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sl-walker · 3 years ago

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All right, since I’m in the middle of a flare and have to work manual labor for the next four days despite it, I figured I would make myself -- and hopefully other people -- laugh by talking about one of my favorite OG Captain Marvel stories. Namely, from Whiz #50, with a cover date of January, 1944, meaning it was probably produced sometime in late 1943.

I want to share it because why not, this is some absurdly charming stuff.

I’ll get more into why it’s one of my favorites as we go, in the form of running commentary. So, full story (with said commentary) under the cut. If you wanna just read the story without my commentary, stick to the pictures. XD

First, let me say that the cover and splash page definitely live up to the story, though the cover’s a bit more sensationalized. But the premise is pretty damn simple: Our intrepid hero and his newsboy alter ego are on vacation. Cap decides to go swimming. It goes hilariously wrong and thus ensues a bit of a madcap adventure, no puns intended.

Second, the fact that Cap and Billy are depicted as essentially different entities makes what Billy does next the ultimate trolling:

Gee, airing out the stolen laundry on the radio? Really? I’ll leave it up to you, gentle reader, whether Billy actually was trolling his own alter-ego for ratings or whether he was just innocently sharing the story while his other-self winced quietly in whatever ether-space he exists in when not front-and-center.

Either way, I love it.

Continuing on...

I get a kick out of the fact that Billy’s monologue is that he’s no dare-devil. One, because that’s so obviously not true in any way -- (that kid is awesomely, sometimes recklessly brave on the regular even without Cap) -- but two, because the bridge is actually named Dare-Devil Bridge. We aren’t given any reason why this dangerous potential death-trap is there, hanging without so much as a gate or a warning sign or anything, because we don’t need one. It’s there specifically for what happens next.

Which, of course, is Billy calling in Captain Marvel, who does some light complaining about the situation Billy left him in. There’s no bite to it, which I find adorable -- Cap actually does get frustrated once or twice in other issues with Billy calling on him for mundane stuff, though he’s never mean about it -- but there is a bit of the sense of being put-upon there that’s just-- I dunno, cute. It’s something I miss a lot in the various post-crisis takes on the character: That duality, that difference in personality, and the way each of them responds to different situations. Often, they’re on the same page, but notably, sometimes, they aren’t.

Someday, I promise, I need to sit down and write how I think that works between those two without being a truly frightening mental illness manifested, what with them being the same person but not the same person. Because I have so many ideas, and I’ve only had since the early-2000s to percolate them. LOL! But until then, just enjoy this.

Here is another reason why I love the Golden Age Captain Marvel books and why I love this specific story: This is an absolutely normal, mundane thing to do. It’s the human thing to do. These aren’t the actions of some super-serious superdude. These are the actions of a pretty shockingly normal guy doing something mundane. And a whole story is built around that normalcy.

It’s cute. It’s funny. It’s the reader already knowing that he’s getting himself into a situation that he absolutely could have avoided, but also completely understanding how it happened anyway. It’s pretty brilliant writing: I say this as a pretty damned good writer myself.

So much of the reason why, I think, Cap was so endearing as a hero is that humanity. He’s got pretty much god-tier power in the Golden Age, once his powerset is established. He’s utterly invulnerable to all physical harm while powered up. But-- he’s human. He knows he’s human. He acts like it, and decides, “You know what? I’m going skinny-dipping.”

He and Billy are both characters it’s so easy to empathize with.

Also, a reminder that the art under Chief Artist C.C. Beck is really, really good. (He had a whole stable of artists to help produce this stuff!) Ignoring registration issues on the printing press, the actual line art is amazingly good; proportion and perspective and consistency.

But anyway--Cap does get to enjoy his swim. But, then, oh no.

I love the idea of a world where the prime hero -- and he definitely is in that world -- can take off his suit and go swimming, and where someone else is bold enough to steal the damn suit off of him. The first time I read this, I started laughing here. Not at him, but at the situation he’s found himself in. At the idea that some random passer-by saw Captain Marvel’s costume and went yoink!

Another thing I love about this particular story is how much Cap and Billy have to work together, just by necessity. Like-- it’s just really good. But anyway, thank everything Billy Batson is on the ball, coming to the rescue.

Sheer bad luck via the weather keeps this story rolling along in hilarious misdirections. Realistically, that uniform probably wouldn’t be all buttoned together (we see Cap take off pieces of it aside the pants in other issues, including socks!), but who cares? The point of the story is that giant bear rug on the floor’s gonna get put to use.

Man, when have you ever seen Superman creeping naked through some stranger’s house wearing nothing but a random polar bear because he went skinny dipping? No wonder these comics sold so well. This next panel is when I start wheezing, though, and pretty much keep wheezing.

“A lady, too! I’ve got to get away from here!”

I’m dying at this point. That’s such a characteristic response, and yet, I think that’s why it’s funny.

Anyway, because this is an excellent story (I mean this without an ounce of irony, too), our dynamic duo stumbles across a plot in play to rob the hotel they’re staying at.

Here’s a big part of why this is such a good tale: Everything fits. Even when it isn’t explained, like Dare-Devil Bridge, it still fits. Why is the tree down? Because there was just a thunder storm, the same one that blew Cap’s suit into the room with the gangsters.

I don’t know if this is Otto Binder’s story, but I wouldn’t be surprised in the least. It’s a complete story told in relatively few pages that accomplishes everything it’s meant to.

Anyway, using foliage as cover, Cap gets to be heroic----then Billy gets to get back to the business of trying to stop the robbery of the hotel and get his heroic alter-ego dressed again. Which leads to a rather adorable and funny scene of Billy not only trying to describe what Captain Marvel wears, but what size it would need to be tailored in.

(Cap is supposedly a 44 for a suit coat, we find in some earlier appearance, which would refer to his chest size. So, an XL for shirts and suit-coats. He’s a big guy, but he’s actually not a hulking huge guy. But more on that later.)

I love the fact Billy tries to like-- use himself as a model. Maybe in another ten years, kiddo. Billy’s actually pretty buff for like a 12-14 year old, he’s not a scrawny kid at this point, but yeah, no. LOL!

Another thing I also really, really love about this style, though, is that they draw Captain Marvel as being strong, as having a powerful build-- but not as a dehydrated body-builder with deep cuts. He’s got human proportions, regardless of his strength; he’s got a human build, not a superhuman one.

C.C. Beck had a lot of things to say about superheroes who were just muscles on top of muscles, all clearly defined, and he didn’t like it. As someone who first got into comics in the early 90s with Jim Lee’s X-Men--

I do get Beck’s point. I not only get it, but I really highly approve of it. He maintained to the end that he drew (and oversaw) the Marvel family to look like high school and college athletes, and I can see that. I think the one person who’s gotten it right in the modern era is Evan “Doc” Shaner, who did Convergence: Shazam! He not only nailed that strong-but-not-hulking build for Cap, but also how young he looked. College-age, in fact.

But anyway, enough digression into art and why I like this better than most modern takes on the character. Also, that’s just a cute set of panels.

I also like that there wasn’t an easy fix there. Cap’s still in his not-birthday suit, and Billy’s still stuck running around trying to solve the issues at hand. Next comes some other really good panels:

-snorts- He’s locked in. Yeah, that’ll hold him.

Anyway, what I really liked here was again that tandem working; Billy can’t punch through a wall, but Cap can. Cap can’t crawl out while he’s au natural -- well, he could, but he’d probably rather die first -- but Billy’s got no such issue. It’s just fun when you get to see them doing something like that. You have to really think for a minute about the trust each of them must have in their alter-ego.

ANYWAY, we get the rare treat then--

--of Captain Marvel not only yoinking a dude into a dark room, but then stealing his clothes. Except, not his underwear. Because that’s nasty. LOL!

I love that in this series, you do actually get to see him wear other stuff. Go incognito. Get his red suit messed up enough to take it to a dry cleaner’s, wherein he ends up dressed like a musketeer after. Jerry Ordway’s series is, I think, the only other time we see Cap not wearing his famous suit, but it happened enough in the Golden Age that it wasn’t a shock.

Like, I hate to be the one to say this, but I do think DC drops the ball often on just how much you can do with Captain Marvel (or Shazam, depending on timeline, but that’s the wizard’s name to me so mostly I’ll stick with the original name) if you unbend enough to. It’s not just the costume change, or the duality of him and Billy being the same but not, but also his inherent, essential humanity.

But I am digressing again, sorry. XD I just feel strongly enough about these versions of these characters to spend hours writing this.

Anyway, only a single panel later:

And that’s that! Billy Batson has just outed his own alter-ego’s most embarrassing moment to whomever’s listening to WHIZ radio -- thank everything podcasts and the internet weren’t available then, ha! -- and we get to see a recounting of a very fun story.

Like I said earlier, I love this one for its essential humanity. The hero got himself into this mess, he and Billy got him out of this mess, and stopping the criminals was actually just kind of a lucky stroke thrown in there. But even though Cap got himself into this, the story never treats him like he’s stupid. It never treats him like he’s some kind of idiot. You’re laughing, but-- not in a mean way.

I love how human it is. How complete it is. How genuinely funny it is. It’s a thousand times more funny when you genuinely love and respect Captain Marvel and Billy Batson, too.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this dissertation on a skinny-dipping hero. LOL! I enjoyed sharing it with you.

#dc captain marvel #billy batson #shazam #whiz comics

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silkiemae · 3 years ago

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The Dark One by Nikki St. Crowe

The Dark One by Nikki St. Crowe My rating: 1 of 5 stars The Dark One is a continuation of The Never King, and it really should have been one longer book. Ending every book on a cliffhanger, especially when said books are 200 pages long, is lazy writing. It's a cheap tactic to piss off your readers, so they feel obligated to buy the next book to know what happens. If the author had taken the time to storyboard and plot, if she took the time to edit and get beta readers and IDK, maybe do some research, this could have been a lot better. Instead, we're given something that should be available for free on Wattpad....honestly, more like Literotica. Both books contain fragments, grammatical/spelling errors, repeating one-sentence paragraphs, stilted dialogue and plot holes. There are barely any descriptions of people, places and things. While The Dark One gets a little better at describing places, that's all we get. Imagining Neverland is very difficult--in fact, that's one of the big reasons I dislike this book so much. Nikki is borrowing the world of Peter Pan, yet she's expanded it to give us several more islands, but we know next to nothing about any of them. We know one is called Everland, and one is called Darkland. (How original.) There is next to no immersion. The plot makes no sense, and the sex comes at the most inopportune moments. All the boys ever think about is how bad they want to fuck Winnie. I find it a bummer that Nikki only cares about writing sex. I expected to read a book about Neverland. I expected to understand the world and its magic but nope. So in The Never King. Winnie Darling, a distant relative of Wendy Darling, gets kidnapped by Peter Pan. According to her mentally unstable mother, Merry (who is a prostitute), Peter Pan will come for her on her 18th birthday and 'break her'. Her mother never shares why Peter will come for her, and she never clarifies how he's going to break her. Peter has been doing this to all the women in the Darling family for generations. You would think Merry would tell her daughter what to expect. We later find out that Peter is kidnapping Darlings because the original Darling stole his shadow and hid it away. Why? Because Tinkerbell was jealous and convinced her to do it, somehow. Then, when she was finished, Tinkerbell killed her so he can't find his shadow and then Pan killed Tinkerbell in revenge. Peter spends the next however many years taking female Darlings from their homes when they turn 18 to extract memories from them...because apparently, they can retain their ancestor's memories. Why age 18? Was it simply so the story could have that sexual undertone? Because there was a huge emphasis on Winnie 'just turning 18' in the previous book and like...yet another reason why this book feels supremely icky. Also, why is it only the daughters that get taken? In the original story, the daughters of Wendy's line fly with Peter, but that's wholesome. This makes no sense. What about Darling sons? If the Darling women are already aware of their fate, why would they continue to have children willingly? Did no one ever take a male Darling to Neverland to see if he might also retain his ancestor's memories? What if that was the problem all along? What is it about the female mind that allows them to have this quirk?? If Nikki had actually plotted this book perhaps these are things she could've addressed and explained. When Peter takes Winnie to Neverland, he clarifies to all the Lost Boys that they're not allowed to touch her(in a sexual way, of course.) Peter says that fucking the Darlings is how they got into this mess in the first place. And it's later explained that Peter was in love with OD, so I assume this means they slept together. Naturally, that makes Tinkerbell jealous, and she goes about her shadow stealing. So Peter creates this rule that the Lost Boys can't touch the Darlings anymore even though the one who killed the OD in the first place is no longer alive. Then Winnie shows up, and it takes a grand total of two days for them to break the rule. And what happens? Nothing. There are no consequences at all. So what was the point?! Also, sex with the Lost Boys is so good that Winnie decides she wants to live in Neverland forever. She's known these boys a total of maybe 3 or 4 days at best, and she is ready to live with them FOREVER. And that's it. That's your summary of The Never King, pretty much. Now we're onto book two. Now, if this had been one longer book, Nikki could have spent time fleshing out the different islands of Neverland. She could have spent time creating actual personalities for her 97 POV characters so that they didn't all sound like one single entity. The Dark One begins where The Never King left off, which furthers my belief that it should have been ONE BOOK. Peter opens the box that contains his shadow and TWO pops out. WOW. So far, I've got no idea what a shadow does in this world. In Barrie's version, the shadow represents Pan's inability to age. And there are theories that it's supposed to mean that Pan is dead. But in this, we have both a life and a death shadow. So, who knows what that means? I know having a death shadow makes you Neverland's Dark One. Now, I was under the impression that Vane was Neverland's Dark One, but apparently, he is the Dark One on a different island. Can you guess which island? DARKLAND. Also, the Dark One makes me think of Once Upon a Time and Rumplestiltskin and how Peter Pan was his father. I'm convinced that's where Nikki got 95% of her Inspo for this. I wish there were more information on the faeries of this world. I'm far more interested in the mechanics of Neverland than anything else. I'm curious as to how Neverland is compared to the real world. They live in a giant tree but have a working stove and light switches. They somehow can brew coffee with an actual coffee machine. I know there's a magical lagoon, I know that they find Hook in a place called DARLINGTON(lmao, what?!). That's about all I know because Winnie spends the rest of her time fucking the Lost Boys or thinking about how she wants to fuck the Lost Boys. And don't give me that excuse of 'this is a fantasy. It doesn't need to be explained." That's precisely WHY it needs to be explained. What's the point of writing a fantasy novel if you're not going to tell us about the world you've built? This book is only about fucking the Lost Boys(which, if you want to write all about sex, there is nothing wrong with that. Go for it. More power to you. But why choose a fairytale centered around children?) It's never explicitly stated if these things exist because of Neverland's magic, they're just there, and I'm supposed to accept it. When I read fantasy of any sort, I'm always wondering how things work. That's what happens when you read something, guys. Back on track. Now that Winnie is permanently staying in Neverland, Pan and the Lost Boys, except Vane, are no longer interested in the other girls in Neverland. Or as they're so kindly called 'lost pussy.' And this all has to do with Winnie. They don't want her to see them interact with other girls because it'll hurt her fee-fees. But again, they have known her for FOUR DAYS at this point. Maybe a bit more. What is so special about Winnie that it's changing the personality of every single boy she meets? (Not that they had much character, to begin with, that is.) Kas is even willing to forgo getting his wings back for her. The answer? Nothing. Winnie has absolutely nothing unique or special except that she doesn't care that she was kidnapped and gang-banged. They think of her as fuck doll basically--if I have to hear them call her 'our Darling' one more time, I'm going to vomit. I know Winnie acts like it's all cute and like a unique nickname, but they called every Darling that came to Neverland Darling. If you wanted to make it memorable, they would call her by her real name. Or like Vane did exactly one time 'Win'. And like it's OK, I guess if you want to write about a girl just there to get fucked(I don't get that as a kink but whatever), I still don't understand why these boys are so invested in Winnie. I don't get why Vane, the meanest and scariest out of all of them, rescued her from having her mind broken. What was the point of even GOING to the fae palace? He repeatedly rebuffs her advances, tells her no, and tells her to back off, but she doesn't listen because she's determined to have him. She even goes as far as to start trying to unbutton his pants, and then when he attacks her for it, everyone acts like he was in the wrong. But in reality, she was the one who assaulted him. She's a repeat assaulter. She even shoved her hand down Kas and Bash's pants when they told her they weren't in the mood to entice them to fuck her. We know nothing about Winnie except that she likes sex. We know that her prostitute neighbor was "the best" and taught her to use her body to get what she wanted from an extremely young age. Remember, by the end of this book, Winnie just turned 18 like a week ago, and she claims to have been having sex for years. So, she was groomed by this neighbor and nowhere is this depicted as evil. There's nothing wrong with enjoying sex, but THIS is not okay. I don't think there's anything wrong with having multiple partners, nor do I find experimenting as a teenager wrong. Winnie's behavior could be understandable if it were made clear that her neighbor groomed her, and it was not okay, but it's talked about if it's a great thing and only her insane mother was the problem. (Let's not mention that that was Pan's fault.) I understand that Stockholm syndrome happens, but it takes TIME to happen. Not two days. It's a gradual thing, ya'll. It's a psychological thing. If Winnie were trying to sleep with everyone as a way to one-up and escape, I'd understand that. But she's doing it because she is desperate for their attention, which I don't get. Like...Idk, man; I just don't get it. There's a point where Winnie feels literal envy for coffee steam because it's closer to Peter's face than she is????? She is so pathetic; I can't even. Maybe it's just me, but I don't understand the desire to write about sex with "just-18-year-olds". As a grown-ass woman, at least write about ADULTS having sex. Not freshly turned 18 girls. It's the same as a man obsessing over 'barely legal 18 years old!!!' porn. Winnie is infantilized constantly. When they talk about her appearance, they call her tiny and weak and skinny all the time(yet, she murdered a pirate without even breaking a sweat and super quickly, too??) and then they call her a little girl all the time. It's disgusting. There is a hefty emphasis on her age in The Never King and how the Lost Boys are meant to look like teenage boys who are all supposedly super hot. The line was, "boys with the presence of men." Like...Nikki, you are married with a child. What are you doing? EDIT: I deleted a paragraph because I thought the original Darling was Wendy, somehow, but it got lost in translation. I was mistaken. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ my b Cherry and Captain Hook also get POV chapters in this. And they're also apparently siblings. Cherry is another Winnie POV because the only thing she cares about is getting fucked by Vane. She dreads seeing her bro but has to make sure she looks cute since she's going to be with Vane. She wears a dress and no panties to trek through the fucking jUNGLE. She calls herself the only girl amongst the lost boys even though there are 'town girls' at the Never Tree ALL THE TIME. And since everyone on Neverland supposedly never ages, she would have seen all the past Darlings when they came to Neverland since Hook kidnapped Wendy at some point and used Cherry as a bartering chip when Peter retaliated by kidnapping Smee. Also, Hook says Cherry was a child when he lost his hand, but...we're told people don't age in Neverland...so does that mean Cherry is a child?? Did this book actually hit the pedophilia mark? She talks shit about Winnie 24/7, which is so pick me of her. "Her boobs aren't as big as mine, and she's rail thin." "I'm bruised cuz he fucked me, Winnie is bruised cuz she assaulted him and made him mad, so he choked her." *smug grin* OKAY? CHERRY? WHAT'S YOUR POINT? Winnie asks Pan how can she get Vane when he’s been rebuffing all her advances, and he tells her to stop trying so hard, and Winnie has an epiphany about it. OF COURSE, MAYBE I SHOULDN’T THROW MYSELF AT SOMEONE WHO HAS REPEATEDLY TOLD ME NO!? She’s so desperate to make sure all the Lost Boys are with only her that she’s willing to do whatever is possible to get the one who DOESN’T WANT HER. (yes, I know that he eventually gives in and claims he wanted her all along, but up until then, we didn't know that, and it reads as rapey af) I want to clarify that this is not a sexy thing to do. I don’t give a fuck if this is a dark romance and that it’s a woman pursuing the man. When you are repeatedly told no or ATTACKED because you don’t take no for an answer, then SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH YOU. IT’S NOT SEXY THAT WINNIE WON’T ACCEPT NO FOR AN ANSWER. IT’S GROSS. You have three other Lost Boys willing to fuck you, Winnie. Accept that and move on. Winnie learns at some point, her mom was pregnant with her while in Neverland. (I have SO many questions.) Peter explains that Merry was someone he and the Lost Boys were fond of, which contradicts every internal thought they have ever had but alrighty. Winnie acts shocked that her mom never told her when her mom never told her ANYTHING. Now that she knows this, suddenly she's like, omg, you're right, Neverland felt like home from day one(what? where?), and he says...he says...that because she was there when she was a FETUS...THAT'S WHY WHEN SHE'S IN HIS ARMS, IT FEELS LIKE HE'S COME HOME?!?!? I want to leave this place. Some stuff happens, Pan gets his shadow, and they all win--Winnie also gets a death shadow. THE BOOK ENDS. At least now, there won't be such a power imbalance between her and the Lost Boys. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Sex scenes...there's not much I can say without my head exploding, so I'm going to try to keep this short. Those of you who find this hot....are you okay? Do you need some help? Do you genuinely think getting your clit rubbed by a soapy rag feels terrific? (also, you shouldn't WASH YOUR VAGINA BRO. YER GONNA GET A YEAST INFECTION.) Do you orgasm in 30 seconds from a couple of thrusts and zero foreplay? Because I don't buy that for a minute. It feels like highway robbery that people had to pay for this. There are points when she’s writing from Kas’ perspective, and then literally, she forgets whose POV she’s supposed to be writing from and switches to Bash’s. If you need to look for yourself, one example is in chapter 15. and then once again in chapter 18 when Winnie forgets that it was Bash who tied her up TWO SECONDS ago but said it was Kas. Anywho...that's all I've got. With every booktok recommended book I read I am more and more inclined to not support authors who promote on booktok. Every single one has been of this caliber and it's truly depressing. View all my reviews

#the dark one #peter pan retelling #dark peter pan #the vicious lost boys #book review

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politalysis · 4 years ago

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# What has happened to JK Rowling?

Growing up in the early 2000s immediately made Harry Potter a huge part of your childhood. Even if you never read the books or watched the films, you can probably name the three main characters. Even if you weren’t interested in Harry Potter in the slightest, you probably know your Hogwarts house. It’s incredible what Harry Potter did for our generation all over the world. Children would stay up on their eleventh birthdays anxiously awaiting a Hogwarts acceptance letter, knowing full well that owl was never going to come. Our imagination kept the dream of going to Hogwarts and learning magic alive anyway. Even now at the age of 23, I can for the most part keep a conversation flowing with anyone who has read the books or even just watched the films. You could even go as far as to say it was our generation’s Lord of the Rings.

JK Rowling came from very humble beginnings. She suffered with depression in her childhood and early teens, and lost her mother to multiple sclerosis in 1990. These struggles inspired her a lot when writing Harry Potter. She channeled her grief and pain into her writing. In 1992, she married a man she had met whilst living in Portugal, but Rowling suffered domestic abuse at his hands and the couple separated a year later. She lost her job and moved to Edinburgh in Scotland, where she had to sign up for welfare benefits, which left her a poor and depressed single mother spending her time writing in coffee shops. When she finished writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, twelve publishers rejected the opportunity to publish the book. Once someone finally agreed to publish the book, it became the best selling children’s book of the year.

We all know how the story goes from there. Rowling wrote six more Harry Potter books, eight films were made, and Rowling went from a poor vulnerable single mother to a multi millionaire in the space of a few short years. Harry Potter is now a global brand estimated to be worth about $15 billion. The last four books have each consecutively set the record for the fastest selling book in history. Rowling is now the richest author in the world, with a net worth of $92 million. But as well as money, JK Rowling has over 14 million followers on Twitter. This gives her massive influence as well as money. Rowling seemed to initially use this influence for good, spreading mental health awareness, LGBT inclusivity, interacting with fans and creating a website for all us Harry Potter fans to determine our houses and let our wands choose us.

I remember being 8 years old when Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was released, and I was attending a religious school where some parents complained and called to ban Harry Potter over the controversial decision JK Rowling made regarding Dumbledore’s sexuality. Rowling had made the claim that Dumbledore was gay. Looking back, the controversy was ridiculous and I can only imagine how embarrassed some of those parents must be. I also remember as I got older, re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I noticed more that the emotion behind Dumbledore’s relationship with Grindelwald was one he held with a romantic love. So years later, when several members of the LGBT community attacked Rowling for only deciding Dumbledore’s sexuality after the books were written, I publicly defended her with my knowledge that that simply wasn’t true. I had this image of Rowling in my mind, that she had always been on the right side of this debate. She had always been inclusive and supportive of LGBT people as far as I could see, and I just didn’t understand the issue. Rowling had always expressed a centre-left political perspective, and although I didn’t agree with all her views, they seemed relatively uncontroversial.

When Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released, I hated it. It was a literary disaster, completely disrespectful of the original book series, the characters were a shell of the characters we had grown up with, the plot was almost deliberately ridiculous and overly elaborate and I immediately dismissed it as not canon. I have never forgiven JK Rowling for publicly stating the book was canon. She almost destroyed a whole two decades of her own hard work and the franchise that she’d built that had been like a home for a whole generation. All because she wanted to grab a few extra quid for a terrible book she didn’t even write. To this day I can’t help but wonder if she has even read the book. If I had written the masterpiece that is Harry Potter, I would view the Cursed Child as an insult. Perhaps I’ll even write a review one day, just for fun. Rowling also annoyed me by going back on her story, regretting pairing Ron and Hermione together and not pairing Hermione with Harry. Ron and Hermione are my favourite couple from the story, and their relationship had so much meaning. I couldn’t believe that the author who wrote such a clever and consistent relationship between two beloved characters could ever regret it. At this point in my life, I was beginning to wonder if perhaps Rowling was losing her mind. It was almost like she was trying to destroy her legacy.

As more years passed, the Fantastic Beasts films were released. The first film looked promising, but the second film was yet another disaster. Again, it was inconsistent with the franchise as we knew it, for some reason Hogwarts was full of people wearing 3 piece suits instead of the robes they wore in the Harry Potter series and Minerva McGonigall appeared as a teacher despite the fact that canonically there is no way she could have been old enough. The film was a disaster with both fans and critics hating it. Amongst this mess came controversy in December 2019. Rowling lost all respect she had once held amongst the transgender community when she made a public statement supporting Maya Forstater, a British woman who lost her employment tribunal case against her employer who fired her over transphobic comments. Six months later on June 6 2020, Rowling criticised the term “people who menstruate” and stated: "If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives." Rowling’s views on these issues were heavily criticised by GLAAD and even by the actors from the Harry Potter movies including lead actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

Rowling published a 3,600 word essay in response to the mass criticism of her views four days later. The essay did her no favours, as she wrote: “When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside.” She seemed to be suggesting that trans women are often just men disguised as women in order to trick or even harm other women. This obviously angered the transgender community even more, and women’s refuge shelters that allow trans women were reporting no rise in violence as a result, children’s charities that support gender non conforming children were criticising Rowling, she was being made to give back awards and ultimately Rowling was labelled a Trans exclusionary radical feminist, a term often abbreviated to TERF.

JK Rowling is the perfect example of how money and influence can make someone forget their roots so easily. For someone who survived poverty, domestic abuse and sexual assault, she is so lacking in self awareness and how the things she has said and done can be harmful to transgender people. It is widely reported that transgender women are at more risk of harm in female restrooms than cisgender women. With acceptance becoming the norm, transgender people are feeling more safe to come out now than ever before, and so the rise in numbers of the community is huge, especially amongst our generation who grew up with Harry Potter. For a young transgender teenager to grow up wondering how Hogwarts would accommodate them, only to hear the author who gave us Hogwarts in the first place disapprove of equal rights for transgender people, must be very disheartening. However, JK Rowling has proven that she has no idea how powerful the legacy her books created really is. She was tasked with following up the Harry Potter series, and what she gave us was inconsistent and very poorly written screenplays. I have read better sequels on tumblr. Lots of them. Hogwarts doesn’t belong to JK Rowling, it belongs to the fandom. And I’ll be willing to bet my last penny that if Professor McGonigall witnessed any bullying of transgender students in her classroom (or indeed the girls bathroom!) she’d absolutely defend the victim without a moment’s hesitation. Hermione would decorate the Gryffindor common room with little blue, pink and white flags in support of a transgender first year who’d just been sorted into Gryffindor. Luna Lovegood would sit and befriend any trans student who looked lonely, and Ginny would dish out a bat bogey hex to anyone who dared pick on them. No matter what JK Rowling thinks, Hogwarts is not hers to ruin. It is ours. Regardless of what makes us different, Hogwarts is our home.

#jk rowling #harry potter #hogwarts #gryffindor #hufflepuff #ravenclaw #slytherin #gay dumbledore #trans rights #edinburgh #professor umbridge #fuck rowling #cursed child is not canon #ron and hermione #lgbtq #lgbt representation #writing

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olivinesea · 4 years ago

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Off Souls

a/n: Today we’re college Emily and we are sad. Tried for some plot this time though it doesn’t really appear til the end. Actual tw substances (lots of drinking), tw rape (not descriptive). I have a thought on continuing this but we’ll see. ~4.3k

Sorry Emily.

Emily Prentiss had her first drink was when she was eight years old. Someone handed her a half-glass of champagne as the clock counted down to midnight and a new year arrived. She wasn’t sure she liked the sharp, sour flavor but the bubbles tickled her nose. She also liked holding the pretty glass delicately between her thumb and middle finger, imitating the guests in their bright, shiny fabrics. No one noticed as she crept around the party, seeking out abandoned champagne flutes. She picked each one up, practicing a fake laugh and gesturing to invisible companions. Each imaginary conversation ended with her tilting her head back and draining the glass.

She noticed that the champagne was getting flatter but also that the taste was improving as she worked through the rooms of the ambassador’s residence. She was too young for anyone to pay attention to, the adults were wrapped up in their own affairs and feelings of excitement. Her body grew heavier and she thought she might like to sit down for awhile. She didn't know what time it was or whether it was the new year yet. She climbed onto a bench pushed against the wall. It had become a home for abandoned coats and bags.

It was hard to understand what she was seeing, objects seemed to be trying to escape. She looked at something only for it to slide away. She refocused, telling herself tables didn’t move on their own, only to have the thing slip away again. She tried closing one eye, then the other. The ground seemed to tip which didn’t make sense but maybe explained the moving furniture. She sank down onto one side, the back of her hand pressed against her mouth. Maybe being sideways would help correct the tilt of the world. It didn’t change much and she let her eyes close completely. Even with her eyes closed, the world continued to spin unpleasantly. She whimpered, weakly calling for her mother, already faintly aware that she wouldn’t appear.

Her face felt hot and she worried she might roll off the bench. Too tired to go far, she got down and pressed herself into the space underneath. Closed off from the world in most directions, she felt a little steadier. She tucked her face into the bend of her elbow to block out the remaining light. Her free hand found its way to her mouth again. She was too old to suck her thumb but it was still comforting to feel the pressure there. She found herself biting the skin around her nail beds. The acute sensation tethered her to the earth and the disturbing spinning slowed. She didn’t notice when she fell asleep.

No one found her there and it was light outside when she finally woke up. Cold and stiff from sleeping on the floorboards, she slowly slid out from under the bench. Moving carefully towards her room she tried to listen for sounds of other people in the hallways. She was afraid her mother would scold her for ruining her dress. She needn’t have worried. She threw the dress, now ripped and stained, into the trash in an effort to hide it. No one noticed that either.

By the time she entered high school, she considered herself an expert at drinking. She knew which alcohols were the easiest to mix. She knew which bottles would be noticed if they went missing (only the wines). She could forge her mother’s signature to get out of class when the afternoon looked a little too long. She could even mimic the housekeeper’s accent when the school called to confirm that she was out on an excused absence. In a fit of inspiration, she had substituted her number for her mother’s on all her school forms. That move had paid dividends over the years.

Every weekend she either had a party or went to a party. She didn’t see that as a problem. Drinking socially was fine. Maybe a little questionable at 15, but fine. The drinking that she secretly knew was wrong but continued anyway was the kind where she added gin to bottles of sparkling water and drank it throughout the day. It stung the back of her throat but she came to associate that feeling with a pleasant detachment. She could ignore her mother’s criticisms with the buzz of gin in her ears. She could ignore how lonely she felt when wrapped up in the warmth of the friendly bubbles.

She went through high school becoming more and more attached to alcohol. There were other things to try, different drugs filtered through the prep school community. She didn’t mind them but she always returned to drinking. Drinking was familiar. Drinking made her comfortable. She didn’t see any reason to mess with a good thing. She never noticed how her mood swung in tandem with her access to alcohol. She never noticed how she drank more after fighting with her mother. For her, drinking and feelings were separate. Feelings were messy and embarrassing. Drinking conquered feelings and she wanted nothing more than to conquer those permanently.

~~~

By the time she met Aaron Hotchner, she couldn't remember the last time she went more than a few days without a drink. Sobriety was a state to escape from. Sobriety meant clear thoughts and clear thoughts meant the harsh, criticizing voice in her mind reminding her of all her failures. Better to drown than to listen to that. Her grades might have been slipping but she’d have to feel to care and she was in the business of not feeling. Meeting someone else so deeply committed to avoiding their feelings was a gift from the universe.

She liked that he was smart and she liked how his face looked when he was surprised. She liked it when he frowned at her because even displeased she could tell that he enjoyed spending time with her. She couldn’t name a single other person who genuinely enjoyed her company. She had never had any close friends. People she partied with, certainly. It was easy to be popular with a rich, absent mother and no curfew. But none of those people had cared about her as a person, nor had she cared about them. They were all just using each other to satisfy their own needs.

He was different. He asked her questions and listened to her answers. Sometimes he was incredulous at her responses and sometimes she embellished her stories just to watch him get worked up at the idea of taking the embassy jet to Norway for her 13th birthday (she flew commercial) or hiring a full-time zookeeper for her spotted genets (she had to pay the housekeeper’s nephew to feed her cat when they went out of town).

When he first suggested that she might want to drink less she laughed at him and finished the bottle of wine she had been drinking from. When she turned up hungover to class the next morning he didn't say anything but she was annoyed with him as if he did. He didn't tell her she was wrong for drinking but he gave her tired looks when she talked about Margarita Monday or Thirsty Thursday. He never accepted the drinks she offered him. Just shook his head and when she pressed him about it he told her alcohol made him sleepy.

He only got angry about her drinking one time. She had convinced him to come over after a party. Her roommate was out of town for the weekend and she didn’t feel like being alone yet. While she was waiting for him she found some leftover booze and mixed it with whatever pink juice was living in their mini fridge. When he got there she kept trying to push the cup up to his mouth. He brushed her off and she ended up dropping it and spilling it on the both of them.

“Now look what you did, idiot!” She reached up to jab him playfully in the forehead. He moved fast, grabbing her wrist and holding it to the side. Reflexively she tried to swat at him with her other hand but he grabbed that easily as well.

“Stop it.”

His voice was low and dangerous. Her vision swam as she tried to focus on him. His dark eyes burned and she felt like maybe she shouldn’t be standing so close. She backed up and had to tug a little before he released her. They stared at each other. He tried to regain control of his temper, fingers curled tightly into his palms. He shouldn’t have grabbed her but touching his face like that was a step past what he could tolerate. She was always loose with her contact, even more so when she was drinking. She didn’t know how it put him on edge because he would never tell her, would never admit to that weakness. She might have noticed on her own but it never crossed her mind that it was a problem. She just thought he was a bit stiff and needed some affectionate rough housing from time to time. Still angry, he bit back the cruel words he knew would damage their friendship. Words they both had heard directed at them before: reckless, immature, hopeless. She was watching carefully as he struggled with himself. She’d never felt unsafe with him but this moment had made her very aware their relative sizes. She waited for him to say something else.

He sighed. “Where are your paper towels?”

She had completely forgotten about the spill. She shook her head, thoroughly sobered. “I’ll clean it up.”

Normally he would argue with her, insist on helping, but the sickly sweet smell of whatever horrid drink she’d mixed was making him nauseous. He decided the best move was to call it a night and muttered that he’d see her tomorrow as he stepped around the mess and out the door.

~~~

Like most people, she was clumsy when she drank. Unlike most people, she seemed to take a sick pride in the bumps and bruises she acquired while stumbling around. It had always fascinated her to watch how her body was able to heal itself. To watch bruises darken and then fade. To study scabs as they formed over scraped knees and the shiny, pink skin that developed underneath. She got an even bigger kick out of it when she discovered Hotch’s tight-lipped disapproval of this behavior. Sometimes she would send him photo updates of particularly gruesome wounds.

“Emily!” he shouted indignantly after her latest upload, a burn from the hot plate courtesy of late-night grilled cheese.

“Shhh! We’re in the library!”

“We’re in a study room! You should be studying!”

“I am,” she said, innocently.

“You know what I mean. Please, please, for the love of god, stop sending me pictures of scabs.”

“Well, I guess if you don’t care about me…”

He threw his hands in the air and kicked back from the table. “I’m getting coffee.” She looked up at him hopefully. “No, I won’t get you any.”

She pouted but when he returned he was carrying two cups as well as some Neosporin and bandaids. She reached for the cup but he pulled it back.

“You have to let me deal with that first.” He nodded at her arm.

She looked at the bandaids distastefully.

“I don’t want to have to look at that shit anymore today,” he said firmly.

“Fine,” she muttered, watching as he set her coffee just out of reach. She was a cooperative patient and he worked quickly.

“What the hell? Why did you put like six bandaids on me?”

“Because you’re just going to peel them off and I want to have at least a few hours without having to be exposed to your organs,” he said cheerfully as he pushed her coffee towards her and swept up the paper litter.

