgive himself.It was his fault. He’d planted the idea like a seed he’d never known would grow. (Or: What if Izuku jumped?) (OR: The one where Izuku jumps and lives and Katsuki visits him every day and Class 1-A not-so-secretly finds it adorable that their designated angry pomeranian brings flowers to his comatose childhood friend.🌻)

To Stand By Your Side by aeronines (NSFW) One student, one hero, and a whole lotta pining. Or, the High School Bakugou/Pro Hero Deku slow burn I need in my life.

Playful Rationality by bkdkwritingsdump Izuku Midoriya, born Izumi Midoriya, has always had two identities: the gentleman he wished he was, and the lady he was forced to be. However, no one has ever thought them two separate individuals until Mr. Katsuki Bakuogu, a young, rich, and unmarried man, moves in not too far away and first meets him on his morning ride – the one time of day he gets to be himself. In an attempt to court him as Izuku, however, he ends up tricking the man into believing that his female counterpart is his younger sister, who is rivaling for his affections. Katsuki prides himself for his intellect and loves Izuku for that same quality, but when will he be smart enough to see that his love triangle is actually a straight (or perhaps not-so-straight) line?

Those Blasted Freckles by Esselle Katsuki is an accomplished painter, called to the Midoriya Estate on a commission to paint the young duke who has just succeeded to his title. Upon meeting Midoriya for himself, he can't help but find him utterly compelling; and he soon discovers the interest is a mutual affair. When Midoriya asks Katsuki to stay and teach him to paint, Katsuki agrees despite himself—not least because he's eager to learn the exact blend of captivating green hues that shine in the duke's bright eyes.

Not Another Glass Slipper by Crandberrycrush and paigetaylor (NSFW) Katsuki’s life was no fucking fairy tale. He wasn’t some damsel in distress, and he did not need some fucking knight in shining armor to save him. So what the hell was Prince Charming doing showing up at midnight and begging for his help?

Summer Daze by erza_mikazuki After Izuku moved away as kids, he and Katsuki reconnect and soon find themselves inseparable on social media. As summer hits, Katsuki finds himself bored on vacation with his parents at a beach town far from home. However, a twist of fate leaves Katsuki in a daze.

Read {between} Your Lines by greatcloudninja (NSFW) Midoriya Izuku, up-and-coming actor, has finally hit his big break: he's been cast as one of the leads in a film based on the first book of a best-selling novel series. Even better, his co-star is none other than his idol, Bakugou Katsuki, who has been acting for over twenty years. However, Bakugou seems to have it out for Izuku, leading to tension both on and off set. When some incriminating photos surface, the studio suggests an extreme form of damage control: having Bakugou and Midoriya fake a relationship to get ahead of the rumors. But not all of Midoriya's fans are accepting of the relationship...Can the two of them get through filming without killing each other first, or will hate turn to passion along the way?

The Space Between by Kanae_vR (NSFW) - In Progress Holding his expensive camera tightly between his hands, Midoriya Izuku looked up at the once-white letters displayed on the black storefront banner. “The Hard Luck Bar,” he murmured to himself, unsure if he was getting ready to enter or flee.Amateur photographer Midoriya Izuku is stuck in a rut and desperate for a change of pace. Deep in his city's grimy underbelly, he finds exactly what he's looking for in the form of an underground punk sensation on the verge of their big break, fronted by a foul-mouthed firework of a human being.Loud, brash and passionate, Izuku may have just found the creative spark he needed, as well as something new to set his soul ablaze.

Stygian Fire by LadyGreenFrisbee Izuku's Quirk manifest at the tender age of five. It's strange that he would have a fire Quirk given what his mother's Quirk is, but he initially chalks it up to genetics on his father's side.Then there's a familiar stranger in the kitchen, and everything changes.

Grief Counseling by Merrywetherweather (NSFW) Katsuki remembered the first time he had failed to save someone, watched helplessly in horror as an elderly man had been crushed beneath the girth of a thrown car. He had already propelled himself forward to grab a small boy when he noticed, too late, the car fly by overhead. Two other heroes had been on the scene at the time and had assured him. There was nothing that could have been done. Most of class 1-A had already gone through a similar experience. The only one left with a clean track record in the rescue department had been Deku. Well, except for today. A slowburn fic where Kacchan tries to convince Deku to take advantage of the grief counseling provided for free to heroes experiencing their first failed rescues. Lots of flirting. Healing their relationship comes first. The romantic bit where they fall helplessly and stupidly in love comes after.

Lovebites by mynameis152 (NSFW) Katsuki Bakugou was going to hate this summer.He thought he'd hate it because he was being forced to leave home and work for his mother's friend in a small, seaside town. He thought he'd hate it cause he was being punished for burning his room to a crisp. He thought he'd hate it because he hated change. But it turns out, he hated the Supernatural Turfwar between four species that shouldn't exist but do a whole lot more....Or The one where Katsuki is forced to move in with Inko for the summer and finds himself falling for a particular bloodsucker....

Macarons by mzmirrorz “It’s no problem,” the man says moving closer, “must have been a hard night at work. Thanks for that and everything. The protection and shit.”Colour starts to creep across the man’s pale cheekbones and he starts shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably. This is the closest Izuku has ever been to him and the faintest waft of caramel reaches his nose, coming from the man. Izuku finds the man’s embarrassment adorable and it causes a small grin to stretch across his face, making his 3 am all the more entertaining. you, but its not necessary, seeing everyone safe is thanks enough.” “Oh, well, thanks anyways but I’ve got to head off now, I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess? 3 am?” “You got it, it’s a date,” Izuku says, finishing with a wink and heading inside to his apartment, missing the bright red that flushes all over the man’s face as he turns in shock and almost runs to his car in haste. It takes Izuku’s work addled brain the entire trip up to his apartment to realise just what he said to his very attractive neighbour, slapping his cheeks in surprise at his stupidity. Or Izuku is tired and inadvertently smooth, but Katsuki is smoother.

Do I? by Phayte (NSFW) Midoriya and Bakugou get black out drunk... and somehow married.((spoiler-- they can't get it annulled))

Parking Wars by RicaIncheroo A blonde guy stole Izuku’s parking space. Izuku retaliated by pelting the blonde’s multi-million yen Ferrari with a few hundred yen worth of eggs. Apparently it turned the blonde on, because the next thing Izuku knew, the blonde asked him out.

i was a little bit lost (but i'm not anymore) by starkteasfic (NSFW) Struggling as a single parent sucks. Especially when he had so many other responsibilities. So when Izuku asks his best friend to help him find a better job, he doesn't expect that to lead to becoming the sugar baby of the Symbol of Victory himself, Ground Zero.

Actions Speak Louder by TsunaidaMay (NSFW) - In Progress When Bakugou Katsuki meets Midoriya Izuku at a Pro Hero fan-event, he's intrigued by the intricate way Izuku's hands move, emphasizing every word and phrase. After another chance meeting, Katsuki will soon come to learn that sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

Don't Bite by bkdkink Katsuki always spent his ruts alone in his family cabin out by the mountains deep within the woods.Then he found a body covered in blood and snow, and it's far more alive than he first realized.

“Cosmos” series by Larxicana Not all villains scheme in the darkest corners of the world, in abandoned warehouses or underground lairs. Some live in your neighborhood, wear the faces of people you know, and rest in homes that should be considered safe.

