#btw what i meant by 'different kind of thief' is that he gives off that vibe that you wanna spoil him so he takes your money

[just-null]

i love the more well known characters and all but im pushin them all aside to focus on those in the back. i love background characters so fucking much. ino..... ino come back..

[somedayonbroadway]

After a few more weeks of intel gathering, the three are snatched and held for interrogation. They're forced to lead everyone to the base which turns out to be under an actual juvenile jail called The Refuge. The three sneak in and do their best to lure Snyder out but he already knows they've been followed so there's no way he's leaving. There's a standoff considering how many kids are in there and the only three with knowledge of the whole place are also being held captive. (Final) ~ Newsie Ano

(4/4)

TW CHILD ABUSE

Someone tell me why I love this so much.

Okay, so yes!

I’m thinking Weasel got custody of Morris and Oscar when they were little and their parents died, and he sort of just didn’t want to take care of them so he’d hand them over to Snyder. And Race’s dad is out of choice and rather than be a father and protect his son at all costs, Snyder suggests that to settle his debt he lets him have his only child and Race’s dad lets him.

It’s horrible.

When they first meet, Morris is ten, Oscar is seven and Race is four. Snyder keeps them in a locked room at night, but lets them stay together.

Morris and Oscar are there before Race for maybe a year or two. And when this tiny child is thrown into a room with them, screaming and crying for his papà, they immediately rush to try and calm him down. And Race (who’s love language is touch, btw) would be clinging to Morris and sobbing, because he’s just a little baby who’s been taken away from home and has no idea what’s going on.

As they get older and as Snyder trains them, they form a sort team. Oscar’s the techie, Morris is the bronze, and Race is the con/thief. Basically, Race is the youngest Delancey brother. (If someone wanted to draw this team, i would not be opposed 😂)

As they grow up they are treated poorly. Snyder beats them anytime they get something wrong. Morris would often take the blame for a lot of it, trying to spare his little brothers, but Race and Oscar would still get hurt very often and anytime they did get hurt, Morris would do his best to take care of them, but one time, when Race is a little older, maybe ten or eleven, Morris gets really hurt and Oscar is taken to another room because they’d almost gotten caught stealing something, so Race has to patch Morris up and it sort of just becomes the thing that he gets good at.

They are only allowed to have one first aid kit to take care of themselves they hide it to make sure it won’t get taken from them whenever Snyder gets angry with them.

I’m thinking Racer is the dreamer of this group. Morris is the realist and Oscar sort of drifts back and forth between both. Race desperately wants to find a way out of where they are. Morris is the one that believes they’ll be stuck their forever and Oscar sometimes thinks maybe it’s a possibility that they’ll be set free one day but also whenever Morris just has to be negative and unleash the reality of their situation on his brothers Oscar is always more okay with it than Race is.

Morris has made Race cry on several occasions by telling him that they had to accept that this was their life and they weren’t getting out.

Race desperately wants to just be normal. He tells Mo and Os that he’d rather his father had just given him up for adoption than send him here and that he’d be okay with just pretending for a day that he was free and able to live life like any other person (🎶JUST ONE MORNING OUT THERE, LIKE ORDINARY MEN...🎶 whoops, sorry... did I sing that out loud?) But then when he’d start to break down and realize that that may never happen, Morris would kind of just drop whatever he was doing to hold Race and tell him that at least they were together and as long as they were together Morris would make sure he was alright.

That would happen when Race is about thirteen. He’d start to kind of accept that he was meant to be Snyder’s theif after that, even though he hated it.

Also, did I forget to mention that Race has ADHD, a photographic memory and is hyper observant. Oh... and also, he always forgets to eat. Because... why not? And Morris is dyslexic and chews on his tongue when he gets nervous, sometimes drawing blood. And Oscar is OCD and has anxiety. He suffers from many panic attacks that Race gets very good at calming his down from. And Oscar hates that because he always wants to be the big brother for Race and not the other way around.

But anyways...

The cops don’t get involved until Race is fifteen, meaning Oscar is eighteen and Morris is twenty one.

Detectives Jack Kelly and Sean Conlon are partners who finally have a break in a case that they’ve been working on for months. A con artist described as young and blond and charming has been wrecking havoc all over New York, stealing quick cash, hacking bank accounts and stealing identities. He’s known by many aliases and no one knows his real name.

Eventually, they’d get a tip about where the next hit was going to be. And they’d stake out the place and Spot would make sure to distract their perp while Jack slipped a tracker into the guy’s burn phone.

They just hadn’t expected him to be so young. So after Jack planted the chip on him (a mix of a tracker and a bug) they’d let Race go, after all he hadn’t committed a serious crime, not that they could prove anyways. And they’d already be bending the rules by bugging his phone.

When they got in the car to tail him, Spot would tell Jack it couldn’t be him, because he had to just be a teenager. But Jack would say that he had this gut feeling that they needed to pursue this, so they would.

And after they followed Race to this juvenile jail, Jack would recognize it. And he’d tell Spot he’d been here as a kid (Jack was an orphan. I’m thinking he was kind of stuck there, not because he’d committed a crime, but more because they had nowhere else to put him). And he’d remember thinking the owner (Snyder) was really sketchy and was never kind to him, sometimes making him go without food and locking him in his room at night, not to mention beating him every once in a while.

They sit outside the place and listen.

Nothing happens for a long time. But then they hear people start talking. They hear someone gasp and start rummaging around for something.

Inside, Race finds Oscar laying in Morris’s lap, pretty beat up, with a decent cut across his side. And he rushes to start helping to clean up his brother. He’d run back out of the building to find the first aid kit that they’d buried outside in the back of the building. And Morris would come out behind him, carrying Oscar in his arms and Oscar would be crying on his shoulder.

Jack would move to help but Spot would stop him, telling him that there wasn’t anything they could do at the moment and that if they gave themselves away now, they wouldn’t be able to do anything later. So Jack would comply.

They’d watch Race patch Oscar up and hug the other two boys and then they’d just listen to them. Race would calm Oscar down by talking about how one day they were gonna get out of here and Morris wouldn’t disagree with him, just because he wanted Oscar to calm down.

That’s when they’d start talking about Snyder.

Spot would literally start hitting the steering wheel and scream because he was so happy they’d finally heard the name of The Spider in New York. The Spider has a web of different organizations throughout all five boroughs and they had never been able to pin anything to him. But they’re getting somewhere.

Jack and Spot would go back to the station with pictures of the three boys and they’d try to figure out who they were with facial recognition. But there would be nothing. But Jack would have a hunch. And he’d estimate their ages and ask for missing kids cases from years and years ago and that’s when they’d find them.

It would be three weeks before they were able to make contact. They’d follow Race and Morris and Oscar to a club in downtown Manhattan and they’d arrest them.

They’d separate them. Race in one car and Morris and Oscar in the other. But Morris would be fighting against them and telling them that they couldn’t separate him from Race and Race would only look borderline scared. But he’d be terrified on the inside.

When they got to the station, they’d all be separated.

And Jack would ask to be the one interrogating the youngest of all of them. And they’d let him, because they knew that Jack was good with kids whereas Spot wasn’t really. At least, not with teenagers.

Jack would buy Race a candy bar and hand it to him when he went in to question him. Race would refuse it at first but Jack would tell Race that he was shaking and that when he got hungry, his body would start shaking too instead of his stomach growling. And Race would take it. And Jack would start asking him basic questions.

Five minutes with him and Jack would know that he had ADHD and that he was hyper observant. He’d give Race a report to read and he’d watch Race read the same sentence over and over again. But Race would note that Jack was an artist and that he favored inks over paints just by a few drops of ink on Jack’s wrist.

Race would ask if his brothers were okay. And Jack would ask them if they were really his brothers and he’d say they were the closest thing he had to family. That they had been looking out for him since he was four years old. And Jack would ask him more about that.

Rather than press on who Race worked for or on what he’d stolen, he’d be trying to get to know and understand this kid. Jack would notice that Race was having trouble sitting still. He would notice that Race wouldn’t look him in the eyes. He’d notice that his nervous tick was picking at the hem of his pants.

Eventually, after talking to Jack, Race - who is still this kid who is pretty touched starved and longing for some kind of affection from someone he thought of as a father figure - would kind of just get attached to Jack. He’d start to tell Jack about Snyder a little bit. But then he would go off onto a tangent about how he’d gone into the club that Spot and Jack had been staking out and intentionally let them hug his phone in hopes that they’d get them all out of there.

