#its autumn ok i had to write SOME sort of queer. something. that fit the vibes

[syn4k]

A 33-year-old woman walks into the forest near midnight during autumn. She is clutching a lantern and covered basket tightly and her poise is tense, but she walks steadily and with clear purpose.

Squinting ahead into a clearing lit by a half-moon, she steps over a log, walks into the deathly quiet clearing, kneels and carefully sets down her lantern outside of a ring of perfectly preserved stumps, and uncovers her basket. From within, she takes out a small slip of paper and a child's toy and places it in the center. On the second finger of her right hand is a ring of some sort of silvery metal which appears unremarkable in the moonlight, but the way in which she takes a deep breath and hesitates before taking it off her finger and adding it to the objects within the ring of stumps indicates that it has clear value to her. She bows her head. She waits.

A gust of wind buffets her short-cropped hair and her cloak. From in front of her, or perhaps behind her, she can hear the rustle of fabric, but she does not look up.

"You come on the night when the souls of the dead are closest to the world of the living," says a husky and raspy voice, deep but still androgynous in a markedly nonhuman way. It is not a question. It is a statement.

The woman nods, still not taking her eyes from the grass crushed underneath her folded legs. "Yes."

"I cannot bring the dead back from their graves, no matter what offerings you give up as payment," says the voice. "And I cannot bring their souls back either for any period of time, mortal."

"I know," says the woman in a low undertone.

"Then why are you here?"

The woman opens her mouth as if to speak, then closes it and glances slightly up. A white cloak, not stirred by the wind blowing around it, meets her. Beside her, her lantern has gone out. Hearing no rebuke, she looks up.

The entity's face is obscured by a deep shadow cast by their hood, which she is glad of. She thinks she can make out the glint of eyes, but she's not sure, and she knows well enough to not pry. She opens her mouth to try again. "Because there is a life that I would like to put to death," she says.

The entity does not move, but it tone shifts to being maybe confused, maybe condescending. "I am not a mercenary. I do not preside over the dead. Your own kind is best for this sort of work. If you are... mourning," it forms the word slowly, as if it's unnatural to its mouth, if it even has a mouth, "then I cannot help you. Our kind do not know death, nor do we touch Her realm."

"Not someone else's life," the woman says, somewhat hastily. "My own." She pauses. "Not wholly, but- you are in the business of acquiring names, yes?"

The entity is silent a moment before responding. "It is not our specialty. We have... cousins who are more closely aligned to that line of work, but it may be done for a price."

"Then I humbly ask a favour of you," says the woman. "My payment is in the circle. Is it enough to have my name replaced?"

The entity turns and kneels, one long, bony arm reaching out to take and inspect the items placed. The hood turns towards her. "Yes, although it is a bit strange."

The woman nods. "Strange, yes, but all very dear to me. The toy belonged to me when I was young. The paper is my proof of birth, and has my given name inscribed on it. The ring..." She chokes up a little, but continues. "The ring is proof of my marriage to my wife of many years."

The entity hums. "Does she know that you are here?"

"She does not."

The entity stands, and beckons the woman to stand as well. She leaves her lantern and the basket on the ground.

"Those who come to replace their names, mortal, and it is very few who end up here on purpose, are often running from their pasts. Has your wife been disloyal to you? Have you been disloyal to her?"

"She has been nothing but loving and faithful my entire life," the woman says, ducking her head to wipe a tear from her eye. "Our child- he is currently asleep in his bed. I do not wish any harm to come to them. But I have been lying to them for years and I cannot face them anymore. My love thought that she married a man. My son knows me only as his father. If I disappear now, they will be hurt and betrayed, but less than if they knew."

The entity considers this for a moment. "What is your given name?"

"Joseph."

"And what do you wish your new name to be?"

"Esmeralda."

"You have clearly put much thought into this, mortal," says the entity. "But know this. When your family means to speak your old name, your new one will drop from their mouth instead, and this will go for everyone who has ever known you. They will know, but they will not know what happened. Are you sure?"

The woman hesitates, then nods. "I love them enough to do this," she says. "I do not want to hurt them."

"You say you love them," says the entity thoughtfully, "and you say they are faithful to you, and yet you are sure that when you receive your new name they will shun you."