Revive Me by Szr101 and ViolentButterfly There are instances in life where you have to evaluate who you are. Not just who you are, but WHAT you’re doing with it. Who you’re meant to be. Those very contemplative times come when you least expect them too. Being the son of a multi-billion dollar criminal organization hasn't exactly been a blessing for Katsuki Bakugo. Yet, he's the one that will be inheriting this empire created between two prominent criminal families. There are secrets, and enemies behind every door, and every smile. He trusts almost no one, and the pressure that's laid on him physically and mentally has him ready to explode. In fact, half the time he feels like he's going crazy. After getting kidnapped, however, he's helped by an old friend and he begins to question everything.

A Salty First Kiss by DarkMachi - In Progress Izuku Midoriya's family beach trip went awry when an attempted act of heroism lets to an unexpected first. ~o~ Jumpcut to twelve years later: Izuku was struggling to stay afloat when his stepfather threw him a chance. What was meant to be a reprieve turned into something else entirely when he finds someone washed onto the beach. A memory he should have buried long ago, a kiss he could never forget, and a debt he could now repay. Or. What do you do when you have an angry Merman in your bathtub that speaks a different language? Or again. What do you do when a stoopid hooman rescues you and then proceeds to start courting with you?

Some Wannabe Hero! by Superior_Moustache - In Progress Katsuki had bullied Izuku for nearly all his life for being deaf and Quirkless. After middle school, they went their separate ways, never to see each other again. Ten years later, however, when Izuku moves back into his old neighborhood, a familiar face jumps back into his life. But neither of them are sure if they want to reopen old wounds.

Procreate by katyastark - In Progress When Katsuki sees him again while patrolling on his usual route in the city proper, he’s a little stunned. Not because Deku looks different—even though he does. Not because he dresses better, or that he looks healthy and fit and happy. It’s not even the slightest bit of fear he sees in his expression when their eyes meet, though that’s just as out of place—even when Katsuki was mean and violent and absolutely ruthless, Deku never looked at him like that. No, it’s nothing as simple as that. It’s the little boy on his hip, a toddler with skinned knees and a smattering of freckles, curly blonde hair and piercing green eyes.

Unto the Breach by Sensiblytainted (NSFW) - In Progress Izuku Midoriya is thought to be quirkless. It's not true. He has a quirk. He has death visions. His mother - terrified Izuku would be taken away because of the rarity of psychic quirks - teaches him to keep it secret and tell no one. But Izuku needs help saving the people he can feel dying in his visions and asks for help from the strongest person he knows: Katsuki Bakugou. Little did Izuku know, Katsuki has his own secret - he's being abused. Their secrets bind them together and a deep friendship is born. By the time they apply to UA, their feelings have begun to develop into something much stronger. But can their love survive through all the challenges ahead of them?

Incinerate by KyuukaKoinu (NSFW) - In Progress Bakugou Katsuki is a workaholic cop hell bent on never dating again because it's too much of a 'distraction'. Enter Midoriya Izuku: A walking contradiction that is giving Katsuki an actual lethal goddamn migraine along with a mysterious set of arsenal crimes that walked right into town with him. But the most frustrating part is that Katsuki can't seem to get his fucking mind off either.

Ingenium by Crandberrycrush (NSFW) - In Progress Katsuki has prepared for this his entire life, a master’s degree in engineering followed by five years military experience with over one thousand in-command hours of piloting jet aircraft and he’s ready to make the jump out of the atmosphere as pilot astronaut on the first Jupiter mission. It’s a dream he’s had since he was young, and one he shares with the five other crewmen who have been selected. Barely thirty and he is going to be traveling four hundred and eighty million miles toward the gas giant, a feat that will put him and his crew further into space than any other manned mission to date.

Total Knock Out KyuukaKoinu (NSFW) It was love at first punch. In which Katsuki is a cocky alpha who needs to be taken down a peg, and Izuku is just the man willing to give him a bloody nose.

eighty proof by antisora (NSFW) The mood of the dance floor shifted from playful to dirty in a matter of seconds, the ocean of people all around them finding their partners or friends and pressing close. Very close. Izuku may have been kinda awkward, but he was no prude—that being said, some things were better off behind closed doors.Unless some things were in reference to a certain blond Izuku knew of, in which case he’d do said things in places that would deeply disappoint his mother.In which a chance meeting at a popular nightclub is all Katsuki and Izuku need to get sucked into each other's orbit.

Cosmic Kiss by TheChatWithClaws When Katsuki is hit with a quirk that causes him pain whenever he’s away from the person he loves most it results in his sweet quirkless boyfriend no one knew of spending a week amongst the class 3A students. Problem is he hasn’t come out and really isn’t in the mood to. Plus maybe Izuku has his own reservations too...

Change of Plans by Mikacrispy (NSFW) Life doesn't care about how you want things to go. Alpha Pro Hero Bakugou Katsuki never planned to get married to some random omega but what he wants isn't an option anymore. One for All wielder Midoriya Izuku has suffered injustice too many times and doesn't plan in allowing his secondary gender to dictate how he must live his life.Falling in love was never in the plans.

Sunlight Moving by peredhils The night air was cool but not as damp and depressing as it had been when leaving England. The sea breeze was refreshing and it was crisper than it smelled standing from the shore. Although the rocking of the boat made him a bit nauseous, coupled with the unease that came with being unable to see any land on the horizon, Katsuki liked it more than he thought he would. Standing at the ledge and looking up at the stars, all so bright and clear, was easing the day’s troubles.He wasn’t alone for long.—Katsuki, a duke organizing the creation of a new university in England, meets astronomer Izuku on board a voyage overseas.

the ocean sings by bittermoons When Katsuki Bakugou moves to both away and towards his ghosts, he meets someone he thought he’d never see again and learns what it means to be human (or at least how to be himself).

Pint-Sized Homewrecker (A Wholesome Love Story) by VibeTribe (NSFW) He didn’t think his love life could be this depressing, in fact he wasn’t really searching for a significant other to begin with, so when 17 year old Midoriya Izuku suddenly got confessed to by the troublemaker neighbor kid he’s been babysitting since forever, he can’t help but think fate is playing a cruel joke on him.“I like-like you, Deku.” Bakugou Katsuki, the 10-year-old tyrant of Musutafu, Japan declared.In order to get Katsuki from chasing after him, Izuku gets Todoroki to pretend to be his boyfriend, but it sets off chain reactions of violent fan clubs, a disappointed mom Inko, a cheerleader mom Mitsuki, and several attempts where he's falsely labelled a pedophile. Bakugo slowly ages up as story progresses. Last chapter up with legal aged up Katsuki being smutty with Deku. Non Shotacon. 

Happenstance by Merrywetherweather When Katsuki was just a child, his mother, the King of Lucia, took him to enact diplomacy with the Midoriya's, the royal family of the neighboring country of Tayloria. After that day, his fate was sealed, his marriage arranged to the Midoriya's elusive omegan child.At the age of twenty, he leaves for Tayloria again, this time, to finally wed his fiance and cement the allyship of the two kingdoms indefinitely. Only, his fiance turns out to be the child he had met on his very first visit, a naive, idealistic young prince who wants nothing to do with marrying the prince of Lucia.Good thing he just assumed Katsuki was only part of his fiance's entourage.An arranged marriage between two princes aob au where Katsuki tries to abide by Izuku's desire for a natural romance to develop without letting Izuku know his true identity.

