#but WOW she’s going to be the sort people are afraid of isn’t she

[small-birdie]

listen. listen. the epithets homer awards melinoë whenever he has the chance……. dreadful?? terrifying??? oh boy.

i know zagreus never got an official designation, but whether he is the god of blood or life, that’s all well and good. meli here on the other hand is about to be the goddess of all sorts of nasty stuff through absolutely no fault of her own. this lot wasn’t her choice; she’s been raised this way.

truly her father’s daughter as much as zagreus is his mother’s son, yknow?

[morganski-19]

The One With the Morning After

continuation of this post

Eddie wakes up with Steve’s half on top of him. The realization of what happened last night hitting him all at once. Fear setting into his face as Steve starts to stir. Nestling his face into Eddie’s neck. Eddie looks at Steve, not knowing what to do. Where this is going to go from here.

He’s not stupid. He knows that this isn’t something he can give up that easy. Knowing that Steve thinks of him the same way. Enough to abandon their friends and go hook up in a storage closet. But would it be enough to have something more. To finally cross that line.

Was Eddie ready for that? For the possibility of getting hurt again? He’s not sure.

Steve’s eyes finally blink open. Body stiffening when he realizes where he is, before relaxing into Eddie again. “Hey,” he mutters, voice full of sleep.

“Hey.”

“How’d you sleep?”

It’s the best sleep Eddie’s had in a while. He forgot how nice it was to fall asleep next to somebody. To wake up tangled together full of warmth and affection.

“Pretty good, you?” His heart is beating so fast he’s afraid Steve might feel it.

Steve props himself up on his arm, looking down at Eddie. “Good.”

He kisses Eddie in a way he can’t help but sink into. “So you don’t regret it?”

“No, I don’t. Do you?” Steve looks nervous, like he’s ready to get rejected.

Thing is, he sort of is. Eddie isn’t ready to give him the relationship Steve wants or deserves. But he didn’t regret it. Not one bit. Steve’s too important to regret it.

“It’s not that I don’t regret it,” Eddie starts. Getting cut off when Steve huffs and rolls onto his back.

“Just that you can’t do anything serious. It was a one time thing, I get it.”

“Well,” Eddie holds out. “I didn’t say that.”

Steve turns his head. “What?”

“Something casual, you know.” Eddie sits up and turns to face Steve, able to express with his arms. “We see each other, but casually. Nothing serious, no labels. No strings attached. Just like we were doing before, but with other benefits.”

“Benefits?” Steve asks arrogantly, propping himself up on his elbows. “So formal.”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “A million people use that term. What would you rather me use? Hooking up? Doing the deed? Tumble in the hay?”

Steve hooks a finger on Eddie’s shirt, pulling him into another kiss. “You are such a smart ass.”

“And you are very enticing.”

“Enticing, wow. Pulling out the whole dictionary for me, Munson?”

“Shut up.”

Eddie leans in to kiss him again before Steve pulls away when his phone dings. Typing something out before putting space between him and Eddie.

“Robin’s going to be having an extended breakfast with her new friend. You know what that means?”

“We can revisit what happened in that storage closet but in much more comfortable circumstances.” Eddie leans towards Steve, getting in his space again.

Steve rolls his eyes, pushing Eddie away. “No, we have to comfort Nancy. Who’s probably more hungover than she should be and in mourning of a relationship that should have started five years ago.”

“Shit, you’re right. You think she’s up?”

“Don’t know, let’s go find out.”

They get out of bed, Eddie going to knock on Nancy’s door. A small reply letting him know that it’s ok to come in. He waves Steve to follow him.

Nancy’s laying in her bed, scrolling old pictures on her phone. Eventually landing on a picture of Nancy and Robin right after they graduated college. Looking happy and close. Like someone could mistake them for a couple, which a few did. Nancy always swooping in first to correct them. Missing the discouraged look Robin gave every time.

“Am I a complete idiot,” she whispers when they enter, awkwardly standing in front of her.

“No,” Eddie assures. Crouching down to look at her. “And this is coming from a certified idiot.”

Nancy huffs. “You are a certified idiot.”

“Not certified but also an idiot,” Steve adds. “I don’t think you’re one. I think you’re just a person who’s afraid to get hurt again.”

“That’s not why I’m an idiot.” Nancy flips her phone around, showing them the picture. “This Nancy was too stupid to see that Robin liked her back. This Nancy was too stupid to do anything about it. What would be happening today if this Nancy did something.”

Steve takes the phone out of her hand. “And this Nancy didn’t even know she liked girls yet. Or that she liked Robin. You can’t be upset at yourself for not realizing that about yourself.”

“But I am though.” Nancy sits up. “It was so obvious, and I would have been so much happier knowing that. I would be so much happier knowing that somewhere along the line, it was me sharing a bed with Robin right now. Not some random girl she picked up at my award ceremony after party.”

“What happened to that girl who said she’d rather be friends with her forever than lose her to some shitty breakup?” Eddie asks, bumping her arm in a failed attempt to cheer her up.

“Yeah well, past me is a whole load of bullshit.” She drops her hands into her knees and picks at her nail polish. Starting to chip it. “I don’t even care at this point that we might have not made it. I just want her to know that I loved her too.”

Steve stands up. “Alright, time for breakfast, come on.”

“No, I think I’m going to more moping if that’s ok.” Nancy falls back into her pillow, trying to grab her phone again.

Eddie swipes it off the table. “Nope.”

“Come on,” Steve grabs both her wrists and pulls her into a sitting position. “You’ll never feel better if you leave this bed. I’m here, so Eddie won’t burn down the kitchen. And I think there might still be some of those brownies I made in my apartment. If Robin hasn’t figured out where I hid them.”

“Ok.” Nancy gets out of bed. She grabs some comfy clothes and heads to the bathroom to shower.

Steve starts to look around the cabinets for some ingredients. Frying up some bacon and eggs. Eddie helps make the toast with the promise to not burn them. Eye rolling at the assumption but turning the setting way too high and burning the first piece anyway.

Nancy comes out when everything’s done. Sitting at the table in silence while they eat. Steve slips out of the apartment when he’s done to go find those brownies.

“Oh,” he says when Robin and her friend are eating at the kitchen counter. “Thought you guys were having an extended breakfast.”

“I turned out to be way too hungry for that, so we’re eating instead. What are you looking for?”

“Brownies I made last week.”

Robin makes an apologetic face. “I ate the last one yesterday.”

“You bitch.”

She throws her hands up in defense. “Hey, they were very good. And your hiding places are shit.”

“They were very good,” the woman next to her says. Making an equally apologetic face.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Steve, Robin’s roommate.”

“Pheobe.” She reaches out her hand to shake his. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too. I’ll just go grab a change of clothes and leave you guys alone.”

Steve returns to Nancy’s apartment empty handed. Looking apologetic for multiple reasons. “I’ll make new ones.”

Tag list (let me know if you want to be added or taken off) @slowandsteddie, @annieofhearts, @cacdyke, @ubpd, @captain--low,

@thespaceantwhowrites, @goodolefashionedloverboi, @anne-bennett-cosplayer, @lunaticparisianlady,

@apomaro-mellow, @dolphincliffs, @dragonmama76, @maggiebug417, @stevesbipanic,

@fearieshadow, @eightpackdiaz, @au79burger @bookworm0690 , @practicallybegging,

@potato-of-the-lord, @autumncrocusandladybug, @estrellami-1, @ilovecupcakesandtea, @gregre369

@my2amgaythoughts, @ellietheasexylibrarian, @emmabubbles, @eriquin, @grtwdsmwhr

[hannahssimblr]

Not coming anymore

Jen’s text message comes in when I’ve already left the house, and I groan as I pull my phone out to see it on the screen. 

Are you serious? I’ve already left the house, you have no idea wh-

I delete the message and phone her instead. She picks up after one ring. 

“Jen, seriously?” 

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“What the hell? My mom was going out again tonight and I had to sort a babysitter for Ivy. It took me an hour, and now I've already showered and changed my clothes. I'm on the way to the beach, are you seriously telling me I have to turn back and undo everything I've just done?”

A pause, “No, you can go. I just can’t.”

“Wh-” I fling my arm up and sigh. She can’t expect me to hang out with the emos without her. What if they get peckish and start eating me? 

“Michelle isn’t allowed to go, so she doesn’t want me to go either.” 

“Oh I see, so Michelle just asked at the last minute. And was shocked and appalled that she’s not allowed? How stupid is that, my god, she isn’t allowed to do anything. Why would she think her parents would let her do this without advanced permission seventy-two hours in advance?”

“Hey! Stop ranting at me! It’s not my fault! I told her I was going to go out anyway and she gave out to me and now we’re mad at each other, okay?” 

“She’s miserable so she needs you to be miserable too?”

“Yeah, apparently.”

I scoff, “that makes no sense.”

“Yeah well a lot of things don’t make sense in Michelle’s world.”

I sigh and turn to face the sea. The sun has only begun to set and toss colour over the clouds. It’s a nice evening, the kind that makes you guilty about staying in, and so my annoyance at Jen morphs quickly into annoyance on her behalf. “Can’t you just come anyway?”

“No, I’m too upset now.”

“Jen…”

“You should go. I already told Evan you were going to meet him there, and you could probably use the fresh air and conversation… I can’t bear to think about you stuck in your room drawing your own fucking toes on an evening like this.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll still go.”

“Good, I’ll talk to you later, and you can tell me all about what happened.”

“I’ll come over, yeah?” 

“If it’s not too late.”

“Bye, Jen.” 

“Yep.”

Speaking of Evan, I spot him up ahead, dashing over the grassy bank towards the path with his dirty old school bag bobbing on his back. I call out to him but he doesn’t hear me, so stuffing my phone back into my pocket I begin an easy jog toward him.

“Evan,” I do a half jump onto his shoulders and he almost dies with fright, his knees practically going from under him, and twists around combatively to realise it’s only me. 

“Fuck,” he wheezes, “Fuck sake!” He yanks his earbuds out, pulsing with the tinny beats of some pop punk song , “You fucking scared me!” 

“I know, I’m sorry, I need to stop doing that, it’s just a habit.”

“Yeah, God.” He combs fingers through his floppy fringe and sets it in place in a gesture, habitual and a bit compulsive, that he repeats constantly.

I fall into step with him once he has gathered himself and I smirk, “Why are you so jumpy, Evan?”

“I dunno.”

“What do you think I’m going to do to you?” 

“Nothing, I just… This is how I am. I don’t like it when people sneak up on me, it makes me nervous.”

“C’mon, it’s either that you’re afraid of getting beaten up or you’re afraid of getting caught doing something you shouldn’t, that’s what I think.”

“Wow, aren’t you full of theories?”

I laugh, “And related to all this, what’s in your locker, Evan? What are you always guarding it for?”

The corner of his mouth ticks up as he glances at me, “My locker? Do you really want to know?”

It's not like I care that much, because honestly, how exciting can it really be? It's the locker of a seventeen year old boy, so it probably contains a mouldy lunchbox and the crumpled remains of last month's chemistry assignment, but Evan seems pleased that I've asked him about it. I feign interest for his sake.

“Well, yeah, of course I do.”

He swings his bag off his back and fumbles through the front pocket. It’s got a huge ink stain on it and the zip has broken, so it’s just hanging wide open, “I’m showing you because I know you probably won’t tell anyone, you know, seeing as you don’t really have friends anymore.”

“Harsh,” I say, but not untrue. Even since the cowards from rugby took Fitzy’s side in our tussle over Alison’s nudes my lunchtime calendar has looked a lot emptier than it used to. Where there used to be banter at the picnic benches there is now... decidedly nothing at all, save, maybe, for a few unimpressed glances my way, an accidental or not-so-accidental shove against my shoulder in the hallway. Maybe my absorption in art is related to this somehow, but I haven’t been in the headspace to psychoanalyse myself that much lately. My mind is so full of values, tone, shape, and line quality that it has (blissfully) no room for other, less interesting things...

But, as it appears, this is interesting.

Evan pulls out a bag of pills, about twenty, all blue with little batman symbols on them, then digs his hand back in for another, this time filled with green buds.

I look at him and say simply, “You’re a drug dealer.”

“Yeah, man.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah, I've been at it a while now, I think I have a pretty good business going with it and all... So if you’re ever looking for something, you know���”

“You sell to Alison.”

“Uh huh,” He stuffs the baggies back into the front pocket after a rather over the top glance around him, like he thinks this empty street is suddenly going to burst to life with guards and sirens coming to hunt him down, throw him in handcuffs with a boot against the back of his neck and toss him in Mountjoy prison, like there are no criminals wanted more in Dublin city than Evan Henley and his fifty bag of weed. “She comes to me from time to time, not lately though.”

“Yeah,” I cough out a laugh, “I took your molly a few months ago. It was shit.”

He shrugs, “I get what I can get, not my fault.”

“Hm.”

“You could go to someone else, you know, but there actually isn't anyone else in our school, is there? I have a monopoly.”

“Fair.”

“You won’t like, tell Michelle or anything though, will you?”

I stare at him incredulously, “Michelle doesn’t know?”

“No, she hates all this stuff, like, she’s really strict about all drugs and shit and I just know she'll blow up at me and start shouting and roaring if she knew about it. I’d just rather not deal with it.”

I pause to consider this. It probably isn’t any real harm keeping this from her, is it? It’s not like she needs to know, and realistically if she did she would only freak out and and tell Jen, and then if Jen knew that someone close to her was in possession of any of this stuff she might-

“Yeah, no worries, I won’t tell her.”

He pats my shoulder in a gesture of camaraderie, so I guess we're real buddies now, “Ah, thanks Jude. Had a feeling I could trust you with this stuff.”

Beginning // Prev // Next

[chibivesicle]

Trigun Stampede - Episode 6 - Wolfwood’s tragic backstory, now? Eeeehh?

Episode 6 dropped yesterday and I had only enough time to watch but not anything else.  After watching it, I just felt meh wringing my hands about how when I first heard about the reboot at Anime Expo last summer I was so stoked for a more through Trigun anime.  And we get this version from Studio Orange which I really wanted to be an enjoyable watch - buuuuuut - meh.  You’re killing me Studio Orange.

Since I didn’t have time to get to it yesterday, I pestered my good meta friend Merdopseudo to see what she thought as well, so I’ll be highlighting some of her points here as well since she’s great at catching things I miss or summarizing well.  As indicated by my summary title, I’m quite confused why they decided to lead with Wolfwood’s even more tragic backstory in this version of Trigun than in the manga.