"It just is not done," says the woman, slightly desperately. "I'm not sure they'll understand."

The entity tilts its head at her. "If your son came up to you tomorrow and told you that he wanted to change his name as well, would you love him still?"

"Yes," says the woman immediately. "I promised when he was born to love and protect him no matter what, as did my wife. If he were to turn into a mindless monster, I would harbor him still."

The entity nods sagely and bends to take all three items in its hands. It hands the woman's wedding ring back to her. "Then have faith," it says. "Are you sure?"

Joseph nods, tears streaming down her face. "I am terrified. But yes."

The entity looks down at the paper and snaps its fingers over it. The children's toy turns to dust, and the woman chokes back a sob. For a moment, everything is utterly, inexorably still, and then the world breathes again.

"It has been done," says the entity, holding the paper out.

"Thank you," whispers Esmeralda. She takes the paper, notes almost detachedly that her name on it has been changed, almost appearing seared into the paper, and folds it and puts it into her pocket.

"My business is done," says the entity. "Go back to your home."

"What will I tell my wife?" asks the woman.

"I do not know," says the entity. "I cannot predict the future. But you are braver than most. I believe that whatever you say will be right."

The woman nods and bows. When she stands up again, the entity is gone, her lantern is lit again, and there is no indication that any foot has ever touched the grass within the circle. Outside the ring, the imprints where she knelt still lingers.

-<|>-

The next morning, the woman's wife wakes to find herself alone in the bed. She walks into the kitchen, where her wife sits alone at the table, staring into the grain, hands folded as if she is deep in thought.

"You're up early, Esmeralda," she says, then pauses. Esmeralda looks up, face stricken, and the wife sighs and walks over to take her lover's hands. "I am not angry," she says gently. "I would just like to know why, and how."

"I went to the woods last night," says Esmeralda in a low, almost shattered voice. "I made a deal with some... thing to change my name. I gave my birth paper, my wedding ring, my favorite childhood toy, and my old name as payment. It was changed, and I came back here. Alia, I am sorry."

"How long ago did you make up your mind?" asks Alia in a gentle voice.

Esmeralda looks down. "Years ago. I've been lying to you and David this whole time. I- I have been an unfaithful partner." She takes off her ring and places it on the table between her and her wife. "If you want me to leave-"

"No," says Alia gently but firmly, gently sliding the wedding ring back onto Esmeralda's hand. "I promised you when we married that I would love you no matter what you were, and if what you are is a woman, then I will love you like that also."

"How will we tell David?" asks Esmeralda in a low, worried tone.

"I will tell him," says Alia. "You go back to bed. You've been up late, and you look like the rear end of a fireworks cart."

Esmeralda hesitates but smiles, looking up with hope in her eyes. Alia returns the smile and kisses her gently, helping her up. "I'm not kidding. Go."

"Before I go," says Esmeralda, hesitating.

"Do I have to poke you into bed?" asks Alia with an exasperated sigh.

"No, no," says Esmeralda quickly. "I just wanted to tell you that I love you."

Alia smiles and leans over to give her wife a peck on the mouth. "I love you too. Now go before I beat you into there with a broom."

[muthaz-rapapa]

Let’s talk TroPreCure! (^∀^ 🌺)

i’m so stupidly proud of this dumb pun “tropurikyua~”, hahahahaha

Last post of the year and wow is there are lot to be excited for!

I even had to make a list for the stuff I want to talk about and I’m sure I already forgot one or two things but we’ll get to them as we continue to float~ along the wave to February 28th, mmkay? :)

Now for what has peaked my interest so far. And yes, we have to talk about the following first:

1) HealPre the shortest Precure season??

Unless they plan for double features in February (which I doubt but you never know), HealPre is likely going to reach only 45 episodes long instead of the usual 48~50 before TroPre I’m using this shortening of the title for now so if there’s a better alternative, tell me and I’ll switch out begins its broadcast.

Understandable because the producers probably want to get back to their normal scheduling as soon as possible (toy sales, y’know) and I suspect pushing the start of the new season back by a month is the most they’re willing to compromise.

As for me, I’m quite happy about this since HealPre’s lost its hold on my attention a while ago so the sooner TroPre gets here, the better. Though the downside might be a scrambled climax and a rushed, underwhelming ending for HealPre (I dunno if it’s January’s titles that feel a bit messy or if the hiatus is still throwing me off) but whatever. We’ll refresh ourselves with the new blood Cures so it’s all good.