With Harvest's Moon by Serah_chan During the night of Friday the 13th, during a beautiful full harvest moon, Izuku Midoriya has an encounter with a naked man drenched in blood.

Sucker Punch by warschach (NSFW) But, whatever, Disney Boy over there was—Prettying up real damn good that Katsuki got kind of distracted—totally understandable, like god those CGI pine eyes—and didn’t see the straight path he made for the metal trash bin in the center of the area until he was tipping forward and waist deep in discarded bottles, plates, balled up tissues sticky with he prayed was chocolate ice cream and nacho cheese.Mina howled behind the gate. “Look, Katsuki returned to his home.”(or Katsuki works security at Six Flags and moonlights as a derby dude and continuously looks uncool around Izuku)

(Un)Marked by angel_baby Being marked was considered as an honor in the world of lycanthropy. It was known as an intimate connection between two individuals (either it be Alphas, Betas, or Omegas) whose souls were immediately bonded for a lifetime.It was once Izuku Midoriya's dream to be marked with an Alpha who'd love him unconditionally and was powerful enough to protect him from all dangers. Unfortunately, bad luck was on his side soon crushing all hopes and dreams of being marked.After unintentionally trespassing into another pack's territory, the Omega encounters the bad-mouthed, cruel Pack Alpha who just so happens to be a familiar face from the past.The chances of this particular Alpha mending the Omega's heart is literally zero.However, fate has a funny way of sorting things out.

Juggernaut by warschach What had four legs, a tail, fur all over, and went 'woof woof' in the dead of night?Katsuki's soulmate, Izuku Midoriya, the werewolf.Which is funny-if you're fucked up in the head and you're going to get real fast why Katsuki was a special Frosted Flakes brand of 'fucked'- because Katsuki's profession clocked out monsters' time card early.It should be fine.Narrator: It was, in fact, not fine.(or Katsuki meets his soulmate at the worst time and under the worst circumstances, tries to deny his feelings while battling monsters, attending class-yea,no-, and trying to piece together the giant gaps in his past. so adulthood except everything does want to kill him.)

F.U. by warschach (NSFW) Izuku smiled; Katsuki understood why people warned that the devil wore a Sunday hat and fine clothes because deception worked better if no one expected it.Not anymore. He knew Izuku’s evil ways, and his ass might be a 20 on the hotness meter but Katsuki held grudges.“Izuku,” he sneered; he too could be evil right back.(or Katsuki's a football player; Izuku's a cheerleader; they have a rivalry until it isn't one)

Drinking Watermelon by warschach (NSFW) For whatever reason, maybe divine fate, Izuku turned and looked over his shoulder and waved to them.Katsuki’s heart full on stopped right then, and his fingers forgot their duty on the rails, and his body neglected its job to keep Katsuki balanced.Izuku’s summer sweet smile fell into concern as Katsuki went airborne and cracked his skull on the porch.or Katsuki works as a camp counselor, and Izuku is a boy made of summer heat and sunlight.

Gravity by warschach (NSFW) Izuku is back in his hometown and plenty hasn't changed much from the 8 years he was gone. Except, Katsuki Bakugou, the alpha king of their small town. He's hotter- because that's fair, right, God? -, stronger, a now-famous pro fighter, and noticeably nicer this round.Not that he cares, pfft.Ha, Izuku Midoriya caring about Katsuki Bakugou, thinking he's pretty cute and not half bad once you get past the asshole persona; though that gargantuan ego of his could take a dive off a very tall cliff.(Fine, he cares.)

Before Midnight by DriftingGlass (NSFW) Izuku Midoriya takes the same train to and from school Monday through Friday, morning and night. His only company during these lonesome hours comes in the form of another boy his age—a teen with scarred hands and blood gem eyes, a stranger with ash-blond hair who walks in a shroud of danger and mystery."Would you stop with that fucking muttering, idiot?"And before Izuku can find his footing, his life becomes a full-blown collision course thanks to walking cannonball Katsuki Bakugou. (And along the way he may have found the missing fuel to his fire).

Album Title in Progress by bkdkink (NSFW) "I mean, technically, sure. Anyone able to sing can sing. But am I good at it?" Deku left the pen alone so he could gesture as though he was weighing two different invisible objects. "...Yeah, I'm okay."Now that got a chuckle out of Katsuki."I wouldn't call that just 'okay'." -- OR; Izuku's singing makes Katsuki realize sex is Real™ and uses those feelings to make a bomb-ass(lol get it? cuz his quirk is...) album while also helping a self-doubting Izuku realize how fire his mixtape is.

Metallurgy by Beeeteee (NSFW) - In Progress Where Izuku gets a quirk naturally and Katsumi is too introspective for her own good.

Someone Borrowed by mynameis152  (NSFW) It felt like hours that he stared at Izuku, coming to terms with the fact that a man, his childhood best friend, whom he hadn’t seen since their senior year of high school, was there in front of his very eyes. Then his brows furrowed and his jaw clenched before he uttered through gritted teeth the very name Izuku had longed to hear for years.“Deku.”

On my terms by Phayte  (NSFW) Bakugou Katsuki is a workaholic cop hell bent on never dating again because it's too much of a 'distraction'. Enter Midoriya Izuku: A walking contradiction that is giving Katsuki an actual lethal goddamn migraine along with a mysterious set of arsenal crimes that walked right into town with him. But the most frustrating part is that Katsuki can't seem to get his fucking mind off either.

Fanboy & Zero series by tsukithewolf  (NSFW) Blogger AU where quirkless Izuku is Ground Zero's number one fanboy and runs a blog strictly about him. Katsuki just follows him for his fight analysis posts, he swears. He just happens to really like talking with the guy too. And maybe he's kind of sweet. And maybe Katsuki kind of... doesn't mind that this guy is thirsty for him.

Side By Side by Bennyhatter Mitsuki Bakugou brought Kyrin home as a puppy when Katsuki was eight years old. None of them knew exactly what she was back then; she was just a tiny ball of fluff, malnourished and weak and clearly abandoned. She looked like a husky mix of some sort, but that was all they knew. It wasn't until she started growing that they realized she wasn't just a normal mixed breed. Katsuki bonded to her immediately, nursing her back to health almost entirely on his own. He loved the half-wild little creature, and it was abundantly clear that the feeling was mutual. They grew up side by side, each of them a constant in the other's life. He trained her himself, and from the very beginning, her level of intelligence was beyond anything he'd ever known in any other dog.

Group 1: Alkali metals by mzmirrorz “What. The. Actual. Fuck.” “Well Denks, they did actually do as they said, they took us to the pool.” “Yeah but Eiji they never said the pool would look like this!” Denki whined, arm sweeping out to direct everyone’s attention to the pool, as if everyone’s attention wasn’t already on the pool. Turning to Izuku and Katsuki angrily, Denki yells at the couple, “What the fuck guys, I want a different payment for carrying all those boxes down that stairs now! It’s so hot I needed to cool down! I thought you guys never told us about your super-secret apartment pool because it was so fantastic! Not because- because, oh what the fuck, what the actual fuck iS THIS?!”

Blessed Be by LevySutcliffe (NSFW) Katsuki helps Izuku prepare for and celebrate the festival of fertility, Beltane!!