She smiled as she sipped her coffee and waited until they left the library before removing the offending bandages.

~~~

They had been going back and forth about her drinking for several months. She had promised to stop drinking on weekdays if he would come out with her occasionally. She was able to keep her promise for the most part. She believed there were exceptions to everything and was sure to find at least a few instances where she justified a drink or two. He would get annoyed but not angry because he knew she was trying. That wasn’t what caused the problem.

It happened partway through the winter quarter. They had just turned in important papers for their history class. Hotch wanted to start studying for the econ midterm coming up but Emily, already in a bad mood, wanted to be done for the day.

“Please, can you just chill for once in your life?” she begged, leaning her head back and staring at the ceiling. She was draped across one of the lounge chairs, legs up on one side, arms thrown over her head.

He shook his head. “This is important to me.”

“Oh, and it’s not important to me?” she bit back. She shifted so she was sitting up, feet on the floor, glaring at him.

“Sorry Em, I didn’t mean it like that.” He frowned, not sure why she was having such a big reaction.

“I just can’t with you, Hotchner. I can’t fucking win.”

“What are you talking about?”

Instead of answering she got up and left the room. They had been sitting in the common room of his dorm. It was generally quiet at that time of day since most of his neighbors were athletes and had practice in the afternoons.

He waited for her to come back. He was learning that was something people did. He still didn’t fully understand it but apparently some people were able to get mad and then get over it without any major consequences. When she didn’t reappear, he shrugged and opened his laptop to start working.

She stalked angrily down the hallway, heading for her room. Halfway there she realized she forgot her bag but didn’t turn around. She wasn’t ready to see Hotch yet with his stupid apologetic face and his stupid understanding eyes. Why had she let him convince her to try? In the fall she had been checked out and could blame her abysmal grades on that lack of effort. Now she was going to get her grades back and see that she was in fact not as smart as she thought. Everyone would see it. Hotch would see it.

She had always gotten good grades growing up. Partly because she was intelligent but partly because high school wasn’t that demanding intellectually. She could skate by on a minimal amount of effort and charm her way into enough extra credit to keep her grades high. She’d only cared about grades in that she didn’t want her mother looking too closely at her school reports. A’s kept her free to misbehave as she pleased. College was turning out to be different.

It felt bad to put significant effort into something only to get lukewarm results. It felt like she was confirming her deepest fear—she really wasn’t exceptional at anything. She was so afraid and she hated it. And Emily had exactly one coping mechanism for fear—drown it. She’d left her phone in her bag too but she didn’t need that to find a party. She knew exactly where she could go for free alcohol and loud music and strangers she didn’t have to worry would find out how stupid and worthless she really was. She went to her room to change.

A couple hours later she walked up to a frat house, hair freshly washed and straightened, dark make up matching her black bodysuit. There were people spilled all over the lawn. Several tables of beer pong were set up. A kiddie pool filled with melting ice and piles of canned beer occupied the walkway. She smiled. She could always count on people to be drinking at a frat house. She saw a guy she met in the fall at one of the tables and headed in that direction. When he saw her it was obvious he didn’t recognize her but he smiled anyway. It was easy to make friends at a frat house when you looked like Emily Prentiss. She accepted the offered ping pong ball and easily made her first shot. Someone handed her a beer. As she sipped it she finally felt like she wasn’t fighting with herself. This was familiar territory. This was where she belonged.

The afternoon quickly became evening and the party moved inside. The music was loud and insistent. She felt lightheaded—she hadn’t eaten since that morning which was probably a mistake. But she was already mostly drunk and the thought floated away quickly. She took the red plastic cup being passed to her without asking what was in it. It was sweet and orange and much tastier than the beer she’d been drinking. The guy from before, she thought his name was Steven, was leading her towards the courtyard dance floor. He guided her with a hand on her back, bare skin exposed by the low-cut. She loved dancing and didn't notice anything unusual when her head started to swim. That was the feeling she had been looking for wasn’t it?

Things started to get patchy. She thought time had passed but she wasn’t sure how much. She was being led up a staircase but she wasn’t sure if the hand she was holding was Steven’s or someone different. She thought his hair had been brown but maybe it was just dark blonde. It didn’t feel particularly urgent to find out.

She was being pressed against a doorway, hands on her waist, a mouth covering her mouth. It was a kiss. She liked kissing so she kissed back. She tried to open her eyes to see who it was she was kissing but it was dark and her eyes wouldn’t focus. Suddenly there was nothing solid behind her and she fell backwards.

“Woah there!” A hand caught her arm at the last moment and pulled her to a wobbling upright position. “Careful.”

She didn't recognize the voice though it felt a little familiar. She didn’t like this room they were in. It was too dark. She could barely hear the music. She tried to push past the voice, speaking but not hearing anything coherent.

“Hang on, not so fast.” The voice was between her and the door and was very solid. The little light that had illuminated the room disappeared when he shut the door. Why did he shut the door?

“letmego.” It came out as all one word but she was happy with it. She was sure he would understand what she wanted. Instead she heard a laugh. It’s not a nice laugh like when Hotch was listening to her spinning tall tales and laughingly told her she was ridiculous. She wondered where Hotch was. He was her favorite person, why wasn’t he here with her now?

The person moved closer and she knew he was laughing at her. Fear burned through her and she screamed at her body to react. But everything felt slow and sticky. She swung at him but missed. She tried again and he caught her arms. She twisted violently, panic stealing her breath. Roughly, he pushed her backwards and she stumbled only to land on something soft. It was a mattress and it smelled. It smelled like beer and cigarettes and vomit. She kicked at him but it did nothing to stop his advance.

“Shhh. Just be good now.”

She cried. She couldn’t help it. She was so confused about how she got here, about where here even was. She tried to fight back but her thoughts were muddy and everything felt so heavy.

“nononostop,” she screamed but she could barely hear herself.

It was over quickly. Or maybe not quickly. Her sense of time shrank and expanded with each breath. All she knew was at some point she found herself alone. The door hadn’t closed all the way so she could see a little light coming in. She stared at it from her place on the bed, blinking slowly, trying to gather enough thought-power to figure out the next step. Something was wrong, she knew it. This wasn’t her bed or even her dorm building. She needed to find Hotch. He could fix everything. She didn’t think she was injured but it was so hard to move. She rolled to her side and ended up falling off the bed completely. She wasted several moments trying to catch her breath. The impact helped shake off some of the heaviness in her mind and she was able to push herself up off the ground. She found that she was only half dressed and, while she wasn’t completely sure why that was, a sob escaped her as she pulled the straps back up. She lost a shoe and it was too dark and complicated to find it so she kicked the other one off instead. She stumbled to the doorway and leaned against it briefly, making one last effort to collect herself before heading out into the world. This walk wasn’t going to be easy.

In a frat house full of drunk people, one drunk and disheveled girl wasn’t noteworthy. She wasn’t even the only person shoeless at that point. No one stopped to ask her if she was ok. No one questioned when she walked out into the night alone and clearly unwell. She focused all her energy on making it back to the dorm and to Hotch. The walk was about half a mile back through the city streets immediately surrounding campus. She tripped and fell more than once, skinning her palms and ripping holse in her pants. Only one person asked if she needed help, concerned by her lack of footwear. She waved them off, slurring that she was going home. The good Samaritan shrugged and headed off in the opposite direction. If a person insisted on helping every drunk college kid who thought they could handle themselves better than they could, they’d never make it home.

She did make it back and thanked whoever might be listening that her keycard was still in her pocket. She hadn’t considered it until the very moment she needed it. She got into the elevator with only one destination in mind. She had no idea what time it was or if he was mad at her and that was why she was alone but she is going to find Aaron Hotchner and let him deal with whatever this mess was she had made.

She knocked and knocked again when he didn’t answer.

“Hotch!” Her voice was hoarse and not very loud. She raised her hand to bang on the door again when it opened. He stood in the doorway, hair sticking up from sleep, blinking at her. He looked irritated and she wasn’t sure what she did wrong but she’s willing to atone for it. She held up her hands, trying to sort out her words.

“Hotch, I—“

“Go to bed, Emily.” He sounded tired more than anything else. He had answered this late night knock many times and tonight he didn’t want to play along. He didn’t want to deal with her drunk affections, he didn’t want to make her the snack she insisted she deserved, he didn’t want to make sure to switch out her pilfered beers with waters for the next couple hours. He just wanted to sleep and deal with this disappointment tomorrow. He turned away and she started to follow him but he just grabbed her backpack from his desk chair. He pushed it into her arms, propelling her back through the door.

“Go to bed,” he repeated. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

With that he closed the door, quietly but firmly. She knew he wouldn’t answer if she knocked again. She hugged her bag to her chest. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. But if Hotch wouldn’t help her, it must have been her fault. She stumbled down the hall to her room. She didn’t want to lay down in the dark. Just the thought of doing that made her heart race. She felt dirty so she went to the bathroom to take a shower. After she turned on the water she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t blame Hotch for sending her away. She was a mess. She wouldn’t want to deal with her either.

She was far too tired to take her clothes off. The adrenaline that got her home had faded and everything was beginning to hurt. She climbed into the shower fully dressed and sank down to the floor. With her knees pulled up to her chest she pressed her face into the bend of her elbow. She chewed on the skin around her fingers, finding it as comforting now as when she first discovered it. But the comfort was not enough and she found herself crying without knowing the exact reasons why. She cried until the water turned cold and then for awhile after that. Finally, worried that someone would find her, she cut the water off and got out. Shedding the wet bodysuit, she threw it in the trash before wrapping up in her towel. It was all she could do to make it into her bed. As she laid down she saw the sky was getting lighter and she felt relieved that at least she wouldn’t have to be in the dark now.

~Part 2~

#criminal minds #emily prentiss #aaron hotchner #college hotchniss #tw substances #tw rape

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starsarestars · 3 years ago

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❤️ for Winona or 🏡 for Wren (I cannot decide) pleeeeeeaseeee and thank you 🥰

I’m so self indulgent and annoying that I’m doing both at once:

Wren lives in an apartment above the coffee shop he helps his family run, meaning that the place is (more often than not) absolutely reeking of coffee, but there’s the odd twinge of sandalwood and turpentine. There’s plants all over the place and he should really move the ones that drape his bed because he keeps getting hit in the face every morning, but he hasn’t quite got around to it. Most of the time the place is in a state of controlled chaos - It’s cluttered, but he’s familiar with the mess, can navigate his way through it and he knows where everything is. Save for whatever Punk B-side or old 70s film soundtrack is playing, the only thing you can really hear in the flat is Wren humming along to whatever’s playing and the sound of Bubbles trotting through the flat while grumbling. Wren will not shut the fuck up about Criterion Collection films, David Lynch or Suspiria (but will conveniently forget his stint on Degrassi as an extra when he was 13 in which he got ran over by a bus and was permeated through flashbacks for a good five episodes.) His inclinations towards pretentiousness means that there’s shelves lined with all these really brooding and thought provoking films but he’s got a box dedicated for the self indulgent ridiculousness he’s not supposed to like which he will frequently pore through (who doesn’t love Bridget Jones?) Most of the time he’ll either be painting, pawing at his record collection or out for the count on the couch while cuddling up with Bubbles after a shift.

I’d be lying if I said things with Winona and Henrik start relatively easy or in the Villa itself. They instead start all the way in a Caravan Park in North Wales where a four year old Winona lives with her grandparents. By mere coincidence do Henrik’s family go to this park every summer as the cost of renting a caravan for the summer there is dirt cheap. Since she was raised by her Grandparents and wasn’t really around many kids, socialisation and making friends with people her age proved to be a struggle - the reach of her grandparents' influence extended to her not wanting to play games with the other kids in fear that her knees would give out and how she’d horrified Henrik the first time they’d ever met by saying that she’d soon be turning five “if the lord will let me live to see it.” When he asked her how old she was.

Winona was a gifted kid and had a lot of pressure to be this intelligent go-getter, she was expected to seek out independence as quickly as possible and although at first she really liked it and thought it made her more mature there wasn’t much room for her to be a kid and that made the time they’d spend together all the more important. It was the first time in her life she could actually be a kid and have fun and because of how easygoing he is, he draws out a silliness in her and she draws a more serious side out of him. Winona had a habit of abusing the fuck out of her provisional drivers license to drive all the way to the Isle of Wight to visit him and as Henrik would point out, there’s never been a birthday since they’ve met which they haven’t spent together. He’s a stalwart at every Visit to Winona’s family in Greece and if the mere possibility of him not being able to come arises, the absolute kick off from them is ridiculous like you’d honestly think someone died. Same applies for the Bergströms - Henrik’s Nana has been mastering her Princess Cake recipe and Winona will be damned if she isn’t getting a massive slice when she’s there.

The two of them have weathered a lot of stuff over the past few years - serious relationships, break ups, major stressors and career changes, pivotal moments and now they’re at that awkward stage where he’s a Climbing and Wilderness Survival instructor who drinks Seamoss for the flavour and she’s a beleaguered Primary school teacher whose side hustle is a podcast in which she talks about her extensive vibrator collection and how much she’d want to shag a pixie while her roommate looks on in horror. There’s a lot of yearning, pining and crushing which ultimately goes nowhere until Lily signs Winona up for love island and Winona sends Henrik this elaborate five paragraph text before she leaves (which is absolutely memed and copypasta’d post-show) which kicks off the plot of Primary. because now Henrik is wondering what the fuck his best friend is playing at going on something like Love Island when she’s already the countdown champion of 2016, just what he feels for her and how he’s going to tell her all this.

When the two of them actually get together it’s mostly awkward (the five paragraphs is a lot to take in - Did she really have to throw in a Gemma Collins quote?) and now they’re running around like headless chickens all “what the fuck do we do now? How the hell do we go from friendship to being romantic like obviously we want it but holy shit how do we go about it?” And they’re just panicking completely struggling to kiss and act romantic like normal people meanwhile everyone else is like “dear fucking god the intensity, the passion, the deep love they have for each other 😔🤚.” But because they’re so well acquainted with each other and their best (and worst) habits, the dynamic between them romantically is usually silly and they can poke fun at each other while knowing each other's boundaries and never going out of their way to push them. The love and care they have is immense and it’s especially so when they get together romantically - there was always signs of it when they were friends as the hugs would always linger and they’d get all smiley, but now they’re very affectionate and more often than not Henrik will drop off Winona’s lunch for her and they’ll always gush about each other to anyone who’ll listen. They’re very supportive of whatever they pursue and there’s no pressure to be anything or fulfill an idea of what they’re meant to be, it’s easygoing and there’s a familiarity to it that makes it so much easier and more intrinsic to them.

If that doesn’t seal it, the fact that Henrik is the only person in the world allowed to touch the Countdown teapot on the mantle probably does.

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freyjafm · 4 years ago

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hi everybody ! i'm 𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐝 , but you can call me later 😉 i'm your resident virgo , an avid tea latte stan and enjoy watching too many true crime docus . i'm currently a full time student & part time worker , so i'm not always accessible , but i promise i'll get back to u in 3-5 business days ! i'll be playing new york's rising it girl , miss 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒚𝒋𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒅 herself ! under the read more below , you will find her statistics , her background , and her wanted connections ! tap that heart button 4 me to slither into your dms like an alaskan bull worm ! ps , i don't fck with discord so i don't have that . :(

freyja sayid was spotted in the fashion district adorning jimmy choo , with some airpod pros on . they’re most likely listening to wonder what she thinks of me by chloe x halle . you may know them as @FREYJA or as that aisha potter lookalike . their twenty second birthday just passed . while living in the upper east side , they’ve gained a bit of a reputation . they’re known to be cunning but on the other hand captivating . wonder if they’ll be the next person to hit the headlines . + ( freyja arm in arm with newest oil heir beau, weeks after messy break up with a prime minister’s nephew / what seems to be freyja sayid poorly sneaking out the back of a club at 4 am / what’s next for new york’s rising it girl, freyja sayid? )

𑁯໋ 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐉𝐀'𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐒 ,

first. freyja ( named after the goddess )

middle. blaire ( named after her maternal great-grandmother )

last. sayid

dob. 19/02/99 ( 22 yo )

pob. bern, switzerland

height. 5′5 1/2

orientation. bisexual & biromantic

ethnicity. half white on her mother’s side and half malaysian on her father’s side.

parents. atalie sayid ( mother, senator for the state of new york ) and amirul sayid ( father, current deputy prime minister of malaysia )

siblings. 2 elder sisters, 2 elder brothers ( 5 in total ) all in politics in some fashion ( eg, the current mayor of a city, chief of staff to a diplomat, working under senior cabinet members, etc ! )

career claim. jennie kim ( minus ALL musical claims )

𑁯໋ 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐉𝐀'𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 ,

youngest daughter born to the sayid family, a powerhouse of politicians. her mother is a current sitting senator for new york and her father is the current deputy prime minister of malaysia. they met years prior, during her mother’s first term meanwhile her father was the former attorney general for malaysia, at a un gala. as much as they both were passionate and concerned about their work, love never had a timing and they were married the following year. all the siblings have relatively normal age gaps ( the most being 4 ) but freyja was a bit of a surprise, and the only sibling in her early twenties. the rest are in their thirties, with her eldest sister nearing forty soon. that, paired with the fact freyja showed zero interest in politics, allowed them to have a rather hollow and strained relationship. she has a somewhat stable and semi-consistent relationship with her older sister, the second youngest, but they don’t meet very often due to work. they often treated her like the ultimate downfall of the sayid family.

growing up, money and the likes clearly weren’t a problem. as a child, she’d tag along often with her mom or dad ( rarely ever both ) and occasionally with a sibling, and hated anything that wasn’t sweet, glittery, or one of a kind. helping with campaigns were boring in freyja’s eyes and she’d often sneak away to go doodle in the bathroom walls or play on her blinged out, pink nintendo ds. needless to say, this was never going to be her jam. her parents role in her life was rather inconsistent, but not on purpose. it was mainly work-related, so she was taken care by a few trusted nannies and butlers. her siblings all moved out by the time freyja was finishing up elementary school, she was used to being alone.

not much else is known of freyja ( everything was p chill ) until she enters high school. she enrolls into a private and elite boarding school in europe and instantly becomes a hybrid ; both the social butterfly and the queen bee. the sudden attention she receives and the feeling of having people under her thumb sets her heart on fire. she adores this, loves it even. she gets what she wants with a bat of her bambi eyes or a little whine, but no one really can say no to her. beauty and power go hand in hand, and freyja sayid masters it by age fifteen. while it was a boarding school, her parents purchased an estate for freyja to stay at instead nearby with her nannies and butlers and security. what that meant to freyja ? throw the sickest summer parties before school started and the best holiday get togethers the first week of winter break ( before she inevitably flies off in a private jet with her friends to a sayid family owned villa near the alps ) and she began drinking / smoking early on. the world was this giant oyster and freyja the pearl. graduated with honors as valedictorian and prom queen, voted ‘ most likely to rule the world ‘ and oh, how she is coming so close.

after graduating, she spent a few years travelling and partying with friends. she spent less and less time with family, only for formal events or re-elections or other boring shit she didn’t give two cents about. most of the time she showed up stoned to pass the time away. most of her antics were able to be paid off by her family to save themselves some embarrassment, but sometimes ( notably about a rumored new beau or leaving the club at ungodly hours ) would slip onto tabloids. and yes, her pr manager is 100% always stressing out over freyja.

her influence over value was noticed by brands by age 19, when something she wore was sold out as soon as the pictures of her in it went viral. by 20, she was soon modelling for major brands and received early invitations to attend fashion week for brands like gucci, saint laurent, and chanel. dubbed ‘ human gucci ‘ and ‘ human chanel ‘ due to her fashion sense. hairpins that she sported one spring went viral and were soon known as ‘ freyja’s hairpins ‘ , a huge tell tale sign of her powerful influence over value and selling power. had modelled for magazines such as vogue ( internationally, too ) / harper’s bazaar / marie claire / elle / high cut / w / cosmopolitan / and billboard. currently, the face of ‘ hera ‘, a south korean luxury brand, the house ambassador for chanel, collabed with samsung to release a limited edition version of a phone with her signature color ; red, known as �� freyja’s red ‘. recently, she has worked as an editor for her latest magazine release ( feb’ 21 for vogue ) and last year, released a collaboration with ‘ gentle monster ‘ , a south korean luxury eyewear brand, and was just named as the face for a popular liquor brand in sweden. she is taking a small break until summer to give her some time to breath with a hectic life before she goes back into working. basically, her face is like everywhere.

a jealous, vindictive sort of bitch. wants what other people has because she wants to see how far the world will bend for her and because she knows she can have it. has cheated with partners before, though it has toned down a bit now. will flirt and mess with someone, not caring if they are in a relationship or talking to someone. often goes viral for ‘ sitting pretty ‘ and really loves being at the dead center of the spotlight. at the same time, the void of being ‘ abandoned ‘ by family makes her extremely loyal to friends ( yes, she picks sides after friendship and romantic breakups ) and her chosen family. will go to the end of the world for them, often spoils them with matching jewelry or shirts to go on cute dates together. bad day ? she’ll get a lift over, make you pack, and head to the sayid family jet to go wherever you want to go. a good ally to have, a terrifying enemy to have.

𑁯໋ 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐉𝐀'𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 ,

something based on ‘ drivers license ‘ lyrically by olivia rodrigo .

something based on ‘ gone ‘ lyrically by roseanne park .

something based on ‘ love somebody ‘ lyrically by lauv .

something based on this gifset . ( 🎐 ) [ other : i just . . love this and want it . HDHDH the bond can be figured out beforehand ! ]

something based on this post . ( 🍶 ) [ other : most likely something toxic or angsty ! ]

something based on this post . ( 🍈 ) [ other : childhood or friends attempting to test the waters with something new ?? PHEW ! ]

down for anything not on here ! let me know if freyja fits anything of yours, a brand new idea that could just work, and any of the more ‘ basic ‘ plots !

#، 𓂅 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒚𝒋𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒅 ⟆ 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨 . ɞ #wealthyhq:intro

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mammonslefttoe · 5 years ago

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One Brain Cell Theories: Chapter 17 & 18

There are a few things that may confirm my suspicions and the new chapters have reinforced it.

SPOILERS AHEAD, please click at your own risk and any input/more theories are welcome! I’m going to try and make this a series.

This is also a relatively long read so grab some snacks! We diving in boys!!

(This is one of my many theories. One day, I’ll be able to write down what’s happening in my head.)

TLDR; HUNNY we have to talk about the other human

A few things to remember before I dive in:

Solomon has a pact with Barbatos. Solomon has a ring of wisdom and is known to make a pact with larger and more powerful demons. We all know he lowkey wants a pact with Lucifer.

Lucifer told us not to trust Solomon in Chapter 2

There’s a possibility Barbatos has tried to poison us with tea, a Mandragora blend. Mandragora has the potential to be fatal, one of the most notable symptoms are hyperactivity and hallucinations.

When Barbatos sent us back in time, we found out he is extremely OP. He even has the power to look into the past and future.

Okay now onwards to the only viable explanation I can think of: Barbatos and Solomon are scheming a takeover. (or this really is a messed up “prove yourself” challenge from Diavolo)

Let’s begin to when shit started to get real.

A sorta shortened (?) recap of everything that has happened thus far, please feel free to skip if you don’t need it:

After almost confessing your love to Lucifer and dying in the process Belphie comes down the stairs and its the big reveal, everyone essentially gasps in shock. Beel, Belph, and MC run away to Luke’s joint only to get busted by Dia & Barbatos and they drag away Belphie to throw him in jail for treason (and its implied he gon’ die). Lost and afraid, Beel and MC run back to the House of Lamentation. There we have a really heartfelt scene with all the demon boys and we are determined to storm into Dia’s castle and solve the situation.

Arriving at Dia’s castle, the pair say they were expecting us. Lucifer stood up to Diavolo & he says please, LOUD AUDIENCE GASP. No matter how much we try to reason, the only way Belphie will be released is if MC goes back into the past alone and figure out who actually opening Belphie’s door. No reason is truly given to this. Diavolo explains that Barbatos has multiple abilities, some of this includes viewing the past & future and, most importantly, time travel.

As we continue to Barbatos’ room, he is super happy (and creepy) but gives us a very dire warning - do not interact with the past in any way or it will alternate the current timeline. This includes speaking to anyone or being involved in any type of action. If we want to come back to the present, we have to go through the same door that we end up entering through. Then off we go and we land in the middle of Mammon’s room with ALL OF THE BROTHERS sans Lucifer and Belphie. And things go haywire.

As we are running to go up to the attic, we are forced to hide in Lilith’s room, where we have a flashback (or hallucination) of playing hide and seek. Flashback Levi reminds us to go find Belphie. During this time, it is revealed that MC may have been the one to open Belphie’s door and tldr; Belphie kills MC.

As we lay dying, we are somehow saved by Lilith (our long lost aunt twice removed apparently) and we are outside of our own body...in another one. Dia and Barbatos stroll in saying they knew this would happen & Barbatos did us a favor and revived us using an alternate timeline MC (what). Everyone is pumped we have like 1/10,000,000 genes related to human Lillith and this is their closure.