Jack would ask him how he knew and Race would say that the short angrier cop (Spot) had a specific stance that gave him away. And Jack wasn’t as good a pickpocket as he was. So Race would give him a few pointers.

Jack would be amused.

Meanwhile, Morris would be demanding to be able to see his brothers. There would be a beat cop in the room to make sure he didn’t try to leave. And he’d keep trying to march out, but the beat cop, De La Guerra, would keep getting in his way and eventually have to cuff him to the table. And he wouldn’t respond well to Spot when he tried to question him.

Oscar would be a disaster in the other room. He’d be hurt from the last beating he’d had from Snyder.

He’d be crying i think. Silently, but he’d still be crying. He’d ask for Morris over and over again and ask if Racer was okay. The beat cop in there, Kasparzak, would try to calm him down.

Eventually they’d realize that Oscar needed medical treatment and would have to move him to a hospital. He had a few cracked ribs and the cut on his side hadn’t healed right.

Race would hear some commotion outside and ask Jack what was going on and Jack would tell him not to worry about it, to just stay in this room and with him and Race would hesitate, but he’d do as he was told.

Morris would break out of the room to see Oscar being wheeled away though, calling for him. And Jack would hear that and rush out to stop him and that’s when Race would see what was happening.

When Morris saw Race he’d try to rush to him, Jack would hold him back and Race would fight against Jack to hug Morris.

Jack would tell them they were still in their custody and couldn’t go with Oscar. And Race would say that he wasn’t letting go of Morris so Jack would cave and let them both stay in the same room.

In order to get a deal of any kind for all the crimes they’d committed, according to Spot, they’d have to give up Snyder. And Race would say he’d do it before Morris said he wouldn’t let him.

So they’d end up going together, wearing wires and cameras. And Jack would know it was risky to do this but they’d send them back into the Refuge and Race and Morris would trying to get Snyder to give something up.

When Snyder figured out what was going on, he’d immediately go for Race and hold him to his chest with a gun at his head and Morris would start begging him not to do anything.

Jack and Spot would rush in and other officers would rush to get the kids out of the Refuge. They’d end up in the basement where Snyder was holding Race with an arm around his neck and pointing a gun at Morris’s head.

Jack would have gone into the room alone. He’d discretely ger Snyder to turn his back to the door so that Spot could sneak up on him and he’d grab Morris as soon as he could and pull him behind him. But Snyder would go to shoot Race and Spot would have to shoot him from behind.

They’d end up getting out of there. Snyder would be taken to the ICU and Race and Morris would be allowed to see Oscar in the hospital who would jump up and hug them the second he saw them.

Being that they were forced to commit all these crimes against their will, they would be on parole. They’d have mandatory court appointed therapy sessions. Race would be told he’d have to be put in the system and he’d get upset and start clinging to Morris when they tried to tell him he wouldn’t be able to stay with them.

So Jack would end up taking him in.

Also, if anyone is asking:

Crutchie is forensics in this one.

Davey is a lawyer.

Katherine is still a reporter.

Pulitzer is the chief of police.

And Medda is Jack’s adoptive mamma.

I. Love. This. So. Much.

It’s brilliant. Thank you so much, Newsies Anon!

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Kasumi/Hamuko Parallel post

I mean I’m not saying Kasumi is Hamuko reincarnated in Minato’s timeline, but I feel like it’s a very good possibility (considering MT’s lore and as well as possibly Persona’s). I mean again, it’d be REALLY SEXY if I was proven wrong with Adult!Hamuko showing up in P5S! REALLY SEXY ATLUS! ;w; (just watch and see me be right with both P5R and P5S, let’s hope not cause that’s giving me a headache just thinking about it haha ;w;). Anyway, this is mostly going to be a parallel post between Kasumi and Hamuko, both really freaking shallow to “hey those are some key character traits!” kinda stuff. I’ll organize it from newest release/info to oldest. So starting with PQ2 (prior to that I will open to why it’s perfect timing out of universe) and then P3P (during which I’ll talk about why the timing in universe is perfect too).

There will be spoilers of P5R BUT ONLY ones from a stream, which showed the first like 10 min of the game (the spoiler is that it confirms when a specific scene happens in game). There will be PQ2 spoilers tho so like....yeah 8U

(lowkey been trying to finish this since Cinderella’s announcement but better late than never and I wanted to at least get most of it done before P5S’ possible trailer tonight 8U)

Under the cut cause length and pics~!

So before with start with PQ2, I should say why this is perfect timing out of universe. PQ2 has just released, Hamuko is in the public’s head. Not only that but she was as important to the game as the main-main case (aka P5). Now would be the perfect time to release a new character who looks the same and has the same importance. I mean this wouldn’t be the first time they did it, they first did it with Arena-PQ1-Ultimax, with PQ1 having secret answers to Arena, and Ultimax later reaffirming these answers (I’ll keep it vague for those who have yet to play the, as I like to call it, “The Yasogami Labyrinth Trilogy.”) It could be that PQ2 was actually our Arena in a possible trilogy (with P5R being the PQ1 and P5S being our Ultimax, that’s just a theory tho, it could just be that this is a duology too 8U). But yeah this is why it feels like perfect timing if they wanted to make this twist. Now onto PQ2

PQ2 (might add more later):

Were to start is the real question, I’m kinda just going to list of things with pictures showing them. I’ll try to keep everything numbered to make it easier.

1) Both apparently first appear in the first arc which stars Kamoshida (Kasumi is stated to not introduce herself during that time, but we can still find her). Kasumi is around for Kamoshida, Hamuko is around with Kamoshidaaaaaman.

      a) Coincidentally enough, there is a little girl that appears in Kamoshidaaaaman’s trailer that looks A LOT like Kasumi. (which I dunno might also symbolize Hamuko, speculation on my end but I felt the female dinosaur kind of symbolized Yosukesaurus that we actually see in the movie so maybe it’s a parallel maybe not but I wanted to throw it out there), also if Kasumi’s life is anything like Cinderella (and trailer girl’s dad is dead from that impact), that means Hamu/Kasumi/Trailer girl both have their dads possibly not being around anymore:

2) Both technically have a magical girl connection, Kasumi mostly from her transformation and what the devs said....but Hamuko said something really interesting concerning the PT and Magical Girls:

3) (P5R first 10 min stream spoiler) Both are introduced into these two games via showing off how great fighters they are (even tho that’s not Kasumi’s chronological introduction to the audience because of the cold open, but it’s the first time we see her and it’s our first impression of her). 

4) I don’t care if I’ll repeat this below in the P3P thing, but yet again but PQ2 hinted at Hamuko’s big appitite again:

5) Hamuko’s Ult Persona, both in P3P (tho it’s not shown in the credits) and in PQ2 is Messiah. Considering she’s a savior, and Kasumi’s relationship with magical girls (who usually are the “saviors”).....shallow I know but there. 8U

6) A big one, PQ2 actually hints at reincarnation, it’s just a throwaway line but....it’s not the first time Persona’s had a throwaway line and then it ends up coming true (sometimes it’s happenstance and sometimes it’s on purpose). (I should also note, reincarnation is a big part of MT, it’s even in the title, so it’s def not something that’s off the table). And the reason I’m including this is because, it kinda hints that even if Hamuko is reincarnated Kasumi, they’d kinda still have their own identity and be a different person. 

7) Lastly (for now probably), Hamuko and Kasumi both end up “joining”/working with the PT at some point. I mean so does the rest of P3/4, but they really try to make Hamuko feel included, and she feels extra gung-ho about the whole thief thing. It’s a shallow/small one but I should include it anyway.

(the reason I might add more later is because I’m re-going through PQ2 to see if I pick up anything else, anyway onto P3P~!)

P3P:

Before listing their similarities, I want to explain what I meant by the timing being perfect for in-universe. The reason being, if Hamuko died around 1999, she’d probably be reincarnated into someone who was born around 2000, and people roughly in 2000 (minus the first 4 months) are....guess what? 1st years during P5 (Futaba and Yusuke have late birthdays fun fact). And considering Kasumi is a first year~! Yeah it’s perfect timing if they wanted to pull a reincarnation card. 