2) Tropical movie announced for Autumn 2021, no All Stars??

(source)

First saw this mentioned on Youtube somewhere but it’s all over the fandom forums by now. I mean, HealPre’s movie is set for March, the usual time slot for All Stars release. If Toei intended for there to be an All Stars in 2021, there’s no way they would announce the seasonal movie before it so speculations of them skipping it this year are probably true.

To squeeze it somewhere between March and October-ish would force them to readjust their budgets as well and I don’t think even Toei wants to go through that extra hassle after all the trouble the pandemic’s caused for everyone already. It’s just easier to resume All Stars in 2022.

That, and I think Laura being a major character in TroPre despite not having a Cure title (yet) would make for an awkward situation when the three latest teams gather so perhaps that’s also one of the reasons. But I’ll get back to Laura in a bit.

3) Cure Summer is a RAINBOW Cure

So god help me if I see anyone calling her a Pink Cure.

Yes, she’s the lead Cure for this season. NO, she is not a Pink Cure.

Look, even the official website has a rainbow overlay for her profile pic and text font while everyone else’s respective theme colors are a solid hue:

Therefore, RAINBOW.

In promotional material and merchandising, they’re probably going to advertise her primarily with pink bah and at worst, she might occasionally be labeled as a White Cure with multiple subcolors (her outfit is not pink-dominant) but definitely NOT. PINK.

...also, this goes without saying but f***yea, we finally got a lead Cure practically and unabashedly wearing the LGBTQ flag and you cannot tell me otherwise, Toei!

Own up to it! Declare Manatsu/Cure Summer as the Precure queer icon!

I’m not gonna stop yellin’ until you do! 😠

4) Laura = obvious midseason Cure is obvious

First of all, Laura is a babe. I already love her the best and she’s not even Precure yet. <3

Anyways, the set-up is pretty much in the description. Important main character who’s not a mascot, stated to have a self-confident personality and just speaks her mind (oooh, I like~ :D), magical/foreign being from another world looking for Precure to save her home, possesses her own special item(s), has aspirations to become the next Queen (so she’s a princess-candidate or something to that effect, I suppose).

We’ve seen various combinations of these traits in past midseason (and a few starter) Cures so nobody should be surprised when we all guessed that one of the Cures would be a real live mermaid.

The only question is why not just make Laura a Cure from the get-go if she’s introduced to us at the beginning (like Hime or Lala) and having a team of five with no unnecessary extra add-ons later on (like Smile).

Well, there’s a simple answer for that: formula.

Toei is afraid that if they don’t spit out some new animation sequence at the halfway and third quarter points of the show, the kids will lose interest and abandon the series altogether. Which means failed toy sales. Oh nooo... [/sarcasm]

...Yea. 

And this way they can also have Laura available in the Cure lineup for the next All Stars in 2022 instead of making her sit the fight out if we were going to have one in 2021. I’m convinced that’s gotta be one of the reasons. *shrug*

But ok, whatever. Her debut is gonna be later, that’s all. She’s a delayed Cure.  Midseason Cure, same difference.

Moving along to the more important stuff now like what’s her Cure name gonna be, y/y?

Well, knowing Toei, a translation of the term “mermaid” into another language is the most predictable route even though we already have a Cure Mermaid. Not like that ever stopped them from repeating words before (ex. Cure Happy vs Cure Felice). Though if they do go down that road, I hope they opt for the Spanish/Italian “sirena” and not the French “sirène” because the latter sounds too close to how Cure Selene is pronounced in Japanese. And, putting it nicely, we all know Japanese pronunciation of foreign words is as off kilter as can be.

Hell, even the the Portuguese “sereia” sounds aesthetic as hell so it’d be nice if they can just remember there are other languages that exist out there besides Japanese, English and French when making the final decision at the writing table! *stomps foot* >:/

Alternatively, “nereid” or “naiad” are good choices too but they remind me too much of Greek myths and Laura’s from the Grand Ocean which covers more than just a couple of seas (Greece is surrounded by three, btw) so...

I dunno. But whatever it’s gonna be, she’s definitely got a strong association with water and her powers will probably be based on that.