Everything seems to be looking up and MC patches things up between Belphie and the other brothers. They throw her a joint party with Diavolo’s birthday party & give her the sweetest gifts. At the end of Chapter 18, Belphie creates a pact with MC.

This is all fine and dandy but...is it really?

A few things really popped out during these two recent chapters:

Belphie is by our side the entire two chapters. Whether this is supposed to signify a new start or something else, it isn’t entirely clear.

Beel and Belph are the only ones that text us during this time. Belphie texts us after every chapter moment.

Solomon runs into Belph and MC while shopping, randomly asking Belph if he plans on making a pact with MC. Then brazenly offers to make a pact with him instead. Belph refuses vehemently but looks at MC for a reaction. Solomon notices this.

As Belph gives us a gift of himself (lol same), he mentions how he’s doing this for us and not because of Lilith.

In the game itself, there’s a completely different game style. MC has more options to speak and the dialogue options have become more brazen. Almost as if...this is a different personality (or could signify MC is more comfortable with them in general). It felt off playing the last two chapters though, for me at least.

Now onwards to the theory: Solomon is our main antagonist.

In Chapter 2, we are formally introduced to Solomon, the other exchange student. Although the interaction is rushed, we can sense out two things: he’s insanely smart and he’s already comfortable around demons. As he runs off to class, MC runs into Lucifer and we learn a bit more about this mystery boy.

Apparently, Solomon is a wizard and has a ring of wisdom, which makes him incredibly dangerous. He has pacts with more than 70 demons (I think the exact number was 78 but I might be wrong). Among these demons are Asmodeus and Barbatos. At the end of Lucifer’s explanation, he adds that MC shouldn’t trust Solomon.

Historically and culturally, Solomon is most known as the “Wise King.” He is also regarded as a fantastical figure, someone who is known to have powers over both angels and demons.

“According to the Rabbinical literature, on account of his modest request for wisdom only, Solomon was rewarded with riches and an unprecedented glorious realm, which extended over the upper world inhabited by the angels and over the whole of the terrestrial globe with all its inhabitants, including all the beasts, fowl, and reptiles, as well as the demons and spirits. His control over the demons, spirits, and animals augmented his splendor, the demons bringing him precious stones, besides water from distant countries to irrigate his exotic plants. The beasts and fowl of their own accord entered the kitchen of Solomon's palace, so that they might be used as food for him, and extravagant meals for him were prepared daily by each of his 700 wives and 300 concubines, with the thought that perhaps the king would feast that day in her house.”

Additionally, he was given a ring, known as the “Seal of Solomon,” which gave him the ability to trap demons under his control.

A magic ring called the "Seal of Solomon" was supposedly given to Solomon and gave him power over demons or Jinn. The magical symbol said to have been on the Seal of Solomon which made it efficacious is often considered to be the Star of David. Asmodeus, king of demons, was one day, according to the classical Rabbis, captured by Benaiah (my note: Benaiah is a human, he was a soldier that helped Solomon rise to power) using the ring, and was forced to remain in Solomon's service. The Seal of Solomon, in some legends known as the Ring of Aandaleeb, was a highly sought after symbol of power. In several legends, different groups or individuals attempted to steal it or attain it in some manner.

And this is a potential plot in our story.

MC is, of course, the main protagonist of the story. We typically are. But there was never a clear antagonist. Or maybe he was playing along with our situation, a wolf in sheep's clothing?

We all know Levi’s strangely long anime names are a strange foreshadowing of the future. We have:

Though all titles seem to have a connection with our current plot, I’m going to focus on the first one, which seems to have the most implications regarding our current situation. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the second image with the two titles might be a backstory for Barbatos but that’s another story that I cannot fully prove yet. The third title also refers to a legend regarding Asmo and Solomon.

The first title seems...has quite obvious implications when recounting the events of chapters 15 - 18. Halfway through our journey, here we are, thrust into an alternate timeline, alone and scared but we end up making a pact with...our sixth demon? And this isn’t just a regular demon, this is one of the deadly sins. So now we have 6/7 demon brothers under our power, some of the most powerful demons in Devildom. It’s alarming how quickly MC is able to gain the trust of these demons, effectively creating pacts in the course of...maybe a few months?

What alarms me the most is how fast Belphie turned from, quite literally, killing us to making a pact with us in a course of 3 chapters. This brings me to my first suspicion in SoloBarb’s plot: This timeline is the only timeline where MC is able to make a pact with Belphie. All other timelines do not reflect this. This placement was 100% intentional from the start.

It is a known fact that Barbatos is able to view time and its events. It’s revealed this extends to alternate timelines when saving MC. If he is this powerful, wouldn’t he be able to simply look back in the past and find out who opened Belph’s door without the need for MC? This would be the easiest and most direct solution.

SIDENOTE: Keep in mind, part of the reason Barbatos could not stop the Belphie situation from happening is due to Diavolo’s restriction. Barbatos states that “Diavolo has forbidden him from using his powers freely.” HOWEVER, it then leads to the question: who really has the most control over Barbatos, Diavolo or Solomon? Traditionally, when pacts are made, it means that the demon is completely under the control of the individual but does it outweigh an authority figure? In my opinion, Solomon technically has the most power fo Barbatos. Solomon’s pact with Barbatos = a magically restrictive bond while Diavolo’s rule over Barbatos = a matter of respect of authority. There is no physically restrictive bond Diavolo has on Barbatos.

Also considering how cunning Solomon is, he could have easily manipulated Diavolo into this entire plan as well.

In addition, Solomon’s strangely direct question, asking Belphie if he was going to make a pact with MC, was alarming. It was as if he was proving his own theory: the demon brothers will make a pact with MC and never him. He seemed almost satisfied with this answer and didn’t seem to protest against it too much. Couple this with Solomon’s constant approval when MC makes pacts with the demon brothers during her stay, its...disconcerting.

Omg he even says “If you change your mind” what kind of creepy

If we consider all of this, it truly does seem as if Solomon is our potential antagonist. It seems to me that everything is pointing at him. He’s quiet enough for us to overlook and disregard as a side character, though he seems to have a certain unnerving edge to him. My god, the demons are even wary of him. If that wasn’t the biggest tip-off, idk what is.

Also physically, we have yet to hear his entire backstory in the game or have a chapter dedicated to him. So far, in terms of side characters, we have ample interaction with Diavolo and Luke (still waiting on Simeon) but no deep dives into Solomon and Barbatos. (Which means >.> we’ll get them in later chapters)

This brings me to the next question: so how is MC a chess piece in his plot?

Hey, remember that RANDOM moment Solomon lent out his power during Diavolo’s house party. AND NO ONE QUESTIONED IT. Honestly, what the hell was that all about?

In regards to this, why did he do this? Some answers include: he did it for shits and giggles, he wanted to test out the theory of us having powerful magic in our bloodline, or he wanted a test run. Yeah. You heard me. A test run.

Prior to this, MC was unable to truly summon a demon on their own. The most she could do was give out a pretty strong verbal command and the demon (Mammon lol) must carry it out. However, MC cannot fully utilize the pact’s potential due to her lack of innate magic ability.

This is both an affirmation and leverage for Solomon’s situation. On one end, it’s confirmed that MC has huge magic potential and can properly use it when needed. On the other end, this can be a bargaining tool for the future...

Which could lead to a large plot development: Once MC gains all seven pacts (c’mon, it is going to be impossible to not make a pact with Lucifer), what will they use it for?

MY PREDICTION: Solomon will attempt to manipulate MC into his control. Magic is powerful in this game but so are humans. A human was the reason Lilith was going to be punished by God. Solomon, a human, has power and control over 70+ demons. Belphegor was set on destroying only the human world. MC has pacts with the, arguably, the strongest demons in Devildom who are also formerly fallen angels.

From what I’ve seen so far, nothing is more powerful than a pact. And nothing is more powerful than human manipulation.

What will he use MC’s powers for? ...I have a sneaking feeling it might be to overthrow Diavolo based on Solomon’s cultural legend. Solomon famously has power over Asmo, the king of demons. Of course, we know the Asmo in our game is not the king but Diavolo is. Obey me! has a funny way of interpreting these legends in a unique way. Who knows if they split up Asmo into two different entities.

but who tf really knows what’s going on

BUT

I guess we’ll have to see what happens in later chapters. Of course, this is all really a far fetch theory but there seem to be so many underlying connections to Solomon in the game. I mean ffs, he’s the only other human here and he’s SOLOMON. The very character itself is so suspicious.

THIS ENTIRE THING COULD ALSO BE A MESSED UP CHALLENGE FROM DIAVOLO

OR SOME CRAZY HALLUCINATION CAUSED BY BARBATOS GIVING US THAT SUS TEA BLEND

But tbh who really knows what’s happening. The only confirmed thing is that we’re still on this alternate timeline (that MC totally messed up) and we haven’t returned to our OG timeline. lucifer please pick me up I’m scared

If you made it this far, you are SUCH A TROOP. I hope this actually has a consistent flow and it makes sense. If you have any questions or observations I didn’t include please feel free to message me! I’m open to discussion!

A big s/o to wikipedia for the quick info on Solomon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon#Seal_of_Solomon) and a thank you to @the-orizon for the screenshots & amazing info! Love you!

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britishassistant · 4 years ago

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But I Like One Piece (20)

They all turn to stare at him.

“Dear? How do you know that?” Okaa-san says.

Otou-san shakes his head and sits down heavily on the stairs. “The manufacturer for those weapons is in Yukigakure. Just like the incriminating ryo left at the scene of that theft.”

Oh.

Oh sweet Merry.

She mutters, “Shika said—when we were talking about the theft, he said it had to be an inside job, because an outsider couldn’t know anything. But if they were like me—if they’d read the comic based on Konoha in their past life, they would know. They’d know almost everything even if they never set foot here.”

She swallows, throat suddenly dry. “If it was plot-relevant, then they’d know more about what was valuable and how it was defended than people who’d lived here their whole lives. They’d even know the weaknesses of the ninja sent after them, if those ninja were major characters.”

Otou-san nods. “And if he or she needed to finance the manufacture of those weapons, what could be easier than to steal something from here and sell it to another hidden village?”

She sits down heavily on the stairs.

Her heart’s pounding too fast. The side of her head is throbbing in time with the beat.

“Well.” Okaa-san coughs. “That’s mildly terrifying.”

She lets out a humorless chuckle at the understatement.

Horror wars with elation in her brain. Elation at the knowledge that she isn’t alone here.

Horror at the idea of someone knowing everything about this place and deciding to use that knowledge for their own gain. If robbing Konoha wasn’t low for them, would they stoop to manipulating Naruto, Sakura, Uchiha? To hurting them to get their way, change a narrative they don’t like?

“But Iruka-sensei said Yukigakure gave us those guns for less money than they gave them to other villages.” Naruto says suddenly. “Maybe that’s the not-Mayu’s way of making it up to us?”

“You think villains who would commit such an unyouthful action would be capable of feeling guilt?” Lee says doubtfully. “Shouldn’t we tell Gai-sensei about this?”

“We can.” Otou-san sighs. “But I’m not sure how helpful it would be. Nara-san said Yamanaka-san knew about the Yuki connection between both the theft and these “guns”. For all we know, the price reduction could be a concession negotiated between the Hokage and the thief, and we just have a morsel of knowledge about that deal which would endanger Mayu more than it would help the village.”

She fidgets, tracing the scar on her lower lip.

Lee’s brows are furrowed, his mouth pulled down in a frown.

Okaa-san reaches out and smooths a hand over his hair. “Why don’t we get Ichiraku’s and sleep on it? I think Sanji would agree we’ll all make better decisions with some ramen in our bellies.”

Naruto springs to his feet. “Yeah! Ramen’ll fix everything, believe it! C’mon, I’m hungry, let’s go, let’s go!”

It doesn’t quite fix everything, she reflects later as she descales and fillets the pike for the offerings tomorrow. There’s still another reincarnated person who robbed the village, had her father take the fall for their crime, and is now mass-producing the very weapon that killed her past self, which they can do next to nothing about.

But ramen smoothed out the crease in Lee’s brow when they all agreed it was better to tell Gai-sensei than not. It lightened the mood and made everything this day had thrown at them seem a little less important in light of the celebrations planned for tomorrow.

Their small garden is now even smaller thanks to the a large wooden structure that sits next to the back fence.

It’s a bit like a cross between a shed and a greenhouse, if it only had three walls and no doors or windows. The roof is curved and the walls are sturdy, to protect the shrines inside from the elements.

There’s a length of thick white rope fastened with red twine inside the front gable, which is meant to ensure that the shrines are protected from malicious spirits.

Each one of the shrines has a small building that is sealed automatically once the shrine has been assembled, keeping a small object for the deity to inhabit safely locked away from prying eyes. There’s a small recess before this structure, for offerings to be placed, and a little column that puts them above the eye level of a kneeling person.

They’d debated setting aside a space for the shrines in the living room inside the house, to ensure they could be protected and cared for. But she kept getting impulses of outside, of wind and rain, freedom, that eventually they decided it was better than keeping them cooped up inside.

Plus this way, Luffy can’t raid the fridge as easily.

She’s already found certain small cuts of cooked meat have gone missing. If he’s anything like the manga, then she’s not giving him the chance to clean out the entire fridge.

They’ve been working on constructing it and the shrines on weekends and in the mornings during training. According to Gai-sensei, it’s excellent practice for C-rank missions.

Now all that’s left is to paint the structure and the ten shrines housed within.

Working out what to set out as offerings for tomorrow had been a challenge and a half.

For the most part, the Strawhats can be grouped into small sections of what they will and won’t eat.

Nami and Chopper are fruit lovers. Sanji, Zoro, Brook and Usopp are partial to seafood. Luffy, Franky, and Robin are happy with beef and other land-based meats.

However, Zoro, Sanji and Brook like varieties of seafood that are difficult to get in Konoha— octopus, lobster and prawns are expensive and hard to find, while sea king meat just doesn’t exist here. At least Zoro is happy enough with a traditional plate-2-bowls meal with rice.

Robin prefers sandwiches, and she’s not quite sure if the burgers Franky loves fit into that criteria. Chopper can’t stand spicy or bitter foods, but Zoro and Robin dislike sweets.

She’s just thankful that Luffy, Nami Usopp, and Merry are so easy to feed. Pike’s one of the few fish that Konoha doesn’t need to import, so it and tangerines relatively inexpensive.

There’s no chance of combining all their preferences into one dish. Her head hurts just imagining the clash of flavors.

So she had to somehow come up with a way of creating a meal that would (hopefully) make each of the pirates she idolizes happy.

No pressure.

Chouji ended up being her savior in this respect.

And maybe Uchiha did as well, but only a teeny tiny bit.

She’d been brainstorming different versions of meals she could try making that would satisfy everyone, but kept coming up short.

The added tension from Sakura’s friendly-again-but-still-not-quite-sitting-back-at-their-table thing at this time wasn’t exactly helping her think either.

“I’ve got cola, coffee, tea, heck even sake, but still no idea on what to pair any of them with.” She complained, tapping her pencil against the list in front of her.

Chouji had leaned over, a thoughtful look on his face. “Why not make them lunchboxes? That way you can make lots of things in smaller amounts and personalize each lunchbox for each of them.”

“Hm. That is a good idea.” She gnawed on her lower lip. “Only downside is working out when I can cook what and how much time the preparation of each portion is going so everything in the bentos is relatively fresh for when it’s offered... how much d’you think eleven more lunchboxes would cost?”

She’d just begun sketching out lines for a tentative timetable when Uchiha complained, “Why do you think you’ve gotta do everything on your own?”

She looked up, a little offended. “I’m not praying for help with this, are you mad? That’d be like asking someone to bake their own birthday cake.”

“What Sasuke means,” Chouji intervened. “Is that we could always split the work three-ways between us, and bring it to your house on the day?”

She blinked. “You...you guys would help me like that?”

Chouji smiled, then made a squeak of surprise when she lunged over the table to hug him tightly. “Thank you.”

“I have lunchboxes to spare.” Uchiha drawled. “Plus someone’s got to make sure you don’t mess up.”

She had then let Chouji go so she could boot Uchiha in the shin.

As a result of this arrangement, when she wakes up on The Day, all she has to worry about is preparing the pasta for Sanji, Nami and Usopp’s lunchboxes after training with Gai-sensei.

She’s almost worried that her timining be a little delayed because Gai-sensei grabs her in a bone-creaking hug when she arrives at training and spends about three minutes weeping over how youthful she is.

He then makes them run fifty times around the village balancing the paint pots they’ll be using later to ensure that the paint is agitated enough “so its most YOUTHFUL colors will shine through!!”

They nearly lose the purple when Naruto fumbles slightly over a root.

She bolts down her food at breakfast.

She puts on more rice again in preparation for the sesame onigiri, and pulls out a pot to fill with water that’s set to boil and a pan to gently heat some oil on the stove.

She smashes a clove of garlic and drops it in when the oil has begun to smoke gently, deseeding and dicing up some chilis and tossing them in as well for flavor.

She can’t help her grin when the heady spicy-savory scent fills the air, finely chopping capers and anchovies to toss in once she’s fished out the smashed garlic.

The scent mellows somewhat when the diced pike hits the pan as well, and she pushes it around until the fish is almost-but-not-quite cooked through.

Then in with a generous glug of wine and the heat is turned down to a gentle simmer to let the alcohol cook off.

Just in time for the rice to have cooked and cooled enough to begin mixing with yellow and black sesame seeds and begin forming into ten onigiri.

They don’t have any fillings other than the sesame, because they’re designed to take the edge off the stronger flavors of the pasta (her) and the takoyaki (Chouji), as well as serve as a substitute for a sesame topped bun accompanying the hamburger steaks (Uchiha).

The others begin to arrive at around ten.

Sakura and the Harunos arrive first alongside Ino and her dad.

She shouts a hello as Naruto and Lee lead Ino and Sakura through the kitchen to the back garden, nails orange with peeled tangerine.

Ino darts forward and steals two slices, chortling in response to her indignant “Oi!” and passing one to Sakura, who grins as she nibbles on their way out.

Yamanaka-san is totally at home chatting with Gai-sensei and Otou-san, but he snickers when Nara-san immediately gravitates towards him when he arrives. Shikamaru gives her a nod as he follows the adults outside and she puts the pasta on to boil.

She’s set aside two extra tangerines for when Shino and his father arrive. After all, she, Chouji and Uchiha are making enough to feed eleven deities and many many people, so shouldn’t their insects also be able to eat as well?

Shino’s dad stares at her inscrutably when she explains her reasoning, before accepting the fruit with a nod and a “thank you” barely audible over a loud buzzing.

Shino shifts from one foot to the other during this exchange before gently tugging his father’s sleeve. It occurs to her as she drains the pot-full pasta and adds the sauce alongside a cup of boiling water to emulsify everything that this might be the closest she’s ever seen him to being embarrassed.

Chouji and his dad arrive as she’s sprinkling in some parsley as a finishing touch.

They’re both carrying huge containers full of takoyaki and cooked spring greens, and she spares a small moment to be envious of all the amazing things Chouji’s family can afford to do.

Then she launches Chouji another hug to thank him for all his help once he’s set his cargo down.

He squeaks like he did last time and Akimichi-san laughs loudly, for some reason.

Iruka-sensei and Uchiha arrive with eleven lunchboxes, two dogs, Kiba and his mum, and Hinata in tow.

Uchiha keeps sneaking what appear to be morsels of meat to Akamaru and Kuromaru.

There’s also a pale-eyed frowning boy who Iruka-sensei introduces as Hyuuga Neji, Hinata’s cousin who’d been sent along to act as her chaperone.

The boy sniffs disdainfully when they greet him and goes to stand in a corner of the garden near Mebuki, completely ignoring Lee when he waves to him.

She doesn’t think she likes Hinata’s cousin very much.

The lunchboxes Uchiha brought are black lacquer decorated with gold and red tomoe, much fancier than anything she’d been expecting.

When questioned, he just shrugs and says, “It’s just old stuff from New Year’s. It’s just taking up space at home, so it’s better off here.”

She knows better than to say anything like “sorry”, so she just pats his shoulder and says “No, that compartment’s too small for the onigiri, put it in this one.”

“That’s way too big, it looks tiny in that one.” Uchiha snaps, but with a bit less bite than usual.

Iruka-sensei looks mildly overwhelmed by all the people in the back garden. Okaa-san comes along, hands him a drink, pats his shoulder and says “They’re in my house,” in a sympathetic tone.

Iruka-sensei gives her a pitying look and knocks the sake back in one go.

Adults here can be weird.

Finally they’ve finished serving and she calls out “Food’s up!”

The adults come in to help take the larger platters of food outside, a huge plate of pasta, several smaller hamburger steaks in the style of what they’d call “sliders” in her world, and mound upon mound of takoyaki and spring greens and tangerines.

There’s a clamor outside as people begin getting their portions.

She, Chouji and Uchiha are each balancing either three or four lunchboxes per person as they take them outside.

Sakura is helping Kiba paint a pattern of cherry blossoms across Chopper’s already vibrantly pink shrine. Evidence of her handiwork on Robin’s shrine is clear is the decoration of swirling petals and the streaks of matching purple paint all over her forehead.

Ino and Naruto obviously have had a battle over the orange judging by the splashes on their hands and clothing. On the plus side Nami and Luffy’s shrines are looking particularly colorful.

Shikamaru and Hinata are splotched with green, light blue and black-and-white. Lee is smudged with brown, cyan and white paint and beaming proudly.

Shino has yellow paint on the end of his nose and is looking at the detailed illustrations of insects on the sides with pride.

The only shrines that aren’t quite done are Sanji’s, which has a blue overcoat but no decoration, and Zoro’s which doesn’t have half its roof painted yet.

“We were waiting,” Naruto says, holding out two buckets of green paint and blue respectively, “For you guys to add your bits.”

She beams at him.

Of course, Uchiha has to ruin it by immediately grabbing the green.

“What?” He says, offloading his three lunchboxes onto Kiba. “I’ll give it back once I’m finished with it.”

Ino rolls her eyes and shoulders her paintbrush, adding another orange splotch to her outfit. “Ugh. I’ll help Mayu-chan, it’s better to get it done quickly. Let’s go before the food gets cold.”

Orange, red, and yellow fish on the blue background are much more vibrant and eye-catching than green, though Uchiha does “help” by flicking the paintbrush at her while she’s distracted.

In thanks, she smears yellow on the back of his neck.

After the extra decorations are finished, Lee, Sakura and Kiba redistribute the lunchboxes to make their offerings.

The only problem is there’s eleven of them and ten lunchboxes.

“You all go ahead.” She steps back. “I’ll do the next bit.”

Each one of them place the pirate lunchboxes down in front of the shrines and step back.

For some reason, she feels like traditional prayers and chants appropriated from the sage guy won’t really be all that welcoming to them.

But then, what? What could help them feel at home at these shrines, so far from the sea?

Her gaze falls on Brook’s shrine.

Oh.

Oh, well it’s obvious when it’s put like that, isn’t it?

She just hopes she remembers the words correctly. She doesn’t want to butcher them on accident.

“Yohohoho, yohohoho~ Yohohoho, yohohoho~”

Her voice sounds frail and quiet, and she can feel everyone’s eyes on her. Still, she stumbles through the last two refrains of yohohoho’s to the first verse.

“Binksu no sake wo, todokei ni yuku yo, umikaze, kimakase, namimakase~ Shio no mukou de, yuhi wo sawagu, sora nya, wao kaku tori no uta~”

Naruto joins in on the next verse, singing along slightly out of tune and mixing up some of the words.

His cheeks look as flushed as hers feel, and it’s hard not to giggle when they catch each other’s eyes. Somehow they both manage to keep singing.

Gai-sensei and Lee boisterously shout DON alongside them as they join as well, Gai-sensei’s voice strong and sure, while Lee’s volume makes up for any deficiencies in wording. She almost can’t hear Okaa-san’s melodious voice and Otou-san’s decidedly tone-deaf one join in on the second set of Yohohoho’s over their noise.

Sakura and Ino’s voices are both high-pitched, but they carry the tune well enough. So does Kiba, though he’s pitching up to a falsetto for some reason. Hinata’s voice is soft, but she’s genuinely singing, unlike Shikamaru and Sasuke who’re mumbling through all the bits apart from the yohohoho’s. Shino is monotone if precise and enthusiastic, while Chouji has a surprising set of pipes on him.

Akamaru is just howling to the beat. And with that accompaniment, how could anyone stop themselves from singing along?

It feels like more people than could possibly fit into their house and garden are bellowing Bink’s Sake together by the time they’ve reached the third set of Yohohoho’s.

It can’t exactly be called “harmonious”. Everyone’s a little out of tune, a little off beat.

But the mixing of all the voices of her family and friends feels so right, it makes her voice stronger, lets her sing louder.

She opens her eyes and nearly chokes on the next note.

Hovering in front of the brightly painted shrines, slightly faded but gaining color and substance with every passing moment, They stand.

Merry appears in all her glory, as if in mid- sail. Brook is playing his violin, a foot tapping to the beat. Franky is winding up for his SUPA pose, grinning broadly. Robin is resting a hand on Chopper’s hat. Chopper himself is peeking at them the wrong way round from Robin’s leg.

Sanji’s tapping out his cigarette with a grin and giving a small salute. Usopp is waving to them, like a captain would to his 8,000 followers. Nami’s blowing a kiss as if to adoring fans.

Zoro...is climbing over the garden fence and jogging to take his place in front his shrine next to the others. Nami shoots him a Look while Luffy laughs at him, sitting in mid air and clapping his feet together.

The Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates then turns to her and gives her a wide grin.

She blinks away tears as he and his crew fade away with the last notes of the song.

The food in the lunchboxes is gone.

The food on Naruto’s plate is also gone.

In fact, all the food in the immediate vicinity appears to be gone.

It’s just that Naruto looks down at his plate and yells in indignation first.

She lets out a wet laugh. “Darn it Luffy.”

18 notes · View notes

pof203 · 4 years ago

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Tiger & Bunny Fanfiction: The ghosts of the past haunt best

This is a fan plot for Tiger & Bunny's 10th Anniversary. It was inspired by Chapter 20 of the Comic, All lay loads on a willing horse.

NOTE: Some elements of Ghost Hunters, The Conjuring Universe and other horror movies and scary stories involved.

Meet the Original Characters

Karl Storm Feather

Voiced by Robbie Daymond.

Bio

Karl is a 16-year-old Psychic-Type NEXT with the ability to sense and see aura, reveal aura, and even manipulate aura. He is a student at the Hero Academy. (This story takes place during summer break.) His parents own a grocery store which he helps out at and he loves ghost stories and scary movies. Even though he's being trained to become a hero, Karl's real passion is paranormal investigating. He is the leader of the paranormal research and investigating team, The Groovy Ghosties.

History