We start off the episode with a fleeing masked member of the Eye of Michael (though they haven’t been named yet) who tries to kill Wolfwood and fails as he destroys the man.

We get even red eyes as he lines up his aim before the man dies.  And he’s wearing his sunglasses even at night!  Wow, maximum badass.  Why? Wolfwood needs to be a maximum badass, that’s why. Furthermore, so many scenes in this anime seem to feature full moons all the time.  Just an observation.

After the opening we return to the quartet in the November News Bureau SUV.  In the backseat, Vash and Wolfwood are pouting over something and Meryl jokingly asks if they are having a spat over candy.

This line feels like it was delivered in poor taste.  I get she’s trying to defuse the situation but are we to think this is due to Wolfwood shooting Rollo - last night?  Or a few days prior?  What is our pacing? What day of the week is it?  How much time has passed?  Any clue would help us out here Studio Orange.  I’m going to take the easiest option and say that they are pouting about the fact that Wolfwood killed Rollo - last night.

Roberto then suggested that they need to finish their job.  This would mean abandoning the SUV and taking the Sandsteamer to July and I guess check in with a Bureau office there?

He’s clear that he wants Meryl to take the steamer but it was vague if he was going to go with her or if he wanted her to take it for safety. Uncle info dump isn’t info dumping this episode much.

They end up separating from Vash and Wolfwood who both board the Sandsteamer.   Wolfwood gives Vash shit for seeming to have no emotional connection to Meryl and Roberto - which really it a valid reply.  It hasn’t been that many days that Vash has known them.

It has been even less time for Wolfwood to know Vash and he’s sticking to him like crazy glue, again being an ass.  Honestly, there is NO chemistry between Vash and Wolfwood in this version, Vash runs and tries to not kill people and Wolfwood gives him shit and kills people.

Meanwhile, Meryl is working hard to convince Roberto that they need to continue to track the Humanoid Typhoon.  Interestingly, that she doesn’t call him Vash, but by his destructive nickname here.  She pulls out the photo with young Rollo asking Roberto if he’s scared.

We don’t get a clear answer from Roberto if he’s actually afraid - I felt he isn’t afraid of Vash per se, but instead realizes that his youthful appearance is some sort of indication that dangerous stuff surrounds him.  More that he wants to avoid Vash out of a sense of - I dunno - not dying.  This episode will frequently use the word monster to describe Wolfwood a lot and Vash as well.  This is the writers trying to get us to connect the two of them and make us feel that they should be friends and a dynamic duo - which they aren’t currently.

We see people at the Ferry Terminal waving to those on the steamer which in this version is called the Humpback.  Interesting shift, as in the original the Sandsteamer was known as the Flourish and was a Humpback class.

In other versions, children were excited when it came, being Sandsteamer nerds.  I’ve been following too many historical sewing/clothing youtubers for the past few years and I keep getting vibes that the clothing for normal people in this sci fi series is more 1910s-1920s and not late 19th century western dress.  The boater hats, suspenders, knickers, newsboy caps, lack of women with bustle action etc.  I know it is a future sci fi series, but it does seem that they tried to modernize the clothing to at least be early 20th century to fit the sci fi vibe more.

On the steamer there is a route map telling use they are leaving the Terminal - which literally is just a single terminal in the desert?  What?  Ports develop around such locations but this is just a terminal. 

It is also hilarious that the Terminal starts somewhere in ‘Central America’ crosses part of the Great Sand Ocean, there is the Hopeland Orphanage in ‘Africa’ stops West of ‘India’ and then loops around ‘Australia’ only to reach July in ‘Southern China’.  Really guys, you just took a world map and smooshed and distorted the proportions.  We also get to see a tall man with the modified Zia-Cross symbol of the Eye of Michael in Stampede. 

Back when I first saw the early previews, I caught a glimpse of what was his back in an action shot and my first thought was - what? Are they using a Zia in the anime when it has some important symbolic meanings?

Stampede has been clear it has shifted very far away from the Christian aspects of the original work.  Since this is based on a Western style anime/manga we get this mixed vague symbol which I’m certain is a visual hybrid with the Zia.  If one were to travel through the Southwest as a tourist, you would inevitably see a Zia in some form with the most obvious being that of the New Mexico state flag.  The flag is yellow with the red Zia in the center representing the Zia sun symbol.  This symbol originated from the Zia Pueblo but has come to include more Pueblo groups, Hispanic native New Mexicans to just New Mexicans.  You live in New Mexico?  Lots of government documents, logos and all sorts of stuff will have a Zia symbol.

A simple way to summarize it is that it captures New Mexico culture - for example a cycling racing team is known as Zia Velo and they represent southern New Mexico.  However, if the Zia is applied out of a New Mexico/Pueblo context things get stickier.  I also think with a Japanese audience, a symbol which is built on groups of four wouldn’t work for the viewers so they took elements of the Zia from a Southwest inspired image board and called it good.  Four is the number of death for East Asians versus for the Zia, four is a scared number that captures key elements of life.

Anyhoo, I got distracted by the interesting looking symbol for the religious group on our desert planet.

Vash finally gets around to directly asking Wolfwood what his job is and he replies that he’s babysitting him. From Wolfwood we can understand that it is his ‘job’ to make sure Vash gets somewhere.  Or at least those are the orders that Wolfwood has.

Their conversation doesn’t get very far since Livio appears on the scene almost immediately and shoots at both of them.  We have a much more clean cut and slick looking Livio with a slim build and his two smaller guns along with a modification on his face and a mechanical sounding eye.

Vash fights back and it able to get close enough to fire at point blank range, but of course doesn’t.    We know he doesn’t want to pull that trigger, but it seems none of his modified opponents could care if they are in a tight spot.

It takes a little bit of time for Wolfwood to recognize who this man is and it ends with him asking if he is Livio before the title screen flashes. 

The anime then takes a shift to a 2D style of animation with silent film style titles showing how Livio came to the orphanage and Wolfwood was the longer taking care of the ostriches.

As Livio settles in, Wolfwood becomes his friend trying to get the crybaby to stop feeling sad at missing his parents.  He gets him to help out in the bird pen, and there is a cute sequence of them becoming childhood friends.

Older Wolfwood, tries smoking like an adult all cool and shares it with Livio who coughs.  We get a close up of Wolfwood running off with Livio hand in hand where in this flashback Wolfwood has a much darker skin tone in contrast to Livio being exceptionally pale.

We get it, there was a time when Wolfwood was cute and he was friends with Livio.   The flashback goes back to the present and Meryl and Roberto chasing after the sandsteamer when the Bad Lads gang shows up on sand sail boats.

They are taking this idea of the Great Sand Ocean quite literally and I don’t know how I feel about this.  I’m still wondering why it even exists but this is a sci fi desert series paying homage to lots of other sci fi desert tropes.

Interestingly, we have no idea if the Bad Lads Gang have taken Meryl and Roberto hostage, just that they’ve been surrounded.  I also guess there will be no scene with Kaite, the son of the chief engineer of the original Flourish.

Wolfwood’s flashback continues that he’s been selected as a ‘Child of Blessing’ just like Rollo by mysterious church.

There is a weird psychedelic flashback were Wolfwood is a test subject and shows S+ levels of possibilities.  This is clearly a term added for the Japanese audience as the States does not have this type of ranking which is a trope specific to Japanese media.

The original Trigun did not make references to S+ and I honestly don’t remember the term coming up in Trimax either.  We get that Wolfwood is subjected to all sorts of crazy stuff and due to his response to the treatments he’s a good candidate for furthering efforts.  Just like the breakneck pace of the anime, his own physical development is rapidly accelerated - much more so than with the manga.

We still don’t have a clear timeline, but if he’s ten or eleven at the start, but he’s I dunno twelve now?  As the original anime put it, he was taken in as a child and trained by Chapel the Evergreen for ten years before striking out on his own for an unclear amount of time making his age over twenty.  The manga has the unclear timeline where you’d think he was around twenty at the end, but maybe seventeen.   Either way, manga and ‘98 anime Wolfwoods were more emotionally mature and had seen things.   This version of Wolfwood might be a super-powered twelve year old for all we know. Which I am not a huge fan of this angle.

For fun he’s stuck on an inverted cross examine room table and called a monster for emphasis. Yeah, let’s slap some basic Christian imagery down but it has no meaning since that’s been cut out in this version.

Of course, being likely only twelve, he tries to escape his now adult form declaring he’s returning to the orphanage before getting caught.

As I stated previously, I wasn’t a huge fan of younger Wolfwood in the manga since it has a character disconnect where he had this world weariness that did not match his age nor life experience.  But I could forgive that a little since we saw him as an older teen training under Chapel.  Now, he’s a man with a child’s mind.  Yeah.

With his attempted escape, he is only stopped by Legato.  This is another huge deviation from the anime and manga since Legato doesn’t even know what ‘Chapel’ looks like in the manga.

Their first encounter was at the Church at Jeneora Rock and the assembly of most of the Gung-ho Guns.  In contrast, he’s immediately on guard since Vash told him about the strange and dangerous man he’d encountered on the bus to May city/Augusta.

For the sake of oversimplifying the plot, something that Merdopseudo and I had been predicting, Legato is the one who reveals that all things lead to Knives.  The Eye of Michael is not an independent organization!  It is all a part of Knives noble plan for the the future.  This is lazy writing.  The whole regenerative capsules and religious assassin organization were independent of Knives and only worked with him due to a shared goal of sorts.  Legato tells Wolfwood he’s been signed up for the Eye of Michael.

And apparently, since Wolfwood still has willpower to fight Legato, it makes him unique and declares that he doesn’t believe in any god.

Wolfwood has gone from being a flawed, trapped principled man with some sort of religious core to an atheist.  Okaaaaaaay Studio Orange - not sure where you are going with this at all. 

Legato brings in Livio who wanted to join Wolfwood and it is clear at the moment that Livio’s backstory has been completely retconned and he’s the younger brother character for Wolfwood to worry about.

Legato comes off as bizarrely cold and unemotional in this version.  In the anime he was a man clearly bent on a dark and destructive agenda, but I would not call him unemotional.  If anything Legato had a huge amount of pretentious pride in his nihilism.  It was a defining feature of his character and in the manga his intense emotions and nihilistic tendencies were even more over the top. 

This Legato - just a cold blooded robot.  Conrad shows up with his own Project Seeds jacket in white, symbolic of his role as a staff scientist.  It also has me wondering how old he is in this version.  Our Doctor has to stop Legato from killing the promising young Nicholas for the greater goals.

The flashback ends and Vash and Wolfwood are arguing again as Vash is interfering wanting to help.

Vash managed to pin down Livio in a rather smooth action sequence with lots of empty shells bouncing around as he tries to figure out what is up when he calls out Wolfwood’s name.

This catches Livio’s attention who says that he needs to catch up [to Wolfwood] and easily launches Vash off into the air while Wolfwood randomly declares that he can’t let the two of them kill each other.

So, when did you become friends with Vash, Wolfwood?  You only showed up in episode four and here in six you are his friend?  You’ve had no bonding!  There was no foray into the desert to rescue a child or bus ride.  No tournament or situation with a runaway kid where your philosophies aligned and clashed.  You haven’t gotten drunk together.

But hey, we now have Wolfwood’s flashback and we know he cares about Livio his adoptive younger brother who can’t kill his other friend Vash. This. Does. Not. Work.  I see two random men in sunglasses who just argue with each other.

Zazie the Beast and Livio approach the Sandsteamer as Legato reads the ‘bible’ of the local religion and the two characters mock Wolfwood and his pinch.  Legato has decided emotions are for losers and Wolfwood has those pesky emotions!

We get it, Wolfwood is different and you are having fun watching him suffer.

They drive close enough to the Sandsteamer that Legato is able to stop an internal mechanism inside the the locomotive that causes it to veer off course.  It seems that Legato has leveled up in his own abilities instead of manipulating people to do things against their will.

I guess Legato is officially an ESPer instead to make him easier to understand.  I will miss that manga scene with the transport truck and the Calvary and the blood dripping onto the sand below. 

By diverting the steamer, it now is on a collision course with the Orphanage - which is apparently the entire town?  This is as confusing as the Terminal being a Terminal alone.

At the same time the Bad Lads Gang have appeared.  And with our simplified plot we know - they were brought here by Knives.

Why do Legato and Zazie the Beast care what Wolfwood does next?  If they see themselves above human emotions why do they care at all?

And with that the episode ends on a cliffhanger. 

We will learn in episode seven what happened to Meryl and Roberto and perhaps the man himself will appear.  B.D.N. that is!

My immediate reaction to this episode -

Wolfwood’s backstory was way too soooooon!  Far too soon!  Was this even earned Studio Orange?

For a few points, I’m going to tap some of my conversation from my good meta friend Merdopseudo.

1.) A good stand alone episode.  Technically, and by itself this was a good episode.  Merdo points out it is fine as an episode but its structure is also its weakness, indicative of the issues that have plagued the series.  Where does this fit in the overall structure of the story?  What purpose does it serve in advancing the plot?  The episode is fine.  You can watch it and be entertained.

2.) Wolfwood’s backstory is unearned.  We get Wolfwood’s tragic backstory far to early into the plot.  He appeared two episodes ago, seems to be a dude who is rude and will kill if necessary.  We don’t know what it at stake for him.  What does he do normally?  Where is his moral compass?  What is he doing in this whole mess.  Why do we even care?  Right now, Wolfwood is a kid with a big fucking gun and apparently had a friend named Livio.  The found brothers trope also falls flat despite the technically excellent 2D silent film flashback.  The backstory in this episode is just ‘put there’ in an attempt to humanize this version of Wolfwood.

3.) Vash and Wolfwood are not friends. Yep, I will continue to say this.  They are not friends.  Wolfwood is an annoying guy following Vash around because those are his orders.  They have not bonded in their adventures, nor have they argued about how to act.  They both jumped into save a girl, rode the bus to May city/Augusta.  They in the anime had more bonding at the competition and fought over the rights of the individual versus the rights of the collective.  In the manga the bonding is a bit later but still happens over several volumes and Wolfwood gets tied into Vash’s heroic antics from time to time.

4.) The pacing is paradoxical.  This is Merdopseudo’s best point.  With the predicted 12-13 episodes, this story needed tight-super tight plot beats.  Instead, individual episodes are slow while the combined episodes are rapid leading to this disconnect.  This is the best highlight of the writing problems that have plagued this series from the start.