1) They.....they have the same face..... I’M NOT JOKING THEY HAVE THE SAME FACE! It’s not the hair style it’s the face man! ;w; Rough same eye shape and face shape (sadly their portraits usually have their faces not being the same portfolio but this is the closest we have):

2) The both have red eyes (which also look brown in some lighting). (I know some people want to say Hamuko has auburn hair for some gd reason even tho it’s pretty brown in a lot of artwork, but since that’s close to red and Kasumi has red hair like bonus points it seems if auburn is also a correct answer XP)

3) Both of their portraits like to have their eyes looking to the left (their perspective)/right (our perspective) area (the angle of their face differs tho):

4) Both have been said to be big eaters. Like Atlus is freaking advertising this about Kasumi like crazy man, but Hamuko has food and her big appetite tied to a loooooot of different events with P3P. Like Hamu being a hungry girl and loving her food is a very iconic trait to her (ironically it’s not really done to death in PQ2 unlike Chie’s meat or Aki’s protein klfjsadl;fja). 

5) Both have red as a main theme (like red eyes, red ribbon, red shoes/headphones 8U). It’s shallow but important!

6) Shallow but interesting thing I notice, there’s a lot of key design similarities between Fem!Orpheus and Kasumi’s PT outfit and Cinderella. The biggest being the vine embroidery and the same heart design. There’s also the fact Fem!Orpheus Picaro also has red hair and a black headpiece similar to Kasumi who has red hair (all the time) but a black ribbon, also both have a similar flower connected to them (red gloves and black fingers, former for Kasumi and the latter for Cindy, but I don’t think it’s as important as the heart/vine/flower similarity). 8U Other than that I’ll just show it in the picture below:

7) This one is part of a popular theory with Kasumi, and will possibly be debunked after P5R’s release but I do want to throw it out there. If the theory that Kasumi gets hit by a car in the rain (possibly during the fireworks festival), well..... That means they both have ties to car accidents. Just described what  might be Kasumi’s. Hamuko survived one 10 years prior to P3, and there’s two that happen in two separate events (she saves Yukari from a crazy driver almost hitting them), and I iirc Theo saves Hamu from a crazy driver). 

8) They have similar designed shoes (tho the promo art of Kasumi her shoes are different from the teaser so I dunno if it still counts) But it’s worth  mentioning since Atlus went out of their way to keep Yusuke’s shoes as a reference to the past Persona game school he was supposed to be a part of before they made Kosei (god I’m so sorry for that word salad, no I won’t fix it at least not now)...btw Yusuke’s are stated to be in reference to P3 it’s stated in the art book:

9) Kasumi’s maid outfit is much closer to P3′s(and P4) than it is to P5′s (aka the traditional black and white as opposed to P5′s red and white), it’s just odd that it’s not also red 8U:

10) Uhhhh this (I don’t care we’re look for the smallest details! >:D DX ;w; also I’m ok really I’m ok 8U ;w; orz):

11) Last thing, but interestingly enough they both are known to jump really high. It’s not stated as a big thing for Hamuko, you just see it in her critical and that’s pretty much it. But it is a big defining moment for Kasumi (remember she jumps high to get a kid’s balloon). They also both like to twist and twirl in the air (tho Hamu is just designated to her critical). Shallow I know but I want to throw it out there. 8U:

Seriously look at that air time!

I might add more to this section, because I feel like I’m forgetting something but flksdajf;akf I want to get this out. Before I end it I do want to add a few not completely related Hamu parallels (but I can still loop back around cause my mental gymnastics are top notch! Probably even better than Kasumi’s! 8U). First is Minato parallels, which via PQ2 we find out that he and Hamu are “basically the same person.” The similarities is that he and Kasumi both have the same type of sword, and both of their Personas have the same skin (I think Male!Orpheus’ face is the only “real part” and thus both have the same kind of skin), and OT and Cindy technically both have blue eyes. 8U Small but I wanted to mention those 3 things. The other is Mitsuru, fun fact between Hamu/Minty/Mitsuru/Kasumi they all seem to be honor students (or can be, Hamu/Minty it’s up to the player). But I now a lot of people think Kasumi’s red hair and it also being wavy remind them of Mitsuru more, almost like a sister? Kinda like:

RIP to Hamuko, the cockblock sister zone destroyed us all that day. We stand with you girl. 😔✊✊

So yeah I dunno how else to end it. They just have a lot of similarities ok? And some of them are very distinct design features. Of course, again, it’d be really sexy of you to prove me wrong with Adult!Hamuko in P5S Atlus. ;) Be really sexy of you to stop ignoring Hammy and P1/2 characters~! Oh it’d be such a shame if I was proven wrong and those two things happened instead. Oh whatever shall I do~! 8U

[slowgo123]

Persona 5 Familiar AU

@ren-amamiyaa (hope you don’t mind me tagging you since you were interrested in the AU)

This will be just a more in detail post from the AU I brought up.

This AU was created and developed by me and my friend @oracle-nila. 

More under the “read more” because this is long because I don’t know when to stop

The basic idea behind it is that each of the PT’s persona have an animal form they use in the real world to follow around their user, look after them, give them advice or be a be a nuisance if they want to be.

Each of the persona’s can only be understood by persona users, normal people will only hear animal sounds. Each persona has the general needs of the animal they are and not taking proper care of them can affect fighting inside the Metaverse, meaning that each Phantom Thief has to properly research of how to take care of their respective animal. Depending on animal and personality they are varying degrees of hard to keep alive, they can get sick and even “die”.

Death is not that permanent for Persona. A Persona dying in the real world means that they will be unable to be used for a short while and be weaker than normal until growing back to full strenght. During this time the user of the respective Persona will also be affected, they suffer from a lack of energy and will be pretty tired, their Persona dying will also cause an emotional imbalance. (Using persona uses SP more often then not which is pretty much “mental energy” or at least it’s referred to such in pq  so I think it makes sense for their death to affect their user mentally)

Now I’ll just go into detail about each persona for a bit:                                           Also hope no one is bothered my unrealistic desings and hhhh art abwfk also tumblr sucks and likes to resize images so rip me

Arsene:

Arsene is a Raven (not a crow as some heathens from shujin would like to make you believe) I mostly made him one because of Arsene’s majestic wings (also fun fact: a group of ravens is called an unkindness or a conspiracy)

Arsene stays around Ren 24/7 having a habit if sitting on him (I mean Ren’s hair is basically a nest awnflfw) which confuses some students at Shujin and does bother some of the teachers (though I can’t recommend trying to throw a piece of chalk at him)

He is smaller than the average raven making it easy to mistake him for a crow

He also has the habit of stealing things from students at Shujin (he steals a lot of different things, mostly food, but he has stolen a wallet before)

He’s also a pretty good spy if need be

It isn’t suprising to see Mona or Loki get annoyed with him (he does get along with Carmen tho so not the entire cat squat wants him dead awfbkbw)

Zorro:

[ He’s a small bug and I didn’t have the energy to make a desing for him so there’s nothing here]

Zorro is a mosquito. Why you ask? because he reminded me of a mosquito when I first saw him and was 100% convinced he looked like one. (and because it’s funny)

He is the most fragile of all of the Persona (even if he says otherwise) this is used to tease him most of the time

Zorro is a male mosquito so he doesn’t drink any blood, though that doesn’t mean that that everyone isn’t going to be worried if he were to complain about hunger

Stays in Mona’s fur most of the time for safety reasons

Kidd:

Kidd is dog, more specifically a border collie. The border collie is a dog breed originating from the scottish border, we thought it’d fit more than some other dog breeds because: scottish breed - scottish pirate

Both eyes work fine, but he has the eye patch because pirate aesthetic

also has a scar on his right hind leg but my idiot butt didn’t reallly make any kind of ref for how the scar looks and didn’t really draw it in the only drawing I have of him

Carmen:

Carmen is a calico cat and also extremely fluffy

She’s a little taller than Mona

She often comes to school with Ann and charms people into giving her food (she’s quite talented at it)

She uses her close connection to Ann to her advantage when she can by manipulating Morgana or making small deals with him (that almost always end up with her not actually holding up her end of the deal)

Goemon:

Goemon is a ferret and possibly the least realistic and most colorful desing of all of them

[haha he hasn’t actuallly gotten that much development]

Johanna:

[also hasn’t gotten a proper desing/drawing made yet]

Johanna is a swan

HONK HONK

one of the least convinient persona to care for since Makoto not only has to explain to Sae why a swan keeps following her around at some point, but also is way too big or heavy to be carried via bag (though the latter thing could also be said about all of the other bigger/heavier persona)

Makoto can usually be found around the park because of her persona

Makoto is team mom and I’m 100% convinced Johanna is team mom for all of the persona