Karl's NEXT powers first awaken when he was 8 years old. He and his soon-to-be girlfriend, Beatrice "Bea" Kelleman, were at her apartment watching a scary movie. Then, Bea's older brother, Sidney "Sid", snuck into the dark living room dressed like a bloody ghost with a hideous monster mask and scared the two little kids as a prank. Bea was crying and Karl was mad. So mad that his powers activated for the first time and tried to choke Sid with his own aura. Fortunately, Bea managed to stop him and Sid was spared. Sometime later, Karl started attending the Hero Academy. However, he, with an interest in the supernatural and the occult, really wanted to become a paranormal investigator, following the work of renown demonologists, Ed and Lorraine Warren. (I apologize to the relatives of the Warrens for using them in this story. They'll only appear in it as pictures.) So, he started the paranormal team, The Groovy Ghosties. This team consists of himself as the lead investigator, his girlfriend Bea, her older brother Sid, Sid's best friend Steven Burrow, Bob Lyman the neighbor kid from across the street, his friend from school Darla Torrington, fellow Academy student and Bea's best friend Marcia Fey, and Marcia's girlfriend Sarah Sands. This usually leads to him and Marcia being ridiculed and made fun of by the other Academy students who think that they should focus more on becoming heroes instead looking for ghosts. But they are not giving up. The truth is out there and the Groovy Ghosties will find it!

Appearance

Karl is a 16-year-old Native American teenager with tan skin, black hair, and grey eyes. He wears the Hero Academy's sweatsuit with a Native American necklace. Bea and some of the other Academy students often describe him as a "rather handsome animal". Karl says, "I look more like my dad when I he was young."

Personality

Karl is kind and caring young man who believes in the good in others. However, he is prone to losing his temper when pushed enough.

Trivia

Karl is slightly based off of Jesse Cosay from Infinity Train and Charlies Little Bull from The Casagrandes. Both of them were voiced by Robbie Daymond.

Even though many would say that he would be a fan of Sky High because they both have goofy attitudes, Karl is actually one of the extremely rare fans of Rock Bison. Partly because Karl believes in the underdog (or in this case, the undercow) and partly because Bison's sponsor, Kronos Foods, is one of his parents' grocery store's major suppliers.

Karl is allergic to nuts. Because of this, his parents only sell them in the store when he is away at school, but put them in the back when he's helping them.

If he were to end up on Hero TV, Karl would try to convince Apollon Media to have segments in between episodes where he and his friends would investigate supernatural phenomenon.

Beatrice "Bea" Kelleman

Voiced by Cristina Valenzuela.

Bio

Beatrice, often known by others as Bea, is Karl Storm Feather's girlfriend and a member of the Groovy Ghosties where she is in charge of the team's gear. She is also Sid's younger sister.

History

Bea lived in one of the apartments above The Storm Feathers' Grocery Store with her parents and her older brother, Sid. Like Karl, she also has a love for the paranormal. She was also there when Karl's NEXT abilities first awoke and nearly shocked her brother to death. Fortunately, she managed to calm him down and saved Sid. Sometime after Karl started attending the Hero Academy, he introduced Bea to Marcia Fey and they became best friends. They later formed the Groovy Ghosties. Her job on the team is to create and inspect their ghost hunting equipment.

Appearance

Bea is a 16-year-old teenager with black hair which she dyed blonde blonde, though some it is still black, and brown eyes. She also has a charm bracelet she got as a birthday present from Karl, Marcia, and Sarah.

Personality

Bea is a nice person. She is very optimistic and is willing to do what she can to help her friends. She can also be very driven, but devoted.

Trivia

On Hero TV, her favorite hero is Barnaby. Though, she likes Dragon Kid, too.

Bea's parents are plastic surgeons (mostly nose jobs).

If she were not a paranormal investigator, Bea would either make movies or become a dermatologist.

Bea is actually how Karl became interested in becoming a paranormal investigator. She gave him one of the Warrens' books.

Sidney "Sid" Kellemen

Voiced by Grant George.

Bio

Sidney, often known as Sid, is Bea's older brother. He is a member of the Groovy Ghosties as the skeptic of the group. He mainly joined them to keep an eye on his little sister.

History

Sid has always thought that his sister and her boyfriend's interested in the paranormal is just silly as he doesn't believe in that sort of stuff. So as a prank, he dressed up as a bloody ghost with a monster mask, snuck into the dark living room while Bea and Karl were watching a scary movie, and scared them good. As a result, Bea was crying and Karl lost his temper which lead to him activating his NEXT powers for the first time and nearly killed Sid by choking him with his own aura. Fortunately, Bea managed to calm him down and Sid was spared. Since then, he came to distrust Karl. Sometime later, Karl started the Groovy Ghosties. Bea joined and so did Sid. He did not want to, but his parents said he had to to watch over Bea. Sid is the skeptic of the group. His job is to try and find a more logical explanation for every supernatural case the group investigates. He and his best friend, Steven Burrow, are in a band, The Blue Rose Experience, together who do parodies of Blue Rose's songs.

Appearance

Sid is an 18-year-old man with black hair with a bang that covers one of his dark brown eyes. He has a fine build, but not very strong. He often dresses in a grey short-sleeved shirt and black pants.

Personality

Sid is a self-proclaimed realist. He believes that everything that everything has a scientific and logical explanation. He appears to be a bit apathetic, but he truly cares about his family and little sister. Though he won't admit it, he is also very close to his friend, Steven.

Trivia

Sid is slightly based off of Shinjiro Aragaki from Persona 3. They also share the same voice actor.

Many would imply that Sid and Steven's relationship is romantic. However, they are probably just real good friends as both are fans of Blue Rose. But this remains to be seen.

Sid's skepticism comes from simply being scared of the unknown. Though, he doesn't want to admit it.

In the band that he and Steven are part of, Sid plays the bass.

Steven Burrow

Voiced by Bumper Robinson.

Bio

Steven is Sid Kelleman's best friend and fellow member of the Groovy Ghosties. He is the public relations, responsible for finding cases, and providing spiritual and religious insight for the group. He and Sid are also members of the band, The Blue Rose Experience.

History

Steven and Sid have known each other since the 6th Grade. When they got into high school, they both joined The Blue Rose Experience, a band who are fans of Blue Rose and do parodies of her songs. They later joined Karl and Bea's paranormal research and investigation team, The Groovy Ghosties. At first, Steven's highly religious parents objected to their son joining a group they deem "doing the Devil's work". However, Steven assured them that he will be very safe and they will be very safe, so they let him join. Sid's job on the team is PR, finding cases for the group to solve, and provide them with spiritual and religious insight.

Appearance

Steven is an 18-year-old African American young man with black hair and black eyes. He has a tattoo of the Holy Mother on his back.

Personality

Steven has a positive attitude and isn't afraid to say what needs to be said. Like his family, he is very religious, but isn't afraid to try new things.

Trivia

Many would imply that Steven and Sid's relationship is romantic. However, they are probably just real good friends as both are fans of Blue Rose. But this remains to be seen.

Steven is also a fan of Barnaby. Whenever he's not with the band or the Ghosties, Steven is doing volunteer work at the same orphanage that Barnaby visits.

Steven is actually the grand nephew of the CEO of Titan Industry.

Bob Lyman

Voiced by Bryce Papenbrook.

Bio

Bob is a 13-year-old member of the Groovy Ghosties as the cameraman. He was actually the Groovy Ghosties' first client.

History

Bob was the Ghosties' first client. Less than a month after they began, Bob had what he described as a paranormal experience. One night while he was in bed, he woke up, but couldn't move or speak. Then, he saw a shadowy figure come out of his closet and stare at him for about a minute before leaving the room. After they left, Bob finally got free of his trance and went out the room after the figure, but they were nowhere to be found. The next morning, Bob and his parents found their living room, which was nice and tidy the previous night, a total mess, but none of them heard anything. Bob went to Karl, Bea, Sid, and Steven about this. Karl reveals that Bob's trance was sleep paralysis which is sometimes caused by ghosts, which was probably the shadowy figure. Sid, however, simply says that Bob just has a nightmare and nothing else. But Bob asks how that could explain the living room being a mess when no one heard anything. It was time for the team to investigate. They set up cameras and things and waited that night. Then, odd things began to happen. First, they could hear footsteps going around. Sid said it was probably somebody upstairs or next door. Bob said the upstairs apartment is vacant their neighbors on both sides are either on a date or on vacation. Then, the temperature of the room started to drop. Sid said that because it is winter, of course the temperature would be cold. However, it was actually in mid March so winter would be near over and the weather getting warmer. They could hear voices saying something like, "There are two." Then, Karl could have sworn he saw one of the pillows on the couch move on its own. Until was about midnight or so, they decided to call it a night. A few days later, they concluded that whatever was in the house means no harm and that Bob and his parents have nothing to fear. Since then, the odd occurrences stopped, though they had a feeling that it was not over. Since then, Bob became interested in what the Ghosties do and convinced them to let him join the team as their camera man to help record footages of ghosts and chronicle their cases. Later on, Bob's friend from school, Darla Torrington also joined on.

Appearance

Bob is a 13-year-old boy who has tan skin, light brown hair, and blue eyes. He often wears a t-shirt with a picture of Wild Tiger and Barnaby on it.

Personality

Bob is a happy-go-lucky kind of kid who loves his friends and want to help them whenever he can.

Trivia

Bob is named for Bob Papenbrook, the late father of Bob's voice actor.

Bob is a fan of both Wild Tiger and Barnaby. His dream is to join Apollon Media and become a camera man so he can record the many adventures of his favorite heroes.

Bob often sleeps with a teddy bear. It's also where he keeps his secret savings.

Darla Torrington

Voiced by Sandy Fox.

Bio

Darla is a 12-year-old girl who is friends with Bob Lyman from school. She is the youngest member of the Groovy Ghosties as the sound manager and researcher.

History

Darla is a friend of Bob from school. When Bob told them about the Ghosties, she joined them out of curiosity. Her main job is to handle the sounds (this including making sure every sound is recorded, including ghosts they might encounter on investigations).

Appearance

Darla is a 12-year-old girl with blonde hair and green. She wears a suit-like dress complete with tie, sweater vest, and and a grey skirt that reaches down her knees.

Personality

Like Sid, Darla is also a bit of a skeptic. However, she wouldn't mind trying something new. She is brave and understand.

Trivia

Even though she is younger than Bob, they are in the same grade. She was skipped ahead.

She is a fan of Dragon Kid.

She is Orlando Cooper's niece.

Marcia Fey

Voiced by Erin Fitzgerald.

Bio

Marcia is a NEXT with powers similar to magic. She can a lot of things. She is a student at the Hero Academy with Karl Storm Feather. She is in a same-sex relationship with Sarah Sands and is Bea Kelleman's best fiends. She is also a member of the Groovy Ghosties where she is the team's occult consultant.

History

Marcia's NEXT powers first awoke when she was about 3. She was watching a witch anime and became interested in what they did and did them herself. When her parents saw her levitating above her bed, they thought she was possessed by a demon. However, hey later found out that she was actually a NEXT who just came into her powers. For many years, she had to keep her powers secret by her parents. Later, she was accepted into the Hero Academy where she met Karl. They both had an interest in the occult. Later, Marcia met Sarah and they became a couple. Then, Karl invite them to join the Groovy Ghosties on their paranormal cases. They agreed. Marcia is the team's occult consultant and user. She provides magic where it is needed.

Appearance

Marcia is a 17-year-old lady with blonde hair with red and blue highlights and brown eyes. She wears the Academy's sweatsuit.

Personality

Marcia is described as a nice-but-tough girl who is willing to do the right thing. But don't get on her bad side, she will express herself the best way she can when it happens.

Trivia

Marcia is a mixture of Chie Satonaka from Persona 4 and Sana Chikage from Mind Zero.

The anime they Marcia was watching when her powers activated was Witch Craft Works.

Marcia's favorite heroes on Hero TV are Dragon Kid and Fire Emblem as they prove that anyone can be a hero.

She is not a big fan of scary things, but she joined the Groovy Ghosties in hopes of changing that.

Sarah Sands

Voiced by Cree Summer.

Bio

Sarah is Marcia Fey's girlfriend and a member of the Groovy Ghosties as the team's equipment manager and the team's secondary driver.

History

Sarah has always been a fan of heroes. One day, she and her mother were working the cafeteria of the Hero Academy when she met Marcia. The two fell in love and have been a couple ever since. Then, Karl invited them to join the Groovy Ghosties on their cases and they agreed. Sarah's job is equipment manager and drive's the team's van whenever Sid cannot.

Appearance

Sarah is a 17-year-old African American woman with short brown hair and grey eyes. She also wears a pair of red glasses. She also has a ring which was a gift from Marcia.

Personality

Sarah is nice, but a bit sassy. But, she is brave and is willing to do what needs to be done.

Trivia

Sarah is actually the one who came up with the name Groovy Ghosties based off some cartoon her mother used to watch. This implies that the Scooby-Doo cartoon exists in the Tiger & Bunny Universe.

Sarah is a fan of Dragon Kid and Fire Emblem since they prove that anyone can be a hero.

Sarah's mother is the head cafeteria worker at the Hero Academy.

Sarah's father who is a preacher actually knows Steven, his parent and Barnaby since the orphanage Steven and Barnaby volunteer at is owned by the church Reverend Sands preaches at.

Reverend Sands also helps the Groovy Ghosties either to bless a haunted place or object, or perform an exorcism if they're are dealing with something evil. He also performs a blessing in the Ghosties' artifact room.

The Groovy Ghosties (in general)

The Groovy Ghosties are a ghost hunting team who go around Sternbild City solving paranormal, supernatural, and occult cases. Karl started it out of an interest in the supernatural. Karl is the lead investigator, Bea is the tech specialist, Sid is the skeptic and driver, Steven is the PR officer, case finder, and spiritual and religious expert, Bob is the cameraman and expert, Darla is the sound manager and researcher, Marcia is the occult consultant, and Sarah is the equipment manager and secondary driver.

The Groovy Ghosties' man headquarters is an old warehouse where they meet up a few times a week. They also have an artifact room where they keep items they collected from some of their cases. In the words of Ed Warren, "Everything in this room is haunted, cursed, or have been used in some ritualistic practice. Nothing here is a toy. Not even the toy monkey." Due to the growing evil in that room, Sarah's father, who is a priest, come in to bless the room every week or so.

Tiger & Bunny Characters who will star in this story

Kotetsu T. Kaburagi/Wild Tiger

Barnaby Brooks Jr.

Keith Goodman/Sky High

Antonio Lopez/Rock Bison

Ivan Karelin/Origami Cyclone

Ryan Goldsmith/Golden Ryan

Agnes Joubert

Cain Morris

Mary Rose

Orlando Cooper

Mario

Alexander Lloyds

Ben Jackson

Saito

Yuri Petrov/Lunatic

Mr. Legend

Robin Baxter

Kaede Kaburagi

Muramasa Kaburagi

Plot

Our story begins with Karl Storm Feather who just got out of the bathroom after taking a shower when he saw his parents watching Hero TV. Wild Tiger and Barnaby had just captured another criminal. Then, Mario announces that another open submission will be open for a wish to be granted by them. Remember that the Groovy Ghosties will be having a live stream while investigating an abandoned orphanage which is believe to be haunted the ghost of it matron, Karl decides that this would be an opportunity to get more recognition for the team.

So, he goes to his computer and writes a letter:

Dear Apollon Media,

My name is Karl Storm Feather. I’m a student at the Hero Academy.

I’ve heard of this time you had to help some guy look after a cursed tea set. You know, me and my friends have been doing some investigating into the supernatural ourselves. We are a team of paranormal investigators known as the Groovy Ghosties.

I know it’s not something you guys would normally do, but we were hoping that maybe you could do something for our live stream. We are investigating the old orphanage which is just a little way from the orphanage that Barnaby Brooks Jr. lived. Our PR, Steven Burrow, said that it’s supposed to be haunted by the ghost of its matron, Reverend Mother Clarice Dellaway, after she died falling from the window. They say since she died, odd things happened. Some were so terrifying that they had to close it down. According to Steven, they’re thinking of reopening the place since the current orphanage is getting too full. They want to move there, but they’re afraid of the ghost and what she might do.

We would like to do it, but I think we might need a little more help with this case. So we’re hoping that you could come and help us with this. I know that we and the orphanage would be so happy. Meet us at our headquarters: Warehouse 13, Bronze Stage.

Please help us. Thank you.

-Karl Storm Feather, Lead Investigator of the Groovy Ghosties

Karl finished the letter and printed it. He put it in an envelope and was ready to send it. However, he remembered that at the Hero Academy, the other students made fun of him because of his love for the paranormal. This lead him to be scared that it would only embarrass him, the team, and even the heroes. So, he decides not to send it and goes home.

The next day at the Grocery Store, Darla Torrington comes in with Antonio Lopez. They notice Karl looking down. They asked what was wrong. He said that he could not bring himself to submit a wish to Wild Tiger and Barnaby about investigating the orphanage. Darla thinks it that is a shame. However, Antonio tells him that no matter how ridiculous his wish may sound, there is still a good chance it could be granted. Karl is still a bit unsure, but is willing to go on with the investigation. However, Darla decides to submit the wish for him through her uncle, Orlando Cooper, who is a cameraman for Hero TV. Antonio secretly decides to help as it it the least he can do for one of his favorite neighbors.

The next day at Apollon Media, Kotetsu Kaburagi, Barnaby Brooks Jr., and Agnes Joubert are looking though some submissions (most of which are for Barnaby). Then, Orlando and Antonio added one more submission to their pile. At first, Agnes did not think it would be worth their time, but Kotetsu said that because Antonio is his best friend, they should at least take a look. Barnaby also decides to take a look when Orlando said it came from his niece and her friends. They read the note. At first, Kotetsu was not sure, however, Barnaby assured him it would be fine, especially since this involves the orphanage that he grew up in and now helps in. Besides, Agnes said this would be a perfect way for Barnaby to make up for the cursed tea set. Barnaby groans saying that she is still not going to let that go. Antonio tells Orlando to tell Karl, Darla, and the others the good news.

Later that day, Kotetsu is at the train station when the train pulls up. Then, his daughter, Kaede, and his older brother, Muramasa, get off. Kotetsu is happy that his daughter will be spending two weeks with him. Kaede said that she only came in hopes that her won wish would be granted: To spend more time in Sternbild and with Barnaby. Later at a restaurant, Kotetsu, Kaede, and Muramasa are having dinner when Barnaby shows up. Kotetsu and Barnaby explain that they are going to investigate a haunted orphanage. Kaede, out of curiosity, wants to go, too. Kotetsu and Muramasa say that may be a bad idea saying that if she gets her, her grandmother would never forgive them. Kaede was disappointed.

At Bar Number 06, Antonio is hanging out with Keith Goodman and Ivan Karelin when Antonio tells them about what happened. Ivan wonders if it would be alright if he came as well, since he knows a thing or two about the occult. Antonio is not sure, but Keith said that he might convince Agnes as he is the King of Heroes. Antonio thinks that may work, but he wants him to convince her to let him come as well since Karl is a fan of Rock Bison.

Back at Apollon Media, Agnes, Orlando, Cain Morris, and Mari Rose are talking about the wish they were going to film. Alexander Lloyds, Ben Jackson, and Saito hear them. Lloyds reveals that one of his children watches the Ghosties' videos and that he would like to come as well, mainly to get a picture of the team and their autographs. Saito decides to come too. But this, being a man of science, is only out of skepticism whispering that there are no such things as ghosts. Ben, however, is a believer and would like to see this for himself. They agree to let them come.

At Justice Tower, Yuri Petrov was about to get ready to return home for the night when Lloyds called. He said that he will be joining Kotetsu and Barnaby to investigate a haunted house and to let the sponsors know that he may not come tomorrow, but will try to come the day after. Yuri agrees. After the call ends, the ghost of Yuri's father, Mr. Legend appears. Yuri asks if he's ever going to stop (appearing to him). Mr. Legend just smiles and asks if what he's doing (going around as Lunatic and killing criminals) is really justice to anyone. Yuri tries to block him out, but flashes of the day his powers first activated and killing his father keep rushing through his head. He looks into the mirror to see that he accidentally rubbed off the makeup that hides his scars. He looks to see his father is still smiling. Then, he looks back to his computer to see call history. Curious, he goes to his computer and goes to the Groovy Ghosties' website where he watches an episode of them investigating an abandoned diner that was used as a front for a cult to lure virgin women with a waitress job only to kidnap them and drag them down to the basement where they would sacrifice them to their dark masters. The cult was found out and arrested by Stealth Soldier (whose powers are finally revealed to be the ability to shroud an area in fog). Down in the basement, Karl finds the knife that was used in the rituals. He he then activates his powers and reveals a dark aura coming from it. Later in the episode, Karl, Marcia, and Steven take the knife and place it in the team's artifact room with Marcia reciting some kind of spell and Sarah's father, Steven, and Steven's parents reciting a prayer. Karl then turns to the camera and says, "The evil has been contained." When the episode ended, Yuri just stares for a moment. Then he looks up to see Mr. Legend not there. Yuri takes out his phone and texts Lloyds saying that he will be coming as well.

At Abbas Prison, everyone is on high alert saying that a prison has escaped. The warden is yelling at a guard who says that only loosened the restraints on his eye-covering mask because he kept complaining that he was sweating in the face, he didn't know he could just shake it off and end with the guard in the cell. In a public bathroom at a park, Robin Baxter comes out of a stall just after changing out of his prison uniform and into his roller suit. He casually glides out but quickly hides behind a bush as some kids come around. He hears them talking about rumor that Wild Tiger and Barnaby going to work with the Groovy Ghosties. Another kid wonders if they would get to see the team's artifact room saying that even though they have weird meaning, some of them are actually quite priceless and would be worth a king's ransom on the market if they weren't so creepy. This gives Robin an idea.

The next day, some cars were coming in carrying Wild Tiger, Barnaby, Kaede, Rock Bison, Sky High, Origami Cyclone, Agnes, Cain, Mary, Orlando, Lloyds, Ben, Saito, and Muramasa. (Yuri was behind them in his own car.) Kaede had managed to convince her father and uncle to let her come saying that if she didn't, she was going to complain to her grandmother, their mother. Barnaby said he doesn't mind since he gets along with Kaede and Agnes thought that the daughter of a hero and now a future hero would up the ratings. They arrive at the warehouse that's used as the headquarters by the Ghosties. Darla is outside waiting for them. She calls the rest of her team out and Karl screams in excitement that they actually came, especially Rock Bison.

Inside the warehouse, Karl, Bea, and Sid explain what they do and the things in the warehouse. Origami asks Karl why he wants to become a paranormal investigator when, as a NEXT, he must become a hero. Karl states that not all heroes go around wearing a costume and be on TV, some of them don't have have powers. Agnes thinks that's just ridiculous as only NEXT can be heroes. Origami also states that at the Hero Academy, the other students make fun of him and Marcia for what they do. Marcia says, "Let the naysayers say nay like the dumb horses they are. This is what we do and we love it... Except for Sid." Both Bison and Tiger commend Karl and Marcia for their faith. "And besides," said Barnaby. "Even ghosts need to be saved... Speaking from experience." Karl assumes that he's talking about the cursed tea set, but Barnaby blushes with his eyes on Tiger saying that it's something like that while Tiger is just confused. Agnes has everyone taking pictures while Yuri wonders off and finds the artifact room. He finds that one of the Ghosties accidentally left their key in the keyhole. At first, Yuri is tempted to unlock the door and go inside, but refrains himself from doing so. But then, he sees his father's ghost appear next to him. Reluctantly, Yuri finally gives in and unlocks the door and goes inside. Inside, Yuri looks at all the objects inside, including:

a pack of poker cards

a white satin evening gown

a pair of red shoes

an Asian music box

the melted remains of a candle

a wooden mask

and a golden locket.

Suddenly, Yuri happens upon the knife he saw from the video. Yuri gets closer for a better look. He was about to pick it up when someone grabs his arm and pulls it away. At first, Yuri saw it was his father, but it was quickly revealed that it was Karl who gabbed it and said, "Didn't your mother tell you to look with your eyes and not your hands?" Yuri also saw that Tiger, Barnaby, Bison, Agnes, Cain, Mary, Orlando, Lloyds, Saito, Bea, and Sid where in. Sky High, Origami, Kaede, Muramasa, Ben, Darla, Marcia, and Sarah were still out taking pictures. Outside the door, Steven was scolding Bob for leaving his copy of the key in the door where someone could unlock it and enter. Yuri says he saw the knife in the episode and Karl says he's happy to know a justice of the peace has taken in interest in what the Ghosties do. Tiger is a bit skeptical about the items in the room. Karl explains that everything in the artifact room is either haunted, cursed, or have been used in some ritualistic practice and reminds him not to touch anything. Each of the visitors take an interest in the listed items.

Lloyds is attracted to the cards.

Cain and Mary are attracted to the gown.

Agnes is attracted to the shoes.

Bison is attracted to the music box.

Tiger and Barnaby are attracted to the melted candle.

Saito is attracted to the mask.

Yuri is attracted to the knife.

You'll know about the locket soon.

Karl notices this and tells them about the items.

The cards belong to Jimmy "The Gambler" Gambino who made a bet on a boxing match and lost which lead to him to be killed by some gangsters he owed money to. Since then, the ghost of his cut-up remains haunted the cards, earning him the name "The Torso". The Ghosties found the cards while they were investigating the ruins of a glass mansion which was owned by Cyrus Kriticos. Sid's skeptical conclusion was that people were scared of the stories and made them imagine seeing a cut-up body and that Kriticos was a crazy old man.

The gown belonged to a young woman who died and was burred with it because she didn't want anyone else wearing it. However, it was taken by graverobbers who sold it to a shop here in Sternbild. That shop rented the gown to another young woman who need something to wear to his school's prom. That night, when she had it on at the dance, she felt sick and went home. The next morning, her mother found her dead. The mother could not bring herself to give the gown back to the shop out of fear that the ghost of the gown's original owner would kill someone like she killed her daughter and has been on a dummy in the attic for many years. When the Ghosties came to investigate it, the mother gave them the gown in hopes that it would give the mother peace of mind and keep others safe from the gown. Sid's skeptical conclusion is that the gown had some kind of bacteria that came from the woman's rotting corpse that when introduced to living flesh would cause some kind of lethal reaction.

The shoes belonged to in old lady who lived on the Silver Stage. The shoes have been in her family for years dating back to when they were living in Denmark. The shoes have a curse on it. When they are put on, they stick and never come off and force the wearer to dance whenever music is played. Sid's skeptical conclusion is similar to the gown, but the deadly bacteria caused something similar to the dancing plague of 1518.

The music box belonged to a Chinese woman named Lu Mei who lost her family to a plague. She made a pact with a demon known as a yaoguai which gave the box the power to grand seven wishes. However, the first six wishes come with a price: the lives of the owner's friends and family. Then, after the final wish, the yaoguai claims the owner's soul. Sid received box from his pen pal, Ryan, before his mysterious death. (Most likely from making his seventh wish.) Sid has yet to come up with a logical explanation.

The melted candle used to magic candle known as the Black Flame Candle, which was made from the fat of a hanged man. It is said that if a virgin lights it on the night of a full moon on Halloween Night, it can resurrect the dead for one that one Halloween Night. The last time this happened, a young teenage boy lit it and brought back a trio of sister witches who wanted to steal the lives of the children of Salem, Massachusetts. The Ghosties brought it back with them from a case they were doing in there. Sid's skeptical conclusion was that it was just a prank as he believed that the story of those witches were just that, a story.