This ties into what I have also been most critical of - the pacing.  There is no room to breathe between episodes yet, certain episodes linger and waste time on things which are unnecessary.  This is a lot of the CGI scenes of how E.G. drove his wheel or how Rollo was watching Vash dodge and stuff like that.  Or the man with the lights guiding the Sandsteamer out of port.  Just lots of strange shots that visually look cool but don’t help the story.

Which gets back to Merdo’s theory that this is all just a demo for Studio Orange for future projects and investors.

And as this continues, I become more pessimistic that this indeed is the purpose of Trigun Stampede.  Studio Orange took on Stampede because it was a low risk project.  They updated the look for a more modern audience and don’t have to worry about upsetting the original fans of the anime or manga since it was domestically a flop and obscure.  Clean it up with characters that are for the domestic audience, simplify the plot beyond recognition and make it dazzling to the eyes.  It is only 12-13 episodes, it will pull in better projects in the future.

Studio Orange isn’t going to care about the non-Japanese, specifically very likely vocal American fanbase.  We aren’t there buying the new merch at Animate. Hell, it is currently and annoyingly out of print with Darkhorse here in North America.  Why keep all the elements that made it a smash hit elsewhere?  It doesn’t help their bottom line.

Thus, Trigun Stampede is a product that does not take the elements of the original anime from Studio Madhouse and the lore of Trigun Maximum to deliver a cohesive product that gives us the magic sauce that made the original so good.  It was never their intention to present us with faithful adaptions of the original series and characters.  They clearly don’t care for the original themes, character morals, questions, struggles, successes, failures and sacrifices that made the original such an emotional high hitter.

Quick character notes:

1.) Our dud duo - Meryl and Roberto.  For once, Meryl sticks to her guns and is able to guilt Roberto into continuing.  Good for her, but doesn’t amount to much in terms of plot.  She stood up for herself and made a valid argument and her senior colleague agreed.  Wow.

2.) Vash.  Is more assertive with Meryl and Roberto away from him, and finally asks Wolfwood what his deal is.  He has some decent fight scenes with Livio but honestly, doesn’t do much else in the episode due to the Wolfwood heavy plot.

3.) Wolfwood’s premature backstory.  Fails his character greatly.  Wolfwood is a character of great nuance, moral struggles and lots of questioning in a good way.  We see none of that and get his backstory upfront almost as quickly as Vash’s.  This attempt to humanize him without knowing him does not serve his character.  This also doesn’t work with his previous religious associations which are why he was a more powerful character in the original versions.  We know he believes in God, though he’s not naive enough to believe that faith in God will solve his problems.  If anything he sees that humanity’s flaws and dark sides force humans to become devils at times (a line both used in the anime and manga).  The anime leans in much harder with the priest aspect of his character with his first and last confession in the church before he dies.  The manga instead has him die at peace sharing a drink with Vash as he’s ‘thanked’ by the younger children of the orphanage.  Either way, both of these endings for him show that he’s a man who has a moral code derived from a very Catholic theology and he struggles with balancing that with his own actions trapped between powers greater than him.  He has a clear line between acts of divine beings such as God and Angels and how it is impossible for a single individual to meet those and instead must learn to live with their actions and how painful it is to directly contradict your own moral code.

4.) Legato Bluesummers is a ‘robot’ with a bad haircut.  This version of Legato is not the nihilistic, self-destructive one of the anime and manga.  He mocks others and sees himself as superior to orphans like Wolfwood. He wants to watch a moral quandary but does Wolfwood really have a moral dilemma? Is he religious or is he reading a religious text to mock it due its emphasis of faith and emotions?  Like Wolfwood, his power is also much greater, if this were the original he would have made that random train engineer dude destroy the moving part while dying in the process.  Now, he just goes ‘whoosh’ and it breaks.  Boo - I miss his sadistic tendencies. 5.) Livio is another ‘robot’.  But with a hangup to be like Nicholas!  I bet.  Unless, he also gets a long flashback, his character has been likely completely retconned to the extreme.  Lazy writing would indicate that Razlo the Tri-punisher was a result of his mind splitting due to the experiments.  That’s my prediction if we do get his backstory.  Not due to other things . . .

6.) Zazie the Beast.  Is weird.  Look, I’m playing cat’s cradle and I made a spider web.  Humans are so dumb, mwahahahahahaha!  I’m also filling in for Leonof the Puppermaster with my insect spycams/drones.

My snark is coming out in my character responses here, but really are these characters with depth or characters checking boxes like a game of Bingo.  I’m curious to see how many of my predictions pan out in future episodes of if they will leave us in the dark. 

As far as themes, this episode doesn’t really have one that stands out. Other than adults treat children very poorly in this place and even if you are a masked religious woman, you have to have big tits.

[reyescarlos]

it's been two months since i did one of these, oh wow. life is keen on keeping me busy and away from writing, but still, this fic lives rent free in my head. here's another snippet to the college exes. thanks @sunshinestrand @pragmatic-optimist and @strandtk for the encouragement to keep going with this story 💜💕

Carlos looks back out over the view and draws in a breath.

“It’s amazing to think about, isn’t it? Just how many lives are being lived right here on campus. We’ve got future doctors, biologists, lawyers, and about a thousand other professions. People are falling in and out of love, creating memories. It’s…I don’t know,” Carlos says, shaking his head. “It’s pretty remarkable.”

He glances at TK who is staring at him, brows knitted.

Carlos swallows hard. “Sorry. I think I think too much,” he muses. “That probably sounded weird.”

TK comes closer to him and stands beside him.

“I like hearing what you think and I like knowing how you see the world. I don’t think it’s weird at all. Total opposite, actually.”

Carlos pinches his lips together, his brows furrowing. It’s so strange to think that he’s only known TK for less than two months and already this boy can make him feel so comfortable within himself when little else does.

TK’s still looking at him with a face Carlos can’t fully read. It makes Carlos nervous, not necessarily uncomfortable though which he feels is an important distinction. 

TK’s eyes drift slightly to his lips for the briefest of moments before they land on his eyes again. Carlos feels as if he could just burst out of his skin.

“What?” he asks quietly.

TK blinks twice like he’s snapping out of some sort of trance.

“Nothing. Sorry. I just…,” he trails off, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I’m really glad we met.”

It’s Carlos’ turn to stare now.

“Me too,” he replies sincerely.

TK smiles and walks backwards before taking a seat on the roof and laying back. Carlos studies him for a moment before coming over and doing the same. 

TK’s eyes are fixed on the sky above them where bright pinpricks of stars litter the dark expanse. Carlos stares up too as he gets comfortable.

“It’s crazy just how much brighter the stars are down here. I think that’s one of my favorite parts about Texas,” TK says quietly. 

Carlos smiles at this.

“They’re even clearer at my family’s ranch. I can’t tell you how many nights my sisters and I would camp out, especially during the summers.”

“I’m so jealous,” TK teases. “But that must have been awesome.”

“Maybe one day you could see it too?” Carlos turns to look at TK and finds the boy already staring at him. His heart beats a bit faster at the realization combined with the soft look in TK’s clear eyes.

“I’d like that a lot. I’ll become one with nature and all that jazz.”

Carlos barks out a laugh.

“I would pay good money to see you getting your hands dirty with the animals.”

TK scoffs, exaggerating his upset.

“I’ll have you know I can pull my weight. I may have grown up in Manhattan, yes, but I’m not afraid of a challenge.”

Carlos searches his eyes and TK cocks a brow defiantly.

“You’re such a little shit,” Carlos says.

“So much for southern hospitality.”

Carlos laughs and shoves his shoulder playfully, feeling his heart leap a bit at touching him.

He shakes his head and keeps talking before he can start overthinking. 

“First thing I’d have you do on the ranch is tend to the horses. They’ve always been my favorites.”

“How many do you guys have?”

“A couple, but Cheyenne…that’s my girl. She’s a gorgeous American Paint Horse. She’s the sweetest thing.”

Carlos pauses and fishes his phone out of his pocket. He flips through his camera roll and finds a few recent shots of her he’d taken before the start of term.

He hands his phone over to TK to have a look.

“She’s thirteen. I was there when she was born so I feel very protective of her. I don’t know, I’m biased but she’s my absolute favorite. I love them all though.”

TK continues flitting through the pictures.

“You can shut me up at any time, by the way,” Carlos says.

TK’s brows furrow, looking away from the phone and handing it back.

“Why would I? I told you; I like listening to you. I honestly meant that.”

Carlos can feel heat spread across his face at that, at the clear sincerity in TK’s voice. He makes Carlos feel special in a way no one else ever has, at least not this effortlessly, like dishing out such sweet words is just instinctive.

Carlos continues talking without getting too in his head, telling TK more about his life growing up. TK hangs onto every word and offers up stories of his own about his childhood in New York. It’s all too easy to lose track of time as they trade anecdotes back and forth.

But, eventually, Carlos notices that the sky above them has grown even darker, the air chillier too.

“It’s getting late,” he says reluctantly, hating the fact that they can’t just sit out here forever.

TK frowns but nods. “Yeah, we should probably call it. But maybe we can hang out again tomorrow? You know, assuming you haven’t reached your capacity with me for the weekend yet,” he laughs, but Carlos can swear he hears a few drops of worry coloring TK’s tone.

He rises from the ground and extends a hand back to TK, helping him to his feet. He doesn’t let go immediately, instead choosing to bask in the warmth of his skin against his.

TK surprises him, taking it one step further and lacing their fingers. His expression doesn’t change and so Carlos does his best not to react, to pretend this is commonplace, like his heart isn’t ramming desperately against his chest. Like his body isn’t aching for even more contact between them.

He fights to keep his voice even as he replies, “Not even a little bit. You’re on for tomorrow and any day after that.”

[cholatey]

Honestly, sometimes it makes me confused why so many people decide to dye their hair weird colors. Growing up, I never really got the chance to be considered a person per se. I was a hyper-visible minority in a country where no one looked like me, and I sort of had to deal with the consequences of that my entire life. If you can imagine being a five-year-old biracial child in a train car with a bunch of Asian adults staring at you, and when you look back at them, they look down at their phones like they’re afraid of making eye contact with you. And just, day in and day out, that being your reality with you growing up with that as your baseline. I felt like a monster at times, I’d get angry, and I glared at them when they stared at me, relishing in the idea of them freaking out at the way I looked. Sometimes, I’d get really sad, and sometimes, I just listened to really really loud music. I had bad social anxiety. To be fair, it wasn’t me being overly paranoid; people really were staring at me. I think it was a completely rational reaction to how people were treating me, but of course, it was bad for my productivity skills, so it was definitely unhelpful for me.

To be fair, my life was not hard. I grew up in a fairly progressive space, and within, you know, my school, I felt at home with people who looked kind of like me. Still, there was always an expectation, or at least I felt like there was an expectation, that there was something inherently interesting or radical about my existence. I never really felt like I was a person of my own that I could cultivate meaning by myself of myself. And I think I just never learned how to do that. To this day, I don’t really know how to be a person. I feel more like a zoo animal. Or like a person on display.

I feel, at times my life is an experiment on what happens when you put a child through severe social alienation and expect them to be OK. Sometimes, I wonder what it’s like to be visually disabled, to sort of have to deal with that everywhere you go. I watched the movie Wonder when I was in- I don’t know, middle school, high school? And when the main character said something along the lines of “There is a second where people register my face, and they see me as a freak. They try to hide the face, but it always comes out”. That made me cry at the time, as I wanted to watch Deadpool and not really this movie, but it also really bummed me out because I realized that what was that was what was happening to me my entire life. I don’t really know what to do about it. I think- well, you know, I take my antidepressants, and I don’t have to feel these emotions if I choose not to, which is cool. Still, I sort of want to be a person of my own making, being myself and not necessarily a representation of other people or what things could be your political values or anything. I just wanna be myself, and I don’t think I’ve ever been a person. I don’t think I’m ever gonna really be allowed to be a person.

I really love boring people. I love born people because I feel like I was never able to grow up being a boring person. My number one wish is that I could be boring, I could be unremarkable, I could be nothing when I walk down the street.

I have this character in my head, and she’s well- she’s tall because I’m short, and her face isn’t really a face, it’s a white circle, and the white circle has no facial expression has no emotion unremarkable you can’t really feel anything from it. You know, it doesn’t really show any reaction to anything you do to it. It’s just a white circle. And sometimes I think about her tall and lanky, just walking around the world, and no one seeing her, and I think, ‘Wow, that would be nice if it was me’.

[bisluthq]

Thank you for defending the art of poetry vs a police report!! Also scratched the surface is like the new ‘a love that was really something not just the idea of something’ lol like she felt a degree of it when she wrote it probably, but also in you have to consider who she was writing to/ for - both poems are an explanation and elaboration of sorts, but it’s so normal to have a new love and go: 😍😍 I see nothing better! I forget my exes names now! 😍😍😍

Because people don’t fall in love and go: ahh yes, I am feeling butterflies that I felt with the last 2 exes. This is a joyful feeling. I wonder if it will last.

Or maybe some people do, idk

But usually people fall in love with someone new and they’re like: wow I’ve never felt this exact feeling before! 😍

And that’s valid because if you love someone and break up, then have a few casual relationships (or not) that don’t go anywhere, it’s because you are comparing it to your last love in some way. If it doesn’t feel as deep as the thing you left, why be in it? The goal of having new lovers is typically to find the one, that magical best thing ever that eclipses everything you knew! No one will stay with something that isn’t even as good as an ex lmao

But it’s also normal to split from someone and go ‘maybe it was an idea of love not real love because we never…. And they never saw / liked / wanted to be around *this part of me*’

Or ‘I thought they were my soulmate but my idea of soulmates is “…..” and since we couldn’t do/ be “….” Then I guess they weren’t my soul mate? Because this need of mine wasn’t met, or I was still trying to impress them so didn’t let myself be completely seen…. How can I even say they knew me if I never told them I have a fear of blue marbles? If it was the perfect love I could have confided in them I’m afraid of blue marbles…. In my next relationship, I’m going to talk about my fear of blue marbles’

It’s just a growth period?

And fwiw this is the same person who wrote forever and always, last kiss, better than revenge and holy ground about the same relationship/ person. That’s over a 3-4 year period of writing, so with time our perspectives on things can change. It’s just life imo

exactly. What she’s said has all been very normal. Also, it would be extremely boring art if it were a police report lol. That would be the divorce decree and idk if y’all have ever seen one but they’re not generally very interesting readings.