Shameless by whack_blight (NSFW) “I’ve got a dick appointment that’s been on the books for months. So thanks for comin’, but get the fuck out." Deku throws a party. Katsuki just wants to get wrecked. Birthday fic for the explodo-boy.

The Prologue, the Sequel, And then Everything in Between series by JayD A love story about Bakugou Katsuki, his childhood sweetheart, and how Endeavour ends up in jail somewhere in the middle of this cliche.

Bakudeku Are Great Parents series by Tokiji

Co-op series by Mikacrispy (NSFW)

Imperial Retrograde by mynameis152 Owning a dragon is a capital offense. The barbarians in the East use them for battle. They decimate the countrysides and send stragglers to the capital of Lusun with wounds that will never heal. And in Lusun, If you own a dragon, it dies and so do you. Izuku finds a dragon egg to no effort of his own, and its rightful owner comes searching. As he marvels the hatchling, he’s taken— kidnapped by a barbarian for crueler and far more dangerous than he could have imagined. Now, he must learn to fight, he must learn to ride the hatchling that imprinted on him, and he must do it all for the people he despises. But as he plans his escape, Katsuki Bakugou pulls him further into the Drōgfolk way of life. And soon, Izuku must determine who the true enemy is, and whether the dragon riders are worth saving. And he needs to do it before his own country calls for war.

The Red String that Binds Us series by tsukithewolf

there's glitter on the floor by dumbdaisies A kiss at midnight (it's been a long time coming). Izuku’s lips quirk. “Are you happy, Kacchan. With me?” For a horrible, fleeting moment, Katsuki considers shrugging it off. Trying for nonchalance, apathy. But Izuku’s too smart for that, deserves better than that. He’d see through it. Or worse, his face would crumple and he’d back off. And Katsuki has never felt more like he’s being tenderly urged to pieces, layer by layer, by the light pressure of Izuku looking at him with scant centimeters between them. So he tells the truth, because the truth is the only thing he knows, the only thing he can trust about himself and all of his inconceivable wants. “Yeah,” he rasps, “I’m happy.”

mise en place by SageMasterofSass (NSFW) Who knew breakfast foods could bring people together. aka, the kitchen au nobody asked for

Puppies Puppies by Esselle Katsuki thinks he has everything he needs in life: a successful pet shop, an occasionally reliable assistant, and the unconditional love of the twenty puppies he’s raising for adoption. But when the tattoo parlor next door hires Midoriya Izuku, a hot sailor with an affinity for dogs, it makes Katsuki wonder if he might need something more. Like… a piece of that ass. Maybe. He’s figuring it the hell out as he goes.

TodoKiriBakuDeku

All The Trope Things by SurelyHeavenWaits (NSFW) Todoroki Shouto only ventures out into the winter storm to find a quick snack but he stumbles onto so much more.A job, friends, a place to belong. Also, his coworkers a mind-blowingly, disgustingly, stupidly hot. And they're all in love with each other but it doesn't stop them from befriending him.

No, Deku, You Can't Just Adopt Every Single Stray by todorokitops  (NSFW) - In Progress In which Izuku can’t stop taking in new ‘strays’, and Eijirou is surprisingly willing to indulge. Presenting to you - ripped Izuku in an apron, Eijirou with longer hair, angry yet domestic chef Katsuki and club stripper Shouto. Also featuring jealous teen Izumi Kouta, because he’s a snarky little shit and I love him.

Home (Naive Melody) by stereonightss (NSFW) “Deku. You’re early.” From what little he can see through the doorway, Bakugou’s room is surprisingly welcoming. There are All Might posters on the wall behind him, action figures and shelves of books and a game console and a nice set of speakers. Familiar-unfamiliar, it’s not so different from his childhood room. And familiar-unfamiliar is Kacchan in the doorway: familiar eyes, familiar powerful body, but a banquet of unfamiliar details. “Yeah. Hope that’s okay.” Details like: he’s well endowed and leans slightly to the left, visibly half-hard in his skin-tight boxer briefs. “You just couldn’t wait, huh?” Bakugou is almost naked, and Izuku likes it.

KiriBakuDeku

Three Can Play That Game by DanaEliza (NSFW) “What do you mean you guys still don’t get along? I was sure you two would’ve made up by now and have like a gazillion babies together.” ... Bakugo and Midoriya get constantly asked why they are not together, but perhaps that was because something was missing.

Godsmack by warschach Izuku's new roommates are gods.

The Seven Sins (And More) series by The_Busy_Beee (NSFW) Izuku Midoriya has decided that now that he's 18, it's time to stop intruding upon his mother's newlywed life, but he's definitely not sure about living on his own. Kirishima and his family (of choice) live in a dormitory-style house and welcome him with open arms. There's just a few secrets, though...Or: Izuku is a troubled young adult, trying to figure out life, and some demons want to help him get better.

Out Of Body by BrightEyesEren (NSFW) Midoriya Izuku, a fairly shy omega, decides to take pole dancing lessons from his friend Kirishima Eijirou. Except... things get a little complicated when he ends up with two alphas instead of one.

Pieces of Bright by grayclouds A King, a Sultan and an Emperor walk into a bar.

TodoBakuDeku

[+BakuBowl] “Fire in the Mountains” series by  EllaBesmirched (El_Bell) (NSFW) - In Progress Bakugou Katsuki harem, Fantasy AU

A Lingering Finish by moonbabyscoot (NSFW) Pro Hero power couple Todoroki Shouto and Bakugou Katsuki are out to dinner at Tokyo's best Italian restaurant to celebrate their five year wedding anniversary. Izuku Midoriya cannot believe he gets to wait on the sexiest men in the country. Are they...flirting with him?

The long way home by allslurp Back in his hometown to visit his parents, Bakugou runs into a face from the past. Years down the line, the memories are still as clear as on the first day... and so are his regrets as he is left to reminisce about what was and what could have been, knowing all too well there’s no way back. It’s too late.But he is not the only one who remembers, and the past does not stay in the past. When Bakugou tries to make up for his mistakes, he sets them on a course neither of them expected – because there's not just the two of them to consider anymore.

“Powder Keg” series by Ajaxthegreat (NSFW) Bakugou really, really, really didn’t want to be trapped in an elevator with Todoroki and a fireproof dildo. Todo x Baku x Deku. University AU.

Fuck, but he's hot though by Grufflump Izuku was ready for just about anything. He was prepared - emotionally, physically, spiritually, All Mightily - for just about anything but a brash, aggressive, annoying, thoughtful, kind and sometimes...flustered Bakugo Katsuki.

KiriBaku

Spice, Not Sugar by KTG (NSFW) Bakugou was fired from his last job for having a "poor fucking attitude".What the fuck ever.Unfortunately, he needs money to eat, and to get money, he needs a job, /stat/.After getting hired at RIOT, the agency own and run by the number-twelve pro hero Red Riot, Bakugou quickly learns that his boss isn't an average hero--or an average sugar daddy.

TodoDeku

Everyone except You by CakeyDill (NSFW) AU where Midoriya Izuku is a college pre-med student and Todoroki Shouto is a fireman and EMT. Upon meeting during Izuku's attempts to save the life of his professor after a cardiac arrest, Shouto and Izuku can't seem to stop meeting each other in increasingly dangerous situations. Their very different lives are suddenly meshed together as they discover something about themselves at each chance meeting.Can these two men find something special? Maybe all it takes is several terrible incidents, a few heartbreaks along the way and true determination to bring these two together.