The wooden mask was made by a woodcarver who crafted a it from a tree where a dark spirit was trapped a century earlier by a Cajun medicine man. The mask compelled the carver to kill his family and others in the village until a young woman kills him to stop the killings. Now the cursed mask is rumored to be buried at the woodcarver's grave. However, the mask was found by a camp counselor who donned it and was compelled to kill everyone at the camp. Eventually, the mask was recovered while the Ghosties were searching for ghosts there. Sid's skeptical conclusion was that the mask a natural hallucinogen that puts the wearer into a frenzied state.

Karl was just about to talk about the locket when Steven comes in to say that the orphanage called and that they are ready for them. Karl says he will tell them about it another time. They leave the room and Karl locks it. Steven comforts Bob for making a mistake and reminds him to be careful next. With that, they leave, but Steven leaves his own copy of the key behind on his desk behind a picture of the Holy Mother. Just after they leave, Robin Baxter come into the warehouse through a window. He spots the artifact room, but could not enter because it was locked and needs a real person inside to switch places with and he forgot his lockpick case. Then, he goes over to Karl's desk and tries access his computer. At the orphanage, one of the older nuns tell the Ghosties, the heroes, the crew, and the Kaburagis the story of Mother Clarice Delleway. As a side job, Mother Clarice was a birdkeeper who took care of birds who were sick or injured. But one day, one of the birds got out of its cage and onto a branch out side of her office window. Mother Clarice tried to get it, but the bird taking off surprised her and she lost her balance and fell out of the window to her death. Sometime after her funeral, odd things began to happen. Whispers could be heard at night, objects and furniture were found to have been moved, and rooms would start to get really cold. Then, an orphan girl who despised Mother Clarice started having nightmares about falling from her office window or being under Mother Clarice as she fell. This drove the girl mad as she tried to cut herself. The girl was sent to an asylum where she got better and was adopted. However, this started happening to some of the other orphans, all of which entered her office and disrespected her or her birds (even though they were taken away after her death) in it. The church could no longer take seeing the children suffer like this and decided to close the orphanages. It has been standing empty to this very day.

Barnaby asks how come he never heard the story while he was growing up in the current orphanage. The nun said it was because Barnaby was too young to hear the story without getting scared and the subject was never brought up again until now when the current orphanage was starting to get too crowded. The old orphanage has more room for more children. They were hoping that the money collected by the church, they could fix up the building, but they cannot until they are sure that it would be alright with a mysterious presence there. But then, Steven, who was doing volunteer work at the time, heard about this and told the nuns about the Groovy Ghosties. After thinking about it, they decide to give them a try. The heroes agree to help as well, particularly Barnaby.

Later on at the abandoned orphanage as it starts to get dark, the team (except for Bea and Sarah), the heroes, and the crew (except for Agnes, Cain, and Mary) get ready. Kaede had to stay behind with Muramasa, Yuri, and Saito. Saito, Cain, and Mary, were in the van with Bea and Sarah to monitor the ones going into the orphanage. Inside the orphanage, the remaining team, the heroes, and the remaining crew looks around in the old building. Then, they divide into teams:

Karl with Wild Tiger, Barnaby, and Rock Bison.

Sid and Steven with Lloyds.

Bob and Darla with Orlando.

Marcia with Sky High and Origami Cyclone.

With Karl, Tiger, Barnaby, and Bison, they investigate Mother Clarice's old office. Karl activates his powers and tries to sense any aura. He says there is some faint residual energies coming from a certain part of the office. Barnaby says that the nuns told him that that spot was where the cage that held the birth that escaped used to be before she died. Karl senses that that energy that was given off from the cage is still in the orphanage meaning that the cage might still be there. Karl radios the others.

With Sid, Steven, and Lloyds who are investigating one of the rooms get the message. As they investigate the room they found that the church was originally going to turn this room into a home theater for the children to watch movies when they are unable to go to the city to watch them. But due to the strange happenings and the orphanage closing down, it never happened. Steven says they should hope that after they have given the orphanage and the church peace of mind, they will continue with that plan. Sid, however, believes that the theater was the real reason why they closed down the orphanage because the theatre would cost so much money that they didn't have. So they made up the supposed haunting to get out of paying. Steven disagrees but should be open-minded. Lloyds wonders about doing the same the next time someone like Wild Tiger shows up in his office. Though, chances are it would turn out the same.

With Bob, Darla, and Orlando, they are investigating one of the classrooms. Darla's tablet starts to pick up some odd sounds. She plays it back to hear what sounds like heavy breathing. At first, Bob thinks that Darla was breathing too heavily near the tablet, but then remembers that she was sticking it out that it couldn't pick it up. Orlando then spots something on the camera. He says that it looked like some faded transparent image passing out of the blackboard, but quickly vanishes. Bob takes a look and confirms it to be a semi-apparent specter.

With Marcia, Sky High, and Origami Cyclone, they inspect the dorms. Marcia casts a spell to track movements other than hers, Sky High's, or Origami's. Origami is interested in Marcia's powers saying that it's rare to see a Magic-Type NEXT. Marcia explains that you never know what kind of NEXT will appear. Sky High agrees and says that Marcia will make a great hero. Marcia says she still has a lot to think about that as there are some things about hero works that might scare her a bit. Origami says she know how she feels and that he would get scared sometimes, but he remembers that fears has a way of being made work for (you) than the criminals. Then, he takes out some ofuda (Japanese paper talismans) saying that he too has a way cast spells and begins placing them around.

Outside, Muramasa, who had left, returns with some pizza and coffee. Muramasa asks if they really believe in all this supernatural stuff. Sarah asks if he is a religious person. Muramasa says that whenever his brother goes off doing what heroes do best, he, their mother, and his niece pray for his safety. Sarah says that's good. Mary and Yuri reveal that they are Jewish, Cain is a Christian, and Agnes and Saito are Atheists. Bea said that there are times when even the Warrens have trouble with keeping the faith, but they keep at it. Bea asks Kaede why she wanted to come along. She says that apart from wanting to spend more time with her father and Barnaby, some of her friends have actually watched the Ghosties' webisodes and was a bit curious. Bea says that curiosity killed that cat, but it makes the person a bit more knowing.

Karl, Tiger, Barnaby, and Bison meet up with Bob, Darla, and Orlando in front of the door that leads up to the attic. Karl says that the aura is strongest up there and Bob says that the wispy figure reappears and was headed this way. They go up to the attic where Bison says that his infrared thermometer's number just went down. Karl says they most likely found a cold spot which is known to be caused by the presence of ghosts. They search the place until Barnaby finds something under a tarp. It was a bird cage. Karl uses his powers to reveal that there is a strong aura around the cage. Bob takes a picture and sends it back to the crew outside. Bea and Agnes says that one of the older nuns showed them pictures of Mother Clarice and her office. They find that bird cage is the same cage that the injured bird escaped from. Karl tries to pick up the cage, but another aura swats his hands away. Then, Darla picks up a sound. She plays it back and it sounds like a voice saying "No". Karl suspects that it is Mother Clarice. He asks her if she is there. He then uses his powers to reveal a blueish aura which Karl believes might be her. Darla tries to record the sound, but nothing comes up. Karl assures Mother Clarice that they come in peace and wish to know why she is here. Darla records the sounds and picks something up: "Away". Karl asks if she is talking about the bird that flew away. Tiger asks Barnaby if he asked what became of the bird. Barnaby did ask the nuns that, but they said they are unsure, although, one of the children found the scattered remains of a bird, most likely the bird that got away met its end by a cat or a fox. Suddenly, the room got even colder. Karl suspects that Mother Clarice is upset about what became of the bird. Karl then tries to assure her that even though that bird probably did not make it, her other birds were cared for, the nuns told them that after her death, they birds were sent to a zoo to be well taken care of and that she did a great job taking care of them. The aura responded as if trying to say yes. Barnaby then says that the current orphanage needs a new place to stay since it is getting full and that they want to use this one, but they can't unless they're sure it is safe. Bison then asks if it is alright if they could move to the old orphanage since it has more room. The aura then responds again. Darla even records the sound and plays it back to say "Stay." Tiger, who was getting a little shaky at this point says, "We'll take that as a yes." Karl then asks if they could bring the bird cage with them since her task is done. The aura responds again. However, Karl says it felt more like a no. Karl then says that if Mother Clarice wishes to stay, she must obey that rules of the living and not scare or harm anyone, especially the children. The aura then responds as if to say yes. Then, Darla records something that sounds like "Respect." Barnaby says that the nuns and the children will respect her memory as long as she means them no harm. The aura responds like saying yes again. Then, Karl calls Steven and Marcia to come.

Later, Steven, Marcia, and the rest of their teams arrive. Karl asks Steven to perform a blessing. Marcia was to use her powers with Karl in case something goes wrong and the spirit fights back. Origami says that he will also contribute with his ofuda. He then places the paper talismans on each wall of the attic as Steven begins to pray. The room shakes a bit. Karl tries to assure Mother Clarice that they just want to make sure that she will keep her promise. The shaking dies down a bit. Finally, Steven finishes his prayer saying that the spirit is at peace. Though she is not ready to ascend to the heavens, she assures them that none will have to fear her. Karl says it is time to call it a night and to review what they have found and share what they've learned with the orphanage. So, they regroup outside and leave.

Back at the warehouse, Robin had finally managed to access Karl's computer (the password was Bison which Robin thinks is not very clever). Robin then access the files of previous episodes, cases (on and off the record), and even a few videos. Robin opens one of the videos to see a recording of Ed and Larraine Warren performing an exorcism on a possessed man. Robin thinks that the Ghosties are sick and obsessed. Then, he access another video file about a haunted house on the Bronze Stage. It showed pictures of Karl, Marcia, Marcia's father, and Steven performing an exorcism in front of the house. Then, Robin finds a catalog files of everything in the team's artifact room. He reads them until he find the entry on the gold locket.

The locket is haunted by a banshee, a female Irish spirit whose wails can predict the death of another and can drive even the most virtuous of men to the brink of insanity. The story goes that the locket was a gift from an Irish nobleman to his wife for her birthday. Then, one day, the nobleman said he had to go out to sea to check on one of his farms the next day. That night, they heard a loud wailing that almost shook their entire estate. The looked out to see a woman in a black dress and her face was covered by a black vail. When they went out to see who she was, she vanished. The next day, the nobleman left. But then, a violet storm hit and the ship was lost. Sometime later, the ship was found, but the crew and the nobleman had all drowned. The nobleman's wife was in total grief as the banshee's wailing kept sounding at night. Finally driven mad with grief and the wailing, the wife hung herself in their room. After her death, the servant ransacked the entire estate taking everything: The money, the gold, the jewels, and even the locket. A few nights after taking the locket, the servant who took it started to hear the banshee's wailing. A few days later, the servant died of a heart attack. The locket ended up in the hands of the servants daughter who wore it to her wedding. On her wedding night, she and her new husband heard the banshee's wailing. The next day, the husband, who was riding his horse at the time, lost control of it and they both road off a cliff to their deaths. The wife feared it had something to do with the locket. She put it in a box and berried it near the estate in hopes that the banshee would leave her be. Many years later, someone dug up the locket and sold it to a shop in Kinsale. Sometime later, the locket was bought by Mrs. Cooper, Orlando's mother and Darla's grandmother. She wore it to a party that was thrown by her friend. Then, Mrs. Cooper heard a faint wailing and looked over to see a woman in a black dress and a dark veil standing near her friend. At first, she thought it was just another one of her friend's friends who was probably waring those clothes out of mourning, but less than a minute later, she vanished. The next morning, Mrs. Cooper got word that her friend had been killed by a burglar sometime after the party while the friend was in bed. Over the next two years, similar occurrences happened. Mrs. Cooper finally decided she needed answers. Fortunately, she learned that Darla and her friends are paranormal investigators and contacted them. So, Darla, the other Groovy Ghosties, and even Orlando, came to Kinsale, Ireland. They investigated the locket and it was definitely haunted. Since they could not do much about it, they decided to take the locket back to Sternbild to be locked in their artifact room.

Robin seemed to have taken a great interest in the locket. However, he is still unable to get inside the artifact room. He searches the desks until he arrives at Steven's. He looks at the picture of the Holy Mother and tells her not to judge him. He turns down the picture to find Steven's copy of the key sitting behind it. He picks it up with a smile saying, "Amen." He takes the key and unlocks the door. He goes into the artifact room and looks around until he finally comes upon the locket. At first, Robin was a bit hesitant because of what he read, but shrugs it off as just a silly ghost story and says, "I already lost my marbles the day I decided to become a thief." So, he takes the locket in its box. But for extra cash, he also takes the pack of cards, the white gown, the red shoes, the music box, the melted candle (for some reason), and the knife.

Just after he put the items into his bag, he leaves the room only to run into the team, the heroes, and the crew who just returned from their case. The heroes try to catch him, but Robin just uses his powers to switch places with them to escape. Barnaby says that they have blind Robin first as his power require him to see that person while he is switching places with them.

Outside, Robin stops someplace to take another look at his loot. When he does, he gets a feeling that they are shaking for some reason. Suddenly, a mist comes in. It turns out Marcia was casting a spell. Origami shapeshifts into a ghost to try and scare Robin into dropping the bag. But just as he was about to sneak up to him, Tiger's phone rings. Robin hears this and realizes he is being tricked and flees. Agnes yells at Tiger for leaving the ringer on. Tiger apologizes and answer his phone to find it was a wrong number. The heroes go after Robin again. He manages to allude them until he was caught between Karl and Marcia who both activate their powers with Karl trying to tie him up and blind him with his aura and Marcia ready to cast a knock-out spell. However, Robin manages to see Karl well enough. They two were now charging at Robin, but he activates his powers ready to switch places with Karl. But as he was doing this, all the items in the bags also glow, but not blue like Robin, but a dark purplish color. Then, Robin trades places with Karl and Marcia nearly hits him. They look to see Robin had escaped them. But just as he was about to leave and the heroes and crew arrive when the bag begins to shake violently and explode. When the smoke cleared, they saw that the items in the bag have disappeared except for the locket. They heroes make a go for Robin, but he grabs the locket and switches places with a nearby workman. Robin escapes.

Later back at the warehouse, Steven checks the artifact room and to see if anything else had been taken. Karl also sees that Robin has accessed his computer. Kaede asks why the exorcism video was only of pictures and sounds. Karl says it would make the episode way too scary if they showed actual footage of an exorcism and to respect the victims and their families, they don't have reveal their identities. Karl finds the catalog and identifies what was stolen. Kotetsu asks what just happened with the bag exploding. Karl says that all NEXT have unique aura that become more active when their powers are activated. They discovered that when these powers are activated near the items in the artifact room, it causes some kind of reaction, as if the NEXT's powers were waking the items up. And last Karl and Marcia noticed, three NEXTs activated their powers around them. With that, the haunted, cursed, and ritual items are now fully awake. Karl says they need to find those items before they end up with people who will be endangered by their dark powers. Kotetsu and Barnaby say that they will do whatever they can to find them.

Meanwhile, on a roof somewhere, Robin is look down at the city when he looks at the locket his put around his neck. He is a bit disappointed that this was the only thing he could recover, though it would still fetch a price. However, Robin starts to get curious about what was inside. He tries to open the locket, but to no avail, almost as if it were welded shut. Robin just stares at the locket when he suddenly hears wailing sound. He looks up to the building across him and sees a woman wearing a black dress and a dark veil. Robin was a bit scared an looked away for only a second. He looks back to see she was gone. Robin's face beings to look grim with fear as the sound of the music box can be heard along with the sound of women cackling.

To be continued...

Story Trivia

Most of the items listed above along with the backstories come from different stories and movies.

Jimmy "The Gambler" Gambino, also known as "The Torso", is from 13 Ghosts.

The white satin gown is from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz.

The red shoes come from the story of the same name by Hans Christian Anderson.

The music box is from Wish Upon.

The Black Flame Candle is from Hocus Pocus.

The mask is from You Might Be The Killer.

Sorry if I'm ending the post here. I was afraid that it was getting too long and I already have a lot of things to do. I might continue this, I don't know if it will be before or after the anniversary, but I'll see what I can do. Thanks and thanks again all for taking the time to read this.

Let's believe HEROES

#tiger and bunny #tiger & bunny #tigerbunny10 #fanfic

7 notes · View notes

drcrushers · 4 years ago

Text

so this was meant to be the next installment of the ‘wait for me’ series, but i never finished it and it’s honestly still a rough draft. it was a plot point i didn’t end up using but i also might in the future in a different setting. so enjoy this little nugget!

"I don't like it."

Persephone glanced at the reflection of her husband as she looped one of the studded gems into her earlobe. Simple diamonds - well, simple compared to the variety of gemstones and beautiful colors offered by the unlimited stock in the mines. Simple was better for that particular evening - an evening that already had her stomach turning into knots.

"I know." She said quietly, admiring herself before she twisted in the chair to her vanity so she could see her husband properly. Hades was leaned against one of the bedposts, arms crossed with a darker than normal expression. "I don't like it either, but it's better this way."

"Don't see how." He scowled, brows knitting together in the center of his forehead. Persephone stood and crossed to him, taking his face between her hands. Her mighty man, who’d been doom and gloom all afternoon, didn’t pull away. Just gave a huffy little rumble deep in his chest.

"Because you need to be here." She said slowly. "Because if you go up that mountain you'll cause a war with one wrong expression. You ain't as subtle as you think, husband." She fiddled with his rolled up sleeves, fingers tracing the arm bands woven with the fine silver thread. He gave a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat.

"And you won't? You got a temper to rival your momma's." Hades replied after a moment. She tugged hard on the armband and let the elastic snap against his bicep in warning. He caught her hand in his, bringing her knuckles to his lips fondly and the expression on his face softened briefly. "I worry."

"I know. Were it for any other reason, I wouldn't go at all. Don't trust 'em. And after this - well, they'll be lucky if we don't turn them away at the gates now." Persephone glanced over to the bedsheets, where she'd tossed the letter sealed with the damn lightning bolt seal and her name and Hades' written in her daddy's own hand. "But I gotta face my music. And you know I ain't goin' unarmed. He wants to play hardball, he'll find out how much better I play. Especially given the circumstances."

"It ain't his business." Hades snarled. And he was right, Persephone knew. The underworld and it's inhabitants were not his realm. Nor any of the others. It wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last that the king of the gods stuck his nose where it didn't belong. To demand their appearance to answer about the songbird and Persephone's choice of temporary successor - well, things were working out just fine. Granted it had only been a few months since, but she hadn't heard bad things (except from her momma, who had already ripped her a new one - but then Persephone had used Melinoe as a bargaining chip and had immediately won that argument).

"No. Ain't his business. But you know him - can't stand it if somethin' happens under his nose and he didn't condone it."

"He touches you at all and -"

"Hades." She warned gently. "Thanatos is comin' up with me. Momma will be there too, and she'd rip Zeus in half if he even thought of it and send you the remains in a box of ashes. Hera will deal directly to me." She leaned up to kiss the frown from his lips. "Now tell me I'm pretty."

"You're stunning, as always." He murmured, and reached up to brush an errant curl from her face. "Haven't seen you like this in a while."

She'd donned a black dress not unlike her usual underworld wardrobe, but this dress was laced with silver accents that gleamed like the diamonds Hades was so fond of comparing her to. Nothing terribly fancy, but enough to make a statement - which was half the battle up on the mountain. They all lived in damned black tie wardrobes most of the time and while Persephone was not to be outdone, she was sure as hell not gonna follow their rules.

"I'm queen of the underworld. Gotta look the part." She smiled. "Just need my crown."

With a flick, a wreath of silver and gemstones appeared in Hades' hand. Old as their marriage, that crown. She hadn't worn it since they stopped doing official trials and having audiences and the factories had started rising up. Hades had made it for her within the first week of their marriage, a crown of silver leaves and asphodels immortalized in delicate gemstones. He nestled it atop her head in a soft gesture, sealing it with a kiss to her forehead.

"You be careful up there." He whispered and she nodded.

"And you take care of our girl." Persephone smiled softly, which was accompanied by the soft noise of their daughter in her bassinet by the bed - neurotic as they both were, they had yet to move her to her own nursery. Persephone turned to gather Melinoe into her arms, pressing a kiss to her nose. "Was wonderin' if you were gonna wake up to tell momma bye, chickadee."

Melinoe blinked, and lurched forward to try and grab at the shining gems that decorated her mother. Persephone chuckled and caught a flailing hand in her own, pretending to nibble on it to the delightful squeals of laughter of her little one. Her whole world, her girl and her man. Melinoe wasn't even close to her first birthday and already she had the look of her daddy, those dark eyes all brightened with curious energy. Their winter's child. A miracle, if Persephone believed in such.

"He'll be expecting you to bring her." Hades crossed the space between them, reaching out instinctively to catch Melinoe's other hand. “He wasn’t subtle in the invitation. As if he had the right."

"Which is why I ain't. He's expectin' you, too. But I'll handle it. One of us needs to stay with our little sprout. I'll see to our girl up top."

With a kiss to her daughter's forehead and a parting kiss from her husband, Persephone headed off for the train. The underworld was quiet and while she smiled at the shades she passed, there was a tension in her expression and her stance building the closer she got to the platform. She hadn't been up top in a while now with the new arrangement; she had imagined this trip would have been introducing Melinoe to real sunlight for the first time. Not going up the damned mountain on her daddy's whim because he was feeling bitter that she'd circumvented his original contract. Not to mention it was the first time spending any length of time away from Melinoe, which didn't sit right in her gut either. But her little girl had Hades, and would be safe in the underworld. Untouchable. One of the good things about the shadowed realm - the other gods couldn't cross the boundaries without permission, not even Zeus himself. If anything happened to her up on Olympus, Hades and Melinoe would be safe.

The train was waiting when she arrived, and so was Thanatos. Persephone was perfectly fine going up the mountain on her own, but Hades had insisted and she wasn’t about to argue. If things went sideways - well, it would be useful to have someone else on her side. Quite frankly Persephone didn’t trust her momma to pick her side over Zeus’. Much as she hated the king of the gods, Demeter could be easily swayed into doing what was best for Persephone - or what she thought was best. Especially since Demeter was unaware of why Persephone had refused for so long to go up the mountain, why Hades had forbade it. That was about to be out in the open, too.

The great machine let out a hissing billow of steam as she hopped up onto the platform. Thanatos tilted his head, eying her sharply with those endless black eyes. Her lips quirked and she gave a mock curtsy.

“Let’s get this over with.” He murmured in a voice nearly low as Hades’, and offered out a hand to help her onto the train. Persephone snorted, but took his hand and stepped onto the train for the first time in a real long while.

It felt strange, really. Somewhat empty. Granted she’d done plenty of runs up top without Hades, and plenty back down. The train had just been a mode of transport, nothing more or nothing less, taking her from one prison to another while she wore gilded handcuffs and drank herself half blind. The bar was still there, untouched, and Persephone briefly considered making herself something to get a bit of liquid courage to deal with her relatives. Deciding against it, she flopped unceremoniously into one of the seats and tried to lose herself in the gentle thrumming of the train beneath her feet. It lurched, and began the slow pull away from the station.

Persephone tried not to consider worst case situations. Quite frankly she hadn’t considered consequences to her and Eurydice’s little switch - not that there was any. Not important ones. The only thing lost seemed to be her daddy’s ego, which was nothing unusual. Only annoying as hell, and the fact that he had put thinly veiled threats to her in the invitation made her all the more angry. She only worried - Eurydice now spent half the year up top, which was very much fair ground for Zeus or any of his demi-god bastards he usually got to do his bidding. Which meant she was vulnerable. She had faith that Eurydice could hold her own with the share of ancient magic Persephone had gifted her, but the idea all the same made her stomach sour more than what it had. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to swallow the bile in the back of her throat.

Maybe she should have let Hades come. Or made him go without her. But no - she’d caused the mess. Made her bed. Now she had to lie in it. Hades didn’t need to take the blame; didn’t need to be made out to more of the villain all of Olympus seemed to think he was.

She knew when they passed from the underworld to the mortal realm, a chill running up her spine and causing the hair on her arms to stand on end. She looked away from the slowly brightening landscape beyond the window to Thanatos, but he had leaned back on another bench and drawn a hat over his face; for all appearances, he seemed asleep. She knew better of course, but didn’t bother in disturbing him.

The train began to slow as they approached the platform she had gotten on and off at since the beginning of time. She watched it come into view, the train coming to a full stop just a few moments to allow other passengers to board. It felt strange not to be getting off. They'd barely stopped before they were off again, and the door to her private compartment opened. Persephone smiled.

"Hey there, songbird." Persephone greeted as Eurydice stepped through, wearing her usual garments - except the red bandana at her neck. Eurydice hugged her fiercely and Persephone could smell the sunshine that radiated from her, like an inner light. It suited her; seeing the smile and the color in her face was even more of a delight. Songbirds were far better alive than dead.

"Its good to see you." She murmured. "You holding up alright?"

"Alright as ever." Persephone promised. "Though I should be askin' you."

"More than. Demeter's helped and I think I'm doing okay. I mean - everyone is happy. No one is hungry. The harvests look good - great even." Persephone noted the brightness in her face did not fade. "I'm happy."

"Good. As long as you're happy, I am too. Poet alright?"

"He is. Sends his love. Already writing a new song."

Hopefully Orpheus would still hold up, when Eurydice came back down below for those required six months. But knowing she was coming back - that was the aid. Eurydice would always come home to him. Doubt would and could not cloud Orpheus as it had Hades. Not after everything.