[rubykgrant]

(beginning of the Wash interview with Andrews~)

Andrews noticed that when it was Wash’s turn, he entered with a note of laughter in his voice; evidently having some conversation outside of the interview room with his friends, which had clearly been amusing. She wondered just what it could be...

“Sounds like the rest of the gang are being their usual charming selves out there,”

“Yeah, haha, yeah- Simmons and Doc have been doing this thing where they say I need a password to get in a room, and there isn’t an actual password, so they try to block the door-” Wash began to explain.

“Wait, they were trying to stop you from coming?” she asked, suddenly confused and worried.

“No, I mean, not REALLY. It’s their way of teasing me about the- um, the time I was a little bit extreme… and sort of being everybody’s problem…” Wash sounded somewhat sheepish now, but not especially unhappy.

“Oh. You mean the incident with you and… the former Agent Maine and the Meta, trying to locate Epsilon,” Andrews finished. She hoped she had described it properly, not too blunt.

“Mm-hmm. The guys call that my ‘Villain Moment’. The thing is, they’ve sort of been avoiding the subject for- a couple years, wow, and so have I. When Simmons and Doc started teasing me, it wasn’t because they were suddenly mad at me all over again, it was because they’re not AFRAID of me anymore. I mean, these guys spent a long time together in a canyon trying to shoot at each other, remember?” Andrews nodded as Wash paused. “Right, and they treat that whole thing like it was just a funny misunderstanding, and they still joke about Red Team VS Blue Team, even though it doesn’t matter. So, they tell me I need a password for the bathroom or the kitchen, and say ‘access denied’ when I don’t know it, then I just shove my way though, and we laugh about it. They even check with me and make sure I’m OK with it, so they don’t go too far, y’know?”

“That’s good. And you’re right, it sounds like they aren’t trying to be mean. Especially if they’re actually being considerate about how it makes you feel,” Andrews  said.

“Honestly, I think we’re all trying to be more considerate about… certain subjects. It’s just hard for some of us to admit that,” Wash tipped his helmet to one side, nodding in the general direction outside the room.

“Ah. Perhaps some people, who are used to giving orders and insults on a regular basis, find it difficult to try a softer touch?” she gave a small nod herself; same direction. Same implied person.

“It is really REALLY hard for him to back off Grif and the Blues. But he’s trying. Like I said, we all are. Besides, teasing me about non-existent passwords is small potatoes. Tucker warned me that Simmons can actually be VERY petty and vindictive, I’m lucky he never tried to retaliate back when I was still kind of fresh from my Villain Moment. Also, Doc might call himself a pacifist, but he knows exactly how to annoy me, I kept getting tricked into distracting conversations with him DURING the Villain Moment. Now we’re actually friends, and they’re definitely not afraid of me any more, so this is weirdly their way of forgiving me… and Carolina thinks it’s SO funny to watch them bully me, she just laughs and laughs, like it’s- oh, wait! I almost forgot!”

Wash suddenly stood up and rushed back over to the door. He opened it, stuck his head and one arm through, said something to the others out there, and then returned to his seat in front of Andrews; now holding a folder full of various pages. Some of them looked like printed copies, official documents and records… but most of it was hand-written notes, some scribbled on lined paper, as if from a journal.

“I’ve been making notes of all the things I wanted to tell you about! Like, like Triplets, and being split-up on Chorus, and figuring out I was in a paradox, all that, I didn’t want to forget anything- I’ve got some pretty good meds now that help me stay in the moment, but sometimes I lose my train of thought or get a little confused about the order of certain events, like the other day I almost thought I had Epsilon with me longer during Project Freelancer, but I was combining the memories I spent with him looking for the Director and when he came back on Chorus, and it was WEIRD because in my head it was totally different than what actually happened, but it seemed to make sense because I knew that I knew Epsilon, but it wasn’t during Freelancer- dang it! See, this is why I need to focus!” Wash took a deep breath, seemed to gather his thoughts internally, and then began speaking calmly. In fact, he now had an almost analytical tone (the opposite of hint of laughter he started with).

“When I mentioned Carolina thinking it was funny, watching the guys tease me- that’s because it’s a little like how things were during Project Freelancer. I have a lot of things I want to talk about, what it’s been like making friends with the Reds and Blues, losing the friends I had before, What happened with Epsilon, Maine, and the Meta, what they all mean to me… but I really want to begin with things that happened during Project Freelancer,”

[acacia-may]

If I Were To Pluck On Your Heartstrings [AmaNene Week 2023]

Story Summary: When a tour of the Land of the Dead goes wrong, King Hanako of the Underworld finds himself eternally bonded and married to Nene, a lesser deity of horticulture who mistakenly ate the food of the dead, pomegranates said to make all of your dreams come true. Hanako has never paid much attention to that legend and sees no point in wishes and dreams, but as he and Nene grow closer he begins to wonder if maybe...just maybe...there might be some truth to it after all.

Fandom: Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun/Jibaku Shounen Hanako Kun

Genre: Romance, Arranged Marriage, Mythology AU inspired by Hades and Persephone

Relationships: Hanako (Yugi Amane) and Yashiro Nene

Characters: Hanako (Yugi Amane) (POV Character) and Yashiro Nene

Rating: G

Warnings: Some very slight hurt/comfort, arranged marriage, and some mentions death, the underworld, and the end of the world.

Word Count: 4434

Link to original post on AO3. Please do not repost to another site.

A/N: Written for AmaNene Week 2023. Illustration (linked here and seen as part of the cover art) by co-creator @nothing-to-see-here-bye-yall.

Story Below the Cut! Thank you so much for reading! 💕

6 Months Ago…

“We have a problem.”

Hanako sighed and rubbed his temples. “What is it now, Tsuchigomori?” Being king of the Underworld there always seemed to something going wrong. Most recently it had been King Minamoto cutting their funding. Hanako huffed. The other deities didn’t think his work was important—or maybe some of them wanted a whole slew of hauntings or a zombie apocalypse as a way to cure their boredom. Hanako couldn’t be sure, but he got the feeling that it might be personal. After all, he wasn’t particularly well liked by the other gods and goddesses and King Minamoto himself most of all. Rather than start an all-out feud, Tsuchigomori had suggested they open up tours of the Underworld to all the other deities to show them the important work they did there and maybe they would petition King Minamoto for proper funding on their behalf—or at the very least their entrance fees could help to offset some of the funding deficit. Hanako already regretted it and had a feeling he would regret it even more as soon as Tsuchigomori explained what exactly the trouble was.

“It seems someone has eaten one of our pomegranates.”

Hanako blinked at him. “What?”

“A girl—a lesser deity of some sort—she has eaten one of our pomegranates. Apparently she was stopped before she ate the whole thing so she isn’t completely ‘dead’ per se, but…”

“But?” Hanako interrupted with a huff.

Tsuchigomori adjusted his glasses. “But she’s still going to be stuck down here, I’m afraid.”

Hanako sighed. He knew this but had still been hoping for a different outcome. “Where in the world was the tour guide?”

Tsuchigomori shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sure he was somewhere…”

Natsuhiko was good for very little if anything. Hanako should’ve known better than to put him in charge of giving tours, but he figured even that moron couldn’t manage to mess up something so simple as showing people around. Clearly he had been wrong.

“Fire him and get someone else.” Hanako shook his head. “And bring the girl in here, I guess.”

Tsuchigomori nodded solemnly before excusing himself, and within minutes, he returned accompanied by a confused girl with long hair.

“Oh wow!” she exclaimed with wide eyes. “This really is some tour if I get to meet the king of the Underworld.” She bowed quickly but respectfully. “Hello Your Highness. I’m Nene.”

Hanako’s jaw fell slack and he blinked at her dumbfounded. His brow furrowed. “Do you have any idea why you’re here?”

“Well…my friend Aoi heard that you were giving tours of the Underworld and thought it might be fun and…”

“No,” Hanako interrupted and corrected. “Why you’re being brought here to see me…”

Nene tilted her head. “Is this not part of the tour?”

“No, it’s not part of the tour.” Hanako huffed. “You’ve eaten some of our pomegranates.”

Nene shuffled her feet as a faint tint of pink flushed in her cheeks. “Well…only half of one,” she insisted pulling the other half out of her pocket.

“These are Underworld pomegranates—if you eat them you will die and be stuck down here forever. Didn’t the tour guide tell you that?”

Nene hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe…I don’t know, but he did tell us that they’re magical pomegranates and the people who eat them have their dream come true and my dream is to find true love.”

Hanako pressed his hand to his forehead with a weary, disbelieving shake of his head. Not only did this girl have no impulse control but she was also completely stupid.

“Remind me to fire Natsuhiko,” he muttered under his breath to Tsuchigomori before he turned back to Nene. “Good luck with that seeing as you’re going to be stuck in the Underworld now.”

“But I’m a deity—only a small one of horticulture, but I still can’t die.”

“You can if you eat the food of the Underworld. I don’t—” He stopped abruptly as he watched the tears well up in Nene’s eyes.

“But…but I can’t die. I haven’t even been kissed yet. Can you imagine anything worse than dying before you’ve been kissed?”

“Yes,” huffed Hanako, but Nene just cried harder.

“Please, please King Hanako, do something!”

“There’s nothing I can do,” he insisted.

“But you’re the king of the Underworld. Surely there’s something…” As Nene’s voice trailed, she stared up at him with wide, pleading eyes, and Hanako’s cheeks grew warm. He bristled but conceded with a sigh.

“Alright…There might be something. Give me the other half of the pomegranate.”

Sniffling, Nene did as she was told and handed him the pomegranate half. She audibly gasped when he ate the other half himself. Even the usually emotionless Tsuchigomori’s eyebrow twitched.

“Sire…” he muttered through his teeth, but Hanako ignored him.

“There. Now you’re only half-affected.”

Nene’s brow furrowed, and she tilted her head at him in misty-eyed confusion. “I don’t understand…”

“You only ate half the pomegranate, and I ate the other half so you’ll only have to spend half of the year here with me.”

Nene wiped her eyes, but she blinked at him in disbelief. “Really?” she choked.

Hanako nodded. “Yes, in six months from now you’ll get to go back to the surface.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much, Your Highness!” she exclaimed as a smile spread between her cheeks. Hanako’s face flushed again, but he frowned as he heard Tsuchigomori clear his throat pointedly.

“Oh right…” he added somewhat dismissively. “There’s something else. You’re…uh…kind of Queen of the Underworld now.”

Nene stopped abruptly and her eyes widened. “What?”

“Yeah, when the pomegranates are shared between two people they’re kind of eternally bonded together or whatever.” Hanako waved his hand dismissively and shrugged it off. “But don’t worry about it. It’s no big deal. I don’t really want a queen, but I could use some help around here given that our funding has been cut so if you just help me out with some housekeeping things we can call it even, okay? Deal?”

Hanako held out his hands to her, and Nene blinked at him before she took his hands. Hanako smiled, and Nene swallowed hard but nodded in agreement albeit a bit unsurely. “Deal.”

5 Months Ago…

Surprisingly enough, the citizens of the Underworld took to their new queen immediately. Within weeks she had hoards of Mokke following her around like little ducks, and the mermaids in the river of the dead had composed several, somewhat haunting ballads about her. Even Yako who usually didn’t take to new people warmed up to her after a month had passed and had lots of fun dressing her up in lavish gowns and extravagant hair styles. Hanako supposed Nene just had that effect on people—she was bright, bubbly, and cheerful like a little ray of sunshine in their otherwise dark and depressing land of the dead.

She was also a hard-worker and had been a great help in cleaning things up and keeping things running on the shoestring budget King Minamoto had recently given them, and, Hanako supposed, Tsuchigomori was right that her efforts deserved to be rewarded so he called her into the throne room for an audience.

“You called for me, Your Highness?” asked Nene with a polite bow.

“You can call me Hanako if you’d like. You are the queen after all.”

Nene nodded. “Right, yes. Did you need something, Hanako?”

“Tsuchigomori has recently sent me the report from the last couple of months and it seems things are running much more efficiently, and everyone is much happier with you here.”

Nene smiled with pink cheeks. “Really?”

Hanako cleared his throat. “Well maybe not everyone. King Minamoto—”

“King Minamoto is worried about me?” gasped Nene with a bright beaming smile, and Hanako rolled his eyes.

“No, but his brother is. He has been writing me asking me to let you return to the surface with the other deities even though I’ve explained that I can’t do that for another four months.”

“I didn’t know King Minamoto had a brother…” she tilted her head in confusion.

“Well, he does apparently, and he’s worried about you. You should look him up when you get out of here.”

“I guess...” Nene sighed with a shrug of her shoulders. “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Not exactly. I…” He cleared his throat. “I wanted to make sure you were comfortable and happy here…or at least as happy as you could be.”

Nene’s smile brightened. “Oh that’s so nice! It’s nice here and everyone is really friendly, but I do miss my garden.”

“Your garden?”

Nodding, Nene hummed thoughtfully. “I’m the goddess of horticulture, remember? Up on the surface I had a beautiful garden full of plants and flowers even some berries and vegetables too, but it’s always so dark here, I can’t get anything to grow—well…besides your pomegranate orchard, which is great, of course, just…”—she sighed—”I miss my flowers and vegetables too.”  

“I see…” sighed Hanako. “Well…I’m not sure there is much I can do about that. It’s the Underworld so it’s supposed to be dark here.”

Nene’s face fell, but she nodded. “I understand.”

“I guess I could write to King Minamoto and ask if we could put in a skylight or something.” Hanako shook his head slightly. “But I’ve asked him before, and he said no so…”

“You asked before?” she interrupted with a curious tilt of her head. “Did you want a garden?”

“No,” Hanako replied with a shrug of his shoulders, regretting having said too much already. “It’s honestly kind of stupid, but when I was first put in charge of things around here, I really wanted to see the moon. No funny business or anything, just wanted to put in a skylight so I could see it every now and again or at least could see the moonlight.”

Nene frowned. “You’re not one of those men obsessed with the moon goddess are you? Sure, she’s very pretty, but she’s kind of overrated. And I’ve heard she hates men so…”

Hanako laughed and playfully rolled his eyes. Natsuhiko was one such man, and he was particularly annoying about it—though, Hanako supposed, he was particularly annoying about most things. “No. It has nothing to do with her. It just gets so dark down here, and I figured I’ve been down here so long that my eyes wouldn’t adjust to the sunlight but maybe moonlight…” His voice trailed. “Never mind.”  