Necronomicon:

Neccie is a bat (the desing was based of a brown bat specifically)

They’re nobinary and I’d give my life for them

Futaba and Neccie have both terrible sleep schedules due to both staying up when they should be sleeping (being the only nocturnal one of the group is hard)

They try to make Futaba go to bed at more resonable times, but often get too invested in whatever Futaba is doing at the time

They also like cuddling (which is good with Futaba’s tendency to manhandle animals)

has a tendecy to swear when angry

Milady:

Milady is a fox, looks cute but can be still quite dangerous (her desing is mostly based of a red fox)

[she also hasn’t gotten much development, sadly]

Robin Hood:

[doesn’t have a desing yet]

Robin is a golden retriever (golden retriever RH ftw)

He is trying his best to help Akechi (he has gotten both gotten the nickname of “Akechi’s self control” and “what’s left of Akechi’s moral compass” by me)

He actually likes to cuddle

Robin is also larger than the average golden retriever

Robin and Loki can bud heads from time to time, but they can still get along

Robin urges and tries to get Loki to interact with the other Persona whenever he can

has a habit of picking up Loki by the neck when needed

He also follows Akechi during bike rides (being a dog means that he needs proper daily exercise)

Loki:

Loki is cat, he’s a lot bigger than the average cat and is a short hair. (and also gets second place in least realistic desing) 

I like describe the relationship between Loki, Robin and Akechi as: Loki gets Akechi in trouble and Robin tries to get him out if it

He has the habit of pushing stuff of tables, annoy Akechi and in general be the asshole cat he was meant to be.

He likes to play the tsundere game strong

He avoids social interaction most of the time

He can be a bit chaotic and mischievous, you know, trickster god and all

He has the highest death count of all of the persona (suprising seeing how one of them is a mosquito)

Welp, now with the basic info about the persona and how the entire familiar thing works I might aswell go a little more into detail about scenarios and story and other shenanigans.

Akechi in this AU is found out way more quickly, at least the multiple persona and that he has a persona part, making him join the party earlier than in canon.

He is pretty much the first person they got to when they have questions on the whole persona thing since he had to deal with Loki and Robin for quite a while now. For example, if a persona were to get sick and they don’t know if it’d be better they can ask Akechi about or maybe even ask questions about how the whole “death” thing works. (how helpful he actually is can depend on the question and situation awnfljf)

Further on the topic of Akechi, he doesn’t get as strong of an effect if one of his persona then rest of the PT (because he only has one dead and the other is still alive), but if somehow both die he will barely be alive, because the effect is way stronger than the any of the PT would have. His brain would be short circuiting while the extreme exhaustion would make him almost pass out the entire time. (and let’s not forget that Robin and Loki are pretty much his only proper emotional support that he can genuinly talk to)

Btw, the first time Loki died was a shitshow, because that was during Akechi being really lonely and still young having no idea they could just “come back”. 

The general story wouldn’t actually change that much give or take a few death and persona related shenanigans, even with Akechi getting to be part of the PT earlier and getting to know all of them better than in canon.

The interrigation room pretty much plays out exactly like canon with Robin being a good amount of disappointed that it had to end like this.

Later on while Loki is off on his own when Akechi, Robin and him where somewhere near the Diet building he notices the PT being a lot more active than they should be and aproaches then, realizing that Ren is actually alive, he makes sure to try and dissuade them from continueing doing what they’re doing, which ends up with Loki killing Arsene and then just legging it, trying to weaken their leader before getting the news what’s going on to Akechi asap.

Akechi is super worried at how bloody Loki is and it takes a moment to click what Loki is telling him. Akechi enters Shido’s palace and the traitor fight happens a bit earlier in the palace than in canon, meaning that they aren’t in that cursed boiler room. Cognitive Akechi shows and instead of any kind of sacrifices being made the PT just beats the shit out of it. (also I like to think that Ren can still use persona even with Arsene having freshly died, just that attacks take a lot more energy and he has to struggle with the effects)

From then on Akechi join the PT again and the awkward, tense road to redemption is now opened to him (with Loki having to apologize for killing Arsene)

Also might I also say that through my endless need to insert Shuake into everything I make, just imagine their persona trying to be their respective wingman/men, Robin would have good intentions, but I’m mostly conviced that if anything Loki would just use knowing about the crush to be a little shit.

PS: thing that that nila noticed was that Arsene was a raven and that’s really similiar to a crow and I’m sure there’s something you connect with crow and Loki a cat and there’s a certain character people often compare to a cat.

Alright, I don’t know what to add currently so I think this is it for now until I decide to maybe edit it incase I make some more proper desings and/or this AU gets more developed [edit 1] fixed problem 

[seduceme-lovestruck-thearcana]

My story’s characters and stuff. I’ve thought of these characters like one night and stuff. I’m still working on the actual story but these are the characters I had in mind and the background.

It also still involves magic bc I just love magic okay-

Btw this is from my outline of my story so the descriptions might be a bit weird.

Anna: She is the light magician and she fits the bill. She’s kind and caring like the usual stereotype. Plus, she’s the eldest, so she’ll be queen. She was treated right and loved by almost everyone. However, she did love her younger sister, Esther. Esther was different from everyone else, but she still loved her so much. She was basicallt her world. Well, when they were younger anyways...

Esther: She is different because she isn’t a light magician. She’s a dark magician. And, of course, not a lot of people like dark magicians. Some people adore that power and love them. Some people don’t care about it and treat them normally. However, since black magic has been abused and hurt multiple people time and time again, Esther was treated a little differently by the family and by the people. She wasn’t as respected, kids avoided her sometimes, and she didn’t have many friends. Plus, her family treated her a bit different. Anna didn’t, but her mom and dad did. They didn’t love her like Anna did. They didn’t give her as much attention and gifts and just love. It was kinda lonely when Anna wasn’t with her, but she did have a few friends to keep her busy.

Luke: Luke was a boy from a different kingdom. They were actually right beside each other. Esther and him met because Mary and Amon were trying to get an alliance with his father and mother. They came over and talked things out and they brought little Luke along with them. Since Anna was busy learning to be a queen, she played with Luke for awhile. They were both shy but had fun together. This created a strong bong that lasted till they were around 11. When Luke was 11, his kingdom had been taken over by someone else. So, his parents and him had to go somewhere else. Some place far away. Far away from Esther...

Heli: She isn’t mentioned much, but she basicallt SHIPS the two together. She’s an older sister and teases Luke but loves him dearly. She isn’t as close to Esther as Luke is, but she still is a good friend of Esthers. She doesn’t have the two colored eye trait. She just has the purple.

Adria: She is Esthers personal maid. Anna and Esther both had personal maids. They both always said “ma’am” or “your highness”. Anna was a little shy to correct them, but Esther didn’t really like it. She told everyone to just call her by her name. It was sweet. Eventually, her and Adria became friends. Remind you, Adria wasnt friends with her when she was young. She had a different maid then. But when Adria became around Esther age, she offered to be a maid. They were born around the same time so they’re the same age. Plus, it does have a good pay. But she was still close with Esther and basicallt became her gossip girl. She’d tell her all of the gossip as she brushed her hair and while Esther sat on the bed, listening with interest. It was sweet and comforting.

Luz: She was the princess of an underwater kingdom actually. She was a mermaid and very beautiful. She could turn into a human form, but she usually just stayed as a mermaid and in the water. Esther and Anna were both friends with her. When they were young, they stumbled out to the ocean and met Luz. They became instant friends and would meet almost everyday. It was a good connection. Luz is the person Esther or Anna go to if the other one isn’t available. And mist of the time, Esther is there. Anna isnt available all of the time anymore...

Jezebel: She is a born and raised thief. Mind you she doesn’t rob places and hurt people. She just pick-pockets them. It’s kinda easy for her and she wears this black lace mask over half of her face. She says it’s to cover her face and not get noticed, but to Esther and Anna it makes her more noticeable. They both shrug it off. Anna doesn’t rlly like it since she is a thief. She is meant to be a queen and keep peace, so a thief WASNT good. However, Jezebel has actually fallen in love Anna. She’d steal little gifts and leave them beside her window so she’d find them when she went to sleep. Anna would appreciate it and sometimes wear them, and if Jezebel saw, her heart would do summersaults.