Bickering tore Persephone's attention from Eurydice to the two others that had boarded and were now coming into the private car with quiet words hissing between them like two angry snakes.

"What in hell are you two on about now?" Persephone asked. Demeter and Hermes both looked up, Hermes sweeping forward first with a bright grin.

"Never you mind, sister. A'ight?"

"A'ight." Persephone echoed, and moved to embrace Demeter. "Hello, momma."

"Hey, girl." Demeter smoothed a few flyaways from Persephone's unruly curls, and took her face in both her hands. "Missed you."

"Missed you. Wish we were meetin' under better circumstances."

"Never you mind. Your daddy is a bag of hot gas and nothin' more. I'm on your side, and your girl's here. Much as I hated it - she's good. And you got the little one. She ain't here, is she?"

"No. I figured she's safer back below, with Hades. Just in case." Persephone murmured. "Just in case."

From there, quiet conversation filled the car. Persephone listened as Eurydice and Demeter filled her in in the things up top, and Hermes toured on about the things even further up top. No one made mention of where and why they were going, but she could feel the tension grow thicker than molasses the closer they got to the mountain. Goosebumps pimpled across her arms as they passed another barrier into the true realm of the gods. She swallowed back the bile in her throat and stared out the window.

Worst case, she'd end up dead. Hypothetically. Or stripped of her abilities. Memories erased. There were too many possibilities. Eurydice could be hurt, too. Or Orpheus. Persephone had inadvertently dragged quite a few people into her mess - but they had come willingly. And they were there as a figurative army at her back as the train once more began to slow.

The platform at Olympus was only a part of a great train station. One gilded in gold and paintings and statues from the classical era, when the mortals had gotten how the gods had looked all wrong. Curiously, she watched Eurydice take it all in with a slightly awed expression as they disembarked. Scenes from long ago eras were portrayed in murals, paintings, and frescoes that hadn't aged a day.

The marble statues were hidden in little alcoves along the walls between the artwork - beautiful but not at all accurate. Hades had a massive beard in his, her mother was carved far older than she should have been. Persephone had one as well, but they'd given her so much youth. Artemis looked fierce and Athena and Ares both wore matching expressions in theirs. Eurydice paused at some of them as they threaded through the grand hall of the station. Tunnels that were not labeled branched off, leading to what she knew were other platforms that led to either other realms, or other places on the mountain of Olympus. It felt strange to Persephone - there was usually at least a few demigods or muses roaming about the station to head here or there.

Now it was empty. Nary a soul.

"I'd give you a grand tour if I could." Hermes was saying to Eurydice, his arm around her shoulders as they walked toward a wall that instead of a tunnel, held a gleaming golden elevator. The doors opened at their approach with no prompting - Eurydice balked.

"Tacky as hell. Used to be this was just one lush field." Persephone muttered. "Olympus used to be more green than gold. Heph's done nice work on the tile inlays, though."

Demeter snorted as they stepped into the elevator. There was no panel of buttons - the elevator doors closed once they were all piled in. Thanatos looked almost out of place, his dark aura contrasted sharply against the gold interior that reflected everything right back. Persephone studied her tinted reflection, her own dark clothes and gleaming silver crown a direct disobeyment of everything Olympus was. Demeter had not dressed up, and neither had Eurydice - good. The bitter part of her hoped it offended at least some of them.

The elevator climbed with no noise, rising higher in a way that made Persephone's stomach swoop uncomfortably. No. Melinoe did not belong up there in such a gilded cage. A gilded hell.

"Should we have a game plan?" Eurydice asked after a moment. Persephone reached out to grasp her hand and squeeze it.

"Game plan is on me, chickadee." She murmured. "Whatever happens, go along as you can. If things go south, Thanatos is tasked with gettin' you right on outta here."

"And you." Thanatos rumbled lowly, which she ignored. Eurydice frowned.

"South?"

"Gods have tempers and they get all riled up. If they do, it'd be too dangerous. You got half my magic girl, but it wouldn't be enough to keep you safe against the whole panthenon."

Eurydice opened her mouth to likely protest, but the elevator stopped quite suddenly without even a hint of warning. The doors slid open and cool air swept into the container as they stepped off. A set of double doors greeted them in a grand, gilded lobby with more stupid art - place looked more museum than anything. Displays of wealth and power that Persephone curled her nose at. The great set of wooden doors was ancient as time itself, carved with a tree of a myriad of branches. Beautiful and worn, Persephone recalled the one time she had seen it before it had looked the very same. She'd traced the inches of it with lithe fingers while Hades had held tight to her hand, the pair of them about to face her momma and Zeus in regards to their hasty marriage and Demeter's fit of ire.

Now, she took hold of Eurydice's hand and squeezed it tightly. If Eurydice was afraid, she certainly didn't show it. With no further hesitation, she shoved open the heavy doors and stepped through.

The room itself had not changed largely since her last visit to Olympus. In mortal terms it was akin to a ballroom, but the ceiling didn’t exist; instead, it was open to the cosmos above in a beautiful array of stars - for now. As she recalled, it had a tendency to change with her daddy’s moods. On a raised half dias around the room there were gilded thrones, identical in color but carved with unique inlays to their owners. For all the modernity that the gods had, Zeus had kept the core foundations of the mountain the same. The room could be anything it wanted - a lounge, an intimate club, whatever they wanted. Clearly it was a power move being pulled; make her feel like an outsider. Nothing new.

Arranged on the thrones were, as expected, the pantheon. Her daddy in the center, perched like the king he thought he was. Hera was to his left, her face an impressive neutral mask - Persephone’s nails dug into her palms at the sight of the so called queen of the gods, and didn’t relax even as Demeter took hold of her free hand. Poseidon, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, and Athena fanned out on either side of Zeus and Hera, with Aphrodite and Hephesatus rounding things out. Three of the tacky chairs were empty - Demeter and Hermes both moved from her side then to take up two of the empty chairs. The remaining one belonged to Hades - and thus, as his wife, it also belonged to her.

But Persephone did not sit. She stood with Eurydice, the pair of them alone in the center of the room.

“Full regalia for this really necessary?” Persephone remarked to the otherwise silent room. “Figured we’d settle this in your back office and be done with it.”

“Your actions deserve full council.” Hera drawled, painted lips drawing into a sharp, deadly smile. “I should think you’d be happy to have a fair trial.”

“Trial?” Persephone arched a brow. “Nothin’ in that damn note of yours said trial. I’m here to say my piece, that’s all. Ain’t a reason for a trial. I’ve done nothin’ wrong. And before you open your mouth again will some utter bullshit, point me to whatever trumped up rule book you’ve invented tellin’ me I’ve done wrong by the universe.”

“Persephone.” Zeus’ voice rumbled in a way not unlike Hades’. He was older than she remembered, grayer at the temples. Nearly fully white as Hades, but not quite. Whereas her husband took after his mother, Zeus and Poseidon took after their daddy in a way that made her stomach twist itself back into knots. “You’re here as a guest. Not on trial. But you understand we naturally have . . . questions about your decision to give this human -”

“I have a name.”

Zeus’ gaze slid cooly over to Eurydice, who had spoken quite sharply.

“A name. My name is Eurydice. And Lady Persephone saved my life.”

“No, she didn’t.” It was Hera who spoke again. Gods, Persephone wanted to rip her perfect fucking face off. “She broke the law of the underworld and returned a soul to the living without permission. Souls are not permitted to return to the aboveground in the way you have, mortal.”

“Last I checked my husband was in charge of the law of the underworld, not you.” Persephone remarked. “And he ain’t got a problem with it.”

“I can’t help but notice Hades isn’t here.” Poseidon added. “Will he be joining us at all?”

“No. He willingly remained behind to see to the realm. That a problem?”

“You mean to babysit?” Hera mused. Persephone’s vision went vaguely red.

“Forgive me, I didn’t want to expose our daughter to the bullshit on this mountain at such an early age. She’s fine, by the way. Thanks for askin’.”

Hera’s eyes narrowed.

“It’s not like I asked for this!” Eurydice added. “I want it, more than anything. I love what Lady Persephone has given me. And - the promise of the contract is still there. I only bring the spring for six months. Then I spend winters down below. It’s the same thing as her, isn’t it? I just . . . took over her contract.”

Bold, Persephone thought. She’d expect nothing less from Eurydice and that fire burning in her. Hera looked positively livid that Eurydice had spoken without being spoken to - again - but to Persephone’s relief, Zeus looked at least amused. A decent sign.

“Hades has given his permission.” Persephone repeated, then glanced to her momma. “And so has Demeter.”

“I have.” Demeter added. “As a firm believer in a child havin’ both her parents, I granted the contract amendment.” She gave a long side-eye to Zeus, who pretended clearly not to notice.

“If both parties agreed, I see no true issue.” Athena’s voice was clearly flat; one of the many who seemed bored by the whole ordeal. Who thought it was a waste of time.

“I did not give my permission.” Zeus said evenly.

“Hades was the holder of the contract, with respect.” Hermes drawled.

“And if you look at that contract close enough, it never mentions me by name.” Persephone pointed out.

“It says Kore - “

“Which ain’t my name.” She cut across her father. Her hair was standing on end again - like the way it did just before a real bad thunderstorm. When lightning was in the air. Shit. “My name, as granted and given by you, is Persephone. Other than that, the contract states the seasons gotta be brought. And far as I can tell, Eurydice’s doin’ a damn fine job of it. Haven’t heard a single complaint.”

“She’s right. I looked over it myself.” Hermes spoke again. “She technically ain’t broke a single thing in that contract. And Eurydice’s doin’ a fine job as it is.”

“I did what I did for the sake of my marriage, and my daughter. I ain’t gonna abandon my girl. Eurydice and Orpheus helped repair damage done. If it weren’t for them, pretty sure you wouldn’t be havin’ this conversation. Instead you’d have mortal riots on your hands cause they’re all starvin’.” Persephone flexed her fingers, but they returned to the balled up fists at her side. It was difficult, trying to keep her temper under some normal range. The entire situation was foolish, the council a joke. Just because everyone else in the room seemed to be a shit parent, didn’t mean Persephone would ever be.

“Are we going to really discuss the logistics of this?” Hera snapped. “She broke the laws. You cannot just decide to name someone a god because you felt sorry for them. Otherwise half the mortal realm would be gods by now!”

“As opposed to the bastard demi-gods runnin’ about?” Persephone snarled. “Not much difference. I had every right. It’s my power, and mine to do with what I damned well please.”

“Then clearly you need stripped of them because you don’t know how to handle them.”

“Like you stripped me of my children?”

There was a quiet, tense silence that settled. Persephone was staring at Hera with every ounce of fury in her, watching as the queen of the gods seemed to internally debate how best to handle the situation presented. Perfect.

“You’ve gone delusional as well. I’ve done nothing to your child.”

“Ain’t for lack of tryin’.” Persephone continued. Without breaking her glare to Hera she fished in the front of her dress and pulled out a small, folded few notes that had certainly yellowed with age. She brandished them with a flourish. “And you did. Try. Succeeded before, too. I always thought it funny why my babies never survived in my womb. I’m the goddess of fucking life. Except where it mattered - or so I thought.” She stepped forward toward Hera’s throne, and no one made an immediate move to stop her.

“And then I found the letters. Half a dozen. Written to lackeys in your hand. Dates line up real nice and neat. Every little life crushed before it could even thrive because the goddess of childbirth and fertility deemed it so.”

She had grown closer to Hera, enough to throw the letters at her feet. Hera had the decency to look slightly appalled.

“You murdered my children. I ain’t got proof of it yet, but I’m pretty sure you nearly cost me my marriage, too. And for what?” Persephone could feel the anger radiating from her in waves; if anything remotely green and living within her vicinity had existed, it would surely be brown and ashen by now. Dead. “You’re a monster. And you’re lucky I don’t make you eat the ground beneath me and grind your face into the mountain from here to the bottom.”

Her gaze went sharply to Zeus, who was watching with a mixed expression.

“Deny Eurydice, reverse my choice. Strip me of my powers. And I’ll consider these letters as a threat of war. Hades agrees. You came for us, our family, our realm. Whether you were in on it or not.” Persephone’s teeth grit together as she glared at her father. “Go against this - or even think of laying harm to her or Orpheus or anyone else I love, and consider the underworld borders closed. No one in or out. Mortals will riot as their loved ones rot and their souls wander your realm. And they’ll go from worshipping you to cursing your temples near and far.”

Her smile was dark, wicked, an expression learned from her husband.

“And in case you decide it’s worth the cost - just remember. Hades and I are the only protection you have from the monsters in Tartarus. I can’t promise one or two might not somehow get out should there be any sort of war. So by all means. Try. Us.”

#( writing )#wait for me au

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koyurim · 5 years ago

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hospital playlist 11

oh god, things are coming to a head here as we near the end. our cast is making big (relatively for the show) moves that shift the dynamics from something comfortable to something unknown. we have only one more episode left, how will i pass the time when this season is done airing?!

we find out that not one but TWO of our 99 crew are planning their departure! i’m distraught for what this means for the band and for their friendship (i love that jun-wan, the one most opposed to the band in the beginning, is like what about OUR BAND?). i’m sure that they’ll still all be tight since it’s been a while since they’ve all been together (given seok-hyeon returning from being abroad, them not working at the same hospital till now, etc), bUT it’s really different from having that comfort and ability to be close enough to drop by someone’s office to hang out. i think that at least one of our two will definitely be leaving (it feels like it would be too convenient for them to both figure things out in seoul by the end), but maybe season 2 will be song-hwa’s return from when she’s finished her year and her neck’s all better... HERE’S TO HOPING....

seok-hyeon’s going through a lot of mixed feelings with his father’s death. how must if feel when someone who hurt you a lot passes? plot wise, it feels really convenient that he passed before the divorce was processed since i am hoping that seok-hyeon will get some of the inheritance, but i could also see dad leaving a mess behind for seok-hyeon, mom, and the mistress to solve. we’ll find out next episode, but i love how much the rest care for him, they won’t even let him say nice things about the mistress’s baby. this is also the first episode we see 99 crew properly drunk, they’re always so responsible with drinking given that they might be called in at any moment, but i feel like jun-wan and jeong-wan really drank in solidarity with seok-hyeon’s grief/happiness/messy feelings. also, best resident min-ha made me LAUGH with less than a minute of screen time! she’s so cute and nervous! i wonder if they’ve interacted much since she confessed.

jeong-wan’s plot is frustrating me at this point. i feel like we’ve been stuck for a while with the same dilemma, but no movement or growth. since his feelings with gyeol-ul and internal conflict are also not revealed to the viewers, it’s harder to figure out which way you want things to go for him. it’s nice that he’s finally starting to be kinder to gyeol-ul though, she deserves recognition for all her hard work and growth. congrats to her on her first surgery! i dont really care if him and gyeol-ul get together, i just want him to stick around for our crew and rosa! as a side note, i had no idea pediatric surgeons were so rare, jeong-wan, this definitely seems like the higher calling.

jun-wan’s dealing with a whole bunch himself! he’s growing as a doctor, taking jae-hak’s advice in how to disseminate information to his patients’ family. (lol @ jae-hak slowly nudging him along and giving him cues as to when to say what) his investment in his patients really shows how these cases impact doctors, especially when he was like ‘i cant have a fever now!’ jun-wan! you’re human too!

on the personal side of things, i’m delighted by how mature his relationship with ik-sun is. their conversations feel real and natural and they actually TELL each other things! in most drama relationships, i feel like we constantly hear ‘i’ll tell you later’ or ‘never mind’ and the dialogue is always something that moves the plot. they’ve decided to do long-distance and even though i agree with jun-wan that three years is short, i know that it’ll also be really hard. it also sounds like ik-sun only wants the happy parts in a relationship and is afraid of change due to her horrible ex. i was surprised to hear how her aversion to marriage is due to seeing ik-jun and u-ju (speaking of, we got to see u-ju/ik-sun!!!). i wonder what about ik-jun changing scared her, is she afraid of a life that’s dedicated only to her (potential) kids? anyway, jun-wan, there are some things you’re holding back from saying though! say it!!! you’re willing to make compromises for ik-sun and i hope she will be for you too. but ik-jun crawling all over jun-wan making the most ridiculous face had me giggling. he Definitely knows about their relationship.

on to our chi-hong/ik-jun/song-hwa love triangle...

THE FUCKING ELEVATOR SCENE.

AND THEN THE DRINKING GAME SCENE.

oh my god, where do i begin!!!!!!!! chi-hong, my boy. he really notices everything. the attention to detail and things unspoken does Not escape him. the tension in the elevator was palpable, especially because he noticed that ik-jun stepped into her personal space and gave her a parting touch on the shoulder as he left. when he asked for his birthday present from song-hwa and touched her shoulder, he was imitating what ik-jun did previously. he really wants to have the intimacy and closeness that ik-jun has with song-hwa. and because he wants that position, he notices ik-jun’s feelings. i do enjoy seeing how chi-hong really respects song-hwa and tries to model his behavior from her as a doctor, anticipating and learning where patients are headed as they step into the elevator.

ik-jun... when you taught the residents and interns how to properly play the drinking game, you were giving them weapons for your own undoing... ik-jun keeps his cards so close to his chest that i nearly DIED from how his hand was forced to reveal his feelings. ik-jun is so nosy himself but he tried so hard to avoid verbalizing his feelings for song-hwa and it wasn’t until chi-hong returned to the question that he said it. cho jung-seok is a phenomenal actor, he dances around so many questions but his face reveals it all. i wonder if he will ever say the words directly to song-hwa. the song was also another roundabout way to describe his love for song-hwa and im slightly worried about how sad some of those lyrics are...

i would give ANYTHING to get song-hwa’s perspective. since i’ve been watching reply 1997, ive realized the thing with ambiguous love triangles is that we don’t really get our female lead’s pov. the lack of POV shrouds our female leads in this air of mystery and creates distance between me and them. while i’ve grown to love ik-jun because we get to see the many layers in him, we don’t necessarily get that with song-hwa since her most inner thoughts are hidden. this is seriously SO frustrating, especially since we don’t have character narration for the show, and i’m like PLEASE GIVE ME SOMETHING ABOUT WHERE SONG-HWA STANDS. at this point, i don’t necessarily know that song-hwa will choose chi-hong over ik-jun, but it’s been 20 years since she first liked ik-jun. i think it’d be completely healthy for her to have moved on, especially given his marriage, and be content with them as friends. ik-jun’s reveal during the drinking game definitely shook up the world around her and i’m wondering how she’s processing this information. i also wonder if asking to be transferred is a way to distance herself from chi-hong or ik-jun...

however this shakes down, i’m going to be really sad to say bye (only temporarily though!) to this show next week. also this week gets honorable mention to the best eating scene--song-hwa and jun-wan stuffing their faces and feeding each other pork belly

ps. somi’s video of nurse mom was lovely, but was it not like a huge violation of privacy? lol

#hospital playlist #lmao this got LONG #im going to .... go rewatch the elevator and drinking game scene lol #will we ever find out what happened in hawaii #kdrama

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nerdycatastrophe · 4 years ago

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Idk did some pixel art and I’m now gonna attach my danganronpa fancharacter biographies because I can :DD (sprite edits, character details and designs are subject to change btw and this very post will be re-blogged everytime I edit something.)

W/ SCARF AND BEANIE

Name and Talent:

Ikani Rinyu, Ultimate Digital/Multimedia Artist

Birth Date and Age:

February 13, 16 years old

Race and Ethnicity:

Polynesian Japanese // Filipino Japanese

Accent:

Japanese, just...japanese.

Blood Type:

A+

Weight and Height:

128 lbs, 5'2 ft

Mental or Physical disorders:

Recovering Pyromaniac (I’m still researching about Inattentive ADHD and if this oc has accurate symptoms) and Peptic Ulcer

Sex, Pronouns and Gender identity:

Biologically Female, Prefer She/Her/Herself & They/Them/Themself or any pronouns & Demi-girl

Sexual and Romantic orientation:

Asexual Biromantic

Religion / Belief:

Agnostic

Other Hobbies:

Cooking, Baking, Making things out of matchsticks and wood and Drawing traditionally.

Likes:

Making digital artworks, playing with match sticks and flowers.

Loves:

The idea of setting things on fire or being around fire (for emotional reasons and urges) and warmth.

Dislikes:

Theft-related activity, acidic food and seafood.

Despises:

The idea of water and feeling cold.

Personality type and traits: ISFP

(INTROVERTED;SENSING;FEELER;PERCEIVING)

Personality description:

Ikani is mostly self-aware of reality’s hardships yet tend to keep up an ‘’whatever goes, is what happen and I cannot potentially do anything to change that.’’ carefree, reckless, will only believe when she has seen attitude that pretends to be a healthy optimistic nihilist way of dealing with life but when unmasked turns out to be a faulty uncertain self-hate of pessimism that pretends to be optimistic or a realist way of thinking and solving problems. This can badly affects her creative ability to do any problem solving, thinking outside the box or standing up for herself and the people she loves alone unless she has encountered that situation before or has help from someone with far more experience. She does not rebel that much to authority or dictatorship as she believes rules are rules or the law is the law and whatever unintended consequences that follow or reports of abuse of power are normal and natural but she’s open-minded and adaptable enough to consider changing rules and regulations peacefully if she’s convinced or confident enough. Either way, Whatever happens is whatever happens in the present and she won’t make any effort to neither change or preserve any rules or laws that much. She, most of the time, follows whatever happens in the present world with no consideration for the consequences that would follow because she doesn’t like to think philosophically or overthink.

Habits:

Stimming, flapping hands around, running around in circles when stressed, excited, happy, confused or afraid if she can’t bottle up her emotions, Running away from problems as much as possible (literally and figuratively) and bottling up her feelings. Also tends to get distracted and daydreams a lot yet when it’s her turn to talk about herself she goes a little overboard which can put off people and assume she is selfish. (when it’s just a habit she does)

Character morality alignment:

Lawful Neutral <-> Neutral Good

Name Etymology and Shenanigans 1:

Ikani Rinyu once translated from Japanese to English respectively means ‘’How’’ and ‘’Renew’’ forming the phrase, ‘’How renew.’’

Name Etymology and Shenanigans 2:

Mess with the letters on Ikani and you’ll get ‘’Ikanai’’ which means ‘’Don’t go’’ referring to her brother, ‘’Ika’’ which means ‘’not exceeding’’, ‘’Kanai’’ which means ‘’Flower’’, ‘’Kani’’ which means ‘’crab’’, ‘’Ikan’’ which means ‘’Fish’’, ‘’Ani’’ which is another term for ‘’brother’’ and ‘’Ni’’ which means ‘’to go’’

Name Etymology and Shenanigans 3:

Mess with the letters on Rinyu and you’ll get ‘’Rin’’ which means ‘’Cold’’ in Japanese and ‘’Dignified’’ or ‘’Severe’’ in Italian, ‘’Inu’’ which means ‘’Dog’’, and ‘’Rinu’’ which can mean ‘’Freelance of flowers’’ and ‘’Beautiful’’ or ‘’Pretty’’ in Indian.

Zodiac and Planet:

She is an Aquarius and is assigned the planet Uranus based on her zodiac.

Backstory:

Ikani Rinyu was born as a second child to a worker class family (Rinyu family) who mostly had time for her. Many years went by and her parents had to focus on things they deemed far more important in order to sustain a family with regular income. Her family’s income condition worsened when the day before Ikani 7th birthday, She, her brother and her parents were robbed of a lot of yen at gun-point by a gang after they went to the store and bought a digital tablet for her as a gift (because they felt as if they were neglecting Ikani because of work). After the incident happened, Ikani's mother divorced with her husband because it turned out that Ikani's father had connections with the gang that robbed them and never told her about it. Another reason for her parents divorce is that both of her father and mother had an underlying conflict in which both were never really interested in each other and only agreed to marry back when they were friends so that they can decrease their tax and avoid debt and they both felt guilty about divorcing each other because both felt that they were selfish with their underlying mutual motivations for marriage, they were still saving up money and investing and couldn’t afford to divorce early, and that divorcing will affect their children greatly if they will be honest about it to them at an early age (suprise suprise, bottling up your feelings worsens everything, yourself and everyone around you). This robbery incident went mainstream after the time Ikani’s mother divorced Ikani’s father and her remaining family was secretly interviewed by a group of ''journalists'' and this is how (insert academy name) found and scouted Ikani just so they can replace and -cover up an ultimate's death.- So her mom and the group of journalists made a contract in exchange for financial gain and basically free education for Ikani and her brother and also medical + financial insurance. Ikani started setting things on fire (mostly flowers, sticks and wood) on ‘’accident’’ just to gain attention from her busy mom, brother and everyone else she was close to and was forming a relationship with, in which her ‘’habits’’ slowly spiralled and developed into impulsive Pyromania because she felt that she was never loved enough + with her parents divorce taking a toll on her (her brother tried to help but also didn't know what to do and was busy with their own school). Around this time, she also felt like eating would decrease her family's money greatly so she tried skipped eating snacks at school but not basic meals yet she still developed peptic ulcer. On her 11th birthday, Ikani’s brother finally took a stand and consulted a ‘’reliable’’ therapist/psychiatrist and a dietician (who helped with the insert academy's goals) despite it being expensive and discouraged by her mom. Her therapist/psychiatrist then noted to her parents that Ikani should focus more on expressing her emotions in more artistic and creative ways in order to cope with her bottled up emotions, trauma and urges and using the digital tablet she got at age 7 when everything was still relatively alright should be a good head start. Her dietician also helped her with resolving her peptic ulcer and convinced her that she shouldn't feel bad about eating extra snacks and set out a diet for her to follow. Soon, The academy’s contract money given to her parents was enough to sustain her creative urges as Ikani eventually learned to create moving and still digital artworks including complex 3d and photography by simply using her tablet that had limited features over the years despite her age as she contributed to many famous and iconic company logos, designs, presentations, artworks, animations, movies, edits and videos that are found in the media. Over the years, Ikani secretly wished that the contract would stop as that diverted corporate's financial wants for themselves because of her hidden relations with the academy journalists and she wishes she was never born and regretted that time she was too ''needy'' at age 7 (she shouldn't blame herself though) but never took her own ground against it to her mom as she felt like she was selfish for wanting to do something her mom didn't desire so she ended up ONLY EVER venting her emotions through her work/hobby and sometimes forgot how to express her emotions.

Reasons for acting the way she does during the killing game:

The reason why she doesn’t vent her emotions and only bottles it up during the killing game is because just like in the original Danganronpa series, Monokuma would confiscate your belongings that allowed access to communicating with the outside world (and it just turned out her only venting item was a digital tablet that would probably screw up Monokuma) Also, it’s because the idea of ‘’Survival of the Fittest.’’, ‘’Being weak will kill you.’’ and ‘’No time for crying because it is not yet over’’ is in her head all the time + fear of being impulsive again and accidentally resurfacing her Pyromania and basically rendering her brother’s efforts to help her with her problems useless so yeah she’s guilty of wanting to feel emotions so she eventually becomes numb to the things happening around her. All of these are her ways of justifying being emotionless, being unintentionally ignorant and coping with loss and grief in a dangerous game that could kill you any moment.