“Thanks for Saving Me” Series by Esselle Midoriya Izuku is a university sophomore, a fanboy, quirkless. On the list of things he is not: a hero. That's why he's more surprised than anyone when he rescues Todoroki Shouto, his favorite pro hero, from a deadly villain attack. His actions fling him into the media spotlight, grabbing the attention of the entire country, including Todoroki himself. But Todoroki actually wants to get to know him past the headlines. Izuku finds himself living a story straight out of a fairy tale, one where the mysterious, handsome prince is played by the real-life superhero he has always admired. But Izuku is convinced he's the ugly duckling, not the swan; could he ever be remarkable enough to get his happily ever after?

#bakudeku by rageprufrock This is not a #bakudeku story, but if Izuku hadn't wanted Todoroki to give him shit about it, he probably should have thrown away that doujinshi Jirou had bought him.

TodoBaku

Raise the Bar by Esselle Shouto receives some unexpected (and much needed) assistance in looking after his infant daughter on an international flight.

BakuOchaDeku

Like the Mighty Roar of Thunder by Serah_chan (NSFW) - In Progress Izuku Midoriya, a strong and proud warrior priest, faces off Katsuki, a supposedly ruthless Viking leader. The brave warrior loses his first fight against the Viking, but is spared. He doesn't know why, but he knows he won't be allowed to die easily. Izuku tries to fight, he tries to hate the man who reduces him to a mere slave... yet he ends up discovering things about the blond Viking that just don't add up to the villain he wanted to paint said man as. Perhaps, given time, the blond can be reasoned with. Perhaps he can escape... or maybe he'll find that he may not need to see Katsuki as an enemy, but as someone he can trust.

Where I Want To Be by jaegerbombastic (gabrielle015) NSFW “Okay,” she says, barely above a whisper. “But promise you’ll hear me out first. All the way. Don’t interrupt.” There was resolution in her voice, but he could hear the wavering. He kept his position in the chair adjacent to their couch his girlfriend was occupying. “Won’t say a fucking word ‘till you’re done,” he states. And for a second, Ochako feels a hot rush of anger throughout her body. Because he is just as fucking responsible as she i- “Alright,” she begins, readjusting herself on the edge of the couch she was sitting. “I’ll start I suppose.” “You should,” Bakugou bristles, gesturing loosely in her direction. “Go ahead. Explain to me why I was balls deep in you and had to listen to you moan Deku’s name instead.”

ShinBakuDeku

Return by Baltic_Breath (NSFW) Their pack had been on edge the whole fucking day. There was the faint smell of blood and organs in the air around their territory but nothing else. No trace of location, no trace of foreign wolves, no trace of dead animals being the source. Until Katsuki goes to wash up at the river bank for the night and comes face to face with a bloodied, gored up omega with a pup on his hips and a litter in his belly and Katsuki blanks at the sheer submission he experiences. This is a wolf that went feral and probably killed a few alphas while defending his pups. This is, for sure, Katsuki's mate. A Prime Omega.

EndHawks

Perihelion by horny4hawks (Wy95) and Shigure_xx (NSFW) "My fierce wings, my loyalty, or even my life, if this is what you ask of me—”Hawks raised his eyes, determined, looked straight into Endeavor’s own. The scent of alcohol escaped his mouth in light puffs of breath, and lingered in the hot space between them. He took off the jacket of his suit, and threw it to the sofa.“I will give you all that, and more.”

On my terms by Phayte Enji is drawn to a certain coffee shop for the coffee and gets more than he ordered.orThe College, Coffee Shop, Business Man, Sugar Daddy, and SLOW BURN AU only my fandom wife is gonna want!

EraserMight

The Yagi Family series by Dnote147 What happens when two Pro Heroes rescue an infant after defeating a powerful villain and discover that the baby is an orphan?A whole bunch of cute, fluffy and wholesome shit transpires, that's what!

[kaz-xiv]

LFRP // FFXIV 『Kaz Ashura』

THE BASICS ––– –

Name: Kaz Ashura

Age: Around 23-24 years old

Birthday: Unknown

Race: Miqo’te Undead

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Pansexual, heavy preference for males.

Marital Status: Forever Alone

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE ––– –

Hair: Usually black with a tint of purple, some times tips dyed green or fully dyed white. It’s a messy fuzzball of unkept hair.

Eyes: Violent pupil with bloodshot white. Upon looking at them, one might think they sometime have an eerie glow.

Height: Around 61 inches

Build: Very thin and gaunt.

Distinguishing Marks: Kaz’s whole body is covered with not only scars but stitches holding seemingly discolored skin patches. Furthermore, 3 long spikes exudes from the back of his neck. A few seen with a missing arm but oddly enough, it doesn’t appear to always be the case. As a whole, the miqo’te looks like an undead chimera composed of a few different body parts.

Common Appearance: Poorly dressed in rags. Often seen wearing a crop top white shirt with bloodstains scattered on it as well as rags dangling from his belt as some sort of decorative waist cape. He often hides his unsightly appearance with a cape with hood as well as bandages to cover his usually open wounds.

PERSONAL ––– –

Profession: Helper? at ‘Malignity in Metal’

Hobbies: Mind games and violent acts

Languages: He only speaks Eorzean.

Residence: He currently resides in an apartment in the Goblet but he also finds refuge in a messy and abandoned house hidden in the Goblet aswell.

Birthplace: Unknown

Religion: None

Fears: To lose his close bond with chaos and fellow monsters.

RELATIONSHIPS ––– -

Spouse: None.

Children: None.

Parents: All dead.

Siblings: He share some sort of brotherly love for both U’shen Lei’Xue and S’imba Tia.

Other Relatives: None.

Master: He seems to be under the order of his employer, @lheott and seems to take delight in both obeying and opposing him in various ways.

TRAITS ––– -

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between /  Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ––– –

Smoking Habit: He can and will smoke anything he can find but it is not a recurring habit. Drugs: Anything goes. He has broken his body many times with them already. Alcohol: Anything but will usually only drink when drugs aren’t enough.

RP HOOKS ––– –

Villain and corruption. When not working under the orders of Lheott Dragmyr, Kaz often seek out people with the potential for evil. Cunning and intelligent, despite his insanity, this monster will often attempt to drag unfortunate souls into often scarring events that will eventually break their will thus sending them on a darker path. He will make good people into bad people and bad people into worst and unredeemable monsters. His ultimate goal is the destruction of moral structures and the degradation of humanity into a demonic world of chaos. He will seek to destroy everything if it is what it takes.

Serial Killer. Kaz will often be sent out by his employer to murder and collect bodies people. To that end, he will often try to corner people in far away places or underpopulated places for an easy kill and a quick escape.

Hellraiser. The chimera is a chaos loving monster and will often bring it with him in populated places. Mischievous as always, he will often seek to bring violent emotions within people through any means possible, even if it leads him getting hurt.

Dark Roleplay. Like his master @lheott, Kaz can be a very dark character. RPs surrounding him include self-harm, dismemberment, gore, depraved and destructive sexual acts. Note me to know what he would and would not do but otherwise, there aren’t many depraved things Kaz won’t do. He loves them all.

[Will add more when more arises.]

CONTACT INFORMATION and OOC NOTES ––– –

Feel free to contact me on here first if you just want to have a chat or feel free to send me a question for Kaz to reply if you are curious to know what kind of answer he’ll give!