Mary: Esther and Anna’s mother is more kind to Anna, bht she wasn’t too kind. Mary had a lot of issues growing up, she was poor actually and her kingdom was very well. She eventually met Amon and fell in love with him and left her kingdom behind. Sometimes she wonders what would’ve happened if she stayed. Would her kingdom end up destroyed? Would it have gotten better? She doesn’t know and it sometimes makes her sad. She’d love to visit, but she can’t bring herself to. Because of this, she isn’t the best mother and sometimes gets a little too distant. She drinks a lot to. She tries to stop and she does for a little while, bht goes back to her ways. Only Amon knows what she’s rlly like.

Amon: Born and raised in this kingdom. His parents taught him to love everyone and be kind and care for people. The way a real king should. They tried to set up sutors for him, bht he never really liked any of them. He went to a kingdom which was struggling, and met Mary. He loved her the instant they met. Obviously, they got closer and closer and he eventually proposed. Mary was hesitant but she agreed and left her kingdom behind. It had someone else watching over it, bht he knows she has a little bit of guilt left in her. Amon is close to Anna and teases her. He’s not as close to Esther but he still does his best to make her happy too. He’s not heartless. He doesn’t love her any less than Anna because she’s a dark magician. But he can’t lie and say he spends as much time with Esther as he does Anna. He feels guilt, but he doesn’t know how to fix their bond anymore.

This is all of them so far. I got the names but I won’t mention their last names until the story is actually written. This is just them and their descriptions so far! Also, I remember reading this thing about “very detailed character chart” and I might do that for Esther and Anna. I’m not doing it for ALL of the characters. Or I might I’m not sure... Anyways, take this right now. Gonna get my sTUFF TOGETHER.

[sceptilemasterr]

Evan Plays The Elementalists: Chapter 6

Previous Liveblog: Link

Are we gonna play Thief today? I hope so!

Title In!

“Ill Omens?” At first I read it as “[Roman numeral 3] Omens” and got really confused

Aster... please be ok! What’s going on?

“Branching?”

MC: “Branching?” MC, why are you me?

This is actually a cool concept! Kinda like a tree Internet?

Me: “This ‘branching...’ It looks like it hurts you.”

I highly doubt Aster is using dark magick.

Wood nymph magick sounds really interesting actually! I like this idea!

Aww, Aster is so cute!

I sense a diamond scene?

Yep, freakin’ called it.

Me: “Aster, that’s so thoughtful. I want to know more!”

I really like Aster, but also I think there might be a clue in this scene?

Okay, the dark-eyes thing is a little creepy.

Oh yay, she’s back to normal.

“Blood?” As in... “Blood-Attuned?”

“Fragment.” Yeah I got nothing for that one.

And Phil even mentions the eyes. He is so me.

Me: “So, about this branching thing... How strong is your ability?”

I’m curious!

Modest trees? Weird yet strangely cute.

I hope this “cultural exchange program” means Aster will become a student! That would be so awesome!!

Me: “Aster... Can you tell me about wood nymph magick?”

I was just thinking about this a few choices ago!

Aster the yoga instructor. I can see that.

Me: “Aster... Please teach me a wood nymph spell!”

I doubt she’d approve of my fire spell.

“How positively taboo! I would be honored to.” Love her!

“Wanna spread those pretty petals of yours and photosynthesize?” Phil, that sounds like a bad pick-up line. Stop that.

I turned it into a different species? WAT.

Is she talking about Griffin?

Yep!

Me: “Honestly... You’d be lucky to have me.”

Gotta show off that confidence.

Air magick! Well, good thing I’m an Air-Att then!

Grey Wind, I choose you!

The Arylu is ADORABLE btw.

...I don’t really want to use the marble here, I have the feeling it just makes the timed choices easier? At least that’s the impression I’m getting?

Me: “I’m going to... Save it for later.”

Alright, let’s do this! LEEEEROY JEEEENKINS!

A meadow? Uh...

Me: “Get Grey Wind’s help!”

I doubt those other options would help.

Nice!

...Ok, a dungeon now. Stealth mode activated!

Me: “Tiptoe.”

Boom.

Forest time!

Wizard duel, go!

Me: “Set her jersey on fire.”

There wasn’t an obvious “correct” option but I have a Fire spell, so...

...Derp, that was dumb.

Ahh! Dreamguy!

Wait, if that was just part of tryouts, then how the hell did Dreamguy get in?

Yeah, something tells me I didn’t make it.

Never mind! Guess my screw-up didn’t hurt too much!

Aww, Zeph... :(

(This background is gorgeous btw.)

Me: “Zeph... My spot should be yours...”

I feel like I only got onto the team because I’m the MC.

Why did I spend my diamond choice already? :(

Me: “I need to... Give Zeph some space.”

Sorry, Zeph...

Shreya! Hi! I love you!

Me: “I think I need to look for answers.”

“Wait, do they have that here?” I adore this MC. Even if they are kind of a derp.

Me: “Shreya, you’re beautiful when you’re being super confident.”

In all seriousness, I really do find confidence incredibly attractive.

“Oh, stop. And by stop, I mean keep going.” Love ya Shreya!

I really want a Shreya scene... hope this isn’t a diamond choice! There’s usually only two per chapter, right?

Aww :(

Me: “A picnic with you? Maybe some other time.”

It’s not you, it’s my wallet!

Shadow monster. Well, shit.

Hit it with Sun magick again, Phil! Come on, we’ve been through this before...

Me: “Use the Round Up spell!”

Derp, that was a misclick. I meant to use the Fire one!

...Oh, well, it worked anyway?

Never mind.

Well, thank God for Professor Swan!

So does she know something? I think so!

Final Thoughts: I really, REALLY wanted to do the picnic with Shreya! The Aster scene was great too but idk if that counted as a clue or not? I’m still not sure what’s going on with Dreamguy and the shadow monsters... hopefully next chapter! (As soon as I replenish my diamonds, anyway!)

[kittyinhighheels]

Kitty reads: Glass Sword Review

If there’s one thing Mare Barrow knows, it’s that she’s different. Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control. The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind. Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors. But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat. Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

Because I need to get this out of my system, let´s start my reviews with the most recent book I´ve read. I´ve read some reviews myself and let it settle before I wanted to give my opinion and here we are. A bit unorganized but oh well, we´ll get to it some day.  Not spoiler free btw.

Glass Sword is the second book in the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. It was a no brainer for me to read it after I fell in love with Red Queen earlier this year. I couldn´t wait to see what would happen to Cal as a Silver prince in the midst of Reds but most importantly I couldn´t wait to meet more newbloods like Mare.

To give a hint about the quality of Glass Sword, let me just say this: It took me three months to finish this book.

Throughout the 436 pages we follow Mare as her and her group of friends search for the other newbloods, Reds born with Silver power, in a race against time as the evil king Maven and his even worse mother plan to kill each and every one of them. And that´s literally the only thing we do in this book. We get maybe three fights but they are only three or four pages long each and usually so chaotic and quickly resolved that they were almost unnecessary. The rest of the time Mare, Cal, Kilorn, Shade and Farley traveled from one city to another to find the newbloods. 

Now like I said, I couldn´t wait for them to appear and I give VAveyard kudos for coming up with all these powers without making them boring. I was prepared that we´d get a bunch of new characters and luckily we didn´t see every single recruitment. But those we did see felt so unnecessary because by the end, almost all of those whose recruitment we got to see not only got maybe one sentence during the end fight (if they got one at all), they also died off-screen. We didn´t get more than a “they weren´t on any of the ships that made it back.” George R R Martin at least got us attached to his characters so we would weep while reading every sentence of them dying. VAveyard completely wasted our time and the opportunity to perfectly gut punch her readers.

Speaking of wasted deaths, let´s talk about the two most important ones in Glass Sword: Shade and Queen Elara.

Starting with Shade, all I can say is that I didn´t see it coming but it also didn´t surprise me. Throughout the entire book I had the feeling that VAveyard had no idea what to do with him. He was important enough as Mare´s link to her old self but too much of an ex machina to give him more screen time. Having him in dangerous situations would have killed suspense; he could have easily escaped. So he was sidelined. And that´s exactly why his death didn´t really faze me. We barely saw him anyways, what did it matter if he was now permanently gone? The only reason I ended up caring was because I loved Farley and it broke her. By the way, her being pregnant from Shade really wasn´t a surprise. I called it the first time they said she had vomited.