“Well maybe if I write to King Minamoto’s brother, he could help us get a skylight and then I could get my garden and you could see the moon.”

Hanako shrugged. “Sure. Knock yourself out, but King Minamoto hates me so I doubt even his brother will be able to persuade him to do me a favor.”  

4 Months Ago…

Hanako had quickly been proven wrong. After Nene had written to King Minamoto’s brother, Prince Kou, about their dilemma and wish for a skylight, he had personally petitioned the king to get one installed. Within weeks, they had a small skylight overlooking a clearing near the River of the Dead, and Nene immediately set to work planting all manner of flowers and vegetables in her garden which seemed to spring to life almost overnight. Though Hanako would never admit it, it warmed his heart to see her so happy. Her face practically beamed any time she mentioned it, and she thanked him profusely for letting her have her own part of the Underworld to grow things in. She spent hours in that garden, and one evening when Hanako was fast asleep she burst into his room shaking him awake with an excited, “Hanako! Hanako! Wake up!”

Hanako rubbed his eyes sleepily, mumbling something vaguely incoherent about leaving him alone to rest, but Nene continued shaking his shoulders. “Wake up! You need to come see this!”

“Alright. Alright,” he finally conceded with a yawn as he grabbed his robe and followed her out into her garden.

She practically bounced as she led him directly under the skylight with a triumphant, “Look!”   

Hanako rubbed his eyes. Maybe he was just exhausted but he didn’t have the slightest idea what he was supposed to be looking at.

“You can see the moon!” she explained, and Hanako’s eyes widened as he gazed up through the skylight to the moon outside. It was bright and shimmery surrounded by a sky full of stars as moonlight shone through the skylight’s glass. Hanako stopped in his tracks, and his eyes began to feel misty. He turned to Nene whose entire face was beaming and bright with the biggest smile he had ever seen.

“Isn’t it beautiful, Hanako?” she asked with a bubbly excitement, and he mumbled almost in spite of himself.

“Yes, beautiful…” Though he wasn’t looking at the moon.

3 Months Ago…

It quickly became a sort of tradition for them on nights when the moon was out, they would work side by side for hours in her garden talking and laughing about the most random, everyday things. Though they spent time together throughout the day, it was mostly business, related to running their Underworld Kingdom. They frequently shared dinner together, but they never talked with each other as freely and openly as they did in Nene’s garden. It was only there that he truly learned about her—her hopes, her dreams, her many failed attempts to find love and her firmly held belief that her soulmate was still waiting out there for her.

“What are your dreams, Hanako?” she asked one evening after talking about her own.

“What do you mean?” Hanako replied with a tilt of his head.

“You know besides seeing the moon… Do you have other dreams? Other things you’d like to do?”

Hanako shrugged. “Not really. As an immortal being, things get kind of old—especially when you’ve been stuck in the Underworld for as long as I have. It’s hard to believe there’s new and exciting things out there, you know?”

“I’m kind of new and exciting though, right?”

Hanako blinked at her, but his mouth curved into a playful lopsided grin. “Annoying is more like it.”

Nene pouted teasingly, and Hanako laughed at her playful huffiness. “Oh come on. Surely you have something you want or something you want to do.”

“Nope,” Hanako quipped with a cheeky smile, but it was a lie. He had a wish—a wish for more days with Nene just like this one, but he didn’t see the point in wishing for things that would never come true.

2 Months Ago…

As much as Hanako hated to admit it, slowly, but surely she wore him down with her complaints that he knew everything about her, but she knew next to nothing about him. Hanako insisted, somewhat cheekily, that that was only because she didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut and talked constantly, but he still found himself slowly opening up to her. The words seemed to tumble out of his mouth before he could stop them and despite his best attempts to stay guarded, it wasn’t long before Nene knew things about him that he had never told anyone: his regrets, his fears, those burdens that he denied even to himself.

“I didn’t know you had a brother…” she had said when he had finally told her about Tsukasa and his life before he had become King Hanako of the Underworld when he had just been Amane, a run-of-the-mill lesser deity who loved his family and wanted to visit the palace of the moon.

“Not many people do, I think,” he sighed. “He got mixed up in something really dark—tried to end the mortals’ world…King Minamoto has him locked up somewhere, and I”—his voice hitched—“I helped put him there.”

Nene’s eyes widened, and Hanako turned away from her abruptly. “It needed to be done, of course, but I…I still…” He swallowed hard but muttered, “Never mind.” He took a deep breath and shook his head. “I could tell King Minamoto didn’t trust me either, but he made me king of the Underworld after that and I haven’t been up to the surface since, which is just as well, I guess. I—”

He stopped abruptly as Nene wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly. “I’m sorry.”

“Knock…knock that off…” he muttered as his face flushed red, and he tried to shake her off of him. “It’s not a big deal, and I’m fine. I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to feel sorry for me.”

“It’s not just pity,” Nene insisted with kind eyes. “You’re…my friend…and…”—she blushed red. “I care about you, Hanako.”

Hanako’s cheeks felt suddenly hot, and he frowned though he was sure his face was nearly as red as Nene’s. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had told him they cared about him, and Nene’s words were so earnest, so genuine, and so unexpected that he felt a pang in his chest. Before he could even think to stop himself, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his chest—his fingers gently tangling in her long hair.

He heard her gasp in surprise, but she soon relaxed, almost melting into his arms and pulled him close to her as well—pressing her chin to his shoulder. The words he so desperately wanted to say got caught in his throat and all he could manage was “Thank you.” But he hoped she would know that his words meant so much more than just that. And for the first time in longer than he could remember he said, “And you can call me, Amane…if you want…”

1 Month Ago…

The King of the Underworld couldn’t describe the absolute rush he felt whenever Nene called him by name—by his real name: Amane. He knew he was probably kidding himself, but he couldn’t help but wonder if there was something in her eyes when she called him by name—if she truly saw him, not just as the fearsome ruler of the Land of the Dead, but as a real person, a real friend and, dare he even allow himself to hope, perhaps something more. But, of course, they never spoke of that. Never spoke of the fact they were technically king and queen, were technically eternally bonded to one another though their marriage was only in name and agreed to as a last resort. They never spoke of the fact that Nene didn’t belong here—among the dark, the death and decay. They never spoke of the day she would one day have to leave, and certainly never, ever spoke of the fact that the longer time went on, the more Amane didn’t want her to. But he could never ask her to stay. She belonged on the surface and in a month’s time, she would finally return there and—Amane thought with an ache in his chest—would likely forget all about him. Though he knew she would never want to come back to him once she had remembered how wonderful life was in the Land of the Living, he still couldn’t help but hope she would still remember him, perhaps even look back on some of the times they had shared together as fond memories.

“I have something for you,” he said with a lopsided smile even though he could feel his heart racing as he fumbled around with the box in his pocket. Nene looked up from the patch of garden she had been weeding with a curious tilt of her head, but she set down her trowel as Amane handed the little box to her. Nene’s eyes widened as he opened the lid of the box to see the beautiful ring of twisted golden vines and flowers with priceless gems in the center.

Nene gasped but smiled. “It’s beautiful.”

Amane’s cheeks grew warm, but he shrugged his shoulders. “It’s nothing really, just I wanted to get you something so…” He swallowed hard but tried his best to sound nonchalant. “So you won’t forget me.”

Nene took his hands, and as she met his eyes, Amane could have sworn his heart jumped into his throat. “I could never forget you. I’m really going to miss it here when I have to go away.”

Some of Nene’s entourage of Mokke began to whimper, and Amane’s own face flushed but he shrugged his shoulders. “It’s only for half the year. We’ll all still be here when you come back. But just you wait…you’ll be so happy up there on the surface that you’re not going to want to come back.”

Nene sighed and twisted her hands. “Maybe... but I don’t think so.” She smiled slightly at him. “I’m going to miss you, Amane, and all the Mokke and Yako and Tsuchigomori. I’ll probably even miss Natsuhiko.”

Amane snorted a laugh. “I seriously doubt that.”

Nene frowned, but her expression softened as she fidgeted. “Do you…do you think you’ll miss me?”

Amane’s face flushed, but he bristled and shrugged. “Well…I think it’ll be harder to run things around here without you.”

“Oh…” she said quietly as her face fell.

Sighing, Amane reached out and took her hand. “But yes, I…I’ll miss you…”

“Amane, I—” Her voice hitched, and she stopped abruptly. “I…never mind…” She shook her head before returning to her garden and trying to wrestle her trowel back from the playfully thieving Mokke. Something ached in Amane’s chest. Some things were better left unsaid.

Today...

Nene’s six months in the Underworld seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye, and though Amane and his subjects planned a lavish goodbye banquet and festival for Nene to celebrate her last day with them, Nene and Amane spent their final evening together as they always did, tending her garden by the moonlight. He promised her multiple times that he would be sure to take care of her garden while she was away and reassured her that everything would be waiting for her just the way she had left it when she returned in six months’ time. Nene thanked him graciously, but there was something forced and bittersweet in her smile.

Amane quickly got the impression that she was stalling as she began overwatering and pushing dirt around, if only to look busy, but when he had teased her about it, she had simply met his eyes and asked if he would stay with her for just a little while longer. He couldn’t find it in his heart to say no.

As they lied down in the soft grass and stared up at the moonlight streaming in through the skylight in the ceiling, Nene had curled next to him. His heart raced as she nestled into his chest.

“What if I stayed?” she asked quietly at last. Amane’s heart jumped into his throat, but he sighed.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that, Nene. You belong on the surface.”

“But…I don’t want to leave you here.”

“I’ll be fine,” he reassured her. “It’ll just be like it was before.” Only it wouldn’t be. He knew that better than anyone. “You have a whole world out there waiting for you.”

Nene shook her head. “This is my world now.”

“Then it’s a very small one.”

“Maybe…” she conceded with a sigh. “But it’s beautiful and it’s enough for me.”

Amane scoffed as he sat up and shook his head as he turned to face her. “What about your dreams, Nene? Didn’t you only eat that pomegranate in the first place because you wanted to find true love? Are you really going to give up on your dream that easily?”

There was a long, heavy pause before Nene whispered so quietly Amane almost couldn’t hear her. “But it already came true…”

As she smiled at him, his cheeks flushed red. “Don’t…” his voice hitched but he frowned. “Don’t be stupid…”

“I’m not stupid,” she insisted crossing her arms. “Amane…” His stomach backflipped at the look in her eyes when she said his name. She reached out a gentle hand to stroke the side of his cheek. “I love you. I don’t want to leave.”

“Nene…” he began to protest, but she interrupted him.

“Natsuhiko was right about that pomegranate. It really did make my dreams come true. I don’t need to go back to the surface to find true love. I already have it with you.” She smiled slightly, but her smile quickly faded as she fidgeted nervously and asked, “Do you…do you really not…love me?”

Amane swallowed hard. He wasn’t sure how to lie his way out of this one, and worst of all, he wasn’t sure he even wanted to. “Nene, I…” He stopped abruptly—growing suddenly aware of how close she was to him, of how he could feel her warm breath on his cheeks, of how he could count every freckle on her nose. With a sigh, he turned away from her. “I do…I do love you, but that’s why you have to go.”

“Why? I don’t understand.”

“Because you deserve more—deserve better than this.”

“Amane…this is what I want,” she insisted. “This life…you…all of it. This is my dream now. All of my wishes came true”—her cheeks flushed—“except one.”

Amane blushed but cleared his throat. “And what’s that?”

“To be kissed.”

“Well I…I think I…might be able to fix that…” His mouth twitched in the corners before he gently cupped her face in his hands, closed his eyes, leaned in and kissed her. As he pulled her close and tangled his hand in her hair, everything that came before and everything that may come after suddenly didn’t matter anymore. When they broke apart breathless and red-faced, Nene stared up at him with bright, pleading eyes. “Are you…are you still going to make me go?”

Amane pressed his palm to her cheek. “I don’t have a choice, Nene, but you’ll get to come back. Six months isn’t very long to spend apart, and you can write.” He pushed a piece of long hair out of her face. “I promise I’ll be here right where you left me.”

And half-a-year later, when she returned home—returned to him running straight into his arms with the biggest brightest smile on her face, he was.

[alieinthemorning]

Whip My Hair Rock Ver. [Xinyan]

Content: Black Reader, Brown-Skinned Reader, Brown-Eyed Reader, Established Relationship, Xinyan Being Best Girl, Hair Braiding, Kisses

Pronouns: None

Reblogs: Let me know that you enjoy my work and want to see more, so don’t forget to like and reblog (and comment in the tags. I love seeing people’s rambles in the tags)!

This work���s concepts, plot and original characters are my own which means I do not allow any sort of creative theft nor do I allow my work to be entered into any sort of A.I. bots. Thank you for respecting my space and boundaries.

I’ma get more shine in a little bit

“I just don’t know what else to do…”

Your brown gaze turned full to your girlfriend. “Hmm?”

Soon as I hit the stage applause I’m hearing it

Xinyan sighed. “I just… the kids are ‘fraid of me and I want to change that, but nothin’ I do seems to help.”

You sat up, confused and a little pissed off. “What do you mean they’re afraid of you?”

Whether it's black stars, black cars I’m feelin it

“I think it’s my rock aesthetic,” she shrugged. “But even when I tried to do somethin’ like Yunjin, but it didn’t work.”

“I mean… I don’t think the opera look really is your style.” You shrugged, but then quickly added, “Not saying you wouldn’t look good if you decided to go for that aesthetic but rock definitely suits you.”

But can’t none of them whip it like I do (I)

“But rock isn’t appealin’ to kids!” She whined with a pout.

I get to that mm-yeah go hard

“So we have to make it appealing!” You scooted closer to her. “First, let’s get rid of some of those spikes.”

When they see me pull up I whip it real hard I whip it real hard

“Uh… the only ones not attached are the ones in my hair.”

Real hard I whip it real hard

“Oh, well, that’s okay. I was gonna do your hair anyway.” You reached up and removed the spiky hairbands, the pigtails falling apart, resting past her shoulders. Your brown fingers ran through the dark locks, gently remove any small tangles. “You have really nice hair.”

“Yeah, I try to take really good care of it,” she paused, “speaking of which, wash day is tomorrow.”

Don’t let haters get me off my grind

“You want me to help?” You rummaged in your bag, pulling out a brush and comb. “I think I’m gonna do a zigzag part, and just do two braids.”