I’m very picky with time and I often have a busy schedule. I love to plan out RPs but do expect a little wait time before we get together to play out any ideas.

@mooglemeet @balmungrp @balmungroleplayers @ffxiv-crystal-rp@crystalxivrp

[probabltbry]

Carole & Tuesday [Rants/My Opinion/Controversy]

THIS TOOK SO LONG TO WRITE, PLEASE SKIM IT AT LEAST (T.T).

This is very different than what I usually post and I want to begin by saying that I may not have all of the facts! I am basing this on what I’ve seen other people say on this site (and others) and fact checking. I am open to learning and understanding more, and I will read any and all comments (if this post gets any lol). If this changes anything, I am making this post through the lense of a black bisexual female, so my view on things may be different. :)

I try to keep this spoiler free in general, but since I’m going to talk about characters and episodes that have released that’s a little impossible, so I will warn you if there are any spoilers in the section I discuss. I want people who haven’t seen the anime to get a taste of what it is! 

In this long post I will touch on the following; LGBT+ representation, POC representation, exposure of the anime(streaming and where to find it), the community/fandom of C&T, Cybelle????!!, and other characters. Remember- this is my opinion and that is always subject to change.

For those of you who don’t know about Carole & Tuesday, it’s a Spring 2019 anime directed by Shinichiro Watanbe in association with the popular Bones studio. Shinichiro is well known for his other successful series such as Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloos and Space Dandy and Bones studio has produced many popular animes like Noragami, Soul Eater and Ouran High School Host Club, etc. [Fun fact, Cowboy Bebop and Carole & Tuesday are said to be set in the same universe and I died when I heard this.]

The plot of Carole & Tuesday, as provided by wiki is:

Set in the future on a partially terraformed Mars, teenager Tuesday Simmons runs away from her posh lifestyle as the daughter of a politician and makes her way to the populous Alba City to pursue her dream of being a musician with just a suitcase and her Gibsonacoustic guitar. On her first day in the city, she crosses paths with Carole Stanley, another aspiring musician who plays the piano, and the two decide to team up as a singer-songwriter duo under the name Carole & Tuesday.

Where can I find this? Why haven’t I heard of it?

I actually discovered Carole & Tuesday through google since I was looking at new and upcoming animes for the Spring and Summer of 2019. Sadly, the website I used show that Carole & Tuesday was an anime many people weren’t looking forward too- but that was only a handful of votes. Personally, I had been super ecstatic since, just from the promo poster, I assumed Carole and Tuesday would possibly be a couple, there’s a person of color as a main protaganist, and they’re both SUPER CUTE. This all made me happy beyond words. 

As of now, Carole & Tuesday should only be available on Japan Netflix. Japanese viewers tend to prefer weekly released episodes whereas Americans prefer to binge shows. I am assuming that once the show has completed airing in Japan (there are going to be 24 episodes) it will appear on other Netflixs around the world. 

I believe that’s why the promo for it has been severely lacking and the fanbase appears non-existant. The fandom is there, if you squint (which is why I’m surprised there’s already controversy). The fact that I had to look through a list on an unknown website and scroll to the bottom to find this anime is very showing of how unknown this anime is.

I also saw a post comparing Yuri!!! On Ice to Carole & Tuesday and I personally believe that OP took the wrong approach. I forgot the posters name (I will edit and tag if I find it again) but the post said something along theses lines; YOI is so popular because it’s a mlm show whereas C&T isn’t nearly as popular because it’s a wlw relationship with poc. 

While this can prove to be true in the future, there are some major differences that were overlooked. I was into the YOI hype when it was first released but it didn’t truly become popular until Yuri and Viktor were canon and everyone was speculating whether it was a kiss or a hug, etc. Yuri!!! On Ice is also a relationship with a person of color, Yuri, and the anime was also supported by Crunchyroll, a major streaming service for Americans/others. It has had two years to become popular, grow and this is one of the very few animes that had positive lgbt+ representation since the relationship grew just as normally as any other type of relationship. It also wasn’t labeled a yaoi/shounen ai (though this sadly didn’t stop the fetishization of the characters and No.6 did it first but let’s move on-). It felt like a big step in the anime lgbt+ community and it won’t be forgotten! 

Carole & Tuesday has just started off! Not much promotion is being shown in other countries outside of Japan and the first episode premiered in early April this year. I believe it’s harsh to compare C&T to such a popular anime when it’s literally just begun. It’s also exclusively on Netflix (besides pirating sites) so there is a little foreseeable loss since it won’t be available on Crunchyroll. But despite that I know there’s hope! Though mlm couples tend to be more popularly viewed, and any pairing that doesn’t have completely white/asian/white-presenting people in the relationship they tend to not garner much interests, but I don’t think C&T will fall into that pit. There’s simply not much promotion of it yet but it still has defied odds and has a fanbase with people from many different countries already!

Though I do see the OP’s point and concerns and they have facts on their side (look at fandometrics popular characters/couples, they’re mostly male) I think it’s too soon to point fingers.

Just imagine how large it’ll get when it has proper streaming (because many people do choose not to pirate in order to directly support the anime and it’s creators!). I think this is where our patience comes into play because if you have seen Carole & Tuesday already, you are most likely not using the most legal means. We are all early to the party.

LGBT+ and POC Representation (spoilers in part of this section, read first line):

I will say this, and this will only be the only spoiler free line, I think it has decent lgbt+ representation and that there’s more to unfold. If you’re going to watch exclusively for lgbt+ representation then I don’t think you will be too disappointed but the anime has a ways to go before it’s finished so my opinion can change.

But the most recent episodes and commentary has caused a ripple in viewers beliefs.

Anne and Marie 

I literally adored when Marie kissed Anne whilst Carole and Tuesday sat there blushing. Then, Marie was careful to ask if either of them had a boyfriend or girlfriend not assuming C or T’s sexualities at all. This happened on in an early episode so this left me to believe that more casual representation was on the way!

Cybelle

This was where it began to become uncomfortable for me and a few others. I actually couldn’t figure out whether Cybelle was a female, male or left to be ambiguous intentional (I just concluded she was non-binary until they used she/her pronouns). But many people concluded that since it was clear Cybelle was a female with an infatuation (not a crush, an infatuation) on Tuesday people simply labeled her as lesbian. A few are labeling her interactions with Tuesday and Carole as a harmful and negative commonly used trope when involving wlw characters.

Cybelle was being creepy and aggressive towards Tuesday, constantly touching her abruptly and without consent and going as far as biting Tuesday’s neck and leaving a mark. Actions like these feed into the trope that is commonly used in anime/television shows and it actually demeans real lesbian couples. It’s like a scapegoat; saying ‘here’s your rep’ but it’s very, very, very bad rep.

The controversy comes in since there are people defending Cybelle’s actions because she’s a girl, and people are literally calling others ‘homophobic’ because they choose not to ship Cybelle and Tuesday despite their ‘canon interactions’ but they still want Carole and Tuesday to become a couple.

My personal stance is that none of Cybelle’s actions were consensual and I will never want her and Tuesday to become a couple. I think the creators fed into a bad trope (I’m not sure if intentionally or not), and the real only development we got from this was Tuesday learning to stick up for herself. I also think that Cybelle is simply a crazed fan who is not in a sound mental state and that her gender may not necessarily play into this; maybe she was meant to just be an aggressive fan that overstepped boundaries and made people uncomfortable and just happened to be female. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be representation and should not be labeled as such.