Off to Queen Elara: What the fuck was that? What the fuck was VAveyard thinking? How can you set up such a smart, calculated and dangerous villain, someone so vicious that Mare´s biggest fear is being caught by her again, and then not even show her death? I read the last pages of the fight ten times because I couldn´t believe VAveyard would be this stupid. It makes me so mad. How amazing would it have been to see Mare grabbing the queen and then sending the lightning through her body, looking her in the eyes while she´s basically being fried to death. That would have made the next chapter so much more meaningful. Instead, we got nothing. Again, a completely wasted opportunity.

You can´t say much about the plot because, as mentioned before, there barely was any. We saw recruitments and those three chaotic action scenes but around 80% of the book was Mare moping around. Which brings us to her and the other characters.

I liked Mare in Red Queen. An interesting thief who used her street smarts to somehow survive among her enemies. I could emphasize with her feeling of being alone, of not fitting into her family compared to her talented sister and then finding out that she somehow has those amazing powers without having silver blood. Her naivety did annoy me but it was okay because her ideals were understandable and actually noble. She grew up in a poverty stricken town where being older usually meant dying in an endless war. She had already lost at least one of her brothers and was about to lose her best friend. And suddenly she had to live with those causing her loved ones so much pain and suffering. She wanted change and she would fight for it if necessary. In Glass Sword, you barely see any of that. She acts as if she is such a martyr, as if she was the only one who gave up a lot for this fight, the only one knowing loss. She even thought her missing a guy she barely knew for more than a few months was somehow comparable to Cal missing his brother and best friend. And we´re supposed to feel sorry for her when Cal actually points out how ridiculous that is. Mare only feels sorry for herself in the entire book. She pushes everyone back, pretty much insults her best friend as useless because he doesn´t have powers, and is then confused why he wouldn´t talk to her. Her entire thought process is about how oh so dangerous and important she is and how much she suffers and how lonely she feels while lying to everyone and disregarding their feelings. I saw her “sacrificing” herself when I was halfway through. So cliché.

I think I liked Cal the most in this book and I wish we could have gotten a look inside his head instead of Mare´s. His conflict of being a Silver prince being amidst Reds who hate him and everyone he knows and knowing that it´s justified is so interesting. I live for arcs like his. Seeing his internal fight between what he was taught and what he is going through would have made such a great storyline. I would have paid everything to read a novella just about his character growth.

I can´t decide between Kilorn going on my nerves and liking him. He reminds a lot of Sokka from The Last Airbender because everyone underestimates him because he doesn´t have powers but he´s actually really smart and useful in battle (suck it, Mare). I could have lived without the cliché of him obviously being in love with Mare though.

I liked most of the side characters but I´m also not surprised that I barely remember anyone´s names besides Cameron, Jon and Nanny. I hope we get to see more of them in King´s Cage but I don´t want to see Nanny dying T.T

What I missed the most in Glass Sword besides the plot and a likable protagonist was the villains. Maven was merely a mention here and there until the end and even then he isn´t really worth mentioning. Elara died so easily AND SO USELESSLY and god do I miss Evangeline.

I already bought King´s Cage and War Storm so I´m not going to drop the series but Glass Sword was disappointing. I expected more of Victoria Aveyard.

[emilysidhe]

What we really need is an adaptation of the original 1740 The Beauty and the Beast

So were you aware that the The Beauty and the Beast story we all know is a heavily abridged and rewritten version of a much longer novella by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve?  And that a lot of the plot holes existing in the current versions exist because the 1756 rewrite cut out the second half of the novella, which consisted entirely of the elaborate backstory that explains all the weird shit that happened before?  And that the elaborate backstory is presented in a way that’s kind of boring because the novel had only just been invented in 1740 and no one knew how they worked yet, but contains a bazillion awesome ideas that beg for a modern retelling?  And that you are probably not aware that the modern world needs this story like air but the modern world absolutely needs this story like air?  Allow me to explain:

The totally awesome elaborate backstory that explains Beauty and the Beast

Once upon a time there was a king, a queen, and their only son

But while the prince was still in his infancy, in a neat reversal of how these fairy tales usually go, the king tragically died, leaving his wife to act as Regent until their son reaches maturity

Unfortunately, the rulers of all the lands surrounding them go, “Hmm, the kingdom is ruled by a woman now, it must be weak, time for an invasion!”

And the Queen goes, “Well, if I let some general fight all these battles for me, he’ll totally amass enough fame and power to make a bid for the throne; if I want to protect my son’s crown, I have no choice but to take up arms and lead the troops myself!”

(Btw, I want to stress that this woman is not Eowyn or Boudica and nothing in the way her story is presented suggests that she had any interest martial exploits before or in any way came to enjoy them during these battles.  This is a perfectly ordinary court lady who would much rather be embroidering altar covers for the royal chapel and playing with her child until necessity made her go, “Oh no, this sucks, I guess I have to become a Warrior Queen now” and she just happened to kick ass at it anyway.)

And the Queen totally kicked ass, but the whole “twice as good for half the credit” thing meant that no matter how many battles she won, potential enemies refused to take her and her army seriously until she had defeated them so no sooner would she fend off one invasion than another one would pop up on a different border.

So she spent the majority of her young son’s life away from the castle leading armies, but it was OK because she left him in the care of her two best friends, who just happen to be fairies!  This was an awesome idea because a) fairies have magic, and therefore are like the best people to protect the prince from any threats and b) fairies consider themselves to be so above humanity that the lowest fairy outranks the highest mortal, so they’d have no interest in taking a human throne.  Good thing they were both good fairies instead of one good and one evil one!

(Spoiler:  they were not both good fairies.)

So the two fairies basically take turns raising the prince until he’s old enough to rule.  And on the eve of his twenty-first birthday, the evil older one comes into the prince’s bedroom.

“So listen, kid.  You’re about to become king, your mother’s on her way home from the war to see you crowned, and I have a third piece of good news for you!  You see, I’ve actually been spending so much time here lately because Fairyland’s become a bit too hot to hold me for reasons totally not related to me being secretly evil.  And if I have to hang in the human world, I might as well reside in the upper echelons of it, so even though as a powerful fairy I completely eclipse your puny human status in a staggeringly unimaginable way, since you’re about to be king and since my premonition that I should stick this whole guardianship thing out because you would be hot one day has totally proved accurate (go me), I will graciously lower myself to allowing you to marry me.  Please feel free to grovel at my feet in gratitude.  (Btw, we can totally start the wedding night now, we’ll tell your mother about it when she arrives tomorrow.)”

Now the prince, being a day shy of 21, doesn’t care about the fairy’s rank so much as the fact that, even though fairies go thousands of years without aging, this particular one has been around for so many millennia that she actually looks like an old woman, and not like Helen Mirren old, but, like, ugly old crone old.

But between his mom’s letters and visits and the influence of the good fairy, he has managed to be raised right, so instead of saying this aloud he goes,

“But ... you raised me?   Like ... almost from a baby?  You’re like ... my aunt?”

And just like an anonymous dude on an online dating site, the rejection drives her NUTS.  She starts flipping tables and screaming about how dare he insult her and finally she transforms him into a hideous beast and puts these stipulations on the curse:

It can only be broken if a beautiful maiden comes to him, of her own free will, fully believing that he is going to eat her (because monster), and then later agrees to marry him, out of duty, again of her own free will and not because he threatened her or bribed her or told her anything about his real identity or what’s actually going on.  Oh, and if he uses his charm and courtly manners to woo her and win her over it doesn’t count either, bye!

So then the good fairy shows up the next morning for the coronation, she finds the grounds empty, the court and servants fled, and a hideous monster roaming the halls wailing, “Why did this happen to MEEEEE?” and she’s like, “What the fuck did I miss?”

But once she’s caught up, the good fairy is like, “OK, chill, I got this.”

And the Beast is all, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU GOT THIS THIS CURSE IS UNBREAKABLE!”

“No, it’s cool, I have a plan.  So first, I’m gonna conjure you some invisible spirits of the air to replace your human servants, because, as a prince, you can’t live without the service due to your station, right?”

And the Beast is all, “Yes, this is the 1700s so having servants is even more vital to my identity than a human body, that is absolutely the top priority I’m glad we’re on the same page here.  Also, good thing you’re not turning my human servants into moving furniture, cause that would be weird.”  *looks pointedly at 1756 version*

“Cool.  So now that we’ve solved the most pressing emergency of you potentially having to feed and dress yourself, the long-term plan:  The reason I haven’t been around so much is that I’ve been popping off to look in on this other child of a friend of mine, a half-fairy changeling girl being raised by human merchants, and she’s not only gorgeous, but very dutiful and good and I think she’s just the person to break this spell.  Plus if the plan works and she ends up married to you, the king, I will have fulfilled my promise to her mother that I would take care of her.  Two birds, one stone.”