As for theme color, since there’s noticeably no blue or green Cure in the starter lineup, it’s likely she will take up that spot when she debuts around ep 20.

Pink is also open since Cure Summer, again, is technically not a Pink Cure and Laura’s hair and tail fin are hot and light pink respectively but looking at Laura’s design and concept, does anyone seriously believe that?

Her upper torso consists of aquamarine while the body of her tail is definitely some shade of cyan, implying they’re aiming for somewhere around the middle of green and blue on the lighter spectrum.

And yea, I’m aware that green and blue are considered exchangeable in some perspectives with how close some of their shades are to each other but officially, I think Laura’s gonna be grouped with the Green Cures.

Cuz of the hair. If Laura’s gonna keep it the same or a similar shade after transforming, that is. The Blues have always had cool-colored hair so putting Laura in with them might disrupt that harmony whereas if you put her with the few Greens there are (including Parfait), she’d fit right in.

I mean, we’ll see but that makes the most sense, doesn’t it?

On another note, I just want to say that I love how they added frills to her arms instead of letting her elbows go bare naked. It definitely makes her look more like a genuine mermaid than if she didn’t have them (remember, half fish doesn’t mean half the body :P).

5) Magical Items

Frankly, I’m tired of seeing the transformation device being a compact again even though one of the main motifs is make-up this season. But at least, as far as Precure compacts goes, the Tropical one is my favorite cuz of how cute and delightfully colorful its toy version looks! So I guess I’m okay with it.

The Heart Rouge Rod, though? ...I dunno. I think it would’ve been fine without that...straw (?) jutting out at the top. It looks weird, doesn’t it look weird? :S

As for the collectible clip-ons, I can live without those for the rest of my life. Yeesh.

Laura’s items, the Aqua Pot and the Ocean Prism Mirror.

Again with the portable, travel-size housing. *sigh* 😩

Alright, I can let this year slide cuz Laura (I’m so soft for her, omg) probably won’t be getting legs for 20 weeks so she’s got to move about on land somehow. But unless they’re really thinking about turning this idea of carrying your apartment around in your bag/pocket/purse into a reality (cuz that would be effin’ awesome), please be more creative with your toys.

On the other hand, I’m much more interested in the Ocean Prism Mirror but from what Kusyami (the Precure merchandise reviews I follow on Youtube) said in his latest vid, this is the ED dance item so don’t know if it’ll actually have an relevance to the story or not. But I did hear him mention it having something to do with the Queen as well and since Laura wishes to become Queen, maybe it’ll be important after all? Maybe it’s her transformation device?

That’d be super cool. Let’s continue the trend of the midseason Cure having a different transformation item than the starters. Honestly, we should alternate every other year or two but we’ve gone three seasons with all of them using the same henshin gimmicks up till HealPre and I just want a break from that.

6) Fin sleeves??

These look so impractical for combat so maybe it’s exclusive to group attacks.

And/or a sort of precursor to the super forms?

*GASP* Does that mean they all eventually turn into mermaids? 🤩

7) Yui finally became Precure!! 😭

lol, it’s all crack from this point on so don’t take it too seriously but man, after Yuni’s deceptive braids, I thought I wasn’t gonna see anything that reminded me of Yui for a while and lo behold, Sango.

kehehehehehe xD;

Though Yui might be closer to Minori in terms of personal interests (fairytales and storybooks).

8) Akira, the actual Onee-chan version

I didn’t think this when I first saw her but once I read “Onee-san” in her profile, there’s no saving you now. Sorry, Asuka. 😅

Also, damn, do her sandals make her feet look big! Compare them to the heels she wears as Flamingo. Are they even the same?! lololol

9) ...this sounds awfully familiar...

Translation:

Tokimeku Tokonatsu! [Exciting/Thrilling Everlasting Summer!] Cure Summer! Kirameku Hoseki! [Sparkling Jewel!] Cure Coral!  Hirameku Fuurutsu! [Flashing Fruit!] Cure Papaya!

Japanese reiteration:

Mallow/Mao: Pink no tokimeki! Lillie: Blue no kirameki! Lana/Suiren: Yellow no kagayaki!

….........

@Toei 

Care to explain yourselves, punks?! 

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