But these are just thoughts!

Mermaid Sisters - Galatic Mermaid  

I was personally pleased that the Mermaid Sisters blatantly said they weren’t male or female, just like mermaids aren’t fish or human. Non-binary representation is my fucking jam!

But there are worries that this group was used as a comedic affect due to the way the characters were dressed and how they presented themselves, and the fact that they were POC who were interrupted, immediately lost and were shown to be aggressive directly after. 

When I first viewed this I was more focused on the fact that they were non-binary, had amazing voices and had sang a song that was clearly not the most appropriate for Mars Brightest. Now I understand that how there were presented can be damaging and as a person of color, I am disappointed but I’m still conflicted. This scene caused people to ‘cancel’ the show and they’re trying to discourage others to not view it but I want to watch until the very end.

Overall I am super happy with the POC representation in the show! Especially since various races and skin tones are show quite frequently.

Dahlia

The same can be said about Dahlia. People feared the a negative trope of transgender females was being displayed though it’s stated that Dahlia is currently male but their sex varies from time to time, on the official website!

The Community/Fandom

Honestly besides the few odd balls who stir the pot and clearly use harsh words when not needed, the fandom is chill. The artworks are sooo cute and a little scarce but you can find Carole and Tuesday content here, on twitter, on YouTube, Deviantart- literally where you would find any other fanbase! Most people are friendly and (NEED) are willing to talk with you! If you’re still hesitant to watch just message someone who constantly tags Carole & Tuesday because I assure, they’re dying to rant to someone about what goes on lol.

Here’s my last little tid bit on whether or not to watch!

You should watch this show because you want to. Don’t do it because someone else keeps saying you have to because it has representation, or because they think Pyotr is hot or whatever. Of course I am the biggest hoe for Carole & Tuesday and if someone wants a new anime to watch I will suggest this one!! But!! Watching a show just because you feel you have to and you have no genuine interests will dull the experience! You should watch and support the show if it makes you laugh, feel love and genuine enjoyment. That’s the point of anime and that is definitely the point of Carole & Tuesday. 

I have already seen so many people drop the show because they were forced into it and promised things that weren’t delivered (it’s still early on) and then they bad mouth the anime. If you want to start watching when there’s more hype and a fandom, then wait!! If you’re unsure and want more convincing, message me!! If this doesn’t seem like this anime suits your tastes and, then why did you read this far (kidding)?!!! Regardless, I just want everyone to have a good experience when watching so we can have more good vibes all around.

I would definitely give this anime a shot if you love music, beautiful voices, dancing, poc/lgbt+ rep, suspense and just amazing animation all around, though! It’s has a baby fandom but it’s surely going to grow and I can’t wait to see the outcome of the anime and what becomes of our lovely Carole and Tuesday! <3 

I’m also in love with Roddy, just look at him~ | I’m still not super fond of Angela but I am wishing her the best to achieve happiness in the end!

[filled-with-tomorrows]

Star Trek: TOS - title references

A list of all references (I think, I might have missed some) in the episode titles of Star Trek: The Original Series. In addition to the references to various literary works, I’ve also included the titles with references to proverbs or obscure words that non-native English speakers or even some English speakers might not catch. So, basically, a bunch of useless trivia for nerds like me.

(I’m using the chronological order for the episodes. Also, I’m not putting links on the sources because Tumblr is a b*tch)

S1EP1 Where No Man Has Gone Before - the title is obviously a reference to the final line in the series-opening poem "To boldly go where no man has gone before". Appropriate for the pilot episode

S1EP4 The Enemy Within - the origin of this phrase is unknown, it has been used for a long time in various contexts like within religion and military. Example from A Course of Family Prayer by Augustus Montague Toplady (1794) "Lord thou knowest our weaknesses... our danger from the enemy of souls... and above all, from the enemy within, our vile flesh and deceitful hearts, so apt to betray us into sin." (source: wordhistories.net)

S1EP5 The Man Trap - a slang word for a woman who is purported to be dangerously seductive or who schemes in her amours; a femme fatale. An obvious reference to how the creature lures its victims in by changing its appearance according to the victim’s preferences. (source: Dictionary.com)

S1EP6 The Naked Time - Nakedness can refer to literal physical nakedness or a figurative baring of the soul which we saw happen to the crewmembers, but especially to Kirk and Spock.

S1EP7 Charlie X - X is often used to represent the name of a person or thing that is not known or stated, can also be used to indicate a mistake or to remove something from lists (source: Cambridge English Dictionary)

S1EP8 Balance of Terror - the distribution of nuclear arms among nations such that no nation will initiate an attack for fear of retaliation (source: Dictionary.com)

S1EP9 What Are Little Girls Made Of? - "What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and all things nice, that's what little girls are made of." Old nursery rhyme from the early 19th century.

S1EP10 Dagger of the Mind - Machbet, Act 2, Scene 1, Line 38, "Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain?" (37-39) Machbet is experiencing a moral crisis about killing Duncan and is imagining the act he is about to commit. This manifest itself as a hallucination; “a dagger of the mind”. “ "Dagger of the mind" can read in two ways. First, there's the literal contrast of tangible reality and Macbeth's imagination. Second, you have the metaphor of Macbeth's guilt—and doubt—manifesting itself as a vision as he waits upon the signal from his wife. False in this context plays upon a number of meanings. While the primary reading is "unreal," shades of "deceitful, inconstant; not to be trusted" are equally applicable.” What Machbet is seeing is not reality, just like the feelings the neural neutraliser causes in Kirk. (source: Bardweb > SRC Features > Speech Analysis > Machbet > Go to line analysis)

S1EP11 Miri - Name with a Hebrew origin that’s most common meaning seems to be “bitter”. Other possible meanings are “sea of sorrow, beloved, wished for child”. (source: various baby name sites, lol)

S1EP12 The Conscience of the King - Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2, Line 565 "the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king" (564-65) Hamlet stages a play of his father's murder to get Claudius to confess his involvement. This is also the play that the Karidians perform on the Enterprise. Since this episode is also about catching a murderer the title choice should be obvious.

S1EP15&16 The Menagerie - menagerie: a collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition; A strange or diverse collection of people or things (source: Oxford Eglish Dictionary)

S1EP22 The Return of the Archons - from the Greek word archon: ruler, to rule 

S1EP25 This Side of Paradise - possibly taking its name from F. Scott Fitzgerald's book This Side of Paradise or the poem that gave its name to the book Tiare Tahiti by Rubert Brooke. The book explores love warped by greed and status-seeking. The poem explores afterlife and how it might not be all that it's made out to be, hence the phrase "this (worse) side of paradise", possibly alluding to how Spock and the other crew members have to give up their personalities and real feelings to reach euphoria. In short, paradise is a lie they have to wake up from. 