“And she’s, like, my age?”

“Yes.”

“Cool, cool, liking the plan.  But how do we get her to come here believing that I’m going to eat her?”

“Well, her foster-dad lost all his money a few years back, but he just found out that one of his ‘lost’ ships came in after all and he was about to leave to check it out when I left them.  He asked all his girls what they wanted him to bring back for them, and Beauty only asked for a rose.  So, I’ll use my magic to make sure he can’t find a rose in the city, and get him lost around here on his way back.  You put him up for the night and make sure he leaves past the rose garden - he’ll obviously pick one, then you can freak out and call him a thief and say you’re going to eat him but will let him go say good-bye to his daughters first.  When she hears the story, Beauty will definitely come in his place because she’s the one who asked for the rose.  But when she gets here, you will instead become such an incredibly good host that she’ll eventually feel obligated to marry you via the rules of hospitality.  Oh!  And I’ll enchant some of the rooms with, like, self-playing instruments and mirrors that let her watch the opera and stuff so she’ll totally love it here.”

“This sounds great!  Thank you, good fairy, I’d never be able to do this alone.”

“Right. The only thing you have to remember is:  Don’t Be Charming.  No flowery compliments, no witty banter, nothing.”

“But I’m a prince!  All I do is charm!”*

“Hold it in.”

And that’s all the backstory, but before we go I just want to mention that the Warrior Queen Mother shows up while all of this is being explained to Beauty and she’s all, “Thank you so much for saving my son, but he can’t marry you, your dad’s a merchant.”  And the prince is like, “No, I’m marrying her.”  And the fairy’s like, “She’s half-fairy.”

Then it’s all, “No seriously, you can’t marry a peasant.”  And “No seriously, my twenty-first birthday passed at like the start of the curse, I’m technically the king now, and you can’t actually stop me.”  “Fairies outrank everybody.”

And they’re at a stalemate until the Fairy gives an exasperated sigh and is like, “I stand by my assertion that fairies outrank everybody to the point where in marrying a half-fairy your son would be marrying up, but would it help if Beauty’s biological dad was a lowly human king?  Cause he was.” “Yes, that ... fixes everything.”  “Great.  Well, I’m gonna head on back to Fairyland and work on getting that evil fairy arrested and becoming powerful enough to turn into a snake**, so, uh, I’m not coming to the wedding but don’t think I won’t curse you if you don’t invite me anyway, bye!”  grumbling:  “stupid humans”

Fin

*this is presented as a legitimate plot-point, that charming the pants off Beauty when they meet for dinner is something the prince actively has to resist to the point where he’s eventually afraid to say anything to her other than, “Will you marry me today?” lest something clever or flattering slip out.

**There was a lot of internal politics and machinations of the various fairies that the humans were basically pawns in that I cut out, especially from Beauty’s backstory, and a surprising amount of that revolved around who had and had not become powerful enough to turn into a snake.  Lifegoals, apparently

[chromemuffin]

Shoukoku no Altair Liveblog (Chapter 8)

As for this chapter’s art, just when you thought this series couldn’t get anymore detailed, it goes and does just that! I am consistently floored by the patterns Kato puts in these designs. The circles along the hem of Mahmut’s red outer clothes make for a simple design, but are made a little more complex by including three circles inscribed in each other. And that is just scraping the surface. I also love the poses haha. Anyway, let’s move on.

Chapter 8: The Thief in the Slum

I really liked the swirls of smoke in this panel, reminds me of the otherworldly atmosphere of series like xxxholic. And the hexagon pattern on the windows is a nice touch. But look at Mahmut go! He’s supposed to be on vacation, but he couldn’t hold back from jumping right into this thing last chapter.

Of course Mahmut is sitting far away from everyone else. I have no clue how this seating area is arranged though?? Looks like a couch...but it’s not...there is a rise in the floor that goes across the room, and it looks like the rugs were arranged to make a seating area out of it.

lol throwing shade at Mahmut there. Shara finally gets her smug moment instead of constantly being D:< or –.– 

Koko seems to have a nervous eating habit (she makes some adorable expressions too).

When I said I was going to catalogue his expressions, I meant it. Not sure what this one is, though...in the panel before he had a normal serious/concentrating expression, and this time it’s a little drawn, perhaps a small grimace of “I can’t possibly find this guy fascinating” when his goal is murder.

Very nice detailing on the comb here, instead of defaulting to a plain design. It certainly is...different from anything I’ve seen before.

Shara is quite the go-getter. Now you can see why she went ahead and accompanied Mahmut to go save Ibrahim. She certainly is quite tough in her own right.

Um, excuse me. Is. Is every person pictured here unique?? I mean, there are no repeats of patterns, except perhaps the two women in the middle to the right, they do have different expressions though. Notice that everyone is wearing something different, even though they are clearly from the same town. Some have scarves, others have patterns on their shirts/jackets. They also seem pretty excited for the show.

And of course there are those two ominous guys walking towards the front...

Good composition of this panel, as far as I can tell. The screentone for the sky gives it a nice depth.

And lol Mahmut you’re losing ground, maybe because your legs are so short. Mahmut is apparently only 5′4″ (forgot what that is in cm sorry).

Anyway, Iskander is on it. (though golden eagles don’t really fly around at night lol most birds are ‘blind as a bat’ at night)

Knew it wouldn’t be that easy. The uh black sludge water (?) looks very ominous.

Those are glorious wings. And you can see that nice teardrop shape on his forehead.

lol they are still calling him Mahmut Pasha.

o.O expression, maybe? He looks younger when he’s surprised.

Waaait, so the story ended up being true. xD

btw I like the official on the far left.

O-oh. That does not look like a happy thief.

And are you related to Zaganos. You both have that sort of medusa/my hair is going to eat my face if not for my hat or turban look.

lol she keeps giving him these looks and he just ignores it.

Mahmut really is all business, unless you drag him into having a good time (something I relate to). Plus, this is coming on the heels of his demotion, subconsciously he’s focusing on doing his best to grow to be worthy of his former title. He doesn’t actually know how to go about that, probably, but this is a good start. A pasha’s duty is to protect the nation, after all.

UH, way to look like the emissaries of darkness guys. They even made it a point of walking in a triangle formation! Who does that!

I was wondering why they had some pots and plates on the rooftop. Make for great weapons.

lol poor thing. Even her arms are noodly. Love how everyone else is all into it and she’s the only one with a semi-normal reaction: terrified.

This is why you should have kept your identity a secret, Mahmut.

This guy’s voice ought to be cool in the anime, I’d imagine.

Ok, I noticed that he hung the lamp on the wall and there’s a little hook there so it doesn’t look like it just disappeared or is floating.

Also, thanks to the anime I now can confirm this thing is a whistle! Sorta. It doesn’t require the user to blow into it, but it is meant to call Iskander to him.

Also, smug faced Mahmut is back. Slightly subdued though. Maybe wry?

This is also kinda interesting. He doesn’t strike me as the Robin Hood type. It’s a good thing he has that menacing face though, it makes it easier to tell that he’s being sarcastic, and I can even imagine how he’s speaking in my head.

Once again, very interesting life philosophy here. Doesn’t seem like he’s being sarcastic about this part...? I wonder if he had that ‘pride’ Mahmut is saying he must have thrown away by now. Did he actually have a sense of honor, or was it just an image that fit well with his thieving, and now that he’s lost face, he just gave it up? I’d bet on that last one, haha.

Very nice angle on the latticework there, but what are you–

OH MY GOD.

Dude, where do you keep getting all these eagles?? Once again, this is probably terrifying, especially at night when the shadows are long and dark, and you can’t see the birds clearly and they just all SWOOP IN AT YOUR FACE.

I always love the swirls and lines on Mahmut’s clothing, btw. The billowy shape of this type of clothing is different from what you normally see in manga.

*trying desperately not to curse*

WHAT THE HELL. I’m telling you, Mahmut is a bird whisperer. How much meat did you need to bribe these birds with to get them to all perch in this room to interrogate this guy.

The contrast of light and dark spots is very nice here, especially in a higher res image.

Once again, this guy’s life philosophy is interesting. Guess this is how it ties into the realization Mahmut came to in the last chapter.