“I wouldn’t want to take you for a whole day.” She fumbled with her fingers as you began braiding. “Also, the grease is in the bathroom.”

Keep my head up, I know I’ll be fine

“Do you want me to grease your scalp?” You peered over her shoulder. “Would seem like a hassle if you’re just gonna wash it tomorrow.”

She thought about it for a moment, then agreed.

Keep fighting until I get there

In just a few minutes, you finished the first braid. You guided her hand across the braid, letting her feel it.

When I’m done and I feel like giving up (I think again)

“Oh wow! You’re real good at braidin’.” She looked back at you, eyes bright. “Can you teach me sometimes?”

“Of course!” You started on the other braid, continuing, “I think you’d look really cute with braids, and they’re so versatile, you could do so many different looks.”

All my ladies if you feel it Gone and do it, do it Whip your hair (whip your hair)

“Could I do something like you’re doin’ now, but with my pigtails?”

Don’t matter if it’s long, short Do it, do it, whip your hair!

“Yeah ‘course! And if you use flex rods on the ends, you could have curled pigtails!”

All my ladies if you feel it Gone and do it, do it

She gasped, “Really? I should have been doing this forever ago!”

Whip your hair (whip your hair) Don’t matter if it’s long, short

You tied off the last braid, “It’s a good thing that you found me then, huh?” then leaned down and gave her temple a kiss.

Do it, do it, whip your hair, your hair, your hair!

She smiled brightly, “Yeah, more than a good thang’.”

Ko-Fi | Commission | Masterlist

[sekhisadventures]

Sekhi on the Songs of the Shadowlands

Sekhi can hear the songs of the world, whatever world she’s in there’s an ever-present form of music  that she picks up on as the voice of the elements… and she wishes she could help others hear it too. There is a ritual she was able to work out to allow her friends to share her ability to perceive it, but it takes time to do and the reagents aren’t easy to come by. So far only Nitika has been able to try this with her once.

Instead, Sekhi has taken to trying to write down descriptions of the music she’s hearing from each realm so others can at least get an idea of what it sounds like to her.

Bastion’s Song

“Bastion’s song is like… well… I’ve heard some songs from that human religion thingy… When I was still in Vol’dun there was an Alliance base up on the north-western shoreline and me, Nisha, and Meerah went to spy on ‘em and maybe… um… maaaaaaaaybe take any extra supplies they had lying around. What?! We were hungry!”

“Anyways, I saw a bunch of soldiers sitting around a campfire and one of them was wearing long robes and holding some weird sorta totem. It was carved out of metal and looked like a stick put through a circle… or two half circles? I didn’t get a good look at it, but anyways, he was singing something to ‘em and the soldiers all looked like they were praying or meditating or something. I guess he’s their version of a shaman?”

“Anyway, Bastion sounds a lot like what he was singing… but with bells in the background. I noticed that chimes and bells and stuff are really super-important to the Kyrian, maybe that’s why? The lyrics are all about duty and courage, serving the needs of something bigger than yourself… pretty inspiring really.”

Maldraxxus’ Song

“Maldraxxus is… um… an interesting place isn’t it? I’ve never been somewhere with ground that looks so… skin-like… ehehehe… um… a-anyway! Their song!”

“Sooooo… after Kiro and the rest of us joined the Horde I’d sometimes hang out near the training yards and watch the orcish soldiers marching, and the lead orc would sing some sort of song that they all stepped in time to, the others all joining in for the chorus. Stuff about victory, honor and glory, that kinda stuff. I think the point was that it taught them to move in unison in battles? I dunno.”

“Anyways, that’s how Maldraxxus sounds… but with a lot of drums. The drums are just a constant boom-boom-boom sound though, like its just keeping the beat. But yeah, Maldraxxus is a bunch of soldiers, warriors, and stuffs… so that’s what it is. A soldier’s song.”

Ardenweald’s Song

“Oh wooooooooooow… I was crying the first time I heard Ardenweald’s song… I hadn’t felt stuff like that since the night I first became a shaman.”

“Imagine if all the animals in a forest, from the tiiiiiiniest bugs to the biggest bears, could all talk like we do… and then that they all sang together at once. They’re singing of death and loss (their song refers to this as ‘the winter’) but also of renewal and hope for a new beginning (the song calls this ‘the spring’)”

“I really REALLY wish I could describe it better… but the lyrics are hard to write down properly. I can understand it, but its not really in Orcish or Vulpera or really any language. You more… feel the song than really hear the words.”

“Maybe one day I’ll get everyone together in Ardenweald after I’ve gotten all the stuff for my ritual together, then we’ll all hear it together. Its just… I’ve heard lots of Azeroth’s songs, but Ardenweald… mmmmmmnnn! W-well, once we get all this sorted at least I won't be afraid to die right? (... wow that was grim, why did I say that?!)”

Revendreth’s Song

“Revendreth is… um… well, the song is really unusual. Like, its scary… but exciting-scary. Makes a shiver go all up and down my tail. Its really dark and creepy, the song goes on and on about sins and suffering that people do to others… but it also sings of hope and redemption and atoning for those sins. The song says few sins are truly unforgiveable and that you can make amends if you really really want to.”

“The instrumental bit sounds a lot like fiddle or violin, but being played slowly like at a funeral…”

“Its weird, normally a song like that would make me kinda uncomfortable but there’s a really odd thrill about being there… kinda makes me think of when I was a kit and I’d swipe snacks from the cooking tent or such. Like, I knew I might get caught, but that was half the fun of doing it. I dunno… Nitika is better at describing this sorta psychomologically stuff than I am.”

The Maw’s ‘Song’

“… y-yeah, the Maw has a song too… b-but its not really a song. Not really… its… a scream… an endless horrible scream of pain and agony. Crying, begging, yelling, pleading… the whole time I’m down there… I…”

“L-look, I REALLY don’t wanna talk about this one. Its BAD. Really really incredibly painfully bad. Just being in the Maw really makes me feel sick, my head and my stomach start hurting just being down there even for a little bit…”

“Um… o-okay, a bit more… the River of Souls is the worst part… I… I can’t remember exactly how it sounded though. Nitika and Mola’raum and I were down there looking for something a while back ‘n… um… one of those big giant Mawsworn things started chasing us. We got to t-the bridge over the river and Mola’raum had his ghoul jump and grab the thing’s face while all three of us jumped into the river and…”

“… I… I kinda blacked out there… when I woke up I was on the floor of a cave, Nitika was standing over me looking like she had some kinda panic attack and kept praying to An’she to heal me while Mola’raum guarded the entrance… they thought I was gonna die…”

“Nitika said I looked like I was having a fit or something… I started shaking all over and drooling and my eyes rolled back in my head and I couldn’t breathe and… I-I don’t remember any of it, but t-that’s what the song I heard in the River of Souls did… I… I stay out of the Maw now, I’ll do stuff for Ardenweald, help them with the Drust or with the Gorm or even just cleaning out cocoons from the trees but… not the Maw… I can’t…”

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 151: The Times, They Are A-Changin’

The next day, Ren got a text from Ryuji.

Ryuji: Sup?

Ryuji: You hungry?

Ren: Yes?

Ryuji: Great!

Ryuji: Let’s meet up at the usual ramen place!

Ryuji: I’m paying!

Ren: Wow. You’re certainly excited.

Ryuji: Heh heh. Just you wait!

Ren: I’ll be over ASAP.

Ren put her phone away, and then got herself ready.

Once she got there, she saw Ryuji at the counter. He waved her down, and she took a seat next to him. “Glad you could make it!” He turned to the server. “Two please!” They nodded and got started.

Ren chuckled. “So, what’s the occasion?”

“Heh heh,” Ryuji laughed. “I heard from the track team that Yamauchi finally got the boot!”

“Really?!” Ren asked.

Ryuji nodded excitedly. “Yeah. It was sort of touch and go, what with the principal dying, but Takeshi’s mom spearheaded the operation at the latest PTA meeting. They had no CHOICE but to remove Yamauchi, and bring the old coach on as the head!”

“Well, that’s really great!” Ren said.

“Totally!” Ryuji replied. Their ramen showed up. “I figured you’d want to celebrate.”

“Of course!” Ren said. They chuckled and started eating their ramen.

After his first slurp, Ryuji said “AH!” and then looked into his bowl. “I guess it’s because we did good, but the ramen here has never tasted better.”

Ren giggled. “Of course. Don’t you think the food we eat after a successful mission always tastes better?”

“Huh,” Ryuji reacted. “You know, now that you mention it, yeah. It tastes better. Huh. You know, it also tasted like this whenever we won a meet. Boy, those were the times. Er, not that now isn’t good, but…”

Ren snickered. “It’s OK, I get it.” Ryuji sighed, relieved. “I remember a time before everything came crashing down for me. No one hated me, or treated me different. It was nice. And moments like this feel nice too. But it’s a bit dragged down by the constant torment I endured, but it also makes it sweeter in a way. Cause I know that it’s not all bad.”

“Hm,” Ryuji moaned, listening along. He looked down at his knee. “I…think I get what you mean. When Kamoshida fought back after I punched him, it hurt to walk. Still does from time to time, but it’s mostly healed. It’s not the same, but it still is good. It’s one of those things where, of course I don’t wish it happened, but it’s not the end of the world, you know?”

Ren nodded. “I do know.”

“I always felt like I had to prove my own strength,” Ryuji continued. “That I had to act tough in order not to be pushed around. That I didn’t need anyone but myself. But that’s not what strength is. Sometimes strength is knowing when you need help. Knowing when you’ve messed up and accepting it.

Jerks like Kamoshida never wanted to admit their shortcomings. And when Eris corrupts people, they start to think that they alone can fix things. That's why we’ve been able to win every time. Because we’re a team. We help each other.

And you know, the track team kinda learned that too. They were stubborn, but once they admitted their shortcomings, they could start to rebuild. It seems so obvious, but I don’t know why it can be so hard to see sometimes.”

Ren finished her bowl. “Ah! Can I get another?” The server nodded, and started working on another bowl. Ryuji was shocked. He looked and still had a full bowl. “Aw man!” He took another slurp. “Woah! Still hot! But still tasty.” He continued eating.

Ren chuckled. “Sorry. I was listening. And to answer your question, I think it can be hard to see because too often people get divided against their will. So they have to try to make it on their own, afraid that admitting any weakness will just further divide them.”

“Huh,” Ryuji said with a mouth full of ramen. He finished eating. “Ah! Can I get another as well?” The server began preparing his order. Ryuji turned back to Ren. “I was listening too. And I think you’re right.” He chuckled. “You know, this was supposed to be more celebratory, but it’s getting very introspective. Not that I mind, but…”

Ren’s second bowl came. She glanced at it, and then at Ryuji. “Well, why don’t we liven things up?”

Ryuji was curious. “How so?”

“Ramen race?” Ren suggested.

“Heh! You think you can beat me?!”

“Only one way to find out.”

Ryuji’s second bowl came. “Heh! You’re on!” They got themselves ready. “3…2…1…GO!” They began their ramen race. It was close, but Ryuji won. “HELL YEAH!” he shouted.

Ren finished her last strands. “Well, I should have known. But I’ll get you next time!”

“Heh! You’re on!” Ryuji declared. He smiled. “You know, I think I needed this.”

“The ramen race?” Ren questioned.

“No,” Ryuji said. “Well, I mean, maybe that too. But the conversation. I’ve just had so much on my mind, and I didn’t know how to straighten it all out until we started talking.”

“Well, what are friends for?” Ren asked.

“Heh. Totally,” Ryuji replied. After a pause, Ryuji added “Thanks.”

Chariot-Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 9.

Soon after, Ren got a phone call. She checked it. “It’s my dad.”

Ryuji smiled. “Take it. My mom and I have plans soon anyway.”

“You sure?” Ren asked.

Ryuji nodded. He started walking off. “Seeya!” He left.

Ren answered her phone. “Hey dad.”

“Hey sweetie,” Jun answered. “I have some news for you.”

“Oh?”

“You know that there’s going to be an election by the end of the year for the Diet?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Hm. Well, I’ve decided I’m going to throw my hat in the ring.”

Ren got excited. “Really?!”

“Yup!”

“Well that’s great!” Ren responded.”Do you need any help, or…?”

“I’ll be alright,” Jun said. “The most important thing you can do is stay safe for me, OK?”

“I…I think I can do that,” Ren said.

“Hm,” Jun responded. “Listen, I know things have changed. A lot. And I know you’re not my little girl anymore. But I’ll always be your father. Which means I always want what’s best for you.”

Ren was stunned. She didn’t know how to respond at first. She then mustered “Me too. I want what’s best for you as well.”

“The best thing for me is making sure you're OK,”Jun replied.

“Daaaaad,” Ren groaned.

Jun chuckled. “Well, it’s true. … I love you sweetie.”

“Love you too dad,” Ren responded. “I hope you win.”

“Me too,” Jun said. He hung up and sighed. Ren also sighed once the call was over, and then made her way back to Leblanc.

Later that evening, Ren got a message from Yoshida.

Yoshida: I’m having another rally today. Would you mind coming to help out?

Ren: Of course. You know I’m always willing to help.

Yoshida: Of course. But before the rally, there is something I'd like to talk about.

Ren: What is it?

Yoshida: I think it’s better to discuss this in person.

Ren: Oh…OK…

Yoshida: See you soon.

Ren: See you soon.

Ren was a little concerned, but this was Yoshida. She was sure it wouldn’t be too bad. She took a deep breath, and then headed out.

She arrived earlier than she usually did. “Hey there,” she greeted Yoshida.

“Oh, Amamiya-chan!” Yoshida said, a little surprised. “You’re here early.”

“Well, you said you wanted to talk,” Ren said. “Is everything alright?”

Yoshida was stunned, but then smiled. He nodded. “Yes. Everything is fine. But in a way, that’s the issue.” Ren was confused. “It’s probably better this way.” He sighed heavily. “As much as I hate to admit it, I’m afraid this will probably be the last time I ask for your assistance.”

Ren was gobsmacked. “Wha…What?! But the election isn’t for another few months.”

“I know,” Yoshida said. “Believe me, this isn’t easy for me either.”

“Then why?” Ren wondered. “After…everything…”

Yoshida sighed. “I feel like life is taking us down two different paths. For me, it’s as a politician. For you, it’s as a Phantom Thief.”

Ren was even more surprised. “Wha-What?! Me? A Phantom Thief?”