S1EP27 Errand of Mercy - The title comes from The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens "It is an errand of mercy which brings me here. Pray, let me discharge it". Errand of mercy is “a trip undertaken to help someone who is in trouble” (sources: Memory Alpha - Errand of Mercy: Story and script, Collins English Dictionary)

S1EP29 The City on the Edge of Forever - “The title is a reference to both the dead city on the planet and New York, in the original script when Kirk first sees the city sparkling on a hilltop like a jewel he says it looks like "a city on the edge of forever"“ (whatever that means) (btw the original script was so bad guys, like so bad (Kirk orders his crew to execute a guy for murder, like wtf) (source: Memory Alpha - The City on the Edge of Forever: Story)

S2EP1 Catspaw - “The title of this episode, "Catspaw", is a term that describes a person used by another as a dupe; as McCoy points out, Scott and Sulu are used as catspaws to lure more crewmen down” (source: Memory Alpha - Catspaw: Story and production)

S2EP2 Metamorphosis - Definition of Metamorphosis 1a: change of physical form, structure, or substance especially by supernatural means, b: a striking alteration in appearance, character, or circumstances 2: a typically marked and more or less abrupt developmental change in the form or structure of an animal (such as a butterfly or a frog) occurring subsequent to birth or hatching (source: Merriam Webster)

S2EP3 Friday's Child - The episode's title is derived from a traditional English poem, known as "Monday's Child". The reference is to a line in the poem: "Friday's child is full of woe" or alternatively "Friday's child is loving and giving". Given the unfortunate circumstances of the child’s birth, it would seem that the former version of the poem was intended. (source: Memory Alpha - Friday’s Child: Background information)

S2EP4 Who Mourns for Adonais - “The title is taken from Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Line 415 reads "Who mourns for Adonais?". Shelley's Adonais is derived from Adonis, a male figure of Greek mythology associated with fertility. Also, "Adonais" would be the English plural of the Hebrew spoken name of God, so it would mean "Who Mourns for Gods?"” (source: Memory Alpha - Who Mourns for Adonais: Story and production)

S2EP5 Amok Time - Definition of Amok: an episode of sudden mass assault against people or objects usually by a single individual following a period of brooding that has traditionally been regarded as occurring especially in Malaysian culture but is now increasingly viewed as psychopathological behaviour occurring worldwide in numerous countries and cultures, 1: in a violently raging, wild, or uncontrolled manner, 2: in a murderously frenzied state (source: Merriam-Webster)

S2EP7 Wolf in the Fold - An ancient expression that means that there is someone in a group who presents a danger to the rest of the people in it. The first known usage in written form is from Virgil's Eclogues:

“The wolf is fatal in the fold, and so Are hailstones to ripe corn, wind blasts to trees—  Or — Amaryllis' anger to us all."

S2EP8 The Changeling - Definition of Changeling: 1) archaic: turncoat, 2) a child secretly exchanged for another in infancy, 3) archaic: imbecile (source: Merriam-Webster)

S2EP9 The Apple - The title is most likely a reference to the Apple in the creation story. The citizens of the planet Gamma Trinaguli VI (which was referred to as the Garden of Eden) were being controlled by a computer called Vaal. When Vaal was destroyed, they bit the metaphorical Apple from the Tree of Knowledge and were banished from the Garden.

S2EP12 I, Mudd - “Possible inspirations for the title include: I, Robot, Isaac Asimov's 1950 android-themed short story collection, the title of which was itself inspired by "I, Robot", Eando Binder's 1939 short story with an android hero, which had been adapted for TV in 1964 with Leonard Nimoy in a supporting role; I, Claudius, a 1934 novel by Robert Graves about the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius (the 1976 BBC production of which featured Patrick Stewart). Like Mudd "The First" in this episode, the subject of I, Claudius is also a despotic ruler who views himself in a more flattering light; Lines from Kurt Vonnegut's 1963 novel Cat's Cradle, which detail the creation myth of Bokononism: "I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done."” (source: Memory Alpha - I, Mudd: Story and Production)

S2EP14 Bread and Circuses - The title, "Bread and Circuses", comes from a line in the Satire X by the Roman satirist Juvenal, and refers to the practice in ancient Rome of providing a regular free bread (or grain) dole to the lower classes and free entertainment in the city's arenas and circuses, both of which had the effect of preventing civil unrest in the populace. (source: Memory Alpha -Bread and Circuses: Story and script). In a political context, the phrase means to generate public approval, not by excellence in public service or public policy, but by diversion, distraction or by satisfying the most immediate or base requirements of a populace by offering a palliative: for example food (bread) or entertainment (circuses). Juvenal used it to decry the selfishness of common people and their neglect of wider concerns. The phrase implies a population's erosion or ignorance of civic duty as a priority. (Source: Wikipedia - Bread and circuses)

S2Ep20 A Piece of the Action - If someone wants to have a piece of the action or a slice of the action, they want to take part in an exciting activity or situation, usually in order to make money or become more important. (source: Collins English Dictionary)

S2Ep21 By Any Other Name - “The title is part of a quotation from Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 2. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Kirk recites it to Kelinda. It is often used to convey the idea that although you can change the name of something, its nature will remain the same. In this case, the Kelvans become Human. In doing so, they start behaving as Humans do.” (source: Memory Alpha - By Any Other Name: Story and production)

S2Ep07 Is There in Truth No Beauty? - The episode title is from a poem by the 17th century English poet and clergyman George Herbert, from his poem "Jordan (I)", line 2: "Who says that fictions only and false hair/ Become a verse? Is there in truth no beauty?" (source: Memory Alpha - Is There in Truth No Beauty?: Background information) ‘Jordan (I)’ is a poem about poetry: George Herbert takes as his theme the proper material for poetry, as well as the proper language for poetry. In the first stanza of ‘Jordan (I)’, Herbert asks, why is it that people consider only made-up or fictional stories and situations suitable for poetry? Why aren’t things that are true to life considered beautiful, and therefore fit material for the poet to use as well?... Herbert is questioning why poetry, which is itself a construction, has to express itself by referring to other false constructions, rather than directly depicting life as it is. (source: Interesting Literature - A Short Analysis of George Herbert’s Jordan (I))

S3EP11 Day of the Dove - The word dove in the title is a possible allusion to their status as symbols of peace and love. Appropriate for an episode where the Klingons and the Enterprise crew come together to defeat a common enemy.

S3Ep16 Whom the Gods Destroy - An adaption of an anonymous Greek proverb that is often wrongly attributed to Euripides. An early version of this phrase appears in the play Antigone by Sophocles, "Evil appears as good in the minds of those whom God leads to destruction ". The version in the title is spoken by Prometheus in the poem The Masque of Pandora (1875) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow "Whom the gods destroy they first make mad” (source: Memory Alpha - Whom Gods Destroy: Story and Script)

S3Ep21 Requiem for Methuselah - “This episode's title is a dual allusion: first to a ritualistic liturgy of Roman Catholicism (and other related religions), the "Requiem" being a Mass for the dead, and second to Methuselah, son of the Biblical prophet Enoch and paternal grandfather to Noah, who was the longest-lived Human being in the Bible (in Genesis 5:21-27) having lived 969 years; existing for nearly a millennium, Methuselah's lifespan has historically become a proverbial reference for longevity.” (source: Memory Alpha - Requiem for Methuselah: Story)

S3Ep23 All Our Yesterdays - Machbet, Act 5, Scene 5, Line 22. A soliloquy after Macbeth's wife dies. "She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word. — To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury. Signifying nothing." To paraphrase: people see the future as bright even though eventually everyone will die. Life is a walking shadow that will end in death, not a litten path to a brighter future. In the context of this episode, the title seems to allude to the time travel that takes place. Spock and McCoy are literally trapped in “our yesterday(s)”. Spock’s love interest Zarabeth is also long dead when they return back to the future, so she’s taking on the role of Lady Machbet.