That there are ways of life out there, in the country he was supposed to be protecting, that he knew nothing of. Because he never stopped to think how other people lived.

I think the word introspection suits Mahmut well. He seems to do a lot of it, in the quiet panels in which you get a glimpse of his eye or part of his face as he is thinking.

First of all: I forgot how bloody laws used to be in this part of the world’s history it’s been a while since I took history as a subject.

Second: The thief telling Mahmut to kill him there was probably to avoid a torturous death. The thief is honestly hard to pinpoint. I can’t tell if he’s being sincere about certain parts of the last few panels, or if they were part of an act, and if so for what purpose.

Then, this line of Mahmut’s is very interesting: “I, too, obey the rules of the world I live in.”

In a subtle way, this is the answer to the thief’s earlier statement explaining why he would go as far as kill over the uncovered treasure: “To us, our treasure is worth more than our lives. I don’t expect you people to get it.”

Typically, people in authority take the high road, and whether or not it is true, take themselves to be the moral good. They don’t understand the people who live at the bottom of society, and have no desire to.

That is why Mahmut’s statement is so intriguing. He is telling this man that he acknowledges his ‘world’ by comparing his own world and that of the thieves, something a person in authority wouldn’t normally do. He’s telling him that he does “get it”. But because he understands that the rules are different for different ways of life, he can’t accept the man’s request/command to kill him. Then Mahmut would be breaking the rules of his own ‘world’ (and, of course, his morals).

AND THEN, the narrative throws the bloody execution at you in technical terms, very little to misunderstand about the brutality of laws in the past.

It also throws this little gem at you:

Koko, who has generally acted like a normal person today would to these situations (like being terrified when armed men are attacking you!)...

...is actually saying “So mean” because the thief violated her expectations of who Fakir Hirsiz is in her imagination. Sliiight values dissonance there, yeah? On our part, of course. We don’t think the cutting off of limbs is an appropriate punishment for stealing (i hope), but the people in this world aren’t bothered.

OH, so it’s highly implied that the treasure’s location in the play was no coincidence. As they showed in chapter 7, the plays often took inspiration from current events, and the thieves and their treasure were just one of them.

Mahmut has a disapproving expression here, as she says. He figured it out at some point. Because the theatre troupe directly and probably deliberately benefitted from the misfortune of others, and caused the whole thing, including the murders by proxy.

But, to the very end, she claims it was all a “wonderful, fictional world”.

Very sneaky. And, perhaps, like with the punishments for theft and murder (well, the murder/execution thing is up for debate, but cutting off limbs for stealing I HOPE not), it is meant to leave you with a sort of hanging feeling. Everything is resolved as well as it could be, but...? That kind of feeling lol. Can’t explain it well.

ANYWAY, Mahmut is off! Feeding Iskander again :3 

He looks, well, a little sad. That isn’t a frown, but he also isn’t happy.

Ah, yes, some much needed light-heartedness.

lol his expressions. I happen to like his startled expressions, they are always amusing. And then he’s pissed in that third panel. xD

LOL he’s the subject of the next musical.

And that’s a wrap! I actually wrote quite a bit for this one.

It was a tiny arc, but jam-packed with the very start of Mahmut’s long journey to meet his goal of becoming worthy of the title of Pasha.

← back・onward →

[oury-boros]

can't stop thinking abt how super pissed off that one performance of mack the knife is at ppl who steal from marks & spencers. like seriously dude, that's your direct lead in to cops? chill out

(note: I don't think the list of people Mack is begging mercy from is meant to be in ascending order of evilness. but the way the music is intensifying as he's singing REALLY gives the impression that aside from cops, shoplifting girls are at the top of his shit list. like, ok, so it's tramps -> dealers -> pimps -> disposal men -> pocket pickers -> girls who give the world a glimpse of inviting tights and lurid snickers (rly had a paint an image on that one huh mack) -> needle boys -> drug dispensers -> kids who (??? tbh I'm writing this from memory cause i can't find the recording I'm talking about) -> GIRLS WHO STEAL FROM MARKS & SPENCERS. then the cops get their own section where mack kinda resets but with more tension at the beginning and goes back up until he is SCREAMING at the police and DAMN i can make fun of mack and his over the top hypocrisy all day every day but i canNOT fault the music in this show, this shit HITS, genuinely makes me like mack for like, three whole minutes. mack said acab but clearly didn't mean it considering his bff is a cop and he relies pretty heavily on the police protecting him up until they can't at which point he condemns them. did I mention he's a hypocrite?)

also this post has no discernible point anymore aside from the general topic of Macheath Begs for All Men's Forgiveness so can we PLEASE talk about

I won't cast judgement on your morals

That's not the way I want to be

I'm sick and tired of picking quarrels

I'll pardon you, you pardon me

Let heaven smash your fucking faces

Slash you and let the blood run free

And break you in a thousand places

I've pardoned you, you pardon me

Like??? Mack. My dude.

also actually let's abandon this song too because thIS WHOLE VERSION IS EXCELLENT

Ok so I'm talking abt the production from the 90s (I seriously CANNOT find the one I mean), which seems to place 3p in the modern era, but I've only ever heard the cast recording, so it's easy to forget that until suddenly mack is screaming in your ear abt crooked cops with:

Mercedes

Mobile phones

Trendy jackets

And I LOVE it

A few of the songs get things either more faithfully translated than the 60s version or add some stuff on?? Like idk if the original 3p featured abortion in tango ballad but shit does the 90s knock shop tango make that experience visceral, not to mention the pauses in the song where mack is doing the street vendor "hey come get our products" thing but, y'know, pimping out his then-(maybe?)-wife (btw I have no clue what her name is. Jenny? Is it jenny? There's a jenny but I don't know if tango is that jenny, but I have heard one version where he called her jenny)

ALSO ALSO ALSO I guess ballad of dependency (or sexual dependency or w/e but tbh the first time I saw it live, it was just "dependency" and mrs. peachum was drinking heavily throughout which rly added to the irony and the theme of rich & poor ppl having the same sins and the only difference is that the rich get away with it and honestly that themes a lot more clear in the beggar's opera bc that was john gays whole point whereas brecht was doing his usual anti-capitalism thing, and I honestly get super conflicted on this bc I prefer gay's storyline but he's clearly also just emerged from all the way up the royalty's butt and that's only bc he didn't get the position he wanted, and they're fundamentally different stories anyway bc gay's Captain Macheath is a poor thief literally WORKING FOR mr peachum and his crimes are stealing, gambling, having sex with multiple women, and having multiple wives (over time) whereas brecht's Mack the Knife is still a thief but the syndicate is his and he's become rich off it and thus his crimes are much worse: murder, rape, cannibalism (tho i don't remember if cpt mack is innocent of that and also tbh i remember a lot less abt gay's version in general bc hot take but the songs in 3p are better), etc, so ultimately which story you prefer is probably gonna be based on whether you want Macheath to be an immoral but lovable jerk who's just a pawn, or an immoral murderer & rapist who has connections in high places WHICH BTW IS ACTUALLY THE ROLE PEACHUM FILLS (PARTIALLY, AND JUST THAT LAST PART) IN BEGGARS, LIKE, LITERALLY "TIGER BROWN" IS FROM THE CHARACTER "LOCKIT" WHO IS PEACHUM'S CONTACT INSTEAD OF MACK'S AND AGHHH TOO MANY TOPICS) takes place later in this version than the one I saw? Bc there's a verse abt the moment one of the prostitutes turned mack in and it's like

The fog recedes

He starts to understand

There's thirty bits of silver in her hand

He's almost glad that she's been paid

LIKE??? I know I said earlier that Macheath Begs for All Men's Forgiveness was the only time I like mack in the show, and that's true, but this moment??? made me feel a little BAD for him

o shit that also reminds me of the bit in the 60s version (can you tell im mainly talking abt translations but don't know the names of the translators WHOOPS) of solomon song

Forgotten all that he had won

He trusted us and was undone

His melting heart put him on the spot

I was thinking about reforming

Guess not

and the "melting heart" thing is probably actually his lust or w/e but "HE TRUSTED US AND WAS UNDONE" FUCK DUDE!! THATS THE KIND OF LYRIC THAT MAKES A RICH DICK BRIEFLY LOOK LIKE A HUMAN PERSON

anyway the moral of this post is that im still reeling from the revelation that brecht didn't want to write an adaptation of the beggars opera, but his other ideas were shot down and his wife was working on translating it so it was on his mind.