“It’s just a hunch,” Yoshida said. “There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence to suggest it. From your school, to your demeanor, to your willingness to help. But the thing that seals the deal for me is that you’ve helped me change my heart like you’ve changed the hearts of others.”

“But…your heart wasn’t corrupt,” Ren said.

“Right, but not in that way,” Yoshida said. “Because of The Phantom Thieves people are starting to hope more. They’re starting to ask for better things. They’re improving themselves because they can see that the circumstances of the now aren’t the limits. You’ve changed your fair share of black hearts, but that’s not the limit of your power.”

Ren was still a bit shaken by all of this. “I appreciate your help,” Yoshida continued. “Really, I do. But I think you have better things to work on than a silly little campaign.” He chuckled.

“Yo…Your campaign isn’t silly,” Ren protested. Yoshida was a little surprised. “It means something. It’s not a waste of time. If I’ve been able to help before with everything going on, I can still help. Besides, it’s not like I don’t get something out of this. Because of you, I’ve become more confident and understanding about myself. Because of you, I became a better leader. I…I…”

Yoshida remained surprised. He composed himself. “I apologize. I used the wrong words, heh heh. I don’t mean to diminish myself. What I mean to say is things are changing. We’ve both learned a lot from each other. But I think now is the time to put our noses to the grindstone and really work on what we need to do.

I've been reading the news. It seems like things are getting a bit hectic for the Phantom Thieves. The amount of support now matches roughly the amount of vitriol. I can’t imagine things will be smooth sailing from here on. At the same time, people like me have to give it our all too. And I can’t do that when I’m worried about you. You may not see it as a burden, but I’d be worried.”

Ren slightly pouted. Yoshida recognized her disappointment. “I know this is difficult. But don’t think of it as the end, but a new beginning.” Ren was stunned into curiosity. “I mean, if I get elected, that would mark the end of my campaign, but the beginning of something else. But the feelings would remain.

This isn’t the end of our friendship. Heck, this isn’t even the end of helping each other. But I feel like the best way we can help each other for right now is going down our own paths and showing everyone what we’ve taken from each other. Of course, you’re always free to come by and help, but this will be the last time I ask.”

Ren was processing what Yoshida had said. He was a great speaker and thinker. He wouldn’t say anything he didn’t believe in. Even though this was a separation of sorts, she knew he believed that this was the best course of action for them. And she knew he was right. She nodded, then sighed. “Very well.”

Yoshida smiled, while a single tear fell. “I’m glad. I’ll miss our conversations too, but I feel like this is for the best. Are you ready?” Ren nodded. “Then let’s go.”

“Yes sir,” Ren replied. She went to grab the sign. It read “Tonight’s Topic: Connections”

Ren and Yoshida got into position in front of the crowd. It was a sizable crowd; probably the biggest Yoshida had amassed. Yoshida cleared his throat and began to speak. “People of Tokyo! Tonight, I want to talk about something very important: The connections we make. As much as we hate to admit it, people come into our lives, and people leave. However, just because someone is gone, doesn’t mean that the idea of them is abandoned entirely.

Recently, I’ve met someone who has transformed me and my understanding of the world. And because of them, I am more confident than ever that I will help as many people as I can if elected. However, the two of us must go our separate ways for the time being. However, everything they’ve taught me will stick with me, and vice versa.

The truth is this applies to every connection we make. No one gets to where they are by themselves. While people come and people go, their impact lasts for as long as you allow it. A connection never goes away on its own, unless you break it.

A politician’s job is to think about other people. However, I suggest we all start doing that more. Think about all of the people who have been there for you; Those who you have lost, and those who have lost you. I promise you that the connections you’ve made remain strong. And as your representative, I will do nothing but amplify the bonds between us. For when we stand together, there is nothing we can’t do.” The crowd erupted into a cheer, while a tear fell from Ren’s eye.

Meeting up after the speech, Ren wiped her eye and said “Wonderful speech, as always.”

Yoshida nodded. “Why thank you.”

Ren looked down. “...I’m going to miss this.”

“Well, like I said, you’re free to come on your own,” Yoshida said.

“Right…” Ren said. “But you’re right. There are other things I need to do. Other people I need to help.”

Yoshida smiled. “And I’m sure you’ll help them all.”

“You think so?” Ren said, looking up.

Yoshida nodded. “You’ve helped me so much. If you help someone even one-one hundredth as much as you’ve helped me, you’ll give them something they’ll never forget.”

Ren teared up again. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Yoshida said. He started tearing up. “I knew this would be difficult, but I didn’t expect it to hit me this hard.”

“Well, as they say, parting is such sweet sorrow,” Ren retorted.

“Bah ha! Of course!” Yoshida laughed. They looked at each other. “Thank you.”

Ren felt an even more powerful surge inside her.

I am thou, thou art I

Thou hast turned a vow into a blood oath.

Thy bond shall become the wings of rebellion and break the yoke of thy heart.

Thou hast awakened to the ultimate secret of the Sun, granting thee infinite power…

Sun-Toranosuke Yoshida: Rank 10

Yoshida checked his watch. “Well, the night is still a little young. What say we go grab a beef bowl. For old time’s sake.” Ren nodded. The two of them went to grab dinner, and head their separate ways; certain to cross again at some point.

[maeve-on-mustafar]

Also, like . . . does the “Anakin refused his therapy” crowd truly believe that if Anakin had fully articulated his internal anger and fear in that moment, the Council would have immediately given him the “all clear” for him to start training?

Pretend nine-year-old child slave Anakin had been able to give a detailed explanation regarding his past and trauma. Pretend he responded to Yoda’s question about fear with, “Yes, I’m scared about never being able to see my mom again, because I deeply love her. I’m afraid what’s going to happen to her on my lawless hellscape of a home planet, because it’s run by criminals and thugs and she’s a slave without basic human rights. Also, our owner wasn’t afraid to beat me when he was angry, and now I’m scared he might take his anger about losing me out on my mom. It’s my dream to one day return to Tatooine as a Jedi and free all of the slaves, because it’s a horrible life there, and no one from the Republic has ever tried to help us.”

Would the Council really have said, “Wow, bud, great job at expressing your emotions, welcome to the Order. You’re a Jedi now, let’s hop on a transport to Ilum to get your lightsaber crystal”? My impression in that they wouldn’t. The core issue of Anakin being too old (You know, the reason stated in the film?) is still there, he still has a bunch of emotional attachments, and he’s still angry and fearful and has strong emotions regarding his life outside the Temple.

So even if Anakin had been able to, like, give a detailed PowerPoint presentation about his life on Tatooine with each slide explaining a new trauma he’d endured and his resulting fears and anxieties, the Council most likely would have responded with with the same “Thanks, but no thanks” as they did in TPM.

Because if you notice, the issue the Council cites in the film isn’t that Anakin can’t admit his emotions. It’s not that Anakin “refused his therapy” or “is unwilling to put in the work” or is incapable of introspection. It’s that Anakin is simply too old, and they don’t think he can be a Jedi because of his upbringing outside the Temple.

So it’s interesting to me that the film definitively and unambiguously states the reason for Anakin’s initial rejection by the Council is completely beyond his control (his age and upbringing), but the people who don’t like Anakin repeatedly try to spin it as Anakin failing some sort of secret test by Yoda, and therefore, nine-year-old child slave Anakin is the one at fault for not being willing to his innermost fears to a group of strangers. Even though, in all likelihood, it wouldn’t make a difference if he did.

Sometimes I think about the claim that “In TPM, Anakin refused his therapy by refusing to respond honestly to Yoda’s question about if he was afraid,” and it’s always weird to consider that some people legitimately believe that “therapy” is apparently the same thing as “being questioned by twelve warrior monks to see if you’re worthy of joining their warrior monk organization.”

[jjkafterhours]

Part 4 of reversal of the heart? <3

To the people who request for more parts, I hope you realize how happy it makes me (´ ^ ω ^｀)

REVERSAL OF THE HEART

PART FOUR

PAIRING;; Toji Fushiguro/Reader

TAGS/WARNINGS;; angst, slowburn, mentions of childhood neglect because the Zenins are asshats, Toji is still awkward asf @brumous11

WC;; 2k+

NOTES;; This is mostly a filler chapter, but I think Toji needs some more love don't be afraid to interact if you enjoy my writing :3, I love getting your kindhearted messages

PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE

“I’m fully aware, of how awful of a person I am.”

“You need to go outside more.” You decide. “I won’t have you sitting at home, being sad.”

Wow, she did not even try to sugarcoat it, Toji thinks when he nods. It isn’t exactly a nod of agreement, but more of relent. After all, husbands were supposed to spend more time with their wives, and he had not been exactly accommodating when they were back at the Zenins. Their presence plagued his mind; a family of abusers and brainwashed people with power and reputation in their hands. One of the most prestigious families in the Sorcerer world.

Prestigious. It was the most pretentious way to describe them. It made him want to throw up.

He had barely noticed his new wife, trying to shut himself down, away from his surroundings, trying to think of a safe haven which he had found in his life. He could only think of one place, and that brought too many memories now weighed heavy with guilt and shame.

Maybe he really did have to go outside more. The walls were closing in too quickly.

She’s saying something, he finally notices when he turns to look at you. He’s puzzled when you raise an eyebrow. He had not heard you. It was a recurring thing; sometimes this is how your conversations broke off when he was suddenly snatched up by a particular line of thoughts. However, you did not mind.

“I was wondering,” You repeat, running your hands through his hair. “Where we should go next time.”

Oh.

He shrugs, and then realizes that his lack of enthusiasm was not helping. He could not help it, he was tired. He had taken a few days off in order to take care of his their kids, but they were asleep (understandably so, he was not going to wake them up early on a weekend). So his option was to spend time with you, or wander out, perhaps to have another try at the rigged pachinko parlour.

He wonders if you would enjoy that. You would probably think that it was another one of his addictions. Ha.

With that in mind, he walks out, mumbling whatever excuse comes to his mind. Not that you exactly were hell-bent on knowing where he was at all times, especially with the irregular hours his line of work kept him busy in. He respected that, however, something like annoyance tugged at the back of his head. Were you really going to not ask about anything?

“Take care.” You call out to him, nonchalantly. You were surprised at him randomly wandering outside with seemingly no real purpose, contrasting with the reluctance with which he provided you company. You wonder if your presence really made him that uncomfortable all of a sudden. Yesterday had gone so well…

He does not realize that he had not answered your question until much later.

▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓

Toji was four when he was taken to the Disciplinary Pit. He could hear the distant cries of a woman, begging the head of the clan to spare him, to take it out on her for failing to give birth to a strong child.

His mother.

He did not understand why his mother seemed to panic at the mention of the Pit. When he had asked the servants about it, they merely looked at him with pity, and vaguely answered something about how punishments and training sessions were handed out.

One of them approaches him, a rope in her hand. He wonders if it was a beating; but could not discern as to why he would be receiving it in the first place. He had not stepped out of line at all, and even when he had, his mother had been the one to administer any sort of punishment, which usually involved sending him to his room, forbidding him to run outside and play. Beatings were mostly reserved for the older members, and only if the crime threatened the clan’s interests. How could a child do anything of the sort?

He wonders if his uncle wished to see him. Naobito Zenin was one of the mostly respected (and feared) clan leaders to rule over the Zenin household. People would step out of his way whenever he approached a situation.

He frowned. Had he been not listening to his teachers?

He froze, feeling a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see his uncle, his expression scarily blank. He stared into the man’s eyes, certain that he had done nothing wrong, but could feel his stomach twisting slightly. The hand moved to his head, and Naobito Zenin stroked the top of his head with surprising gentleness.

He smiles reluctantly, pleasantly surprised by the show of affection from the man who seemed to have little time to attend to his family members, and had personally arrived to meet him. However, his thoughts were locked in a conflict, unable to remove the image of his sobbing mother out of his mind.

“I think he is ready.” Naobito announced, still smiling down at him.

▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓

The clanking of coins rings in his ears as he shoves his money inside the machine slot. Partially it’s to block out his uncle’s voice in his head, and the events which occurred shortly after. The other reason is because he is irritated. It’s not more than a few thousand yen; he could not afford to throw money at whatever would provide some sort of distraction, he had a family to take care of now. Terrible memories or not, he had to get his shit together.

I should have never had kids, he thinks, then immediately regrets it, when the image of his son appears in his mind. However, he pushes it down. Raising kids was hard, and it wasn’t like anybody had given him some sort of instruction manual. He allows himself to be annoyed with them, his children, his wife whom he could barely manage seeing every day, knowing fully well that she was a placeholder for his grief. A dull throbbing pain begins to form in the sides of his head, as Toji struggles to concentrate. The other players seemed to keep their distance from him, seeing the stoic expression on his face, the usual banter in the parlour dying.

He thought that he had gotten used to the stares and side-eyed glances, but it frustrated him even more. It made him wish that he could just mingle with the rest of the crowd. He was not interested in small talk or any sort of conversation, but he would be glad to slip by, unnoticed. Heavenly Restriction had placed a shadow over his life, his absence of cursed energy making him an defect piece in his clan, an anomaly among the Sorcerer world, and his physical prowess leaving him unable to mingle with the rest of the population.

Toji hated having the spotlight on him like this. Part of him thought of leaving; they probably thought of was one of the members of the shitty gang in the neighboring town, but he crushed it. He would rather walk back home angry, rather than feel dejected about it.

The music from the machine suddenly rises up into a crescendo, and he glances up to see the three slots slowly line up.

7.

7.

7.

Ah.

“No fucking way.” He hisses, waiting the screen to turn black, wondering if it was some sort of sick joke. The casino owner had mentioned something about buying new retro-style machines, and perhaps this was one of them-

He grimaces as the animated characters began to dance on the screen, whistling in the background as the battered thing begins to pump out some obscure jingle which must have been popular in the 90s. A bunch of streams explode in the pixelated screen, announcing that he had just won the jackpot. The machine continues to play the god-awful happy-go-lucky music, almost demanding him to be happy as it spits out an armful of pinballs. The owner of the casino congratulates him; while the bystanders are not exactly convinced. He isn’t either, but he does not care either way. He’s one of the “loyal customers”, meaning that he has probably lost half of the jackpot money from his earlier failed attempts, not that having a bit of extra money bothered him. He wonders what he would do, certainly not try his luck again.

He reaches for a pack of cigarettes, perhaps with the slight intention to annoy his wife. Then he stops.