Student percentile, Predictability and chances:

>Gets killed normally: 30%

>Punished and killed for breaking rules OR due to unfair trial misconduct shenanigans because plot: 4.6%

>ATTEMPTED to murder someone: 20%

>Blackened AND escapes: 10.5%

>Blackened BUT executed: 25.5 %

>Killed someone BUT died during or before their murder trial: 9%

>Betrays everyone as the MASTERMIND: 1.5 %

>Betrays everyone as the MOLE // TRAITOR: 5.7 %

>Survives the killing game as an forever evil MOLE // TRAITOR // MASTERMIND in the killing game: 0.8 %

> Survives the killing game as a redeemed MOLE // TRAITOR // MASTERMIND in the killing game: 0.3 %

>Survives the killing game as a normal person in the killing game: 35%

W/ VISION CORRECTING VISORS

2. W/ VISION CORRECTING READING GLASSES

3. N/A EYEWEAR

Name and Talent:

Cyl Bol // Cyden Boliver ^ Ultimate Arcade Attendant

Birth Date and Age:

July 9 ^ 15 years old

Race and Ethnicity:

Dutch Japanese

Accent:

Russian mixed with Dutch and Japanese

Blood Type:

B-

Weight and Height:

100 lbs ^ 5'5 ft

Mental or Physical disorders:

Developing schizophrenia symptoms (I’m still researching on this so I’m not sure) and PAPD (Passive-Aggressive Disorder) and has genetic Albinism + Astigmatism.

Sex, Pronouns and Gender identity:

Biologically male, Any pronouns but They/Them/Themself and He/Him/Himself are preferred, Gender-fluid

Sexual and Romantic orientation:

Toric // Quadrisan or Viramoric

Religion / Belief:

Reformed // Progressive Judiasm (yeah, this the correct term-)

Other Hobbies:

Debate, Internet surfing, Meditation, Reading philosophical/theology books, Practicing first-aid methods and crushing herbs.

Likes:

Salt, Bread, Dieting (fasting), Figs, Bread, Wheat and Grains, Krupnik with meat

Loves:

Philosophy, Theology, Basic human rights, Debating, Eating Chopped Liver

Dislikes:

The taste of pork (im sorry for adding this if it feels a little bit racist but I genuinely hate pork and I wanted to add it to a character that fits it the most without being too ignorant and stereotypical while still making the character that dislikes pork have an actual personality and backstory other than just RELIGION stuff. keep in mind this character hates pork not because it’s ‘’unholy’’, it’s because it tastes horrible for them), Immature // Karen customers, His own talent, Seeds, Human contact, Getting sick and parties/social celebrations.

Despises:

Strict people, Strict rules, Strict regulations, Dense and stubborn optimists, Peer pressure, Being taunted for being weak // frail, The sun’s warmth and sunlight, Going outside, Backstabbers and being manipulated.

Personality type and traits: INTP

(INTROVERTED;INTUITIVE;THINKING;PERCEIVING)

Personality description:

Really really intentionally and maybe unintentionally paranoid, superstitious, ‘’weird’’ passive-aggressive and lonely since it's his way of avoiding unnecessary conversations that could drain out his energy for him to save up on topics he deems far more important (philosophy + theology) and people that could potentially hurt him again unless they specifically ask him or want something from him for a short // limited amount of time and say it extremely extremely politely to the point where he feels pity or someone out-smarts his passive-aggressiveness causing Cyl to do your favor immediately out of embarrassment, anger, frustration or getting flustered. Most of the time, Cyl has a rather nihilistic and pessimistic (but sometimes, realistic and optimistic at times) views and mindsets of life and would rather die rather than following strict regulations // rules. Although he is a passive type of Nihilist and knows there isn’t that much value in life despite searching it (even with religion), He still is sort of a coward and ends up helping other people out of pity, jealousy, admiration or respect and will still be willing to fight for people’s rights things society deems unworthy despite the odds and his diminishing motivation on doing so. Cyl prefers to be individualistic, thoughtful, overthink for hours, alone and free when it comes to him making decisions or going onto places. Although he’s an INTP, He allows his emotions to run wild at times (even if in the process, hurting other people whether he realizes it or not) which allows him to make thoughtfully calculated decisions without having the burden of emotions and mood. Because of his defiance against the norms, He can usually think outside the box and think of solutions quick enough to solve an underlying problem on time in an creative yet messy analytical manner. Also yeah he struggles following rules.

Habits:

Praying a bit too much than usual, Rapidly cleaning visor goggles // reading glasses even when not needed, Limping hands and fingers to relax hand tendons, muscles and bones and tugging at Hanukkah snow cap when embarrassed / flustered.

Character moral alignment:

Chaotic Neutral

Name Etymology and Shenanigans 1:

Cyl is an abbreviation of ‘’Cylinder’’ which indicates the lens power your doctor is prescribing to correct your astigmatism (and this oc has astigmatism)

Name Etymology and Shenanigans 2:

Bol can be an abbreivation for Broek Op Langedijk (a dutch town), Beacon of light, Bread of Life, Bolivia’s (sounds like Boliver) ISO Country code, Beginning Of Life and Balls Of Light (paranormal phenominon associated with crop circles) Name Etymology and Shenanigans 3:

Cyden is of English origin and means "To stand strong and be brave together as one" and Cayden is of American origin and means ‘’Fighter’’

Name Etymology and Shenanigans 4:

Bolivar is the name of the South American soldier that had a country (Bolivia) dedicated to him. Oliver is a boy name that means ‘’Descendant Of The Ancestor’’ in English, In latin it means Olive (symbol of peace); peaceful. Olive is a girl’s name meaning ‘’Olive tree’’ and is another symbol of peace.

Zodiac and Planet:

He is a Cancer and is assigned the ‘planet’ moon based on their zodiac.

Backstory:

N/A (ITS ALMOST 2 AM LOL MAYBE TOMORROW)

Student percentile, Predictability and chances:

N/A (ITS ALMOST 2 AM LOL MAYBE TOMORROW)

#Ikani Rinyu #Cyl Bol #Cyden Boliver #Ultimate Multi-Media Artist #Ultimate Arcade Attendant #Danganronpa : Even in Digital Equality #Danganronpa Pixel Art sprite #Danganronpa #Danganronpa Fancharacters #Danganronpa OCs

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nixfms · 4 years ago

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hello , babies ! my names peach & this is my baby nix. i’m super excited for this group bc i love lil oc celeb things so i’m happy to be here ! below you can read a little about nix & give this a like for me to come bother you for some plots !

✫ *ﾟ LUKE HEMMINGS , CIS MALE , HE / HIM : did you hear phoenix ‘ nix ’ orion is joining the cast of exposed after him buying off pictures and videos of him under the influence that contradicted his claimed sober life was revealed ? the twenty three year old singer with 52m followers is trying to clear their name after they've become known as the resident paradox in the mansion , and it's clear that's spot on because they're quite - secretive & - vindictive , but also + luminescent & + benevolent . you know they're heading to the confession booth if you hear tattoos together by lauv blasting , most likely talking about how they're more than private agreements behind closed doors , ducking away from paparazzi , gleaming blue eyes , & perfectly crafted reputations .

𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨.

full name : phoenix nicolai orion

nicknames : nix

age : twenty - three

birthday : august 9th ( leo )

occupation : singer.

hometown : sydney , australia

orientation : bisexual , biromatic

𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚.

height : 6′4″

hair color : blonde

eye color : blue

tattoos : left sleeve rose piece ( reference )

piercings : previous snakebites , removed

𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙. triggers include : death / car accident , drug / alcohol use , divorce , abandonment.

phoenix orion or nix is typically known by just that - nix. doesn’t mind nicknames but usually just goes by nix.

hails from sydney , australia. born to a small family that didn’t have a lot. dad worked during the day and mom worked at night so nix never really saw much of either of them until the weekend. spent most of his time with his older sister. she was 100% his best friend. was a relatively well behaved child. got along with most people. didn’t get into too much trouble , though there were a few detentions here and there.

trigger /// high school is when things got a little rough for him. his parents were going through a hard time & when he was a freshman , they filed for divorce. he leaned a lot on his older sister who had just started college. his family wasn’t exactly the closest knit system , but as he began to go between mom & dads house it got a little difficult for him.

trigger heavy /// when he felt like he finally had a good system , he got a phone call one night that his sister had been in a car accident & within the next 24 hours she had passed away. sixteen year old nix had his word rocked because his sister was his biggest support system. he had a super hard time coping.

within the next two years , he threw himself into music. had already been utilizing social media to get his name out a little bit but hadn’t put a big focus on it. his sister had taught him guitar , keyboard , and they would always sing together & diving into music made him feel closer to her again. together , the band decided that they actually wanted to try to do this professionally. started off making little youtube videos on their own & eventually decided that they needed to make a big decision if they were going to get big.

taking a big risk , nix released a single and moved out to la and exploded with fame. got picked up by a company & immediately fell into a certain image. portrayed as very innocent & kind since he was 18. immediately clung to the idea of being clean & pure. however as he got older & more & more famous , temptations became harder to avoid. so he balanced a party lifestyle privately while upholding his good boy imagine privately. continued to tell fans he would never touch drugs or alcohol but continued to go out & get fucked up & avoid the cameras.

management has had to buy off tons of images on his leaving a club or party drunk or high or both. struggles a lot with losing his sister & turns to things that he shouldn’t to enjoy himself. however , got caught up in the lie he was telling & didn’t have a choice at some point.

fast forward to the exposed and out comes all the pictures he bought off , showing off relationships he shouldn’t have had , & states of being clearly under the influence.

so he’s current stuck in the place of not knowing what to do to get his fans to forgive him : actually get clean , or start being him.

𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮. triggers include : none.

he’s definitely not a bad guy ! struggles with some things but is generally nice. is portrayed as a super sugary sweet innocent boy and isn’t exactly that , but he’s not rude or mean or anything like that. just definitely not as innocent as the media says he is.

publicly surrounds himself with people that’ll make his image look good and privately spends time with people who wouldn’t.

has a pretty decent sense of humor and loves anyone he can laugh with. isn’t exactly the class clown of the group , but will always slip in a little joke here or there if it comes to his head.

a cuddly boy ! as soon as you call nix your friend , you’ll have this entire 6′4 body sprawled over top of you and he will just sleep there. loves body contact and feels more comfortable sleeping next to someone than he does alone.

is basically one big paradox. some people in the industry catch on to the fact that his media portrayal isn’t really him , but he keeps the act going around most people so it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not real.

definitely sleeps around a bit , but keeps it on the absolute down low. i’m nearly positive the media thinks he’s still a virgin ( despite saucy lil songs ) and he just lets them.

loves posting on social media and interacts with his fans a lot. preaches about what his management thinks that he should , which is what got him into this whole mess to begin with.

𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙖.

wanted connections.

pinterest.

you can ask me for my discord if you’d rather plot there !

#exposed.intro #this is queue'd bc my dad just pulled me to come help him w dinner so i'll be present in a few minute sSDLGJSDGLJ #IM SO EXCITED SRY THIS IS LONG !!!

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blackjack-15 · 5 years ago

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Puttering Around — Thoughts on: Secret of the Old Clock (CLK)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2, STFD, MHM, TRT, FIN, SSH, DOG, CAR, DDI, SHA, CUR

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with links to previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: CLK, CUR.

The Intro:

In our next Jetsetting game, Nancy travels back from Modern-Day England and straight into 1930s Titusville (aka River Heights 70+ years ago) to help an acquaintance who’s in the middle of two unrelated plots to turn Titusville upside down.

A game famously reviewed as “pleasant but inconsequential”, Secret of the Old Clock tends to be passed over for both praise and censure, famous for two minigames (the sewing minigame and the mini-golf) but otherwise overlooked. It’s a shame, really, that it’s sandwiched in between two much flashier games, as CLK is a wonderfully solid entry into the Nancy Drew series. It pioneers the two-culprit variation on the standard Nancy Drew plot, tackles a new time period, and includes dozens of in-jokes towards the Nancy Drew books.

It’s also the first introduction of Carson Drew as a phone character, which is a lot of fun, and makes sense that he’d show up in the game that includes nods to all things canon. He doesn’t show up again until much later in the series, so it’s nice to introduce him here after hearing about him for 12 games.

As opposed to CUR right before it, CLK takes care to ground itself in a linear plotline, handling its story with relative ease and taking care not to reach too far out of the box. This is one of its greatest strengths, and provides a much better game overall because of it. It’s a simple story, pretty well told.

Though it doesn’t stand up to other more “simple” games before it such as CAR or DDI, it never reaches any of the lows of SCK, FIN, or CUR, and allows the player to be sucked in to its fantastic facsimile of life in the 1930s for teen sleuth Nancy Drew — blue roadster and all.

The Title:

As CLK is a mixture of the first four Nancy Drew books, it retains the title of the first book. As a nod to the history of Nancy Drew, it’s a great choice for the title.

Unfortunately, though the Old Clock does appear and hold secrets, it’s just not prominent enough to deserve the title that it holds. The other three books — The Hidden Staircase, The Bungalow Mystery, and The Mystery at Lilac Inn — are other options, and The Mystery at Lilac Inn would have been the most appropriate title. It doesn’t have the immediate name recognition, which is why they didn’t pick it, but it really is much better and encapsulates the game much better, as the game revolves around the Mysteries that are tied to the Inn.

That’s all I really have to say about that, so onto the mystery!

The Mystery:

Nancy Drew is summoned to the Lilac Inn to help Emily Crandall, the friend of Nancy’s friend Helen Corning, who needs to put her recently deceased mother’s jewelry into a safe, and figures that Nancy’s father would have one.

If it sounds to you like a simple, if slightly contrived premise, then you’d be right.

Once Nancy gets there, however, she finds out that Emily is cracking under the pressure of running an Inn, that her guardian Jane Willoughby isn’t as much help as she should be, and that Emily and her mother were depending on money from Josiah Crowley’s will, which mysteriously only included his recent ESP teacher, Richard Topham, rather than the Crandalls and the local banker.

From there, things go from bad to worse as the inn’s kitchen catches fire, Emily’s jewels are stolen (and partially returned), and voices in the walls start manifesting — not to mention the fetch quests around Titusville that Nancy is sent on and the ridiculous Richard Topham hiding everything about himself other than how pompous he really is.

Nancy soon figures out that this mystery is two-headed, with one side revolving around the Inn itself and the other around Josiah Crowley’s real — and missing — will. Our villains catch on too, however, and Nancy has to race against their suspicion to expose the frauds, discover hidden secrets and identities, and solve the Secret of the Old Clock.

As a mystery, this one really is quite good for its time. Dual villains, each unconcerned with the other, hidden inheritance, Shakespeare references — it’s got it all. Though Jim Archer lets it down a bit in his sheer nothingness, and it functions as a howdunnit with a weird whodunnit beginning, CLK is solid ground after the incredibly shaky mystery in CUR, and it’s a lot of fun to play through.

The Suspects:

Emily Crandall is our protagonist and resident watering pot of CLK who spends the game moping and being Generally Unhelpful. Her mom’s death notwithstanding, Emily’s stressors are the Inn, her lack of money, and her fake-guardian making her think that she’s crazy.

So maybe her total lack of common sense in wanting to call in Nancy because Nancy’s bound to have a safe at home is a result of copious amounts of mental stress. One can only hope so, as by her next birthday she’s the legal owner of the Inn.

Emily actually would have been interesting as a villain, but she, like Jim, just isn’t enough of a presence in the game — which stands out since she’s the closest we’ve got to a main character! She cries a lot, she sits a lot, and that’s about it. She would have had to be a misguided villain, convinced that her guardian (who would have had to actually be Jane Willoughby) is after her fortune…but HER still isn’t up to that level yet, and it’s probably better that they went with a story they can tell wholly and mostly convincingly.

Honestly speaking, Emily, being as she is, is a more successful Linda Penvellyn, which I don’t actually think is unintentional. She’s being harassed and abused by someone who’s basically a family member but is still largely unfamiliar to her, the tie to her remaining family is gone (though Emily’s mother is dead, unlike Hugh Penvellyn), and she is being gaslighted to believe that she’s crazy.

Emily was allowed more agency, more screen time, and more pity by the writers and creators, and because of that, her situation with her Evil Jane is far more obvious to the average player, and she’s treated with far more sympathy than Linda historically has been by the fandom (though recent fan discussion has begun trending in Linda’s favor, which I think is wonderful and fantastic).

Jane Willoughby is, of course, not Jane Willoughby after all, but actually Marion Aborn, proving that identity theft in the 30s was as easy as…well, saying that your name was someone else’s name.

An acquaintance of the actual Jane Willoughby and a petty thief, Marion intercepted the letter about Gloria’s death and Jane’s status as Emily’s guardian and decided to try to cash in on potential cash by tormenting Emily until she signed over the Inn. Exploding the kitchen, stealing Emily’s jewels, and attempting to make the girl think that she was crazy to make her sell the Inn before her 18th birthday (after which Marion would receive no profits).

As one of two culprits, Marion is the more “subtle” culprit and has the more complicated background, but is also the one you have to deal with the most, and thus suffers slightly from being in the spotlight (and thus showing the obviously evil side of her) a little too much. As this game isn’t really concerned with its culprits as a centerpiece, however, Marion’s antics fit right in.

Marion also gets points for being a much more intelligent abusive culprit (contrasting Jane), working hard to make Emily think she’s crazy with a clear goal in mind and even going as far as stealing, then partially replacing, Emily’s jewels to really hammer home the idea that the girl wasn’t mentally well to others — and to Emily herself.

Richard Topham is a self-proclaimed ESP expert and everyone-else-proclaimed dick who ended up somehow being the beneficiary of Josiah Crowley’s will, despite his spoken intentions to leave it to the Crandalls and Jim Archer. He also has a very obnoxious cat named Uri, voiced by a lovely cat named Carl (though I bet you were expecting me to say Jonah Von Spreecken — never fear, he shows up as the Tubby Telegram guy!)

Richard is our other culprit, guilty of falsifying Josiah Crowley’s will when no one could find the original, leaving most everything to himself rather than to the Crandalls or Jim Archer as Josiah wanted. A slight throwback to the 1920s obsession with spiritualism that itself was a post-war reaction to massive death, Richard is as sleazy as they come, testing Nancy for an “inferior mind” and taking advantage of every situation in order to come out on top.

As a culprit, Richard’s technically the one with the bigger crime, but is overshadowed by the plotline with Emily and Marion and is thus a little forgettable, even though it was his actions that started this whole mess in the first place.

Finally, Jim Archer is the local banker who’s not having too good of a time during, well, the Great Depression, where hundreds of banks (and dozens of bankers’ hearts) failed. Promised a boon by Josiah Crowley, he, like Emily, is left in the lurch after the false will was presented. Jim was also a fellow student with Carson Drew at law school, but turned to banking as a career instead.

Despite his office being the location where Nancy finally figures out the mystery of the titular Old Clock and where she discovers that “Jane” is actually Marion, Jim really doesn’t have much to do in this game. He gives Nancy the dreaded sewing minigame and reminds the player that the stock market crash was a recent event, but other than that has very little impact.

Jim would have been a poor choice for a villain — he just doesn’t have the personality or impact necessary — as the only storyline readily available would have been him doing Dirty Deeds to keep his bank afloat…except for the fact that if he were a villain, his bank would have been doing fine, with no need for the will anyway.

The Favorite:

My favorite moment in the game, odd as it might seem, is the CB radio conversation-slash-puzzle. It’s so rare in these pre-Nik games that we actually get to see the lives of those not really related to the case/mystery and get a sense for the world spinning on despite the incident, and this is a great example of that done right.

Like the “freezer moment” mentioned in my Danger on Deception Island meta, this moment where Nancy can see how Josiah Crowley’s life has impacted people for the better, rather than the main game where so far his death has made everything worse. It’s a wonderful moment, and honestly the game is worth replaying on the merit of that alone (though there are many wonderful things about it).

My favorite puzzle is getting down into the secret passage (and all of the puzzles within the passage). It’s a ton of fun to find hidden passages that aren’t full of Deadly Traps or human remains, and the whole Creepy’s Corner puzzle is delightfully campy and awesome.

The best location in the game by far is the carriage house, where the aforementioned conversation takes place. Beautifully lit, nicely hidden away in stages, and the only place that doesn’t feel like a 1960s set of a 30s period piece.

I love this game as homage to the original Nancy Drew titles; though they’re changed somewhat to suit both a video game style and the take on the original canon that the video game universe took (such as making Nancy’s mother’s death at 10 as it was originally, which was the smartest move they’ve ever done).

Video-Game-Style Nancy’s far more like her original 30s version than the sanitized, “fashion-ized” version in the 60’s rewrites — a fact that becomes more and more clear as the series goes on — and it really does show here, as cowboy-cop Nancy wrangles not one but two crooks.

Speaking of, the last thing that I’ll mention in this section is the fact that there are two different culprits, each uncaring of the other. In a game series that was originally only supposed to be 12 games long (meaning CLK would be the last one), this is a delightfully fresh take and it makes untangling who did what a lot of fun and makes CLK different from most games before it.

I’ll talk more about this in later Nancy metas, but the shift from “one crime, one culprit” to a more “spread the guilt” approach really makes the games go up a level or two in enjoyability and in complexity, and CLK is a great example of how just having two culprits really makes the game much more fun to play around with.

The Un-Favorite:

All of that being said, there are some things in CLK that I really don’t love.

The sewing puzzle is honestly the worst; it’s hard with a mouse and nearly impossible with a trackpad, it’s tedious, and it doesn’t matter for the rest of the game, which is probably the worst part given how much effort it takes. It’s a puzzle for a puzzles’ sake, and doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know (we know Jim’s not doing well; we know it’s the Great Depression, etc.), not to mention not rewarding the player nor Nancy for the effort.

My least favorite moment in the game would have to be Nancy’s first encounter with Richard Topham. Nancy’s autonomy is usually respected in both the 30s original drafts (less so in the 60s re-writes) and in the games, and Richard’s comments about lesser minds and his little test are, even with Nancy’s snarky comment about him in her diary, frankly out of place.

They don’t serve as a “relic of the times”, they don’t make us hate Richard more than we would have for stealing money from people who are literally drowning in bills and debt…and as much as the Nancy Drew books and character are feminist rather than Feminist, it’s honestly not great to have both his ‘clients’ during the course of the game be women that he treats the way he does.

It wasn’t necessary to have him behave the way he does, it contradicts the Spiritualist movement (which was most popular among women to a startling degree, and male Spiritualists tended to treat their female clients very well because that was the bulk of their clientele), and it doesn’t tell us anything new about him, because Nancy and the players already know he’s a fake and a blowhard.

The Fix:

So how would I fix Secret of the Old Clock?

The first and biggest fix I’d make is to include a strong storyline about Spiritualism. As noted several times above, Spiritualism was a huge force in the 1920s, and a period piece set in the year 1930 should necessarily reflect that. Quite frankly, all the nonsense about Jim Archer’s wife should just be cut and replaced with a big Spiritualism puzzle of some sorts.

I’m not saying a séance — no need to retread MHM — but an actual nod to Spiritualism (and through it, the first World War, which given Nancy’s age of 18, would have happened when she was a child) more than just “and this character is a psychic of sorts, don’t really think about it” would improve the game and ground it in its time period. Other than the references to money troubles and the ease of identity theft, there’s not much to ground CLK in its period, and I really think a Spiritualism storyline would aid that.

And if Spiritualism is involved, Richard becomes a more present, more serious character — and a more serious threat. It also opens the opportunity for the two plotlines to intersect — is Emily being driven crazy by stress, an enemy, or a malevolent spirit (which could even be supposed to be her mom, should they want a slightly darker turn)? Richard might visit the house to ensure there are no ‘malevolent presences’ around — and ensure that Crowley didn’t hide his will there.

It wouldn’t become a ‘haunting’ game; it would instead work on the aesthetic of familiar spirits — something that would be explored more fully in the next game.

I know this has been said, but I can’t emphasize enough that the sewing puzzle should be cut, even if there’s nothing to take its place. It’s a perfect example of the wrong puzzle, the wrong controls, and the wrong side-quest at the wrong time. I’m also not sure why they made Jim Archer a middle-aged banker rather than Helen Corning’s fiancée, but that’s too small a change to really bother with.

The other important change I would make is to change CLK from a weak whodunit — our culprits are already clearly the culprits — to a strong howdunit, which is what it really wants to be.

The beginning can stay the same — Nancy’s journey, Emily’s mother’s death, Richard’s faking of the will, Josiah Crowley’s death and promises, etc. — but introducing Richard Topham at the Inn, there to ‘visit’ and offer condolences and because he sensed Heavy Psychic Energy and wondered if it was coming from the house or from Emily. Have Emily tell Nancy in confidence that the other reason she called her in was because she’s either going crazy or being attacked on all sides, and the game can proceed on from that point.

Because the villains aren’t secret or even quasi-hidden in plain sight — save for Marion’s identity theft — it’s a much more natural shift to a howdunit than other games. Emily’s living in fear of Marion, running the Inn, and the possible Malevolent Spirit that may or may not be her mother haunting her through the Secret, Secret Passageway in the Inn, and Nancy’s suspicious of Richard Topham who inherited all of Crowley’s wealth, of the ‘hauntings’ of the Inn, and of the missing will and the gifts Josiah left behind.

Those two plotlines alone are enough to carry the game, especially including the Edutainment section on Spiritualism that would tie in with Richard Topham (and possibly include Emily’s mother having an interest due to her husband dying in the war), and so Jim Archer just isn’t needed as much. Whether he stays in the game in an even more reduced role or whether he’s replaced by a ninth-hour character in the form of Emily’s actual guardian, the real Jane Willoughby, is up to personal preference (though I personally like the second option).

Like all the Jetsetting games, CLK begins with a small problem that snowballs into larger and larger consequences. By emphasizing a Spiritualist plotline (culminating with the technology-based ‘encounters’ Josiah had with his CB radio friends), trimming down the fat with Jim Archer, and selling CLK from the beginning as more of a howdunit than a whodunit, CLK would improve enough to be more than just a good game, and become a standout of its era — as befitting the start of the titular teen detective.

#nancy drew #clue crew #secret of the old clock #nancy drew games #CLK #nancy drew meta #long post #my meta #video games

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