Why am I doing this, he thinks, and walks out of the aisle. He wonders if he should take his family out shopping. He had considered buying gifts, but he had little idea as to what they really liked. Another consequence of not spending enough time with them.

He decided that he would stash up the money somewhere when he returned home, and then later give it to his wife when she would go shopping. The kids would probably prefer her company anyway.

“I just won the jackpot.” He says aloud to himself, and some of the passersby shoot him a confused look. He returns their looks with a shark-like stare, and they scamper off. Sure they did not expect him to, seeing how he says those words with an incredible lack of enthusiasm, like he had gotten coupons from the ramen shop. He snickers to himself; it seemed ridiculous, him saying those words.

Suddenly, he remembers. Shoes, he thinks. Megumi needs new shoes. And hadn’t Tsumiki been complaining about her stockings getting worn? And her…well. It was not liked they talked much about anything, much less about what she liked or did not like. With his luck (no, really), he would probably end up buying flowers which she was allergic to.

He was glad that he had managed to sum up that bit of information. At least he was trying.

▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓

Tsumiki is waiting for him and runs up to him with a smile. It lightens up him up somewhat; the image of his family waiting for him at home. Toji squeezes her for a few seconds longer than he usually does, before letting go to see Megumi anxiously standing outside the kitchen, slightly leaning against her hip as he peered at him. He looks like he wants to say something, but his voice fails him and he disappears into the kitchen instead.

“You’re back.” You say, as you hear his familiar footsteps creaking against the floorboards. They are slower than usual, so you expect him to stop on the way to tell you something. Megumi’s expression is troubled, trying to debate whether he could stay or not.

“I,” Toji’s gaze wavers, and settles on his son. “I think you should take the kids out.” He sees your expression go blank for a moment, and then tries to explain.

“Megumi wanted new shoes. There’s this new model he’s been wanting for some time…” His voice awkwardly trails off in the end, as he looks at his son to elaborate. Megumi opens his mouth, then closes it, wordlessly nodding. Toji scratches the back of his neck. “And Tsumiki needs new clothes.” Stockings, he wanted to specify but it felt awkward. He felt like he had just barged into you cooking in an attempt to make conversation. Judging by Megumi’s expression, they had been chatting.

“You won’t come with us?” You ask. Toji shrugs.

“Work.” He replies. “Took too many leaves.” (His work did not exactly have ‘official’ leaves, but he was anxious. Again, nothing wrong with having extra money in your wallet.)

“Don’t think that this means that you’re not going out with me tomorrow.” You announce, and he nods.

“Where are you guys going?” Tsumiki peeks into the kitchen, curious.

“Your momma’s taking you both shopping.” Toji replies.

“Your dad’s trying to slip out of the date I planned for us.” You say at the same time and he flushes. However, Tsumiki’s eyes sparkled with joy.

“When?” Immediately, all three of them glance at him, and he pauses, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

“I mean, you could go this evening too, if you wanted.” He says. She claps her hands together in excitement, and you raise an eyebrow.

“I suppose it’s a nice surprise.” You say, smiling faintly at the prospect.

“Where are you and dad going?” Megumi asks shyly. You ruffle his hair and he squeaks in surprise, ears turning red. Like father, like son, you think.

“To the ice-cream parlor.” You grin. “We’re trying to taste all the flavors.” And as expected, Tsumiki perks up at that.

“Hey, um…” Toji falters slightly. He wishes he could just casually talk to his son like you could. Megumi clearly had not completely warmed up from the argument which had ensued a few weeks ago; all he could hope was that the boy was not angry at him. Megumi’s looking up at him, and it encourages him to finish his sentence.

“Have fun.” He mumbles to himself, before he begins to make his way out.

“Wait.”

“Huh?”

He freezes, feeling your lips on his cheek, soft as a petal. It’s the second time he has been surprised today.

“Now go.” You say, with a grin. “I’ve set your breakfast on the table.”

PART FIVE PART SIX PART SEVEN PART EIGHT

[forthegothicheroine]

How other great detectives would solve the disappearance of Rowan Morrison from Summerisle

A series I do sometimes. I think most horror fans know the basic idea behind the original Wicker Man, but if you don’t and want to avoid spoilers, scroll away.

I don’t think most of these detectives are virgins- maybe Miss Marple or Poirot, but maybe not- so I’ll be assuming that for ritual purity purposes, just refusing Willow will have to be enough.

Sam Vimes: Haha. Haha. Oh wow, haha. Picking a detective who’s already an apathetic polytheist sure throws a wrench in Lord Summerisle’s plans! Vimes starts arresting people when he arrives and basically doesn’t stop, mostly for child endangerment (don’t send your children to go jump over fire! there are plenty of murderers out there to do that to them!) He starts kicking back on the other side of the door when Willow starts singing until she gives up and goes away. There’s still some strong danger here since Vimes would fulfill the role of a man who came with kingly power (oh boy he’d hate hearing that!) but Vimes does have one advantage Howie doesn’t have: a loyal team. Lord Summerisle said that no one would come for Howie- maybe he was right or maybe he was bluffing, but he’d sure as hell be wrong where Vimes was concerned, and that’s assuming they got him to come here without any other Watch members in the first place. Without dying or after death, he’s pulling this place down.

Columbo: Here’s the best omen for Columbo’s success- I didn’t think of it until this list, but Lord Summerisle dresses exactly like a Columbo villain! Anyway, schlubby little Columbo solves his cases more or less by pecking at key suspects until he can figure out which ones are lying to him, so I think that bodes well here. He steps off the plane and finds everyone clearly lying to him; he takes out a notepad, writes “THEY ALL DID IT”, and gets back on the plane. Or maybe he could steal a boat and escape later at night so I can give him the chance to annoy Lord Summerisle ("Mythology, huh? My wife has a book about that, very interesting stuff. You know, I thought it was kind of funny how that inn was called the Green Man. See, in that book, Sir Gawain goes to meet this green man with the force of the whole round table behind him, but they’re planning to test and then kill him. Funny thing, right?”)

Phryne Fisher: This makes so much more sense if it was Jack they were after and due to plot hijinks, Phryne ended up there instead of or in addition to him. She has sex with Lord Summerisle almost immediately, and the village isn’t really sure if that counts as breaking ritual purity or not (Willow doesn’t seem like her type.) Besides the ritual purity, they have to deal with the fact that she does not have the authority of a king- she probably doesn’t even have police permission to be here! This whole operation has been a tremendous cockup on the cult’s part.

Dale Cooper: Despite being friendly where Howie was prickly, Cooper has a lot in common with that other doomed policeman who came to a creepy town to save or avenge a young girl. Things might go more or less the same as they did in the movie, but there’s one circumstance under which he might get out with his life. Willow bangs on his door naked, singing a sexy song, and he opens the door for her. She’s a bit disappointed that he failed the test, but instead of going along with the seduction, he tells her that she’s too young for him but that it looks like she could use a friend, and that he thinks she might be lonlier than people realize. Maybe- just maybe- the first genuine offer of nonsexual friendship she’s had in years might break through to her, and she might start to talk.

Philip Marlowe: I love Marlowe, he’s my guy, but I don’t think he’s getting out off this. He’s thrown naked girls out of his bedroom before- why should he think this time is any different? He and Summerisle have nice long chats about history and literature, but in the process he demonstrates that he has a very strong sense of morality and propriety (if not religion) and that he thinks of himself as a sort of fairy tale knight. That’s bad. That’s very, very bad.

Sam Spade: I think he ruins this by trying to extort Lord Summerisle for blackmail money and Summerisle just kills him and needs to find a new detective to trap. Either that, or he gets away with it because he absolutely sleeps with Willow.

Poirot: This trip is the single most miserable experience of Poirot’s life. Even more so than the nudity, he knows he has plunged into hell upon eating the terrible food and finding they don’t even have any of their famous apples! In fact, I like the idea that it’s their famous food that first leads him in the direction of the answer; the harvest was bad, the book suggests they might have made a sacrifice, but they’ve had girls pose by those crops every year without anything bad happening to them. If the girls aren’t the sacrifice, who is? Willow’s attempted seduction certainly upsets him (David Suchet says he played him as asexual, but even if that’s not your interpretation, naked youths pounding on his door are the last thing he wants!) I don’t know if he can escape, but I think he can pull the right threads to figure things out and ruin the event.

Miss Marple: Boy, does Lord Summerisle feel like an asshole about this! Miss Marple does her best not to judge anyone for so much nudity- these young people today do insist on being modern, she just hopes they don’t catch cold. I think she’d really frustrate the islanders by not seeming to actually do her role. She’s not breaking down doors and demanding answers, and when Willow sings at her door she just chats about how nice it is that youngsters are interested in traditional folk music, seeming not to even get the test. What they don’t know is that Miss Marple is very, very good at listening and observing. She knows. And she’s going to play the part of the dotty old lady right up until the very point when she can get back on that plane.

Kinsey Milhone: Kinsey may be in trouble here. Innocent young people being put in danger, especially when she could have saved them, is the sort of thing that drives her courage but could also propel her blindly into her doom. If things don’t go exactly as they did in the movie, it will be because she focuses on a different question- who sent her that letter? Everyone acts like they know what’s going on, so who “didn’t know” where Rowan was and was “afraid something terrible had happened”? The bigger the conspiracy looks, the less likely it is that anyone could have been ignorant or even sent a secret letter, and that might let Kinsey realize it was sent on purpose.

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

Wow I’m so glad you asked me to do this completely unprompted!!!

Okay let’s look at ✨curses✨

The first verses I like to connect to Johanna’s relationship with Hilda, and the fact that Kaisa is a plot tool to enable Hilda’s shenanigans and her journey into the world of magic and adventure. Let’s take a look at it

There's a fire in my brain and I'm burning up

Oh my, oh my

Keep running for the sink, but the well is dry

Oh my, oh my

This to me speaks to Johanna’s anxiety about her relationship with Hilda, and how she feels like the ways in which she tries to fix it only make it worse

Every word I say is kindling

But the smoke clears when you're around

Signifying how her attempts to mend her bond with Hilda backfire, but also the way that Kaisa understands and encourages this side of Hilda that Johanna is a bit scared of (at least before TMK) and how she could act as a bridge between mother and daughter since Hilda seems to respect her (at least enough to go ask for help raising the dead ig)

Won't you stay with me, my darling

When my walls start burning down?

“When my walls start burning down” BIG tie in with the walls of Trolberg and how they’re supposed to keep out all that’s magical. I can see it being connected to Johanna growing more open to that sort of thing as she works through the events of The Mountain King and gets more and more fond of Kaisa 🥺

Second part now. I feel like this could be about Johanna, and her feelings about moving from the city to the wilderness and back again, and how that affects her feelings about identity, belonging, and change. We only get to really see that from Hilda’s pov on the show, so it’s really something I find very interesting

This house says my name like an elegy,

Oh my, oh my,

Echoing where my ghosts all used to be,

Oh my, oh my.

Referring to her maybe having some of her sense of self attached to their cottage in the woods, seeing as she maybe spent part of her childhood there (we know the cottage belonged to her family) and we know she began to raise her daughter there. But it’s not really a sense of self as much as it is a sense of nostalgia, a sense of I know who I used to be, but who am I now?

There's still cobwebs in the corners

And the backyard's full of bones

Won't you stay with me, my darling,

When this house don't feel like home

Relating to how, upon losing the cottage, moving back to a city that at the same time, is familiar but changed by the years, and meeting new people who make her challenge her worldview and her view of herself (see: Kaisa) result in her having to reevaluate what she knew about her present and past self. She sees the worth in who she was, but recognizes the need to keep stepping forward. There’s no sense in remaining the same when everything around you has changed; we need to let go of golden yesterdays if we want to enjoy the present, and she comes to recognize this

Moving on to the chorus, this is another part that I feel speaks about both of them

Oh, ashes, ashes, dust to dust

The devil's after both of us.

Oh, lay my curses all to rest

And make a mercy out of me

The feeling of anxiety is sooo strong here. They’re both so scared of a lot of things, but specially of not being enough to the people they care about. That’s their devil, this uncertainty that only drags them away from who they really want to be. But at least they’re running away from it together, and for that and other reasons, it feels like their relationship is a place in which their curses (meaning all the vices and traits they’re not happy about in themselves) are laid down and forgotten.

The last verse, to me, is about Kaisa. It’s about her coming to her power. In a way that perfectly mirrors Johanna’s verse, she isn’t who she thought she was, but she’s glad about it. She’s happy to leave behind the person who she thought she was, even if she’s afraid to find out what she really is

This tired old machine is a' rumbling,

Oh my, oh my,

Singing songs to the secrets behind my eye,

Oh my, oh my.

All of this is about her magical power. The ‘tired old machine’ is her spirit, the core of her magic, that she thought was either too weak to work, or long dead, but it turned out that the more she listened to it, the louder it became. This change makes her face that so much of what she thought about herself was wrong, and simply products of her anxiety - and that’s the ‘secret behind her eye’, that she was enough all along.

All my aching bones are trembling

And I may yet fall apart

No one who ever watched Hilda has any doubts that change is hard, but thinking that you were something and then turning out to have been another thing entirely? That’s a whole experience. Bones often ache when we spent too long in a position that your body isn’t comfortable in. This could relate to her spending so long thinking/acting as someone she wasn’t, and feeling ready to fall apart when she finally goes back to what to her is a “comfortable position”

Won't you stay with me, my darling,

When the war starts in my heart

Basically the same thing. When the “who am I, who should I be?” war starts in Kaisa’s heart, she’ll need a loving, kind and warm presence by her side to stop her from spiraling down; to ground her and center her and be there to tell her “you are where you need to be, and you’ll go wherever you desire, and I’ll be by your side all along”. And it’s Johanna, obviously

I’ll probably do the Metaphor one after I post the next installment in Nature vs Nurture, but for now I hope you enjoyed me analyzing the crap out of a song when it’s about something else entirely 🫰

I’m still on my ship dynamic epiphany bs so please hear me out

Curses is the sketchbook Crane Wives song, and Metaphor is the raven scientist Crane Wives song

Daylight is the sketchbook Taylor Swift song, and Midnight Rain is the raven scientist Taylor Swift song

Yellow is the sketchbook Xana song and i did this all for you! is the raven scientist Xana song

Like the Dawn is the sketchbook The Oh Hellos song and Notos is the raven scientist The Oh Hellos song

Please feel free to add with your favourite artists and their sketchbook/raven scientist songs. I’m going insane but I need MORE songs to go even insaner. The insaniest if you will.